September so far

September has been busy, full and fun so far! 

Our co-op has been a time of connecting and learning about south Africa with our friends and I have already done a post or two on that.

 Now it's time to fill you in on the rest of September!

Little nephew/cousin comes twice a week for the morning and he is a joy and a treasure. We love him and he is such a content little chap. We are enjoying seeing him develop and learn new things like hair pulling, grabbing his chubby little feet in an attempt to chew on them and watching him enjoy his teething biscuits which  cause him to flap his little arms wildly in eager anticipation of what is coming!

I have been asked how I manage to school with him here and honestly, all I can say is that he does not interfere with our schooling as he is such a chilled little guy! He is more than happy to listen to our stories or lie contently kicking his little feet, chew on a teething ring, park off in his pram, have a nap or get cuddled by cousins or any delighted friend who happens to pop in!

We have had our fair share of Spring showers as well as super warm days.... 

the kids have had their first dip of the season!

Z had great fun making this Solar Robot that was one of his birthday gifts and he made a side table at his technology club.

He has made great strides ahead in his maths and completed his last course with an overall 95%. He was super excited to start his new maths text book this week.

We are almost at the end of our Botany course. We have taken this one slowly, in small chunks and have learned so much along the way.

Our recent lesson was on Seedless Vascular Plants and we were delighted to find that there was a tree fern, complete with fiddleheads, growing in our neighbours yard!

We got some fronds to inspect and examine.

We could not believe our eyes when we did a project that involved looking at fern sori (clusters of sporangia that contain the spores).

Thousands of spores came off the frond, each capable of producing a new fern under the right conditions!

K has had great fun from the catwalk to competing in her first big karate competition!

She was chosen to take part in a fashion show for Savage Appaloosa's new Spring/Summer collection.

This company was launched by two sisters who never received any formal training in design, pattern making or sewing, but could sew before they could write. They learned all the tricks of their trade from their mom and grandmother at home.

Their clothes are feminine and flattering, designed for a variety of shapes and sizes, for woman with curves and those without.Each item is handmade, unique and 80% of the fabric used, is produced in our home town.

Models were chosen based on the owners strong opinion that woman come in a variety of shapes and ages and that needs to be celebrated instead of placing unrealistic expectations on ourselves. The clothes are made to compliment who you already are and not to change you!

I love her philosophy!

Yesterday saw her competing at the Karate Association of Western Province for the Children's Championships.

 It was an exciting morning and she did so well, competing against girls who have already competed on a national and provincial level, whereas she has only been doing "competition training" for 2 weeks! She was thrilled with her joint third place and bronze medal. She should now qualify for the SA competition in two weeks time but unfortunately she cannot compete as she will have a birthday just before the competition and then is "too old " for her age group.

She should however make the selection for Western Province in the coming year!

J had his grading after 2 hours of black belt training and he made it to senior brown 2!

He has been invited to attend a week of black belt training at the end of the year.

He is also working hard and long, preparing for his exams next month. Working through numerous past papers focusing on his 3 exam subjects for now.

He has continued teaching his karate classes and guitar. 

SO

that's us, living full, interesting and fun lives.