Paintball

On Saturday we were up early for a fun filled morning. One of J's good friends was celebrating his 13th birthday out at Jonkershoek, paintballing. We all went along to enjoy the excitement and the company of the other families who were there.It brought back wonderful memories of childhood picnics and walks with my mom and dad and siblings. I remember swimming in the river and enjoying many a family outing to Jonkershoek. It is a place that has stuck in my memory of happier childhood days when my parents were still together...

Our teens are getting so big and it is amazing to watch these young adults who have a close bond enjoying each others company. Here they are all kitted out and ready to go! The birthday boy's sister was the only girl among all the guys, a brave young lady who joins in with all the adventures there are to be had!

The other girls and younger siblings all stood glued to the protective net to watch the action as it began!

Z and the birthday boys youngest brother were treated to 100 paint balls for target practice. They were thrilled to have a chance to get in on some of the action.

Above is the group of happy paint ballers who had an morning of great fun!

The moms had a chance to chat and enjoy catching up with one another while the younger kiddies ran around excitedly collecting all the paint balls they could find that had not burst on impact or simply had not hit a target. These cannot be used in the guns again as the sand on them would cause problems. They plan to shoot them with their catties in a nearby forest.

School started

Today we took the plunge and began school for 2010. Many of our friends are only planning to start next week and a few have already started. It was however important for me to start today and ease into the year day by day.

We woke to an amazingly beautiful summers day with temperatures that rose to 36! I got out early to soak the veg garden and found that the bore hole pump was not working due to no electricity.....that meant hand watering with the watering can! After all was said and done and the kiddies had done their chores, we began at 8am.

It was great to start the day with an amazing book lent to me by my sister. "You too can change the world" covers 26 countries and people groups and tells a story about what life is like in those countries. There are prayer points regarding each unique situation too. Today we read about Afghanistan and had some meaningful discussions regarding the situation there.

J and K got straight into their Afrikaans lessons and Z and I had some fun with his English lesson for the day. Z also got to do some copy work and I was happy to see that his hand writing did not suffer much over the holidays.

We had an interruption from the electricity department but it was welcome as I did not want to be without power for long. Something had burnt out in the electricity box and they were able to fix it very quickly. I truly was thankful. I thought we may sit for days without power as we had in Dar es Salaam. With the power back on, I gave the kids an early lunch and we headed off for an afternoon of fun with friends.

The super tubes were not too busy and the sea breeze as welcome. Much cooler than staying at home! The kiddies enjoyed the slides with their friends for a couple of hours while the moms caught up with one another. Ice creams were a welcome treat in the heat.

We went back to a friend for a swim and came home to swim some more until it was dark and cool enough to go to bed....

The week that ran away....

Well I can hardly believe that hubby has been back at work a full week now... We miss having him around the house. Thankfully it has been a little quieter than it was at the end of last year. However the prospects are good and they will soon be busy, but it has been great that he has been able to get away a little earlier once or twice in the last week.

On the weekend we worked on getting things in order round the house to prepare for the up and coming school term. Space was made in the garage for items cluttering the house and things that should have been turfed long ago were finally given the boot. What a good feeling!

Hubby got in a game of cricket and we were invited to an old friend for a wonderful seafood paella. We used to babysit her girls before we had little ones of our own. It was amazing to see them all grown up and finished school.
We also had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful Sunday lunch of roast springbok with all the trimmings at friends and then enjoyed a couple of hours soaking up the sun down on the beach. The kiddies had a great time enjoying the surf despite the cool temperature of our waters.

The children have been making the most of their last week of holidays with lots of sleep overs, movies, and fun activities....this of course has kept me very busy being moms taxi! J has already started extra karate training and may be going up to Bloemfontein as soon as March for competitions. Needless to say, he is very excited about it. His ballroom lessons have also started.
K has spent a couple of days painting at grandpa and has thoroughly enjoyed getting back into her art. She has been helping me so much around the home and in the garden and has been a real blessing to me. She and I have enjoyed a couple of sessions at the gym too.
Z has been playing and playing until he cant anymore. Thankfully his collar bone is on the mend but may not do contact sports for 6 weeks as the healing is not complete.
As for me, besides the enjoyment of getting back to tae bo and a few sessions at the gym, it has been a busy time. There seems to be an endless list of things to do and plan and organise. Bills to pay, things to sort and tidy, appointments to make, schedules to write up, books to order for school etc etc. The garden has also kept me busy as I had been hand hand watering with a watering can! Thankfully hubby bought me an amazing nozzle for the hose pipe which makes the job of watering much quicker and keeps me drier!

Our last day of holiday is tomorrow... we plan a visit to the gym with friends, a trip to the library and an early night. We will ease into the school year gently with some bible time, language arts, maths and story time. We will finish early on our first day and join friends for a picnic lunch and fun on the super tubes in the afternoon. I look forward to the structure that schooling brings and the time we spend together loving learning!

Patience required....

Every morning I dash outside to see how my little garden is coming along. It is so exciting to see new little green shoots popping up through the soil. Yesterday we had an unbelievably hot day and some of my seedlings really battled even though I had watered well. Sadly I lost a few.

Later in the day, T and I made a trip to a nursery .... see what I got in the wheel barrow above: basil, coriander, marigolds, lemon thyme and comfrey.

As my camera is packing up, J took a picture on his phone for me. You can see one of the tripods he and Eric built for my little garden. Beans, cucumbers, and butternuts will benefit from these by being able to climb the frame for support. The sunken pot in the middle is for watering and feeding. This morning I was out there early to plant my purchases from yesterday.

I realised that I need to just wait and be patient now. The seeds are planted and it is a matter of time before they germinate and pop up. I mustn't buy or plant any more and I must give it time.....

The Garden

Well it has been a full week of hard work for the whole family around the garden. We have talked of planting a vegetable garden for a long time and now I cannot contain my excitement as we have finally begun with this project.

I was so thrilled on Christmas day when T gave me my own copy of "Jane's Delicious Garden" by Jane Griffiths. I had been browsing through her copy before our holiday and also spent much of my holiday reading my sisters copy. It really inspired me as Jane makes it look so easy with all her wonderful explanations and step by step guides. It is also a South African book which means it goes according to our seasons etc. I was also very inspired by Ts garden and my sisters abundant garden in Ladybrand.

The pots that I inherited from my mum when she left CT have been long overdue for a revamp. They have been scraped down and given a new lease on life with a fresh coat of paint. Much of the soil has been replaced and they have been replanted with rosemary, mint, marjoram, oregano, tomatoes, basil, lettuce and radishes...oops forgot the lavender!

Rosemary and radishes in the big pot.

The back breaking work of digging up the grass in our chosen spot was done by my husband and eldest son. The little ones helped to remove all the stones and roots.



My clever hubby made some boxes to contain the veg garden and the soil has been enriched with loads of compost and organic fertilizer.

Together with my big boy, he made some gum pole tripods for the one bed. The planting and mulching has been done: sweetcorn, cucumbers, asparagus, butternut, peas, cauliflower, cabbages, watermelon, rhubarb, lemon balm, spring onions, basil, beans, courgettes and more!

Every morning I am up and out to check on the progress. I find it fascinating to see the daily progress...a new leaf on the basil or a little radish poking some leaves up through the soil.

Sadly my camera is giving up and so I couldn't get a photo of the newly planted beds...hopefully it wont be long before I can replace it.

2010

We celebrated New Years eve at friends with a fish braai. It was a wonderful relaxed evening with kids having fun swimming, playing and running around late into the night!

Fireworks were set off as midnight came and the bigger boys could not resist trying out some of the crackers that J had been given by his Uncle in Ladybrand.

We hope that 2010 will be a good year for all our family and friends and that we will all be healthy, happy and content, filled with joy and have deeper relationships with those we love and hold dear. We thank God for the last year and trust Him for the coming year.

Christmas Celebrations

After getting home from our holiday, there were but a few days until Christmas. On Christmas eve we had Eric's parents here and enjoyed the day together, relaxing and catching up.

Z enjoying time with Opa.

K and Z having some fun!

Christmas day was spent with my sisters sister in law (confusing I know!) We enjoyed a relaxed day with a fantastic lunch in the garden, swimming, fuse ball, card games and fun!

K looked pretty her Christmas dress that we had got her while on holiday.

Z played Father Christmas with the funny bouncy hat.

Little Z enjoying one of his gifts.

The day was rounded off perfectly with a delicious pavlova with berry frozen yoghurt and fresh berries and cream! I could not resist a second helping....