Yum yum!

Oh my boy makes me laugh! He has done a 360 turn about from being one who had such a selective diet, to one who begged me to make chili con carne (or nachos as we call it) for dinner tonight! He gobbled down a chicken pie at lunch time today and has added celery, corn and red peppers to his list of foods. He cant wait for me to make lasagna!
This in my books is a small miracle! He devoured his dinner tonight and gave me the thumbs up!

I am sure it is not easy to understand if one has never had a child who is so peculiar about food but I am rejoicing. No more teasing for him and no more stressing about his diet! I

believe all children get there in their own time and now is his!

Flower fun

Today we met with the Keepers club for the first time this year. The weather was beautiful and we were all looking forward to getting together for swimming and flower fun.

God has given us so many magnificent flowers to enjoy and we thought the girls would enjoy learning to use this amazing source of fragrance and beauty to decorate their homes now and when they have their own homes too!

They worked happily as H explained and demonstrated how to make a centre piece arrangement.

K so enjoyed creating her arrangement.

After all that hard work, the kiddies took to the pool and enjoyed snacks and ice lollys before learning how to make buttonholes.

I showed them how to do the buttonholes....the wiring is a little tricky for those little fingers. It brought back happy memories of the days my dear sister and I did wedding flowers and spent hours wiring and taping flowers. I so enjoy being creative.

The finished product was beautiful!

In the garden

The garden continues to bring me pleasure as I water it early each morning and check for growth or bugs that shouldn't be there! Today I picked my first radish and enjoyed the fresh peppery taste of it.

Look what we enjoyed with lunch one day this week! Z even ate the freshly picked lettuce on his cheese sandwich!

On that note, you know he has been a very selective eater for a long time.... I came up with a plan that is working: he has to try 1 teaspoon of what ever I make that he "doesn't eat". It is working SO well and he has tried the following in the last week: chili con carne (loved it), bobotie (OK), lettuce, cooked carrots and peas, butternut, coleslaw and chicken pies (he cant believe he has missed out on something SO good for so long and proceeded to demolish 5 more miniature ones!). I am so proud of him and he tries his new food with no fuss at all anymore!

Today our potatoes were ready to be planted. We choose to plant them in tyres instead of the veg beds so we have more space for other veg. Z and K each have their own tyre and it will be theirs to take care of and water, feed and add new tyres when the time is right. They filled the tyres with potting soil, compost and some rapid raiser. They are thrilled to have their own tyre each and I look forward to the day they will harvest!

Blessing of a young man

Last night we had the privilege of being invited to a friends sons 13th birthday and blessing ceremony. We have known this young man since birth and it has been amazing to see him grow into a talented, handsome and God fearing young man.

It took a lot to hold back the tears as friends and members of his family spoke into his life and commended him on the young man he has become. His mom read to him from the Psalms and his grandfather gave the most amazing speech to "his best friend" (this young man).

We enjoyed a relaxed and fun filled evening with everyone and had an amazing dinner of lamb spit, roast potatoes, salads, the best ever corn bread and desert!

The teens hung out chatting and enjoying one anther's company. They spent time on the drum kit making some loud music and then the young mans dad showed us how its really done! An awesome evening !

Beach Gushuku

This morning we were up early to attend a beach gushuku (training session) at 07h30 in Big Bay. The morning was glorious, not a breath of wind and the suns rays were not too harsh yet. Sadly hubby had to go in to work and Z could not participate because of his collar bone.



J an d K enjoyed being put through their paces on the beach and there was a great sense of camaraderie as the littlest kids as well as the adults (and those in between) worked hard and practised various techniques.

The views of Table Mountain were magnificent!

There were screams and squeals as they approached the water and did some kumite (fighting ) in the water. The water at Big Bay is ice cold!!!

After the training, they enjoyed a well deserved breakfast!

School days

We have completed our first full week of school and it has been fun. We are learning new things every day and enjoying the routines of learning time together. Z said he was thankful to be doing school again and I think the children love the routine that comes into our days when it is term time (even though they may not admit it!)

We also love the fact that things can be taken at the pace that is needed. With 2 of the children suffering from colds and feeling yucky,we spent many hours reading. We had a library book that needed returning this week and really wanted to complete the story.....that morning we climbed into my bed and spent the better part of the morning finishing off the book...

On a warm afternoon, we lay in the shade and I read to the children while K spent time working on the blanket she is crocheting and Z lay quietly with some of his toys.

We started our Zoology 2: Swimming creatures of the 5th day and the children enjoyed making their own miniature gyre (circular surface ocean currents).

They started their Zoology notebooks too. I love to see the way they make their work unique by adding colour and pictures of their own choice.

Kitty found a perfect place to relax while the children are working...on top of one of my sisters storage boxes in the dining room!

J is working steadily through the last sections of the history programme he has been doing. We are planning to enroll him with a new programme for grades 9 to 12 this week. This will enable him to get an internationally recognised certificate at the end of his High School .

One of my nearest and dearest friends has embarked on her home education journey this week and I am so excited to see her family enjoying their new adventure. We have been friends for 14

years and our sons were infants when we met. They are now young adults. The girls have known each other from birth and it is so sweet to see this new dimension in their friendship.They went off to their first Drama class together on Friday.

Here they are chilling and chatting on the roof of their garage after drama. They went on to youth group together on Friday evening.

The children are also back to karate classes and K has started ball room again... the week is certainly jam packed with activities!

the garden

Today I had to do some damage control in my veg garden. It seems that cutworms have been attacking my beans. I have lost 3 in the last two days....

My book, along with advice from a friend who has a fantastic vegetable garden, came to the rescue. I cut toilet rolls in half and put them around the base of the surviving beans. They had to be sunk into the soil so the worms cannot get to the stems. I also put sticks into the soil, 5cm deep right next to the stalks - this apparently prevents the cutworms from doing their thing. I planted some new beans to replace those I had lost and they were planted in the toilet rolls that were sunk into the ground. I will have to wait and see what happens...

I fed my garden with worm tea and vermi compost. Another pot was painted to finally plant my lemon thyme that has been waiting to be planted for a while.I harvested two hand fulls of cherry tomatoes. I usually get a good handful every second day. These go into salads, veg bakes or mince dishes.

I also harvested some coriander..... I just love the taste of fresh coriander!

I made us a delicious Moroccan flat bread with garlic, chillies, cheese, bulgarian yoghurt and fresh coriander for lunch. We ate that with some left over lamb chops and and salads. A great meal!