Arrival of a precious blessing

While this post is long overdue due to various reasons, the memory of this special day will forever be carried with me.

On 27th April I received a call from my dear sister in law to tell me that she thought her waters had broken. There was great anticipation as she headed for the hospital and the family were all alerted to the fact her baby would be born very soon. For me, it was most exciting as she had requested that I be there as a birth companion for her.

Once it was established that she would stay in the hospital, I made my way there to be with the expectant parents. It all seemed so surreal that the day had finally come and we were going to meet this long awaited precious little person. Time marched on and there was not much progression of labour. I left the hospital to have lunch with friends and as it turned out, the little baby was perfectly happy just where he was, so it was decided that my sister in law should sleep for the night and would be induced in the morning. As you can imagine, there were plenty of calls and updates to be given to the other excited family members and aunts and granny. (My poor brother had four "mothers" when he was growing up!)

On the morning of the 28th, we knew we would be meeting the little person for sure. I made my way to the hospital, bright and early, expecting that by lunch time the baby would be born. My dear sister in law was coping well with the induction and she was allowed to walk around the unit. My brother was full of questions as he awaited the imminent birth of their first child. Having qualified as a midwife and having had three children of my own, I was able to reassure and encourage them and we had a good time enjoying the excitement of it all together.

As the labour was still slow in progressing, the drip was turned up and it was a long hard afternoon of intense labour. My heart reached out to her to see her going through such intense labour. It was finally decided that a cesarean section would be necessary. This little baby was not budging! My sister in law could then just wait quietly until the operating theatre was ready and thankfully the drip was stopped and the intense labour subsided.

At that point it seemed I may not be able to accompany them into the the operating theatre and I was going to wait outside until they returned from theatre. Her Doctor came in and my brother asked if I could go with them to theatre........I held my breath as he made a call to the theatre.....he came back to us with the good news......YES I could go with them!

There was great excitement as I donned the green theatre garb and went in with them. Everything happened so fast from there. In the theatre were doctors, nurses, the same paediatrician that was there for the birth of my own three precious children and me! It was such am amazing privilege for me. I still remember the day my parents told us that my mum was pregnant with my little brother....I can picture the scene as we sat at the kitchen table eating our pudding. I was so excited and I remember spilling tears of happiness into my bowl as I was so pleased with their news. On the day my baby brother returned from the hospital with my mum, I sat staring in wonder at this sleeping infant all afternoon and now I was about to witness the birth of his first child.

As the doctor made the incision, we saw this tiny little nose and chin peeping out...the baby was lying face up and that was the reason the labour had not progressed. In a flash he was out and onto the the baby trolley. There were some pretty scary moments then as the paediatrician massaged his little chest to coax him into letting out a cry. His apgar score was fairly low due to medication given to his mum. I held my breath and watched in silence as he worked efficiently and quickly with the nurses help to get rid of the effects of the medication on the baby. Thankfully the perfectly formed, beautiful, little baby boy recovered fast. All was well and the baby was taken over to his mum.

I was able to capture precious moments such as these.

The new mum and baby.

When my brother handed their precious little newborn to me in the theatre, I was overwhelmed with emotion. The tears flowed as I held him for the first time. It was an honour to be made a part of their baby's birth experience.

All the while, my dad had been waiting outside the theatre and was there to greet the proud parents and see his new grandchild. Phone calls were made and everyone was thrilled to hear the news of his safe arrival. Hubby needed to come and fetch me at the hospital and so I suggested he bring my daughter so she could meet her newest little cousin.

K holds her newborn baby cousin.

The days that followed were wonderful. As I returned from visiting the hospital on the following day, there was a strange car outside my house and I wondered who "that woman" was outside my house...it turned out to be none other than my sister from the Free State! I stared in disbelief! I had been speaking to her children on Skype that morning and had wondered why she had not come to say good morning to me. Her children are champion secret keepers!

I welcomed her into my home for a week and it was wonderful to have her here.

We spent time with the new parents and had fun showing them how to bath the little baby and taking numerous photos of him to send to family members that are far away. She knitted furiously on a baby blanket until the wee hours of the morning and on her last day here, she was able to give him his special blanket. It was with heavy hearts that we said goodbye to one another.

19 days old and draped over aunty's arm to soothe a grumbly tummy..

Well, that was three weeks ago that this sweet little baby came into the world. I have the privilege of living nearby and so I get to see how they are all doing regularly. Early this week the poor mum had a night with little rest and the little man was not his usual content self. We enjoyed having them both here for the day so mum could get some much needed sleep while we babysat.

He has crept into our hearts!

A different kind of week

This week has been different as I have been battling bronchitis and sinusitis. What is a home school mama to do when she needs to stay in bed but still wants her children to have a productive week....

For J, life kind of carries on as normal as he does most of his work independently. However the younger two and I had a very different week. We set aside most of the lessons that needed active teaching on my part, but yet had a good week.

Z made good progress with mathematics as we sat on my bed watching his Math u See lessons on DVD and tackling the worksheets. He read aloud to me from his Moore McGuffy Reader. The children practised their piano lessons daily and we got through heaps of reading.

We are so enjoying "Jock of the Bushveld" by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick which is part of K's 21st Century South African History curriculum. I had decided to read the book aloud to Z and K and while I read, K is usually busy with some sort of handwork, be it her art or some new crochet project.

She has been tackling some new patterns this week as she has been given a little business opportunity to crochet items for a local photographer for use in her studio. These are some of the cutest baby beanies and nappy (diaper) covers we have seen. I love to see her persevere with unfamiliar patterns and to see the sense of achievement as she figures it all out. (I am not much help to her as I have not learned to crochet yet!)

K and I have also had some real heart to heart chats as we have been reading through a book lent to her by her cousin. "Sexy Girls How Hot is Too Hot?" by Hayley Dimarco is a brilliant read and plainly talks about the image a girl portrays by dressing in a certain way. It has been a real eye opener for both of us in understanding how one can make good decisions regarding one's image that will not comprise faith.

Z and I too have enjoyed precious time reading. We finished "Born to Run" by Michael Morpurgo and began "The Enchanted Wood" by Enid Blyton. He always begs for yet another chapter.

The three of us have spent time cuddled up on my bed watching "The Gospel According to Matthew", the visual Bible. This is also part of K's curriculum. It has been enjoyable to watch it as we have been reading through Matthew in our Bible times so this just cements what what we have read. As we watch, I knit and leg warmers for K are almost done and a scarf has been started.

Yesterday, the younger two spent much of their morning in the kitchen baking. They made a batch of delicious peanut butter cookies and two loaves of challah for lunch - delicious eaten with cheese, sliced tomato and cucumber, topped with freshly picked basil from the garden.

Now the weekend is here and J has been out since early this morning for brown belt training and then on to teach his little ninjas class. We had a surprise visit from my dad this morning for a quick cup of coffee. K is busy on another project she has been commissioned to do and Z enjoys some free time.

Shotokan Karate SA National Champs

Last Thursday evening J attended grading. It was a tough grading but he did very well, and it was decided that he would be graded to senior brown belt. He came home with the biggest smile ever!

On Saturday we were up at 5 ( early for us! ) so that we could take J out to the Shotokan Karate SA National Champs. There was great excitement as competitors and spectators filled the hall. The regional teams lined up and were welcomed.

While looking at the competition sheets with J, his Sensei came over to ask him and two of his team mates why they had not entered the team kata event? They looked at one another, and with a bit of encouragement from me and their Sensei, they decided to go for it!

Most team events are practised for long in advance of competition day and I was most impressed with their decision to enter at the last minute. They had the guts to just give it a bash even though they knew they had not practised together at all.

They made it through to the second round of the competition......

and here Sensei Maryanne places a bronze medal around J's neck!

They came third, beating at least one team who had practised diligently.I love the broad smiles captured in this photo as they received their first medals of the day.Of course we all imagine what they could have achieved if they had practised!

The next event J took part in was individual kata. Last year he fell out early in the competition and was not placed.

There were 8 boys in his division this year and..

.....he and his team kata mates took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place!

Here they are with Sensei Nigel Jackson, head of Shotokan Karate.

There was no stopping these boys now!

The last event for J was the Cadet's under 60kg kumite. I love to watch him compete but at the same time, I am always incredibly nervous. There were 6 boys competing in his division and in the first round J got a bye which put him through to the second round where he competed against one of his team mates (photo above). He won this fight 4:2. This put him through to next round where he won 8:0....

And the winner in this division was....J with Gold....the reigning SA Champ for Kumite!

His team mate came second with a silver medal.

( The third member of his kata team won gold in his division for kumite too so between the 3 boys they got 9 medals in total! The third team member also went on to be pronounced Cadet of the Year as he won gold in both his individual events.)

The final event for the day was the Shotokan Cup, open to anyone over 16. ( I was really glad that J was not taking part in this event!) There were some pretty intense moments as we watched the competitors fight it out.

What a truly incredile, exciting, nerve wracking and fun filled day!

Fun Family Car Rally

This post is very overdue but life has been happening ....

The morning of the rally arrived and there was a flurry of last minute preparation and activity. At midnight the previous night, I had seen that the Pink Ladies had advertised the event on their Facebook page and much to my surprise, it looked as if there would be 60 or more teams attending that we knew nothing about!!! We needed plans in place in case of an influx of teams!

There was much excitement as the lunch hour passed and it was time to make our way to the starting point of the rally. The kids could scarcely believe it was finally happening after all the long hours of hard work. Thankfully there was no sudden influx of teams, but just one or two that had not previously registered. Zelda, Justine and Chaeli of the Chaeli Campaign and Carol Bew City Councillor as well as Gran Dessie, founder of the Pink Ladies were all there at the start to wish the teams well and chat to J and K.

15 eager teams took off with their clues and the fun and tension began!

Many of the participants wore pink in support of the Pink Ladies. The route was well thought out and the questions pretty tough but so much fun!

Hubby and little princess were on my team. She was so eager to help work out the answers and be a part of the rally that her mom had been working on tirelessly with J and K. We started out at a shopping centre and raced around crazily trying to figure out the answers...

After counting and recounting bollards down a long road, we were led into a common where we had further answers to figure out. There was some conferring done between teams... some were willing to help others with answers and some were not giving any secrets away!

Some teams raced each other through the common and there were yells of frustration and shouts of triumph. There was a great spirit among the teams who were having loads of fun! We then headed off the beaten track to figure out more answers before heading onto a pit stop....

One of the pit stops was a wine farm and We had fun tasting one of the answers even though it was not required! I loved the apt logo behind us : "Speaking in Pink"! Then it was off into the vineyards to find a vine leaf that was not to be picked off the vines...my little accomplice of seven years old quickly sneaked one off the bottom of the vine....

Team Solartech were a blast and brought a dose of high energy and competitiveness to the rally...at one point they parked their vehicle across the road to prevent another team passing them....lots of fun to have around!

The route took the competitors to this sign board at the outskirts of what was once a pine forest. Teams had a had time counting the baboons on the sign and figuring out other cryptic questions.

From there it was on to another shopping centre where the questions were really tough and a couple of teams decided to head straight to the end point!

We stuck it out and my little accomplice had fun counting the animals at the Barnyard and collecting a feather. Then more gruelling questions at another shopping centre and finally on to the end point of the rally! All along the way there questions to be answered and if one had not read through the questions at the beginning....well, there were a couple of surprises at the end as the teams would have got a number of answers!

Teams picnicked on the grass at the end while the stragglers came in. Thankfully the weather held out to the end. Marking of team sheets was done and the winning team announced.

The Bell family were the triumphant winners. Each team member got to pick a prize of their choice. There were hampers, T shirts and vouchers of all sorts. Local businesses had sponsored generously and every participant got to pick a prize. The value of prizes was over R14 000!

J and K thanked T for all her hard work and dedication . It was a fantastic event enjoyed by all and a memorable afternoon. I am really proud of my kids for organising the event and following through even when it was tough and they felt like giving up!

PS: They are in the planning stages of a new event for this year and we are all VERY excited about this one!

Graduation

2010 Ambassadors and Mentors

At the end of March we had a very special evening celebrating the graduation of K and J for their year as Ambassadors at the Chaeli Campaign. It was wonderful to hear each of the Ambassadors stand up and talk to a crowd of people about their year of service. I have added their speeches to this post for you to enjoy.

J: "I have enjoyed being an ambassador for the Chaeli Campaign over the last year or so. Being a part of the program has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, which is exactly the kind of opportunity I was looking for when I joined.

For the fundraiser that we each had to do as part of being ambassadors, my sister and I decided to work together to raise funds for The Pink Ladies. The Pink Ladies are a non-profit organization that is partnered with SAPS in order to help find missing or abducted children and provide emotional support for the rest of the family.

After much chopping and changing we decided to do a car rally. At first I wasn’t very excited about the project and thought that it wouldn’t work, but we carried on working and things began to come together. This taught me a valuable lesson: that when you do something that you don’t want to and push through to the end you might find that it actually becomes exciting.

For anybody who would like to take part in the rally, it is this Saturday, the 2^nd. We are starting from Meadowridge Park and Shop and the entry fee is R50 per car (doesn’t matter how many people are in the car). The support we have had from local businesses has been amazing, and we have some really great prizes that have been sponsored.

Lastly I would like to thank Zelda for the opportunity that she gave us to be a part of the Chaeli Campaign for this year. I would also like to say that I am very excited about the next year and the opportunity to achieve the President’s Award. Again, thanks Zelda for putting me forward for the President’s Award and giving me such a great opportunity."

K: " Being a Chaeli Campaign ambassador has inspired me to do greater things with my life and to grow as a person. I learnt that event though I’m so young, I can still make a difference in my community and help other people.

Organizing our car rally has not been easy! And we have been really blessed by my Mom’s friend Tanya. Tanya has done this sort of thing before, and she knows what to do and who to talk to. There have been so many things that have needed to be done in order to make this event a success. First of all the route, we have spent hours working on it and coming up with cryptic clue and questions for along the way, sometimes staying up past 11 working, laughing, falling asleep and brainstorming. My Mom has been amazing; she has been the cook for us and the babysitter for Tanya’s kids and grandchild. The response for prizes, as J said, has been amazing! We went around this morning asking for prizes and got some amazing vouchers! The only thing that has been a bit discouraging has been the response for entries, so if any of you are interested in entering, please let us know tonight! Or support us by buying a raffle ticket from me or J for a wine hamper or a delicious lee hamper.

My most memorable moments so far have been the hours we have spent working on the questions, one in particular. We were sitting trying to think of an anagram for “the Chaeli Campaign”, when J came up with a website where you type in your words and it comes up with loads of anagrams for you. So we typed in “the Chaeli Campaign” and it came up with get a mechanical hip! We were in hysterics the rest of the week!"

Zelda congratulated the Ambassadors for being exemplary social entrepreneurs and competent youth leaders. We look forward to another year ahead working with the Chaeli Campaign, as K is a mentor to the 2011 Ambassadors and Z has been accepted as an Ambassador.

PS: I will be doing a post on their event, the car rally soonest!

The work of our hands

Our hands are busy all the time. Our hands are a blessing to ourselves and to those around us. Our hands are used in so many ways: to work, to create, to love, to pray, to bless, to talk, to express, to nurture, to tickle or scratch, to blog :) and so much more.... I think of my dad's hands and how they save lives. Many would not be alive or have full and useful lives without his hands. I am thankful for my hands and all they allow me to accomplish.

Hubby's hands have been an enormous help to me in the vegetable garden turning soil, lifting heavy tires for our potato stack and just being willing and available. Without his hands much would not be done.

My hands have been busy staking tomatoes, weeding, feeding those plants that need feeding and harvesting broccoli, chillies, herbs and more!

I was thankful for a little pair of extra hands over the weekend to top and tail beans for some delicious curried beans I made!

Those little hands crafted a beautiful magazine rack at technology club this week. The work of those little hands gave much joy to a big sister who received this stunning gift.

The little hands have also been kept busy making a lapbook on Exodus 6 to 9 about the plagues God sent to Egypt in preparation for our study on Passover and a Passover meal next week.

While I read aloud, those little hands just cant be kept still, and need to be occupied with Lego or a maze or something else fiddly!

We are so blessed to hear the sounds of guitar coming from J's room as he strums away with hands and enjoys his guitars. His hands enable him to spend many hours daily working at his studies as he fills books with hand written notes on all that he is learning.

I love the work of K's hands and the creativity that seems to flow naturally from them. Her school work is always embellished with beautifully accurate drawings that she seems to have no trouble producing.

Her hands make sweet music as she practices her piano .

Her hands create pretty greeting cards as she listens to read alouds or they are busy with wool and crochet hooks, never ceasing to be producing something or other that is pleasing to the eye.

This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more. You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. In the meantime, head to the Hayes family where the carnival is hosted this week. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!

Beach fun!

A spontaneous visit to the beach was just what we needed last Friday, being the last week day of school holidays. It was a glorious Autumn day, no wind , warm sun , low tide with vast stretches of beach to run and play on and friends!

I had a great time taking photos of the kiddies.

Some enjoyed having their photos taken more than others....

The girls just loved the "photo opportunity"......

These two have been firm friends since birth and it is amazing to watch them growing into beautiful young ladies.

My " almost as tall as me little guy" still enjoys being buried in the sand and getting covered in it!

I could not resist my sweet little God daughter's toes peeping out of the sand....

Thankfully there was as shower to wash off all that sand before going to join our friends at their home for lunch.....

A perfect ending to a weeks school holiday!