With shock...

I found out today through my friend Helen in England that one of the authors of a blog that I follow, Bev from Crafty Moments, passed away last week. She had a bleed on the brain and next thing was brain dead. So shocking and sudden. And to think that she was only just 40 (my age!).

May the Lord be with you Bev and also with your family at this time.... not a nice thing to have to go through.

Merry Christmas

This is the morning of our Saviour's birth and we as a family would like to wish you all a very blessed Merry Christmas. May Jesus be especially near to you and your family today as you celebrate together.

Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.

The build up to Christmas

Our house has been a hive of activity the past few days. Yes I've managed to do a bit more scrapping (2 more pages) but have also done some tidying up too.

On Monday Aaron helped me to make mince pies.... yummy

Yesterday was some last minute food shopping for me... got the fresh stuff for the makings of my lunch for Thursday..... spent the afternoon scrapping. Even Aaron has managed to scrap 3 pages over the last few days.... (I promise that I will post all these scrap pages soon soon... just need to scan and then upload.)

In amongst that Aaron has helped me make some table decorations for Thursday too... will show you after the event!

And so it is on to Christmas Eve.... boy has it been busy. This morning I cleaned house!! Yip vacuumed and got the dust bunnies all collected. Even scrubbed the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.... so it's all nice and clean for my folks to come stay. Then I spent the afternoon cooking.... did our gammon and made three salads. Just got a dressing and the pud to do in the morning.

After supper tonight we found this site awaiting us outside:

Stunning or what??? We might not have a star to guide us to the Lord Jesus tonight but He sure gave us a beautiful sunset to show us that HE IS LORD!!

Keith and Aaron even found time for a quick game of Chess.... they've played a few games over the last two days and each one gets a bit easier for Aaron to comprehend the rules. Nice to see Father and son bonding.

And then it was bath time.... with bubbles.... and so it seems like Father Christmas arrived early in our house....

Oops, my mistake.... it's just Aaron having fun in the bath.... hehehe.

And lastly before bedtime Aaron put our milk and cookies for Father Christmas... or at least a mince pie... and only one mind you as Father Christmas has all those cookies to eat at all the other houses too!

So now just a last few gifts to wrap before heading for bed. Sleep tight and sweet dreams.

Why so quiet???

Well I did warn you in my last post that you might not hear from me for a while... and here's the reason why.... I've been SCRAPPING. Yip have done amazingly well.

Thursday.... 6 layouts
Friday.... 5 layouts
Saturday 4 layouts
and today 3 layouts and finishing journing on a few of the above.

And the only reason each day's tally is less is because I've scrapped for less time each day!

Thursday was really spent at home and didn't do much except washing in the morning and scrapping in the afternoon/evening

Friday I did ironing, went shopping and then scrapped in the afternoon before we went to the carols service at church (will post photos next time). I said to someone at Church this morning that Christmas doesn't really start till I've been to a Carols by Candlelight and so now it is really there.

Yesterday we were out all day just about... birthday party for one of Aaron's classmates.... lovely beach party... and I was even in the pool.... pics to follow. So I only managed to scrap last night.

Today was church all morning and then after lunch Aaron and I have been scrapping.... yip even my boy has caught the bug.... he did two sweet pages to my 3.

I've also involved Aaron in a few of our Christmas Day decorations but you'll only get to see those after Christmas.

So now you know where I've been... and no Helen I'm not ignoring your award.... will pick it up and post it soon soon.

Signing off to do more scrapping....

Butterflies... part 2

Remember Jacki's post about her butterflies going overseas? Well I decided to join the bandwagon and send a few of my own. So here they are:
and there they go.......

So why not visit http://www.hmh.org/minisite/butterfly/index.html and find out how to send your butterflies to them too.

(See part one of this post here)

Christmas decorating

Well we came home from seeing Madagascar 2.... such a fun movie... (I really love those sneaky scheming penguins)... and then after a quick lunch Aaron and I put up the Christmas tree. Here's the proof...

So we had Christmas Music in the background, me humming along and Aaron chatting up a storm hanging decorations. A real festive mood. Now the silly season has really begun! All my Christmas shopping is done... must just get wrapped so now I plan to sit back and do some serious scrapping over the next few days so you might not hear from me again for a while... don't miss me tooooo much!

photos to show you

Just a quick post to show you some photos

The animals we saw at the zoo..

Eurasian Owl, Cougar, Mother duck & ducklings, wild dogs

Knysna Lourie

Eland, Hippo, Peacock, Elephant

The Christmas lights

Us having fun and supper

Just some garden birds spotted on Sunday:

Glossy Starling, Bulbul, Barbet & Lourie

Will post more later. Off to the movies now to see Madagascar 2.

The plans of mice and men...

are not always my plans. hehehe. I've been neglecting my blog... apologies... but not really for any lack of trying. Our internet connection at work has been horridly s-l-o-w and so I didn't bother too much last week to try and do any blogging reading. Then Friday was my last day at work and in the afternoon I went to fetch Aaron who had spent the week at my folks.... plus we sprinkled Great-Granny's ashes in the afternoon... a lovely ceremony.

I ended up staying over on Friday night too... there was a HUGE storm and lots of lightning and I didn't fancy driving home in that weather. So Aaron and I left Boksbury Saturday morning and went straight to a birthday celebration prayer service for a little 2 year old... he got a brain tumour this time last year and is now healed... an absolute miracle.

The rest of the weekend seemed to pass in rather a blur.... not too sure why though. But this I do know, every time I wanted to do anything on the pc... we had a huge storm... and I refuse to have my pc on when there is lightning... especially having lots a modem to lightning once before!

Yesterday was my first day of holiday and I took Aaron shopping for slippers.... success at last on that front.... and then we also did groceries. I managed to do some baking as well. Spent a few minutes on the pc yesterday before being told I had a virus and need to do a whole boot scan... took forever by which time I had to shut down again!!! as there was another thunder storm.

So now... am striking while the iron is hot as they say.. and updating quick quick before the heavens open again.... which we pray won't happen today as we want to go to the zoo tonight to see the Christmas lights.

I wll hopefully be able to post (and read blogs plus add comments) a bit more frequently later this week... please don't give up on me just yet. The silly season is upon us and now it just goes crazy!

Plans for the rest of this week include taking Aaron to see Madagascar 2, putting up our Christmas Tree, a birthday party on Saturday and sorting out/organising THE LUNCH for Christmas day... yip doing it at our house this year... but only for the three of us and Mom & Dad... so will be fairly easy.

Till next time.... not tooo far away I hope!

ps... the elbow is on the mend... haven't taken any drugs for it for two days now... and can use it fairly painfree now too. Must just watch what I do though!

Christmas quiz

I've read this on a few blogs and thought.. why the heck not do my own list too... So here's my answers about some Christmas things:

WRAPPING PAPER OR GIFT BAGS?
Wrapping paper.... I tend to recycle paper too so it might even be a bit wrinkled. If I have a bag to fit the gift then I will use one.

REAL TREE OR ARTIFICIAL?
Artificial.... I like a big tree and it's much easier just to pull it out the cupboard.

WHEN DO YOU PUT UP THE TREE?
Usually around the 16th.... once I stop work and Aaron is home from my parents.

WHEN DO YOU TAKE THE TREE DOWN?
As soon afer New Year as possible... usually the 2nd. By then I'm tired of telling Aaron to leave it alone!

FAVORITE GIFT RECEIVED AS A CHILD?
Can't remember too many but I reckon it would be my first camera I got at age 12

HARDEST PERSON TO BUY FOR?
My hubby... can never decide what to get him

EASIEST PERSON TO BUY FOR?
Me.... hehehe. You know... "For Me, From Me" type gifts

DO YOU HAVE A NATIVITY SCENE?
Yes.... in fact I have more than one. I love them and keep making them. Made a quilling one the year Aaron was born. Have a few from when I was in school and this year even Aaron made one.

MAIL OR EMAIL CHRISTMAS CARDS?
I love to receive them but am very bad at sending them out... so reckon it will be Email.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE?
The Polar Express.... also because I've watched it so many times.

HAVE YOU EVER RECYCLED A CHRISTMAS PRESENT?
Not that I know of

WHEN DO YOU START SHOPPING FOR CHRISTMAS?
After my birthday!

FAVORITE THING TO EAT AT CHRISTMAS?
Chocolate.... okay that's all year round. hehee. Guess it is gammon or mince pies.

LIGHTS ON THE TREE?
Yes.... We have one strand

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG?
Little Town of Bethlehem

TRAVEL AT CHRISTMAS OR STAY HOME?
Stay home. I much rather stay home and enjoy the Christmas magic than go way and leave it all behind.... am not one for lugging Christmas decorations on holiday!

CAN YOU NAME ALL OF SANTA'S REINDEER'S?
Yip.... Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, Dancer, Comet, Vixen, Dasher, Cupid and for good measure Rudolph

ANGEL ON THE TREE TOP OR A STAR?
Both.... hehehe... We end up with a choir of angels (with two new ones made by Aaron this year).

OPEN THE PRESENTS CHRISTMAS EVE OR MORNING?
In the morning.... Father Christmas doesn't come till after you've gone to bed so how can you open gifts the night before???? And usually it's after breakfast and church too!

MOST ANNOYING THING ABOUT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR?
Toooooooooooooo many people in the shopping malls.

FAVORITE ORNAMENT THEME OR COLOR?
My favourite ornament is my navity... I really love the meaning of Christmas and they take pride of place.

Colour... anything goes!

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR?
You know that song "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"? Well I'm wishing that for Aaron.... his front two are wiggling and we might be in luck!

Otherwise for me.... few good books to read would be lovely. (See my birthday wishlist!)


Right so now that I've done mine how about you doing yours and leaving a comment here to tell me all about it.

Christmas came early

I fetched the post yesterday on my way home and got a whole bunch of mail... including the following:

Birthday card and bracelet from my friend Helen in England. Just love it... thanks so much... and it's in my favourite colour... BLUE... hehehe.


Secret Santa Swop stuff from Jacqui.... thanks sooooooooo much


Christmas Swop stuff from Sophia... thanks too. Only one word of advice... Ferrero Rocher do not post well!! They got rather squashed so I just had to eat them straight away.... yum!


And then there were lots and lots of Christmas cards too and also my badge from Lara.. Thanks.


So yip it might still be early days but Christmas is definately on it's way.

And just a ps in passing... my elbow is doing MUCH better today... I can actually type properly again. Still have it straped up but am feeling back to normal.

News from the week past...

EDITED TO INCLUDE PHOTOS

So slowly slowly I'll type this and tell you what happened in the past week.

Wednesday:
I arrived at work to find my office is still a mess of boxes and also that my desk is right UNDER the airconditioning vent. Well I protested and said they need to move my desk before I come back to work on Monday.

Took Aaron to the mall after school to exchange his Canadian Dollars but that's a whole 'nother story! Weren't succesful but we did manage to get a photo of him with Father Christmas.



Thursday:
Aaron had his prize giving at school. He made us sooooooooo proud. He got his certficate for "Positive attitude, Courage and overall progress".





We went to the Mall again and managed to get the dollars exchanged and then it was off to the toy shop to spend it. Got two birthday presents (one for the afternoon's party) and Aaron got a "Magic Cargo Car" for his Thomas set. Very chuffed with it.

In the afternoon we went to a classmates birthday party.... the kids had lots of fun.... trampoline, pizza, face painting, computer games, ice cream.... and more!!!

And to round out our busy day, Aaron and I went to Northgate Ice Rink to watch The Elves and the Shoemaker". Two of the performers are friends from Sunday School. The production was very cute.... well skated with a few wobbles here and there, but overall very well presented.

Friday:
Last day of school and last day of Grade 1... boy but our first day seems so far away now!!!

Aaron had a good last day... all TWO hours of it.... yip school closed at 10am!!!! So I never went to work... what was the point?!

Aaron's best friend for this year, Nischol, bought him a belated birthday present... almost more of an early Christmas one. So along with the end of term we also had the excitement of him getting a new present. Aaron couldn't wait to open it so he just had to do it at school.... and promptly climbed all over Nischol to give him a hug thankyou.... why??? Well can't you guess??? Yip Nischol got Aaron a TRAIN!!!!


So once home from school we unpacked it... then off to the shop quickly to buy batteries and the home to play for the rest of the day.... my little guy was happy.... Choo Choo All Aboard!!!


Saturday:
Wash day in our house.... I spent all morning washing and once the last load was up at 2pm decided to do some work on my pc.... next thing I know is that it's thundering and beginning to rain. Well I dash downstairs and out the door to rescue my washing... and that must have been when it happened.... hurting my elbow. I actually only noticed it much much later (after supper!). We had a huge downpour with lots of lightning, so instead of updating my blog on the weekend I just sat and read!!! Did't even scrap :(

Sunday:
Keith and I took turns going to church.... him to the first service and me to the later one. He took Aaron to the gym to swim. My folks came over for lunch.... which we started eating on the patio but ended up inside due to another highveld thunder and lightning storm!!! And through the whole day my elbow got more and more sore and I could use my arm less and less!!

Packed Aaron's clothes, toys, bike, books and off he went with Poppa & Granny for the new week. I sat and read my book and went to bed early... in pain!!

Monday:
Popped into Dischem to get some more voltaren gel and a support bandage for me elbow before heading off to work.... sure hope my office is sorted!!! And guess what..... yip... when I arrived there were STILL boxes in my office... my desk had been moved but that was it. So now with the help of one of the guys I got the boxes moved and some unpacked and put my office in order. Feel much better about it now!

Headed off to the doc too after work and he diagnosed "acute tennis elbow". Got some anti-imflammatories and pain pills and am now drugged and strapped up to rest my arm.... once the drugs kicked in I definately felt better!

Aaron phoned me at 6pm to find out how I was. He had had a good day, playing in Poppa's train room. They had also had a walk (bicycle ride?) around the block before lunch.

Tuesday:
Had a much better night sleep and my arm is not nearly so sore.... will just keep it strapped for the week and rest it so that I don't have to go the surgery route.... not a nice thought!!

Today Aaron is going to my folk's old minister's house for a playdate... Aaron is just as much a part of my parents' church as he is here.... so has friends all over.

Right this took me forever to type up.... hope there are no major errors... now off to do the pics... will upload soon (I hope!)

Ouch is me....

I'm sure you've been wondering where I've been.... well wonder no more... I'll give you the ins and outs right now.

But to start I need to tell you that this is being type with ONE hand... my left.... not very fast mind you. And why???? Well I've hurt my right elbow.... called "acute tennis elbow". And how???? Well in my rush to get the washing off the line on Saturday aftyernoon before the rain came down, I think I must have wrenched it. So ouch ouch it's sore, inflammed and I can't use my arm.

So slowly slowly I'll type up my news but post it a bit later. I'm not ignoring my blog friends..., I'm just a bit tied up at the moment ... hehehe

Mom's letter to Santa

Found this at http://childfun.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=197 and thought it too good not to share....

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother", because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

And please don't forget the Playdoh Travel Pak, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the In-law's house seem just like mine.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours always.....Mom

PS: One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

In the sky tonight

A very amaturish photo I know but this is sort of what we saw in the sky tonight... the moon with Venus on the left and Jupiter on the right. WOW isn't God awesome in His creation?!

My Dad had phoned me about this yesterday saying he had seen it on Saturday already... missed that... and last night there were tooooooooooo many clouds... so tonight was the night!

Found this link with a bit more info.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27958792/ but I'm now confused as to which "star" is which on my pic.... Venus is the brighter one and that was definately the one on the left!!!! Maybe what is said in this article is for the northern hemisphere and we are "upside down" here in the south!

Weekend roundup

This past weekend was BUSY.... enjoyably so though. By the end of if I didn't totally fall into bed exhausted... but rather thankful that it was over.... except for the fact that the week ahead is just as hectic.... why must this time of year always be sooooooooooooooooooooooo BUSY!!!!!

So to let you in on the happenings, here goes:

Friday night was Aaron's school's Praise Evening.... this is one awesome way to end off a year.... songs of praise to our Lord and giving HIM all the glory for a year well done. The even started off with the Grade O nativity play.... tooo sweet and it even had the Grade 1s sitting on the edge of their seats enthralled. Each grade (or group of grades) sang some songs too.... pics below show the Grade 0s, the Grade 1s and the Grade 4s. The Grade 1s did "If I were a butterfly" and "This little light of mine"... Aaron even did all the actions... made Mommy feel VERY proud.

On Saturday it was normal wash day routing for the morning and then the afternoon we spent at Kiara's 6th birthday party. Her mom always picks the most stunning venues but they are usually out in the sticks!!!!

This pic shows the three friends from Tiggers Play Group many many years back... Aaron is the oldest at 7 and the shortest! Sebastian (in the middle) will be 7 in March and then Kiara who's party it was.. the tallest! Such fun seeing these kids grow up together.... lets hope we can keep the friendships going for many years to come.

We got home from the party around 5:30 and within minutes Keith got back too and..... wait for it..... presented me with a bunch of roses..... so sweet.... Thanks hubby! Well I put them in with my flowers that I got for my birthday... yip still going strong a week after the event!


And then even MORE excitement for a Saturday..... Aaron had a shower.... HIS FIRST EVER!!! And I just had to take pics to scrap (and blog!)


So all in all a good Saturday. Sunday was spent at church.... we had our service in the morning as per usual and then we also had a congregational lunch to welcome our new minister... such a fun day and something that I think should definately be repeated more often.

We got back home at 2:30 and while Aaron played trains on the pc upstairs again, I did the ironing and then vegged on the couch reading..... even managed to have 40 winks! I ended my weekend by watching Ocean's Twelve on tv till after 11pm.... worth it.

And then it was on to the new week.... started with the alarm going off at 5:30.... ouch....but only 4 more mornings of that as school (and Grade 1) finish on Friday!!!!

I met with the school prayer group this morning.... we have met and prayed for our school each Monday of the school year.... and we had a breakfast together.... lovely start to the day.... then it was off to our new offices in Bryanston.... yip work has moved.... I had two days off last week while they did it.... and boy am I glad!!!! The chaos that I found on arrival at the office just told me how badly things went.... we had been told that the movers were packing us up on THursday and moving in on Friday and unpacking so that when we arrived today we could start working.... yeah right!!! There were boxes EVERYWHERE.... furniture in all the wrong places and not even assembled.... I couldn't even get into my office..... hopefully by tomorrow there will be a bit more semblance of order.

The rest of my week is also pretty hectic..... seeing my brother tomorrow, have my last bible study of the year on Wednesday evening and then Aaron's got prize giving on Thursday morning and Friday is his last day of Grade 1..... where has this year gone?

Phew but I have rambled haven't I.... hehehe.... well hopefully my next post is shorter.

new in blog land

Look who just joined us in the land of BLOG.... CANDIC GREEWAY. Go visit her at candicegreenway.blogspot.com and give your support.