Pick 'n Mix

I have one follower... ONE!!!! You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Thanks Janie... My avid supporter!

Right... So much has happened (again)... Jane, Heather & I did the Forest Hills 10k. We finished, not quite the time I aimed to achieve, but then not training properly for the preceeding 4 weeks didn't help much. Next year... (if Heather doesn't kill me before hand.) Oh, and all we get this year was a wrist money pounch thingie and a packet of cereal! WHAT???? At least last year we got a t-shirt... I'm writing to the committee.... heheee.

Sydney and Miley (yay I won on the name) are inseperable. They sleep together, completely cuddled. It's too adorable. I get yelled at should I smack the puppy for piddling on the carpet. But she really is a cute little thing. Mojo's still not her biggest fan, maybe one day? It's been really really cold these last few nights so Sydney's idea of a doggy jersey is one of her old doll's jersey's! The funniest is that Miley didn't mind in the least! Perfect pair those two!

The kids are at home today. Another strike. This happened about 2 or 3 years ago. Very frustrating and I feel extremely sorry for the kids about to write their trials in 3 or so weeks time. I hope it's resolved soon. In the meantime, my offspring think this is early Christmas!!

I've finally relented... I've booked for Sydney to have her hair cut on the 28th August. This is big. I'm going to try keep it as long as possible, but layer it from the shoulders down. It's so long and SO thick, we argue every morning about brushing it and the result is almost always tears. Hers & mine.

Oh.... just realise I haven't spoken much about the boys. Got their reports two weeks ago - delayed from Term 2. Sebastian had an AWESOME report, excells in everything, (oBviously), I was so pleased at the teacher's comment that when he's finished all his work, he's found in the reading corner engrossed in a book. :-) Proud Mommy.
Sam also had an excellent report. Most his marks increased, the least amount being by 6% and the most, Life Orientation, was by a whopping 37%. I'm very very proud of my boy, just needs to brush up on his Afrikaans (dis pa se afdeling) and Zulu (eibo!) His aggregate improved by 12%. His teacher, the HOD and obviously HRH & I are so proud of him. CLEARLY moving out of LEAP was the right decision.

OOH, THE VERY BIG NEWS.... SamTraQ Motor World (very sadly) is no more. Quin closed doors on the 31 July. He then spent the next week or so bringing EVERYTHING home. Neither he nor I imagined there was THAT MUCH STUFF!!! The double garage - FULL, the kitchen - FULL, the bar area - FULL, the tiny office - FULL, the yard (front, sides & back) - FULL. Holey moley, it looks shocking, but I am pleased to report that as of last night the kids could eat breakfast at their table in the kitchen and we can walk in, through and around the garage. It is packed. Now for the rest of the place. HRH starts back at Wearcheck Africa on the 1st September, only 3 weeks away, so that's exciting. Can't believe it all happened over 4 months ago and now it's almost here. And there was the FIFA World Cup thrown in the middle. All seems a distant memory. (fade to curtain close.....)

Some things should be completed immediately....

Sunday 31 May 2010 was the 85th Comrades Marathon and as my work is situated in the centre of Hillcrest on the route, a few of us and our families decided to do something here, so we set up skottles and did a breakfast thing. (I arrived too late, of course) but we put our chairs on the centre island and watched, cheered and clapped as all the courageous runners came past. Some looked as if they’d just started running around the corner, others looked as if they’d ever make the finish but I was in awe of all of them. I’ve only just taken on the sport of jogging, and, (reluctantly) have to admit that I am thoroughly enjoying myself. If my old school bestie, Clair, had to see me now, she’d double over in hysterics! We mastered the art, in our last few years of high school, of feigning sever ailments to avoid ANY form of running, from the 100m to cross-country! We were PRO’s!!! I digress… I’ve recently begun running, about 5k’s 3 times a week and really enjoy it! *Gasp* My short term goal is to complete a 10k in July under 1 hour and with constant running (none of this sissy walking stuff!!!) BEAR IN MIND…. This is subject to change at management’s discretion and without notification… This morning I did my first NON-STOP 5k. I’m so proud of me!!!

Ah yes…. Winter…. On Sunday, at Comrades, we were standing in T-shirts and shorts, basking like lemmings in the sun. Even one of the commentators on TV mentioned (read bragged) that it’s the middle of winter and 25C in Durban… Well Monday came and someone let the Polar Bears out! It was 22 indoors, which may not sound cold, but with the wind howling, it made a HUGE difference.

My dear husband, hrh, is not well. He had man-flu which become real flu and he’s grumpier than a bear with a sore head. Last night was Sam’s Speech & Drama Festival, which is each class in Grade 4 & 5 get to do a small something on stage for about 8 minutes. Turns out this can end up being 1 ½ hours in total and with hrh being man down we decided that we’d stay for Sam to do his thing and then go. LUCKILY for us, his class was first. My dear friend Heather, who’s ALWAYS there for me no matter what, brought Sam home after. Sam was such a super star! Their play was lovely and I took more photo’s than necessary. Sydney had her festival a few weeks ago when it was a LOT warmer and she grinned like a little Cheshire throughout. Such a shy little nunu!!! 

On Monday hrh spent the day at home with his flu and when Sebastian came home he proudly grinned at daddy revealing a beautiful gap! His first tooth came out at school that morning. Today was school photo’s so I can’t wait to see the gappy grin, and for the first time the school is doing sibling sets so all three of mine are going to be in a photo! Yay!!!!

Two weeks ago, Grade 5 climbed onto 3 buses and headed off down the south coast to Sweetdale Camp for two nights *sniff* He came home battered and bruised, filthy and exhausted.

When I started typing this is was probably close on a month ago.... sorry.

But the upside is... more news.

Sebastian lost ANOTHER tooth, so now has both his bottom teeth missing! very very cute. Sydney and I had pink eye 3 weeks ago and spent most the week in bed watching chick flicks.
On Tuesday I scrolled through the gumtree classifieds, puppy section and saw jack russell pups for sale, so phoned hrh who then went to see. Awwww, he chose the runt who's a very very tiny little thing. She's Sydney's early birthday present, and she & Sydney are inseperable. They're very cute together. Sydney wants to name her Britney, I'm hoping to still persuade her into something more like Miley or Sophie.

And tonight... Quin's made Oxtail Potjie, and Dino's joining us.

So until I write again, fear not... rather just Wave Your Flag....

Get the popcorn... this is a biggie....

Ok so it’s been more than quite a while since I updated. Sorry. Pure lack of words and enthusiasm! But I think they’ve returned!!!

I’ll start from January-ish… The kids started their new year at school. Sam is in Grade 5 and still in LEAP, which we’re now having our doubts as to whether or not it’s the best thing for him. It’s very laid back and relaxed which worries us as Sam seems to just go with the flow. He thrives far better in a more structured routine. LEAP seems so allow the kids a greater freedom of themselves. Hmmm… !!! We’re in the process of seeing if we can get him back into Mainstream. Not so easy it seems but will keep you posted (hopefully not in 3 months time!!) Sydney has slotted into Grade 2 with an AWESOME teacher. She’s a mom (yay!) and has a wonderful system of rewarding the kids for all things they do, no matter how small. They also have a class guinea pig which goes to one of the pupils homes on a weekend. Our turn is next weekend and I’m hoping Gaby (the guinea-pig) will be ok. She’s loving being a big girl and no longer one of the littlies. In two weeks time is their gala and she’s very excited to show us how well she’s doing. Of course HRH and I will be there dressed in purple (their house colour) to rah rah her on. Sebastian has joined the fold in Grade R and LOVES being on the same campus as his brother and sister. Again, we’re concerned that he may be bored, as he’s also one of those “go with the flow” kind of kids and won’t say whether he’s bored or not. I’m hoping that after he read (yes at age 5) the class an entire book on the letter L, they may re-evaluate him and decide to move him up to Grade 1. I’m being one of “those” mums and trying my hardest to make sure he’s not just one of the many in the system. I like the fact that two of the kids in his class are children of teachers at the school so they know who we are!!!! Sebastian LOVES reading. He sits with me nearly every night with Sydney’s Grade 2 readers and goes through like it’s second nature. There’s the odd word he battles with, naturally, but on the whole he really does very well.

FEBRUARY: On the 5th was HRH 41st birthday. He’d been hinting for a while as to what gifts he wanted, so on the morning when opening his gifts from us, I couldn’t help but notice the ever so slight disappointment that he didn’t get the hinted 1 terrabyte external harddrive!!! Wait… the plot thickens…. That afternoon I phoned him and requested that he PLEASE be home early as I really wanted to make a nice dinner for him with the kids. By 7pm he still wasn’t home. I was stressed to my limit and feeling ever so slightly annoyed. He arrived around 7:15 but parked in the road, so I knew he was on his way out again! Grrr… anyway, he said that he was just delivering the neighbours’ car, then dropping off his one staff member, Clint, then would be back. I stressed to him that he needed to PLEASE HURRY UP as the kids were very hungry… As he drove off, I heard a tooting at the gate, I rushed out to tell the driver of the rent a car to circle the block as Quinton would be back any second, at which point he then drove back down the road. The driver reversed, ducked his head and wheel spun off down the road. HRH drove in, glared at me demanding to know who that was to which I replied, just some lost drunk! He was not convinced!!! As he parked his car (which by the way is a BRIGHT orange Land Rover Disco V8) the rent a car came back doing a hand brake turn into the driveway. HRH was now livid, deciding that this “oke” was looking for trouble and he was about to give him a smack!!! (Testosterone reigns supreme!) As he stormed up the drive to the rent a car at a furious pace, I backed off (mainly to hide my MASSIVE grin). He pulled open the driver’s door to which the occupant said a very cheery “Howzit Bru”. I’ve NEVER, in all 17 years, seen Quinton so dumbstruck as he stood there staring at his grinning brother. I’d like to mention at this point that Quinton’s brother, Martin, lives in London, UK. He and his wife, Nikki, were last out here in January 2009 (when we surprised Quinton too!) The boys just hugged and grinned for ages. It was a really beautiful moment, (well quite a few moments…) Martin, Nikki and I had been planning this since October last year, so to keep the secret from him was incredibly difficult. It’s amazing how easy it could have been to slip up at any moment, especially in the last few days as the excitement grew and grew and grew!!! This also explains why on the Thursday night before Quin’s birthday, I “volunteered” to go out with work and only get home around 10:30pm, was just easier than having to sit with him for an entire evening and not screwing up!!! So… Martin was now here and on Saturday afternoon/evening we’d planned a massive party for Quin. We invited all our nearest and dearest friends for a Mongolian braai, which every one hugely enjoyed. A special mention must be made to Julian and Charmaine who flew up to Durban from Cape Town especially for the party. I cannot thank them enough for their presence. (Well, I did have to down a Black Sambuca! Yeuch!!! Haven’t had a drink in around 15 years so it was truly disgusting!) Nikki arrived the following Friday and they spent most of their time between family and friends. We ate, drank and were very merry!!! On Sunday before they flew back they treated us (HRH, the kids and I) to a day at uShaka Marine World Wet ‘n Wild. Again Sebastian wowed us by declaring that he was going down one of the big slides by himself. This is the kid who hates water in his face. Sadly we had to say goodbye to them as they flew off into the sunset… Ps… the 1 terrabyte harddrive came with the “package” from London!!! HRH is smiling!

The rest of February just seemed to blur on. March 1st was Sebastian’s SIXTH birthday. SIX!!! My baby is Six!!! Quin found the most amazing toy at Checkers (of all places) which was only R200. He’s called RoboRaptor and is a remote controlled T-Rex, but not just that… he has infra-red and sensors (read techno-babble). Can walk around by himself and won’t crash into anything. He has 3 moods, cautious, hunting and playful. I googled him… he normally costs around R2000 so we’re loving the fact that he was at such a good price. Finally last night, after 24hours of charging the batteries, he came to life. He is the sweetest thing ever!!! Played with Sebastian, waggled his tail, “attacked” my toe. Very very sweet. This morning when I dropped Sebastian off, he realized that he hadn’t switched Rudy (his new name) off. So I phoned HRH who responded that yes, we had indeed left him on and while he was sitting on his throne, he heard this noise in the lounge. Upon investigation he saw that Rudy was exploring his new territory. Rudy does this when left on but unplayed with for 10 minutes. He’ll automatically explore and check out what’s what! That alone was well worth the R200!!!

Today is the Party! HRH has a yoga course on this morning from 9-2, party starts at 2… this means I’m preparing on my own… what have I done??? I’m excited that my sister and hubby and their boys are coming up and bringing Granny with… I haven’t told the kids as they’ll lose their mind. They love their cousins so much. Anyway, so best I get cracking as before I realize it I’ll have 15+ little ones running around the garden on sugar highs… What have I done???? 

Right… so now we’re updated… I trust you’ve enjoyed this and I will write something noteworthy again soon.

I've gotta feeling.... that today's gonna be a great day....