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....

What's Up?

My word where has the year gone?

My youngest has just finished his last year at a PHENOMENAL pre-primary called The Humpty Dumpty Squad, and is more than ready for next year. In fact, he is rather upset as the other two still have one week of school (ending this Friday) and he has to sit at home by himself (oh shame, gets to watch HIS dvd's and play Xbox whenever he wants!!!) Poor lamb! He had his Nativity play on the 20th November and starred as Joseph and his best girl friend, Eden, starred as Mary. A gorgeous couple!! Lucky he has me as his mom as his singing was the loudest and his speaking role was loud and clear!!! Our proudest moment as parents came when he was handed a piece of paper, which he then read. It wasn’t just a sentence or two, it was a LOT!!! Took about two minutes, which in 5-year-old reading terms is a long time. The comments from other parents were enough to make us burst with pride, in fact, HRH & I shed a tear or two. They couldn’t believe he could read so beautifully and that all their kids could speak Afrikaans and Zulu (2 of our 11 official languages!!)

The next day was my eldest’s 10th birthday. We woke him up bright and early, as we do on a birthday, with singing and gifts. He was given a Bionicle, which is a Lego monster/robot thingie, a book on the Universe and how it was created, all the stars and planets, very interesting. And then the Lara Croft Tomb Raider Xbox game, (have to wonder in retrospect if that was for Sam or HRH???). He was also given a book on science experiments from a friend and has used up a fair amount of eggs and vinegar trying to make it bounce????? It’s hard to believe that “just the other day” he was this tiny little thing staring back at me as we greeted each other for the first time. He’s very excited as he’s already up to my nose in height. Should he continue at his current growth rate, he should be taller than me in all of two years time!!! Granted I’m not the tallest person around but hey… he’ll only be 12!!!! Yesterday they had the Grade 4 & 5 Prize Giving and Sam’s best friend, Zane Ford, received an award for the Most Generous and Kindest Boy in Grade 4. How awesome is that!!! Sam was very proud of his friend.

Then there’s the Princess… She’s just the same. Life passes by and she flits through it like a butterfly with not a care in the world. She was cast as an ELEPHANT (!) in her nativity play. Mom was horrified to say the least! But Sydney was not fazed. I got her all made up with silver glitter, very blingalicious! And she plodded onto stage with the rest of Grade 1 & 2 and did her thing. Sang and danced to her little hearts content. Oblivious to the 500 odd audience! Where does an elephant fit into the nativity you ask… as there were 297 pupils to accommodate, they did the whole creation thing (moon, stars, earth and ANIMALS) just before getting into the Nativity itself. Today she has her class pool party and is leaping with excitement. By the time I got home at 5:45, she’d had breakfast, was dressed, hair done, teeth brushed and bag packed!!!! I think we adults really ought to take a page out of a child’s book and get more joy for the simpler things in life.

In keeping with that, you should see them Christmas Eve!!!! Oh my word!!!! Father Christmas has a very hard time getting down the chimney as they take FOREVER to fall asleep. They’ve written their letters to him and requested all kinds of things, Sebastian has only one request… an Optimus Prime toy! They are R850!!!! For a toy truck!!! Sure it can transform but for that price it better make the bed and cook too!!!

Tomorrow night is our Christmas Party and we’re off to the Heritage Theatre. It’s similar to Barnyard with a show and food and the show is Party Time! YEAH!!!! Really looking forward to it. Planning on shaking what my mamma gave me!!! 

On Saturday passed a few of the ladies I work with went to Leanne’s (work with her too) house for a Christmas luncheon and let our hair down. It was such fun; even though the weather didn’t play the game we still jacuzzied!!! Want to get me one of those!!! All in all we had such fun, laughed til our sides hurt, threw our names away and laughed some more!

On a very much sadder note, on Monday 7th December at around 1:45, our beloved dog, Harley Davidson Fat Boy, passed on to the great gig in the sky. He would have been 16 next month and while people think “he’s just a dog”, Quin & I bought him when he was only 4 weeks old. He was our first dog together and for the first 6 years, our child. He was a devoted animal, protected me many a time, provided hours of laughter with his “singing” and although not a purebred staffie, had the heart of a lion. Return in Peace my boy. I will always remember you with great love and fond memories.

TraceAngel

I have some of the most incredible and incredibly talented friends. Vanessa Davies designed the TraceAngel logo my blog is now sporting. She has her own Design company along with a WHOLE bunch of other stuff. I admire her creativity, energy, enthusiasm and humour (especially when she accidentally sends Red Bull to school with her daughter!!!)

To all my friends, (and I'm blessed to have MANY) Thanks for putting up with my ramblings, rants, moods, nuttiness, hysterics and tears. You are wonderful. MWAH XXXXX

Assisted Suicide??

There comes a time in one’s life when murder seems justified! Today was my turn and anyone living in the current South Africa will relate.

Today I had the “pleasure” of phoning Ethekwini Municipality. All I need is my water to be reconnected. I make the call…. Listen to their garble and select the correct division…. Then listen to Michael Buble, after a while I think to myself, this is a nice album, perhaps I should buy it… after all I have just reviewed 28 minutes of it… oh hang on… a person…. Right… I state my position, account number, ID, address, DNA, etc., and get told that she can’t help me today unless I send her a fax. I can’t as HRH has relevant doc with him at his faxless work, and she hasn’t the authority to tie up the reference number I give her to the payment … she puts me on hold. Another 17 minutes of scintillating Michael Buble, can’t help but rethink my intended album purchase, and I’m back at the same lady. She can’t help me today. Click, boooooop, boooooop, boooooop, she just hung up on me! I can’t help but get a wee bit angry. I phone back (perhaps this was a HUGE fault on my side) Yay… more Michael Buble, he’s sounding less and less appealing. Wow, talk about speedy service… only had to wait 16 minutes this time. Hey, new chick. Try this again, account number, ID, address, etc., sorry Ma’am, unless you can fax payment through I can’t help you today. You’ll have to phone again tomorrow. Click… boooooop boooooop, boooooop. WHAT!!!!! I phone HRH, FREAK OUT; he calmly does his thing and hangs up. Anyway, after that rant, I feel our local municipality requires a swift kick in the jacksie! Looks like I’m showering at gym again! Swines!!!!

Oh…. And yesterday was a murderously HOT day, my brother recorded 41 at his work in Umhlanga Rocks Drive, Durban, so around 4, in truly awesome SA style, a storm brewed. We had the wind, the clouds and not a single drop of rain. Did I mention the wind???? So our storm turned into a dust storm but it also blew the electricity in Waterfall 1, 2 & 3, Crestholme and Forest Hills from around 5:30 to sometime early this morning. Villa Verster had no electricity, no water and not even a candle!!! I had to drive to the local supermarket just to get a packet of candles and a box of matches. Aaaargh!!

This morning I arrive at work and, as I do every day, look for my make up bag to adjourn to the bathroom to make acceptable, and discover that my makeup bag is gone. I search my desk & surrounds, my car, phone home, no joy. Oh cr@p, the kids have paper recycling day today and suddenly I have this vague recollection of throwing my bag into the box with all the paper which was then tipped into packets and taken to school. So I phone the school office, state my dilemma, wait… is that sniggering I hear…. Yip, the distinct sound of muffled laughter… they phone back, nope, not in Sam’s bag, transfer me to Junior Primary, state my dilemma, listen to muffled, actually this time it’s not muffled, it’s just openly out there… Loud!!! She buzzes Sydney’s class, states my dilemma, now the whole class chuckles, and after a brief search, no luck! So now I’ve spent my day makeup-less!

In a few minutes I’m going to be heading home, doing my momly duties, loading this blog and soaking in a hot bath with a nice glass of red… haha, spot the not!!!!

“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink”

PS... am home, had 2 glasses of my weakness, kids are sleeping and I'm ready for the chick-flick!!! All better... :-)

Teachers know best???

There are times when parents simply cannot contain themselves. Recently HRH and I had the pleasure of experiencing such immense pride that I truly felt I could burst. Allow me to waffle….

In 2007 we were called into Sam’s Grade 2 Teacher’s office for “a meeting”. She has an Honours degree in teaching so clearly she must know what she’s talking about, right??? Anyway, she said that sam was a dreamer and battled to focus in class and although he’s a bright little boy (duh) he really ought to have an Educational Assessment as she thinks he may be a little ADHD! HRH & I despise labels, ESPECIALLY negative ones towards our offspring. So as all parents do, we lug Sam off to a wonderful Educational Psychologist for his assessment.

Now the bragging starts…. At age 8 (well 2 day’s before his 8th birthday) Sam had a mathematical mind equivalent to that of a 14 year old. His chart was off the wall!!! His lowest score (on the graph thingie) was just above average. All the rest were teetering between way above average and top 2 percentile. So… does this mean he’s ADHD? NO!!!! It mean’s the kid understands his concepts very quickly and bores extremely easily. (HRH mentioned this to his teacher who politely scoffed). Next thing Sam is invited to join the “Discovery Club” which is by invitation only and for very select few in the Junior Primary.

Then at the beginning of the fourth term last year HRH were called in again, (oh crap, now what). New plan… The school is going to try a new type of academic learning from 2009 called the LEAP Unit, which is for a group of 15 very gifted children ranging from Grade 4 to Grade 6 (see www.theleapspot.org.za/node/3 for more information). The kids have to still to do the government regulatory curriculum, write all the same tests etc but then they also do a whole lot of “extra stuff”. Right, so now HRH & I are interviewed and informed that Sam’s amongst the Top 45 of (not just Hillcrest Primary) but all the schools in the surrounding area. WOW!!!! Sadly, came crunch time, he didn’t make it. Fortunately Sam’s quite a happy-go-lucky boy so he wasn’t too fazed.

Three weeks ago, written in red writing in Sam’s homework notebook is a letter to HRH & I asking that we meet with his class teacher. Poor Sam was dragged over the coals. I kept questioning him as to why she wanted to see us!!! Big day arrives and it’s to inform us that a place has become available in the LEAP Unit and Sam is first on the waiting list, are we interested??? Does a one legged duck swim in circles??? Of course we’re interested!!! Next step… meet with the principal who wasn’t available until last week Wednesday (19/08/09) So meeting day finally arrived and Sam (who was off sick with Tonsilitis) was accepted into LEAP. Tuesday morning he was called into the principal’s office where she congratulated him and then taken to his new class. Since then (all 4 days) he’s just flourished. He’s smiling all the time, can’t stop talking and the questions!!!! Oh my word, I feel so intellectually inadequate and this is just the beginning!!!

Round two…. I get a note in Sydney’s homework notebook that her teacher would like to meet with us. So off HRH and I go and what do we hear…. Madam has a concentration problem, is such a dreamer, can’t focus etc. (I hear a subtle label in there). Dear sweet teacher has recommended… an Educational Assessment! Oh my shattered nerves. Well, I’ve booked it for next week and let’s see.

Can’t wait for next year when little Sebastian starts Grade R! Dare I tell them he can already read, count to 10 and knows the days of the week in not only English, but Afrikaans and Zulu???

Other than that, work is going well. I’m loving my job, everyone is very friendly and sweet. We went to the Barnyard theatre on Wednesday night and watched LM radio which is from the early ‘70’s. Music was AWESOME, mood was festive and everyone partied long and hard. I really had a great time.

On the up side… I’ve lost 2.6kg’s this week. Just haven’t felt like eating so haven’t!!! Jane, Heather and I are doing a 5k fun-run on Sunday so looking forward to that. Oh… we never did the Spar Ladies 10k purely on the grounds of WAAAAAY too many people. We did, however, do the Forest Hills 10k, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I did it in around 1 ½ hours which is quite fine for me for now. Will challenge it next year.

Right… I think that’s sufficient for now. Thanks for reading through all my garb. The best thing about this time of year is walking outside in the morning and you get that sweet scent of Jasmine. Nothing compares.

I was hoping end off with some great lyric but all that comes to mind is something from Pink Floyd, “How, how I wish you were here. We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish-bowl, year after year” Profound? Me thinks not!