What a weekend...

The weekend has come and gone and I can't believe it's already Monday!  We are all exhausted, but thoroughly enjoyed our weekend celebrations for my dad's 60th this coming Wednesday.  It all started on Friday, with the arrival of our extended family from Jo'burg.  On Friday evening, we all went down for pizzas and sun downers at The Blue Peter.  It's one of our favourite summer spots on the beach and the kids love running around, while we lazily watch the sunset.

Jake spent Friday afternoon with his Granny Karen and had already been to the beach, where he'd collected a smelly, living prawn in a paper cup.  Needless to say, I wasn't going to let it die slowly at home and he was quite happy to pop it back into the sea down at the beach.  The weather was very windy on Friday, a sure sign that summer is on its way - finally!  We were quite sheltered at the B.P. until well after sunset, it was a lovely evening to start off a great weekend...

After releasing his prawn, we noticed some action a little further down the beach front and went to have a look.  There were fishermen pulling in their nets, which was very exciting for a little guy who is so mad about fishing...

 Jake ran ahead, to be sure he didn't miss out on anything (that's him with the black top slipping off his shoulders)...

 Jake wasted no time helping the fishermen haul in their load.  Never mind that we were on our way out!  By the end of it all, his socks, shoes & pants were soaked, but he was so happy...

 Wriggling fish and busy fishermen...

 Jake working hard...

 Shiney fish for dinner!  Jake was super disappointed that he wasn't allowed to take any home...

On Friday, Jake brought home his various works of art from school.  You may remember this one from the school open day.  Jake is very proud of it (as am I) and insisted on giving it to my dad as a special gift for his birthday...

 Early on Saturday, we were at my mom & dad's to help them get sorted for the party on Saturday night.  The tent went up on Friday and our house was transformed into something very colourfully Bohemian ...

 Tables were decorated...

And little comfy chill out spots created...

 After the very iffy weather we've been having, Saturday turned out to be a scorching 30 deg, it was perfect and the kids took advantage of having a pre-party swim...

 My dad's family travelled down from Johannesburg to be with him for this special milestone birthday.  They wanted to give him his gift early.  As part of my dad's speech, he chatted about his leukemia and treatment thereof.  My dad loves his music and at the time, he said "All I Need is a Miracle", my uncle turned out to be just that and it's thanks to this wonderful man that my dad is here to celebrate his 60th...

   Their gift was an iPod, something my dad's spoken about getting, but never actually bought for himself.  Very special...

 Taking photos in the tent proved a little tricky for me.  The lighting was red and the background lighting blue.  Even if I had it, I don't even think I'd know how to correct everything that's wrong with Photoshop.  That said, the lights, the candles and tent gave so much atmosphere, it was really fantastic...

 This is my mom (middle) with her brother and sister.  Mom's the baby...

 Dad couldn't be left out...

 A good family friend, Nor, with Rosanne...

 The food was delicious.  We all did a little bit to help out, so that the work wasn't all left up to mom.  Jake and I made the fruit platters and some pudding (peppermint crisp caramel tart), Jo did fillet and a cheese board and Rose did chicken and crumbed prawn platters.  There was tons left over, but we finished most of them yesterday, I feel like a little round ball at the moment...

 Jake had tons of fun with my cousin's kids, also here from Jo'burg.  Aiden is 10 and Emma is 7, such beautiful kids...

 Connor also came, but wasn't feeling too well.  He had a bit of a fever and was a bit overwhelmed by all the people.  He wasn't that keen on having his picture taken, so I had to sneak one of him hiding behind Jake here.  He looked so grown up...

 We had a little bar set up in the backyard, so thirsty guests gathered there.  The girl in the pretty pink dress is my other sister, Sammy.  Non-biological, but sister none-the-less...

 More orange people...

  There's Danie!  He was hiding from me.  Chatting to my gorgeous sister and her wonderful husband...

 Another view across the garden.  Not so orange this time...

  Connor getting a cuddle from his pretty mommy...

 A family friend, who always makes Jake's birthday cake for me, made a surprise cake for my dad, using an old photo of him and my mom.  I think this was an engagement photo, so they were probably about 21/22 years old.  MY dad was a hippie...

 After everyone got stuck into the meal, it was time for a speech.  My dad loves making a speech and this one was particularly long, but also funny and we all enjoyed it.  Mom was up there to help with the reading, but my dad managed well on his own...

 Jake was in charge of lighting the candles on the cake.  This is him threatening to do it all through the speech...

 Dad surprised us by doing a little solo after his speech.  It was unexpected and quite out of character for him.  He did "I feel it in my Fingers" and did well...

 Singing happy birthday...

 My cousin from jhb, Glenn, and his youngest daughter, Julia...

 Connor thought nobody was watching him when he stuck his fingers into the icing on the birthday cake.  He'd made quite a dent by the time I managed to find a knife.  You're only young once...

 Jake and I...

 Me with the very special birthday boy...

 Jake loves to dance with me.  We're banging chests here.  You can't do that when you have a big chest...

  I can still pick him up, he's still my baby!  That's probably one of the reasons why I couldn't get out of the chair by the end of the evening...

 Like the rest of us have book clubs and dinner clubs, my dad belongs to a music club.  It's something that he's started up in recent times, but seems to really enjoy.  These are the guys...

 Having TEQUILA!!!

 A post-tequila shot.  My dad will die when he sees this one up on my blog, but I think it's hysterical.  Too funny not to share with all of you...

 At the end of the night, with just a few last guests enjoying the music...

 Jake snapped this pic of Danie and I, laaaate in the evening...

 We took a whole series of 1-handed photos of us pulling silly faces that I won't share here.  It was hysterical...

OK, maybe 1 - did you know that I can lick the tip of my nose??  What a bunch of chops we are...

 Oh and this one... This is a serious shot...

 Jake can keep going (this is an angry face)...

 Dork...

 The muso's decided to play a few hits.  I'm not sure whether they succeeded in chasing the last few guests away, or whether it was just really late.  We left shortly after they started up though, it was nearly 1am by the time Jake got to bed...

All in all, it was a very successful evening and we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  Although not as much as the birthday boy!  He was surrounded by people he loves and who love him and he has the most amazing gifts to remember his special birthday by.  Thanks to everyone who was there and who helped celebrate with us, you are all so special and we love you so much! 

Sue XXX

Straight from the heart...

 In no uncertain terms, Jake knows the way to my heart.  He knows how to soften me up when he's in trouble and he knows how to make me feel better when I'm sad.  He is so sensitive to me.  He is precious beyond all understanding (those of you with kids of your own will know what I mean) and I would do anything for him.

He loves sleeping in my bed with me and we have it that on Sunday nights, I go to bed with him (at 7pm).  We read stories and then he rolls over and goes to sleep and I carry on reading.  I love my early night with him.  Sometimes, he manages to get it right that he's allowed to sleep in my bed on Wednesday nights too.  He always thinks it's such a big treat, but it's as much of a treat for him as it is for me.  Last night, after story time and while he was supposed to be going to sleep, I walked in to find him making the hearts on my side of the sheets.  He can have anything he wants today, my heart has melted into gooey chocolate.

On a sombre note, today would've been Jacques' 34th birthday.  It's still such a surreal thought that he's not here to celebrate it with us and we are all remembering happy times gone by.  I was chatting to my sister (Jo) earlier and we were having a bit of a giggle, wondering how grey Jacques would've been by now.  How many wrinkles he would've had.  Whether his belly would've grown.  I know how much my body has changed and how many wrinkles I now have! Where would we be; what path would we have followed?  Anyway, like all these tough days, today will pass and I am already looking forward to snuggling into my bed and leaving this day behind me for another year.  Funny how life can be so happy in between and then days like today surprise you and leave you feeling so drained.

Sending lots of love and thoughts to my entire family, I know this is a difficult day for everyone, especially Jacques' folks.  And to Danie who puts up with all my nonsence: thank you all for loving me so unconditionally.

Sue X

All good intentions...

 I have been trying to be a bit better about keeping my camera handy so that I can take more photos and be better about blogging.  I had intentions and posts planned to do through the week gone by, but just haven't gotten there.  Anyway, before the pictures become outdated, I decided to share them here and promise to take more over the weekend, hopefully meaning you'll hear more from me sooner rather than later.

Spring is supposed to be here, but the weather is anything but. Today it is overcast and drizzly, not the ideal start to the weekend.  It's hard to believe that it's just a few weeks till summer's officially here and I just hope it warms up a bit more soon.  That said, the free water is good for the garden and it's nice to know that our dams are getting a little boost before the dry season starts.

One plus of summer time is watermelons.  Jake loves them and he was so excited when I came home with one recently, that he made me cut it open immediately, so that he could have some.  He could seriously have eaten the whole thing if I didn't stop him...

 Beautiful little Bianca continues to grow and learn.  She's such a happy, content little girl, with lots of squishy rolly bits.  Her and Connor are at my mom and dad during the week now, so we are lucky enough to see them almost daily.  This morning she was waving at Jake (possibly a first for her!) and she is trying her hardest to crawl.  She gets her feet under herself and her little bum goes into the air - it's just a matter of time!  She's a dream at nap time, she gets a little niggly, but never cries and she gets wrapped up and put down and that's it.  Total little angel...

 I was lucky enough to get a day off work this week.  Jake had a school outing to Kirstenbosch Gardens and I was picked to help with lifts.  The four kids who drove through with me were my group to take around and find various things with and it was nice to wander around, exploring with them.  Jake absolutely loves the gardens and I must make more of an effort to get him through there more often.  These pictures are from the African Sculpture Garden.  All sculptures are for sale...

 The kids each had to draw pictures of the things we found along the way.  There's Jake, Andisa and Angelina...

 Next stop was Cnl Bird's Bath, which overflows to a little stream with stepping stones.  This is the prettiest part of the garden, in my opinion and the kids loved getting out of the sun (it looked like it was going to pour with rain in the morning, but then cleared and we got a little sun burnt) and having a few moments to play in the water...

 Jake especially loves looking for tadpoles here and was very upset that he wasn't allowed to take any home with him.  The girls were happy to watch and squeal when the boys caught anything...

 My four little monsters.  Oh, these kids taught Jake the 'F-word' in the car on the way through.  Jake knew that there was an 'F-word', but he's never known what it is.  I was horrified, to say the very least, but have explained to Jake that he may NOT speak like that, that it's unacceptable and he seems to have taken the seriousness of it all very seriously.  For now...

 A pretty protea...

 Looking for crabs/tadpoles in the Otter Pond...

 Drawing pictures in the Fragrance Garden.  The kids are encouraged to pick leaves and rub them to release various scents...

 The outing ended off with us all sitting in the sun waiting for various groups to finish.  The kids ran around and ended up at the river (just beyond the bench - there were other moms there, watching), looking for tadpoles again...

 this is Jake's whole class at the end of the outing.  We probably should've taken the class photo at the beginning of the tour, they were all pretty grumpy and tired after the long walk in the hot sun...

 Other than that, we had this pretty little bloom open in our garden this week, so it was worthy of a photo.  I'm busy getting plans drawn up to do some landscaping in my garden, which is in an embarrassing state at the moment...

 More of the buds have opened and it does have a second little stem with a few buds on it too, so very exciting for us...

Even more exciting is that the little blossoms belong to this...

 Many of you will remember the story of Jake wanting a 'Penis' Fly Trap for Christmas when he was 3.  He did get one and it lasted quite a while, but this one was a birthday present from one of Jake's friends.  That means it's survived nearly 7 months in our house.  It's actually on our stoep and seems to be doing really well.  Perhaps that's because it's actually referred to by its correct name these days..

"When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses

them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, 

remember that someone has prayed for you!"

Enjoy your weekend!!

Much love,
Susan XXX

Halloween...

Halloween always comes as a bit of a non-event for us.  We have many family members and friends who celebrate to the extreme, but it wasn't a "holiday" we grew up celebrating and so I normally forget about it until it actually arrives.  Rosanne was the only one out of the 3 of us that ever went trick or treating and I think she was quite big already when she did go.  Obviously, though, there is much chatter about it at school, so Jake is very much aware of it.  And for him the celebration isn't about celebrating the unliving and evil, it's a celebration of getting a whole bunch of free sweets from people he knows.  He did put on a mask (it wasn't very scary) and a cape and I did take him to go knock on a few doors.  He is just so thrilled to have a bag full of treats for himself!

Another plus of there being a Halloween is that my aunt has a Halloween street braai for the kids.  it happened on Friday night and was as good as ever.  She normally does something for Easter/Christmas/Halloween and it's always a lovely evening.  We all bring our own meat, drinks and a salad and pull up braai's and chairs on the pavement.  Some of the kids dress up and they all bring their bikes.  A section of the street gets cordoned off so that the kids can ride in the road safely.  They play hide and seek and run around like mad things till late and just have some good old fashioned fun (see my post below).  Of course, these parties aren't just for the kids...

This is my mom (with the red nose) and her sister, my Auntie Christine...

My auntie chooses a few friends in the area, who she leaves sweets with so that the kids can go "trick or treating" (see, more adults than kids)...

 There's Connor (aka Corky) at the back in blue.  This was the first house they visited and Connor wasn't that keen until he realised that they were giving away free sweets...

 At the next house, he was right in front with Jake.  Oh and my mom and auntie are busy shouting trick or treat there.  Jake wasn't that keen to go to the braai, until I told him that the little witch next to him would be there...

 My mom loves it...

 This cute little witch is 10!  Cougar, I'm watching you.  I'm watching you...

Anyway, it was a good evening out and we all had fun.  We eventually got home and into bed at about 11pm, which meant Jake was an absolute ray of sunshine when he got up at 6:45am on Saturday morning.  As was I...

Sending lots of love,

Sue X