Snakes & snails & puppy dog's tails

Monday, August 18, 2008

Kristian & Wendy...

OK. Finally, here are some photos from Kristian & Wendy's gorgeous wedding. The wedding was held at Langverwagt (http://www.langverwagt.co.za/) this past Saturday afternoon at 4pm. Wendy looked gorgeous as ever and Kristian was every ounce the smitten groom. Lily was too cute and behaved like an angel. She almost stole the show! It was a wondeful ceremony and both bride and groom (along with most of their guests) were quite emotional. The venue was decorated with fairy lights and a long table stretched down the length of the hall. It was intimate and cosy. The speeches were great and the food was delicious!! Don't even let me get started on that divine chocolate cake! Weddings generally stress me out quite a bit and I normally find them quite emotional, but I really had such a great time on Saturday night. Far too much champagne, but it was tons of fun! Besides, you can't be good all the time...

Kristian & Steven waiting for Wendy to arrive...

Pia, Suzaan & Michelle...

The Groom and his beautiful bride...

Caroline...

The first kiss...

Princess Lily...

The view from the lawns where pre-dinner drinks were enjoyed...

Some of the girls: Anchen, Pia, Veronica, Wendy, Caroline & Suzaan...

Angel Amy...

Caroline & Anch...

The reception hall...

Steven & Veronica enjoying a night off...

My 2 dates for the evening. Gavin & Steven...

Anch & Michelle...

The girls again! Back row: Nicci, Veronica & Pia; Front row: me, Suzaan, Michelle & Anchen...

Thanks to Kristian, Wendy and your families for a wonderful evening. Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness. I'm so glad that I was there to share your special day with you!

Lots of love,

Sue xxx

Friday, August 15, 2008

Our garden...

Spring is on it's way and Jake and I have been spending a lot of time getting our veggie patch ready for the new season. We've spent hours weeding and preparing the soil - it's really quite a workout! Anyway, last week, we finally started planting our first seeds. Poor Jake was getting really bored with spending hours working and not actually seeing anything grow. We've bought a few stepping stones (we need to get more, I know) and rocks to mark off areas where we've planted our seeds. This week has seen lots of our little seeds beginning to sprout and Jake's feeling a lot more enthusiastic about the garden again. He just wants to be out there digging and planting, it's all I do at the moment. Today we've got nothing on until bed time and this morning I was asking Jake what he wanted to do when we get home. His favourite outing is to the aquarium in the waterfront and I suggested going for a pizza afterwards - believe it or not, he turned me down and said he'd rather plant stuff in his garden.

So, although it still looks quite barren, but when you get down and have a close look, there's lots starting to happen...

To be honest, I'm not quite sure what these are (note to self - make signs next time!) I think they might be aubergines...

Peas...

Carrots...

Leeks...

This spider was so tiny and well camouflaged, Jake couldn't see it...

Mustard lettuce...

Cress & Rocket...

Potatoes...

Teeny, tiny lemons. Our tiny tree is full of them... Strawberries! We bought 3 plants last year and have 20 this year!! Trying to grow them properly with plastic and all...

So, if you're looking for a good way to keep your kids busy, gardening comes highly recommended. And to be honest, besides the weeding, Jake does most of the hard labour. I'm not even allowed to dig the holes (he uses the big spade too!) and watering's completely his responsibility, as is 'harvesting'. I really just guide him and help him decide what to plant where. Truth be told, I'm a really bad gardener, so this is all a bit of a guessing game for me...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Secret Number 1...

So, I think the cat's pretty much out of the bag and I hope I'm not going to be in too much trouble for putting this post up, but anyway... I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yip, as many of you already know, my sister, Jo, & her husband, Paul, are expecting their first baby! I'm so excited, I can't wait for the next 33 weeks (give or take) to fly by, so that I can cuddle my little niece/nephew for the first time. I'm really looking forward to sharing this special time with them and I can't wait for Jake to have another cousin. And this time, he gets to be the big kid! I think it's going to be a huge learning curve for him and it's going to be quite an adjustment having to share the lime light with another little person, but it'll do him the world of good and I can't wait! He's just too excited, keeps asking when the baby's coming! Congratulations to Jo and Paul, I hope that you continue to enjoy this special time in your lives, as you grow into parenthood. We love you lots and lots! XXX

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY...

It's dinner with the girls tonight! YAY!!! We're going to La Masseria, an Italian family-owned restaurant out in the Northern Suburbs (http://www.lamasseria.co.za/. I've been to a wedding there before and it was really great, so I'm looking forward to the actual restaurant experience too, but I love getting out with my girlfriends and I've been really looking forward to tonight for ages. I missed the last one because I was away on my holiday, so it's been a while. There's just something about hanging out with other women. We all come from different walks of life and we all have very different responsibilities and outlooks, but there's just something so special about having a group of girls together. We often don't see one another between our monthly dinners, but when we're together it's always so easy to start off where we left off. It's great to get together without men too. Besides the poor, poor waiters who get hit on left, right and centre. Somehow, men manage to complicate things and change the dynamics. Besides that, personally, I often feel like a bit of a spare wheel when there are couples all around me and I'm on my own. And for the girls that are partnered up, it's fun to get out without worrying that their other half is having a good time. To leave the kids behind and just pretend to be your own person for a couple of hours. Without the guys (and kids), us girls are free to let our hair down, have a few drinks (for those that aren't driving), chat about life's happenings and discuss things we wouldn't dare discuss in the presence of men! What happens (or gets said) in dinner club, stays in dinner club!! It's always a revealing, fun, relaxed, totally enjoyable evening out and one that I look forward to every month.

Tonight we have a few girls that can't make it for various reasons and we always miss those who can't join us. There's always next month to look forward to and I promise to have a drink for each of you!

Oh and don't forget to check out our 'Delicious Divas' site (http://deliciousdivasdinnerclub.blogspot.com/) for pictures!! I promise to try get some up tomorrow/Thursday at the latest.

See you soon, probably with a bit of a sore head...

Love Sue xxx

Monday, August 11, 2008

Wendy's Kitchen Tea...

So, the weekend's come and gone already. And what a weekend it was. Took Jake to go and see Wall-E and then out for a burger on Friday evening with friends. Saturday was a busy day and included breakfast with a friend, shopping and Wendy's kitchen tea for the afternoon/evening. There were almost more kids then mommies and they were all really well behaved, which was a relief for some. Wendy was nicely spoilt, although she worked really hard for her presents. She was excellent entertainment and was game to answer all Caroline's questions and dares, including charades (missionary position!), belly dancing, dancing with an unbrella, plenty of shooters, cracking & separating an egg blindfolded and answering some pretty tough & very personal questiosn, amongst which she had to give us the name of Kristian's nether regions... It was a fabulous evening, thanks so much to Caroline for all her hard work - in your pregnant state, I'm sure it wasn't easy. Thanks to Sandra for opening up your wonderful home to us all once again, it was lovely as always.

Will end off with some photos (probably too many as usual) of the kitchen tea...

Jake braving the wall. It's about 3m high. And yes, my nerves were shattered! This was done under the supervision of an adult, who later told me that she loves my son's fearlessness. I'm not so sure I feel the same...