OK, OK...

Been getting into some trouble for not having updated my blog in a while. Sorry to all my avid blog readers... Life has been unusually busy lately and it's not going to quieten down for a while. Work has been insanely busy and besides my blog, I've neglected so many friends with e-mail too. Anyway, hopefully today I can get myself back on track and make everyone like me again! So, it's Jake's 3rd birthday on the 16th and my 30th on the 17th. Jake's having a party this Saturday and I'm having one next Saturday. Jake's party was supposed to just be a small one with a couple of his friends because I'd decided to have it at home this year. Needless to say, it still ended up on 18 kids. And then I was told by his teacher that they usually invite the whole class to their birthday parties, which meant that I had another 8 kids to invite. Fortunately, there are a few that can't make it, but we're still on 21 kids. When you add on the fact that each kid brings at least one adult, plus the fact that all Jake's grandparents and aunts & uncles also want to be there - you end up with a crowd of about 35 - 40 adults along with the 21 kids. So, this week has consisted mainly of shopping, baking and preparing party packs. I've hired a jumping castle and I'm just crossing everything I own in the hope that the weather's better then it is today. Anything, except rain... So, after Jake's party, we've hopefully got a quiet weekend ahead. Wednesday's his actual birthday and I'm hoping to get half the day off work. The family will all pop in for cake and coffee - fortunately, to celebrate both our birthdays in one go. Thursday's my birthday and I'll probably go out for drinks with friends - hopefully, I'll be able to control the amount of alcohol consumed. Friday's a rest. Saturday I'm having a picnic lunch for my birthday at Buitenverwachting (the farm Jacques was a winemaker on and where we lived) with a small group of close family and friends. I was very undecided about what to do for my birthday. Jacques and I would both have been turning 30 this year (his birthday was in November) and we'd always said we'd have a big garden party on the farm, with fairy lights in trees and caterers, etc. Anyway, I didn't even consider having my party on the farm, because I just thought it'd be too difficult to face. But, I was there for a picnic lunch in Feb with my family and decided that I would have my birthday there, despite my fears. To be honest, the group that I've invited are all people who will understand exactly how I will be feeling and will know how tough it is to be there without Jacques. Anyway, I am looking forward to it and it's going to be tons of fun having all the kids there too. Jake absolutely loves the farm and he's going to be in his element showing all his friends around. And, all I've had to do for it so far is order the cake (pecan nut chocolate fudge from Melissa's - mmmmmmmm). I'll buy wine there and they have a lady who runs the picnic site and who makes up all the picnics there, so she'll be doing all the catering. I'm also quite sure that there's a couple of friends who'll want to go out afterwards, so it might be a late night... I bought Jake's birthday present last night and I'm so excited about it! It's a remote control red Ferrari - he's going to love it. Every time he sees any kind of sports car, he tells me it's a Ferrari. I tried it out last night and it's super fast! Hope you enjoyed reading about not a lot. I promise to try update more often!! Lots of love to you all xxx