Chapter one is closed...

Well, today was the last day of grade 1 for my little man.  I did have quite a lump in my throat as I waited in the playground for the bell to ring, signalling the end of his first school year.  Where did the time go?  It feels like only yesterday that Jake was starting Grade 1 and now the year is through and he's ready to move onto new challenges in Grade 2.He's had a wonderful year and he has learnt so much.  Perhaps that's part of the reason why this year feels like it should only be half way done, not over entirely...

Besides the obvious lessons he's learnt, like maths and reading (both which he loves) and writing (which he's not so good at), he's learnt so many other life skills.  Like learning to play barefoot.  Before the year began, he wouldn't take his shoes off for anything and now I can barely get him to put them on.  He's lost a whole bunch of teeth, which has changed his face so much (especially where he still has half teeth growing). And he's gotten so tall, he's nearly up to my shoulder already.  He's learnt how to be part of a formal education system, what it means to line up when the bell rings, how to sit quietly through assembly and how to sit at a desk and get his work done.  He's learnt how to use a urinal.  He's learnt how to put his school costume (black speedo) on underneath his school clothes, so that he doesn't have to get nekked in front of his friends.  He's learnt how to climb into an icy cold swimming pool at 8:30am for PT and enjoy it.  He's done athletics and played tennis and been exposed to sports he's never heard about.  He's taken part in athletics day and won his first ever sprint.  He's loved learning how to be part of a team as he signed up for cricket and then rugby.  He's been part of a winning team and part of a losing team.  He's learnt how to steal his way into his teachers heart by spoiling her with biscuits and chocolates (suction).  He's learnt to call our good family friend and his school principal, Mr instead of Uncle.  He's learnt the F word.  He's learnt where to buy Chip 'n Dip after school on the big kids playground.  He's learnt that you don't get on with everyone and that some kids are just more annoying than others.  He's learnt that it's not very nice to be bullied.  He's got lots of lovely new friends and hopefully has many more to come in the years ahead.  He's learnt what it's like to have family at school with him.  Becky is in Grade 3 and Abi in Grade 5 and he's loved seeing them in the mornings before the bell rings.  I think he feels very proud to get hugs and kisses from the bigger girls.  He's also learnt how to melt his mother's heart in a thousand new ways.  Gosh, the more he grows, the more I love this boy...

Jake met his new teacher yesterday and he is thrilled with who he's getting.  Aptly, he's going to be in the Bugs classroom (like the movie), so he's super stoked about that.  His teacher is 5 or 6 years younger than me and has a baby of 1.  She taught Jake's cousin and Jake's Auntie Josette taught her in her first year of teaching.  I am confident that it's going to be a happy new year for him.  But for now, I'm looking forward to the holidays.  Maybe even more than Jake...

Enjoy the weekend everyone!!

Sue X

5 Minutes of anonymous fame...

A friend of ours, Justin, works for New Balance.  He's a brand manager and one of Danie's closest friends.  New Balance recently launched a new limited edition range of shoes and as part of their launch had a little movie made.  Justin asked Danie to help out as they planned their secret launch.  Danie was recruited as the biker, which gave him a good excuse to hop into the seat again and ride like a maniac through Cape Town's city streets.  It also meant buying a pretty new helmet.  Click here to watch the video.  The introduction is done by Justin and besides the photo above the video, you won't see Danie's face in the movie.

Unfortunately, I was only told about the launch 10 days before the event (last Friday) and being the very busy girl that I am, I missed out on the evening's fun.  I think the guys were all there sans partners, so it was probably a good thing that I was out with the girls for the evening.  I've been dying to see the video and it didn't disappoint. Well done to all involved!

Now go buy some New Balance shoes, OK?

Sue X

What a sport...

 Yesterday was the school's foundation phase athletics day.  Talk about excitement!  Jake couldn't sleep the night before and was up at the crack of dawn.  In the lead up to the day, they'd done some practising at school and Jake was convinced he was the best kid in grade 1.  Time would tell.

Jake's in yellow house.  Thank goodness he looks better in yellow than I do.  He's sitting dead in the middle, 2 rows behind the picnic basket, in between the two mommies...

Connor came with my dad to cheer on his big cousin...

 As the time drew near for Jake's race to start, the boys all had to line up and get themselves in their little groups and rows.  Father Christmas stopped by to chuck some sweets out to the kids.  Jake's under his armpit...

Jake with some friends, Nicholas and Umveli...

Cheese...

Taking a serious moment to think about his big run (60m sprint)...

Actually, I recognise that guy!  Duncan?  Father Christmas was also the trigger guy...

On your marks (Jake's 2nd from the left)...

Get set...

Go?  I didn't post the go photo, it was terrible.  Jake was pulling a horrendous face and I was cheering too much to get anything sharply in focus.  Jake came first in his heat though and I am super proud of him.  Next time he tries to blow his own trumpet, by telling me there are only 3 kids faster than him, I'll believe him!

Connor took part in the toddler's race.  That kid loves to run.  He can run and run and run around the swimming pool like you've never seen before.  Needless to say, he was one of the youngest to take part and to finish the run...

All lined up and ready to go, just having a quick chat with the teacher...

The whistle goes and Corky is still chatting up a storm, while the other kids gun it to the finish line...

The most important thing about running in a race is to have fun and boy, oh boy, did he have fun...

He was looking for Jake in this pic...

Jake's time qualified him for the final, so there was another race - thank goodness the last one for the day.  I don't think my poor heart could've coped with more.  Jake wants the lady in white to be his grade 2 teacher, he finds out on Thursday...

All talk at the start line.  I think he was trying to wind up his buddies, telling them he was going to win...

I love this picture, he looks so proud of himself and a lot like his dad.  Where did those shoulders come from?  He looks so grown up.  Maybe it's the long hair that he wants me to shave off on Friday after school...

And since I was closer this time around, I'll bore you with some more starting pics...

GO!  At least I got a shot this time, but it's the only "running" shot I got on the day...

Jake was pretty disappointed when he returned to his group, that he hadn't come first again, but he took it well and didn't say anything bad to anyone.  He tells me he was swearing in his head though (saying 'idiot' about the guys that beat him).  He did really well and the competition was tough.  All the kids he told me were faster than him were in the race.  And at least he didn't come stone last (I think he was 5th or 6th out of 8 boys)...

Jake's cousin Becky is in Grade 3, so it's her last year in the Foundation Phase.  I took this picture as I was leave, I had to get to work. Jake tells me that they spent the rest of the day together.  Becky sat on the edge of her house and Jake sat on the edge of his.  So sweet, when they want to be...

Other than the excitement of sports day yesterday, life is just too hectic and the festive season is well and truly here.  I feel as though we should only be starting the 3rd school term and the fourth one finishes on Friday.  This year has just flown by, perhaps because it's been such a full, busy one for Jake.  He is totally excited about starting grade 2 now and is looking forward to the holidays.  We used to have a wonderful 6 week break over Christmas, but this year the holiday is just 4 weeks, so feels a lot shorter for us all.

I am finally starting to feel human again after our very busy weekend.  I had my year end book club dinner on Friday night, which was divine and Jake had 3 birthday parties.  In between was very little time to sleep, especially since Danie was on standby.  Tomorrow night is our dinner club party and we're off to Bombay Bicycle Club for dinner - I can't wait.  I have heard such good things about the restaurant.  Jake's also going to be invested as a cub tomorrow night, so running around today to get his uniform sorted (they only let me know today where to go and what to buy) and to help him learn his promise and law.  He is very excited, pictures will follow on Thursday (if I survive dinner club's party!).

Lots of love to you all,

Sue X

Happy Birthday...

So as most of you know, my dad is officially 60 today!  It's been a good few days of partying and celebrating with family and friends and we're off again tonight for dinner at Pancho's with the family.  Pancho's has been around forever and we all really enjoy the atmosphere and food.  Not to mention the frozen margaritas...

Just for fun, I had a quick look on the net and have done a little "this day in history" list below.  The list is much longer, but I've just picked out a few that might be of interest... 

615 - Columbanus, Irish monastery founder/poet/saint, dies  

800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III 
912 - Otto I (the Great) German king, Holy Roman emperor (962-973), is born 
1165 - Pope Alexander III returns from exile to Rome 
1249 - Ajjoeb, sultan of Egypt, dies 
1334 - St Clemens Flood and a dike breaks at Flemish/Zeeuwse/Dutch coast  
1499 - Flemmish man, Perkin Warbeck, is hanged in London for pretending to be lost son of King Edward IV 
1835 - the first horseshoe manufacturing machine was patented 
1859 - Billy the Kid, [William H Bonney] is born in NYC
1863 - Patent granted for a process of making color photographs
1899 - the first jukebox makes it's debut in san francisco at the Palais Royal Hotel
1904 - 3rd Olympic games close in St Louis
1909 - the Wright Brothers form million dollar corp to manufacture airplanes
1942 - Col-gen Von Paul asks Hitler to surrender 
1942 - German 4th & 6th Army surrounded at Stalingrad 
1942 - Japans bombing of Port Darwin, Australia
1945 - US rationing of most foods, including meat and butter, ends   
1960 - Tinseltown dedicated its Walk of Fame at Hollywood Blvd & Vine St 
1963 - "Doctor Who," the long-running British sci-fi series debuts in England 
1963 - JFK's body, lay in repose in East Room of White House (he was assissinated at the age of 46 on 22 November)
1964 - the Rolling Stones showed up late for a radio shows Top Gear and Saturday Club and were banned by the BBC 
1964 - Beatles release "I Feel Fine" & "She's a Woman"   
1965 - The Beatles shoot promotional clips for "I Feel Fine," "Ticket to Ride," "Help!," "Day Tripper," and "We Can Work It Out" at London's Twickenham Studios.
1966 - Elvis Presley's 22nd movie, "Spinout", opens in US cinemas 
1967 - Birth of Gary Kirsten, cricketer (South African lefty opening batsman 1993-)
1974 - 60 Ethiopia govt officials executed
1976 - Police arrested Jerry Lee Lewis outside the gates of Graceland after he shows up for the second time that night and makes a scene by shouting, waving a pistol and demanding to see Elvis Presley. 
1979 - Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is released and sells 6 million copies in 2 weeks
1980 - around 4800 people were killed in South Italy in a series of earthquakes 
1985 - 58 die as Egyptian commandos storm hijack Egyptair jet in Malta
1988 South Africa: Botha reprieves Sharpeville Six
1990 - Rald Dahl dies at the age of 74 
1991 - A day before he dies, Freddie Mercury, 45, confirms he has AIDS
1991 - Michael Jackson's song "Black Or White" debuted at #1 in the U.K. 
1991 - Evander Holyfield TKOs Bert Cooper in 7 for heavyweight boxing title 
1992 - 10,000,000 cellular telephone sold  
1992 - Miley Cyrus, American actress and singer is born 
2001 - Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary. 
2007 - MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sank in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. 
2010 - An additional 23 soldiers from the Bangladesh Rifles are sentenced to imprisonment for mutiny in February 2009

So, what can I tell you about my dad?  Well... Christened Jonathan Roy, he was born 5 years after his elder brother, Brian.  Actually, in modern times, the two of them are more like twins than 5 years apart and it's quite funny to see them together.  The family lived in Sea Point and my dad attended the local schools.  Listening to his speech on Saturday night, he has many fond memories of his youth, from days at the pavilion, to "fighting battles" on Signal Hill. Sadly, my grandfather died at the age of 48, when my dad was just 17.  His death obviously left a huge gap in the family and my grandmother remained single till her dying day.

My dad met my mom at a friend's 21st, where she was blind date to a friend and her best friend was my dad's date.  Mom was petrified her date would try kiss her goodnight, so she asked my dad to give her a lift when he dropped her friend off a few doors up the road.  Needless to say the rest is history .  They were married on 31 August 1974.  3 years later, I arrived, followed by Joanne a year later and Rosanne another 7 years on.  

All that aside, we are just lucky to have him and he has given us so much support and love over the years, especially in the time following Jacques' death.  I don't know how I would've managed to get through some of the haunting tasks that needed to be to dealt with if it wasn't for him.  The countless unpleasant phone calls he made on my behalf, the trips he made to see investigators, the paperwork he helped me fill out, the decisions he helped make - I couldn't have done it and I know none of it was easy for him either.  And let me not mention the late nights he spent wrapping up all the glasses in my kitchen in newspaper.  He was a pillar of strength to us all during the worst moments in my life.  

Anyway... Dad, from both Jake and I, you have been the best Dad/Pa we could've ever have wished for and we love you so much.  Happy 60th birthday, you deserve the happiest day ever!

Lots of love,

Sue XXX


PS.  The picture used at the top was taken in a library when my dad was little.  It was printed in the newspaper.  See, we were all cute once upon a time!!

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