Safe & Sound

Just a one liner to let you know that we have arrived safe & sound in Lapland (minus our luggage - don't ask, it has been a disaster, but we're not letting that detract from our big adventure).  It's really freezing cold here, -10 deg C, but gorgeous.  There has been plenty of snow falling while we are here and we have seen and done so much already!  I am already wishing that we had more time here (just a few days).  I will post more when I have time about all that we have seen and done, just wanted to say that it has all been so much fun and totally AMAZING!  We have lots and lots of photos, I will share with you as soon as I can.

Sending lots of frosty hugs and kisses,
Sue & Jake XXX

PS.  Whoever said that there would be internet access in the lobby of the hotel was very clever... 

You'd better watch out...

Last week saw Jake performing as Father Christmas in his school play. He has been super excited about the concert and has been singing Christmas carols for weeks on end.  He was thrilled to be nominated as the big man himself and wore his costume for almost the whole afternoon before the show (minus the beard, he wasn't too keen on that).  I expected him to get cold feet before the show, since he was one of only two kids with a speaking part, but he obviously doesn't carry my genes and did outstandingly.  He was brave, spoke loudly and clearly and I was a very proud mommy (as always).

His special place for the duration of the concert was a box, which served as a chimney. It was right at the front of the stage and we were lucky to get front row seats on the lawns... 



They opened the concert by singing our full national anthem (I'm not sure that I know all the correct words myself *blush*), but it was very sweet.  They were supposed to put thier right hands on their hearts, but most of them forgot, including Jake...



Some of the sheppards not singing...

The Three wise men...

  Besides the traditional nativity, the theme for their concert this year was 'Around the World'.  Cowboys and cowgirls...

 I love the singing and always feel quite emotional watching them all singing the same songs that we sang for our pre-school concerts.  Funny, it doesn't feel that long ago...

 Oh Christmas Tree.  Please note how skew Father Christmas' beard is at this stage.  I must be honest, these concerts are always worth a good giggle.  Kids are too funny for words and they all do different things at different times...

 Following the star...

 The Hula girls getting into the swing of things.  Seriously, these little girls know how to shake it!

 The kids had a special "surprise" (not such a surprise, since Jake's been singing it over and over and over and over) in store for us.  For the grand finale, they sang and danced to waka waka.  It was the perfect ending to the year we've had and they did really well...

  See what I mean about them all doing different things at different times??  Funny...

  And that was it.  All their hard work and preparation gave us about 30 minutes of entertainment.  Jake couldn't wait to get his hat off...

 He went off to get changed and joined us for a picnic dinner (we'd all been eating throughout the show).  He'd gotten dressed into his costume without my help and had clothes on underneath his outfit.  What I didn't realise was that he packed these socks and shoes to go with those shorts.  Shame, my boy needs to learn some dress sense or he'll never get married...

All in all, it was a fabulous concert and the kids outdid themselves (and teachers of course).  It really started the festive season early in our house and it's great that Jake knows the words to some of our favourite Christmas carols.

Sorry it's taken so long to share these pictures, work has been so, so busy this week, I just haven't had time.  Loving my new camera though.  Other than that, I have a very busy weekend ahead.  Jake has a friend from school's farewell tomorrow morning and I have my book club year end function on Sunday.  We're going wine tasting and then to Evita se Peron in Darling.  Really looking forward to my day out with the girls!  In between I have to find time to do washing and ironing and final preparations for our holiday.  6 more sleeps!!

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you're up to!

Love Sue XXX



It's a...

GIRL!!!

And we are all super excited to be welcoming little Bianca Mary into the family.  It's so exciting to know now what Jo & Paul's baby is and I can't wait to get a cuddle.  Turns out I'm broodier than I thought, but quite happy to be an auntie again. 

Jo had her detailed scan done yesterday at the foetal assessment clinic and everything is perfect with little Bianca.  Jo said she was being naughty during the scan, lying with her face down and her bottom in the air.  On the plus side, she kept falling asleep, so hopefully that continues through after she's born.

As the first granddaughter, this is going to be one spoilt little girl and she is so getting a dolly for Christmas.  With pink clothes.  Whoo-hoo!!!!

Sue xxx

My new best friend!!

Indulge me a moment and allow me to introduce you to my brand, spanking new best friend. It's the very recently launched Nikon D7000 digital camera and, as of Friday, it became mine!!  It's 16.2MP, it's got a HD video recorder, which I am VERY excited about and has an 18 - 200mm VR lens.  For those of you who would like to know more, click here.  It did cost a pretty penny, but shew... it's pretty, isn't it?  And, if you're like me, money spent on a really decent camera is never money wasted...

I haven't had as much time as I'd like to have had to sit and play with my new toy yet - there's so much to learn!  While it's quite a bit more advanced than my D80, I'm really pleased that I've stuck with Nikon again, as most of the controls are pretty standard.  It makes going on holiday with a new camera a little less daunting.  That said, I have a lot to learn about low light photography, since the sun pretty much doesn't feature at all in Lapland in December.  At most it hits the horizon for about 3 hours a day.  At least if the photos flop out completely, I'll have video back ups!

Anyway, I couldn't resist taking a few happy snaps while we were at Danie's house over the weekend - nothing spectacular, but photos for my blog, none-the-less. It's been a long time!!  I also haven't had the chance to edit any of these pictures - work is super busy at the moment, especially with my holiday coming up.  I'm off from 3 - 7 December and again from 15 December - 3 January, so December's not going to be a very productive month at work for me and I have a lot to catch up on ahead of time.

The very fist (not so great) photo with my new toy...

 Jake and Laila.  Her tongue is almost never in;  it's miles too big for her mouth.  Laila has been pretty sick this week and we're all just hoping that the antibiotics she's on will help her get better soon, or she'll have to go through more tests next week...

 Danie took Jake fishing on Saturday afternoon.  The weather was gorgeous and we packed a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon on the water.  Rosanne and Gareth joined us for a while, which was great.  Jake, of course had a ball, but came home telling me "I'm such a loser, because I'm the best fisherman and I didn't even catch one fish!"  Hahaha - I could've told him that before we left, but Danie had spent a small fortune on lures, so I didn't want to be a spoilsport.  Plus, I enjoy going out for a little ride around the marina, it's so relaxing.  And I love looking at other people's homes and gardens...

 Jake doing his best...

Laila loves the boat too...

 

Reflections across the marina...

 And, lastly, little ducklings we separated from their mommy on our "cruise" home... 

And that's it. I do have photos of Jake fishing for tadpoles from the lawn, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  And I've only taken one video clip so far, but it's of Jake pretending to dig in his nose, so I'll spare you (It's also quite big and I'm not so sure on how to upload it yet).  It's quite funny though.

We've got Jake's school Christmas concert on tomorrow night and I think he's been more excited about that then he has been about our holiday.  He's Father Christmas in the concert and has to sneeze 3 times (cos he gets stuck in the chimney as part of a rhyme they do and has to sneeze his way out) and he has a little line to say on his own ('Christmas is not only about presents, it's a wonderful story').  I'm sure I'll cry again, like I did last year, but at least this year I have my new camera to distract me.  Photos to follow soon.

Shew, I'm so, so glad to be able to take and share photos again, my life is pretty near perfect at the moment.

Lots of love to you all,
Sue XXX

Planning...

Sherbet, there has been a lot to think about with our fast approaching holiday!  I have been surfing the net to try find out as much as I can about what to expect when we arrive.

So far, I have read that we can expect the sunrise to rise around 10:15am and to set by about 2:00pm, giving us just less than 4 hours of daylight per day.  According to the summary on their airport's website, there's usually less than 1 hour of bright sunshine per day.  The average highest temperature for December is -7.7 and the average lowest temperature is -17.3.  Did I mention before that I hate being cold? 

Packing for a holiday like this is one heck of a story.  There's just so much that needs to be considered when travelling to a destination such as Lapland in the middle of their winter.  Proper cold weather clothing is essential and I have had to buy (for Jake) and borrow (for me) everything.  And I still have my doubts that I am properly prepared for the harsh weather we're going to experience while we're on our little holiday.  We both have very decent clothes, shoes, underwear, socks, gloves, hand warmers (they fit inside your gloves and heat up to nearly 70deg C when exposed to air!), scarves and beanies to wear, but I keep panicking that it's not going to be enough.  I know I'm not going to the back of beyond (well, actually, I think I might be) and I'm sure we can get more clothing there if we don't have enough, but still... I like to be prepared.  Ahead of the game.  It's the girl guide within.  I'm also not sure what to wear on the flight (it always gets so hot on a plane), plus it's going to be warm when we leave here and absolutely freezing when we land.  We have about 3 hours in Frankfurt, so I can always put warmer clothing on when we get there, but it has to be accessible in our hand luggage.

Other than that, we're both SUPER excited about the trip now.  Jake has his school concert next Thursday and it's just 3 weeks today until we leave, so there are a few big countdown's going on at the moment.  We're basically ready to pack our bags and go now, I'm just waiting for confirmation of our hotel reservation to come through from our travel agent so I can send in the paperwork for our visas.  I know it's cutting it fine, but the visas only take 5 days to process and there shouldn't be any delays.  I hope...

Love Sue X

Just me...

After a very exciting grade 1 orientation evening, Jake spent the night at my mom, Danie went home to help a friend move a fridge and I headed out for dinner with the girls. 

Jake's orientation was super.  The kids were all buzzing with excitement (so were the parents) and Jake was so excited when his name was called out to go off with his new teacher to his new classroom.  He didn't even look back to say bye, he just got up and literally ran down the side of the hall to the front, where his teacher-to-be stood.  It was a very strange feeling to be left sitting with the grown ups, 26 years down the line, while the kids went off on their big adventure.  I was left with quite a lump in my throat.  After we'd listened to the principal and various others talk about extra-murals, finances and uniforms, we were allowed to go to the respective classrooms to fetch out little monsters.  Jake's in exactly the same classroom that I was in when I started school there all those years ago...

Dinner with the girls was good, although I wasn't in the best of moods and I didn't have the much needed glass of wine, because the drive home was quite a long one.  It's always good to catch up with the girls, but I was feeling exhausted and left quite early.

Today would've been Jacques' birthday and I'm feeling quite sad about it.  And it didn't help when Jake sat in the bathroom and sang happy birthday to his dad first thing this morning either!!  (Thanks mom for the chocolate, you're the best.  Sorry I wasn't up for that glass of sherry...).  While I am missing Jacques, his hugs and his smile today and I'm missing sharing the special day with with Jake (possibly more children), my life is changing.  I never imagined that I could do it, but I'm actually moving forward.  Without Jacques.  It's scary in so many ways, but I'm having fun and I am very excited about where I am and all that the future holds for both Jake & I.  I have a really wonderful, wonderful boyfriend who loves us and who cares so much about us and I just know that Jacques would approve of our moving on with life the way we are.  He might even be proud of us.  Tonight Jake's having dinner with Jacques' parents and is staying over for the night and I'm going out for a Cuban dinner with my sister, Joanne, and a friend.  And tonight I'm definitely looking forward to a glass of wine...

Anyway, I hope that you are all having a super, super day, the weather is perfect in Cape Town and it's a sin to be sitting in the office.  I'm looking forward to getting out with Jake this afternoon and doing something fun, we might go to Cool Runnings or the aquarium.  Or to watch a movie.  I'll just see what he feels like doing when we get home a little later.

With love,
Sue XXX

PS.  I have decided that I AM getting a new camera.  Nikon D7000.  Should have it soon :o)

A big step...

Tonight, Jake has his Grade 1 orientation evening at our local primary school.  All the kids will be there with their parents, they'll each be called up to go with their respective teachers to their new classrooms, while the parents listen to the boring stuff. 

When we started primary school, we didn't have an orientation evening as such.  We went to school on the first day of Grade 1 (then called Sub-A), all dressed and ready to go.  Needless to say, after a morning of photos in the garden with my sister, by the time my name was called up and I actually had to leave my parents in the school hall to head off with my new teacher and class mates, I was totally worked up and just burst into tears.  I can remember it very vividly.

Tonight gives the kids a chance to meet their new teachers and friends and to sit at their desks in their new classrooms.  I think it's bound to make their first day a lot less daunting for them.  Jake is super excited about going to big school.  He's desperate to start reading and writing and doing sums.  He can't wait to wear a uniform (just not very excited about the long socks he has to wear) and I really think that he is very ready to start school now.  I'm looking forward to the challenges its going to bring us both, even though I do think I am going to need to start studying again with him from Grade 1!

Jake's also very lucky in that both his aunties (Jacques' sisters) have taught at the school, so the teachers all know the family and our history.  His two big cousins, Abigail and Rebecca also attend the same school (they are 4 & 2 years ahead of him).  Also, the principal is a very good family friend of Jacques' family and Jake refers to him as Uncle Fred - it's going to be a hard lesson to learn to call him Sir or Mr van Vuuren...  His son, Wesley, was one of the best men at our wedding and we are really close to Wes, his wife Lizelle and their kids.  All in all, I think that Jake will grow in confidence and I think that this is going to be a very exciting, positive year for him.

Needless to say, come the first day of school next year and I'm probably still going to be a bundle of nerves after photos in the garden, just like I was 26 years ago.  I can't believe my sweet little baby boy is so grown up already!!!

Love Sue X

PS.  My camera is finally on it's way home, after getting lost by the courier service.  In the interim (while I thought it was gone forever) I had a look at cameras online and know what I want next.  I might get it soon...