Oh the cutness...

Meet Pip!

As a new foster mom for the Animal Anti-Cruelty League in Epping, my mom has been called upon to take care of this little, little guy.  I don't know his full story yet, or what's happened to his mom and siblings, but he's seriously tiny!  He arrived last night, just one day old.  He's like a little rat and is so difficult to photograph, he just wriggles and wriggles. 

Because he is so tiny, our main job at this stage is to keep him as warm as possible.  He spent some time doing the Kangaroo thing with me and he loved that.  It's so hard not to handle him too much; on one hand, he doesn't have that physical contact and warmth that a litter would give him, on the other, he's just so fragile.  

He fits so snuggly into Jake's hand...

 

 And don't get me started (again) on those little pink paws.  Oh my.  His nose is wrinkly like all puppies and the white marking under his chin, goes down his chest and tummy.  The people at the AACL think that he's a black Maltese, I haven't got a clue what he is at this stage, besides totally cute...

 Because he's never known what it's all about to have a mommy to feed him, he loves his bottle.  He drinks slowly though and a feed can take up to an hour at the moment.  Considering that he feeds 2-hourly, it's no joke having a tiny pup to care for...

 Jake is beside himself with concern.  He just wants to hold the puppy and be with the puppy...

 As long as he's eating, he's getting stronger and so we'll all do what we have to, to help him survive...

 Incidentally, his name, Pip, comes from two places.  Firstly, he's such a pip-squeak!  Secondly, he's going to be a survivor, just like little Pippie Kruger!  For those of you, who haven't heard about this remarkable little girl, who survived 3rd degree burns over 80% of her body and made it through her 10% chance of survival, you can read more about her amazing story here and here, or google her.  What a beautiful, amazing little girl!  Hopefully our little Pip has the same sense of survival...

Sending tons of snuffly puppy love,

Sue

XXX

A good sport...

 Jake had his cubs swimming gala on Saturday, in the howling south easter.  Seriously, the weather was awful!!  I was freezing just watching them - kids don't feel the cold like us though.

Jake swam in the age group above him, as did the 2 kids along side him (we don't have enough older cubs!) so it was a tough day for him and I think he swam incredibly well all things considered.

This is Jake with his friend Michael, who sits next to him at school and Allegra.  Allegra freaks Jake out because she can do the splits and he doesn't like it (sure he'll change his mind one day)...

 Getting into the icy water was not fun...

 The first stroke was breast stroke.  Jake's not good at breast stroke, but he tries his best.  Style is very important to Jake, almost more than speed...

 Getting ready for his next race, he looks more nervous now then he did the first time around - perhaps it was knowing how cold the water was...

 Quick gasp of air...

 Jake's Auntie Tam was there in her "proudest aunt" t-shirt.  She'd done a 70km off road cycle and still came to swim for Jake...

 Jake's other loyal supporters were there too - my folks...

 And Jake's Granny Karen.  Jake's grandpa's hurt his back, so he was home in bed...

 A quick fun swim during interval.  Jake got out almost blue and shivering from the cold water...

 After the interval, there were some fun races.  First up a wet t-shirt race...

 Jake was quick to get up and to get going...

 But he struggled a little with getting his top on... 

 Michael was already in the water and nearly finished his lap by the time Jake got in...  It happens...

 Auntie Tam is such a good sport.  She also did the wet t-shirt race...

 And like Jake, she was quick to get up and get going...

 She also struggled to get her top over her head...

 Backstroke (Jake's favourite)...

 Perfect, straight arms.  Jake came in 3rd for this (his only solo place)...

 Jake did breastroke when he was supposed to be doing butterfly...

 The last race of the day - a piggy back race.  Tam did it with Jake, she was the only woman in the water...

 I can only imagine what hard work this was!  Not for Jake though...

 Out of all those big strong men, they came second!!

 Picture of the frozen champions...

 Our cubs/scouts group came in second place over all.  Out of seven groups, I think that's great.  Last year they didn't have enough children to enter and the previous year, they came last.

In other news, Jake has started athletics at school.  Just running in the mornings for 30 minutes.  Today was sprints, tomorrow long distance.  He tells me he wants to get fit for rugby, so we'll see how it goes .  He's second from your left...

 He's quite quick, but isn't all that fit, well at least not running fit...

 He was exhausted by the end though and just couldn't run the last little bit...

Jake spent some time in the sick room at school this morning and I'm feeling really poop too, so hopefully he doesn't come home with too much homework today and we can just take it easy.  I was feeling sorry for myself, thinking I was hungover after just one glass of wine, but perhaps it was something we ate...

Wishing you all a great week!

Love,

Sue XXX

The week in a blur...

Our week has been a crazy busy one.  We're fully back into the swing of sport and homework and both Jake and I are exhausted and looking forward to our Saturday morning lie in!

We do have to eat though and I'm trying to keep dinner times light and healthy, but Jake's home grown pumpkin got the best of me and I made him pumpkin fritters to go with his dinner the other night.  I know it's not the healthiest option, but it's the only way I can get Jake to eat pumpkin.  I don't have a specific recipe to share - I just cook the pumpkin in the skin in the microwave then scrape it out when it's all soft.  Mix it up with self-raising flour, add a bit of sugar and an egg and then fry them up.  Cover them with lots of cinnamon sugar (caster if you have).  YUM!

Most days, Jake's home work is taking around an hour to do.  He had 77 words to learn for his spelling test this morning and tons of maths.  I've covered about 14 books and we've done lots of reading.  Out of 77 words practised, he only got 6 wrong yesterday, so not too bad.  Fingers crossed that those 6 aren't all in the test today!!  Funny how my tummy churns when I know he's going off to do a test.  I know he gets so nervous.  Jake absolutely hates doing homework and it's a battle every day.  His school day is an hour and 15 minutes longer than last year and the change means that we're only getting home at 2:30 in the afternoons.  Then it's a rush to have something to eat, get changed and start homework.  By the time we're done, it's after 4pm.  And that's without adding in sport!

Jake's moved back to his old swimming school again this week.  His new one wasn't prepared to accommodate him with his new school hours (school finishes at 2:15, swimming started at 2:00).  He had a disastrous first lesson and ended up puking into his cap as soon as he got out the pool.  The gym's had a problem with their pool and the water was really gross and ice cold.  Anyway, the pool's been drained this week, so hopefully Jake'll be back at swimming again soon.  Jake's also decided that he wants to do athletics instead of cricket at school and he'll be starting running in the mornings from 7:00 - 7:30.  Mondays & Wednesdays are sprints, Tuesdays and Thursdays long distance.  I'm hoping this will get his blood pumping before he goes into class; he's hoping it gets him fit for the upcoming rugby season.  A concern for Jake has been the thorns on the field, as well as a nettle type weed, so his Auntie Tam bought him some tape and showed him how to wrap his feet...

 funny toes like his daddy's...

 Corky asked me yesterday if Jake could come have breakfast with him today, which usually ends up in a fight, but they are trying to be nicer to each other for short times and breakfast this morning wasn't too stressful for the grown-ups.  Bi had an accident yesterday and hit her eye when she fell, today she looks like she's been in the boxing ring...

Horrifically, I found 4 cockroaches at home this week - 2 dead and 2 alive.  They are my all time worst pest and I have already organised having the municipality drains outside and the perimeter of my property sprayed.  I've put foggers inside the house this morning, so hopefully that's the end of them.  Cockroaches are my worst kind of pest - I'd rather have a mouse than a cockroach!!  I cannot handle squashing them either and the sight of them sends me into a complete panic.  Jake always laughs at me, because I squeal like a real girl and it's up to him to rescue me with the doom or a shoe.  Anyway, disgusting as they are, I've done something about it almost immediately.  Fumigating's a real problem though, because we have fish.  I almost emptied the tank yesterday and moved it to my parents, so that I can do what I need to for the bugs without killing the fish too.  Bi was so fascinated.  She calls me "Maaarm" more often than "Shue" at the moment.  She's obviously listening to Jake.  She couldn't get enough of the fish and kept calling us to come and see them.  Oh, Jo, Corky said he's putting them on his Christmas list for next Christmas...

 I've come to really like Jake's fish.  The two with the shiny eyes are scissor tails, the stripey one's a zebra and the dark one with the red tail is a female Siamese fighter.  Jake was keen to breed them until I put my foot down.  He had a male for a while, but the female ate his tail, so he died.  Also, they can have up to 500 babies at a time!  They need to be fed special food in breeding season and the male has to be taken out the tank as soon as the babies hatch.  Also, once the babies reach a certain age, you have to put them into separate tanks so that they don't eat each other.  Ummm... I just couldn't deal with it, as much as Jake wanted babies.  He can do that when he's big enough to do that on his own...

And that's it.  We have very little planned for the weekend.  Jake has a friend coming to play this afternoon, so I'm taking them to McDonald's for lunch while my house airs before they can go inside and play.  Tomorrow we're hoping to go to the beach for a bit, Jake wants to go fishing again and Sunday's church in the morning and then hopefully working in our garden.  I'm trying to make a nice Sunday dinner for Jake too, setting traditions and all, so looking forwards to sharing some special time with him.

Sending lots of love,

Sue X

A Mini-Break...

 Last week was a full working week for me, but also Jake's last full week of holiday.  I was lucky enough to get the 15th & 16th off work, which gave me a long weekend and time to enjoy Jake's last 2 days of holidays with him.  Up until then, it was almost impossible to move anywhere in Cape Town.  The beaches were packed, the Waterfront was bursting and trying to do anything kid-friendly meant standing in long lines.  But that last long weekend of Jake's holiday, was the best.  In the week before, I tried to do a few fun things with Jake after work, including a trip to visit my cousin, who has her own swimming school.  We've actually never (shocking) been to her house, so it was the perfect time during the holidays to go through.

Corky and Bi were there with my mom and dad too. Bi was so tired, she couldn't even blink her little eyes.  She just stared at the bigger kids swimming...

 Corky was pleased to be back at his swimming school for a play rather than a lesson.  He's learning and slowly gaining confidence at his own pace.  You can't rush this boy.  He was also exhausted...

This is my cousin's pool - it's really great and now that we know where her "new" house is, we'll definitely be back to swim again soon!  She lives in a really beautiful part of Cape Town and her property runs down to a little river at the bottom, which is super-cool...

 Jake and I spent some afternoons relaxing at home, watching movies on the couch.  Jake got a giant fortune cooking, covered with white chocolate - it was delicious...

 His note said that he'll be getting a sign of affection from a secret admirer, so I gave him a kiss...

 On Friday night, we went back through to Kommetjie to spend a night with Jake's grandparents.  It was their last weekend of their camping holiday.  We awoke to the calmest morning and the sea was flat.  We had quite a few dramas getting the boat into the water, as the tide was out: First, the car got stuck in the sand, then the boat got stuck on the rocks and we had some people help us to lift the boat up off the rocks, then Jake & I were told to get in the boat, while his grandparents pushed the boat through the gully and his granny slipped in the water trying to get onto the boat and nearly went under the boat, I lost a shoe and grandpa struggled to get into the boat.  Out on the water, the main motor died, so we had to use the little one to get back into the jetty.  The little motor means that grandpa has to sit down to steer the boat, so he can't see where he's going.  Granny has to help direct him, but somehow there was a mis-communication and the boat landed up on the rocks.  Oh and the licence blew into the water and had to be retrieved too. All that said and we did actually have a ton of fun out on the water.  Jake even got a chance to steer the boat (and look how flat the water really was)...

 Getting instructions on where he should be directing the boat...

Being a skipper was fun, but not nearly as much fun as pulling up the crayfish nets...

 The potential of what's on the other end of this line is super-exciting, especially when you're an 8-year old boy...

 There are plenty of cool things that come to eat the bait left for the crayfish, including shy sharks, slime eels (they snot your net when you pull them up, disgusting and very messy!) and lots of crabs...

 But showing off how strong you are is best...

 We had a really good day on the water and we managed to bring in some really big crayfish.  The inspectors even took a photo of Jake's crayfish - it was the biggest catch of the day...

 See?  His tail is as wide as Jake's wrist...

 Jake and his grandpa saying "cheers" to a good morning out on the water...

 On Sunday morning, Jake and I headed out into the Stellenbosch winelands for a change.  Our first stop was Vredenhiem, which has game, so Jake was happy.  They have a VERY cute baby zebra...

 He's very little.  Stripes...

 A cheeky ostrich chasing a zebra...

 The parking area gardens are beautiful...

 The best of both - fun for kids and adults...

A pretty dam...

 Aside from buck and zebra, one of the big attractions at this wine farm is their big cats park.  It wasn't madly expensive (I pd R80.00 for Jake and I) to get in and the price includes a tour, which was very informative...

 A lazy male lion enjoying the sunshine in amongst the vineyards...

 There are white lions too...

 And a monkey!!  Jake wasn't in the mood for my camera and this was the best smile I got off him the whole day out...

 The tigers really stole the show for us though.  They were swimming and playing so beautifully with each other...

 They're still young, so not fully grown yet, but already powerful and so beautiful...

 The male getting ready to ambush the female in a surprise attack...

 It was incredibly hot and they enjoyed little breaks in between their playing...

 And they really do love each other...

 A lazy cheetah, snoozing in the shade of a tree...

 The white lion posing for a picture - there are only about 500 of these cats left in the whole world and they're all in captivity!!  So sad...

 The leopard was not prepared to come out for a photo...

 Our next stop was Spier, which is next door to Vredenhiem.  They've got a wonderful raptor sanctuary and rehabilitation center there and it was also less than R100.00 for Jake and I to get in.  It's one of Jake's favourite places, we just don't get there often enough.

A baby barn owl, nearly ready for release...

 Touching a young Gymnogene...

 And getting up close with some barn owls...

 They're so pretty and and soft and I just LOVE their heart shaped faces...

 These Wood Owls were probably my favourite.  Check out those HUGE eyes...

 His buddy was having a swim...

 He looked kinda funny all soaking wet back on his perch...

 A beautiful Martial Eagle - it's one of Jake's favourite birds...

 He even had his crown feathers out for us - maybe we smelt funny...

 Another highlight for Jake is being able to hold a Spotted Eagle Owl.  I took this photo with an owl perched on my head...

 They're so cool and so light to hold...

 Owl boxes for sale.  The square one is for Spotted Eagle Owls and the triangle one for Barn Owls.  Jake and I have seen a Spotted Eagle Owl in the road in our area (near his granny's house), but only one.  I wish we could have an owl box at our house...

 A hanging frame - there were girls next to us and Jake wouldn't smile.  After all that fun...

 Because we still had rides left on our ticket, we stopped at the toboggan centre on the way home.  This is the view from the top.  Jake and I did most of our rides together this time and it was WAY better than going on my own.  We both had fun and I'm not scared of this any more...

 On Monday, I took Jake to Ratanga Junction.  Not wanting to be burdened with a handbag and heavy things to carry, I didn't take anything with be besides money and my car keys.  I don't have a single photo to share with you, but I can tell you that I was VERY brave.  I went on Monkey Falls with Jake twice, the water pipe thing and got soaked on Crocodile Gorge.  I did the Diamond Devil Run, I did Bushwhacker, I even did the spinning bolts.  I would not do the Cobra, the Slingshot or the swinging Boat.  Jake was most disappointed that I wouldn't go with him on the Cobra (he needed to be 1.3m and is 1.32m now), but I just can't.  I've done it before and I want to vomit just looking at the thing.  There was another family there though and their son (about the same age as Jake) was performing because he didn't want to go on the ride with them, so we swapped kids.  I looked after theirs and they looked after mine.  Seriously, to watch your child going on the Cobra (technically on his own) is probably more frightening than going on the ride would've been.  He sat right in the very front seat with the woman he'd queued up with and looked terrified every moment of the way.  But he did it and that's what counts.  He'll do it again, thrill-seeker.  We were at the park for nearly 6 hours and it was SO much fun.  I'm far from the thrill-seeker that Jake is, he must get that from his father, but we had fun and made some happy holiday memories together!

Tuesday was the last day of holidays.  The break was 6 weeks, but somehow once the end arrived, they seemed so much shorter.  We decided to get up early and were at the beach by a little before 9am.  We only stayed until 11, when the starts to get dangerous.

Jake checking out the water conditions...

 He was happy because he could do some surf fishing.  He didn't catch anything besides seaweed, but he still enjoyed it.  That's Robben Island in the far background for those of you that care...

 There was another boy fishing too, so he was happy to have some company...

 There was a seriously crazy little dog on the beach too, which kept us all entertained.  She'd chase the Frisbee and then run around with it balanced on top of her head, while she tried to reach to grab it on the other side...

 Jake was fascinated by this old guy who had his metal detector on the beach.  Jake was convinced that he was going to find treasure...

 Wednesday morning was the frantic scramble to get ready for back to school.  We'd packed bags, labelled & ironed clothes and packed lunches the night before, but somehow there's never enough time in the morning.  Corky and Bi popped in to wish Jake a happy day...

 Corky looked like he'd just rolled out of bed...

 Bi was still in her jammies, but cute as ever...

And Jake was happy to be getting back to all his friends and his new teacher and classroom.  You have no idea how happy that made me...

 Jake went off OK, he was very nervous by the time we got to school and I felt quite emotional sending him off.  Grade 3 just feels so grown up.  It marks the end of his foundation phase of his schooling and next year he'll be starting senior primary and doing exams and things.  His new school day starts at 7:45 and only ends at 2:15, instead of the1:00 last year.  Add in homework and sport and our day feels so much shorter.  Jake's new teacher seems really sweet and he thinks she's fantastic.  They're in the Navy classroom, which he loves too.  I have EVERYTHING crossed that this will be a fabulous year for Jake in every way!

And that brings me all up to date again.  Thanks to everyone for your little notes and comments, I love getting them and I'm sorry I'm so shocking at replying!  Will try better as soon as life settles down again.

I'm going to watch Dirty Dancing with the girls tomorrow night at the Artscape and I'm really looking forward to it.  We're going out to a newish spot, called Shimmy Beach Club, which is in the harbour, for pre-show drinks and dinner.  I can't wait!! Hope your weekend is wonderful too!

Love,

Sue XXX