Eyes Wide Open .............

For a while now, I have been wanting to help in an orphanage or school, particularly with children that have lost their parents to AIDS. Yesterday I overheard a mother at Tanzi's school talking about a community preschool that had opened it's doors that day. I asked if I could come and help. She said that they are so understaffed that I would be very welcomed.
So off I went this morning...........
The preschool has enrolled about 30 children between the ages of 1 and 6. Most of whom are either HIV positive or have full blown AIDS. A couple of the kids are not infected, but have just recently lost both their parents to this terrible virus.
What an eye opener......... at first they were unsure and frightened of me..... but after an hour of crying, they eventually settled. The morning ended on a very good note with me running after the little munchkins playing 'The Tickle Monster!' Squeals of delight were even heard!

xx

Just the weekly news.................

It has been an extra full week and I'm oooh so glad to see the back of it! WizzKid and Flash sold just under 500 pancakes and made themselves some serious moola! The pancakes were pre-made the night before with the help of both mothers. If I never see another pancake again, it will be too soon. Infact I declared that 'pancake ' is now officially a swear word and shall not be uttered from anyones lips!!!!!

WizzKid played his first Soccer Match and CoolDude played his first match for the Schools Second Tennis team! CoolDude won 2 out of his 3 games!

He keeps on telling me he wants to be a world famous tennis player...... perhaps I need to catch a wake up and increase his training!

Miss TanziPanzi came home with a letter in her Talking Book telling me she was the first "Little Heroes" child to accomplish the entire length of the monkey bars! Wahooooo! (Sorry, no pic of her in action!)

Adios........ have a superb weekend!

xx

Friday night means ..........

.......... it's DATE NIGHT !!!!

Every second Friday MrGee and I book a baby sitter for about 3 hours so that we can go out for dinner and engage in an exclusive conversation!!!! By exclusive I mean no interuptions .......... one on one .......... sounds good? I mean how often is it that you even get to finish a sentence with your spouse? After a great night of deelish cuisine, a magnificent Merlot and loads of adult conversation, we arrived home to find TanziPanzi snuggled beautifully with her new baby sitter. I could not resist the photo opportunity!

xx

Wordless Wednesday ................ Tanzi putting her babies to bed

xx

FooD GloriouS FooD.

WizzKid and his best friend..... Flash(he's an excellent runner!) joined forces for their Entrepreneur Week. WizzKid was keen on doing pancakes and YummY Bags and Flash wanted to do Hot Chocolate and Iced Drinks. (The Hillcrest weather can be very unpredictable.) They started selling yesterday and made R188.00 ($24). Today they sold over 100 pancakes, 15 YummY Bags, and lots of Hot Choc. They made R320.00($40) .....!!! They have already covered all their costs and can now look forward to a little profit. Yahooo!
Here are pics of them planning, making and selling.......Their stall is called "FooD GloriouS FooD".










The last pic is of WizzKid and Flash setting up, with their first customers patiently waiting ............and drooling!

Being a white South African family(I'm not European..... my parents were born here too), we have to teach our kids(particulary our sons) very important entrepenueral skills. If they want to be able to remain and live happily in this beautiful country, they need to know how to survive financially.This school task will stand them in good stead. Besides that, they are having so much fun!

xx

The 10 Commandments ....... made easy!

I found this on my dear friends blog....... thanks Marsha! She is such a great homeschooling mom to her three young boys! She has a wonderful way of telling a story..... do go pay her a visit!

xx

Soccer Fun!

I love to see all three of my kiddiwinks playing together. It's not often, so when it happened yesterday, I ran inside to grab my camera!

It all started off quite well, until TanziPanzi ran off with the soccer beacons and created some rather bizare arm accessories!!

And boy did she taunt her brothers with a victory dance! Now I know why their playing together doesn't happen much!

You've gotta love her though!

xx

Where are their brains?

Why is that when people get older they tend to get quite pedantic?? Okay...... I realise I might be generalising...... just a tad(heehee) ..... but MrGee and I are experiencing this first hand!!!
Look at this stunning tree........

This tree is in our complex. It is right next to our house(we're the driveway on the left) and in my opinion it is the most beautiful Leopard tree I've ever seen!
Some older folk in our complex are wanting to cut this beaut of a tree down because....... wait for it......... it is causing cracks in the tar road!!!
For goodness sake....... I don't even notice the cracks in the road because I'm looking upwards at the magnificant tree! Trim the roots...... do whatever you need to do.
As my dad so eloquently would say "Are their brains in their bum?"................ perhaps!?

xx

Our Fine feathered friend.

Larry arrived just over a week ago. MrGee named him after his sister's yellow budgie that met a terrible death at the paws of their dear kitty cat! Deja-vu?........... I hope not, as I have grown VERY attached to this lice ridden beaut! He was initially very scared of us, but now, he's desperate to snuggle with us! He has bonded with me beautifully and loves to sit on my shoulder, and nestle in my bushy hair!
The other day I was loving and stroking him and he did this maneuver...... he became SOOO still that I thought I had killed him! He was fine....... just in major relax mode! hehehe..... sjoe!

xx

Have a look..........

MrGee and I purchased our first oriental rug and it is beautiful. It's a silk Kashmir......... I fell in love with it the moment I layed eyes on it but MrGee was not too sure. I reassured him with a gentle "Trust me Babes!"

We bought it from a friend and she was so glad that 'It was going to a good home!'

The rug has a light and dark shade of the most amazing turquoise. I went out and purchased cushions in those same shades and voila..... I love the new look!

Bird Feeder of note!

Sticking with the bird theme........ All the Grade 4's were told they had to design and make a bird feeder. They were not allowed to spend more than R10.00($1.50). We managed to find everything we needed at home and not a penny was spent! Here's the proud owner of a very bright and beautiful bird feeder.......

He got the top mark and achieved 97%! Well Done CoolDude!

Wordless Wednesday.................. Nice to m(EAT) you Larry!

Picture this.........

.............. My eldest and I have parked the car and are walking into the cross country arena. On the back of his running shirt he has "Hillcrest Christian Academy" written in big white letters.
As we briskly walk past a group of runners, we hear a young girl shout "Oh my G-d Dad!!!!!"
With which my son comments ........ "Well, we know where she's going!" ......... I start to walk a whole lot faster! I am now extremely embarrassed!
My eldest is a black or white type of guy........ an' no one can keep him quiet if he feels strongly about something!
I might need to do a refresher on "THE LOVE OF GOD", though !!?

Wordless Wednesday..... Put on the FULL ARMOUR OF GOD.

If only we had known..........

We only found out (after devastating results), that MrGee should never have touched this baby hamster!

Let me back track ....... 3 weeks ago WizzKids Teddy Bear Hamsters gave birth to three lil' ones. The next day we could only find two....... we blamed it on a miss count! A week later the boys found the mother dragging around the upper half of a baby hamster. We seperated the male and female and put the baby with his mom.

Then we took this picture ......... MrGee is trying to act sad that we only have one hammy left!

Now the devastating news........... the boys found this lil' one today with his head eaten off! They were mortified!

We rushed off to the pet shop with the assumption that they must have sold us a couple of psycho rodents! The assistant explained that we are not meant to touch the young hamsters until they are totally weaned. If the mother smells an unusual smell on them she WILL eat them! Oh-dear............ we live an' learn!

BTW....... our Date was truly memorable. We went to a restaurant that was our favourite place to dine 10 years ago. We reminisced and enjoyed the most delicious french cuisine. Sorry no pics..... but that would be an invasion of our privacy Katie!!! hehe