Thursday, January 28, 2010

Pizza Faces.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Miss Tanzi and I were going to make 2010 a fun year of learning together, so today we ditched the books and made pizza!

This is some of what she learnt as we had fun ....... to make a list of the ingredients needed,where to find the ingredients in the grocery store(we went shopping for the needed ingredients),to follow instructions carefully,to not give up when the process becomes monotonous and a whole lot of maths!(1 face needs 2 olives for eyes..... how many olives are needed for 3 faces?)
Definitely time well spent!
Next week I have told her she is going to give me a make-over, and she is allowed to use any of my make-up! ..... ?

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Unprofessional 'Professional'.

MrGee has been man down for the last 4 days.... S-H-O-C-K! This is a man who is very active; who is often referred to by family members as being 'restless' because he battles to sit still even for short periods of time!
MrGee has been bed ridden for 4 days many thanks to a very negligent Dentist! Mrgee tells me I give way too much detail when I explain a situation so I am going to try and give you the short version.
"MrGee had incredibly sore tooth---> goes to dentist--> dentist takes ex-ray and says "nothing wrong"--> polishes his teeth -->MrGee says"I'm in pain!"--> dentist administors injection for pain and sends him on his way -->5 hours later MrGee is in excrutiating pain--> I dose him with Synap Forte(strong pain killer) every 4 hours-->his blood pressure reaches 175/115-->he starts to ask weird questions, we are both seriously worried-->in morning(Sunday Morn) I take him to emergency unit--> injection for pain/anxiety is administered--> MrGee is released feeling a little better--> injection wears off--> back to square one-->no sleep for both of us that night-->following day MrGee barges into dentistry practice and demands attention NOW-->after major scene another dentist takes ex-ray--> she finds large abcess-->we find out first dentist took ex-ray of wrong tooth! --> potent antibiotics are prescibed-->MrGee returns home feeling relieved--> he starts to feel worse as day progresses--> he feels nauseous and is asking even stranger questions-->rest of day is spent drugged on heavy meds and antibiotic-->following morn he visits third dentist--> tooth is pulled immediately--> infection is in bone-->MrGee returns home and lies in bed for rest of day!-->10 hours after pulling of tooth and he feels a little better. Hopefully tomorrow morning will bring some relief to MrGee.
If only the first dentist had ex-rayed the correct tooth, things would have been a whole lot less painful for MrGee........... she should be taken to task!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Wahooooo .......

The boys and I received a very special, surprise package from Texas!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Marsha, Austin and Noah!
What an interesting assortment of American /Texan/ Southern goodies. WizzKid and CoolDude were elated, they just LOVE anything American! Noah and Austin...... that american car is sitting on CoolDude's bookshelf ..... he fought to claim it!(He says a big thanks.)
And the Costa Rican coffee beans ?........ well I saw it as a sign from the Lord.(hehe) My brother asked me a few days ago if MrGee and I wanted to buy his almost new, super-dooper coffee machine. I was umm'ing and ahh'ing ......... but when I received this beautiful smelling bag of beans and I just knew the Lord was saying "Get the machine Fifi, get the machine Fifi." So we will be sipping on our first cuppa in a few days.
We were all very intrigued by the Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwich. We broke it up into 5 equal pieces and savoured the experience as it swelled and melted in our mouths! It tasted exactly like the real McCoy.
This last pic is of a couple of packet sauces that Marsha and her family love. The packet on the right had a note that said .... "We love this over chicken fried steaks and biscuits, very southern!"
After reading this aloud we all (in unison) cried, " Biscuits?"
You see..... this is what we call a biscuit in South Africa......

......... so dear Marsha and fam .... please tell us what 'biscuit' it is that you pour this gravy over, 'cause I am sure it ain't anything like our S.A. biscuit!
THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL SURPRISE !!!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Where's my book on boundaries?

This week Miss Tanzi and I started our learning adventures together. I can see we are going to have many hours of fun and laughter. We are using the Sonlight curriculum, but because she is only in Grade R(0) I am taking a more relaxed approach and will not bombard her with hectic-history and serious-science! This year is all about enjoying each other...... and along the way I'm sure we'll learn loads. I do believe I will need to set some firm boundaries with my dear Tanzi as she has the habit of taking control of a situation and wanting to be the boss!(I wonder where she gets that from ? moi? ..... no never!)
I open her brand new maths book and page to lesson 1 ........

Me: "Okay sweetie let's read the instruction at the top of the page."
Miss Tanzi: "Mom I know what to do!"
Me: "But it's important to read the instruction, to know exactly what to do."
Miss Tanzi: "But I can see what to do!"(she shows me ...... and yip she is correct.)
Me: "T-a-n-z-i ....*trying to be patient*.... we are always going to read the instruction! Do you understand?"
Miss Tanzi: "Y-e-s mom...... but I'm very clever hey?"

After our little conversation, I realise I need some serious brushing up on setting boundaries... Henry and John where is your book, I need it!!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

CoolDude is welcomed into Highbury Prep.

It was CoolDude's orientation today and boy did he look handsome in his new kit! He was both nervous and excited. There are 12 new Grade 6's and three of them are good swimmers( like CoolDude), so there is going to be some healthy competition happening in the pool this year!!
CoolDude has a magnetic personality...... I saw it today as he interacted with fellow school mates and teachers! I am looking forward to an exciting year as my CoolDude explores new avenues.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Welcoming in at Kearsney College

WizzKid and CoolDude are venturing back into the private schooling sector this coming week. They are very excited about making new friends, participating in new extra murals and playing sports that they have not been exposed too.(ie.Basketball and water polo.)
Today we went to WizzKid's welcoming lunch at Kearsney College. The food was deeelish... WizzKid was so excited to learn that this was the type of food he would be served every day! I was delighted to hear that I would NEVER have to pack a lunch box again... wahoo!
Above is the beautiful school Chapel. Kearsney has a Methodist ethos and I just love what they quote on their website .... "We believe that the true purpose of life is found through faith in Jesus Christ. For this reason, it is our aim to present Christ to all at the College and to encourage them to become His followers."
Isn't this setting beautiful? ..... The background is of the 1000 Hills of Kwazulu Natal.(Very close to where we live.)

WizzKid contemplates the MANY hours he will spend in this pool ..... he looks a tad woeful in this pic, but swimming is one of his loves.(ssshhh .... another love is one of the girls at swimming)
And of course ....... what would a post be without a pic of Miss Tanzi doing her stuff .......on the table nogal!!! (Afrikaans word for 'as well' or 'in addition'.)

Friday, January 8, 2010

The Queen and her precious Princess

She nearly got the crown ...... but Fifi was not willing to relinquish the title of Queen ....... not today!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Getting in a little ME TIME ......

We have been on our summer holiday for a month now ..... it's been great ..... not terribly relaxing for me, as I have been the events co-ordinator and delegated driver! But I have had the odd precious moment to craft ...... one of my favourite things to do!

Photobucket

I have just completed this mirror for a friend's daughter. She had her room made over for Christmas and I think she is going to love it!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Our first visit........

Only after MrGee's second week of dialysis was he comfortable with us coming into the dialysis room to have a look-see.......

MrGee is attached to the blue machine on the right. The cylindrical tube in the middle of the photo acts as his kidney, filtering out all the junk from his blood. He connects to this machine every third day for a 4 hour session.