Monday, March 31, 2008

Menu Plan Monday

So the menu for this week does include some home cooked meals- the kitchen is starting to open again.LOL
Monday- Left over chicken stew
Tuesday- Lasagne (from the Lasagne Mate box)
Wednesday- Soup from Woolies
Thursday- Mango and Chicken dish from Woolies

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Party in the rain



We had a kids party this afternoon. It was very nice. And then the rain came. And boy did it rain!!

One minute the river was still just full - the next minute it broke it's banks. And came quite close to the house where we were watching it from. It was quite a sight. I haven't been this close to the river breaking it's banks in a while.

The first pic is of the river when it started rto rain. The second one once the river had broken it's banks-The pics are a bit dark.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Some thoughts on being South African


I had a fine time this morning trying to convince Andrew to put his shoes on. This made me think about things that are uniquely South African.

In South Africa it's quite normal for the kids to go without shoes, even go to school without shoes. In fact most schools allow kids to go shoeless until the age of about 12/13

And it's quite normal for kids to arrive at a venue, take their shoes of and go play. Hence me battling with Andrew to put his shoes on when we go out. I like him to wear shoes when we go to the shops- as the floors get very dirty.

But it's not uncommon for me to take my shoes of when we get home- or if we are at a venue with the kids and I want to run around with them, and my shoes are not suitable- I have no problem taking my shoes of.

I know that in Europe and North America this is almost frowned upon. Although I do speak under correction of course.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Four Foods on Friday

I've had some logon issues- so I have a bit of catching up to do!!

Four Foods on Friday
Here are this week’s four questions.

#1. What’s your favorite form of potatoes?
Potatoe Bake

#2. Pie crust. Premade or from scratch?
You mean like meat pies or sweet tartlike pies?
Meat pies I dont like too much- as the crust gives Pierre heartburn. Sweet tarts are usually made with like a biscuit base- that's usually very easy to make.

#3. Vegetables. Fresh, frozen or canned?
Fresh- at a squeeze canned.

#4. What one dish do you wish you could prepare better?
Mmm- actually nothing - if you make something better-people want you to do it ALL the time :))

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Happy Birthday


To Pierre!!

To my friend, confidante and the guy that still races my motor- Have an awesome day!!

Booking Through Thursday

Cover-Up March 27, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:32 am

This week’s question comes from Julie, who asks:
While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?

Not a lot really- I just dont like it if adult fiction has pictures in it- I continously worry how blind people would read that book.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Update on the kids

I haven't done an update on the kids lately- so I thought it is high time.
Carmen is growing like a weed- and eating like a horse as well- she will gladly come home- have something to eat,come dinnertime have some more and just before bedtime- after we have brushed teeth (Murphy's Law) she wants some more.
She is also talking very well- and it sounds too cute when she says PARDON ME- she says - PARDE DIE-ag cute man
She can shake her little finger at you when she tells you how to do things- and will in no uncertain terms tell you to go sit in the "Naughty Corner" if you are being naughty- in her opinion.
She is quite happy at school and has settled in nicely, She didn't get a "glowing" report from them- but then they are expecting her to recognise shapes and colours- For a 2,5 year old I think it is a bit much.
She loves her dresses and her dolls dearly.

Andrew is quite the litttle man now- refusing to play with girls. He has had some adjustment issues with his new big school- but everyday- he seems a bit more settled.
He knows that to deflect bullies- you do what they do to you- and then tell the teacher. This seems to work well for all involved- friends,school and parents. The only thing that happens is that he tends to scratch those friends of his list then.

He is starting to share more and more what happens with him everyday at school- and seems to really enjoy the arts and crafts- everyday he comes home wanting to "decorate" something.
He has started to write the first letter of his name- much to me and Pierre's amazement.
Given that he still calls letters, numbers-we think he is being very clever.
He started to suck his thumb again- but we are tackling that issue one step at a time.
He loves his tv- not his cars so much anymore. Any toy/game that lets him interact with other people is now a firm favourite.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter Monday


I spend the morning buying clothes for the kids. Now they are kitted out for winter. In honour of Easter Monday here is a pic of Andrew's Easter Bonnet. Yes Pierre did manage to take a pic after all!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

The wildlife



on the resort is quite tame. The guinea fowl, mongoose and loeries come quite close to the chalets. Early in the morning we were visited by the mongoose and guniea fowl and it was quite fun to watch the kids chase them up and down shouting "Tarentula's", "Tarentula's". Tarentaal being the Afrikaans name for Guinea Fowl. They were however warned not to go close to the cute looking mongoose- who can be quite vicious if cornered.

The Loeries were fed copius amounts of fruit by the kids. Everytime a child came to ask for a banana we knew they were feeding Loeries.

Sadly we had to leave today but it was a very relaxing and rejuvenating time. Even though the resort was fully booked it was a very quit and tranquil space to be in.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Just being lazy



We started the morning by going to the warm water pool. The ideal cure for a hangover. LOL

Then we went to a dam on the resort with barbers(catfish) as big as a child. I swear these things could take a man's leg of. They were huge!

We were very fortunate to see paragliders in the evening flying over the resort

Friday, March 21, 2008

Easter Friday



We were lucky enough to be invited by friends to go to Dikhololo for the long weekend. It's the ideal Easter breakaway - as it is only about an hour and a half from Joburg- so you can leave on the Friday and miss most of the Easter traffic. The resort has a warm pool as well as a supertube. It is situated in a game farm- so there is lots for the kids to do. This is the lovely sunset we had on Friday. And of course a pic of my fire loving boy



.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I just

have to post this. LOL
This morning was a bit of a mess- no apparent reason than kids just being a bit more demanding than usual.
We made Andrew's hat last night- which he was very impressed with- but poor Carmen felt very left out because she had no hat- poor nunu
So there's me rushing around - packing Andrew's "picnic" muttering to myself that I wonder if they are going to feed the kids if we have to provide picnics .
Andrew's picnic consisting of lots of msg products- chips,sweets and me adding more stuff cause I'm not sure how much food they are getting today.Stuff like provitas and cheese and dried fruit. Guess what will get eaten today. LOL
Andrew is refusing- again- to wear long pants- cause cant you hear it's not raining mom. This seems to be a boy thing as most people with boys seems to be having a batlle getting the kids dressed warmly in this weather.
And Carmen just generally wanting to be picked up and cuddled- and I'm late.
So when I get to the office I remember we haven't taken a pic of our "masterpiece" the easter bonnet. I phone Pierre- and get a very terse - I'm late , I'm in the car-and I dont have the camera with me.
I require tentatively wheter he could take a picture whith his phone- only to get barked at- you know it doesn't download.

For some weird and wonderfull reason all this have put a huge smile on my face. Aint us mothers just a weird bunch :))

Booking Through Thursday

The End March 20, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:55 am

You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?
(Obviously, there can be more than one answer, here–a book with a cliff-hanger is going to engender different reactions than a serene, stand-alone, but you get the idea!)
Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

That- as you so rightly pointed out- depends on the book.
A cliffhanger I'll muse forever about possible endings. A "that's the way life is" just leaves me pondering about all that is in my life. And mostly depending on the book - and my mood- I either dive straight into another one or go off books for a while.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Easter

is coming up- and I still have to make an Easter Bonnet for Andrew- urghh- Gues what I'm doing tonight .
Other than that we are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend of just chilling :))

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Digiscrap Tuesday


Andrew sitting in his box car- I can remember doing this as a kid

Monday, March 17, 2008

Menu Plan Monday

Again the menu is courtesy of Woolworths-lol!!

Monday- Spaghetti Bolognaise
Tuesday- Chicken Korma
Wednesday- Spinach & Feta Quiche
Thursday- Macaroni & Cheese

Sunday, March 16, 2008

More rain

More rain!!. The kids slept at my moms on Sat evening and we went to have dinner with some old friends at a favourite restaurant. It was nice to get out again- we haven't done it for months!!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Wet,wet,wet

It was very wet today!! We were supposed to have an easter eg hunt - but that rained out. So I dragged the kids to the shopping centre. Bit of a mission but whatever- we got done what we needed to do.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods on Friday #21 questions
This week’s meme is sponsored by Cafe Britt.
Any regular participant of FFOF, that has played 6x or more is eligible to receive a link in my sidebar if they want one, all they need do is ask.
Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. What’s your favorite fruit and how do you like to eat it?
Mm this changes from season to season- but mostly I like mangoes and guavas- and I eat them just like that- I peel the mangoes of course

#2. What is the one spice in your kitchen you use more than any other?
Dont use a lit of spice- pepper I suppose

#3. Pudding. Instant, stovetop or premade?
I luurve Wollies Chocolate mouse

#4. Share a recipe using potatoes.
Mm hubbie like roast potatoes- done with a bit of butter and salt

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Booking Through Thursday

Playing Editor March 13, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:13 am

Suggested by John :
How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
Thirtheenth Tale would have been a much better book if the Main Character's own story of Twins was presented as the main story.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wednesday


Cant think of anything today- I'm just sooo busy. Feel like I need a looong massage though


Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Digiscrap Tuesday




Yes this is back.Dont know for how long though. I've been reading and doing some tuts- so I'm starting to feel more comfortable with PSE 6. I also bought myself a book- The Missing Manual- PSE 6- It's helped a great deal in explaining the functions and features of PSE 6.
(PS if the pic doesn't show - I'll update later- we are having bandwith issues)



Monday, March 10, 2008

Menu Plan Monday

I've made a decision- I dont want to cook- at least not boring evening family meals- so this week I'm cheating. All the meals are courtesy of Woolworths- lol

Monday-Beef Lasagane
Tuesday- Roast Chicken Vegetable Pie
Wednesday- Quiche Lorraine
Thursday- Macaroni & Cheese

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Green Thumb Sunday

Silver Birch Tree's leaves that is starting to turn colour

Saturday, March 8, 2008

A Big Ouchie


Poor Andrew bumped his head full blast into our coffee table this morning. With disastrous consequences. He has a HUGE big bump on his head- like literally the size of an egg. I had to bribe him to take this photo. He was still very miffed when I took it.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods on Friday #20 questions
Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. What type of m&m is your favorite?
Dont like M&M's- bit I looove smarties

#2. Peanut butter. Smooth, chunky, creamy. How do you like it?
With Honeycrunch!!

#3. Do you usually drink out of glass, acrylic, Tupperware type or paper cups?
Glass!!

#4. Share a chicken recipe.
All I can think of right now- is Roast chicken- boring hey


Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Bit Miffed

My meme for today has still not updated their question for this week.
Now how am I suppose to function?????

Anyways- I'll post about something I've been thinking about
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED
Sounds a bit cynical - but this morning I was standing at the robot and the guy next to me had a flat tyre. I pointed it out to him- for which he thanked me -and then he had to make a u-turn so he could go to the garage across the road.
Now while this gave me a good ,Samaritan like feeling, and he possibly felt gratefull that his rims wasn't damaged, I'm not sure the people behind him really appreciated it. Since he had to obstruct the lane he was in and then turn into the oncoming traffic to turn. Now he wasn't irresponsible doing it- but it is inconvenient if someone in front of you puts on his hazards and then has to wait for traffic to clear so he can turn.
So the drivers behind him might not have felt so accomodating.Especially if they didn't know why he was turning.

Mmm- makes you think doesn't it??

**********************************************************************************************************

Hero March 6, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:33 am

You should have seen this one coming … Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?
(And apologies for this going up late . . . my post-dated post didn’t publish when it was supposed to this morning! It’s just a few hours late, but still–sorry about that! )

Sjoe- I cant think of any right now.....The only one that comes to mind is the father in The Thirteenth tale... the way he took care of his daughter when his wife couldn't.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Roundup of last month

I forgot to do this last week- so I'm doing it now.
The main attractions of the month was my car that conked for a day- and the drama with all of that.
I was still settling into the new schools- me not the kids- they are fine - lol- but I'm starting to find my feet now :)
Pierre is under tremendous strain right now- their business is doing well- but I dont think the parternship will be around much longer- there is just too much personality clashes going on right now.It's causing Pierre a bit of self-doubt.
O ja- and me and all my hormonal crap- which I think I found the cause of for by pure accident yesterday. I will post about it as soon as I get more info.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The Summer Knows

I wrote this poem last night- I'ts a bit smalchy- but I like it :)



The Summer knows
it's time to go
With a last flirtatious smile
And a warm hug
She goes

Autumn comes with a warm smile
(We really dont have much of an autumn here anyway)
Every now and again
She reminds us
Hand on the hip
Winter is coming

The Summer knows

Monday, March 3, 2008

Menu Plan Monday

I've decide to post my meny for the week. I've been inspired by the Organizing Junkies

Monday- Cottage Pie
Tuesday- Roast Chicken with Gemsquash
Wednesday- Pork Stirfry
Thursday- Sirloin Steak with Green Beans
Friday- Fish and Chips

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Just chilled


The kids insisted at 9 this morning- that we MUST bake a cake- so there we were baking cakes at 9 on Sunday morning. LOL- It was fun though. Andrew helped me mix it all together. Of course they insisted that once the cake was baked we must decorate it immediatly. LOL

We managed to distract them by going out to the bookshop and having some lunch.
The whole purpose of baking the cake was actually to lick out the bowls. They could almost not wait for the cake batter to be dished into the cake pan.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Saturday

I just had to laugh at all the kids today!! Two of them had these electronic games you get at the Spur-if you eat a chicken burger. We were not 5 minutes at the party and all the kids insisted to go to the Spur for a chicken burger and game -LOL!!
Both kids are sleeping now- so I could sneak in here quickly :)
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