Happy Birthday!

Graham & Samantha celebrated their birthdays together.

What a blessing to have our family near again for these special times!!!!

Fun Fair

On a lazy Sunday afternoon we decided to take a walk at a local Fun Fair.  The boys found these amazingly huge candy floss and really enjoyed the sugar rush.  We bought the most amazing hungarian pastry - hot dough with crusty cinnamon & sugar, yummy!!  We even bought granny a real french creppe.  It was fun even though it was a real chilly afternoon.

Our Coromandel Road Trip

 

We decided to do our first bit of exploring for a weekend away and chose the Coromandel Peninsula as our first place.  Before the sun was up we were heading down the coast and watching the sun rise over the sea.  It was such a beautiful crisp winter's morning.  There's something about going away in winter that just makes it so much fun.  A hot flask of coffee and padkos for the road, blankets and jackets all ready for when we make a quick pitstop.  

At Thames we stopped to stretch our legs and to meet up with Dad, Mom and Samantha.  Time for breakfast and some more coffee!!! The boys found this lovely park to play in... they needed to get rid of the extra energy!!!!!

Happy times, good memories...

Today I got the phone call that all mom's dread to hear. 

The school nurse phoned saying Dylan had an accident at school. 

He was playing basketball with his friends and a tooth got knocke out during the game!!!!!  I was okay untill I hear that he needed to get to a dentist ASAP... 

Being at work it was horrible knowing my son was hurt and needed me there.  I managed to get away and we met him at the dentist.  The nurse made all the arrangements for the dentist to get him in as soon as possible.  

His bottom K9 tooth was almost knocked out totally and barely attached.  The dentist told us that he will put stints in to support the tooth but the nerve might die off and then he will have to have a root canal to remove the dead nerve.  No very good news!!!

So he is doped up on painkillers and antibiotics and we are praying that his tooth will heal totally!!!!

A swollen swore mouth is no pleasant way to end off a day at school.  The final blow was hearing from his father that he can not play rugby for the rest of the term.

Oh, why do these things happen?  Does it really make them stronger in the end or does his heart break knowing he can't play his beloved sport.   Seeing the dissapointment in his eyes just breaks my heart...

rain on the window

I am sitting here all warm and cosy in our home listening to the pitter, patter of rain on the window!!!  We are just loving these cold, wet winter nights... especially now that it's weekend and time to spend our loved ones.

Knowing our boys are fast asleep, all warmly tucked into bed.  One very tired, little boy far away in dreamland and smelling so good.  Another young boy sleeping tightly tucked under the covers, dreaming of his new pet and pocket money to spend. Oldest enjoying the newness of being a teenager being able to stay up later and then tucking him under a duvet that barely cover his long legs.  I am so very blessed to have my boys all safely under our roof.

Enjoying a hot cup of coffee with my love and knowing how lovely it's going to be all cuddled up in bed in just a short while... bliss!!! 

Now to just get my bath water in and find my book... heaven

My Dad's Birthday

We were invited by my parents for lunch the day before my Dad's birthday.  We were so excited getting his presents and couldn't wait for him to open it and see his face.  We bought him a new fishing box and a whole lot of lures and gadgets.  He was sooo thrilled with it.  Graham was so stoked, he did choose the right gifts!!!!  While he was opening his gifts, Jas came back from the postbox with my sister and Yannick's parcel that just got delivered!!!!  And well, more fishing stuff.  Good timing though, we were all quite surprised.

Mom made this delicious chicken bake, an old family favourite.  We were spoilt for choice with her special roasted potatoes, rice, veggies and more...  Dessert was fresh fruit salad with delishous French vanilla icecream, yum!!!  We we were all feeling like little piggies after that glorious meal.

This is what the chicken & mushroom bake looks like and believe me, it's full of wholesome goodness:

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

Honesty Box

This is just an interesting photo we took over the weekend.

This honesty box is on a very quiet road, belongs to a farmer and is fully stocked with the freshest fruit & veg.  The prices are great and the goodies sooo fresh and delish.  You just pay for what you want and put it in the little "honesty" box in the bottom left.  We love supporting the farmers this way.

This is a common thing in here and it's so much fun buying great farm fresh fruit, veggies & eggs.

My special birthday surprise

I got such a lovely surprise coming home last Saturday, on our doormat, there was a huge envelope and a parcel addressed to me!!! And I knew right away who it came from... my bestest friend ever, Adele.  We have know each other since we were 10 and is still each other's best friend.

This was inside the big envelope - a beautiful hand drawn heart with our initials, 2 birds and then 3 tinier birdies for our 3 boys.  She is a graphic designer and made this specially for me.  Now I just can't wait to buy a special frame for it.  It is so nice to know that I am so loved by my special friend.

She also gave met this beautiful birthday card and a leadglass blue heart!!!  I am not sure if she mad it or not.  It is soo beautiful and makes me smile whenever I look at it.

This is the gorgeous carrot cake, my fav, my mum bought me for my birthday from the French Bakehouse.  It was absolutely delish and such a treat.  I love you Mom!!!!

And yes there was more cake, choc mud cake and a blueberry strudel.  All yummy and the boys insisted we have a party!!!

I was so spoilt on my birthday.  The boys took their pocket money to buy me some lovely smellies for the bath, they know what their mama loves.  The best gift of all was being with my husband and our boys.  All of us together through another year, a happy, healthy, exciting and adventurous but mostly blessed year.  I thank God for keeping us safe, together and giving us our new life.  I am so grateful for each one of them and off what they mean in my life.  I also got to spend the evening with my parents and that warms my heart knowing we have spent another year with each other.

My three favourite things at the moment...

A new chapter

Yes, so tomorrow I have my first day at my new job.  I have been so blessed to spend almost 2 1/2 years at home with my littlest boy, Ethan.  I have so many mixed feelings that I find it hard to put into words.

This is an end to a very special chapter in my life.  A very special time spent with my boys being a stay at home mum and being there for them 24/7.  No more little sleep-ins with my baby boy, lounging around in our pj's, watching cartoons or movies (his favourite Madagascar 2) and just doing whatever we feel like...  Sitting outside in the sun with him, hanging my washing out in the sun or just getting the post out the letterbox and most of all going for our walks to the park.  No more snuggles and special little rituals while everyone is at work or school.  No more being there for his every need and to kiss each little hurt as it happens...  BUT now we have weekends to spend extra special time together. 

How I will miss Jas and Dyl getting home after school and sharing their school life with me as they settle down after a long school day.  Now, they are becoming these independant young men with a working mother leaving home early and getting home late.  Like I said, now weekends will become just so much more special - OUR TIME.

I will miss so much of what I shared with them but I am so grateful and blessed for what I have been able to share with them in this time.

This is a new beginning for me to explore and challenge myself.  A new beginning to invest in me. 

It is also a new beginning for Ethie starting in Kindy, and boy, he loved me taking him there these two days, just to test this new experience and to let him settle in.  I have found him a loving little haven where he can grow and explore every day!!!!  I am so excited and eager to see his face at the end of the day and hug him in my arms and take in his smell.

I am nervous, unsure, scared and most of all sad.  But at the same time I am excited and happy about all the possibilities that lay ahead and all the new adventures I will experience with my loved ones in the year ahead.

Be still my heart and just breathe... who you are is enough!!!!

A day to ourselves

For months now we have been wanting to take some time just for us - us meaning, no kids... Since we've been here we've only had about 2 maybe 3 nights to ourselves, so this year we have decided to make time for us too.  We need a good balance between home time and couple time.

Most of our home time is either spent with the boys or at the beach or when the boys go fishing with their dad.  I have been feeling like going for a drive for such a long time and I managed to turn Graham's arm and he agreed.  Yeay!!!!! 

My parents offered to take the boys for the day and night, much to our delight.  But things didn't quite work out the way we wanted it to,  Ethie wouldn't stay and he cried and cried until we decided to rather take him with us.  I just can't leave my littlest boy behind knowing he is in tears and feeling sad!!!   

It was a rather rainy and cold day at Bucklands Beach.

This is some of the yachts moored right near the beach.

Yes, this was our lunch of burgers, chips & milkshakes right on the beach!!!

All the driving was a bit much for this very tired boy of ours, he did wake up for his lunch in time!!!

My husband enjoying his lunch.

Then the rain stopped and it started to clear up beautifully!!!! 

You should see this on a sunny day, really a pretty place.

This is our new fav delish dessert - deep fried pineapple with cinnamon sugar!!!! 

After lunch we drove around a bit more and then decided to head for the shopping mall at Botany Downs, this is a real upmarket mall with the loveliest shops!!!!  Wish we could spend the whole day there...

We found the Starbucks, we had mocha frappe!!!!!!  Just for you, Cands, I took this photo!!

Well, after having a wander and look around this beautiful mall and a visit to the toilets, we discovered this really nice SA shop, Inside Afrika.  Unfortunately, we were so excited that we totally forgot to take any pics.  We boughts some bikkies, Chokkits and Eat-sum-mores.  We were going to dinner at Clinton (a h/school friend of Graham's that we recently found out lives in Auckland too!!!) and Taryn's place so we got them some Ouma Rusks (her fav) and also chokkits.  We also went to Kmart where we bought Ethie some new winter pj's, undies and the whole family's Easter chokkies. 

Dinner was great and we had some good grown-up conversations going on without any little ears around to hear every word too.  We have found some friends now and that is a real treat in itself.

Ahh, it was so great spending time with my hubby.  Just doing what we love and chatting all the way, and no, not about the kids, just grown-up stuff.  

We decided to set definite dates just for US time more often!!!!!!