Exploring a scrap

I have been enjoying a few stolen moments of scrapbooking again and really enjoyed putting this "puzzle piece" together. It was quite a labour intensive exercise and I'm pleased it is finally finished.

Happy Birthday Kade

Birthday boy's breakfast order:

7 flackjaps and chocolate sauce. YUM












Check the smile on that face. A cool bicycle for his birthday. "WOW, just what I wanted."

















Lunch at Panarotti's with his friends followed by a fun game of ten pin bowling.


















What a great day. Happy Birthday Big boy.

Celebrate good times

We all had a great weekend of celebrating. Madam Fluff was so very excited about Father's Day, she could hardly contain herself and I had to practically muzzle her each time she almost let slip what Daddy was getting for Father's Day. It was actually very cute and it was easy enough to forgive her because I remember being just as bad at keeping surprises as a child; I have, thankfully, improved with age. Poor hubby has his birthday in June too so Father's Day gifts are usually home made cards and gadgets (I think Bug finished all the glue) and the ever faithful socks, jocks, biltong and chocolates which the kids pounced on him with gusto before both his eyes are open. Unfortunately it was a bit of a miserable day outside so we chose to spend the day indoors cooking and watching DVD's.

Monday was my turn to get pounced on before I had opened my eyes. The mixed matched melody of Happy Birthday ringing in my ears and prezzies thrown unsuspectingly onto my half asleep body, brought on day two of the celebrations. The kids had a blast ripping open my presents to show me what they had all bought and we spent another relaxing day together.

Madam Fluff sought every opportunity at the restaurant we went to for lunch to tell every person within earshot that not only was it her Mom's birthday but...hello...."My Mom is 34 years old today!" Where was that muzzle, I didn't find myself as forgiving for this outburst. Fluff and Kade then told Daddy to instruct the waiter to sing happy birthday to me, to which I duly warned loving Hubby that any sparkler detected within a 5m radius would be unceremoniously shoved up his nostril, needless to say, there was no singing at the restaurant! Oh well, I suspect we all need a lesson in learning to grow old gracefully and sooner is better than later!

Sugar rushes and party cakes

After much preparation; finally and very successfully our fun day, fundraiser had arrived and what a fun day it was.

The Mother's Committee of Snuggle Bug's school hosted a Cake Decorating competition for the children; each child had to decorate a cake which was put into categories and judged. All in all I think there was about 70 cake entries, all of which were stunning. See below.



My kiddies each decorating their part of our entry which was a sweetie train cake. Kade took his job very seriously, Caley did her bit as quickly as she could and snuck off to play and Connor spent most of his time eating the icing, thankfully I had prepared enough.....hee hee.

This is ONE of the THREE tables adorned with the most beautiful cakes, all made by the kids. OK, I think there were one or two grown up fingers contributing but mostly done by the children. The fairy castle cake was the first prize winner! GREAT don't you think!!!

Our contribution, the sweetie train cake. Kade decorated the engine and Caley and Connor each decorated a little carriage. What a good job guys, well done!

Happy Birthday Bug

Snuggle Bug did me proud, he partied hard and had a really jam packed birth-weekend, let alone birthday. Celebrations started on Saturday; while the girls were having their morning tea, the boys were all off to the waterfront for lunch and a boat trip. Sunday was spent with the family, opening lots of prezzies, having lunch and eating lots of cake. Monday was his birthday party, held at his little Nursery School, kindly provided and hosted by the ever lovely Aunty B. Festivities were brought to an end on Monday night with a scrumptious dinner treat at a restaurant. Phew. *I* was worn out by the end of it all and so was little Bug who didn't even make it home from the restaurant and promptly passed out in the car. Congrats little Bug, you did good. Happy, Happy, Birthday.

Anyone for Tea?

Saturday was a spectacular display of elderly (or should I rather say, slightly older ladies) behaving like giddy little school girls and just when the element of surprise could no longer be contained, the moment had arrived.

We shuttled all the girls of the one of the most famous hotels in Cape Town for one of the most famous tea's in the Mother City. We treated the girls to Morning Tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel. All of the old dears (and the younger ones) admitted to feeling like princesses as they were driven up the long imposing driveway lined with trees and escorted onto the veranda where we were treated to the widest selection of tea I have ever encountered. The fantastic buffet of cucumber, salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, muffins, scones and other sublime delicacies were enough to fill our eyes and more so our bellies to the point of absolute over indulgence. Their pamper boxes, filled with a selection of bath and beauty products also went down a treat. They were positively spoilt rotten and they loved every minute of it.

Have a look see for yourself.
The girls outside the hotel

At our table on the veranda

Digging into the pamper boxes

Digging into the yummy treats

One of the pamper boxes

International Sunday goes Mexican

This weeks International Sunday was Mexican. Arrribah!!!

Hubby and I found a great recipe for Peri Peri Tortilla's in a local magazine. We used the hot and spicy marinade for our portion and I made a simple marinade using garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper for the kiddies portion. Once the chicken was prepared we spread out all the garnishing; made up of lettuce, red peppers, tomatoes, cheese, mayonnaise and of course the flour tortilla's. The tortillas for the kiddies were cut in half to make a semi circle, they put in all their favourite fillings and we helped them shape them into cones. They had a blast filling all their cones and had just as much fun trying to eat them. They were a real hit.

Peri Peri Tortillas

400g chicken breast

10ml olive oil

10ml grated ginger

5ml crushed garlic

5ml peri peri spice

Combine all ingredients and marinade the chicken for approximately 30 minutes. Heat a non stick frying pan and fry strips until brown.

Hubby and I really enjoyed this recipe, we added the same garnishing as the kids but used plain Bulgarian yogurt to our tortillas instead of mayonnaise. What a treat

I don't like cricket, I love it.

OK, please, let's not take today's title too literally, thank you. This week's International Sunday was postponed due to the cricket. We took the kids down to the Stadium to watch the Cobras vs. Titans. This was our very first live cricket match and fun was had by all. The kids found the dunk tank more entertaining than the cricket though which was a good thing I suppose because sadly, our team (Cobra's) lost by 7 runs.

Kiddies sporting their supportive gear.


Kade in the hot seat on the dunk tank.

International Sunday

Kade has been asking quite a few questions lately about other countries. I have tried to find ways to answer his questions, which thankfully, are still first grade kind of questions and are relatively easy enough to answer (I KNOW I am not smarter than a fifth grader). It did get me thinking though, of how to get the kids involved in learning a little bit about the "world out there", still keep in fun, interactive and on a level apporopriate to the ages in our household.

We have started and "International Sunday" day. Every Sunday evening we prepare a meal from a different country and whilst we all squeeze into the kitchen to all help make dinner, Mark and I tell them a little more about the country which inspired their gourmet treat for the evening. I intend on planning this a little better in the future and will attempt to get the kids to help research the unique qualities that our themed country for the week has to offer and then decorate and lay the table accordingly. The kids are quite enthusiastic about this idea and to be honest I find it a little exciting too.

Last night was Italian night and we all made pizza from scratch, kneading the dough, chopping all the toppings and grating and sprinkling all the yummy cheese. (could kick myself for not having taken pics). It was a fun evening had by all with squeals of delight when Daddy tossed his pizza dough in the air and caught it "just like a real Italian Pizza man".

If any of you would like to give it a try, the pizza base recipe that we found was really yum and produced a lovely crisp base.

Italian Night Pizza Base Recipe.

• 1 teaspoon dried yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 155 g/5 oz plain flour
• 6 cloves garlic crushed (optional)

Place the yeast, salt, sugar and warm water in a small bowl. Leave, covered in plastic wrap, in a warm place for 10 minutes, or until foamy. Sift the flour into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and garlic. Mix to form a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Roll out to fit a 30cm (12 inch) greased or non stick pizza tray.

For our family of 5 we doubled this recipe. (Recipe taken from "Cooking Italian" cookbook.)

Spread the bases with a tomato sauce and let everyone have fun decorating their own pizzas. Bake in a preheated oven 200C/400F for about 20-30 minutes or until the base is cooked through.

The beach

What an absolutely stunning autumn day here today. First thing this morning I prepared a little picnic basket and we headed off for the beach. Our usual spot was under attack by the gale force winds that we get here and we went in search of a new spot. Found one. Perfect. Quiet, calm and beautiful. The kids had an absolute ball.

Today's title supplied courtesy of Kade, who is so very chuffed that he can spell a little now and write words in the sand that one can actually make sense of. Well done my boy.

Only children can enjoy such really, really icy water. I think I stood in it all of 10 seconds and I temporarily lost the feeling in my feet.

What a beautiful sight. Amid the buzz of life, it is so easy to forget the beauty that surrounds you in your own "back yard".

I need a plan

I am almost always, yeah OK, always, thinking or trying to brainstorm fun ideas to entertain the kids on weekends and holidays. I suppose it's the anal part in me that cannot just let nature take it's course and let the leaves fall where they may; I have to have a plan; Where should we go? What should we do? Where should we eat and what should we eat when we get there? I know, I am tiring myself and then I wonder why I am so finished by the end of the weekend. Have I somehow done my family an injustice by not having planned anything, or at least have the slightest clue of what we could possibly do for entertainment? Surely I have failed miserably if any of them dared come to me complaining of...shht...boredom(whisper). My husband suggested the horror of all horrors..."maybe they could just entertain themselves"..eeekk...I am about to go into convulsions, quickly, someone pass me a paper bag...I admit that maybe, could be, I suppose I could try it. We'll start in baby steps.

I often imagine that I'm on the other side of a dodge ball court with my kids, they're constantly hurling curve balls at me and if I am not prepared, I'm gonna get body slammed; in the same way I feel that if I am not somewhat prepared for a day together, I get slammed. Mom, what are we doing? Mom, where are we going? Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom.....call me anything else today PLEASE; if one more person says the word Mom I think I may just need that paper bag.

Do we bring it on ourselves? Is the stress and inadequacy's we feel, our own doing? Is it our fault as parents that our kids just don't seem to know how to entertain themselves anymore? Do we blame the play centres and restaurants with play areas, for constantly supplying entertainment and not allowing our children to just sit and behave. As kids we didn't dare move from our chairs or utter a word at the table while the grown ups were engaged in conversation or even if they weren't for that matter, you were lucky if you managed to whimper out a small, quick plea for the tomato sauce without getting "the stare". We were seen and not heard and if our folks really had their way, kids weren't seen or heard.

We have had a really fantastic, not perfect (still working on the fact that things can still be good without being perfect), half planned, half not, weekend, as I said..baby steps. We had a full monty, camp out in the garden on Friday night, with all the gear, very cool. Spent an unplanned day at home on Saturday(didn't quite go according to plan though) and a lovely day out with the kids at the Science Centre today, once again, allowing something and someone else to assist in entertaining our children.

Children today are expected to keep up with the Joneses and if the don't, they fall behind; a survival of the fittest, if you will. This means, basically, that we have to keep up with the times and pump them with every conceivable bit of information we can find, but surely we can still stop from time to time, smell the roses and just let them be bored for a few minutes, assuring them of course, that as alien as the experience feels at the time, it actually will pass and will not kill them?

Just our luck

Finally we get our first weekend, in about the last 3, with Mark at home. Yeehaa. We took the kids to church this morning just to make sure they realise that is was Jesus Christ who died for us which makes Easter important and not the breeding of bunnies and their chocolate offspring.
I guess you can only try and teach your kids so much, because no sooner had we gotten into the car they were asking how many sleeps until the bunny comes.

We decided to go on a bit of a "Sunday drive" on a Friday holiday looking for somewhere family friendly and relaxing to go to and enjoy a lovely warm and inviting day outdoors. I had images of sitting under a big ol' tree, with stretched lawns before me watching my delightful offspring skipping and playing merrily on the grass while having a bite to eat and sipping on something cool and refreshing.

Our first stop led us to Fairview Wine Estate...Closed. Second stop, an off the beaten track Dutch restaurant and farm stall somewhere in Woester....Closed. Third stop, somewhere out there nearby...closed. Fourth stop, around about Paarl...closed. Two hours and a few hungry, irritated kids later we reach our fifth (or was it the sixth?) stop; home...and it's open, go figure!! And while I don't have the stretched out lawn, (ours is a little more compact) and I don't have a big ol' tree (it's getting there and now towers a little over my head), we did at least manage to finally get that bite to eat and at least we're all together.

Happy Easter everyone and remember that Jesus is the reason for the Season.