Some things never change

Going through the blog with Jessica this morning (she is home sick). And I realised, some things never change. I STILL get this look from her in the mornings!

Ode to a small tortie cat

The Tat on our Mat
Is quite something at that
Coloured like a Koi
Into a feisty "toi toi"

Plastic bags make for great rustles
Soccer balls for the best hustles
This tat on our mat
Is an active one, at that.

She rather loves water and can be found in dripping showers
She escapes through any window and hides in leafy bowers
If the dishwasher is open - she's immediately "in there"
And no string is left unattacked if dangling in mid-air

Cute with a "prrrr-ow-ff" which means a warm hello
Or sometimes "that's it - beware of my swift blow"
Chasing poor Angel with glee in her mock glare
This cat has much personality even in her "put me down" stare

There are days when I wonder just what we have done
Getting young Thunderbolt for our also young son
Days when I laugh until my sides simply ache
This kitty is Ms Personality, even if she keeps me awake.

Art exhibition 2016

Okapis

I have learnt a surprising number of facts about okapis, the subject of Jessica's latest speech. Not only are they closely related to giraffes, their black tongues can be up to 45cm long, their coats are waterproofed with oil (just as well as they live in rainforests) and their babies are super cute.

Some other interesting facts came out aka Jessica:
- they eat up to 27kg of vegetarians a day
- they are found in the DemoRatic republic of Congo
- mommy okapis hide their babies in vegetarians
- baby okapics don't defendicate for up to 6 weeks after birth which helps keep them safe from predators (presumably while they are hidden in the vegetarians?)

Love it!  My beautiful small girl enthusiastically telling us all about stripy-legs!

My men!

Luke and Adam doing a Park Run. Luke's personal mission is to beat his times each week. He's down to 26 minutes for 5km. Adam in hot pursuit.

Ballerina girl

 All the excitement and hard work comes to this moment - getting ready for the ballet show!

My ballerina girl :)

Quick hug for good luck!

On stage

The cats! Guess who was in the box!

With the three special ladies of our family - Granny, Grandma & Adrienne

What does a small boy do at a ballet concert? Sigh. 

Granny flew down from Jhb for the concert. Lovely to have her with us.

Grandma made it over the mountain. 

A girl and her dad :)

A boy and his bear

Shout-itis

Anyone else have shout-itis in their home? That phenomenon where your small children shout at you and to you all the time?

Have to admit I lost the plot tonight and just left (after making sure Adam could take over), but still. My moer-meter went ping. Now to work on getting the volume down all round.

MOO-OOOM.

The new Tat on the mat

You know, it's rather fun reading back through the blog every now and then. And I don't think I have seen Luke's room so tidy for weeks now (last photo was of the Astro-Nut).

Have I mentioned the Tat? The new Cat? We have a new addition to the household. After some deliberation and searching, Luke and I went on a kitten hunt to find someone who will sleep on his bed. No one could ever really take the place of Po, but the small boy wanted a cat of his own. We visited Darg, Tears, Gumtree and the SPCA, and finally met a small swirly-coloured cat who leapt into our arms and purred at first sight.

Enter Thunderbolt, a female tortoiseshell with great character (and sneezes).

  

So Madame Le Tat came home on Friday. And then we discovered that she had snuffles or cat flu. So back to the SPCA on Monday for meds, then back on Wednesday for more meds and a drip and hospitalisation. We collected her the following Monday and she was on the mend. An ankle slasher of note, there were cries of anguish from various parts of the house at inopportune times. She's also an excellent soccer player and enthusiastically chases balls. And when she was finally allowed out of Luke's room, she's turned out to be a lap cat too. Leading to the new term "incatacitated" or incapacitated. We knew that that Angel was finally de-fluffing in protest when we found Angel on the top bunk of Jessica's bed and Luke and Thunderbolt on the bottom one night.

However, the cat flu came back. So it's been daily visits to SPCA for 3 days for an antibiotic shot. Have to admit I thought we had lost her on Sat as she was so weak. Eish. Praying that we have an all-time cat, not one that gets sick every few months. And while annoyed that our adopted feline came to us sick, grateful that SPCA have been so good about treating her 100% for us.

Anyway, off to get the next injection now...

Happy Spring Day!

Mornings

Mornings are meant to be calm, serene, ordered. An oasis of haven before we walk into the wide world of today. The peace of our homes is taken into our explorations and experiences.

Ha ha ha. Seriously? I woke up to the train, went back to sleep, vaguely heard the alarm. My Dearest and Bestest set a cup of coffee down next to the bed and the smallest person in the house arrived. "Mom, where are my school pants?" asked at volume. "Where you left them." I replied, inhaling the coffee with desperation and delight. "But MO-OM".

Mom has somehow become a two-syllable word in our home.

"Mo-om, I don't know where I left them." Sigh. The same place he always leaves them. On the floor. In his bedroom, or any room. But there is a clean pair of pants in the wash basket. "Try the wash basket, Luke." The latest iteration is that small boy has to get changed in private. I know this is a natural progression, but it is hard to reconcile with the personality that still parades naked through the house bopping to an unheard beat. It inevitably stops in front of my mirror to admire a few of the wilder hip rolls and shakes and give itself a thumbs up big wide grin of approval. So the small boy vanishes into my bathroom to put on his unders and his grey pants. Next crisis. He emerges and says "IRON MY TOP".

At this, I gaze myopically over the top of my cup of coffee. It's now half full, and I am struggling to compute. Er, where is the please? And by the way, it's not even 6.30am.

Skip the middle bit.

Let it be noted that I finished the coffee, Extracted myself from bed. Made 3 lunches. Combed out Miss J's tresses (we could not find the brush again) and did a fancy do, remembered Spring Day and that we had to take flowers for the teachers. Chopped down clivias, ruthlessly sacrificing their annual flower heads to brighten a teacher's day. Wrapped jam jars in bright green paper with hastily scrawled "happy spring day" in kid-writing.

Adam, the Man of My Heart, ironed the shirt at 7.20.

And he who must not be named, lest he object, hopped out to the car with one shoe on and one shoe off, leaving his homework pouch and Class Captain badge behind for Mo-om to bring out to the car.

By the way, in best Cape Tradition, it's cold and rainy. Happens every Spring Day.

And so, Adam, Jessica and Luke left the haven of a serene, cereal-decorated, school bag-littered and mildly upside down home to venture into the wide world of 1 September.

(Bonus for Mo-om: Jessica left her latest Bear Grylls book behind so I can find out what happens next!)

Green belt with Dad

I taxi'ed the family off to the Green Belt on a Sunday arvie - Jessica was super keen to try out her new 26" bike and Luke has just upgraded to her previous bike. What a glorious winter day in Cape Town!

Running is in...

The small boys prepping...

Thumbs up! The core team of Khumani, Dillon, Luke and Laird

Birthdays!

Time rushes past so very, very quickly! Our beautiful small girl is now halfway to 18. Eighteen!  Argh! 

This year we had a simple birthday party. Movies with favourite cousin Caitlin, small brother and a friend, followed by frozen yoghurt and playing with lego and hanging out with more friends. 

Caitlin, Luke, Jessica and Riley

School friends: Hannah, Jessica, Riley and Christy

Then on her actual birthday, Granny and Grandad came down to join us and we had a family breakfast, followed by an afternoon tea with family and family friends. A lovely day that was full of laughter, kids stampeding through the house and friends. Marvellous. 

Princess Jessica

With her new chariot and proud Dad

Pancake breakfast of course!

The kid crew before descending on the tea table!

Grandad with the grandchildren

Mom grabs a hug.

My sweet girl, you are super special. We love your musical wiggles and the songs that get sung at top volume. I chuckle when I have to turn your light out, because yes, I do know about that torch under your pillow that you are going to pick up so you can finish the chapter (or book) as soon as I am on the other side of the house. You are SO not a morning person! And a real night owl. And so very very curious. I pray that you would always be keen to learn and find out more. I love you, my nine-year old tweenie adventuress!

STAR WARS...

This morning I feel like I am walking through a STAR WARS frontier planet. As my dressing gown swirls behind me and the Phantom Menace (aka small black cat) leaps out to pounce at my trailing belt, there really should be some dum dum de dum music blaring. I'm missing my light sabre, but would that be the dishwashing liquid (green)? Whatever. The force is strong with me as I blitz the dishwasher, washing, counters, kitchen and bedroom. Unfortunately the vacuuming and mop await (definitely the dark side of the force today).

Well, family update. We all got inked yesterday at voting. Kids helped to drop the ballots in the boxes and we got to meet Garfield, resident ginger cat at the primary school we voted at. I think he is even larger than the resident ginger cat at our school (which is saying something). Definitely, including fur, well over 8 kg. Seems like this Garfield also rules that school. Our school cat interviews parents, and makes a courtesy appearance at most of the functions at the school. Strolls across netball courts in full play. You get the picture. Don't mess with the cat.

Best friend Emma turned 9. Young beanpole daughter had one of her t-tube grommets out and so far all seems ok (thank the Lord!). She says everything is a bit loud in that ear now. Fab! Small boy Luke has finished his cross country races for the term and wants to be brown because brown people run so much faster. Like Kumani. Who decided to try cross country for the first time and came in 8th out of 100 small boys. Luke came in 23rd and was a bit bleak.

Mum (aka Jedi Leia) had enough of food complaints and made the family eat mexican food for a week. It turned out to be a hit, especially for mom and dad. Small children who wouldn't try the new stuff ate a lot of apples. Many thanks to the apple farmers of the Western Cape.

Hugga Bear is installed on Luke's bed with the finally completed book of PnP animals. It appears that Hugga Bear is reading all about fiercest or deadliest or whatever the green colour animal is.

Actually, perhaps today should be ICE AGE day, not STAR WARS? Found these posters at the local Ster Kinekor and wrestled them home despite my flu and hacking cough. Luke thrilled! Super cool room decor (pardon the pun).

I think I might feel like Scratch right now. Trying to keep my hands on the nut (ball) today...

How the crocodile lost it's teeth

How the crocodile lost its teeth

And ended up all smily on Jupiter

In the swamps of Wardle, close to the water’s edge

Lived a slimy croc, a Mamma, who hated eating veg

She liked to eat soft bunnies, and sometimes poodles too

But most of all, especially, she liked fresh duckling stew

Now Mamma Croc laid lots of eggs in a nest quite vast (or big)

She was too lazy to get down to it and so she forgot to dig

The eggs lay high on a mound of bones, all oval and quite white

And Mama Croc would lie quite close to keep them in her sight

The croc-lings hatched out one by one, and ate each other up

Except for the second egg that broke and fell out of the nesting cup

The small green child rolled down the hill and ended in a tree

While nestlings four and five gnashed and munched on number three 

Now CrocLing Two was very small, but courageous as we see

And so he decided to explore the world and leave his safe, nice tree

He wandered the world all round about, but always wondered why

When he turned up the birds would shout and ducklings tried to fly

CrocLing often spent his nights staring at the stars and sky

And wondered why on earth he was stuck in swamps (and not on mountains high)

And as he grew his teeth did too, and so his toothy grin

Would scare the animals he met, and never entice them in

Eventually CrocLing found himself down near the sea

He’d splash in pools and watch the people flee

Occasionally he’d nick a board and surf upon a wave

And people would ooh and ahh and point, but none were very brave.

One day CrocLing came upon a new and wondrous sight

With boosters gently steaming, the rocket tall and white

The crocodile remembered his dreams of galaxies, stars and space

And hurried up the ladders with great crocodile-climbing grace

The rocket blasted off into deep and dodgy and dark quite outer space

With CrocLing hanging on with his eyes squeezed into his face

Round the moon, then Pluto and extremely close to Mars

The reptile had his eyes so tightly shut he still could see the stars 

Eventually, with boosters fallen and all jet fuel long, long gone

CrocLing cracked an eyelid and heard the stars’ wild song

He marvelled at the colours and the beauty of his ride

And saw a planet looming large, with several moons beside

Now CrocLing couldn’t really read, but he had tried to learn to spell

And J-U-N-O was a word that really didn’t go down well

It was not a plant or animal, or even a rock or tree

Juno was a spacecraft aiming to reach Jupiter on July 3 

CrocLing’s weight slowed Juno down and it arrived one whole day late

And entered Jupiter’s orbit, which would determine CrocLing’s fate

For as they hit the atmosphere, the shaking bounced so hard

That CrocLing’s teeth all shook loose (just like floppy lard)

And wailing to himself, that great crocodile fell from space

And left his teeth to orbit Jupiter at a fast and furious pace

Juno orbited round and round, and took pics of the big red storm

But didn’t snap poor CrocLing as he fell with reptilian form

Crash! Bash! Waves of atoms flew up into the sky

While CrocLing sent up shrieks of “oh me, oh poor my!”

And he flumped with a wallowing shush

Right in the middle of the red storm slush

Now dear reader, when you look up to the skies

You know the truth of why Jupiter’s storms collide

And we hope hope Juno makes it through

A storm of croc teeth that circle Jupiter too

And, if, perchance, you might actually land

You’ll find a CrocLing with a smile more bland

For the impact of the crocodile’s flight through the stars

Has left him mumbling with no teeth and just smily “Arrrr’s”.

(Kind thanks to the fabulous artists whose watercolour pictures I have borrowed). 

Genius

Me: Jessica, how did you get through 12 HB pencils in just 5 months of school?
Jessica: It's simple mom!
Me: Hmm?
Jessica: Genius!

Turns out she has been dropping them (just 3 times each, or maybe more Mom) and likes sharpening them to a razor fine point. Hmm!

SuperDad is here!

So I have been away from home for 3 days now. In the interim Adam has done school runs, supper, sport, packed lunchboxes, chased down school ties, uniforms, shoes and more. He has navigated homework (today when I called at 6.15 Jessica still had not finished her homework, which she started at 3pm). Kids to bed, kids fed, kids, kids and kids. SuperDad!

I have been talking to everyone on FaceTime each day. Luke solemnly asked me: "Mom, when are you coming home?" So I answered: "Just two days more, home on Friday". He then asked: "Mom, is that two more weeks?" So I had to explain that it is just two more sleeps. Sweet boy!

Been good to be here and part of the meetings I am helping to document, discuss and facilitate. Amazing people with incredible stories of hope. And of having to let go of so many children. In the end, people choose, or orbit away. I am privileged to sit at the same table with men and women who give their life, skills and hearts to serving others. How I am challenged too!

It will be good to get home to my special people. And to hold my family close. SuperDad, I'm coming soon!

SuperDad Take1 - practice run for Monday

Well, I have to say that SuperDad got a great flying start this morning. And Mom (moi) got coffee in bed with rusks. All was going well (close shave, dressed, small girl up) when came the whine: "Where's my shirt?"

That derailed the process slightly, as someone had to iron Luke's school shirt, fished out of the large pile of clean washing. However, the train got back on track quickly with SuperDad's ExtremeList written on the white board. Chugging along until the next question which was: "Where's my tracksuit top? I am NOT wearing my jersey."

Mom explained that small boy could wear a wet tracksuit top or a nice dry jersey. "I WANT my tracksuit top!" Mom explained it again. "I don't NEED to wear a jersey. I'm warm!" Mom mentioned that it is currently 12'C and foggy and cold. "I'm WARM!" Mom's personal thought was the banned word "whatever" and then "he's still snotty".

SuperDad in the meantime had fried an egg for small girl, ironed the missing shirt, explained and demonstrated a quick lesson on how to tie your school tie using a large stuffed toy as a model, done small girl's hair, got the back door open, and was heading fast for school when his cloak got caught in a missing backpack, wallet, computer and lunch. All essential on the DadList, but not on the KidList. Rewind!

Luckily tomorrow is Take2. Just 6 more days till Mom goes away for a week on work. I think by the end of PracticeWeek SuperDad might have his undies on the outside. He seriously rocks!

Overheard

About busses: Look, there's a double-deco bus!
On spiders: Did you know, fear of spiders is called castro-phobia?
What happens in laser tag: You get shotten!
Where you find tornadoes in the USA: Torpedo alley.
On receiving a baby cappuccino: What's this? A baby chino? I want a big one. With coffee in it!
On getting two rusks: Can I have three?

Reality and Luke

This is reality: Luke, you need to eat your peas.
This is Luke:

This is mom: Sigh.

It was all going so well...

Monday morning...
Serendipitous wake up call from Adam (coffee and rusks). Tick.
Jessica leapt out of bed before 6.30 and said "Can I get dressed now?". (!!) Tick.
Adam got his quiet time in. Tick.
Luke had his tea and ruskies. Tick.
Fried egg breakfast happiness. Tick.
Kids helping unpack the dishwasher without arguing. Tick.
(They are under threat of washing dishes by hand for two weeks actually.)
Bags packed the night before and at the front door. Tick.
I had my shower and got dressed. Tick.
Mom gets to kitchen to make sarmies. Tick.

"Jessica, can I do your hair?" Shout, grump, holler, grump grump. Lost hairclips.
"Where's my tie?"
"Have you brushed your teeth?"
"Mommmm, I have to take my shoes off." (Without undoing the buckle, naturally.)
"Where's my sport bag?"
"Guys, we have to go. We're going to miss the bell."
"Luke, put your socks and shoes on!"
"Where's my tie?"
"I don't know!" irritated small girl
"Jessica had it"anguished small boy
"Didn't!"
"Did."
"Mom, where's my tie?"
Scrabble scrabble through the washing.
"Adam, help. We need Luke's tie and I can't find it!"
"Guys, we have to go. We're going to miss the bell."
"Adam..."
"Have you looked..."
"Yes, not there."
"And..."
"I can't put my socks on!"
"Get in the car everyone!"
"Luke.,. you just have to go without a tie!"
"Mooooooom."
"Got it, get in the car everyone!"
"Where?"
"Jessica's desk!"
"Told you Jessica had it!"
"Guys, we have to go. We're going to miss the bell."
"But I haven't got my shoes on!"
"Put them on in the car."
"Mom, can you help me get my tie straight?"
"Do it in the car."
"Bye!"
"BYE!"

Sudden silence. Walk back into the house to the chaos of the kitchen. Uh oh. Adam left his lunch.

Guess that's why they call it a manic Monday?

Add to that my attempt to tidy the study up to find some workspace, and plugging in the old laptop to see sparks flying out the extension. Boom. Now working off a new extension cord, although the desk is much neater. Going to have to 'fess up to it and hope nothing is permanently fried. At least the router appears to have survived!

Will there be Lego in heaven?

The quintessential question according to my seven year old: "Will there be Lego in heaven?"
His sister's confident answer: "Of course, you buy it from the Lego shops, but you don't have to pay!"

Oi vey! Classic. Needless to say the parentals collapsed with laughter.

"What?!" complained the small boy.
"Never mind, they're just being silly." aka small girl
"No, there's no Lego." from wet-blankie mom
"WHATTTT!!!" exclaimed small boy.

These spiritual conversations can be rather fraught at times. Maybe there is Lego in heaven?

Small girl: "But Mooo-ooom, what about when the sun burns up and EX-PLOOOOODES??"
Mom: "Um..."
Small girl interrupting: "Will we be explo-o-o-oded too?"
Dad gets involved: "No Jess, that will happen in thousands of years from now."
Small girl, intent: "But where will we be?"
Mom: "In heaven."
Small girl: "Will we be able to watch?"
Mom: "Yes, I think so. Sounds cool, hey?"
Small girl, waving her arms wildly: "And then we will be able to fly past the planets and see everything in the galaxy and... and..." (goes on without a breath for 2 minutes solid)
Small boy: "Yes, yes. Lego..."

Mother's day - so loved!

I was so blessed to wake up (after an interesting night that involved one of the annual Cape Town thunderstorms, Jessica in our bed, Jessica commenting on lightning and thunder, Jessica out of our bed, Jessica reading at 2.30am, the cat attacking a magazine, the cat chasing roaches - ick - and the house alarm going off) to find these really thoughtful gifts from my amazing family. 

Jessica's rock is wildly purple and gorgeous, Luke made me a card and a detailed bookmark and found a heart for me (I think shoplifted off the floor of PnP!) and Adam found me a Home mag and a lovely scrapbook kit. As I said, spoilt! My favourite bits of the day were the cuddles and hugs though!

Burgers for lunch with yums all round, then an afternoon nap which was sublime, then a chance to read my mag and get into my paint clothes to tackle a project that has been waiting for two weeks.

Before

After

There's still a hint of red, but I love working with Annie Sloan chalk paint.   Thanks to my nearest and definitely dearest for spoiling me lots. Love you guys!

The arsenal

Adam takes great delight in making things for Luke. Here's a quick run down of the current loot in His Lukiness's personal collection:

In no particular order, a Captain America shield (made from cardboard and covered with coloured duct tape), a regular round shield, a wooden dagger (sadly broke today, but will be fixed soon), a Beau Beaufette helmet and a knight's helmet (both made of cardboard and sprayed). Not shown are the archery set (bow constructed of conduit) and the various guns that shoot foam balls and/or water. 

We are so against guns in particular, but he even made them out of toast when not making them out of Lego. Careful discussions about weapons do happen, and no cats are ever harmed. However, it seems siblings come under friendly (or not so friendly) fire occasionally!

The warrior arises...

Aaron's party. Laser tag. The ULTIMATE party Luke has been invited to. What fun!