FIVETRIBE

After a very busy few days after Christmas we decided to head out for a little outing with my sister-in-law and all the kids. A cruise along the Breede including a picnic seemed like the perfect outing to satisfy both the 4 adults and the 6 kids alike! Love all these little humans - my kids, nieces and nephew The weather was gorgeous but the wind was HOWLING. Unfortunately both my youngest kids have fallen prey to the infamous Cape winds and have been knocked off their feet on more than one occasion...suffice to say they were NOT KEEN on going on this flimsy boat with no sides (just tension wires). Not only that but we would have to be seated on the upper deck! I agreed to stay on dry land with Faith and Levi....and then realised I would be totally missing out...as the boat was about to leave I scurried down with two wailing kids and jumped the rope to make it just in time! from top left clockwise: almost missed the boat...tearful and fearful kids and finally me trying...

Christmas was spent in Mcgregor this year although with a bit of a difference. For the first time in my life I did not have to decide with which parents to holiday~all my parents and siblings were there this year - along with Russell's dad, sister, brother in law and nephew. It was certainly a year to remember. My dad and I  Faith and Bruno With the Mcgregor parentals Early morning stories with gran and grampie The whole shebang Christmas 2012 with Gran and Grumpy Gramps Russ carving and Anne doing everything else! Kids and cousins! I am not sure if the kids have ever had a better christmas, with all their grannies, grandpas and cousins with them for days on end (eveyone stayed in mcgregs for 3 days+) It was heartwarming to see the interactions and enjoy their jubilance. more cousin pics Watching some epic youtubes The gorgeous loooooong table early morn brekky at Pemberton with CT parentals with my bro My other br...

The first day of school holidays so me rather bleak. Reason being I had two nasty chores on my agenda first thing this Monday morning. 1. Renew my drivers licence. 2. Take my car to the panelbeaters for a quote to replace the bumper. I dropped the girls off at a friend for the morning and headed out at 9am to start the nastiness. Talk about pleasantly surprised....my drivers was renewed within 15mins. No queues, no fuss. I even had time to pop to Readers Warehouse to shop for christmas reads before heading to the panelbeaters....which took no more than 5 minutes!!! My Monday could not have started on a better note. I headed for home but decided to pop into the gym to swipe my card to ensure my membership stays active - I  do not see the inside of a gym very often anymore as summer is here and running is my choice of activity. I grabbed myself a cappucino to go and took a slow meander through Food Lovers before fetching the girls at noon. We spent the afternoon finishing ...

I cant believe prizegiving has hit us again...I have scarcely recovered from the drama of last year! ;-) The girls did exceptionally well again this year. Both are highly motivated little achievers. Funnily enough Faith received the HUMILITY badge award this year (Rachel received it last year!). Levi got an honorary sports award for being part of the school cricket team even though he isnt actually part of the school yet. He was very stoked - and really looking forward to being a 'real member' next year. He is already so integrated into school life via sport and his sisters that it is going to be smooth sailing into Grade 1 for him next year. I always find prizegivings a bitter pill to swallow. I really wish schools would do away with this kind of system; recognition is great but I wrestle with the fact that kids who are gifted in 'non-conventional' or 'non-academic' spheres somehow fall through the cracks. I find after every prize-giving I have to cheer...

My fortieth has come and gone. It was fun but quite exhausting for me. As in introvert (who passes easily for an extrovert) this type of activity can finish me off for a week! A few of my favourite images from the night. from left: my sil, me, a bff and her hubby and my older brother My mom saying a few lovely words. Listening to a friend making a speech, hilarious in parts. My parents throwing some shapes on the floor! Fun times, not the most flattering pic but I love this one of my man! My brother and his wife My other brother and his girlfriend My sis, niece and bil. It was well worth it though - to have many of my favourite people in one place was such a treat. We ate, we chatted, we danced and we laughed. And speeches were made by a friend, my parents and my man. I even said a few garbled words - I was quite overwhelmed by then and cant remember anything I said!

A little bit of chaos is really what my life is all about right now. In summary: In August our house flooded in a storm while we were in Mcgregor. Insurance finally sent contractors to lift our laminate flooring 2 weeks ago. The screed was wet and left to dry for a week. It was still wet so they sent in industrial fans and extractors. Without telling me we would have to move out the house. For anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. I am thankful for my parents who have taken us all in. And my sister who is on standby anytime I need extra help or lodging! I started off feeling very unsure and guilty about cramping my parents style but after a week we are getting very comfortable and I fear they may need big guns to evict us when the time comes. Evenings mooching with the family Annoying Orange on Youtube...and some other amusing stuff! Apart from this relative upheaval I had a little bit of a scare today when I realised my monthly visitor hadnt arrived. In fact she i...

Sometime I just wanna squeeeeeeze him! Oupa got the clippers out! Grade R orientation and a new best friend already - the little girl in the white shirt! Carpet time at Orientation - such a lovely class for next year. Action cricket with Dad - they won the tournament and let him hold the trophy! Happy and exhausted! The boy takes after his mama....just not a morning person! Love taking walks with the dogs and the lad. Precious memories.

I took Rachel to see Adam Lambert recently. We bought golden circle tickets some months back (along with my sis) and the plan was for Russ to come with me but things went pear and I thought it would be a great mom/daughter date opportunity! Rach tried her hand at doing Faiths make-up cos she was feeling very left out! Bonding over make-up? Not a day I so coming but will take it! She did her own eyes! Impressive stuff! All dolled up and ready to rock out! Fun pics in the garden to commemorate the occasion! Cousin Sami helps her see all the better Aunty Lisa takes a turn! The man himself - legendary performer I love this pic taken at the Grand West Arena - happy days. The evening was simply fabulous - Adam is a stage performer of note and we were not disappointed...although a show like that is NEVER long enough. I did wake up the next morning with a NOISE hangover of epic proportions though...I could not lift my head off the pillow - Faith...

While in Kynsna we decided to head up to Rheenendal and do a little mountain walk. I havent been able to run in over a month due to injury but I was  desparate to get onto a trail again...even if it meant walking. We got ourselves a map and decided to do a 9km loop. Little did we know that some signage had come down in high winds recently and we missed the turn.... At around 2.5hrs I was convinced we were lost...how can 9km take this long? I convinced the man to turn back but along the way we met some German tourists who assured me we were going the right way so we turned around AGAIN (against my judgement) Fast forward 2hrs and another 8kms and a truck...with a ranger who came to collect us off a road to nowhere! Suffice to say it was a great experience, lots of laughs, a couple of expletives but plenty of good memories.