FIVETRIBE

Hey babe, It’s been 3 years since we last spoke.  Your fists raised victorious despite your frailty and the fire in your eyes as you spoke your impassioned plea to our sprogs - to stand for Christ despite circumstances.... that this (your death) was in fact a victory. I will never forget that morning. Both powerful and devastating; it is burned into my soul. I was humbled and heartbroken. That YOU, you of all people, were going to be leaving ME to raise these kids.  You were the good one.  I have grappled many, many times over this but there is no good reason to ask the whys....nothing good comes from WHY? So. Instead I found myself asking : How? How do I go forward without anger, bitterness and regret? Three years later I can tell you we are okay. In fact, we are more than okay because we have all taken to heart the gift that is life and thriving is our only goal. Although surviving on the tough days is okay too. Your last words on our noticeboard...

This morn dawned bright, clear and crisp. The kids were not impressed with being told to be ready to leave for Stellenbosch by 0830 on this public holiday. The mood was quiet and somber as the 8 of us squeezed into the 7 seater car. We don’t do this often but today I just couldn’t face going in 2 cars. Neither Kev nor I are prepared to drive a minivan for the very odd occasion all 8 of us go anywhere together; in those instances we usually take both cars.  The run was beautiful. Picture perfect views - windless and pristine. The kids all ran well - Levi at his usual blistering pace coming in the top 10 finishers. I never do see him once that gun goes off. We came in about 15 minutes behind him. The girls are super keen now to start training for the Gun Run 5k in October. This will be our third year doing it and some PBs are in view for them.  Levi is planning his 10k debut - he will run with my brother as I won’t keep up with him! I am enjo...

On Womens Day I went and had breakfast with my parents and my siblings. Just us. No spouses, no children, no grandparents. Just the 6 of us. Cannot remember when last it was just the 6 of us around a table. I think it may have been in the days of when my youngest boet and I still used to hide our peas under the gem squash shell. It was pretty cool really. I have an amazing family. We are thick as thieves. That is not to say we dont have FALL DOWN DISAGREEMENTS, trust me, we do! Thankfully they are usually rather explosive but resolved within days. This is us. I am third in the ranking. Its a weird place to be in birth order...books dont cover that really. I am not first, middle or last. :-) What is your family relationship like? Go here to read Allies (my mom) post about the breakfast.

It would seem we have reached yet another milestone in our family.   All our children can now ride bicycles.   Albeit with varying degrees of skill. Practice, I believe, will bring more enthusiasm and alacrity. Today we surprised them all with their new bikes. (well, 1 was new, 2 were pre-owned). Honey chose her bike and chipped in ALL her birthday money (R600)  to get it! I was very surprised as she hasnt always been the most enthusiastic rider. I figured if she was that committed to it she deserves a chance to prove her enthusiasm. (besides, its black, so eventually Hooli will get it and he really couldnt be any MORE enthusiastic!) Honey asked me why they are getting bikes now. They have had their birthdays already and it is too soon to be Christmas presents. I told her the bikes are Lets Get Active presents. She had a good chuckle at that but seriously? I think every kid should ride a bike for as long as possible and it just panned out that *now* is the right...

Lulu reads her birthday blogpost. Skating - the newfound (or rediscovered) passion Birthday shopping (note nothing in this pic bar the bunny was purchased!) Birthday tea at granny Allies house. My mom and I. All to often twins...and never planned! Honey is so glaringly absent in our weekend. I have missed her very much. We are fetching her from the camp at 1530, yay! Am sure to be regaled with many stories of midnight feasts and hijinx galore! Happy Sunday peeps.

I have been pondering the idea of a family mission statement or manifesto as I have heard them called. a great example of a family's creative expression It would be a fabulous and meaningful family project for us to work on - my kids have a great sense of *belonging*. A sense of family community and I would love to foster it and begin to harness and reinforce each of our values and beliefs. Take a look at this blog post and see how this family tackled the project.

 It was a good day. :-) Setting up her world Playing armies while waiting for paintwork to dry Her completed scrapbook layout Bedtime stories care of Honey - very precious. Am now going to try get to sleep before 1am...something I havent managed to do since the man left town a few days ago. *yawn*. Not easy doing the single parent thing hey? I miss him muchly.

Me: Studies are going very well, apart from the fact that I made a decision to abandon Assignment 6 to spend time with my family instead. It has been a very interesting look into the world of online marketing and has shown me a whole world I have been lusting to understand more. This week we are looking at Social Media and Viral Marketing. Kids: All happy and settled. Honey has dealt with her fears/anxieties without the need for outside counsel. It was a real journey for the two of us to walk the road and I am sure it is going to be something that crops up from time to time. I have learnt so much about myself while trying to navigate her heart in this time. They are all thoroughly enjoying the new scrap book area - the computer has been laid to rest in favour of paper and glue. Bunnies: Baby bunnies off to pet shop today. Hooray, although they have given the kids hours of delight. Photo Shoot: We had a free photo shoot at fuji on Saturday and I viewed the pictures today. They are beaut...

I have come to a somewhat blinding realisation. My kids are growing up and doing less *insane and mind-numbingly annoying* things for me to blog about....ho hum. I have been reading through my original blog from 2007 and have been blown away by the fodder with which I was provided by my then 1,3 and 6 year old. Gosh, my days were like a reality show - full of amusing chaos, carnage and craziness. Nowadays it is not uncommon for me to have my charming lad set the table for dinner.... and find these two playing for hours together with all kinds of new games being created daily. Now let me hasten to add that I am not angling for any chaos, carnage or craziness. I will settle quite happily for Walton-style normality. Friday night we took them sprogs off to see HOP, they thoroughly enjoyed it and I enjoyed the soundtrack. I dont really *do* kids movies (was scarred for life recently by Rango and before that by The Bee Movie) but this one was doable. Discovery offers free movies for kids be...

Weekend sped by as usual. Didnt quite make the departure time for the school hike so we went and did our own thing. The hike turned out to be a good 2hrs and unfortunately the riverbed that we hiked to was dry....but it all turned out okay in the end. The kids had such a blast - we had to drag the girls back but Hooli (aka Dash) RAN almost all the way back - I honestly cannot believe his stamina sometimes. The girls were gobsmacked that their 4yr old little boet put them to shame! these two are getting along so well lately I think what will always remain with me about this hike is the conversation between the kids whilst walking. They each were posed the question (by Honey) as to whether they would like another sibling. They then, in turn, chatted through the pros and cons and unanimously decided that they thought we were good and done and complete. Later, as it got hotter, Hooli commented that he was getting sweaty and Honey chirps: "Thats good Hooli, it will show off your manly ...

I am not enjoying not blogging. My blog is my diary; I used to scrap book and now I blog. I am missing some epic stuff going on in the lives of children - I find myself thinking daily - I need to blog this moment...and then time slips away. Hooli rides for the first time I will be doing a photo show n tell post soon as I havent uploaded photees for ages. Kirstenbosch, Sunday 6 March 2011 - thanks to Hooli Bullets for now: Week two of the Internet Marketing course - this week we are learning how to build our own sites. Great to have some creative mojo going. Miss Lulu strutting her new boots and fav outfit The girls both have had haircuts - they look very oulik with their matching bobs. Saves us at least 20minutes every morning. Honey's teacher is driving me friggin bananas. She is so disorganised and scatty. Worse than any of us moms. And she doesnt even have kids of her own! Thankfully she is a temp so the regular lass returns in the second term. I received a text from the parent ...

We went to Mcgregor mid-Dec. Upon our return I had no telkom service so I never was able to share any of the magic moments we had there. The weekend was blissful. It was the last time I remember feeling totally and utterly relaxed. fun with granny annie and grumpy gramps my very special parentals very animated Honey super cool peak with built-in sunnies my beautiful trio I am going to see a DPPT therapist on Friday. Kind of a body stress release thing I think. I have never done anything like it but new experiences come in all kinds of forms these days!

We arrived in Walvis Bay 3 hours late which was a blight as we had planned to meet with the Man's family. Fortunately we still had time to shoot through to Swakop and spent 3 hours with them. We went and had seafood at this great new restaurant; just built at the end of the Pier. You can see by the sea that bad weather was heading in... The Man and his dad Kinda novel to be seated on a piece of glass above the sea; must confess to it giving me pause! So great for the kids to see their cousin albeit only briefly. It was quite surreal to just be there for the day and then be heading home again. We shot back to Walvis to board the ship again by 4pm. The wind was absolutely howling and it was extremely unpleasant. And it didnt get any better as the days went by. :-/