FIVETRIBE

Last week the school had their annual prize-giving. I was NOT looking forward to it as in previous years it has been a long tedious drawn-out affair.  I was very pleasantly surprised this year – the evening was a superb combination of a slick production with a distinct family feel about it. I was exceptionally proud of both my girls who did extremely well. Lulu  and Mrs Butler Overall Academic Excellence; Conquesta Literacy and Numeracy – Gold. Honey and Mrs Venter Overall Academic Excellence, 2nd in her grade, Best Actress 2011, Special Art Award, Conquesta Numeracy and Literacy: Bronze; Math Olympiad and Humility Award Both girls were very happy with their achievements but I had to have *the talk* with them. You know the one hey? It went a little bit like this: ” I am so proud of you girls but I want you to always know that it is not important to me for you to BE THE BEST at everything but it is very important for you to ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST.” My dil...

Outing to Rocklands Posted by MelB on Dec 7, 2011 in Family , Featured , Journal , Milestones , Parenthood , Protected , School Life | 3 comments Yesterday the school had an outing for the Gr1 and Gr4′s to Rocklands. Luckily I have a kid in each of those grades and Levi was able to join in aswell. I was eternally grateful and VERY happy to assist with lifts as it gave me space to breathe in the great outdoors, shoot the breeze with friends, teachers and all while the kids had a massive jol climbing the mountain and swimming in the enormous pool. The thing I love most about this school is watching the relationships blossom. Essentially these kids form sibling like bonds! With only 12 kids in a class, there is little to no change from year to year. You pretty much travel from Grade 1 to Grade 7 with almost all the same people. This forces you to learn to tolerate and accomodate kids with whom you wouldnt normally associate. I have seen huge emotional growth in R...

Posted by MelB on Dec 1, 2011 in Family , Featured , Journal , Parenthood , Protected , School Life | 3 comments CherryWood Dec 2011 Levi broke up yesterday. 30 Nov. And goes back in exactly 2 months. 30 January. I am doing my best not to make a chart and systematically cross off each of the 60 days – am guessing he may feel like I am counting the days or something. Today we went and bought some craft supplies to top up our stash. With three kids who LOVE to make stuff I need to be very well stocked. We also came home with an unplanned purchase : Plasticine. Focus boytjie! It is very fun to play with plasticine but after a bit it can become rather frustrating – especially when you are 5. And sometimes even if you are, um, older. We definitely felt the need to *take a break* and watch some tv and have a snack. Our masterpieces! Very important for this mama to keep the frustration levels to a minimum if I am to make it through this marathon holiday. The girls on...

School News It has been so long since my last post and I feel the need to just capture some photos and thoughts for posterity. The obligatory school photo – very sweet The girls are both doing exceptionally well at school. They enjoy every aspect of school life; I can already see the peer pull on Rachel as her relationships are cemented with these young classmates she has had for 4 years. I am thankful for each of my kids friends – each one of them kind and loyal. I remind myself now that I need to pray regularly for the relationships that my kids form with friends as they grow up – as an adult I remember very well the importance and influence of friendships. They recently had Grandparents Day at the school – I am so grateful that we live close to at least one set of grandparents – the kids so love having them come in a look at their classes, workbooks etc. The kids put on a little recital and generally just spend time showing their grandparents what school is all ...

I am either suffering writers block or my blog is just boring the inspiration right out of my head. Honestly, its like….bleh. Here are a few headlines going on – sometimes bullets help clear the cobwebs. Levi has 8 days left of school and then is on holiday until the end of January. This scares me. He is not like my girls…he expects me to PLAY with him all.the.time. In these 8 days I have to get so much done that I am not sure I know where to start. My char also leave me in 8 days. She will be gone for 2 months too. I know I sound like a princess but stuff it. Being at home for 2 solid months alone with my kids with no home help in this slab of a house that requires constant cleaning is NOT exciting for me at all. Bah humbug I am hoping Russ takes a week (or more??!!) off to break the holidays a bit. BUT I am really relishing the thought of a break from school routine and extramurals – no rushing, no deadlines. We are finally paving our patios and our pool. Its been 5 ye...

The weekend has gone by in a blur. Thankfully. When Russ is away it can draaaag by painfully. The kids have been a bit out of sorts and I have had to raise my voice a bit more than usual….eventually I banished them to the playroom and told them to find something QUIET and INDIVIDUAL to do…I couldnt take the squabbles any longer. love it when my kids play and get creative. this space in my home is the bomb! Levi collected  the little bike on Friday that he won in the Airmune lucky draw at our local mall….it looks better than it is …. sadly it is severely substandard chinese junk. One rotation on the pedal and the chain comes off…. Anyway – there was great excitement that we *won* and he will get his picture in our local paper. Rach is over the moon with her hair. She has very frizzy, unmanageable hair and for years has yearned for straight smooth lockes.  I found a local hairdresser who has been able to use a protein treatment to smooth her hair for a couple of we...

I have been reading through some of my old blog posts and realised I simply do not take enough photographs of our everyday lives anymore. I can easily identify what it is I LOVE in my old posts – I love getting such a clear picture of how I spent my time year by year. I love seeing how the playroom looked back then and how it has evolved as my kids have grown up. I love seeing certain items of clothing my kids used to wear. There is so much in the everyday that we simply dont see unless we begin to look for it. I need to get back to basics with blogging. It is not about only telling highlights, funny or sad stories. It is not simply for amusement or a place to vent. It is first and foremost an everyday record of our daily lives. With this in mind, I kept my wildfire in my back pocket today and simply took random photos. I know these will tell their own story in years to come. She wanted to *scrapbook* the cover of her new drawing book. Setting ...