FIVETRIBE

We are off on holiday soon! At the beginning of last year we decided that one of our values was to take family holidays at LEAST twice a year. In fact, the day after we returned from the Garden Route in September 2012 I booked for our trip this year. On Wednesday we head up to Plett and will spend a week at Moonshine On Whiskey Creek. Our plan after that week is undefined...we may spend a few nights in Vic Bay enroute to Mcgregor where we will finish up our holiday with my folks. It has been way too long since we visited! Much excitement as I begin the task of setting up music, movies, games, art supplies and booking various outings as well as planning some hikes in the area. Only 2 more sleeps!

Holidays. With the whole family. I love these special times but this trip I will want to train daily and that is new adjustment for us all. I hope to include everyone and to keep it fun.  Jillian Michaels is accompanying us on my ipad with 3 workouts including kettlebell and yoga. Each session is a heartstopping 30minutes but at least something gets done and the rest of the day is free to adventure and live large. I hope to run at least every second day and have settled that going out for 30minutes will be just awesome. There is a apparently some awesome walks up the mountain to some falls so i am sure to explore them. Signing out until early April!

I have spent many hours with my new toy but I am not the only one having lots of fun with it!  Photo Booth makes for awesome entertainment This little lady surprise me! She gave me a list of ingredients and then proceeded to BAKE A CAKE! All I helped with were showing her how to measure out ingredients. The cake was delicious - am so impressed with her. Bizarrely she seems to love the whole kitchen scene. I am encouraging this relationship. Our little baker in the making This is the scene I woke up to on Saturday - just too sweet.  Levi and Honey share a moment After a particularly busy Saturday I really felt the need to get out and run. It's been a week and my body was aching and moaning at me. True story. I needed to run. 10kms in I stopped to take this image - truly magnificent. I do realise that some reflective running gear should probably be on my list soon! Coming up Black Hill drive What better way to spend time on a Sunday than ...

Today had been eagerly anticipated by Levi and kind of dreaded by the girls. They all feel very nervous before Sports Day but Levi more excited than anything else. For the first time ever, I had to miss the first hour of events. Of course, in this time both Faith and Levi ran victoriously and my phone was pinging and dinging as my friends gave me blow by blow accounts...accompanied by photos! Good friends hey? I won't tell you I wasn't gutted. HOW ON EARTH did it happen that I could miss his first sports day? Argh, horrible. Thankfully, the boy that he is, is not deterred by my absence and not once has he even mentioned it. Faith striding to victory Levi pinching victory in the closing moments By the time I arrived, rain had delayed sports and all the kids were transported back to school to finish the team events in the hall. Thankfully the dreaded parent races have been replaced by a mixed team (moms and dads) relay - which we won for the Green team. I was dr...

Today Levi's class had an outing to the Giraffe House, about 20km outside Stellenbosch. It was a long long drive for little (and big!) people. Add to that the fact that it was not far from 40 degrees and you begin to see the possibility for all kinds of discomfort! My mom was kind (and brave) enough to accompany me on the journey, I really felt I would prefer some adult company along the way and it was really great to have her along...although she severely regretted her clothing choice (jeans and a black T) and spent most of the time safely in the shade of the lapa. (as did many of us!) I did decide to finally just hold a snake and get it done. I am known to feel very uneasy, sometimes light-headed around these reptiles but today I just felt it was time. I was not afraid however I can safely tell you I am still utterly revolted by them. But not afraid. The guys giving the talks to the kids about all the different types of animals were highly amusing,...

On Monday the internal painters finally finished. They had a big messy job to do and they took their sweet time. I nearly did my head in watching them work. Seriously - I could have done it myself in the time it took 6 of them to finish. Fortunately I have learnt the skill of deep breathing - these last months have taught me that losing my temper is not going to help in any way. Yesterday I spent the better part of 5 hours re-ordering the lower level of my home. I still have a ways to go as all the pictures need to be re-hung and that alone is a huge job. Carnage. And this was taken an hour into clean-up. I focused on sorting out the kid-zone. I put all their stuff away - stationery, games, art supplies, books - all in places they can FIND exactly what they need. I set up the wii and dvd player again. Everything HAS and is IN it's place. The kids were like different people yesterday. Calm and kind to each other. I forget the toll this has taken on them. I can only see ...

It has been 3 years since I discovered the world of Apple; a good mate bought me an iPod Touch. This was my introduction to Apple and the technology astounded me. I did begin to tiptoe around the edge of MacLove. The transition was interrupted as I embarked on a brief flirtation with an Android phone until sanity prevailed and a year ago I upgraded to an iPhone. We now are Apple Lovers. Our technology 'sings' in unity in our home. I use the term 'we' lightly as Russell is a Mac-Hater. It certainly is testament to his infinite love for me that he has dipped into our resources to satisfy my technology desires. :-) I have been patiently waiting for the stars to align to acquire the Big Daddy of all, ....and it arrived on Saturday afternoon. My 40th birthday present, slightly delayed, much anticipated and GREATLY appreciated! *swoon*