FIVETRIBE

I have a month of life to catch up on but that is way to overwhelming so I will start where I am right now. At this moment I am in the midst of eistedford performances as well as hosting my sis-in-law and nephew. They are visiting Cape Town for a week to ascertain if boarding school is a good option for my nephew who will be starting Gr 8 next year. It has been CRAZY around here but Faith is loving all the opportunities to perform. Tonight is our 2 of 4 performances - her group tap dance. Last night she did her tap solo and has made it through to the finals on Friday. Last week she got Diploma in her modern performance (the highest attainable) so she was super stoked as this was her first modern/jazz performance. I am pretty exhausted - I am not going to lie - but then again I am simply one of MANY MANY exhausted mothers out there! I have just come back from watching Levi play a very energetic soccer match (in the rain) and have done hair/make-up for Faith and now it ...

Today saw us getting to work on the sadly neglected front entrance to our house. The one that no-one uses so its always been UGLY and low on our priority list.  Slowly taking shape. Lavender around the rims and confetti bushes inside.  Next up - measuring and planning our chicken coop. I am still on the fence about this endeavor …negotiations are in place as I wonder WHO will be cleaning out the coop hmmm? Not me!! Rach seems to really enjoy the design process.

Was a productive day today. Rachel really enjoyed designing the flat and helping Russ measure out where everything needs to go. We are hoping to use the space as a holiday rental in high season and an office / school space the rest of the year. The chip board on the floor is Faith's makeshift tap floor for practicing her Eistedford piece. After doing the necessary measurements Rach put this design together on some CAD software.

A typical Monday morning in pictures. Getting to grips with pre-algebra. Charly sunning herself while we fry our brains. Each kid getting on with their own work - I decided to walk the dogs today! Always stylish, totally wasted living in these parts with the most UNstylish people. Always funky and trendy - rocking the beanies

The kids were bored a few weeks ago so we decided to do something unusual. The brief? Look at this picture and tell me what you see. Levi was quite challenged but very pleased with his result. Below is the original, unedited result. :-) the water hitting the rocks the moss growing green the trees as high as the sky  the lovly silver water rapids as fast as a cheetah all green as far as the eye can see  green green as you can see as the vines hang down the leafs on the trees as bright green as you no this place is very remote leafes floating on the water moving and moving around in a circle like a miracle in the water  some grow some die some turn green some don't turn green the wind blowing the trees

Today was the very first day of homeschool for Levi. In a sense it felt like the first day for all of us. The girls have come full circle in their reaction to having the hooligan join us at home - from abject horror to wistful acceptance. The day was pretty much all over the place. This has more to do with it being the first day of term than the fact that Hooligan is with us. I have to say all felt right in the world when I saw them all getting geared up to take our dogs for a walk. Something really cool about this series of photos. Happy Monday all!

The day began with a cancelled 8am tap class. Hallelujah - the kids and I stayed in bed and thanked our lucky stars there was no rushing about today. Somewhere along the line Faith wandered downstairs and made tea for me and 'frothy hot choc' for herself and sibs. We stayed put in my bed and and watched 2 episodes of Celebrity Wife Swap! The dog trainer arrived mid morning to take Charly off for some bootcamp at her place. For this I am eternally grateful. One less sentient being to discipline. I am in dire need of coffee. It is 1240pm and I havent had one cup yet….I really need to incorporate 'brewing the perfect java' into the homeschool curriculum. Kids are downstairs playing International Business (think Monopoly New Millennium) while I am upstairs supposedly finalizing our schedule for the new school term… I did wander over to Pinterest and have found some great additions to their work schedule for next term including starting a small garden and some cl...