E - Vida

The first term of Jorja's Grade RR year has come to an end - and we are all still standing. A scabbing scrape on the knee, a peeling lunch bag label, a growing spread of stray curls sticking straight up on her head and a t-shirt with unraveling stitching...but generally all in one piece. Before the Term started, we joked about being in constant contact (aka speed dial ) with the office - wondering what PJ's child would cook up at school...And she did not disappoint! (But in the best ways that we could've hoped for) - feedback from the Teacher, updates from the office, invitations to meet the other new parents... It was all welcome contact and we'd much rather be in the know, than be guessing what Jorja was doing from 8am - 1pm on weekdays! After just a few short weeks, Jorja discovered the after care facility. We've all had a chance to be the bearer of bad news, arriving to fetch her after school and spoiling any chance she may have had to be booked in. W...

A weekend away is a special treat - given the general, current state of affairs. If it's not time or money or weather forecast, it's something else! Our Family Holiday embraced all of the above - we took advantage of the public holiday Friday, booked our favourite rustic cottage with less frill, more bed frames and foot meterage and packed in our swimming costumes despite the overcast and rainy predictions. Walking the Wellington Mall in pajamas Robyn's done a great job of documenting the weekend's happenings here  - and there are so many pictures of us (me!!) featured in it that you would be forgiven for thinking that it was from our blog! (Except that I would never showcase so many snaps of me in my bather on this platform)... So I won't rehash it all here, but I will reiterate just how lovely a time it was with all the family, all the sun, all the relaxing hours with minimal cellphone coverage, internet connection and tv reception...and all that food to...

As you may have noticed, I'm making a desperate effort to repair my blog-putation, following gross neglect over what we affectionately call:  Cycle Tour silly season ! While the big week of events has come and gone, we are still waiting for the dust to settle...before we kick it all up again I guess! In early February, my colleague walked past my desk and said in jest, "We can be friends again...after this!" However, it was only half said in jest! During our peak time, there's very little time for much else than the job. There's no sweet way to put it. So instead of inserting my report of the events here, let me rather document some of the special-at-or-outside-of-work occurrences: Valentine's Day Like when the girl who's 'not dating' that guy, got arms full of roses and candies while the oud-getroude vrou just got a smile! Valuable advice  Or when I came across a good reminder of how to approach the awesome task of parenting... Th...

Jorja's school did a good job of down playing the competitive side to school sports and instead encouraged overall participation between the peer groups, teachers and parents at their annual family day. I took Jorja and Ethan down to the fields and initially Jorja was thrilled to be at school on a Saturday, with all of us in tow! Then she realised that it wasn't all free play and a serious case of pre-event jitters set in... It was then that I realised how much I expected from my four year old - and unreasonably so! The obstacle course was set out before them and the older children walked them through it. Jorja started off willingly, balancing the bean bag on her head and walking slowly so as not to drop it. She arrived at the next phase and refused to climb under the table. My heart sank - what had caused my usually fearless girl to have such a fright? Eventually they coaxed her past the table and further along the course, all the while the lump in...

On Sunday, 16 March we celebrated Ethan's birthday! We invited just a few friends to join him on a trip to Cape Town International Airport: Once we'd all loaded into Pa's van, we set off for the airport. Ethan managed to fit in a lunch-induced nap before all of the festivities 'took off' and so when he woke up en route to our destination, he was in 'the right frame of mind'... I'm sure the car guard at Domestic Departures was left a little perplexed when 8 under-sixes and only a handful of adults piled out of the van, stopping to pose for photos, grab nappy bags, offload party packs, cakes and more! Upwards we travelled towards the play area at the lookout level, and the kids played freely while under the watchful eye of caregivers, moms and aunts. We stopped for a quick snack break and the little ones enjoyed watching the airplanes taxi up and down runway, landing and taking off. I'm still not sure if we could be heard on the ta...