Monday Mommy Moment – Sometimes we win!

May 18, 2015Leave a comment

It is Mommy Moment Monday, like last week , remember…
This week’s question is

1. Tell us about one moment you felt like you were winning at this mommy thing…

Eleanor and Aidan

You know all about me already…

Winning when : I pick him up at daycare and he insists on telling everyone that I’m his mom, he has so much pride when he says, see see, My Mommy. Oh and when he told a man who was littering, in his childlike innocents, “for the bin uncle” hehehe

Cindy and Imogen

I call her my princess, she calls me Mamma, Mommy, or Mu-um depending on her mood. Imogen is 5-years old and in Grade R. I am a single Mom, trying to climb the corporate ladder while my daughter keeps my feet firmly on the ground – staying humble and grateful for being a Mom.

Winning when: I was most impressed when she was the first in her Grade 0 class to have her name placed in the Class Kindness tree. It was a reward for an act of kindness shown by her. I am not sure what she did to deserve this position – also a First Class in my heart. At her previous daycare I was also told of how she got a chair for a helper who sat on the floor one day. Makes me hope that I have done something right.

Luchae, Kyle and Karis

Luchae blogs over at myspreadsheetbrain she has two kids with a 12 year age gap so says she feels like she is doing it all from scratch

Winning when: I feel it every time my little girl wakes up and looks SO happy to see me! She makes me feel so blessed to be a parent.

Zandile and Qawe

Zandile is the mother of a rather precocious 4-year old

Winning When: I always feel like I’m doing something when my son’s good naturedness and manners come to the fore. Like when he remembers his “please” and “thank yous” without prompt. One night a while ago, we were at the KFC on 4th Avenue, Walmer. As we parked the car, we saw a homeless man rummaging through the bins looking for any leftovers. I didn’t realise Qhawe took notice. When we came out with our 6-piece Family Treat with pops, snack burgers and zinger wings as sides, he digs into the packet and takes out a box of pop and snack burger and hands it to the man. He even donated his juice (which really takes a lot). I wanted to cry!!! But kept a massive proud smile and thanked God once again for the beauty that little guy. Another one is the extreme pride in his name, Qhawe (meaning ‘hero’). Dare you mispronounce it!!! Khawe for who and what and why?

Yolande and Sam
Sam is an active and very loving little boy born on July 31, 2012 and his mommy is a freelance writer who works from home and who is still trying to figure out how to juggle being a semi-stay-at-home-mom and a working-mom at the same time.

Winning When: I think every time we push through a “phase” like not eating his vegetables or not wanting to go to sleep I feel like I’m winning – but this feeling usually only follows after weeks/months of “I’m failing as a mom”.

Yolande was not available last week so we get her cringe now 🙂

The other day my little one was playing with sticky tape and the next moment he came over to give me a hug, but strangely giggled as he was doing it. I went out later to go and do an interview at a school and one of the staff members pointed out that there was a large strip of tape on my bum. I immediately realised that I was “pranked” by my toddler.

A color run weekend

May 18, 2015Leave a comment

Aidan is really dedicated to his role as a male sleeping beauty I always teased that he could sleep anywhere but now watching him do it, with people running around, with color and glitter flying everywhere and music blasting …. I have no words.

He had fun though, I just think the wait for our wave was a little long for him, so next time we will be closer to the front. Once he woke up he really did get into it and I’m glad I took precautions regarding doing a color run with a toddler.

He was in his stroller most of the time, he wore sunglasses to protect his eyes and I got him to cover his mouth with a snood when we went through the color zones (spelling colour like this hurts my head) – This was an awesome idea it turns out as I saw a couple of mom’s having to clean faces and eyes and dealing with “it’s in my mouth mommy”

Will definitely do it again next year, I think he might have been a little overwhelmed (shame he is but 25 months old) he kept saying, look mommy funny hats, look funny clothes and so on and for the rest of the time he just watched the goings on, a little stunned, he told me later , lots of colours mommy, red and blue colours colours, so I know it was great for him.

It was even better for my niece Kirsten (4) who LOVES purple, as in LOVES! At the purple station she nearly lost her mind, rolling around and covering herself in colour, she reminded me of the scene in Despicable Me where the little one says

Anyway for those who don’t follow me on INSTAGRAM , FACEBOOK or TWITTER these crazy dirty pictures would be new, for those who do, I did include some new ones 🙂

The wait at the start was a little long for him

At the start, look at us all clean and stuff

Years in the purple dessert did not get our travelers down

The glamorous after shot, hahahaha, sexy sexy

Barney rejects

The starting line

He drinks his juice like people are not throwing coloured cornstarch all over us

But hey if you can sleep through it you can drink through it

Not sleeping just camera shy

Cleaner days…How retro is my little man

Like a BOSS hehehe (they throw colours at me I just adjust my glasses,like it ain’t no thing

My cousin’s Kay-lynn and Caz-lynn auditioning as smurfs

Kirsten LOVES purple, “look at all the purple,so much purple”, she says

My aunt Mercia just came as a spectator, but her daughters, the lynn’s, decided she needed to be colourfull

they look like extras in Annie….It’s a hard knock life…

These curly haired children are in need of some spit and polish, hehehe

My aunt is the only one who looks like a person here! attack of the technicolour zombies!!!!

Color run with a toddler – PREP TIME

May 15, 20151 Comment

Color Run 2013

The powder rangers

We did the Color Run in 2013, it was the first one in Port Elizabeth and we had a blast, okay mostly a blast but I went with people who wanted to run, I wanted to walk, a color walk is much more my speed 🙂

Aidan could not join in then, being that he was like five months old, this year Rob and I are going to Color Run 2015 and taking him along… So naturally I’m taking all kinds of precautions…

Here is everything children related I could find on the website…

Is there an age limit for younger runners?
No age limits! If they can cover (running, jogging, walking, strolling) the three miles of The Color Run course, they can absolutely participate in The Color Run 5k! Remember though, as soon as they turn 6 they will need to register and have a race bib!

Can I run with a jogging stroller and my kids?
On one condition…if you are prepared to be one of the hippest moms/dads on the planet! All kiddos 5 and under can run with an adult FREE of charge and do not need to register! Unregistered children do not get the race packet, but there will be plenty of sweet items to purchase for them at the event!

Will the color ruin clothes or running shoes?
The color does mostly wash out after the event. As with anything dirty, the sooner you wash it the better. We suggest wearing items that you wouldn’t mind getting colorful. If you would like to preserve the color in your running shirt, spray it with vinegar and iron it. If you wash your shirt….the color will eventually come out. For FULL color cleaning ideas and tips, check THIS LINK out!

Do the kilometer “Color Zones” affect runner vision? Or breathing?
The color powder used at The Color Run event is all certified non-toxic and free of any heavy metals. Our bright colors are cornstarch and FD&C dyes. Our fabulous shine powder is more like make-up and is completely safe and even more precisely thrown on the lower half of your body. As with any substance, you want to keep it out of your eyes and our “certified” color throwers make sure to aim low as you pass by. Some Color Runners opt to wear glasses or goggles for their eyes and use a bandana or dust mask for their mouths.

So we are going to take Aidan and are…

– Putting him in a stroller because 5km is no joke for a 2-year-old (or his unfit mom)
– Putting him in goggles/glasses, because even though the powder is non toxic, eina is eina
– Dressing him warmly like my friend suggested, she went with her tots last year and said kids complained of cold
– Covering his mouth and nose in a bandana at the colour stations, he can wear a cansa wrap like a scarf and I can pull it up when need be, that’s what I did last time, also any excuse to support cansa
– Take water!
– Take wipes, this kid is not a fan of being dirty…. of messing, yes, of being dirty, no

This is all I can think of please comment with any other suggestions 🙂

What makes you beautiful, what makes you brave – Claricia’s story

May 14, 20151 Comment

So today I start a new series, called NO FEAR JUST FAITH… Although I’m proudly Christian this has no religious affiliations, I just realised how many inspiring people I knew, how many people were just going on faith and leaving fears behind…
No Fear just Faith was my mantra when I lost my son, when my husband lost his job, when I found out I’m insulin resistant and have a liver disease, while battling depression and now when I decided to make this huge life change, it is once again, no fear just faith.
I don’t really follow celebs much so I don’t look up to anyone like that, but starting today I will introduce you to people I do look up to, people who inspire me and make me want to be a better person. Some like today will be heart-wrenching others lighthearted, but all INSPIRING (well I think so anyway) 🙂

My first person is a talented 26 year old, she is gorgeous and extremely “real” and shares with us the story of losing what she perceived as “her beauty” . . .

“You are beautiful. So beautiful. Fearfully and wonderfully made. You are preciously beautiful. I call you beautiful.” As though whispered from afar, yet almost audible, the words resounded over and over in my head. By a will of its own, my right hand kept pulling and plucking away at what was left of my once healthy, bushy hair. I could barely look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and gasped to see the growing pile of hair in the sink. To see it there, not on my head but in a dead pile like castaway waste, separate from me somehow seemed wrong…off.

I finally lifted my eyes from the oddity in the sink to face the strange view in the mirror. The face was gaunt, almost shapeless, unrecognizable. And so pale. I couldn’t make out where my forehead ended and my scalp started…one long stretch of pale with a few strands of hair clinging stubbornly to their shafts. I swallowed repeatedly and fiercely against the stubborn knob in my throat. Suddenly I felt the reality of this deadly disease that was taking over my body come searing through my heart like a red-hot knife and I literally clutched my chest to stop the bleed as I felt my heart breaking.

“Mommy!” I sobbed. And then her arms were around me, her voice soothing “It’s ok, you are still beautiful. Oh my child…It’s gonna be ok.” I buried my face in her chest and gave way to the unearthly ache that I couldn’t bear but couldn’t escape from. My legs were caving and it was all I could do to keep myself from collapsing to the cold tiled floor. I heard my mom’s voice rise and fall as she prayed aloud but I couldn’t make out her words. Her hands were warm down my back, a slow rhythm of comfort and empathy.

For weeks afterward I would turn away from the mirror until I’ve secured my wig. It became my hideout – hideous but safe. It was too shiny and the strands hung hopelessly long, so obviously fake. But at least I didn’t have to look at the strange bald head that apparently belonged to me.

Today, almost a year later, I recognized that my life is a story of God’s infinite grace and finally felt brave enough to ditch the wig.

Hello, world ☺

My name is Claricia Coeries. I’m 26 years old and I choose to be brave enough to fight leukaemia and breast cancer.

Independent play corner

May 13, 2015Leave a comment

So last week I showed you how to make a book case out of nappy boxes as part of my independent play corner for Aidan, this week I show you what I stocked it with 🙂 I did not buy anything extra, just sort of went through his toy boxes

Took this picture the day I set it up, have since learnt that lighter things go on top 🙂

I raided the book shelf in his room for all the books her could “read himself” numbers, colours that sort of thing. Anything he can page through and name things without mommy’s help (minimal help)
The story book ones are still in his room for bedtime

I put in all his activity books… Colouring book, water painting book (awesome inventions this) and sticker books. He loves those and thanks to an awesome aunt 🙂 he got a few for his birthday,

Okay these I will say clockwise from cat puzzle, a word game we lost some parts to but he loves to imagine he can play with, a peg board (loved these as a kid and got him one at Crazy store) chalk because doors and floor in my office space double as chalk boards also there is a courtyard area he can do pavement drawings, letter magnets which he insists are number, monster magnets I made AGES ago and a magnetic dry erase board

These are actually take along toys , mostly home made… flash cards, minion lacing toy, beads and pipe cleaners, playdough with playdough mat, velcro sticks and legos in small container

crayons and craft set are a must 🙂

He loves it and I will take out a few things at a time for him buying me as much as 45 minutes, light years in mom of a toddler time 🙂

My two year old detective

May 12, 2015Leave a comment

So this kid is creepy observant! is that a thing? are all two year olds like this?

Here are some examples from the top of my head that had me thinking “really Aidan?”

-His cousin walks in wearing two tops, he immediately shouts look at Minnie Mouse. I was not sure what he meant until she unzipped, he recognised Minnie from the edge of her bow sticking out under her top!

– He takes two one rand coins and a five rand coin places it together and tells me it’s Toodles from Mickey Mouse Club House

– He looks at the x-box controller and says see the triangle, I am ready to correct him when he points out that on the black circle they have a tiny triangle (play) etched on

– He knocks on the doors of house pictures because he wants to see who is inside

– While sorting colours on his big bear poster he tells me he doesn’t know where to put green, I show him the green block but he points out that green is used as chocolate wrapper in the brown, the stems of the purple flowers and the leaves of orange carrots

– He points out that three bears didn’t need to go for a walk…they should just blow the food cold like he does

– He says the Bubble Guppies (mermaid kids show) are just funny fish

… We are in for a interesting ride with this one

Just Ella Bella