Picture my weekend…in reverse…

August 18, 20145 Comments

Yesterday I got to photograph this stunning girl
These are not official pics, I just took these with my phone for reference 🙂
The best thing about Stephane is that although it’s pretty obvious that she is beautiful, funny and smart are the actual first two attributes you think of after spending time with her….

My little assistant…One of these days I’m going to have to get him a camera too..

Speaking about assisting, this is him helping me make some Herb Wraps…
Click HERE for the recipe you will not be sorry
It’s a four ingredient wonder, and a toddler in a dishcloth is not one of the ingredients-more optional extra

My “no shoes thanx” kid finally found shoes he LOVES and wants to wear all the time…
unfortunately it is a pair of wellingtons just in time for Spring

Saturday night was games night with my cousins 🙂

But before that, we did some redecorating….THIS is the proper way to use child labour…whahahahaha

Decor time, my favourite time

August 15, 2014Leave a comment

So after deciding that a new house would have to wait for another year (the banks kinda decided that for us by telling us to look for a smaller place, uhm no!) I have been kinda sad, nothing like getting your hopes up to get you down…But my amazing husband came up with an idea that I could get behind “why not spruce up our current place a little”….He knows me so well. So I have been looking at some DIY Decor on Pinterest to get the creative juices going…. Because naturally after seeing “the house of my dreams” our current place became very drab in my eyes…you know like if you see stunning boots in the shop window and suddenly your boots which you LOVED just yesterday seem to pinch and the colour is drab and so on….

So in the interest of un-drabbing our place here are some ideas I came across (click on the pictures for the how to)

Blogger, Namreen lets us pry a little

August 14, 20144 Comments

It’s my favourite time of the week again….time to introduce you to my favourite “SA moms who blog” .

Today I’m sharing an interview with Namreen Sonday from over at Life and Times of the Fireflies

This woman can WRITE! I’m usually drawn to funny light hearted blogs (and crafting ones) but for me her blog has the effect of a nice warm cup of chai, soothing and deep without being pretentious – She just has a way with words….

Here is what she has to say about being a blogging mom

What made you decide to blog in the first place

I was more coaxed into blogging by my sisters. I have always loved writing! It is therapeutic and cathartic and has been a great source of comfort for my soul. For a long time i was a ‘Closet writer’…just pouring my heart into a journal, but my sisters felt I had enough talent to start a blog and convinced me that blogging was a great way to share my passion with the world. I’m glad they did.

What was the concept behind your blog

A combination of all my favourite things I guess…My Family, which focuses on my relationships and bond with my own siblings and parents as well as my kids. Sharing some of my favourite recipes and my passion for baking. And probably my favourite would be sharing my life lessons, looking for the message in everything…and obviously I try and articulate it all with my passion for the artistry of words. Overall i wanted it to be little messages for my kids to look back on someday. Leave behind a little piece of me.

Do you have a system in regards to how often you blog

Kind of. But things don’t always run according to schedule. Since I write about varied things, I try and do one thing under each topic a month. Example 1 recipe, one inspirational post, if it’s someone’s birthday then that would also fall into the schedule. That way I’m never really at a loss for things to write. But sometimes, other things crop up that I need to write out of my system. But having a sort of schedule helps keep me consistent.

Did you find yourself nervous at the prospect of letting people into your life this way

Definitely YES! It was a big part of the decision making when I got started. Exposing my life and opening myself to judgement was extremely frightening for me. But I had to mentally overcome that before I even started. For now, my blog focuses more on my thoughts than my life and it’s comforting to know that there are so many people that identify with what I have to say. In the end I took the leap because it was a platform for me to do what I love.

Do you ever worry that your kids will be like “Mom, why are you exposing my life?”

Initially, yes. I wanted to pursue this without exposing them too much. But I think I’ve figured out a balance. The blog isn’t solely about them, in fact, it’s more of a message TO them. And they quite enjoy when they do feature and I know they really look forward to their birthday posts J . I think, maybe because they are older, they have a good understanding of the process.

Does your family read your blog

Yes! And they even share their favourite posts J. They are my biggest cheerleaders and supporters!

What do you hope to achieve through your blog

Hmmm. Tough question….I always believe, as people, that even though our stories are different, we all go through so much of the same emotions. My blog shares a very personal journey, and all I hope for is that my words can leave a little impact on the reader.

What do you think of the blogging culture in South Africa

I’m really so new to this I don’t really know what to think. I know it’s not as big here as it is in the UK and USA so growth for a blog is kind of slow in comparison, but I’m grateful for the many great friendships I have made along the way! I find a lot of bloggers very accepting, helpful, welcoming and encouraging to newbie bloggers….I haven’t personally encountered much nastiness.

What do you think makes for a good blog

I am always intrigued by writing style. I know many people are drawn in by the layout and design…but for me it’s the words that keep me captivated. As much as all the technical stuff is important, writing is a form of art too. Visiting a blog is a temporary escape from reality…. And great writing is what helps to take you on a journey. Good, quality pictures are also important. It helps tell the story. I also think for different genres there would be different criteria. But whatever the genre…words can make or break I think. It is also important to be authentic and true to yourself. It is easy to pick up authenticity.

How do you personally measure success in the blogging world

I really thought long and hard on this one… I think it all depends on what you want to achieve from your blog. For some it would be getting into the social aspect of blogging; attending events etc. For others it is in statistics; pageviews and likes….for me personally it comes from interaction with readers. People that comment and let me know how a post resonated with them. All the little inbox messages from readers that appreciate and enjoy my blog or tried a recipe that was a success…and the best measure of success from me is the acknowledgement and recognition from my peers. It’s good to know readers enjoy what you do, but even better when a fellow blogger commends you on your craft!

When naughty happens. . . what do YOU do?

August 13, 20143 Comments

So the other day we were faced with a question and were surprised that we didn’t have a straight out answer for it.

We were applying for Aidan to attend an Edu-care centre in the area (we want to send him for half days to socialise with kids his own age and to give my mother – who has been watching him all this time – a little break in the mornings) and one of the questions was “How do you reprimand your child?”.

I like that they asked because it means they are willing to follow through on your “beliefs” but I didn’t know what to write. I couldn’t very well write…Pleading, stare-downs, the occasional tap on the hand and some failed time-outs.

As a general rule (knock on wood, cross fingers, throw salt, no jinx no jinx) Aidan isn’t very ill behaved…He tries my patience though like when I tell him not to touch something he will just stand there close to the object, close enough to make me very nervous while he says, “no touch”

Or I will say, “Aidan don’t you put your hand on that and he will use his foot” I kid you not…He is also very messy just pulling things out of cupboards and throwing things out, for the sake of throwing things out (this includes juice and yogurt) and in shops he will want to put things in other people’s baskets and walk off with strangers.

But for now he is pretty easy to distract and not much naughtiness I can’t control, no tantrums and crying and wanting things he cant have (knock on wood, cross fingers, throw salt, no jinx no jinx) if he gets tired he just sits down on the floor and says done…

So I haven’t had to reprimand him much…but the need is starting to rear it’s ugly head people!!!… Like when he tried to stick a metal spoon into the plug socket…Seriously I watched him walk to kitchen take a spoon from the drawer and then walk over to a plug remove the safety cover thing and try to shove spoon in there…He also went to kitchen got a apple, climbed on a chair then hurled the apple at the microwave. He purposely spilled his juice on the floor so he could lay in it and my favourite one… his new habit of taking his plate of food turning it around hiding his food under it and saying DONE! … you know that sorta WHY! WHY ON EARTH WHY! kinda thing!

So reprimanding is becoming an issue…

– I tried tapping him on his hand, the first time he hit me back and burst out in fit of laughter, the next time he was so taken aback that he just cried – that worked well for a bit because after that I could show him the two fingers I used to tap him as a warning and he would just stop what he was doing and throw himself on the floor all defeated – my magic fingers didn’t work for very long though, the fear wore off…

– I tried talking to him, like those mothers people judge in the shops because they are all “Now Johnny we don’t act this way, momma disproves of this behaviour and thinks that if you want respect you need to give respect and this is not cultivating respect” Okay I lie more like “Aidan don’t you dare” *wide eyes*. . . That works sometimes, but not always

– Then last night when he threw his food on the floor and hid the rest under his plate exclaiming DONE, I thought I would give time-out a try again (The first time he was clearly to young and kept crawling out of the “naughty corner”) But this time he sat on the Ottoman I earmarked for this purpose, he sat there and started merrily humming while playing with his shoelaces, he eventually started moaning and I told him that , that is were naughty kids sit… so the jury is still out on whether that worked at all.

How do you instil discipline?

RIP Robin Williams

August 12, 20143 Comments

I was sad to hear of the passing of Robin Williams. Initial investigations point to suicide and I’m reminded of the very real dangers of depression and how blessed I am to have made a recovery (not 100% but getting there)
RIP Funny man . . . you will always be one of my favourites….

When you just need a TIME OUT

August 11, 201410 Comments

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed with life you just want to nap!
I’m currently feeling like I’m on this tightrope suspended over tons of work and deadlines and decisions waiting to be made.
While on the tightrope I’m trying to work out a budget around SARS’ need for me to give them money despite me contesting their findings and being granted a penalty cancellation. Basically they are saying “oh oops, ja you don’t owe us money, but give it to us anyway”.
I need to win the lottery, or just have someone hand me a bunch of cash because SARS is being joined by an account I thought I had closed ages ago which has been accumulating interest for literally YEARS now – how they neglected to tell me during all this time is beyond me. Oh and our TV decided it would rather not work any more.
In this mental image of my tightrope walking self, I’m gaining weight from what seems like carbo-loaded air, I have a baby on my hip, saying ma ma ma ma ma ma over and over while throwing food around and refusing to sleep…In my left ear I have an estate agent waiting for me to decide if my dream home is worth not eating for a year or so and in my right ear I have my husband (bless him) trying to “fix everything” as he clearly doesn’t know that this overwhelmed feeling does not listen to common sense all that well.
Meanwhile we are waiting for test results for my gran who seems to have a tumor on the brain which is making her delusional and aggressive. She doesn’t recognise anyone and my mom is on her way to CT to see her. So now I need to find someone to watch Aidan.
It’s so weird because the everyday me can handle all these little things pretty well, but I am just soooooooo tense and tired at the moment I fear the next person to annoy me will have their head promptly bitten off and handed to them in a plastic packet ( Yes a packet, I’m so out of it I cant even bring myself to craft a beautiful box for the severed head)
I need some sort of pick me up…..

What do you do when you need the world to stop for a second?

Oh and as for pictures of my weekend, the only pictures I have are the ones I took at two Women’s Day events..which you can see HERE🙂

Just Ella Bella