Monthly Archives: October 2011

The first babychino

On October 31, 2011 - Uncategorized

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After 28 months we have finally succumbed to the pressure of a babychino…so begins the rite of passage to coffee drinking

No Daddy

On October 30, 2011 - Uncategorized

Today all three of us were in the car and I was singing to Grace “Raindrops keep falling on my head” because we got caught in the rain.  Duncan joined in with the singing at one point and Grace said “no Daddy” and when I said I was finished singing and that she could ask Duncan if she wanted more, she just kept quiet – which Duncan and I thought was very funny.  Grace has always had very definite ideas about what music she wants to listen to, and what songs you can sing to her.

Playing in her sandpit yesterday

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Having fun in the sand

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Today Grace had loads of fun stirring, pouring and “kneading” the rice – she said she was making dough and I enjoyed the mess of 3kg’s rice being contained to a shell.  I’m all for “messy” play but some boundaries help me to enjoy it more 🙂

Rice

A perfect day?

On October 29, 2011 - Uncategorized

Sometimes a day can shine through all the craziness of life – a calm, peaceful and idyllic day – a perfect day. It feels as if the world stands still and is quiet for a while, allowing time to breathe, to enjoy the fullness of life, and to rest in the love that surrounds you. Today was like that.

Nothing too exciting, just time together as a family. We had breakfast and coffee at home, then went to get some sand for Grace's sandpit, bought some sand-art which we sat and did with Grace while waiting for our sushi, enjoyed delicious sushi (which Grace devoured like a hungry tiger), laughed at Grace doing a "pole dance" around the umbrella, went for a drive and had a chat (while Grace slept), came home and filled the sandpit (to Grace's delight), spent lots of time playing in the garden, and hopped and jumped Grace around on an office chair while Donné put another coat of paint onto her table.

Each thing in itself not too exciting. Even as a whole it is not that exciting. What really made the day special were the threads of love flowing through everything. Being a family is about growing in love, and today was a day filled with that love. Thank you Lord for the blessings we have.

That duck

On October 28, 2011 - Uncategorized

Sometime back – probably before the winter began – there was a children's ride Donald Duck at Willowbridge in the middle of the shopping centre. You know, those ride things that a child sits in, you put R5 into and it moves around a bit with some music….not that we ever put money into them, but Grace does enjoy sitting in them and playing, especially the train that is in our local Pick 'n Pay. I digress.

So there was a Donald Duck at Willowbridge and Grace liked to sit in it. At some point they took the duck and the giraffe that was nearby away and we have not seen them since. On Wednesday we were walking through Willowbridge and Grace says something that sounds like "dark" or "dart". It took me a while to realise she was saying "duck," and I asked her, "Do you mean the duck that used to be here?" "Yes, raffe" (for giraffe). I was quite taken aback that she had suddenly remembered about them.

She then proceeded to repeat "duck, duck" in a moaning-that-I-want something kind of way. A brief discussion about how the duck is gone and not coming back and it is time to stop moaning and we moved on. The next day Donné was getting some groceries and she had to endure, "duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck…." (well you get it). The duck seems to have left an impression. We will wait and see if it (or a substitute) appears for the summer.

Grace has become a little parrot with her speech. She is copying words so much more easily than before and quite the chatterbox. We love it and it makes our hearts glad that her speech is improving so much and so quickly.

Bumsticks

On October 27, 2011 - Uncategorized

Grace was messing around while eating her supper and Donné jokingly said to her, "Stop that or I'll beat your bum with a stick." About a minute later Grace climbs down from her chair, goes to the drawer, takes out some chopsticks and starts playing the drums on her own bum. Donné instantly fell to pieces laughing and Grace thought the whole show was absolutely hilarious. Comedy relief for the day.

Wormie

On October 26, 2011 - Uncategorized
The last two days Grace has woken up and as soon as she sees me she says "print."  This means "mommy please go and print me some Hello Kitty pictures so that I can colour them in and then cut and tear them up."  She has spent lots of time in the last two days, cutting little slits into paper and then tearing up the paper.  Since she was so into this we added some glue to the mix (which she also LOVES) and made a worm (this really took me back to my 4th year at Arista Primary School).  First you cut a tear into the paper, then you tear it, scrunch it and glue it down – lots of fun!

Grace checking out her worm


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Wormie – as Grace calls the worm!

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Cutting & tearing

Life of a mom

On October 25, 2011 - Uncategorized
There are days when being a stay at home mom can be frustrating, boring and lonely.  I usually feel like this if I'm having an off day or when I haven't got some structure in my day.  Then there are days like today when I feel like being a stay at home mom is the best job in the world and that I wouldn't trade it for anything.  If I think about the day I can't pinpoint anything out of the extraordinary, maybe my gym session over lunch cleared my head, but I do know that this evening when I was saying goodnight to Grace I thanked her for a special day of shopping, sand art and playing in the sand.  Thank you my special girl, I love you lots and am really privileged to get to spend this time with you.  Thank you for making me smile, for the cuddles and our little chats, we are truly blessed to have you in our lives.

Playing with the umbrella which she insisted I bring outside.  I was also informed where to put it

Umbrella

Having fun in the sand

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Hop!

On October 24, 2011 - Uncategorized

Caleb visited for the morning and Donné had two willing assistants to help her bake cupcakes. I quite enjoyed this story from the day…

Donné gave Grace and Caleb two cupcake holders to fill with the mixture. Grace filled hers and then proceeded to take a big spoonful to eat. Caleb saw this  and said, "Grace, no that is not for eating." Grace stopped with the spoon in front of her mouth and took a moment to contemplate…then gave a naughty smile and gobbled it up.

In other news Grace hopped for the first time today! Yes, it has been a long time coming – who knows why. She was standing dancing to a silly video on Donné's phone and then suddenly – lift off! She did hop once when she was little (before she was even walking). She stood and held onto the back gate and gave a little hop, but today was totally independent.

Yummm, its so beautiful

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Grace noshed all her sweets before decorating, but Caleb made some impressive creations. I was really impressed with how well Grace iced the cupcakes though. Top left and bottom right are Grace's creations.

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Swimming Sundays

On October 23, 2011 - Uncategorized

Summer is approaching which means that it is warm enough to go swimming with Grace at the gym again. We get to spend time just having fun and playing in the water. It is special time together that I really enjoy. I cherish it and hope to keep doing it for many years.

Relaxing day in Melkbos

On October 22, 2011 - Uncategorized
We had a good relaxing Saturday in Melkbos catching up with Em, Jason and Willemien.  Thank you guys for a delicious lunch and a much needed catch up.  It's wonderful to have friends that you can phone on the day and a few hours later be sitting around having lunch together.  Exciting times ahead for the Salzwedels 🙂

Every time Grace takes her boat out Spice jumps in!


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This is how we roll – apparently the Hello Kitty bag is a backpack!

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