Congratulations is appropriate

This has been a year for congratulations. We have come to the end of this year 2010 ans it has, in many ways, been a year well done. South Africa has seen the World Cup Football come and go and it was a joyful time for our whole country. A great time of fun and noise and laughter and of course, football.

Here in our own home we have great cause for congratulations. I have to say at this point, because I am a Christian , it is not really right to boast and this is true. But you see, we have no family live near - by ; no granny who asks - how did they fair. How was the exam? How did they do? I have good friends who love these boys. For that I am so grateful.

Grade 2 is done and dusted for Thomas. He is our very, very clever ( can I say gifted), ADD boy. He has done very well at school this year and has pressed on despite his struggles and triumphs. He received the BEN KETTLE AWARD for enrichment. Now there is a thing. We were thrilled. Thomas loves enrichment. He lives for it and eats for it. He is obviously stimulated by it and we are grateful.

Grade 4 is over for James. He has been consistent in working hard and doing well. He is diligent and clever and uses that which he has been given. We are very proud of him . He has really done well in his exams and despite the stress they caused his marks reflect the effort he put in.

Both Thomas and James have had exceptional teachers ( who shall remain nameless) . I am so grateful to God for them both. Loving and caring and good at their jobs. Actually , outstanding at their jobs. I salute you two women. Thank you for giving your lives for these kids. You are very special and treasured in our hearts.

So, I guess that is the boast over. I am sorry if I offend you by this post. Please forgive the I I I in it all. My ongoing prayer is that our great God will use these two very different and very talented children for His glory and His alone.

Amen!

From That Broken Place

Tonight I write from that very broken place inside. I am sad, so very, very sad.

I am actually unable to write about the thing that has broken my heart yet again. I am just so very very sad and the sadness always leads to questions and questions have no answers. The why is left to hang in the air like a dusty christmas decoration taken out yet again for the tree.. I have no answer to the question of sadness except that it is and always will be - all consuming and there, in that deep and secret place.

I want to run away and hide from life but life rolls on like the waves ; one after the other in that endless rhythm...... can you hear them ... on and on.

I have a yearning inside to be happy and full and alive. But all that is there is broken and left alone to be. Words spoken in anger or in truth are words that stay and grow and take on a shape of their own. How do we flee from the words that have shape within us. How ?

The question that is left to hang on the tree....unanswered.

"Hello. How are you?" is the question most asked. "I am Ok." I smile knowing that I am lying.

Opperation Christmas Box

About 9 years ago a small and extremely special group of friends and I got together to launch Opperation Christmas Box. With the help and support of our awesome church - St James Kennleworth, Cape Town - we have been able to collect these great gifts for underprivaledged children in Cape Town.
The idea is to take a shoe box and wrap the lid and bottom separately. This is to be a special little storage box for the child who receives the gift. he or she can keep it all year. Then the idea is to fill the box with items for either a little boy or a little girl. The age range is 2 - 9. The list of items inside the box must include ...

1. something to eat
2.something to drink ( ot a milky drink)
3. something to play with
4. something to draw with or colour in
5. perhaps something to wear
6. a card or picture with a little meassage - optional



Over the years we have collected beautiful boxes from the loving members from St James Church. WE have been able to support and partner with our church in Khayelitsha , Hout Bay and on the Cape Flats. The children have heard about Jesus' love for them through out the year and now they get to experience a little kindness from others. For some of these children , this is the only gift they get at Christmas.

Some of the churches we share these boxes with, use them to invite the parents of the children to church. They also get to hear about Gods love for them found in Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage those who read this blog to make a box for a little child. I also want to encourage you to come and sort through the boxes with us in early december. It is a wonderful opportunity for the family to get ' stuck in' and do something practical for others. Each year we go through each box . It has been a great opportunity for our children to be involved in sorting and the questions and discussions around wealth and poverty and Jesus and who he is , have been priceless.

So, to all who have contributed to Opperation Christmas Box over these 8 years I want to say Thank You. Please be encouraged by the blessing your box is to one little child in Cape Town and what a tool it is in the hands of those who share the gospel with their parents and grandparents.

Training The Owner while Training the Dog.

For the past 4 weekends I have had the fortunate experience of taking my dog for the willing experience and purpose of training him. Luke, our dog is a year old Spaniel. He is lively and funky and has a really shaggy coat. He is full of energy and very disobedient. All these things have slowly been transforming in front of our eyes.

Our trainer, Jan, is extremely patient and experienced dog lover. I am still trying to figure out if he actually likes people or not. I say patient because we, the dog owners can be very slow to learn. Over these 4 weeks we have learnt how to get our dogs to sit; take food ; walk next to us on a lead and off a lead and how to stay them and down them. These may sound like easy things to do but they are incredibly taxing for an owner like myself with a wild and woolly crazy dog. Non the less, Luke can sit and walk fairly well on a lead and off it now and I am extremely proud of him.

Todays lesson felt like a counciling session. Jan informed me that my dog was feeding off my high energy. What??? Me high energy??? Heck, had not noticed. Perhaps he meant " feeding off my fast pace" anyway, I had a little chuckle. Wonder if the rest of my family "feed off my high energy"?

The Unbearable Burden of 'being perfect'!

I write this blog from my heart knowing that it is not perfect in its use of language or in its content. I write this blog post with a very heavy heart for myself and a deep longing to stop living life the way it is for me right now. I do not want to carry the load of being Perfect anymore and I do not want to pass that load onto my children or demand it any longer from my husband and from those around me. I know that this desire and the working out of it in my life will in itself be a messy work. I recognize that for some in my family , the need to be perfect comes from within and is fed from without. Everything shouts - YOU NEED TO BE PERFECT. - buy this ; get that ; change this; swap that ; paint here ; tweak there ; diet , run , sleep, have sex, have more leisure time, time alone..... etc, etc, ( please dont mis hear me. Lots of these things are right and good in their place).

Here goes....

This morning at the children's nursery school , a little boy I know quite well, had a T-shirt on that said'" I am perfect like my dad". Now in of itself this just a little boys shirt and we all get what it is saying but it kind of summed up for me some of the things I have been thinking around the idea of Perfectionism and "being Perfect".

One of the big messages today is this one.... It is an important life goal to gain perfection in all areas of life. No we may not have bought whole heartedly into this idea but there are glimpses of it in our lives if we really look and lift up those little corners. We are encouraged to start with our selves. The perfect body ; no fat, no flab, no stretchmarks, not to much sun just the right amount of exercise and healthy eating on all levels. Go Organic if you can and vitamins, doctors check-ups and the list goes on and on..... No dont get me wrong here, being healthy is good and right. I am using these examples to illustrate the bigger idea. The pursuit of the Perfect Body which then leads you to the perfect partner. Following on from this the Perfect Home, Car, Dog, job , bank, bank balance, and the list is endless. Depending on age and stage we could all find ourselves along the continuum of the line of perfection. Which leads to the perfect child and the perfect friend for the child which then leads to the perfect schooling system and the Perfect school and etc... etc.

I am a christian woman and so I find the idea of perfection in christian thinking on life ; in christian books on marriage, parenting, schooling, discipline and the like. The pursuit of the Perfect Life surrounds us.

There are many who help us on the way to being perfect. Gyms litter the landscape; health food shops ; educational toy shops; sport coaching ; life coaching ; self - help book shop shelves ; magazines and if all else fails there is always my friend 'google'the like. So help in gaining the perfect this or that is close at hand. Much of this stuff is written and put forward by well meaning people. Being Perfect is big business.

( Once again, please dont misread me. If you read me at all :)I think some of these things have great value and are good to do ; read and enjoy.
'
The pursuit of' being perfect' is a burden for humanity. All around I interact with people who are exhausted on every level. We say things like ," it is the time of year" or " I Just need more sleep" -( which may be true), but I wonder if more and more if the pursuit of the Perfect is not what is exhausting us. It is so tiring fighting for something which is not attainable.
Here is the crux of the thing about searching or working for The Perfect is that when we can not find it ; hold it; keep it; have it or when the perfect partner turns out to be not so perfect and the perfect baby screams all day ; the perfect profession pays so very little or the perfect house begins to date what do we do then?

I suspect the desire for The Perfect Life is modern, Western Man 's desire to know God. God is Perfect and all he does is perfect.
He has a perfect plan for mankind.
It is this.......He purchased for himself ; us weak, weary, rebellious and broken people.
He did this by giving himself to die on a tree for our sin against him.
It seems so far fetched and so unreal and frankly so yesterday.
But the reality is that God used that which is foolishness to us - he chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and the weak things of this world to shame the strong.
What seems to be weak and simple is actually the God of the Universe's Perfect Plan for weak and sinful man.
Here is the beautiful thing We can know this perfect God.
Ill say that again. We can actually know God.
To Know God is to accept God's perfect way in sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for our rebellion against him ( God that is) and in return we receive from God many things; but for the purpose of writing about The Perfect Life, I want to focus on one thing we receive.

We are set free!! We are free to live our lives for God. We are free to live our lives loving others. We are able to be not so perfect ; and live in a not so perfect world with not so perfect children, friends, relatives and spouses. We ourselves can be not so perfect because we are free. Yes, we must work hard at life in all its areas. But the thing is , when we mess up and when our kids mess up and when our friends mess up and ....and ... and... we are free to keep loving , forgiving and helping each other. We are free to never give up.

If you like I feel burdened by the false desire to Be Perfect , be encouraged to seek the One who is Perfect himself and who is able to set you free to live.

The Collage on Canvas Workshop.

On Friday Georgi came to try hand at the collage on canvas workshop. Here is what she created.

Here are some of the Canvas creations we made on Monday!!!

The world cup flavour shines through on this canvas!

Here Renette used mixed media .

The Collage on Canvas Workshop

On Monday night I invited a few friends to come over and spend an evening working on a canvas of their own. The aim of this fun evening was for us to experiment with making pictures made of a variety of materials and for these creative friends to feed back to me their ideas on the whole project. And so The Collage on Canvas Workshop is launched!!



These Photos show my friends hard at work creating their collage on canvas masterpieces.



















Part of the way through the evening.

Back to school.

Today is the first day of the fourth term of school. It is the 4th of October 2010. A point in time. A day to enjoy and to remember. It has been a day full of all sorts of excitement. I use this word ' excitement' in the extreme and cynical sense. It has been a day worth forgetting except for this..... It has been a day where I have sensed the work of the evil one on many fronts. Active and alive. But then God.....

God gives us this .......
The dinner time conversation. I sit down with the boys to Woolf down the dinner set before us ( by me of course), and we begin to chat about heaven and well, hell too. I am reading them the story of David and Goliath in the childrens bible. It is a great story to tell and a great story for young, exciting minds. One thing leads to another and we get to talk about hell and Gods grace. Of course the two are linked in my thinking and so they flow one from the other. Hell - a place of God's right judgment and a place devoid of his grace. We all contemplate our call from him and all decide, unanimously, that Hell is a place we do not want to go. In fact, Samuel said, I want to keep trusting Jesus. He has grasped the very real and glorious alternative. To spend eternity with Jesus and to do so in the new earth is where we aim to be. A glorious end to an awful day.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

We are dealing at the moment with unreasonable neighbours. If you have ever had this experience, you will know how stressful it is. This is the issue at hand...

About 4 months ago we received a handwritten, anonymous, rude and threatening letter in our postbox.We chose to ignore it as it was anonymous. Several weeks latter a policeman arrived on our door step with a further complaint. He implored us to deal with the issue as he has real crimes to solve. The issue: Our dogs bark to much and too loudly just well, they bark. The accusers are a couple opposite our home. A couple I have had several conversations with over the year they have lived here. A couple who felt they would rather send a threatening letter and then a policeman than come and have a neighbourly chat about their concerns.

So we sit now with a problem. The problem is this. Their demands are unreasonable. Their tone and attitude is unreasonable and their actions have been unreasonable. Yet we need to be reasonable and try in every way to live at peace with them. So this is my mission. To silence the dogs. I'll let you know how that works out.

"being me"

I have been doing some thinking this weekend about what it means to be a person. A living , breathing, human being. Furthermore, what does it mean to be a woman. After all, that is what I am. A humans being, woman. What is that all about? What is it to be fully human and fully woman. I guess my thinking has been sparked by the horrendous news of woman and children being trafficked from countries like Nigeria to The Ivory Coast. These kinds of news stories always, always leave me feeling cold and lifeless. I find them so sad. What is the value of life? What is the value of human life? what on earth does that look like? Well, I know for sure it is not bound up in the buying and selling of human beings. But what is it. Do I.... Do you .... have value and what does that look like
????

In the past, I would have struggles to find good and lasting reasons that had much depth. But now that I am a Christian I find I have enormous and lasting value as a person. This is the value that God has given me because I was his design; his idea from the start and included in this is a good and lasting plan for my life. In Christ I find my value.

John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.

I have been chosen; chosen by the living God to be his. I belong to him and in him I have immense and great value. So when I stumble and the voice of the world we live draws me in; seducing me with false ideas of what it means to have value as a person. When the outer facade of the body is called upon to be the most valuable possession I have; when the fear of having failed yet again to measure up in this increasingly women dominated, women achieving world - when this fear presents itself to me and I deem myself a failure who has nothing to give; I am reminded by God's living word that I have value in him and through him and because of him. All praise be to God.

Where has all the fun gone?

I have been pondering for a while now the course of modern , privileged childhood. As I think about the plethora of decisions facing me as a parent and as I try and plot the course of our childrens' lives, I am left with this question. Where has all the fun gone??? You see, while the boys were in preschool they had piles and piles of fun. But I have discovered that very early on in the more formal school lives the fun gets serious pretty quickly. This has happened not only in the classroom ( where one would expect it) but also on the sports field. Oh yes of course some sports still aim at having fun while the child learns the basics. I think of tennis and cricket and the like but there are some sports that get very serious very early on. So I find myself arguing with ... well myself. On the one hand this serious and focused attention on being the best and winning is good and part of life. The best kids get picked for the teams and have a great deal of fun exercising both body and talent. But another part of me wonders if we are pushing kids too early and too fast? One of my boys has buckled under the pressure of having to perform and I think it is extremely sad for him to give up when he has talent. Increasingly I find parents going outside of school to find a suitable sport where kids have fun as they learn and where the pressure to be the best and win at all costs is taken off. Increasingly I have conversations with parents who feel as I do; a little disappointed.

If I am honest I long for sport at primary school level to be a bit of both. Yes sure have the teams who compete and win but then also have space for the rest , who just want to have some fun.

The craziness and loveliness of my children and our Great God!!!

Yesterday was a busy day. Wednesday's just are like that for us. Rush here and fetch there ; encourage as a swimming lesson is in progress as the nights bible study group swirls around in my thinking.

Finally we rush in and arrive at the dinner table, in drips and drabs I might add, both literally and figuratively.

That is when the most awesome conversation about God and his great salvation work occurs. Just like that and quite out of the blue.

My precious Tom shared is anxiety about being saved. "Yes but will I get to heaven mom?" I reassure him as best I can and we talk about asking God to forgive him because of what Jesus has done at the cross. " Have you done this Tom?" I ask, fully knowing that he has. He replies, " about 7 times mom". Then it is done my sweet boy. It is done. We chat some more and then I casually ask around the table. First comes Samuel. "Have you asked God to forgive you Sam?" ..............
In true Samuel style he ponders this question a while and then says, " I think...mmm but maybe not." " Well then why don't you now." So Sam asks God to forgive him and then so does Jethro as the munch down their pasta.

I love they way God works and is so very kind and practical and surprising. I love that he helps the smallest child and the oldest person understand his great truth. I love that he is so mighty and powerful and yet so at work in our lives.

Yesterday a book I had been searching for arrived. For a very long time, prompted by my 10 year old theological questions, I have felt we needed a tool to help answer some of these. A book aimed at children about theology would be good. I asked around and looked but came up with ... well not much. Then a friend recommended a book. I am reading it with James and Thomas together. Last night we read chapter one called God's word and God's own life as God. It was fantastic. The ideas we explore were that we can only know God because he has revealed himself to us. Theology for kids. Thank you Lord!!

The book is called 'Big Triths for Young Hearts' by Bruce A. Ware. Highly recommended.

The Ramblings of an Aging Hippie!

Why is it that as we get older , we start to do those things we vowed we would never do when we were younger? I am thinking about the things that escape my mouth. I say the most obviously stupid things. These really lame quotes seem to escape my aging brain via my mouth ,on those occasions I had promised myself never say such silly and annoying things.One of the times I seem to land in this situation is when faced with greeting and chatting to a young 20 something person. You know the kind of young person I am talking about. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. Eager and slightly edgy. On the move. Faced with the aging Hippie they appear friendly and sort of focused. And it is in this moment that I say things like ....wow you look just like Aunt Vera or my how you have grown or what are you studying . This last question is my best because the said young person eagerly dives into a long and careful explanation of something I usually know absolutely nothing about. I nod and say something like ," lovely". After the fact I usually find a wall nearby and just like Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral, bang my head . I try very hard not to say these stupid things but alas I am beginning to think that stupid words are part and parcel of grey hair and wrinkles.

The Zoo

These are some photographs of Luke the spaniel puppy; Titus the Rotty and Jack the dog of mixed breed. jack belonged to friends who went back to the Uk and his name used to be "Puppy" but now he is called Jack which has more ' houding'.The lovely man with the long hair is Doug. The dogs see Doug as the boss and me as one of the dogs. mmm need to change that!

Fake Fur and other things.

My good friend Renette introduced me to a wonderful second hand shop. She has great fashion sense so when she recommended this funky, vintage seconds shop, well I had to visit it. Of all my experiences of buying second hand clothing, this one is by far the best. i think it is because the owners carefully select the clothing they put onto the wracks AND they keep the prices down. The least I have spent was a great R10 and the most R60 which was for a funky, stretch denim Jacket.
Today's find was a lovely earth coloured jersey with, and get this, a fluffy, fake fur collar. oooh absolutely fabulous. Baie Dankie my vriend!!!

A walk down memory Lane

On Friday night Dougie bought me a small gift. he knows how much I love music and he knows some of the old favourites I would like to choose to listen too. Bands like Simple Minds ; U2 ; The Pretenders and my very best Van the Man. But he did not arrive with any of these in hand. Rather he bought me "The Best of Niel Diamond" or something like that. I am not to sure of the title but the point is made.

Sadly, I was thrilled. Now I am really showing my age and my odd taste in music. Why do I like to listen to this strange mans music. Well, I happen to think he is a good singer and he has a very good voice. It is one of those smooth voices that has its very own recognizable sound to it. But none of these good reasons are why Doug bought me Niel Diamond to listen to. It has to do with memories. You see, when I was growing up, my dad used to play Niel Diamond a lot. he So the sound of the smooth operator and his Hot August Nights transports me right back into that place where every adult is taken back to at some point. Childhood. The thing is I absolutely adore my dad and so his love for Niel and ; Barbabra Streisand and Dianna Ross all fall onto me and I too love them. The memories of him laughing and singing and his smell all come back when I hear The sound of Barbara hitting that high note or Dianna asking " Do you know where you are going to?". Memories flooded with fun and smiles and deep sadness too. I often listen to these songs I love . I listen to them on high volume. I dance some; smile some; sing a lot and cry too. Then I pack them up and put them back on the CD wrack until the time comes again for nostalgia. Thanks my Dougie!! You know me so well.

The Books we love to read part 2

Tonight we read a whole pile of books. I love to choose these stories before the boys get to choose. It saves me reading the likes of Asterix which I love to read to myself but not aloud to them. That is a job left for Dad. I am also rescued from books that are the shortened version of some great movie such as "Cars" or " a bugs life". Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy these kids movies but I really do not like reading them. I have worked out that if I choose books to read first then we have more great reads and not to many of the ones I find a bit difficult to get through with enthusiasm. Someone once said though, " letting children read or be exposed to good and bad writing helps them to know the difference" . mmmm I am not to sure if this is true or not but anyway.... here is a few more of the Jethro and Samuel best reading list...

1. A Snowy Night and The treasure Hunt by Nick Butterworth. These are awesome books. We love the story which is so rich in humour and the illustrations which mirror the fun in the story. There is always a gentle and friendly element of surprise and always a happy ending.

2. We enjoyed " Ten Play Hide and Seek by Penny Dale which is also beautifully illustrated and although has a very simple story is still very much enjoyed.

3. We did not get to this book but I want to include it because I really LOVE this book. " The Pig in the Pond" by Martin Waddell. The drawings are by Jill Barton. Both the story and the illustrations are a delight and this book is never, never boring or dull. It is a must!!!

Thats that for tonight. Ill put together a list of books James and Thomas enjoy. This is sure to be full of the usual Like harry Potter which James devoured weekly until he was full and other authors too Like Jeremy strong. Check out his web site for fun!! www.jeremystrong.co.uk.

Enjoy and keep on reading!!!!

Welcome to the zoo!!

Welcome to The Falconer zoo. By this I do not mean the four fun, noisy and full of energy ; forever talking, singing or shouting. I am going to write about the animals we share the living space with.

Let me introduce you .

Titus or as our very friendly and sweet neighbour refers to him as Brutus. He is a 5 year old beautiful Rotty. He is huge. His mouth is huge. His head is huge. everything about him is .... huge including his appetite. Titus has helped himself on several occasions to large, hot pies; parts of birthday cakes; carcass of a chicken; rolls; loaves of bread and of course the other dogs food. He is a food thief and has no manners. But we love him and he takes care of us. Titus sleeps in our lounge. He has a bed on the floor like normal dogs but if the chance should present itself, he will sneak onto the couch and make himself very, very comfortable. Yesterday, Doug gave him a lovely, frothy bath. Boy oh boy. Did he love that.

The Books we love to read

I thought I would write something about our favorite books. I love reading and love children s books. When I was studying to be a teacher, one of the best parts of the course was all the interesting things we discovered about Childrens books and authors. So I came to parenting with my own personal favorites. Shirley Hughes and her dear characters and life like , beautiful drawings. Judith Kerr and the lovable ' Mog" the cat. Pat Hutchins and Titch or ' Don't forget the bacon" and of course the one sentences book of hers called 'Rosies walk'.

One of the best things about living in The Uk was the smorgasbord of books available. I thought I had landed in children book heaven. Needless to say, our kids have been surrounded by books since they were very very tiny and I mean very tiny. Poor things. They probably could not even focus and a book was placed in front of them. I was an eager mom!!!

Well, enough of that. I am thrilled to say that my children and friends have introduced me to many , many more fantastic books.I thought I would write down some of our most loved books and use it as a growing list for my memory and if you should stumble upon this blog, your interest.

1. Who has flown in on her broom into our busy day but none other than a witch on a broom in Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's " Room on the Broom. A fab book and a real fun read with my Jethro and Samuel.

2.This book is one that makes me feel right at home. Full of a gathering of family fun and many creatures including a couple of horses. "First there was Frances" by Bob Graham . A must for every child

3. Max Lucado and his " A Hat for Ivan" is a great read for children who can concentrate for a little longer. It is a great story line and a very sweet message about being who God has made us to be.

Doug Part 3

This week has been quite interesting in the South African Political arena. What with ET being murdered and all the intrigue surrounding that story and Julius mouthing off at a British Journalist , well I feel a little ashamed of being South African.This of course brings me to Part 3 of my husband as a person.

Doug the Political beast. I have to say that his left views and sometimes ( I feel) blind following of the left, comes shining out when we have a week like we have just had. Doug will fly into James Bond kind of "search and find mode" and he will as an example, trawl the net for information and ideas on why Race is a myth. He will read and think and talk and talk and talk some more about the why and were to from here and lets not forget his hopes and dreams for the future. I just love this about him . His love for the underdog and the helpless is one of the things that attracted me. It is a virtue to be a person who thinks about life and the meaning of it. It is also a virtue in our home for at least one of us to have more than hope for this staggeringly beautiful but tragically strange and sad Land of ours - South Africa.

Thanks Doug for helping me to see the good that has and is being done.

PS pity about finding the web site where the extreme right of South Africa blah blah on about why they hate other people based on outward appearances. I truly and stupidly thought these people might have withered, died and been blown away by a very strong South Easter. mmm How wrong I was. Having said this though They are lost and sad. So very, very lost and very, very sad.

May God have mercy on them!

How deaf are you really?

Last night we decided to make the trip into the Waterfront in Cape Town to meet Doug for a meal. It is the holidays after all. On the way there Jethro fell into a deep sleep. I carried him to the meeting place and fell onto a nearby bench to wait for Doug to arrive. Two young adults were seated next to me. They were chatting between themselves and I was half resting Jethro,s head against my arm as it flopped down, drawn by gravity and half watching the people of the Cape as they went about Friday evening business. I guess the Waterfront is fairly noisy but I had not noticed this aspect of it before. I guess I am a little deaf in one ear. Anyway, the one young Adult turns to me and says these words..... " your phone is ringing" . ............. Really. she must be mistaken. Not my phone. I did not hear it - I did not hear it at all. Not a beep. I rummaged through my overflowing hand bag and found the said phone and .... yes 2 missed calls. Which begs the question. How deaf am I really?

Dougie Part 2

Today was Saturday and turned out to be a typical Doug Day. A brilliantly sunny day with nothing at all planned. A great day to get chores done. And that is exactly what happened. The thing about Doug is that he is a fabulous DIY man. Oh yes he is! He can build almost anything he puts his mind to. Gifted with a neat and steady hand and the need to measure carefully and well dare I say it , perfectly, Doug manages to build and build. I am so grateful to him for the projects he has taken on. Nothing is to small and nothing too big. So what did he do today? He put up some shelves for James and rewired his lamp and radio player wiring and he put up a hook for James to hang his school clothes on. He fixed punctures and wobbly bike wheels.

In addition to these small tasks he washed the dogs ( all three of them) and read up on how to clip a birds wings ( which he was going to attempt but has been put off). He cleaned the water from the fish tube in the kitchen........

I think this is enough for today Doug. Doug my DIY man. I am so proud of you!!!

Dougie

This is a photograph of Doug taken while were on holiday in Sheffield. We have been very, very fortunate to get to holiday there over these past few years. More on that another time. This is not a post about Sheffield or about holidays. it is a post about Doug.

Last week we celebrated 15 years of marriage. We were married on April 1st at a pretty conference center in Johannesburg called Helderfontein. I am not sure it is even there any more, but at the time it was a lovely old Herbert baker building and some other buildings, built in a very stylish manner. We had a grand time on the day and hope everyone else did to. But this is not even a post about that.

15 years... wow! it seems and feels like a life time. A life time of great joys and deep sadness. I guess life is like that. The joy comes and so does the sadness and I would be lying not to describe it like that.

I have found Doug to be one of the most amazing perseveres I know. He just never gives up. I find this to be a great quality in him and over the years have come to really admire him for this. Through thick and thin , he never gives up. That does not mean he never wants to give up. I am sure he does BUT he does not give up.

I will write more about him but for now ... here it is. ....

The Things Children say

Thomas and I were having a conversation about star fish. The most amazing thing about a star fish is that if an arm should be cut off, well, another will grow. Thomas carries the idea onto another level....

"Mom, can a leg of a human grow if it is cut off? "
"No, no Tom. Thats that if your leg gets cut off"
"Well, I guess that means I better look after my legs then", says Thomas
" I guess that does Tom", replies an inward giggling mom

camping shots

The Falconer's camping Adventure

As I sit writing this, Il Divo is playing gently and I am enjoying a glass of wine. Kids are having some super while I write this. I was just reflecting on this weekends camping trip.

The Stuff

This is the first thing I write about because if you know anything about camping , you will know how important - The Stuff - is. We have a few tents and some other things that help make the camping experience work. I admit that if it did not work , I think I would not really want to go. I tend towards the home body kind of person. So this camping trip I have made a small list of things we could add to the stuff list. Things like....
1. a toaster and kettle ( welcome to camping in the 21st century)
2. a couple of ground sheets
3. a good gazebo
4. a good light

This list is fluid and continues....

We went camping with two families who have all the stuff. This is helpful when the heavens open up and declare the Lord of all sovereign.

The place

We went to a camp site called Skurwekop on the Breede River. it was astoundingly beautiful. The semi Karoo or nearly semi karoo shows the absolute care and creativity of our creator. I love the , bright blue sky as it contrasts against the rocky, rocky mountains. Thank you Lord!!

The Children

James , Thomas , Samuel and Jethro were so excited. They could not contain their excitement which is a delightful thing to share with a child. As we packed all The Stuff, I had to remind myself of this. Finally , finally we were on our way. Thomas had his legs folded double as we all squashed in with The Stuff. The De Toits Kloof Tunnel was on the list of highlights on the journey. we made good time and were soon at the camp site.

The Fun

These boys had fun being free. Free to roam and to ride bikes. Free to chat and read. Free to play cricket and to eat. It was grand! The best fun was on the river with the canoes and dingies. Doug came back twice looking like a drowned rat. Sam had his first and hopefully last near death experience as the canoe he was on capsized and he was strapped in.

The Food

All there is too say here is fire and food of all sorts!!!

The sleeping

James, Tom, Sam and Jet slept in a huge tent lent to us by our hosts. It was a fun tent and they were so good at settling in and geeing the job done. Doug and I snuggled in a 3 man tent until the snoring got to much and then Doug spent the rest of the nights in a bakkie!!!

Some Time

Thank you Sandy and Dave for inviting us and sharing this time with us. We had a great time. Thank you for looking after the boys so Doug and I could drive, drive ,drive. You guys rock!!! God bless you both!!

Jesus and sticky tape!

Samuel who is 6 years old is just getting a handle on the Cross of Christ and is delightfully full of all sorts of great questions. I love children s questions. They offer a tiny window into their thinking and their hearts.

Samuel was practicing a play for us. he was " reading" from a children s bible which had graphic pictures of the cross. He calls to me . I note the urgency in his little voice. " mom, mom, they made Jesus stay on the cross with nails. he had nails hammered into his hands and feet." yes my boy - they did - this mom answers ( wondering where oh where is this all going??????

"Why didn't they use glue or sticky tape mom?"

The Bird has landed and at least it is not a snake

James is 10. He has saved up a whole wack of money over the last year and was very blessed with money for his birthday. So what to buy? well, we thought of all sorts of things Wii ; a wet suit etc etc. Then , we arrived on this fun and good idea. A bird! James has always loved birds and has shown a great interest in them since his was quite small. After Doug did a bit of local research , we arrived at the cockitiel. It is a light yellow male! Very young and very pretty. they seem to live for 20 - 30 years which is quite long in my book. Well here is to some fun times with the bird of choice. i think it is a lovely choice for James to have made and at least it is not a snake which was of course the other choice!!!! I have a " snakey" suspicion that I will have to do the snake thing at some point!!!

Th Apple Farm

James was invite to a Dads and Lads camp out party for this Sunday night on an apple Farm in Elgin. What a blast!!! They set off with all the camping gear on Sunday after church. Dad and lad in hand.They arrived back on Monday afternoon at 13hoo. James was tired and his eye was all swollen and blood red and fleshy. It had been smothered in mud from the dam in a mud fight. Poor guy!! As each hour marches forward so the eye looks and I guess feels better. He came home full of happy tails of braaing and canoeing and boy fun. He also brought two full bags of apples and pears that he and Doug picked from the farm ( with permission) Yumm!!!!

A time to weep

Today James and Thomas brought home their first term report. I tried to get Thomas to open his for me while we were at the robot but the little monkey refused to let me have it. "No no mom. you must wait till we get home".

As we dragged ourselves in, bags and all, I immediately reached for his report. What an awesome report it was. This little man is doing so well. Concentrating and working on his own. I was one proud mommy. The first weep!!! Of course Thomas thought I was nuts.

Then , I moved on to James report. The first of grade four. Wow! The format had changed. After reading the front blurb which offers all the mark details I turned the page. Weep number 2 for the afternoon. What a great report!! it was what his teacher wrote that made me weep. She described my James to a T!! I am so proud of these two boys!!! Long may they work hard and do their very best!! Thanks Lord!

Hilarious conversations

I have just had the funniest conversation with my 6 year old. It concerned father Christmas. Well, does he exist or doesn't he?" I believe he does mommy" , he said. "I think his elves are busy right now making toys you know. But what do you think mommy? what do you think?"This is the question he repeatedly asked me. My answer was to deflect completely and say - "well, Sam, what do you think?" He was not having it though, this sharp button. No no. mommy but what do YOU think? I was caught!!! "what do I think Samuel , I said - I think children decide if he is real or not!!!" silence - Phew!!! for now he accepted this answer !! what a good laugh! I went on to remind him that Christmas is about the real king..... "yes yes he said I know mommy!!"

My new oven- I have had the same , old faithful oven for about 8 years now. I was wondering today, as it stood outside int he elements, how many ,meals I had actually cooked on and in it. I have a new gas top and new oven too. It cost an arm and a leg too but it looks great - so far. It has been installed by Steve the helpful electrician who calls me Carry , which is a name I prefer . Doug has got to build a case for it to stand on so I can actually use it.

I love to cook and bake. The former I do well and the latter is well a bit of a hit and miss to say the least. I a, hoping that their is a miracle button on the dial setup on this new oven.

Tomorrow night we have some friends for a long overdue dinner date. I am hoping to use the new stove top and maybe even the oven!!!!

A year has passed

I can hardly believe that one whole year has passed and it is Samuel's 6th birthday. I write this with great joy in my heart and mind. we have had a good year with sam. he is still the sunshine boy in our home and now is has just turned 6. wow! I recall the day he was born. How sweet he was and how chubby his cheeks. I mean really chubby! He is in grade R now at a lovely nursery school. On his birthday he said this.... " I dont really feel 6 mom. in fact I dont really feel any different" I wanted to shout " Bingo. You got it son" but i said something else. Thank you Lord for our Sam and your grace shown towards us in Jesus.