Mellow Tuesday

Today King Arthur is at home - we arrived at school, and he burst into tears telling me he hadn't slept that well (for the record he slept VERY well!). My heart went out to him - it's not only us adults that find the pace of the end of a year exhausting, but they feel it too. So I gave him the option to come home with me, and we are having a wonderful day - relaxed, chilling and at peace. He's asked to do craft....

This was his idea can you believe it?
Knew exactly what he wanted to do and make...
I'm impressed - and they even fly quite well!

And of course Belle had to make one too!

King Arthur now wants me to bake a cake with him for Aragorn, who went to school....sweet man!

I am fully aware I need to prioritize some blogging time - we had a fantastic Thanksgiving with all our American friends - the house just absorbed 30 people - I am SO THANKFUL for this home!

And I am approaching this weekend with something akin to pure dread - I have entered a 98km race on Sunday...

1. I have never done this race before and do not like riding an unknown route
2. It is in Stellenbosch, and my start time is 0648, which means I am likely to have to wake up at 0430 to get there on time ( I am a morning person, but that my friends is pushing it)
3. In training the most I have raced is 80km...(those extra 18km make all the difference)
4. Which took me 5 hours with breaks - and now my cutoff time is 6 hours (i.e. no breaks...golly)
5. My bike appears to be having problems with gear changes on ascents - which means on steep hills I have to stop, turn my bike over, re thread the change and continue racing....unknown hills people, unknown hills.
6. And I am supposed to be doing this to better my seeding for the Argus, and my concern is that this race might DROP me a few groups :( boo hoo!

So ... wish me courage, and strong legs that won't cramp...and that we can find overnight babysitters and a place to stay that side of the world so my wake up time ( this is of course if I sleep) is somewhat more normal!

What was I thinking????!

Some more House...

Priming the shelves in the playroom
(what was a storage room I gather)
- aren't you proud of me remembering to
take photos during the process?!

The finished result -
after a week of painting.
Walls left to paint...yellow or blue?
That is the question!

King Arthur getting involved -
a gun safe used to be in this corner,
go figure!

Family bathroom

Boys shared room - Aragorn's side

King Arthur's side -
some glow in the dark planets hanging around!

Our room -
space, and nothing at the end of
our bed - a first!

...and to celebrate all this space each boy is allowed to bring home two boys to play at the same time - so today is King Arthur's turn (Aragorn's next week) - and my nerves are frazzled! (and to think I'm doing this in between birthdays and parties....goodness). As I write they're trying to catch bees! And Belle won't/can't rest which is making me more frazzled....good thing I've planned a late afternoon ride to cleanse the system!

The Mansion Revealed

Uploading these photos has taken me over an hour and half - o the agony! So this is the first installment....just to wet your appetite! We are rattling around - there is just so much space!

the dining room and kitchen

the lounge - this danish oven
works like a charm! the first rainy day
 we tried it out and are looking forward to winter!

I have a laundry - it changes my life!

Someone once said to me a housekeeping

key is that everything has a place

and there's a place for everything

 - and i have that!

Woo hoo!

I am giddy with delight!

my future study and homeschooling room!

Moved...and Mumps no.2!

Well, it's been a while, to say the least. My fingers have been itching to get back into typing, but moving house has been, shall we say, somewhat time consuming!

Belle helping to move

But here we are ... in our new house, or rather, my mansion....and I am deeply, serenely peaceful. I have desired this for years, longed for it, hoped for it, and now that I have it, I am so thankful. I feel so privileged. I walk around grinning to myself!

Unpacking was just amusing - how did we ever fit so much stuff into such a little house? And the fact that King Arthur then came down with mumps meant that pretty much everyone avoided us as if we had the plague, so we moved with very little help! A few friends were just superb. One packed my kitchen whilst my sick children were at their gran's, and the other two brought me dinner - the best gift to give anyone when they're moving, trust me.

I would post some lovely photos here but Blogger is not co-operating with me and I am losing patience  FAST!

So here's a sneak preview  (let's postpone that shall we?) - I'm pretty sure King Arthur's mumps are on the way out, which means visitors! Oh, and if any of you want to offer us some interior decorating advice, comment away - we've never had so much space in our lives! My kids play ALL day - inside, outside, unprompted by me...so incredibly awesome!

Home Hopping

After a relatively calm morning catching up with an old friend and doing my weekly grocery shop, the day snowballed...and I am pleased to report we are moving! Braveheart gave notice this morning, and we found someone to take our place before the lease is up, and it's all A for Away! Yip, that's what that cryptic reference was a few posts ago.

A lady phoned us out of the blue and asked if we'd like to rent her house, which is literally just down the road. It is lovely, well actually, it's steadily grown on me. It has a maze of rooms compared to where we presently are, and in my eyes is perfect for me and homeschooling next year. As some of you know, I've been desiring this space for a long, long time. And it's funny, because it made me see how well rooted I am here, in this home, in spite of all the things I don't like about it. It takes guts, and some courage to allow ourselves to follow the adventure of this move, I guess it's that different drumbeat we hear so clearly in our lives.

It's a step of faith....it's going to change our daily living in a huge way, but we'll have to curtail our living in other ways. The move will take at the end of September, right in school holidays - groan! i'm going to try and pack beforehand so I get to at least have a holiday with my kids.

So I will loose my recently planted veggie patch, which I will have you know is the first thing I have ever grown successfully! At least the new tenants will have a healthy welcoming!

Home Decor

As promised (ages ago!) I have uploaded photos from Belle's room - there's just one wall awaiting some photos, but otherwise it's finished and I am pleased!

So I purchased the material for the boards from Global Textiles, Main Road, Fishoek, R75 for 10 blocks. Then went to Birchwoods in Fish Eagle park (um....might actually be Heron park - the first one along the Kommetjie Road!) and got FREE off cuts of wood to make the frame. The men who work there were very sweet, they even cut it for me (for a small donation of their time) to my exact measurements. Braveheart then did a bit of carpentry, and made 9 frames for me.

The tricky part was that some of the frames had text on them, which overlapped on the frames so had to sew each of them onto white polycotton so I could stretch them over the frames. It took a while to get them to stretch well over the frames - using a staple gun and my wee hands but I managed. And she loves them!

I recovered this lamp shade as well (tip for the future  - line up your seam with their seam, not just wherever you want it!), and made a cover for her um....'stop-falling-out-of-bed thing' out of stretch lace with these cute dragonflies on it. Not sure if it's clear or not. Now, if I were a more seasoned blogger you can be sure I would have taken step by step photos of everything I did, but alas, you'll just have to trust me!

am still wondering whether to decoupage the table or not....but it's done!

Great Links

I've found a new site, an awesome one filled with FREE lapbooks, readers etc. Just thought I'd share it with you!

I have one week left with this rugby book and then I'm home free! Looking forward to really planning my year next year when Elijah comes home - woo hoo!

I'm also in the middle of finishing Belle's room. I spent the weekend sewing - it's true, couldn't actually tell you when I last sewed anything. But it was surprisingly easy once I got started again....will keep you in suspense, but will share soon!

Good Bye to the Old, Hello to the New

This weekend just gone was a good one - I had an indulgent morning on Saturday, and chopped off all my hair - therapeutic! ( No, I didn't do it myself! I went to the hairdresser!) I was so refreshed and energized after a few hours to myself, that I decided to tackle Belle's room. Now, I'm very much an all or nothing kind of gal, so when i decided to do something,  I set my mind to it.

I took EVERYTHING out of her room - that included suitcases and trunks from under her bed and cot - yes, she had a bed and a cot in a very small room, and yes, there were two cases and two trunks (from my university days) filled with her own baby clothes and books (I'm obsessed with them - I need my own library!). Imagine it if you will! The chaos, the disorder! But no, wait, that's not all. What?! I hear you shriek? Yes, it's true - in her cupboard were two camping chairs, a cooler box, a massive tent, a gas braai and other odds and ends. Now see? I really HAD to do her room. I tell you, I feel like I have a nesting instinct kicking in! Or spring cleaning....or something!

So thankfully, Braveheart's parents now live here and have rooms to spare, so I moved all those things to their garage. Then we.....

PAINTED! 

Helping out comes so naturally to Aragorn - it's a real challenge because it's not something that King Arthur enjoys - tricky to praise one with a natural characteristic, or berate one for something he naturally isn't inclined to. My challenge is balancing both - teaching King Arthur the importance and necessity of helping, and giving Aragorn the credit he deserves.

Space.

Since Belle was born I have felt frustrated with the space I live in, and we have tried unsuccessfully for YEARS now, to find somewhere within our price range to spread our wings. I'm not sure why it matters so much to me, I think it has a lot to do with upbringing - being Zimbabweans we always had eons of space all around us, and I think I naturally expect the same. If  a British person lived in my house they would love it...but this is me we're talking about. Anyhow, I have felt a renewed portion of grace to be content with what God has given us for this season, and to trust him. The door to living somewhere else seems so firmly shut, there has to be a way to make this work more. 

Sorting Belle's room inspired Braveheart, and in his own way, he created a shelter for the bikes in the courtyard. 1 x adult bike, 2 x kids bikes, 1x scooter, 1x skateboard which had up till now lived in the entrance hall  - i know!!! Crazy huh? Oh for a garage!!!

We re-assembled Belle's bed, and she loved it! I didn't think a little girl could show so much delight, but my goodness she did! she jumped and giggled and told us it was bed time, and just enjoyed every moment of it. However, when we came to put her to bed, she wasn't as happy - she wasn't sure what this big bed thing really was, and so needless to say bedtime last night took a while! This morning though, she was ass bright as a berry though, and for the first time EVER had her own floor space to play on, and she spent a good hour juts playing on the carpet in her room - bliss!

Having two somewhat emptier areas in the house transformed me too - I had such a tangible sense of peace on Monday morning, it was odd! And it also made me think - as parents, we are so excited about the firsts - first, step, first laugh, first tooth...that we seldom stop to think about the lasts - I wasn't consciously aware that Saturday night would be Belle's last night in the cot that has held all my three children, and I find that quite heart stopping. We won't notice the last time they ask us to brush their teeth, or the last time they want that extra hug or kiss, or the last time they want us to walk them into school or hold our hand. This time? This time as parents of little precious children? It is fleeting my friend. Fleeting.