Weekend

With the clear blue skies and the lack of wind or rain one could be forgiven for thinking that it wasn't mid-winter here right now.

We're making the most of the glorious weather by spending lots of time out in the garden having fun with the boys.

Saturday was spent soaking up the lovely sunshine in the garden, teasing Rosie and playing on the junglegym followed by a cracking braai (BBQ) at Chris' house in Macassar. We also invited Chris and Bubbles over which was a lot of fun.

The Day Joel Smuggled His Camera To School

We're not entirely sure when this happened but it was a little while ago as Joel's camera has been lost for some time.

We're also not sure how he got away with taking photos in class without getting caught by the teacher but all credit to the boy for getting away with it!

Here's a few of his efforts involving some of his best friends.

World Cup Fridays

As we gear up for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand all school children in South Africa are allowed to wear rugby tops to school on Fridays.

Joel and Eli were really chuffed to get their Springbok tops this morning as they had been really disappointed having been told in no uncertain terms that football shirts would not be acceptable.

Gardening Bits

Following a difficult week it's lovely to be able to lay the current mess aside and enjoy a beautiful Cape winter's Saturday.

It's also great to have Michael back again working his magic in the garden. Michael is feeling much better after his recent heart attack and everybody including Rosie the dog is delighted to see him again.

Friends In Pain

I'm really saddened to have to say that Peter died over the weekend while we were away. He'd been battling throat cancer for a long time now, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Peter was a great guy who rarely asked for anything and on the few occasions when he did you knew he was desperate. Peter was part of my men's bible study group in the community and together we spent many many hours trekking around in a vain attempt to obtain his ID book.

Scar!

I finally got the all clear to start driving again. Hooray!

The 'cast' is off and now I have to wear a splint for driving etc. but otherwise the Doc wants me to keep exercising and moving the wrist.

So now I have an impressive souvenir that has left my boys speechless which is a very rare thing!

It's great to feel free again even if it feels a little vulnerable.

Weekend

After a bit of silence on the blog we've just popped by to say that we're off for a couple of nights. This break couldn't have come at a better time given some of the recent events.

Praise God for his faithfulness and mercy!

Something For The Weekend Sir?

Locally this pic has no comedy value so this one is for our friends outside of South Africa. I guess it's a bit like Spotted Dick, we Brits see nothing funny about it but the Yanks find it highly amusing!

Dean + Ice Skating = Trouble

For those of you not in Facebook you might not know about my latest escapade.

On Wednesday I joined Eli's class as a helping/responsible parent on their ice skating trip to Grand West ice rink. We had a great time and a lot of fun was had by all. Eli took to the ice like the proverbial duck to water and was very pleased with himself. I on the other hand didn't have such a good time of it and came home with a rather splendid souvenir!

Don't Look Back

On Sunday we heard a great word from a young guy, all of 23 years old, but he spoke with great authority and wisdom for his age. We felt God really used him to speak to us, this has been happening quite a bit lately, and we felt very blessed and motivated afterwards.

His main passage was Luke 9: 59-62 "He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.""

International Day Of The African Child

Today is the International Day of the African Child and this year marks the 35th anniversary since the brutal murder of over 100 children and thousand more injured in Soweto by the apartheid regime in South Africa.

The children were protesting against being forced to learn in Afrikaans, demanding instead (and not unreasonably so) to be educated in their own languages.

Father's Day

This morning I had the pleasure of attending the Father's Day celebrations at the boys school.

The school had gone to town in making the hall look great with muffins, coffee and chocolates galore for the dads. The children performed a great array of pieces from songs and poems to dances and jokes.

All the children did really well but I was particularly proud of my boys!

World Blood Donor Day

I give blood for a very simple reason.

When my younger brother was dying from Leukaemia he was often asked "What can I do for you?" His response was always the same "Give blood!"

Blood was literally my brother's lifeline.

To not give is simply selfish! To not give because you're scared of needles or some other rubbish is simply pathetic!

Ask yourself one question. When I'm sick or hurt and need blood, who's going to give it to me?

Miles 4 Smiles Assembly

Dean had the privilege of attending the Miles 4 Smiles assembly at the boys school this morning.

We love how good the school is at getting involved in stuff but the way they get involved in this particular charity is quite amazing. Between the children in this picture they raised just over R34,000 (£3100) which will be used by Operation Smile for corrective surgery for children with cleft palates.

And The Winner Is...

A little while ago we posted about Book Week at the boys school.

Both boys loved dressing up and Eli  went as an Alien who Loves Underpants. He was particularly pleased with his costume, as he got to fulfill a bit of an ambition by wearing a pair of underpants on his head to school. What made it even better for him was the fact that the teachers loved it!

Well it truly paid off for Eli as he was presented with the prize for best book week costume in the junior school.

The World's Clean Again

So said Eli yesterday when he put on his very first pair of glasses! After 20 months of visits and tests and eye exercises it was finally agreed that Eli should start wearing glasses. Though he does need them all the time we are starting off with just TV, work on the whiteboard at school etc to get him used to wearing them and in the hope of preserving their life. Odds are already on on how long Eli will make a pair of glasses last!!

We remain so thankful to God for His healing work in Eli’s eyes. We have known for a long time that he has been experiencing sight difficulties but had not realised the extent until the first round of testing when he was just 3 years old. It was explained to us that not only does he quite serious myopia but he also had a stigmatism which meant that his retinas were shaped like rugby balls. The odds were truly stacked against him.

Flying Thing

I was fascinated by this bug in the garden this morning and managed to get this half decent snap of it with Paula's point & shoot camera.

I think it might be a hornet but am not too sure. Whatever it is I was surprised to see it out on a cold winter's morning.

Aunty Poppy

Not many people in life could ever come close to being a new mum - well Aunty Poppy is one such amazing lady!  We ask you all dear friends to please call out to God for the health of our wonderful friend.  She is currently in ICU at our local hospital having suffered a heart attack.  Paula had a precious 10 mins alone with her tonight before it seemed like half of Chris Nissen Park turned up to visit (!) - so popular and loved is this woman!!  Unfortunately, the nurse wasn't having it and we were all asked to move on!!

Don't Go Camping Tomorrow!

Apologies to Ben Witherington for plagiarising his blog post title about the pending judgement day.

So Harold Camping and his sect have come up with a convoluted mathematical formula to determine exactly when the day of judgement will be.

Book Week

Once again the boys's school demonstrated this week why we love it so much and appreciate the wholistic approach to education that they excel at! This week was the beloved annual book week! Everyday the school had come up with various activities for the children to join in and to grow in their love and appreciation of books and reading. For example, one day they were allowed to go to school in their pyjamas and had hot chocolate.

For the whole week they were given a 'reading buddy' from a higher year and every time the bell sounded they had to Drop Everything And Read (DEAR), grab their buddy and go for it - how cool is that! Each day there was a quotation competition for the kids to have a go at guessing and winning a prize (Joel was thrilled to win on Thursday when he guessed the quote from Charlotte's Web!) and they also ran an all-week photo competition with various staff and pupils hiding behind their favourite titles!

Exhausted!

Joel is starting to master one of the best things there is to do in the whole wide world. He's starting to read himself to sleep.

Tonight's choice, after mummy had already read the next chapter of Charlie And The Chocolate factory, was Charlie Cook's Favourite Book which is a classic Julia Donaldson tale which goes full circle to end where it began.

Hmmm, think I need to join my boys in the land of nod, accompanied of course by a good book.