Such is life

The sight that met my eyes when I got back from picking Francois up at college yesterday afternoon No computer

Big mess all over the house

Raided room

Empty boxes

Empty drawers

Francois's room

Awana Fair

We recently found ourselves the parents of an only child for a whole weekend. The older 2 were away on various outings and we could spend some time with Daniel. It was the weekend of the Awana Fair. Daniel attends Awana - a midweek bible club (read fun and games!) with the sole purpose of encouraging Scripture memorization from the age of 3. It is astounding how much he has learned since September.... he can even say "Ecclesiastes" :)
The fair reminded us very much of a school fete, with lots of games to play at various stalls, prizes to win and too many sweet things to eat.

Digging for treasure

Hammering in nails with a big man-size hammer. Laughing in the face of Health and Safety...

Daniel and his friend Daniel hammering away

Yeah...why not give hammers to toddlers??

My favourite of the day - Sno-Kones! I am an ice-muncher anyway, so this was just a fantastic treat for me plus it turned out to be such a hot day. Again.

Beanbag tossing

Throw-the-hoop-over -the-pumpkin-without-hooking -onto-your-own-backpack -game

Not candyfloss but cottoncandy

A kid with a gun . This has got to be America....aim......and shoot! (with an elastic band gun shooty thingy)

Dressing up

A lot of dressing up has been going on in this family! Daniel and I had to attend a Harvest Parade as "something you find on a farm". Parents and toddlers had to join the parade which took us around campus where staffmembers were waiting to fill the childrens' bags with sweets. Daniel - not familiar with the trick'or'treat tradition (done un-halloween like) - kept asking very loudly why the strangers were giving us sweeties?! Here is the whole class , can you spot D on the far left in his (homemade) John Deere tractor?

Joining in song and actions

Making some minor adjustments to the engine while the rest continue in song. The lamb looked on - very interested in tractor engines

Oh yes, the mums had to dress up too! I felt so stupid...so like a pumpkin...

At Marise's school it was Spirit Week. every day called for a different theme and outfit. On the last day it was School Colours Day and they could go in any outfit as long as it had blue, yellow and white in. Some kid even brought in tortilla chips in school colours!

Clash Day

Invent -your-own-Super hero Day. M went as Super Bo Dooper Peep , a sweet shepherdess that can speed-knit, wrap kids up in cottonwool and chase away the ba-a-a-adies. She looked so cute and even won a prize for the outfit.

During Reformation week she went as a time-machine that could transport you back to the Dark Middle Ages

Slice of my Life

My daily grind on the freeways. On a bad day I make 4 of these journeys and spend up to 2 hours in traffic. I really hate traffic, have done so all my life. The photos only show 2 lanes of the 6, sometimes 8 lanes going one way. I use the time to count my blessings, pray for friends or have interesting conversations with my boys.

These pics were taken from our sittingroom window during a drug bust that took place right in front of our house. For a while we could not get into our driveway because of all the police cars , and had to wait it out at the Albertse. When we eventually got back in, we stayed indoors until all the arrests were made and the police left.

Pumpkin patch

We had to try out another typical American tradition at this time of the year - Pumpkin Patch!
Daniel and I joined the other Mums'n'Tots for a trip to Underwood Farms on a hot autumn day. There was so much to see and do , we'll try and give you an orange glimpse of our day out! On the first photo, he and Emily are standing at the entrance and he is not too happy about posing when he'd rather be running ahead and exploring. We had to bribe him to stand still while sweet Em was just being the perfect model. First thing we did was go on a Hay Cart Ride around the farm where we saw sunflower fields, hedgerow fruits, a gourd tunnel, LOTS of scarecrows that weren't scary at all and endless patches of pumpkins

At the end of the ride, we got off at a patch and the children were allowed to pick their own little pumpkin.

Of course the Farmer had to go on the tractor.....

....and the Cowboy had to go on the pony (she was called Candy)

The stalls were overflowing with pumpkins, squashes and gourds of all different shapes, sizes and colours

D and Joanna taking an ice-lolly break on some more squashes

Daredevil Emily on the Trike Track

D was a bit less reckless

Did I mention that we saw some round orange vegetables?

D and J again...on some PUMPKINS again! That tractor was the biggest one I've ever seen.

Time for some other fun stuff , like haybale jumping.....

...and pumpkin-riding.

We were both quite exhausted after our day out , trying to keep 30 kids and their mums together in a group in the scorching sun is no job for a pumpkin-head! I lost (and found) D twice during the day but we can at least now tick the box for another "Fall" activity done and dusted!