2010 ...

I could say a lot about this year but I'll try to sum it up really briefly with our high's and lows (in no particular order)

The Lows
- Our immigration process (its been curve ball after curve ball)
- My dad's bypass surgery and all the complications that followed
- Losing my job and having our family income cut in half
- Our heating unit and garage door going out of commission just as winter started coming in with a vengeance



The Highs

- Dad's full recovery from his surgery
- Celebrating Ria's FIRST birthday (all birthdays are special, but there is just something about that first)

- Taking the kids on their first trip to Disney .... magical

- Our trip to St. Augustine Beach ... relaxing

- Working at home as a full time mummy (hardest job ever but definitely most rewarding)


- Javan starting pre-primary and really excelling at it (four year old solving a binomial cube ... wow!)

- Launch of Face to Face at our church (a big leap for us)
- Having a house full of healthy people ... no sick visits for any this year
- Celebrating South Africa 2010 Fifa World Cup - the world's largest sporting event that took place in my    home ... proudest moment ever for all South Africans

- Our first White Christmas

I love that the highs outweigh the lows .... don't get me wrong ... this year has been a tough and trying one (the past two years have been actually) so those lows, the immigration one in particular, really took its toll on us. People sometimes ask, 'How's life treating you?' Jermaine's usual response: We don't let life TREAT us, we TREAT our life." Even though life is not fair, we have made the decision to make the best of it.

Our family scripture we live by says it best:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

In a nutshell we choose to LIVE life rather than have life live for us.

~V

Fashionista

Carter's play outfit - $10

Matching hair bow - $2

Monogrammed bloomers - $10

A toddler with her own fashion sense - PRICELESS

(and yes she did wear this all afternoon and even out the house ... just not out the car!!!

~V

Happy Birthday Ana

Thanks for letting us Bounce Around with you today ... love you little one and miss you lots ... can't believe its been three years since your arrival!

~V

Getting Our Craft On

We haven't done a whole lot the past two days so yesterday I decided to do a little craft time with the kids. I got out the paints and let them paint my kitchen floor whatever their little minds could think of. Javan painted a big house with a chimney and Ria ... well she got some strokes on paper and did a lot of supervising! Then we did a little snowman craft ... pretty appropriate since we still have a bunch of snow outside.

 He kept saying 'concentrate Javan' every time he would 'mess up' ... I was really impressed at how steady his hand was when tracing around the snowman.

the loved gluing the cotton balls on

so while the kids were busy getting their craft on, I set up my work station to get busy with my craft. I watched several videos on You Tube and then got busy

my first attempt ...

not that great .... supposed to be a 10minute dress but it took me an hour!

 

my second attempt was a success!

might be a little big for Ria but she'll grow into it. I'm so excited. I'm so very rusty but it didn't take long to get back into the swing of things and today I made not one but three dresses! None of them are perfect by any means but they each got better and really boosted my confidence.

I am going to redo this one cos I'm not 100% happy with it - it's just too long

I love how it turned out - it's hanging kinda funny on the hanger but its pretty cute and it took me about 30mins

and my first attempt at a pillowcase dress ... not too shabby. I plan to change out the ribbon to match the aqua in the flowers

 yes ... they're coordinating!!! I hope they recipients like it ... it's a pretty bold move on my part to already give something away and its not even perfect but Ria definitely cannot have all her dresses in the same fabric and style!

Anyways I am so excited about my new machine. I need to learn how to make something for a boy real soon cos Javan is already asking what I plan to make for him:)
~V

Little Chef

Ria is loving her new kitchen ... she is absolutely adorable playing with it. We love watching her use the little utensils to stir the pots and she even offers you whatever she has cooked!

She decided she likes to not only cook with her little utensils but actually eat with them too. Today while I was loading the dishwasher, she brought her little pots and pans to load as well! Too stinking cute!!!
~V

Boxing Day

Boxing Day (a commonwealth holiday) is typically spent on the beach in both our countries ... we spent it mostly at home watching the snow!!! I loved looking out the window and watching the snowflakes fall ... so pretty, serene and peaceful.

We did venture out for a bit ... no crazy shoppers. It was nice to actually hit a few hot spots and not get elbowed by the mad rush of people vying for those after Christmas sales. We just got a few outside lights, ornaments and some wrapping paper for next year.

watching The Sound of Music

love watching Ria dance on her tippy toes!

~V

Christmas Evening

Christmas evening was just perfect! We had a dinner party to go to but decided to stay home (cos of the snow) and extend our lazy day into a lazy evening. Couldn't have planned this white Christmas any better:)

loving some malva pudding and ice cream

 When I got Ria into her jammies, Javan told me that he loved them ... they were actually his from his 2nd Christmas. He wanted to see the pictures so we pulled out the Christmas 2007 scrapbook and he was pretty excited to see Baby Javan wearing the same jammies as Baby Ria! The little things that make him happy!!!

~V