Some catchup & a word or 2 about Blessings

Miss Phoebe at her friend Lucy's party



Sniff sniff, horsie got a nose!  Sophie as close as she was prepared to get



Righty o - so it's well and truely December and I am now ready for it.  It still feels a bit early. 

We are preparing our household for our 2011 adventure of Home Schooling. 

Can I just mention here that I love South Africa (as per previous entry) - Brod & I also do believe that travel and adventure throughout the world are vital and fantastic and need to be experienced by this little family of ours.  In case you were wondering - the entry on Gratitude was greatly edited - I removed a lot of angry words - having just experienced a bout of slurs against the people and the country by a fellow South African - who was visiting in our home at the time.  This happens a lot over here - a truck load of ingratitude gets dumped all over social events and get togethers.  It's highly frustrating.  There seem to be 2 camps - those joining the rush to leave, and those committed to staying and trying to make things work.  I've had a lot of friends looking down their noses at me with disdain when I mention staying and working through the tough stuff here.  But I reckon as much as people feel inspired to leave, there are also those who have been inspired to stay.  And hooray for that, else we would get pretty lonely.  One of the major reasons for Home Schooling is the opportunity it provides for travel and adventure when and where we want...it may only really take off in a few years, but it is one of our family goals.

So much has happened in the past few months - we really have been blessed with both the good and bad.  And although the bad is not so hot to experience it is still vital for our growth, and as we have been plotting our course through life we have given much thought to where we are now - and are filled with gratitude.  We could never have imagined that we would have all we had wanted as a young couple, walking along Garvies beach in the Bluff - driving in the old beat up white mazda with no working windscreen wiper or working indicators. 

We still have eachother - this is a HUGE blessing. We have 4 precious children - each comes with their own little issues of course - and we have already experienced some major experiences in this department.  A cute little house in the country, a beat up Opel Zafira in the garage(thanks to the 4 sweet kiddies) - we lead a simple life - yet compared to the vast majority in this country - we have a roof over our heads at night, and walls around us made from bricks and not cardboard.  We have running water on tap, our own vehicle (no crazy taxi experiences), my children each have their own beds, and are not squashed onto one mattress on the floor in the same room as me. They have had access to a lovely education so far - let's hope I can keep that going:).  Oh, and we have legal electricty (even if it costs me R1000 a month) - need a light?  Flip a switch.  All great blessings, and these are only a few.

Off to start my day.  Cheerio!