We're in

At last, we're in.  It's a construction site but we are in and it feels so good.  The up side of moving before the builders are finished is that we can make changes to our plans now that we can see our furniture in the house and get a feel for living areas.   We have already revised some of our intentions.  It is all a bit messy but very doable.  The new kitchen bench tops and appliances will be installed on 8 March and the builders come back from leave on 14 March to carry on with the living areas.  We are sleeping in Adam's room as our bedroom and en suite are still an empty shell.  We both worked very hard to get the three children's rooms completely ready with new paint, carpets and cupboards so that we have a clean area to live.

It is all very exciting and exhausting.  We had to clean our rental to brand new condition and we moved all our cupboard contents in many car loads.  The furniture moved in a truck yesterday morning.  So here I am sitting in my very temporary office next to the kitchen, blogging before I take on the chaos of the kitchen.

The boys have all been invited out to the beach for the morning to give us a chance to tackle the mess so I am off to try and find the sunblock and towels...

For sure!!

It is amazing what a family can talk about while painting endless skirting boards and window sills.  We had discussions on inappropriate facebook postings and U-Tube videos.  We talked about earthquakes and cyclones and life in Australia.  After many hours of scraping the conversation barrel and the paint bucket we realised that this is our year of FOUR!  Hugo turns 4, I turn 40 and Rob turns 44.  Our new house is number 34 and both our new mobile numbers start with 44.  We are leaving number 31 which adds up to 4 and Russell is in Grade 4 and Room 4. 

We are counting on this being a year of good FORtune and FOR having fun.  Our own home will also help us to look FORward, not back.

FOR now we are in the middle of moving to our new home.  I have carted car loads of cupboard contents across and still have a full day ahead of me.  Tomorrow the furniture moves and so do we.  Our house is still very much "under construction" but we will have two months of moving from room to room as the renovation progresses.  Waves of sadness have engulfed me today and yesterday as I realise that this is one more step towards making this our home for a long time and I realise how much we have had to give up to be here.  At the same time there is huge excitement at the prospect of a beautiful place of our own. 

I hope this will be a year FOR lots of visitors.  Pack your bags.

Up a ladder!

 Now back to packing and cleaning.



Adam is SEVEN

We celebrated Adam's 7th birthday this weekend.  He really enjoyed all the attention and had a fabulous treasure hunt party at the river on Friday evening.  There were clues in the pass the parcel game, a clue to dig out the beach sand, a clue in the pinata, dangling snakes to eat out of trees and a scavenger hunt to top it all off.  The children enjoyed all the activities and ended up having sunset alongside the river with the Aussie version of boerie rolls. 


Treasure Chest cake




Pinata smashing



Rob and Christine doing the barbie

The rest of the weekend was all about getting the house ready and Adam was very patient with us.  His favourite gift was Air Hockey and the three boys played and built Lego while we painted and cleaned and scraped.  They then went off to friends for the afternoon and we joined them later for Adam's choice:  fish 'n chips and candlelit cupcakes!

Air Hockey Championships

birthday cupcakes

So my boy is 7! 

Weetbix Tryathlon

Russell competed in the annual Weetbix Tryathlon on Sunday.  It was a scorching day at the foreshore and he joined over 2000 children in the river for a 100m swim.  They all then went on to cycle 3km and run 1km.  It was great fun and a really good introduction to triathlons.  He is now dead keen to do more and was very competitive, giving his best in every leg of the race.



Harry and Russell

From swim to cycle




The big finish

All Champions

demolishing day

We have the keys and we're bashing down walls at pace!  Our house already looks amazing and we are so excited about this project.  We now read IKEA catalogues in bed and discuss doorknobs and shelving.  Paint swatches surround our bed and floor choices swim in our heads.  Opening up the interior was a superb idea and here is what the construction site looks like now.

This is the new dining room and lounge taken from the TV lounge doors.  The kitchen is on the right and the bedrooms are off to the left.  The plan is to break out the three arches at the far end and put a pool out there.

So today I am choosing paint colours and door handles in between Hugo's sport and swimming.  The weekend is packed with kids parties but we will make time for painting and shopping.  It is fabulous to have a project again. 

dummy-free at last



Mt Pleasant Pre-primary fence

I have been too nervous to post this blog lest I break the spell, but today I am feeling brave.  Hugo hung his dummy on the dummy-fence on Thursday as his "right of passage" to Kindy.  Of our three children, Hugo was definitely the biggest addict and after the false start at dummy release to Barnie at his third birthday party there were times when I thought this day would never arrive.  He insisted on putting his dummy with all the other old vrot ones that have been hanging there for years before he started Kindy.  After a good grieving cry that afternoon, he was determined to be brave and sweat it out.  And that is literally what he did.

For three nights he tossed and turned at bed time, sucking his sheets and t-shirt, putting his head under the pillow then on top and swinging around to the other end of the bed.  There were no tears, just resigned determination and finally sleep got the better of him.  Last night was the first night that he didn't miss it too badly.  The down side is that the midday sleep doesn't always happen but we were ready to move on from there anyway. 

He has been rewarded with a beautiful lava lamp for big boys and is delighted.  After almost nine years, we are a dummy-free zone and it feels great!

globus hystericus

For the first time in his life Adam is experiencing globus hystericus or a lump in his throat.  He told me a few days ago that he gets this strange feeling of pain in his throat sometimes.  I asked him if he was feeling sick and he said that it was just when he thought about South Africa.  He reported that he also gets a very sore throat when he is skyping with his grannies or friends. A lump in one's throat is a strange phenomenon that a child cannot fully understand and nor can I for that matter.  The physical aching of your heart and throat is explained away by medical experts as a tightening of the throat and chest muscles as the body's response to anxiety.  So there you have it:  Adam has a lump in his throat!

While our lives are really good here and we have moved forward at a startling pace, there are days of great lumpiness and there always will be.  I miss the sight of the mountain, the touch of my friends and the sounds of Africa.  Rob misses the lush green of Newlands and his male friends with whom he shares a rich history.  The boys miss their friends and family and somedays, SACS.  We are mostly looking forward, but a piece of us has definitely been left behind.

Thank goodness for technology and all the benefits of skype, blogging and facebook.  With a bit of effort we can truly have coffee together even if mine is late afternoon and yours is your first cup.  Seeing a face on skype and having a chat is wonderful and gives the illusion that we are not so far away after all.  I feel very far when crisis hits anyone I love or when I hear great news and sad news.  In six short months I have missed three deaths, a birth and a wedding and it breaks my heart.  The reality is that while we are only a flight away we can't keep heading back for every milestone.  Our feet need to be planted on this ground and we need to acknowledge the memories we are making today.  When we do get to make the trip back I know we will pick up where we left off and thanks to all these gizmos we will still be on the same page.  My American host family from my Rotary Exchange year back in 1990 reads this blog and my "dad" is my fb friend!  Isn't that just awesome?  I dream of reunions and hug you in my sleep.  I am delighting in the new baby pictures on facebook, I am grieving with you in prayer, I get the low down on events from email and I am there.  I am there in spirit and thought.

I am so glad you are here with me too.

back to school

Grade 1 and 4 First Day

They've gone.  It's quiet.  I drank my coffee steaming hot today. 

We sent three happy boys off to school this morning.  Hugo went first to the same playgroup he went to last year at our church.  That will happen every alternate Wednesday.  His Kindy program at Mount Pleasant starts tomorrow and is only on a Monday, Thursday and alternate Wednesday from 9-3.  After this quick photo shoot the big boys walked to school for the start of Year 1 and 4.  They both seemed settled and happy and very ready to start their year.

I am astounded at how much I achieved on my own this morning and feel strangely liberated.  I am ready for take off on the next project.  Tonight is the final inspection of our house before transfer and Tuesday we get the keys.  I have three weeks to pack up this house and make as much of the new house as livable as possible. The lifting starts in earnest now with all the boys doing swimming lessons, Russell going back to cubs and karate and Adam continuing with speech and cricket this term.  Hugo is starting a new activity called Kidz 'n Sport next Friday to start learning basic ball skills and sport.

The school year has finally started and I can't wait to hear their stories this afternoon...