{New Haircut!}

Hi there, I had my hair all cut off today ... YAY!! I love growing my hair and then cutting it all off, it makes me feel fantastic. Like a snake shedding its skin!! It is Victoria Beckhams new cut - I love it - I think that it is gorgeous... here are some shots of it, they are self portraits so they are not the best, also I had just played 2 hours of golf with Miguel in the wind so i does not look exceptionally stylish!!

Miguel took some more photos today .. Miguel is very much a budding photographer - I have visions of him working for National Geographic, Vogue, Harper's, Time Magazine... I must confide in you something, he gets his talent purely from me !! :o) He gets no help from me to take the actual photos (apart from me making sure the wrist strap is on). He switches it on, looks at the screen and presses the 'click' as he calls it - all on his own.

He is unfortunately running a fever tonight, not sure why. I think that it is a cold - Murphy's law ... as he is finally starting pre-school on Monday, if he is ill I cant send him. He is not very keen on school - he hates been away from me. He has gotten very clingy over the last few months, to the point that poor Chris cant do a thing for him. School will be very good for him, as well as me!! The school he is going to is a fantastic place, Hopewell is just up the road - a beautifully renovated house. Big windows, glossy wooden floors, lovely outside play area, with what Miguel calls the 'most giant and pit ever'.

I have to tell you a story of how well Miguel speaks for his age. His new words are 'quite actually'. The other day we were running a little late for a birthday party that he was invited to. I got him dressed and ready and told him to play down stairs, while i got my shoes on and my hair dried. As im drying my hair, I hear him coming up the stairs and go into his room. I finish my hair. I come out of the room, shoes in had - hopping down the stairs trying to put my shoes on and do my belt at the same time, whilst yelling at Miguel to come down as we have to leave. Half way down I hear a soft serious 'mama, ummmmm, quite actually i have to tell you something'. This made me stop dead, - if you have kids you know the tone of voice that I am describing, its the tone that makes you heart fall to the floor and you know that now you are going to be VERY late.

I really did not want to look, so i just asked him 'Miguel what do you want to tell mama?' in a perky tone of voice, hoping against hope that my sinking heart is wrong. 'quite actually, ummm, well, quite actually there's something on my head and its stuck there!' I am now having all sorts of visions of what could possible be on his head. So I ask him what is on his head. 'In fact its an egg!' he replies. SO I brace my self and turn around - he has some how-i have no idea how, gotten his hands on a chocolate marshmallow Easter egg. This gungy, sticky mess is not only ON his hair - it is so well rubbed in that it was nourishing the roots beautifully. Needless to day that we were 40 minutes late!!

Today he was playing golf with my Da, and after 40 minutes, my Da told him his leg are very sore (he suffers badly from arthritis) and that he was going to sit down. 'Why are they sore abuleo?' 'Because they are old and have been used allot' 'Don't worry abuelo, when i go to the shops with mama I will buy you new ones and we can throw away the old ones fornever (ever).'

Thanks to every one for their well wishes to Chris and myself, it was a fantastic feeling.

{Miguel and Golf}

Miguel has this OBSESSION with golf, he loves it he cannot get enough of it. Every day we have to play golf for at least an hour and a half - he would go on for longer, except by then I have had enough of playing!! Chris has often commented that he has a excellent natural swing, a strong drive and that he has no problem keeping his head down ... apparently a good thing! He loves to watch it on TV, which according to me is better than most of the rubbish that passes for kids programs.We were visiting my folks for the day today and Miguel was helping his abuelo (Spanish for grandpa) in the garden, like he loves to do. When he found a little hole in the ground and proceeded to state that this was a golf hole. He told his abuelo that they need to go inside right now and get his 'chipper' (golf club) so that he could practice. My dad had a great idea - he cut a piece of pipe and placed it into the hole so that M had a proper golf hole, i then made a flag out of red card and stuck it to a chopstick. My Migelito thought that he had died and gone to heaven and spent the next 40 min putting. With every ball in the hole he would shout 'yay, i did it' at the top of his voice. Followed by 'I can do anything cos I'm a a big golfer!'


I have come across a blog with an amazing concept. her space : my space gives you a word every day and challenges you to intemperate it and them take a photo of your interpretation. Today's word is Garland : A collection of materials that adorns for special occasions or just everyday. Find a garland in your space today.

Here is my take on it .. it is one of my may scrap boxes that I keep all my little bits and pieces that I have collected over the years, bits of ribbon off wedding invites, buttons that have fallen off things, hair clips that I find - they all get recycled into cards and present embellishments for loved ones..

{Thank you}

I dont have much to say, except THANK YOU for all your well wishes to both myself and Chris. I could not resist giving you another look at my fab ring - cant wait for the bands to join it!!

I received a little Olympus point and shoot a few weeks ago and Miguel is in love with it - He is a budding photographer and will take photos given any opportunity. "Please mama can I have the camera and take a click??" I dont think that he is too bad for a two and a half year old??

{ENAGAGEMENT & A FREEBIE}

Yes folks you read right, Chris and I after 5 years have decided to make it official. We got engaged this weekend ... look at my gorgeous ring, am i not the luckiest girl in the world?? We have not set a date yet, but it will be end of this year or beginning of next. We are not going to have a big wedding - probably only immediate family, as we are both of the same mind that we would rather use the cash for something else - like an excellent honeymoon instead!! We just might elope on a cruise liner to the Caribbean and get married on board!!!

News number two - is that my future brother & sister in law (sounds very strange to be saying that) - Chris's brother and his wife, are going to have another baby, a little playmate to Marc (Miguel's cousin with the great head of red hair)

Here is a little freebie for you all to celebrate this stunning weekend!!

Download link here

THANK YOU so much to every one who has left a comment I cannot believe how many times you guys have down loaded my freebies it is the best 'happy pill' that I could ever take to see you guys enjoy these - so don't forget to show me what you do with these !! Take a look !! I am working on another 2 for you, chack back at the begining of May. I have exhausted my cap so im all out of bandwith for this month .... :o(

I want to give a shout out to our friend Branden who is working in Angola for the next two months - hey dude, how is the "kakest place in the world"? He has started a blog about his experiences working there ... i will give it to you all once he remembers to send me the link!!

{I AM ON A ROLL FOLKS .... FREEBIE NO 3}

Hi all, the last few days I seemed to have gotten into a great stride, so I'm giving it away while the iron's hot or atleast as long as you all still like them. If you use one of my alphas, let me know as I would love to see what you do with them ... can you believe that I still have to use one of them!!

Download link is here

I did this layout of Miguel very late 2 nights ago, I loved these photos and I have been wanting to use them for ages. Miguel had this fixation with pillows, he has to round up just about every pillow in the house for bed /nap time ... thank goodness that I've managed to dissuade him from the pillows in the lounge. He then sets them up like a fort around him, using one as a 'door' and then proceeds to build up, until all that is left is a nose sticking out for air. Now he is happy and able to sleep .. don't think that you can fool him by hiding one or two away, because he instantly knows if one is missing. I also loved the colours of the pillows and had to recolour papers etc to match. I think that they go beautifully. I greated the Die cut sticket at the bottom by deleating the negative space onthe patterned paper and then adding a stroke to it.

Journaling :
you love pillows, you cant get enough of them. Some times there are 12 pillows on the bed, barely any room for you. All that we can see is a little nose coming up for air.
Credits here

{HAIR CUT & FREEEBIE NO 2!}

Miguel had a haircut today, he was so good sitting in that chair while the hairdresser cut his hair. His patience was fantastic, as his hair takes a long time to cut as he his afraid of the clippers and she can only use scissors. It needs to be layered and razor cut just right as his hair is so straight and fine (though lots of it) if it is not cut perfectly you can see all the edges & cut lines.

He is just like his father, every time they get their hair cut, I fall in love all over again as they seem to get cuter than they were before ... come-on Chris time to cut your hair, I'm overdue for butterflies in my stomach. ;o)

I was so overwhelmed by every ones responses to my Denim Alphas. I am absolutely flabbergasted at the amount - the Double stitch 323 times & the zigzag 297 times!! That I was inspired to do another one. All those lovely comments were the best feel good medicine that anyone could ever have. THANK YOU, THAK YOU, THANK YOU EVERY ONE ...

Download Pink Girl Checks HERE

Download Blue Boy Checks HERE

you know the drill, let me know if you digg them - please dont leave comments on the 4file sharing site leave them here so I can say thanks to you !!

{FREEBIE}

This is a little something that I created to say thank-you to everyone in the Digital Scrapbooking community who has been so welcoming to me over the last 2 months.

Link for Zigzag Denim Alpha

Link for Double Stitched Denim Alpha

Leave me a little love & let me know what you all think some CC would be great too!!

{LAST NIGHTS POKER...}

Well I thought that I would give you an update on last nights poker evening ... Well i think that every one had a good time. The evening started off having a braai (BBQ) and everyone had a great time eating and drinking - just getting to know each other, so much so that I missed the first hour of poker because of chatting to my sister - Geraldine and Elmarie. When I got down to the business of playing they had changed for 5 card draw to Texas Hold'em. I suck at Texas Hold'em - I can never find the rhythm of the game and always feel out of sorts - so needless to say - I did not do to well. But lucky for me we changed back to 5 card draw and off I went.

Got a couple of decent wins and was doing great, until Malcolm won a pot of note on what he stated was a calculated risk, as my sister said 'yeah right!'. For me that was a pure" balls to the wall" move, which lucky for him payed off B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Well done Malcolm. But sleep with one eye open Ill get you next time! ;o)

I will send you photos of my new garden the moment that it stop raining and I can get a decent shot !! I think that you will love it as much as I do.

HAPPY EASTER for today.

{HAPPY EASTER}

Hi all, just wanted to post this before the busy weekend starts ..

Happy Easter to everyone and remember at easter the chocolate is fat free !!

credits here

This is to wish my very good friend Debbi's son the gorgeous Harrison a Happy 1st Birthday

{New Garden...well almost!!}

I am sooooo excited my new garden is halfway done .. It looks amazing. I will show you the finished product tomorrow - they said it should be completed by lunch time .... yippee!

{POKER NIGHT}

It has been confirmed that Friday night is Poker night again .. I am so looking forward to this. I L-O-V-E Poker and im quite okay at it, well I am so long as no actual money is bet. As soon as real cash is put down even if it is 1 Rand, I go from card shark to cowering guppie and I loose all instinct and risk taking abilities - oh typical woman, no killer instinct ....

The players are Chris & my self, possible my sister Gerladine, Branden, Danie and that great couple that I told you about ... the ones I met during sushi night - Malcom & Elmarie.

This is the invite that I made and then sent out to every one. Everyone is coming a little early so that we can BBQ and get to know everyone a little bit... then the fun begins !!!

Then on Tuesday night I have been invited to a Ladies Night at my friend Briony's place. I am so excited because I have not seen her in over a year. I have not even seen her twin boys yet & they are already 1!! That is shameful.

Will let you know whether I remain reigning poker champion or whether my lucky streak is over ...

{BUSY, BUSY WEEK!}

I have had such a busy week that I'm not sure where to begin ... went out for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday. Yay for me! Chris had work dinners on both nights. On Wednesday we went and had Sushi .. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sushi! I would eat it every day if I could, I cant get enough of it and I always think that it is amazing, BUT last night our Itamae-San or sushi chef Rodney topped himself. He made a SUSHI COCKTAIL.. OH MY GOD !! It was the most beautiful piece of food I have ever seen. It was quite literally a word of art. It took him 40 minutes to make. It was a mixture of prawns, tuna, salmon, avo, sprouts, paper thin cucumber & white radish. It was almost a pity to eat it, but Chris is very glad that he did.

We met the nicest people, including Greg - Chris's brother, who hosted the dinner - thaks Greg. I had an awesome time, chatting and drinking Vodka, lime & ice till 1 in the morning!! For once Chris drove, I had such fun. So much fun in fact we are organising a poker evening at home next week and hopefully they are coming! Honey's you had better bring loads of cash, mama needs those red peep toe Nine West shoes.

On Thursday night we went to 'Ciao Italia'. In my opinion one of the best Italian places in town. Had a Divine parma ham starter followed by D-E-L-I-C-O-U-S prawns, and a class of good red wine. Thanks Dimension Data for a great evening.

Friday Miguel had a birthday party in the afternoon, he had a blast running around shouting 'en-gard' with his balloon sword. He loved the trampoline and eating the birthday boy, Marc's superman cake. By the time the party was over they were all practically bouncing of the walls, it was then off to Chris's work for a mid-year/Friday pub afternoon, It was Chinese themed dinner - Hats of to the chefs, they did a great job. Everyone brought their kids and while juniors ran amok in the grounds and offices, we all had a chance to catch our breath & to catch up with each other.

Last night I went out with my friend Danie and my neighbours to a traditional Afrikaans 'sokkie'. This is where they all get together in a hall, bring drinks and snacks and dance the night away to traditional 'Boer' music (Boer means Afrikaner farmer - but it is a slang term for Afrikaans speaking people). This is the first time I have ever been to one, as my family are immigrants to SA, so there for never really been exposed to the traditions of the Afrikaners. I tell you what, i was finished by the end of the night - I had never danced sokkie before, as well as quite unused to dancing with a partner. Once I learned the steps (very similar to a two step) I loved it and had a great time. I'm not sure if any of my partners feel the same though and I doubt that I will ever match the expertise of the dancers that I saw there, including a man that had just celebrated his 84 birthday - he flew around the room like he was dancing on air!! This morning though, the balls of my feet were aching!!

Today we had a great time, we all had a bit of a sleep-in this morning. After breakfast we took Miguel to Durban Harbour for a 40 minute harbour cruise. He was so excited that he could not sit still for more that 2 minutes before moving to another part of the boat to get a better 'look see'. "Look at the giant green boat, look at the baby boat (tug) pushing the mommy boat - is he naughty for doing that? Why is this boat big, why is that boat small, why does this boat have no roof, Why are those cranes small ones and those ones big ones ...." He did not stop asking questions at the top of his voice for 1 minute. Halfway through he made buddies with a boy about about 7/8 years old and cornered him for the rest of the trip. He kept running back and forth giving Chris & I these little excited hugs and squeals. He was exhausted by the time we got home & went down for a solid two hour nap! BUT before he could go down for his nap he asked for his new chalks and drew his harbour trip. This drawing took him almost 20 minutes, he spent ages on little details. Stating here are the birds, big mommy ships, tugs, sailing boats (yachts).

Chris had a great time taking photos & dreaming of being 'P DIDDY' on one of the yatchs, well we can all have our day dreams cant we ...