Road Trip with my parents and my boys!

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Family...

#family
My uncle Romy

#family
My aunty Rita

It was their first time coming to visit us in New Zealand. The time went by so quickly, but it was such an amazing time together. There was a lot of long drives, dinners with lots of food and just good old fun times together. It was a month of treasured memories and will not be forgotten. Love you both. And will definitely see you again one day. Our boys miss you both lots. Levi always reminds that you have gone home and you are both very far away.

15 years.....

Wow I can't even believe how fast time really just flies by! 15 years ago my older sister and I arrived in New Zealand from South Africa to start afresh. It was so hard at first, everything about NZ was just so slow and so behind. Where SA was so loud and crazy and so much fun. Took us a few months to adjust to the lifestyle and even longer to grow to love being here. Deep down in my heard SA will always be home. Afrikaans is the norm! People tend to think because we live here we can't speak or understand it anymore. REALLY!!! Come onnnnnn... Ons taal, bly ons taal!

So much has happened in these 15 years. Good and bad! But lets just focus on the good. Looking forward to many more wonderful years in beautiful NZ!

Day-22 Something you miss!

These pics were taken at Hahei Beach when we were there in April.

I know I have so much on my blog already about the beach. I just really miss 'home' (Cape Town) sometimes for the beach. We only had white sand beaches. None of this black sand that gets stuck in between your toes and takes forever to wash off. LOL!! Back home we lived close enough to the beach to get there in a 20min drive and it was safe enough to swim anytime of the day. I'm only saying that because it looked a lot like Piha Beach which a bit of a drive away... but I dare not swim at Piha, just love the look of it and to put my toes in the water.

I was one of those kiddies that if I knew we were off to the beach for the day... the minute we arrived at the beach I would be in the water with my boogie board and only come out if I was hungry. I was pretty much a water baby. I absolutely love the ocean! We don't swim at the beach anymore as often as we use to because the beaches we have grown quite attached to in New Zealand are just so far away from where we live. So really it becomes like a total day trip to get there and so much hard work with having a little one. If I go back to Cape Town one day, I am definitely going to spend a lot of my time at the beach.

Day-10 Photo of home!

A postcard my dad brought back from SA for me.

Well at heart I will always be a South African. I was born in Cape Town and lived there until I was in my teens before my parents decided to immigrate. There is so much that I miss about not living there anymore. The beautiful scenery, the amazing beaches that were just 20 minutes from our house, but most of all my family and friends... and boy there are so many of them. To this day family and friends back home still ask whether I can still speak Afrikaans. How could you ever forget a language when you still speak it everyday. LOL! I try my best to teach it to my son, Levi by speaking it to him and it's so nice to watch him respond by understanding what I am saying. I am blessed to be able to speak two languages fluently. I know there are some SA friends of mine who don't speak or understand Afrikaans. To go back for a visit one day is just in my dreams... one day when I can afford it, it might happen.

New Zealand the way I know it.

Well I wasn't too impressed years ago when my parents decided to begin a new life here for us, but of course that didn't last very long. It's been an amazing 14 years in this country so far and so many more to come. Every word on that photo is exactly what NZ is all about. I have grown to love this country I call home now and have done so much here that I am so grateful to God for. There is so much about living here that I love so much I wouldn't even know where to begin. I guess you just have to pop over from wherever you live to know what I mean :)

Day-6 A Sacrifice!

At the moment I am pregnant with baby no.2 and to me for the nine months I think there are a lot of things I have to sacrifice. So many yummy foods I have to give up at this time like sushi, medium-rare steak, soft cheeses, chocolate mousse, a runny egg ahhhhhhhhh the list could go on forever. Well that is for me. I try my best to stick to the lists on all the handouts I get from my midwife to only eat fresh cooked meals and all the rest of it. How many pregnant woman actually do what they are told who knows!!!

Also people tend to love to ask about morning sickness... Did you have morning sickness? Who cares, that only lasted for so long for me... it's more the rest of the time when you get bigger and can't think of what to wear? How to tie your shoe laces? How to bend down to cut my toe nails? Having baby-brain and starting a conversation and halfway through the sentence not knowing what you were actually wanting to say! Being really forgetful! Sitting in a comfy couch and taking forever to get up out of it. Having to go to the toilet what feels like every 5 minutes. Don't even mention trying to roll over in bed when you need to go in the middle of the night LOL.

I know totally sounds like I am having a moan!!!

But it's a good sacrifice to me because it only lasts for so long and then you have these little people surrounding you that need you 24/7 and it doesn't matter, because you just love them so much in a way that you can't explain.

Levi giving my 34 week bump a kissie...

Was trying to take a pic of my bump with my feet sticking out the bottom and all this while standing on my bed. But Levi thought we were meant to be jumping on the bed. I took so many pics, but this was my favourite!

Day-5 Something you might take for granted!

Some of the things on my list...

Since yesterday, because I know what is next on the list to photograph, I couldn't think of how to photograph some of the things I wanted to add to my list today. So I took it to photographing the words. Thought it looked more interesting this way.

Life - it is such a precious thing! Being here to experience all that life has to offer is amazing. Being pregnant has helped me to understand what my mummy had to go through with me(or any mum). You have this little person growing inside of you. Just thinking about it WOW! Amazing! I am so grateful to God for creating us the way he does.

Time - Man does it just fly by sometimes! It's crazy how it does. +-2 years ago I gave birth to Levi... It just feels like yesterday. Sometimes, just sometimes I wish there were more hours in a day!

Money - I have an amazing husband who goes to work everyday and works hard for his family. I can easily drive to the supermarket and buy things that I need. There are people out there who don't have a job, who can't afford things, who just have a really hard life when it comes to money. I think it is so easy to take it for for granted sometimes especially when most times there is always money in your bank account.

My Bed - Yes I do have to share it with hubby. But I know there are people out there who live on the street, in the cold. Not just in New Zealand, but all over the world. I am so privileged to have a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in. How many times have you gone to bed at night thinking about all those others who are wondering all day long where they are going to sleep tonight.

Don't take the precious things you have in your life for granted!

Photo-a-day-countdown! Day-1

A photo that I found to begin this lovely journey of pics with a few of my friends... a way for me to get to use my Sony a390 everyday for 30 days straight! 

1. One of your greatest blessing

I took so many pics of things that I could think of that are blessings to me, but this guy has got to take the cake. My beautiful Cleo! He turned 13 years old this year and has been one of my best buddies ever. We came to New Zealand from South Africa 14 years ago. Exciting, but also a very sad time for me... Took me a while to adjust and love being here. I had a cat back home that I loved dearly, but sadly enough had to leave him behind. I cried so much the day we took him to the SPCA. A year after being NZ my cousin gifted me with a tiny gorgeous black cat that I fell in love with straight away and yes there was an instant bond. He is just the sweetest thing. Animal lovers would sooooo totally understand :) We have had a few moments when we have thought it was his last few days, but he is still around. Don't even want to think about what I am going to do when he is no longer here.

Baby Shower!!!

For a Girl...

Today is one of my friends Baby Shower.

Thought I would make her a card.

She knows she is having a girl

so a sweet little girly card will do. 

birds on a wire...

In working progress

I have this thing for birds that gather on power lines. Most areas now where new houses are built power lines are no where to be found. So I appreciate still seeing power lines filled with birds. That was my main inspiration for this little project. I actually made it for a previous house we lived in to keep the warm air from the heat pump in one room only because we had no door separating the lounge from the passageway. I thought new house...... mmmmmmmmm...... what would we need a divider for. Well, my little cave that I sit in to create is more like a storage room. So I thought I could use the divider to cover the unpleasant looking shelving and at the same time be used to peg my inspirational research or cut out ideas onto it.

I still need to buy some hinges and then we will be all set. My dad built the frames for me. I found some fabric big enough to cover it. But it took me a while to put it all together.

all things ROUND...

Working on some out door deco. 

We recently had our deck extended and it has been so nice to be able to sit out there again and enjoy our meals. With having a little one and not have a fence or a gate can be a bit of a problem. LOL. So we have been waiting patiently for it all to be built. Finally there is a finished deck with fence and gate. We are still working on getting a latch attached. In the meantime a few bricks are doing the trick of keeping it locked.

There are some built in sections now where we are able to plant things.... So might consider that good old vege garden.

Our new deck YAY!!!

I have also thought it would be nice to have some beautiful creations hanging AROUND while we sit out there. So this little ROUND fiddly creation will soon be getting some more friends to keeps us company. I'll be sure to post some pics of the finished product when I eventually get there.

CARD MAKING.....

Been keeping busy for the upcoming Redbells Markets coming up oh so soon 12-16 December 9am-9pm. Except on Sunday till 8pm. It will be held at Westlake Boys High School.

$2 entry fee kids are free

www.redbells.co.nz

Wool wool and more wool

Soon these balls of wool will become beautiful mittens knitted by my mum and my sister.

Adult Size - Pink $5-$10 a pair depending on size...Available in any colour & kiddies size

Adult Size - Blue with Black Squares $5-$10 a pair depending on size...Available in any colour combination

Adult Size - Purple $5-$10 a pair depending on size...Available in any colour & kiddies size

Adult Size - Chunky Cream $5-$10 a pair depending on size...Available in any colour & kiddies size

Kiddies Size - Red with Blue Squares $3-$5 a pair depending on size...Available in any colour combination

Adult Size - Multicolour $5-$10 a pair depending on size.

Adult Size - Black with Red...full Ribbing Pattern $5-$10 a pair depending on size...Available in any colour combination & kiddies size

If you live in New Zealand.... My mum and sister have been knitting like crazy to keep up with the orders. If you would like some made(in NZ) send me an email and let me know if you would like any made for yourself.