One year anniversary

A year ago today, the girls and I arrived in South Africa. It is hard to believe a year has gone by. And what a year it has been! Upon arrival, we were involved in a car accident in a game reserve. We were hospitalized and Sofia had to have the side of her nose sewn back on. Then in late January, Gary passed away and we had to rush back to the US. March, April and May were rather quiet. Then in June, the house was broken into and many of our things stolen. July, my father in law, Gino came to visit. August, Sal came and we celebrated the girls' 5th birthday. Late September through late October, we travelled back to the States again. And then for the last two months we have been back. It has been a roller coaster of a year. Let's hope this next year is one of peace and quiet and no major mishaps.

Yesterday was the last day of work until the 3rd of January. Yesterday, I also signed the lease for our new house. I am very excited about our new place. It is in a very secure complex. I have since cancelled the lease at the Plantations and now we will be in Manorfields Estate. It is so very central in Hillcrest. At first, I was a bit worried because I would still have to drive daily back out to Forest Hills to bring the girls to school. But then, just last Wednesday, Hillcrest Primary called and said they had space for the girls. Hillcrest Primary is literally one minute from the new house. It is one the same street just a few hundred yards down! It is ideal! And many of the girls' friends from their preschool are going to Hillcrest Primary. Today, we went to get their little uniforms! They have to wear dark green and burgandy tartan plaid! They were so excited. Their school bags are about half their size- so big! They start Grade R (kindergarten) on January 18th!

Tomorrow, I head for Uganda for 5 days. The girls will stay with our good friends, Jonita and Steven. Their daughter, Izabella, is one of the girls' best friends. We go over to their house a lot. Originally, I was going to try and take them with me but the tickets were too high. I have to go to Uganda for meetings.

When we get back, we leave for Cape Town 2 days later. We will be in Cape Town for 5 days. Then we get back from Cape Town and we move on the 29th and 30th. Then on the 31st we are going to a beach house with Jonita and Steven and Izabella to spend a few days there. It is going to be so busy these next few weeks.

The monkeys are constantly at our house now. Today, the girls and I watched them for over an hour. They are so interesting to watch. Such smart animals. They come and sit at our windows and peak in. Of course, I can't resist but to feed them. I guess that is why the hang out here! Plus there are no dogs to run them away like at our neighbor's houses. The girls absolutely love to watch them. And I think the monkeys like to watch the girls. Today, there were quite a few adolescents and two very tiny babies. One baby was too small to leave it's mother. But the other was just a little bigger, but still so small. Every time I would try to take a picture, one of the adolescents would pull the baby to them and try to protect it. It was so cute. And the baby would squeal because it didn't understand that there may be danger. I would crack the door and throw food out for them. They would run over, smell the food, take a small bite and either eat it or throw it if they did not like it. I had some stale gorp (like chex mix coated with white chocolate). They couldn't figure out why the pretzels and cheerios had this coating on it. They kept trying to rub it off. They scraped it on the ground. It was soooo funny. I think they thought it was dirty and so they tried their best to clean it. It is really educational to watch them at such from such a close proximity. Then, they got into my trash and made a mess. I wasn't too happy about that....

Christmas is next week. It is hard to believe. It doesn't feel too much like Christmas here- maybe because it is hot and because it is not so commercialistic here. It is nice. Yesterday, I took the girls to see Father Christmas (Santa). Sienna warmed up to him. Sofia would have nothing to do with him! She just kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye. She said later it was because she knew he wasn't really Santa.

Sienna and Sofia have finished preschool :(

Yesterday was Sienna and Sofia's last day of preschool. They have now officially become little girls. They will start Grade R (Kindergarten) in six weeks. This week they took a tour of their new class and met their new teacher, Mrs. Stapleberg. They have a really nice little school and classrooms. The only thing is that it will now be far from our new house. It is right down the road from us now but when we move at the end of this month, it will be a long drive in the morning. I am trying to get them into a school that is near the other house but classes are full right now.

They had a ballet show at school on Thursday. They are doing so good in ballet. It was so sweet to watch them!

Also on Thursday, we gave Bella, the cat, to another family. The girls are actually okay because she went to one of their friends, Izabella.

I had signed paperwork last week for the new apartment in Plantations. But then on Tuesday, I got a call from another agent and she said she had a place for us at Manorfields Estate. That was where I was wanting to get into originally. The complex has a pool, a squash court, workout room and very large park for children. And it is very secure with 24 hour security and gates. So, I called the Plantations to see if I could get out of that lease. At first, the owner was not going to let me. Then after pleading, I was able to (but had to pay $350). It will be worth it. This other place is a house, not an apartment. It has 2 large bedrooms, 2 baths and a study. It is very nice. I like it so much better than the apartment at Plantations. There is no comparison. This complex is actually right across from Plantations so it is all in the same vicinity. The only thing is that the school is far now.

Today, we went to a birthday party for one of the boys in Sienna and Sofia's class, Logan. They had fun as usual and we were the last to leave. We came home and I made some homemade PULLA. It is a Finnish bread. So good and has been so long since I have made it. The girls really enjoyed the whole process of watching the yeast dough grow. Then kneading it, braiding it, etc. They were fascinated. Sofia ate 3 pieces (like little cinnamon rolls) after her big bowl of pasta with pesto.

We will go to Cape Town for Christmas. We leave on the 23rd and get back on the 28th. Then we move on the 29th and 30th. It is going to be hectic.

It is hard to believe we are approaching our one year anniversary of arriving in South Africa on the 15th of December!

In the pool

 

 

 

 

Sad we are leaving this house in a few weeks. The girls really love the pool here!!!!

 

If it isn't flying ants, tarantulas or shongololos, it is a plague of grasshoppers. The flying ants continue to exit from the ground by the hundreds (and the monkeys continue to jump after them and pop them in their mouths like candy). Now, I have a big group of grasshoppers that move in unison in my fence....

 

One of the monkeys from yesterday admiring the mangos in our yard. They had already pulled off a bunch of them, taken a bit and threw them on the ground. I guess they thought if they kept picking them surely sooner or later they would find a ripe one....

Thanksgiving & Monkey Stories

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. It was also the girls' graduation and school concert. The concert was amazing! So good. The costumes were so cute. Sofia was the wind and Sienna the rain. After the concert, their class, the Yellow class, stayed on stage and got their little diplomas. Sweet.

Afterwards, we went to Andrea and Shelby's for Thanksgiving lunch. They have four kids- Brea, Gabe, Drew and Elie. They are from Indiana and here for a few months. It was a nice time. We stayed about 5 hours. Andrea went all out in cooking things we would have in the US. Many of the ingredients are hard to find. We had turkey, pecan pie and lots of other goodies. The girls and I took homeade brownies and the white chocolate gorp. Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here or celebrated....

Today, I went and signed the lease for the house we will be moving into next month. It is all final. We will start moving on the 15th. It will be different but better. Much smaller but more secure and costs less.

This morning, the monkeys were everywhere at the house. Our house seems to be their favorite hang out. These winged ants are still coming out of the ground and the monkeys were going crazy jumping in the air catching them and eating them. It was so funny. I watched them for almost an hour. At one point I started to work in the yard and they just sat a few feet from me watching and playing. Then they got into the mango tree and pulled off all the baby mangos. They were eating the baby avocados and any other fruit they could find in the yard. At one point, the alpha male arrived on the scene and immediately the mood changes. The monkeys were no longer carefree and relaxed when he was around. And he was showing off. He started jumping on the plastic covering that is over the pool pump. After a while he left and they relaxed again and continued to eat the mangos. I took some video of them. I am sure the new place we are moving to doesn't have them. There are too many houses close together. The monkeys also don't go into the townships because they know they might get eaten.

The girls wrote to Santa that they want these two particular Barbies. I went to several stores to try and find them. I found them but they are sooooo expensive! One costs about 90 dollars!!! I saw it online there at Walmart for 10 dollars. Hopefully, Sal will be able to get them for the girls.

Tonight, we went to Ocean Basket, our favorite place to get calamari. The girls love calamari with lemon butter.

Afterwards, the girls got to decorate their little Christmas trees. I had brought them with me last year. They are very small but look pretty. I had tried to find some lights. I found some, paid about 8 dollars for a string of very plain lights and they didn't work when we plugged them in. They were so excited to get to decorate their trees. They both kept saying "I'm speechless, mom, just speechless!"

The days fly by

These were taken in Limpopo a few weeks ago....

The days and weeks fly by in a blink of an eye. I stay so busy that by the time I get everything done in the evenings- unpack backpacks, make dinner, baths, pack lunches, wash dishes, read books to the girls, talk to them about their day, work for an hour or so, it is bedtime and I am too tired to write.

I have been looking for a different place to stay. I think I have found something. Today, I went and looked at a smaller apartment in a complex called Plantations- www.plantations.co.za. It is styled after villages in Tuscany. It is huge and it is a gated community with 24 hour security. I think I would feel much better to have close neighbors and the security at the gates. There are hundreds of houses and apartments in this place. There is an Italian restaurant, a laundry drop off, a preschool and several parks for the kids. The place is MUCH smaller but I need smaller. Since the hubby is reluctant to come over, I have to cut costs as we are trying to manage two households and it is really hard. This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath duplex (again, image small Italian villa). There is no garden/yard to maintain and the rent is $350 less a month. I LOVE the house I am in right now- mostly the views, the gardens, the fruit trees, the pool but not the MONKEY thieves. But I have to be realistic. I talked to the girls about it today because I want them to be happy. And they seemed fine. This place doesn't allow pets so I will have to find Bella a home. I am not sure if Cookie the hamster is considered a pet but, I can take him to the office if I have to. So, we will see.

The girls have their Christmas play on Thursday (Thanksgiving, which isn't celebrated here). Sofia is the wind. Sienna is the rain. And neither have been interested in practicing for the play. The teacher sent a note home yesterday saying Sofia was being most uncooperative and laughing all the time instead of listening. She was sent off stage twice during practice. Oh my goodness....I talked to her a long time last night. Sienna confessed she was also being naughty. She was sliding down the stage props- Noah's Ark. I took away t.v. for a day, their moosey, froggy and silky. In the end, Sofia said "It is because she lost her goodness and she can't find it". That is her excuse nowadays. Anytime she is bad, it is because she has lost her goodness. That stinker. I told her she had just better find that goodness and start acting right. Today, Janci, their teacher, said they were much better.

They have both been sick. Sofia was sick last week with a sinus infection. She is still on antibiotics. Now, Sienna has it. Let's hope they get better.

Thanksgiving is not celebrated here. But I decided to take off. I had to take off anyway for the girls' play. I had met a couple some time back from the US. They are here working with youth and managing an orphanage. The husband saw me getting out of my Heifer truck and said- "Hey- I have been to the Heifer Ranch in Perryville!". They are originally from Indiana. I gave them my card and thought nothing more. Then, today, I got an email from the wife, Andrea. She invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them. They have 4 kids. I think they have been here only a few months. I think it will be nice to spend the day with them. Now, I have to figure out what to cook and then, more importantly, find the ingredients, which can result in a day of going to a dozen different stores!

Our little Sarafina Rest in Peace

Sarafina- March 15, 2010 to August 8, 2010
Sofia's beloved kitty

Today, when we got home we couldn't find Sarafina, Sofia's cat. They have gotten in the habit of staying outside most of the day. Today, with Mavis at the house, they probably came and went in and out all day long. But when we came home and only saw Bella, I knew something had happened and it probably wasn't good. All the houses nearby have very big dogs. And just the other day I had to save Bella from falling into one of the neighbors yards because she was being a little too curious on the fence and got stuck.

We walked around the yard and called her and finally gave up about 5:30 pm. I got the girls in the bath and I get the much dreaded call from the neighbor. I knew even before I answered what it was about. We aren't sure what happened exactly but they think she got into the neighbor's yard two houses down. The dogs got a hold of her and she ended up in Michelle and Conrad's yard trying to escape but she died there. Poor baby. I just hope she did not suffer.

Michelle told me not to worry that they would bury her and to just figure out how to tell the girls. Sofia is very, very attached to her cat so I knew it was going to be hard. But I never expected it to be as heart wrenching as it was. She wailed and cried for hours.

Sofia was worried this morning, more than usual, about Sarafina. She kept trying to close her in her room because she was worried about her getting out. Normally, she isn't so worried and she lets her run in and out. But this morning, about 3 or 4 times I found her locking the cat in the room. It is almost as if she knew something could happen.

At first, I didn't know what to tell her. I told her Sarafina had left and wouldn't come back. As she absorbed that (huge tears and sobs), I told her that she had gotten into the neighbors yard and gotten into a fight with dogs. And finally, later, I gently told her that she was in kitty heaven.

I told her Sarafina would always be in her heart. She looked me straight in the eye through her little tears and said "But mamma, my heart is broken. Sarafina broke my heart". She kept saying, over and over, "I want Sarafina, I need Sarafina". Oh boy, that was the hardest thing to do. She kept saying she was trying to keep her in the house and feeling like it was her fault.

And I am sure it is not over by far. I held her and held her. And when I was busy with supper, Sienna held her and tried to console her.

She was much more attached to her cat than Sienna is with hers. Bella kept going to the door tonight waiting and looking under it.

Losing pets is so hard. And especially when it is a child's pet.

This post is dedicated to our little Sarafina and, more importantly, to Sofia. She has just had the first break in her heart. One of many, I am sure, to come.

Happy Diwali!

Today is Diwali- the most important festival in the Hindu religion. The Indian population here in Durban is very, very large so Diwali is a very big thing here. As a result, there have been fireworks booming for the past few hours. Diwali is like Christmas in the Christian religion. It is a five day festival of lights. Insteading of exchanging gifts, they exchange parcels of food- like sweet meats. The cats don't like the fireworks and have been sneaking around the house.

Sofia and Sienna have reached Silver Medallion status with Delta. They are little world travelers with priority status now!!!!

Luckily, the flying ants disappeared as quickly as they came and there haven't been any more swarms! We did have a very large group of lime green striped grasshoppers come through. There were probably 200 of them. They stayed together and moved in unison eating my patch of ivy. After a day, I had to spray them as they were devouring everything. I took pictures of them. They were quite amusing.

They girls had a play date today. We had one of their friends come to the house and spend the afternoon. Her name is Izabella. Her mom, Jonita, is a friend of mine. The girls go to school together.

I was on national tv this morning. Last Thursday, the day after I arrived back in SA, I had a tv interview. A film crew came to Limpopo to get footage of our work and do an interview with me and my provincial manager. This morning, the segment, about 5 minutes long was featured across the country! It was pretty neat! I will have to get a copy of the feature to share! Sienna was baffled as to why I was on tv talking!

Thousands of Flying Ants Descend

Last night, we had thousands and thousands of flying ants descend around the house. They are the size of a dragon fly. They are the queen ants who have emerged from the ground to mate. They pick a perfect day that is hot and muggy (which perfectly describes yesterday) and come out to mate. They swarm to protect themselves and after mating they lose their wings. The mating occurs mid air as a much smaller, less conspicious male latches on. That is the annoying part. So, not only did I have swarms of ants exactly at 7:30 pm around the house but now this morning, there was a carpet of wings covering every concrete and asphalt surface outside the house. And even worse, the pool had hundreds of them floating around. The queens mate and then try to go find a place for their colony. The males die right after mating. We had quite a few of them, wingless, in the house. They are fat and move very slow. They girls were not so happy about this but the cats were delighted. I was not so happy because I don't want any colonies started in the house. There are enough ants, large and small, ambling around in the house as it is.

They say the queens don't bite. And they are a delicacy to eat around here with the locals. The locals snatch them up and eat them alive. I am told they taste like butter. I think we will pass on trying them for now. They also like them deep fried.

Luckily, this mating ritual doesn't happen every day. It is just a few days and then it is finished.

Always an adventure in South Africa!!!!

Settling back in

After a 5 week stay back home in the US, we are now back at our South African house. We departed the US on Tuesday of last week, arrived in SA on Wednesday. Instead of coming directly to Durban, we stopped over in Groblersdal (which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Johannesburg). I had board meetings and project visits from Thursday until Sunday. The girls fit right in with staff and board and then at the project visit. We got on a plan on Sunday and came back to Durban. Sunday was Halloween. Since we were on planes and in cars most of the day, we didn't have much time to celebrate. And South Africans really don't celebrate. However, we did have one couple with two children come to trick or treat. It is very, very rare so we were excited. The girls then wanted to know why they didn't go...

Yesterday, we were back into the swing of things- school and office. Very busy.

 

Angels....

 

Love this picture of Sofia and Nonno Gino. This was taken yesterday. He was sewing up Sienna's skirt. It had ripped at the party. And he was explaining to her and showing her how to sew. It was a very sweet moment captured.

Baby Jr's Bday Party- South Africa

This is some great footage from Sunday at the birthday party. It really captures the essence of what had Nonno Gino mesmerized. You can see Sienna and Sofia in the middle of all the kids playing. They have on pink shirts and blue bows. I love how people just occasionally bust out a few dance moves!

Beauty

 

I love this picture. This girl was trying to be gentle with Sienna and make friends with her. Sienna, still a little shy as we had just arrived, was looking down. Such a sweet moment captured.

CAKE

 

The kids all lined up for a (small) piece of baby Junior's cake. They all waited patiently their turn.

Waiting for lunch

 

Here are most of the children that were at the party. They continued to arrive slowly throughout the afternoon. They all sat quietly in between the two structures and were all given a plate of food. Many asked for more afterwards but no one was given seconds. They did all later get cake, sweets, a handful of potato chips and some fruit.

Sweetest picture of Sofia and Nonno Gino

 

Today we spent the day at Mavis's house for her son, Junior's, birthday. He turned one. It was a very fun day. It was the first time for Nonno Gino to see what poverty looks like. Mavis lives in a very rural community with very little. She has a tiny house with two small rooms. No water but she does have electricity. There is water outside. It was a festive occasion. One that Gino will remember for a long time to come. At one point he had tears in his eyes and he was shaking, he was so emotional. It happened when Mavis was opening the few presents that were there. Along came a lady and brought 5 rand (about 30 cents). She said she didn't have much but she wanted to honor the occasion and do what she could. I took about 350 pictures today so I will be posting many on facebook and a few on here. The girls had a ball, as usual. I had to pull them away as they didn't want to leave the dancing, the laughing and playing. Little children were dancing, the ladies were dancing as they washed the dishes outside. Goats and chickens leisurely ran amock. Quite different from the birthday party yesterday that we went to. It was for a friend at the girls' school. There the parents sat and chatted quietly and ate catered goods. Today, there was dancing, very few sat as there was much to do and work was divided among all. Sienna and Sofia were always given the place of honor- even when it was time to cut the cake for baby Junior, Mavis wanted them right by him. They got to blow out his candle and they "helped" him cut the cake. Gino was spellbound the whole time. A day to remember by all!

Nonno Gino in South Africa

Nonno Gino arrived today! He is so happy to be here. His flights went well and he is settled in his little guest house. As we were coming back from the airport, he kept saying how much South Africa looks like Conway. What???!!! There are absolutely no similarities between Durban and Conway. Conway doesn't have palm trees, banana trees, sugar plantations, etc. He is convinced they are so similiar. I just agreed because it was doing no good to say otherwise.
They girls are beside themselves to have him here. They keep taking him by his hand and showing him around. Earlier tonight, they were sitting on the counter in the kitchen while he was doing the dishes (yes, he stubbornly said he was going to do the dishes despite me telling him to just relax) and I heard the girls in there trying to teach him Zulu words. Forget the Zulu, teach him some English words. They were saying "Repeat after me, Sawubona, Saaauuuubonaaa". So cute. And he couldn't figure out if they were speaking in English or any other language for that matter because his English is so limited.
He loves the yard and said it look liked botantical gardens. He picked avocados and we sat on the veranda and drank coffee.
Earlier in the afternoon, he wanted to go to the bank and change some of his money so we were on our way to Hillcrest. We had Mavis in the truck to drop her off at the taxi rank in Hillcrest. We are on Inanda Road (a very busy highway with traffic and people walking). All of a sudden, I see this young white guy trying to ride past these two Zulu guys who were walking. As he was trying to get past and avoid getting in the road, one of them pushes him with his elbow. The young boy, I would say about 16 years old, falls off his bike in the middle of the highway right in my path. And I am talking RIGHT in my path. I had a line of traffic behind me and a line of traffic in the other lane coming towards me with the closest vehicle being a motorcycle. But I knew I could not hit this boy so I slammed on my brakes and went into the other lane. Mavis was in the back screaming. I figured I would rather hit an oncoming car then to crush a boy in the road. It all happened in what seemed like slow motion. God was watching over us because by literally inches, I missed this boy and luckily missed the cars in the coming lane. I think I must have closed my eyes for a few seconds because it all seemed so cruel and unreal. I pulled over and ran back to check on the boy. He was shaking and so was I. He said he was okay, just a scrapped elbow and very shaken up. I asked him if I could drive him home or take him somewhere and he said no and he was thankful I stopped to check on him. I told him that we all saw it happen- the two guys push him into the road. What in the heck were they thinking? It took me a little while to get over the shock of thinking I could have ran over someone in an instant had it not been because I was paying attention to the road and not speeding. Gino didn't know what to think about it all. I told him here it is like that. You have to watch every second for people, cows, taxis, etc. Driving here is not easy. I NEVER even attempt to talk on the phone when I am driving here. Haven't once since arriving. I let it ring.

Sienna said this morning that when she grows up to be a rock star she is going to sing Jesus Loves Me at her concerts. That sounds like an oxymoron. Sofia says that she will be a rock star when she turns 65. They are so cute. I am not sure why all of a sudden they want to be rock stars.

Sienna said "Froggy's dad got stung by 1000 sting rays this morning". It's always some tall tale with her.

Back to the ritual of bringing a loved one home after they have passed away. I found out more about it yesterday because I was in the car with my staff who had done this ritual over the weekend. His sister was 24 and as I had already mentioned died of Aids. He had married an older man who came from far away. He already had it when they got married. His other wife died of Aids first. Then he married this girl. He died soon after and the girl remained with his family. About 6 months later she started getting very sick but the family didn't recognize the signs of Aids. By the time her brother, my colleague brought her here she was too far along to take ARV drugs to slow the illness. She went from the hospital to a hospice. She had 3 children and miraculously they do not have HIV or Aids. So, she died in a hospice at 24. Now, this bringing home ritual involves them taking the same path as when she died. They had to start at the hospice with her spirit and take her from there. The hospice no longer exists but is now offices. Nonetheless, they have to start there. Then, they drove to the burial place and from there to the home where she can stay. All the time in the car, as I mentioned, an elder has to explain to her what is happening. If you forget to tell her, for example, you are crossing a bridge, her spirit will stay at the bridge and they say then later, a sangoma will call you to come and collect her because she has remained there at the bridge.
On to the animals. If it is a female you are bringing home then the goat and the cow must be females. If it is a male, then male animals. He says the goat is killed two days before and the cow a day before. The goat's throat is cut (and he said it was absolutely awful seeing the animal die). The cow is killed with spears. He said you must tie it to a very sturdy tree with a rope and it is killed with spears. He has seen cows get free and then things are not nice for the cow afterwards.
When it is a male who has died, there is much more "celebration". There is dancing and drinking of the homemade brew. When it is a female, things are much more somber.

HIV and Aids is rampant in the villages here. It is sad. Many don't want to believe that it could be Aids or they think it is witchcraft. And the fact that men can have many wives doesn't help the matter. This same staff member said his brother and the brother's wife have Aids as well. And the very sad part is that their little child of 3 years is positive. He said it is heartbreaking to see this 3 year old suffering. The child is on ARVs but he is still very, very sick. And he is worried about what will happen to the child when the parents die. No one deserves the deadly disease but especially not innocent children. There are armies of children here in Africa who have lost their parents, who are heading households themselves or relying on elderly grandmothers. They call this the missing generation.

Statistics are scary here in South Africa. Taken from a UK newspaper- In the continent's economic powerhouse, South Africa, 800-900 people every day are dying from Aids. The country holds the dubious record of having 5 million HIV/Aids sufferers: the highest number in the world, with 21.5 per cent of the population infected.

21.5% infected. That is one in five. There does seem to be hope though. Just this week, in a groundbreaking study here in KwaZulu Natal, a gel women can use was found to be up to 54% effective in preventing contraction of HIV if used consistently.

Party Planning

In less than 3 weeks the girls will turn 5! Unbelievable! They are very excited about their party. We have settled on doing zebra (black and white) and hot pink as the colors. We aren't really doing a theme. They couldn't settle on one them and it was getting chaotic. Their invitations turned out really cute. Today, they passed them out in their class to all their classmates. We will have the party on the 14th. We will do a scavenger hunt, breaking the kids up in 3 groups and also do cupcake decorating like last year.

Gino arrives on Wednesday. Sal arrives on the 11th. yay! It will be good to have family here. I have been busy getting the guest house ready. It looks nice.

Today, when I picked the girls up from school, Asiphile confidently walked up to me and said "I'm going to marry Sofia". I said "Oh really and when will this happen". All the while Sofia is standing there blushing and says "No, Asiphile, I am NOT going to marry you, I already told you that a million times, I am going to marry Quinn and you will marry Sienna". He then proceeds to give Sienna a kiss on the check and asked her to marry him. Sienna says "sure" and blows him a kiss. WHAT???!!!

The Zulu culture is a very complex and interesting one. This weekend, one of my staff had to bring his sister home or welcome her back to the house. She died two years ago and her spirit needed to brought home. Usually, upon death, the Zulu tradition is to burn all the deceased belongings so no evil spirits hover in the vicinity. Depending on when the family can afford and organize this ceremony can dictate whether this happens within a few months or a few years after the death. They speak to the ancestors to allow the deceased to return home to rest. It is believed that at the graves the spirits are hovering on the earth and are restless until they are brought home—an extremely dangerous situation for the family. Animals are slaughtered in anticipation of this event. Chickens, goat and an ox. And lots of traditional beer made of millet and other cereal grains is made. As the elder brother, he had to go and get her spirit and bring her home. Along the trip, as he has the spirit in the vehicle with her, he must talk to her and tell her what is happening. If he stops at a stop sign, he must tell her he is stopping. It is very fascinating. And now she has been returned home and will hopefully look over the family.

Froggy's third brother

The girls were aggravated because the oranges I bought them have seeds. Sofia said I must plant an orange tree in the yard, like the lemon tree we have. Then, Sienna says- "you know, Froggy's third brother ate an orange seed and an orange tree grew out of his mouth". I just can't figure out where she comes up with these things.

Sofia, on the other hand, said Moosey was riding a crocodile's back. And the crocodile's name is Croaky. We caught the crocodile and need to keep him now in the bathtub.

This morning as Sienna as putting on her pink Arkansas Razorback shirt that Mae Mae got her she says "Mae Mae loves the Razorbacks. That means she must be the Queen of the Razorbacks".

The monkeys raided our house again this week- taking all of our bananas and apples. This is the third time for them to sneak into the house. The leave a mess of banana peels in their wake. Mavis was there but in another part of the house. I can only imagine how terrorized the kittens, Bella and Sarafina, must have been having the monkeys in the house.

Driving to work and back is always entertaining. On an average day, here is what I see-

- Cows grazing on the roadside and leisurely crossing the road, causing traffic to come to a halt, as they please
- Men peeing on the side of the road
- Women carrying anything and everything on their heads- boxes, bags of rice, pumpkins, bags of potatoes, their purses
- Monkeys and more monkeys
- a little Zulu man walking as fast as he can back and forth from Hillcrest to Botha's Hill. They say he can average around 10 trips a morning. He walks barefooted and with a purpose- very, very fast. He is mentally ill.
- another Zulu man, a little taller than the one above, carrying a pole across his shoulders and huge bags on each side well balanced. Not sure what is in his bags, probably all of his belongings. He walks down the hills in the morning and comes back up early afternoon as I am starting my trip home. Normally he has on red pants. They say he is also mentally ill. He also walks barefooted.
- Usually there are at least 2 police roadblocks- one as I round the corner by the Valley Trust turn off and the other down at the beginning of Botha's Hill. I have been stopped once.
- earlier in the week, I saw a girl walking down the road knitting. Her male friend was walking behind her holding the yarn.
- And finally, the most magnificent views of the 1000 Hills. There is one point in the drive that is breathtaking on a clear day.

Pirate Froggy

Sienna explained today "Froggy has a boat made of plastic, rubber bands and paper. He's a pirate. And he has a tattoo on his bum. He lives on the boat."

Sofia, in the meantime, says "Mom, Quinn won't marry me".
I say, "oh, how do you know"
She says "well, I asked him to marry me when we were on the picnic that day" (one day while they were out of school, Penny took them on a picnic with Tai and Quinn).
I say "and what did he say?"
"Well, he didn't say much. I asked him to marry me and he looked at me and said not now".

Toy Story 3, Mandela's Birthday, Lesson Learned

Today we went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. It was very cute. The girls wanted to sit on the front row. They enjoyed it.
Right before going into the theatre, we had a small issue. The movie theatre that we went to is in the HUGE mall (the one that is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere). We arrived about 1 1/2 early and I wanted to go to a few shops before going to the movies. We bought our tickets and then went to a shop to get some light bulbs and other small things. The lines were long and we waited and waited. It was about 10 minutes before the movie was about to start. As I got up to the counter, the lady said I had to go to another counter (at the jewelry counter) to pay. I stood at the jewelry counter and they sent me to the cell phone counter. By this time, the girls are starting to fight and I was very frustrated. So, I pushed my cart (or trolley as they call it here) to the returns place and got the girls out quickly so we could make it to the movie on time. We trotted down (LONG way) to the movies, bought popcorn, grabbed the booster seats and was trying to balance it all. I handed a box of popcorn to Sofia to carry and a booster seat to Sienna. Sienna looks at me and said she can't carry it because her hands are full. That's when I notice that Sienna has a KitKat in her hand from the Game store. I about fainted. I was speechless. In the rush to leave the Game store, Sienna did not put her candy bar down. Now, after repeatedly asking her if she purposedly took it, I still don't know the answer. I really think she didn't realize it. She and Sofia usually are carrying so much stuff- frogs, silkies, moosies, purses, chapstick, that I imagine she just didn't think twice about it. I told her after the movie we had to go and give the candy bar back. I explained to her that it is against the law to steal and police can even arrest people for stealing. I felt really bad about scaring her but I had to make a point to both of them. After the movie, we went back down to Game, all the while, Sienna is very upset (her lip pooched out and tears coming down her face). I went to the counter and told the lady that my daughter had the candy bar in her hand when we left the store and I did not notice it. So, I played it down so Sienna wouldn't feel so embarrassed. She definitely learned her lesson. I told her if it ever happened again, she would have to take it to the counter and explain what happened. They have never even tried to take something from the store. Usually, they are very good about handing their juice, candy or whatever to the cashier and patiently waiting for them to scan it. And they never open something in the store, they know you have to pay for it first. So, I think what happened is that because we were rushing to different counters and then me leaving the cart with stuff in it, she didn't even realize she was holding it among her other stuff.
This evening, Sienna came to me crying. She said that Froggy was going to put her in the fire and he told her he wished she would die. I am not sure where that Froggy story came from. There was a part in Toy Story where the toys were about to fall into an incinerator but were saved at the last minute. It was pretty intense and even made me uncomfortable. I think that is probably what made her say that. She also told me after that it was Froggy today making her misbehave.
Nonno Gino is coming in a few days. We spent the majority of the day yesterday getting the guest quarters of the house ready. I bought a twin bed, some bedside tables, lamps, bedding, etc. I want to get a little fridge and a small table. I will do that next weekend. He is going to enjoy it here, I am sure. And I am glad he will be here when Sal is here. It will be nice to have family here.
Today is Nelson Mandela Day. It is his 92nd birthday. What an incredible leader and example for others to follow. He spent 27 years of his life in a cell on Robben Island- imprisoned for fighting for the rights of humanity, fighting for peace, unity and reconcilation. I hope to get to Robben Island in the near future. It is an island off of Cape Town, SA. The picture, one of the many of him and President Clinton, shows them looking out of the cell that Mandela stayed in for almost 3 decades. He is such an inspiration.

 

Sofia visiting a project back in March in the Eastern Cape. Here she is with a newfound friend.

World Cup ends....Spain champions

Spain won the World Cup!!!! Viva Espana!!! They played a really good game- very composed and fair whereas the Dutch seemed to do anything to try and win- including kicking Xabi Alfonso in the chest with his cleats. The game ended at almost midnight here! Unfortunately, around the same time in Kampala, Uganda, there were bombings at some restaurants where people had gathered to watch the final match of the World Cup. Sadly, over 70 people were killed.

Tonight, I was asking with Sofia to be please be good. She looked at me and said "mamma, it's hard to be good. I have trouble being good, mamma". Right before that, she had asked me what a "soul" was. I tried to explain and she pulled up her shirt and asked me where it was. I told her that it was inside and she kept asking me to point to where it was in her belly.

Sienna told me that she had been on a plane all day going to India because she wanted to get her hands painted with "hanna" (henna). Froggy and his daddy were looking for her and glad she got home. And Froggy's grandpa died, he died on the cross with Jesus. He drove his car to the cross.

Last day of World Cup

The World Cup final is playing right now. Netherlands and Spain. Let's hope Spain can pull it off. Neither team has ever won a World Cup.

Today we went to our friends, the Akob's, house for a braai. Jane and Chris are from Cameroon. They have both worked with Heifer but now work in other jobs. They have three daughters- Elma, Faith and Joanne. The girls just adore Elma. I think she is around 13. And she is so good with them. There were some of the Akob's friends there, from Kenya and Mozambique, and also living here now. It was a nice afternoon. We made homemade brownies to take.

School starts back this week after a 5 week break. It starts on Tuesday. The girls are excited. Over these past 5 weeks they have been going to holiday care- which is still at their school but it is a mixture of kids of all ages. So, they are excited to get back in their routine and see their classmates.

They are still coughing but not as bad. Tonight, Sofia was coughing and I was patting her on her back. And she looked at me and said- mamma, you are patting so hard that my back is going to go into my stomach.

They are always talking about who they are going to marry. Today, when we were driving to the Akob's they started talking about when they have babies. They were asking me if I prayed to God to give me twins. I told them yes. Sofia said she was going to have twin girls and their names would be Laura and Barbara. Sienna said she only wanted one little girl named Emily. They said they don't want boys. It was cute. And then Sienna said she was going to marry a monkey. Sofia looked at her and said "Sienna, you must not marry a monkey, they stink, you must marry Billy Ray Cyrus or Ty Ruby (a little boy who was in their class in Little Life Academy in Conway).

Froggy in Candyland

You know...Froggy lost all his teeth and now he talks funny. I know what boogers look like because Froggy eats them. That's what made his teeth fall out and he also has hair in his nose. And we used to live in a house in Candyland but the mean, mean king kicked it down so then we had to move to China. And then we moved to 10 Sun Lane and then to Africa. In every house, Froggy punches out all the lights. And we can't see.

This story came out of Sienna this evening, pretty much all in one breath! I don't know where she gets these details!

Can't get out of the gates

The front gates at each side of the driveway have been giving us trouble now for about a month. The owner of the house has sent his friend to repair them but nothing seems to be working. This morning as we were all ready to leave for school/work, I couldn't get either gate to work. They just wouldn't open. And I don't have the little key that can override the gate motors and manually push them back. So, I called the owner of the house. He told me he was mad as h*ll and this was costing him so much. I told him I don't know what might be wrong and I was doing everything I knew to do. He acted as if I was causing the problem. He said he never had any problem with the gates. Anyway, he called the called the company that installed the gate some years back and they sent an electrician. In the end, the 12 volt batteries on each of the motors weren't holding a charge. They were old. They changed the batteries and checked the sensors. One of them had a huge nest of ants in it. Now, the gates seem to be working just fine. Later, I got a call from the agents who rent the house for the owner. They said he called and complained that I was calling all the time with issues. It mad me mad because when the hot water geyser (hot water heater) went out, he told me not to contact them but to call him directly if there was a problem. So, I told the agents that they needed to get the right story from him and it would be a pleasure not to have to call him because of him yelling at me. As usual, never a dull moment here!

Sofia's allergy test results are back. They said the tests didn't show any allergies, which is good.

I let the girls finally go through the boxes from Carla and Papa today. They were so excited with all the stuff- the Hershey's Kisses, the Strawberry Shortcake dolls, the bandaids, stickers, headbands, etc.

Worms?!

So, I am told that we have to be dewormed every six months or so while living here. I guess we are overdue for a good deworming then. That really makes my skin crawl. I already get heebie jeebies thinking about worms, especially those living in ones intestines, but to think I have to be dewormed disgusts me! Apparently, it is good practice to do it every 3 months and since we have been here 7 months and have not done it, we need to take a three day regimen. Well, I guess I am off to the pharmacy tomorrow for the 3rd time this week. Deworming is done in almost all the schools here in South Africa twice a year. Of course I had to do some research on the internet and now I wish I hadn't. The pictures are creepy.

The World Cup is winding down. Netherlands will be in the final. Spain is playing Germany as I write right now. The match is being played right here in Durban tonight!!! It would be so exciting to be there! I am hoping Spain will win it. They have never won a World Cup but are a very good team.

On to today's Froggy story. We were driving home from work/school and Sienna saw Hillcrest Christian Academy. She said- "You know, Froggy goes to school there. He also takes soccer lessons there. Right now he is out of school so he is at the stadium playing soccer all the time. All of his frog friends died in the snow so he has to play soccer with real people. The people are very tall and Froggy is small. Froggy doesn't have shoes to play soccer. I have to buy him some but I won't have any money until school starts. I am going to buy him some yellow and green soccer shoes like Bafana Bafana. He also needs a jersey but even the small ones are too big for Froggy. I think we need to go to Build a Bear to buy Froggy a jersey (note- she saw Bafana Bafana soccer attire at the Build a Bear here)."

Wanted: Froggy sized Bafana Bafana jersey!!!

Doctors offices, vets offices

Today, I had to work most of the day from home because I had scheduled Sofia's checkup on her allergies and then we had to take the kittens to get their 2nd round of shots.
At the doctor's office, Dr. Darby changed Sofia's allergy medication from Zyrtec to a nasal spray which she is not too fond of. Then he told me he wanted to do some blood work to see if they can identify what allergens are causing her problems. Both girls have been coughing so much lately, but I think that is because of congestion and a cold. Sofia gets coughing fits that always end in her gagging. For the past 10 days it has been going on and on. He prescribed some cough medicine for them both to take at night. I am up about 10 times a night between the two of them. So after the dr. office we had to go next door and do the lab work. Which I was not looking forward to at all. Needles and I don't mix well. And even if the lab work was not being done on me, it might as well have been given it was one of the girls. Luckily, Sofia's veins are likes Sal's- nice and protruding. The lab technician was there by herself so it was up to me and her to try and convince Sofia this was the right thing to do. At first, she was not having any of it. She politely packed her little purse up and started getting down from the bed. The technicial told me I would probably have to go to Hillcrest where there were more nurses there to hold Sofia down. So, I explained that to her- I told her either we could do it there and get it over with or we would have to go and nurses would hold her down. After a few minutes of convincing, she actually agreed to it. I distracted her, Sienna exitedly watched and talked 90 miles an hour about Froggy getting blood drawn and it was over before we all knew it. I tried to be brave so they don't inherit my fear of needles. But with her little veins she shouldn't have the problems I have had. She got to write her name on the wall of bravery and got a little badge to wear. Sienna didn't understand why she couldn't also write her name and get a badge so the relief of having the tests over with quickly turned to chaos as Sienna was screaming she wanted a badge. I looked at the technician as if to say- just give her a badge but she wasn't having it at all. Anyway, we will see once the results come back. Sofia was really worried about her blood being taken away in the two vials....
Then, we took the kittens for their shots. We ended up having to wait a long time at the vet because there were two dogs brought in that had to be put to sleep. It was sad. There was also a huge pig there that was squealing like crazy when they put it in the back of a truck. And Sofia and Sienna made themselves right at home behind the desk at the vets office with the receptionist! Finally, we were called back and the kittens, about 4 months old now, got two shots each. More needles. The girls watched and asked tons of questions about everything in the office. Dr. Singh, the vet, said they were very, very bright for their ages! Of course, Sienna whipped out several Froggy stories. Sometimes people don't know what to make of her stories. I am always explaining, it is her little stuffed animal. Now, we are up to date on shots for the kittens. They will get neutered next month so I don't have to worry about them getting pregnant. Sofia didn't like the thought of her cat not having kittens. I told them between the two cats, we could have 20 kittens and I couldn't deal with that. They said they would tell the cats not to have so many and just to have one kitten each. Yeah, right!
There was a breakin at our office last week. Luckily, they did not get in the office but they did manage to steal some tires off of our trailer that we use to haul materials to the projects. They think they have found the suspect and have arrested this person. And from what I understand, the tires have been returned.
The monkeys visited today again. We didn't have time really to watch them. They were just arriving as we were heading off to the doctor's office. About 15 of them.
Otherwise, just a normal day in South Africa.

Poor Tippy

Yesterday, we went early in the morning to try again with Tippy. We brought him over and played and played with him. He was very gentle with the girls and wasn't as anxious to try and get out to go back home. All was going well until about 4 pm when I heard that high pitched bark again. I knew he had gotten back over Michelle and Conrad's fence. And, like last time, they weren't home. I tried for a long time just to coax the dog's into being friends and not fighting. They just all stayed in the corner of the fence. Then, Tippy's brother Dipstick (or Lipstick as the girls call him) got loose and came over. He got all the dogs upset. I guess because Tippy felt bolder with his brother around, they started all getting worked up. Sarah, the girl, who had given us Tippy came over and got Lipstick. Then, I called Michelle and told her what was happening (AGAIN). They came home. As soon as they came home, Grommit, Michelle's bull terrier, and Tippy got into a huge fight. Grommit is just pure muscle with jaws of steel. He got into Tippy's neck and back. It was horrible. And what's even worse is the girls were standing there watching it all unfold. I was trying to get them to go back into our yard but they wouldn't. Finally, they got the dogs apart and Sarah took Tippy back home. We talked in the evening and even this morning and things seemed to be okay. But because she just can't care for them and her dad travels to Angola a lot, she took them to the SPCA (like the Humane Society). The staff were very positive and said that they would definitely be able to find them a home very quickly. Then shortly after they called her and said Tippy needed quite a bit of medical attention or they would have to put him to sleep. By the time, Sarah called her dad in Angola, the SPCA had put him to sleep. Poor Tippy, he was such a sweet dog. He had the sweetest nature. And the girls were absolutely smitten by him. So sad.

Meanwhile, the kittens continue to ransack the house. As soon as we let them out of the spare bedroom, they wreak havoc! They broke my statue from Zimbabwe. It was a stone carving of a mother and twins. They have started fraying a hole in the carpet in the spare bedroom and love to use the leather furniture as a scratch pad. They are so mischievious.

Sofia told me today that Billy Ray Cyrus called her and asked her to marry him. She said that he promised he would marry her.

Sienna said Froggy got a haircut today. He has two hairs and they cut them and now he looks like a skinny dog. She said she saw Alicia Keyes, Michael Jackson, Curious George and Lady Gaga at Disney World today. They were buying presents for Froggy. And all Froggy wants to do is sleep all day and when he gets up he punches her in the eye!

They are a mess!

Froggy's an astronaut

I haven't posted in a while on Froggy but his adventures continue.

This week I was talking them to school and Sofia says "Mom, I have never been in a rocket ship". Sienna pipes up and says "I have. Froggy took me in a rocket ship. And we saw so many planiks. We saw the cheese planik, the tomato planik, the pizza planik. And Froggy flopped out of the rocket ship. I didn't go out though. Froggy was floating in outer space. And then Jimmy (from Curious George) came and pulled him in."

She also said she bought Froggy a bicycle. It is a spider man bicycle- red and black because Froggy loves spider man.

There are too many stories to tell. And she is so serious when she tells them.

Just another eventful Saturday

I look forward to the weekends so I can finally get some rest from the hectic work week. It just doesn't happen. The girls refuse to sleep past 6:30. I have to get up relatively early on Saturdays anyway because Emmanuel, the gardener, comes around 7:15. He works Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Today, he brought his wife, Faith, to meet us and his little 6 month old girl. I can't pronounce much less spell her name but the English translation is beautiful one. She is a little cutie and the girls had fun playing with her this morning.
In addition to the visit by Faith and beautiful one, we had about 40 monkeys come down our street today. They were all over in the trees and in our yard (and the neighbors yard). It is insane how many there were. There were quite a few babies and young ones. They were sitting all over our fence and in our banana trees. We fed them some cut up apples and then even more arrived. They were pretty brave and would get very close to get the apples. It made me nervous because the girls also have no fear. The Alpha Male monkey arrived and the mood in the troupe changed immediately. They got much more nervous. And he let everyone know he was the leader. Sofia asked why his "bum is red" and, as usual, why he has a bright blue toy hanging on him (the vervet monkeys have bright blue testicles). Then Sienna and Sofia got the bright idea to try and eat a banana in front of the monkeys. Luckily, I stopped the girls before the monkeys saw them. I went inside to get my camera and for some reason, when they saw it they all ran off. I think they may have thought it was some kind of weapon to hurt them. You could tell they were scared of the camera though. Sienna had laid a sucker down and one of the monkeys grabbed it and ran off and sat in the middle of the street licking it. So cute!
We took Emmanuel and the family to the taxi rank so that they could get home. When I got back to the house, I parked the truck in the garage and closed the garage door (it's manual). As the door closed I realized the house keys were in the truck. We were stuck. I couldn't get in the house and I couldn't get out of the gates of the house. No way in or out. I sat outside for a while trying to figure out what to do. Finally, the neighbors, Michelle (the girls call her Mrs. Shell) and Conrad came home. Since I didn't have the gate opener, Conrad had to climb over his fence to get onto our property. He was able to get the garage open and we finally got into the house.
Then later, we went to our other neighbor's, Sarah, to get the dog she wants to give us. He is a big dog but still a puppy. He is 9 months old and part Boer Bull and part Rhodesian Ridgeback. Most houses here have a big dog outside to deter anyone with bad intentions. Tippy is the dog's name. Sofia calls him Tipsy. Tipsy has a brother called Dipstick but the girls call him Lipstick. Anyway, we brought Tippy home around 3:30 and he cried and cried. We sat with him and tried to calm him but he was so upset. Then Lipstick got out of the neighbors fence and came across to us. As I was trying to get him, Tippy escaped and ran back to his old house. We went and got him again and then Lipstick escaped once again. It was chaos. I got the girls in bed and thought all was finally settled until I hear a high pitch barking/screaming. Tippy had escaped into Michelle and Conrad's yard. They weren't home and their two dogs, a Bull Terrier and Siberian Husky, were not happy. I was so afraid they would all start fighting. I called Sarah and told her to come and help me. I called Michelle and asked if she could come home. In the end, we managed to keep the dogs all calm. I fed Michelle's dogs a whole bag of doggy biscuits to keep them distracted from Tippy. Tippy had a gash in his back from crawling under the fence.
Maybe tomorrow will be less eventful.....

"Coca Cola will make you stronger"

So, the girls have really been watching the World Cup games as much as I do. And, unlike in the US, the commercials are very few and far between. Thank goodness. Really, the only two commericals are Coca Cola and cell phone companies. And the Coca cola ad showcases the song "Wave your flag" by K'Naan that the girls just LOVE. So, the ad catches their attention. Because of this, I heard this evening...."Sofia....Coca Cola will make us strong...we need to ask mom to buy us some". Sofia- "No, Sienna, I don't like Coca Cola. I only like milk and grape Fanta, I don't have to be strong". They are a mess! It was such a cute conversation. They see the ad being played over and over about Coca Cola supposedly making you strong if you drink it...

The girls were out of school this week. I am glad they go back on Monday. Their normal school still hasn't started back. It will start back after the World Cup. It is still holiday care but still better than having them at home and trying to organize care. They went with me 2 days to work and were too loud, they fought and just didn't understand the concept of being quiet.

Woza Moya visit

 
 
 
 

Yesterday, I spent the day in the field visiting some of the families we are helping through our Woza Moya Project. We were in the Ufafa village near Ixopo. I visited families from our Imbumba project. We exited this project last year. The families still seem to be moving forward and doing well. And I visited some of the families who just received chickens through a passing on the gift ceremony, which I attended, in April.

Daily routine

Not much happening in these days. The girls are out of school this week. Yesterday, I took them to work with me and they terrorized everyone- not really, they were pretty good. They colored pictures for everyone, watched a movie, played in my office and played outside.
Today, tomorrow and Thursday, Penny is watching them. She has watched them before. She is a teacher at their school. Very sweet girl. She's Tai's aunt. Tai is in their class. Today she took them to the movies. Tomorrow, she is taking them on to their friend, Izabella's house for a play date. Then they are going on a picnic with Tai and Quinn in the afternoon.
This afternoon, South Africa beat France! Sofia sat by me the whole time mesmerized by the game. She asked hundreds of questions. She knows that the soccer players aren't supposed to handle the ball and she couldn't quite understand why they would go on the sidelines and throw the ball back in. She kept getting mad at them. She wanted to know what a referee does, what a coach does, why this, why that. They were very excited throughout the game- and they had on their little Bafana Bafana shirts. They keep asking me to take them to the stadium so they can see a live match! I don't think I want to brave that with them. In order to get to any of the world cup matches here in Durban, you have to park at the mall and take a shuttle. Because of the traffic, a 30 minute ride in the shuttle ends up being over 2 hours. THEN the shuttle drops you off 1 1/2 miles before the stadium and you have to walk...don't think I want to go through that with the girls!

Sofia told me today that my hair felt like soft hay. Hmmm. I don't know if that is good or bad.

This morning she asked me if I was ever going to get fat. I don't know why she asked that.

Yesterday she told me that Penny's hair is turning black and it's because she is getting old. Penny had darkened her hair to a dark brown....

All the while, Sienna tells nonstop Froggy stories. I can't even keep up with the stories anymore. I try but she tells so many of them. It is always about froggy doing something "naughty". He breaks things, he doesn't listen and it makes her back or head hurt, he causes trouble at the doctor's office, he is constantly up to something. I can always tell when a froggy story is coming on- she starts every one with a "you know....froggy".

Cookie, the hamster, escaped over the weekend. We didn't know he had escaped. On Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen and I heard something rattling under the refrigerator. I was sure it was a rat or other creature. It just kept on and on. Finally, I moved the refrigerator out of its little space. And then I see Cookie pop his little head out. He ran right up into my hand and I put him back in his cage. He is so cute. He was so happy to get back in his cage. He ate and ate and drank lots of water. I am not sure how long he was out. It was probably a day because I remember seeing him on Saturday. I guess one of the girls left his cage door open. He waits patiently every night for me to give him a piece of broccoli or lettuce. And he really is good with the girls handling him. The other day, Sienna was playing with him and he pooed on her. She got really mad and said she would never hold him again.

The kittens are fine. We all have scratches on us from them. Sofia has decided hers is named Sarafina. Sienna still calls hers Bella. The kittens run everytime they see the girls coming. We still keep them at night in the spare bedroom. They have latched onto one of the girls' big stuffed Nemos. They think it is their mamma. They sit for hours licking the Nemo and kneading it with their little paws. It's so funny. We laugh and laugh at them!

That's all for now.....

 

 

 

Pics of the warthog, hippos and the girls

Tala Game Reserve

 
 
 
 

Today, we spent the day at Tala Game Reserve. A game park that is about 45 minutes from the house. There are many different animals there and you can drive for hours looking. The girls enjoyed it. It is the second time they have been there. The first time I took them was back in December. We saw a lot of different animals- hippos, zebra, warthog, wildebeest, springbok, ostriches. We couldn't find the rhino and giraffe. Everything is very dry. It is very different from when we were there last in December when everything was green! The girls got out of the truck often so I could take their pictures. Sofia wasn't too sure about getting out when there were wildebeest around. It was a very, very warm day. The weather right now is so hard to predict- the days can be either hot or pretty cool. Most nights are always cold. We don't have a heater in the house so we stayed bundled up in the evenings. Getting back to the game park- we went off the main roads a lot in the hopes of finding the rhino and giraffe. We didn't see either. But we did see quite a bit of fresh rhino poo so I know we were close. But Sofia didn't like it too much that we were off the beaten path- she kept asking for me to turn on the GPS so it could help us find our way back. They call the GPS, JoAnn because of the woman's voice that talks.
Today is Father's Day. The girls talked briefly to Sal but they were pretty preoccupied with their legos they were playing with. We miss Gary today- the first father's day without him. I know he is sitting up in heaven eating a big bowl of chocolate in rememberance of all the times we gave him candy on Father's Day.

My Rainbow Ponies

My Rainbow Ponies

Rainbow Ponies- Hillcrest Winter Wanderland Ballet Show

And here is the opening night show of Sienna and Sofia's ballet performance.

Just like a wavin flag

When I get older, I will be stronger, they'll call me FREEDOM, just a wavin flag, a wavin flag. So, wave your flag....

Sofia and Sienna are obsessed with this song by K'Naan- one of the official songs for the World Cup. They listen and watch the video constantly and know all the words!

Today was a holiday- Youth's Day. We stayed around the house with Mavis and Emmanuel. I sorted through their toys for about 4 hours straight. They had gotten all jumbled up and I needed to get them all separated- barbies, polly pockets, little pet shop, etc. And they all have such little pieces. The girls are always putting odds and ends in plastic bags and purses and the stuff never gets back where it belongs- they just shove it in a drawer. This was what I would find in the purses- rocks, sunglasses, crayons, bottle caps, chapstick, beads, empty medicine boxes and other odd strange things. Now, everything is back in order.

This morning the monkeys came to visit about 9 o'clock. We watched them for about 30 minutes. They are hungry because it is getting colder here and they can't find food as easily. So, the girls feed them bananas and apples. Both monkeys and girls were happy. The monkeys would come down the tree and fence and get the fruit then climb back up and sit and watch us while they ate. There were about 5 of them. The alpha male was not with them so they weren't too nervous or aggressive. They just sat and peeked around at us. They stayed for a while then they climbed back over the fence and took off.

These past few days have been cold at night. Yesterday, during the day it was rainy and cold. Today, it was sunny and warm but tonight it is cold again. The house does not have a heater so we have several shirts and sweaters on to stay warm. I need to get a little oil heater or electric blankets.

The World Cup games continue. Tonight, South Africa (Bafana Bafana) is playing. The game is starting now and the vuvuzelas are going off all around from the houses here in the neighborhoods.

Sienna continues to tell her froggy stories. It is non stop. She said today she went with Froggy to Mr. Grinch's house to watch the Bafana Bafana game. But Mr. Grinch's tv was broken and froggy got mad and broke all of Mr. Grinch's furniture.

Rainbow Ponies- Dress Rehearsal

Here is dress rehearsal of the girls' ballet show this weekend. I was laughing so the video was a little shaking. Will post the actual show later this week. Sienna and Sofia are on the left hand side of the stage.

 

 

 

 

Here are pictures from the ballet shows last night and today. The shows were precious. The girls really enjoyed doing them and being with their friends.