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!