Four Quick Pics

Just wanted to quickly add these four pics that I took yesterday morning ... yep mom that is the top you bought her just before we left, I love that color on her.

Anyway two more sleeps and then we are off on our long trip up to get my cousin Karen, Jade will actually be spending two days at my good friend Tina, thank God for Tina ... anyway I didn't do the math right and the trip is going to be a lot longer than I thought, we will leave about 5am on Saturday morning and if we are lucky we will get back just before midnight on Saturday night. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we take this journey so that we might arrive back safe.

We are all beside ourselves with excitement :-) More after they arrive.

Is Anyone Reading My Blog ?

Well there haven't been any comments for the longest time on my blog, does this mean that there isn't anybody reading it anymore :-( There weren't too many comments to start off with but now there's been nothing for a long time ...

Anyway a quick update since I am not sure when I will get another chance in the next week, it's going to be a busy one. Jade and I have been keeping busy and I can't believe she has been on vacation for over a month already, time has really flown by. Last night our neighborhood had a night swim, the pool normally closes at 8pm but on these nights they put the pool lights on and keep it open till 10pm. I didn't know if Jade would make it till 10pm or that I even wanted to keep her up that late but she had a ball and was fascinated by the fact that as it got darker the pool got lighter :-) She is very proud of all the things she can do in the pool, she is getting braver by the day. Her latest trick is doing forward rolls under the water, I was amazed that she does about 3 or 4 one after the other before coming up for air. She is also braving it in deeper water, I am having to watch her like a hawk she is getting so brave. And the poor thing keeps on getting into trouble for diving in the pool when we have a NO DIVING pool, but now that the lifeguard has spoken to her, maybe she will listen, only time will tell.

This past week she was in gymnastics camp, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9 - 1 it was such a treat for me but was even nicer to know how much fun she had, the camp was at the same gym she does her normal gymnastics classes so she is very familiar with everyone and everything to the point of being a total show off in front of the teachers that are not her regular teachers and obviously the kids that don't actually take gymnastics other than attending camp. But I guess as long as she is having fun and doesn't get hurt there is no harm done.

Tomorrow being Sunday we are going to our friends Tina and Louis for the afternoon, Tina's brother moved to London recently and Dave has been helping Tina get setup to chat to him as we talk to our families in SA so tomorrow he is going to do the final stuff and we will just hang out with them at their pool for the rest of the afternoon which should be a fun relaxing after for us all especially me which has been working hard to get my house ready for my visitors next week.

So as for this coming week, I don't have anything planned for Monday other than my regular chat with my mom in the afternoon, after which we will probably go to the pool. By the way, on the subject of my mother, she went for her check up after her hip replacement this past week and got a bit of bad news, she has DBT (deep bone thrombosis) which is a clot somewhere ... I don't know too much more but that was enough to scare me and the rest of our family. Anyway she will have to be on blood thinning medication for the next 6 months and hopefully then she will be ok, in the meantime, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and just hope that that clot stays where it currently is and doesn't move !!!

Tuesday I have a parents morning out which Jades school offers, so I will take advantage of that, then the evening I am going out with a girlfriend of mine. I usually work Wednesday nights but this coming Wednesday I am taking my new jeweler Laurie to a New Jeweler training at one of my sponsors home. Thursday I am going to finally have a well needed haircut and color, thankfully my color has lasted since before our SA trip but now ... well I hate to admit the grey is starting to show :-(

Then Friday is my new jewelers training show which is the show I do for her to launch her company, I am excited for that :-) wish me luck that all goes well. Friday night Dave is taking Jade over to Tina as she will be spending the night there, Jade loves Tina's boys and it is such a treat for her to spend the night there, I won't tell her to at least Thursday though or she will be begging me by the minute 'mommy when are we going'.

The reason she is sleeping over there is on Saturday morning Dave and I are driving up to Pittsburgh to meet my cousin and her family half way. Dave thought it best if we do the trip alone, I really wanted Jade to go with us but he thinks we can get there faster and with a lot less stress if we do it alone ... golly and to think I was going to drive the entire way to Canada alone with her in the car and he is stressing about his half way trip :-) MEN !!! Shows you how much tougher us ladies are :-) sorry Dave !!!

Anyway so I think Karen and the girls will be here for at least three weeks, hopefully Dave doesn't take too much strain with 4 extra girls in the house, I think we are going to have a blast !!! And I can't wait for them to arrive, I am counting the hours that is for sure. I am pretty much ready for them now, just a few more things to do and then I will be done.

So that was why I was updating you all now because between now and when they arrive, I am not sure if I will have time to do another update but I am sure I will find the time to update while they are here :-) Until then ... oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN, my brother turned 30 this past week, and my mom is turning 60 in three days, she's going to kill me that I wrote that on my blog but anyway, I think it is great, all these wonderful milestones. Not to mention that on the 1st of July she and my dad have been married 40 years, how about that ?

Congratulations on all the celebrations, it's at times like these that we miss family especially, there's been so much on in June, we have missed a whole bunch. Oh and I just heard that Peter, Dave's cousin had a baby boy this past Monday, wow, more celebrations. It's quite funny, he and my brother are the same age, in fact Peter turns 30 today I think, or is her a year younger, no I think he is the same age, anyway I cannot imagine my brother with a baby now (hehehe), that would be something else.

Ok enough's enough ... time to go.

My Brainy Husband

Nice to know my husband reads my updates :-)

Just one thing he wanted me to clear up, below where I mentioned how to save and print a picture from the blog, if you right click on the small picture you see, that is all it will save, you HAVE TO click the picture first to open it to it's large size and best quality and then right click and save it.

I hope that helps, have a great week.

Happy Fathers Day

Today was a great day, it started with Jade sleeping late, I eventually got up at 8h30, she was lying on her bed talking to herself so we went in to wake Dave up with a very loud Happy Fathers Day ... he was still snoring so it was a big surprise to him LOL !!! He then opened his many cards and gifts from Jade and I and then I was off to make us a nice big breakfast, yummy.

One of his gifts was a Dvd of the Blue Man Group so the three of us watched it together after breakfast, Jade actually enjoyed it so it was nice to watch something together, then we got ready slowly and made our way to the pool at about 1 this afternoon. I made us a picnic lunch so we stayed there until about 5 this evening and came home. It was really hot but thankfully the pool wasn't too busy so it was more enjoyable than most weekends.

Then when we got home Jade played with the kids for a few minutes on the slip and slide and then it was off to dinner at the Outback which we all enjoyed. When we got home after 8 tonight, some of the kids were still playing outside so we let Jade play outside till about 9h15 and then we came in, so it's been a long day but a nice day.

The picture above was taken just before bedtime, even though I took my camera everywhere with us today, it took all day for me to get this picture :-)

Happy Fathers Day again to all the dads out there.

Oh by the way, just one last thing, for people, mostly family that are wanting pictures from us, the ones we used to send are not nearly as good quality as the ones on the blog, so my suggestion is to right click and save pictures on the blog and print those. Regarding the videos I know it's a pain on dial up to see them and I haven't quite figured out how you can save them unless you save them from YouTube which I think will be too tough for some of the family to work out ... but at least now we can put them somewhere where you can all see them, before you just didn't get to see them because they were too big to put on email, so I am sorry but hopefully this is better than nothing !!!

Exciting News !!!

Most of you know I signed up to be an independent distributor for Premier Designs Jewelry a little over a year ago well ... when I signed up I wasn't really interested in recruiting anyone to work 'under' me, it's like a 3 tier pyramid. Everyone thought I was crazy because recruiting isn't difficult and it could mean that you will make money off those your recruit, you can earn 10 % of whatever they sell and 10 % of whatever the person they recruit sells and lastly a further 10 % of whatever that person recruits sells ... but still as easy as it sounds it didn't really appeal to me.

Anyway as things have turned out, I just, today, signed up my very first jeweler, and really it just happened really quickly in this past week :-) So I am excited, who knows where this will go from here. She lives really close which is cool as far as me training her goes :-) She has her training show on the 29th of this month, I need to do her training show for her but although everything made that night goes to Laurie, the new jeweler, Premier will pay me $200 just for training her, how cool is that. I am so excited :-)

Anyway just wanted to share that with you all :-)

Have a great Fathers Day tomorrow.

My Little Hero At The Dentist

Yesterday was Jades very first dentist visit ... I believe she should have been frequenting the dentist since she was one but other than not knowing she had to go that early, I had been putting it off for a while due to my own big fear of the dentist. Anyway we are on a new dental insurance which means visits to the dentist every six months but thank heavens they are free, definitely a perk we didn't have in South Africa. I definitely feel even though and I am generalizing here, I know many Americans are very overweight and thus come across as being very unhealthy but I think people in this country definitely get way better health care benefits to what we had in SA, I just don't think they realize how lucky they are and neglect to use things like free dental cleaning twice a year and not to mention a doctors visit once a year which is almost enforced here by Dave's company and many other companies, I think it is great :-)

Anyway back to Jades dentist visit. I had heard very good and very bad reports on the dentist I was taking her to but what I liked about them other than them being a pediatric dentist so they are geared towards kids, they also don't allow the parents to go back with the dentist and the nurse, after all is said and done they come call you for a report but that is all, that's the kind of dentist I like, one where I don't have to be present and Jade won't see my fear. What is more, I guess since she is such a brave little girl, it was easy for me but some kids I know haven't done well under those circumstances. I told Jade everything I thought the dentist would do and she was very excited for her first visit. Their offices are awesome, the waiting area is full of kids activities and computer games so while you wait, the kids aren't bored and don't drive you insane. And what is more I think it keeps their minds active so they don't get nervous. Jade had such fun in there playing with all the kids.

Then the nurse came and got her and took her back to the dentist, I started getting concerned when she was back there 30 minutes and they hadn't come and called me but it wasn't much later and they did. I am very happy to report, especially since this visit was so delayed, Jade has NO cavities and none that look like they might appear in the near future, yipeeeeeeeeeeee ... must mean mom is doing a good job right LOL !!!

Yep, no cavities and her teeth are all spaced right and obviously they cannot guarantee this but the dentist didn't think Jade would ever need braces. Now obviously thing can change as teeth full out and all but that was a good news for right now. He took xrays and said everything looked great, they cleaned her teeth and apparently she was great, very brave, no tears, not even a nerve to be seen from what he says :-) I am so proud of her, golly !!! If she only knew what I thought of the dentist.

Then she was even more excited to get her picture taken with her dentist, it's a first visit picture for her scrapbook, too funny, he is quiet cute and very young, a little on the feminine side but that's ok :-) She also got a balloon, a sticker, a bouncing ball with a picture of a tooth inside, a new princess toothbrush and toothpaste and a cute t-shirt advertising their practise. I thought that was all pretty neat and it was not only a good experience for me but her too.

Today being Thursday Jade has a play date at one of her friends from schools house, golly, what a nice house !!! I went out and ran some errands while she played then and then I went and got her, she didn't want to leave she was having so much fun. She also was upset that she didn't get to swim but our weather has been so bad this week, I mean we so need all this rain but it really has put a damper, excuse the pun, on all our Summer fun. Anyway she and Evelyn will get to see each other a good amount this Summer as Everlyns mom which is also a Tracy, and I, are planning lots of get togethers :-)

Tonight is an exciting night for me, I am very possibly going to sign my first new jeweler up, she is a nurse at Jades pediatrician and although I am not sure that taking the next step in this business is something I really wanted to do, I am excited all the same, so let's see where it goes, hopefully I get her signed, hold thumbs, I will let you all know.

I don't have time to spell check or even read all this through as I am running late so I hope there aren't too many errors. Tomorrow morning we have another play date at the pool so I figured if I didn't post this now, who knows when I would get time again :-)

Catching The Moment

Well, was chatting with my mom today when she asked Jade what she was wearing ... and Jade was telling Nana about her new earrings so I decided to put her up on my desk and take a quick pic of her and this is what it looked like, I thought it was a cute picture to catch the moment :-) and thought I would share it with you.

Very Uneventful Weekend ...

Well I thought I better post quickly before the week gets started again and I don't have time to sit her and update much ... Friday Dave and I had a date night, which for those that don't know, Jades school offers once a month as a service to families, it's pretty cool, it's for 4 hours and is $10 per kid which you really can't beat so we try and take advantage of it as much as possible. So Dave and I went out for a nice dinner at On The Border, a Mexican restuarant and then him and I went to go see the movie Knocked Up which was obviously my choice but we both ended up enjoying it since it was really funny, the language was bad though so I am not sure if it will come highly recommended by many people around here.

Then Saturday morning was a slow morning but at 2pm we went to the pool, one of my neighbors which is a realtor was sponsoring an ice cream social so we went down to support him. The turnout was great and it was hot as heck a perfect pool and ice cream day. We stayed will after 6pm so got a little burnt :-(

Then today being Sunday, again was slow, when I say slow, we did a bunch of stuff around the house but didn't really get showered till early afternoon. Golly where are the days where you could just take a pajama day every now and again or just stay in bed and watch movies all day, I so miss those days !!! Anyway Dave took Jade to the park to ride her bike in the afternoon, not a clever idea that time of the day but we had said we were going to take her so he took her while I carried on potting around the house. Right now Dave is sitting outside watching the grand prix on his laptop outside while Jade is playing with the kids and well we should probably get started soon with a bbq before it gets too late, not that the sun goes down early or anything, it's still light here after 8 at night but we pretty much skipped lunch so an early dinner would be great, having said that, it's after 5 already, so much for early but anyway !!!

So what does the next week bring ? Tomorrow we don't have too much planned, it's Monday so I chat to my mom in the afternoon but maybe after that Jade and I will go to the pool some before Dave gets home. Tuesday Jades school has a parents day out which I am totally going to take advantage of and then in the afternoon she has a birthday party at the Blast Zone which is somewhere we havent been yet so that is exciting. Wednesday Jade has her first dentist appointment which mom is very nervous about but hopefully all will go well, she is one brave little girl but hold thumbs for us, then the afternoon I work again and she will come along with me, something I am sure Dave is enjoying these days, time to himself every Wednesday night. Thursday will be quiet again, nothing much planned and then Friday we have a play date at the pool which should be fun so I am sure this week will go quick.

I can't believe how this month is flying by, I am so excited, it won't be long till my cousin and her kids are here :-) I can't wait !!!

Last but not least, Daves dad turned 70 yesterday so I just wanted to give him a shout out from us over here, I hope he had a wonderful day, which I am sure it was since they had a family function, Jade and I baked so we had our own little celebration for grampa over here :-) Happy Birthday Grampa !!!

Riding Without Training Wheels

Dave has been nagging me to put up Jades video of her riding her bicycle without training wheels. For a while now he has been teaching her how to ride without them in our back yard on the grass, it didn't take long for her to get her balance without falling back there but I have to say it was mom that was hesitant to take her onto the road out front.

So for the first few times I never watched them out front and only when Dave was confident she was doing well, he called me to watch. Having said that she has never to date really had a rough fall which amazes me, she has her helmet and knee and elbow guards and gloves on and she has fallen over once or twice but no real falls, not that they won't happen, I am just surprised there weren't more of them now in the beginning especially with how fast she rides.

She is so chuffed with herself, it's really cute, she had to tell everyone to come watch, another proud parent moment ... go take a look.



Other than that, things have been a little hectic around here lately, nothing worth mentioning though, with Jade on Summer vacation, we just try to keep as busy as possible.

Regarding seeing my cousin in July, there has been a little change in plan, she thinks it would be better if her hubby drives them to their friends in Ohio and then her friend, another fellow South African drives them down here from there. Then after their visit here, I will drive them back, not too big a difference but I actually like the change in plans :-) Also that way, she is relying on my taking her back and I might just never want to do that (hehehe), I can't wait for them to arrive.

As much as I love the States and easily consider it my home, it's always nice to have someone visit that knows you well enough for you just to be yourself, no worrying about accents or anything else that comes with being raised in a different country. We wish we weren't so far away from South Africa so we could have more visitors, hopefully one day my brother and Gigi will make it over here and then I still really want to get my dad over here but he doesn't like to fly so this long flight might not be something I can ever talk him into but one can still hope right :-)

We have a bunch of pool dates set up for this month so that in itself should keep us busy, then Jade has another doctors appointment this Friday just to check that her ears are better which I am hoping they are, she is suppose to get shots then too but I think I will put them off for now since Dave and I have a date night on Friday night and I don't want to have to worry about her having a bad reaction to the shots. She also has her first dentist visit in a weeks time which mom is so not looking forward to, I am petrified of the dentist and don't want to scare her any but this dentist is a pediatric dentist and comes highly recommended and I don't have to go back into the office with her that's how they do things here ... that suits me fine and Jade is so brave, she will be ok ... I hope.

She also has gymnastics camp the week of the 18th so that's something both of us can look forward to as well :-)

Until next time, see ya :-)