Christmas Day

Well I guess I am a little late but with all the pics running up to Christmas, I am sure I got to everyone a million times before Christmas to wish them Seasons Greetings but just in case ... Merry Christmas Y'all !!!

I can't remember how early Jade got up, of course it was too early for me but I don't think it really was that early, she has a long Christmas Eve and totally wore herself out so thankfully she slept in a little. It helps when it stays dark till almost 8am not like in SA where the kids get up when the sun comes up which is way, way too early for me, so there's another good reason to be enjoying Christmas in Winter and not Summer :-) Anyway as soon as she woke us we head on down to the Christmas Tree, the funny thing is and I have no idea where this came from, she saw all the presents and was totally wowed like most kids but then walked to the window and looked out and sadly said, but it's not snowing !!! I am not sure where she got the idea from that it would be snowing here on Christmas morning but she was most upset there was no snow that morning !!! Poor thing !!!



We took many photos of course of her opening gifts but there is just too many to post here, if you want a pic of her opening your gift, let us know and we will send it to you directly so as not to bore everyone else reading this ... more than I already am. She really got some great gifts, thank you to family in SA that took the time to sort her out with gifts, it means a lot to us, even Dave and I got some surprise gifts, thank you :-) Also thank you to some of our American 'family' and friends that spoilt her and us ... especially you Tina, thank you for everything !!! Opening gifts too probably a little over an hour, golly it took me twice that to wrap everything, it's kinda like lunch that takes you all day to cook and then it's all over in 30 minutes right, all you moms out there know what I mean !!! Anyway you can tell from the picture below, Jade was totally spoilt, we are still taking toys out of their boxes, I think it will take some time still but she is having fun playing with everything.



Now as you can tell from the picture below, Santa was good to Dave I too :-) I have realized after being with Dave for over 20 years of Christmas's that the best way to be spoilt by my Mr Scrooge is to give him my wish list ... don't laugh, it's true, I have hit the jackpot the past two Christmas's by doing so. I know it's way more than he would like to spend at any given time but again, you moms out there will know, we never get spoilt, so if we can make it happen for us at Christmas, well all the more power to us right ??? Well very little of my stuff is personal stuff anyway it's all for the house but stuff I know that he will love in time too. I got a fantastic griddle which I can't wait to use, it's almost like an indoor bbq, similar to the George Foreman grill but I think this one is better. Then I got a smoothie maker which I have wanted forever, goodbye old, messy blender !!! And then my surprise gift and this one really was a surprise since I mentioned it ages ago and he remembered, I got a oh my gosh, a 4 slice toaster that you need a degree to be able to work, it's a digital toaster, can you believe that ? Even Dave had to read the manual to figure out how it work, don't laugh, I am being serious !!! But I totally love it, in fact I had to put a pic of it in below too :-) I also got my usual Snow Babies that I collect, actually this year I got one from Dave, one from Jade and Tina also bought me one so I feel I hit the Snow Baby jackpot this year :-) Ok I know, I sound like I was more excited about my gifts than Jade but I love Christmas, it's the best time of the year for me so yeah I am excited :-)

Hopefully Dave also enjoyed his gifts, I gave him a bunch of goodies for his mountain bike, thanks Gavin for your help ... he got another hydration system from me, Camelbak for those that know it, cycling gloves and a cycle computer which he had no idea he was getting. He also got a new fancy leather jacket for work which was long overdue and a bunch of other little things, all in all I think we had a really good Christmas, now it's to be good for another year to stay off the 'naughty list' so Santa is good to us again next year :-) I think what was nice for me this year or actually the past two years is that with my jewelry business and the other side line goodies I do, finally I can buy Jade and Dave gift that I actually can pay for myself, I always felt really weird buying Dave gifts with his own money, I guess that the independent me talking, it's just really cool !!! And I am sure Dave enjoying that too (hehehe) not having to pay for his own presents !!!





Anyway after gifts we all got showered, I put my lamb in the oven and we walked down to TD and Sylvia and spent some time with them and their family, that was nice too, we really have made some good friends over here, we are so thankful for all of them. It was funny actually, TD called up the morning to tell Jade that Santa dropped one of her gifts of his sleigh and it landed in his garden so she was so very excited to go down here and see what it was but after getting down there, well the one gift and not even all the candy they had going there could keep her happy, she wanted to come home again, there was just too much here for her, she wanted to play with all her new toys, so we didn't land up staying as long as we had hoped to.



We then had lunch, late lunch and carried on unpacking all the toys, then when it got dark we went out and drove around and looked at all the houses done up for Christmas, I promised Jade we would do it Christmas night since we really hadn't done too much driving at night over this last month. She was tired quickly which was great, we came home and put her off to bed and can you believe that, that was another Christmas over with ?

I am actually updating this the 26th, so this morning Dave was off to work again like normal, that is something we miss about SA, they have so many days off there, it's unreal. Anyway and the 26th, other than Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year, all the Christmas stuff is 50 % off today, by the weekend it will be 75 % off but then it will be slim pickings and by the following week everything will go to 90 % off till it's all gone. We went out this morning because I had some more lights I wanted to get which really you can only get today, tomorrow they will all be gone, I actually got lucky since we got a late start, I got everything I wanted except for another tree topper which I know ... I will get it one day, it will be one of those things, I will know it when I see it. But we got some nice lights for next year, and some nice Christmas tops for Jade for next year too so I am happy :-)

Oh golly I just went inside to check on Jade, it's just after 5 in the afternoon and she is sleeping, she is still worn out from the excitement the past couple of days, now I wish I could be curled up on the couch watching Tv or sleeping with a blanket over me ... anyway such is life.

Way too much of an update, I know but we really had a nice Christmas, thank you too, I didn't mention it but thanks to all the emailed, sent cards, especially those from SA, sms'd or texted us and especially all the calls we got yesterday, it's all of you that make Christmas so special.

No plans for New Years Eve thank Heavens, we could do with a break, I am sure I will update again soon. Bye for now :-)

Christmas Eve ... And Before

Ok, I am going to start slightly before Christmas Eve ... the 22nd to be exact, I hosted a South African Soup Evening at our house, it was just some of our old group which first met in the apartment complex we stayed in when we first moved to the States almost 7 years ago now and then just one other couple which we have met since then as well, they have a little girl close in age to Jade, her name is Zoe, so that was perfect :-)

Anyway I meant to take photos and I totally forgot but the menu was pretty much, two different kinds of soups, a Ham and Pea which was my grans recipe, I totally love it and then a Taco soup which Estelle brought which Dave said was awesome. Leigh brought a variety of freshly baked French and Italian loaves of bread and Tonya brought a nice green salad. I also had a variety or SA'n jams and a variety or cheeses too which went down well :-)

Afterwards dessert was peppermint crisp pudding, you can't get more SA'n than that and ice cream, followed by percolated coffee which I apparently made too strong, sorry guys and shortbread cookies and chocolates I was given as a gift.

We really had a nice evening, we always say we should get together more and it never happens but maybe we can work on that in the year to come :-) We missed having Ria and Andries there so we will have to have another get together soon to include them.

Then the 23rd we were suppose to go to another party which got cancelled due to their little girl being in hospital with pneumonia ... it has really hit the kids here hard, Heathers two boys have both been in and out of hospital in the past two weeks, I feel so bad for her. Anyway Jade has been battling a cold which has finally dried up only now for her ear to be sore but Dave took her off to the doctors this morning and apparently there is not infection so ... we will see. Now I have Jades cold, nothing like having a cold at Christmas but anyway, thankfully it isn't too bad.



Then the 24th I spent most of the day cooking, we did dinner at my best friend Tinas house, yeah I know ... we are always over there, she is a gem !!! I brought the Spiral Sliced Honey Baked Ham and some side dishes and she did a Chicken and Rice dish and all the starters which worked out really well. You see we normally get together with them and celebrate on the 26th but this year she was going to New York to spend time with family so we had to change our plans but it worked out well.

The kids had a ball, we baked Santa's cookies and then decorated them afterwards which seemed to take forever, then the kids made Reindeer food to sprinkle out in the yards for Rudolph and the guys :-) We exchanged gifts and just hung out till quite late, then came home and sorted Jade out, oh she first had to put her reindeer food in the yard, then a quick bath, and cookies and milk out for Santa and then off to bed. Dave thought she would take forever to go off to sleep but she was out for the count in no time at all, she was totally worn out.



All that was left was some last minute wrapping and putting some of the gift under the tree, Santa would see to the rest and then it was off to bed for us adults too.

You know I am losing it when ...

Oh well, let's just say that I can't wait for 2008 so that I can kick 2007 in the butt. It really hasn't been a great year for me and as it is nearing a close, during this already hectic time, I know I am losing it when Dave phones me at 9h10 in the morning and Jade has to be at school at 9h20 and says ... 'how come I have the Christmas Program at Jades school in my diary today when you told me it was tomorrow ?' Thank God is all I can say, thank Heavens he looked at his diary when he did because somehow even though I had it in my diary that Jades last day of school was the 18th, somehow I had it in my head her last day was Wednesday. Oh golly what a rush, it was lucky that I had her Christmas dress ready and it was just a case of getting her together in time and making sure I could find the video and camera before heading out the door. Thankfully Dave didn't have a meeting and he could make it too, well realistically speaking it was in his diary, thank Heavens I hadn't planned anything important for that morning.

So we got there on time and got a front row seat, only Jade had told me she was standing on the right hand side of the stage when in fact she was on the left hand side so I scooted over that way and actually sat on the floor in front of the first row, thankfully they didn't mind and well soon other parents in the same boat joined me.

The program was super quick this year and well those that saw her program last year will know that Jade sang really loud, you could hear her above the rest of the class, this year there were many 'Jades' so it was pretty cool, in fact Jade didn't know all the words to all the songs they sang which surprised me considering how much she likes to sing, having said that, last year I knew what they were singing so she and I practised a lot, this year I wasn't entirely sure what they were singing so there was no practising at home, but it all went off well.

Here is a little video of one of the songs.

I guess I should say for those that don't know well enough, where she is in the video, she is in the middle row, fourth from the left, her hair is down and she has a Santa dress on.

So the run up to Christmas is exciting, Jade and I went out this morning to buy daddy a gift from her, so that was fun. I am working tonight as usual, it will be my last Wednesday for two weeks so that will be a welcomed break. Then Saturday in the SA Soup Evening at our house and then Sunday we were going to Laurie, one of my jewelers but her daughter is in hospital with pneumonia which is going around big time over here amongst the kids. Shame Jade has been fighting a very snotty nose since Thursday and I am a little worried at when she blows her nose, she says her ear is sore when I know how she is prone to ear infections but I will watch her over the next day or so ... anyway so Laurie cancelled her party. Then Monday it's off to Tina an family for a big Christmas Eve Dinner and then it's Christmas on Tuesday and well before you know it that has come and gone too. We don't have plans for the New Year this year yet but we will see :-)

I think this will definitely be my last post before Christmas so have a good one y'all and drive safe if you are on the roads, don't eat too much but enjoy all the festivities and we will catch up again in 2008.

Jades 5th Birthday

What a long and busy day ... The day started of course with Jade opening gifts from us and from family in SA, already that was overwhelming for her coz she got spoilt rotten of course, as usual. Shame all she wanted to do was play with all her new toys but it was time for breakfast and school not to mention some early phone calls from SA. We did manage to open one or two for her while I was rushing around and before we left so I think she was ok with that and well she had all afternoon anyway to play with all her new toys. Before I go on, thank you to Oupa & Nana, Granny & Grampa, Uncle Gavin & Aunty Gigi and Uncle Sion & Aunty Tiana for arranging gifts to arrive on time for her to open first thing in the morning, it means a lot to us that y'all take the time to make this happen for her. We actually got lucky with the cards too, all her SA'n birthday cards arrived either before or on the day of her birthday, good going y'all !!!

Then it was off to school where of course she gets made a fuss of all day. I went in just after lunch time to take in some birthday cookies for the kids, this is always a treat for them all but of course having a parent in the class was a treat for Jade. They sang for her and then ate the cookies. I took a few pics of her class so that y'all can see what it looks like.










After school she came home to play with everything and to take some extra calls locally and from SA and Canada, she was tickled pink how many times people sang for her but if you ask her who made the best impression she will say Gavin since she said he sang so loud he didn't need a phone she could have just opened the front door and heard him all the way from Africa ... she's too funny :-)

Then that evening she and I left home a little early to go get her balloons, you see we were having the party at Space Kidets but we still wanted to have a Tinkerbell Theme so we pretty much had to do that with balloons and plates, napkins and of course treat bags.

Anyway the party started at 6pm and ran till 8pm which was a long party for these kids. They had an hour in the inflatable play zone which was more than enough, from the pics of Jade you can tell she looked like a drowned rat she was so hot, oh but what I am leaving out is that she had a little fight with the water fountain so that added to her already 'hot' look. It was really too long for these kids in there but anyway, I am sure their parents were happy I wore them out :-) There were 25 kids so it was a little crazy but I think everyone had a nice time. After all the jumping the kids got led into the party room which is where they had pizza and cake and of course lots of juice which they all were desperate for. They also sang happy birthday for her which there is a little video of later.











Here is the short video of all the kids singing happy birthday to her at Space Kidets.

After this they get led into the games room which is not very big and I thought it was going to be crazy in there but it wasn't too bad, I didn't get many pics in here worth adding but there was a miniature golf course which I was worried about ... gosh 25 4 and 5 year olds with golf clubs ... but thankfully all went well. They also had an air hockey table which I think was Jade favorite and other games as well as video games. I think the parents had a good time in here too ... you didn't have to put money or tokens in the machines so everyone was enjoying them :-) We were a half an hour in there which I think could have been longer but anyway the night was already way long !!!



After that it was just a case of handing out treat bags and heading home. Jade was so good, something I didn't like was that there wasn't time to open gifts at the party, there were just too many gifts and the kids were more interested in playing so that's what they did. I explained to Jade that this was what was going to happen and that on Thursday night we would have another little party at home, her dad, she and I and then she could open all her gifts and she was totally fine with that. Of course from after school Thursday till dad came home which was slightly earlier thank heavens, she drove me insane, I actually let her open two gift the afternoon and then told her it's unfair to daddy if she opened more and she is such a fair child she was ok with that.

Here is a pic of some of the gifts she opened the morning of her birthday and the ones she still needed to open. This weekend I am seriously taking her playroom apart and getting rid of everything she has outgrown so that all this new stuff can move upstairs before Christmas arrives.



She really got a lot, tons of Littlest Pet Shop which is my new favorite :-) can you tell I am reliving my childhood through her. And oh my gosh all the My Little Pony stuff, it's adorable, she got lots of new Polly Pockets too which is cool and the big hit was that my girlfriend Tina and her family gave Jade a fancy and cute MP3 Player. Dave is a little jealous coz he says it is better that his one :-) but now all Jade wants is for us to download all her favorite songs onto it which I have no problem with but I see a problem coming here, when mom calls now she has an excuse not to come, I will have to deal with that one when the time comes.

Thanks to everyone that made her birthday special. The next time you hear from me will probably be her Christmas program at school which is next week on the 18th. Until enjoy the Christmas rush :-) I am officially all done with my shopping I am happy to say, now it's just the wrapping I have to worry about !!!

Gymnastics Medal Tests

Today was Jades Gymnastics Medal Test, this year so far has been tough for Jade, last year I think was more playtime than anything else, this year she has been by far the youngest in her class, she started this group in August and you needed to be 5 to get into this class and she will only be 5 tomorrow but her teachers thought it would be a good challenge for her and that it sure has been.

For me it's been hard to watch sometimes because Jade is such a confident child but competing against kids some of which are 7 and 8 years old is tough. She never gives up trying which is awesome for me to see and watch but she knows she is battling and often says to me she didn't do something right or that she can't do something which is very unusual for her. But one of the teachers spoke to me when I questioned all this some time back and she said that I shouldn't worry that Jade is doing exactly what she should be doing for her age, I told her I was worried that she wasn't up to the standard of the class but she said they don't expect Jade to be at the level that some of the older kids are or be be coordinated to the extent they would be at that age. That made me feel somewhat better of course but I hope Jade understands that she is doing just fine.

That being said, I gave her a hard time today because she really wasn't listening to her teacher but I think that might have been because all the parents were there and she was showing off in front of daddy. I wanted to really show him how much she has learnt so far but she really does so much better during weekly lessons compared to what she showed him today but he wasn't the wiser so that was ok.

Now that all being said, Jade got her medal today which she is very happy with of course and she also got promoted from Junior Novice to Advanced Novice so well ... we will have to see how that goes. Maybe they see more potential in her than we do right now, all I know is she tries and that is all that matters to me right now, she has years still to win that Gold at the Olympics (hehehe).

Anyway here are some pics from today, I guess I will update again in a day or so since it is her birthday tomorrow and there is a party and all that we still need to get through, so maybe Thursday !!!

Hickory Grove Baptist Church Christmas Experience

I know, I know ... I still haven't gotten to the McAddenville stuff yet, I will get to it sometime, or I hope I will but in the meantime, here is a picture and short video of Jade ice skating at the Hickory Grove Baptist Church Christmas Experience.

Some of you might remember we went last year but I have to say we were a little disappointed this year, they didn't have their usual rides for the kids outside which was a shame considering the almost heatwave we are going through in the middle of Winter, it would have been a perfect day. We remember last year we froze our butts off but this year it was very warm, at times actually hot if you are standing in the sun. They also didn't have their horse and carriage ride which we all took last year and thoroughly enjoyed :-( There was still the puppet show what was a little better this year, a train ride around a small Christmas village, Jade got to see Santa, Rudolph and of course her favorite is Frosty.

They had their usual jumping castle and the normal Christmas crafts and this year Jade even got her face painted, Frosty lasted a short while and was completely gone by the time she hit the ice, more on that later.

They also had the nativity scenes outside like they normally do with all the live animals which Jade loves, there was a good bunch to see but I think last year there was more.

My favorite of course is the Christmas show they put on, this church is huge and their volunteer orchestra is as big almost as, what I feel city orchestras are here, their choir is huge and then they have tons of solos too, it is so professionally done with the dancing and lighting being awesome, there was even fake snow of course that fell at times. I usually go in and get a good seat and Dave and Jade come in later and sit upstairs and watch from there, Dave said she actually watched most of it this time which I couldn't believe but that's cool, maybe next year she will sit with me or we can all sit together, I know this isn't dads thing but anyway. We also get to sing carols with the choir which is nice ... can you tell I love this, Christmas here in the States is mind blowing, it's the best time of the year for us for sure.

Then just before we left we went and did the ice skating, now for those that didn't read all this last year, it's not real ice, it's a plastic surface with some sort of spray on stuff on it that makes it feel like ice. You use real ice skates on it and I think the only difference is it makes you go a little slower than on real ice which in our case is a good thing. Dave didn't put skates on but he went out here with her and as usual she didn't want to hold his hand, she actually was doing pretty well until daddy which I have come to the conclusion is a very bad influence, told her to do pirouettes, can you imagine that well of course she was up for the challenge and as you can see she didn't do too badly.

Unfortunately we did have one really bad fall where she totally wiped out and even hit her eye and cheek on the floor, ice ... whatever. I knew she was hurt when she cried but Dave soon got her up but she had somewhat lost her nerve by that point so we didn't stay too much longer. She was really upset and wanted ice for her face so thankfully some helpful lady assisted us and her wish was our command !!!

Now I am not so sure of the open air ice rink which I promised to take her to, it's in the city and they only do it this time of the year but it's really cool especially for us that are not used to the open air ice rinks. I think we will still go if we find time but I have already told Dave he needs to hold onto her until she is completely confident which of course is immediately but he needs to know better next time. I also told her, no pirouettes till she knows how to skate properly and thank heavens she agreed :-)

Anyway, here you go ...

Breakfast With Santa

This morning, Saturday morning Jade and I went off to have breakfast with Santa, the dress in this pic was the one I was talking about in my last post ... Anyway normally we would do this as a family but on Friday Dave went to see a doctor about having Lasik surgery done on both his eyes and well long story short, after lots of test, hours in fact ... he came home with a contact lens in one of his eyes which gave him so much trouble last night the poor guy could hardly sleep until he finally got it out first thing in the morning.

So I let him sleep in while Jade and I went to breakfast with Santa, it was a little sad he missed out this year because it was a really good year for Jade to interact with Santa, I in fact think Santa couldn't wait to get out of there, she just wouldn't stop going back and chatting him up :-) maybe she thought she would get more presents that way, I am not sure !!! But we stayed awhile after breakfast which was really an assortment of bagels and donuts and juices and coffee, I let Jade play with all the kids well I caught up with some of the moms I hadn't seen in a while and once we head home, Dad was surfacing so that worked out well.





Later today we went off to my best friend Tina, she had us over for a Hanukkah celebration, she started the tradition last year, of course she cooked as if she was feeding an army as usual so we ate way too much and well we had tons of fun like we always do over there, thanks Tina, you're the best.

So it's bedtime for Jade and I am going to go relax since tomorrow I need to make sure I get all our stuff to SA in the mail, I know I am very late this year but better late than never right ? So I have to get all that finalized before we go off to yet another Christmas celebration in the afternoon, but I am sure I will send more pics after that too :-)

Until then, enjoy what's left of the weekend.

Before Our Professional Christmas Pics ...

Well Thursday we went off to do our yearly family Christmas pictures for our Christmas cards and I took some pics of Jade at home before heading out.











Most of you that are used to seeing our Christmas pics, know Jade usually wears a little red Santa dress or something very Christmassy but last year my brother made a remark that our pics look the same every year so this time I swapped out everything and Gavin you will be happy to know, none of us are wearing red at all ... now I hope you are happy :-)

I still got her a Santa dress but that she will wear for her breakfast with Santa and her end of year school program so that will be enough I am sure ... also we have a bunch of Christmas stuff coming up that she can wear it too so I am sure we will get good wear out of it before the season is over.

Friday night we went and did our traditional yearly trip to McAddenville, which is Christmas Town USA but I still need to sort through all those pics so more on that later, I will maybe update the blog with those in the week :-)

More Frosty Pics

Just more pictures of Jades favorite Christmas person next to Santa of course :-)






She was actually sad since this Frosty coz a little squashed in the attic and now he doesn't work as well as he used to but maybe after Christmas when we have the sales again Mom will find another one that works better ... we'll see :-)

Having Fun With Frosty

Two Quick Pics

Just two quick pics that I took this morning before Jade left for school, it's really cold here today but it's funny how you get used to the cold and then the coldest days don't seem quite that cold, very weird.





Anyway I am losing it, today is not Jades gymnastics observation day as I told some people it was, that is next week so I won't be posting those pics till next week.

Also it sounds like my mom in law made it out of surgery fine, thank Heavens and now we just wish her a speedy recovery from here on out :-)

Till next time.

Our Outside Lights Are Up And Dave Survived !!!

Thought I would quickly paste two pics, one of Dave taking his life in his own hands on our roof putting the icicle lights up and then the next one with the finished product. He obviously this year knew a little more what he was doing and in my opinion did a very good job in a very short space of time ... good going Dave !!! And thank God his is safely on the ground now.

I have a bunch of other light too but can't figure out what to do with them all, I am still learning to be a creative American (hehehe) !!! Maybe next year !!!

Next time I post I will take a picture of one of the houses in our neighborhood that to me is amazing, I know we will never get our house to be anything like that but I am happy with it as it is right now, every year we add a little more, this year you can't really tell since the add ons were done inside. Many of our neighbors are still putting their lights and trees up so as I said, next time I will post some pics of houses around here :-) I love Christmas time and thankfully with Jade being so wowed but it too, she and I just drive around at night to look at all the pretty houses :-) It of course bores Dave half to death ... what can I say ... MEN !!!

Last but certainly not least, I wanted to wish my mother in law good luck for her surgery this week, she is having a knee operation and she will be in the hospital for a good couple of days so we hope all goes well and that she recovers quickly and painlessly. You will be in our thoughts and prayers and I am sure Dave will be in touch during the week.