Keeping warm and not worms

Okay what does that mean?!

Well the first part - keeping warm. Its still winter here in South Africa and we've got a cold front coming through once again. How do we stay warm - sitting in front of our heater (we actually have 6 all together). Katie especially loves to sit in front when she gets cold. This morning, she figured her bear was cold as well and so she sat him next to her to get warmed up. TOO CUTE. But the cuteness doesn't end there. Once I snapped the picture, she grabbed her bear, and made a pose. I think she's becoming a ham! So here's the two shots.



So on with the second part - not worms. On Thursday we took the girls for their annual check up. We love our new doctor. The original doctor, Nadler, moved with his family to Australia but his partner is still here and she's just as amazing as he was. She was so gentle with the girls who just did as they were told. She poked and prodded and the rest and then asked us a strange question. Had we taken any de-worming medication? We gave her the puzzled look that has become a familiar facial expression. De-worming meds? Yes, she said, we have worms in South Africa and you must take preventive medication every six months. So she gave us the info and Kevin got what was needed from the pharmacist. Its actually over-the-counter, but since we had no idea Dr. Low wrote it down so the pharmacist (chemist as they're called here) could inform us further. So the girls got a one-dose liquid that smells like chocolate. Emily said it tasted like chocolate, but quickly had a drink of water after her dose. Kevin and I are taking pills - twice a day for three days. When we asked Yolanda about it, she was surprised we didn't do it in the States as well. Its something they've done all their lives. So living in a different country continues to educate us. At least the chewable pills take descent - almost like sweet tarts!

So Katie and the rest of us are keeping warm, and doing what we need to do to keep the wigglies away.

Happy Birthday

On Thursday our Emily turned the big 4. It was a full weekend of celebrating.
We did our traditional pizza, cake and movie on Thursday evening - Barbie Fariytopia. She loved it.

Then on Friday we headed to the Two Oceans Aquarium. We spent the whole day there. We got to see the sharks. We watched them feed the penguins (which Katie says smell like poo-poo - which they do stink). We watched the scuba divers swim inside the preditor's tank to feed a huge turtle and the manrays. One diver fed them while the other watched out for the sharks.
We ate lunch at the cafe where we got to watch the seals sunbathe on the docks right below us. It turned out to be a wonderful day and we were all exhausted by the time we got home. But for mommy & daddy there was much to do to get ready for the party.

On Saturday we had the party and Emily finally got to wear her special dress and new shoes. She looked so pretty. We got Katie in a dress too, but not her new shoes. So we had a great party here at the house with enough kids and adults to make it a fun, but relaxing day. We had pizza and baked ziti as well as snacks and treats. Emily had a really great time but ate a little too much and paid for it later that night. Nothing too serious, but she slept well and is fine this morning.
She said she had a great time and loved her beautiful cake and had fun at the aquarium. She asked when the party was today and I had to explain that the party and birthday are over. Back to normal. So our little girl turned 4 and we look forward to a year of what a 4 year old will bring.

After 15 years...

It finally happened! What you may ask? A major, but not life altering event. Here's the story...
Since Kevin and I have been married I have always been his personal hair dresser (know where this is going?). About every 3 to 4 months I get out the clippers and give his head a shave, only about 1/2 an inch. There are attachments so that you can cut the hair at the desired length. Well I have been doing this for 15 years! I can only think of two times in all these years that Kevin has paid someone to shave his head.
And so, it finally happened. I was tired, it was late, but he needed his hair cut desperately, and this was the time. But in my fatigue I forgot something very, very important - the attachment! And so I began to shave his head. I thought "wow, these are cutting really great." And then I realized my mistake. All I could say over and over as I laughed, "I'm so sorry."
So Kevin got up from the makeshift barber's chair to examine the damage in the mirror. He returned to hand me the camera, "you will blog about this," was all he said and sat down for the photo. Don't worry, he wasn't mad or upset. But he insisted that I just finish the job and shave him bald. NO WAY!!! "I can't" and I couldn't. I mean to do it in error is one thing, but to do it on purpose?! I just couldn't. So I found the shortest attachment - 3mm and finished the cut.
So the next morning he headed out to the local mall and bought himself a hat. Arsenal is the favorite soccer team in the area. But each time he's asked if he's an Arsenal fan, he just says, "not really."
That night, as Kevin dressed Emily for bed she proclaimed, "Daddy, you need a new hair style." Every one's a critic! LOL :)
And so there you have it. I've paid my dues by exposing my error and we're having a good laugh. See the pics.

Weekly Update

I know its been a week since I've written and lots has happened...
On Thursday, July 31 we celebrated 15 years of marriage. Evelyn cooked us a feast of a meal with roasted lamb, chicken and potatoes, green beans, butternut squash, pudding and Yolanda made curried chicken and the best chocolate cupcakes. We were eating left overs the rest of the weekend!

On Saturday we finally made it to Builder's Warehouse and we were not disappointed. It was like Home Depot and we loved it. We were so giddy it was stupid. But shopping in South Africa is very different from home. If you want something you have to go to a specialty store - electrical shop for supplies, hardware shop for hardware, plumbing store for plumbing, etc. So to find one store with everything gave us a small taste of normalcy (for us anyway). We didn't spend too much but we got things we needed for the AWANA and to decorate the girls' room.

On Sunday we made it to church and then off to the ever popular Speirs to run and play and enjoy the warmer, sunny weather. It's a good place for the girls to get outside, run around and have a bit of an adventure - there's rocks to climb and trails to walk and a horse ride (Katie's come close but changes her mind at the last minute. Emily just says no. So no horse rides yet.)

On Monday we started the AWANA program at the Frog Center and I have to say it's been a great success. I'll write more about it later.

That evening we had a big scare. Katie slammed her face against the tub and for a few minutes we didn't know if she hit her face, broke her nose or what. We heard a cracking sound which scared us both to death. Finally her teeth started to bleed and her lip grew about 2 sizes bigger. We were totally freaked. Kevin called Evelyn (we didn't know what else to do) and she came over to have a look. We figured with 5 kids she'd know what to do. So she came, had a look, said she was fine, but to give her medicine to help relieve the pain. She drank some cold water and the medicine fine. It wasn't until Tuesday morn when I got her out of bed that I realized her front tooth was chipped! But her lip and gums looked fine and she didn't have any problems eating. (Of course yesterday she fell and hit the same spot - thank the Lord it wasn't too hard and she just had a little bit of bleeding - injured the fresh wound). So we were very thankful to God that He protected her and that it could have been much worse, but He is good and she's fine.

You can read about our DSL drama on the other blog.