For the Life of us

It is hard to  believe that this week we have finished another memorable Christmas AND will be saying goodbye to 2017 - just mind blowing! I know I echo the ageing population in saying just how fast this year has gone, but seriously? How fast has this year gone?! Christmas in the de Wit home was probably one of our most memorable. I think the kids are at the most awesome age now. The Christmas Eve gift swapping tradition was just so cool. The looks on the kids faces when they opened their thoughtful gifts from one another, it was just priceless. I must admit I prepared myself for the worst in terms of the kids just buying what they liked. But I'm happy to report that I was gifted a lipstck from Jed (who chose all on his own) and gold bracelets from Abby. Noah's gift was so sweet, I got a sort of puzzle that he obviously thought I'd get great joy out of and out of the tool section and everything else in the store, Gav received toys from all three kids - go figure! ...

Right now it is exactly 1 week until Christmas Eve! In amidst gingerbread houses, a little too much sun and all the get-togethers that come with an end of year, I have been pondering the predicament that us first world parents face. This Christmas I had a desire to make Christmas different than our other Christmas', as I eluded to in my previous post. I realised that with only wonderful intentions of making Christmas a magical, unforgettable and memorable experience, I had to somehow bring it back to the core reason, to make sure that somehow in the business we allow to swamp our lives, that we kept the main thing, the main thing! I realised, with some deliberate thought, that it wasn't as hard as I initially thought it would be. Without being 'The Grinch' and robbing our kids of the traditions and memorable activities we've done in the past, I could add new traditions and create new meaning to bring context and an understanding of the 'why'. It's all ...

So it's no surprise that CHRISTMAS is well and truly on it's way. Ready or not! Just a reminder in case you've missed the Christmas carols and decor bombarding us since October. At least along with Christmas prep has come the sunshine! Like REAL sunshine. Bliss! I've been thinking about Christmas (surprise, surprise) and more so the build up to it. It really isn't the actual day that gets us all busy, it's the way everyone jam-packs all these lovely family activities and events into the 24 days leading up to it! I so wish that there were more family-friendly activities and days out spread out over Summer. I love the festive season, so am naturally inclined to want to do EVERYTHING! This means that we have dragged ourselves off to the Farmers Santa Parade (this has become quite the tradition since Gav started taking Abby when she was only 2 and I'd just had Noah. We have been to the Browns Bay Christmas Parade (ok, we caught the tail end of it a...

What a week it has been. For the most part, good, but a few hiccups. Namely, Jed has caught a cold of sorts (reminds me, I should buy some Vitamin C tablets again...) and Miss Abby had a doctors appointment to check her tummy that seems to be getting sore more times than is normal, in a week. We thought it harmless just to get it checked out to see if anything was noticeably wrong. My mothers intuition is that it may be a bread thing (like my mom gets) although even after 'gluten free' lunchboxes at school, she will still sometimes come home and complain of a tummy ache. So go figure. Part of our lovely doctor's plan to get to the bottom of it was for Abby to do some bloods just to rule out a few issues. I thought, seeing as my brave girl had previously had an injection in her mouth for a filling as well as her immunisations, that she would be OK with the tiny needle they use for kids blood tests. I was wrong... The lovely (Irish) nurse tried everything (along with myself...

So we now have a 3 year old baby!!! When did that happen? I'm not so sure. I guess time flies when God gifts you with a sweet-natured, 'fun-country' child. In the midst of a week of lovely weather, Saturday POURED! Such fun it was to cram all our friends and family into the confines of our lounge and undercover deck area. Not the plan but memories were made all the same. I stood with my phone in my had to cancel the bouncy castle we hired as I stared at the relentless rain only to have a brain wave! We could totally try the bouncy castle in the lounge! Not sure if it would fit, we gave it a try and although it was a tight squeeze, it worked! Needless to say, our plan B was fun all the same for Jed and his cousins and friends who burnt off all the sugar with an endless afternoon of activity.   Now that Jed's party is over and done with, it's a straight run through to Christmas! I L-O-V-E Christmas, it's just the best. The build-up to the actual day is ...

The past few weeks have been a bit full on to say the least. A virus plagued our home, playing tag with the kids which made for those endless days at home that sort of blur into each other. The weather was also particularly wet and dreary last week which added to  the cabin fever. I wrote a whole blog post, a really deep one and then lost the whole thing because I wasn't connected to the internet. An hour of writing. Lost.... frustration much? We have some lovely boys from Hong King staying with us too which has added to the business but we have all enjoyed having them. I love that at dinner time our family has a full table and that the kids learn from people from around the world. Right now we have a border, a Chinese homestay uni student and 2 boys from Hong Kong. It's one FULL house! One of my precious moments this week was gardening with the kids. It started off as just planting the small plants we got free with our New World groceries. Then it culminated in a more ambitiou...

There is nothing I love more than a good road trip. Yes, the nature of what that is changes somewhat when you have kids...the length involved definitely makes a huge difference in the 'enjoyability' of the trip and what once was a car ride of long conversations and getting into a good book while you sit in happy silence now becomes being an innovative peace-maker between three kids who all want the same toy at the same time as well as feeling like Siri when you're asked a million questions about where you are and how much longer it will take to reach the destination...In spite of this evolved experience, this trip that has morphed into a totally different journey from what it once was, somehow is so much more fun. Adventuring with your little people, no matter how many more toilet stops there are along the way... Let's be honest, it isn't easy to be spontaneous with kids...and a dog...and home-stays who you cook for BUT it is possible and we totally nailed i...