Belle of the Ball

well we thought so anyway...

On Saturday, we went to a wedding and naming ceremony so I decided to take the (possibly only) opportunity to dress Zara in the dress and coat she inherited from Emma Mae. If memory serves me correctly it was sent from America by the Smeetons and I am sure you will agree that its really is just the sweetest outfit...Thank you Thank you Thank you

Zara and Samuel...

Life in the rat race has prevented us from seeing as much of the Katz' as we would like but this weekend we finally managed to get together. We went round to Shaun and Eleanor early evening so that the kids could play together. After supper, they had a bath together and then off to bed. Shaun made a divine Paella for supper... Its really great to see how nicely Samuel and Zara played together and this has made us realise we really need to make more of an effort to get together.

Baking cookies

Today we had a lovely afternoon hosted by Theoni, Zach & Sherene.

The activity of the day was making cookies, decorating and then best of all, eating them.

...no need for dinner after that...

Little Miss Model

I finally decided to dust the cobwebs off my (proper) camera and attempt a "pro" photo session with Zara for her 18 mth birthday, which was 2 weeks ago. Where has the time gone???

My last attempt was for her 1st Birthday and was not really that successful! She wouldn't sit away from me, so every time I got her in place and turned back to the camera she was right there behind me and back on my lap. This time, I managed to keep her entertained and the last "trick" up my sleeve was a call to Daddy... note the concentration as she listened to Chris on the mobile.

These I think photos epitomise the munchkin who we adore so much...

Easter in Wakkerstroom

What an AWESOME weekend we had in Wakkerstroom. Its a really small town, so when you forget to pack nappies there is not much that can be done till business hours or a drive to Volksrus about 30 mins away...

However there is so much to do... We enjoyed riding our bikes, going for walks, drawing, painting, reading, looking for crabs and frogs and just general R&R...

On Saturday there was the annual Easter market where we enjoyed delicious pancakes (and yes so did Zara) and also took Zara to see the farm animals. She loved the little bunny and baby chicks but was a little bit hesitant to sit on the horse. Eventually after sussing him out and getting me to sing some "horsie" nursery rhymes she was happy to sit and stroke "Bubbles'" mane.

The Easter Bunny also made a delivery to the Wakkerstroom garden and whilst enjoying a few chocolates she also enjoyed opening the presents he left for her. Quite a clever bunny to think that winter is just around the corner and Zara got some pj's, a woolly hat, top and bubble bath.

In the evenings it did cool down quite a bit so Zara was fascinated by watching her Dad make a fire. She was very good about staying away from the fire and in the mornings when she came through she would warn us that its "shisa - tot" pointing at the fireplace.

Knowing how her cousins enjoyed swinging the gate, we took the liberty of teaching her . She almost got the swing of it and was really chuffed with herself.

I think, having no commitments to rush off to, and just having the freedom to run around the garden and come in one side and out the other side of the house combined with plenty of fresh air was just what we all needed...

Zara meets a crab

While we were in Wakkerstroom this weekend, Chris found a small crab in the garden. in fact I very nearly crushed the poor thing with the pram. Chris fist picked the crab up and tried to encorage Zara to come look. Being a real girl, she declined to come too close but did observe the crab from what she considered a safe distance. She wouldn't go near Chris while he was holding the crab so I had to hold it and when we had finished looking, we put it in the flowerbed so that it could hopefully make a safe escape.

(thank goodness it wasn't a FROG)

Moms and Babes...

A couple of us Moms have decided to have a weekly get together so that the kids can have an fun activity, the Moms can have tea and cake and we actually get to see each other regularly. The second get together was hosted by Nicole and Jazmine, where Nicole bravely encouraged a painting experience... At one point, Zach decided that Zara could be his canvas and she quite happily let him paint on her. She also decided to give herself some lipstick. Needless to say there was paint all over the show and it was time to hose the kids down...