Some more old news: Franco's 2nd Birthday

Franco turned two years on 23 April 2010.  The birthday party theme was "Noah".  Franco is very much into animals.  Dorette and Gert made lots of homemade goodies and Ouma Elna and I also pitched the day before and on the birthday to help. Great fun!(Janita was barely two months, so the L's still had their hands full!) 

Franco with Noah's ark - Ouma Elna's and Gert's handiwork. 

Chicken and cheese elephants and very popular homemade animal biscuits.

The party in full swing with lots of busy tots and moms and dads.

  Opening of gifts: Franco received three sets of tools!  Anyone who knows him, knows that he loves to work.  These tools have since been put to good use.  Franco immediately loved his new hat and wore it the rest of the day!.

Thelwyn with Martelize and other Tiny guests.

The big attraction of the day: The L's provided lots of easy cleaning sidewalk chalk and the children loved having their outlines drawn on the paving.  Thelwyn had to draw Martelize over and over.  Older children became very creative, while the little ones scribbled away.  (Big fun for Franco was to hose it all down after the party.)

Some old news for the record: Easter Monday

Proud Mom of two week old Janita - back in her jeans.  Janita was still very yellow at that stage.

So much has happened the past weeks.  I have been busy with new projects (still sort of a secret) and sadly neglected blogging. I also rediscovered Sudoko. (Darn!) I found that I started to take fewer and fewer pics. And in the meantime I miss out on much of our new little baby girl! Sorry Janita! 

On Easter Monday we went to Irene farm to have a good look at the cows.  The weather was rather miserable, but the children enjoyed the cows and afterwards we had "kaal" coffee - we couldn't order muffins or such - you had to order a full breakfast @ R99!  So we gave breakfast a skip.  Fortunately the mothers brought the little ones some snacks.  Martelize particularly enjoyed her hard boiled egg. 

Martelize and Franco getting acquainted with the cows.  Franco was very brave and did not mind touching them at all.

Janita is now 8 days old. Both she and Dorette are doing very well.















Here she is lying on my hand and holding my finger and staring at this funny old woman with the camera....

What red lipstick you're wearing Ouma!

Maybe I'll have a nap now.... Janita was very relaxed and calm: did not cry once while I was there. When she became a little fretful, Dorette went to fetch her dummy, but before Dorette had returned with it, she was fast asleep.

Her only "trouble" is that she only has 2 gaps between feeds with one longish one of 4-5 hours somewhere within 24 hours. We pray that she'll soon learn to stretch these gaps! She is gaining well: by 7 days she had already passed her birthweight with 900 grams! Go Dorette! Go Janita!

Now who can that interesting little baby in the mirror be? Janita is still slightly jaundiced, but remarkably more pink than when I last saw her.

Franco is thrilled to bits with his sister and goes to her cot first thing in the morning. Like other newborns, Janita does not like bath time yet and it upsets Franco terribly if she cries, so Dorette tries to bath her when he's asleep or at school. We gave him a doll and although he does not play with it for long spells, he gives his doll a bottle and puts him to bed. Last night he did not want to go to bed himself, but he was willing to rock his doll to sleep and of course was sleeping soundly himself in no time.

Thank you God for the love between brother and sister that is alreadly evident!

Ouma Day with Martelize

Last Friday was Ouma and Oupa Day at Martelizes school.  Martelize was happpy to see me, but expected to see her mother there as well.  When she realized that her mom was not coming, she was happily sat and my lap, but did not want to dance and sing with the other children.  (Usually she is very fond of dancing.)  She showed me all there toys though.  In the afternoon I took her to a small zoo in Simon Vermooten Ave. 

Here she is all ready to go!

Feeding the cock from the safety of her push chair. At first she was a bit hesitant to walk about herself.

"

 Gradually she became more confident and the many tortoises walking about were no longer so very frightening.... as long as they did not come to close.  Here she makes a Hansel and Gretl path of labbage leaves for this tortoise to follow.... which he very obligingly did.

She loved the Dassies and called them "Dassie" very audibly.  The jackals were other favourites.... "She tried very hard to say "jakkals".

Afterwards we went to the L's and were just in time to see Franco swim.  After school, he walked around and around the netted pool and kept on saying "swem, swem", until his Dad opened up the pool for a quick splash, but the water was a bit cold after the earlier rain.  Their pool is solar heated, but of course not really warm, warm. 

Franco feeding his new doll.  He was willing to let Martelize play with his new pram and doll, while he mowed the lawn, but then he too wanted a turn with his pram....! 
When Janita woke up, he showed off his sister to Martelize: both of them stood on the poof next to the cot and patted her very excitedly.  (I'm not so sure she enjoyed all the enthusiastic attention, but she did not really complain either. Poor 2nd children have to take a lot of "rough" from the older siblilngs, but then older siblings are so much more interesting than adults!)

And now we are four!  The happy L family. 

Janita was still quite jaundiced then.  When I wanted to hold her, Martelize got very jealous and would have nothing of that - after all it was her Ouma day!  

Easter Drama 2010

This evening the children of Salvokop performed their Easter Drama (see previous posts). The children were sooo committed. When we started with drama in Salvokop 10 years ago, we practised for weeks and weeks. The children then were very unruly, stole sweets and toys and were just generally very difficult to work with.
Now the children are ... well still noisy children, but there is generally much, much better co-operation and good manners and lots more enthusiasm.
God is working there and angels abound....

Here we are all dressed up and ready to start the Easter Drama.

Pastor Joel welcomes the people, because it is already 17:15...

But where are the people? The parents in Salvokop do not really support their children. I pray that these children will one day support their children. (My mother never attended any of my ballet lessons, but I made sure that I very regularly attended my children's classes and certainly all their performances! It takes a community to raise a child, and a generation to really make a difference.)

Tannie Lalie explains what this drama is all about.

Joyful, joyful.... (The highschool girls did two beautiful dances)

"King of King and Lord of Lords... "the Junior boys await the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem with gusto.

"Jesus is coming!" (You will never guess who is sitting in the back row! What a pleasant surprise Retha!!)

The devious religious leaders scheming on how to corner Jesus.

Eat this bread, it is my body... Sabatha (with brown head cloth) was Jesus for this part. She has been part of Inkululeko since she was 3 years old and is now in Grade 7. All the other children in the picture had been in the pre-school while I was still the principal there.

Shaen, Tamerin's brother and my niece Eugenie singing Panis Angelicus. Eugenie also sang other background music and Shaen was a pillar of strength at the computer and C.D. player! Thanks Shaen! Thanks Eugenie!

The tired disciples sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"We found this man misleading our people!"

(Dimakatso, the priest, was still a preschooler, alone in their house when it burned down. Later their shack burned down too. His mother was convinced they had been bewitched.)

Jesus walking down the streets with the cross bar of his cross.

A willing Jesus being nailed to the cross by zealous soldiers.

"When I survey the wondrous cross..."

Christ the Lord is risen today... Halleluja . (I coached the disciples and this dance and what a joy it was!)

Celebrate Jesus!

Joyous celebration from the stands.

Vigorous gumboot dancing, celebrating Jesus.

At least the hall is fuller now...

Jesus is alive today - this man was shot, but because he carried a Bible on his chest, he was not killed. (A skit by boys from the shelter across the street of the Community Centre.)

Thank you Jesus for being there tonight!

May you all have a very blessed Easter. Our Easter has already started on a very high note!

Drama Jitters

I have so much news. Last week was Martelize's Ouma and Oupa day at her school and in the afternoon she and I had a lovely outing.... ending at her meeting Janita.
I have been too busy to blog (or to read blogs): Tomorrow is our Easter Drama at Salvokop! We are no where near ready, but the children are sooo positive and committed.
Please pray that their parents (or someone) will come and support them. Several of the children were the "underachievers" while at the Day Care Centre and they probably are still underachieving at school... but in the drama they too can be SOMEONE and they eagerly participate.
Dear God, please bless all the drama children. Please let their parents allow them all to participate tomorrow.... (Carmen did not come today, because she had to clean the house!) Please let no-one be sick, and please let the parents support them and come to watch the drama. And most importantly Lord, please let the children meet YOU in all this!

She's here!

When we heard the telephone this morning about 6:30, we knew it was news from Dorette. I expected to hear that she was on her way to hospital - only to hear that her baby had been born already! We did not hear the telephone in the night! (We lock all doors and the telephone in the bedroom does not work. Good thing we were not the ones to go and look after Franco.)
Of course I couldn't wait to see my new granddaughter, but first I had to pack my laptop etc. for Easter Drama practice in Salvokop this afternoon. Although yesterday was Dorette's due date, I convinced myself that the baby would only arrive after her next doctor's appointment, so I was not really ready when the big moment arrived!

Here I am with the precious little bundle, just after her first bath... which she did not like at all.

And here is Janita Elsa L. Just 5 hours old! She is named after Oupa Jan (gift of God - same meaning as Dorette) and Ouma Elna (Grace of God.) She arrived in the early hours of the morning.

Look how wide awake I am! I weigh 3.3 kg and am 50 cm tall.

Dorette had a 100% natural birth: no drips, no painkillers, no suction or tongs - not even a doctor. The nursing sister couldn't get hold of the doctor (mixup about whom to phone - Dorette's gynae was enjoying the long weekend)and so she had to deliver the baby herself. She was not as handy as the doctor when it came to stitching , but did a good enough job and according to Dorette the birth was more relaxed than before.

Hello Mamma!

Janita nursed well soon after birth, but seemed a bit nauseaus and only nursed properly again about 12 hours later. She was often awake during the day, but did not cry once. So far no problems with wind or colic or hunger or anything.

She slept soundly for hours. Ouma couldn't resist opening the covers to see the cute little tiny body in her cute pink clothes.

The world is a wonderful place... (Note her blanky - its the one I knitted on our Russian tour - so its from Russia with love.)

Wellcome in the world, Janita!

Ons het so lank vir jou gewag en gebid en nou is jy hier!

PRYS DIE HERE VIR SO 'N GAWE UIT SY HAND!
Dankie, dankie, dankie Here!!