Hope that a New Year brings

Here we are again. Another year has come and gone and I find myself thinking about the future. Wondering what the new year will bring. Wondering whether the challenges I face today will be overcome. I find my hope and strength in God. Believing that all thing are possible with Him. All I can do is take one day at a time, knowing that God will continue to bless me and us. That He will never leave me or forsake me. That just as He's brought me through 2008 a little wiser and stronger in my walk with Him, he'll continue to do that everyday in 2009.

I'm excited. The kind of excitement that I only feel this time of the year. It's the hope of a new year bringing a clean slate. A chance to try and do things better - to be better. It's the feeling that I can accomplish anything my heart desires.

I think about Scott and all that we dream about together. The strength that we have together with God at the center of our relationship and marriage. The joy and love that we find in each other. We've been married for a little over six years now and yes, some days are tough. Yet at a time like this, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God chose the perfect man for me. We complete each other - two who have become one. God's grace continues to bring us through each day.

When I think about Joshua and Anna, I am overwhelmed with joy. I love their pure hearts and their willingness to forgive and forget so easily, even when we fail them. They're beautiful, amazing, funny, compassionate, sweet, loving, smart and simply love life - the big and the small things in it. I am blessed to be their mother. It is an honor and a privilege to be entrusted with their care. To train them up in the ways that they should go.

I realize more each day that even when I don't understand why I go through some of the things I do, God has a perfect plan for me. Sometimes he allows me to walk through the valley to teach me a lesson and allow me to grow through it. Nothing is for nothing with Him. The good and the bad serve a purpose in our lives and I have to praise Him through both.

My mission for 2009 is this: I will continue to trust the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. I will strive to put Him first in my life because when I do that, everything else just seems to fall into place.

It is my heart's desire and my prayer that 2009 is a happy, healthy and prosperous year for all of you. Happy New year!!

Karate

Our little man is growing up. He started Karate a month ago and is loving it very much. On Monday night he received is Karate Gi (the white uniform) and he looks SO adorable in it. He was showing me some of his moves after taking pictures of him wearing the Gi. It's pretty awesome that he enjoys it as much as he does. Scott and I are so very happy about it because it will teach him discipline and focus from a young age. We'll start Anna in Karate probably the middle/end of next year. She's already put in a request for a pink Gi. She's too funny our little princess.

Weekend Fun at Universal

Three weeks ago Scott took Joshua and Anna to Universal. I stayed home and painted their playroom. It's now a bright yellow in color, but they have everything they could need in there. They have an easel, a table and chair set, a computer, a t.v., two rockers and of course all their toys. It's the perfect space for them and they love spending time in it. Anna is usually busy at the easel or table painting or drawing and Joshua is usually busy on the rug, building and playing with his train tracks and trains.

They had a lot of fun with Scott. They saw Spiderman, Spongebob, Curious George, Barney, Cat in the Hat and a few other characters. They didn't want to leave and have asked us a few times since coming back when we're going to be going again.

Another Diaper Cake

A couple of weeks ago, I was a co-host at a girlfriends baby shower. Her nursery has an animal theme, so I made her a diaper cake with monkeys on it. It turned out very well and I love it as much as the first one I made. Below are pictures of it.

Fall Festival at Church

After more than two months since posting anything, tonight I'm making up a little bit for lost time. Here is my third and final post for now. Our church had a Fall Festival Saturday, November 1st. Everything except for the food was paid for by the church and even then, the food was very reasonably priced. We had a wonderful 3,5 hour night enjoying the rides and the food. The kids and I had a funnel cake for the very first time. Joshua and Anna rode on the boats, went down slides on burlap sacks, jumped on a bungee bouncer, ate cotton candy (for the first time too), played in bounce houses and Anna had a butterfly painted on her face. Needless to say they didn't want to go home until the last possible second. I think Scott and I were more tired than they were! Here are some pics of our night.

Halloween Fun

Dressed and ready for school. They went trick or treating in the plaza that the school's in then the kids and the moms who helped chaperone them had a pizza party afterwards. We had a great time.




Halloween night we went to a party at our community's clubhouse. We had pizza again and the kids played with some of the other children from our neighbourhood. Then we went home to chill out and wind down from a very busy day.

Diaper Cake

Joshua's VPK teacher just had a baby last week. I made her a gift basket and my first ever diaper cake. I've been wanting to try it for a while now, and finally had someone to make it for. It took a while but it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of what I did:

Fun at the Beach

We took the kids to the beach tonight and they had a blast! It was the first time in about 18 months that we actually took them down to the water. Usually we stay on the boardwalk and enjoy the ocean from afar. It was a perfect family night - not too hot, a cool breeze and all four of us experiencing something special together as a family. We were finally able to put our beach toys to use with Scott and the kids building their first sandcastle. We splashed around in the water and had a wonderful time. We ended off our night with a chocolate Frosty and a few rounds of Mario Kart. The perfect way to end a fun day.

Time to catch up

Hi everyone...
Well... it's been three long, busy, tiring months, but we've made it through! For those of you who don't yet know, we moved about 7 weeks ago into a 4/2/2 apartment. We absolutely love our new place and are so excited about the change that's taken place in our lives.

First, let me tell you about our home. We decided to let Joshua and Anna share a room so that they can have a separate play room to spend time in. It's worked out really well and they're really enjoying sharing a room. Scott and I do too in fact. We love it because we're both able to put them to sleep at the same time. We all lie down together in the same room, read stories, say prayers, sing and then the kids go to sleep.

We have a separate office right by our bedroom that works perfectly for all business/computer stuff that we need to do. We've also painted out living/dining room and I've FINALLY been able to put out my African decor items that I bought at home a couple of years ago. I've also found some amazing decorative pieces and our best and favorite purchase by far is the new couch we just bought. It took six+ weeks of driving around and searching before finally finding a place that I didn't think we could afford to buy from. We ended up buying a showroom piece that was $5000 for only $1000!! It's spacious, comfy and absolutely beautiful! Once everything's done, I'll take some pics and post it for everyone to see.

Joshua and Anna are thriving in our new home. We've spent more time at the pool over the last few weeks than we have over the last four years combined. Joshua swims by himself in one of those floaty swimsuits and could quite easily do that for hours. Anna's content to sit on the steps and play. Sometimes she loves it if Scott or I catch her as she jumps into the pool. They're both ready for swimming lessons and right now we're waiting to hear back about that so that we can get them started.

Joshua's counting to 30 now and doing very well with his Kumon Math. He's growing taller by the day it seems and is such a polite, caring and sweet little child. Anna still wants to do everything like Joshua. She's also very caring and sweet, but she's as strong willed as ever. It's still hard to believe that she's not even 3 yet. She keeps up with Joshua almost completely without any struggle. It wonderful to see them interacting with each other, learning, growing together, teaching each other and having a good time. They are such a huge blessing in our lives!

Scott's hard at work. The pace has definitely picked up for them in the office and business is going very well. I'm enjoying my summer break with the kids. Getting better at my CVS'ing and becoming a pretty slick shopper in general. I've started a new challenge for myself for monthly household expenses and will get into the details at another time. A quick summary about it is us trying to survive on $250 a month for everything - food, drinks, cleaning supplies, entertainment, etc. I think it can be done and so far this month we're doing well. All the money we save from our regular budget for these items will go towards paying off a bill. Our goal is to be debt free in the next 2 years. We're extremely excited about this challenge and the rewards that it will bring.

We have photos and video of the kids that I'll try and put up later this week. I hope that all of you are doing well and that the second half of this year only brings you greater joy and peace. God Bless!

CVS'ing

On March 1st I started what is called CVS'ing. I started it because it was challenging and because I wanted to see how much I could get there for as little money as possible. Simply put it's buying the items that give you Extra Care Bucks (You have to use a CVS Card to get this) in combination with manufacturer coupons and CVS coupons to pay as little as possible for your transaction. I've used coupons in the past, but I haven't realised how much money coupons could actually save you until I started doing this. So far it's been pretty good. I've spent about $50 out of my pocket and I've gotten about $2500 worth of stuff. Some things that I need and some things that I wouldn't have been able to get if it weren't for doing this. It's been a little tiring at times and I've had to spend a few hours doing it every week clipping coupons (some weeks I buy 5 papers) and putting the various scenarios together, but for me it's been a lot of fun and well worth it. Here are pictures of some of my stuff.

Easter Wishes For Grandma (Rebecca and Anne)

Easter Sunday

After too many weeks, I finally have a chance to sit down and update the blog. Things have been very busy on our side with work, school, kids, the house, the business, etc, etc. Joshua and Anna have had a couple of play dates with their friend Greg (whose dad works with Scott and who's only 3 months older than Joshua). The kids have a great time with him and we've done some fun stuff together - train rides, playing at the park and swimming.

Greg and his parents celebrated Easter Sunday with us. I cooked a traditional South Africa Easter meal - roast beef, roast potatoes, rice, cauliflower and cheese sauce, beetroot, sweetcorn and for dessert we had trifle. It was a delicious meal and made me miss home very much. Of course the kids got lots of chocolates and sweets. Between an Easter egg hunt at school, friends, family and us, they were really spoilt. I still have quite a bit of candy stashed away in the cupboard for them and bring out a little every couple of days for them to enjoy.

It was a nice, relaxing weekend for all of us. We took some photos of the kids dressed up in their Easter outfits. They look so adorable!! Here are some for all of you to look at. Enjoy!