100 Posts - And a Wonderful Comment Competition!

Wow! 100 Posts!

This post is my 100th post! And to celebrate......I have a wonderful giveaway!
I am giving away a real girly gift - bunting! Special bunting with the winner's name on!
























The winner's bunting will look similar to these - though each one is unique.

My mom will be making the winner's prize! We have given bunting to friends as gifts. Each friend has been very happy with her bunting!

So, all you need to do is comment! Commenting is easy, you don't have to have a blog to comment - commenting is a thing ANYONE can do! You can be on the other side of the world and comment! Thursday morning, I will print out all the comments, place them in a bowl and get one of my willing sisters to randomly draw a winner! So feel free! I'd LOVE to hear from you.

Just leave a comment between now and Wednesday the 4th November and I will post the winner on Friday the 6th.

This post shall stay on top till the competition is closed. All my new posts will be below.

Our Own FUN FAIR!

Yesterday we had some friends around. We played a game of '12 ball cricket' (I invented this version of playing cricket) but then I hit a six that went waaaaay over the neighbours wall! So that was the end of our game! Then we decided on playing a game of 'fun fair'! This was Nancy's creations!

We had many stands and each person had about three stands to run and, of course, it got a bit (a lot!) chaotic! I really don't handle chaos well, and I was running around getting myself stressed, when it was supposed to be a game!

It was a lot of fun, even though we only played for a little bit! (setting up took so long)

We had the radio going and it really felt like a fair! We had hop-scotch, skittles, 'throw the ball' (luckily for us the neighbours were happy to throw the ball back whenever it went over the wall), a refreshment stand, 'swing from the tree', sidewalk chalk art, fishing for toys and a stand where you buy tokens. Each token costs 5c. Each stand had a different amount of tokens needed. We would write something like this: (2), or (7)!







































































































Now we have discovered a new, fun and easy-to-clean game!

Principles By Which I Live

The other day, Aunty Linnie, from Back To Ancient Ways tagged me to participate in a posting listing the principles by which I live.

These are the things I believe. Of course, I don't always manage to live up to them, but I try my best! And it took me a good few days to think this assignment through!

1. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins;

2. I believe in hard work - nothing comes easily!

3. I believe that my rewards are not on earth, but in Heaven,
so I should not store up treasures on earth;

4. I believe that I should be a good steward of any money that I might receive;

5. I believe that I should give the first fruits of my money to the Lord;

6. I believe in dressing modestly;

7. I believe that my body is the temple of the Lord, so I should not poison it by drinking, smoking or taking drugs. "Know ye that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?"

8. I believe that the answers to whatever questions I may have, are in the Bible, so all I need to do is go and read;

9. I believe that there is no other God but the Lord;

10. I believe that I should never use the Lord's name in vain at anytime;

11. I believe that I should obey my mother and father, even when I think they are wrong or unfair, because the Lord has placed them in authority over me;

12. I believe that I should honour my mother and father like the Bible instructs. I should never talk badly about them or criticise them;

13. I believe that I should never date different boys, but wait for the Lord to bring the right husband across my path;

14. I believe that I should behave appropriately in front of my sisters, as they look up to me, and copy me;

15. I believe that God has placed me on this earth for a reason, so I should use my time wisely, seeking God's will for my life;

16. I believe that even if I make a mistake, I am not a failure, I am created in God's image, so I can't be a failure!

17. I believe that the Holy Spirit is the one who tells me if I am doing something wrong. he also tells me to go and confess my sins;

18. I believe that my mother is my role-model and she is the one who is responsible for teaching me how to become a godly mother and wife when I am older;

19. I believe that I can always start again - the Bible says that God's mercies are new each morning. I believe that God will always forgive me when I am truly repentant and will give me a second chance - maybe a 10th chance!

20. I believe that every difficulty I face will make me a stronger person - every difficulty will develop my character;

21. I believe that the Gospel is the 'Good News' and I am not ashamed to share my love of Jesus with all the people I know and meet.

Now I have to pass on the assignment.

I tag:

Sasha Carlile at Family Life
And our dear friend, Aunty Lisl at Innie Skylte Blog

Wordless Wednesday

40 Things I Love About You

On Sunday my dad turned 40!

We weren't able to give my dad a big birthday bash, but my mom did make his favourite pudding ever - a peppermint crisp fridge tart, which he thoroughly enjoyed! He also got a guitar from my granny who lives in Bain's Kloof. We went to visit her on Sunday. Even though the guitar is too small for him, he is very happy to teach us! (he used to play guitar)









































My dad. Lookin good for 40!

Dear Dad, I have listed 40 things (of course, there are many more!) that I love about you:

1. I love the way you smile.
2. I love the way you are always willing to say you're sorry.
3. I love the way you always work so hard to provide for us.
4. I love the way you are so interested in the things we want to show you.
5. I love how you are always willing to help me.
6. I love how you comfort me when I am sad.
7. I love how, when I have a show, you are at the railing, video recording me and cheering me on!
8. I love the fact that you have given up your life to raise Nancy, Beth, Gabrielle, Rebekah and I.
9. I love the fact that you love mommy so much.
10. I love how you try and serve God wholeheartedly.
11. I love how you are prepared to teach us and show us things that we don't understand for school.
12. I love how you are never too tired to give us a kiss and a hug goodnight.
13. I love how you are willing to help me in my garden, as you realise I am too small to pull out old lavender bushes and too scared to garden near a family of spiders!
14. I love how you want to teach us more about Jesus and all his miracles.
15. I love how you thoroughly enjoy reading us God's word.
16. I love the way you are never scared to try and fail.
17. I love the way you are willing to persevere through difficult circumstances.
    
18. I love how you you view children as a blessing from the Lord.
    
19. I love how you love us so much.
20. I love how you like taking us out to places.
21. I love how you are such a loyal friend to many people.
    
22. I love how you love being a father to all your girls.
23. I love how you are always trying to live a righteous life.
24. I love how you are always trying to serve others, often at your own expense.
    
25. I love how you consult God in every area of your life.
26. I love how you have such a teachable spirit and are always willing to learn.
27. I love how you are so giving and generous, especially to those who are in need.
    
28. I love how you love the simple things in life and how you don't need the smart car, mansion and trendy clothing to make you happy.
29. I love how you love being with us - there is nowhere you would rather be, than with us.
30. I love how you love to sit with us watching a movie that doesn't really interest you, but you are enthusiastic anyway.
31. I love how you take responsibility for your family.
32. I love how you are a man of integrity.
33. I LOVE your sense of humour!
34. I love how you are so honest.
35. I love how you take courage and do what you need to do.
36. I love how you want to be the best you can be to please God.
37. I love how you are not scared of hard work and teach us to see work as a blessing.
    
38. I love how you get homesick whenever you are away from us.
    
39. I love how you are just yourself, you never try to impress anybody.
    
40. I love how you have absolutely NO issue whatsoever about turning 40!

Happy Birthday from all us girls!

Harvesting Our first Lettuce Leaves!

Yesterday evening, we harvested our first lettuce leaves! Here I wrote how we planted a few lettuce seedlings....., well, they grew! And now, we have lettuce for our salads! We haven't planted lettuce seeds yet, but we did buy another punnet of seedlings from the nursery.

It was great fun going outside (in a slight drizzle) and gathering lettuce leaves!


























It was very yummy, though I think I like the green lettuce leaves the most! The red lettuce is a tad bitter!
















Nancy and I are going to plant our own gardens soon, as we are doing a gardening unit for school, for the rest of the year!

A Haircut For All The Gals!

A couple of days ago all the gals in the house finally had a haircut! Yup, ALL the gals! Guess what? We even had a personal hairdresser come and cut our hair (Yeah, right)! Actually, the lady who cut our hair, is the tea-lady at my dad's school. She is a hairdresser by profession, but works at the school and makes a little bit of extra income by cutting hair - she does a pretty fine job too!

Going to a salon would have been a nightmare - just imagine, little ones needing the loo, baby crying, hairdresser getting stressed, I mean, come on! Secondly, imagine 5 girls with hair that needed to be cut, um.....ching, ching? VERY expensive! To have a simple trim or cut at a salon is extremely expensive, and waaaaaay out of our budget!!!

All the girls and mom, except Rebekah, had a haircut and kept Bernie here for quite some time, but she seemed to enjoy the afternoon (chaos?)!

It was Beth and Gabrielle's first haircut but Nancy has had her hair cut before into a bob. I had a trim and the lady thinned my hair out as it is very thick.

Here are all the photos!















































I know, not much difference, but she felt good!












































What a difference!

An Update On Rebekah

I guess its been quite a while since I have posted anything about Rebekah! Well, here are some photos I took of her this morning. She is getting cuter and cuter and LOVES to be played with! Rebekah is already over four months! Can you believe it?!

What would life be without her.........?


















































































































She is absolutely adorable!!!

Great Quotes

Here are a few great quotes that have true meaning. Enjoy!

"It is wonderful what God can do with a broken heart, if
he gets all
the pieces." - Samual Chadwick

"Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's
strength--
carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow
ahead of
time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it
empties
today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom

"Difficulty is the first stage of a
miracle.

However, for a great miracle the
condition is not difficulty, but
impossibility." - Angus Buchan - Faith Like Potatoes

"Saying there are too many children in the world, is like saying there are too many flowers in the world!" - Mother Teresa

Aren't they lovely?

A Birthday Comes But Once A Year!

A birthday comes but once a year, so make the most of it! Nancy certainly made the most of her birthday! Lucky thing, she had two cakes!

We gave her a mosaic kit and a box of different types of buttons. She has been wanting to collect buttons for a very long time! She LOVED her mosaic kit. She said that she has always wanted to try mosaic! My mom tries to expose us to as many different crafts as possible and what better excuse to buy new goodies than a birthday!?

Friends treated us to Chinese for her birthday supper! Hmmmm! It was lovely! I loved the chow mein the best - oh and maybe the spring rolls!

Nancy was so happy, a birthday is a chore free day, so she enjoyed a day of crafting and doing whatever she pleased! Oh, man! I can't wait till my birthday!

Nancy is now ten and VERY proud of it! Wow! A decade already! She is growing up so fast! I remember when her and I were small, we got up to so much mischief and really kept my mom on her toes!

















A decade!

















Lighting the candles on her strawberry yoghurt cake! It was so yummy!














Hmmmm! My mom did an excellent job!














Oooooh! Present time! You would think it was the Little Ones' birthdays! Look at Gabrielle's cheesy smile!














"I can open it for you, you know". Gabrielle, very interested!














Buttons, buttons, buttons, hundreds of buttons! Nancy has about two hundred now and can fit about two thousand buttons in this box! So, some easy birthday and Christmas presents in the future.

















"Oh, wow!" Nancy was so excited! I managed to take this while she was 'ooohing' and 'aaaahing'!














Ready to glue the tiles onto the dolphin. Have I mentioned Nancy's favourite animal is a dolphin?














The yummy Chinese food our friends brought.














Gabrielle desperately trying to eat with chopsticks! She simply stabbed the end of the stick into the food! Very cute to watch!














Nancy enjoying her Chinese food.














Me eating noodles and stir-fry!














Her cake and cupcakes. Marshmallows too!

















Pooof! She blew out all but two on her first attempt.

Wordless Wednesday

A Decade Of Memories

Nancy is ten today. She is an absolute joy to us! Here are her photos of each year! Sorry about the poor quality on some of them, her early years were pre digital camera. Happy birthday, Nancy!

Birth:

















Me at 2 years, 9 months, holding my new baby sister.
















Six weeks old! Check out that cool hairstyle!

One Year:
































Her first birthday

















Her first lollipop!














Her Dedication

















Her first Christmas

Two Years













A teddy cake, yum!

















Icky, sticky watermelon!

Three Years:



































She had a piggy cake


















Four Years:


















Two pretty princesses.














A beautiful castle cake that took my parents literally the whole night to complete!














She started ballet classes

Five Years:













A flower garden party














She loves her daddy!

















She has a style of her own






























She loves splashing in the mud!

















Posing for pictures!














Tea time

Six Years:

















A pretty little six-year-old!





























She got bunnies for her birthday
















Presents!
















Boat trip to seal island
















A cute gosling, Nancy loves animals!
Seven Years:






























Riding Bolo, our old horse













Nancy and Gabrielle

Eight Years:










































Our little ballerina!


























An inventor of games!

Nine Years:













A cake that a dear friend made for her













Hunting for tadpoles! She loves nature!










































A nine-year-old princess
And has turned into a.....
































Beautiful ten-year-old princess!