Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A Living Testimony

This past week was nothing short of a miracle.  The way the Lord provided for our family and the blessings He poured out upon us will forever remain in my memory.  Little Sofia Cherish entered the world on a beautiful Wednesday morning.  Daddy was with Mommy at the hospital while we girls were with dear friends of ours – friends who opened their home to our family for the four days we were in Cape Town and cooked meals and took care of us while our parents weren’t there.

Nancy, Rebekah and I went in to see my mother Wednesday evening and Beth and Gabrielle visited her the next afternoon. 


From the moment each of us laid eyes on our new baby sister, we fell in love with her!  When it came to Friday morning, I was very busy packing all our clothes and belongings while Daddy went to fetch Mommy and our new baby sister from the hospital.


Friday was also Nancy’s 12th birthday and Aunty Linnie made a delicious trifle for afternoon tea! Aunty Linnie then drove us to Greyton, a little country town in the Overberg, which is about an hour and a half away from Cape Town. We had booked a self-catering cottage there, for our family to stay in for the weekend, so Mom could recover a little before the long drive back to Knysna where we live.

Day one in Greyton...


Me making supper (hamburgers!) for my family.

Day two in Greyton...


Beth and Gabrielle dressed up for a morning at the Greyton market.


Rebekah with some wild garlic flowers which she picked as bouquets for us...too bad that wild garlic smells terrible when picked and had to be thrown faaar away from the house! 


Beth


















Look at the yummy treats for sale!



We all had lemon ice cream, which was so refreshing after the long walk to the market place. 


Don’t you just love poppies...?


Wow!  I really love this picture!  Six sisters who love each other and most of all, love Jesus!  We created quite a stir in the market place that morning, as I’m sure you can imagine!

















Then it was lunch time...and...maybe time for a rest?!



















This picture was actually ‘taken’ by me, even though I’m in the picture too!  I put the camera on a timer and hurried to join the girls.  I don’t know why, but little Miss Gabrielle always pulls funny faces whenever she sees the camera!






















The little girls and Mommy went inside for a nap after lunch and Dad, Nancy and I went for a walk.  We really enjoyed stopping at different shops and most of all having a cool drink at the ‘Oak and Vigne’ restaurant.  I also purchased a wide brimmed hat for myself which I really love!



The milkshake was really, really good!  There is a little chocolate shop in the ‘Oak and Vigne’ called ‘Von Geusau’.  He makes gourmet chocolates (very much like Lindt) and I had a chocolate milkshake made with his chocolate!  I would highly recommend stopping there if ever you are in the area!



Poor Nancy wasn’t feeling very well, so she just borrowed my hat for this picture and tasted my milkshake.  She didn’t even feel like anything but water, which was very sad :-(

















Greyton is such a picturesque town.


And so day two ended with a braai (barbeque) and a good night’s rest...well, at least for some of us....

Day three didn’t dawn ‘bright and clear’ like the books tell us. It wasn’t a very sunny day, but rather windy and gloomy, as it had rained during the night.


















I had fun taking a few more pictures of Sofia, though...isn’t she too adorable for words???


















...I enjoyed thinking of the beautiful day we had the day before...the skies were so clear yesterday...


But yesterday was the day before today, and today we have to wear warm tops and maybe sms a friend or two telling them how sweet Sofia is...

Or have a photo shoot with my sister...




















My grandparents came to visit to meet the new addition to our family and they brought lunch.  I unpacked all my Mother’s felt brooches onto the bed so I could take a picture.




















My Mom has been making these felt brooches for the last few months. She and my granny are sharing a table at the Stellenberg Christmas Market, which started today in Durbanville! Go here for more details if you would like to do some shopping or enjoy some eye candy!


Gabrielle cuddling Sofia.


And then our last night in Greyton ended with another braai...


The next morning was beautiful and Rebekah and I enjoyed tea and rusks outside on the porch before the big pack away before going home:-(

















I managed to snatch a few minutes to go outside and take some pictures of the beautiful garden.  I loved being outside so early in the day when everything was still wet and cold!


















Does this picture remind you of something?  Well, when I saw this lamp post I immediately thought of Lucy in the ‘Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis!


I love the focus on the tiny droplet of water on this lily.


I’m entering the above photo into Monday Moments for ‘Anything’.




These little flowers caught my eye just as we were about to leave!
















And finally, after much persuading and begging on my part we had a family photo taken!!

Goodbye Greyton, I really enjoyed my stay!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Please Welcome...

Hello everyone!  I know you have been anticipating the pictures of our new, sweet baby the whole day, so please welcome...

















...My fifth little sister...


Sofia Cherish!  She was born early this morning and weighed 3.3kg!  My dear mother is doing very well and loves her newest blessing from Jesus very much!


Sofia is already responding to my mother’s voice and I know that she is such a wonderful blessing from the Lord.  This evening, Nancy, Rebekah and I went with my dad to visit Sofia and my mom in hospital. Tomorrow Beth and Gabrielle will have a turn to visit her too.  I am still quite amazed that we have a sixth little girl in our home and you can be sure I will be sharing more photographs soon.  These photos were taken in the hospital at night, but as soon as we get little Sofia home, I will do a proper photo shoot of her!
Thank you to all my blog readers and friends for your prayers and thoughts...we certainly feel God’s hand resting upon our family.  

Have a wonderful evening further!
Kelly-Anne

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Heidi's Baking Challenge - Muffins

Hello everyone, I hope you are well?  I haven't been posting much lately because we are rather busy getting ready for our trip to Cape Town - packing, preparing and arranging things for our new baby!  Only four more sleeps left which is a bit daunting, but certainly very exciting! 


I decided to enter my dear friend's fortnightly baking challenge again.  Her current theme is 'Muffins'.  She is also offering a prize, so please hop over to her blog and see if you can take part!  You can enter via email, too if you don't have a blog.  My entry is 'Apple, Date and Spice Muffins' which I made for our morning snack the other day.


The Recipe...

Makes about: 6 muffins.
Baking time: 15-20 minutes

half a cup wholewheat flour
half a teaspoon baking powder
half a cup white self-raising flour
half a teaspoon ground all-spice
1 third of a cup soft, brown sugar
1 quarter of a cup chopped prunes or dates
80 g butter, soft
1 egg, lightly beaten
140 g apple puree (you can steam and mash your own)

1.Preheat oven to moderate 180 deg. Grease muffin pan with butter and sprinkle with flour.
2.Sift flours and spice into a medium mixing bowl. Add sugar and chopped prunes or dates.
3.Make a hole in the centre. Add combined butter, apple and egg. Stir until mixture is smooth, but do not overbeat.
4.Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve muffins warm or cold. Store in an airtight container for up to two days (ours don't last that long!)

Tip:

Do not over- beat muffins or they will be tough. Stir until just combined.
We always double our recipe at least, as one is definately not enough!

The Result...


Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Sensational Sewing Challenge #3.................

 

Hello everyone!  Are you ready for Sensational Sewing Challenge number three?  I sure am, as I have been making a really cute toy for my littlest sister, Rebekah, who is two.  The new theme then is..... 

Children’s Toys!!!

I would love to see any toys, big or small, for children.  As I was saying, I made a really cute stuffed toy for Rebekah.  We are making a really long drive in six (can you believe it???) days time to Cape Town for my mother to have our sixth baby.  Her doctor is based in Cape Town.   I made Rebekah this to play with in the car...

A Ragdoll!  She can spend the entire long trip holding her dolly made by me!  Do you like it?  I found this adorable pattern in my sister, Nancy’s book: ‘Made by Me’ by Jane Bull.

















Here are the requirements for participating in SSC #3 - ‘Children’s Toys’:  Remember this challenge is to encourage creativity – you really don’t have to go to town with your project and it DOESN’T matter what age you are or how experienced you are!

You can enter using your blog, or if you don’t have a blog of your own, then you are more than welcome to email your entry to me!

Create a new post (no back-linking allowed!) on your blog with at least one photograph of your finished product.
Or
Email me your entry to me with also at least one photograph of the finished product. I will enter it on your behalf, so make sure you come back and check out your entry!

Make sure you also acknowledge where you got your pattern or inspiration from.

Please link back to Beautiful Girlhood so that others may enter too, or use my sewing challenge button in your post. (Email entries don’t apply)

You may enter as many times as you like, but with a different project each time!

Leave your entry with Inlinkz below – please note that you must leave a direct link to your blog post so that I can find it easily and leave you some love!!


Leave a comment on a few entries around yours, everybody loves comments!


You are more than welcome to have a little help with your sewing (my mom helps me a lot)! This challenge is open to anyone of any age!

Sensational Sewing Challenge – ‘Children's Toys’ closes on the 31st of October, 2011


Now it is YOUR turn to show me your toys!