Love in Action Journey

I don't have a "Makeover Monday" post for you today as I have 4 extra specials staying with me for 2 weeks which means no spare time for any make-overs, but I can say that my heart is so full from having special time with my beautiful big sis and my very precious 3 nieces.  Having moved away from all my family when I got married means that any amount of time given with the ones I love is valuable and precious time to me. I so love seeing my girls playing from the moment they wake up to the very last moment that their eyes can possibly stay open until. Family. Such a precious gift!!! All my love, Jan 

If you are new to my blog, I just want to let you know that if I am going to blog - it's going to be honest! It's going to be true and real to where I am at. So ... having been warned, I'm kinda just blogging away after negotiating one of "THOSE" moments with my eldest. It's holidays here and we have family staying with us which we are loving. But that also means that it is super late and  everyone is over-tired. Now taking into account that this is a female dominated house at the moment (it's my hubby and with our family guests including me and my kids ... there are 7 females in this house!!!) which means there are a WHOLE LOT of emotions that are bound to erupt! My daughter and I just did the erupting and now that she is fast asleep and the volcanic ashes have settled, my heart feels heavy. On top of that, my cat is attacking the front door with a vengeance to come inside which is annoying me beyond words (and if you are wondering why I have not let her ...

Handsome hubby and I got to share such an amazing memory together today - we went to watch the world cup live in our city. I am not much of a sporty girl, but patriotism for the land that I love has won me over to support the soccer and what fun to share the adventure with my gorgeous hubby! The game was Switzerland vs Chile. Everywhere we looked we saw die-hard fans all dressed in red. We shared our corner of the stadium with some wild Chile fans ... and their team certainly did not let them down! We took our vuvuzela's and added our cheers to an amazing crowd. Here are some pics from this special memory we shared today.  All excited outside the stadium with our family. A friendly policeman took our pic :)  The stadium starting to fill up while waiting for the game to start. So cool seeing everyone's excitement and patriotism.  As we festively say in South Africa "Ki Nako" ... "it is here" and I am so stoked to have been able to see some of it live! Opening...

The girls have been so excited about Fathers Day (and so has my man!!!!!) We have been making cards, transforming biscuits into cars, baking, baking and more baking, cooking and shopping for daddy. My dad lives in another city, so I don't get to see him today :( But it was such a joy to watch my girls loving on their daddy today. I always think that there is such an amazing bond between a daddy and his daughter and it is one of my biggest joys to watch my children and the love of my life grow and develop this amazing bond.  The girls give daddy all their art pieces and pressies. Best pressie of all is the kisses though. Look at that proud daddy's smile :) Yup ... silly time is always fun time! Leelee recons these winter slippers double up as great ear warmers too! Tianna hasn't outgrown a good game of "peekaboo" quite yet ;) I am so thankful for my precious husband who is such a wonderful father. I love that I can see so many of his traits, characteristics, quirk...

I have found two new favorite mags to read in my few minutes of quiet (you know those rare moments for a mommy when you are finished reading all your "supposed-to-be read" parenting / spiritual growth / devotional and teaching books) :) They are local and "lekker" (Afrikaans word meaning "great / good / wonderful / fantastic" ) as we say here in S.A.  "Plum" is a new recipe magazine which is inexpensive (about R21-95) and is filled with gorgeous, easy recipes with the most beautiful pictures. How yummy does that chocolate pudding look! I was soooo surprised to read that it is a chocolate rice pudding. Anyone ever tried that? Please leave your comment if you have. I would love to hear. Hmmm ... never imagined mixing chocolate with rice pudding?! If I brave it, I will let you know :)  I just love the cover of this edition - the turquoise and pink look so lovely together. They don't seem to have a website yet where I could look for some pics to ...

It's been a very full week of kiddies sleeping over, playdays, craft making for the kiddies to keep them occupied through the holidays ... and of course late nights every night watching the World Cup soccer matches taking place around our country. This princess is finally all tuckered out. The only appropriate way to end of a busy, cold wintry week is to fall asleep next to this sizzling away in our bedroom ... Our pretty little fireplace being put to good use! Night, night all ... hope you've had a beautiful week! Much love, Jan

It's been a day of tweaking my blog a bit. I labelled all my old posts, tried out a new Blogger design (hmmm ... still getting used to the new template designs). I must admit to feeling quite intimidated by so many of the beautiful bloggs that I follow. I have yet to find a friend here who is a fellow blogger, so I am kind of learning as I go.  One of the most helpful blogs I can always turn to when I feel stuck is  Sneaky Momma Blog Design . If you are new at blogging, or like me, a bit on the technically challenged side ;) this is the most helpful blog! I am a firm follower and grateful fan. If you haven't checked it out yet, it is so worth the helpful tips! Anyway - that's it from this bloggy girl who is all blogged out for one day. I think I am going to follow in my baby girls example and curl up for the night. Sweet dreams!!! Love Jan 

My sweet little princesses have finally had their room made over! Yippee!! This is the only pic I could find as a "before". The room was emptied out and the ceiling re-sprayed white before I had a chance to take a "before" pic. It's a cute one anyway of my little girls and their precious couzies having a sleep over. As you can see, we had a pine bunk-bed and yellow walls in there. We originally painted the walls yellow to add the illusion of warmth. Our beautiful old house has HIGH ceilings and wooden floors and is soooo cold. Well, after years of really wanting to do a girly room for them, I gave into the "pink" that every girl should at least have once in her life. Look at my dashing, helpful hubby tending to those high walls :) Sigh!!! Even in old baggy paint clothes (note I am NOT showing you me in mine! hee hee), he makes my heart beat faster :) Ok ... back to my post. I want you to take note of the GLAMOROUS light in there (not!!!!), coz it got a...

It's been a beautiful weekend of soccer mania this weekend. (Sorry no pics - blogger wouldn't upload for me tonight??). I am not a huge sports fan, but the World Cup being hosted in our country has inspired such patriotism that it's hard not to get excited and involved. Almost every car has mirror socks and flags flying out their windows ... you can hear vuvusellas blowing throughout the day and night. What a beautiful vibe. Families and friends are being drawn from all corners to come together to celebrate! It's been a fun filled weekend shouting at the t.v. and yes - our boys did us proud with the first goal of the tournament. Go Bafana Bafana!!! My highlight was watching my little girls cheering their team on with cries of "God is with you ... you can do it!" hee hee!!! You go girls!!! Well - it's bed time for this patriotic princess. Till tomorrow ... Jan

It's here people!!! The World Cup has arrived and the buzz in S.A. is fantastic!!!!!  Everyone is blowing their vuvuzella's and I say, if you can't beat them, you may as well join them!!!  As I am typing this, the opening ceremony is playing and our braai is simmering outside. I have never felt so proud to be a South African. What a colourful nation we are ... vibrant and alive with hope and unity. Viva South Africa!!!! 

In my last post I shared some of Memory's story. Wow!!! God is working mighty miracles for her and her children and a few more families alongside her. Around about 2 weeks ago God led my precious big sister, Velanique (how beautiful is that name!!! I can never figure out why people call her Niqui for short.) to a Zimbabwian woman in need. She was sitting at the traffic lights begging for any bit of money. Her hope - to get enough money to feed her 2 little children and somehow save up enough to get back to the country that she left illigally in the hope of finding her husband and the father of her children. After all she dared and sacrificed to get here to S.A., after months of searching she discovered that her husband had abandoned them to start another family! As I shared, she has been living in dire circumstances in a building without any water and electricity trying to look after her children. She cannot work legally in this country which is why her only resort has been to beg ...

Last week my sister met a lady called Memory. She drove past her in heavy traffic on the way to fetch her daughter from school. Memory is just one of the many women begging on the side of our roads here in South Africa. Memory stood out to my sister, because like her, she has a little baby girl. As my sister drove past her, her heart was drawn to her. After fetching her oldest daughter from school, she past the same traffic lights and there mommy and baby still sat. She could not stop the car but decided to drive back that same way again after taking her daughter to ballet. As it happened, she caught her just in time to hear her story. Memory comes from Zimbabwe. She risked all that she had to come over here with her 4 year old son and 1 year old daughter to try and find her husband who had come over earlier to find work in South Africa. After searching for him  she eventually discovered that her husband has deserted her and their children for another woman. She is stuck here in S...