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Micah @ 2 years

by Taryn on 06. Sep, 2010 in Micah, birthdays

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Today is the first day that we have a 2 year old in our home and this mamma is not pregnant or cradling a new baba.  Does that make me deliriously happy?  Not at all.  Desperately sad?  Not really.  Bittersweet?  Definitely.

But, at the same time, I’m enjoying enjoying my youngest.  His funny quirks and cute sayings; his chubby little body that he likes to expose, nekid, to the world, even in the dead of winter; his cheeky grin … he is the sweetest little boy and …

…my feistiest 2-year old yet.  Yes, that would be my angelic-blonde-curls, blue-eyed boy … Micah.  Don’t let those cute curls deceive you (actually, they shouldn’t these days, since I gave them a bit of a chop yesterday!).  Behind that delighted grin and the chortling giggles lurks a mini monster!  It usually comes out when it hears the, otherwise innocuous, words: "No, Micah!" 

Mini Micah Monster accomplishes some pretty impressive feats, including turning beet red in under 1 second flat, and puce in 2 (seconds).  Usually, the shades of purple are accompanied by fist biting (his own), hair pulling (his sisters’) and body slapping (anyone within range, including himself) and whole body tremors as he clenches his fists and holds himself tight in an attempt to channel his anger somewhere.  It would be kind of scary if it weren’t so funny.  Especially when he sneaks a peek at us from under his furrowed eyebrows to check the audience reaction. 

Thankfully, little Micah is not endlessly stubborn and once he’s established that he’s not going to get his own way, he usually complies readily.  This is helpful when having to dress him, feed him or put him down for an unwanted nap.  It’s been an interesting discovery, as my other kids at this age showed decidedly more perseverance with the tantrums in the face of reprimand than Micah does.  Especially when their initial outbursts were as impressive as Micah’s run of the mill ones.  Full of fireworks; explosive and sometimes self-destructive – but seldom does it last too long and always his sweet grin returns untainted by his former display.

And that little grin is in a class of its own.  If we’ve been apart for any length of time, his little face lights up with delight when he sees me return.  I should bottle it and sell it as a Self Image Booster.  His ear-to-ear open-mouthed beam melds into giggles and chortles.  Little arms pump up and down with excitement.  It’s too cute.  No one can walk away from a Micah Reception without feeling on top of the world. 

His gorgeous grin is the same as his cheeky face.  That’s the face I get to see every time he casts a glance over his shoulder while running away from me.  Usually, he’s stark nekid and escaping the after bath/get changed routine.  I also get to see Mr Cheeky Grin when he’s horsing around with his siblings or being caught doing something he shouldn’t do – like plastering mommy’s make up all over his face.  That’s a fairly regular occurrence.  Hmmm, should I be worried?

Mostly, he is just a sweetheart, who loves to cuddle (and will actually stay still, cuddling with us in the early mornings, unlike the other lot who all wriggled within 5 seconds of crawling under the covers) … loves to do what his big siblings are doing ("do skool, mommy! do skool!") … loves to sing… loves to tease… loves to play… loves to allow his big sisters to dress him up (as a girl… there goes the worry factor again) and loves to hug and kiss and cuddle.

He has a few special people in his life.  One of those is Johanna, our very reliable and most wonderful domestic worker.  Johanna agreed to speak only Afrikaans to him, since he was little.  And so she does.  Mikes has learnt a whole load of Afrikaans from her.  He understands most of what she is saying and even answers back in Afrikaans from time to time.  It’s very cute hearing his little voice pipe up with "Daar’s hy" or "dankie!" in unexpected moments.  Johanna gets the same excited reception he reserves for those he loves.  Usually she is bowled over before she even has time to step past the front door.  And Johanna loves Micah.  I love coming home from an extra mural, or Lunch Bunch with the bigger kids to find Johanna and Micah outside, playing soccer or improvised hockey with old squash rackets and plastic beach balls.  Johanna gives Micah just as much love as we do – and he loves her to bits too.

His Afrikaans and English mix hasn’t seemed to hinder him too much in the language department.  He doesn’t talk nearly as the others did at this age, but he makes up for it with his earnest babbling which sounds so very much like real words with deep meaning!  When he does articulate himself, it’s too cute.  "Yook" for look and "moofies" for music/movies, to name but two.  And, where he lacks in verbal maturity, he makes up for in physical maturity.  He’s our tallest kid yet and has no qualms about taking on his big brother.  Too many times the squabbles between them end in wails… from Sam, howling, "Mommy, Micah just (fill in the blank)-ed me!"

But, even if he grows into a huge hulking adult male, he’ll still always be my baby.  And, I will always look fondly back at videos like this one below, where my cherub is bouncing around, grinning and singing and enjoying being 2.

(can’t view the video? click here: Micah Sings.  You’ll notice some background noise – that would be Sam and Katie arguing, again! Oh, and turn down your volume!  This is quite loud!)

Happy Birthday, my Micah Moo (aka Mickey Micah Moo, Mikes, Mikey Mike and more)!  We love you so very much and we keep praying that you’ll grow into your verse sake as you grow into manhood.  Micah 6:8.

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Kiera’s 8th party – a Beetle Horse Day

by Taryn on 27. Aug, 2010 in Kiera-Lee, birthdays

For the past year or so, Kiera has been mad about horses.  It’s typical of a girl her age.  I remember being much the same.  But, not quite with the same intensity that she shows.  She talks, reads and dreams horses all the time.  If you ask her to choose a favourite colour, it will be one that is associated with a horse colour.  If you ask her a favourite animal, it’s a horse, hands down.  She’ll rattle off the different types of horses that she knows; talk about their tack, feed and more.  It’s exhausting!  And she is inexhaustible! 

When we were talking about what she really wanted for her birthday, she spoke of going on a trail ride.  Well, since her experience with riding horses is about 5 pony rides at market-type venues, that wasn’t going to happen.  But, it got me thinking.  Maybe, in lieu of a regular party, we could organise something where she has a bit of a horse ride…

Long story short, fellow homeschoolers, Wendy Young and her daughter Jess lent us a hand to make Kiera’s birthday all she had dreamed of.  Jess helps look after a beautiful chestnut horse called Beetle.  She is a young teen herself, but very capable and horse-wise.  Together, Beetle and Jess made Kiera’s day!

We decided to invite two friends, in addition to Kiera and her sister.  The four girls would get to have a walk about on Beetle and help take his tack off etc and give him something to eat.  Kiera was so amped for the big day!  She insisted on making the invite herself, which she did – half by hand and half using a fantastic digital scrapbook programme called Digital Scrapbook Artist that I stumbled upon a while ago. (This is a free version of the program – seriously, Photoshop etc should be this user-friendly – all the functions are on the image itself, for example.  Plus, the daisytrail website has tons of free kits too.  Love it!)

kiera's 8th birthday invite 

We were a bit worried about the weather not being in our favour, but, despite a near disappointment, the day turned out to be all-round beautiful.  Jess started us off by getting the girls kitted out in riding hats.  Then she brought Beetle for the girls to begin their ride.  

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Kiera got to go first.  She sat up there all straight backed and proud face.  It was very sweet!

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Leanna was up next, with Kiera dutifully walking alongside holding the lead rein too and yakking poor Jess’s ear off!  Leanna loved it too, even though it was quite wobbly, she said!

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Katie braved it next.  All smiles all the way!

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Tegan waited patiently to have her turn and didn’t mind Kiera leading the horse on her own for part of the way.  She said her favourite part of the day was riding Beetle (as did Kiera.  Katie said her favourite was the chocolate game!)

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As she was the birthday girl, Kiera got one more turn on the horse, while Katie had her turn of yakking off the ear of long-suffering, yet ever-patient Jess.  While they waited on the fence, grandpa Peter and granny Sally chatted with Wendy and I took copious amounts of photos and…

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…suffered again from severe covetousness. Whenever I come to the Van der Linde’s place, I fall in love.  This, to me, is a little bit of heaven on earth.  I’d love to live on a plot like this which is so farmy and countrified, yet is in the middle of Cape Town, close to all our activities, church, shopping centres and family (well, most of our family!) – best of both worlds, so to speak!  Ah!  Wouldn’t this be awesome?  My mom is just like me and would love to live like this too.  The ducks and the horses have sold this place to her over and over!

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Finally it was time to lead Beetle back to the stables for a break and some food.  The girls helped take his tack off – Kiera was super keen for this and even tackled his back legs, despite knowing that horses can kick something fierce!

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Next up – feeding Beetle.  I made the girls each a little snack pack bag to keep their snacks and juice in … with a little pocket for a large carrot for Beetle.  They got to eat their snacks while they waited.  Beetle got his only at the end!  Of the girls that braved having him eat from their hand, at least one was covered in gooey slimy horse gob!  :)   Too funny for words watching their reactions.  Such girly girls, even if they won’t admit it!

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The final photo!  Thank you SO much Jess for the sterling job you did.  You made this little 8-year old’s year, never mind birthday! 

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We went home for some fun and games.  The girls played horsey games outside for a bit, until I called them in for the planned (aka Kiera’s requested) games.  So musical statues (the horsey version – they had to romp around like ponies) and the chocolate game followed soon after.  We also played 2 Truths and a Lie – where we had to tell each other 2 true facts about ourselves and 1 lie, while the others have to guess which is the truth.  It’s a great ice-breaker game and the girls had a blast trying to figure out the truth.  I had fun telling them outrageous things about me too! 

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Granny, Grandpa and Daddy all arrived at the same time – spot on time to enjoy late afternoon tea and cake.  But first … Kiera got to open her gift from granny and grandpa.  Below are shots of one little girl reading the "gift voucher" in her card… figuring out what it all means … and then flinging herself at her grandparents with enormous gratitude.  Why?  The card promised four 1/2 hour horse riding lessons at the Chart Farm.  That was one delighted little girl who could not stop telling everyone about this very exciting gift!  We’ll let her enjoy it, but we have, and will, remind her that that is it for now.  No ways we can afford to keep them going!  

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Dad then brought out the cake he’d made – another ice-cream cake request from another little Hayes girl.  Craig reckons that it’s infinitely more difficult to work with than baked cake, but managed to pull off this great horse:

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The girls then romped around outside some more, getting themselves completely grubby.  Many shrieks of laughter and teasing erupted from our garden all afternoon.  Eventually we called them in for baths/showers, before supper.  While they were getting clean, I laid out their food – the easy route again – Woolies chicken sausages for hotdogs and loads of salad veggies, plus strawberries too.  Yum yum!

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Yum yum again!  The girls scarfed down their food and then eagerly polished off their second bowl of ice cream. 

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My photo-taking of their crazy antics led to a "crazy face" competition.  I took a photo of each of them pulling their most strange face.  Then they got to vote who’s face was the craziest.  Peels of laughter followed each photo viewing.  It was funny indeed.  Here are just some of their most unattractive faces!

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Finally, I was treated to a couple of their dramatic productions, complete with dress-up box costumes, grandiose arm gestures and über-projected stage voices.  It was a treat!

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When her friends had left and it was time for bed, Kiera flopped into bed, exhausted.  It was her dream birthday and she used up all her energy enjoying it all.  And, I’m thinking that the smaller the better!  It was an entirely relaxed afternoon for me.  I think I’d rather do 5 hours of party with 4 girls than 1 hour with 20!  I have a house in order and a happy birthday girl.  What more could I ask for?   

You can read more about her actual birthday here.

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Kiera’s 8th birthday

by Taryn on 27. Aug, 2010 in Kiera-Lee, birthdays

…began as usual with mom juggling video camera and still camera; dad juggling a 2-year old and presents; the rest of the siblings juggling spaces in the line, while we march in singing Happy Birthday.  Of course, Kiera had been awake since the break of dawn, but she dutifully stayed in bed until it was time for the gift opening.  And what fun she had.  She got a little help from Pirate Dude Sam and Half Awake Katie, but mostly she opened her gifts herself.  Her favourite?  Definitely the "real" cowboy hat!  She’d wanted a play one, but the shop was sold out of them.  I found this more authentic looking one at tons of toys for under R50.  

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We had rearranged our school week to accommodate a day off for her birthday.  So, instead of school we went visiting.  First we went to see Kiera’s new baby cousin, Joey.  Isn’t he gorgeous?  Really the sweetest most placid little baba I’ve seen in a long while.  Just too gorgeous!  Kiera got a cuddle, while I took photos.  What with my horrendous cold at the moment, I thought it better for the sake of Bronnie and the baba to keep my germy hands at bay. 

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Next we popped in to visit gran gran.  She has recently had an op to repair a cracked pelvis (yes, OUCH!) and is now recuperating at home.  It’s still super sore, but she is handling it like a trooper.  We interrupted her reading the local paper, whilst knitting up another jersey for little Joey.  Yes, 90 and still knitting away!  Kiera was glad to see her.  We had a little chat about Pop who left this world the night before Kiera was born.  Kiera talks about him often, saying how she misses him.  Although she never knew him, she’s always felt drawn to him and his memory.  Her birthday time is always a bittersweet moment – as Craig calls it, his "annual emotional roller coaster ride…".  

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Home for lunch and then Dad came home to whisk Kiera away for her special daddy date – frozen yoghurt again!  Yum yum!

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While they were out, the younger three and I tackled icing the birthday cake.  Green for the grass.  Each had their turn icing it.

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And then they got to decorate it with "hay bales" (coconut marshmallows), "flowers" (Astros) and Katie’s plastic horses.  As usual, Micah ended up sitting on the table.  And his decorating consisted of "one Astro on the cake, two Astros in Micah’s mouth"!

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The final result: not bad for three kids 6 and under!

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And Kiera was delighted with the "unveiling" of the sibling-decorated cake!

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Granny and Gaa joined us for some tea and cake later that day.  Kiera is heading to Build-A-Bear again with granny on Saturday – Kiera has saved up enough money for another bear and wants it to be a special outing with granny!  Here she is looking at the sweet bracelet granny and gaa got her – engraved with her name.

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Eventually, we all had to help her blow out her candles – they are those "magic" candles – just about burnt down our whole house and definitely did create a good few smoke clouds! 

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That night we had Kiera’s chosen dinner – crumbed fish fillets, oven baked chips and salad, with apple pie and jelly for dessert.  You can tell what we don’t eat too often (not my favourite things at all!) 

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We forgot to put her dinner on the Happy Birthday Plate I painted at the Clay Cafe some months ago.  So she got her dessert on it instead.  The apple pie was not homemade this year and because I couldn’t find a real pie, we went for an apple tart and popped a pastry "8" on the top for the pastry bit that she likes so much! :)

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With bible study happening that night, we had to finish supper quickly and off to bed.  But, after a long, happy day, no one complained too much!  Besides, Kiera wanted to get to sleep as quickly as possible, because in just two days time she’d be enjoying her much anticipated birthday party – a ride with Beetle!  More on that in the next post!

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Kiera-Lee is 8…

by Taryn on 25. Aug, 2010 in Kiera-Lee, birthdays

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8.  Eight. 

As the cursor blinks on my empty computer screen, I find myself blinking too.  Blinking.  8 blinks.  8 seconds.  Blinking…

…and realising that these last eight years have flashed past seemingly as quickly as each cursor blink. 

My motherhood and Kiera’s birthday will always be inextricably linked.  And, as we blow the candles out on her birthday cake each year, I will remember a time – so many birthday candles ago – when I was not a mother.  When I didn’t serve breakfast to little people or wipe bottoms or correct sassiness or worry about little hearts and souls.  When I worried about less and yet worried just as much.  When I knew less but thought I knew it all.  When I served myself more and others less….

Now the blinking is to hurry away the tears.  Tears of nostalgia and gratitude.  Tears that recognise what an enormous blessing it has been to be a mother.  A mother to my children – who, each in their own way, bring out the best and the worst in me: helping me to face my sinfulness face on.

To think … it all began eight years ago, when at 8:25 on the 25th of August, I held my baby girl, my first born, in my arms and stared at her wizened face and her tiny fingers and took a deep breath – the journey, packed tight with intense love, had begun.

And now, Kiera is no longer a tiny, helpless babe.  She’s a beautiful young girl filled with self-confidence and ambition, but also plagued with doubt and insecurity.  Yet, she forges ahead with her plans and desires, fighting off her doubts, choosing to focus on that of which she is sure.  She embraces life with gusto and loves regaling us with her latest plans. 

She has a love for animals that she certainly doesn’t inherit from her parents.  For most of this last year, she has determined that she is going to run an animal rescue centre when she grows up.  This plan has changed only slightly in the last couple of months – narrowing it down to a horse rescue centre where children can learn to ride at reasonable rates.  The fact that she’s never ridden a horse by herself doesn’t hinder her at all.  She’ll find the way and means someday.  For now2010_08_193 she is content to breath, dream and read about horses all day long.  

And, when she is not talking about horses, she is drawing them – herds of galloping mustangs are her current favourite.  And she’s pretty good too.  I love the freedom and abandon she manages to depict with their flowing manes and outstretched legs.  When she does draw more conventional horses, she makes sure that she draws their tack precisely and clearly.

Yet, while she has entered a horse mad phase in her life, she still carries around her build-a-bear Emmar; speaks for Emmar; feeds her from her home made salt dough "food"; dresses her in a fresh outfit each day; and makes accessories for her whenever she can – the latest being a library bag to match her own. 

In just one year, she has shown such maturity, and yet she is still a little girl.  While she has tackled extra chores at home well, she still grumps about them from time to time with the exaggeration only a 7-year old can show.  And, while she is showing such a love for sewing and knitting, her finished products – scarves and bags for her bears – show where her young heart lies.  She may read books of great depth and difficulty, but she still falls back on her favourites to reread – Mallory Towers and the Magic Animal series where the reading is light, fun and aimed right at the heart of an 8-year old!  Her school specific skills have improved so much – her memorisation, spelling, handwriting, reading, maths, typing, language arts and ability to do research and answer questions have all grown so evidently over the past year.  She shows an aptitude and a love for some school subjects, yet, given the choice, she’d still prefer to be outside riding imaginary horses, climbing the jungle gym or riding her bike.  Just like a boy – for these days she insists that she is not a "girly girl" but prefers the term "Tom boy". 

A little girl still.  A sweet little girl who loves sweets and toys; gymnastics and quad bike-riding; books and story-writing; drawing and designing; her siblings (most of the time!) and family and Jesus too.  A sweet little girl who struggles with bossiness; outbursts of self-pity; grumpiness and frustrations – yet, the same little girl so often shows such valiant attempts at self-control, with a desire to help and serve from time-to-time too.  She will bounce back from an upset; struggle to keep a straight face when we tease her out of a bad mood; burst into fits of laughter at a moment’s notice and tease us all right back with her growing love of puns and jokes. 

Kiera-Lee – our precious child, whose middle name means "Our Father Rejoices" … we rejoice with Him in you, our first born gift from God himself!  We love you so much more than you will know and experience. Yet we rest in the knowledge that Jesus loves you infinitely more.  Our prayer is only that you will grow to love Him more and more, with deeper understanding and joy as you journey from eight to nine, the markers along the road of your life.

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