Archives for celebrations

Crazy Family

Posted by  on Tuesday, February 14th 2012     

Saturday Night + 7 January 2012 + kids tucked in for the night + faithful Makhulu keeping a watchful eye = A Night Out with the Big People!

And what do a bunch of adults do with such a rare evening out together?  Well, in the Newill-Hayes-Glik-Rous families, a little giddy craziness features.  Although, truth be told, it most likely began in the moments before we left for the restaurant, as this crazy family photo will testify….

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But, it didn’t stop there.  And having an in-law and friend like Ms Kerry makes for some funny moments and funnier photos…

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Kerry, they’re chopstix – used for culinary purposes, not facial distortion…

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Roping in the younger sister…

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Kerry’s eccentricities can be forgiven, considering the facial contortions her father-in-law manages to pull off.

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Or … maybe it had something to do with the fact that Kerry "I hate fish and will never eat sushi" Newill actually consumed and enjoyed sushi?  Granted, it was vegetarian, but it was sushi none-the-less!  Next step – get her eating and loving salmon sushi!

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Because – really, what is there NOT to love about this delicious food?

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In our more saner moments, we managed to capture more photo-frame compliant shots of happy older siblings…

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And delighted parents.  These two deserve huge accolades, I’ll have you know.  Hosting a houseful of grown up kids and their progeny is no easy task, and yet they did it with a smile!  We enjoyed an awesome holiday in Carmel courtesy of their sacrificial generosity, plus wonderful weeks in Hermanus, Onrus and around Cape Town together thanks to their planning and hospitality and we continue to receive their blessings in so many large and little ways.  We love you guys!  And we are so grateful!

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And we love you guys for making moments where photographs like this one is possible….  

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This is a picture I treasure: my two elder siblings … furthest in geographical distance, closest in age, living completely different lives, yet sharing the same history and the same future in Christ.  If we never ever meet again on this earth, this photo will remind me that these smiles will beam together again in Heaven.  Hallelujah!

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An aside – this restaurant deserves a bit of a plug.  Lemon-Butta in Hermanus has the most delicious sushi and it’s enormous!  We always enjoy eating there.  They could upgrade their straws (horrible, collapsing wretched things!), and, when we were there, their aircon was battling a bit.  But the service is fantastic and friendly, the food is yum yum YUM and the ambiance is just right.  Thumbs up for Lemon Butta!

Kelly Arrives!

Posted by  on Saturday, February 11th 2012     

2011 was a blessed year indeed.  And seeing in 2012 was special too.  Just a few days later, the blessings doubled with the arrival of my sister!

Oh, there were a few hiccups – a SAussie brother hospitalised with gastro and flu on the second day of the New Year and a SAsraeli sister’s delayed (and delayed again) flight that arrived 24 hours late.  Let’s not forget the gastric flu that she and baba suffered during the entire flight too.  But, despite the unsettled tums, the reunion was joyous!

While us siblings waited patiently, the folks drove over the mountain to bring my big sister home to us… such happiness!

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And, what is this?  Only one child with her?  It was a first for Kel: this leaving 1 husband and 6 other children at home thing.  A holiday!  And a well-deserved one at that.  Try 1 husband, 7 children, a guest house, a home on the edge of a desert canyon (which comes with complimentary sand storms that infiltrate the house like an unwanted guest)  on for size.  No domestic services, ironing lady or take out food.  Oh, she does have two older daughters who are absolute STARS in the home, but there is that "mother" factor that cannot be replaced.  And Kelly has done that, in various locations, with increasing numbers of kiddies, for the past 16 years.  It was time for a break, indeed!  Her first holiday!

Yes, even with a 6 month old, ill with a chesty cold and cranky from travel, Kelly was able to relax.  And we got to enjoy her in this relaxed fashion – although, this time it was the Newill – Hayes lot that was running around after numerous children, much to Kelly’s amusement, as she watched from her comfortable, undisturbed seated position – such a rare moment for her! 

But, I digress.  Back to the airport… 

Such happiness! 

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Does this woman look like someone who has spent 24 hours travelling with numerous delays, a tummy bug and the contents of her 6-month old’s stomach decorating her only top?  No, didn’t think so.  I guess joyous reunions have a way of smoothing the weariness away.  Eliyah, however, looked a little shell shocked!  Makhulu didn’t mind :)  

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Finally home!  And brother and sister hug after over two years apart!  Kelly’s "Leh" in the flesh!

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My turn!

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Kerry’s turn!

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And time to meet the latest Glik addition – Eliyah.  What a sweetheart!

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Joy!

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While we were so glad to have our sister, aunty and daughter with us, I did feel sad for the kids left behind.  But, oh so proud of them too.  The news filtered back from various sources that the kids were doing well.  Neighbours complimented the big girls on running a tight ship.  Younger siblings reported that bigger siblings were being awesome big sisters with fun and games dispersed among the regular chores of the day.  And, on Kelly’s return, a house that sparkled from top to toe greeted her, and 7 pairs of sparkling eyes filled with love for their special person!  But, I digress again – with three weeks of time out in South Africa, we got to enjoy her all to ourselves!  By the poolside…

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Bearing gifts …

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And, on my birthday, with a fun game of charades organised by Kerry …

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And my kids got to enjoy fun times with Aunty Kel – Micah especially.  And since he was only 1 year’s old when he saw her last, it was a blessed time of bonding!

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And the best day?  Sharing my birthday with all three of my siblings and my parents. But more on that in another post…

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… with a sneak peak of the birthday cake :)

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Those three weeks sped by too fast and, in many ways, I wish that we both had a few days kids free just to chat.  It’s not easy to have deep heart-to-hearts with kids demanding attention all the time.  And with 8 kids ranging from 10 to 6 months in the house it was noisy, distracting and exhausting.  But, it was a precious time still and I am ever grateful that we had this opportunity. 

Stay posted … more photos and posts to follow!

Hayes Homeschool Celebration 2011

Posted by  on Tuesday, January 3rd 2012     

Last year, we started a special little tradition at home that we’ve called our Celebration Supper.  Since the kids work so hard in the year, and since I’m a sucker for ceremonies and celebrations, I thought it would be nice to have a special supper recognising the kids’ hard work during the year.  I also want to have a comprehensive record of the things they’ve done in the year, concepts learned, awards received, photos of their fun and activities and so on.  These things are compiled into a special report/record file that they are awarded with at the end of the year.   

It’s really just a normal sit-down dinner with a special dessert, a congratulatory pressie and their awards to end the evening.  But the kids look forward to it so much that even a dinner out in place of our Celebration Supper is frowned upon (ah-hem – as was the case this year when I had to postpone the dinner to the next night as I was a bit behind my own deadline.  We went and grabbed a pizza at a restaurant nearby, thinking that that would be a great compensation, but my eldest was NOT impressed!)

Our little bunch of Hayeslets were very excited about their special evening and we all enjoyed our tuna salad (it’s hot here and, believe it or not, tuna salad is a huge hit for the family) and mint-choc icecream.  And then it was time for the awards.  Starting with Micah who received a certificate for "loving learning" – aka "being a funny monkey who wants to do everything his big siblings do"!

He was full of excitement and self-importance listening to daddy hand over his certificate.  Such a big swollen heart of pride and happiness from that little munchkin!  I love the series of photos, despite the blurry bits!  Such a sweet little expression!

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Sam next! Such a big boy!

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Then Katie – one little girl who was relieved school was over for the year!

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Finally Kiera, who read over Dad’s shoulder…

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These two – I tell you – the humour is almost identical and those faces too!

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Finally it was time to open their year-end pressies.  Much MUCH needed summer PJs and a book from the awesome Book People sale just a few days earlier..

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And I scored a big thank you from the family, which included this delicious bar of nougat.  Yum!

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Well done, my little family!  I pray that 2012 will see us all working hard at our weaknesses and remembering to glorify God in all we do!  Let’s keep our family motto in the forefront of our minds: God Guide Us!

Love you all!             

Sam’s 5th Birthday Party – Firefighters!

Posted by  on Monday, October 24th 2011     

IMG_6366Fireman Sam to the rescue!  All week, Sam had been talking about his Fire fighter party.  And all week, I worried that we wouldn’t pull it off.  I had spent the last two weeks trying to secure a visit to the Wynberg Fire Station for a demonstration.  But, even at the last minute, all was fine and they were expecting us when we arrived. 

And what a visit it was! I was very impressed with the friendly firefighters.  They did a great job of entertaining and informing our kids.

We were entertained by Mr Africa, who did a rope trick with the kids and had them laughing and giggling.  What fun!  We all enjoyed his fun-loving personality.  Mr Appel did the presentation for us. 

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Told us all about our emergency number 107 and a few other important bits of information.

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And had the kids rapt attention…

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Well, most of them…

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And the moms too…

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And he even showed us how quickly the firefighters have to dress in their firefighting suit – in under a minute!  He was quick.

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Then he led the kids out of the room under the "blanket of smoke" – they got to practise crawling as if the room was filled with real smoke.

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Next up?  A tour of the Fire Station.  The Watch Room …

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The recreation room…

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The fireman pole from the top…

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And then outside for a fire truck explanation.  The kids really enjoyed getting to touch some of the equipment and see the hoses…

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But best of all was the re-enactment of a real fire response… Firefighters came flying down the fire pole!

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The truck left with sirens blaring…

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They did a short loop around to the back again.  Out came the hoses and that big tower behind them was just about to be sprayed when … a real fire siren came on.  Really?!  Ah!  We missed the great big water spray.  But the guys had to go and do their job proper.

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But not before getting a big box of brownies baked by Kiera as a thank you. 

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And not before Fireman Appels gave Fireman Sam a firm manly handshake!

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Bye bye!  And off they went – sirens blaring.

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We all headed home after that for some party food and fun.

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And a game of water balloon fun!

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We had to practise passing our "water buckets" in an event of a fire with no hose available.  Lots of fun with bursting water balloons was had…

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Next up – spray that fire with a hose!  Earlier that day, my 4 kids and I made fire flames out of paper plates. 

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We lined up the fire flames and sprayed them down with the hose.  The aim was to spray the paper plate flames a couple of metres away from us. 

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The kids loved that!  Next time (if there is a next time!) I will a) get the kids to colour in with crayon and b) set the flames up one at a time for each child to spray, as after a couple of goes all the flames got wet and soggy – so not all the kids had the chance to spray down a dry flame. 

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Eventually it was cake time.  Craig had had two awful work weeks of late hours and unexpected flights.  He arrived home on Thursday night straight off a flight from Pretoria and straight to a cake to decorate.  This time I baked the cake and Craig did the decor.  Sam FD – Sam Fire Department. 

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And one excited boy couldn’t wait to blow out his 5 candles…

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Eventually it was time to unwrap pressies – Sam loved his gifts.  Thank you all!

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His party was loads of fun and he was so happy.  What a joy to see his smiling little face! Our party ended with a quick tidy, shower and change.  The reigns of childcare were handed over to our very capable sitter Luke as Craig and I headed to a wonderful celebration of my special aunt’s birthday and 1 year anniversary of being cancer free.  Praise God!  It was a lovely evening of celebration and joy.

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