Chris and the Chameleon

There's something really special about the way Christopher deals with animals. 

He genuinely get super-excited when he finds those tiny little shongologo's that come out when it starts to rain; this morning he was really disappointed when the moth he had discovered yesterday at the front door wasn't there any-more.  He loves the dear gecko that lives in his room, and with great enthusiasm will explain to you that Gerry hangs around to protect him from those pesky mosquito's.  I can't even count the amount of ants (!) he picks up and tries to take with him to school - that have subsequently gotten "lost" in the car.

Last week I had to jump out of the shower in a panicked rush to a high-pitched shriek from Chris: "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy... please come quickly!" thinking the worst, dripping wet footprints throughout the house, barely grabbing the towel off the rail, I high-tail it to the living room to find Christopher jumping up and down, pointing to the TV, barely able to contain himself: "Look Mommy, baby Llama, aren't they cute!"

Not one day passes, without him asking me when he can get a dog, cat, monkey, porcupine and sheep.  Just this morning we had a discussion about why we can't keep a Honey Badger in the back yard. Seriously.

So when Christopher found his Chameleon, it was love at first sight.  Not flinching one bit, he let the critter crawl all over him and just stood there beaming from ear to ear.  And then, with such resolve, he went over to the plants and put the Chameleon down, turning around he said: "Larry needs to go back to his mommy now and catch some flies to eat, he must be getting hungry".  Just like that the encounter was over, he didn't beg me to keep him.

There's something really special about the way Christopher deals with animals.

Wishing everyone a Happy Weekend!

Lessons in Courage

Like a overzealous mommy with a camera, I couldn't resist taking close to a million snapshots of my kids last Saturday, when Sophia went for her first Horse-riding lesson.

I must admit, I didn't have too much faith in her, and thought she'd sit on the horse for a few minutes before getting bored with the whole outing. Not so.

My baby-girl has been watching Christopher over the past year riding on the Horsies and patiently waited for the day that she'd finally be allowed to ride herself.  She was so determined and quietly confident it blew me away.

Christopher's horse-riding skills have excelled and my little man is now holding the reigns BY HIMSELF (no lead reign) and steering the horse all on his own!  

After his turn, Sophia got on without a word and sat in the saddle like a natural, I can foresee that in the future there will be many activities that she will take on with the same tenacity and courage.

Princess Butterfly's Party!

Sophia's Birthday 2nd Party last year started out to be somewhat disastrous.  Maybe not a full blown cataclysmic catastrophe, but more of a ill-fated unfortunate sequence of events.


The perfectionist in me, should have karate kicked the procrastinator in me to get my ducks in a row and plan the party better... instead my nonchalant alter-ego just thought to hell with it all, so the party didn't quite turn out as I'd imagined.


Both kids were sick; Sophia had a tummy bug the night before which made her edgy and moody the whole day, Christopher was on his way to full blown tonsillitis, and the weather I'd ordered didn't pitch up... instead it was overcast, raining & cool and then it suddenly turned hot and humid!


Luckily, Sophia's friends stared arriving bringing some sunshine and smiles with them, and my mates cheered me up and kept pouring the bubbly, so I soon stopped stressing that half the decorations weren't up and Sophia's carefully planned butterfly princess outfit wasn't on her because a.) she refused to wear it and b.) the weather was crap.  Or that I didn't take nearly enough photo's AND the settings were all wrong so the pics didn't come out right.


What started out as a tiny tragedy turned into a triumphant morning thanks to awesome friends and company, and the worlds best husband that continuously made more "gourmet" picnic baguettes and understood the importance of wrapping them in wax paper tied with a string... 


Below is a collage of moments captured throughout the day!

Happy Monday!

Sophia's Birthday

Some pics of the kids unwrapping presents on Sophia's Birthday last year:


(the phone was actually's Christopher's gift, but it ended up being the best present of the lot... even trumping the trampoline!?!?) 

Next I'll post some pics of her actual Birthday Party!

Getting my Awesome back

First post of the year... its taken a whole January for me to stop being unsure & anxious, and just start being Awesome.  

And of course, Happy!

It's a decision you make.  Simple.

Deciding to take on the beautiful world of photography full time was a natural one, albeit scary. Putting off to make that decision was what was causing all the trouble and stress!

I've been given some amazing gifts by Matty to launch into a professional career, and I'm about to complete an intensive one-on-one course with a renowned Cape Town Photographer.  With a little more equipment, I'll have the know-how and confidence to take on more & bigger projects!

Can't wait to share the details of my journey with you, but in the meantime, I'll do brief "catch-ups" and long overdue updates on what's been happening over the past few weeks with the kids and the holidays.

Yours in Awesomeness