The bells of New York City...

Oh I can still hear them calling out to me... the bells of New York City! No I'm not referring to Josh Groban's song (though I am listening to it right now - but more about him later :)

Hubby and I went away ALONE for the first time in 15 years! It was wonderful and of course, way too short!

What is it about the place that just makes you fall in love with it? No photo can capture the feeling...

It was a wonderful whirlwind of sights and sounds and so many different hotel rooms in such a short space of time that at times I forgot where we were.

We had way too much coffee - waaaayyy too much Half & Half! More donuts & brownies than I care to admit... and every other food place that will complete the experience

We stayed right next door to Outback Restaurant (can't remember in which town that was) while we were driving from Charlotte, NC to Washington DC)

We just had to try the Bloomin' Onion...

And I just had to pop in at Michael's to add to my Wilton collection (oh happy days!)

And I nearly lost myself in Crystal City...

LOVED IT - I had no idea what Crystal City was and starting at 12th Street, I found myself in this (seemingly) never-ending corridor and I just kept on going... right up til 23rd Street!

Too bad memories are just that. They never mean as much to others as they do to oneself.

PS. Thank you to our friends at Streetlife Ministries in Flushing, NY for the precious moments together. I can't wait to see you again! Please visit their website, I'll share more about them soon

I WILL play you, piano!

...short fingers and all, I am determined to conquer the piano!!

Thanks to listening to Josh Groban kind of A LOT... I finally decided to start playing piano again.

Doesn't sound like a big deal?

To many, maybe not but in my case it is.

#1
I had an operation for De Quervain's tendonitis on my right wrist a few years ago* and it weakened the muscles severely. Making fondant cakes increased the strength in my wrist tremendously but playing piano was still very difficult (after a mere 5 minutes of playing my wrist and forearm would be too sore to continue)

As with most things in life, when we are inspired enough to achieve our goal, enduring the pain becomes worth it. And with enough practice the muscles become stronger and the pain becomes less.

#2
I've never had any lessons in piano. Everything I know is self-taught and I'm VERY slow in reading sheet music.

#3
My fingers are a bit short for playing the piano. I can only just play an octave and even then it's not the correct way (playing over the keys) I can only just reach them when I play at the bottom of the keys.

Nevertheless...

I have always wanted to play piano and all my friends always happen to be pianists. I've picked up a thing or two from them to get a basic idea of reading sheet music and from there I would (painstakingly) count out the lines "that's G, so this is A, B, C..." and so on.

It has been my lifetime dream to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (1st movement) and when I finally acquired the sheet music from a friend several years ago I finally worked on making that dream a reality.

First I listened to the sonata on cd for more times than I can count. When you know a song so well that you can anticipate every next note, it makes the learning a whole lot easier.

I practiced for HOURS and managed to play it after about a month. But that was on a keyboard. My wonderful husband bought me a beautiful upright piano a year later and the practice started all over again because there is a HUGE difference between a keyboard and a piano!

After the operation I just couldn't play again.

As mentioned, the fondant making has been fantastic exercise for the weak wrist and forearm muscles and I have gradually gained my strength again.

The intro of Hidden Away (by Josh Groban) stirred that desire to tickle the keys again enough to get me off me seat!

The pain has been terrible and I have spent many nights massaging my arm and hand just to be able to fall asleep through the pain.

But it paid off. The pain got less and I can now play for about an hour without paying for it at night.

I've also learned a whole lot more about how to read sheet music (oh, I just love Google!!!) and I've noticed several mistakes from my interpretation before so I can confidently say that I am now playing it the correct way.

I have just completed the 1st movement and have decided to go for the next 2 movements too. (If you have never heard the 3rd movement of the Moonlight Sonata, Google it now and listen why I say this will be an extreme challenge!!!)

Oh but I just love the feeling of accomplishment! That which I never thought possible...
- to play a "real" piano piece
- to learn it even though I can't read sheet music (very well)
- to stretch my short fingers until they eventually (just barely) reach the keys

...that after all that, my dream has come true. Woohoo!!!

Do you have a passion?

Do you have something that you've always dreamed of doing

and feel like it will never be possible?

Find your inspiration,

work hard at it,

don't give up,

it might be more possible than you realize!

* My De Quervain's tendonitis was caused by Rheumatoid Arthritis (properly diagnosed after several tests) and I am so grateful to God for healing me from this disease after someone prayed for me. Tests before my tendonitis operation confirmed there is not a trace of arthritis left in my body :) I will write a future post about the wonderful but mysterious subject of Faith Healing.

Wives of traveling husbands

For the first few years of our marriage I never thought I could deal with a husband who has to do a lot of traveling. That was then...

Several years later we accepted a job for him in Zambia which led to traveling and moving and moving and traveling and traveling and traveling... You get the idea?!

As hubby has just set off again on another round of trips to various countries, I'm back in the front line again. No matter how many times I've done this - I still don't like it.

People incorrectly assume "you probably get used to it"

No. I accept it. It's the job we've chosen, it's what pays the bills but that doesn't mean I ever get used to being alone - or have to like it.

People often ask me:

"How do you cope on your own with your husband being away so much?"

Well, there's no real secret to it. You get up in the morning, do what you need to do, and go to bed at night. Alone. Then you do it all again tomorrow. Alone.

And as Murphy would have it, there will always be some insane things that happen ONLY when he is away. Hence, having a traveling husband will graduate you from wife and mother to plumber, electrician, nurse and whatever else inbetween.

But the real question is...

"How do you keep doing it without it getting you down?"

"How do you keep your marriage strong?"

"How do you keep adapting between 'now he's here, now he's not'?"

I could write many posts on this topic but I'll stick to just a few thoughts...

There are some very easy ways that you can keep things alive and well BUT they require work (well, any marriage requires work, doesn't it)

For us, the most important thing is that it starts on a strong foundation - and that you keep that foundation strong. A marriage NOT built on our faith and dependence on God is something we cannot even fathom.

Building on that strong foundation: the number one way to keep your marriage strong is communication. Though I know that a lot of men are not the best at communicating their thoughts and feelings, I am certainly blessed with a husband who's not afraid to voice his opinion (we're still working on his listening skills though!)

For the most part, he HEARS me when I speak - when he puts his mind to it. I cannot even tell you how many times he'll ask me something and I'll say "you've already asked me that and I've answered you!"

So some parts of communication requires a whole lot of patience and repeating if necessary. I think the hardest part for women is coming to terms with HOW men listen to us.

Dr. Kevin Leman says it like this in his book, Have a new husband by Friday, (paraphrased): Think of everything you want to tell your man, then only tell him a tenth of it.

Seriously?!

Uh, yeah. I hate to admit it, but even my good-communicating, good-listening husband has a limited capacity of how much info he can (wants to) listen to. Apparently it's just the way men are wired. We can either learn to work with it or we can spend our lives trying to tell ourselves we can change him into something we think he should be.

I've chosen to find out HOW my husband hears me.

I know how much you communicate with your husband

greatly depends on both of your personalities

so I cannot say that everyone should do things the way we do... but

I'd rather say, find what works for you.

Ever since I met my husband, we have kept a lot of phone contact. He calls me SEVERAL times a day. With cell phones, satellite phones, Skype, BBM, WhatsApp, Facetime, email, text... there is almost not a way that he cannot get hold of me!

One of the things I appreciate so much about him is that he chooses to share with me whatever he has on his mind.

Wherever he travels, if he sees something that he thinks I'd like, he'd call me and tell me.

When he's sitting alone in a restaurant, he'd call me and tell me what I might like on the menu

or how much he'd like it if I could be there.

BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) has definitely saved us a whole lot of money on phone calls the last few years but he still prefers to call rather than typing :)

In his own words:

Sharing things with me while he is away, keeps him from wanting to find someone else to share things with. 

For him the greatest sacrifice of traveling, is the loneliness. He says he can understand why so many men fall into the trap of cheating on their wives; the loneliness can be overwhelming.

But there are ways that we as wives can help them deal with it and help them NOT succumb to the temptations that they face.

#1 for me is: being available at anytime!

When my husband travels, he can pretty much call/text me at any hour. There has been a few times that he really needed to talk to me when it's in the middle of the night (my time).

Something that has become increasingly important to me is to be available when he is tired and he has to drive. Occasionally he needs to drive himself from point A to B after being on the plane for way too many hours. That makes me really nervous because no human being should be in control of a car when your body is barely able to stand up!

I have made it a rule that he calls me at any hour if he is feeling sleepy while driving! I would much rather be a bit tired the next day because I was talking to him in the middle of the night, than receive a phone call that he was in an accident! It's a small sacrifice that could save his and others' lives.


Another thing that I started doing more and more over the years is "give him a wake-up call - literally". With crazy flight times and time zone changes it's understandable that he is sometimes extremely tired. At times like that when he has to wake eg. 3am, I'd set my alarm and text/call him to make sure he woke up and won't miss his flight.

There are so many little things that we can do to show our husbands our support and love. It's all about finding out what you both need.

The amazing thing is,

when you go out of our way for him, 

he will (eventually)

find ways to do something special for you

to show his appreciation.

Though most of these things take years to find out what works for you, it's possible to start a new habit even after many years of "bad"/non-existing habits, to help each other.

The best way to implement a change is: start with yourself. Don't even think about all the things that you wish he'd do for you. Ask yourself "how can I show my support to my husband today?"

Building on the platform from that strong foundation in God, it is such a pleasure to know that I am supporting my husband when he is working to support us.

It gives me the greatest pleasure to know that I am fulfilling my part as spouse by finding ways to help him when he is making such a great sacrifice to be away from us.

Ask God to help you
- appreciate your husband
- see the things that he sacrifices for you and your family
- find ways to show your love and support
- do it joyfully

PS. while I was typing this hubby landed and had lunch in Italy... and bbm'd me everything he had for lunch :) So much more fun to share with each other. (If he could get Skype to work he would've turned on the camera to show me where he is so I can "feel" like I'm there)

The cakes I make...

It's almost birthday time again (last child for this year) and as I'm getting my head geared for the next challenge I decided to put some of my recent cakes' photos together.

This cake was for my dad - his favorite fishing spot in Port Elizabeth, Schoenmakerskop

His beach buggy - it's almost as old as I am and holds so many memories...

My oldest son loves reading...

 This is an old one - my youngest 2nd birthday, Morph, the clay character from the late 1970's TV show

This was for my nephew who does kayaking

This was for my youngest son's birthday in February this year - Flying Mater

The princess and castle was for my niece who loves all things pink!

A pontoon plane for another nephew

My daugther's birthday - the easiest ever because I didn't have to mold the mermaid!

A baby shower cake for a friend

Since my computer crashed I'm searching through back-up drives for photos. I'll add some more when I can locate them. In the meantime I need to plan this week's cake - it's gonna be a real challenge!! (Just the way I like it :)

UPDATE:

Here is Jason's 1941 arcade game cake:

Teaching: Place Value (ones, tens, hundreds)

Math-U-See uses the Base Ten manipulatives to teach place value. Even though I've been using Horizons for our math curriculum I've always wanted the Base Ten set.

However after researching manipulative sets a bit too much I got confused with which one I liked more and I ended up ordering one that does not have the Base Ten set. Since I order from the States to ship to Africa it's not that quick or cheap to do another order.

Instead I came up with this replacement and it barely cost me anything!

This is my "homemade Base Ten" manipulatives:

When introducing Place Value, Horizons uses the following colors:
Blue - Ones
Pink - Tens
Green - Hundreds
Yellow - Thousands

I used those colors and printed my images in black on colored card which I cut out and laminated, like this:

The blue "ones" are the same size as the blocks on the "tens" and so that the principle "10 ones equal 1 ten" is easy to explain.

Once kids understand the above concept, understanding "10 tens equals 1 hundred" is a lot easier. The "hundred" square's blocks therefore doesn't need to be the same size as the blocks on the "tens".

When first introducing the "hundred" block, I always make them physically count the squares to prove it really is 100 squares. At this stage they can usually already count in tens, and by counting the first line, they can simply count the rest of the square in tens. (Personally, I'm not overly excited about listening to someone count 1, 2, 3, 4... all the way to 100 in ones - but if your child needs that practice, it would be good to let them count in ones)

DID YOU KNOW?
You can make Times Tables a lot easier on your child by letting them "skip count" from as early as they can understand the concept.
Let them count by 3's, 4's, 6's, etc. as often as they can. The repetition will pay off big time when they start multiplication!

 

...and I'm back

What a crazy few months!

Just when I think I can get back into the swing of things in "blogland" my computer crashes! And if that isn't bad enough - I haven't backed up anything in about a year!!!

I know, I know... that's just plain stupid. Maybe I've been drinking too much coffee?

You know this poster...?

Love it!

Anyway... so I have a dear husband who can pull things from the ashes and though my hard drive is damaged, I could at least do a backup and if I'm really really patient with it's sluggish response I can do something on it.

LESSON:

- Back your computer up REGULARLY
- Do NOT delete important files from Dropbox and save them only to your hard drive
- Do NOT live in a place that has frequent power surges that's so big it looks like you have disco lights in your house (the reason for my damaged drive)

Oh but the fun does not stop there... but before I tell you, I promise you, I DO know how to work a computer - seriously.

While my computer is in recovery I decide to use the kids' computer. To my shock I see no Windows updates had been done in 10 months!!! So I'm doing good by clicking YES to the updates, right?

Nope. Within minutes... Blue screen. Crashed.

Okay, I do have another old laptop but by now I'm seriously wondering whether I should work on that one?!

Enough of that...

For school we are trying out something new this year:

Kidcoder - Windows and Game Programming

So far the boys are enjoying it. The Student textbook is pretty easy to follow. I'll post again as they progress through the course.