Love hurts ?

So driving back home from scouts yesterday Cat & I were chatting. She had seen Valentine's day over the weekend and I wanted to know what she thought of it.

'it was nice, but everyone cheats' ... Cat

'what do you mean, there are some people in the movie who cheat but not everyone cheats' .... me

'well all men cheat' ... Cat

'no not all men cheat, your dad has never cheated and trust me he will not, he's the most loyal person you will ever know' ... me

'mmh come back & talk to me in mmh 5 years, you'll see' ... Cat

'no my girl, your dad is not like that. Plus, both your grandparents and great grandparents were happily married and none of them ever cheated on each other.'

'that is why you need to make sure that when you get married one day that you pick a man who will never cheat on you, who will treat you the way you deserve to be treated' ... me

credit

I'm not quite sure why my daughter is such a pessimist when it comes to love. She is growing up surrounded by people who are happily married. Most of her friends parents are happily married, yet she seems to believe that all men cheat. She's not ok with it but she seems to expect it.

Things really were very different when I grew up. Not for once instance did I ever imagine that my dad would cheat on my mom or visa versa.

And I know some people might think that I'm naive but I don't for a moment think that Himself would cheat on me. It's got to do with who he is as a person.

He might not be perfect but he is loyal to a fault. He also tells me all the time that if you are going to cheat you 'cheat up not down' which means he's going to have to look quite hard to find someone better than me J

eek! STRESSED OUT!

I'm not quite sure why but I'm wound up so tight I feel like I might snap in half.

It's true that life is quite hectic but I should be used to it by now.


But here's the thing, I just watched Himself drive off, he's going to Dubai for business, will be back on Tuesday.  And for some reason this time I'm feeling stressed about it.

Tomorrow, I have a full day's training at work. But before then I have to do the school run while still making sure I make it to work on time. Then after work (which I will have to leave an hour early) I have to rush back to pick the kids up from school.

Cat has a friend staying over tomorrow night. So I have to make sure that there is something nice to eat. In fact, the girls have compiled a list of what they would like. Pizza with olives or hamburgers without cheese. With that they would like either fanta or sprite. Then they would like to fall asleep on the couch watching movies.

I guess I'll only have to come up with something for them to do on Saturday. The weatherman is predicting rain.  So I'm thinking we might bake cupcakes.

Tiger needs to go to the dentist. Only I really don't have time to do that tomorrow. The dentist is closed on Saturday. Best I could do is get an appointment next Friday. Not sure if he can wait that long.  Poor baby.

Next week is not going to be any better. 

• Tiger has an appointment with a Davis method trainer on Tuesday evening.
• On Wednesday Lulu needs to go to the vet to be sterilized. 
• On Friday, Duke & Gus needs to go to the vet to be 'fixed'. 
• Tiger has his dentist appointment; and 
• Himself has business associates over for the entire long weekend.  

I think that is it, well that and work and the house and the usual day to day ...


Guess this all means that I really need Himself around, better make sure I tell him how much I appreciate everything he does when he gets back.

For now, I'll just stick to my glass of wine and easter chocolate. 

Food ....

My word this week is just flying by and I'm not the only one who feels the same. Looks like Mamarazzi is feeling the same.



I am late sending...sorry y'all life has been bananas!! Crazymama is asking the questions this week...here is what she sent:

It's standardized testing week here and in an attempt to send the herd out the door with a full belly  I've made hot breakfast for them. So i'm on a food kick. Thus the questions. 

1. What is your favorite go to breakfast recipe for special occasions or company?

2. What is your policy for kids that don't want to eat what you are serving?

3. Do you take treats to neighbors? What kind?

4. What is your most used spice in your cupboard? (Besides salt or pepper)

5. What is your favorite fruit ? Do you have a  Fave veggie?

Bonus question....

6. It was tax day here in the US. Did you get a return? How do you spend it?

Ok, let's see.....

1. What is your favorite go to breakfast recipe for special occasions or company?

I want to say I have one but that would not really be true. It all depends on who's over for breakfast. So I'm going to go with the most general. It will probably be more brunch rather than breakfast but it will be a combination or all of the following:

Bacon & eggs

Toast

Fried tomatoes

Fried mushrooms

Jam (jelly), cheese, chocolate spread, speculoos spread (Belgian specialty ... really good!)

Crumpets (it's like small pancakes & I often colour the batter for the kids)

Cheese sauce for on the toast (family favourite)

Fruit & yogurt

Coffee and fresh orange juice

Speculoos biscuits are traditional spicy biscuits and which has recently been turned into a sandwich spread

2. What is your policy for kids that don't want to eat what you are serving?

Okay so I know not everyone will agree but this is what works in our house ..... I try to get my kids to eat one bite of whatever they are given. They don't have to finish it.

In general I try to make things that everyone likes to save me from making three meals (I have done that before). I'm not fussy at all (5 years in boarding school sorta cured me of that) but I can't say the same about the rest of my family. I'm just hoping that they grow out of it.

3. Do you take treats to neighbors? What kind?

Say what? I live in Belgium people, even when I lived in an apartment in the city I didn't know my neighbours. But, when you are invited to someone's house I take treats like cupcakes (home made) or chocolate (store bought) or wine.

4. What is your most used spice in your cupboard? (Besides salt or pepper)

I would have to say that it's a tie between: Cayenne pepper, Oregano & Aromat

5. What is your favorite fruit ? Do you have a  Fave veggie?

Passion fruit, Kiwi fruit & Pineapple , thank you very much.

I think passion fruit & kiwi fruit is sexy to boot .... I know I'm a little weird that way.

Bonus question....

6. It was tax day here in the US. Did you get a return? How do you spend it?

We got our tax return letter a month or so ago ... telling us what we can expect in May.

So yes, we're getting a return YAY!

We are using it to send the kids back to South Africa for six weeks in the summer. It's been four years since they've seen their grandparents and cousins so it is about time.



Self image

What on earth are you meant to say when your healthy 9 year old daughter comes home complaining about the fact that she is fat!

Apparently a boy in her class asked her why she was so fat.

I was really tempted to tell her to tell him that she can always lose weight and be thin but he'll always be ugly!

Honestly, she's not a stick insect but this child is FAR from obese! What doesn't help is the fact that her brother on the other hand is a stick insect.

No amount of telling her that she is perfect they way she is is working.

I'm so not excited about the teen years!

I think they are perfect just the way they are ... especially when they are being this nice to each other.

WWTK ..... If

As always I'm linking up with Mamarazzi & Crazymama.

Mamarazzi is asking the questions this week...sorry they are so late, Spring Break got the best of me....

In the middle of LIFE is one big IF...so this weeks questions are all about the IF...

{one} If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

 

Hard to choose. There as so many TV shows which I love, (Hi, my name is Jo & I'm addicted to TV shows) most of them law/crime linked but I don't think I would want to be stuck in them for a month. I think I would narrow it down to either of these two shows;

• Hart of Dixie - cause I've always wondered what it would be like to live in a really small town like Bluebell. Also, I like Wade even if he's not really my type (looks wise).

or

• Hawaii 50 - I like Scott Caan.... and I'm shorter then him so him being short is not an issue for me.

{two} If you could be guaranteed one thing in life besides money, what would you ask for?

 

Happiness - that way you will be able to deal with whatever comes your way

{three} If you had to name the most terrifying event in your life thus far, what would it be?

I must say I've been lucky in life. I've managed to cope with most things that have happened to me. Also, my kids have been pretty much unaffected by crime or death or illness. Something for which I'm very grateful.

So if I had to pick an event that really stands out in my mind it would have to be when I got the news that Himself had been stabbed it was both terrifying and yet at the same time I had a feeling of, ok so now it's happened. This is what happens when you live in a country (South Africa) where random violet crime is standard.

{four} If you could possess one supernatural ability, what would it be?

After much thinking, and I'll admit a little bit of research I am going to go with Enhanced Intelligence - which would include: Imaginative deduction, Enhanced memory, accelerated probability and Intuitive aptitude. I think all of those would make life easier.

{five} If you could "uninvent" one thing in the world , so that it would no longer exist, what would you choose?

The shoe horn - I'm pretty sure my life and many others would be perfectly fine without it. Also, I didn't really want to get into a deep debate about the merits of handguns etc.

Easter 2012

Well this weekend certainly passed by in a blur of activity.

Friday was a bank holiday so I was very glad to have some time off from work to do some of the million and one things which needed to be done before the weekend got going in full swing.

My friend was also kind enough to offer to take my kids off my hands for two days. As much as I love my monsters it is just possible to do more when they are not around. They are very hard to ignore (well I at least find them hard to ignore).

I got to spend some quality time with my mom, shopping! Yay! Because we both work full time I don't get to spend as much time with my mom as I would like so it was lovely to get a couple of hours uninterupted time together.

We went shopping for a new couch. We have two sitting areas in our house, one upstairs and one down stairs. Until this weekend we could only use the upstairs one. But, thanks to my fabulous husband my 'little' dog problem has been sorted out. Meaning, I have a downstairs lounge!

I'm so happy about it its unbelievable. It's been a very sore point in our family.

Anyhoo, I got a lovely white couch. White, I know you must think I'm crazy. But our lounge is so dark inside and there is nothing I can do about it. So to add a bit of light I picked a white leather couch. It looks beautiful, according to me. I'm no pro at decorating rooms. In fact I pretty much suck at it, but for once I think I managed to pull it together nicely. Mixing textures and styles but not too much.

I have also promised my kids that I would kill them if they mucked up the downstairs lounge, and I mean it! Ok, not really but they need to believe that for a little while at least.

We (the man & I) got up early on Sunday. I was peeling potatoes by 6:40! There was a lot which still needed to be done before the hoards visitors arrived.

No matter how well we plan things it seems we always end up with a million things to do at the last minute.

But as they say, all's well that ends well. They came, they ate, they drank, they chatted and the kids hunted eggs. Fred (our Easter bunny is called Fred, I don't know why he just is) outdid himself this year. It was so funny, at the end of the trail the little ones (3 years old) were getting so used to finding Easter eggs that if they found one that was not 100% perfect they would throw it back.

Best of all, the weather held. I think we had rain at about eight o' clock on Sunday evening by which time only our closest friends were still at our place. I am so glad about that. It would have been pretty messy if it had rained on Sunday.

Our friend Jay did so much cleaning that I had hardly anything to do in the kitchen by the time everyone had gone home. Now, that is the kind of friend you want.

Monday, which was a public holiday here Himself & the kids relaxed, ate loads and loads of chocolate and watch movies. It's been raining steadily since Sunday evening. I on the other hand spend the day with his business partner working on their new web site.

Here a a couple of photo's my mom took .... I remembered my camera this year only to forget to check that the battery was charged duh!



Tiger with his loot



Cat, Imke & Zoey

WWTK 51 - Get your easter hop on ..

I've been having problems down loading photo's from my camera so I can't show you any of the pictures I took.  I baked a birthday cake for a friends little girl. And even if I have to say so myself it was not bad at all.  Most importantly she loved it.

Also, I've been crazy busy but with nothing remotely interesting, meaning there's been nothing to blog about.

But not to worry. Today is Wednesday which means it's  time for Mamarazzi & Crazymama's WWTK - Yay!





As you no doubt you know that Mamarazzi is still very busy with her show so this week Crazymama is doing the asking.

And she wants to know:

{1} What is your favorite easter tradition?

We started a 'new' easter tradition when we moved into our house four years ago.  We have a little 'forest' behind our house and so on easter Sunday we invite our friends and have an easter egg hunt for the kids.

We have a very generous bunny called Fred who leaves hundreds of eggs for the kids to find in between the trees and wild flowers.




This picture was taken the first year we did it.

 {2} Tell us about your easter meal.

After the hunt we all follow the smell of the bbq back to our house. Often it is the first bbq of the spring/summer.

We have all the usual  trimmings since everyone will bring something.  Salads, fresh baguettes, cold cuts, meat, meat and more meat.  And for dessert there usually is also a selection to choose from, tiramisu, cake, cheese cake.

{3} Do you decorate for easter?

I add to my easter decorations every year ... it's  not over the top like at christmas but I have a couple of things up in and outside the house.

{4} Your easter basket is not complete without ....

Lindt ....

I can't tell you how much I love these!

{5} Are you getting an easter dress?

I remember that I used to get a new dress for church each year.  Now, depending on the weather I wear an old pair of jeans and gumboots or a pair of shorts ... can't go hunting in a new dress now can I.