The Adventures of the Garden Sprites

Winter has been a long time in coming but it has hit Bloemfontein with a BANG! Aside from the cold, it has been raining on and off since yesterday and all the kids want is snow! Well, today we came pretty close! I think it was perhaps more sleet and ice rain than snow but it had the same reaction on the kids. They begged to go out even though its about 4 degrees outside and the sleet/ice rain was still coming down. It would be easy for me to lock the door and refuse to let them go out but I remember being 7 and walking barefoot in the snow on the way back from the Cape one July holiday and what kind of mother would I be if I was more worried about them getting wet and cold than I was about them experiencing nature at its best? Well, although instinct was telling me to protect my young, the little girl part was saying, "lets go kids"! And so we ended up outside, freezing cold but happy!

Mackenzie is turning SIX! I cannot believe another year has passed and I have an almost 6 year old big girl. Peter is flying to Canada and will be missing the actual birthday so we had a party a little earlier so Daddy could be there. A good time was had by all and the only things missing were the babyhood friends we left behind in Pretoria. So this is a big thank you to all Mackenzie's Grade R friends and a big we missed you to our old friends! Now us mommy's often moan about the fact that our kids just grow up so fast but when you are a little kid, the year between birthdays seems to take forever. I remember always wanting my birthday to come so I could be another year older but now, from the wise distance of being a mommy myself, I wish I hadn't grown up so fast. Mackenzie and Reagan, from your wise mommy, don't wish to be bigger, enjoy being able to jump all day on the jumping castle, eat as much cake as you can and laugh with all your friends at every single one ...

And so the second day of the beginning of Mackenzie's school career has passed... I took her to her classroom yesterday and as I desperately tried not to shed a tear she walked in, said hello to her teacher, kissed me goodbye and with a wave over her shoulder she was gone. My baby has long since gone but I felt the passing so strongly yesterday that it was almost frightening in its intensity. I made it all the way to the car and had my cry! When I picked her up she was smiling from ear to ear and couldn't wait to go back again today. She seems to be thriving in her new environment and what more can we moms hope for than that, a happy child definitely makes a happy mom!

Mackenzie - 3 weeks old For the past 4 months, all we've been talking about is big school for Mackenzie! And finally the big day has arrived. Tomorrow she'll be getting dressed in her Eunice school uniform and starting the first day of her school career. I am of mixed emotions as I am so proud of her yet I am so sad that my baby is so big already. I remember so clearly the day she was born, it could have been yesterday. I remember looking down at her after she had been bathed and was lying all wrapped up like a little catepillar and wondering how it was possible that I had given birth to this beautiful dainty little scrap of perfection! It was true and she was mine to take home and love and cherish and prepare for the big world she will one day step into. There is a saying that says your children are only lent to you and I cant help thinking that tomorrow she will be taking another step into the unknown, the place where we hope we have given them the tools with which to sur...