The Real Jenty

I was going to blog about what we did over Christmas, and how nice it was to spend time at my parents house having our traditional family dos over the 2 days… but this evening Bradley’s dilemma overshadowed that all!

You saw this photo on my other blog, didn’t you… well… I took it just before the kids started opening gifts at my mom’s house on Christmas Eve.

Look how excited Bradley is!

And remember I told you all about what Santa at Crest Shopping Centre told him about the Transformer Mask?  That it was going to be under the tree?  Well… that has now caused endless drama!

As he opened more and more gifts between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the quieter he got.

And then he seemed fine after that.

Tonight however was a different matter.  He came to me this evening almost in tears and said he wasn’t feeling well.  Eventually he told me that he was upset because Father Christmas’ helper (that’s the shopping centre Santa) had lied and the toy wasn’t under the tree!

It took me about an hour to calm him down and explain why he couldn’t get every single toy that was on his list, and that the helper couldn’t have known what Father Christmas was actually going to bring, and whether Father Christmas actually had enough masks for all the kids that asked for them.

Never mind the other stuff he got that was also on his list!!

And then to make matters worse, Connor pipes up from downstairs “But Mom, I was a good boy because I got my bicycle”.  Ho hum!

My heart really broke for him, but I suppose he has to start learning about disappointment at some stage.

OK, it’s Christmas Eve and the presents for everyone are wrapped… apart from the ones from Santa.

That begs a question?  What do you do to keep the magic of Father Christmas alive?

This is what we do…

1.  Clearly the angel at the top of the tree plays a big part

2.  We visit Father Christmas at Cresta, because he is the real deal.

3.  We have an advent calendar which helps out count down the nights.

4.  All Santas presents are wrapped with special wrapping paper and special gift cards are used so that they don’t look the same as the other gifts.

5.  Tonight, on Christmas Eve, it’s the most exciting bit though.

• We watch Santa’s progress across the world using Google Earth and Norad and we know it’s bed time when he started getting close to Africa.
• We put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer before the kids go to bed

6.  On Christmas morning, the kids will wake up to see crumbs in the plate, and chewed bits of carrot.  Flour footprints just in front of the fireplace and 2 filled stockings on the floor in front of the Santa gifts under the tree.

Oh I just love the magic!

Have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones everyone!

We have an Angel at the top of the tree and she’s magic.  In fact, she’s so magic that she can even see whether children are good when she’s packed in her box at the top of the cupboard.

She’s the one, in our household, that tells Father Christmas whether Connor and Bradley have been good or not.

This is one of my family traditions.  I’ve been thinking about these traditions since I read Burgh Baby’s blog post about the same topic a few days ago.  My parents had a fairy at the top of their tree, and she was magic too; and I’ve continued with this tradition with my kids.

It’s been quite funny this year though.  Connor can now talk properly, and Bradley and him often have arguments and fights and very rough play etc where one of them inevitably gets into trouble.

Now it’s ok for us to use the Angel as a threat.  If they do something wrong we’ll tell the kids to remember that the Angel is watching and she’s going to tell Father Christmas and then they won’t get gifts.

The kids have taken this one step further this year though.

If one of them does something wrong, the other one stands in front of the tree, looks up at the Angel and says “Angel, Bradley/Connor is being naughty, he did…. ”

LOL! Then the other one runs to the tree and shouts “Sorry Angel, I won’t do it again, please tell Father Christmas to still bring me presents!”

I hope this magic never runs dry!

I saw a link to a shop on Twitter yesterday, and because I was in Emmerentia delivering a DVD of photos at lunch time, I decided to pop in and take a look.

Wow! I could have spent a fortune.

The Cartwheel Bazaar is Upstairs at Bamboo for a few more days.  I quite like the concept.  This woman has got a whole load of stuff that she’s selling from the premises only for 10 days.  That’s right… the shop opened on the 5th of December, and it’s closing next week!!

She doesn’t have hoards of stuff.  A few things stood out though amongst the clothes and pottery and fabrics.

• Handmade bags from Swaziland that are made from recycled materials. LOVED the handbags and the laptop bags.
• Cut steel hooks and candleholders to hang on walls, including the MOST divine tree thing to hang on a wall to hang beads onto. LOVED that
• Hand made dolls and teddies – my word those were expensive though but beautifully made

It’s a pity I can’t actually find photos of things that look like their stuff to show you.

Not sure how she’s going to advertise in future, but I’d love to go to this bazaar shop again

Two things happened today, or rather yesterday (because it’s now the wee hours of Thursday morning), that were BIG for me:

1.  I went to Hannah’s Home for a visit again to deliver some stuff that the office had collected,  and that always gets me… I realised today that one of the older boys is missing a leg… that story and few others will be on my blog tomorrow night with some photos.

2.  I realised that there’s only 2 weeks until Christmas! TWO WEEKS people!! How insane is that?  I’ve barely done any shopping!

Then I got home to my boys (one of which is still very sick) and read them a story before they went to sleep.  I read Merry Christmas Grumpy Bunny and I just LOVE the last paragraph of the book so I have to share it with you

You don’t need a beard or eight tiny reindeer
to spread lots of joy and Christmas cheer;
Just find the love that’s deep inside
and you’ll give someone a sweet surprise!

I’ve started getting asked what I want for Christmas, and a blog post is the best way possible to get that list sorted.  I’ve decided to dream big this year, even though it’s highly unlikely that I’ll get them… but who cares right, this is my blog, and this is what I actually do want!

1.  The post actually got started when I saw the link from Christine Meintjes to this little number on Twitter.  This image backup device is a storage device that lets you plug in your CF cards and download them.  What a win when you’re doing a massive event! Love the idea, would hate to know how much it actually costs though.

2.  A Diana lomography lens with a Canon attachment.  It’s really not expensive at $42 the only problem is actually getting it to South Africa!

3.  A Canon 50mm f2.8 Macro lens – the cheapest in the macro lens range would do me just fine, but the 100mm would be so much nicer!

4.  A Opteka Fisheye Lens attachment for my 50mm lens, so I don’t have to spend oodles on a new lens!  I really like those attachments, they’re really reasonable and work well.

5.  A Ginger Mary handbag.  I saw the most divine Tan coloured bag last week… and a red one…  and a fabric one… I liked them all!

6.  MAC make-up.

7.  Anything from Big Blue

8.  Salad servers.  Seriously, I know it seems small, but I use blue Tupperware ones, and I hate them with a passion

9.  A tray.  I seriously haven’t got a nice tray in my kitchen.  Or even better, a nice trolley because my lapa is SO FAR from the house, and it’s major schlep to cart the stuff there when we have a braai.

10.  Outdoor cushions for my steel patio set – those thinnish ones from Mr Price Home… LOVE them!

11.  Anything moroccan in style for my new patio area that we’re working on.  We’ve taken down part of the carport and made it another outside covered seating area.  We just have to make it look nice.  I need big pots, pavers, cushions, lamps, new tablecloths etc etc

12.  Perfume always works for me

13.  A new carpet for my lounge, I’m tired of the red persian rug I have in that room

14.  And on the bag front… I saw the most divine leather wallet in Woolies of all places, made in  India.  It’s beautiful!

15.  I forgot about the photography books I want!! Flash technicques by Neil van Niekerk (one of my favourite bloggers) or Joe McNally’s book, the Hot Shoe Diaries on flash usage or Wedding Photography Unveiled or in fact, any of the good books reviewed on Digital Photography School’s list

OK, I think I should stop now I know… it’s more like wishful thinking… but I can dream can’t I?  And anyway, I like lists

You will however notice that the Shootsac is no longer on my wishlist that’s because I’ve bought it and it’s on it’s way to me via my cousin in the US.  And my dream lens, the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS… I’m going to order it today   My presents to me from me for the year!

I know… I haven’t posted in a few days… I promised I’ve thought about it.

Then I get open my blog, and can’t think of the topic that was on my mind the entire day!

I just can’t think straight at the moment.  So here are a couple of random thoughts for you from this week:

• Everytime I go shopping for Xmas pressies for everyone, I end up buying something I really need
• I saw the most divine handbags in Truworths in the Ginger Mary collection, and I actually resisted it! Wonders never cease… but only because I couldn’t decide on which colour to get!
• Bought the most gorgeous olive green dress last week that I’m going to wear tomorrow, with a bead necklace that my aunt, Kathy, made me (my mom came back from CT bearing gifts) and I promise I’ll take a photo of the necklace this week, Tanya, it’s quite something to behold!
• The kids are both sick with acute tonsillitis so we’ve had a wonderful weekend. In fact, the GP told Lance (he took the boys because I was a a shoot) that Connor needs his tonsils removed because he’s had tonsillitis 5 times this year.  Ho hum… so much for that stupid medical aid letter a few weeks ago advising me to reduce my cover!
• The house is driving me nuts, something breaks every week!
• This coming week is going to be very emotional for me… visiting 2 childrens homes and 1 squatter camp school and taking photos at all 3.
• My shootsac is on it’s way to me!! It’s arrived at my cousin’s house in the US, and she’s bringing it to SA when she comes to visit family for Xmas… then it’s just to somehow get it to JHB from CT!
• I still haven’t made a call about buying the lens though (the Canon 70-200mm f2.8)… it’s SO much money… but I do need it for the weddings next year.  It will get here the same way, so I’d better make that call in the next day or so!
• I missed a shoot at an airbase yesterday because I stupidly got my dates mixed up! I could shoot myself actually!! But apparently they’re going to organise another one there, because there was too much to take in for one session.
• We still haven’t got a dog, we’re lazy that way
• The Christmas tree is up… but Father Christmas didn’t listen to the angel and take the letter out of the fireplace last night… Ooops… so Bradley was a little upset this morning.
• My word, you should see their wishlists though… and that reminds me, I need to do a wishlist of my own.

PS!  Does anyone know of anyone who knows how to use a sewing machine and overlocker and would be willing to teach the carers at a childrens home in Kelvin Johannesburg how to use the machines they got given?  Please let me know using comments or via Twitter or Facebook!

Thoughts of Christmas presents have started, and wonders never cease, I’ve actually started buying them!

I went to Sandton yesterday to finish the New Zealand presents, which are being posted tomorrow… and hopefully they’ll get there in time!! I could have spent a fortune in Big Blue but I was good, and only got pressies!

Then I went to the toy shop and bought the most awesome Fisher Price dinosaur for Connor!  Laura had told me about the range, and I had to find it.  Wow! I wish I could afford the bigger ones for him!  They had such an awesome range!

This afternoon however, thoughts turned to myself… after dreaming about getting a 70-200mm f2.8 L for myself… and a shootsac and a baroque cover for myself (ps. if anyone is travelling to SA from USA this Xmas and is willing to bring the shootsac for me, I’d love you forever, they don’t ship to SA, and local places are nearly triple the price)… I got the email from Photojojo with the usual tempations.

Except this time, I’m actually interested in what’s on the newsletter!! Wow!! How cool is this little lens? I want one, I can just imagine the funky photos I’d be able to take with it!  And the piggy bank frame… what a cool idea!

I think it’s time to put a xmas wishlist together!

… and it’s time to think about those less fortunate than yourselves

Laura is putting together a Christmas party for a children’s home and she’s looking for people to donate R100 per child for gifts.  Please help out if you can.  She’s still looking for 10 gifts for kids.  The details are HERE

If you want to get more involved, the party is now going to be on the 12th of December… and I’m doing the photography

… and the kids are getting excited   Even Connor is excited, he knows that Father Christmas is going to leave presents for him under the tree tonight… for “Meee and Baabaaa (Bradley) and Mama and Dada”.

I love this time of year with all the wonder and magic and mystery.  I really hope that this magic carries on for a few more years for Bradley.

I’m supposed to be cleaning the house… but decided a while ago to can that idea and watch a Christmas movie on TV with the kids.  It was called “Elf” and at the end of the movie everyone starts singing to get the Christmas spirit up so Santa’s sleigh can get going.  I had tears in my eyes (yes, I’m one of those people) when Bradley started singing on top of his voice…

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why:

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He’s making a list,
He’s checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out
who’s naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows when you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!

So…You better watch out,
You better not cry
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

I’ve wrapped the presents, apart from the scooters for the boys, which Lance will put together tonight. The house is about to get cleaned (once Connor wakes up from his nap). The washing is getting dry on the line. I need to make the Garlic mayonaise (my grandmother’s recipe) for the ham for tonight and tomorrow. And then we’re ready.

Tonight, we’re having dinner at my parent’s house with my brother and his family (he’s on standby tomorrow so we can’t have our normal lunch on Christmas Day).
We’d better remember to put out the cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer before the kids go to sleep.

And to all of you out there… have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family!