Merry Franzen Fam Christmas

Our Christmas in New York was bliss. The Eve began with church, followed by a yummy Italian dinner and ended with the Franzenfam traditional peppermint hot chocolate and new Christmas PJ's.


A java toast Christmas morning



to Grandma's homemade cinnamon rolls...


and to the Ultimate Christmas Gift


After the Christmas story was read and a prayer of thanks given the "opening" began



There were lots of smiles






And some tears. Tears of joy in this case...



The rest of the day would be spent playing with new toys...





or reading in Skyler's case..



While the women got things ready for Christmas dinner adorned in their new comfy footwear


the men shared in the Christmas play



..or the frustration of putting toys together



It was a very Merry Franzen Fam Christmas!

Pillow Talk

I know it has been a while since my last post. Since that time I have laid my head (and my families) to rest on 7 different pillows in differing locations. I don’t offer that as a complaint as we lay our heads to rest each night full of unbelievable memories of great experiences had with family and friends. Our bodies retire exhausted, as our “doings” have been many and amazing, however our hearts are happy.

Pillow #5 was the start of our New York trip with the extended Franzenfam. We were welcomed with 6 inches of snow. Fortunately Grandma F had the snow gear for the kids ready to go as they were venturing in with or without it.

Our dreams of a White Christmas were becoming a reality. The kids received an early Christmas present with a trip to Lake Placid (pillow #6) with Grandma and Grandpa. There Blake would snowboard and Sky ski for the first time.




They got to share the slopes with Uncle Ronnie & Aunt Debbie...


While those 2 skied, Grandma and I took Tori “sleighing” (aka sledding) per her request.







It snowed the entire day and it was absolutely beautiful.







Hope you aren't getting sleepy with all this pillow talk...fluff 'em up and get comfy just a little bit more.

Pillow #7 was a heavenly one (no pun intended) for Rich and myself as it was a trip for just the two of us to NYC. (The actual pillows were pretty comfy too.) My brilliant husband scored us a decent hotel mid-town with an unbeatable price….free! What a blessing! Our good friends the Hesters joined us….


And there we would see another 12 inches of snow...





IT WAS AWESOME!

We escaped the winter wonderland for a while to catch a show



....it was equally awesome!

And just for fun as my pillow talk would not be complete without a pic of my hotty New Yorker...


Our pillows are permanent for the next 2 weeks wherewith I hope to update on numbers 1-4, the warmer Florida ones. Tonight as I retire to my down and fluff I am grateful to my Creator for all the wonderful memories being shared with family! We are blessed. Thanks for joining me for this edition of pillow talk.

November days...

November here is much like December in the States. Everything is coming to a close. Add to that the end of a school year and it means lots of Concerts. Everything is called a "concert" here be it a recital, a play, a dance..etc.

Skyler had her first piano 'concert'...aka- recital. Blake and Tori were getting a little fidgety (that is putting it mildly) while "listening" to the 30 students perform their pieces and as a result we may have caused a few disturbances. Where Rich and I laughed, Skyler was quite put off and whispered to me, "Why does my family have to be so embarrassing"? My retort, "Because we love you so."

Both Skyler and Blake had their end of the year honoring evenings. Here the students are honored for a specific fruit of the Spirit they have displayed during the year. The eve ends in a performance by their grade level. Here are the franzenfam gals getting ready for Blake's big performance.


Additionally Blake is finishing up cricket season, Tori celebrated the finish of her school year and enjoyed a welcoming party for Kindergarten, and ballet...I can't bring myself to comment other than to say, I am sooooo ready for it to be over.

Amidst the never-ending school activities, opening a preschool (click here to view progress), and getting ready to spend 6 weeks in the States we have found some time to blow-off steam.

Here are some action shots...












We will end our November days in AMERICA, where we will continue to blow-off steam and capture plenty more action shots!

No Trade Ins

I enjoyed many special things this birthday weekend. Amongst them was a precious card from my “words of encouragement” 10 year old. She articulated various endearments to her dear ole (not to be confused with old) mom but there was a particular phrase that stuck out to me…..

“….I would not trade you in for any other mommy!”

Well all I can say to that is, “PHEWWWW!”

Perhaps I should keep this particular card as a reminder of her “no trade in” statement for when she is a teenager and feeling otherwise.

1 part South African 2 parts Boy

Blake: "Mom, I think I need a new pair of tekkies (SA term for gym shoes)."

Me: "Ya think?"!

South African made, boy worn...shoes don't have a chance.

Tiny Tush Tuesday

...and in keeping with the African way, "If it is yellow let it mellow"... (I think you know the rest).

As Good as it Gets

I have to admit “dress-up” days at the kid’s school is not my favorite. I know they are supposed to be “fun” and I suppose they are for the kids but for the parents, I find they cause undue stress...especially with no Good Will or dollar store to run to.

Can you tell by my attitude that we have had a few? When Sky first started school I am sure I thought they were great.

Here we have weird hair and big glasses day during spirit week….

And of course the annual “Proudly South African”. I did enjoy this one last year…click here to see.



Tori was feeling a bit left out (just wait honey you have plenty dress-up days ahead) so I made it “ballerina day” at home. I know, I know how cool am I? Ha!



She of course had to change outfits periodically throughout the day...

Today Blake had to dress in “Circus Attire”. And when did I remember this little tid bit? Oh 45 minutes before leaving for school. Fortunately he is my easy going child and we just happened to have a clown nose lying around. (I like to dress up at home every now and again.)

Add a dash of face paint and some hair gel and whalla…..



Okay so he might not be winning any awards for the “best clown attire” but hey that is as good as it is going to get!

A Special Lion Sighting

No more posts about Tamiflu and T-shirts (I could tell by the comments it was a hit….not!). We’ll move on to a special lion sighting….

Living in Africa we get to see a lot of these…..

We recently had a sighting that ranks as the best ever….

Tori had her first big school play. Can you guess the theme?

And the part of Sarabi will be played by Tori Franzen (oops that was Lion King not Noah’s ark)

Our morning was filled with Lion King references (even though it was Noah's ark) and rehearsing her part.

Here she is giving her best roar….

Big brother stepped in to lend her some tips…..



Even the Franzenfam pooch, Keba was frightened….



The girls were a bit more tame…..


My favorite moment was when Tori asked why God told Noah to pick both a girl and boy animal. I did what every good mom does in that moment and told her to ask her Dad. (She’s 4, I figure we have some time before the birds and the bees).

Here she is with her teacher who also directed the play.....


We are grateful for “Granny” as many of the kids call her. Tori’s school is a public preschool and Granny is a strong, bold Christian that prays with the kids each morning and has no qualms about sharing her beliefs!

Show time……



Sarabi and Mufasa sharing the spotlight…. (there is that LK ref. again)



It definitely was the cutest lion sighting I’ve ever beheld….

Got a T-shirt Slogan?

The kids just finished a 2 week school break and began their last term of the year today. Typically, a post vacation blog would consist of photos and reports of all the fun things that took place during such a break. However due to all the Franzenfam sickness; ours was a bit different.

No visits to places like this…..

Too many visits to this place…..



Not a whole lot of this…..



A lot of this…….



Which got me back on the bandwagon of drinking more of this……

(I figure if I put my veggie juice in a nice glass it will taste better)

No “My mom went to ____(insert some exotic place) and all I got was this lousy t-shirt", t-shirts for the kids.

I did have an idea of a shirt though. How bout this....

Front-
“Got Swine Flu?”

Back-
I know a Great Physician

Could come in varying shades of pink…maybe even a big pig snout on the front.

Think it’ll sell?

If you were to encapsulate your last 2 weeks, what would your “t-shirt” slogan be?