They Made It

The day started off pretty intense...


But as things progressed....



My Sky and her Netball team....



...made it to the Finals!! Woo-hoo!

And following in her sister's sneakers; Tori is playing...


It's not "Basketball" like Momma played, nonetheless there is a ball, a basket and some talent involved. And it is quite fun seeing my girls engage in team sports!

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

The Franzenfam had a recent chat about career paths of choice "when we grow up". Rich and I remain undecided however my brood has it all figured out...

Sky gave us her career choices in list form...
1) Mom
2) Teacher
3) Journalist (if I have time)


Blake: "I want to be a professional soccer player, an engineer in case the soccer thing doesn't work out...oh, and a preacher like Joel." (Joel Osteen)

He's our visionary!

Tori: "Mom, I want to be the lady at the store that helps you when your ready to buy your items...what is she called?"
Me: "A Cashier?"
Tori: "Yep, I want to be a Cashier."

I guess I can deduce which child is a "Chip off the Old Block" or "Blockette" in this case, which one will be supporting his parents when he makes it big, and which one I will be purchasing my groceries from.

Bits of My Weekend

It was a weekend full of Sports, Playdates, sleep overs (even the bunny had a sleep over) and Sweetness!

Sports
We started our weekend with news that Sky's netball team would be playing at G7, which equates to a big deal. Regionals of sort and the top 3 teams advance to the finals.

And what would a Saturday morning be without a soccer game? Bay's team remains undefeated. They won 5 to 1.

Playdates

Fun in fall leaves

Sweetness

My precious 3...always the best Mother's day gift!


Malva pudding, a favorite South African treat...

And the Franzenfam favorite soccer club, Chelsea, wins the English Premier League Title!


A Sweet ending to a wonderful weekend! For more "bits" check out Six in the City.

Our Worth in Rubies

I have a Pastor friend from the Chicago area. He was studying for this Sunday's, Mother's Day service and shared some of his insights. I found his research on Women's Worth quite interesting. He shares...

Proverbs 31:10
"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. "

So, I decided to find out how much rubies were worth. I thought you might find this calculation interesting:
· There are 141.7 carats in an ounce
· There are 16 ounces in a pound
· If the average wife weighed in at 120 lbs then she would weigh 272,064 carats
· A particular ruby sold for $425,000 per carat

That means that the minimum worth of a 120lb wife with noble character is $115,627,200,000

That’s $115.6 Billion! That’s the minimum worth, if she has noble character.

But the Bible says her worth is far more! How much is far more than one? Maybe 10? OK, it could be a lot more than 10 but let’s start there. So, the minimum worth of a 120lb wife of noble character is at least $1.15Trillion!

Pastor Joe concluded with a challenge to men, "I think we need to start treating our wives better!"

My conclusion is a challenge to women...Perhaps we should spend less time consumed with being younger and thinner, pursuing the latest and greatest fashion, comparing ourselves to everyone else and spend more time daily pursuing noble character.

I'm sold!

Happy Hoppin' Birthday

Our weekend was all about this little guy....

For more than a year, Skyler has asked for a bunny. It took a while but we finally caved. With her June birthday coming up and a friend giving away baby bunnies, Truffles became a part of the Franzenfam this past weekend.


Guess we can count on a hoppin' birthday. Happy early Birthday Sky!

A Beautiful Reminder

Driving home after a long day, the rain fading and the sun peering through the clouds, Skyler exclaimed excitedly, "Mommy, look at the beautiful rainbow."

I could not help but think about God's promises...they are strewn throughout the scriptures and He is faithful to every last one. There in the sky before me rose a beautiful reminder.

Suddenly the trials that plagued my mind paled in comparison to my Creator's beauty and His faithfulness. How Great is my God?!

Soakin' it In

Unfortunately our warm days are fleeting on this side of the ocean, so we're soakin' up the sun as long as we can. Saturday was a gorgeous day here in Jozi...it felt more like summer weather than autumn which is alright by me.

Our afternoon entertainment was a bit rustic at best but it provided the necessary measure to eliminate some energy and gain some Vitamin D.

A little of this....



And this......



Add a plastic tarp and walla--



We had S'MORE fun that evening....


Left over chocolate, marshmallow, Easter eggs made a delectable mushy treat


And all days like this seem to end the same way....


Hoping this wasn't our last "summer" weekend!

Finally

For over a year we have been hearing about a fun adventure place here in Joburg called Jozi X. Seems like every time we attempted to go our plans were hampered in one way or another.

Finally, this school break we made the venture and it was well worth it.

Dark clouds looming we made our way to the park with fingers crossed...

Lots of fun things to explore and favorites were found.

Blake connected with his inner gymnast and/or monkey...




Quickly mastering these he went to greater heights testing his acrobatics


Skyler gravitated toward the climbing apparatus'




Finally, success after MANY attempts to reach the top.

The sun arrived in time for water fun..


A particular favorite for the littlest Franzen


And I found the solution to sibling rivalry...


Sky and Blake gave it a try. The Face-off...


With the win going to an elated Skyler..


I'm seriously thinking of getting one of these set up in my backyard...3 words..."Take it Outside"!

There was even a little something for me...


Where the espresso is pretty good, it's not as good as its descriptive marketing. (My "cake" post fans, I just could not resist!)

After 4 hours of good ole fun we left faces full of smiles...


Finally got there; Definitely going back!

Adding Some Color

We attempt to teach our kids about the Lord through various means. Once in a while we stumble on a good idea that helps us teach a God idea.

Thanks to a blog friend for introducing me to Praying in Color, by Sybil MacBeth. It is a creative idea of praying while doodling.

For Christmas I got my doodle queen (Skyler) the Kids' edition, a sketch pad and some fun markers.

She loved the idea and it brought a whole new dimension to her prayer times.

Prior to our school break (of which we are in week 2) I purchased a sketch book, fun pens and colored pencils for all 3 of my kiddos.

I presented the concept and shared how each morning instead of turning on the TV or playing Wii the first thing we would do, in addition to reading our bibles, is have our own special time to “pray in color”.

The idea was a hit….bibles and sketch books were set out the night before and each child rose ready to put their prayers on paper.



We've had fun discussing pics/prayers with each other and agreeing together in prayer for various needs.

It is a great concept for all ages (I even set my prayers to color sometimes)…Tori can’t read or always articulate her prayers but she loves to color and she’s getting the “just talk to God about what you are drawing” idea.

So “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, the Franzenfam is presenting our requests to God”….and some days it gets pretty colorful!

Holiday Week 1 Review

Nope not away on vacation just away from school....the Franzenfam kids just finished up week one of school holiday. It was filled with an array of fun and went far to quickly. Have a peek...

There were facials with friends....






Sleepovers and ice-skaing......



(see what happens when my kids stay up too late)

Lots of this for Mr. Goalie






(Official goalie shirt forthcoming...the Star Wars PJ shirt will do for now, can you guess who randomly pulled that shirt from his drawer?)

A concert 'under the stars' for Mom and Pop



A little rain



Yet the highlight of the week was the time spent at Impact Kid's pre-school....












Skyler was truly touched. She said, "Mom, being with the Impact Kids confirms my calling as a teacher." Now that is some good holiday stuff!

The Franzenfam Week One Holiday Review = 2 Thumbs Up!