Busy Brood

It's winter season this side of the ocean. That means hot water bottles, down comforters, beautiful blue skies and BUSY SEASON! We are prepping to host close to 300 North Americans over the course of June and July but its not just Mama and Papa Franzen that are feelin' the winter "heat". The Franzen brood is keeping in step with the flurry of activity.

It is Netball season for Sky. She is playing for the A-team at her school. Although the team is off to a tough start it is a joy to watch my girl take to this foreign sport (so foreign to her basketball playin' Mama)....

As well as we are up to our "boots" (aka cleats) in soccer. Blake is playing both Club ball and for his school team. He is shaping up to be a good all around player both as the A-team goalie and when in the field.

And Tori...well no sports this season; she is staying busy being cute and keeping warm....

Things Beginning with the letter "M"

Tori's homework consists of a take home page with the letter of the week. She looks through various magazines to find pictures of things beginning with that particular letter, cuts out the pic and pastes it on the sheet before returning it to school.

This week's letter was the letter "M".....

Tori grabbed scissors and glue as I pulled out the magazines and we began discussing things beginning with the letter "M". I was thrilled when she set out to find the perfect picture to represent "Michelle My Mom". After all look at the magazines she was flipping through....


...I was feeling pretty confident with the choices. :)

So we perused the pages and made our choices...monkey, "moo", "meow", milk....and finally Tori revealed the "mommy" picture. Have a look in the lower right hand corner.....

Yep, I had a good laugh too....of all the magazines filled with pics of gorgeous women Tori chose the one of the lady stuffing her face. I guess she feels her mom has a lot in common with the "moo".

The truth definitely hurts especially when exposed by a 6 year old!

Autumn and Abby

Well it is definitely Autumn here in South Africa...can you tell....

my poor backyard has been so neglected but the kids are having fun in the leaves....


Autumn (you don't say "fall" here) is not the only newness in our parts. Our friends and co-workers, the Smiths, moved here 3 weeks ago and have been staying with us until they can move into their place. We are enjoying all of them but little Abby seems to get the most attention..

And not just by my girls, Blake has a tender spot for his new little friend...

So of course he is encouraging the "important" things....

He'll have her playing soccer in no time. :)

So as the temps grow colder we are bundling up ushering in Autumn and enjoying our time with sweet Abby....

Easterlicious

We started the Easter weekend with festivities at Impact Kids....

Painting Crosses......

Coloring eggs....



Sharing about the Resurrected Saviour....


More coloring eggs with the Franzenfam...

and our new fun friends....Abby and Emma.....

Emma and me making cupcakes for our Easter brunch....

Traditional Easter morning pics......


No spring attire here...it was chilly!

The first South African Easter for the Smiths...our house guests and newest staff members....

Easter brunch with the Impact Africa Family......

And of course there were plenty of sweets....


It was Easterlicious!

Hilariously Adorable

I've found that women and their hair obsessions span all cultures. In the African culture even the little girls "get their hair done". This is a lengthy process and we've experienced at times a little girl being absent from school only to find out the next day that she was getting her hair done. It can also alter their look quite a bit....I've sometimes wondered who the new kid is to later find it is an "old" kid with a new 'do. Take Cassie for example. Here I am with my little friend Cassie...

Cassie is our youngest at Impact Kids and although she doesn't understand a word I say, she doesn't hesitate to beckon me with her arms open indicating "pick me up"....which I'm very happy to oblige. She is one of my favs....shh don't tell anyone as we aren't supposed to have favorites. :)

The other day when I arrived at the school Cassie looked a bit different.....

Cassie got a "new do" and it is quite a 'do at that! Isn't she hilariously adorable?!!

Mr. Creative

My 3 were recently invited to a birthday party for a girl named "Ruth". Their task was to come dressed as anything beginning with the letter "R". My ambitious one (literal meaning of Skyler) organized her "Rock star" outfit. Tori wanted to be a rabbit and Blake, well he did not get into it until the morning of the party.

Fortunately for me (hee), I was spending the day with our new interns and Daddy was on kid duty. As I drove out of the drive I waved goodbye, enjoyed a nice guilt free sigh and said a prayer for Dad's creativity.

Well I know I married a brilliant man but little did I know he was Mr. Creative. He came up with Blake's "R3" costume. R2D2's cousin?? and/or robot in one of the Star War's movies....


Well done!

No Tori isn't sick, she is a rabbit wearing a pink camel shirt with a pink nose and ponytail ears done up by her big sis.

So next time I have one of my favorite tasks like this one, I know just who to delegate it to... My Mr. Creative!

Guns and Blueberries

On Friday this goofy group got together to celebrate my birthday boy.....


They did so with guns and paint...what could be better for a bunch of boys?



And a girl. Brother and sister would face off


Others would take one in the face...thank the Lord for masks.


Such a confident stance....too bad he wasn't watching his back.



It was a fun, few hours filled with testosterone and some sisterly love...


And by far the easiest cake I've ever had to "make". Blake wanted donuts....


As for breakfast in bed, it was blueberry pancakes...


Along with a few birthday surprises....


And staying with the blueberry theme we finished things off with HOMEMADE blueberry pie (my first ever).

Another birthday wrapped up...this year with guns and blueberries.

Happy Birthday Blake....I think you're pretty great!

Just like My Mommy (well kinda)

Tori's recent theme at school is "Family". To culminate the theme the kids would have a fun day and were to come dressed as a family member....mom, dad, granny, grandpa...etc.

Well those who have multiple children, or lack in the creativity department like I do understand when I say, I HATE things like this. I proposed her dressing like her daddy...large collared shirt, tie, facial hair drawn on with black eyeliner....easy peasy. Being she adores her daddy I thought we had a for sure winner so was a bit deflated when she replied, "No way"! Apparently it is embarrassing for a 6 year old girl to dress as a male. Who knew? The powder in the hair, flowery perfume- dress like a granny was also shot down and that was about all the creativity I could muster.

So like many other "important" things I quickly forgot about this assignment. Morning of "dress like a family member" day I had a panicky 6 yr old and of course everything at that moment was all my fault...isn't it always?!

Not sure if it was the guilty conscious, morning caffeine rush or divine inspiration but we came up with an "acceptable outfit" and Tori would go to school as "Mommy"...


Okay for the the record I would not wear a shiny silver dress or overdue it with red lipstick (well maybe) but the hat and scarf are mine.

Yes, it is the little things in life that tend to wear me out but I was grateful to whatever inspiration it was that struck that morning as I had a little girl quite happy to be her "Mommy" for the day. Not too bad in my book!

Now onto Blake's "Build a Scarecrow out of household items" Project. NO JOKE!

Our Mr. Funny

Blake is the Franzenfam comedian. Knock Knock jokes seem to be the favorite at the moment. He often wakes with one on his mind and ready to share. This would not be a problem if he wasn't our early riser. I enjoy a good laugh but don't find much very funny at 6 a.m.

Blake's material is not limited to Knock Knock jokes or to the walls of the Franzenfam home. One never knows when Mr. Funny might strike.

The other day we stopped for a quick Chow Mien at a local Chinese restaurant. It was a nice day thus our desire to sit outside. With limited outdoor seating Tori and I sat at one table and Blake and Skyler at another a short distance from our table (Rich was not with us).

I just finished my egg roll when Blake tapped me on the back....

"Hey Mom, do I have something on my nose, it feels really funny?"

I turned to see this.....

Apparently Mr. Funny could not resist the urge to incorporate chopsticks into his new act. The restaurant patrons didn't seem to appreciate his humor but admittedly I had a bit of a chuckle...followed by a picture and then of course a stern, "Ok get those out of your nose right now".

So who's the "Mr. Funny" in your family and what's his/her latest "joke". Please share...after all laughter doeth good like a medicine.

Off to a Promising Start

School started today for my 3..the beginning of a new academic year and the beginning of this....

These guys were ready for the big day...


Blake started Grade 3. He is my easy goin', get along with everyone so I wasn't concerned about him. I was actually more concerned for his teacher when I found out there are only 4 girls in his entire class.


Tori headed off to her class with an aura of confidence which was wonderful to see from my shy girl. She was happy to see some familiar faces from last year...and one of her absolute favorites, little Miss Amanda (African girl to the left).

My Sky was the most uptight. She has 2 really great best friends and they so hoped to be together. Such a relief when she checked her class list and saw all 3 of them would be....not to mention a sigh of relief from Mama.

Rich and I drove off leaving behind 3 very happy children. Looking forward to a good year ahead.

Franzenfam Christmas- African Style

As a family we had a wonderful opportunity to spread some Christmas cheer to a handful of kids in Diepsloot...

Returning home we were enveloped with the aroma of cinnamon and easily consumed these..

There were plenty of smiles throughout the day








A delicious picnic...even my food is monochromatic. :)


Thanks to technology we were able to celebrate with both sides of family Stateside.


Our precious niece Ella made sure we were a special part of the NY Franzenfam gift opening.


We retired after an amazing day of celebrating our Saviour, embracing sweet memories and new soft presents from Christmas Day.


Time to start making out my Christmas list for next year as it will be here before we know it!