Memorial Day Weekend

Last week was very busy here at Mum and Dad's. On Friday night, they were hosting a party for all Dad's office staff (about 40 people) and so we spent the week getting ready for that. Andre finished up repainting their kitchen as well as the spare bedroom, as guests were also spending the weekend. I'll let the photos tell the rest.


We stopped work long enough to relax outside one evening with a glass of wine





Unfortunately, these are the only photos we got of the party





Little Jack was a trooper and behaved perfectly on Friday and Saturday with all the hustle and bustle around here. He spent much of the time snoozing in his swing



High school friends of Mum and Dad's spent the weekend with us. They left in the morning yesterday and so we spent the rest of Memorial Day doing this:



It was great!

Don't Judge...I Was Desperate!

So, here's Jack...and guess what he's doing?





Yes, he's watching American Idol. I know, I know, I'm a bad mother, but the whining was getting beyond a joke and TV (gasp) seemed like a good option in my exhausted opinion. His Daddy was scandalized but Jack seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly, as did his Mummy!

P.S. This won't be a regular occurrence :-)

"Vellies"

Growing up in Zimbabwe and South Africa, we were used to most of our dads, uncles, brothers etc., wearing these:



Here's the description from Wikipedia: Veldskoens (or veldskoene, pronounced "FELL-skoons") are South African shoes made from untanned leather or soft rawhide uppers attached to a soft sole. Their name comes from Afrikaans vel ("hide") and skoen ("shoe"), and their design is believed to be based on the traditional Hottentot footwear observed by the first Dutch settlers in South Africa[1]. Veldskoens are familiarly referred to as "vellies" in South African slang.

I love these shoes, as they are such a 'blast from the past' and a reminder of my childhood in Africa. So imagine my delight when I found these for Jack:




They are from Babies R Us of all places and I got them in two sizes as they were on clearance for $2 a pair! Now he's a real South African boytjie!

A Great Achievement!

For the past two years, Dad has been working on editing and rewriting a book on reconstructive breast surgery. And he finally finished and published it this spring! It's an enormous accomplishment and contribution to the medical community and we're so proud of him. Last night we attended a reception held in his honor, at the medical school here in Peoria. It was a really special evening; several people spoke, including the Dean of the Medical School, the Chief of Surgery at the hospital Dad works at, and a visiting professor, one of Dad's colleagues from Duke University. They all spoke so highly of Dad and his work and made us very proud!

Jack, all dressed up on the way to the reception

Me with Mum and Dad

All of us together

Jack and Nana (thankfully, he behaved himself beautifully: he slept most of the time and smiled at everybody the rest of the evening!)

What's up with us...

On Saturday, after spending a week back home in Atlanta, Jack and I flew back to Peoria again, this time for a month! Woohoo! We're loving being here and enjoying lots of Nana and Grandpa time :)

We had a really good week back in Atlanta, as you can see from previous blog posts; we spent Mother's Day with my siblings, had a photo shoot for Jack and his cousins, visited Barnsley Gardens with friends, and went to a birthday dinner party for my boss last Friday. Thanks Robin for hosting!! It was really great to see everyone from work there and specially good to spend time with Paul and Sharon (my boss and his wife) as we won't see them again until August! They're going on sabbatical to England for a couple of months:

Us with Paul and Sharon

Andre spent the weekend in Atlanta, seeing friends and packing all the things I left behind (!) and then drove up to Chattanooga on Monday to take care of some things there. He drove up to Peoria on Wednesday and we're so glad to have him back with us! Jack was very glad to see his Daddy and gave him a big grin.

Andre getting his Jack fix after being away from us for four days

The Picture People

While spending the week back in Atlanta, I received a coupon in the mail from "The Picture People" at the mall. It seemed a pretty decent deal, a free 11x14 and 20% off all other purchases with no sitting fee. Figuring we might as well try it out for fun, Ness and I made an appointment and crossed our fingers, hoping that all three littlies would cooperate and smile at the same time! Hoping for all three was slightly ambitious but we actually got some beautiful photos out of it (and of course spent more than we planned on!). We had such a fun time together and all three kiddos did surprisingly well with the 2.5 hours at the studio. Here's one of our favorites:

Jack (10 weeks) and Alexis (12 weeks)

Barnsley Gardens

Today we hung out with our friends Pip and Dave and decided to take a little road trip up to Barnsley Gardens, a favorite spot of ours and one they hadn't been to yet. It was gorgeous weather, although pretty hot and humid out there already. We had a really fun time, ate at the restaurant, walked the grounds, visited the ruins and ended with ice-cream. Good times.

Little Jack was a trooper!

The ruins of the old mansion

The Rose Walk (they smelt heavenly!)

Back home this evening, chilling with Daddy and having a little cuddle after being in the car seat most of the day