Jess and Sarah find a hidey tree

The girls had tea with their Rubidge grandparents at Groot Constantia yesterday. The place has some amazing old oak trees, including this one which is miraculously alive despite being entirely hollow:
Jess has lost her two bottom front teeth in the past couple of weeks, but it hasn't stopped her smiling yet :-)

Posing for the paparazzi

Give a three-year-old a pair of sunglasses and this is what you get:


Remember "Walk Like an Egyptian?" I think Sarah is channelling The Bangles. And Jess definitely has some kind of Marilyn thing going. I disclaim any responsibility for wherever she learned that pose...

It was Amy's birthday on Sunday but I forgot my camera -- so here is one of Grandpa David's pics from last Tuesday:



They're not always *quite* so pink, but the three cousins do play very wonderfully together, especially now that Sarah and Amy's imaginative play is really taking off. They play endless games of "I'm the mommy, you're the baby, you're the big sister". It gives me a nice warm snuggly feeling to watch.

PS Happy belated birthdays to Nicola and Kate!! Sorry for being so tardy -- hope you both had fabulous days.

Xmas Decorations 2007

Jessica and Sarah making decorations for the tree. Requirements - coloured paper, macaroni (preferrably uncooked although S tried with a piece from her macaroni and cheese supper!), ribbon. Tools - Scissors and threading needle.

Much fun had by all, including Granny and Grandpa.

My Family by Jessica

The end-of-year school reports come in envelopes decorated by the kids. This is Jessica's version of her family:

Sarah's carrying balloons because it's her birthday. And note the grey hair on mom!

A taste of what's possible

And an excuse to show off my children! Jessica was a mouse in the school nativity play last week:

And the next day Sarah turned three:

She's wearing the "twirly whirly dress". It started out with two layers of tulle but the top one has had to be removed because of extreme raggedness and the bottom one will follow soon. This dress is quite frequently taken out of the laundry basket because nothing else will do! Did somebody say second children tend to be strong-willed?