School Holidays - BLT Style

As quickly as they came, the school holidays went. It is unbelievable how quickly time can race when you're having a blast, and how slowly it can drag when you're not!  We had loads of fun this holiday. But it didn't start out that way.....

The challenge for me this holiday was to include fun activities for my BLT while increasing body strength and also sticking to the "rules" of Dr Aron - no swimming (easy because it's freezing cold here) no playing on grass and sweating was to be kept to a minimum. Also the rationing of colourants, preservatives and junk food was not an easy task for a 9 year old, but we try. I started off by drawing up a "wish list" (as us A-types like to do) of potential holiday activities. When I asked B, L and T what they wanted to do the most, they all agreed that going to the rides and playing the arcade games at our local entertainment complex, was the definite winner. I wasn't too keen because that would include almost no activity, but I wrote it down, begrudgingly.

For the first week the girls attended a holiday club arranged by one of the local churches. This was a bit of an eye-opener because I have such fond memories of going to clubs like this when I was growing up, but boy have they changed and not for the better! Each day was making a craft (how lovely - wrong!) the craft was a weapon for battle of their soul against Satan. These crafts ranged from making armour to swords and my personal favourite the "death by cross-bow" craft! The girls were petrified the first day when they were put into a room, the lights were turned off and they were told that they were in a dungeon. The idea apparently was to "come out of the dark" and find "the light of God." Hmmm well this had the quite the opposite effect with my two and I spent a lot of time explaining that they were born from love not evil (as they had been told at the club.) I also had to explain that it was not true that if they didn't "give themselves to God" they were going "straight to hell!" Needless to say we won't be going back there! I'm not sure what the church was trying to achieve with this method, but I honestly think biscuits, Oros, a few fun parables, bible stories and signing Kumbaya, would have gleaned more positive results.


On one of the first afternoons of the holiday, our home was like a mad house. Plumbers were busy replacing our geyser thermostat and I was deflecting an excited 3 year old away from the ladder that led up to the unexplored darkness in the ceiling. I sent him outside to play while I started making lunch (without water as it had been turned off while the plumbers worked). I asked Tomato for the umpteenth time to clean Peanut (her cockatiel's) cage. Usually we just slip out the tray and replace the paper but it needed a more thorough cleaning and she was loathe to comply. She was grumpy and stomping around wailing that nobody was helping her, when Lettuce arrived inside covered in paint from head to toe. I quickly stripped him and sent him upstairs to change, and started boiling the kettle to get hot water to rinse the paint off as. This proved to a worthless effort as the paint wouldn't budge. I then went in search of the source - the paint! I found a litre tin that was left behind by some contractors that we had used a few weeks before. It never occurred to me that they would leave any paint behind. #epicfail. I picked up the can of paint and quickly stashed it into the deep outside basin, out of reach of inquisitive little hands and went back to the boiling kettle and the half-made lunch. Tomato was continuing her rant. She hadn't been able to get the tap on outside and was sobbing that she was so tired and that her life was so horrible. I shouted calmly encouraged her to take the base of the cage outside and soak it for a bit so that all the gunk would get soft and easy to remove and I would help her when I was done. Off she went in a huff while I went upstairs to retrieve Lettuce who was of course on top of the ladder, naked!

We then heard "thud" and a strange high-pitched scream from Tomato! We all rushed to see what was wrong. While taking the paint can out of the basin to make place for her bird-cage soak, she grumpily decided to just throw it down on the cobbles to get it out of her way instead of putting it down nicely. When she did this of course, it burst open sending paint flying in all directions. The scream was due more to the horror of her anticipated punishment than what had actually happened. I actually became so calm that it was scary (even to me). I instantly dished out her punishment of no TV for the entire holiday, as I started to hose down the paint. Tomatoe ran sobbing inside. No such luck for her! I called her to get a wire broom and start scrubbing. We continued for over an hour until most of the paint had been washed away, taking turns to scrub and brush the floor and walls where it had splashed. So a light activity birdcage change that shouldn't have taken more than 10 minutes became almost 2 hours of hard labour. I pictured the 3 weeks of holiday looming in front of me like a prison sentence and dreaded what was to come. On the bright side, the activity had been strength-building and Hubby also had a good workout scrubbing with us!

Then I got thinking about the list we had drawn up..... the most exciting thing is to play games and go on rides..... these games and rides take tokens..... so my idea was born. They were going to earn their treat. Good behaviour = 1 token. The better they behaved, the more games and rides they could go on. First I got them to decorate their own glass jar with as much bling as they could smear onto it. Once the jars were complete, they were given the task of making tokens in any shape or form. That night we had a family meeting around the dining room table (so cute!) Hubby and I explained that they could earn tokens and they loved the idea!

• Get up, dressed, make bed, brush teeth and hair and have breakfast, leaving the kitchen tidy = 1 token 
• Bathing when asked and tidying their room, packing away clothes etc = 1 token 
• Eating dinner nicely, clearing up afterwards and going to bed without drama = 1 token

Then during the day they could earn extra tokens by:

• Being kind
• Helping when asked
• Helping without being asked
• Getting along with their siblings and not fighting

After explaining the token idea, we went on to discuss the shouting in the family and how we were tired of having to shout so much because they don't listen to us and how we are forced to shout to be heard. They agreed, they didn't like the shouting. We discussed how it makes us all feel sad. I introduced the "no shouting" idea which has been a game-changer! We will ask twice and then, instead of asking a third time and shouting, we would gently (actually very noisily, for effect) remove a token from their jar! They looked shocked, but they agreed, no more shouting. Well our lives became blissful overnight! If there was any trouble, I just mentioned the tokens and they stepped right back into line, helping and being kind to their siblings. Dinner dishes and pots and pans were whisked away and put in the scullery as we finished eating. We were continually asked if we needed help with anything and if there was any misbehaviour they would, amongst themselves, remind each other that they could lose a token. I wish I'd started this years ago! Star charts have nothing on tokens! Later I needed to tweak the rules a bit and add that they couldn't ask for tokens (that became annoying) and if they played with their tokens without permission, they were all taken away! I have only taken away 3 tokens, that's how well-behaved they were.

Ice skating

So the ground rules were laid and we were ready for some fun. Bacon, Tomato and myself were invited to an ice-skating party. PERFECT! No matter how fast you skate, you cannot sweat because the rink is freeeeeezing cold. I duct-taped my skates onto my RA-swollen ankles and hit the ice. No I'm not kidding about the duct tape! I did think that if my bag was checked and a roll of duct tape found, that I may be accused of being a potential kidnapper, but nobody noticed and the girls thought it was hilarious that my boots were taped on. We had a ball and the girls were skating quite nicely by the end of the party. They enjoyed it so much that we went twice during the holidays. It was great exercise for all of us. The second time I hobbled for a few days afterwards, but they were having so much fun and were so excited with their new-found skating skills, so as all parents do, we suck up the pain and enjoy their joy. Another fun activity was going to a beach volleyball party where Tomato was very nervous, but soon found that she enjoyed the game and left on a high, wanting to go back there too. She also had a date with daddy which is always a hit! Thereafter we went to a soccer party for Lettuce, so B, L and T were moving and shaking every day of the holiday, no lazing about for us.

Pandaleen sleeping on a cereal box

At home, they almost wore out the bottom of our trampoline, they jumped so much, and Bacon's newly acquired bear Fudgey was flung from one sibling to the next, along with the other fluffies in the different games. Needless to say that once school began, the injured fluffies were sent off to the Granny hospital for rest and repair. We also had numerous picnics and games in the garden. B, L and T even spring-cleaned their wendy house without me asking! I loved all the activities. We also picnicked at our park where we played soccer and made "dinner" from freshly scooped river ingredients. The long pieces of algae were the salad, sticks were located and packed together for the make-believe fire and I was handed a long stick. My "job" was to sit in the sun on a rock and fish. Dinner was algae salad and my imaginary catch-of-the-day! It was a lovely day apart from Bacon falling in at the end *snort* that was funny but I wasn't allowed to laugh. I purposefully left my phone at home to avoid distractions but that meant I also left my camera at home, so no pics. Keeping with the water theme we took the kids into the country to a farm stall that sells delicious pies, bobotie and homemade goodies. We bought lunch there and ate it at the pond, watching the ducks. B, L and T then made boats out of anything they could find, twigs, leaves, sticks and bark and had boat races across the dam. They made better and better boats as they learned what worked and what didn't. Tomato had a HUGE piece of bark with leaves as sails, so her last boat was very sturdy. Then on the way home we stopped at the local small airport and watched planes taking off and landing. This was hugely exciting!

Spring cleaning in winter

Making boats

Playing in the dam

When we got home from watching planes and playing in the dam, I decided to wash my car. I was about to offer tokens as a reward for washing both mine and hubby's cars, when I realised that they were DELIGHTED to wash our cars! We always have our cars washed at a car wash, so BLT had never experienced washing a car in their own driveway. It was a treat and one of their favourite activities of the day! Who knew? Lettuce was on wheel duty and did a really good job! Tomato was on window duty and Bacon the painted areas. Mommy was in charge of the hosepipe ha ha *evil laugh.*  We were all drenched by the end of the washing escapade and raced to bath when we were done to warm up. Fun.fun.fun.

We spent time with Mema, walking along the river she lives on and feeding the ducks, we baked, read bedtime stories and watched concerts with B, L and T as the star performers and had sing-a-longs. The girls went on play dates with their friends and we went to a restaurant with a play area to celebrate Bacon's birthday (again) because we couldn't go out on the night of her birthday due to the weather. We pretended to have load shedding (power blackout) as we don't have them as often as my BLT would like and they LOVE eating dinner by candle light. Yes I'm sure our neighbours think we are stark raving mad, but we don't care!

But always with fun, comes drama and if you've learned anything about my life, we are drama magnets! Each child had their own particular drama. We've discussed the paint incident with Tomato but Bacon (shame) had a mini-drama that made her so sad. I had taken B, L and T for their back-to-school haircuts a week before, to avoid the mayhem of the last minute weekend rush. Their hair all looked lovely and both girls had their hair clipped back with fancy clips. The next day Bacon was in tears because her hair was "funny" and true enough it WAS funny! The one side was much longer than the other and she was so upset. I took her back and a different hairdresser was on duty and said "even a blind man could see this is wrong" which made me laugh but Bacon was mortified! Once her hair had been evened out, she was even more upset because her hair was much shorter than she had wanted and couldn't fit into a ponytail anymore. Nothing that a lollipop, a balloon and a trip to the ice-rink couldn't fix!

Lettuce fast asleep under the bed!

The same night of the haircut, I was making dinner downstairs and B, L and T were upstairs all bathing together under the watchful eye of Dot-the-Domestic. I heard a loud thud and a cry. I listened to hear how bad the cry was. Allow me to interject at this point to explain that this is what I call "Third Child Syndrome." If we only had one child, I would have left the pots boiling over on the stove and raced upstairs before she could take a breath, but you realise, with experience, that the second scream is the true severity-of-injury identifier. The second scream alerted me to the fact that it was very sore but only when I heard Tomato shouting "blood!!" and her and Bacon getting out of the bath at a pace, did I hit the stairs running. I knew that Dot was there and really, I rationalised, how much damage can you do to yourself in the bath? I was not prepared for the scene that met me. Lettuce was standing up and Dot had her hand flat on the side of his head holding the wound and blood was pouring over her hand, down her arm and dripping into the water! The bath water looked like a scene from a horror movie, it was blood-red (excuse the pun.) Without giving it a second thought, I kicked off my shoes and got into the red water to hold my little boy. It took me quite a while to stop the bleeding enough to see if he needed stitches or not - thankfully not. There was about a 3cm gouge out of his head that fortunately wasn't very deep but man oh man did it bleed! Eventually I realised that the bloody water was freaking him out, so I let it out, put in some clean water with a huge dose of Dettol and between Dot and I we managed to wash the wound. He had tried to lie down in the bath (with the girls) and sat up suddenly hitting his head on the corner of the bath spout which is almost flush against the bath. Boys!!

Anyhoo, apart from the paint, hair and head issues, we had an amazing holiday. I see it as a "back to basics" holiday as the TV couldn't have been on for more than 4 hours the entire holiday and we had good, clean, old-school-type fun. Every night they crashed into bed and slept like babies because they were worn out! When we eventually got to spend the tokens, they enjoyed the outing so much more than before, knowing that they had earned their rewards and when we got home they begged to continue the token awards so that they could earn more while at school. I agreed.

This simple reward system has had a fabulously positive effect on our lives and family interactions. Please feel free to copy my idea and bring some peace to your home or a friend who could benefit. I was so sad when the holidays ended. Not only do I have to return to the 5.30am alarm clock, homework, extra murals etc, I really really miss my BLT!

7 Year Old Bacon

As the curtain gently closes on June 2015, I heave a huge sigh of relief. Why the dramatic sigh? Well June is notorious in my family for being "The Birthday Month." Yes there are 11 other unsung months but those pale in comparison to June. You see, in my family we have no fewer than 5 birthdays in this icy month which promises the shortest day and therefore warmer weather - ha! Never happens. Tomato starts off the birthday month, (then Father's Day, we won't go there) then Bacon and we end the month off with my mother, brother and sister all on the last day (yes, my mom had twins on her birthday, many moons ago.)  So even though 2 of these family members no longer reside in the same country, the month is still hectic.

June is usually a busy month without adding birthdays, so perhaps the added birthdays just serve to highlight my busy life, as I am pushed to the extreme. To be honest it is really the kids' birthdays that make me mind-bogglingly busy. Also, it is very strange, but when June rolls around, it is like a work magnet! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, far from it, I'm thrilled that I have been given a large chunk of work by my favourite company, but it always coincides with my hectic month. I remember a few years ago, I got a call (from said company) while I was standing in the cake decorating shop, getting supplies for the birthday cakes that year, begging me to get to the office as soon as I could, if at all possible. This was not the first (or the last) time that I had been asked to urgently attend an impromptu meeting, so the reason I remember this specific time and exactly where I was standing? Because it is the first and only time that I have EVER gone into a meeting on site in jeans, takkies and a t-shirt without any makeup and my hair in a high pony tail - not a pretty sight but I'm a sucker for anyone in need.

Anyhoo, I have been putting in a lot of hours, as well as lecturing and marking final exam papers, as well as planning and executing two birthdays and parties. It is interesting to me just how much baking I really have to do in June. Each child needs a birthday cake for their actual birthday, cupcakes for school and a fancy cake for their party. Now my children are generosity personalised and I really do love that side of them except when it impacts ME! I had to send 40 cupcakes to school for each birthday so that they could give to their own class, the friends who are not in their class and teachers and monitors that they like. *sigh* Sometimes I want to slap that big purple dinosaur who jovially taught them that sharing is caring!

The Birthday Wish List

So it was Bacon's turn to get all the attention when we celebrated her turning 7 whole years. She counted down the days and unlike her sister who shouts things from the mountaintops when she gets excited, Bacon is very quiet and reserved, so when I would kiss her goodnight and whisper 5 more sleeps, she would just quietly let out a soft little "eeek." She had her birthday wish list ready ahead of time but the gift that she just had to have, was, a giant teddy bear. The saddest part of her list is that she wanted a bunny for her birthday, not just any bunny, she wanted Fluffy, our pet who died last year - so heartbreaking.

Tomato had her party on the 6th and it felt like a blink of an eye before the cake mixer was moving at high speed towards birthday #2. I was mother-of-the-year as I allowed all 3 children to help sift, mix, break eggs and measure ingredients for the cupcakes, with zen-like calm. Each one of them got a turn to switch the mixer on and off  and each one got something to lick at the end - the bowl, mixing attachment or the spatula. I always imagine baking with my children will be like you see in magazines, with everyone clean and smiling and clean and working together and clean and the kitchen is clean and....... yes I like the picture in my head, and on the magazine page, but reality bites. The kitchen looked like the mixer had exploded when we were done, but it hadn't. Sleeves were caked in batter, hair was stuck together and faces were smeared (including mine), but the zen master (me) resembled the coolness of a cucumber for the entire baking time. We ended up with cupcakes for (what felt like) the entire school and the kids had a ball decorating with their favourite Smarties-Astro combo, but with vermicelli this time for added effect. As usual, more sweets ended up in their mouths than on the cupcakes, but they were having fun.

Bacon didn't really want I didn't suggest a themed party (you see I'm learning here) but Bacon chose Sophia the First invitations which we filled in and gave out to her little friends. She loved the place where Tomato had had her party, but she wanted to do painting with her friends. Simple and easy.  Bacon asked for a bunny cake. On further investigation, I discovered she wanted a family of bunnies - a mom, dad and baby bunny on the grass. Knowing my creativity is SERIOUSLY lacking in the play dough/ plastic icing department, I quickly got on the horn to my sister-in-law who was born to make these things and within 2 minutes (I'm not joking here, it may have been less than 2 minutes) she had sent me a prototype made out of plasticine (which everyone obviously has on hand *not*) to get Bacon's approval before proceeding!! The deal was sealed and viola the decorations were sorted but they needed to go on a cake. That's where I come in. People wonder why my Kenwood mixer becomes a counter-hog because it never gets packed away in June, and this is why.

In the car. Buckled up tight. Important merchandise.

So we set to work to make our princess feel special on her birthday. First, I went to purchase the giant teddy and we had a few selfies along the way. He is huge and I sat him in the seat in the trolley like a child and I did get a few strange looks, but to be honest I often get strange looks, so it may not have been the bear.... Once in the car I sent this selfie of me and Big Bear to Hubby saying "I have the merchandise, all buckled up and ready to go for tomorrow." He never responded. I then wondered why my client sent me a message saying "I hope I'm invited tomorrow." I thought she'd been drinking! What work meeting had I planned on Bacon's birthday that I had forgotten about and worse, I had forgotten to invite her to her own meeting?? My mind was racing!! But fortunately the blonde in me does this all.the.flipping.time so I quickly understood why Hubby hadn't responded. Eeeek!!! Am I the only one who does this? And what's worse, is that I often send the wrong messages to work colleagues, I hardly ever mess up when it's a friend who would just laugh it off *sigh*. I've sent a message to the owner and MD of one of the biggest speciality stores in the country and one of my biggest clients at the time saying "I've just landed, can't wait to see you!" I had just landed from a trip to Ireland and sent that message to Hubby, but apparently not. I wanted to earth to swallow me whole when he phoned me back. My mom once said "keep your name circulating whether it is good or bad, make sure you're remembered." Well I think I've got that covered! Making friends and influencing people - that's me!

Arriving home

So little Miss Bacon awoke on her birthday to her room filled with huge pink balloons. She got dressed at lightning speed so that she could get to the pressies. Due to the size of Big Bear, he wasn't wrapped, he was hidden under a blanket and a trail of presents led up to and under the blanket to his feet. She was so excited. How do we know? She was letting out controlled little eeeek sounds and hopping up and down, which means she is popping with excitement. After a fun morning opening presents and Nutella on toast for breakfast (sorry teachers) she went, armed with her cupcakes to school. Turns out 40 was too many (really? I'm shocked!) although Tomato managed to dish out her 40 but she likes to give to anyone and everyone whereas Bacon is a bit more reserved. One of the teachers hugged her and wished her Happy Birthday and she was thrilled. Her teacher gave her a birthday card and she got a sweet from the principal, so all was right in her world.

Bunny picnic

Granny and Grandpa did the pick-up and the girls were taken to a toy shop to choose some gifts. Oh boy were they excited and they came home with a fantastic array of gifts. Spaghetti Bolognaise was the dinner request from the birthday girl and desert was left over cupcakes from school. Even with all the sugar, sleep came quickly with Bacon's head firmly planted on Fudgey's tummy for the night. When I kissed her goodnight she hugged me so hard and said "Thank you for Fudgey Mommy, he's the best present ever." #heartmelts

So the birthDAY was over but the party day was not. School broke up, so everyone was excited (especially me not having to wake up at 5.30am for 3 weeks). I set about collecting the decorations and making the cake. Hubby did the delicate icing and we all had fun helping to make a bunny picnic on the cake. ONE.MORE.SLEEP.

Painting is hard work

The next morning 6 little girls ended up on one of the coldest, windiest days of the year, huddled together in a little craft shop, carefully painting their ornaments. There were bunnies, teddies and a dragon chosen and painted. They all loved the cake (nothing beats homemade cake and butter icing - NOTHING!!) The lady who teaches the kids how to do the painting, said she hardly ever gets home made cake with proper icing.  Before we knew it, the 3 hours were up and the parents were arriving to collect their children and we were headed home, armed with beautifully painted bunnies to open more pressies. We had a VERY happy little 7 year old!

More pressies

So the last 3 birthdays were pretty uneventful due to the geographical location of the twins and the disinterest of another birthday from Mema. The Kenwood mixer has now been packed away, together with all the icing paraphernalia, and will only be brought out for the next birthday extravaganza which happens to be for Lettuce in October. I get a bit of rest in between and his party is always a lot warmer than the girls'. Talking about Lettuce, you may wonder why he didn't get to go on the toy shopping trip, shame why was he left out? Well he got a handmade train from Grandpa and boy does he love it!! He packs and unpacks it all day long. What else has he been up to? Well here are a few pics which may give you some idea.

His sisters married him off! Casanova-kiss!

We went to the zoo

Each block hand-crafted by Gramps 

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9 Years Later.....

When it comes to parenting, no truer words were spoken than "the days are long but the years are short." The days become a blur of wake up, breakfast, school, lunch, extra murals, homework, dinner and sleep and then without warning, another year has gone. It is always a bittersweet time when my children have a birthday. I reflect on the year that has passed and wonder what the new one will bring, happy that they are doing well, but sad, knowing that they are getting older, and getting older means becoming more independent. As an exhausted mother of young children, sometimes independence is an unattainable goal only found in our dreams, where we can sleep late on a Saturday morning and spend the weekend doing what we want to do instead of what we have to do. But I am well-aware that we have limited time before the hormones begin to change and my sensitive, caring little girl who loves to play with her dolls and teddies and sends me notes telling me how much she loves me, is going to change into a tween, controlled by emotions, drama and bodily changes. I worked with a mom who was so super-busy that she missed out on her son growing up. She told me "don't wish their lives away, try to enjoy them each day because each day will pass and tomorrow they will be older." Her words echo in my head often,

Looking back over the last year, Tomato has come such a long long way. Last year her skin was way out of control and she was regressing developmentally from the constant infections, lack of sleep, chronic medications and missing a lot of school. She was hospitalised for 4 days due to infections not related to her skin, but which caused her to skin to erupt and she reached an all-time low emotionally, physically and psychologically. Once her skin healed, she became a new child. [I will post an eczema update on another post soon.]

Over the past 6 months, Tomato has improved in leaps and bounds! She is much happier and healthier and her emotions are under control (for most of the time). She is a caring big sister, always ready to help her little sister read and practise her homework "reading words" with her. She hugs more, sings in the shower and is happy and joyful. She has taken to drawing more often and she has always loved to do crafts which keep her busy for hours. She won an award for being the most improved learner, a merit award and her teacher gave her a maths award, which increased her confidence. We still have a long road ahead with little Tomato as you can't rebuild the lost years in 6 months, but from the beginning of this year she has blossomed and I am confident that we are going to see continuous improvements.

So the birthday was looming and Tomato was super-excited to be turning 9 (although she wasn't happy that time-out was now going to increase by another minute - lol). So it started with......

The Birthday List

• A puppy
• Build-A-Bear
• An iPad Mini 
• Art supplies
• Crafts
• Money
• Lindor Chocolate Balls (the gold pack)
• Chewing gum
• Chocolate fondue
• The Pizza man come to deliver pizza on a motorbike
• Shoe shopping with Granny 

Due to her allergy to dogs, a puppy was not an option and an iPad Mini was also not going to happen. She didn't really seem to mind about the iPad but she was very upset about the puppy, She got everything else on her list - happy-days!!

I really felt bad about not being able to get her a puppy for her birthday and then a friend on Facebook was looking for a home for a cockatiel. I grew up with an aviary of cockatiels, so I just had to convince hubby, and we were off to fetch Peanut, Tomato's new pet. Not quite a dog but she was thrilled!! It also made her very happy that we "saved' Peanut, because he was homeless!! She does make me laugh.

Peanut

The Lead Up
Leading up to her birthday, I took Tomato to see the live show of Mama Mia and she was blown away! She felt so grown up, dressing up and going out on a school night to a grown up show. She immediately became an avid Abba fan and now watches the movie often. Even her little brother Lettuce sings Dancing Queen in the dark when he's supposed to be trying to sleep lol.

ABBA outfit and boots

Just like her mom, Tomato likes a looooong drawn out birthday. She had a good excuse because my sister, her husband and 2 little girls came for a visit, so it all started 10 days before her actual birthday, with a surprise visit to Build-A-Bear after school, which was the gift from my sister and family as well as a dress for her new bear! I thought she was going to pop with excitement! My brother "Dorothy from Oz also came for a couple of days, so this was the perfect opportunity for an early birthday celebration, so the family got together for lunch and we planned a little surprise birthday tea for Tomato with a cake, candles and presents. The SA cousins gave her an ABBA outfit - heaven on earth!

The Birthday

Bird nests for school

Pressies on birhday morning

Then it was her actual birthday, she got all her gifts early in the morning before school. We had made bird nests out of chocolate crunchies, with Mema the day before and added speckled eggs. She took these to hand out to her class. Granny fetched her and Bacon to go shoe shopping and came back with red suede, high heeled boots! That night we had her favourite pizza for dinner (the man came on his bike came to deliver) as well as a chocolate fondue which was her dream come true, dipping fruit into melted chocolate. Seeing as we are pretty much sugar-free and junk-free at home, this was the biggest treat ever!!

The Party
Then it was the party...... Tomato wanted to have a party where she and some friends could do crafts together. My fabulous sister Lollipop located a place close by which offered mosaic parties. So I took Tomato to see the place and we chatted to the lady and we booked.

The party was an enormous success and the most stress-free party ever, I wish I could do something similar every year! Hubby, Lettuce and I got to sit down and have tea at the tea garden opposite, while the mosaicing lady took the girls through the ins and outs of mosaic and then we came back to cut the cake and say goodbye to the friends. Each child chose their own shape and got to take it home all done, ready to hang up.

Tomato's mosaic (the middle is made up of blocks of mirror)

The cake that she "needed" was a rainbow mosaic cake" so I had my work cut out for me. I got Mema involved again and together we cut up all the plastic icing into little blocks, then I baked and iced the cake and hubby and I did some mosaicing of our own, which was actually a lot of fun. We finished late the night before the party, so Tomato was asleep. In the morning she went to see the cake and came upstairs to say "Thank you, thank you mommy, my cake is beautiful! She had made the orange flower in the middle and the little ones that I stuck all over. She had asked me to put them on her cake but she obviously thought I wouldn't so she was over the moon as it was exactly as she had imagined it.
[sidebar - to any of my eczema friends or moms with children who suffer from eczema, please note, we did NOT eat these coloured blocks!! That would send Tomato's skin into a major flare! I cut off the colours and some of the icing before serving.]

As I mentioned, my sister and her family came to visit and stayed with us for 2½ weeks. It gave us an insight into what it was like when we were kids and the 6 of us went to visit my cousins in CT and we all stayed in their house - 7 children and 4 adults!! We had a household with 5 children and 4 adults and it was organised chaos haha but we had so much fun and the cousins loved playing together. It was also so great to be able to spend so much time together instead of a whirlwind visit where we hardly get to chat.

My brother-in-law said "children attack everything with such passion" and if you take the time to watch them, it is fascinating. Everything is exciting and they are full of wonderment at new things, which to us seem uninteresting and even dull, such as a bouncy ball, the inside of a toilet roll holder filled with rice or a box made to look like a car. Our little Lettuce loves watching wheels go round. Sometimes we are so busy doing things that have to be done, we miss out on their excitement while we herd them through the daily duties.

So this year, as Tomato enters her last single-digit year, I am going to try my best to hold onto each sweet moment, each time she says "I love my mommy" or hugs me or wants me to lie in bed with her, or just cuddle and remember what people used to tell me "enjoy them while they're small because they grow up so quickly."

Happy Birthday my beautiful little Tomato. I couldn't be more proud to be your mommy.

Lettuce trying on the boots lol

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A Doctor's Proven Home Cure For Arthritis

In September 2013 I was knocked sideways with a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (actually it's not true RA but one of the 5 different types - Psoriatic Arthritis, but even my Rheumatologist refers to it as RA as it is the one that most people understand). The reason mine is a bit different, is that the symptoms are the same but I have a few other issues as well including fibromyalga. Needless to say I was shocked and in disbelief so I went for a second opinion, only to be told that the first opinion was in fact correct - bummer!

My left index finger

My right index finger

So I started off on the usual cortisone, methotrexate, anti-inflammatories, calcium and folic acid.Within months I was battling to walk and went back and went back and went back to my rheumy. Each time the medication increased along with my nausea and side effects, the worst being nausea and chronic fatigue. It's not easy to be chronically exhausted when you have 3 small children, the smallest being a toddler when I was first diagnosed! Even more difficult is getting 10-12 hours sleep as the doctor suggests!! Anyway I bumbled along for over a year, enduring the blood tests and the handful of meds that I had to take twice a day, waiting impatiently for my RA to go into remission. It hasn't.

RA is an auto-immune disease that is degenerative and causes a lot of pain and suffering without much to see in the beginning. Although I am riddled with pain, the only thing that is visible is the index finger on my right hand. Even this one finger has impacted me in many ways, It is difficult to prepare food as I can't cut food like gem squash, butternut or even cucumber, tomatoes etc. Sometimes hubby has had to cut my steak, open jars, bottles and even helps me tie up Bacon and Tomato's hair for school and tie their shoes, because that is just excruciating. My very lowest moments are when I can't even dress myself as lifting my leg is too painful. Fortunately I have the most amazing hubby who never complains when I ask for help, although I hate asking.

As you can see, from these pics, my finger is very swollen up to the second joint and sometimes feels like it is going to explode. I have tried to ice it, heat it,but nothing helps and I find that I now do everything without that finger and I have had to accept that my days of playing the guitar are over.

In December last year, my daughter who had had severe eczema for the last 5½ years, was healed by a doctor who had a different method to other doctors. You can see that post here if you missed it The Day I found Dr Richard Aron and Our Healing Journey Began This got me thinking. Maybe mainstream doctors only know one way and they keep trying the same things, hoping it will work but maybe there are other treatments for RA too, similar to what I had discovered with Dr Aron for my daughter.

I was invited to a dinner party in January this year and met a lady who also had RA 35 years ago and cured herself! Well, I was all ears. She told me to find a book called A Doctor's Proven Home Cure for Arthritis by Dr Giraud W. Campbell and follow the diet in there, like she and many of her friends had done. She warned me that it was going to be a huge lifestyle change, which she herself only made when she could hardly walk due to the RA. She told me that I would be eating a lot of organ meat *gulp* and that basically I had to be in enough pain to try this approach. I got home and ordered the book immediately. It was a bit of a shock to the system, reading that book and I had to really build up some courage to take the first step. Once I had decided, it took me a while to source the food required but eventually I was able to start on 10 March 2015. This is my journey......

Raw liver

DAY 1
Eat NOTHING from morning to night.
8 glasses of mineral water should be consumed on this day

That was easy enough!
Hubby then prepped the liver for tomorrow.

DAY 2
Oh boy it's here. The day where I should be thrilled to eat after a day of fasting but it fills me with dread as I am going to face eating liver for the very first time. The mere thought of it fills me with dread. This morning, I went shopping for this 7-day plan and it wasn't as easy as you'd think. I found prune juice which I drank in the car and organic bananas at Woollies so I was on a roll - breakfast sorted.

But now it is almost 2pm and I need to face the music, bite the bullet and go and cook and eat the liver. Wish me luck.....

Liver and salad

Ok liver was gross. Not as gross as I'd thought but gross anyway. Honestly though I think that it was all in my head. I had worked myself up into such a state of disgust that I gagged trying to swallow it. I realised that I have never thought before swallowing a toasted cheese, so why was I battling to swallow when I knew this was going to be so good for me? The mind is a strong thing! Next time will be better but I'm trying desperately not to think about tomorrow's kidney.

The remaining "blood"

DAY 3

Kidney

Now what I should mention at this point, is that all meat needs to be eaten as raw as possible. I like my meat well-done and I don't like to see or taste blood, so this was going to be a huge challenge. As you can see from my first attempt at liver, it wasn't raw enough.

All I remember about kidney when I was growing up, was the fact that I could smell it a mile away and it smelled revolting, so again I was in for a bit of a challenge. Hubby (thank goodness) took all the membranes off the offal and prepared it for me with a huge salad. I honestly couldn't eat it. I eventually resorted to holding my nose (like we used to do on Veldschool back when I was 13) so that I could get it into me. Each time I swallowed I retched and it took everything in me not to vomit it back up aagghhhhh it was so grose! But I was damned if this was going to get the better of me. So no matter how bad it tasted, my mind was stronger than that horrible food, so I continued.

DAY 4

Raw inside

Looked good

Yay today I get to eat fish. But as raw as possible. Now again, I love sushi if it is surrounded by rice and smothered in wasabi and served with loads of pickled ginger but sashimi on its own has  never appealed to me. Sorry for me. I better enjoy it while I can because later I"ll again be enjoying trying to eat more liver.

DAY 5 

Liver frickedels

Raw inside

Woohoo liver again *sigh* not nice but the diet says brain, which I just cannot do, so liver it is. This time hubby decided to mince up the liver and mix it with onions and green peppers and lightly fry the outside so that it would look like a patty. Surprisingly this was easier to eat, although to be honest, I am now holding my nose for every meal. Oh how I wish I was one of the people who loved offal.
Even the word "offal" sounds like awful doesn't it??

Gotta see blood 

DAY 6
Thank goodness today is prawns. But have you ever had prawns without lemon butter sauce or at least a dip of sorts? Not so pleasant. But I ate a whole lot because as bland as they are, they don't taste horrible. Sad that the happiest part of my day is having a tablespoon of black strap molasses which is hectically sweet and tastes a bit like liquorice but it has to be taken with brewers yeast so that's a turn-off!!

DAY 7

Lightly sauteed sea bass (raw inside)

More kidney was on the cards, but seeing as you cannot freeze the offal (as per the book) I had to exchange it for raw fish as the organs were getting too old to eat raw. Hubby made me some fish and just the warm fish made me feel better, even though it was raw and cold inside, but I realised I just wanted something warm and that my mouth could identify!


The book says continue until the heat and swelling have reduced. Hmmmm not much happening with the heat, swelling and pain, so I better do another week.

So I did another week and 2 days. When I got to the point where I couldn't swallow the kidney, even with my nose closed, I realised it was time to ease off. I contacted the lady who first told me about this way of eating and she said I needed to continue in a similar way for at least 3 months to see results, so that is what I am going to do. I will eat organic food and incorporate organs into my diet twice a week, but I need to start eating normally again. It is sooo tempting to eat the same food as the rest of the family, but I have come too far to turn back now. This needs to become a lifestyle and that is what I am going to aim for.

My fridge looks amazing packed full of fresh organic produce and I am learning where to buy organic produce, raw milk and where the nearest butchery is that sells grass-fed meat and organs. Unfortunately none of these are close to us, so it has taken a bit of driving to get everything. One thing for sure is that this has been an enormous learning curve!! Interesting to note, that the medical profession do not believe that diet has anything to do with RA or any other disease, I think differently.

What I know for certain is that the cr*p that is being put into our food at every level, is harming all of us, but in different ways. For some it is visible (like my finger) but for some the disease is growing inside and may only surface in years to come as cancer, diabetes, an auto-immune disease or worse. I strongly believe that although everything has been passed by the FDA, all the colourants, pesticides GMO foods and additives that are being put into our bodies day in and day out will have to have an impact at some point. I think our bodies can only cope with very small amounts of these chemicals and not on a daily basis like is becoming the norm. Looking back it is amazing to see how far I've come.

This is not the end, it is just the beginning of my journey for a pain-free existence. If you would like to continue following me on my journey, become a follower of this blog or sign up to receive an email notification each time I post.

Post Script November 2015
In August I went to my Rheumatologist for my routine check up. My inflammation levels had come down from 26 to 3. I was stunned, she was stunned. The norm is 5. I told her that I had taken myself off my DWARDS and was only on the Methotrexate. All the pain was gone and my swollen finger had become almost normal. I had to laugh when she said "diet is not a proven remedy for this disease, however in your case it seems to be working."

My mom contracted MRSA (a superbug) whilst in hospital and I was required to wear a HAZMAT suit each time I visited as it is highly contagious. My mom's story can be read here. As Methotrexate kills my immune system, I didn't take them as I was worried about the MRSA with my compromised immune system and to be honest, often I would just throw off the suit to touch my mom. After my mom passed away from MRSA, the hectic weeks that ensued, I forgot to resume the Methotrexate and realised that my pain hadn't returned. I am now drug free (haven't told my Rheumy yet) but I'm feeling great. Hard work = great reward.