Serving One Another

The Organic Community of Homeschooling Families

by Taryn Hayes

One thing that I deeply love about the homeschooling community is that it is a community. Since I embarked on this journey into homeschooling ten years ago, I’ve met people from vastly different walks of life. In any other circumstance, I probably wouldn’t have met them. Yet with our common goal of homeschooling, it seems it is enough to break down cultural barriers, language difficulties and socio-economic differences. Where barriers could have existed, there is, instead, helping hands. Where needs are mentioned, they are, more often than not, met. When struggles are shared, sympathy and help is extended.

I have the privilege of administrating the Homeschool Western Cape group on Facebook. It’s a privilege, because I get to witness the homeschooling community at work, every day, first hand. It makes my heart sing when I open up the Facebook group page and read a request for some curriculum help – and then have to scroll through dozens of helpful answers. When I meet a fellow homeschool mom in the bookstore for the first time (yes, this has happened more than once!) the instant rapport that follows is exhilarating. The intricate workings of the homeschooling community is organic – natural, flowing and inclusive.

Seldom amongst homeschoolers do I hear the word “no”. Yes, there are times when families feel the pressures of life and expectations – then “no” is not only natural, it is necessary. But mostly, those in the homeschooling community are “yes” people. Yes, we can help each other figure out which curriculum would suit a particular child. Yes, we can organise an outing and have everyone join. Yes, we will join you. Yes, let’s have tea and share our woes and wins. A need is identified and, pretty soon, the solution is provided. No coercion. Just community at work.

Since we began homeschooling, community has been an unexpected benefit. In this past year alone, I’ve benefited directly from the natural flow of the Homeschool Western Cape community.  Last year began with taking part in the Cape Home Educators’ arranged Sports Day in Camps Bay. Need identified? Yes, athletics for kids is fun and something the homeschooling community doesn’t naturally have. What can we do? Let’s create it! And what fun the children have had. Last year my daughter did high-jump for the first time, getting coaching on the spot and ending up exceeding her (and our!) expectations.

One Zimbabwe-born mom, Karen D, recognised the need to become better acquainted with her surrounding country in order to teach her children about the Cape. She chose not only to meet her own need but also to extend an invitation to others by starting an outing club called Cape Explorers. Karen is particularly gifted in leading large groups of children. In this last year we’ve visited about a dozen places, developed some solid friendships and enjoyed Karen’s wealth of gifts – living letters, administration excellence, brilliant ideas – lavished upon us.

For some years, Wendy Y and other moms ran a wonderful homeschoolers craft market. As seasons pass on, this one came to an end. But a couple of years later, another mom, new to the Cape homeschooling community, started another entrepreneur opportunity for children. Thanks to Yolande T’s initiative, my kids got to enjoy running a Tombola store and selling juices, second hand books and sweets.

Longstanding traditions in schools mean school-going children often find themselves with wonderful opportunities to participate in Olympiads and Shakespeare festivals. These don’t naturally extend to the homeschooling community. But the homeschooling community naturally comes up with a solution. Last year Wendy M’s innovative children joined up with a bunch of other teens to take part in the Shakespeare festival. Without the benefit of a drama teacher, the teens directed themselves, rehearsed, costumed and presented their drama case for the 30-minute Shakespeare festival – and quite successfully too.

Dozens of times a week I see community at work. Kirsten R offers a mom’s chill out evening every so often – a wonderful time-out for moms to meet and chat. The “Far Southers” (that would be Fishoek and beyond) hold a weekly picnic day on the Noordhoek common. Several young homeschooling families meet up in the Northern Suburbs and the encouraging invitations to newcomers often pop up on the HWC Facebook page. Outings are arranged by various families and, more often than not, the invitation goes out to the HWC group. The more the merrier! It’s not uncommon to find a group of homeschooled families – from all different backgrounds, religions and races – visiting a museum, a farm or a factory together.

When I started homeschooling in the early 2000s, I never expected to experience community at this level. But, now, looking back, I’m not surprised. It makes sense that families who choose to swim against the mainstream schooling system would have the tenacity to make community work. And I’m glad. Because it means that my weaknesses are lifted up by the strength of others, and I can offer my strengths in service of our greater community.

Are you a part of a greater homeschooling community? If not, consider plugging into one of these online groups. Real-life contact naturally extends from these online meeting places, and before you know it, you will be warding off strangers’ “What about socialisation?” questions with “Goodness! That’s the least of our worries!”

Facebook Groups:

· Homeschool Western Cape http://www.facebook.com/groups/homeschoolwesterncape/

· Homeschooling in South Africa http://www.facebook.com/groups/100788473311514/

· Helderberg Homeschool http://www.facebook.com/groups/491935657490037/

· Homeschooling Christians in South Africa (not visible on your non-group friends’ newsfeed) http://www.facebook.com/groups/Christianhomeschoolingza/

· Christian Homeschooling in South Africa (visible on your non-group friends’ newsfeed) http://www.facebook.com/groups/christianhomeschoolingsa/

· Sonlight Curriculum: South Africa http://www.facebook.com/groups/sonlightsouthafrica/

· Footprints Curriculum support group http://www.facebook.com/groups/footprintsonourland/

· Love 2 Learn Curriculum support group http://www.facebook.com/groups/love2learncurriculum/

Yahoo Eloops (email only groups):

• Cape Home Educators: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CapeHomeEd/:
• Homeschooling SA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homeschoolingsa/:
• Homeschool SA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolSA/
• Homeschool Kitchen Table: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HSKitchenTable/
• Tuisonderwys: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/tuisonderwys/

Morning ladies,

When we look around this room, we see many reading opportunities. The Bible on your lap, the phone in your hand, the notice boards, the multi-media. In fact, if we analyse society today, we’d be blind not to recognise that people read more regularly today than they did 20 years ago. Yes, today society is reading words daily in newspapers, books, text messages, Facebook posts, internet articles and news snippets – on their computers, phones, tablets, televisions and more. But, our daily reading is no longer the deep contemplative reading of yesteryear. Our day-to-day reading is of the fast-food variety. Instead of feasting on a lovingly-prepared, well-cooked meal of excellent writings, we graze at the revolving fast-food belt of titbits and snippets.

In his book Lit, Tony Reinke says that the type of reading we do today is reactionary. We read and react – we read that pithy saying on Facebook and react by reposting it on our friend’s newsfeed, only to forget it moments later. He quotes journalist Nicholas Carr who complained of how his own reading habits were being influenced by the Internet. Carr said, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” (Lit, p.138)

Is that you? Is that bad? Should we be doing something about that?

Well, according to Tony Reinke, Christians should indeed be reading more deeply. While there is nothing inherently wrong with zipping across the sea of words like a jet-skier as we read in the short bursts typical of today’s technological age, the risk of losing the ability to read more deeply is great. And it is a risk, because reading is essential to the Christian faith. Without the words of the Bible, we cannot know the gospel. Without reading His Word, we cannot know how to live in the light of the gospel. Without deeply considering the heights and depths of God’s love through His words, we cannot begin to fathom it.

And while being able to read and drink from the Bible deeply is essential, being able to read all good literature is a great and worthy blessing. We jet-skier readers may have a lot of fun on the surface, but if we stay there, we will miss out on the incredible, and oftentimes life-changing, beauty deep down in the ocean of words.

But, how? If we find ourselves in the habit of surface reading, how do we change? Well, I’d like to suggest that we can change by starting with this book by Tony Reinke. Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books is divided into two parts. Part One focuses on the whys of reading. Part Two focuses on the hows. If you’re wanting to benefit from excellent literature, but are struggling with the hows, I suggest that you buy this book and read part 2 first! If you’re struggling with the whys, then start right at the very beginning.

Maybe you already have determined to read more deeply, but are scared to start with something too heavy? Then this may be the book for you: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller

It’s a small booklet of only 44 pages that focuses on a chapter from Corinthians. It’s written in an easy conversational style. Yet, it contains some of the richest and deepest truths. Keller sets out to show us from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians what the ultimate freedom from self-obsession is. He asks a few heart-probing questions and, here, I’d like to quote:

“Friends, wouldn’t you want to be a person who does not need honour – nor is afraid of it? Someone who does not lust for recognition – nor, on the other hand, is frightened to death of it? Don’t you want to be the kind of person who, when they see themselves in a mirror or reflected in a shop window, does not admire what they see but does not cringe either? Wouldn’t you like to be the type of person who, in their imaginary life, does not sit around fantasising about hitting self-esteem home-runs, daydreaming about successes that gives them the edge over others? Or perhaps you tend to beat yourself up and to be tormented by regrets. Wouldn’t you like to be free of them? Wouldn’t you like to be the skater who wins the silver, and yet is thrilled about those three triple jumps that the gold medal winner did? To love it the way you love a sunrise? Just to love the fact that it was done? For it not to matter whether it was their success or your success? Not to care if they did it or you did it? You are as happy that they did it as if you had done it yourself – because you are just so happy to see it.

You will probably say that you do not know anybody like that. But this is the possibility for you and me … This is gospel-humility, blessed self-forgetfulness. Not thinking more of myself as in modern cultures, or less of myself as in traditional cultures. Simply thinking of myself less.”

I really recommend this book to discover how one can attain this “blessed self-forgetfulness”. And, while I am not reviewing this book today, I would also like to strongly recommend our own Sophie De Witt’s book Compared to Her. It deals with similar themes to Keller’s book, but looks specifically at how women tend to base their self-worth on how they measure up to other women. If you find yourself ever comparing yourself to other women, then that’s a book to buy and read.

Questioning Evangelism

Finally, I’d like to recommend this book, Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. The less we think of ourselves, the more we naturally think of the gospel and how it affects others. But, if you’re anything like me, starting a gospel conversation with anyone strikes fear and trembling in your heart! I’ve done a great job of botching many a gospel conversation in the past. Which is why I am always grateful for writers like Randy Newman who give us great tools to help us share the good news. And Randy Newman’s book really does an excellent job of giving us a fresh perspective on gospel conversations. The title, Questioning Evangelism, is not suggesting that we should question whether one should evangelise. Rather it’s saying that we should use questions in our evangelism.  Randy Newman explains how often simply asking questions of someone very naturally leads a conversation in the direction of Jesus. He explains how each and every context is relevant. There are even chapters that take you through typical situations Christians find themselves in – like that age-old “Christians are hypocrits” accusation or the claim that God doesn’t exist.  So often we find these situations difficult to field, but Newman’s suggested way of handling them is like a breath of fresh air.

If you ever find yourself walking away from a conversation kicking yourself for not grabbing the opportunities presented to you, this is the book to read.

So, as you contemplate your own reading today, may I encourage you to keep diving deep into great literature, including the greatest of them all: the Word of God.

What that means is  … there’s another opportunity to win a signed copy of my book happening over at Se7en’s blog!! 

If you’ve never visited the crowd over at Se7en + 1, then I highly recommend that you get on over there.  The posts are daily and encompass everything from weekly crafts, to contemplative thoughts, to fun outings, interviews, reviews and more.  Se7en is number 14 on Amatomu, which means that it’s the 14th most popular website in the whole of South Africa! There is always a giveaway or two or 10 (!) happening there with the most fun way of selecting the winner. 

This post includes a great review of the book – always awesome to see what resonates with which readers – and an interview with me.  I had tons of fun answering some great questions like:

Obviously you love writing, you wrote a whole book!!! Can you think of a childhood book that spoke to you and said, “I want to write my own book one day”?

and

Inspiration: If you had one piece of inspiration for our readers and aspiring young writers… what would it be?

So head on over to this post and enter to win (or share with your friends – the more the merrier!)

Sunday Snippet: Seekers of the Lost Boy; An Author Interview and a GiveAway

First off was storytime with Aunty Sue – Fly Eagle Fly – a firm favourite amongst our kids, young and old.

Then Aunty Kate took the kids through the Chris de Burg song about being a rainbow of people. 

We even had a visit from some of our indigenous animals – Rhino, warthog, ostrich, elephant and more…

Then it was time for LUNCH!  Yum yum!  We were all looking forward to this part.  Samoosas …

Boerewors…

Lamb curry (delish!)

bobotie…

rice…

And of course, some sambols (with the obligatory Mrs Balls Chutney).

We sang grace in Afrikaans (Dankie Here vir die kos)…

yum yum!

I think we could’ve all just eaten samoosas all day long – it’s the only thing all the kids asked for more of!

This is the, “ye-es, Mom?” look from my eldest! 

Tegan was far too interested in the conversation and her food to worry about the camera.

Dessert consisted of little tastes of some South African choccies…

And melktert (milk tart)…

and koeksusters (cook sisters)…

This photo is a pretty good indication of the Lunch Bunch’s enthusiasm for dessert!

After lunch, we learnt a little about traditional gumboot dancing – started by the mineworkers many years ago and now a bit of a “national dance style”.  Here Joel is demonstrating some of his moves!

Then it was craft time – beading and rock art!

Caren showed them examples of beadwork and explained a bit of the background to Xhosa beads and the like.  Gotto love new technology.  Back in the day, this photo would’ve been Caren holding a tattered library book with post-its marking the relevant pages!  Here she is using the iPad to show the kids examples of rock art…

But first, the beading…

The little kids were finished with their beading quite quickly, so they moved on to the rock art work sooner.  I love this photo of great concentration.  Too sweet!

The littlies’ combined effort…

With their rock art finished, Sue took the younger kids on a safari…

The hunt was for paper animals, but the trick was only to find African animals (the polar bears had to stay behind, I’m afraid).

Ben the intrepid explorer!

Jemma the toothless wonder!

As always, light sabres manage to feature in the LB photos in some way or another, even on a safari!

While the little kids did their safari, the big kids moved onto their rock art.  love this collaborative effort! 

We still had a few other activities planned, but by this time it was 3pm and the kids hadn’t had much play time.  So, we may just spill some South Africa Day into our plans for next week.  And even if we don’t, we will still have some awesome memories from this wonderfully fun experience!

St Stephen’s holiday club was a huge hit with my kids and they got 100% into the challenge to dress up each day.  Here Katie is a prairie girl and Sam, a pirate.  It was a delight for me to wake up each morning to see what they had planned for themselves for the day!  We also had cowboy and rapper girl and various other attires.  Really sweet!

I took some time in the holidays to work on some room changes for the boys.  Micah and Sam had worked on me quite well – and eventually I relented.  Wa-ay overdue makeover… The before pic:

And After… which is a horrid photo!  You can see better photos here: Boys Room Makeover…

The girls helped out with the room transformation – painting walls and sanding gutter shelving.  Loads of fun!

We also had the awesome privilege this April of hanging out with the Poole family.  Graham Poole came to South Africa wa-ay back in 1996.  Chance meetings led him to stay at my folks’ home in Cape Town where we built some awesome memories of his time here.  Here Graham poses with a photo of Craig and Kerry – we were all round bummed that they weren’t here to enjoy the reunion.

Graham is also the reason that our good friends, Scott and Hayley met and married.  Graham is Australian and through him and an awesome chain of events, Scott ended up coming to Cape Town to study theology at George Whitefield College.  He met Hayley and well, the picture below is the (first) product of their union!

The weather didn’t always play ball for us, but we did get to enjoy loads of great chat time (for the parents) and play time (for the kids) and now they all want to write to each other.  Sweet!

Craig and Graham enjoying deep convo in Kirstenbosch, under the majestic Table Mountain.

Braai at our house and all the kids.  Crazy bunch together.

My parents arrived home from Israel just in time to catch a morning together with the Pooles.  Blessed memories.

We got to enjoy a really awesome photo shoot with Susie LeBlond in the middle of April.  It was kind of an impromptu thing.  I saw loads and loads of her photos come through my newsfeed on Facebook.  Loved them – so very much my style.  But, I’ve never considered doing the family photoshoot thing before (aside from one freebie studio gig I got thanks to my neighbours!) – budget, budget, budget.  But, her photos were well-timed with my need for some author shots for the upcoming book.  It was a bit of a whirlwind – only after did I remember my own (many times removed) cousin is a great professional photographer too.  Hadn’t even crossed my mind to ask him!  That’s how out of the photoshoot thing my frame of reference is.  Sorry, Gavin!!!

The day after the shoot, the boys went through a major change – aka HAIRCUT.  Why would I want to cut off those gorgeous locks, you ask?  Well, the full story is here: boys’ haircut.

We spent some holiday (well, back to school in a relaxed fashion, really) time with our friends down the road, while their parents were enjoying a 10-year anniversary holiday in Mauritius (awesome!).  The rain came down and so out came this previously-neglected puzzle.  What a lot of fun it ended up being!  I blogged all about it here: Sonlight Global Puzzle Fun.

Before puzzle time, the kids spent a fair bit of time making duplo creations and coming to show them off to me…

… or called me to come see what they were doing.  Here’s Jakey and Katie with the tallest tower…

Lunch Bunch is, as always, lots of fun.  The kids are really getting along beautifully and it’s such a joy to watch how they are growing and adapting.  Here the littlies watch some of the biggies music lesson – they’re doing a stint of musicals at the moment, and the movie of that day was My Fair Lady.

Cape Explorers continues to be a highlight of our week.  Here are some shots from our recent visit to the Shark Centre in Kalk Bay…

And to the Het Poshuys – museum home of the Battle of Muizenberg.

This month I finally got to hold Seekers of the Lost Boy in my hands.  Barely containing my excitement here in this picture:

The rest of the week was very much Seekers-focused.  Dinner out with family to celebrate that first night:

Kiera made a cake…

Which we shared at Lunch Bunch with the originals

And Sam took this blurry shot of two very special people who have been instrumental in getting this book to the public.

My folks returned from Israel and Kiera insisted on bringing Seekers with  -  the book has been a regular photo-bomb lately, mostly due to Kiera’s actions.

With Granny and Grandpa’s return came some gifts, including these t-shirts – boys loved modelling them!

Love this photo – the kids helping me make supper for Granny and Grandpa.  Too sweet!   

Sam has been dwelling in super-cuteville lately.  This is a note he wrote for me in the car the other day.  “Mom I love you that’s why I love you.”  I love that – it’s totally the truth and echoes Jesus – He loves us.  Why?  Because He loves us.  Nothing we can do or say can change that.  Nothing we do or say can win His love.   

And here is Sam wanting me to send a photo to Cubby his Aussie-Sudanese friend, showing off the necklace that Cubby (Caleb) made for him. 

April has seen us get back into some mountain walks. 

We also had a huge privilege of going to a nearby stud farm.  Vanessa invited Kiera and the rest of the kids for a visit, thanks to Kiera’s horsey-fixation. 

What a jol!  The children loved every minute of it.  I took hundreds of photos.  But I’ll only subject you to a few…

Like this beauty with the heart-shaped star:

This birdy couldn’t fly anymore.  But the kids felt strongly that he needed saving, which constituted of carrying him all over the farm.  Vanessa’s young boy was the sweetest – carrying him around, then setting him down, walking a little while and then, with great concern, racing back to comfort and care for the little guy.  The pigeon ended up being carried, set down, and then gently picked up again, only to be carried to the next spot.  So sweet!

The kids got to see reindeer from afar – yes, reindeer!  They do exist.  And in Cape Town, nogal!  One guy with impressive antlers was standing outside of the group.  Turns out that he’s an old guy and his lack of fertility during mating season means that he is excluded from the group until the season is over!  The poor guy looked rather forlornly at the group.

Sam creating grass-angels!

Katie found this part of a springbok skull.  Not uncommon on the farm, thanks to the recently deceased resident wolf.  Loved kids, but still loved eating reindeer and springbok from time to time.

Despite the crazy interruptions in our life, thanks to all the work around the book, we managed to fit in school work – if not in the same pattern we are used to!  Here are some examples:

Katie doing maths on the trampoline after “riding” to “school”.

Sam doing his Explode the Code phonics, with his newly-adapted pencil thanks to the peacock feathers we got from the farm. 

Kiera and Micah hang out by our puzzle map doing school together – Kiera reading to Micah from her language arts work – developing a Tall Tale.  She chose to turn this one into a fully illustrated book for her siblings.  Too sweet.

This month at Lunch Bunch, we got to hang out with the people from Talking Hands.  They are busy working on a full translation of the Bible into sign language – that means, the Bible by video.  Lisa C introduced us to the interpreters and we learnt a thing or two about sign language and the deaf community.

Here the kids are learning some signs

… and watching a recording of a bible passage.  Read all about it here: Hands with Words ministry.

One of the last days in April saw us joining the Tubbies on a mid-week escape to the beach one early evening. 

Hout Bay at 7pm – so beautiful!

On the very last day of April, Katie put together a special party in honour of fairies’ birthdays – or something to that effect.  I found her and Micah holding a tea party, along with Smartie the white tiger in party dress. 

Love them to bits!

Did you know that sign language is not “in English” or any other language, but is a language of it’s own? Did you know that the bible in South Africa has never been translated into sign language?  Did you know that the only way to effectively do this is to create a sign language DVD? 

That is what Hands with Words is aiming to do.  Lisa Craye is a woman who has been given the gift of a deep passion for working with the deaf for gospel purposes.  Lisa is a hearing woman who first encountered the need for sign language many years ago when she was working with special needs kids.  Today she heads up the Hands with Words ministry and today they have an aim to raise enough funds to eventually translate the entire Bible into sign language.

Hayley organised for us to meet with Lisa and the others involved in the project.  Lisa told us a little about sign language and taught the kids the alphabet in sign…

Signing away…

This young girls’ parents are both deaf, so even though she is hearing, she can sign beautifully too.

The kids were treated to three Bible stories in sign. 

Agnes here is being filmed doing an advert for an up-and-coming deaf camp.

The kids were fascinated with the whole experience – filming, green screens and the amazing way in which Agnes has to memorise everything she is signing as she can’t just read it off a script.

You can learn more about Hands with Words at their website: http://www.handswithwords.com – there are wonderful ways in which you can support them and be a part of this awesome pioneering project.

http://www.handswithwords.org.za/projects/bible-translation

But, published it is.  And even amongst all the craziness that is publishing, marketing, interviewing etc, life goes on.  There was no room for delusions of grandeur that first day I held Seekers.  The day began as usual with admin, caring for the family, homeschooling and ended with chores like taking rubbish to the dump and other errands!

But, slap bang in the middle of the day, I got a huge injection of excitement called receiving Seekers!  Deon from Naledi kindly took photos with my phone for posterity sake.  Thanks, Deon! 

Opening the first package…

Trying not to squeal with excitement…

Tada!

Some of the creative team at work…

Some of Naledi’s titles…

Deon and Johan lending some muscle to the 200 books I get to sell direct.

On my way home, I went to check out the District Six Museum’s venue for a potential launch venue.  Watch this space!

The excitement continued into the evening when Craig sweetly took us out for dinner to celebrate and Kiera insisted on taking a copy of the book along, like a 5th child!

The next day, Kiera made sure that the excitement levels did not dip.  If possible, she was more excited than me!  She carried her copy of my book wherever she went, even making sure that it made the trip to greet granny and grandpa at the airport the next day – home after their month visiting the Glik family in Israel.

And then baking brownies with Seekers in liquorice as a surprise for me.

And a poem to boot…

that reads:

“Dear mom,

I’m sooo glad you pushed through,

and finished your book.

And yet you still took the time,

to talk to us and cook.

I really love you, and as you can tell

I really love reading your book as well.

Everyone here loves your story, it’s true

But not as much as I love you!

your daughter, Kiera”

Who needs cheerleaders when there is Kiera?  Her enthusiasm is so touching.

Since then every day has Seeker moments injected into it and it’s been quite something trying to get back on task with our schooling and other day-to-day activities, but we’re managing (finally!) to plug normal back into our lives.    

Anyhow.  The shrine was dismantled recently, in order to bring the Global Puzzle to life.  It was a rainy afternoon, we had two friends staying for the day.  I was desperate.  Well, not really, but I was desperate to avoid hours of TV-viewing while I had other chores on the go.

Let’s say that I’m so glad that we pulled this one out. 

It’s not an easy puzzle.  We probably needed those extra 2 years in order to give our family some time to grow enough that each member was able to contribute somewhat significantly to its assembly.  It consists of 600 oddly-shaped pieces and vast amounts of blue blue sea.  It’s the type of challenge that can stymy even my most puzzle-avid child.

But, initial enthusiasm is always a great wave to ride, and so the kids surfed the joint activity that first day with gusto.

It helped that we had our friend and puzzle-lover, Jakey Smith visiting.  He really helped keep the momentum going.

We figured that the traditional approach was probably going to be easiest – that is, start with the straight sides to make the border first.

Although, certain young boys figured that building easy countries was far more entertaining – or, at least, satisfied their instant-gratification craving!

We revived our Geography Songs CD (another Sonlight winner!) while we built the puzzle.  We hadn’t listened to them in a while, but this session resurrected the kids’ enthusiasm, so it’s once again blaring from our car speakers.

Tada!  Border done!

Over the next few days and nights, the kids would wander past the coffee table and place a few extra pieces in their appropriate spots.  And, so, over time, our puzzle grew.

And grew…  I had read years ago on the Sonlight forums that it’s best to do the sea first, as it “locks” in the countries nicely.  The countries don’t have interlocking pieces, but rather just line up against each other according to the shape of their borders.

We had a few after-Narnia-reading nights when Craig let the kids stay up a little later for puzzle time.  And then, when they were off to bed, Daddy kept plugging away.  Yip, another puzzle-fundi in the family.

I had a hard time tearing him away!

Eventually, all the sea was done and it was just a matter of building the countries and continents…

Tada!  By this time, I had moved it onto my memory cutting board so we could actually use our coffee table of things like coffee cups and such.  But, it soon made it’s way back to the table and for the past 3 weeks, that is where it has lived.  And it’s been the best thing ever!

Every time we sit on the couch for read-aloud time, the kids interact with the puzzle.  Most afternoons they take apart a section and rebuild it, all while saying things like “where’s Afghanistan?” or “I can’t find Chile!  Where’s the piece for Chile?”  And, invariably, Sam or the girls will stop our read-alouds mid-sentence and scramble for the map to see the placement of the countries I’m busy reading about.  Since we’ve been doing a lot of early South African history, focusing on Europeans coming to the Cape, they’ve had loads of fun figuring out the routes one would take.  Sam plotted out the French Huguenots trip from France to the Netherlands to South Africa where they finally settled in the Stellenbosch area.

So, what took us two years to get going is now being thoroughly enjoyed by the family.  I love it!  And I love that the coffee table is working so well for us.  It’s planted some ideas in my head – one being a permanent map feature for the coffee table top… decoupage anyone? 

I had always said that I would cut Micah’s hair short when he wanted it short, but until then, I was content to enjoy his gorgeous curls.  When the months passed with Micah insisting that that was the route he wanted to go, I was faced with the choice.  Lop or leave?  Since I had kinda promised, I agreed – despite the sad-mommy-heart moment.  But, I did set out one condition… we’d do it after a family photo shoot we had planned later in the month. 

Because, I wanted those gorgeous curls preserved for eternity in photo form…

And thanks to Susie Harris-Leblond’s superb photographic skills, we have some gorgeous photos of Mr Micah and his curls…

Knowing that we would be chopping Micah’s locks the next day, I figured that it was time to give Sam a good chop too.  He hates haircuts, and I hate the regular trim required to keep it the length he likes.  So, we made a deal.  Cut it really short now and then we don’t have to chop it for maybe even a year.  A whole year free of the dreaded haircut?  Sam was game. 

Thankfully, we have photos of his sweet longer hairstyle too…

So cute. 

And then – it was chop time.  Two rather excited boys posed for these before shots:

Boy #1 – before… Ahhhhhh!!!  (hmm, and chocolate-eating evidence on those molars there!)

After – all gone!  Ahhhhh!

This dude was NOT impressed.  He immediately missed his longer hair.  Sorry bud.  Hair grows back.

A little while later – not the best haircuts thanks to my ancient clippers that hacked its way through their locks.  Note to self – find a place to get ‘em sharpened. 

Hair or no hair, Micah is still his crazy self.  And, if truth be told, his short hairstyle better suits his thuggish personality.  Crazy kid!

Now, I know a few great photographers that I would recommend. But, Susie Leblond has a special something that completely resonates with me.

I first saw her photos pop up on my Facebook newsfeed when old school friends’ family photo shoots began to appear. I loved the photos and thought to myself, “ah, now that’s my style of photography. I love it! Pity it always costs so much.”

And that was that.

Until, that is, it popped up again on my newsfeed a little while later. And again. And again. By the time the fourth family came through, I figured it was time to check Susie out. And I am so glad I did. Because her prices are reasonable. Her eye is simply brilliant. And her post-production skills are exactly what I love – whimsical, rustic, timeless and beautiful.

Our shoot was done on Susie’s family’s farm – backing onto Groot Constantia it is the perfect setting of long grasses, stunning vineyards and, at 4pm, a setting sun that creates the most magical sun-flares ever.

Susie is so relaxed behind the camera that she managed to capture the most beautiful, natural family shots. I love them. Plus, she managed to get this mom-who-is-usually-behind-the-camera-for-a-good-reason person to be relaxed enough to get a few great shots to use for author photos and such.

To say that we are thrilled is an understatement!  Susie has done a fantastic job and I highly recommend her.  You can book Susie for when she opens in October again.  Susie is based in Cape Town.  Check out her other work here: www.susieleblond.com and/or like her facebook page.

We did not receive any compensation for this review.  It is simply because we really really loved our experience and want to share the love

You can see more of our photos on Susie’s website by clicking on this link:

Hayes family photo shoot.