On monday morning at 7am my parents were brutally attacked in their home in South Africa, a reality that it could happen South Africans have to face almost everyday. My aunt has a qualification in trauma councelling and in her area alone they have on average 40 cases per month. I'm guessing those are the lucky ones - the ones who escaped their ordeal alive as is the case - thank god- with my folks. I know of friends of friends who were not so lucky. I've thought long and hard about whether or not to write about this because South Africa is a beautiful country with many, many beautiful people. However crime is rampant and I hope that this blog post will, in some small way raise awareness of the crime in south africa, and inspire people to support those causes/campaign/spare a thought or prayer against crime in SA.

The pictures below are of poor Toopie who was battered about the head with a garden spade, dad had both his hands slashed. The inturder came down the passage dressed in dads clothes & shoes, his attack on them was unprovoked and intended to harm & intimidate, as dad and Toops were complying with all his requests

Grumpy but gorgeous.....

... a slogan I spotted on these really fab pj's, sadly I no longer have the boobage or biceps to flatter such nifty nightware (nor if we are being completely honest here can I lay claim to the "gorgeous" terminology first thing in the morning) so that just leaves the GRUMPY. Yup that's me to a T ... somewhere along the way I've metamorpahsised into a grumpy old bag in the mornings (..and erm, quite possibly some afternoons & evening too)! Obviously the caterpillar - butterfly cycle is strictly for their species, I'm destined to be a chubby grub all my life!

Speaking of gorgeousness .. Scrapagogo have launched their new website and it looks blummin fantastic! A little revamp of the DTs, some entertaining bio's and a huge TOOT TOOT for Ms Fiona who is our new Design Team Co-ordinator

News of the lil' Jewels ... hmmmmmmmm .... H & K are off to a speed stacking competition this afternoon (they definitely understand the stacking part .. not sure if they've quite gotten the concept of "speed" yet .. bless their little cotton socks!). Cross fingers they dont have an attack of the nerves this pm, please dahlinks.

Mum was visiting over the weekend so we decided a trip to London for the day was in order (while Dave spent a child free day on the golf course). We met up with Melly and her lovely man Dan (now I know Ms Mels is never that concerned about whether her big sis' gives approval on anything or not but for all the quizzy reallies in SA I'm giving it anyway teehee .. Dan is just lovely!!) Anyhoo we whiled away the hours with a quick stop in the Natural History museum and then playing in the Launchpad at the Science Museum. So much to see .. BUT (..yup you guessed it the grumpy debs is let loose) .. the crowds were a little off putting and the manners of the hordes of children in the Launchpad left much to be desired. Now tempting as it is ... I won't bore you with one of my famous monologues on manners and common decency (or the lack thereof) as I'm sure at some stage you've all heard it from me before, it's definitely one of my bugbears. Instead I shall leave you with a couple of pics from our day out.

Till later dahlinks
MWAH

Personally ... I blame it on the parents...

..well I did until I became one of those parents. That's it .. I'm raising a delinquent. Last week Dave was called in to see Sarahs teacher because she and her friend had been very naughty at school ... they locked 2 teachers into their classrooms by closing the doors and wedging in the doorstops to keep them there! Now stop laughing you evil people .. I hate being in trouble and I fear a long school career of being called in to see the teachers considering Sarah is just four years old and it's started already!

Oh and seeing as it's been so long since I last blogged Belated Happy New Year Greetings dahlinks. Hope your holiday season was blissful .... or at the very least you survived the festive season madness. I considered sharing a list of NY's resolutions but since I got no futher the drawing the margins and writing my date and title, it semed a bit pointless really (although the page is beautifully decorated with Rhonna Farrer style doodles). Normally I LOVE the new year .. the chance to start over blah blah blah, but I've approach this year with some trepidation as we've not had the best start but nevermind that. We keep plodding along with lots of laughs along the way thanks to some very special friends! My social diary was looking very colourful over the christmas season too, with a few nights out in Maidstone and a delish, at times amusing and also quite "enlighting", New Year dinner at the Pippin with the staff from school.

Such excitement in my life ... I've been invited back to teach at ATDML retreat in March - absolutely can't wait!!! Mel and Jill are the most wonderful people to work for and their organisational skills are outstanding!! All details can be found on their website here.

Congratulations to Mel and welcome to gorgeous little Olivia Rose.

Other exciting things lined up for this year is an invitation to teach at a Scrapmates workshop run by the fabulous Ann and a very exciting retreat being organised by Tracie & Sarah. I shall have to get back to you with details about these events in the next few days.

So I shall end this post with a few pics to share of what the lil' Jewels have been up to these past few weeks, including christmas eve games, 10 pin bowling for the first time, ice-skating at Leeds castle, a few trips to the park, etc, etc.

Right me lovelies I must away to bake cupcakes with the girlies who've guilted me into it (where do kids learn the art of emotional blackmail at such a young age? ..#big puppy dog eyes and pouting mouths#"..but mummy it's been sooooooooo long since you've done any cooking with us..")

Hope you are all having a gentle sunday.

MWAH

Dxxx

Mum's Letter to Santa

My dear friend Margaret sent me this letter in an e-mail and I'd thought I'd share it with you ... seems our Santa requests as mummies are universal.... Hope all you christmas preparations are going to plan dahlinks. Dxxx

Dear Santa,
I've been a good mum all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of choc.bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my daughters's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any colour, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the lolly aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mummy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in the living room' and 'Take your hands off your sister,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare tomato sauce a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my daughter saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think she wants her crayon back.

Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, MUM...!

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children happy, healthy and always believing.

Sometimes the advice you give your children ...

.... you have to learn to take yourself! Such as:- do your best at all times, be true to yourself and sometimes life sucks – deal with it! Have you ever had one of those days when you think “why bother”? I did ... yesterday in fact. But I’m learning that before I make any decisions to step back from the situation and if possible have a good nights sleep before taking action - things never look not so bad in the morning when one is feeling refreshed. For someone who tends to act instinctively (and far too often, emotionally) this is a big lesson I’ve learnt and so far it’s taken me 37 years to reach this point. Things are more often than not NEVER as bad as they seem.

Can you believe the Jingle Bells are ringing all over the place already and my life is covered in glitter - lovely stuff uness you trying to clean it up ... no seriously, where the heck has this year gone?! I just need a couple of weeks back in order to get things done .. like making the christmas cards/tree decorations/teachers presents/etc. The girlies are wanting to decorate our house already - so at some stage I need to get into the loft to dig out all the christmas kitchiness (afraid there's no designer trees/wreaths/glass baubles in this house - just loads of over the top, colourful, mismatched, much loved decorations).
Oh and I can't believe I haven't told you this yet ... my lil' sis is moving to the UK and is arriving Boxing Day ... wahoooooooooooooooooooooo! I'm so excited. (<---insert Big smiley smilie here) Melly dahlink, we'll discuss babysitting dates (#wink wink#) when you get here, teehee.

Have a teriffic tuesday my lovelies
MWAH
Dxxx

I'm getting older/growing up -depending on your point of view...

Well I feeling happy and content this morning – have had a lovely, gentle weekend so far with my family – I really am a very very lucky woman! Actually when I say gentle weekend it started with quite a raucous night out instigated by my partner in grime (Oh I haven’t told you I’m a night-time school cleaner yet have I? Well I am- and although I can honestly say it’s not been one of my greatest ambitions to be a cleaner I really enjoy it.- Leanne is great fun and we always have lots of laughs and of course the obligatory moans about the state of the staffroom). Anyhoo back to Friday night out – my introduction to Maidstones nightlife. To backtrack a bit – I don’t think I have been in a nightclub for about ten years so it was with some trepidation I donned my dancing shoes. It was interesting to see nothing much has changed since my 20’s although they no longer play scatman!!! Fortunately I had dragged Louise out with us (while Dave darling man that he is stayed home to babysit all the girlies) so I had a dancing partner for the evening. Did I enjoy my night out? ..hmm Yes I think so – I loved been able to “let my hair down and boogie” … What did I learn from from my night out? … that I am really content with the life I lead, that I don’t need attention from other to reaffirm my worth and that in future I’ll be saving my pennies for pursuits I really enjoy. I know I’m definitely getting older because from now on I’m no longer embarrassed to go out the theatre/art exhibitions/etc on my own (Dave doesn’t share the same passion for all thing theatrical – he’s a sportsman and while I’m not - I do understand the enjoyment he gets from it, fortunately as he does my interests – well if not understands at least tolerates it LOL). So watch this space dahlinks .. I’m restarting my cultural education
Saturday was spent in more gentler pursuits – Dave and Louise took the girlies to the park in the morning while I walked to the market in town (now for all my SA reallies- before you picture the quintessential English country village market and me meandering along with my wicker basket … remember I live in Maidstone so had to dodge 4 thooosand and sixty two cars and risk my life crossing main roads carrying my tesco bags to get there). Having said that there is something sooooooo satisfying about buying one’s meat and veg from the market as opposed to the local superstore! Plus there is a SA market stall so I treated us to some boerewors/biltong/Ouma rusks – mmmmmmmmmm could life be any better. (Strange how even after 11 years here the tastes from home remain firm favourites?!)
Last night we all snuggled up on the sofa to watch our weekly fix of Funniest Home videos – amazing how humans of every age find humour in others misfortunes.. I mean lets be honest there is something terribly funny about a cat falling into a fish tank or a show-off taking a running jump into a snow pile only to find his posterior making contact with a hard layer of ice not a soft pile of snow!
Today has been earmarked for the more mundane aspects of family life .. a trip the laundry (our blummin tumble dryer is broken – I’m praying Santa can squeeze one down our chimney this Christmas), a grocery shop to restock the now very bare cupboards and the weekly BIG clean and sort out of the house.
Till later dahlinks .. hope your Sunday is blissful
MWAH
Debsxxxx
PS.. Sarah, Soo and Mel - you'd been most welcome to share my (still unanswered) ad whenever you feel the need to escape ... Soo- I'll add a request for a warm stable with clean hay for any Millls&Boons type requirements you may have ... altho' I think I shall first take you out (refer my post about fri's outing) which I think will squash any of those fantasies pretty quickly LOL

Thursdays Troubles & Tantrums ...

... not mine but close. My youngest dahling has taken to throwing the most spectacular tantrums, I'm mean the real deal, (wish I had such energy) I alway knew my girl had a powerful pair of lungs on her but now she's just showing off. Of course they are always most perfectly timed for maximum stress effect .. like this the morning when I'm trying to get all five of us dressed and ready for school .. or when we're running late for something - school/appts/etc. So how does one deal with it .. as a mum it seems we have no choice but to stand and face the onslaught, or the pitying looks from strangers, when my first instinct is to run for the hills (listen I never claimed to be a good mummy) One would think as this is my fourth "round" they would be easier to deal with ... au contraire my lovelies - they get worse and I just get tireder. I don't remember going through this with Hannah and Kate (yes I'm aware of rose coloured glasses) and I know Sarah was quite good at the tantrum malarky but her speciality is that of the "dripping tap" variety she goes on and on till achieving the desired effect .... but it seems Emily has taken tantrums to a whole new level. And I am quite at a loss as to how to deal with it, any advice would be much appreciated ..
....suggestions on a bottle of valium to the usual address please dahlinks.
Dxxxx

PS most times she's just cute enough to squidge so despite todays blog I think she's a keeper!!
PPS Having said that if an unoccupied cottage in the country answers my ad - I'm outta here!!!