Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The Happiness Project

We had a wonderful Christmas in Johannesburg.
The tree looked lovely with lots of presents.

The table was set.

Mel and Christine
celebrate Christmas on the 24th. 
Presents get opened at midnight.
But there was no way Ethan would stay up that late,
so he got to open his gifts at 10.

But since Santa comes on the 24th,
Ethan awoke to more gifts
on Christmas Day!


He even got to Skype with his mate
in Finland!


Christmas was a little quieter this year,
but it was still lovely.


Happiness is a lovely Christmas
with friends. 















































































Monday, December 30, 2013

A Very Gothic Christmas - C. Feehan & M. George

It's Christmas time,
so I had to read a Christmas book.
A Very Gothic Christmas
is not very Goth,
but it is a little Christmassy.

There are two little novellas here.
The first one,
After the Music,
is written by Christine Feehan.
It's the story of Dillon,
a famous musician.
Years ago,
 his wife got involved with the occult,
and after walking in on her friends
abusing young Jessica,
shots were fired
and the house was burnt.
Years later,
Jessica arrives on the island
with Dillon's teen aged children
in hopes for Christmas miracle.
Someone has been trying to kill the twins,
and Jessica hopes spending time with their father,
will bring them together as a family
and learn who is trying to harm them all.

Lady of the Locket
is written by Melanie George.
I've never read anything by her,
but after this,
I think I will.
Rachel Hudson travels to Scotland
to fulfill her parents wish, 
of spreading their ashes over Glengarren,
the Scottish castle where they met
years before.
She sees a portrait of the fierce Highlander,
Duncan MacGregor,
and something awakens within her.
After a stormy night,
Rachel finds herself face-to-face
with Duncan.
This one was heart-wrenching
but so lovely.





Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Dark Desires After Dusk - Kresley Cole

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year,
for many reasons.
One of them being,
having nothing to do all day,
but enjoy a book
(or two).

Dark Desires After Dusk
is another Immortals After Dark
book.

This one is the story of Cadeon Woede,
a demon.
He's fated to be with Holly Ashwin.
There's just one problem,
she's a human
and it's forbidden to mate with a human.
So Cadeon spends his days
watching her
and watching over her.

Cadeon is determined to help his brother
reclaim his throne.
When the opportunity to help comes,
he takes it.
It seems simple enough.
Deliver the Vessel to an evil sorcerer.
But when he learns the Vessel is Holly,
a Halfling,
can he give up his fate to help his brother?


The Happiness Project

We weren't able to make it to Canada
this Christmas.
So we decided to have a 
South African Christmas,
spending a week 
with mates.

Since it's summer here,
the weather's not quite as cold
as it is at home,
so our mate
took us to Gold Reef City,
an amusement park.
She thought Ethan would love it there.

He went on rides,



played some games,


Auntie Mel even won a big dog for him.

Ethan got to meet some miners,

and saw a gorgeous peacock.

Ethan even got to see Father Christmas.

Happiness is a fun-filled day.














































































Thursday, December 19, 2013

Writer's Workshop - Pajamas

Write a blog post inspired by the word:
pajamas

Last year,
my cousin started a new Christmas tradition.
She has three sons,
her oldest is the same age as Ethan.
We have another cousin
with a son the same age.
Every Christmas,
we try to get the boys together.
So, she had a fantastic idea.
Get the boys matching pajamas.


The boys had a blast in their PJs.


We're not home this Christmas,
but she hasn't let that stop
the second annual
pajama party.
She sent Ethan a pair.
I'm going to let him open it on
Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile,
everytime I think of pajamas,
I think of Sandra Boyton's book
Pajama Time.
What I like even better
was hearing it as a song.

And since I've now got it stuck in my head,
I'm going to share it with you...


Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton

The moon is up, 
It’s getting late. 
Let’s get ready to celebrate.
It’s Pajama Time!
Pull on the bottoms. 
Put on the top.
 Get yourself set to pajama-dee-bop-- 
It’s Pajama Time!
Now, some are old and some are new. 
Some are red and some are blue. 
Some are fuzzy. Some are not.
 But we can all pajammy in whatever we’ve got.
 It’s Pajama Time! 
Ooooo yes, it’s Pajama Time!
Some are pink and some are green.
 Some are the ugliest you’ve ever seen.
 They might be stripey,
or polka dot.
 But we can all pajammy in whatever we’ve got. 
It’s Pajama time!
Pajammy to the left. 
Pajammy to the right. 
(Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!) 
Everybody’s wearing them for dancing tonight.
 (Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!)
Now all around the room in one big line, 
wearing our pajamas and looking so fine.
It’s Pajama Time! 
Hop into bed.
Turn off the light.
 You can have a party in your dreams tonight. 
IT’S PAJAMA TIME!
(Hush, Hush.)
(Shhhhhhhh.)
GOOD NIGHT 
SLEEP TIGHT.




Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Happiness Project

Last week,
was the last week of school 
before the Christmas break.
As tradition at IST
there was a class party.
This year's party was fabulous.
The class mum thought it would be nice
to have a little present exchange.
However, 
so parents didn't have to go out and buy something
the idea was to bring in a 
wrapped book
and take one.


There was a dance contest.



Ethan won.
But the best part
was not him winning
but the reaction of his classmates
when he won.


Happiness is having a wonderful
class.













































































Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Pagan Stone - Nora Roberts

Have you ever read a trilogy
or series
and got to the last book
and was slightly disappointed?
Well...
that doesn't happen here!

The Pagan Stone is the third
and final book in the
Sign of Seven Trilogy.
Cal, Fox and Gage,
along with Quinn, Layla and Cybil
are determined to fight
The Big Evil.
As July 7th approaches
they are willing to risk everything to save themselves,
their families,
friends
and the little town of 
Hawkins Hollow.

This is also the story of Gage and Cybil.
Both have the gift of seeing
the future.
Neither is looking for love.
And when you're out to fight the
Big Bad,
love is the last thing you're looking for.

This book is heartbreaking as well.
Gage lost his mother when he was young.
His father turned to the bottle
and beat him.
He then let out the Big Bad.
Is the way to win sacrifice?
Will Gage need to sacrifice himself?
Unlike the others,
he doesn't have a family.
He has no ties.
Is he the key to success?

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Happiness Project

We have a cook!
Yipee.
We finally get home cooked meals.
Yipee!
On Monday, she came
and made some pizza bases
and homemade pizza sauce.
Which meant
that last night,
we all got to make our own
pizza.







Happiness is homemade pizza.