Clay Jar People

i am going through a season where i think God may be trying to teach me something about being thankful. its a trying time. its about being thankful for what i have and what He has done instead of focussing on what could be or what i would like to have.

its a hard lesson really.

i have so much to be thankful for, yet daily i am inundated with things i want. things that would make me happier, make my life easier, or just seem great at the time. a bigger house would make my life so much easier, with direct garden access and such. another kid would be so awesome, as elijah would have a friend. a dishwasher, a washine machine… the list go on.

God is teaching me these things… (i know the lessons but i am still trying to accept them in my heart):

(source)

(source)

but most of all, He is teaching me this…

(source)

so while i don’t get what i would like even when i think its part of God’s plan, i know that He has always given me what i need. and i know that His timing is perfect, so i will get the things i dream of when He deems the time to be right.

until then, i shall be content and happy with my little family in our little flat, praising God for His love and goodness and provision for us.

I don’t usually review or promote restaurants… but I have recently been introduced to this little gem, in Durbanville. (Its actually 2 doors down from my brother’s local “kuier-plek” in Oxford street.)

Its called Our Place.

The decor is gorgeous, a kind of rustic/country French Provence style with whites and wooden floors. The menu is extensive and provides for all tastes. Last Friday, I was there for a meeting and I had the Caprese Panini… oh my goodness, it was divine – I adore caprese salad and this was just fabulous. Their prices are really reasonable too.

You have the option of sitting inside, in the grandly decorated dining rooms or, as we prefer, sitting outside under trees or in the play area.

A play area… a mom’s dream… This play area has scooter-bikes, a tree-house, a huge sandpit in the shape of a boat and a heap of other toys to occupy children. I love the fact that you can sit right there with the kids, and the waiters actually serve you there. Elijah loves playing there, with the sandpit and he actually learnt to ride a scooter-bike there.

Our Place also boasts a really quaint party venue, where Marjolein – a party-organiser of note, plans and executes the most gorgeous parties. She runs art classes for kids as well. I met her at my friend, Natasha’s little boy’s party (which she did, and it was brilliant) and she is a lovely person and great with the kids.

I am really hoping that Chris, Elijah and I can head to Our Place this weekend for some yummy munchies and a great time.

(images from Our Place’s Facebook page)

Just popping by to say:

… and have a blessed CHRISTmas! Hope you all have a day filled with love, family and the reality of Jesus in your lives.

I will be back sometime in the New Year, as my dearest husband is on holiday for 2 weeks!

All my love,

Lizanne

I received this award ages ago, but have just been so busy I haven’t had the chance to pass it on. Yes, shame on me! Thanks Charlotte!!

So here goes…

HOW IT WORKS :

1. Tell 7 things about yourself.

2. Pass the award onto 15 others.

7 Things about myself:

1 – I am allergic to dairy and wheat, so I have been trying to find a way to cook for myself and 2 dairy and wheat loving boys.

2 – I am addicted to series… loving Fringe at the moment, basically love any and all crime series.

3 – I love reading, I could read all day everyday if I had the time and opportunity.

4 – I really like quotes… check my Pinterest…

5 – I really loved being pregnant… and would really not mind another baby… and then another… and another….

6 – I have a severe dislike for persistent noises/sounds… Some kind of sensory overload happens in my brain and I want to freak out. Which is why trance/rave/house music messes with me.

7 – I hate speaking on the phone, to anyone, its like a phobia. I prefer email or texting. Like really, do not phone me, ever, if at all possible.

15 Blogs that I nominate:

1. 3 2 1

2. Hayes Happenings

3. Back to Ancient Ways

4. The Gypsy Mama

5. A Holy Experience

6. Chasing the Wind

7. Luv Bugg

8. Dear Max

9. Passionate Homemaking

10. Tara

11. Heidi’s Crafts

12. Tales from the Little White House

13. Love made me do it

14. Lucky Pony

15. Fun with Little Mouse

(photo by Nicole Fourie)

Saw this on some blogs and thought its a quick update :)

Obsessing over: red velvet cupcakes, wedge heels, my messy house, Christmas decorations.

Working on: being a mom, showing grace to others, being more organized.

Thinking about: having a shower, wrapping gifts, Chris, the weekend.

Anticipating: baby cuddles and kisses, a nice hot shower, a warm cup of tea, Elijah’s first birthday next week.

Listening to: Silence

Drinking: juice from the bottle whenever I get up.

Wishing: for more time to get things done, for more kids, for a peaceful December, for Chris to have less stress.

UPDATE: Mr Murray – executive director of The Foschini Group – called Taryn Hayes now and told her that these t-shirts were out of line and that they slipped passed their vetting system. They are all being recalled from all stores (including sports scene) across the country and an investigation is happening to see how they got passed through in the first place. He was very apologetic and as outraged as everyone else. Taryn was quite impressed with his handling of it. Now to see how quickly this happens. :-)

I am not usually one who reposts entire posts from other blogs… but this post by Jennifer Thorpe on the Mail and Guardian site really is important to me. My friend, Taryn previously posted about the derogatory and degrading T-shirts that Markhams sell… and there was major uproar and emails and such… but it appears that Foschini are still being ignorant and making it look like women are things to be used. I get so freaking angry I could use horrible words! But read this post, and help take action!

T-shirts that are offensive towards women, ignorant of the HIV/Aids pandemic in South Africa, or are simply offensive are a reflection of a culture that says we shouldn’t care about these things, because misogyny, HIV/Aids and women’s rights are not something to be taken seriously. When a major brand like Foschini chooses to produce shirts that entrench these messages it is important that they are called to account.

On Thursday last week, Rebecca Hodes posted a letter on FeministsSA, signed by a number of journalists and academics, calling the Foschini group to remove the following shirt from their stores, and illustrating to them why it was wrong to have shirts like this in their stores. I put out a call on FeministsSA for others to send me images of shirts that they found offensive. I received three more. One that said “I put the STD in STUD, now all I need is U”. One said “You looked better … from behind”. The final one said the way to a woman’s heart was throughmoney, cars and lies.

What these T-shirts share in common is a deep-seated misogyny, a lack of respect for women, a lack of awareness about sexual health, and the fact that they are all produced by the Foschini group in their stores Markhams and Sportscene.

Foschini is sending us a message — they don’t care about women’s rights, and they are more than happy to print offensive messages about women. They don’t believe that people who shop in their stores are at risk of contracting HIV, despite claiming their own internalcomprehensive HIV policy.

The following stores are also part of the Foschini group:

• Foschini
• Donna-Claire
• Fashion Express
• Luella
• Markhams
• Exact
• Totalsports
• Sportscene
• Due South
• American Swiss
• Sterns
• Matrix
• @home
• @homelivingspace

I imagine that many of the people who shop at these stores do not support misogyny, do not support the dangerous practice of multiple concurrent partners, and would like their children to grow up in a world where women are respected for their intellect, ambition and talents rather than for how they look from behind.

If you are part of that group, and shop at Foschini, I’d like to ask you to stop. I’d like you to pay up and close your accounts.

I’d like to ask you to go one step further and get in touch with them and tell them about your displeasure with their messaging on the following number: 021 938 1911. The real person you want to talk to is AD Murray, their executive director.

I’d like you to ask Mr Murray if he promotes these views within the directorate of this corporation, and if he is aware that he is offending and alienating the majority of his target market. I’d like you to tell me what he says.

For now, and until they issue an apology for their ignorant offensive messaging, I will be boycotting them. I hope you will be too.

Source

Since Saturday, my favourite fruit are blackberries… But I have never eaten one in my life… I refer to my awesome BlackBerry smartphone, that my even awesomer husband bought me.

Source

Sadly the above picture is not mine… if only my hands were as pretty. My BlackBerry really is black!

Source

I found this quote quite amusing… and actually agree…

That said, I find myself spending LESS time online on my PC as my emails come straight to my phone, so I spend more time doing other things.

Either way, I just wanted to tell the world how cool my husband is for getting me this awesome phone!

Today I’m linking up to my friend Cindy’s blog for some fun questions :)

How old are you? 24

What do you do for a living? I am a full time mama to one funny little boy of 9 months. Then I also do freelance make up.

Do you have a spouse/partner or are you divorced/single? Married for almost 4 years

How long have you been with your partner? 7 and a half years

What does your partner do for a living? Senior web developer at Zoopy.com

How much time do you spend with your partner? We try to have breakfast and supper together daily, and then chill together in the evening. We also go for breakfasts every so often on w1eekends… and the occasional date night.

What religion are you? Sanctified sinners… Christians… this is what we believe. We try to acknowledge God as Lord in every part of our lives, although we do fail, we know He has forgiven us.

Do you and your partner share the same religious view? Yes

Do you have children? If so, how many? one 9 month old boy

How old were you when you had them? I was 24 when Elijah was born.

Are you planning on having more kids? We have given our children to the Lord, and as Psalm 127 says, they are a blessing from Him. So as many as He blesses us with, we will love. See this post for more info.

What type of housing situation do you have in relation to kids? We live in a flat, hopefully we will have our own place soon, but trusting that the Lord has a plan.

Do you work or stay home and why? I stay at home, as Chris and I both strongly felt that the Lord was leading us to that decision. Yes, it is tough sometimes financially, but again, we live by grace and faith. We have never once gone without food/shelter/transport, and its amazing how He has provided for us through Chris’s job and sometimes other people. God provides when you trust Him, sometimes you need to get out of the boat and trust that He will help you walk on water before you actually do.

What do you do with your kiddos when you are at work? My kiddo is my work :)

What kind of car/s do you have? We have a BMW… old old one… but gets us places. We also have a motorbike, but it needs to be fixed, then Chris will use it for work again. We manage well with one car. Thankfully we have great friends and family who don’t mind helping us with transport occassionally.

Do you have pets? At the moment we have one 6 year old Yorkshire Terrier, Charlie, who is loved much by Elijah. We seem to have a constant flow of pets, so there will probably be something new soon. (Chris and Elijah love animals.)

Do you have domestic help? How often? Chris blessed me by arranging that Cynthia, my amazing cleaning fairy, comes every Tuesday, because with my very active and high maintenance little boy, I don’t get to the deep cleaning.

That’s all folks! If you do this on your blog, link up to Cindy’s post here

Our church has a ministry for women working or staying at home, we have also started a Moms and Tots group. Our first official meeting was on Wednesday 7 September.

Natasha did a cute messy play activity with the kiddos, giving them each a chunk of jelly to play with. Elijah had fun, eating and squishing it everywhere! I loved this idea… I will try it with him when he’s a tad older again.

When they were done making a royal mess, Tash put some music on and gave them all instruments to play with.  This was chaotic as the babies all fought over the toys, it was very cute though.

The one song they did was very Australian, with echidnas, kangaroos and emus. They had to do the actions and pretend to be all of the animals. Tash made a great kangaroo…

I think all in all it was a roaring success! I hope next time we will have a whole lot more moms with their kiddos. Any moms in the Durbanville area who want to join us, email me for details!