school so far. very photo heavy :)

these photos aren't from the first day of the new school year. i was lazy and hadn't unpacked my bags yet so i still wasn't sure where my camera was.

but yesterday i took a bunch. i can't imagine the type of mom i'll be if ever blessed to be married and have children, because i could love and photo-up (yup, totally just created that word) these kids like its nobodies business.

it seems the best "divider" between the various ages is sidewalk chalk. the kids love it which means i love it too! plus the bit of "sidewalk" we have to work with happens to be in the shade. always. which in this african sun is always a good thing.

this kid is too much. he is always posing, dancing, making a face. nonstop joy and hilarity.

 johanno was very concerned i get "his" chalk in a photo.

these brothers are so dear to me. they were very proud and happy to be wearing matching blue bulls shirts. the Blue Bulls are our pretoria rugby team. at this point they are my "team" and all my football affection has been given to them (i am in the process of being persuaded to like the sharks. we'll see). actually i sorta prefer rugby to football i think. well, no...i just LOVE them both that much. anyway these boys blood bleeds blue (yes! alliteration!!)

ah! its dung beetle season!! and yes, that beetle IS the size of perfect's hand and yes they DO get bigger. one flew into my head two nights ago at supper. first time it happened (but won't be the last, so i'm told). i did scream and jump and tommy and roelene laughed. some friends they are! *grins*

so a downfall to hanging out with a girl all day as a teacher/friend/attitude shaper is that the boys are probably more "girly" then they ought to be. i mean, we do LOTS of boy things. like every day we hunt and kill animals for hours. and i let them wrestle more than my heart thinks is physically safe, or climb higher than i think is, again, physically safe. we read boy books instead of my cherished princess books. but i digress, yesterday after school i was hanging out at the pool with van tonders while they swam and i happened to paint my nails while watching them. rubin must have noticed...because the next day (which was yesterday) he had to "paint" his nails too....hilarious.

o dear....perfect and his faces. this boy kills me. he totally has me wrapped on his finger. his sweet hugs and love for me melt me. i can never snap fast enough for all his wild antics. 

these two are becoming quite the good little pair of buddies. for being a white boy, rubin sure can move too. i love all of these but i especially love the way perfect is looking to rubin in the first photo; so dear and impressionable, he loves rubin. also the last one cracks me up!!

i love these shots of rubin dancing and johanno thrown in the middle. as my CA friends would say: so presh!

rubin started putting chalk in his ears...perfect decided to join in...rubin, ever the good helper, showed him how.

i love this...to me it looks like they are a band of brothers off on some grand adventure in the wild. perhaps i have quite the imagination to see that, or i know their personalities personally, but to me, this photo sparks a well of stories and makes me want to write them down.

like i said before...these boys love the Bulls! to me rugby is all about being a man. those players leave it all out there and just play so hard. the essence of rugby for me is more oldy (yup, created that word too) and real so i edited this to make it more old looking...and now i love it!

and again, because he's to cute for one photo:

perfect, again doing a dance for me....

thanks mom and dad for the big punching balloons. the boys LOVED them!

this photo did not look good at all bc it was blurry...so i messed around with coloring and exposure and now i love it...it seems like a fairy tale world that a little boy is running through. i love it. i love it. i love it.

rubin took these of me and the boys. 

and again:

rubin also took my new header which did not turn out well so i put some antique coloring to it and also used my favorite photo site to FREELY give it an "aged" look. in case you view this in RSS here it is:

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i think we're having a cold front. i am wearing jeans and want to grab a sweater. its WEIRD weather. very weird and cold today. so weird.
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my mom made it to the 21st century and figured out how to gmail chat this morning (her 1am!). so while i got ready for the day in school she got ready for bed and we talked. it was awesome and hilarious to finally have her figure it out! snaps for you, mom!
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Haiti is breaking my heart. literally. i don't know anyone personally there but i have ministry "friends" there as well as friends (or family) of my close friends who live there that have not been heard from. its hard not to fear the worst. O for wisdom in the rescue and relief effort and the Lord's mercy to shine there!! I have some good friends heading there late today and if I could...I'd be on a plane myself. I feel very *stuck* here in SA just praying and praying and praying...

i watched nicole and little jacques yesterday after school and showed them some of the "mild" photos (they are too little for such devastation) and explained what an earthquake is. Jacques said he hopes "we never have an earthquake." me too i told...me too...but for now, lets pray for those people. and so we did. their little voices and love reminding me of Hope and that God is in control of even this!

and to rant for a moment!
things like this make me almost ashamed to call myself a christian. in fact, you could argue i stopped calling myself one about 2 years ago.* but anyway...really Pat? did you just imply Haiti had it coming? regardless of the fact that haiti has made some terrible choices in what (who) they worship, God is not a God of wrath like that. yes, we have accounts of him wiping out civilizations in the bible, but we have the NT God of MERCY and LOVE. and even in the OT it never pleased the Lord to destroy children he created...i'm just so saddened you'd imply this, pat. makes me remember when you blamed Katrina on God's vengeance for how immoral new orleans is. Seriously?! seriously...

ok, small rant over....


also:

• American Airlines is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for FREE! Please call 212-697-9767.
• Estimates are that with Katrina we lost approximately 2000 people. In Haiti, estimates are in the 30,000-100,000 and higher.
• makes me sick how people are monopolizing this situation and fraud is already taking place. if you are going to donate, to it at a reputable site/organization, please!

**make no mistake about it: God (of the Bible, of LIFE itself) created me, sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die so that I could have atonement for my sins. I believe with all my heart in this fact. However, I don't believe "Christianity" is what it once was. The term in our common day vernacular means something different than what it meant when i was, say, 2 years old or so. I now, when asked, tell people I love Jesus and believe in Him, and follow Him and live through Him living in me. I don't believe in religion per se in the sense that most people view religion as a set of dogma's and boxes and institutions, and loving Jesus and believing in Him is more about a love relationship (in my opinion/at my phase of life). I could go on and on but the point is that I believe God sent His son for me and you and the only way to Salvation is through believing in Him and loving him; if that is being a "Christian" to you, then I gladly am one, otherwise I'm just a lover of my closest friend, Jesus.