It finally happened, the day we have all been dreading for a very long time happened and our dear beloved Tata Madiba passed away at home last night.   I woke up to this horrible news this morning and was immediately faced with a conversation surrounding death and Madiba with my five year old Liam.  To simplify matters, I explained that Madiba was the grandfather of our beautiful country and explained that he was very old and sick and at the ripe old age of 95, is now living with Jesus. Liam was fine with this and even went on to give me a hug to stop me from crying and then told me that I will be alive when he is a daddy, but when he is a grandfather, I too will live with Jesus. I then got questions relating to whether or not Jesus lives in a house?  If the house looks like ours and all sorts of practicalities relating to death and living with Jesus.  And I tried my utmost to deal with this in the best possible way. My local radio station went all out making me cry even

And so the 1 st of December happened and we put up a tree.  A very simple version of a story that is just a tad longer… As in the past, I decided not to put up a tree at home as we leave for our annual beach holiday soon in any event.  Well after seeing trees, baubles, glitter and what not on Facebook, I felt extremely guilty for denying my kids the pleasure of Christmas for two whole weeks whilst my virtual friends’ kids were all rolling in the tinsel.  So I decided to put up the tree after all, how lazy can one person be.  Out came the box and the tree and the lights and horror of horrors, we are missing a leg.  So Luka and I went to the mall last night and got a new tree, a bigger tree and more sparkly things than we need.  If it says Christmas, and if it even has a hint of glitter, we have it, we even have fairy lights running up our balustrade, we have baubles and glitter and advent calendars, I really went to town on this one.  It is just that Christmas takes on a s

And we are officially counting the days to Christmas.   Once again I am stunned at the fact that every year seemingly passes so much faster than the one before.   This is particularly evident when looking at pictures of Christmases past.   A year ago Luka was wearing nappies, drinking formula milk, taking naps, her hair was best described as a messy bob, and now she is a girl with long golden hair.   A year ago Liam swam with water wings and was petrified of the ocean, now he is a smelly boy missing one front tooth. So looking at the year past counting sleeps to our December break realising that this has once again been quite the year for the van Wyk / van Rooyen family.   We bought a house and it turned into a home, we spend weekends chilling by the pool.   Luka potty trained and turned into a pink princess, Liam made some good friends, learned to play tennis, add and subtract, finally build puzzles!   Sekai’s house in Zimbabwe is coming along nicely because of the millions of Zim

Thanks John Bon Jovi, for writing this almost Justin Bieber like song that got stuck in Liam’s head, so now when he gets in the car he asks for that song, it is in actual fact called “Because we can”. Liam gets up on the backseat and gets this pained expression on his face, like someone in desperate need of the loo, and he bops his head and he sings along, every single word, and he even plays some air guitar, and Liam being Liam and in love with vests (!) and always sporting some form of a temporary tattoo, looks like the quintessential rocker… I have tried to introduce other music, but there is no hope, his playlist includes ACDC’s Thunder Struck, Money Talks, Hey Stoopid from Alice Cooper…Liam is like an old hippie rocker, he likes the classic stuff with lots of guitar and drums.   Oh, and Bad Medicine, same Bon Jovi.   Liam also recently acquired a neon belt with graffiti like words on, one being bad ass, he recons that the two of us are bad asses, like Bon Jovi. On the o

When I was growing up, we all had that one Nirvana unplugged CD.  You know the one where the poor drug addict screams his little lungs out, come as you are...preferably high.  In my case I also had an Eric Clapton unplugged CD.   The first CD I ever owned in fact was the Eric Clapton one, the teary Tears in Heaven and the more upbeat Layla played extensively on my DVD player back in the day.   I don’t think that any of us really knew just what unplugged meant, or how we would in time to come need to unplug ourselves from the network a bit. This past weekend we went to a cherry farm in Fouriesburg, Free-State with some friends, and the most amazing part of the weekend was most probably the fact that our smartphones had zero reception.  Zero as in nada, zip, this meant no BBM, Whatsapp, Facebook or emails.   It was quite a new experience to be living in the moment again and not living the moment on Facebook tagging along all the time.   Yes, I am the first to admit that when we

Yes, I have to fess up to yet another addiction today and it’s not pretty.   My dear husband often points out that we could probably have been pensioners with the amount of shoes in my cupboard and the thing is I get it, I really do, but who wants to be a pensioner and wear sensible shoes anyway. There is nothing like the perfect pair+ of shoes, I remember the acquisition of every single pair that I own. I can remember how I felt when I bought them, I spend my nights thinking of shoes and what to pair with them.   It is crazy, this addiction and affliction of mine.   One thing most have in common, they are high heels, I am only 1.63 meters tall (Gerhard often had to correct me when I told people I am 1.83 meters tall).   And when I do not show up in heels, people at work tend to think that I am ill, and short.   Strangers always comment on how short my kids are and I smile, you see my heels have become such a part of me that people generally no longer see the heels. I buy cheap

There is nothing quite as glamorous as being woken by your five year old telling you that he vomited in his bed, twice, on one night.  After cleaning up the mess twice, and basically not sleeping, you can imagine this mother's absolute frustration when Luka's school then phones and tells me that she is coughing, to such an extent that you need to come and get her, immediately.  As mothers we always need to be on call, we need to answer our phones all the time, we need to wake up in the middle of the night, immediately and clean up vomit.  We need to keep track of the entire family's social schedules, just in case.   As a mother you are on call twenty four seven, three sixty five, you cannot lose patience, you cannot stop answering your phone, you cannot disappear and go to the spa for a week, you cannot spend the day on the golf course with no phone.  So tonight I am putting on my pajamas extra early, and I am running for the bed at eight with the kids, we will be eat

Today I want to spend some time reflecting on a retail outlet in South Africa called Jet.   I have never been particularly fond of Jet, the quality of their clothing is just not great.   Jet has however over the last couple of weeks become my all-time favourite place to shop. Luka wants to go to the shops all the time, and when you ask her what she wants, she answers that she wants dresses (rokkies) and coffee and cake.   And she also tells Liam and Gerhard that shopping is for girls (doggerkies) and that they, being boys, cannot go shopping. So off to the Mall we go, enter Jet, behold, yes, Luka SHOPS like her mother, we know what we want and we want it straight away. So this past Sunday, we went shopping again, and like I said, thank heavens for Jet, I can afford multiple dresses, three pairs of shoes, new tinkerbell pajamas, lipstick, alice bands, umbrellas and sunglasses, ballet skirts.   Bags full of pinkness.   And all of this for around the same price as two Mac lipst

I just love the pool, and lounging by the pool, and wearing flip flops and bikini's and sipping cold beers.  This past weekend was so much fun, we had my family over, and we started arranging this weekend and looking for dates that suited all of us in July!  And then waited patiently for this past weekend to roll around.  We were a lot of people, small and large, and we all spent the time outdoors around the pool. We also celebrated my sister's birthday and it was a surprise, despite the fact that Liam kept on asking me when we can give Tanja her helium balloons and the fact that my sister in law asked me and Albert (my brother) if we took the top of my car down and he casually replied that we could not as we had a car full of helium balloons... We swam, and laughed, and braaied, the littlest van Wyk, the very cute Aldin had his first sleepover, his first swim, his first red velvet cupcake...and Liam of course keeps on asking for a baby.  Cute babies like Aldin make the r

I have come to realise a couple of things over the last couple of weeks, in no particular order: People smile at girls with red lips, true story, I don't know why, but it happens, it really brightens one's day and I just love it, thank you MAC for making this possible. People smile at girls in convertible cars when the top is down, true story, I just love it, sitting at the traffic light irritated that things are moving so slow, and all of a sudden people are just smiling at you, small kids wave and blow you kisses, lovely. Luka for all her feisty behaviour is in fact a mini me...how the hell did I not see that one coming... We share similar interests, dresses, SHOES, coffee, salt and vinegar crisps, despised by millions, a true acquired taste.  And show me another two year old that gulps down the mother's entire cup of coffee when mommy is not looking. And when she gets in the car, she asks me to take the top down and put some lipstick on her.  Go figure, so Luka

So why did it take me 36 years to finally find MAC make up.  I am in love, I think I love my new make up more than shoes, and that is a bold statement coming from me, the ultimate shoe addict. Let me start at the beginning.  There is nothing that intimidates the average woman more than any one of the beauticians working at any one of the counters in your department store.   Clinique ladies are mean, always using mirrors and lights similar to the lights used in operating theatres to show you things like enlarged pores, well of course the pores are enlarged Hun, you just put like a million candlelight power worth of light on there.   At this point my nostrils must be spectacular.   And lets face it, despite global warming, we are nowhere near that levels of magnification or lighting here on good old mother earth.  My two year old will have enlarged pores under those conditions!   In the end, despite telling the Clinique girl that you are an ardent fan of their three easy steps

We all lead busy lives right, and sometimes fitting it all in becomes rather hectic, and my schedule on most days consists of kids, husband, work, gym, shopping.   At least the cooking and cleaning (and yes, I have even taught my beloved Sekai how to bake bread) is generally outsourced, although I do try and at least pack lunchboxes myself.   So on Monday nights we usually stay home, Tuesday nights are spent Zumba-ing away at gym, Wednesdays home night, Thursdays are date night, this usually consists of our ballroom dancing lesson at Arthur Murray followed by dinner, or movies, or a show or whatever, Fridays are pig out pizza and movie nights, I also have a boxing lesson with my trainer at the gym, Saturday mornings are generally spent at gym, or I run a ten kilometre race, or sometimes play golf with Gerhard.   This is followed by visits with friends, shopping and the like and Sundays are spent in any manner that we like, mostly braaing quietly at home, chilling with a margar

SO, as I might have mentioned, I am rugby neutral, I know a scrum from a penalty kick, and I know that the fat guys generally hang around in scrums, wearing the low numbers, think one to about seven, if memory serves.   I also know that the better looking guys tend to be the ones with numbers from say 10 and up.   So formalities out of the way, I live with a true blue bulls supporter, born and bred, and I must be honest, the average blue bull and their supporters are not really my cup of tea. There is this one guy, I have no idea what his name is, but my oh my, the first time I saw him I thought that he took a sharpi pen to himself.   His arm is covered in tattoos from shoulder to wrist.   And he has a mullet like hairstyle, and he is neither here nor there in terms of the number he wears, I recon a 9 or a ten, so not a fatty, but not one of the fast athletic types either.   SO, I finally decided that I will pick a provincial team to support before I turn forty, that leaves m

So much has happened over the last couple of months, where to start…   It was my gran’s birthday, so I flew to Richards Bay to visit her on the day, and shock and horror, there were people with kids on the flight there, I mean come on, who flies with kids right.   So I of course gave the mother of a screaming toddler an absolute horror look, and willed this kid to stop screaming and ruining my moment of peace.   Safe to say, the kid never stopped screaming, and in an ironic twist of fate, Luka turned into that screaming toddler a mere three days later on the flight to Mauritius.   Oh the horror.   So yes, we went to Mauritius exactly seven years after honeymooning there and my oh my, how a couple of kids changes a vacation experience.   Seven years ago, afternoon naps where at the order of the day, this time round, not so much.   Previous time, watched the evening show, and partied afterwards, this time round, in bed by ten.   Something that did not change is th

Before having kids, I used to read newspapers and watch the news on TV all the time.   My current affairs were really very up to date and I knew the names of most heads of state and had insights into the economies of several states.   After having kids I know the names of all the teletubbies, I know the words to most nursery rhymes and I can recite the content of a couple of kid’s books when woken at 3am.   I also know that you need more than twenty coins to buy a house.   My knowledge of current affairs these days comes from the bits of news I can gather on the radio in the morning in between getting my brood dressed for school and most of their teeth brushed.   I also need to get myself dressed and hair blow dried, lunches packed and the like in a very limited amount of time.   Getting kids dressed really is an ungrateful job and if I do not check underneath all the winter’s clothes, I fetch Liam at school in the afternoons and see the oddest thing.   I see a kid running aroun

I know I sound a bit like a stuck record but how the hell did my little baby boy turn five. When did this happen and how do I feel about this? Am I happy? Sad, elated. Five years ago, we were in hospital praying that said son will not have brain damage and now he is a real little boy who makes inappropriate comments like "oh mommy I just love your pretty panty".   In true Liam style he was an absolute angel on his birthday and he wanted nothing more than some good old KFC pops for supper.   He got a crossbow from his dad and he had an absolute blast with his little friends the following day aerobranching through some trees at the Big Red Barn in Irene.   He was spoilt rotten, and I still don’t know what Sekai will do to find space for all the new toys.     I must admit…if not for the fact that I was wearing my brand new leather boots recently acquired in Dullstroom, I might have actually climbed a tree myself, it looked like a lot of fun.   Watch this space, I m

Liam recently insisted on getting a new pair of sneakers, he no longer wants the velcro kind, he wants proper shoe laces.  We went to Woollies on Sunday, the three of us, within minutes Liam found the perfect pair of shoes.  Army camo...high top sneakers no less.  Happiness.  Keeping these shoe laced tied when you are almost five and unable to tie them, well lets just say that that is a story for another day, when you have more time... Luka in this time found her own shoes...she walked past pink, blue, purple, black and brown boots - she walked past Wellingtons, past pumps, sneakers, all lovely in their own right, straight to a pair of boots .  Not just any boots, these are boots made from leopard print fabric, covered in glitter, pink trim, fur lined, imagine the blingest boots on the planet, now multiply your wildest thoughts with about 100 and you may just have some insights into what I am talking about. She put on said boots, probably two sizes too big, and refused to take them

A miracle happened in the past week and a half.   Luka went from being an utter little shit to a rather cute little girl.   We are still reeling with shock, waking up every morning waiting for an earth shattering blood curling tantrum, and then she calmly walks into our room, gets in bed with us, cuddles a bit and drinks her tea and off she goes.   We are literally dumbfounded by the turnaround in our little girl, and we are too scared to even speak about this, let alone tell strangers on a blog about this.   Luka is just different.   Not a single teacher ever described our Luka without using words like ‘feisty’, ‘strong willed’, ‘determined’.   Good when you are Margaret Thatcher or Helen Zille dealing with issues like unemployment and corruption, bad when you are a two year old girl with a mom and dad short of patience. What changed? I think two things happened, Luka started speaking much better and clearer than before, so we are better able to understand her wishes (comman

Hi, my name is Niki and I am addicted to ... It is utterly smutty, sounds like slutty, and yes, that would probably have been the right word to use too.   I do not know how or when this happened, but I am utterly in love, smitten, addicted, you can use almost any word here…and I will admit it freely.   I am utterly besotted and obsessed with Sylvia Day and EL James and their respective Crossfire, Renegade Angels and Fifty Shades trilogies.   Yes, I am addicted to badly written books with weak plots and even weaker characters.   I have some of the books on pre-order on Amazon, and I have the release dates on my calendar.   How is it you might ask that a seemingly normal happily married mom of two becomes addicted to literature of this nature. As with stretchmarks and loss of mental capacity  I place the blame solely on the shoulders of my two kids.  My take on this, when you are a mom, wife, and hold down a steady job, you simply have no time to read true epic novels, the

My husband left for the UK last night, business class to Heathrow, and he tells me that it is not fun at all, that it is a time of stress and work and that he will not sleep well, and that he would much rather remain home with the three of us. Well here is a thought, lets swop, yes, really, because see after I cook, clean up after two kids and a dog, after I have bathed everyone, put on pajama's, handed out snacks, smacks and heaven only knows what else, just the time in mid air seems like a holiday. Four additional nights in a hotel where someone feeds you and cleans up after you, that sounds like an island holiday to me. This morning I was literally up and down the stairs a hundred times all before the clock struck seven.  One wants tea, one wants bread, the dog ate her bed, the milo was too cold, the tea too little.  I was contemplating taking them to gym, but heaven only knows, it feels like I have been running the London Marathon.  I made a grave mistake today and bribed

I once again do not know just how this happened, but Luka turned two today. In typical second child fashion, her party consisted of her and her brother, two friends, one cake, hello kitty cups and plates and some sweets and the lesson learnt, for a child of two, a party of this nature is just as much fun as a party costing thousands of rands with twenty or more friends. We are at Zebula for the weekend and Liam had an unfortunate situation yesterday where his friend hit him with a golfball, he lost a tooth and after a visit to the emergency room has four stitches and looks like he lost the fight.  The poor child, at least the tooth fairy visited Liam first, out of all of his friends.  He is of course milking the situation, and keeps reminding all of us about his ordeal. Otherwise life goes on, its almost winter now and as we start to get the red wine and boots ready (the two only redeeming things about winter if you ask me) I am amazed at how easy we are settling into life back i

Why on earth would two adults in possession and semi-control of two kids decide to get a dog? Normal people who still carry the scars and the bloodshot eyes of an almost two year old little girl who only recently started sleeping through the night.   People with a four year old boy who still wakes up at 5 am every morning, including mornings spent on holiday, at the seaside, or the day following new years eve… Because they felt guilty about finding new homes for the three dogs and a cat that they previously had.   Because the elder of the two kids decided that he wants a dog, and because we are still being guilt tripped about giving away said original pets and moving to Australia, that’s why. Liam has been nagging us for a dog for quite some time and we finally gave in, and got a dog immediately christened “Lisa” by her new owner Liam.   So we have Liam, Luka and Lisa residing with us now, people will think we have three kids, and when heaven forbid Luka also guilt trips us i

Everytime I get on an aeroplane, I get this unbelievable sadness that just totally surrounds me, and I think back to the start of 2012 and the four of us getting on a plane off to Sydney.   I vividly recall all the crying and hanging on to a couple of last sad chats via bbm.   Gerhard and I sat at opposite sides of the isle each with a kid in tow and I just felt despondent.   So I am never truly surprised that we never made it in Sydney, actually more shocked that we actually did it. Looking back at 2012, it has actually been a truly amazing year for us and in many instances we learnt a lot and I like to think that we grew, all of us, not just Liam and Luka in length and mommy in girth.   We have come a long way, left home and back, found jobs, a home, cars, furniture, schools etc, some of these things twice over the space of literally weeks.   We made some radical changes, we have different jobs, a different style of décor going, I have way less shoes than before, although I