Rain then a symphony of sunshine!

It's another week closer to winter, since Fall officially reported for duty earlier this week! We've been having great Fall weather, and we just love falling asleep with the windows open, hearing the night sounds and feeling the gentle breeze.

On Friday evening, it was Nathan's family fun night choice, and he wanted to go eat at his favorite restaurant, Moe's (which happens to be one of our favorites too.) Nathan always power's through his kiddie's meal (cheese quesadilla) because there is a chocolate chip cookie waiting for him once he finishes the quesadilla.

Saturday morning, the heavens opened, and we enjoyed a shower that lasted most of the day! This meant that my lawn mowing that was planned had to be postponed.... which was not necessarily a bad thing. It was was mom's birthday, so we sang "Happy Birthday" to her via the technology of Skype, which she appreciated! Afterward Liesel took Nathan with her to do some shopping for winter jackets, and I kept Josh with me at home. It was great timing, since it was Josh's nap time, so I had a couple of hours to myself. This was the perfect opportunity for me to get some practice on my Wii. That evening, we had some friends over for dinner, and we all had a great time, laughing, watching football, eating, and then burning calories playing Wii!

On Sunday, I was up before the sun rose, because I was playing in the worship team and had to be at church at 7:30! The service was probably my favorite of the year, as we did a song that included the Providence Choir and Orchestra. Our orchestra consisted of a full brass, wind, strings and percussion sections. So you can imagine how awesome the song sounded with a twenty voice choir, full orchestra, worship band and an amazing lead singer who hit the high notes perfectly! Liesel said she got goosebumps, and she wasn't the only one! The message that Pastor Jim brought also hit home - so all in all - a great service! The weather today was absolutely stunning, with sunny skies and a slight breeze. I got to mow my lawn eventually. Liesel set off for a hair appointment in the evening, and then after supper took Josh for a stroll around the neighborhood, while I finished off some work in the yard. After getting the boys bathed and into bed, we finally got to sit down together and enjoy the premiere episode of the fifteenth season of the Amazing Race!

I am now ready to face the work week ahead :)

... so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (Gen 2:2 b)

What a great way to finish off our weekend, to follow God's example and relax! To break tradition, I am going to tell you all about our Sunday first!

Due to the hectic Friday night and Saturday we had, we took a decision to skip church, and just have a quiet relaxing day as a family. It was a change in our routine, not having to get boys dressed and ourselves made up for the 10:30am service! There is something very appealing by not having to be somewhere at a certain time, and to just "go with the flow". "The flow" today took us to the Westlake Recreation Center where we could enjoy a stroll around the complex, looking at the leaves turning into the beautiful colors of fall.

Nathan decided he wanted to run, so I accompanied him as Liesel pushed Josh in the stroller behind us. After the exercise and fresh air, we headed to our favorite Ice Cream Shop, Mitchell's. Liesel tried the new pumpkin spice flavored ice cream, and I opted for the new Caramel for the Cure! They both were exactly what we expected, heavenly! We came home for lunch and right afterwards, Liesel and Josh, drifted off into dreamland. At 2pm, our babysitter arrived, and Liesel and I headed off to watch another one of her "chick flicks", Love Happens. It was quite amusing and not too bad in terms of a chick flick. But next time, the movie will be my choice! We came home at dinner time, so I turned on the grill and grilled us a couple of fillets of Mahi-Mahi. A great way to end great day!

Now jump back in time 24 hours earlier, at 6am on Saturday. This is the time that Liesel's alarm woke us up, as she had to be out of the house just after 6:30am. Saturday was the local PTA's Kiddie Resale, and Liesel, who is normally a buyer at these events, was going to be a seller of our outgrown baby clothes, toys and equipment! The sale was help at the local high school, and lasted from 7am to midday! This meant that I would be a "single dad" to Nathan and Joshua for the morning. The two boys kept me on my toes the entire time, as I had to change diapers, get boys dressed and washed up, feed them and entertain them. After Josh's morning nap, we headed out to help mom at the sale by bringing back the empty containers, and a train table for Nathan! After we got back home, Liesel had to help tidy up and she was home a bit later with a healthy profit!! This allowed me to take Nathan to our local Wal-Mart, because the Lego Club was giving kids another opportunity to build something. This time Nathan built a pencil holder, which he brought home to proudly show his mom what he had made! To accommodate these extra Lego sets, we moved Nathan's old train table to his bedroom, which is now the Lego Table. All his existing Lego creations now have a place on top of the table, safely out of Josh's reach (for now).
It is also great that Nathan now voluntarily goes up to his room to play!!



AT 4pm, I put my bike in the back of my car and drove to my friend's Ron's place, so we could go riding together. We did a beautiful 7 mile course following a river, with the only downside, being a steep uphill right at the end. But we made it, and the fresh air and exercise is always a good thing!



When I got home, we all jumped in the car again and went to try out a burger place, Five Guys, that have been getting great reviews. This was Liesel's choice for the Family Fun Night. The burgers were fantastic, living up to their reputation, but the eating area was a bit too loud and a bit too retro for us. But they will definitely be on our "take-out" list.

And that was our weekend.... from hectic to heavenly!

Security Gate!

Liesel and I never thought we would see the day, here in the USA, that we realized that we would need the extra protection that only a security gate can offer. We thought that we would never need to make use of these gates once we left South Africa, but the times here are calling for more desperate measures. So we finally bought the security gate and I installed it at the top of our stairs. Now we can sleep peacefully again, knowing that even the youngest member of the family is now protected!

Below is a photo of the recently installed security gate.....
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Yes, as you now can tell, our little Joshua is becoming a little speed crawler, and making his way around the house in the blink of an eye. So it's for his safety, that we bought the "security" gate and I installed it a couple of weeks ago. Now whenever we are upstairs with Josh, we lock the gate, keeping him from a potentially nasty accident! In the top right hand corner of the photo, you can see Josh making his way into Nathan's room where all the cool toys are :)

This week, Nathan started his second year of pre-school, and is now attending 4 days a week, and loving it. Liesel is also enjoying the extra time on her hands as Nathan's school times coincide with Josh's afternoon nap.



This weekend was another one where a lot of time was spent on house work. Liesel took Nathan to the shops with her on Saturday morning, while I continued sanding and painting our porch rails. This unfortunately took up most of the day, but I am now only one coat of paint away of completing the entire project. That afternoon, while Liesel and Josh napped, I helped Nathan build his Lego firefighter truck. I literally only handed him the correct blocks for the particular page, and he followed the directions and built the entire car (and trailer) on his own! He must have inherited my Lego-building genes! That evening, I grilled some salmon on my griller outside and we enjoyed a lovely meal outside on the patio again! For family fun night, I chose to watch a DVD from the library called "The Wild", basically Disney's attempt at a Madagascar type story. It was OK - but I am glad that it was from the library so I didn't have to pay for it!!

On Sunday Liesel left for the first service, as she was on duty in the nursery today. SO I had both boys with me and I got them dressed and ready for the second service of our church. After checking the boys in at their respective rooms, I went into the service and found my good friend Ian, to sit with. The worship was again, outstanding and I really enjoyed the message about how Christianity stands out from every other religion out there!

Afterwards I picked the boys up and headed home, and Liesel joined us a few minutes later, and we had lunch! Afterward I got to chat to my family, and friend, Ryan in South Africa - which was great! Later that afternoon - I had to fire up the trusty lawnmower and get the grass looking neat again, before getting the boys bathed. Once Josh was in bed, the rest of us reclined in the lounge (living room) and enjoyed some quality US Open tennis that Liesel had recorded earlier. Liesel has single handedly converted Nathan into a tennis fan and has him cheering for her favorite players!

Another short week ahead :)

       
The photo on the right shows Nathan covering his face in the bottom right corner, as the bucket empties over a 1000 gallons (3780 liters) of water out a few feet in front on him!

Last week, our family went on its first ever vacation (with just the four of us) to Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio! It was a wonderful getaway, with Nathan and myself spending many hours in the waterpark, Liesel enjoying some much needed peace and quiet as she relaxed while Josh took his naps, and Josh, well, just being Josh! We returned to our home on Tuesday afternoon, and we were soon back into our old routines. The weather of late has been absolutely stunning. You can see why this is Liesel's favorite time of the year, as the temps hover in the mid 20's C (or upper 70's F). The days are mostly sunny with a gentle breeze occasionally passing by.

I have said it before, Clevelander's know that when the weather is this good, you need to take full advantage of it! So most evenings we have dinner outside on the patio, and often fire up the grill to serve hamburgers, chicken breasts, and sometimes even salmon! It's sad to think that in a couple of months's time we will most likely be getting our first snowfall of season :(

On Friday evening, I made my own Nando's burger for dinner, as I had grilled chciken breasts for us. I placed my chicken on a bun, added some cheese, and then some Nando's Mild Peri Peri sauce that was sent to us a while back from South Africa! It was good, and brought back fond memories of our favorite South African Fast Food! Afterward, Liesel and I took the boys out for ice cream at our favorite ice cream place, Mitchell's. Josh didn't get to have any ice cream, but his family loved their decadent desserts!

On Saturday, we did a few chores around the house, and then went shopping for a few hardware items that we needed. We all jumped into the car and headed to a couple of stores and got what we wanted. Liesel found a lavender plant that she has been looking for, and planted in the garden later that day. I bought a couple of paintbrushes so that I could finish off my DIY project, sanding down and painting our porch railings. Nathan was my assistant sander later that afternoon. That evening was Nathan's fmaily fun night and his choice was to play my new Wii game, Wii Sports Resort. It was a lot of fun, having all three of compete at jet skiing, archery, basketball, frisbee golf and 100 pin bowling!

On Sunday, I had to be at church, even earlier than before, 7:30am, since we were moving the times of our services forward by half an hour! It was a great service and I loved that songs that we played! Nothing better than singing the Doxology to a pipe organ, then going straight into Third Day's version of Agnus Dei (click to see their version)!
We had a low key afternoon and went for a walk/ride around the neighborhood (Liesel walked with Josh, and Nathan and I rode our bikes). We got outside just in time to see the US Army Thunderbirds flying in formation over our house as they headed to the annual Cleveland Air Show! AWESOME! We got home and again enjoyed dinner outside on the patio. After dinner, we got Josh ready for bed, and then I headed outside in the beautiful evening air and mowed the yard.

The boys in the backyard (please excuse Josh's post dinner face!)

Afterward I came inside, and found Liesel and Nathan watching the US Open. Nathan is at such a cute age, where he asks intelligent questions like, who is the player in the pink, and who is in the red? Who is your favorite player? When Liesel told him that Kim Clijsters is her favorite, he started cheering for her in her game against Venus Williams, shouting "YES!" everytime she delivered her notorious forehand which could not be returned by Venus. Then when she hit the ball into the net he would pipe up, "Oh man!". That was great having him watch the third set with us!!

On Monday, we celebrate Labor Day here in the USA, so I get to spend some more quality time with my family and enjoy the weather while I can!