Nathan's Birthday Party (2 hours of energy sapping fun...)

North-east Ohio was blessed with the perfect weather this weekend, which was the when Nathan's birthday celebrations took place! Shortly after waking up on Saturday morning, it was all hands on deck, as last minute preparations for the party took priority. Jacques and I hit the shops for an early morning supply run. Fortunately for us, Costco had all the good food to get us through the party!

At 10:30am, Nathan's friends arrived for the Fire-fighter themed birthday party. As the official entertainment organizer, I gathered the 6 boys and kicked off the fire-fighter inspired games! One of the games was a variation of the classic "Pin the tail on the donkey". Each child had a pipe-cleaner and once blindfolded, attempted to push it into my Styrofoam fire-engine that I had made a few days earlier!

Next was my fire-fighter obstacle course. Each apprentice fireman had to climb up a ladder into Nathan's "fort". From there, they slid down the slide and put on a Fire Fighter jacket, a pair of boots and a fire fighter helmet. Once clothed in the kit, they had to crawl through a tunnel and run to me, where I handed them a hose. Their final objective was to knock over (aka extinguish) some containers that I spray-painted red, This was a far safer alternative than setting some gasoline alight for the 3 and 4 year olds to extinguish. I think the parents appreciated that! The final game I had put the boys into 2 teams. Their objective was to carry a bucket of water over to their partner - who in turn, ran with it to the one side of the garden and emptied it into a big bucket. Then they would have to return to me to refill the bucket, so they could hand it off to their partner. And so it continued until they collapsed from exhaustion..... KIDDING!!! They did it for about 4 complete rotations! Right after that game, it was time to hand the children a baseball bat so that could beat the living foam out of the unsuspecting fire engine pinata! It didn't take long for the kids to break through the flimsy cardboard exoskeleton, and reveal the hidden candy treasures!

At the end of the games, it was time for the pizza lunch which went down very well with both children and parents! Finally it was time to bring out the cake! Liesel baked the caked and iced it, while I put on all the finishing touches such as the ladders, windows, lights and nozzle! And it tasted pretty darn good too! Everyone seemed to enjoy the party and Nathan has been asking for another party on Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday, and......... We take that as a compliment :)



After the excitement of the morning, Jacques and I took Nathan to a local playground, where Nathan rode around on his bicycle for a while, before climbing on the slides and other playground equipment. It was a beautiful day - with no clouds, no wind, with the trees slowly relinquishing their summery green leaves. The yellow, orange and red colors are becoming more and more predominant, making the landscape look like a beautiful watercolor painting!. So we were making the most of the Indian summer that we are experiencing - before the icy northern air invades Ohio again!

Fun Fair and a Flag Faux pas

As the Fall temperatures continued their steady march into north-east Ohio, we kicked off the weekend by visiting Nathan's Preschool. They were hosting a Fall fun fair for all the children that attend the school. It was very well organized with a variety of activities to entertain the children. There was bowling with a pumpkin, bean bag toss, and a leaf blowing game to name a few. Nathan even sat patiently as one of the teachers painted a spider on his hand. Hopefully this is the closest he will come to getting a tattoo!

Afterwards we headed for Home Depot to buy the paint for the baby's room. That is the next project that is looming around the corner. The rest of the morning was spent in the beautiful fall sunshine! Just before lunch, Liesel received a phone call from Nathan's preschool teacher who was contacting all the parents to inform them of their child's progress. Nathan's report was excellent, with the teacher very impressed at Nathan in all areas of the preschool experience. We are incredibly proud of our little prodigy!!!

This weekend, a family friend of ours, Jacques, came over to spend the night on Saturday! He is in Cleveland for a month on a residency at the Cleveland Clinic. Nathan and I drove to the train station to pick him up at 5pm, then picked up Liesel at the house and headed for our favorite fast food outlet, Moe's South-western Grill (Mexican). We followed this up with a sunset drive along Lake Erie, which offered up spectacular views of the city of Cleveland as it reflected the retiring sun in its thousands of windows. Later that evening, after Nath was in bed, I got a rare opportunity to enjoy some of my prerecorded Office episodes with a fellow Office fan (Jacques)! What a great way to bring a day to close by watching a couple of hours of my favorite sitcom!

Sunday morning was another beautiful one. We went to church with Jacques, and saw that this week was the start of our church's Missions Month. There were numerous flags decorating the stage. After a quick scan of the flags, my eyes fell upon the South African flag. Unfortunately, it was the old South African flag (orange, white and blue). Oops.... obviously the average American would not even know the difference. However, after the service, I did mention this to the lady who had put out the flags, and she told me that I could remove it, and save the church from possible embarrassment.......

The rest of the day included some Wii play, a delicious lunch, weekly catch-up chats with our families in South Africa, and dropping Jacques off at the train station.

Here is a photo of Liesel at 29 weeks and one from Jacques of Nath and myself at Huntington Beach at sunset!

Milestones achieved!

This week saw many different milestones being reached, some more significant than others. Firstly, on Tuesday I got my Honda back from the body shop. I was very impressed by the service I got from my insurance company! Now I just have to wait and see how much my insurance rates will be going up......

This weekend, we managed to complete our work on our mini-project! The final paint touch ups on the walls, the assembly of a new headboard, the installation of the new curtain rail and curtain tie backs, means that the guest bedroom is 100% complete! On Saturday, we picked up the headboard from a local shop and it took me the remainder of the morning to put it together. However, the finished product is exquisite, even if I do say so myself!

The other milestone that morning belongs to Nathan. We purchased a new booster seat for Nathan - as he was outgrowing his car seat pretty quickly. We knew that he was happy with his new seat when he told us, "This is awesome!" He is loving the added independence that comes with his seat, as he now buckles himself in and unbuckles it when it's time to get out! It won't be soon now when he is driving himself.... sigh!

On Saturday afternoon, Liesel made our local fire station some chocolate chip cookies, and Nathan and I delivered it to the fire station. The firemen were very appreciative and took us on an impromptu tour of the fire station. Nathan loved every second spent in the fire station and listened carefully to every word the fireman spoke!

On Sunday, the McCarthy clan headed to church like usual. We had a good service and some excellent worship and soon headed back home for a more relaxed afternoon. It was good to speak to family as well, especially having my mom being able to hold a conversation with Nathan for the first time in a long time. She commented "Nathan is speaking with quite an American accent!". Hmmmmmm - could that be because he is being raised in the USA????

Now that these milestone's are behind us, the next challenges lurking around are waiting to be tackled. The next mini-project is to do the baby's room and turn the chaos in the photo below into a tranquil haven that a baby (and it's mother) will love!!!



P.S. The top and bottom photos were taken by Nathan!! Photography seems to be another talent of his!

No rest for the weekends!

Before I continue with my regular weekly round-up, I have an announcement to make. Each Monday for the past 10 weeks or so, I have been playing beach volleyball in the Cleveland Intermediate 4's Co-Ed volleyball league. The four of us played 21 sets of volleyball in 7 matches. Of those 21 sets - we only lost 1, which positioned us as the top seeds for the playoff's! This past Monday had us in the semi-finals and final, and I am pleased to announce, that we only lost one more set in the semi's but then went on to win the finals in straight sets! So we are officially the Cleveland Intermediate 4's Co-Ed volleyball champions! That was the best way to start off the week!

Nathan's highlight for the week came on Wednesday evening when we took him to our local Costco (USA's equivalent to Makro). This was the evening when Costco were saluting our local heroes and had the US Coast Guard with one of their boats, the Avon Police K-9 Unit, with canine officer Lennox, and two fire trucks from the Avon Fire department! Nathan and I got up close and personal with The US Coast Guard boat and Nathan loved getting behind the wheel. Then we were introduced to Lennox the police dog, and his handler. It was not long afterwards when the two fire trucks pulled up with lights flashing! A rescue truck and Avon's brand new ladder truck were there for us to climb on, and explore to our heart's content. It's times like these that I am so thankful to have a 3 year old son like Nathan, as it would be rather odd if I were alone and jumping in and out of the fire trucks!!



Since we had a lot of fun during the week, it made sense that the weekend would have a different overtone. On Saturday morning, I polished my guitar and replaced it's 14 month old strings (who knew that you should change you strings every 3 - 4 months).... My next task was to mow the lawn, both front and back which took up another 75 minutes of my morning! With sweat dripping from my brow - I made my way inside for a quick bite of lunch! Before the food had barely made its short trip down the oesophagus, I headed to the guest bedroom to put the finishing touches on the paint job that I had started months back! Unfortunately, I ran out of paint, but I had plenty of water - so Liesel's SUV was begging for a wash. I find there is no better way to bond with your son than by handing him the hosepipe while you wash the car. That will teach you be to patient, tolerant, and most of all how to survive hypothermia! Thankfully the temperature outside was approximately 27C (80F) - so I definitely do not recommend this bonding activity in the winter!

I slept deeply that night - so much so that my alarm plucked me out of my dream world at 6:45 am to remind me to get ready for church. I was playing this week, and it just so happened that our pianist took ill and couldn't make it. This thrust most of the musical responsibility onto my shoulders, but with God in total control, we pulled off a good set! The rest of the day was laid back with Nathan even taking an well deserved nap this afternoon! On Friday evening, we went for a walk around the neighborhood again, and he came along with his new bicycle. We didn't make it all the way, but it was a great sight seeing my son propelling himself along the sidewalk! o him, that was an intense workout - and it showed as he fell asleep in record time that night!

Weekend workouts and some wicked winds

This weekend marked the start of something good for the family. We kicked-off our family block walk - where we walk the 1km long sidewalk around our neighborhood. Well, Liesel walks, and I push Nathan in his little red car at varying speeds. The intent was to go at walking pace so that Liesel and I could converse, however Nathan has developed an insatiable appetite for speed. So the majority of the leisurely walk is filled with requests such as "Dad, I want to go fast!" So, being one who does not want to let his offspring down, I head off at a jog, pushing Nathan as I go. Then I remember the objective of the walk was to be able to chat with my wife, so we double back and head back to Liesel. And this is when the little speed freak starts nagging his father again....
So the family block walk is turning out to be quite a workout for yours truly, but I don't really mind because
a) I know this weather will not be as pleasant as it is now - so we need to take advantage.
b) I seriously need a semi-regular workout as currently my only major means of burning calories is my Monday night volleyball games which come to an end tomorrow.

This weekend was a pretty average one. Liesel headed off to a kids sale early on Saturday. She has an incredible eye for good deals and managed to get us and the baby a Graco Stroller System complete with baby carrier that locks onto a base that you attach to the car's seat. She also bought Nathan a child's BMX with training wheels that he absolutely loves. He is currently in the process of understanding the mechanics of a bicycle! Later that morning we went out a got a queen bed for our guest room. With two bedrooms standing empty for over a year now - it's starting to get a more homely feel, now that we have a nursery and a guest room! So we have a comfortable room for all our visitors from South Africa and here in the USA! We no longer need to pitch a tent outside for you :P So start packing your bags!!!!!

Our Sunday was much quieter! We made an appearance at our church in the morning and then returned home. Nathan suggested we go for another walk around the block, and we were happy to. I got another good workout returning red faced and dripping with perspiration since our humidity levels are in the high 90's! After that we retreated to the comfort of our home. Later on, Liesel had to go to the church again as she had a MOPS event there. Nathan and I spent some time outside - and I decided it was a good time to mow the front lawn. I was very well aware that the remnants of Hurricane Ike were due over Cleveland later that day. As the forecaster's predicted we got our fair share of gale force winds that literally shake the house! These winds - as strong as they were, were only a fraction of what was experienced in Texas 48 hours earlier! It makes me grateful for the relatively stable weather systems that Cleveland has. Now that the winds have subsided, I can head for bed and brace myself for another week of work!