Two Clear Round Rosettes for Josua!

On Sunday Josua participated in his second horse jumping show. Oh, he was looking forward to this for weeks and then he became nervous and stressed out!

We are used to CJ's calm-nothing-worries-me attitude during competitions - very much like Christo. But Josua has a completely different personality, very much like me.

I remember the days when I participated in piano exams. Eish! It was a nightmare every time; I worried, feared the worst, stressed and very often had a negative experience. I can see some (OK, a lot) of these emotions in Josua, but praise the Lord, he has Christo as dad, for some balance. Calm and composed he guided Josua through the competition and with brother CJ by his side, it was such a positive event and an opportunity for Josua to mature in his personality.

Josua participated in the 40cm jump and the 50cm fancy-dress jump.

CJ was beside Josua all the way. He helped him to mount his horse - Helmut and he walked Helmut before the show, so he wouldn’t be too ‘fresh’ on the course and start to run.

and he led Josua and Helmut, twice through the course!

Poor CJ was exhausted, running next to Helmut and went over all eight jumps (twice) with Josua and Helmut! That’s besides the other two times he led inexperienced or first jumpers! Thank you CJ!







Great was the joy, when they had clear rounds in both jumps and he got his first two rosettes for clear rounds!

He also received a 4th place-rosette in the Fancy-dress competition for being dressed like Zorro. Helmut didn’t mind Josua wearing the black cloak (something Josua feared may upset Helmut). By the way, it was Helmut’s first show ever…

What a joyful day for my son! He has so much confidence now; he is already planning his next jumping show!

Who is Influencing Our Children?

Heidi-Mari and Danika both started ballet at the Colleen William’s Ballet School at a very early age.











Heidi-Mari started when she was 5years old, once a week and the last two years, twice a week. We saw her love for ballet increase over the past few years, as well as an improvement in her self discipline and posture. Ballet is her whole life. She will dance through her chores, practice some bar exercises while she’s making salad and try a new dance routine whenever she has a free moment.

Needless to say, little Danika is literally dancing in her sister’s footsteps. Colleen only takes little girls after they turn 4years, but Danika started her ballet classes 3 months before her 4th birthday. You see, Danika grew up in front of Colleen. At the end of every quarter, Colleen invites the parents to watch the progress of the ballerinas and every time our whole family goes to watch Heidi-Mari. Danika was six weeks old when she attended the first parent’s open day. Thus Colleen knew little Danika, and I think Colleen too, couldn’t wait to see Danika start ballet. Three months before her 4th birthday, we dressed her in a ballet dress and after one of Heidi-Mari’s classes she walked up to Colleen and asked her if she could please start ballet classes. You could literally see how Colleen’s face softened and her heart crumbled with the sincere request from the little girl. Without hesitation she said yes and Danika started her ballet classes the next week.

During last week’s parents' open day, I was amazed to see the level at which these little girls perform their ballet.

Three weeks ago, the Durbanville Primary School asked Colleen if one or two of her ballet classes would perform an item in their annual concert. Heidi-Mari’s class was one of the classes that Colleen chose. I love to make ballet costumes and this costume was very easy.

The week of the concert was typical Cape Winter weather, with rain and a stormy, ice cold wind. We wouldn’t be able to attend the concert (under normal circumstances, it is already a challenge to attend a concert with little ones) even if we wanted to.

But we did manage to see the concert dance, when Colleen let the girls perform the item at the parents' open day.

Colleen Williams is one of the rare women I want to have an influence on my daughters. She is steady, strong in character and has a unique, positive influence on the girls.
She has a way of introducing ballet to little girls that makes them just fall in love with ballet.

In every ballet class the girls enter a fantasy world, being a little princess or a tin soldier, a jack in the box or a straight colorful pencil, an animal or a flower. And through their imaginations, Colleen introduces the fine art of ballet, good posture and self discipline.

She has the gentlest way of talking to and teaching these little girls. Even when correcting them, they don’t even realize they are being corrected.

But I’m especially thankful for the beautiful, feminine example Colleen is to Heidi-Mari, who is entering the season of beautiful girlhood transforming into beautiful womanhood. Colleen is an example of a true lady, someone with strong character. She is always the same, a lady with integrity. She always reminds the girls, when something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. She expects punctuality for classes and values regular attendance of classes. It may sound strange to highlight these traits and you might think (as I do) it is kind of expected and obvious. But believe me, being around the girls and mothers in the ballet school, it is scary to notice, how the girls and their mothers, don’t value these character traits anymore. Mothers don’t model it to their daughters. The mothers don’t pay attention; they don’t want to sacrifice time and effort and always choose the easiest way out.

With our boys it is even more difficult to find people with upright character and integrity to influence them as real men of God. The world of children is dominated by feminism. The other day we heard how impressed a mother was that her boy of eight is now receiving rugby coaching from a lady. Where are the men?? We need real men to speak manhood into the lives of our boys! When our sons are exposed to the influence of women, 24 hours a day, we promote ungodly feminism in our sons! And we have to be aware of this from a very early age.

Between the age of 18 months and 3 years little boys need the company of male figures – their dads and brothers, if they have brothers - so they can start to associate themselves with men and know they are different from women. It is during this age that dad has to take on more responsibilities and spend more time with his sons. In our home it is normally at that age that a new baby arrives and dad just has to take over more care of the second youngest.

At the age of about 13 years, there is another distinct shift of authority over the young man. During that age, our sons need to see their mother as a woman who needs love and respect – the wife of his father. He needs to have respect for a woman so he can love, respect and take care of his own wife one day. It is easier for the young man to make this mind shift, when his dad takes over the authority over his son and his mother takes the position of Dad’s wife. We have experienced it numerous times with CJ (who is now 15years old). When I try to exercise authority or control over CJ (unfortunately it is more difficult for me to make the mind shift than for CJ) I can immediately see a change in his respect for me as a woman. When I stand back and let Christo handle times of discipline or dispute, my son keeps his soft attitude towards me and I assist in the culturing of the right attitude towards his future wife. Thus I allow him to associate with the real man in his life.

Then we have to seek strong men, other than dad, who will have positions of authority, teaching and influence on our sons’ lives. In today’s (feminist dominated) world, especially in teaching positions, we need to make sure, our sons (of all ages) are exposed to real men. Men with integrity and strong character. No wimps! Men who have a solid conviction of what is right, men who are not afraid to make a decision and take responsibility for their decisions, men who don’t mind working hard and getting their hands get dirty, men who stand strong against temptations like lust, pornography and the love of money, men of courage, who will sacrifice for their loved ones.

Praise the Lord for such strong men in CJ and Josua’s lives, through the horse riding school. These men have a much bigger influence on my boys than they ever know and we are so thankful for their presence in their lives. The horse riding school is owned by a hard working vet with integrity and strong character. Then there is one special family who helps sponsor Silverball’s lease, who are always ready to take CJ along to events and who model generosity – a family who cares and whose decisions aren’t defined by what they can get out of something, before doing good.

Character and integrity aren't very high on the priority list in today’s culture and I think parents often don’t evaluate the character and integrity of the people that have an influence on their children’s lives. Maybe people lack these traits because they weren't modeled to them when they were younger and they have become a forgotten virtues. They belongs to the ancient past, when things were a lot slower. In today’s culture it is the survival of the fittest that counts. The one with the most toys wins!

Christo and I would rather let our children go without certain extramural activities and the skills they would learn, than expose them to people with weak character and low integrity. The same applies for the kind of friends our children are choosing. It may sound harsh and short sighted, but Christo and I always have to remind ourselves: God keeps us, parents, responsible for the bringing up of our children. We have to make sure we expose them to the right people.

“Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’”
1 Co 15:33

Happy Birthday Daddy!

A Rainbow Cake (from the girls)

We used our normal chiffon cake recipe (wheat free, sugar free, diary free)
(note: add colouring to egg yolk mixture - defided in three - before adding stiff egg white - defided in three)

The Perfect Espresso (from CJ)

Lots and Lots of Love (from all of us!)

God did it again...

Yes, God watered my garden again! This time literally within 2 hours after I planted my first vegetables in my brand new raised bed vegetable garden!

But first I have to share with you my emotional connection with and the dreams I had for this vegetable garden.

My story starts decades ago when I was about 6 years old. My parents lived in Bloemfontein in the city, but both grew up on farms just outside Bloemfontein (Free Sate), in Bainsvlei. During this time my grandpa on my mother’s side divided his farm into six, one for each of his children. My dad, longing to go back to the farm, moved us to the farm. My mom didn’t want to live on a farm though, but my dad convinced her to move back, by building her the house of her dreams on the farm. A huge kitchen, with lots of cupboards, spacey bedrooms, an on suite bathroom, it wasn’t the norm in those days. Large windows for letting in lots of sunshine. I can still remember (remember I was only 6 years old) how my dad instructed the architect to let the house face in exactly the right direction, to allow lots of sun in the winter, to give the house a warm atmosphere during the freezing cold winter and only a little sun in the summer, so it could be cool and pleasant in the terrible heat of the Free State!

My dad worked five days a week, building steam trains, but every spare moment he had, he was living his dream on the farm… planting vegetables! He planted rows and rows of vegetables; carrots, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, spinach, cucumbers, strawberries, rhubarb and sold it weekly on the town market. Those days the vegetable market was especially for supermarkets and restaurants and happened on a Wednesday morning. So, every Tuesday night at six o’clock the truck, heavily loaded with the healthiest and most beautiful vegetables would head for the market. We had to unload the vegetables ourselves, at our allocated bay. The vegetables had to be displayed in the most attractive way to attract the buyers. Since my dad didn’t have a son and I was the older of his two daughters, dad and I had to unload and pack the vegetables. These were very special times, which I cherish even more now that he went on to heaven, this October it will be seven years.

Over the years I longed to have my own vegetable garden! After Christo and I got married, it took us a few years to settle, moving from Bloemfontein in the Free State to Durbanville in the Western Cape and then we rented for several years, every time having an excuse NOT to start a vegetable garden. I did try to grow a few herbs in pots though.

Then 5years ago, the house we rented at that stage, was sold and we had to move for the fourth time in six years. I was three months pregnant by the time we had to be out of the house. The previous rented house was also sold at the end of our lease and I was also pregnant. This time I cried out to the Lord: “Please Lord, I need your approval for this. I don’t mind to move every 18 months to 2 years, but then I wanted to know it is the best you intended for me and it is part of Your plan for my life”. Over the past few years we lost everything due to Christo’s business going south. At that stage we didn’t have any debt, but we also didn’t have much and was pregnant with our fifth child. I wanted to make sure the enemy was not stealing God’s first prize from me. During this time it happened that we received a financial gift that would enable us to pay the deposit on a house. But still a loan had to be approved by the bank and this is where I cried out to the Lord. I’ve asked God to clearly direct our path and I will be at peace with His directions! If it wasn’t His desire for us to own our own house I will accept it, but I also knew I am the daughter of the King of the Universe and I knew I could lay before my Dad my heart’s desire – to own my own house, not move again, where I can raise my children… and have my own vegetable garden!

While I was seeking God’s directions and searching His Word, He one day clearly gave me a promise through 2 Samuel 7:9-11. This was one of those rear occasions where, although the passage was specifically for Israel, I could sense God meant it for me personally:
“And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house.”

This was powerful! With these verses engraved in our hearts we went out and applied for a loan to buy a house with a beautiful rose garden in the front yard. Needless to say the loan was approved and six weeks later we moved into our own house.

Now I could start my vegetable garden, right? Wrong! I was four months pregnant, exhausted after the move and not having a good pregnancy. There was no way for me to lay out a vegetable garden. Then seven months after Andrew’s birth, I was pregnant again! This time I had an even worse pregnancy. Between David and Daniel we once tried a vegetable garden, only to discover vegetables don’t like clay soil, the carrots didn’t even sprout! I laid aside this one desire of my heart, although I couldn’t understand why God fulfilled all the parts of the promise in 2 Samuel 7:9-11, except the one ‘He will plant us’.

Wow, are you still with me? Such a long intro!

Then a few weeks ago I saw a link on another blog to a vegetable gardening blog. I knew the author of the blog through the home schooling community, and I started reading her postings. I was intrigued by her raised bed vegetable garden, but didn’t want to go through all the excitement to be disappointed again and put it out of my mind. The next Saturday, with no expectation I told Christo about the vegetable garden blog and the interesting raised bed idea. Immediately he grabbed the idea and started to investigate the possibilities.

Within a few days it was clear my dream was coming true!! I’m going to have a vegetable garden!

This is how my vegetable garden had developed over the last two weeks. Thanks to my wonderful husband, who put in a lot of planning, physical effort and finances and my very strong eldest son!


The piece of backyard that has full sun the whole day. Ideal for our vegetable garden, but untidy and crowded by neglected trees and bushes.

Christo, CJ and Josua are taking out the trees and bushes.

Christo and CJ are building the first two raised beds and two of the three compost containers.











CJ is preparing the ground for the first raised bed, with our clay soil, peanut shells (for drainage) and horse manure.

We are planting the first organic vegetables – lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and basil.












Me putting toilet rolls around the stems of the little plants to prevent cutworm getting to the plants.







My vegetable garden on Sunday morning, after God watered it with the best water I could ask for – rain!

I can only add to the Amen of Eph. 30:20-21
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”

Thank you Lord, you blessed me more than I could ask or think off!

Planting Strawberries and Flowers on Spring Equinox Day!

Tuesday the 22nd of September was Spring Equinox Day and we planted two strawberry plants and some flowers around my rose bed.












On Saturday I attended a finger pruning course by Ludwig Taschner at Ludwig Roses Winelands. I was amazed at how much bigger the rosebushes that arrived from Gauteng on Thursday were than the roses from the Cape. They were all pruned on the same day, the 15th of July, but the roses of Gauteng were about double the size of those from the Cape, due to our cold, rainy weather in comparison to Gauteng’s warm weather since the 1st of September.

But since Spring Equinox Day the weather started to change a little to the warmer side for the Cape. We have sunnier, blue sky weather now, with only a few, thin, wispy, high clouds and no wind. And the temperature is climbing accordingly.

Since Monday I’m literally measuring my rose bushes to see how much it grew since the previous day! I can’t wait to see my roses in full bloom, especially after everything I learned at the finger pruning course. I never even knew there was something like finger pruning and thought the most important and only pruning was winter pruning! On the contrary you cannot really go wrong with winter pruning, the rose bush will grow again, but finger/summer pruning is the way to manipulate your rose bush to have roses from October right through until late in autumn. I also bought Ludwig Taschner’s DVD on summer pruning.

Back to our planting on Spring Equinox day - we had so much fun planting the flowers and strawberries. Thanks to this website and blog, we could easily find everything we needed to know about planting strawberries. Thank you Wendy!

Planting the strawberries:

The children can’t wait to pick strawberries from their own strawberry plants!

Planting the flowers:

Everyone helped to plant the flowers!

I’m also starting a vegetable garden this spring. But you have to wait to hear my full story and see everything we did until after the weekend. Yesterday, we drove to Somerset West to buy organic vegetable seeds and on Saturday we will buy some organic vegetable plants at the Stellenbosch Organic Market. I’m excited like a little girl about this new project we’ve started!

Hope you’re enjoying spring as much as we do!

My Growing Tummy and Helping Hands!

Over the past week my tummy had grown quiet a bit and I can feel I’m carrying some extra weight! I cannot walk as swift any more and had to be conscious of not waddle like a duck. When I bend down to pick up a toy or clothes, it is more difficult to get up. I now need to put on an apron when doing dishes. I have to leave some space for the tummy against the sink and this growing tummy attracts water drops! Vacuuming the house is also not as quick any more. I can feel the strain on my back. When sitting down I can feel the strain of keeping my posture straight.

But…my children are such a blessing! They help in every possible way to take the strain off me.

These are the pictures that greeted me this morning:

Heidi-Mari folding underwear.

CJ vacuuming the entire house.

Josua organizing all the others to clean the back porch from fire wood.


"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth."
Ps 127:4

Now that I’m getting older and still having babies; I appreciate the babies of my youth so much! Thank you Lord for these Blessings of mine!