Lessons In Lizard Care

So a few weeks ago, I caught a baby lizard for the kids. We see them everyday on the walls around our home baking in the sun. We found this little guy in our garage and decided to keep him as a pet. Since this was not a planned capture, we first kept him on the kitchen window sill in some of Lia’s Tupperware. He seemed very happy in his new home where the kids put rocks, grass, water and bugs in there for him to eat. Lia did make it clear however that Lizzy the Lizard needed an new location and a new home.

A couple of days later, we went out and bought Lizzy a very nice new condo. It was much nicer than his old home, much larger than he needed, but we hoped he would be able to grow into the new home.

Well, he did fine for the first couple days eating bugs and laying in the sun. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong a few days ago. Lizzy the Lizard actually BAKED in the sun. She was fine in the morning eating her ants and then later in the evening, she looked like this: A dried out crispy version of her old self.

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WARNING!! THE FOLLOWING PICTURE MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR THOSE WITH A WEAK CONSTITUTION OR SMALL CHILDREN WHO LOVE LIZARDS.

What have we learned?
· Baby lizards should not be kept in direct sunlight for an entire day when the temperature is above 90 degrees.
· A full glass lizard cage can cook a baby lizard in one afternoon even though it has vents in the top.
· Lizards shrink to ½ their size after a full day in the sun in a glass cage.
· We should not have tried to take care of a baby lizard without large lizard care experience.
· We will try an adult lizard next and probably not keep it in the sun the entire day.
· Maddie says that the lizards need some shade during the day the next time we catch one.
· We are much better at taking care of cats than Lizards (Here is a picture of Sylvester who we have managed to keep alive for 2 months now).

9th Anniversary

Hey Scott I need a card first to be able to exchange it!! - Oh Yes Scott did it again - He forgot!

Anyway - Wow nine years and look how far we have come!! God has blessed our marriage!! Scott is a great husband and a wonderful dad. Who would have thought that God would call us to move to South Africa. What an experience!!

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Scott and I have taken this time here to REALLY get to know eachother all over again (this is the most time we have spent together) - the likes - walks to the park, playing tennis together (we both are not very good), taking weekend trips (we love seeing Africa), and just vegging out in our back yard having a braai (BBQ)!! and then some minor dislikes - driving directions for our weekend trips (we never seem to agree - or somehow I mess up the map directions), seeing eachother 24/7 (he works from home - ya know - everyone needs some time to themselves), and the little fights over invasion of each others space.

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Overall, we really do work well together!!

I am sorry to say that because we are across the world I do not have any wedding photos to show you. So a current family photo will have to do. God has blessed us with two wonderful kids.

We will be taking a trip to the east coast to "relax" and take in more of Africa (what a beautiful place) for our anniversary

Happy Anniversary Scott!!

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may God Bless us with many more!!

Teacher's Birthday!

Maddie and her teacher - Ma'am Loraine

It was Maddie's teachers birthday today and also the last day of school before holiday (or as we would call it - Spring Break). Instead of school today the teacher took the kids down the road to Plantland to see the flowers, fish and birds and then ended the morning with ice cream. I invited myself along on the trip to take pictures and to get to know the teacher a little better. (One perk of Scott working out of the house - he could watch Alex)

Half of Maddie's class - there are a lot of kids sick (5-7 days) with a really bad flu. Please pray that Maddie does not get it!

The fish aquarium. Little different than the ones back home. There were empty glass fish tanks everywhere on not so stable tables. Definitely did not want one of them to tip over - as you can see in the picture - there was not much room to move around.

Looking at the birds - pretty much just parrots, chickens and ducks. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.

Precious Maddie!

Taking time to play together as a class!

Here is Maddie and a boy named John-Pierce. The teacher says they are always together. He will be moving to Australia at the end of the year. Maddie will miss him.

Eating ice cream!!

It was a great morning! Scott and I are planning a vacation to the east coast for a long weekend. Not sure where yet, but I will keep you all posted!

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and here is a little something extra:

My new haircut

A is for Apple

Since I have so much time on my hands - I decided to do a little "homeschooling" with Alex. HE LOVES IT!! The first words out of his mouth in the morning (6:30am) - "Mom, when are we going to do school?" Now if anyone knows me I am definitely NOT a morning person. So my typical response is - "In a couple hours!" The best part of this whole set up is that when I do not feel like it - I don't have to do it. The problem is then I hear about it all day.

We are doing the alphabet. When we are learning the letter Alex always says - "I know, I know, I know, Mom - this is easy peasy!" We finally got to the letter D for Dinosaur!!

Our wall of Letters - Alex excited about the letter D!

With each letter we do a craft - D is for Dinosaur Diorama - You like it?! Now he has a little scenery for his dinosaurs!

This craft was a mess of a lifetime - We did paper mache alligators (oh course maddie had to do one too) I would not recommend doing this - How come is the bigger the mess the more fun the kids have!

My hat off to all the teachers out there!! - this really is not my cup of tea (and to think I am only teaching one kid). It really has been great to see him learn and having so much fun with it! He is a sweetheart! There is nothing like spending quality time together.

The Champions

What a beautiful fun filled day we had on Saturday!! Maddie was a "Champion" It was a great day for her to have some fun and for Scott and I to meet parents and just have fun with the kids! The day started with a parade of teams for the Soapbox Derby. They paraded around the track holding their team signs and chanting their team cheer.

We had a great time cheering on Maddie and her team in the races! They would compete against another class. The smiles on the kids faces were priceless. They all had a turn to race around the track. They would either drive or push the derby car. We are proud to announce that Maddie's team won all their races!!

Maddie's Team - The Champions

Watching her teammates

Maddie rounding corner #1

She was a natural driver - I would be smashing into the tires
Maddie was super fast at pushing!

Alex watching - wanting to have a turn

At the end of one of the races it did not take long for Alex to jump in the track to take a turn!

In between races they had games and activities for the kids. Scott and I volunteered to work at a few different booths taking tickets and filling orders at the "Tea Garden"

Anger management Booth:
Alex and Maddie hitting a car with a sledge hammer - (there were words painted on the car like lying, swearing, lazing, cheating, bullying etc.)

Alex and Maddie helping Dad take tickets at one of the booths

Alex and Maddie went to the "gift shop" and this is what they won - Alex a clock and Maddie a mouse stuffed animal. The "gifts" were white elephant gifts that parents dropped off during the week. The kids went fishing for a number and what ever gift was displayed behind that number they won. Alex has been taking his clock everywhere and makes sure to let me know what time it is. He even let us know that we were running late for church! Maddie's "gift" needs a bath and then I am not even sure it will "survive" in the house.

They had the tallest blow up slide!! But beware of the burns on your skin on the way down!!Alex, Scott, and Maddie

The highlight for Alex was the horse rides! What a smile and enjoyment on his face!! Maddie also enjoyed it.
At the end of the day (which was a LONG day 8:00am - 4:00pm) we stayed for Potjiekos (poy-kee-kawse) - food prepared in a pot kind of like a stew. It is a South Africa prepared meal. The preparing of a potjie meal I found out is an individual thing with every cook experimenting to come up with the "perfect" potjie, I also learned it is a very serious competition on who can make the best!! You do not mess with their pots. It was awesome food!!
The judges making their decision which one was the best - Lamb, chicken, Biltong, Ox-tail, and beef. Oh and note the women with the sash is a finalist of Miss South Africa!! One of the teams preparing their potjie
I had creamed chicken - I was not too daring in trying the others. I really need to step out comfort zone and try more types of food.

Dirty from head to toe!! The end of the day!! Maddie is holding up a little sign saying "Thank you for your support" Thank you to all of you who donated - Maddie had a great time and fun racing with her team!!

JUST HAVING FUN

Summer: Over much of South Africa, summer (mid-October to mid-February) is characterised by hot, sunny weather - often with afternoon thunderstorms that clear quickly, leaving a warm, earthy, uniquely African smell in the air. Summer is coming and it is nicely warming up here. The kids are anxious to go swimming!! I was told to wait until the first rainfall (it has only rained once since we have been here). So we headed for the back yard for some sprinkler fun (Hiding our fun so the neighbors don't think we are crazy!!)This Saturday - Maddie has her Soapbox Derby Fundraiser at school. She is so excited. She was able to raise enough money to purchase parts for 3 cars!! (because of all her fundraising she also won a free dinner to one of the local restraunts here!!) Thank you to all of you that donated. She really thought that was special. I will be sure to post pictures of the fun event!!