Teeth & Weekend Away!

My baby girls are finally getting some teeth!! and they are both getting the exact same tooth...lol...at the exact same time!!! It's always interesting to see how different their personalities really are! Cassidy has been quite miserable, and very, very whiny while getting this tooth...and Eden, although somewhat whiny has been taking it far better than Cassidy!! But, that doesn't really surprise me...Eden is far more content, and chipper than her younger sister...but...again...shes also the biggest bug. She took full advantage of her sisters more miserable state, and was taking every opportunity to push her buttons!! One thing i've been enjoying though is that they are a lot cuddlier right now!!!

This weekend Sidney and I get to go away!!! without the girls!!! Our friends Angela & Scott Visser have offered to watch our girls for the weekend and give us a chance to get away together and relax. We are going to travel to Lusaka (about a 4 hour drive away) where their is a huge craft fair on the last Saturday of every month. It also has the only mall and movie theater in the country!! I am so excited..but will miss my girls!! We may even see 2 movies while we are their as it only costs $2.50 to see the movie, and that includes popcorn and a drink!! I just hope that their is something good playing!

I will post some pics of the girls teeth as soon as they are fully visible!! Otherwise, life here has been good...we are waiting for our court dates which are in 4 weeks...we are also waiting for our Canadian citizenship to come through!! We still don't know whether we will be able to travel to Johannesburg in Sept or Oct! Part of me hopes we can go in Sept as their is 5 weeks before after all the teams leave before my mom comes which will be very quiet....but I also won't mind going in Oct as it will make the time go by very fast and then we go home!! I'm struggling right now with really wanting to go home!! I miss everyone and everything familiar to me! My girls are so worth it though! We have 16 weeks left before we go and although it seems like a really big number I know it will go by fast! The exciting part is that it is only 7 weeks and 2 days until my mom comes!!! CAN NOT WAIT!! I'll try and post again soon!! Miss you all!!

How many people can you fit in a truck?

In Africa having enough seatbelts for everyone is a bit of a flexible rule!! Quite often we will see trucks driving down the road and wonder how on earth they fit that many people in the back!! and could they possibly sandwich one more person in??? The sad part is that quite often in the midst of all those people in the back of that truck is a coffin and they are on their way to a funeral.


Sorry it was hard to get a good pic as I was in a car, and you have to be careful when taking pictures here as most people get quite upset!!

Crawling and Court Dates!!!

My beautiful babies have finally learned how to crawl!!! and boy, they are good! It took them a long time to learn how...but once they realized how to do it they were off like a shot! Cassidy crawled first, and Eden followed suite about 2 weeks later...she was quite frustrated for those 2 weeks though. She could see Cassie getting into everything she wanted too and she knew that she was missing out! My little girls are already so grown up! Its not even 2 months until they are 1!!! One benefit to their being able to crawl is that the screeching has considerably lessened! They are far more content now that they can crawl around and get into everything, they've also discovered how to follow me...doing dishes, making the bed, going to the bathroom!!!

We finally have court dates as well!! We were given dates in July but had to have them changed as it wasn't 90 days later! The magistrate here is allowed to make an exception and waive the 90 day wait period, but when we go to Pretoria to get their visa at the Canadian consulate, we could have run into a lot of trouble. The Canadian consulate knows the rules and is very strict about them. If we don't follow them they can deny us our visa's stating that we must have done something underhanded, or bribed someone. So, we had the court dates changed and have finally gotten knew ones!! Eden's court date is August 24Th and we are supposed to hear about Cassidy's court date today...but it should be the day after Eden's! Yes I know...why do we have to have 2 separate court dates even though they are twins...I have no idea!!! Its two separate dates and two separate judges...apparently cause its 2 different children it requires 2 separate judges and days!! Even though their is no way they would separate twins!!

Well...my babies are getting into trouble, I'll post pics soon!!

The joys of having twins!!!

One of the many joys I have discovered of having twins, is that they gang up on you. Theirs two of them...and only one of me. They already know exactly how to take advantage of my distraction when I'm am dealing with the other one...for example!!! Today Cassidy had a very dirty diaper which required my full attention and both hands!! When I turned around I found this!!!

She pulled out almost the whole box of Kleenex...and would have eaten a few if I hadn't stopped her!! My darling Eden, is the quite, cuddly, and sneaky one of the two. We affectionately call her the little thief...without fail, if Cassidy has something...ie a cookie, sippy cup, toy, food...You name it...Eden almost always finds a way to take if from her!!! Sometimes without Cassie even knowing!! and then she grins and giggles oh so cutely!!! how can you be upset!!

Me and my girls!!!!

Since I am the photographer of the family!! I've been trying to get Sid to take at least a couple pics with me and the girls!

My girls are so beautiful!!!

Masala!!

Yesterday we decided it was time to explore Masala and go knockoff shopping!! Now for those of you who don't know...Masala is the local market, where people come to sell their wares. Everything from veggies and fruit, to plumbing supplies and shoes. Its made up of little wooden booths which are all joined together in somewhat of a haphazard fashion that becomes quite the maze of never ending little rows and stalls. Their is also a section that is a little nicer where they actually are little shops of sorts, and this is where you would find the knockoff jeans and purses etc. I would love to show you a picture...but the people get very upset when you take their picture as they think that you are going to sell it, and make money off of it, and not share any of the money with them. I don`t blame them not wanting random people coming and taking their picture without asking...but it sure would help to show you a picture.

We decided not to take the twins with us, because the last time that Sidney and I went with the twins to get some fruit we caused quite the stir. Two Musungus with black Impundus!!! We were quite the talk of the market. I was quite glad that we had decided this, because as soon as we got out the vehicle we were already quite the hit. One fellow took one look at Sidney, and started yelling John Gill...John Gill...We weren't quite sure what to make of this but carried on, getting quite the attention as usual. Now Masala is the kind of place where you really need to watch where you are walking...for 2 reasons...you may find yourself stepping in something quite yucky, or you`ll fall into a ginormous pothole if you aren`t careful, you also need to watch your bag in case of pickpockets. So, we carried on watching our step, and our bags, on the hunt for the best bargain knockoffs we could find. Why buy something at home that's really expensive when you can get it here, it looks the same except for maybe some spelling mistakes and its dirt cheep. We found Sidney some ambercrombie and fitch shorts for 70,000 kwatcha, which is ruffly $13.50...now if you look closely they are actually amberfrombe and fitch shorts...but who cares!!!! After seening all that their was to see we went back to the vehicle ( Sandra, Gugu, and myself) while Sidney went in hunt of some fruit. The same guy that we had encountered before wanted to know where John Gill was...the grate big guy!! You know the guy who was with you John Gill!! John Gill is my friend...Sidney now has a new nickname and a new friend...lol...We ended our morning with lunch at Vanilla Bread!! A quite eventful and enjoyable day with friends!!!!

Finally!!

We finally have internet back!! One of the challenges about Africa is that you can never guarantee if something is going to work...internet, electricity, hot water!! We have been without internet for almost 2 weeks now! Apparently the company that supplies it, is revamping their systems so hopefully this means that when they are done it will be more reliable...but theirs never any guarantees!

All of our paperwork has been submitted to the courts....we should be hearing any day now when our court date is going to be, and then we can decide when we are going to Johannesburg, and also a date for coming home.

Here's some pics of my cutie girls!!