Raoul & Hannah Snyman

Well, Zak has a cold, I have a cold, and Raoul probably has a cold too (but it's so similar to his normal hayfever symptoms that he can't tell much of a difference). This cold entails a very runny nose, sneezing, a cough, and irritated eyes (at least for me).Read more »

Zak has always loved music, but we don't really have any kiddies music to play for him, so he listens to the same music that we do. He listens to dance, hip hop, and even heavy metal (with Raoul only, not me), along with all of our more "normal" rock and pop, and he loves it all. Thankfully all the music we listen to is Christian and we don't have to worry about what he hears in the music. I sometimes wonder if he's missing out on something by not hearing the kids music and I do try to sing some with him from time to time, but he seems to prefer "real" music.Read more »

Zak loves to play pretend. One of his favourite things to pretend is that he's a dinosaur. He stomps around the house roaring. The other night I was playing along while I was sitting on a chair and reading, and I said, "Oh no! It's a scary dinosaur! Mommy's scared!" Right away Zak stopped roaring and looked at me, very concerned. He came up to me with his head tilted and a concerned look on his face and reached out and gently rubbed my arm. He said, " 'S okay sweetheart, 's not scary." I couldn't help it, it was so funny and cute I cracked up.Read more »

Zak's done some really cute things lately that I don't want to forget, and I'd like to share them so you all get some joy out of them too! So here are a couple of the sweet moments we've had with our little whirlwind lately.Read more »

It's not often I get the urge to write a blog post. In fact, as you've seen, I only blog about once in a blue moon, and only then because Raoul's begged me. Today though, I feel like saying something.

In so many ways, I feel so different from everyone around me. I got married when I was 19, had Zak when I was 21, and I'll have our new baby when I'm 24 (by the way, I'm 15 weeks pregnant this week and everything seems to be going great!). Most people my age are unmarried, many are still doing their studies in university, or some are starting their careers.Read more »

My father-in-law, Howard, is big into fair trade goods. This means that goods are generally bought directly from the farmer, labourer or artisan, at a fair price, before being sold to you.

I can understand completely why he likes to support fair trade, and I have decided to see if I can do similar. Unfortunately, I can't always, as money is tight and generally the cheapest option wins for us (especially at the moment).

Recently, however, Cadbury's in South Africa had some huge news as far as fair trade is concerned. Their milk chocolate bars (the plain chocolate ones) are certified fair trade, and proudly display the Fair Trade logo on their wrappers. I was even more delighted to see that I could buy them at my local grocery store, and at the same price its always been. How awesome is that?

Below is a photo of the bars with their green and blue logo:

As most folks know, we went on holiday in November 2011 to the Arizona, USA, to visit Hannah's parents. Hannah's dad borrowed a scooter with a side car, called The Red Rocket, so that Zak could (hopefully) join him in his love of scooters. Do you think Zak likes riding in The Red Rocket? Let's have a look and see...Read more »

So, since we've moved into a new house, I've started becoming more of a Manly Man.

What is a Manly Man, you ask?

A Manly Man is a man who knows how to work on a variety of household things, including kitchen appliances, cars, light fittings, doors, rooms, etc. Painting a room is a Manly Man thing, as is fixing washing machines and fixing door handles, which I did this past week.Read more »