The Fey Family

I think we are now about 8 or 9 weeks into this home schooling adventure. It is getting better and better, but is still not something that comes naturally to me, Darin or the kids. This week, Jori has decided to take her backpack to school and she has been calling me “teacher”. When we are done with school, she goes “home” and calls me “mom” and tells me all about her day at school, even though I am the one who just taught her : ) If she finishes before her brother, she’ll say “Mom, when will Tyson be home from school?” and Tyson, who is sitting right at the table says “I AM home right now”, but she just ignores him, because in her mind, he is at school still.  Today, Friday, we are having a home school holiday. We all needed a break, especially since we are all a bit behind on our sleep, which leads to a lot more tantrums and fussing about the school work that I want the kids to do. I am so thankful that Darin is still working one on one with Tyson! This seems to be working out f...

Last week Monday, Tyson and I(Darin), headed out at about 10:00 to go down to the local car registration and licensing facility in Temba.   We had picked up our car on the 7 th and we had 3 weeks from the purchase date to get it registered into our name.   I had previously driven past the “DMV” office a couple of times and had seen lines of 100-150 outside, so I wasn’t looking forward to this.   I was pleasantly surprised this morning when we pulled up that there were no lines outside the building.   We got inside and it took a little while for me to figure out where to go as there seemed to be multiple lines with no clear direction.   I finally figured out who I needed to see to get the correct forms.   The lady behind the glass was friendly enough; different from most Secretary of State employees I’ve had the privilege of dealing with in Michigan.   After I filled out the form, she told me that she would need a copy of my passport before informing m...

It’s that time again! For starters, I am writing this post on Tuesday and am hoping it goes on line soon, but am not sure if that will happen. The internet that we “borrow” across the street has been down since before the weekend, so we are a bit out of touch. We are so thankful we have a little modem (also borrowed) so we can at least check and send emails! If anyone has posted any big news on facebook, please fill us in as we have totally missed all facebook news! Last night Darin and I went on our first date since arriving here in South Africa. While we were out, we realized it was the first time we’d been out ANYWHERE without the kids in over 15 weeks! That includes trips to the grocery store, going to Mama Cathrine’s, running any sort of errand, or being in the car. Individually we have had time alone, but if Darin and I have been together, the kids have also been present! We went to the Carousel, which is an entertainment venue with a hotel, restaurants and a casino, just a bit...

Last satarday I went to a science fair at an Oktober fest.     I saw a boat at the science fair.   To make the boat I need wood, a bag, wire, some Lego guys, and bottles.   We’re going to test it on our watering hole. I don’t know if it is going to float or not, but I think it is going to float on our watering hole.   I built it using the wood from behind our shed and some wire from the same spot, not exactly the same spot.   We used lots of things, wood, wire, so much stuff.   All the materials were there and today we might finish the boat.   We drilled 7 holes in all.   Three on one piece and two on both of the other 2 pieces.   A guy named Hans, he’s the one that let us use the drill.   He’s a very nice guy.   Finally it floated when it was completed.   The first day we sailed it was wensday.   It floated on the water.   Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, it is a great boat.   We used some sticky toffee stuff to put 2...

On Saturday, I went to Oktoberfest with my friend, Aliya. We watched a show. It was a magic one and silly. Then we played games. First we got a bag. We had to climb a pole, but I couldn’t do it, but my daddy helped me. There were sweeties in the bag. We played another game to win a water bottle. It was a spinning wheel game. I did a throwing bean bag game with all cans that you had to knock down. Then I went to another show and I ate my huge hot dog and drank my own pop. The hot dog wasn’t very yummy, but the bun was delicious. After lunch we went to look at some books. I got to buy a Barbie coloring book and it was fun. Aliya’s family went to the market then. Then I went in a big ball that was in the water. I kept on trying to stand and run, but I kept falling down. My friend Aliya couldn’t stand up either. We kept trying to run to each other, but we couldn’t. Then my brother came in and he was trying to bonk into my ball. Then they pulled us out. Next me and Aliya went on another...

Tomorrow, Thursday the 22nd, is Darin's 34th birthday. I just wanted to take a moment while he is not around to peak over my shoulder, to wish him a very happy birthday and invite you to do the same! Feel free to send him a little email at thefeyfamily@gmail.com or leave a message here on the blog. Happy Birthday Darin. Thank you for being such a wonderful husband and father. We love you so much and are all so much better because you are in our lives. Without you and your ambitious, daring plans to reach out and try new things, I know that I would never have made the move to South Africa. Even though things aren't always easy, it is exciting to be on this journey with you! Love, Jonna, Tyson and Jori

The lions are here! The first 4 lions arrived in Dinokeng today and are staying in an enclosed area about 3 miles from us. They will be there for the next 30 days and then they will be released. A few days after their release (and the release of 4 other lions) the elephants will be arriving! We plan to get out and walk around as much as we can before the big release, because once that happens, we will be remaining inside our fenced in yard, unless we are in a car! We are excited about these new animals coming, but it also means we’ll be kind of “trapped” in our yard, which is a bummer. We all love to get out and go for walks and I love being able to walk across the road to go to TYB. Once Darin starts working (we still have no clue when this will happen) the kids and I will be here without a car a lot of the time. I have a feeling that at that point I might not be such a fan of the lions and elephants! It was cold today. Not “winter” cold, but definitely not warm! I wore jeans for th...

Here are some questions that I asked Jori during home schooling this morning: What are you learning in home schooling? Number partners in math, th and ch and sh. I am reading very good. What does Charity (her doll) do when you are in school? She just lies there and talks and she’s silly too. She plays and does all stuff. How do you help your parents in South Africa? I help my mom to do the laundry by hanging some socks and undies. I hang them with clothespins, but we call them pegs here . Do you have any friends in South Africa? I have Haley and Aliya as my friends and Ilona. I play with them. Where do you sleep? I sleep in a house with my whole family in a room with Tyson. What is your favorite animal in South Africa? Giraffes because their necks are so long. Is your mom a good driver? My mom is not a good driver. She’s learning how to do it thought. She’s getting good at It, but not gooder than daddy. What does your daddy do in South Africa? My daddy does, um, huh. You answe...

There is a big lizard in our shed   it’s maybey 20 cm long.   It keeps moving around in the   shed in 2 corneres ,left and right. There are small lizards that live behind the shed.   The small lizards crawl behind the shed and me and my friend Caden were trying to catch them after lunch, but they were too fast.   We made a trap to catch them and we used a tube, aluminum foil, a chair to set the tube on, and a red thing.   We pushed the aluminum into the tube and we also used a mountain dew bottle with a frie in it.   We thout that lizards liked bread so that’s why we put the frie in but we didn’t catch any.  

We have our own little way of homeschooling out here in Hammanskraal. I will be the first to admit that there are probably a lot of things we could be doing better and many areas we need to improve on, but for a family that never had homeschooling in mind, at 6 weeks in we are doing just fine.  I would give you a glimpse into a typical day of homeschooling, but we really don’t have a typical day yet. That is probably one of the things we need to improve on : ) Instead I will just tell you how today looked. Our kids continue to rise and shine bright and early, just like they always have. I continue to long for sleep and hang out in bed as long as I can, just like I always have. Darin, who used to get up before all of us to get to work now falls somewhere in between the two extremes. This morning, I rolled out of bed around 7:30. The kids had already been awake for over an hour. I came into the living/dining room and the kids were busy watching a movie. Darin was typing up some e...

We go shoping there sometimes and even we go to KFC and get ice cream   and then we g go shoping in the mall and we go to spar, game, pick in pay, KFC and then we go home.  1 week there was a fair and we went there and we rode on 2 rides foreweelers and little mini jets. The foreweelers were the funest of all. The jets were boring cause they go up and down and then we went shoping i think and then we went home.                                                                                                ...

I miss Lucky Charms cause they have cool cereal and marshmallows in them. I want to buy them when we go back to Michigan. I miss Honey Nut Cheerios. Now I eat Oatees. Plain, Chocolate and Custard Oatees are good. Strawberry Oatees are bad.  I miss having a basement, a upstairs and my own room. There was an extra bed in the basement so if one more person comes, they can sleep. I miss having a closet and a bed that’s on the floor and my own dresser in my own room.  I miss climbing up Tyson’s ladder on his bed to see what he is doing. And under his bed I miss building forts with the big blue blanket. I miss little Reidy. I can’t wait to get back to I can kiss him and hug him. And I miss Jenna and JJ. I liked to play with them in their basement. Tshepo Ya Bana by Jori Fey Tshepo Ya Bana is fun cause there’s a little cute girl there who’s the only baby girl there named Orabile. She is cute and when my dad first saw her she just came running over to him. She is very, very cu...

The time has come for more random news. Last night I made chicken legs for the first time ever. Yes, the first time ever. I prefer my chicken to be boneless and skinless when I buy it, so I have never bought chicken legs before. Thanks to my mom for her cooking tips and my friend Michelle for the gift of poultry seasoning, our dinner last night was a success. I will say that poultry seasoning did not give the chicken the exact taste I was hoping for, but all 4 of us ate our meal with NO complaints. That is a huge deal. In addition to the chicken legs, we also had crunch top potatoes and corn. I love the canned corn in South Africa. It is crunchy and sweet. Yum. To make crunch top potatoes, thinly slice some potatoes, as many as can fit on a baking pan (with sides) in one layer (we used 2 pans). Melt some butter (enough to coat the slices), then spread the slices evenly in the pan. Sprinkle with lots of salt, paprika and some crushed rice krispies or corn flakes (we had corn flakes o...