The Fey Family

Darin is gone for the night and I just tucked Tyson and Jori into our bed. They’ll fall asleep there and then I’ll move them into their own beds once I’m ready to sleep. Moving an almost 10 and almost 8 year old is a lot harder than carrying a toddler, but I am sure this mama can still handle it! They were both reading for the last 30 minutes or so and I took some time to lie next to them. They were tired, so for once they were still and quiet. I was able to just watch them both, to really examine their faces. Tyson Alan, my firstborn, turning 10 in less 2 months. When I look at his face, I can still see the little boy he once was, and still is some days. He still pokes his tongue out when he is concentrating, and his eyes quickly dart around, taking in information, not missing a thing. He looks over and catches me staring and gives me a little smile. That’s when I see his big front teeth and realize he is no longer 4, looking at picture books and trying to find the little duc...

Tshepo ya Bana has long been a beneficiary of groceries, toiletries and baby products from a local grocery store. These items are usually close to their sell by date or slightly damaged, but still useable. Late in 2013, after noticing how full and chaotic the little room where these goods were stored was looking, Darin approached the management with a proposal; we will take everything from your storage room and distribute it to many people in need. This idea made good sense for the grocery store as it would keep their storage room from being infested with critters and bugs that like old food and it also made good sense for us as we would continue to receive donations AND could help the other local organizations involved with Take Action Ministries. Win/win!! Every Monday Darin heads to the store. He drives around back where a guard lets him into the storage room. He spends some time on-site sorting and cleaning. There are often broken bottles of mayonnaise or ketchup that have s...

Ok, so I do have another post ready to go, but I need our good internet before I can post the pictures that go along with it. I am so behind in writing about our life. So very, very behind. I feel like I am cheating my kids of memories by not documenting all that has happened. I want to be better about blogging, I say I’ll be better about blogging, but my follow through is lacking. Severely. Darin is gone this weekend. He is displaying (and hopefully selling) Sawyer water filters. My house has stayed surprisingly clean the past 2 days, which confirms that Darin is the one who leaves the biggest mess around here! Tyson and Jori have been home more than they’ve been at school, or perhaps it only seems that way. They had a school holiday the first week of April when my parents were here. Then they had off Good Friday and Easter Monday. They have all of next week off due to Freedom Day and Worker’s Day, two national holidays, and then they have next Wednesday off as it is elect...

It is Wednesday night. We are down to less than one week with my parents L The time has gone so quickly. We are on a holiday right now. Today we went to Sun City, a huge place with a casino, several hotels, a spa and a water park. Yes, this year instead of Bela Bela, we decided to give the water park at Sun City a try. We had an amazing day, and I am even bringing a little something home with me; a sunburn. Yay for me. You’d think at age 35 I would be old enough to use sunscreen properly, but I missed my legs and portions of my arms. Fun times. We have had a great few days. Our lodge is pretty nice. Not somewhere we’d stay again, but fine. The kids have made a few little friends here and even tried saving an injured bird. Yesterday we drove around a bit and went to a small game reserve. We got caught in a rainstorm and didn’t see a ton of animals, but it was still nice to see a different landscape. South Africa is truly such a beautiful country. As I already said, we had a fun da...