PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA KEEPS HIS PROMISE!

Hi Guys,

This week has been a real fun week. Our computer lessons were so fantastic! I am very keen to become good on the computer so that we can improve our blogstories and make it more interesting for you guys. Maybe it’s not such a good thing, but I think about you all the time. I love you guys! Every day I just can't wait to get home so that I can see if our world is any greener. You know that we now have friends in Latvia, Bulgaria, Russia and China all reading our blogstories, and those countries are very, very light green on our map. Isn’t that so cool? 

On Friday I went to the Beer Museum, the Apartheid Museum and the Africa Museum with some of the volunteers. It was awesome, and I even drank some beer at the Beer Museum. (Don't tell my Mom.  She will not be very happy with me!  She will say -- JESSE!  Don't you know you are under aged?  But it was only like a sip or two.  Not very nice, anyway!) While we were there at the Africa Museum, I looked up and couldn’t believe my eyes ... I even rubbed my eyes and looked twice ... because sitting there quite a way away, was my Uncle Berend! All the way from East London!  I just yelled and said, -- Hey, there’s my Uncle Berend – and the volunteers said – Where are you going?—and I just said – TO MY UNCLE! -- I jumped down the stairs and ran through the ladies and men and hugged my Uncle. My lovely, lovely Uncle!  He is my mother’s big brother and my mother adores him. And then Uncle Berend said, -- Is your Mother okay? – and I said, -- Yes, she is doing fine. -- And Uncle Berend said, -- Does she have the flu? --- and I said – Kinda –  And then I had to leave.

Do you know what my Mom said?  She said that PAUL is a Media Junkie and Kieran and I are Blog Monkeys!  LOL!  LOL!

Oh, well she said that about Paul because he has been in the Newspapers again last week.  Lots of Goverment people and ANC people went to Frances Vorwerg, his school, and brought food parcels and stuff for that school.  I don't really know why they brought food parcels.  I suppose there might be some real poor children in that school.  But not Paul.  We're not poor.

After that we found out that Paul was in the newspapers again.  The papers said things like : ZUMA LEGACY CONTINUES.  And it told the whole story about Paul all over again, and how he asked the President to come to his school, way back in June.  You can read that story in our June Blog.

But the best thing about it is that President Zuma kept his promise to Paul and his WHOLE SCHOOL went to watch the Moroko Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs game at Soccer City on Saturday.  Paul was SO excited the night before.  He just kept saying, -- Does Mommy know?  Does Mommy know that I am going to soccer with the President on Saturday? -- and Pippa kept say, YES PAUL!  I did tell Mommy.

Ah Shame!  But when poor Paul got to the soccer match guess what happened?  President Zuma could not make it because he had to go and visit the RUSSIAN President.  So some of the government people were there instead, but Paul was very disappointed.  I think lots of those kids must have been disappointed.   But look, the President has to do his job, right?  He can't just be taking kids to soccer matches and stuff.  I mean maybe he is stopping a nuclear war or something.  But he did keep his promise because he said .. HE WOULD ORGANISE SOMETHING ~ and he did!  

Anyway, Paul was so depressed and disappointed. 
And Mommy's not even at home to give him a cuddle and make him feel better.

I also played a lot of basketball with my friends at school last week. Gee! It was such fun. I love sports. I’m usually good at doing sporty stuff.

Mom is the one who usually helps us with the blog but she's down at Postinia now so its probably not going to be that JAZZY.  But we will do our best and you will get the news anyway.

Hello Everyone!

Jesse, where is Latvia?

I'll show you on the map when we finished Kieran. But its high up at the top of the world.

What?  At the top of the world?

Yes! It like high up there, past England and Russia and past Lithuana even. Imagine how freezing it must be up there? I'll show you later Kieran we need to do our stuff now. So get on with your news.

Okay. You see Mom didn't come home last Sunday like we thought she would and then we found Maria dead in a hole and we cried all afternoon. So, of course I was sick on Monday. And I didn’t go to school on Monday because I was vomiting and Pippa said ... -- Oh no! Bed for you today, Buddy!-- But do you know what happens every time I stay at home? Everybody has a real fun day at school, all because I am not there. Then when I go back? It’s just boring, boring, boring old school again.

You know what I found out? I found out that my teacher reads our blog! Wow ... just as well I’m brown, or you would see my blushing! But I just want to tell my lovely Teacher, Miss Spinas Thank You for giving me a Star this week. My Mom is really happy and proud of me. And I am doing well in technology too, I got 65%! I did pass my report. Oh my word, I am so happy! Hip hip hooray! Because I’m sad to say, some of my brother’s aren’t THAT lucky!

We had to do this dance at school called Alvin and the Chipmunks Dance. I think I am Alvin. I can mimic him very well and I can sound just like him. I think there is a very good chance that I will be an actor when I grow up. My sister, Pippa, and my mother always laugh when I say I am going to sing. Well, that’s another reason I am keen to get this blogstory stuff working. It might be a way of becoming famous ... and getting to Hollywood! LOL!

I was so happy last week because my teacher said I worked very hard and I was so proud of myself. Because I never heard one of my Grade 4 teachers say that I worked very hard before.

School doesn’t like me ... that is why I don’t like school. School is not my type of thing. I don’t mind doing the work, but I get so t-i-r-e-d at school and I struggle too much. My hands swell up. And my feet swell up and I don’t like it. And I am scared if the teachers say ... – So? Everybody’s fingers swell up! What's the matter with you?  Now just get on with your work, because that’s not so important, it’s not like you are going to die! -- That’s what my mind tells me. But the teachers don’t really say that. Mostly the teachers are really kind and gentle with me because they know I have this serious heart problem.

Especially Miss Spinas. She never says ugly things like that to me because she is always sweet and kind to me and I like her so much. Sometimes she gives me Stars when I work well. Also I think Miss Spinas is the prettiest teacher in the school. She has the most beautiful blue eyes and the most loveliest, plump cheeks. She has shiny brownish-blackish hair. And her eyelashes are so lovely, especially when she calls me and she's like ... – K-i-e-r-a-n? In a cute kind of voice and then she wiggles her eyelashes.

Kieran don't put that in here.  She reads the blog.  She's going to beat you!

Oh Jesse, our teachers don't beat us!  Anyway, what's wrong with saying my teacher's pretty.  Its a compliment.

Do you know white people’s eyelashes are much longer than brown people’s. But one day I saw some brown girls with REALLY long eyelashes. I was astonished! I thought they came from some kind of tribe or island or something -- like Madagascar. But then my big brother Reuel said ... – Don’t be daft, Kieran. Those things are fake, man! -- Fake eyelashes? Whoever heard of such a thing? I wonder how they get them stuck on. Maybe they have to go to the doctor and get them stitched on. Yikes!

Then yesterday we were supposed to go to Soccer because Pippa was given some money to take us, when somebody heard that Paul was going and felt sorry for us. But then all the tickets were sold out. That was terrible and we were very disappointed. But then Pippa decided to take us to Zoo Lake where we spent the day and had a lovely braai.

I almost got beaten up there by these three wild boys. I was sitting on the ground and they were climbing on stuff that they were not supposed to climb on. So I told them to get off. My brother James (Pippa's son on the right) was with me. These boys wanted to fight with us because we told them what to do.  So every time we were trying to walk away, they followed us. It was a bit scary, actually, knowing I have a heart problem and all.  They could have been kiddy gangsters ... or gangsters in training.  So, I got nervous.  I didn't know what to do.

I just said, -- come on James and we walked even faster till we got to the slides.  Then one of those big boys caught up with me and started pushing me and he pushed me over.  And guess what happened?  James -- who is only 8 -- just jumped between us and said ... You better leave my brother alone, or I'll call my other brother and he'll tell the President!  -- And that guy was like ... -- WHAT? -- And James said -- My other brother is at Soccer City with the President (We didn't know that he was in Russia, actually) so you better watch out!  If you hurt one of us, you will be in serious trouble. -- Then the big guy burst out laughing and all of them were laughing and laughing.  Holding their bellies and laughing!

Just then my brother Thabang (on the left) ran past and I called him and I told the laughing guys to ask him who my brother Paul was at the soccer with.  And Thabang said the President.  And then they stopped laughing quicker than a hiccup and just walked away.  LOL!  LOL!  That was the coolest thing I ever saw.  Man, what Mom says is true ... It's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know that matters!

Pippa let us cook our own sausages and lamb chops. That was awesome. 

And this morning Zoe woke us all up and said -- From now on, on Sundays, we are all going to get up and make a real, big, Jarvis family, Farm Breakfast!  Then we are going to sit down together and eat!"  And so we did.  Dangit, what a pity Mom wasn't here.  It was great!  And we are going to do that EVERY SUNDAY from now on!  PLUS ... I made breakfast for Theo (the volunteer) and he gave me R10!  SCORE!!

Then lastly, we want to tell you something very serious.  We weren't trying to be mean in our last blog when we said those things about the other parishes we were in.  Those were just things that happened, but it was good, because now we are in a church where we are loved.  

This morning the priest from that other church was in OUR parish celebrating Mass, because our priest is in Poland trying to find some money for bricks and cement to build our church with.  Kieran and I just looked at each other when he walked down the aisle because our hearts were bothering us about the things we said.  Kieran and I get the same pains about things at the same time.  This was one of those times.  We do know that that priest was very nice to us when we were in that other church and we loved him a lot.  So we don't want anybody to think bad things about him.  It was just the people in his church that didn't accept us.  But it wasn't his fault.

So, I think that's the end of the story.  We will be back next week!

We love you guys!  BYE!

TLC's GRAND OLD LADY DIES!

 Hello Everybody,

Yes, hello Everyone!

Well, this is not going to be such a cheerful story.

First of all, yesterday was Sunday, right? So, we thought because Mommy is sick and Pippa was away at GIBS, that we wouldn’t have to go to Mass. And actually, we were quite happy about that. Well, we were wrong. Because there came bossy old Zoë and commanded us all to hurry up with breakfast and get dressed neatly because we had to go to Mass! So, we were all begging and pleading, but she wouldn’t give up and we all just ended our grumbling, started getting dressed and got into the bus.

You know we are Catholics, right? And our church is in a TENT? That’s because we are still saving up money to buy bricks and cement. It’s taking long because most of the people in our church are very poor. The tent is so freezing in winter that smoke comes out of your mouth when you sing. And it is so hot in summer that people faint. Actually, a boy DID faint yesterday! It was so very hot. We were all praying, .. like this - ... Oh God please hurry up! Please make your priest hurry up! I’m going to die! Oh, God I’m going to die, it’s just too hot! And we were taking our clothes off bit by bit and stopped just before it was going to be rude! And some people, specially some men, were smelling bad from all the sweat.

I always have to sit right by the door and if I feel like I can’t breathe I have to go outside and take a few gasps. I can’t stay outside too long, because Mom and Pippa and Zoë are always watching me in case I go and play. As if I would go and play all by myself! Anyway, I do love God and I wouldn’t want to be disrespectful, but I have to breathe, right?

I don’t know why Mom can’t find us another church. Every time we complain she just says ... –Oh stop whining! All the Old Testament Saints went to church in tents. And THEY lived in the desert. Imagine how hot THAT was!-- ... Yes, well the Old Testament Saints didn’t HAVE nice churches in the desert ... We HAVE nice Catholic Churches here in Johannesburg ... only thing is ... the people in those churches don’t like our big family and always worry about maybe we are going to ask them for something ... like we are beggars or something  ... or if we are going to take up all their pews with our big family. Or maybe us being in their church will ruin their reputation. Or maybe it doesn’t make them look all rich and proper when WE go there.

And sometimes their kids are very mean to us ... they call us – Those AIDS kids – and we are not AIDS kids at all. No. We are just normal like everybody else. Maybe one or two of us are HIV Positive, but we are still normal, and nobody has AIDS. We’re not catchy or anything like that. It makes Mom MAD when they do that. And sometimes they look at us as if we are dirty and we’re not. Mom always dresses us like rich boys, because she says it’s important ... she says – Fine feathers make fine birds - So, she tries to buy us the very nicest clothes that she can afford. But even so, they call us orphans and we are not orphans. We have a Mom and a lovely family.

So, quite a long time ago .... maybe last of last year, Mom got very angry because that church did something very, very mean to our babies. She tried to forgive them, but Mom says its much easier to forgive people when they do something to HER than if they are mean to her children.  So then suddenly she said, ---THAT’S IT! Now we are leaving.--- She even went to the Priest and told him we were leaving. But she didn’t tell him why, because she said --- what’s the point. It’s over anyway. Bad words leave bad memories --- From there we went to Bosco because Bosco is run by the Salesians and they understand kids and teenagers.

But it wasn’t long after that, Bosco said their church was now too full for everybody and we had to leave and get our own parish, so they gave us a priest and a deacon and a few normal people and so we left. And now we are in a tent.

Mom does know that it’s too hot in summer and too cold in winter. But she says that doesn’t matter because our motley family is loved and accepted there and that is the most important thing. The whole community is kind to us. They always smile at us and welcome us when we arrive and the old ladies give us hugs. And even one day when Brett farted really loud in church by accident, the priest tried hard not to laugh and every now and then he would grin or giggle -- all Mass long. And an old man went up to Brett afterwards, shook his hand and said –‘Well done, lad!’ We laughed and laughed about that for months. Even Mommy. She thought it was so funny!

Oh, I remember Mom telling us this great story once, long, long ago, when we were still in that other church and we were complaining about how the kids did not like us and were mean to us. She said that once there was a very poor little boy who really longed to go to church with all his heart. And every Sunday he would sit on the steps of the church as the congregation went up the steps past him, and into church. He waited and waited, week after week, for somebody to invite him to go into the church with them. But nobody ever did.

And so Christmas came, and the bells were ringing out so jolly and he was sitting on the freezing steps because in America Christmas is so cold, not hot like here in South Africa. And he was shivering and hoping again that somebody would ask him to come along inside with them. But nobody did. So he sat outside and was very sad, listening to all the beautiful Christmas carols being sung and the lovely organ music playing.

Suddenly, it became quiet, and the little boy became so curious, he decided he was just going to go into the church all by himself. And so he did. As he walked down the aisle with his torn and grubby clothes, and his filthy hands, feet and face, everybody turned to look at him and they were disgusted because he stank so bad.

It was Christmas, so all the seats were full, full, full. He couldn’t even see one spot where his skinny little bum would fit. Then suddenly he looked up and saw that at the edge of all the beautiful choir ladies, was just one seat. So he rushed up there to those lovely ladies with their kind faces, all dressed in white and sat down on one of those soft, snow white chairs. Plomp! He sat, right down there with a big smile on his face.

But he heard everybody making shocked noises and then the choir man came running and said ...- Who does this little scruff belong to? - And nobody answered. And the choir man picked him up by his scrawny neck, carried him to the door and threw him out on the stairs.

Then the little boy cried so loud! He wailed and wailed and wailed. Till he heard some footsteps coming up the steps and a man who was dressed rather strangely came and sat next to him. The man put his arm around his skinny shoulders and said ..- Little boy, little boy, why are you crying? – and the little boy looked up into the man’s face and he asked “Who are you?” And the man answered, --I AM JESUS!-- Then the little boy started crying and wailing even more loudly. And Jesus said, -Little boy, what is the matter?- And the little boy said ... –YOU are the boss of this big church, right?  Well Sir, your servants won’t let me go in there!-- 

And Jesus looked at the little boy, smiled sadly and said ... “Oh, don’t cry, my son. They don’t let ME in there either!”

That means that if people in the church can’t love everybody the same, whoever comes in their church, then Jesus gets so sad, he sometimes has to leave. (I think)

No Kieran, that’s not what it means.

Well, what does it mean then?

I don’t know. But now it’s my turn with the real news.

When the bus came back from church, I was the first one off, and I ran to Postinia as fast as I could to make sure that Mommy was alright because we had to leave quickly in the morning and I never got to see her. While I was running I saw that somebody had dug a really big hole on the left hand side of the path, behind the fence and I wondered what they were going to do with it. But I didn’t stop to see because I wanted to see Mom.

Mom opened the door and gave me a big smile and a big hug and said “How’s my boy?” I told her somebody fainted in church and that it was terrible ... so very, very hot and smelly ... and the priest took so very long becauset four grown-ups had to get baptised and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Mom said, come inside then, I’ll make you a nice cooldrink. So she did and we sat at the small table in her little kitchen and she had a very serious face and she said this:

Jesse, I have something very important to tell you. I don’t want you to get upset, and I need you to understand. I am not coming home today .... and I was like ....
W-H-A-T?  W-H-A-T?  Mom you SAID you were coming home today! Mom said, --I know Jesse but I need to stay here another two weeks. And I was like ...
W-H-A-T?   T-W-O   W-E-E-K-S?   NO MOM! WHAT’S WRONG, ARE YOU SICKER THAN BEFORE?

Mom said ... – No Jesse, I am getting better. But God asked me to spend two weeks with him so that I can find out what he wants me to do ... with myself, with our family, with TLC ... just with everything. The reason I get scared so much is because I don’t know where I am going anymore. I feel lost and I always think maybe I am going the wrong way. When I take these two weeks, I will not be scared anymore and I will be peaceful because I will know what God wants me to do. That will be good, won’t it Jesse?

T-W-O   W-E-E-K-S   MOM! THAT SUCKS! And I tried my best not to be a wusi and cry. I had to bite my lips. So I said goodbye quickly to Mom and said I must go. Mom said – You didn’t drink your cooldrink. And I said, I’m not thirsty anymore. And then I left.

I cried when I got outside. I cried all the way to the Garden of Remembrance and then I saw Kieran running up to come to see Mom as well. So I stopped him and I told him what she said. And he was shocked, weren’t you Kieran?

Yes, I was like ... W-H-A-T   T-H-E   H-E-C-K?  TWO WEEKS? But then Jesse said, -- it’s no use going to see her, Kieran. She’s made up her mind.-- And then I started to cry too, and we were just like walking in circles around each other kicking the sand, and crying. And then suddenly Jesse said, -- What’s wrong with Samurai? (he’s our pony) – and Samurai started neighing and running up and down and up and down the fence where the big hole was dug. So we ran quickly and had a look and when we looked into the hole, we both nearly fell in, because we got such a fright! Because there, lying on the bottom of this enormous hole was Maria. Maria! Quite dead!

Kieran said –Oh my God! Rhys has murdered Maria! Shall we go and tell Mom? And I said ... NO NO. Maybe she will get a stroke. And then we saw Ellen walking up pushing a baby in a pram and we said, Ellen, Maria is dead. And Ellen said Yes, I know. The vet put her down this morning. She had cancer all over her mouth and throat, so she couldn’t eat and she was dying anyway. There was that rotten word cancer again!

Ellen said, the vet said Maria was suffering terribly and she had a very long and wonderful life here at TLC. Not many horses get to be 35 years old. Then I asked Ellen – How old is that in human years – and Ellen said she didn’t know, and then she left with the baby. Jesse and I talked about it and we said we thought about 350 years. Yes, that’s very old. No wonder. Then we stood together, holding hands and we said a prayer for Maria. Maria who has always been at TLC ever since we could remember. She was always there ... just like the house, and the pump and Samurai and big oak trees and blue-gums. How will it be, now that she was gone?

Me and Jesse felt very sad.  Very, very sad. Mommy wasn’t coming home. And Maria was dead. It was a bad day. I put my arm around Jesse’s neck and he put his arm around mine. Together we walked home slowly and quietly and didn’t talk. We both cried quietly all the way home.  We didn't bother with lunch.  We went upstairs and laid on our beds and cried and cried for the rest of the afternoon.

Rest in Peace dear Maria.  We love You!

BUT LOOK!  THERE SHE IS .... HALLELUYAH! 

BYE MARIA.  ENJOY HEAVEN!

WAHOOO .... GO GIRL!  GO! 

SEE YOU WHEN YOU COME BACK WITH JESUS!

SLOBBERDOG: DRIVING INSTRUCTOR

South Africa our Wonderful Land!

Hello Muchos!    

Oh Come on Kieran!  Now what does Muchos mean?

Muchos?  Well don't you know?  It means friend.

Rubbish, you made that up.  What language is it?

Muchos?  French, I believe.

Never ... nothing in French ends in -os-  their stuff ends is -ois- -eau-.  Not -os-.

Well okay, then its probably Spanish or Mexican.  But so what, Jesse?  I made it up, okay?  It's a cool word.  I thought you said you liked words.

Yes, but not made up ones when you say it means something, and it doesn't.  FRIEND!  HA ... how dare you say it means friend ... thats lying Kieran, and lying's a sin.

Oh shoosh, Jesse. How do you know it doesn't mean friend? Maybe it does. Or what about this, Jesse ... listen to this ... this is cool, listen ... Maybe everybody who reads this blog story will start calling each other Muchos, instead of friend.  And then all their friends will call THEIR friends Muchos.  WHAHOOOO!  I'll be FAMOUS.   I will be called the MUCHOSMAKER!  And whenever I walk down the street people will bow down or curtsy and they will say ... um they will say this ... -Well done Muchosmaker -  and they will whisper to each other when they see me coming ... they'll whisper behind their hands and say, there's the guy who made up the word MUCHOS!

LOL LOL LOL   Kieran, you're crazy!

No, Jesse, that's how words start you know.  All the words in the dictionary started like that.  When lots of people use a word then the dictionary people put it in their dictionary.  Then there's this big ceremony and they wave some stuff around and say ... humbelebum is now a word!   The dictionary has millions of words now, but at one time it only had, er ... like a hundred?

You know what Mom told me? ... she said they also take words OUT of the dictionary.  She said they took out words like NUN, and ... I can't remember I think it was Convent and catechism ... and ... monstrance and liturgy and incense.

What?  That can't be true, Kieran, you are making that up.  Just like your MUCHOS.

I swear its true you can ask Mom yourself.  I think she told me she read it in the Time Magazine, but I'm not so sure.  Mom thinks its an evil plan to take away our faith.

Well, if it's true, ...and I don't believe it is, by the way..., Your Excellency Mr. Muchosmaker, LOL ... then she would be right.  But be quiet now ... we have work to  do, remember?

Oh ya, okay.

Today we have quite a bit of news. Some good. Lots bad. And a big bit is very worrying and means we might have to stop doing our Blog stories.

But first we have to report of Slobberdog.  Do you know that he has just started his own driving school?  Don't believe me?  Well, they say a pictures tells a thousand words .... so here goes: 

Aaaah poor Slobberdog!  I'm not even kidding ... he was so excited he really thought I was going to take him for a drive.  He wouldn't get out of the door, even though I opened it for him.  He sat there and sulked for 2 hours.  And that's the truth!  Only when Zoe came home she managed to coax him out.  He loves going for rides in the car and when Zoe goes to the squatter camp and its late and dark sometimes, she takes him along.  People don't mess with her when Slobberdog is in the car ... imagine!

MY TURN!

Well now it's my turn and the news isn't so good.  Mommy got very sick last week. She has been very stressed for a long time, but we didn't really know it because she didn't show it. We are a big family and there is not much money coming in at the moment. Well, not enough for us to pay all the things we have to pay. Mommy has been getting more and more scared. It's interesting that Moms can get scared.  But they can, you know!

My Mom doesn't mind telling us when she is scared.  She will just say, - Come here Jesse, come and sit with me and cuddle me and hold me REAL tight.-  Then I ask her - Why Mom?- and she sometimes says, - Because I am so scared Jesse - And then I always hold her tight for l-o-n-g, and tell her - Everthing will be alright, Mom.  Don't be scared.  I also get scared sometimes, but everything does come right in the end. - And after a while she settles down.

She DOES pray and she DOES trust the Lord ... so don’t any of you think that she doesn’t, because she DOES. But sometimes God tests you and he is probably testing her right now.

Anyway, because she was getting worried and stressed she started to feel funny in her head. But she just kept saying ... Not to worry. I’ve probably just eaten too much biltong or Pizza. LOL - She's so funny!  Then she says ... - I will be fine tomorrow. Don’t worry about me, really!  I'll be fine.-

Postinia - It was still being fixed.  It's not so messy now.  But it IS still PINK!
VERY PINK.  Mom said the little card didn't look THAT pink.

Last of last week she felt bad and went to Postinia for two days and felt much better and we were all very happy that she was up and about again, and smiling. But on Wednesday she felt very, very bad again. She went to see Dr. De Oliviera. Dr. De Oliviera gave her some blood pressure medicine because she said Mom'sblood pressure was much, much too high. She said Mommy could have a stroke. She told Mom to try to relax and not be so very busy. So when Mom came home and told Pippa, Pippa rushed Mom to Postinia and made her comfortable there and put her into bed. She slept there that night. But before she went to bed she took one of the pills that Dr. De Oliveria gave her.  She was all alone in Postinia.

When she woke up in the middle of the night she had a very, very bad headache like she never had before in her entire life. She got up to go to the toilet and was falling all over because she was so very dizzy. When she came back from the loo, she couldn’t find the door of the bedroom and was stumbling all over Postinia (it’s a very small cottage) and kept seeing doors but when she tried to go in them, she bashed into the walls because they were not doors, just her imagination.

The next morning her headache was still very bad so she sms-ed Pippa and asked her to bring Panado for her headache. Joanna came right away.  She looked at Mom and said, OH MY GOD! MOM! I’m taking you to the hospital right now.

I knew something was wrong because Mom was not in the house when we got up in the morning. When I asked where she was, Pippa said – Mom is at the hospital. She is very sick. Then I felt very worried, but we all went to school.


Then at lunch time I heard Tammy and the volunteers talking and they said that Mom’s hands swelled up and that she was very sick and even though they did lots of tests they couldn’t find anything wrong or the reason why her blood pressure was so high. The one volunteer said it was 220 over 130.  And the other volunteer said, - Good Lord ... that is VERY  BAD!  I became terrified then.

After I ate my lunch I heard some of my brothers and sisters talking with that same volunteer and I heard her say 220 over 130 AGAIN and I said ... What are you talking about? And then they said - Mommy is STAYING in hospital – and I was like ... Aah stop lying! And then they said NO! Its true. So then I thought Oh my! And I was asking everybody too many questions. So then I thought I should make sure for myself if she was at Postinia, just happy and smiling ... just resting and watching TV, reading her bible and all that stuff. I went walking down very very quickly to Postinia and I passed the Garden of Remembrance and I thought - what if Mommy died and was there with all the dead babies?  And I felt all chokey and the  tears came running down my cheeks.  Postinia's gate was locked and I couldn't get in.  I felt really scared and sad.  

Then I realised it was all true, and that Mommy was very very sick, and maybe she would die.  And I prayed and prayed for her. I made up  my mind that no matter what Pippa or Rhys said, I was going to go and see my Mom in that hospital.  I  wanted to see for myself that she was not dying.  But then Pippa said -But Kieran you can’t visit unless you are 12.  And that was the end of my hopes and dreams about visiting Mommy.

Mom in Hospital

B U T ... the good news is that God answered my prayer and on Saturday in the afternoon they let her come out of hospital because the hospital did not have enough nurses.  She didn't sleep the whole night because she was too scared to sleep in case she had a stroke and nobody would find her until the morning.  In the night she heard somebody ringing the alarm and ringing the alarm and not stopping to ring the alarm. 

And then she heard voices screaming down the passage and feet running.  And she stood at her door because she could not walk far because she was so dizzy.  She could hear ladies' voices tell that a very sick lady was feeling awfully bad and rang the alarm bell over and over but nobody came.  All the other ladies in the ward were too sick to get out of their beds.  So the first lady got out and when she walked she fainted.  So they had to take her to the emergency department downstairs.

Carlton

That was why Mommy did not feel safe there because what if she had a stroke and they did not find out until it was too late?  She could be dead, because she was in a room on her own.   In the morning when the doctor came she told him that she would feel safer in Postinia and he agreed because they did not have enough nurses. So now we made a plan that two-by-two of us can sit here at Postinia with her and we can keep after her.  And its really cool.   She made Pippa buy lots of things and Mom spoils us with them.  Chips, and cold drinks, and sweeties.  Fruit and sausages.  Chicken wings and cool DVD's to watch.  We have to wash her dishes though and keep things clean and tidy ... that's so funny ... washing three or four dishes at a time, in a tiny sink.  LOL LOL. We normally wash 150 dishes at a time!

My turn was on Saturday night, the first night she came home.  I went along with Carflton.  I was so happy she was home I just wanted to stare at her and touch  her hands.  It was Matthew's birthday so Carlton said he rather wanted to go to the birthday party.  But no way ... there's no party in the world I would rather go to than stay with my Mom.  So I made the couch very comfortable with pillows and a soft blanket.  I made a huge bowl of popcorn (with no salt!!!)  I made her a lovely cup of tea and I had a Sparletta Cream Soda.  Then I put her favourite DVD on, called RYAN'S DAUGHTER.  Actually it's her SECOND favourite.  Her favourite is THE MISSION.

So then me and Mom snuggled down very close and warm and cuddled each other while we watched the whole of RYAN'S DAUGHTER.  It's a very long mivie.  You have to use 2 DVDs.  It was so lovely.  Even though I don't like romantic movies so very much ... this one is really beautiful and very interesting. And I loved watching the whole thing sitting next to Mom knowing that she was feeling all weak and tearful.  I felt strong like a big man - like a hero, keeping her safe.  But then again I felt very sad because I am not big and strong enough for her.  She needs and deserves a real hero.  God said about Adam - Its not good for a man to be alone. - But what about a woman?  Is it okay for them ... not to have a real hero?  Not just a little kid like me?

That's just the funniest thing in the world! Such a tiny sink to wash a couple of dishes in!  LOL

Ryan's Daughter, (Sarah Miles)

Its so nice to have Mom home even though she is way down in Postinia.  I love her so much.  She makes me happy, even just to see her face makes me happy.  And I love the funny things she says and does.  She still makes jokes even though she is sick.  I wonder if I will find somebody like Mommy ... like a young girl like when she was a young girl ... when I am ready to marry ... because I would love to marry a girl like my Mom.  But Mom always laughs when I say that.  She says ... "You should speak to your Dad first.  He will give you lots and lots of reasons why you should not marry a girl like me."  And then she smiles, but her eyes look quite sad.

I also watched RYAN'S DAUGHTER with Mommy a few times.  (A long time ago, not now.)  She can watch it over and over again.  I think she has watched it like a million times.  Oh well, maybe just a thousand.  When I watched it with her I asked her if I would marry a girl like Sarah Miles and Mommy said ... -And why not?  She would be the luckiest girl in the world to get a super guy like you!! ---  Here's Sarah Miles.  I can imagine my Mom looking a bit like that when she was very young, can't you?  But when I said that she said ...
-W-H-A-T?  Kieran Jarvis ... maybe in my dreams!  And then she pinched my bum!  LOL

I remember after Mom said that to me I went to bed and felt so happy!  I dreamed about Sarah Miles.  I dreamed we were in a graveyard full of yellow daffodils and we were laughing and chasing each other, and picking the daffodils and we had bunches and bunches of them, but the graveyard was still full of them!  Have you ever seen a daffodil?  They are beautiful!  Mom always says that we must cherish daffodils because God made them our special flower.  Me and Jesse's.  She says they don't grow too well here in South Africa, but England is FULL of daffodils in May ... and we were born in May ... so that is why they are our special flower.  Maybe that is why I dreamed about them.  But why they were in a graveyard ... I don't know.  Brrrrrr!

Then we have some other news that has upset Mommy terribly and we need to find an answer to this big problem. While she was in hospital she tried to see if she could see our slobberdogblog on her cellphone. She was so happy when she found it because she had never tried it before. So, she looked down the list because there were lots of slobberdog titles there and she was surprised. So then she opened one or two and got such a big fright that she shut the internet straight away and started to cry. She was in hospital remember and not feeling very well.   What she saw on the other slobberdog titles is when you press the button on slobberdog it takes you to a rude place, all about sex and and teenagers and stuff.  A place that the devil has made especially to try and destroy slobberdog. Oh, no! Oh no! We are all sad now. Mom says she doesn’t want to give Satan a foothold into our family and maybe we have to close our blog stories down.

Well, I don’t think we should give up our slobberdog stories so easily. They belong to us. Maybe we should ask God to show us what to do. What if we put a special password on the thing so that they can only read it but nobody can do that devil stuff with our stories. What if we wrote to the people who manage the blogs and complained that these devil people are bothering us?

But for sure I don’t think we should close it down. Well, if we really have to and if the devil is really getting a foothold into our lives and our family then I know we should. But I would be so very sad to see Satan win because I love doing our stories and did you know that more than 1000 people are reading our stories?  I am sure that's why the devil doesn't want it there because God gets the glory and that makes Satan crazy.

You're right Jesse, I guess that is why the devil is so jealous and is trying to destroy what God is doing through our little blog. Ugh it makes me so mad. I wish I could find them and I would beat the living daylights out of them. But I know God wouldn’t want me to do that. Maybe I could ask my cousin Odiel, because he is a Policeman and he is so strong he can pick up a big fridge. He could surely teach them a lesson, and God won't mind because he's a policeman and its his job to beat baddies up. But I know it would NOT be easy to find these bad people.

Okay, so before we end I mustn't forget ... this is what Dan wanted me to put on Slobberdog.  He wants me to say this ... ‘Jesse I love you like a lamb chop!  from Dan’  LOL LOL LOL!   We didn't know about this LOL thing before we did Slobberdog.  Then we found out it means LOTS OF LAUGHTER.  And Mom said ... she said this ... - That LOL doesn't do your laughter any justice, Jesse.  Kieran yes, but not you.  Because you have the dirty laugh of an old sailor!--  I keep thinking about that and I wonder what she means.  My laugh's not DIRTY.  I know its very, very LOUD.  But EVERYTHING about me is LOUD. 

Please help us to find an answer because we are very worried about it. We don’t want to stop our slobberdog stories and I know that Slobberdog even would be sad that he is no longer famous. LOL

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew is our nephew, because he is Pippa’s son. Saturday was his birthday.  It's on the same day as my Mom's brother, Uncle Berend. He turned 11. But he was a little bit sad because everybody was running around with the problems with Mom and the hospital. Still, Zoё and Chanel, Amy, Julie and Anna were having a bonfire and so they told Matthew he could join them and they would make a little party for him, and bake a cake and stuff.  Actually it turned out to be quite a big party, because I was here with Mom and we heard the vuvuzela's blowing and it was past 10 o'clock already!  And Mom said as soon as she is better she will go and buy him the present she promised him.

Jessica and Kiera are doing so well. They make me happy whenever I see them. They are really growing and smiling sometimes. Mom thinks they might end up being Danish. But first we have to try and find a South African family for them.  Little Caroline got adopted yesterday by an Indian family who live in Lenasia not too far from us.  And little Juanita finally went to live with her grandparents yesterday.  She was such a cutie.  I will miss her, but we do need the space for some of the other babies that are getting bigger every day. 

So, there is just one last favour I want to ask you (well, two actually). Please will you see if you can help us to find out how to keep our blog stories safe. Because most of you are older than us and have learnt more things and know more things.  Maybe we have to make everybody have a password and they have to get permission and identify themselves like a security thing. We didn’t want to do that because we thought it’s nice if the whole world could read our stories. But we forgot about the disgusting and bad people there are in this world, who want to destroy anything that is good or clean or nice and belongs to God’s people.  I think its great that we have more than 1000 people reading our blog stories now.  And we were thinking it would be so great if you could help us make the whole world green ... but now all those dreams are nearly gone.  It's too sad.

Secondly, please pray for our Mom. We want her to get better completely. Even if it takes a bit of time, we just want her to get back to her normal self.  Here is a picture of her ... can you see how sad she looks?  Even though she was very happy because Lucy bought her those roses and she loves Lucy with all her heart! 

And please when you find people who are mean to her, tell them to be kind to her for now because she is not supposed to stress too much. I know that people are always fighting with her about different things and she always says that looking after her big family and her lovely children never stresses her out, even if they are sick sometimes, or don't do well at school, or chop their fingers off and naughty stuff like that.  And even if money is a bit short. Her family is her heart's biggest joy. 

But when there are so many people interfering, its so hard.  One person wants her to do things THIS way and another person wants her to do things ANOTHER way and when she has to make a decision and its not what one of them wanted, they can become very rude.  My Mom has a very soft heart and she can't stand up to so many rude people.  That's why she gets stressed.  Please keep after her when you see something like that happening.  I just want her to get better!

I always wish Mommy would win the Lotto, REAL BIG! But she will never win the Lotto because she never buys a ticket! LOL. Mommy always says this, she says - There are too many cooks in my kitchen - That means that too many people with too many ideas make life too hard and stressful because she needs them all to stay on our side, and help us with love and not with pride.  She wants them to trust her that she does know what is best for her children.

Now we are going to end by showing you a picture of some of our brothers:  Aren't they cool? We want to start showing you the people in our lives and more photo's so you really get the picture.  You know what Mom calls it when there are a few of us together like that?  She calls it a HOLY HUDDLE!  LOL  LOL

GOING ROUND THE CIRCLE FROM THE LEFT:
JOSHUA, JEROME, JESSE, ERIN; THABANG

So by for now our MUCHOS!   LOL   LOL   LOL

Oh no, not THAT again!   Bye guys!

SLOBBERDOLICIOUS!

Hello Friends,


Tammy said I must do this for her on Slobberdogblog … she said I must say … -Tammy, Tammy, I love you!-

Slobberdog is MUCH happier these days. There are now windows and doors on the garage and he has a lovely warm room and he is SO VERY HAPPY! When Mommy gets up in the morning, she has to open the door for him now, so he can go and make a wee. Then afterwards he was sitting outside in the sun looking so happy. She said ... "Oh my SLOBBERDOLICIOUS! JUST LOOK AT YOU!"  I thought that was so funny!  I ran inside and grabbed the camera and took a picture so that you can all see why she called him SLOBBERDOLICIOUS! LOL; LOL; LOL; LOL; GROSS! Now I want to tell you about the end of the World Cup. We all feel quite sad that it is all finished now and there are no more games to watch. But then again we are happy because we could go back to school and have fun with our friends.

Today we have a huge surprise for everybody. First of all, we decided that we are going to tell you our real names. Jay’s name is Jesse, and my name is Kieran. We thought that since you know our brother’s names anyway, that you should know ours too. But there is another very good reason why we want you to know our names.

One day last week, Mom, Joanna and Pippa went to a Conference. It was important for them to go to it because it was a Kids Rights Conference. Even Archbishop Tutu was there and lots of important people!

When they came back, they went straight into the Nest which is the nursery for the newborn babies. Then they came out and they were all smiling. And they told us - Jesse and Kieran we have a big surprise for you! We thought they were going to give us a present.

But then they told us that identical twin baby girls came in today. And they are TLC’s J & K babies for this year. Jesse and I were the J & K babies for 1999. So they decided to call the new babies Jessica and Kiera! We got so excited! We were jumping and laughing and leaping and ran straight to the nest. There we found the most beautiful baby girls you have ever seen in your life! And they are called after us. I wanted to bring them into the Main House right away, but Mom said, No, they have to stay in the Nest, they are very tiny, Kieran.

We thought that we could keep the babies – like they could be our own little sisters and we could keep after them forever. But then Mom said, NO! When they are old enough they will have to be adopted. Well! What kind of a surprise is that? They are going to take them away. That’s terrible! I don’t see why we can’t keep them. That was just so cruel. Aaaw, they are so beautiful! My baby is the one in pink.

I didn’t want to keep them! I just wanted them to be my sisters for now, until they are adopted. But in the beginning I have to admit I was kind of sad that we could not keep them. But actually we have a big enough family, I think. It will be nice for them to have a small little neat family. But it would be nice to have two more in our family! LOL


Yesterday when Lizzie was in the Nest she let me hold Jessica. And Jessica opened her eyes and smiled at me. She really did! Then she stuck out her little pink tongue. Then I realized that she actually wanted her dummy. So I gave it to her. It was so nice to see that little smile.  My baby is the one in yellow.

Well, the Football World Cup is over now.  But the last game was exciting, wasn't it?  I was cheering for Spain from the beginning of that last soccer game. And Crispin was also cheering for Spain. But Crispin cheered for them from the very beginning of the World Cup, except of course for Bafana Bafana. He was so clever, from the start he said that Spain would win. But only on that last game, I decided that I would cheer for Spain. I didn‘t like the Netherlands so much as Spain. I only like them a little bit because my mother’s ancestors are from Holland. But I noticed in their other games that the Holland team was very arrogant.  I never told anybody.  I just thought it in my heart.  So I thought I would cheer for Spain, instead.  Mom said she didn't mind.  But I wasn't like Crispin who cheered for them from the beginning and knew that they were going to win. I think that was so clever of him.  Here is a picture of Crispin wearing his Spanish scarf.

Well, not SO clever! What about Paul, that poor octopus? Kieran, that was an OCTOPUS!  Well, he did such a good job and predicted all the countries that were going to win and he was right ... and then the Germans wanted to make paella out of him? Maybe they thought that if they did that then Spain would lose. LOL! Get it? Paella is a Spanish food. Yessss Kieran!  You saw that on the TV.  Well, if they wanted Holland to win, they should have cooked him before the game. But I don’t think they really wanted Holland to win because Holland and Germany are not great friends, or so my Mom says sometimes. But I don’t know why she says that. I just remember that she did. They put a kind of cup thing in the octopus’s tank and Paul the octopus was all around it and then he opened the lid and chose the country because there was food in there that he liked.

Well, anyway, Kieran its my turn and I was talking about the Soccer. So Crispin and I were cheering for Spain but the whole family was cheering for Holland. We weren’t in the barn that night. It was too freezing cold so we all packed into Mom’s bedroom. It was so squashed and noisy! We thought nobody was ever going to score a goal. It went on and on and on. Even though they never scored, we were all cheering because they DID NEARLY scored many times.

But then, out of the blue, this guy de Jong from the Hollands team jumped up and kicked Alonso in the chest. We were all shocked. The whole room went dead quiet. We couldn’t believe it. All you could hear was our whispers going like this: … g-o-s-h … o-h...n-o … w-h-a-t...t-h-e...h-e-c-k? … t-h-a-t-’s... t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e…
T-h-a-t...o-k-e...n-e-e-d-s...a...r-e-d...c-a-r-d! Then I looked at Mommy and her eyes were wide and both her hands were over her mouth. She said nothing. And de Jong never got a red card, only a yellow one. It was unbelievable. They sent our goalkeeper - OUR LOVELY ITUMELENG - off for making a small mistake and gave him a RED CARD and this man nearly killed somebody and he got a yellow card!!  NO NO NO there was something fishy about that!   Then everybody said … NO! WE ARE NOT CHEERING FOR HOLLAND ANYMORE. NOW WE ARE CHEERING FOR SPAIN! So, the whole room started cheering for Spain. Except Mom. She just sat there quietly, looking sad and disappointed.

Then when Spain got THAT GREAT goal … HOW COOL WAS THAT! We were lucky that our screaming didn’t break the bedroom windows. It was SO exciting. We were all grabbing each other and dancing round and round and Crispin went screaming and screaming up and down up and down and up and down the passage. He was SO happy! We were all happy. Except for Mom. I said, “But Mom they played dirty. That was the biggest foul I ever saw!  You’re not supposed to play dirty.” And Mom looked at me with fire in her eyes and said … “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE JESSE!” And then I said, - But Mom, at least admit that they were very arrogant! -- I thought Mom was going to explode. She yelled -GET OUT OF HERE JESSE! -- Geeee Whizzzz? But then later on Crispin explained to me that Mommy is a very loyal person. And her parents were from Holland so I should leave her alone.

The other thing I wanted to tell you was about my dream. Becky Johnson bought me the DVD, JAWS. Remember that I said I wanted JAWS because it was one of my birthday presents that I never got because my Mom could not find it.

When I told my Mom that Becky bought it for me and Mom said maybe I should wait till Mom and me can watch it together, because it is very, very scary. She said that my cousin, Katja, in Holland watched it when she was a teenager and after that she was afraid to swim in the sea and even sometimes she was scared of swimming in a pool.

But then Mom went to the Conference and I thought I would be brave enough to watch JAWS by myself. So I did. But I was quite terrified and I fast forwarded with shaking hands and panting breath to get past the scary bits. So that was how I watched it, but I DID watch it and saw enough to be scared. VERY SCARED! When Mom came home I immediately told her that I watched it and she said, Oh my gosh! Weren’t you scared? And I couldn’t lie to her, so I looked down, nodded my head and I showed her the box.

Then that night I went to bed and had a dream. I dreamed that I was at the seaside. So I told my Mom in the dream – I am going to swim for a while. And she said – watch out for all the sharks, Kieran. And I said – Mommy please stop teasing me!

So I was swimming and when I was swimming I was closing my eyes and I just touched the net with my foot.  Then I opened my eyes and I saw a SHARK swimming and then I’m like … - Oh my gosh I swam all the way to the Shark’s net. But strangely I wasn’t rushing … I was just floating peacefully and then I felt something touching my leg. So I looked back and I saw this huge shark. I said to the shark, - Shark, if you are friendly ... because I can’t swim well now, my legs are much too tired, can you please take me on your back to the shore? And JAWS nodded his head. So then I got on his back and he told me he was a Protector Shark. We kept going straight for a while and then I saw a killer whale. I jumped on the killer whale’s back and he was also going forwards and then I jumped back on JAWS’ back and then JAWS took me to the shore.

Then in my dream, I could read his mind. And he said to me in his mind –KIERAN, COME LIVE WITH ME! And I said no, I already have my family, thanks. I can’t go to live with the sharks because what if your brothers kill me and eat me. Then he said, - They won’t! Just come with me. So I said – No, no, but I will come and swim with you again tomorrow. And he said, Sure, that will be a great idea. And that was the end of my dream.

And then I want to tell you just one last funny thing.  My grandfather (My mother's Dad) his name was this:
Jurjen Albert Willem Schuitema.   LOL LOL .... His initials were JAWS!!!!!  LOL LOL;  LOL LOL

At the end of the holidays I suddenly remembered that our teacher gave us a big file full of work that we had to do during the World Cup. I forgot all about it. I only did a little bit. So I worked very hard for two days trying to get it all done. It was exhausting. I was so tired. But I did manage to finish it because Mom was cheering me on all the time.

So then, guess what? I was the only person in my class that finished it all. And my teacher was so pleased that she gave me THREE STAR BADGES. That is a great thing to get, and normally you have to work hard for a long while to get just ONE STAR BAD. Mommy was really proud of me. So she promised she would try to get me another Justin Bieber CD, because my last one was stolen out of my blue trunk. But I will have to wait because she still doesn’t have much money.

The other thing I wanted to tell you was that Hannah Johnson brought me a book of poems, when Becky brought Kieran JAWS. And I’m embarrassed to say that I cried because I was disappointed. But she didn’t see me crying. The thing is I DO like poetry, but I would have preferred a DVD, because DVD’s and movies are my favourite things. Anyway, Mommy said I should not be so ungrateful. If there's one thing God doesn't like, it's an ungrateful heart.  I’m sorry, but I can’t help liking what I like! But then Hannah did give me a DVD later, it was called Horton Hears a Who? My Mom thinks that sounds weird, but that’s the way it is.  And I love that DVD.  It's great.  So now I'm happy because I have TWO things.  And I do love the poetry book second best of all.

When school started again, I got sick. In the night, my hands and feet swelled up and were very cold and itchy. I couldn’t feel them because they were like numbish. I went down to my Mom’s room because I wanted to tell her that I was feeling bad. But she had locked her door because the catch doesn't work, and the cat, Mrs. Wobbles, usually pushes open her bedroom door and attacks Mom’s cat called Stormy. So I called and called but she didn’t answer because she was fast asleep.

So I went back upstairs and told Zoë and Zoë sent me to Pippa. Pippa told me to climb into her bed and she tried to warm me up. But I was cold the whole night long and didn’t feel good at all. So in the morning Ellen came and pulled off the blanket and I got a big fright. She said – You are late, get up for school. That was the first day of school. So then I got dressed and went downstairs but I didn’t feel good. When Mom saw me, she said – What’s wrong, Kieran? Because she could tell that I was sick. So I showed her my hands and feet and told her I felt funny in my head and my voice was quiet and my heart felt like it was not pumping very well.

Mommy got very scared and called Pippa. She told Pippa to get the SATS machine that can measure how much oxygen is in my blood. That was not good at all, and my heartbeat was very slow. So Mommy told me to take my uniform off and put my pyjamas on and I got into Mommy’s bed and stayed there for three days. I went back to school on Friday.

Here is lunch in Mommy's bed.  The best place in the world to be, especially when you're sick!

Well, that’s quite a lot of news. We will write again next week.

Yeah! I hope we will have something to tell, now that the World Cup is over.  But ... we will have to see ... When I say my prayers at night, I always thank God for the World Cup.  It made our country so happy and for a few weeks we forgot all our troubles.  We also learned a lot.  Now we all know which countries have which flags.  We know their capital cities, we know the languages they speak.  We learned so much.  Thank you God for the World Cup!!   (We also know which countries suck at soccer ... even our own!) LOL! LOL!

Chow for now and see you soon.