Disney - so many great movies to look forward to!

Disney Africa #DisneyAfrica

The Disney Content Showcase is a great event each year which I try to attend at all cost!
(I take a day's leave!)

It is extremely exciting to see previews of the upcoming Disney movies, what's planned on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior in Africa!

Disney Africa content showcase #disneyafrica - looking forward to watch it all! #blogger #momblogger #disney #parentingblogger

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Aug 25, 2016 at 12:20am PDT

It is overwhelming to be presented with everything all at once! I will focus only on the upcoming motion pictures in this blog post!
I can't wait to see any of the following upcoming movies! And I don't have to pretend it's all for the sake of Little Miss! It's for the whole family! Although I don't know yet about Doctor Strange and Little Miss was also not allowed into the last Star Wars movie!

Pete's Dragon (Disney)

The movie has already started to show in cinemas on 12 August.
It sounds totally enchanting:

For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted children in the sleepy town of Millhaven with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger in these very woods, his stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home to speak of, who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliot, and from his descriptions, Elliot seems remarkably similar to the fabled dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories.

Queen of Katwe (Disney)

Queen of Katwe is based on a true story, and starts on 14 October. The Trailer is already a tearjerker, but it seems like such an uplifting experience!

...vibrant true story of a young girl from the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess, and, as a result of the support she receives from her family and community, is instilled with the confidence and determination she needs to pursue her dream of becoming an international chess champion.

I had of course make notes of all the stunning quotes from the Trailer!

Queen of Katwe - best quotes in the trailer #DisneyAfrica "In chess the small one can become the big one!" "Chess teaches us to make a plan! Use our minds! And you will all find safety!" "You belong where you believe you belong" "Your children they are blessed because they have a mother who never give up on them" "What matters is when you reset the pieces and play again" #tearjerker #Disney #film #quote #chess #blogger #momblogger #parentingblogger

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Aug 25, 2016 at 5:23am PDT

Doctor Strange (Marvel)

Note to myself! I must see this! It looks stunning!

The story of world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident robs him of the use of his hands. When traditional medicine fails him, he is forced to look for healing, and hope, in an unlikely place—a mysterious enclave known as Kamar-Taj. He quickly learns that this is not just a center for healing but also the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying our reality. Before long Strange—armed with newly acquired magical powers—is forced to choose whether to return to his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.

Moana (Disney)

This is a great one for kids of all ages! It is starting on 2 December, perfect for the holidays!

The CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.

Rogue One (Lucasfilm)

Rogue One Master Cast

Of course we are interested in this! It will be showing form 16 December!
All we got so far was the trailers and a few images... Exciting!

Beauty and the Beast (Disney)

This is only showing on 14 April next year!

Awesome!

I can't decide which one I want to see the most!

Which of these would you want to see the most?

Our weekend started with a doll and camping in the garden

It was a very low-down weekend here. The budget was low, and we chilled at home.

Luckily it started with a package delivered from Our Generations Dolls which I had won over on Blessed Barrenness' blog. Little Miss got Abrianna with a camping set! She could not wait to get home to open up the package. (That made our Friday afternoon drive much easier in traffic!)

That started a whole weekend of camping inside and out of the house. She even got me sleeping inside her tent on Friday night, and still believes we both slept there for the whole night!

Setting up the Our Generation Doll camp set

Her friends came over and they "camped" the whole of Saturday and Sunday. We usually have a rule that there is no playing inside houses and they had no issues playing outside this weekend!
It worked perfectly with this weather. It's summer here!

It's lovely summer again! (How I love Summer! I have to note it, again!)

Little Miss even complained when we went for an ice-cream at five today!
She still wanted to play!

But I got a smile from her, eventually...

How was you weekend?

Wordless Wednesday #309 -Round Two Hockey

She will never forget this day!

Friend politics

Yesterday she told me "I will never forget this day!"
It was a rough day for Little Miss!

The little girls make us crazy with their relationship issues.

We saw a lot of it on the camp at Vredefort Dome this weekend.

Little Miss told me the previous day that her friend were forcing her to go where she wanted to go. By physically turning her around and pushing her... Little Miss told her that she should stop or she won't be playing with her anymore...

Today, the same friend told her that she is not her friend anymore. She ignored Little Miss and played with another friend in front of her, taunting her.

Little Miss had no friends for the school breaks. She said she cried a lot!

She said she will never forget this day!

Little Miss is definitely not the innocent one! She can't expect her friend to keep on playing with her when she told her the previous day she wasn't playing with her! I told her that she also cannot be prescriptive with her friendships, and to tell them what they should and shouldn't do! Also that she should have more than one special friend, and that she should play with a group of friends...

But I had a very sad little girl with me tonight!
Little Miss also told me this morning that she can't wait for 6 days to pass. Apparently there is a week's block on the friendship. (I only heard about it today.) But luckily she's got an old friend willing to play with her who also had a fall-out with her regular friends....


Just this week Sharon of The Blessed Barrenness also had an issue with mean girls...

Grey hairs!
I KNOW why it's grey!

How do we help them negotiate this minefield of relationships? I always try to teach to be the friend you want your friends to be! I hope it sinks in!

Looking at the related posts below, it seems this is a recurring theme!
Sigh! SIGH! SIGH!

But maybe this is the way the girls learn how to negotiate relationships with their friends, and we should welcome it and try to teach with each episode?


Related posts:

- Girl politics and how to teach them to not be bullies

- The heartache of girl politics

- Bullying, we are stronger than we think

- Little girls can be so mean!

Wordless Wednesday #308 - Hiking in the Vredefort Dome

In the Vredefort Dome

We spent the past weekend in the Vredefort Dome near Parys in the Free State. The meteorite made the biggest impact on earth of 300 km wide.

It is a lovely place to explore and we will definitely be going back. It is also not that far away from Johannesburg, and lovely to drive through for the weekend! I would love to go exploring and do more hiking in the area.

Venterskroon Camp

We went camping with the Voortrekkers (similar than Girl/Boy Scouts). We are still going with on the camping trips as they are still very young. Not one of the children in Little Miss' age group went on their own. The parents still tag along. (Not that the children appreciate it! "You can go now, Mom! I am fine!")

I was not looking forward to the weekend because we had a "survival" weekend the previous year at Doornkloof in the Northern Free State. This time around it was not as cold (although Friday night was also very cold), and the food was good. We sorted out our blankets and the blankets for for the children on Saturday night, and heated up the electric warm water bottles which helped a lot! Luckily the days were sunny and hot! It's summer already!

Littler Miss had such a great time! They were taught how to make bread over fire, which we call "stokbrood" (stick bread?). They had a camp concert which they enjoyed tremendously and they hiked with vigour up the mountain without any complaints!

The dust and the cold did not make a dent in the children's experiences!

The Art Gallery in Venterskroon

Vredefort Dome Information Centre

Old Imperial Inn

Venterskroon Inn Pub/Restaurant/Accomodation

Venterskroon Inn Saloon

Venterskroon Inn Saloon

Venterskroon Inn Saloon

Hiking up the mountain with the Voortrekkers

What did you do with your weekend?

Decorex 2016 - One day is not enough!

One day is not enough to catch everything that is in store at Decorex Johannesburg.
It is a true décor and design inspiration of ideas!

There are seven halls and over 22 000sqm of exhibition space showcasing the latest décor and design trends, products and services.
The theme: ‘Take it Home, Make it Home’

Africa’s premier décor, design and lifestyle exhibition promises something for everyone looking to renovate, restore, build or decorate. Running alongside the show, which takes place from 5 to 9 August at the
Gallagher Convention Centre, is the perennially popular 100% Design South Africa, a draw-card exhibition that provides a unique platform for leading local and international design names to present a carefully curated mix of top-drawer products.

I tried to catch some of the inspiration on SnapChat (@karentoittoit) , but it will be gone in in a few hours.

Here are some of our photos:

Decorex 2016 will still be on tomorrow!

For more inspiration:


Decorex Facebook
Decorex Twitter
Decorex Instagram


Disclaimer: We received tickets to attend the show!

Jozi Meetup at Cafe Zing - Score!

It is always a "score" to attend a bloggers' meetup. And I am not only talking about the goody bags. Thanks to Laura and Heather for organizing this via SA Mom Blogs!

It is always great to meet other bloggers and to reconnect with the bloggers we read on a regular basis. We are more than virtual friends, and some people I have know from the beginning of my own blog.

Roxy Hutton (CGS Creative) gave us lots to think about blog branding and Salome Nourse (Yellow Lab) had great tips about photographing. I learnt a great deal!

Here are my shares on social media this weekend.

Cool product @EntertainerZA #jozimeetup pic.twitter.com/rGmSmTgvXT

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) August 6, 2016

.@roxyhutton about how to make your blog more beautiful #jozimeetup pic.twitter.com/mTAtxb6fcn

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) August 6, 2016

Products from @Dischem #jozimeetup @autograph_pr @cafezingsa TX! #bloggers https://t.co/lizNwNAKRb pic.twitter.com/8MsoczdOEF

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) August 6, 2016

Salome @yellowlab_studio about how to take better photographs #jozimeetup #bloggers https://t.co/ZW7pjdkXUJ pic.twitter.com/gaqxpUQIs7

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) August 6, 2016

Thanks so much @heatherss3 @harassedmom for #jozimeetup today! @safricanmomblogs https://t.co/sqwSHHdShE pic.twitter.com/4FkhIdGfAe

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) August 6, 2016

All the spoils #jozimeetup #swag #goodiebag TX!!! @safricanmomblogs

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Aug 6, 2016 at 6:54am PDT

Fun facts about Disney Cookabout starting tomorrow on SABC 2

Disney Cookabout on SABC 2

We are really looking forward to this! The whole family enjoys watching cooking shows, although we have only one GREAT CHEF (according to Little Miss/She is dead right! I am talking about her Dad, of course!) who cooks in our house!

Disney Cookabout  premieres tomorrow on SABC 2, and will be on every Friday at 15:30 from 5 August.
Disney Cookabout promises to be a comedic adventure game-show that uses food preparation, cooking and outdoor exploration to showcase South African ingredients and a fun-filled approach to healthy eating.

Behind-the-scenes at Disney Cookabout

The presenters are Mthunzi Nyoti (Self) and Kirsten Mohammed (Chef Kirsten).

Disney Cookabout presenters

Here are some Disney Cookabout Fun Facts:

Yum Yum!
- 31 tried and tested recipes were used while filming Disney Cookabout

All over the Western Cape!
- 21 locations were visited by the production, including organic farms, spice shops, food markets and more all across the Western Cape

Smile for the Camera!
- 6 camera were used during the shoot

Action!
- Disney Cookabout had 3 directors!

Pick me!
- Nearly 200 kids auditioned to be a cooktestant

Tuck in!
- 78 meals were cooked over the duration of the show

A month of fun!
- The entire production was shot over 32 days

All in this together!
- There were 68 crew members, 10 cooktestants and 2 presenters who brought Disney Cookabout to life

Reel hard work!
- All in all, over 500 hours of footage was shot during the production!


There are two groups of cooktestants! (love the word!)

Episodes 1-13 Disney Cookabout cooktestants

Episodes 14-26 Disney Cookabout cooktestants

Episode 1
The door in the magical kitchen takes Tshego and Lebo to Farmer Angus’s free range chicken farm in the Stellenbosch Winelands for their first adventure of the season. In this episode they will have to collect their own eggs for their recipes. While exploring the farm, they find chickens that roam free and live in egg mobiles and are treated like pets by farmer Angus. Will the cooktestants be able to collect enough eggs to complete this challenge and walk away with the golden spoon, or are there no eggs to be found?
Episode Ingredient: Eggs
Cooktestants: Tshegofatso Molopisane & Ana Adriaanse
Location: Farmer Angus Farm in Stellenbosch
Episode Activity: Experience the farming of free range eggs laid by free range chickens. These chickens live in eggmobiles and are like pets.

Disney Cookabout is produced by Penguin Films for Walt Disney Television.

The Blog drop - a decorative spoon? ;-)

Wordless Wednesday #307 - SA Voting

Smash and

The Eldest was involved in a smash-and-grab the previous weekend. She was coming from friends on a Saturday night at 10 o'clock!

Luckily she is very alert, and she was watching guys across the road which looked suspicious. The next moment there was this huge smash on the driver's seat window! She did not see them at all! She reacted automatically, and drove through the robot just before the robot turned green for the other side! The window was shattered, but it did not fell out! They could not take anything or hijack her!

She was very shaken when she arrived home and felt a bit deflated! Also very despondent about the "assholes" (her word) that dampened her evening!

So she had to go and make a  case at the police station the next day, and had to have the window fixed during the week. She had to pay in the excess of R500 which was also not planned for... All very unwelcome and a lot of schlepp!

She had to wait for the case number from the police, as we filed the case at another police station. The thought was there that we would wait very long or not hear from the police again.

But she got a phone call from a very concerned police woman who wanted to know if she is okay and is she got hurt. She was told that the crossing is a hot spot and that lots of people are being smash-and-grabbed there. It touched the Eldest that the police woman seemed to care. How many of these cases do they not get on a daily basis? It was not even a mentionable crime as she was not injured and nothing was stolen... The Eldest said it restored her faith in humanity! She also got the case number within a week, and was notified that a detective was assigned to the case!

She was lucky!

And The Mom wants to preach again about going out at night... (But I won't!)


On a totally different note: Check out the cool Prisma app which changes your photos into art works! The picture above was created by using the app.
It's available in the App store and the Google Play store! For free! (The server seems a bit unstable at times, but I can't blame it, as I've got to run through all the filters before I make a choice!)