Grade R (Kindergarten) orientation today.

We are walking in the answer to prayers we never knew we’d pray. Benjamin will start Grade R on Wednesday at a cottage school created for children with special needs. There are two loving teachers to care for the four children in his class - a class he can continue with until he’s 16…

We've heard stories of oceans parting, bones dancing, blind seeing, and the Redeemer resurrecting. Yet I still squirm when I'm the one that needs the miracle. I know God CAN do it... I'd still praise Him if He didn't do it... But having a need there's no way we could ever meet on our own is a very humbling thing.

We asked God and His people for funding for our boys' 2025 school fees. It was not a small ask - almost $13,000…

I don’t always want to be the mom that has to turbo-pack the car and kids, ready to hit the road by 7:30am for an outing I make up on the fly. I don’t always want to pack PBJs and snack boxes on repeat.

I wish I had more compassion and patience. I wish I could stay steadier while trying to operate as my son’s external nervous system because his doesn’t do its job. I wish transitions and life in general were easier for him and, consequentially, for us too.

Presenting the first ever Kirstenbosch Library Book Crawl! We loaded up library books and PBJ roll ups for a last minute; pre-bedtime adventure. We read the first book at the jumping rock, the next book on a bench by a riveting frisbee game, and then marched uphill for a rugby book by the duck pond. This (obviously) led to spontaneous rugby training. It was such a fun way to mix reading, active play AND get dinner taken care of.

If you know Benjamin, you know he loves anything that involves soldiers. He was THRILLED to find out there is a castle right in the center of Cape Town because, “Mom, everyone knows soldiers live in castles.”

We only scratched the surface this morning, but Benjamin gave us a riveting tour of the castle with his very own historical details while Wyatt free-loaded on my hip. Another grand adventure in the books. 🏰

The summer sun burned extra hot this December 25th in Cape Town. Our family is in the middle of transitions and growing pains. Still… joy and abundance were thick on Christmas Day. It was a perfect Ladd-style celebration: full throttle, high energy, and fit for a King. We gathered close on the couch and gave thanks in front of a breathtaking spread of presents. It was, of course, the King’s presence that ushered in the kind of joy that sticks beyond circumstances…

On this Christmas Eve morning, the excitement was rightfully high in my house. I took a deep breath and prayed, knowing someone would explode if we didn't get out the door in four and a half minutes. The UV index is 13 today... I used to think it only went up to 10! And every one of those 5.5 million was going to be out and about in Cape Town.

Want to hear some good news!?!

Two week ago, we put out a big ask with a LOT of prayer. It will cost $13,400 to send our boys to school in 2025. We need help to make that happen - we explain why in this video. The good news... Lifa and Wyatt’s school fees are covered IN FULL! We are over halfway there.

Brothers. Beach. Balls.

The best. The Lord has blessed us tremendously.

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17

These two boys (and the tagalong little brother) excavate the edges of their creativity, bravery, strengths and weaknesses in the security of an unbreakable friendship. That’s how God designed it. You become the fullest version of yourself and experience the fullest version of Him in the context of accepting, loving relationships.

Today was a perfect, unplanned Tuesday afternoon. We stayed in town at the park until bedtime, and then came home and jumped in the pool for “summer baths”. There is nothing better than having all three boys out exploring together. This is Lifa’s last summer in high school, and we all cherish time with him. And he’s so fun!

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.” -Charles Schaefer

The Ladd family adults have had a heavy week. I haven’t been showing up for my kids the way I want to. So today, we play. Sunshine, peanut butter sandwiches, bodies in action. I don’t need to wait until it feels better.

Benjamin has been BEGGING to build at the Cape Town Science Centre. We had an exciting morning building, breaking, learning and sliding!

Our lawyers told us today that they weren’t surprised that Benjamin’s 🇿🇦 visa application was rejected because at least 70% of them are. I had called to understand our options. The options were there was no option except to bring him in this afternoon to the visa processing center to appeal.
We showed up at the end of an already-tricky day and found an over-crowded room that flabbergasted even the center’s staff and our legal representative.

Parenting strategy at the end of a tricky week: Sit down in the soft green grass of one of the most beautiful places on earth and create challenges that involve your children sprinting to a timer and doing their own occupational therapy. 👏Everybody👏Wins👏

I planned a walk in the forest today. Wyatt loves a good nature walk, and Benjamin comes back to himself as we gulp in wonder and fresh air. Benjamin crumbled to the floor in tears when I told him our wonderful plans. My knee-jerk reaction is simultaneous overwhelm and frustration. His personal implosions demands, “Help me. I am unhelpable”.

Just when you start to think you’ve done it all… you take your son in a crop top Spider-Man suit to see ostrich organs in jars! Another adventure in the books! I love watching the boys learn and explore. Let it be known that Benjamin very brave and sat on an ostrich, and he intends to never do that ever again. But the ostrich burger got two thumbs up! 👍👍

I haven’t been online much this week because life has been extra full of normal life stuff. I just haven’t prioritized posting it. I’m pausing this evening before I put down my phone for the night to re-watch, remember and take a deep inhale of this rich, beautiful, sometimes normal and sometimes not life God has given me…

We’ve got a formula. We go to the best places at the worst times. It was cold and windy at Green Point Park this morning. We all had wet bottoms from the slide, and I bought Benjamin TWO steamed milks to keep him sitting still long enough to get dry. We’ve found our way to win in a big, busy city when one of us can’t do crowds. We had the park to ourselves, and the kids felt like kings - with milk moustaches instead of crowns!

A morning at Anna Beulah Farm with the little guys was a beautiful breath of fresh air. We all needed the car ride, peace and donkeys!