Thanks Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest? It's a site that is a virtual pinboard and you can basically capture any image on the internet that you like and then stick it on your "pinboard" with a link attached to the website you found it on. You can also re-pin something of your friend's/fellow pinterester's that you like. It can really be time consuming and swallow all the "free time" a person has in their day. I was addicted at first after my friend Emily told me about it. She even blogged about it, which you can read here. I have since calmed down in my pinning pandemonium and I am trying to create some of the great ideas I have seen through the other people's pinboards. Here's my latest creation which will hang in our house very soon, as soon as I get the frame for it. It took a few hours of looking for the letters that matched Jeff and my personality, which basically wound up taking about two days between baby, teenager, marriage, church, etc :)

I got the idea and tutorial here.

If you are interested in the Pinterest thing, go here. 

Have a great Monday.

A new addition to our home and family

His name is Max. He's a thuroughbred Jack Russell(which Jeff has always wanted). He's just a little guy still but we love him already. He came to live with us Sunday evening and has adapted quite quickly to life in the Viljoen house and lifestyle.

Getting acquainted

Having a chat

Casey is keeping him at night to take him outside to do his business, showing good responsibility(part of our plan there). Asher is enjoying him somewhat, I mean how much can a six month old and six week old puppy bond? We are trying to get Asher used to him at this stage and having supervised visits :) Any advice from dog owners with babies? He'll be an outside dog, since I am allergic(though I haven't had a bad reaction to Max just some extra nose blowing).

Our friend Fifi with Max, fast friends.

This is my first pet ever(except for the goldfish in college,which sadly didn't last long) so I am fresh in this area. Thankfully Jeff and Casey have both had several dogs so they are helpful. Here are some of the first pics of Max and the family. I need to get some of Casey and me with him.

Stick out your tongue

This normally, ready to smile for pictures boy was way too involved in something bigger today...his tongue. Any other parents or aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc.experience this with your babies around 6 months? Very cute and as a result I have been calling him Charlie Brown for the day.Update: I found out that he is teething. He's been doing all the other stuff, but I didn't know the tongue was part of the deal. :)

Taking the train

Last Thursday we, the Viljoens, took our first family train ride. In August the Gautrain opened it's lines to transporting people between Johannesburg and Pretoria. Last week we took our first ride together up to Pretoria to visit friends(and Jeff had a meeting). Here are some pics of our fun time on the train. Asher enjoyed himself before he fell asleep. A normal car ride takes 45 minutes on a weekend day and at least 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours on an average week day. The train only takes 40 minutes from Joburg to Pretoria CBD. Add a kid and the displeasure of sitting in traffic and you get a great reason to use the train.  No driving, sitting in an air-conditioned car with few people riding along. There is lots of security at the stations and a security guard rides in each car on the train so you feel safe(this is still South Africa :) ). I definitely suggest it as an option for travel between these two cities. As Asher gets bigger I think the ride will be more fun for him, but right now it's just his momma and daddy who love it.

Jeff loading up our Gautrain cards with cash to travel

Asher's ready and teething :)

Mom and Asher on the train

Dad posing for a scenic moment

Nice spacious areas to sit