Easter Hat Parade

On the last day of the term, the lower school kids had an Easter Hat Parade.  We, the unknowing Americans, were not quite prepared for what types of hats the kids would be wearing, so we grabbed Ryan's hat from the Fourth of July last year - a simple straw hat with red, white & blue ribbon. 

When we arrived, we found kids wearing entire nests on their heads!  There were hats with eggs, rabbits, and other Easter decorations dangling off the sides!  Ryan looked at me in a slight panic.  His hat clearly needed an upgrade!  We grabbed some paper and markers and quickly decked out his hat the best that we could.  As you can see, he was proud to be an American...

Ryan's "Magical" Birthday Party

For Ryan's birthday, we had a party for him and two other boys in his class that were also turning 6 in March.  A good time was had by all - even if it was a bit chaotic with 34 kids in attendance!  We had a magician and the boys thought he was HILARIOUS! 

Bake sale

Today, Lane's class had a bake sale.  When she asked if we could make something to bring, I said, "Sure, we'll bake cupcakes after Ryan goes to bed on Wednesday night."  I knew we had an extra box of mix and some leftover frosting from my cakepops last week.  This was going to be easy...

So, I got Ryan to bed and Lane and I got started.  Then we hit our first bump in the road.  No cupcake liners.  I swore I had some... but they were not be found!  Dad was working late and Ryan was already in bed, so no run to the store was possible.  That's okay, I thought, we'll just grease the pans and work with it. 

She and I proceeded to mix our ingredients and pour them into the cupcake tins.  Then I sent her off to bed and told her I'd have them frosted in the morning so she could decorate them before school.  Then I went to put them in the oven...

Once again, foiled by the English small sizes vs. the American super sizes.  My muffin tins did not fit in the oven.  Batter already poured in there.  No liners I could just pull out.

I spent the next hour or so baking cupcakes... continually turning them back and forth with part of them baking toward the back of the oven and some of them hanging out of the oven door. 

Not as easy as I had hoped.  But it worked!  Cupcakes stuck a bit to the bottom.  (Oh well.)  But we smothered them with frosting and topped them with chocolate stars and, from what I hear, they were a hit at the bake sale! 

Be Careful of the Robots

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Mark's

Today we made our first visit to the hospital.  This kiddo fell down playing after school and got a NASTY gash in his knee.  (Anyone else remember him falling just days before his birthday last year and getting stitches in his tongue?!)  We headed up to see the matron (nurse) at school who took one look at it and sent us off for stitches.  We said a prayer on the way over to the hospital that we would have a really nice person take care of Ryan and that all would go smoothly.  Our prayers were more than answered!  The urgent care was virtually empty when we arrived and we went in to see a lovely nurse named Liz who took great care of him.  She made it her goal to get him really well cleaned up and NOT need stitches.  Instead, she superglued him back together, which made him so happy!  That was plenty of adventure for all of us today...

Clan Points

At St. Piran's the middle school kids get "clan points" for good citizenship.  (The school is divided into four clans - North, South, East & West.  Our kiddos are in the South clan.  Yes, they compete in sports and other events at school... just like Hogwarts!)  If you get a certain amount of clan points in a term, you get a special button for your blazer.  Lane got one at the assembly last week and we are very proud of her!

Settling In...

A little over two months after arriving... A little over two weeks since our sea shipment arrived... We hung our first picture.  It feels good to be settling in!

My First Speeding Ticket

(You are all probably not surprised.)

We have a birthday coming up!

Getting invites ready for Ryan's birthday party! Three boys in Year 1 are turning 6 this month so we are sharing a party and inviting the whole class!

Creative Storage Solutions

If I hadn't already mentioned it, storage is tight around here.  We have a lovely house, with plenty of space... just not a lot of storage.  No built-in closets for starters.  (We've already assembled more wardrobes and dressers from IKEA than I care to mention.)  So, we've had to be creative.   Here are some of our storage solutions....

The master bath has no medicine chest (in fact, only one of the four bathrooms does), no shelves and no cupboards.  In addition, the walls are entirely tile, so there is no place to hang shelves (or hooks, for that matter).  Our solution... a ledge lined with baskets.

Doesn't every girl keep her scarves & gloves in her nightstand?

A little extra space behind the guest room door?  Perfect spot for drawers full of bathroom supplies, children's meds, etc.  (Remember, no medicine chests.)

My purses live in a box under my bed.

 

I got this last weekend and it tucks neatly into the corner of our dining room.  It's going to be a little project for me...

I'm hoping it will look more like this when I'm done with it!