I don't have any new pictures, so where's the motivation to post anything? We have made it through our first full week of post visitor blues. We had a super charged fun week with Brian and Hilary, then it was back to school and trying to get settled in our new home. That includes cleaning. It's a little embarrassing, but we haven't cleaned our own bathrooms since we helped out a bit in Colorado Springs last summer. Maid services were included with the places we stayed in Germany, Sicily and obviously the hotel here. It was a good thing because it's not like we had a vacuum or windex as we country hopped every 3 months. The kids, and I, mostly think it's great not to have a daily interruption anymore, but the garbages aren't staying magically empty anymore. . . .
So life isn't less busy, rather it's more. I texted Matt in frustration today saying we are too busy! But it's all wonderful stuff so I shouldn't complain. I just don't like to feel stressed over school, which still needs the biggest chunk of our time. Here is the shake down for the week.
Sunday: got up a bit after Matt left to run then woke up the kids at 8:30 to swim a bit while I did laps, if they wanted. The girls LOVE going to the pool in the morning. The teenager hasn't joined us yet in the a.m. We stayed too long because by the time we went in to shower, get dressed and eat breakfast, it was time to go over to our future piano teacher for their assessments. She is going to the States in a few days and wanted to know their levels so she could get any needed books while there. It was sad to see what everyone has forgotten, but it will come back. She gave the girls homework for while we wait the last few weeks for the piano to come. We went home, had lunch and hit school hard. Everyone was done by 5. The kids went out to play basketball/hit a birdie around with their tennis racquets and I stayed in finishing up some laundry and cleaning.
The girls opted to stay home while I took Isaac to his first night of scouts. The troop here is amazingly well organized and have done and plan to do more amazing things. We saw the slide show of their recent week long trip to Nepal. Good grief. He will join for the last month of the "year", have the summer off and then start back up with them when everyone gets back from summer trips. Scouts goes from 6-7:30 on Sundays. We got home by 8 to make a late dinner. Matt got home a little after 10, everyone was in bed sometime between 11:30 and midnight.
As for the rest of the week, we have three family get together/playdates (one in the branch, two from the big group). There are two field trips one dolphin/seal encounter and the other is a music/cultural experience, Dubai Drumming. There should be soccer, but it's between sessions. Horseback riding is starting again for Makenna. We have tickets to go see Oliver! one night. Isaac has kickboxing 3 days. The kids have activity days/mutual.
Matt has Fridays and Saturdays off this month so we are experiencing a more normal (for here) schedule, going to church together Friday and not doing school on the other weekend day: Saturday. It makes his days off a lot more crowded. My dad said it sounds like we are on perpetual vacation. I somewhat agree. There are so many neat opportunities here and we are trying to take advantage because we don't know how long we will be here. We are trying to enjoy our time and enrich ourselves while we can. However, with all the school and now housework, the fun stuff sometimes adds more stress because we have a long list of things we can't ignore.
I am starting a new calling Friday. I am team teaching the 4 and 5 year olds. There are 12 kids in the class. One brand new boy from Berlin who doesn't yet know a bit of English. One little boy from Russia has been here since December and is starting to learn some English. There are a few other countries represented as well with various accents. And Tessa is a sweet, energetic little girl with Down Syndrome. I am paired up with a young American mom who just moved here from from Saudi. It will be great.
So life isn't less busy, rather it's more. I texted Matt in frustration today saying we are too busy! But it's all wonderful stuff so I shouldn't complain. I just don't like to feel stressed over school, which still needs the biggest chunk of our time. Here is the shake down for the week.
Sunday: got up a bit after Matt left to run then woke up the kids at 8:30 to swim a bit while I did laps, if they wanted. The girls LOVE going to the pool in the morning. The teenager hasn't joined us yet in the a.m. We stayed too long because by the time we went in to shower, get dressed and eat breakfast, it was time to go over to our future piano teacher for their assessments. She is going to the States in a few days and wanted to know their levels so she could get any needed books while there. It was sad to see what everyone has forgotten, but it will come back. She gave the girls homework for while we wait the last few weeks for the piano to come. We went home, had lunch and hit school hard. Everyone was done by 5. The kids went out to play basketball/hit a birdie around with their tennis racquets and I stayed in finishing up some laundry and cleaning.
The girls opted to stay home while I took Isaac to his first night of scouts. The troop here is amazingly well organized and have done and plan to do more amazing things. We saw the slide show of their recent week long trip to Nepal. Good grief. He will join for the last month of the "year", have the summer off and then start back up with them when everyone gets back from summer trips. Scouts goes from 6-7:30 on Sundays. We got home by 8 to make a late dinner. Matt got home a little after 10, everyone was in bed sometime between 11:30 and midnight.
As for the rest of the week, we have three family get together/playdates (one in the branch, two from the big group). There are two field trips one dolphin/seal encounter and the other is a music/cultural experience, Dubai Drumming. There should be soccer, but it's between sessions. Horseback riding is starting again for Makenna. We have tickets to go see Oliver! one night. Isaac has kickboxing 3 days. The kids have activity days/mutual.
Matt has Fridays and Saturdays off this month so we are experiencing a more normal (for here) schedule, going to church together Friday and not doing school on the other weekend day: Saturday. It makes his days off a lot more crowded. My dad said it sounds like we are on perpetual vacation. I somewhat agree. There are so many neat opportunities here and we are trying to take advantage because we don't know how long we will be here. We are trying to enjoy our time and enrich ourselves while we can. However, with all the school and now housework, the fun stuff sometimes adds more stress because we have a long list of things we can't ignore.
I am starting a new calling Friday. I am team teaching the 4 and 5 year olds. There are 12 kids in the class. One brand new boy from Berlin who doesn't yet know a bit of English. One little boy from Russia has been here since December and is starting to learn some English. There are a few other countries represented as well with various accents. And Tessa is a sweet, energetic little girl with Down Syndrome. I am paired up with a young American mom who just moved here from from Saudi. It will be great.
Wow!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's been really difficult for us to adjust also. Hard going from nonstop playing to school and working. We miss you guys. By the way we loved your Hendrix.
ReplyDelete