First Day Of School

Yes I know that it's nearly the first day of term 2 but hey let's go back to the first day of term 1 - which was a very exciting day for this little girl. She had been counting down the days to go to school for a while and was very happy when the day finally arrived. Here she is on Monday morning, the 15th February looking just a little bit excited!

Here cousins even called in to wish her luck for her first day. They were also on their way to school. She was proud to show off her new uniform!

We are so lucky to have found a nice house in a great area with a fantastic school - all within a couple of weeks of getting back. We are really happy at Mount Stuart Primary, Leilani has a lovely teacher and has made some good friends. It's about a 3 minute drive away or a 15-20 minute walk all up hill! We have been walking quite a bit, but I think we will probably be driving during these cold winter days.

Leilani goes to school on Monday and Tuesday from 8.55am till 2.45pm. We were a little early on her first day because I thought she started at 8.45! So she was one of the first there, which was kind of nice anyway!

Mount Stuart kinder has a very 'open classroom policy' and we are encouraged to stay for 10-15 minutes during morning drop off time and do an activity with them. Emily loves it and is invited to join in and do whatever she likes. At first she didn't want to leave, but she is getting used to saying goodbye now and usually looks forward to getting home to see what's in her lunch box! (Yes, at 9 in the morning!) We have never had a problem leaving Lani at school, which makes things so much easier. She loves being there but on occasion does complain because she has to be there aallllll day and it's sooooo long!! But she loves it! They have a lovely classroom with different activities to do each morning. They have been learning all the Letterland Characters and Leilani absolutely loves it. She comes home each day and tells us the new character she has learnt and what starts with that letter. She gets quite proud!!

New Car

We sold both our cars to help fund our trip to the UK, so we came home carless. Which meant we not only had to go house hunting but car hunting too. A big thanks to Mum who lent us her old car for a few weeks (she even had to re-register it for us, so thanks) so we weren't completely carless, which meant we could take our time looking. Buying a new car always sounds a lot more fun than it actually is! We had a few sleepless nights wondering what way to go and were heaps excited when the choice was finally made and the deal was done. And I'm happy to say that a few months on, we are still pleased with the choice we made. It's just a shame it doesn't stay looking clean and shiny like it did the day we picked it up!

Not a bad view from our front room!

I knew that everyone was excited to have us back in town, but I didn't think they would go to this much trouble to welcome us.... air show and fireworks! All seen out our front window!

The planes were pretty cool to watch and the sound was awesome. Of course Mick loved it and stood out the front with the video camera. He's like a little kid when it comes to planes!

Leilani, Emily and I sat inside and watched while eating our lunch. It was a nice welcome to our new home.

Later that evening they put on a bit more of a show for us - fireworks. I have never seen such great fireworks from the comfort of my own home. Some say the fireworks and air show were for Regatta Day - but I still believe they were just for us, you know... to welcome us back!

Grandma and Grandad came up and watched the fireworks with us. It was good entertainment for the night!

Dress-Ups

These girls had such a wonderful time together pulling out all sorts of things from the packed boxes, including some dress-ups. They were also excited to try on these special princess dresses that Aunty Rachael and the kids brought over for them. They originally came from Grandma and Poppa who brought them back from America a few years ago for Jacoba and Kaea. They are still a little big for Leilani and Emily, but they tried them on anyway and had a lovely time!

Moving in

So it turns out I do still know how to upload photos! I thought I may had forgotten. I have been having some time away from blog land - still checking in on a few favourites every now and again but I have been really enjoying my time away from the computer. I was glued to it last year - it being my main way of keeping contact with everyone so it's been nice to get away. I don't really think I am 'back' as such but currently have a bit of a head cold happening so figure I may as well do a post while I'm sitting on the couch sniffing!

Here are some 'moving in' photos, taken in the first week of February. These were exciting days, getting to open up boxes we packed 12 months ago - how fun! I was quite shocked at how many things I had forgotten I had.

We hardly heard a word from these two little girls, they stayed in their new room for hours getting reunited with all the dolls, toys and books they said goodbye to this time last year.

All our stuff arrived from storage on day one - which was pretty much just boxes, white goods, our beds and more boxes. We unpacked a fair bit of that and then the next day Dad brought up the rest of our furniture which we had at their place.

We had lots of helpers, which we are really grateful for, but none were quite as cute as these two... they were very helpful and always asking what they could do. On this occasion they were given a couch cushion to carry up the hill. It was very funny to watch... and it took them quite a while to work out the best way to carry it together!

It was exciting getting the cubby back, and quite entertaining watching these 3 carry it!

We're not sure how long this will be our home for, but we really like it!