It's been a crazy week--on Sunday the eldest went to school camp, on Monday the middle child started at her new school, on Tuesday we moved, on Wednesday the youngest started at his new school, on Thursday the eldest saw the house for the first time, and on Friday another child moved in.
We had been planning on taking in an international student--it was the only way we could afford such a nice house--but we'd been so stressed over the move, we hadn't done a thing about it. We were quite concerned that we'd missed the boat--with school starting that week, students would have already been assigned to a homestay. Then on Tuesday, in the midst of moving, the girls' school sent out a blanket email to every parent saying they had a problem with one of the homestays and urgently needed to relocate a 16 year old Chinese student! We called straight away, they interviewed us on Thursday and Stephanie (not her real name) moved in Friday morning. You could not have planned it better.
Of course, after the death march leading up to the move date, we promised we would take it easy and slowly unpack the house. That plan went straight out the window, as we needed the house sorted for the interview! Of course, having that incentive was great, and we had almost everything unpacked apart from the (many) boxes of books and wall art. The house really came together beautifully and everyone felt at home right away, which was better than we could have hoped for. The living room is warm and sunny (half the ceiling is glass!) and we have the sofas and dining table there, plus it's open to the kitchen, so we're always in that room. The study has the piano and fireplace but is currently hosting all the unpacked boxes so hasn't been used much. The girls bedrooms are downstairs, along with a small rumpus area, and the youngest--who is still a bit unsure about monsters--loves that his room doesn't have a closet.
Stephanie's English isn't great but she's very sweet and gets along brilliantly with the kids. It's a 10 minute walk to school for all the kids, and they've all made several friends plus have been playing with two boys from Hebrew school who live just around the corner. (We're going to their house tonight for "movie night.") We got a family pass for Zealandia, a bird sanctuary, that is literally a bike ride away..
Now that we've got the move, the new schools and the new student sorted, the only thing left is to tell the kids about their mom's new job. Today is Saturday; she starts Monday!
We had been planning on taking in an international student--it was the only way we could afford such a nice house--but we'd been so stressed over the move, we hadn't done a thing about it. We were quite concerned that we'd missed the boat--with school starting that week, students would have already been assigned to a homestay. Then on Tuesday, in the midst of moving, the girls' school sent out a blanket email to every parent saying they had a problem with one of the homestays and urgently needed to relocate a 16 year old Chinese student! We called straight away, they interviewed us on Thursday and Stephanie (not her real name) moved in Friday morning. You could not have planned it better.
Of course, after the death march leading up to the move date, we promised we would take it easy and slowly unpack the house. That plan went straight out the window, as we needed the house sorted for the interview! Of course, having that incentive was great, and we had almost everything unpacked apart from the (many) boxes of books and wall art. The house really came together beautifully and everyone felt at home right away, which was better than we could have hoped for. The living room is warm and sunny (half the ceiling is glass!) and we have the sofas and dining table there, plus it's open to the kitchen, so we're always in that room. The study has the piano and fireplace but is currently hosting all the unpacked boxes so hasn't been used much. The girls bedrooms are downstairs, along with a small rumpus area, and the youngest--who is still a bit unsure about monsters--loves that his room doesn't have a closet.
Stephanie's English isn't great but she's very sweet and gets along brilliantly with the kids. It's a 10 minute walk to school for all the kids, and they've all made several friends plus have been playing with two boys from Hebrew school who live just around the corner. (We're going to their house tonight for "movie night.") We got a family pass for Zealandia, a bird sanctuary, that is literally a bike ride away..
Now that we've got the move, the new schools and the new student sorted, the only thing left is to tell the kids about their mom's new job. Today is Saturday; she starts Monday!
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