Busy life

The last few weeks have been a crazy whirlwind.  And I've been such the slacker posting.  I just don't have the time.  Sitting down now while I'm eating my breakfast, is the only time today I'll probably get a chance.  And I really  have so many thing to update!  But the downside to all of this.... is that time is flying by so fast.  It's hard to believe we have been here 8 1/2 months already!

The girls school have also been busy.  Jocy had her class spring show about the Rain Forest.  And right before break, they had a big Easter Egg Hunt and a Bonnet Parade.  I love that private schools can still chose to celebrate religious holidays.  And they both had Parent Teacher conferences.  Jocy struggled a bit first term.  Trying to adjust to the British system and get caught up.  She was so upset to have received B's on her report card.  This has never happened to her before.  We just had to explain to her the a B at BISI is equal to an A++++ at Manor Hill.  She was so upset, we talk to her teacher about it.  BISI's standards are so much higher than Liberty's.  I thought Jocy was getting a pretty decent education there... the keyword is decent.  I'm so glad the girls will be 3 years here.  They will be so far ahead of their peers when we return to the States.  Then it will be the question if public school be be good enough.  Sigh.   Elly is doing wonderful.  She knows all her letters and their sounds.  She's reading really well and is beloved by everyone in the school.  Both girls seem to know everyone!  Elly's teacher was so happy with Elly.  She's completely all the requirements and their next steps.  Elly is also officially enrolled in Kindergarten! Can you believe it??  It seems like yesterday, we moved into our house on Fawn Ln and was hurrying to finish the nursery!

We have been involved in our first car accident in Istanbul.  Nothing big, just dinged up the front of the car.  We were driving home from school and this lady pulls out in front of us.  Not unusual here, since most people don't follow stop signs.  But right then, I knew she was a crazy driver.  She kept speeding off and then slowing down.  Finally, she just slammed on her brakes.  FOR NO REASON!   She did it around a sharp curve so Joel couldn't stop.  I knew we were going to hit her.  But thankfully, I really didn't feel it.  Everyone was quiet and I looked at Joel and asked if he was OK.  All of a sudden, all three kids start screaming.  It was kind of funny.... such the slow reaction.  It was a long annoying processes. And thank God of our driver, he was there in 10 minutes to help.  The lady made up all kinds of lies, but it was obvious she screwed up.  Her dad was in the car with her and as soon as he saw the kids in the car, he would never look at me again.  So I'm hoping they all felt like shit.  I was a bit sore in the morning and we kept the girls home from school to just make sure all was good.  Murat took our car in the next day.  Still waiting on it to get fixed, because the local dealers don't carry parts in my color.  Thats fine, because I got a nicer C-Max!  Too bad I can't keep that one!  But I will say, the C-Max handle the accident with grace.  I couldn't be happier to put my family back in that car.

Of course this all happens days before we leave on vacation!  So excited!  Finally going to Italy!  Joel had been before (like most places I want to go) but he hadn't been to Naples.  And I always want to go to the Amalfi Coast.  Well it turns out that finding a hotel room in that part of the world for 5 people is extremely difficult.  I was frustrated beyond belief trying to plan this trip.  So I gave up and booked a Villa in Praiano, Italy.  It was such a wonderful week.  I will post pictures later.  There are so many to go through!  There are days that I miss having the kids at the Community Center, Cheerleading, Soccer at the Y, not having struggles with life.  But as I sit eating gelato on the little side streets of Sorrento, I am so happy we left all that boring stuff behind.  I'm a so grateful to have the opportunity to see the world.  That in 2 hours I can be in Italy.  3 hours to France, and hour to Greece!  I really wish we could go on more trips!  But I guess Joel has to actually work to keep us here. :)

So this is my mini update on life.  So much more to follow.  I'm hoping once Spring Break is over (its 2 weeks here), I can get my blog fully updated.  I have a big surprise to announce too!  Now time to get back to the kiddos.  Poor Nate still sounds like an old man.