internships!

We are excited to announce that Krochet Kids is now taking applications for internships in Peru!  We have two positions open and internships will run from June 2nd to December 15th.  Applications are due by March 27th.  The majority of an intern's workload will be quality control.  This is an unpaid position and support will need to be raised by the intern for travel and living expenses.  More information on all things intern related and the application can be found here.  We think this experience will be filled with tons of learning, beauty, growth, hardship, work, laughter, and fun. In other words, totally worth doing!  Please feel free to share this information with anyone you think would be interested.

first day of preschool

Tyler had her first day of school ever yesterday.  Because she has been crying for months about wanting to go to school like her big sister and brothers, it was a pretty easy transition.  She knew that she was ready and I knew that she was ready. 

Exhibit A: Tyler crying on the big kids' first day of school because she wanted to go with them.

Preschools here are very different from preschools in the States.  It is a very serious experience here where they start teaching cursive and sit at desks for long periods of time.  They also believe that kids should go five days a week for stability of routine.  I was scared that we wouldn't be able to find a preschool that would just allow Tyler to be a kid, have fun with friends, and learn at the same time.  Thankfully, through friends, we found a wonderful preschool just a block from the big kids' school.  They are allowing Tyler to only come three days a week which is a huge gift.  At three years old, I still want Tyler to be home some of the week and for her to be able to go to Krochet Kids with me (I think being with the KKp kids is a very valuable experience for her).  Her preschool is also fun and the teachers are so incredibly nice.  I'm really excited for this sweet little pumpkin's first year of school!

Tyler's pre and post school interview.

first day of school 2012

School is back in session here in Peru!  Thankfully this year all of the kids are at the same school. Everyone was very excited this morning and there didn't seem to be any butterflies (except for me).  I definitely got choked up seeing my kids walk confidently into the school without even a look back.  I was so thankful that it was not last year when my kids all walked into new schools in a new country without speaking a lick of Spanish.  We have come a long way in making a life here in Peru!

{Brady} The First Grader

{Ford}  The Third Grader

{Riley} The Fifth Grader

Here are reports of the first day in their own words:

long after the big kids have moved on...

...this little girl is still in the pool.

a february list

Man, I am doing a horrible job at keeping up this here blog.  Here are a few things that have been going on recently for those of you still reading:

-We took the Krochet Kids Peru ladies and their families to a movie.  It was the first movie in a cinema experience for most of them.  We saw We Bought a Zoo (Un Zoológico en Casa).  We all had a lot of fun!  (Even though it was right in the middle of the 2 days we had to pack up our house.  It was a good lesson in concentrating on what's important and not worrying about the crap that doesn't matter.)

-Tomorrow I am tackling the school supply lists.  I wrote a whole post on this last year because I just couldn't believe the ridiculous amount of school supplies I had to buy for the private school I was already paying a ridiculous amount of money to.  Toilet paper??  Seriously??  That isn't included in tuition?  This is culture shock at its finest for me.  My guess is that tomorrow I will spend at least three hours hunting for school supplies and come home with less than half of the needed items.  Another issue of mine- these lists are full of items that don't seem to be available anywhere!  

{Also, there is a full back page to the first grade list.}

-I read all five books of the Game of Thrones series.  It was no small task (at 700-1000 pages each book), but totally worth it.  I am also currently addicted to Once Upon a Time and Parenthood (catching up on Netflix, so still on season 1). 

-This is how our kids had "rest time" during the move.

-We celebrated Yuli's one year anniversary of working with us by going out to a nice restaurant.  Our kids were so excited about going to a real sit down restaurant and talked for days about what they were going to order.  After the actual dinner, I would say that we will try a sit down restaurant again in about a year.  Also, Brady dressed himself up for the occasion.

-Tyler is having me teach her the names of the Star Wars characters as I write this post.  It's hard being the fourth kid and always trying to keep up.

-Um, this is how the moving guys got our washing machine onto our roof (I mean, laundry room).

-And this is how our internet was installed.  We also slipped the guy a few extra bucks so that the wireless internet would actually work in our entire house.  My first world problem (in our old house) of not being able to lay in bed and check email has finally been solved. 

-Krochet Kids Peru has finished most of the interviews for new ladies and will be hiring soon!  These ladies will be from a different neighborhood as our current ladies, but still from the mountainside of Chorrillos.  We are excited and hopeful.