Lil' Dean Fam

We have finally made it to our one-year mark in Singapore.  We arrived on the tiny, humid, lovely island of Singapore one year ago today!  Whew.  We made it!  The first year was full of many ups and downs but through it all we've all come to appreciate this place we will call home for a little while.  I feel like our family has grown a lot through all of the experiences we've had.  We've been able to have a lot of FUN and go on so many adventures exploring this place.  There is so much culture here and that's one thing that I really love about it. Our second school year is underway and the boys are doing so well that my heart is swelling with gratitude.  This is going to be a GREAT year and I look forward to all that it will bring us. Here are some of my favorite moments from year 1. We got to choose a new place to live! We love our location being so close to the boys' school. It means a LONG 90 minute commute for Colin (each way) but he's a trooper

Last year our family arrived after school had already begun.  We missed Open Houses, Back to School Nights, and all of the welcome coffee meetings too.  BUT we survived and this year we get to participate in all of that.  Fourth grade Back to School Night was one week ahead of First grade so I got to go twice, and I also got to attend Open House too so for some of that it's a little repetitive.  Nonethleless, it's nice to know who my boys will be spending their days with and where their different classrooms are located.   Ryan's science lab.  He goes every 8th day of school.   Ryan's Chinese class.  He goes every day!  Music- Ryan loves his music teacher this year!  Music Art class I didn't get a photo of any of the gyms nor the pool but I will try to get one when I go for Evan's back-to-school night tomorrow. Art room Ryan's teacher this year has been a HUGE answer to my prayers.  Last year was a little rough and this year

Ryan had a great birthday this year!  He's NINE!   I took his class some cinnamon buns on Friday, the day before his birthday.  I let Evan sneak out of class for a birthday treat!  Ryan wanted to have his birthday party at the beach.  And he wanted me to make a "beach" cake.  I am NOT a cake decorator.  Sure, I pin lots of fancy decorated cakes on Pintrest but that does not make me a decorator.  Speaking of Pintrest, I got this idea and kind of went for it.  I made 2 round cakes, blue frosting (Mom's recipe) and crushed up some Digestives, added a little sugar and made the sand.  I took some ocean toys and added them to the cake!  BAM.  There you have it.  Don't know what it tasted like but it all got eaten!  Ryan's Birthday fell on Saturday this year.  He got a couple of big presents from us in the morning.  And a carpet of balloons in the hallway when he woke up.  Nerf gun! Because you really can't have too many of those!  And

Evan was quite put-out that he had to wait 2 days after Ryan started school to go back himself.  But.. the day finally came and Evan is in love with first grade and his new teacher!  On Wednesday we had an appointment to meet his teacher so before our meeting Evan and I explored the library.  He even found his fish that he made in art last year as part of a mural in the library... pretty cool!   Evan's teacher, Ms. Lauren, is new to SAS and according to him she's the best teacher ever!  He is super excited to have a few friends from Kindergarten in his class again this year.  He has had art and music and loves both of those teachers and hasn't said much about his Chinese class yet.   We are looking forward to another amazing year of school!