Easter-time began with a bit of preparation in the form of a Hot-Cross-Bun-Making Saturday! Joined by 2 lovely teachers from Esther and Ben's school, the bun-making began on the Saturday before Easter:
Mmmmm- tasty-looking hot cross buns ready to pop into the oven...
The proof is, of course, in the eating- so we had to try to try them out- and they tasted very good!
A few days later, it was time for the traditional annual Easter play at the school. Ben's class were involved in the singing, sporting their Easter crowns! They sang beautifully! Ben is in the second row... you probably can't see him, but I promise that he is there, singing his heart out!
Oh, here's a brief glimpse!
The older primary children did a wonderful job of portraying the Easter story, with some very moving scenes and great singing from their "Gospel Choir":
Later that same day, the action continued at home, with a MAF Farewell BBQ in our back garden. The Dodoma MAF staff gathered together to wish our Programme Manager well. He will soon be leaving his job in Tanzania and returning to his home in Finland with his family.
As far as the children were concerned, the most exciting part of the BBQ was toasting marshmallows over the dying charcoal fire:
The next exciting event was the arrival of Auntie Claire from Kenya, on Thursday evening! It's been great to have her back in Dodoma with us, spending the school holidays with us and celebrating Easter.
I had brought some genuine UK chocolate Easter eggs back in my suitcase in February, and it was definitely well worth squeezing them in so that we could have fun opening them on Easter day!
Easter brought some exciting arrivals from England, with a parcel from my Mum, containing chocolate treats including these cute little chicks, which we used to create Easter cakes:
We all had a really fun afternoon- great food, crazy party games, good company, birthday cake and a time to greet the birthday girl! Here's Esther passing on her congratulations to birthday-girl Margaret:
For the children, the fun just kept going when we had a night of rain, providing cooler weather and a chance to drink hot chocolate (with mini-marshmallows from Nana's parcel) without us feeling too hot and sweaty to enjoy it!
For me, Easter Monday was super-exciting: MY NEW WASHING MACHINE ARRIVED!!!
It's a good job I've got it up and running, as the rains came again on Thursday night, bringing oodles of soggy mud to our garden, which of course, meant extra fun for Ben and his friends..
With Ben having so much fun, my machine is going to be put to VERY good use!
Muddy play means consequences for my children as well as my new washing machine, but Esther and Ben seem quite happy to clean their muddy wellies, treating it as part of their Easter holiday fun!
And a final exciting event in the past week, which has thoroughly delighted Esther, Ben and Joel, has been the arrival of four furry bundles of joy, courtesy of Moshi-Mother-Cat:
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to see you all celebrating Easter so many miles away.
Liz the smile on your face on the photo with the washing machine says it all. Jx
Your hot cross buns really professional and looks like you all had lots of fun over the Easter week end. Do hope you managed to get all that mud off Ben's clothes before you entrusted them to your shiny new washing machine. What a loving mother cat Moshi is but those tom cats need sorting out! How many litters has she had now, poor Moshi. Margaret look so young and fit, very much qualified to keeping you all young and fit too, glad she had such a happy special birthday. nana x
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