Category Archives: uniform

Ukulele in the Park

I first wanted to take the time to acknowledge all of my readers who took the time to comment, tweet, and email me after my Wednesday post: Marriage, In laws, and Cross Cultural.  I was surprised by how many people reached out to me after dealing with very similar cultural issues with family.  It is not something I would wish on anyone else but it comforting to know we are not alone.  It is just another facet in our life as expats and global nomads.  Thank you also for those who reminded me why I love blogging and that we should blog for ourselves.  Thank you for the lovely comments on how the subject matter was approached.  
The one word that came up most frequently since Wednesday was the word ‘honesty‘ and how you as readers love that aspect most about coming to the blog.  Thank you, I greatly appreciate that feedback.  With being a Third Culture Kid and having to fit into to so many different cultures, situations, countries, etc it is nice to have a place where I can be me.  I hope that you reading this blog know that you too can be you.  You do not have to be living in fear of the expectations of others.  Be proud of yourself, love life, and live your life remembering how precious and beautiful it is with you in it. 
   
This semester my son Ronan has been learning to play the Ukulele in school.  I was actually tickled when we first visited his classroom and realised this was the instrument his year was learning how to play.  My youngest son was born in Hawaii, where we lived for three years.  Being the longest place my sons have lived anywhere it was a nice ‘home’ comfort to have a bit of Hawaii here with us.  We were able to get Ronan his own Ukulele in his favourite colour shade black. For a kid who always has a song humming off his lips it has been a great next step putting a musical instrument in his hands.  He is always practicing his cords, asking me to teach him new songs, and waking us up in the morning with his songs of serenade.  He recently learned how to play the beginning part of Sunshine of Your Love by Cream and I may be biased, but it is so cute to watch him play it. 
Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch him play in a multi school wide concert at the Pavilion in Bath, England.  Unfortunately my husband was not able to get away from work so I was busy taking photos with the DSLR, with my iPhone, and recording video our video recorder.  Yes I am one of those parents in the crowd.  However they do not want any photographs or film footage to be put publicly. So just imagine how cute a class of year 3 look and sound in their british school uniforms playing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles.  
Afterwards I took both my sons to the nearby Parade Park for the first time.  It is usually never crowded despite all the tourists, since you have to pay a fee to get access.  However if you are a Bath resident like me with your Discovery card you can just walk right in. This made it perfect for capturing photos of my son while he played music in the park.  I love the photograph below because Ronan looks so much like my dad especially with my dad’s hair as he had it the same length (if not longer) in the last year of his life.  I know he would have been so proud to have seen him play yesterday and is smiling down on him.  Here are the rest of my favourites from our spontaneous photo session in the park: 

*photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography ©2007-2013 All Rights Reserved – www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 


Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe

June has finally arrived and the boys got to celebrate the first of the month by having a non uniform day at school. In honour of the Jubilee weekend and for a £1 donation both boys got to come dressed in Red, White, and Blue and sport the Union Jack on their clothes.  Maddox was quite proud of his outfit because I let him borrow my head band and we took the bow part off and used it as a matching pocket square.  The boys had a really fun day at school and it looks to be a really great Jubilee weekend.  More on that in the next blog post, so stay tuned!  In other news it is June first which means that…

…Today would be Marilyn Monroe’s birthday.  A big happy birthday to someone who has left quite an impression and legacy on the world in her short 36 years alive.
It is Red, white, and blue day at school and yes those sparkle.
‘Morning': Listening to my summer mix #photoadayjune #photoadaychallenge http://instagr.am/p/LUxqVMok-X/

BONNIE ROSE TWEETS



Day 1 of Live Fashion photography workshop with @LindsayAdler with @creativeLIVE So inspired and motivated!
Just saw a vintage belair state patrol car in England.

Ronan home sick

Taking care of my son Ronan. He missed school today due to a fever and his head hurting. I let him watch Little Princess with Shirley Temple while I was at work today. He really enjoyed it and talked my ear off about the film when I got home. Glad to know hes feeling a little bit better, though later tonight he was back to feeling poorly again. 


Maddox, not sick, got to go to school while Ronan stayed home today. 

First day of March

One thing I really love about my new phone is that it came with a few soothing alarm tones.  When I awoke to the alarm clock this morning I got it into my head instantly that we were quite late.  The boys and I had fifteen minutes to get ready and leave the house.  But when we got to an empty school after our 30 minute walk, I realized we were indeed an hour early.  Apparently I was too tired this morning to read my clock correctly.  The picture to the left is from the honey selection at the store we browsed this morning. 
Spending our extra time before school having a juice and a smoothie. 
Beautiful pink flowers that we saw on the walk home from school. 
Spoiled my boys after school with treats. I have a soft spot for those cute little faces. 

Field Trip Pt. I: Cuckfield Museum

Today was a field trip for Maddox with his class from school. Since this was his first field trip for me to attend with him, it was quite a special trip.  We were a little early arriving to school, so we played a game of chutes and ladders while waiting for his classmates to arrive.  We took the mini bus to Cuckfield (pronounced ‘cook-field’) and went to the Cuckfield Museum.  The boys were very eager to see the actual dinosaur bones and fossils found right here in this area of England.  Afterwards they got to see the collection of historical items which include a lot of vintage toys.  The boys had been learning about toys from various parts of the world in class.  They got to take a turn playing with some of the old fashion toys.  We did a walk through where the boys got to learn information about different pieces in the museum and what they were once used for many years ago.  
Maddox reading a Biff & Chip book before leaving on the field trip.
Maddox beating me at Snakes & Ladders before class begun.
An old riding bridle and chest.
Fossils and Bones.
A bell that run the bell at the church. 
An old vintage Noah’s Ark toy set
A finding from Cuckfield
A key that was for the chapel that I thought looked very cool.
A vintage board game, much like monopoly
A vintage bear, sheep, and doll dated 100 years old. 
A dinosaur collection of findings from Cuckfield.
Maddox having a go at an old European lawn game of Skittles.
Bed warmer for the fireplace. 
The Dinosaur collection at the Museum.
The boys with the curator of the Museum. 
Vintage shoes and clothes.
Maddox learning how to play a game. 
Doing the tour of the Museum. 
Checking out a dinosaur egg shell under the glass.
An old clock face. 
The boys looking at the old toys.
Magnifying glass.
Lawn game of Skittles