Halloween!

Its finally here!

As promised lots of photos tonight!

The girls were so excited to do the pumpkins, get dressed up and go out trick or treating. Some depression (mostly from Madison) the last few days, probably due to thinking back to our last Halloween and all the friends we shared it with. Ended up being fun though getting ready for tonight- including putting up the spider web with the purple lights-always a favorite (purple lights courtesy of Barb last Halloween- thanks Barb!)....plus they hooked up with the boys next door to go out door to door, so that worked out well.

Mom, as usual, gets to stay home hand out candy and do the even worse hated task of separating out the pumpkin seeds for roasting. Whoever thought of roasting pumpkin seeds as being a good idea should have also invented a gunk-less pumpkin......seriously yucky job. Aggie is staying home this year as well- she gets out of breath pretty easily and even after the sun goes down its still warm out. I have her bed right here next to me while I blog, waiting for the next bunch of kids. Though supposedly we don't get many trick or treaters as we are on the outside of the neighborhood- you remember how it goes.....strategize for the least amount of walking in order to maximize your candy getting!

Pretty funny- just had Ellie and Madison back home for a drink of cold water, and asking if they could change out of their costumes because it is too hot out! Oh the joys of Halloween on a tropical island. I remember the days of crying because I didn't want to put a winter coat over my costume.....

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween. Don't worry if you don't get a lot of candy- I have already eaten enough on behalf of all of you!

Busy, busy....

Great day today, lots of Halloween talk for the girls. They are really excited for tomorrow. Of course tomorrow promises to be super busy- swim meet first thing in the morning, followed by a planned all day power outage here at home so we will try to stay busy out in town at least past lunch. It gets hot in here with no air-conditioning. What kind of base XO would plan a power outage on Halloween day? I have put my formal complaints in.

School today for me was different to say the least. I have had two days with a bit of a struggle with a couple of students and discipline issues. Today one jumped over the balcony- so I took him to the assistant principle to deal with that. Anyway- lots of high spirits in the students- too close to Halloween I guess. There was a school-wide planned activity afternoon today. Teachers were suppose to be present in the hallways to help try and dissuade any violence. I tell you what, being out there dealing with the rest of the student population makes me appreciate my 50 students all the more. The disrespect, and in my face attitude was incredible. Lots of staring me down speaking rudely and towering over me to intimidate. Cause seriously..... Well it was a good day for no fights though- only two "tiffs" broke out- that could be because they called in the police force to help contain the kids. The superintendent of the schools came to Southern High for an emergency meeting yesterday- trying to address the violence. Seems really epidemic-ish.

The best part of the afternoon was a really scary haunted house I went through! Haven't been scared like that in a while. The honors society at the school put on a haunted house for a fund raiser so we did a field trip for my whole 4th period class. SO scary! Really dark, lots of ghoulish people coming out at you....oy! I went through with 3 of my students and they clung so hard I still have bruises. Lots of fun for a good cause- extra neat because 3 or more of my students were the ones to set it up and were the actors in it. The administration originally cancelled the haunted house due to the violence, but the honors students put in some good arguments and was able to change their minds. I am glad for it, something positive in a school with some ongoing issues.

No pictures tonight, but I promise to make up for it tomorrow night- don't know if I am more excited about Halloween or about taking Halloween pictures with my new camera :)

Puppy Update

All is well here on Guam- lots of cruddy weather following the last tropical storm to pass through- but sincerely, wind and rain- not unusual here.

Here is a Staples family puppy update- they are one week old! Still don't know which one will be theirs....

Where's Waldo

We went to the library today for a Halloween party they had. A simple book reading and "craft" (made ghosts out of a lollipop- you know, wrap a kleenex over the sucker and poof- its a ghost.) There was also a candy bag hand out. There were SO many kids attending this brief program...can you spot Maddie and Ellie in the crowd?

For the simplicity of it, the girls loved it. Both are quite looking forward to Halloween, so I think this was a small taste of the fun to come- its a win/win situation as I got two peanut butter cups out of it!

Clearing up...

The storm has passed without any real aftermath. Some rain, some wind but nothing to write home about...but apparently significant enough to blog about....

The big concern this week for the girls has been spirit week....or really the lack of it. I believe I can quote Maddie , who used a phrase that I hadn't heard from her...."spirit week rots". I actually had to ask her to repeat herself to be sure I heard correctly.

It turns out all the hype about spirit week was suppose to be for the middle schoolers only. Lots of announcements, emails sent home- and not one of them can bother to mention that the younger grades need not apply? I even called another parent to clarify who had asked the school counselor- still no one saying it was middle school only. The result of this- the girls wore their pajamas to school Monday- Maddie was the only one in 5th grade to do this and Ellie had one co-mislead buddy in her class. Madison ward off the nay sayers by stating "I am almost in middle school" and Ellie stuck to the other pj girl like glue. Madison feels this has made her more popular.

You think the lesson would be learned- but Maddie put a hat in her bag "just in case" the rules suddenly changed-she wanted to be prepared for day two of spirit week- hat day.

So spirit week officially "rots". The girls have given up the complaints- but both swear their revenge - they will be wearing crazy socks on Friday!

Really?

So you would think that if we have the sideways rain and umbrella breaking winds that they could call "core 2" and we could stay home. Doesn't this picture look like we should be staying home? Apparently because it is passing north of us the winds aren't as bad- so off to school we go :(

Full day- with not enough hours in it.

The girls and I finally branched out- left the base chapel behind and tried a church out in town that we had been wanting to attend. Very nice church- reminiscent of our church in Maryland which we have been missing! So we are excited to try it out for a few weeks and see if it fits. Fun-ily enough, we even ran into some people we knew-even had a girl from Maddie's class sit with us.

Right in the middle of the sermon- Ellie's tooth popped out. It had been hanging for days, so was more of a relief than a shock.

After church the girls and I went sock hunting. There is a crazy sock day this week at school. Of course, we are crazy sock challenged in this house. You would think finding knee socks would be easy- not so on a tropical island. Finally found some that are quite cute...and toe socks to boot!

Straight to grocery shopping (after a leisurely girls lunch out at Tony Roma's of course!) which included the purchase of the pumpkins and the candy. The pumpkins are being stored in a cool room- not a chance we are carving them before Saturday. I am thinking they will rot faster than we gut and light them.

The rest of the day was consumed with trying to catch up a weeks worth of house work into one afternoon. Add school work into that and you are all caught up to me blogging in my pj's.

I can't complain about how the week went in general....but here's to holding out for a week with a little less activity fitting into days with a lot more time in them.

Water water everywhere....

Okay, seriously if these two girls could have been in a pool more hours today.....Started this morning with an hour and a half practice at the "big" pool (the Leo Palace 50 meter). Straight from there to the boy next door's birthday party at the base pool. A full two hours off before they were back in their home pool for evening practice. Home to shower and bed.
Ellie and Madison were very impressed with the goody bag from the party- there was a yo yo in it! Any extra time there after (which wasn't much) was occupied by yo yo-ing. Did you know that it is very difficult to yo yo in a car? Though Maddie found "walking the dog" easier on the floorboards of the minivan.
Some exciting news in the world of Maddie- new book came out in the Peter and the Star Catchers series. I put it on the shopping list for the exchange yesterday for Kevin....and shocker it was actually there. She only has a quarter of it left to go, but really loving it. Nothing better than a new book in a favorite series.

Kevin's "water" for the day was spending supper on a Japanese ship that came in this week. Apparently this ship comes every year and always puts on a great party. Kevin was invited (so was I, but I hung with the girls) and he said it was neat. There was sushi and then saki that they drank out of wooden boxes??? He brought some boxes home...nice keepsakes. Though Ellie feels its not so much for saki as it is a home for her new yo yo.

Kevin said there wasn't a lot of socializing with the Japanese crew, though he was ready.... he had studied up on the do's and don'ts of Japanese etiquette....he is probably quite grateful he didn't have to use his new found knowledge.

Can you believe it....

A rainbow on Guam. This picture totally doesn't do it justice.

The girls came to class with me today. All so exciting for them....and my students! They really enjoyed having some youngsters in the classroom. Most even managed to watch their language.....which is a huge feat for them. Its an ongoing struggle, getting them to be cuss-free when in the class. The students are really doing SO much better with swearing- if they ever do slip they are quick now to apologize- so they are trying. I am so grateful for my students all being fairly behaved and respectful....especially when they came in today with stories of another teacher at the school getting "beaten up" by students. I did see the police cars when I came in.....but later heard another version which seemed closer to an elbow to the teacher's chest and her filing a complaint. The first version definitely had more teeth to it.

The girls didn't want to go when Kevin showed up to take them home at lunch time. Between all the attention from the students, the fun body parts to play with in the classroom and of course the whiteboards- who would want to leave?

Also today...
Finally received the pictures (thanks Barb and Ross for sending them) from the photo shoot we did .....in JULY! Not judging, not a hater, just sayin'. Some really great shots of the girls- Ann and Gene, bet you know what you are getting for Christmas...
All in all nice pictures from that day. Nice memories too...

Don't forget,

Halloween is coming.....scary!

Quiet night.

Everything is going along swimmingly. Both girls had a great week at school. Maddie had a project about Native Americans and chose to research and make a papoose...I think her choice had a lot to do with the idea that she wanted to showcase her new Bitty Twin. She made the papoose according to the size needs of George- dressed him up like a Native American boy and popped him in the cradle board. Instant fame for George. Instant 100% for Maddie.

Ellie is still loving school . She also made a papoose...a replica of Madison's which was made to the specifications for fitting Pooh Bear. No grade for Ellie, just a really popular show-and-tell day.

The girls are off tomorrow- you never really notice how many days your kids have off school until you work full time and need to concern yourself with "huh, I wonder who will care for them that day?". I am actually taking them into my classroom in the morning and Kevin will pick them up by noon. They have been begging to come into my classroom to see what all the hub-bub is about and meet the students- so both are looking forward to tomorrow....I know my students will enjoy it too. What the students won't enjoy is the test I am giving them....on a Friday no less- what kind of teacher does that?

Congratulations to the Welland Staples crew. They have a new member joining their family in the next little bit.....

They don't know which puppy is theirs yet....but as Micki said, "its definitely the red, green, yellow, blue or purple ribboned one." So exciting! I get to be an Aunt again!

I have a confession to make.

Just so you know, I am blogging to the tunes being sung in the bathroom during shower time...I believe it is "Row Row Row Your Boat" done in a round. Wait, now it is "Who Built the Arc?" The girls have shower time together nightly. The conversations that they have during this time and in their room after lights out are sweet to listen to....most nights. I am glad for the decision we made to have them share a room. They are good friends to each other...except when they aren't...

On to my confession. I put out pictures a while ago of the house- how neat and orderly it is- because that is the way I like it, right? The house to date has maintained its neatness...but I have this one room- the office/play room/scrapbook room- I haven't touched it since our unpacking was done. What are we...going on 2 months here? Its a mess. There is a pile of "I have no idea what to do with you" things.

Kevin's tools have taken up permanent residence on my non-organized scrapbook table ever since the XBox incident (we don't speak of that...)
The only part of the room that is highly organized and labeled is, of course, the girls toy closet. I spent a good part of a weekend a while ago putting all their toys and American Girl stuff in a neat system for them to be able to put things back after playing with them. Looks great right?

And their play corner is always neat and ready for the next time they want to pull out their toys. They even get a throw rug to play on.

This room has become my hidden "messy place", like Monica on Friends had that closet...I can't seem to find the time or the inclination to get to it. I cringe every time I walk past it. Now Kevin, he will sit in there for hours at a time and the chaos seems completely lost on him. Don't know how he does it. I need Barb or Ann to come visit and help me!

The idea of this blog today is accountability... this weekend is it. If I haven't blogged by Monday that the room is done with pictures as proof, someone better call me on it.

Culture 101

My students have completed all their culture projects. We had from Chamorro, Japanese to Chukkese, all the way over to Canadian. All very interesting. Some Canadian "gestures" I never had heard of- thumb between your first two fingers? The girls found it in their research. Who knew. The Italian presentation was good, lots of information and lots of pasta with pesto!

School is still trekking along. Lots to do. I find it hard to keep up with lesson plans, teaching etc when I keep getting loaded up with administrative stuff. They want me to take on a 6 week college course for LVN's in May- hopefully I can survive until then!

To everyone who knew Alex. I wanted to let you know that she passed away recently.

Thank you Mr and Mrs Cochrane for being you, and for loving Alex so much. I am really so sorry for your loss. As Julie said in a really nice email to me (thanks Julie :) "Who would have imagined a little boonie dog from Guam could touch so many lives."

Finally...

I am so sorry to anyone who has been looking for a blog....we have been without internet (and cable for that matter!) since Thursday - oh so frustrating! There was a lot of "yes, we will send someone out by 5pm" and then the next day "oh, yes definitely someone there before the end of the day" and then of course there is the "oh no sir, we don't work on Sundays- but we will send someone out by tomorrow for sure!" Frankly, you stop believing them at some point and start praying your cable modem will spontaneously come to life on its own. So again, my apologies.

To be honest, you haven't missed much! We had a busy weekend but nothing overly noteworthy. The biggest thing was Kevin and I going to our first (yes thats right, we have been able to avoid it all 13 years of marriage) Navy Ball. I was really worried about picking a dress that wasn't too "dressy", I did just fine. My outfit fit in perfectly. By the time we got to the place (it was at the Leo Palace....same fancy hotel that hosts the girl's olympic size pools- in case you remember) I was seriously concerned about Kevin's outfit. You see, in the military apparently there are appropriate outfits per season/per event/per rank/per global placement. So the talk from him all the way to the ball was "I really hope I am wearing the right uniform".....ending with "Sam, you go in and see if there are other people in this uniform". We fortunately saw one guy walking in with the same white jacket, black pants- Kevin seemed relieved at that until I suggested he may be the waiter? What...like you aren't thinking Captain Stubbing when you see Kevin's picture?

I was humming the theme to the Love Boat all night. (Just kidding Kevin- you looked great! I was proud to be with you.)
Seriously, we had a lovely time. Shook hands, ate food, had a dance and was home by 10:30. Couldn't ask for a more streamlined evening.

The best part is....we are all set for next year's ball- turns out the purchase of our outfits was actually an investment. :)

Buckle your seat belts....

First, sorry for the no-blog day yesterday. Our cable is so not reliable- I had to delete a whole Heroes show because it was so scrambled it was un-viewable... thats like ripping a whole chapter out of a book!

So in light of the lack of blogging yesterday- today is a FULL blog so keep up...

The girls and I happily got out the Halloween decorations (ok, the girls were super excited- whereas I put it on my list of things to do that day). We have a Halloween town that goes up annually. The merry-go-round is full of ghouls and such-as it turns there is a scary witch voice that says "hey kiddies, wanna ride for free?- ee hee hee" ...its all so Halloween-ie! The other major portion of the town is Frankensteins' Castle where the mad scientist rolls the monster up to the lightening saying "he's alive, he's alive!". Its all chaotic and noisy when the girls play them all at the same time, but they love it.

Madison had a package today- it was from American Girl. She had ordered Bitty Twins with her birthday money....so a big happy thank you to everyone who contributed to Maddie's final birthday present. She chose to adopt Japanese babies because "they are just so cute!" Ellie is officially (since Maddie's twin arrival today at 3pm) saving up for her own Bitty Twins. Ellie has decided to adopt a Japanese boy (the name she researched for him is Shou) and a Chamorro girl (I actually think it is Hispanic- but we are calling it a Chamorro baby). Ellie has dubbed the girl baby Raina. Stay tuned to see how long it will take her to save up for this purchase.....she's starting at $8.60.

I cleaned out my school room a bit today... literally getting the skeletons out of my closets. You would not even imagine the looks I got carting these bad-boys out. I think it gave 2 people heart attacks and a whole lot of people their giggle for the day. They are being donated to the forensics lab- don't know what they are doing to them and really don't care- so glad to have them out of my store room!

Now bear with me for this last bit. The picture for this story is less than great, but I severely doubt I could do any better. The picture was taken out the window of our moving car.

These are two dogs that are-everyday in the late afternoon- at the side of the main road on Guam. Not just at the side of the road- at the EXACT same spot on the side of the road. Always laying down in what little shade they have, always together, always there. There is no house nearby which makes us think they are boonie dogs, but the amazing part is they are their own little "pack" of two and have scouted out their own turf. They are so consistently there that they have become a point of reference....as in "turn at the corner right after the two dogs". Love seeing them there. I swear if I can ever get a better picture of them I will post it.

Well, thats it. Thanks for sticking with me through this excessive blog day :) I promise to be more pithy next time!

Guest Blogger

Since Maddie, Ellie and I were off today, this morning I offered to write about our day and let Sam have a day off from blogging. The pressure from her 'followers' not to miss a day is intense! So I think it's fair to say she jumped at the chance of a night off from the blog grind while still getting new content posted. So here I am.

I was hoping to sleep in on my day off. Unfortunately Aggie had other ideas. A little before 6:00 a.m. she started licking, scratching and biting parts of her body. This can actually be fairly loud when it happens next to your bed -- I suspect it's a ploy to 'accidentally' wake us up so she can be fed.

Once we were all up, I wanted to run some quick errands and pick up a few things I needed to try and repair the xbox 360. Sam mentioned the girls needed to eat first, so I decided I'd just load them in the car and take them out for breakfast. As most of you know, eating out for breakfast is one of Sam's favorite things to do, so discovering she would miss this outing did nothing for her mood.

We ate at a local diner called Kings. Ellie had pancakes and scrambled eggs. Maddie and I had a breakfasty stir-fry rice dish with Portuguese sausage. I thought it was pretty good, but Maddie decided she preferred the first breakfast place we ever tried better, Jan Z's.

After that, off to my favorite place on the island...ahh, a little reminder of home.

Once we were done with that, I tried to find some ink for Sam's printer but had no luck. Epson, HP, and Lexmark seem to be the popular brands out here. We just can't seem to find Canon printer ink. And we can't order it through Amazon.com either; they won't ship printer inks overseas (worried the heat in transit will damage them). I have a few more places on the island I can try and call. If that doesn't work then Dad, you may be getting a two year supply of Canon printer ink mailed to you from Amazon. If you do, do me a favor and forward it out here.

At lunch, the girls and I were going to bring Sam her island favorite -- a chicken wrap (from a BBQ place on base no less). Unfortunately they were closed for Columbus day. Sam was just striking out all over the place today. We did manage to stop and buy her an apple pie and ice cream at the commissary. We figured we could present this to her in honor of Canadian Thanksgiving.

After all that, I got to work on the xbox. Here's a photo.

And after a couple hours of work...still broken. Oh well, I have a 'special edition' one on order that'll be here in about a month.

Sam and I wrapped up the day by going out to Capricciosa. It's has southern Italy style cuisine with very large portions. We split an order of brushetta bread, chicken caesar salad, and a chicken and mushroom fettucini. This gave us a chance for a trial run with the babysitter we have lined up for next Saturday's Navy Ball. Since it was also Canada's Thanksgiving, and Sam hadn't gotten much out of the day, it worked out pretty well on a couple of fronts. The girls seemed to have gotten along well with the sitter - so bonus there.

Well, that pretty much sums the day. Not much of a day off. I'm already looking forward to the weekend! Take care everyone.

-Kevin