And yet...

Today I am still out of time! It is Sunday evening- and I don't have my lessons for the week done. I see a late night coming my way..... but I won't-not-blog, sorry for the delay.

Busy weekend. The girls had a swim meet Saturday where Maddie's hard work in her new swim lane paid off, and she achieved another "B" time in her backstroke. Ellie took off time in her free and back. Good meet overall.

Ellie had a penguin project to complete this weekend. Her first big girl project and she did very well. Did the research, wrote the paper and had decided since she was studying the Macaroni penguin, that she would make her picture out of macaroni. Turned out really cute.

Ellie is really becoming quite the reader too. I think the reading disease has been passed on to her from Madison-

Found her like this the other night. Brushing her teeth and reading- who does that? Yes, you guessed it, Madison. Not complaining here, so glad she is a reader. She is even at the point now where she is borrowing Madison's books- she just walked through the living room to ask Maddie if she can borrow the second in some series she is reading. Surprisingly Madison said yes and was very nice about it. Maybe Maddie recognizes a kindred spirit.....

Had Mr Thornton over tonight for supper and games night.

So nice to have him here. He fits in nicely. Never complains about my cooking and is a peacemaker during the board game. Some people are not as kind to the girls and a little more competitive- but I won't mention the name Kevin and give him away.

Finally, my students baby/flour project ended Friday. The funniest thing was one girl who did a powerpoint of her baby. For her project she was married to some soccer star, so she cut and pasted her face and her "baby" into a bunch of different pictures with the guy and into different situations.....SO funny to see this flour sack with a t-shirt in varying scenes. Here is the one that it was being baptized:

I wish I would have taken more photos of the slides she did- really fun.

I am off to make my own power points now for the week- just have to decide if I want to tackle the integumentary system or the muscular. This is one of those lesser of two evils situations....

OK......

Give me one more day- I swear I will blog tomorrow....... :)

Blogless night.....

Sorry, I am DONE for tonight!

The girls and Kevin are off tomorrow- but some of us have to work! Ug.

Anyway, will re-attempt some sort of something interesting in the vicinity of a blog tomorrow...... :)

A Few Things...

First I wanted to put up this super sweet picture of Paul...... I have the huge privilege of being his Godmother! My friend Sue (from Dahlgren) is his mom. I know I told most of you when I was home in the summer about him, but I have been wanting to put up a picture of him (course would have done it much earlier but had to first ask Sue's permission- which leaves me still way behind because I asked permission months ago). Sue and her whole family have been the hugest blessing to us. The girls could never get enough play time with Sam, Nate and Megan. Of course I had the most fun because little Maddie would sometimes come play at my house with me- really so cute. Anyway- we miss them..... but there is a sincere hope going around for both them and us getting orders together for Rhode Island in 2011- Newport or bust!

Second on the list- I walked past Aggie's food area and noticed something different..... look closely, there is a paper taped to the counter above her.....
Wonder what it says....
Maddie found this cartoon and cut it out so she could hang it up for Aggie. Really touched me that she would think of Aggie. Also loved that later I could hear her talking to Aggie- reading it to her!

My other daughter's cute move of the week came in the form of a letter left on my pillow last night. A well decorated envelope, with a letter and a card in it. The card was a peace dove, and the letter said " I love you mommy, I don't know anyone like you!" Tears to my eyes....

Lastly wanted to give you an update on my class's baby/flour sack project-
They are doing really well with it, kinda grown attached to their "babies". Surprisingly even the boys are into it! Friday is the last day- not sure they are anxious to end it.......

Its chilly outside?

Funny how your perception of what "cold" is changes here.

I find myself wearing jeans more and more, and reaching for a hoodie as I go out the door. Everyday here it reaches high 80's easily with 100% humidity. This 79 degrees you see above was taken at 8pm on a cooler evening- I was bundled up with long pants and a sweatshirt while outside watching the kids swim. I remember when 79 was comfortable- who knew a few months on a tropical island would change my perspective so much :0

"I need a longer weekend."

This quote from Maddie sums up all our feelings.

Sunday was good. At church this morning our friend Mike Thornton spoke about his experiences in Haiti. He did some engineering work there, and his first son is also adopted from there so his wife and he have a real heart for it. FYI if anyone is interested in donating I can get some links for you through him. After church the girl's babysitter- Sara- was being baptized so we stayed for that. Sara was very excited. A really nice girl, and REALLY lucky that we found her for any babysitting needs. All this put us a little behind as the girls were scheduled to see Princess and the Frog with Kevin while I came home to do school work (ugh)- made it just on time to meet him at the theater.

I was home working on my five-thousandth slide for my five-hundredth million powerpoint- when I heard the door open and deep wracking sobs. Maddie comes in the the living room, sobbing so hard I couldn't understand what she was saying- throwing herself across me still sobbing. Now anyone else and I might have worried, but I know my Maddie and I know it takes her quite some time to get over movies that she found disturbing.......

(*Spoiler alert here*)

Apparently the firefly died.

Squished under a boot-died.

I am sure it was the injustice of it all, and the loss of life. Of course he did become a star- but that was no consolation. She got over it after a while, but I am sure I will hear about it at bedtime.

I mean seriously- who cries at cartoon movies?

Well, I guess that would be me- everything from Disney to as recent as Avatar, I am an easy mark..... good thing I had so many power points to do...

Coach Lewis

This is a picture of Coach Lewis from the 1 K swim awhile ago so you can remember what he looks like (didn't want to take a new picture of him for the blog cause that just makes me seem- I don't know..... stalker-ish).

Such a cutie, really nice coach for the girls. SO patient, and you can really see their strokes are coming along. He is always in the water with them making sure the swimmers strokes are effective. Very playful with them....today he was chasing behind them with the pool skimmer saying "oy, go faster or I scoop your feet".

Anyway, wanted to give you a quick quote from practice today:

As Maddie is on the block going to dive, he says "Grab with your fingers (sounds more like "grob weet you feengers" so Maddie reaches further over with her hands- and he says "no your other fingers". Meaning of course- her toes.

Really just adds to the cuteness of him- when he misspeaks.

He tries so hard to be sure the girls understand him, so you can't really fault him. What he doesn't have in english skills he makes up for in effort. All part of the charm that is the girls swim team. Great swimming, and great cultural experience wrapped into one.

Discovery.

Ellie has a temper.

Didn't really know this before. I mean, she has had her moments of disagreeing with me, or being frustrated when things aren't going her way- but a temper? Really never seen it.

Well the last couple of weeks she has been a bit ornery. A little quicker to be angry with her sister, more likely to say "no" to me, and a little slower to do what she is told. Well it all came to a head tonight. Full blown screaming at the top of her lungs, angry, yelling "No, I will not!" and various other versions of the same. Spent a lot of time in her room tonight....... some of it stomping, some of it crying, and some stuffed animal throwing I am sure by the looks of it when she came out. It was all bad enough that Maddie actually looked up from her book long enough to say "What's up with her?"

Ellie settled down eventually and did what she was told, apologized for the whole thing. But let me tell you, if this is a new trend...... I am moving out.

On another note, wanted to show you this picture. It is a carrier a student of mine made for her "baby" aka "sack of flour".

You can hardly tell by the picture but it is her "baby" in the carrier with a bonnet on its head, a pacifier, a teddy and diaper changing kit all in there. If you look closely you even see a saint/cross pin on it- something they all do here to keep their babies and pregnant ladies safe from the Tataomona (sp?) which is like bad spirits I think.

We are doing infant care this week so their project right now is to keep a sack of flour/sugar/rice/whatever alive for a week. They have to calculate out financial needs, research safety needs etc. They are all getting their babies tomorrow, but this girl was so excited she started today. I am supplying some of them with their newborns- so was happy to find corn flour on sale for 10 cents a sack! Can't beat that, their moms can do some baking when the week is over.

Ahh Wednesdays.....

Quickly becoming one of my favorite days.

Its halfway through the week, there is no swimming on Wednesdays, we can have supper later and it always feels like Friday is right around the corner...... a good day!

The girls are less cranky on Wednesdays. They aren't rushed to do their homework, lots of reading time and even enough time for a round of Zeus on the Loose, fun game! All this adds up to a seriously good day.

Not much new to report. Ellie lost a tooth yesterday and was quite pleased with this. Maddie handed in a Martin Luther King report that her teacher said was really good- so much so that she read it to the class. Both girls have an evacuation drill tomorrow for school, so I am sending them with a bottle of water and a hat for the long walk to the recreation center. Maddie is a bit anxious (she gets that way for these drills) but Ellie is excited because apparently they are getting a ride back to the school on a bus.

The weather has improved some today- still windy but less rain. It seriously felt typhoon-ish yesterday! I hear the weather in Canada is a bit milder, and that the temperatures aren't bad in the south for the Gillams and the snowbirds in Florida and South Carolina either.

I hope you are reading this from the comfort of your living room Barb- hopefully no more lobbying for you!

Oy

First day back after the holiday weekend. SO nice having the extra day.

The girls had dental appointments this morning- Kevin took them to it. Their teeth are still great- no cavities and fingers crossed for no braces.

Funny how things are sometimes now, with me working Kevin is having to deal with kid stuff he would have avoided before.......odd to see him taking time off work for it- I am sure equally odd feeling to him as well. His secretary has made me going back to work so much easier than it could be. At this point I just email her if there is something Kevin needs to do for the girls and she is all over it- great system!

Because of all this kid stuff we were trading cars back and forth- and allegedly its my fault the battery was dead in his car when he got back to it- allegedly... the jury is still out. I am not willing to accept full blame, I mean if his car can't find its way to turning off its own lights- when they are supposedly automatic lights- well then I just can't help that.

Either way, I came home to a very frustrated husband. I knew this because of all the glaring. Of course, things got worse when he discovered there was no more of his brewed iced-tea.... now that I will take blame for- hey, I was thirsty!

Lots of wind and rain tonight- nice to be tucked inside with that going on outside. Something about tropical winds, very menacing. The girls swam well tonight- Maddie has been moved up a lane and seems very proud of this. Both girls are up to 2 hour practices now. Their strokes are looking nice. Between that and school going smoothly- honestly maybe I should knock on wood.....

I am caught up on my school work- so as a reward (don't judge me) I am re-reading the third Twilight book. What can I say, its an illness. I think I heard Julie is re-reading it as well, nice to have a friend with the same issues :)

And I am happy to report Kevin has found a college basketball game, brewed himself some iced-tea so he is smiling again - for anyone that was worried!

Spanish Steps- revisited

Great pictures from their outing today!

First one is a stone fish- apparently poisonous.... from what I heard, Kevin was poking it with a piece of coral.

They had a great time.

The word for today from Madison was "spelunking". She walked through the door after their hike saying "Momma, I went spelunking." And then proceeded to repeat that several times, describing the cave that they went in and through. I think part of her repetition was because she was looking for me to react- she knew if mom was there, the spelunking would have been left out of the program- not big on walking into unknown caves. Her reward for this adventure was great memories and ten thousand mosquito bites- but happy, nonetheless.

Enough already....

I am done slacking. Sorry, really needed some down time- and frankly I am still not caught up. Special sorry to everyone who COMPLAINED that I haven't been blogging.....geesh can't catch a break without hearing about it..... :)

Well since I have been gone, Kevin has turned 40. We kept it really low key (mostly because he didn't really want to acknowledge the 40 part). There were gifts, and homemade cupcakes.... not made by me.....thats why they were really yummy.

A present that he asked for was a dinner/movie date. I would like to say it was because he wanted to spend time with me, but the real motive was Avatar. So yesterday we got a babysitter..... the sweatshirts you see are because the movie theater is always guaranteed to be sub-zero.

Avatar was not my choice but turned out to be a really good movie- if you don't mind a little motion sickness. The 3-D movie was amazing but honestly turned my stomach. Of course it didn't make me sick enough that I didn't eat well at Outback Steakhouse. It is so funny to me every time we go to that side of the island- driving from poverty straight into sin city. Tumon Bay is like driving down Rodeo Drive- all really high class stores and huge hotels (some massage parlors....) the only difference is here its all Japanese tourists crowding the street. But its worth driving through to get to Outback..... a recognizable restaurant! Here is Kevin with his blooming onion...

So I think he had a nice birthday- thanks to everyone for the cards and birthday wishes- Ann and Gene, he was VERY happy with the video game..... hasn't stopped playing it in his free time, apparently its a good one!

And since I have been so lazy of late- you guys will have two blogs today..... Kevin Maddie are headed out to Spanish Steps for the next couple of hours while I do homework and Ellie entertains herself. They are sure to have some great underwater pictures and I will post them tonight.

Again, sorry for the long break. Missed you guys!

Stay patient with me please!

I am sorry for the sparse writings this week.... my time seems too short! We are starting a new block at Southern High, so I have a whole new course I am starting with a ton of students that I wasn't expecting. So for this week I will write when I can but it won't be much.

All is well here, the girls are fine and Kevin is gearing up for his 40th, yikes!

Here is a picture to amuse you. Ellie chose it as our "retro" photo of the night. It was taken last summer:

Ellie and her buddy, Harley

Too cute. Already looking forward to next summer and being home...

All about Julie.....

No, not my BFF Julie..... Julie the American Girl Doll!

Ellie is all about her right now. Got her for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Gillam- and the bike from them for her birthday (Ann, she opened it today- wish you could have seen her). Grandma Sue sent the Julie mystery book which Ellie read in a day and a half, right after she devoured the book that came with the doll.

Here is the part that kills me...... American Girl makes historical fiction dolls. Julie is from WAY back in history- the 1970's! So this historical doll, Julie, has a banana seat bike- like I had, she loves the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family- like I did, has a record player and tape recorder (to tape Casey Kasem's top 20 of course)- like I did, and the clincher......roller skates. So its official, we '70 kids are now old..... and yes, apparently "historical".

I think a strongly worded letter is in order....

The important thing here is how much Ellie is loving the '70's. At least it all seems to be historically accurate :)

Really quick....

....I will apologize for the lack of post yesterday and for the short one tonight. It is Sunday night- and I have so much to do and so little done! We have been running around all weekend, the good part of that is we have seen a fair amount of the Thorntons which is really so nice as we love our time with them and they are leaving Tuesday, so they will be heartily missed by us.

I don't have any pictures from our pool time with them today because Kevin has been "fixing" my computer lately and I have been losing many pictures including Ellie's birthday ones- and no, I am not happy.

So I will hope to have more blogging time tomorrow night- I will however for your amusement throw in a random picture:

This pack of wild pigs were on base near housing. We saw them on the way home from grocery shopping a few weeks back. Hilarious- and so cute! When we pulled to the side of the road all the babies looked our way and the mother stood tense ready to bolt into the bushes. I would have loved to have gotten out of the car to go pet one, but the mom would probably frown upon that.....no tusks on her but I am sure she can be feisty.

One more thing- Sheldon has become the center of the Staples existence- so well loved by all the Welland Staples .... including Barb and Ross from what I hear! I am sure he will be spoiled rotten by spring. But look at that face? How can you not adore him. Thanks Barb for taking the pictures that Micki sent.... made my day :)

Its all about me...

Just sent off two crying girls. Kevin is taking them swimming tonight so I can have an evening out. They really don't like any change-ups in their routine. The best statement I had was "you are way better at taking us to swimming than Dad".... what does that even mean?

Going with my friend Melda to dinner and a movie before she leaves island again. I am thinking Ruby Tuesdays. They have a great salad bar (and Julie's favorite mini-burgers :) and Melda has been eating A LOT of salad since she has been here. She is actually worse about meat than I am, so she has been avoiding any meat that she can't trace its origin. And really, all the meat here has a foreign look to it so I can't blame her. I must be partially over my meat issues as when we were at the Polynesian show, Melda looked like she was nauseated at the smell of it cooking, and I was eating like a crazy carnivore.

After dinner we are going to see New Moon from the Twilight Saga..... I read all 4 books over the holidays and got Melda into them too. Julie read them at the same time as me and we had some fun emailing back and forth about the drama of it all- I started reading it because Maddie wanted to read them, so I figured I would check them out to see how old she would have to be before I would say yes. Next thing I knew I was obsessively reading the first 3, and panicked when I couldn't find the 4th anywhere on the island! I ended up downloading it to my iphone and reading it that way. Desperate times....

Julie and I decided Maddie will have to be 20 before she can read them...... its too relationship-y for her!

I will let you know if the movie stands up to the book- I hope the girls recover from their obvious abandonment issues..... I can't believe I lost mother of the year again....

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Ellie had a really nice birthday. She was so excited from the minute she woke up straight through until bedtime. Thanks so much for all the gifts and well wishes- Ann, your birthday package arrived with perfect timing, and Ellie loved all the fun things in it- she really was touched by the bear items. Dad and Esther, she loved her happy birthday song- played it twice! Also was saying how much she loves the new birthday shopping tradition with Bubbie. Grandma Sue and Grandma with the Angels- your cards are well received..... I see some spending in her future! Julie, she loved the e-card, so thoughtful- she was glad it was from Buster too. And thanks to Aunt Michele for the present and the facebook birthday wishes. The child is sincerely blessed to have each of you in her life.

We went to the Polynesian Show with the Thorntons for her birthday dinner. She LOVED it. Great show and fun cooking your own food...though I always have a hard time with that concept-if I am paying good money there should be someone cooking for me.... just sayin'.

Everyone had a great time.....especially Kevin who got pulled up to dance with the grass skirt girls-

...funny how he didn't miss a beat....

So a really happy birthday to Ellie, and I'm really grateful to everyone who made it special for her......love you guys :)

Too tired....

Its kinda like when you don't go work-out for awhile and then when you finally get back to the gym you feel like you are gonna die. Going back to work today was a little like that- except there were no treadmills involved.

We all survived it- once again, Ellie better than the rest of us. Maddie is still mopey but I will give her credit- made it through without a major fit. She is still teary tonight at the thought of having to go back again tomorrow...... kinda know how she feels....

We went across island to go see the Thorntons after school. Really going to miss them being here, the kids have loved it. They only have one week left before they head back to California.

Here is a picture from our "boonie stomp" with them last weekend:

Gotta run, Sunday night football is on.....and yes, it is Monday....

All good things....

None of us (except Ellie) want to be done our Christmas vacation- but here it is, the end.

Kevin and I are dragging, Maddie is curled up in the fetal position under the dining room table sobbing gently and Ellie is dancing a fling.....I swear nothing phases that girl.

The girls went with Kevin today to see the Fantastic Mr Fox- its a Roald Dahl book done in a movie- they really loved it. I went in search of birthday presents for Ellie, with really no luck. Actually went to the northern part of the island to give the mall a second chance. Oy. Seriously. Many things are hard to find here, but looking for books on this island is impossible. There is the one book store- and they carry what they carry. Beyond that Amazon.com becomes your best friend.

Our Christmas tree is still up, and I suppose it will be through next weekend. I was told today that you shouldn't take it down before Jan. 6th anyway because that is 3 Kings day- so see, I'm not lazy- I just have a healthy respect for 3 Kings Day.

Hope all of you finish up your holidays with a little more enthusiasm than we have going here.

I suddenly feel like 2010 is about to really kick in....

New Years Day.

We did so little today that I almost feel guilty. Stayed home and enjoyed the after-Christmas-New Years-rush peaceful feeling that only comes from snacking on leftovers all day, kids playing with Christmas toys, and reading a good book (I am so almost caught up to you Julie!) The girls are loving their new toys- again, thanks to all.

Ann and Gene- Maddie finished all the books you sent within two days of Christmas AND has used some of her Christmas money to buy the next in the one series and is done that one also. She will be tackling Sherlock Holmes next, that should slow her down.

Ellie is enjoying her Julie doll and is reading the book that comes with her. Madison called her a "hippie" and it seems to have stuck- Kevin was trying to explain what a hippie was....started getting into the "free love" explanation and I cut him off....I mean really?

The plan is hitting a water park with the Thorntons tomorrow as a pre-birthday day for Ellie. Her actual birthday isn't until next Wednesday, but thankfully we are doing fun things this year instead of a kid-party. I won't miss it, I promise.