And they're off...

I dropped Sam, Maddie and Ellie off at the airport this morning. They were all in good spirits although Ellie asked within the first five minutes of the car ride "how far is the airport?" The ride is only 30 minutes, but hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come for Sam over the next 22 hours...

-Kevin

We are ready!

Ellie went to swim practice, Maddy came with me to church (I taught sunday school, she went to her class) and we all met up at Cold Stone Ice Creamery. The girls were given free ice cream with their Outstanding Swimmer awards- so we celebrated their achievement and our last day on Guam (for awhile) at the same time!

The girls are SO excited to be taking off tomorrow. You can tell by the amount of horseplay going on here tonight. Its also obvious by the amount of hugs and "I love you's" that I got today. You would think I wasn't going with them. Totally looking forward to going- not looking forward to 22 hours travel. FYI for whoever is picking us up.....its not going to be pretty!

We will miss being with Kevin and Aggie- the girls will miss being at swim team (Coach Toshi said in an email that he is sad to not be seeing the girls for a long time)- and they will miss the Thorntons coming on island (we will be so happy to see them when we get back!). Other than that, summer in Canada is sounding great to us!

So this is it for me for awhile. I may post once or twice from Canada, and of course there is Kevin who will be keeping you up to date (he insisted I leave my camera!) so check in here every once in a while.

Have a great summer, chat with you first week of August!

:) sam

OOG

Yes that right, another addition to the OOG (only on Guam) news file......

If you look closely you will see on the deck between lane 6 and 7 a fair sized crab trying to get in on the swim meet today...... the funny part was trying to keep him out of the pool for the swimmers who were in there doing a 1500m swim. Having a crab land on you mid-race would be really disturbing..... OOG

After the swim meet, the girls and I headed to the salon. I got my hair all ready for Canada and they got their nails done- such pampering!

The unfortunate part is that some of their sparkles had fallen off by the time they got home...... at least they had fun with the process. Though Ellie I think is a little relieved as she was thinking that her nails would be ruined at swim practice tomorrow- this way with them partially ruined it takes the pressure off. The irritating part for me was that I paid for "fall apart in two hours" nails! Does that come under the OOG category?

The end....

End of school for the girls.

End of elementary school for Maddie.

End of Southern High for me.

End of employment with Guam Community College too.

End of Tsunami swim practices until after summer.

Huge day for all of us. I think it hit Ellie the hardest. She did a lot of crying after school and during swim practice (hard to explain to the Japanese coach why their swimmer is crying while she is swimming....). Maddy is handling it all well........ some relief to be done 5th grade and some excitement to be getting back to Canada. The only hesitation for Maddy was leaving practice tonight.

I don't have as much relief as I thought I would. I checked out of both schools (Southern High and GCC) handing in keys getting my last paycheck and such, so I am completely jobless for the moment. Its a weight off my shoulders, but I kinda miss it already.....

Busy weekend ahead getting ready for our trip.

Just a heads up. I won't be blogging over the summer, but the good news it Kevin has said he wants me to leave my camera so he can blog! It won't be daily I am sure but I think you can probably count on once a week? That'll be a nice treat for you guys for the summer time!

So expect two more blogs from me then a whole summer with Kevin! It'll give him something to do, he gets so bored without the girls and I home..... ya right :)

In honor of my last day of teaching.....

I am taking the night off! Yay me! Can't believe I made it.....

Madison

I just had to blog this acrostic Madison wrote , it was just so "Maddy":

M Makes origami swans

A and jumping frogs.

D Dogs are her favorite especially

I Italian greyhounds

S She wants to be a dog trainer and Greek mythology professor.

O Only reads the books she chooses for herself.

N Never stops reading.

A Always happy and would

N never kill a living thing,

N not on purpose anyway.

G Going outside, I look for bugs.

I I love to act and I

L love Tsunami (my swim team).

L Louis is the name of my coach

A and Ijima is the other one(we just call him Coach Toshi).

M my life rocks!

Just loved this. Represents her so well, and is really so positive..... did my heart good to read this and get a glimpse at how she sees herself- she seems happy right? :)

Late swim night....

....and 55 final exams to grade so I am skipping out on blogging. The good news is only two days of teaching left :) so I shouldn't be doing any "non-blogging" nights the rest of the week!

Ode to Monday....

Ok, not an ode- more of an "oy".

Nice to be back at school and seeing all my students- some of them even missed me! Started exams today....... I will be SO glad when these last five days are over.

I think the girls have the same kind of thoughts about their school, except there are some feelings of nostalgia......Maddy said "Mom, can I have a Lunchable to take for Friday lunch- for my last day of grade 5?" That was the first time I thought about the fact that Maddy starts a whole new era next year- middle school. I am sure she is ready...... I'm not.

Countdown is on. One week from today we are headed home....... I just have to survive 4 days of school and 6 days of two girls who are over-the-top hyped.

Wish me luck.

So much to blog....

Left on Thursday for Saipan- small island (yes, smaller than Guam...) about a 40 minute flight north of here. Its half the size of Guam, and has one main road. Anytime we had asked where something was we were told "you can't get lost on Saipan"..... well we managed to come pretty close to losing our way right out of the airport- but we pulled out the "map" (mostly advertisements and cartoon points of interest on it) and found our way back to the one road on Saipan.

Spent our first hours there touring the north side of the island. Gotta say- Kevin for some reason loved this place. He kept saying "Saipan is way better than Guam" or "see the foliage, its better than Guam's" or even "the ocean is better here...." Frankly I found it to be a small and a bit sadder version of Guam. Looked like more poverty, poorer schools, less stores- and the biggest discussion of the weekend was- is it cooler or hotter on Saipan than on Guam?..... I lost the opinion poll as I contended that Saipan was way hotter...... must be that is just felt that way because statistics show its not. But man it sure felt WAY hotter.....

The ocean there really was beautiful.

Here are some photos of the north side of Saipan. There was a cliff that is called "Bonzai" and its historical significance has something to do with a bunch of Japanese soldiers and Chamorros jumping off in WWII instead of surrendering to the Americans....... Maddy's profound words - "well thats just wrong!" Horrible history, but a nice overlook:

Further north was the "Grotto". It was an inlet surrounded by rock where the ocean comes rushing in through a cave. Really neat, and supposedly a great diving/snorkeling spot. We had thought we could swim there, but when we arrived the signs said swimming wasn't allowed- too much undertow, and really once you see it you understand why:

....lots of rocks and the water really washes in and pulls out quickly. Looked dangerous to me, but Kevin and the girls figured they could have done it if the "safety mom" (as Ellie has taken to calling me) wasn't there.

After touring around the 12.5 mile length of the island, we headed to the hotel and spent the rest of the day and most of the next at its water park.
WAY too much sun time over the weekend- went through a whole container of sunscreen and still had some pink faces on the girls. But a really great time at the water park and hotel.

Late afternoon Friday we moved over to a different hotel which was next to the pool where the swim meet was. Also a nice hotel- great big room with three beds, the girls were in their glory not having to share.

Saturday was the swim meet. Not many best times- though Maddy has an unconfirmed B time in her 50 breast.... we don't have the results back and frankly may not anytime soon- while we were there they posted the results from the meet they had on April 5th.......

Nonetheless the girls had a great time and got to socialize with Tsunami Saipan- our "sister" team. Also got to swim in a salt water pool- the algae covered walls were an added bonus. Maddy is sticking to her claim that her backstroke time was so bad because her feet slid off the green wall on her start and turn.... Kevin was saying how far I have come. He says a few months ago I wouldn't have had our kids swimming in this poor of a facility and now I don't even bat an eye at our girls slipping on algae...... he has a point.....

Algae and incredible heat didn't stop them from having a great time.

The funniest part was flying back to Guam, seeing it from overhead it looked so huge to me after leaving Saipan..... can't wait to see how huge Canada looks to me next week :)

Bringing us to Sunday. The year end swim party was today. Both girls received outstanding swimmer awards from Coach Toshi. This is a huge honor and speaks to how much effort they are putting in..... this is not one of those teams where everyone gets an award just because they are signed up- its really an earned thing on Japanese teams. I am so proud of both of them!
I told Coach Toshi he needs to smile in pictures, he told me traditional Japanese men don't smile for photos. When I took this picture I tried to have him smile- the funny part is, he broke out in a huge smile right after..... he didn't smile for the team photos I took recently either:

One last cool thing:
The US Navy hospital ship- the Mercy, is in our port here on base. Love the idea of a floating, portable hospital. I think this is the one that recently was in Haiti. Just wanted you guys to be able to see a picture!

There, done the longest blog ever! Sorry to squeeze so much into one blog but I was a few days behind......

Just back from Saipan- will blog it all tomorrow!

SOOOOO many papers to grade.......

Busy Times

Aggie update......

Brief Aggie photos first- above you see her pretty hair cut.
Here is a photo of her barking- sounds a lot like Chewbacca.
Here is a close-up of her scar (look upper-right neck). This was last week so it looks better now

On to recent news:

Feeling much better today- although you wouldn't know from the sound of my voice..... my students loved that I couldn't yell :)

Yesterday (Sunday) was pretty busy. I was teaching Sunday school, but had gone to the church with the hopes of someone taking over for me (remember I was feeling worse over the weekend) so I sent the girls with Kevin to swim practice thinking I wouldn't stay for church. There wasn't any available coverage so I stayed to teach- which I am glad I did, I love being in with the kids and I didn't feel too sick when I was done- it all ended well.

We all made it home lunch time-ish. The girls had projects to get done, so we set one up on each computer.

Ellie had decided that daddy was going to be her helper for her present project on the endangered grizzly bear. So Kevin set himself up next to Ellie to help - you'll note with his feet up and drink and book in hand....

Though by the end of the written part of the project he could be found here:

Mommy was the finisher-helper for this project.

Maddie's project was to get a picture of a painting, and write a paragraph about the artist and the painting.

She was given one that we couldn't identify (seriously, mass google searches and still came up with nothing....) Maddy decided to pick one of her favorites- Pati Bannister (takes after Grandma Gillam :). I forget the exact one she chose, but it was of a pretty dark haired girl- oh I remember, its "Soiree". She first wanted to do the picture that she remembers hanging in the room she sleeps in at Grandma Gillam's house, but there were too many girls in that painting to fit the parameters of the project. She really had a great time searching out the Pati Bannisters.

Internet wonky..... again!

B Time Baby!

Congratulations to Ellie who scored her first B time in the swim meet today. Oddly enough it was in the 50 breast (not traditionally her best stroke)- she took off five seconds. Ellie came in third in three events and second in one. Overall was third for points in her age group. Very proud of her.

Maddy swam her 4 events, not knocking off any major time in any of them, but not adding much either. She pretty much stayed the course.

Meet in Saipan next weekend, should be fun!

I played hooky from swim practice tonight. I am still not feeling 100% and timing at a swim meet in the hot sun all day didn't help, so I stayed home sick and let Kevin take the girls. Honestly, I forgot how great it feels to do absolutely nothing for a while- on the couch with a blanket.

Quick update on Aggie. I took her for a "walk" before I curled up on the couch- it was still hot out at 5pm but I figured she would be ok. Gotta say she was panting by the time we got back..... but at least she was panting! Her overheating problem before was from not being able to pant. Really, this surgery has erased years from her, she runs now and loves playing. When she gets excited she "jumps"..... she is so proud of herself when she is doing this "jumping" that we don't have the heart to tell her that really she is only hopping a half inch off the floor..... and its only her front paws.

Love that I can report on how well Aggie is doing, it could have been so much worse.

Hi!

Sorry for the long delay.

The computer seems to be behaving itself.... for now. I think Kevin is looking into some new thing-a-ma-giggy to fix it. That is my efficient computer language at use.

All is well here- except for my head cold. Seriously, who gets a cold on a tropical island?

Career day today at my school- went well. Lots of work but I hope well worth it. Kevin was one of the presenters along with Mike Thornton. I think they did well, and it wasn't too painful. I had a lot of students stopping me to tell me they had seen my husband- turned into a kinda "where's waldo" thing.

Ellie had a field trip to an ancient Chamorro village- really enjoyed herself. Maddy is excited to be winding down with school. Their unofficial last day of learning is May 19th- its all gravy after that.

Looking forward to B Championship tomorrow- its an all day swim meet- oy.

I am sure I will have pictures tomorrow...... :)

Internet is being wonky- I'll try again tomorrow....

So Proud

Maddy made the Principal's list- 4.0!

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that I know. Every one of you has helped me to learn to be a better mother to my two girls, and I am grateful to you for it.....

...all the crazy mothering stuff that I do- well that just comes from me :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday in pictures....part II

Yes I know I have done a "Saturday in Pictures" before- so consider this a sequel:

Started out swimming at Leo Palace.

After swimming- went on to eat lunch at the marina just down the road from us.

Then Maddy and Kevin went off to the exchange to pick up a quick, last minute, day before Mother's Day gift- really, doesn't matter when they are thoughtful, just so that they are :)

.....you know he is dying to get that people magazine- he'll have to wait until the summer, then he can read Greg's weekly subscription.

They came home from the exchange with great news! Ok, so you would have though it was great news as excited as Kevin was. There was a Wii bowling competition for couples going on at the exchange! His plan was to have he and I practice a few frames and then go back and blow the top score out of the water. Can't say that I was as enthused, but being a good wife I practiced. Our practice rounds went well, but didn't translate to competition time. We choked.

I'll be turning in my Wii bowling federation card next week.

Really makes you question how you spend your weekends......

9 teachable days left

3 exam days

1 career day

23 days to Canada :)

Mother's Day Tea

So nice to be able to make it to Ellie's Mother's Day Tea at school. Now just so you know, the greenery on my head that Ellie made for me looked way less weird since all the other mothers were wearing one too....... its ok, I was having a bad hair day anyway.

Thinking back to the year that Ann was with us for a Mothers Day Tea- preschool for Ellie..... Hard to believe Ellie has gotten so old, and really so sweet. We had a classmate of hers sitting with us since her mom couldn't make it, and Ellie was sure to be extra nice to her. Made me all the more grateful that I can leave my class for an hour or two if necessary.

So grateful for both my girls.....

D.A.R.E

Maddy graduated from the 10 week DARE program today- a program training 5th graders to be against using drugs and alcohol. I took one of my "parental leave" hours to go, nice to still feel like I am being supportive of the kids while working.

Honor roll is on Monday for Maddy, and Kevin will be attending that. I just couldn't take another class off, seeing how I will be taking a class off again tomorrow for a Mother's Day Tea with Ellie's class..... good thing its the end of the school year for my students! Seniors only have 9 more days- but really, they are mentally checked out already.

Nice to be there for Maddy's school stuff :)

Grading Digestive System Tests Tonight!!!!!!!

Barking Mad!

Quick update- Aggie has a bark!

She was frustrated at something tonight, and came out with a full blown (ok, kinda half-a-blown) bark. It was nice to hear...... the first time.......then when it went on too long it was a reminder of why I wasn't missing the bark.....

Seriously, so glad she still has the ability. And really, it doesn't sound too bad :)

All booked and ready to go for the summer (huge thanks to the Thorntons for caring for our little barker while Kevin is in Canada).

We are now adding in a quick trip to Saipan for a swim meet a couple of weekends from now. We are going to go a day early just to hang out- Saipan by the way is a local island, 50min flight away. We have been told that you might as well drive over to the village of Agat here on Guam, cause really- not much difference. But this way we check it off our list of "things to do while on Guam".......Saipan- check!

This meet gives the girls a chance to get a BB time before the Guam Championships- not too likely, but would be a nice surprise. Either way, it'll be neat going to a swim competition in a "foreign" place. I think there is a meet they may go to next year in Japan- that would be different!

Anyway- nothing else new. Consider yourself updated :)

Happy Birthday Paul!

Wanted to wish Paul (the little guy in the middle) a very happy 1st birthday! And a big "HI" to all the Williams children. We really miss you guys! Still hoping for Rhode Island......

All is the same here- Aggie is getting better and better everyday, this morning she was playing, running around- hacking sometimes like a little old lady, but in general breathing really well. Her fur is growing back in and I think very itchy as she is scratching at her shaved side a lot.

Maddy and Ellie (and me too :) are counting down the days now- so excited to get home to Canada. I only have 14 teaching days and 3 exam days left!

Also have to add here that we are getting SO excited about the Thorntons moving here. It'll be a great way to convince Maddie and Ellie to come back to Guam at the end of this summer. Ellie and Zion could even possibly be in the same class together next year! In the military life of moving every two years, its not often that you get to be together with a family that you adore more than once. Guess we are just greedy because we are really happy to have the Thorntons back- 'course then we're hoping to be in Rhode Island with the Williams after this....... if that is greedy then I'll accept it if means being with out friends :)

Sunday

This was Kevin today. The guy in the apron on the far right. As part of this whole promotional weekend - all the entertainers and such - they were filming a cooking show live with a local chef and wanted Kevin and his boss to cook with him.

Gotta say you know you are on Guam when what you would normally consider average entertainment becomes wildly exciting. We went last night to see AGAIN the same performers that the girls had seen at school, that we saw at the dinner Friday night, that we saw yesterday outside the exchange....... though to clarify, the "Sideswipe" guys were way above average. Totally entertaining and talented (Maddy just added "and cute!"). Here is another video clip (very bad video clip just to give you an idea, the beginning of this is best- again sorry, IPhone in a dark theater doesn't equal great videography). But seriously, their show was funny and so amazing what they can do!

Sorry for not blogging last night. I spent the night on the computer booking flights and hotels.....finally got it all sorted out at about 11:30pm. The girls and I are booked, leaving here May 31st for Canada (get ready for coffee Barb!). I was so relieved all day today to have it done- flights set up for coming back Aug 2nd and having a day in Hawaii before we continue on to Guam. Then this evening, Kevin comes up with "I think I want to go too".....back to the drawing board for all the bookings....... oy.

SORRY!!!!!!!!!

SO preoccupied tonight........I will update you tomorrow :)