Ya- I am off again...... Sorry :(

First Day of School

It went well!

Both girls really positive about their classes, their teachers and their classmates. Maddie had some tears going in, but it was truly short lived. Two minutes of crying just on the way into homeroom- unfortunate timing as thats really when you want to be at your best, but there it is......the tears stopped instantly once she was in the room and with her friends.

Ellie got right into her class- backpack up and sat down...... only a brief look on her face of minor panic-then chatted to the girl next to her and she was fine- piece of cake!

Maddie says she loves her middle school schedule of changing classes and having a variety of teachers. Ellie thought her teacher "had a really positive attitude" and a nice smile :)
I am sure the new "kicks" along with the fun socks we found out in town had a huge role in making the first day awesome.

Glad that the day ended with all positives... happy girls in a new school year!

Day one down- 179 to go....

Spanish steps revisited- in pictures.....lots of pictures!

Hiked to Spanish Steps with the Thorntons on Saturday..... can I just say I need to get back in the gym cause my legs are hurtin' today! Just so I don't look too bad, remember- its a straight up the cliff kinda hike. Ok, you are right, still need to get back to the gym......

A lot of these photos are courtesy of our Maddie!

Like this cute one of Zion!
And Mr Thornton with a crab.
Of course there is me......

......and Mrs Thornton.

Now this Zion and Ellie one, I'm pretty sure I took.

Later on Saturday we went to the school to check out new teacher names for the girls. Yep, thats right- first day of school tomorrow!
Here is Ellie looking for her name......
.....and here is the happy dance that followed because she got the first floor classroom that she wanted.

The sad news...... not in Zion's class. But she was happy to see that a lot of her friends from last year are in his class so they will be there to help Zion in a new school. She doesn't really know anyone in her own classroom- but she is always fine in new situations, plus she has lunch and recess with Zion and her friends. Something I thought was pretty neat- her teacher called today to talk to Ellie, and to see if she had any questions about her new school year. Really, how nice is that? Ellie is overall really excited about her first day!

..... then we have Maddie......
Its been a rough last five days, with a lot of crying. Today we got past the all out bawling and moved into silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Reading as usual is her escape- downloaded "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" onto Kevin's itouch for her tonight...... someone let me know if it is age appropriate would you? Kevin said it was fine, but really..... he and I have different levels of "fine" where Maddie's reading content is concerned. Anyway, that distracted her enough to stop the tears. Feeling so bad for my girl......

I am sure to have first day of school photos for tomorrow nights blog- and hopefully happy reports from the girls on their first day.

SOOO Sorry- great stuff for tomorrows blog, but way tired tonight :)

One last hoorah.....

One last day of having a man-servant in the house.

Supper was cooked, laundry was done- and with me totally taking advantage of the situation, he is taking the kids to swimming so I can be home........ mourning the loss of my stay-at-home-husband :(

Guam definitely has the market cornered on massive downpours. You would not believe the amount of rain that can fall in a matter of minutes here. Maddie said today "good thing its Guam and it'll stop in 8 minutes". The bummer is that after two of those 8 min you are completely soaked so it might as well rain all day- cause really, there aren't that many variations on being "soaked". You either are or you aren't. And chances are on Guam, you are.

These two pictures by the way were taken out my front windshield...... great visibility eh?

The girls have completely come to terms with playing in the rain. Doesn't seem to bug them an ounce. These photos are them riding their bikes home after they have been playing with the Thornton boys out in a whole bunch of rain.

Bit of randomness- in the background behind Ellie you can see the back of the girls' school in the distance.

A little more randomness-
Couldn't resist taking a picture of the odometer at exactly 81000...... hey, gotta entertain myself somehow when I am sitting in rain-soaked traffic jams :)

Guest Blogger - The Stay-at-Home-Dad

You know, a guy could get used to this.

Although today was fairly busy. Up at 6:45 a.m. to make an 8:00 a.m. dentist appointment (Sam scheduled this date and time for me and the girls on our week off - thanks!). Heck, we were out the door before Sam even left for work -- hmm, maybe that was all part of her plan?

Here is a photo of the girls after their cleaning and check-up. No cavities for either one, although Ellie will be going back in a month to get sealants put on her back molars.

(Note: they are sitting on molar teeth)

Since we were up early for the dentist, I was planning to take the girls "up north" to a beach I had checked out while they were away in Canada this summer. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and we were treated with a day in sandy paradise. To get there though, you have to drive down a fairly windy downhill road. Ellie didn't quite make it and threw up her McDonald's pancakes. Gotta give her credit though, she caught most of it in her hands and was able to finish by leaning out the window. She apologized profusely afterwards for throwing up all down the outside of the door. Only a little ended up in the car.

Once at the bottom, we were treated to a great spot and great view:

This particular beach is accessible by driving down a dirt road full of pot holes. The road has individual parking spots "cut" into the jungle. You just drive along and pick your spot. Here's ours:

It's fairly private for changing so long as no one is driving by the dirt road or taking pictures!

For the first time in a while Ellie got into snorkeling. It's tough to master the snorkel when the mask doesn't fit. Here, she is borrowing Maddie's but it's really too big. I wound up buying her one at the Anderson Air Force Base Exchange - hopefully the mask is a bit smaller for her.

Since Ellie took Maddie's mask and snorkel, Maddie had to make due with goggles. She didn't seem to mind too much.

As usual, the water clarity and warmth didn't disappoint. We all swam out past the breakwater and were treated with literally hundreds of fish. Once they saw us, many of them darted away - but it was an awesome sight. I think that was when Ellie became a fan of snorkeling.

After the swim, both girls made separate sand castles. Above is Maddie's.

At the Air Force Base we grabbed lunch and milk shakes (yum) and headed home. We got back just in time for a quick bite to eat and then Sam wisked them up to swim practice.

After they left, I worked on figuring out why out internet had been on the fritz the last couple of days. I narrowed it down to my wireless router. It seems to have gone bad. I called our internet/phone/and TV provider to figure out how to configure the iMac for an Ethernet connection (wired). While speaking with him, he said he could enable the wireless functionality on the box they gave us. He did and now we're up on the "internets" again. All in all, a great day.

Take care,

The Stay At Home 'A Guy Could Get Used To This' Dad

Taking Kevin's kudos back.....

Ok, so I won't take them back- but by the looks of the house, day three wasn't as smooth as the first two.

The words from Kevin's mouth "I don't know what happened, the day went fast". The girls had their usual homework time, and some park time with the Thorntons. He did have to put a clinic visit in there- Ellie is on antibiotics for a sinus infection.....and yes supper was made. But the house is a bit sad- Kevin said as he went out the door to take the girls swimming "sorry the house is a mess"- really, not an awe inspiring stay at home dad statement.

I won't complain as the bonus of my "stay at home husband" tonight is that I got to not take the girls to swimming and get school work done here instead.......... hindered only by having to clean up the house and getting my blog done :)

Giving Kevin Kudos

Kevin is being the stay at home dad this week. He is doing a great job- granted its only day 2 but already I am impressed. The girls got a play in the park this morning- video games all day (k- not so happy with that....) with supper ready, the girls and I fed and out the door to swimming. I could get used to this..... laundry done, suppers made- seriously going to be a huge let down next week when its back to me handling home along with work.
Maddie and Ellie still aren't feeling altogether great. Madison is complaining of an earache and may end up at the clinic in the morning......
Ellie made herself carsick from sitting in the way-back of the minivan on the way home from swimming so went straight to bed.

This picture is so that Ann and Gene can see that their choice of books for the girls (if you look at the title, I believe Gene chose this one...) are still read often :)

Super huge happy birthday to Micki!

Hope you have a great day (in Disney none the less!) and know that I am thinking of you. And know also that I am glad you are older than me....... its at least some comfort.

Happy Birthday!

Date night.... :)

The weekend is gone....

....but we had some fun! Of course Kevin and the girls are off for this whole next week, ready to have a lot MORE fun while I am working- I think I am bitter.....

Went to see The Last Airbender (not a bad movie!) with the Thorntons after church today. The rain was coming down pretty hard. Went to get gas after the movie and apparently so did everyone else on base- big lineup! We watched the guy in line before us get SOAKED while pumping his gas. Poor Kevin had to get out to put gas in the car with the rain literally coming at him sideways- cause ya know it wasn't me getting out to do it!
He hunkered down behind the pump and managed to stay pretty dry.
And looking over saw the Throntons in line for gas too! ....notice its not Melda pumping the gas in the rain either.....

Wanted to put out a big happy birthday to one of my favorite people on this earth- my Grandma!

I love you Grandma and I am so grateful for you everyday. Your love for me over the years has really been something that I count on- your humor and joy are a blessing to everyone in your family, and especially to me. I wish I were there to hug you and wish you a "Happy Birthday" in person.
..... I know I have used this picture on the blog before, but really- still love it!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Saturday Blues.

Rainy overcast day- thunder in the distance.

Good news- its a Saturday and we have no where we have to be.....bad news for the girls is that it is a Saturday and we have no where we have to be...... sad girls trying to find something to do, with threats from their mom "Oh I'll find something for you to do!"

Ellie made cinnamon rolls. Its her new passion to have breakfast that has healthy stuff- and one cinnamon roll to top it off! I need to learn how to make homemade ones.......
Poor Maddie- this is a picture of her at 5pm when she should be on her way to swimming........ she looks so sad to be missing it right?

Maddie has been running a low fever today, so we decided to keep her home. To give her credit, she did put up a small protest about missing swimming.... very small.
So Kevin took Ellie off to swimming, and I am home with Maddie on the couch- and a whole week of lesson planning staring at me- as I have said before, oy.

Lovin' their days off!

You can judge the amount of fun the girls have had with the babysitter by the amount of crafts they have done during the day.

The girls had a great day of games, crafts, movies and snacks.... spoiling them rotten and making it that much harder when it comes time to get back to school. One week and counting....
Both girls exhausted tonight and fighting head colds.

Since swim practice was cancelled in the morning- I am sure there will be pajamas on the couch and Saturday morning shows :)

A Disney Wanna-be

So sad to not be in Disney right now.....but so happy for Micki and the kids!

They are having a great time- the best we can hope for is either Disney Tokyo or a trip to Disney World next summer when we are home...... sigh!

Had a girls night with Melda.

Went to Ruby Tuesdays (ate so much of everything else-truly did not get any of the salad bar which is what we went for......) and got some pretty nails!

Thanks to Kevin for taking the girls to swimming for me- and thanks to Melda for hanging out :)

The girls have one more day with the sitter, and then a week home with dad- school is just around the corner......

Home too late! I'll post tomorrow.......

Summer vacation lives on.

The girls are still loving their days.

Maddy is up for earning some extra money (I am suspicious as to what she is saving for......) so she is happily doing housework for a few bucks. And Kevin happily gave over the weed pulling so she could make a few bucks. Though when he offered to pay a dollar per bag- I don't think he knew that there were enough weeds out there to fill 12.

Ellie is spending a lot of time with books and computer games. She informed me today that she will put putting a request for a "Club Penguin" membership on her Christmas List...... now all I have to do is figure out exactly what that is....