Monday Night..... Christmas Style!

Love our Monday nights on the best of weeks.

No swimming, all the time in the world to finish homework, its family game night, and family meal choice night. How can that get better?

Well, turns out if you add a little Christmas to all that, it gets just a little sweeter. Our Christmas decorations just feel so cozy....

Had a nice evening (once the grocery shopping was done anyway) with homework getting done and anxiously awaiting the Thai food- yup thats right, it was my night to choose supper! Loving vegetarian green curry!

We followed that up with a wild game of Super Mario Bros. on the Wii- Ellie assured me I would be great at it. Turns out, I'm not. I spent most of the game in a floating bubble just following Kevin, Maddy and Ellie around. Gotta say it really was fun though! I think Kevin was frustrated that we didn't get very far.....

Also, its always a big night here when the Owl magazines show up in the mail.
So a huge, long overdue thank you goes out to Esther and my Dad for these great magazines that have been showing up at our house monthly for years now (changing the address to the subscription every time we move....).

My girls love them, and always have them read cover to cover before bedtime on the day they arrive..... not to mention the storage and re-reading of them.... So really, lots of sincere thanks :)

Happy Monday everyone! Don't forget, unless there is a fire or a storm or something equally important to blog- I will be taking tomorrow night (the usual Tuesday) off..... so Happy Tuesday to you too!

The Last of...

...Christmas decorating.

The village is done. The kids were great help (-ish).
Gotta say, I didn't do the village last year. I was too sad, and truth be told- putting together a snowy village scene on a tropical island is not that appealing. Its kinda like having soup in the summer. Anyway, I wasn't going to do it this year either. Thanks to the girls and Kevin urging me (ok what Kev actually said was "you mean we carted those two bins all the way to Guam and you aren't even going to set the thing up?") I set the village up begrudgingly ....... It was so fun. I totally forgot how happy putting it all together makes me. My village is so Christmasy! All the lights, the bustling people, the skaters moving around, the Christmas music, the nativity scene outside the church (don't mind the minotaur on the store- he shows up in my village often-usually on the church, but Kevin moved him to the store..... really....) So just sayin'- love my village :) Sorry now I didn't put it up last year.

Also, the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers- thank goodness!

There really is only so much of it that you can eat, not to mention we'll be having it all again in 27 days!

The Thanksgiving Holiday in Photos!

First off- sorry for the delay in blogging, but the cable guy has come and says he changed out every wire he could find. We shouldn't have anymore internet down- hopefully.

Christmas has come to the Gillam house! The tree went up today- two days after Thanksgiving.
Maddy helped by fluffing out the tree with her feet- she is quite handy with her toes.... actually, its more about not getting up, especially since there wasn't any ornament hanging at this point- her true love.
Aggie was even helping- she was loving Kevin being on the ground, kissing on him and all up and under the tree. Nice to see her so lively.
Ellie always helpful- not to mention cute.

Back tracking to Thanksgiving.

Gotta record an OOG here- looking out my window this is what I saw Thanksgiving morning:
A guy out front pulling a ladder out of his car to take our coconuts out of our tree. Really odd.

All sorts of cooking and baking going on for the feast- love this kind of cooking. Maddy and Ellie were all over making the pies this year. They love to be helpful in the kitchen.
We actually had the meal over at the Thorntons.
Tons of food, and tons of fun for the kids- they really enjoy the Thornton boys.

The day after Thanksgiving we heard a lot of sirens- turns out Santa was making the rounds on the Fire truck handing out candy canes. Happy girls!

Today amidst all the Christmas decorating at our house, we made a trip to the exchange. Came home with more than we intended (of course!) I even had to go back- I only bought 4 candles when I needed 5- seriously lame, but if I didn't get it today chances are it wouldn't be there next time. Thats the rule around here- get it when you can.
Ran into Santa at the exchange too! The girls feel it wasn't the real one since he was Chamorro.
Finished up the tree before supper.
Excited to see what December brings. I just love Christmas.

Ug!

The Internet is down again! Which means our tv is out, which means that watching Kevin's big A&M football game tomorrow could be challenging. Not to mention the girls sadness over missing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Not to mention the challenge of blogging using my iPhone!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I'll let you know when the Internet is back!

Its been busy....

My classroom this week has turned into career central! We are having career activities at Southern High this week and I have been doing my best to bring in some people whose careers would peak the students interest. The above photo has Kevin's boss talking to my class- really so sweet of him to take the time out for it..... Kevin is booked for next week :)

Ellie got the American Girl catalog in the mail- its almost an annual tradition to see that one show up. Lots of circling in it.....
Ellie decided tonight to write what she is thankful for which includes family (with Maddy listed as "most of the time"), her teacher and class, and animals (both stuffed and real, she didn't want to be prejudiced against any group)
Maddy has found that motion stops me from getting a good photo, so she uses this defense sometimes when she is in no mood for her picture taken. Today the mood is due to two shots she had to get after school. There was a note sent home saying she would be expelled if not immunized immediately... I think she would have chosen the expulsion.
And Ellie making "cootie catchers". She saw one made in a book she was reading so gave it a try. Kevin and I tried to help her follow the directions- but ultimately it was Madison who came through and figured it out.
Maddy drew this picture after school today- shows exactly how ungrateful those pilgrims were! I think this photo has them sending their food back to the chef... The turkeys look thankful that the focus isn't on them!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American people. I have so much to be thankful for- and if I were making a list, my family and friends would definitely be first :)

Proof

...of why the girls should be swimming seven nights a week!

... no where to rush off to after school + excess energy not burned off in the pool+two rambunctious girls= an all out brawl! My money is usually on Ellie...

Though I will say that we all look forward to Mondays as they are a night off swimming, but also are our family nights. Tonight was Maddy's choice night...... hotdogs and pizza bagels were the food of choice with Mario Summer Olympic Wii to follow.

Next Monday is my night...... there will be Thai food for sure, but I'll have to think some more on my game. My turn doesn't come around that often.... I want to be sure to make a good choice!

Sunday

Happy day for Ellie! She met the challenge- finished the Guardians of Gahoole in 4 days so that she could see the movie today. They loved the movie!

Yet another OOG- only on Guam would I have to put a lid on what I am cooking (which just happens to be stuffing for the church Thanksgiving meal) in order to be sure the gecko on my cupboard wouldn't fall in. If you look really high in the photo, he is to the left of the open cupboard. That would be so embarrassing- "here is my stuffing, oh sorry for the baked gecko...."
Ya, that would be awkward at best.

Christmas is creeping in.....

I had a nap today (trying to not have a sore throat) and woke up to this:

The girls took it upon themselves to get out their Christmas trees and their nativity. Really its Melda's fault as she had them decorating her house for Christmas last Friday, which got them a thinkin'.

Love that they set it up in and around all the Thanksgiving stuff. Jesus and Julie's turkey are sharing the buffet till next weekend when we make the complete Christmas change over.
Maddy has the multicolored tree.
Ellie opted for the white lights- or more likely she inherited it when Maddy moved on to colored lights..... ah the downfall of being the youngest!

Both girls are really excited about adding the ornaments next weekend- but for now I kinda like having Christmas creep in.
And really- only on Guam can you have a baby gecko in your nativity scene... just sayin'.

The girls had a meet today- no best times.... but one positive was that Maddy was sincerely sad that she had added time. Like to see her openly caring about it, usually she would be very "whatever" about it.
They got their new Guam Swimming Federation I.Ds today- Ellie is excited but Maddy is not loving her photo...... Maddy is however loving the idea of eating a pomegranate! She has never had one before, so in Bubby Esther tradition- I bought one for each girl. I'll let you know how they go over.

Christmas is definitely in the air...... too bad I have to spend this week cooking for Thanksgiving!

By the grace of God....

Our internet is back on!

It was suppose to be off until Monday- but Kevin was all over it.... called them, and got it up and running today- quite exciting to have something happen so smoothly around here. Its a novelty!

Maddy and Ellie's swimmer friend Samantha showed up at practice tonight having made a cute little diorama out of a Littlest Petshop the girls had given her. So cute!

Maddy and Ellie had another half day today- spent it at the Thornton's where they got to help put up Christmas stuff. So exciting for them- the only problem is that now they want to get ours set up.
Mrs Thornton even bought Christmas socks for my girls- which I don't think Maddy is going to take off until the 25th. Loves them!

Ellie is on a mission- she needs to read the Guardians of Gahoole by Sunday so that she can see the movie with the family. She has one day- wish her luck....

Just wanted to add another toad photo- sorry this one and the ones of the girls are so bad, iphones don't take dark photos well. Anyway- can you believe the size of the toad? Any amphibian that can cast a shadow is too big to be near me.... just sayin'.

And seriously- this is a package I got today in the mail...... could it be more crushed? Needless to say I am unhappy- as are my new acrylic stamps that were inside :( And this is a picture AFTER I had already straightened it out! Can you believe we actually have to pay more to ship things from here? Not sure where the extra money goes.....

Internet still down!!!!!!! :( Sorry! - hopefully tomorrow....

Internet is down....will post tomorrow :)

Through the eyes of Maddy.

Maddy had my camera tonight.

Here is the project she was working on- .... her goal was to define "domesticate" visually.

Always a favorite object for photo taking here: Aggie! This is one of the 7 pictures she took of her. I think Maddy blinded Aggie with so many flashes.

Ellie celebrating some great accomplishment on her computer playing below... the biggest celebration was due to the fact that there was minimal homework tonight and not swim team.... lots of down time.

The girls really love our Monday Family Nights. Tonight was meatball sandwiches for the girls (ribs for Kevin) and a game of Zooreeka- a family favorite.
Maddy loves this nativity given to us by Julie and Paul- this is another favorite item to photograph when they get a hold of my camera. And yes, this nativity stays up all year..... what can I say? I love the scene and I love the people who gave it to us :)

Speaking of people I love....
Got a letter in the mail today from my Grandma. Really always makes my day. Grandma Reddick used to always send me letters and "funnies" (cut out comics) ever since I moved away back in 1992. I have a whole collection of letters. She has recently picked this habit back up again which really just makes me so happy. Love you Grandma! Thank you.