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!