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Endurance....

Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving- Day Two by Ellie

(first.....just wanted to make sure there was a picture of Aggie because I say that every blog deserves a dog)
This is adding on to Maddie's Thanksgiving list. first of all I would like to say Maddie is not nice because she said to never put a 7 year old girl with flour because she will get messy. This is not true because I was making pie- pumpkin pie to be exact. I did a very good job my mom said.

1.Always put flour under dough when rolling dough.
2. Always and I mean ALWAYS have a good tune on while doing this.
3. Have a stuffed turkey on your table for decoration (we have Turkey Joe- Aunt Julie gave it to us when we were younger and he is a very special tradition for us).
4. Make rolls, they are delicious.
5. Play a good game of "I am thankful". You can pass a coconut to play if you are in Guam- otherwise you could pass an apple around and each say something different of what you are thankful for.
6. Always have corn on the cobb- it is delicious, I had three (tee hee).
7. If there is somebody you know that doesn't have family at their house invite them over to have some fun and eat with you- we had Mr. Thornton over to eat with us......he played Wii with us too.
8. Never forget to make something like our mom does every year- this year it was the green bean casserole.
9. You can have indian corn on the table for decoration and candles lit.
10. You could use gold cuttlery because its fancy and when you put it in the light it shines. Barb likes to be fancy so she gave them to us (but we never use them because momma doesn't like fancy).
11. Always take a good picture of your mom and dad cooking in the kitchen cause I did that.

Happy after Thanksgiving to all!
From Ellie

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ellie is suppose to be blogging today but ran out of time- busy day.... so she will give you the Thanksgiving update tomorrow.....while I am at work and they are home having fun, oy!
Ellie was also the official photographer for today so you are in for a treat with all the pictures she took! (lots of pictures of the place settings and food- Barb you will get to see the gold cuttlery in action, and Julie your turkey was the centerpiece as usual!)
Hope your Thanksgiving day is memorable and that you and yours are blessed with a lot to be thankful for this year.....I know I am thankful for all of you!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

One Day More....


One more day until we are all off for Thanksgiving! I have already put in my order for pizza for supper tomorrow night so that I can get some cooking done. The girls are excited for their half day off tomorrow. I just need to get through a day with a bunch of hyper teens who will be wishing they were starting their Thanksgiving break already......my expectations for tomorrow are way low.

Maddie has joined the choir and has stayed late the last two nights for extra practice thus the doing of homework after swim practice instead of before. She is loving all the Christmas songs they are learning- we are hearing them nonstop around the house. Combine that with the musical/play she is in.....there is a lot of singing. The neighbors haven't complained yet.

Ellie is practicing some Christmas songs on the piano....daily. She has decided that for the New Years Eve talent show she will be playing and singing some choice carols. Ellie believes in getting on top of these things early- doesn't want to be caught without a talent I guess. Doing a great job......it is the repetitiveness of it that gets to you eventually.
I don't know if you can see in the background, but its Monday Night Football on the TV.....and yes it is Tuesday. Love that we get everything a day late.... it just drags football further into the week, makes it feel like there is always a game on......always except Thanksgiving Day. There are times when being a day ahead is not beneficial. I won't be me missing it, but there may be some mopey guys here Thursday.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Thanksgiving Week

This is one of those weeks where everything is shortened, flipped around and somewhat confused. The girls will be off a half day Wednesday, Thursday for Thanksgiving and off for a day of recovery on Friday. I only get the Thursday off and frankly am thankful for it. School for me is fine most days, but there are days when I have student issues that are just so emotionally draining that I am thankful for even one day away.
The good news is I did all grocery shopping necessary to cook a Thanksgiving meal. Turkey is thawing in the fridge as we speak right next to the ham. I was even able to find the fresh cranberries that I like to make. I will send you some Ann, and Gene I will package some pumpkin pie in there for you. Barb, don't know if the sweet potato casserole will make it all the way to Canada but I will try.....
Wednesday is Chamorro Day at Southern High. The huts are coming together nicely. Still not sure what it all encompasses, but I do know it means a half day of teaching. Happy Chamorro Day to me! My students were trying to convince me that there would be dog fighting and cock fighting for Chamorro Day (both very popular on Guam) but I am sure the school wouldn't allow it....I hope. Apparently they tie blades to the cock's feet to make them more effective fighters..... ugh, seriously....
Sincerely hope to have happy pictures to post of Chamorro Day- I promise no cock fighting photos......

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Open Ocean


The big news of today is Maddie swimming a 1 km ocean swim. I will say she was quite nervous before hand but did great when it was race time. She wasn't even breathing hard when she was done- that could be because she was viewing various fish breeds as she swam.....but I am sure that wouldn't have slowed her down, right? :)
Maddie is the one in the purple cap... the girl who is a bit paler than the rest...
This is Coach Lewis. He stayed right with Maddie and her co-swimmers to "lifeguard" them. I was grateful for it, though you could easily see them from the beach it was nice knowing someone was out there with her.

I am really just so proud of her. So glad Coach Toshi asked Madison to do this swim, otherwise she never would of had the opportunity to do her first open water swim.... not to mention the feeling of accomplishment Madison got by easily completing something she wasn't sure she could do. First the 1 K, next the world....

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Good Day.

Parent teacher interviews today went really well. Both girls are doing really well, we have no complaints. Straight A's for both with Ellie needing improvement in story writing and Maddie needs to keep on top of her Math and talk less in class. Hey Dad, who does that sound like?
Two different reactions to this.....Ellie having overheard her teacher pulled out a journal when she got home and started practicing writing stories. Madison after hearing what she needed to improve protested that her talking wasn't that bad and that math is evil anyway so she shouldn't have to do it. Our two girls.... sometimes as different as night to day- but always entertaining.
Some pictures from the school-
Maddie's papoose she made.
The girls in their classes.


On another note:I am so excited for Micki and Greg getting a new puppy come December so I am updating you guys! Here are two comparison photos so you can see how big they are getting. Above photo was when they were 1 week old...here they are at 4 weeks.
Here is a link in case you want to see them in action- real cuties!

Hurray for tomorrow being Friday...I am so ready for it!