Monday madness....

No real reason to call it "madness"- it just felt hectic today!

Kevin made it off the island without mishap. I heard from him earlier- he had made it to Hawaii. I'll keep you posted on his doings.

The girls and I went to pick up Kevin's car from the airport tonight (he left the house by 4am so he took himself to the airport). Huge thank you to Melda and the boys for driving us to get the car and then having a nice dinner out :)

Came home- hoping for early bed for the girls, ended up later than usual! There were projects to finish up, and frankly a lot of giddiness from having a weekday night that was different than the norm. I am not using the word "giddy" lightly.... crazy here tonight.

So on to random photos:

I had to take pictures in my classroom at lunchtime. (fyi, those are shrimp in the photo above)
Just so I can show you how they eat around here. (kim-chee noodles with the standard hot cheetos)
They all bring bunches of food- usually including rice and definitely some sort of meat- and share all of it in and amongst themselves. There are no packed-brown bag lunches here- random food, always shared. Different but I like that one person's food is everyone's food. Anyone who doesn't share food is said to be "stingy" with their food. Really love seeing their lunchtime ways.

And lastly:
Photos of my girls when I am picking them up from school.
My favorite time of day :)

Sunday

Aggie in her happy place- the only thing missing is her bed. No we aren't punishing her... the vet suggested we use hypoallergenic detergent to try to help her itching so we washed EVERYTHING in the house today that touches her..... thus the bed-free photo.

I am sure Aggie will be pouting in the next days as Kevin is leaving for a work trip for the week. Frankly, none of us are pleased with it. Again, something about being on an island that makes it so much more traumatic when someone leaves. A lot of my displeasure with Kevin's leaving has to do with pure jealousy- I am really looking to get off the island! We are going to miss him but we'll survive.

The good news is that while Kevin is stateside he will get to spend the time with his parents- so that worked out well. I know he is really excited to see them. The girls and I are sad to be missing out on that.

Maddy spent the afternoon (after the morning at church with the rest of us and some fun time playing on the playground with Ellie and the neighborhood boys) doing homework and her chore of cleaning the bathrooms.

The photo of Maddy doesn't capture the crankiness that she maintained- her math homework dragged on and on. Not because there was that much of it- more so because she was pushing procrastination to its fullest.

Ellie spent her afternoon crafting along with her weekly chore.
She made a dragon out of clay and painted it. She was rather proud of her efforts. Ellie loves creating.
Both girls were sad at bedtime to know Kevin will be gone tomorrow. Its been a while since he has gone anywhere- so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky he has been on island so much..... busy working till 7pm most nights but at least he has always been on island!

Saturday.

The girls had Leo Palace swim practice this morning, and the usual practice this evening. Their afternoon was all about playing!

Kevin finished his Exterra. His first triathlon ever-58 out of 71, and in the 40-44 age range he was 8 out of 11. So impressed that he finished- I mean 20 miles on a bike, 5 mile run and a 1000m swim..... in the ocean, through the jungle- crazy stuff.
All this done with a 41 year old body, on a 16 year old bike with no shocks and feet cages, and huge muscle cramps half way through.

Awesome Kevin! Way to go :)

Kevin's XTerra

He was up and ready and out the door by 5:30am......
Here is a link in case you want to check out what Kevin's first triathlon looks like: Xterra Guam I'll post later with how he did and hopefully more photos.

So proud of him!

Finally Friday

So tired tonight! Must be because it is Friday- ending a week that needed ending. Super busy, but I'm grateful to be busy with good things :)

The girls had dress down today for school- Maddy had to pay a dollar to dress down with all proceeds going to Japan (note Maddy is wearing her newest and favorite-est t-shirt from the Alyssa line of clothing). Ellie was to dress in "island wear" again this Friday to recognize Chamorro month. Both happy to be out of uniform. Its funny how the uniform gets on their nerves. I would love to know what I was going to be wearing everyday! When we talk about what school they will be going to next year- their biggest positive about potentially being home schooled is that they wouldn't have to wear a uniform...... maybe if it comes to that, I'll surprise them and make up a "Gillam School" uniform....

Kevin is gearing up for the big race tomorrow..... months of training has brought him to this- the Xterra!

I'll be putting up a few prayers tonight that he makes it through with no broken bones.....

Thursday

Finally Thursday! So close to Friday!
Tonight is a string of random pictures.... the only one that has a story is this one above- Aggie was at the vet tonight and soooo cute, at the end of her appointment when Kevin and I were standing talking to the vet tech- we turned around and there she was, had put herself on the scale and looking proud that she was ready.
Ellie's kick board that she bought with a birthday gift card- the drawing is courtesy of her friend Samantha's father. The chinese word says "dragon"
A bunch of Ellie photos left over from her play.
And a Chamorro hut for culture week..... they are all over the place- this one is actually in a McDonalds!
Happy Tuesday!

Ellie's Play

The third grade classes at Ellie's school did the play "Follow the Drinking Gourd". Tonight was the big performance. They did a great job! Ellie was in the choir.
Maddy was there to enjoy it too.

Nice low key night- especially since Wednesdays are usually crazy with Chamorro dance class, followed by swimming, followed by me volunteering at church, Kevin not getting home till late..... we were all together tonight :) Ellie should have plays more often!

Here is a snippet of one of the songs they sang: