The Dreaded Time....

The "Dreaded Time" has come....spelling test practice.

Spelling practice at this house seem to always include crying.

And it's not always the children that cry.

Sometimes I want to join in and throw a fit, too. So far only two have cried. Of course, the third one is at soccer practice....

I hate spelling. I've never been good at it and it seems that all three children have inherited the bad spelling gene.

Oh, where, oh, where is my husband when I need him?? When his children need him?

Frist Day of School

This first day of school was so much better than last year's. No tears today!! YEAH!! I knew that we could not do another year like we had last year.

One funny thing: Saturday William woke up at 6. Today? I had to drag him out of the bed at 6:50 so we could get out of the house at 7:15.

And he's not even a teenager yet.

And what did I do all day with no children at home? I just sat in a dark corner and missed them.

NOT!!

I went to have breakfast with six other friends, then one friend and I went to have our nails done.

Nice and relaxing.

Too bad I can't do this everyday....but at least my toes will look nice for the next week or so!

more plays

For about the third time this semester William's class put on a play.

Did I mention it was the third time?

I never heard of a class doing so many.

This time was about the expansion of the West. His class did a song about the Indians...I actually think it was a Tim McGraw song.....

After his class was done, I left - I'm just about played out.

God Is So Good!!

Don't you love it when God answers a prayer before you can really even ask????!!! Today William had a field trip which I had agreed to be a chaperone. But because they were putting all 110 5th graders on two buses all the chaperones were to drive themselves.

I had decided not to go because I still don't have full range of motion in my right shoulder and did not want to drive in traffic. I tried to find one of the other chaperones so I could ride with them, but could not.

As school was starting today I went to talk to William's teacher. She told me that instead of another class being spilt up between the two buses her would be. And because of that she would need her chaperone to ride the bus instead of driving themselves. Would that be okay with me??

Well, YEAH!! I love it when God works things out like that!!

Our trip was to visit all three branches of the government. We got to meet the Supreme Justice for Guam as well as one of the Senators. Sad to say both the Governor and the Lt. Governor were out touring island farmers, but meeting these two was very special and nice.

It was probably the best field trip I've ever gone on with one of the kids - it was very cool!!

Pictures to follow another time...it's time to go and ice my shoulder again....

Career Week

Last week was career week at our school. During the first part of the week the school allowed the students to go to work with their parents. Ours did not go to work with Drew b/c he couldn't take them to what they really wanted to see: crime scenes and autopsy. And they're with me anyway at school! In the middle part of the week different parents came to speak in their child's room about their job. Drew spoke in all three of our kids' rooms.

It was quite funny to hear the different questions each grade had. The 5th graders really asked good and interesting questions about what type of education was required to what types of investigations Drew did. The 3rd graders were more interested in the types of investigations as well.

Then there were the 1st graders. For them it was all about the guns. What type and how big they were. The teacher finally had to say - no more gun questions!! But then they had nothing to ask.

On Friday they were to Dress for Success and dress as what they want to be when they grow up. William wore one of Drew's OSI tee-shirts. (We're not sure if he really wants to be an investigator or if it's just easy to say "I'll be whatever my dad is".) Melissa went as an art teacher. She has been saying for about three years now that she wants to teach art.

Then there was Ben. He's always said he didn't know what he wants to be. Which is fine. We tell him that he has years to decide and doesn't have to make that decision now...when he's seven! But for the first time he gave us an answer at dinner the other night:

"I think I'll be a postman...you know - something simple."

Yep...that's my boy...oh, the high-school years are gonna be fun with this kid....

The Dreaded Day

We've known since we've been here that this day would come...we've been dreading it.

Mandatory uniforms at school.

Such a sad day.

The Christmas Wolf

Here's William in his 5th grade Christmas program. He's the wolf. What?!! You didn't know there was a Christmas wolf??

Well, you're not alone - it's a little known fact of Christmas lore.

Actually, the program was very cute. It was about the animals in the forest telling Moose all about the winter holidays. It's Moose's first Christmas and his clueless. But with the help of his good friends - Wolf being one of them - he learns all about Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.

William did a great job remembering his lines.

And he made a very cute wolf!

School Stuff

Hey, everyone! Our week is off to a good start. I'm subbing three days as an aide this week ( M,T, W). I don't usually work on Wednesdays as that's my Bible study day and my day for errands. Not five minutes after I said yes, I regretted it. Not that the work was bad, but I hate to miss Bible study. I get paid the same as a teacher sub, so it's probably a better deal. In a few classes I work one-on-one with some "SpEd" kids, but I also have to lunch and playground duty - yuck.

On the other hand, I don't have to listen to anyone sing to me.

The funny part is I am in that 1st grade class that gave me such trouble last week. They are much better when their teacher is in the room!! But I will say I've enjoyed being able to observe several teachers and their teaching style - especially since my degree is a secondary one not an elementary one.

I get to see William and Melissa during lunch/recess and they seem to enjoy saying hi to me. Of course, Melissa says hi more and with a hug. William does that running by really fast with a quick hug (sometimes a hug)...I guess he doesn't want his friends to see him talking to me.

We are knee-deep in projects. William did one last week for social studies on WWII. (Am I the only that thinks the story of Anne Frank is a bit much for 5th graders??? He did not take it well when he had to read about what a Nazi soldier did to a crying baby...trust me, you don't what to know.) This week he had one in science and he and Melissa both have one in culture class. Last week both also had to write an essay for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Culture class is one of their "specials" like PE, Art and Music. They learn all things Guam as well as some of the language, Charmorro. They also have Spanish, computers, and library, but those are apart of the instructional time done mostly by the teacher (although there are separate teachers for Spanish). It boils down to that they are out of the class a lot!! This is a busy, busy school...I'm still not sure if busy means learning. The jury is still out on that.

Right now the sun is out and so I'm hoping that soccer is on...of course last Tuesday it was nice and sunny, but they cancelled it b/c there was lightning 5 miles away, But we never hear thunder or saw lightning on the base....no one told the pool to shut down - it was full of people. Many of us parents were very upset over that. Both are run by the same organization here on base, but apparently each have different rules - very frustrating!

Hope your week is going well!

Just another Monday

Nothing too exciting around here. Drew called and he arrived safe and sound in Hawaii. He left on our Sunday morning and got there on their Saturday evening, so he got an extra day. And of course, he went diving with a friend. All went well and they had a good time. Before his conference starts tomorrow (well..their Monday) he'll work on my shopping list. I'm sure he'll enjoy every minute of it!! :)

The kids and I went to church. Melissa played at a friend's house while the younger brother of her friend went bowling with us. Ben won the first game with a score of 107 - he was very happy. I think that's the best he's ever done. William was not too happy at being beat by his younger brother, but he got his game together and won the 2nd game. Bummers are wonderful! I don't play without them now.

Today we had Ben's open house. It was during the afternoon hours of school. I really liked it that way. The teacher had time to really explain the reading programs she uses and other stuff about her class. Ben is getting three afternoons a week of Spanish. Maybe he'll be able to have a conversation with Maggie in Spanish by the end of the year!

The teacher did confirm that they don't do spelling list or test in 1st grade here. Not too sure if I like that. It's less stress, but I'm not too sure if he'll be learning as much as he should be or as much as William or Melissa did in 1st grade.

After the time with the teacher we were do have "meet and greet" with the admin...I enjoyed the cookies and juice, but never saw any of the principals - guess they were too busy! I did get to meet some of the other moms from Ben's class. I think we all are concerned about how well the kids will learn to read at this school. I told Ben after school that he will have to read to me everyday as a part of his homework. We read about Clifford - that big, red, dog - today. We did well with reading during the summer reading program, but have gotten lazy.

Let me clarify....

When I said yesterday that we hiked 300 ft down to the beach...I really did mean hike and I really did mean 300 ft... that may not sound like much, but my thighs are saying different this morning as I was trying to get out of bed!! I really should spend more time at the gym then maybe when I hike down a side of a mountain/cliff, I will be able to move the next day!

Drew on the other had is feeling fine and dandy this morning. That's b/c he's good soldier and gets up two times a week to run with his office...I usually just roll over and go back to sleep.

Pictures...yes, this needs some clarification as well. I want to add more pictures (and yes, I'll even add some of Drew and I) but currently I'm having some problems adding them. Drew thinks/knows it's "operator error" (a.k.a.: a blond issue). I just need to figure out how to save my pictures in a smaller file so they won't take up the whole screen.

School: The school has about 900 students pre-k thru 5th grade. This is about double what we had in MD. There are 8 1st grade classes. Only 5 for 5th grade. Not sure about 3rd. I think Melissa's issues on the first day was also the size of the school. There are four building - two of which are two-stories. To us the place is huge. Ben's teacher seems very bubbly and energetic. Melissa's teacher is strict and stern, maybe she'll be nicer the year goes along. I think she'll ask a lot of them which is good. Melissa has already has homework -which I think is nice! No need to waste time! I have yet to meet William's teacher or rather teachers - he has five. They switch classes more like I did as a 5th grader than what they were doing in MD. He also already has had homework and has a test on Friday. In a few weeks there's an open house where I'll be able to meet all of them.

One of the things we are not too thrilled with about the school is that in January uniforms will be mandatory. I'm not too into uniforms....so far I've only seen a few kids wear them.

The biggest thing that the kids hate is there is no running at school. Not even on the playground b/c the playground is so small and they pack at least two grades in there at a time. Sort of odd that recess was made let the kids run to get rid of energy and here they can't run.

Drew is taking another day off today, but will need to go in to the office later to celebrate someones re-enlistment as well as present some awards. The kids and I will probably come and serve cake and punch.

So...it's off to the BX and commissary (and I really should make time for the gym....)

love to all
Kelley