The kids got home a bit earlier than normal because their driver didn't have to wait for Kayleigh. It seems she has developed strep throat. Poor girl.
I took the kids to the grocery store and to get Jack's hair trimmed, ready for his concert. He thought he looked very cool. When he saw his hair in the mirror he said, 'Mama!' then took his pinky fingers, licked them both, wiped them across his eyebrows and pointed at me with a wink. I think he thought this was hip. It was for sure cute.
Once I had the veggies and fruit I had gone to get at the store we headed to the ever so nutritious McDonalds. The kids got food and we headed home. Once we were home I put on my workout clothes so that when we went to the rugby club for Kack's practice, I could ride the exercise bike at the gym.
After the rugby club, it was home, showers, a snack and bedtime. In fact, the bedtime did not involve books for either of my kids because both, at different times, made a gesture when my back was turned that was disrespectful. Jack did a thumbs down behind my back when I was trying to correct him about something and Millie stuck her tongue out at me and blew a raspberry. It was a lovely way to end the day.
Monday morning I got an email just after 6 am with timings on it for activities each grade level was to follow that day. Yes, you heard that right. Something that we would plan at home for possibly a month had been thrown together and expected to be followed the morning of the activities. No one knew about it, even the principal. Hmmm! So, as one might do, all the teachers ignored the memo and carried on with their original plan. When I asked the Vice Principal if a teacher was on this so-called committee that put these timings together, her answer was simply, 'There was supposed to be one'. But clearly there wasn't. Our IT teacher had taken this initiative on her own and proclaimed it to be law, which all teachers quickly broke at the beginning of the day. Because the VIce Principal assumed everyone would be working in the pods for most of the day, she failed to cover some of the classes. Therefore, you can imagine the chaos that ensued for some of the periods in the day. The up side was that we were told to go home at 1:30 pm rather than staying until 3 pm like we normally do on a Monday.
Once the kids were home they both bathed and got ready for Jack's concert. He actually had a lesson before the concert and I was not going to miss that. His teacher acted surprised that we would come to his practice. Um, we paid for it, we're coming. I took Jack to the House of Arts for his lesson and Stuart stayed home with Millie. After Jack's lesson they met us at the mall so the kids could eat supper. Then it was back to the House of Arts for his concert. He was so excited!
His concert was so sweet and there were the typical 'players'. There was the shy one who could hardly say her name and the piece she was playing. There were the ones who were terribly new and only played one note for their selection. Ironically enough, their piece was called The A Song. Guess what note they played? There were the kid who kissed the memo of wearing long pants and closed toed shoes and wore shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops instead. And then there was the confident, outspoken, perfectly poised kid. Guess whose boy that was? Our boy was awesome, if I do say so myself. He was so pleased with himself, and we were so proud of him.
Millie fell asleep on the way home from the concert and so straight to bed she went. Jack got into bed and again I told him how proud I was of his efforts and performance. After he was in bed I showered and then watched some television. Stuart had training and actually left the concert just after Jack performed. When he got home I was nearly asleep. Some days really are tiring.
Tuesday was the beginning of the dwindling numbers of students in school. With the National Day holiday coming up next week, children will begin to stay home. Although we are to be in school until next Monday, I would very much doubt if we have any of our boys Sunday or Monday.
I went to the grocery store right after school to get a few bits. Once the kids were home I had them make birthday cards for our friend Laken's birthday. She turns 21 this week. After the cards were made and the money was stuffed in, we headed to the rugby club for Jack's practice. I was going to go to the gym to ride the bike but I was just not in any mood. Instead I sat and had a catch up with Scott.
After we got home from the rugby club and the kids were in bed, Cathy came over. We don't see a lot of each other these days so it was nice to get caught up on her and her girls.
Wednesday was National Day celebration for our boys, although the actual National Day is not until December 2. We try to have the boys' celebration before the girls' one. Then the boys don't come back to school until the Sunday after National Day holiday. Think we are sending a subliminal message to the boys by having their celebration early? Nah! The boys were sent home on the buses at 11 am while the girls continued on with their sports day. When will the boys have their sports day? They won't.
Millie had dance on Wednesday evening, where I discovered she needed a new leotard and tutu for her recital I didn't know she had. I suppose she was gone the night they passed out the letter about the recital, and somehow the fact that I didn't get it was my fault. Have I mentioned that we are not continuing at this place after the holidays? She has had fun but the time is too late for her, and most 3 and 4 year olds, might I add, and they are not super customer service oriented, plus it's expensive! Bye, bye House of Arts.
Millie and Jack had their National Day celebration on Thursday. Each year everyone dresses in the UAE colors. Look at my two this year!
Thursday there were very few students on the boys side and about a fourth of the girls meant to have been there. It was crazy! I ended up having to leave early and when I got home I found Stuart there. What? He said there was no one at his school so he just left. Can you imagine?
Later in the day on Thursday I went to get my hair cut. It was my first cut since that dreadful buzz I had in May of 2014, no lie. The lady I went to dos exactly what I asked and cut it all one length. She was at least attentive to my request. I should be good for another couple of years.
Once I was home we got the kids ready and went to Scott and Clare's. One of our friends from new Zealand was having their daughter's 21st birthday party out at the golf club where our church meets. We had a great time and the food was amazing. So although we did not celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we felt a feast was still given to us and oh how thankful we are for our new friends in this country who help us feel connected.
Friday morning I got up at the crack of dawn with Millie, who could normally sleep until noon. However, if she doesn't eat much for dinner the night before, which was the case because she was too busy playing, her belly wakes her up. We skyped my entire family who were in Las Vegas at a basketball tournament. The kids were subdued which never happens when we are on Skype. I guess they had played too hard the night before.
The kids and I went to church while Stuart went to the club to help out with the rugby tournament going on. He had a match at 2:40 pm and of course we were there cheering him on. We ended up going down to the Richardsons for curry after the rugby was over. It was another late night and another night of no bathes for the kids. You have to know how much this send me over the edge.
When we got up Saturday morning the plan was to go collect our car from the rugby club, go to the mall, grab lunch, then go grocery shopping. The grocery shopping got put on the back burner because Millie fell asleep at lunch. So we headed home, put her in her bed for a 2 hour nap, let Jack go to his friend Sammy's for 2 hours and I started putting up the Christmas lights while watching Christmas Vacation.
Once Millie was awake and Jack was home they helped me put on all the ornaments. It's the first year either of them have expressed interest in helping decorate. I know it's going to be short lived, but I will take the help while it lasts.
The kids got cleaned up and ready to go to Claire's (Cathy's daughter-we know a lot of Claires) recital. We got there and the program was about 45 students long. We had planned to go to PF Chang's for dinner after the concert, but it went u til 9 pm and it was too late. We just came home, threw a pbj together for Jack and Millie, but Millie told me 'My tummy told me not to eat now'. So once Jack was finished they both went to bed. Of course Stuart and I were disappointed because we were looking forward to PF Chang's. Instead we had take out from a close by Chinese place. It didn't even compare to PF Chang's. Oh well, another time. We are definitely looking forward to our 5 day weekend in a few days. Adventures to be had.
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