Monday was not much different, but at least when I got home on Monday I could relax, put my jammies on, and settle into the evening. Jack had a ton of homework and then practiced his piano, while Millie flitted around talking to herself.
Tuesday my girls at school attended a math competition. My 3rd graders won first place and my 5th graders won 2nd place. Both teams will go on to the Final Competition at a local college next week.
Once we were all home on Tuesday, we headed to Millie and Jack's school for parent/teacher meetings. We met with Millie's teacher first. She said Millie is doing really well with math, but is getting letters reversed in English. She said Millie leaves the class without permission and talks too much. When the teacher said this I looked at Millie and told her it was unsafe for her to just leave the classroom without asking her teacher. Millie started to cry. At this point her teacher said, 'I tell Millie that I will call her dad if she doesn't tell me the next time and she just says 'ok'. She is more afraid of you than her dad'. This cracked me up. We do play good cop/bad cop for sure. I'm okay with being the bad cop. Daddy's girl has him wrapped around her little finger. We told her we were so proud of how she was doing in school, but that everyone had something they needed to work on. We didn't even address the 'talking too much' thing other than to say she needs to listen when the teacher is giving directions. She comes honestly by the talking thing. No one will ever stop that!
We were running late to rugby so I just stepped into Jack's class briefly to speak with his teacher. She said he was doing really well, but recently he has been coming to her to clarify directions or ask about something to be explained again. She said she's not totally sure he is paying attention. We do worry about ADD as it runs in the family. So we will keep an eye on this so that it doesn't hinder his academics. She said he is really bright and is above grade level in all areas, which was so exciting to hear.
Once we left the school we hustled home to get Jack's cleats and so Stuart could change for rugby. We went to the rugby club and while I had a chat with Scott and Clare, the kids and Stuart were out on the pitch having their own fun. Once we were home, it was showers, dinner, and bed.....for all of us.
Wednesday my boys went to the math competition and my grade 5 boys won first place. They were so excited. Our grade 5 boys are really good this year, so having them win is a real treat. They will also go to the championships next week.
After school I took some paperwork down to Brighton College, the school the kids might attend. I then headed to the grocery store. I wish I could go one full week without having to go to the super market. It's not on the way to anywhere so it's a pain. When I got home Kayleigh was still there because Stuart had a meeting after school and was late getting home. Jack had finished his homework and had practiced the piano, so that made me happy. We headed to his piano lesson just before 4 pm. I stay in the room with him and at one time I actually thought his teacher was playing the piece of music, but it was Jack. I was so shocked at how well he was doing. This teacher we have now is much better than the last and moves at a quicker pace. He doesn't want to go to piano lessons any more, but I'm going to try to convince him otherwise. I'll have to come up with some sort of bribe, I'm sure.
Once we were home from piano lessons, the kids ate and then we're off to bed, but not before a small dance party in the living room. I so wish I had the ability to upload videos on here. It was the funniest thing ever. Both were dancing to 'Watch me Whip'. Hilarious!
Thursday Millie came home from school with this:
We headed to the mall Thursday afternoon to get a birthday gift for our next door neighbor. It was convenient to eat at the food court so that's what we did. We were home and in bed by 8 pm. The week back to work for me had been all too exhausting. And Stuart was off on a rugby trip the following morning.
I was up much earlier than I had planned on Friday because Stuart was off to Muscat, Oman for a rugby match. He got up early to make breakfast burritos for himself and Andrew, his coach. When he was cooking I could hear him banging around, but thought he would be finished soon and I could fall back to sleep. Oh, but if the smoke alarm goes off then I'm pretty sure falling back to sleep is close to impossible. Oh well, I got up and just started changing bed sheets. There was work to be done.
After the kids were up and breakfast was over, we headed to get the car cleaned. We then went to the rugby club to watch Henry play. We ended up eating lunch there and then were home for a rest before going off to our Valentine party.
DeDe and I have this party each year and the kids love it. There are crafts and Valentine treats. The crafts this year came from Oriental Trading Company. I seem to always order one craft that is way too hard, even for the adults. Two of the moms ended up doing the chord bracelets.
Millie was very proud of her Valentine monster.
Jack just goes along with the fun.
After the Valentine party, we headed to our neighbor's for a birthday party. By the time we got home, I was wiped and ready for bed. Thank goodness the neighbor fed the kids dinner. All that was left to do was get both kids clean. Then we were off to sleepy land. Stuart got home just after midnight. The 1st team won and he was happy.
Saturday morning we got up a little later than normal, although the kids had been up for at least an hour before we got up. I hustled around and got thugs ready to go to Abu Dhabi. Jack didn't want to go, but I insisted. Stuart was able to stay home on his own because initially I thought he would still be in Muscat. So Cathy and I headed toward the adventure of seeing Frozen with a live orchestra and live singers.
We first went to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The kids were so well behaved that I almost thought they weren't my kids. Jack was so polite and helped Millie to keep her behavior together. It was so sweet.
They say on the same side of the booth and Cathy and I sat on the other side.
After lunch we headed to Du Forum. We arrived and there were billboards with all the characters on them. Millie was decked out as Elsa and Jack was not dressed as anything so that made him feel as if he shouldn't have his picture taken with any of the posters. I finally convinced him it was okay and that he should let me take a picture.
Olaf is our favorite.
Millie is my poser.
A selfie with the Frozen poster was necessary.
Once we were in the building, popcorn and soda in hand, we realized that our seats weren't the most comfortable seats in the world and I was thrilled that Stuart hadn't come with us. The show started late, as many things do in this country. A set time is really just a suggestion.
The entire production was phenomenal. There was a full orchestra, 4 main vocalists and a full choir. The timing of everything was relatively perfect, and the vocalists sounded almost exactly like the movie voices. At intermission Jack wanted to leave. He was enjoying it, but was ready to go home. I reiterated the fact that I had spent a lot of money for him to see this and we were staying until the bitter end. He was glad we did because at the end of the show it snowed on us in the theater.
Once we were in the car we decided to head to Ikea. No trip to Abu Dhabi is complete without a visit to Ikea. I didn't buy much, but the kids both got a stuffed rat that kept them occupied as we walked through the store.
Once we were back in the car both kids got their jammies on. Since we hadn't really done much all day except sit, I decided no one needed to stay awake for a shower. My hope was that, at least Millie, would fall asleep on the hour and a half ride home.
They played their electronics, ate some of the left over food from the Cheesecake Factory, even though Millie had an ice cream at Ikea and Jack had a hotdog, and finally Millie fell asleep. We were about 20 minutes from home, which was long enough for her to be in a deep sleep just as we pulled in the carport.
I called Stuart just as we were coming into the compound and he came out to get her and take her to her bed. Jack stayed up until I had sorted out the cooler and the bag with clothes, and basically got everything tidied for the following morning. Then he was off to bed and I was upstairs taking a shower.
I ate a bite of dinner and then dropped off to sleep on the sofa.
We are starting to get back on track with our busy weekends. That's where the fun is. We are still loving our life in the UAE.
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