Irtiqa'a week (the inspection team is in the building)

Stressed out teachers who are over prepared, on one hand, and, on the other hand, teachers that still can't understand why it's not okay to leave their students unattended in a classroom is maddening.  

Everyone was buzzing around on Sunday, doing the last minute prep for the arrival of our guests. I decided I would house my self in the grade 4 pod for the remainder of the week in order to encourage good behavior from those boys. They are by far the most challenging year group. 

I did a final walkthrough of rooms before leaving school on Sunday, and I believe we are as ready as we can be. 

Sunday Jack decided he would start gymnastics with Millie. He enjoyed the class, but I'm not convinced he loves it. Too bad because we have paid for 12 sessions so he's going at least that long. 

During their class I headed to the grocery store to pick up some grapes that Millie's class needed the following day. Since I can't go in and volunteer, I do my best to send in items that help them with their curriculum. Each week they do a cooking activity so I usually participate by sending those items to school. Being that I was close to McDonalds anyway, it seemed smart to get the kids that for dinner. 

When we got home Stuart walked in shortly from an emergency rugby club committee meeting. The kids finished their McDonalds and then were off to shower. The rest of the evening was a bit uneventful, which is always nice. 

School was tense on Monday. We were all on high alert and the grade 4 boys were on an all time challenging run. I had some issues with two students and the lead inspector saw one on the problems. I was concerned that would go into the report, but Tuesday she spoke with me about it and said she knew the behavior could be challenging and sometimes the boys needed to be 'led' to the social workers. I didn't do anything other than help the security guard take a semi-resisting student to the social worker's office, but you never know what the perception of others will be. In the end, Stuart told me I knew better than to touch the kids, no matter my intent. So on Tuesday I walked around all day with my hands clasped behind my back. It's best. 

Monday when I got home from school I showered the kids and we headed for the circus. Since it had been canceled the week before, we were overly excited for the showing on Monday. 

Cathy went with us because Stuart had a committee meeting and rugby training. Of course popcorn was a must for both kids. 

These elephants didn't compare to the Sri Lankan elephants, but they were fake and less scary to Millie. 

Two kids from my school came over to see me. It was so wonderful. They told me their mom was there with them and at intermission I went over to meet her. It seems she works for Etihad Airlines and they were given tickets to the circus. 

There was a juggler who started the show. He was quite impressive. Next came the contortionist who actually shot an arrow at a balloon using her feet. We were dangerously close to the performers shooting arrows and guns. It was a bit concerning.  

The political incorrect Native American who shot arrows was superb, but he also had an equally politically incorrect squaw who was his assistant. 

There were circus dogs, and they were cute, of course. There were musical clowns that came out throughout the circus. 

This high wire act was incredible! When they all balances and walked across the wire, the music was very quiet and the leader was shouting 'Uno, dos, uno, dos'. It made me feel as if I were back in Arizona. 

The only part of the circus that was a bit disturbing to me was the lion act. There were white lions that came out and they were clearly drugged. It was a bit unsettling and made me realize I had never been to a circus with a large animal. I had heard that this happened but had never witnessed it first hand. It wasn't nice. I kind of wanted the lion tamer to get eaten. I guess that's not nice either. 

They did some tricks, but mostly they stretched, yawned, panted and even roared. 

The motorcycles in the cage was a little scary. One wrong turn of the handle bars and those boys would have been toast. Fortunately, even when there were four bikes in there, everyone came out alive. 

This was their final 'dance' number. The whole performance lasted 2 hours. It was  a fun night. I put Millie in her night gown before we left the circus tent. She was asleep within 5 minutes. That's my favorite way to put her to bed after 7 pm. 

Tuesday was full of meetings with the school inpectors. I personally attended 3 meetings. They asked us questions about teaching and learning. Fortunately I had all the right answers. Ha!

While the kids were at gymnastics I decided to walk. As I started mile 2 I noticed, on the main road, a lady whose daughter also goes to gymnastics. She has only been in the UAE since August. I stopped to speak with her because she had rear ended a tow truck. Poor gal. I asked her if the police were coming and she said they were. I told her a person wasn't truly acclimated to the culture until they had had a fender bender. 

I continued my walk and finished about 5 minutes before Jack and Millie came out. We then headed home for showers and dinner, a little Harry Potter and bed. About 15 minutes after Jack was in bed, he came downstairs and said he wanted to lay on the sofa with me for little bit. I love that he still loves his mama and wants me to be close. I know it won't always be like that, so I try to savor it now. However, when he wouldn't go back to bed, the sweetness wore off. Of course it ended in tears. Why can't he just do what is asked of him?

Stuart and I had dinner and watched JFK. We watch a lot of older movies and Netflix. I'm not sure I would know a recent movie or television series. Oh well. We stay entertained. 

Wednesday morning I braided Millie's hair, which is not so much fun. That particular activity made me late to school. Whatever will I do next year when her hair has to be up every day? Should be interesting. 

She refers to this as 'Anna', referring to Anna from the film Frozen, and one braid is called 'Elsa'. 

Another day of inspector's questions and observations was in order for our staff. The inspectors seem pleased with our progress but are still adamant that we have a long way to go, which I would have to agree with. 

When I got home from school the kids were at their friends' house until about 4 pm. When they got home they started playing 'train', which you know I was thrilled about. Stuart said, 'Oh, they are playing nice.' Easy for him to say when he left 30 minutes later. He said, 'They'll clean it up....won't they?' Seriously! Oh how I long for rugby to be over!

My OCD can hardly handle this. They did clean up with a little prodding, ate a delicious meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and green beans, and Millie fell asleep on the sofa. 

When the kids were in bed I relaxed as well, and shockingly fell asleep on the sofa. I do love my sofa naps. 

Thursday was our last day of inspection. We met twice with the inspectors and both times they said something very positive. The last time was the final feedback they had for us. We were told that we needed to inform the staff that their hard work did not go unnoticed and the team could tell we were a very different school from the report the previous year. I nearly cried. No matter how old I get or where I work, when inspections take place I always want to be better than the previous year, and take pride in the efforts I make to help things improve. I was so thrilled that our progress was obvious to these inspectors. 

After school I treated the teachers to pizza at the rugby club. I am so proud of my English teachers. They really put in the time and energy needed to help us be successful. The least I could do was to buy them some nosh. 

The teachers left the club just as the kids were getting to the club for the youth rugby presentations. It worked out perfectly for me. I just stayed at the club and Stuart brought Jack and Millie. 

They had team photos before they had their medal presentations for a great season. 

Millie even made it onto the stage for the medal presentations. 

We stayed at the club until just after 7 pm. Once we were home the kids got clean and Stuart read them a book and put them to bed. Prior to the book being read, Jack told me he knew 5 swear words and he wanted to know what they meant. 

Jack had difficulty going to bed again on Thursday. He said he doesn't like to be alone, which made me feel a little bad. However, I got over it when I remembered how tired I was from the mentally draining week I had just had. He went upstairs with a little moaning, but not much. 

Stuart ordered in some food while I ate some spinach and fat free cheese. We are super fancy. We were asleep early because we were really tired. 

Stuart got up early Friday morning to make bacon sandwiches for 3 of his teammates who were going to the Sharjah rugby tournament with him. I think they know now to invite him to ride with them. Of course they love him, but his bacon sandwiches sweeten the deal for sure. 

The kids and I set off for church just after 9. Both kids were not exactly the best behaved children for some reason. Nothing could make them happy and they were both whiney most of the day. 

After church we headed to the mall for a little birthday shopping for Daddy and also for a classmate of Millie's. The fun continued with the kids as they ran around the store while I shopped. I texted Stuart and told him we really needed to have a 'come to Jesus' talk with them on Satursay morning. I think both of them are going through a growth spurt, or at least I hope that's what's contributing to the problem. 

We left the mall and headed to Clare and Scott's for the remainder of the day. The kids played, Clare fixed them a bite to eat, and then Scott stayed with them while Clare and I headed to the mall to look in this dress shop for Rugby Ball dresses. I'm pretty sure I found mine, but don't want to buy it until next Saturday. I had already planned an Abu Dhabi shopping trip with Clare, Rochelle and Leanne for Friday, the 29th, and if I had bought the dress on Friday then Stuart would have seen no need for me to go shopping with the girls the following week. Hee hee hee!

We got back to the house and Clare proceeded to fix a roast dinner. We told Millie the roast beef was chicken. Yes, it's a lie, but she will eat some of the meat if she thinks it's chicken, so we lie. 

The kids showered at the Richardsons, as they always do at evening events at their house. Millie fell asleep on the way home and as I was unpacking the car, Jack was in his room and also fell asleep before I got up there to tell him goodnight. They had a very busy day. 

I showered and fell asleep watching my new favorite show, Drop Dead Diva. Stuart got home around 11:30 pm, said something to me, went upstairs to take a shower and went to bed. I, on the other hand, woke up with a crick in my neck around 1 am. I hate when that happens. 

Jack came into our room just after 3 am. As long as he doesn't touch me, he can stay. He didn't touch me, so he stayed until he got up around 6 am to work on the rubics cube he had purchased the day before. How has life come full circle. I loved the rubics cube. 

We were all up and breakfast fed by just after 8 am. We had our little talk with the kids about our expectations of them, and then I went to the grocery store for our weekly provisions. Jack came with me because the store I went to has a pricing gun that he loves to operate for me. He was really very helpful. 

We got home and got ready to go to the Mecure Hotel up Jabel Hafeet, the highest point in Al Ain. They have a deal where you can swim and go down the water slides, plus have a meal vochure for their little bar behind the pool. Since we were about the only people there, they let our kids eat free. We had never done this before so we decided we would join, none other than, the Richardsons. 

We were in height order. By the time we were finished eating lunch we were about the only people who were still at the pool. I'm not sure why because the weather was beautiful. 

We stayed lover than intended and the kids might have been a little more pink than intended as well. We got back to the Richardsons just before 5 pm and ended up showering the kids, making them sandwiches, and turning on the new Jurassic Park movie. The intention was for Clare to cook once we were back, but none of us could be bothered or cared. 

We ended up leaving their house just after 7 pm. Millie was asleep almost when the car started to move. 

Stuart and I had a bite to eat and then went to bed. It was an exhausting week, and I'm so glad it's behind us.