A busy week; Halloween, swim gala, committee meeting, and tattoos!

I left early for school on Sunday and Stuart took the kids to school. We had a meeting in Abu Dhabi but Stuart didn’t have to go to work first. So he was able to take the kids to school. On the way to school my principal called me to tell me she would be late. She had gone to Jordan for the weekend and had arrived that morning at 4 am. 

Once I was at school I worked on getting all the classes covered with substitutes. I have kept that duty as I feel teachers respond well to me when I ask them to help out. We don’t have a substitute system. We are just required to have teachers without full teaching loads cover classes when their colleagues are out. 

I left school around 9 am, went home and jumped in the car with Stuart so we could drive to Abu Dhabi. The meeting was a bit late in the game as they told us how we should be collecting continuous assessment grades. But at least now we know where we are going with grades. The switch from Abu Dhabi Education Council to The Ministry of Education is not a smooth one thus far, but we will survive I suppose. 

When we got home, I went and collected kids from Cathy’s house. Because we knew our meeting would most likely go past the time they were to be picked up, Cathy got them from school and took them to her house. 

Once we were home they got ready and we all went to rugby. I hadn’t been at the club long when I got a message from Sean. He said security stopped him and said they had a complaint from a neighbor about the dogs barking. Actually it’s just Molly, but we blamed them both. I went home and ended up speaking with the man who had complained. He claimed the dogs bark all day and all night, which is not true. At night they are in the house and no one could hear them if they did bark. However, during the day I assume Molly barks at every bird, cat, or fly she sees. 

We decided we would leave the dogs in the house from now on, but knew there would be poop and pee all over when we got home. We have a baby gate on our stairs that has always kept them from going upstairs. We just prayed that would be good enough. 

Monday school was a continued version of days gone by. It just seems we are always facing one struggle after another. We try to stay positive and most of the time we do. I know this too shall pass. 

Monday after school we went to a local school for Jack’s first swim gala for Al Ain English Speaking School (AAESS). I had to message the school to ask if he as going, of course telling them he won every competition he was in the previous year. The answer back was ‘Of course he’s in the gala!’  He won the breast stroke for his grade and the grade above him, and he also competed in the free style relay as well as the relay where they do all the strokes. Can you tell I’m not a swim mom? His team didn’t win in those events, but he was by far the fastest free style swimmer on his team and everyone else’s team. 

He’s the tall one!

When we got home from the gala Claire came over to babysit. Stuart and I had a committee meeting as I am now the interim Social Secretary. The meeting was over just after 8 pm and I went home to relieve Claire of her duties. Stuart stayed for the last hour of rugby training and then was home. 

Tuesday the kids were excited for Halloween. I picked them up from school because they both had after school activities. Millie went to cooking class while Jack was in a checkers club. I went early to speak with Millie’s teacher about her progress. It seems that she is her own person and doesn’t care who that bothers. Did that shock me? She is doing very well in school and always thinks she gets 10 out of 10 on her spelling tests. Then when she gets her book home with her test in it, another story is revealed. Bless her!

Tuesday evening we had a bunch of people over for chili and trick-or-treating. It was a late night. I ended up taking some of Jack’s friends home and then came back for a couple of hours of an after party. 

Wednesday after school I took Millie to the orthodontist as we were told because she has a tooth growing crazy, she will most likely have to have her lower laterals pulled. Sure enough, he confirmed it. I tried to make light of it, and told her that when the dentist pulls teeth the Tooth Fairy bring more money to you. That will not help when she has those bad boys removed on the 12th. 

Once Millie and I were home, the kids played outside while I put away Halloween decorations. We had put homework on the back burner this week because of appointments, the swim gala, after school activities, and Halloween. I knew it would haunt me over the weekend, but I would deal with it then. 

By day 4 (Thursday) of the dogs being left in the house, Molly had jumped the baby gate every day and eaten the cat food upstairs, despite having two chairs up against the gate. She’s a regular Houdini. We knew we needed another solution. So I contacted my friend Jane. Her husband, Bryce, had built a swing gate for their kitchen entrance. It would be perfect because then they would be contained in the kitchen and the mess would be minimal. So he agreed to make it and was planning to come on the weekend to get it measured and made. 

Thursday we did walk throughs at school and there was a bit of a conflict. My perspective of the teaching is much different than the other senior leaders, mainly because I’m the only one who taught as an English teacher before I became an senior leader. It’s a different world for sure and I feel I have to stand up for the English teachers. Needless to say, I got shot down and didn’t talk much the rest of the day. Fortunately my principal is a lot like me and just wants to clear the air if there is conflict. I felt she listened to my reasoning. She may not have agreed, but she at least listened. 

We had flag day at school. It is the day the UAE celebrates their flag and what it stands for. We had about an hour program at 11 am. It was really nice. The country is VERY patriotic. They love their country, and there are many good reasons they do. 

I picked up Jack and his friends at school. They came home for a play date, while Millie went to her friend Ava’s. The boys giggled and played PS4 all afternoon. They had sausage, eggs and French fries for dinner. They are a ton. All children were back home and in bed by 9 pm. Cathy had come over for dinner and stayed until after I got home from delivering the boys back to their houses. 

I got up Friday morning and Skyped Grammie and Pop. Millie and Jack shared highlights with them and so did I. Our vpn is now working so Skype is much better than it has been for the last couple of months. 

Sean fixed breakfast and then he and Stuart headed off for their rugby match in Dubai. The kids and I hung around the house and went to the pool around 1:30 pm. We ended up staying at the club until about 8 pm, once Stuart and Sean were back from their rugby match. They came to the club and then we all went home.  When we got home, I showered the kids, got them some fruit, and threw them in bed. 

I woke up Saturday morning to go the Fun Run at the rugby club. The kids ran but I just volunteered. 

He actually got third place as he fought for it with Henry and Louie. 

We told her she got 4th place amongst the girls. 

We had breakfast at the club and then went home for our tattoo appointments. The tattoo artist came to our house. It ended up being somewhat of a party, as Stuart, myself, Lara, Kayla and Sean all participated in the ink! We got food and had a wonderful time. 

Cecil, the camel! It’s my very own Picasso!

I really didn’t think he’d do it!  My little math lover. 

Initially we were to go to dinner with Scott and Clare, but Bryce decided to bring our new kitchen gate over, our shock collar for Molly came, and the tattoos were not complete until almost 6 pm. So the Richardsons came to our house and we ordered in. We ended up playing some trivia games on the television and they left a little later than planned. A great, but busy week was had by all.