From rock stars to unicorns!

We started off our launching of the Times Table Rockstars by dressing up as rock stars at school. There are a number of spirit days like this that keep the kids so involved. 

Our very own Katy Perry and Alice Cooper. 

I was more of a groupie. 

After school we headed to the rugby club so Jack could train. I was going to clean out the control room and sort out my social chairman crap, but decided against it in the end. It was nice outside and much more enjoyable to catch up with Lara. 

Monday morning Jack had swim squad and then, after school, he had his first swim meet of the season. I wasn’t able to go as I had to film a video as the House Mistress. We are getting ready to launch our National Day product market. My house is making slime. The video was our ‘mission’ being given to us. We were the B Team (a spoof off the A Team television series). I was Mrs. Tea. I wore a formal gown and tromped around in the sand dunes. The students are going to think it’s so cool. 

Jack won the free style race, his medley race, and the relay. He got second place in the butterfly. I’m continually amazed at his athleticism. He was very excited he did so well. When he got home he took a shower and had some dinner. Stuart went to the rugby club but not to train. It turns out that he got a concussion at the match the previous Friday. That’ll teach him! The doctor said he couldn’t play for two weeks. I decided to buy the kids a movie and we just chilled in front of the tv. We watched Hotel Transylvania 3. It was cute! I think I love animated films more than the kids do. 

Tuesday was early morning swim squad again for Jack. I’ve really gotten into a routine at school so it seems a lot easier. I can tell I’m not as overwhelmed because I don’t blog as much about school as I did before. We had parent meetings after school. I only had 5 parents sign up for Tuesday and 4 for Wednesday. That’s not that great for a class of 19 and a private school. I suppose I will be contacting some of those parents at a later date. 

Stuart had come for parent meetings with the kids’ teachers. He then took Jack home. Millie had gone with her friend who would then take her to dance. My parent meetings lasted until just after 5, which made me late to Millie’s dance class. I normally arrive so that I can see her between the classes, so I called the dance studio to let them know. Then I decided to go to Gift City to get our candy for Halloween, which was the next evening. I then went to pick Millie up from dance and we flew to the rugby club to watch Jack in his touch match. Stuart said he was concerned about winning the match, as well as winning the weekend tournament. He is SO competitive. Stuart thought we needed to talk him through some of his nerves so he wouldn’t end up having a nervous breakdown. Poor kid! After his touch match, which they did lose, I told him he needed to only do his part and not worry about anyone else. He just needed to play his hardest and trust that the other players would do the same. Crisis over, we hope. 

Wednesday we were up and out the door for another day of school. Stuart again picked the kids up to take them home. He was in charge of getting them ready for Halloween since I had parent meetings after school. I ended up getting to leave school just before 5 pm and was home in time to help Millie get dressed in her princess unicorn outfit. Jack was having his make up applied and was already dressed. The Rouvis showed up and Jack did Louie’s make up. 

Halloween at the Village was a successful event, yet again. It’s great because as long as you bring a bag of candy to someone who lives in the Village, you are welcome to trick or treat. The western expats, as well as some local kids, come out to get candy. 

Thursday was a long day. We had stayed up late with our line of candy passers in front of our house. My students were great which made the day easier. Once school was over, we headed home and finished packing for the weekend in Abu Dhabi. We drove to the Premier Inn close to Zayed Sports Center where the tournament was taking place. Jack’s team wasn’t playing until Saturday so we would have Friday at the pool. 

Once we got to the hotel we ate dinner and then went to the pool. We stayed at the pool longer than intended, but were able to meet up with some other people from Al Ain. We went to the room around 9 pm and just threw the kids into the beds. We had a good nights sleep and then got up for an early breakfast. 

Some of the kids were playing on Friday at the tournament and some were playing on Saturday. I stayed at the hotel and kept some of the siblings so they could swim. 

The hotel service was absolutely horrible, or at least the restaurant service was awful. It did make us say we would never stay at thisparticular Premier Inn again. We typically love  Premier Inns, but this one is definitely off the list. 

Once everyone returned, we had some stacks and beverages by the pool. Millie decided she was ready to go to bed at 5:30 pm, which was fine by me. We went upstairs and took showers. Then we ordered room service. Jack came by the room and decided he would take our light key to go to his friend’s room. He took it while I was in the shower so a minute later Millie and I were in total darkness. I was livid. He finally returned about 7 minutes later to me shouting at him. Ugh! He then went back down to the pool, and he and Stuart ordered pizza from the restaurant, which took ages, confirming our not needing to stay at this Premier Inn again.  Millie and I were sound asleep by the time Stuart and Jack got to the room at 8:30 pm. We had an excellent nights sleep. 

We were all up at 6 am and down for breakfast by 6:30 am. We left the hotel around 7:30 and headed to the rugby pitches. It was a very long day. And just to be nasty to us, we were required to put our top Under 10s team into the A league this tournament. Well, that scared the crap out of the boys. The first game they were visibly scared. The players weren’t terribly bigger than our players, but there was a higher level of intensity for sure. They lost the first match by 3, I think. There were three more matches, which the lost two and tied one. The one game they tied they celebrated as if they had won. Jack had four awesome games. He’s a tackling machine. He is so intense and wants to win so badly. He really wants the rest of the team to be as intense as he is. I’m not sure that’s possible. We were very proud of his performance at the tournament. 

Once the tournament was over for our team, Jack headed back to Al Ain on the bus. Stuart stayed for one last match to referee as the teams asked him to do so. He’s an excellent referee as he tries to make sure the kids learn as they play. So he talks to them and makes sure they set up correctly and are following the rules. The other teams like to have him as a ref. So being so good made it possible for Millie and I to stay at the field a little longer, which we so enjoyed (not). 

Jack called on his way home and asked if he could go swimming once he was back at the club. We decided to let him do so, but then found out no other parents were going to be there so the kids couldn’t stay and swim without an adult at the pool. He ended up getting a lift From his coach and our friend, Andrew. In the meantime Stuart took Sean to get his car. He had it serviced over the weekend and needed a lift to collect it. 

The kids showered and ate while Stuart was gone. Once he returned, we all spoke with Grandma and Hope. Hope had been on half term and was staying with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids went to bed shortly after their conversations with Grandma and Hope. 

Stuart and I ordered Chinese and waited for the guy from the municipality to show up. I had gotten a picture message from Claire on Thursday evening. It was a written note saying someone was complaining about our dogs again. It was in regards to their barking. Since they don’t bark, then it was a mute point in the end. The man was such a nice man and assured me that he would close the case on Sunday. I told him I felt it was a neighbor who wasn’t terribly fond of us because we had complained about their playing basketball late at night. Who knows? Hopefully it is all over. 

At any rate, it was a lovely weekend full of fun. 

The half term break went too fast!

We decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Motiongate on Sunday. The morning didn’t start out so well as I was awakened at 3 am because our air conditioners upstairs had all tripped the breaker. It turns out it was our unit that caused the issue. At 6 am I finally went downstairs to try to sleep a couple more hours in a cooler room. At 8 am I called maintenance and told them they needed to come immediately as we were leaving for the day and wouldn’t be back until later that night. They did come, but the unit in our room wasn’t fixed as they didn’t have the part. 

We decided to carry on with our day and took off towards Dubai. The kids had no idea what we were doing. They kept bugging us to tell them, and even when we arrived in the parking lot, they weren’t exactly sure where we going. When we told them, Jack seemed a bit low. I asked him what was wrong. He said, ‘I wish Henry and May were here.’ He’s a boy who misses his friends. Bless him!

We carried on and after a few rides, he was having a blast. Motiongate is Dream Works, Lions Gate, Smurfs, and Columbia Pictures in one theme park. The rides were fantastic. The queues were minimal. We didn’t wait more than 5 minutes to ride anything all day. We were able to ride every ride at least twice and our favorite ones we rode at least 4 times. Millie seemed to be the most thrilled of all when all was said and done. She said to me, ‘Mom, this was such a great day. We should come here more often.’ 

No park experience is complete without the 3D ride. 


We love us some How to Train Your Dragon. 

Shrek? Stuart? Similarities?

Millie never met a merry go round she didn’t love. 

Millie was excited to see the characters. Puss n Boots didn’t disappoint. 


A tour of Hotel Transylvania? Why not!

And you can’t go to a park without riding at least one water ride. As you would guess, Millie stayed the driest. 

At the end of the time at the park, we came out and ate at Famous Dave’s at Riverland. Riverland is a bit like Downtown Disney with shops and restaurants around. Once dinner was over we headed home. I did everything I could to keep the kids awake as I insisted they shower before bed. Since our air conditioner wasn’t fixed, Stuart and I slept in Millie’s bed and Millie slept with Jack. The kids actually went to bed with no fuss. Stuart and I stayed up and watched some television, and of course I stayed up later than he did. 

Stuart decided to take Monday off with us as well. We called the maintenance guy and he said he would be at our house at 3 pm. So we decided to head to Abu Dhabi to take the kids to Adventure HQ. This is the place where they climb, scooter, and trampoline to their heart’s content. We had a two hour pass and then went to eat at Bucca di Beppo. Oh how we love that Italian food. 

Geared up for the climbing course. 

This was the first time Millie was tall enough to climb. I’m not sure she really was tall enough, but they let her climb anyway. 

We got back to Al Ain and called the maintenance guy. He came, and after a bit, the air conditioner was fixed. So back to our own beds for the night. We decided to meet Cathy, Kayleigh and Claire at the club for dinner. We met them there around 5:30. Jack and Millie played as they usually do and we sat around and chatted. Stuart went to training and we decided since the kids didn’t have school the following day, it wouldn’t hurt them to stay at the club a little later. Once we were home, it was the regular routine. Stuart watched one episode of the Walking Dead and then the television was left to me, for the next to last evening of my holiday. Yahoo for me!!!!!

Tuesday morning I got up around 6:30 am. Stuart was gone to work, Jack was on his PS4, and Millie was still in bed......until 8:45 am, as a matter of fact. Clearly she needed her rest. When she did get up she was starving. So, because fighting the crappy internet was a losing battle, I resigned the television to Millie and made her breakfast. Around 11 am Kayleigh showed up to stay with the kids because I had an appointment with immigration at the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Since Stuart’s green card and residency expires in June, I needed to find out what he needed to do to renew it. Unfortunately, what I suspected was he would have to apply online and then go back to Arizona when his appointment was made for his biometric exam. This translates to ‘it’s going to be a costly adventure’. However, the other option which is letting his residency lapse is really not an option. This would mean he would have to go through the entire process from the beginning, which would be stupid. 

I returned in time to take Millie to dance, which had been canceled because of halfterm break. Had I read the newsletter, I would have known it was canceled. Oh well! Instead we went to Gift City to buy some more candy for the Halloween event. Then we dropped it at the club and headed home to get Millie ready for bed and feed her. Once she was in bed Lara and Kayla came over to help me finish up the Halloween activities for the night at the club. Jack had his touch game at 7:20 pm so returned from the club around 8:30 pm. Lara and Kayla stayed until just before 10 pm and then it was bed for the rest of us. 

Wednesday morning we were up and out of the house and back to school. Surely I would be able to handle a two day week. The day was relatively smooth and the kids were glad to see their friends. After school I had a meeting with one of my student’s parents. This little girl in my class only turned 6 the last week of August. So we have been trying to decide what we should do to make sure she is successful. She is painfully more immature than anyone in my class. The recommendation, after a lot of thought and observation, was to send her back to Year 1. She’s never been in formal education so to place her directly on Year 2 because technically she’s old enough was not right. Hopefully now she will be better placed. It was decided, with a bit of hesitation from her mom, that we would gradually integrate her into a Year 1 classroom over the next week. 

Wednesday after school we came home and the kids showered. We then headed to the golf club for Kayleigh’s surprise birthday party. About 25 people showed up. It was a good night. We got everyone 50% off their food, so that was a bonus. The kids ended up playing outside so of course once we got home they took another shower. They stunk!

Thursday school was as normal. The kids were excited as the rugby club Halloween party was that night. We ended up leaving school at 3 pm, which is about an hour earlier than I normally do. Once we were home the kids went to work on getting dressed in their costumes. We then headed to the club to set up the games stations. It was windy and we just hoped the wind died down as not to destroy our games. 

In the end, the night was a great success. There were a ton of kids who showed up to enjoy the fun. The costumes were brilliant and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. At the end of the evening I was exhausted, but the joy on the faces of the kids was worth it all. 

Stuart did Jack’s zombie make-up. 

Supergirl once again. 

My lovely zombie. 

These boys are on Jack’s rugby team. The decorations were done by the receptionist at the club. 

We managed to have some fun at the Halloween Bash as well. 

On Friday we were up early and heading to Dubai for Jack’s rugby match. His team was playing the best under 10s team in the A bracket. Jack’s team is in the B bracket. The boys played really hard and ended up beating the other team. Jack scores the winning try for his team. When he described the try to me you could tell he thought out the play very carefully. The thing I really appreciate about Jack’s athletic ability is that he mixes his physical abilities with his mental abilities. We were so proud of him. 

He’s a bit intense. 

He wasn’t terribly happy with us after the match, as we made him go to the outlet mall to try to buy him some swimming trunks instead of letting him go home on the bus with his friends. However, he is so picky about the way things fit that I’ve decided I dare not buy clothes of any kind for him without him trying them on. Thank goodness we did actually find two pair of trunks otherwise he would have seen our efforts as a waste of his time. 

Stuart left us after lunch and headed to Jebel Ali to play rugby. When we returned from Dubai I stopped at the super market to get a snack for our Halloween party at DeDe’s that afternoon. The kids were asleep in the car so I just popped into the shop. Once we were home they both woke up and just chilled on the sofa for an hour or so. Cathy came over right at 3pm and we headed to DeDe’s. I was thinking her kids were getting too old for these parties, but it seems this year they decided to plan it on their own. They planned the crafts and games. It was a refreshing change. The adults just chatted and ate the food. It was a great few hours. 

This was a spider game they played. 

Pumpkin carving never gets old. 

Millie acted as if she was highly involved. She wasn’t. 

These were the tank top treat bags they made. They simply cut the bottom of a tank top in even cuts and tied the two sides of each cut together in a know. It was super clever and now they have their Halloween bags. 

After the party the kids, Cathy and I came back to our place. Cathy and I sat and listened to music while the kids took their showers. Millie ate dinner and Jack played on his PS4. Stuart called about a half hour after we got home. I was under the impression the second match he was playing in that day didn’t start until 6, when in fact it started at 4 pm. So he called to say he was on his way home. I decided to get the bubble and squeak in the over and get the roasted chicken out of the refrigerator. I then messaged Sean to invite him over as well. He was also on his way home from the match. Once they both arrived, we had dinner and just chat the night away. They left just before 11 pm. Stuart was off to bed and I stayed downstairs to watch some television. 

Saturday morning I got up to take Sean’s daughter to the hair salon. Men are not allowed in the salons as there are Muslim women who get their hair done in these salons and are not to be seen by men, uncovered. So he said he would pick her up after the appointment. I headed back home and was going to head out with the family to the supermarket for our weekly shop. In the end Stuart decided to go on his own as the kids absolutely hate the supermarket and the hassle is sometimes not worth it. So I stayed home with the kids and we watched Hotel Transylvania 3. 

Stuart returned from the store with lamb steaks for dinner.  He also had the rest of the groceries for the week. He is a much better shopper than I am. He actually sticks to the list. The kids went upstairs to play and Stuart and I began watching a new series called The Bodyguard. Ooooo, it’s very good. I was supposed to head to DeDe’s for a Thirty-One bag party, but by the time 4 pm hit I just couldn’t be asked to go. So I stayed at home, had a lovely dinner with the whole family and spent the evening relaxing. 

The first half of Term 1 is completed!

Sunday I woke up at 2:30 am and had a difficult time going back to sleep. I could do nothing but think of my observation. I’m not sure why, when I’ve had observations as many times as I have and have also observed people for years, I would be so uptight about the whole thing. I think I just want to do it the Brighton waySo desperately. Since I was awake anyway, I got up at my normal ‘walking’ time and made the kids lunches. Lara decided not to walk, but I walked anyway. Taking two dogs on a walk is way more challenging when you are on your own. 

School was busy but good. I stayed after school until almost 5 pm so that I would be well prepared. By the end of Sunday, I felt much better about my observation coming up. Once I was finished at school, I went to the mall to get some things for Millie for her Christmas presents. Sadly, if something is available now, it might be gone later. So I decided to go ahead and get her what she wanted. 

I got home and Millie was on her way to bed. Jack went shortly after she did. I was ready for half term break for sure. Stuart had made a crock pot meal which was delightful. I was asleep on the sofa around 10 pm, but sadly I didn’t get up to go to bed until around midnight. I decided I would get up Monday morning and shower, which is not normally my routine. 

By the time I was showered and downstairs Monday morning, Stuart was ready to go to work. The kids did their normal thing, irritate me until we were finally out the door. I was almost out of gas, but decided it would have to wait until after school. Monday, as by now you surely know, is my favorite day of the week, as I have a ton of free time to work. 

Millie had said to me that morning that her head was itching. Then of course, my head started to itch as well. So I popped into the school nurse to get checked out. I was clear, but later in the day Millie went to see the nurse because her throat hurt. The nurse decided to check her head. And guess what? Yep! Head lice! It turns out that her two besties in her class had it as well. So after school we went home to treat it and wash a million loads of laundry. 

I got up Tuesday morning ready for my observation. I was so glad I had prepared on Sunday after school because Monday after school was all about getting rid of the pesky bugs in hair. I treated Jack and myself, just as a precaution. When we got to school, I had Millie’s hair checked. She still had eggs so it was decided she should go back home. It’s not mandatory for the kids to stay home a certain amount of time. So since I knew neither Stuart nor myself could stay home with her on Tuesday, I dragged her to school with me. 

Getting her somewhere was a bit difficult. I ended up taking her to my teammate Joan’s house to be with her nit infested daughter as well. Her nanny combed through and treated Millie’s head again. Ick! 

I had to leave school the hour before my observation. I got back to the school 20 minutes before it was time for me to be observed. What a way to start the day of my formal observation. I’m happy to report that I’m way harder on myself than anyone else could ever be. My verbal feedback was very positive. The two things I needed to work on were specific to Brighton College so I didn’t feel too badly about that, since there is one program for which I’ve never even had training. Done and dusted, thank goodness. 

After school I picked up Millie and we headed to dance. After I dropped her off I went to the store where they sell libations. On the way back to the dance studio I stopped to get something to drink at a petrol station. I was pleased to find a KFC so I bought Millie some popcorn chicken, which she ate between dance classes. When dance was over we headed to the club to watch Jack play touch rugby. We got home around 7:30 and the kids showered. Millie headed to bed, while Jack had dinner and then headed to bed himself. 

I planned to get up a bit early on Wednesday as it was our theme day at school. I had to get my clown costume on. Our focus this first half of the term has been Under the Big Top. All of the kids were to dress as something from the circus. They were all so cute. We had a two hour block where we did circus stuff. My activity was coloring circus masks. One of my teammates taught kids to walk on a tight rope, one did juggling and the other did magic tricks. It was a great day. 

I left school at 3:15 pm. It had been quite a day. We ordered take out and Cathy came over to eat with us. Jack was to go to bed at 8, but had a fit and wasn’t asleep until 9. I’m not sure what totally set him off, but I ended up taking his PS4 away. He is starting to grow up, but I can tell he doesn’t always want to grow up. It doesn’t help that he’s a mama’s boy. I realize I have created some of this behavior. 

Thursday was the last day before our half term break. It seemed to be an unbelievably long day, believe it or not.  But I was thrilled I had made it to our first break. As soon as we were able to leave on Thursday, we did. I loaded up everything I would need to plan for the following Wednesday and Thursday. We were only getting Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off, but that’s better than nothing. 

Thursday evening the ‘crew’ came over for take out. We sat outside in our newly created patio and fired up the shisha pipe. Ian was supposed to spend the night, but when his folks left, Jack and Millie were asleep, so I think he found it a bit weird to think of having a sleepover with Stuart and myself. Poor kid! Everyone went home around 11 pm. It was another fun Thursday evening and seems to be becoming a habit. 

Friday we were at the club for an inter squad scrimmage. After the match, the kids swam and then Jack went home with Adam while Stuart, Millie and I went to the grocery store. Once we were home I popped over to Lara’s for a couple of hours. There were a few of our neighbors there so it was a bit of a girl gathering. 

Stuart made dinner, a chicken dish, which was delightful. We sat around and watched the Walking Dead which is not my favorite show. Lara and Brian had people over Friday evening and wanted us to come. I was finally conned into going for about an hour. 

I got up Saturday morning and headed to get candy for the Halloween bash for the 25th at the club. I lazed around for the better part of the day. Kayleigh flew into Dubai Saturday morning, and she, Cathy and Claire came for a roast dinner. They got to our house around 2 pm. Sean and Carleigh came over as well. This Saturday evening roast thing is beginning to be a habit as well. It was a great night. 

What a week! Tuesdays remain my least favorite day!

Sunday was a good day at school. I discovered I was covering for a grade 4 teacher in math, during one of my periods off on Monday. Of course I started to stress about that. 

We left school just in time to get to rugby training. Once we were back home, the kids showered, ate and then were off to bed. The fire stick started working again. Thank goodness! I was able to watch some of my trashy television, as a result. I had decided I wouldn’t be playing netball this year after all. This new job is enough ‘new’ for me for this school year. 

Monday morning was swim squad for Jack and it was then that I discovered I had made some mistakes when entering the learning objectives in my English and Maths books. Whoops! I started to correct all of them, but my team leader told me it wasn’t necessary, but that I just needed to correct it from this day forward. 

I covered that Year 4 Maths class and.....I loved it. I’m thankful for my new job, but I’m pretty sure I will need to move up to a higher grade level next year. I think my patience is a bit low for the little ones. I haven’t burst a blood vessel yet, but it’s still a bit early. I did really enjoy teaching the class. 

After school on Monday I got home in time to leave for a meeting at the rugby club about the youth tournament in December. The kids showered, ate and brushed their teeth. Stuart brought them to the club just after 6 pm, and the three of us headed to the dentist while Stuart was at training. 

Neither child had a cavity, thank goodness, and the dentist said Millie’s teeth will eventually grow in, even though one of her front teeth has been missing since last October, a year ago. The dentist told me not to worry. Jack, on the other hand, was referred to an orthodontist. It seems she is worried his pallet is too narrow. It doesn’t surprise me, as his mouth is built just like my nephew’s and he has had all kinds of work done. 

We were home just after 7 pm. Millie had a snack and then went to bed. She feels so cheated when we get home and she goes straight to bed, but really she stays up later on those nights. She just doesn’t realize it. 

Jack stayed up for about an hour and then was in bed. Stuart got home from training just before 9 pm. He went to bed, while I stayed up and watched television. 

I didn’t sleep that well. I woke up at 4 am realizing I hadn’t put the laundry in the dryer. Said laundry had Jack’s PE kit and swim gear in it, which he would need on Tuesday. I went downstairs and put the clothes in the dryer. Then, naturally, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I just dwelt on the fact that in a week I would have my observation at school and I wasn’t terribly sure what I was going to do. 

When I did finally get out of bed, the normal morning routine commenced. We were out the door at 6:20 am and at school in time for swim squad. Tuesdays are long days for all of us. Jack has swim squad before school, basketball right after school, rugby training from 5-6:30, and then his touch match from 6:40-7:15. Millie has dance from 4:40-6:15 and then we go to Jack’s match. His team was beat on Tuesday by the Brighton College team. His kid’s team is really good and going up against all these adult teams, which I think is admirable. They can pretty much keep with them as well. He was voted Man of the Match. 

Millie decided she only wanted French fries for dinner. But she didn’t even eat those. Then when we got home and she was showered, at 8 pm, she decided she was hungry. Then she threw a fit from her bed. I ignored as best I could and she finally fell asleep. Jack was in bed by 8:30 and again, Stuart and I questioned what we would eat for dinner. We continue to say we need to make crock pot meals on Sundays and Tuesdays, but have we done it? Nope. I am hoping to get organized soonish. 

Wednesday morning I was supposed to walk with Lara but I got a message saying she hadn’t slept well. So of course I went back to bed. 

School was status quo on Wednesday. It’s starting to feel a bit more normal now. I did speak to one of the Deputy Heads about some feedback I received from another senior leader, saying my wall space wasn’t as advanced as Mrs. Weir’s, which is my team leader. Now, because I get along with Mrs. Weir, there was no real issue, but since when do you ever, as a leader, compare one person’s work to another? Clearly she hasn’t been in the same leadership classes that I have been in. 

After school I took Jack to the orthodontist. He said Jack wouldn’t need work until he was about 13. That was good and bad news. Good news because he wouldn’t have to go through the pain right now. Bad news because by the time he is 13 we will be back in the states and it will cost us at least twice the amount it would cost us here. 

After his appointment we went downtown to look for a costume for his assembly the following day. I ended up having to make part of it. I didn’t know that they had implemented a pay and display parking in downtown. Therefore, guess who got a parking ticket? Yep. That might have been the most expensive homemade costume ever! We came home, the kids showered while I made them something to eat, and then I purchased The Greatest Showman. It’s definitely one of our new favorite movies. 

Thursday morning we got up and Jack got his costume on. It was pink day at school in observance of breast cancer awareness. So Jack has to take his pink stuff, his swim gear, and wear his Viking costume. I was able to go and watch his assembly. It was really cute. Sometimes I fear academics may take a back seat when teachers start working on these assemblies. However, it kind of reminds me of how I grew up and I feel these things help to round out a child. 

Also, Thursday, Millie was told she was elected to Pupil Council. She was so excited. Unfortunately, Jack was not elected to Pupil Council. He was disappointed but said it was okay. After thinking about it, I was kind of glad he didn’t get it and she did. He seems to have a lot of accolades for his sporting events. So I think it’s ok that she has something special that gives her some recognition. 

We left school around 3:30 on Thursday. I brought a ton of stuff home so I could make sure I was ready for the following week and my observation. We ended up having people over on Thursday evening. Stuart made chili and Lara made a green chili. People stayed late and we had a good laugh, as usual. Jack had two friends spend the night, and who knows what time they finally stopped giggling. 

Friday morning we were up and at the club at 8:30. Jack had a match that he won. After, the players stayed to swim, so Stuart and I had breakfast. 

We had driven two different cars so Stuart headed home around 11:30 am as he had to be back to the club just after 1 pm for his rugby match at 3 pm. I got back to the club around 2:30 pm to be there when Mediclinic showed up for the breast cancer awareness presentation. 

We didn’t have a huge attendance, but we did give the women a treat for the night. Every woman got a pink rose, a pink drink, and some cake. 

The community team lost, unfortunately, but I think they still had fun. At the end of the match, the team dressed up as pre 2000 WWE wrestlers. Stuart was Raudy Roddy Piper. 

We stayed at the club until around 8 pm. When we got home the kids showered and went to bed. Jack complained of being hungry, but I reminded him he had multiple opportunities to eat and chose not to do so. He finally went to sleep and then ate a big breakfast Saturday morning. 

He also spent most of the morning doing homework he had put off for the last month. Each six weeks the school sends home a menu of things the kids can do as their homework. It’s always do at the half way mark in the term and then at the end. So time management is tricky if you are Jack and would rather play all day. He did get it done in the end, thank goodness. And most of it he did in his own. 

Around noon Stuart, Millie and I went to the grocery store. We left Jack at Ian’s house. When we returned from the store, we had food for the crock pot. We had decided we had been forgetting the fact that we needed to actually make food at the house rather than just eating whatever was there. 

We hung around the house the rest of the day. It was good to have my work finished that morning and enjoy the rest of the day doing a whole lot of nothing. The kids went to bed early as did Stuart and myself. It was a good weekend and I was good to go work the following day. 

Tired! Tired! Tired!

Sunday I went to school and was beyond ready for the day. After meeting with my team, I realized I was not as far behind as I had thought. It seems we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

After we were home from school we went to the club for training for the kids. I spoke to the kid who has been harassing Jack. His dad and I met with both boys. We got it sorted out. I’m not sure the boy was being a bully as much as he was trying to somehow fit in. 

We got home from the club and fixed the kids dinner. Stuart and I didn’t eat anything. We even went to bed early. It was a relatively boring day. 

Monday I had my best day, as most of the day is for planning. I had a couple of meetings after school and again, left my laptop at school. That’s a big deal!!!!! 

We had a committee meeting that seemed to last for forever. I just want to throw parties. I don’t really care about everything else. The kids and I were home by 7 pm. They showered and went to bed shortly after that. I did a bit of marking of some books and then relaxed the rest of the evening. Stuart went to training and then was home by almost 9 pm. 

Tuesday was a bit frustrating. I discovered there were still things I was not doing the correct way. I am hoping this feeling will stop soon. I found out my evaluation would be on the 7th of October. Ugh! 

Stuart picked Jack up from school. Millie went home with her buddy and then I met her at dance. We then went to the club for the first week of his rugby touch tournament game. He played really well. He was so excited to be a part of the team. When he got home he showed me his toe. Apparently at school he was playing football (soccer) at playtime and kicked the ground, attempting to kick he ball. It seems he jammed his big toe. It was bruised and he said it hurt really badly. I doubted that a bit as he still went to basketball practice, rugby training, and played in the touch match. However, it did look awful, almost immediately after he did it. 

Wednesday was another day of school and one day closer to the weekend. School was pretty uneventful. Stuart picked the kids up after school, as I had a meeting with one of my new students’ parents. It was a very enlightening meeting. I discovered that this student had really never been in a formal school until this year. She’s very young as well. It’s possible they will consider moving her down to the previous year group. We will have a meeting regarding this very soon I would guess. 

Thursday after school I stayed a bit later than normal. Jack told me he really liked me being at his school, but the thing he didn’t like was how long we stayed at school. So I told him we would start coming home early on Mondays and Wednesdays, and most likely on Thursdays. I hope I can stick to that schedule. 

Millie won the hula hooping contest for Ryle House for the Year 2s. 

Once we were home, Cathy came over around 5 pm. Sean showed up around 6 pm and we ordered curry. We just sat around and chatted for the entire evening. 

Friday we were up early for Jack’s rugby match. I took him to the club at 6:30 am to catch a bus to Dubai. Stuart and Millie followed in the car. I was off to Dubai with DeDe. We went shopping and had a good catch up. We were gone all day. 

Stuart had to come back to Al Ain and left the kids with Cathy. He returned to Dubai for the men’s match. He was upset when he got home because it seems there were people who played in the match, but hadn’t paid to be members of club as of that match. 

Saturday morning, I was getting after the procrastinating kids who had left their homework until the 11th hour. Millie got after her homework almost immediately, but Jack whines and moaned. 

Just after lunch, we took Jack and Millie to Bounce for a couple of hours. Stuart and I did some shopping and simply walked around the mall. After Bounce, we headed to the rugby club because Jack had touch rugby training. But Jack announce that he had a headache and he decided he couldn’t go. When we got home both kids bathed and had a bite to eat. 

The evening was full of a lot of nothing. I like Saturday evenings of that nature. Jack began to feel a bit better, which was a relief. Both children were in bed a bit earlier than usual. It was a busy week and one was gearing up to begin again. 

The weeks are flying by

Sunday at school I still made mistakes. One of my teammates made me feel better, though, because he told me he still has days he feels terribly inadequate. 

Stuart picked the kids up after school and I stayed a bit later to get some work done.  I didn’t go to the rugby club, but I wished I had. It seems there is a boy on Jack’s team who keeps calling him names and harassing him during practice. Because the coaches are there to just coach, they often just separate the kids rather than helping to solve the issue. So, since I don’t go to the club on Tuesdays, I have that confrontation to look forward to. We seldom run into bullying here, so when we do it’s terribly upsetting. Generally, the children take care of each other. It’s a bit of a Pleasantville situation we live in. It’s unusual and we will like it. 

The reason I didn’t go to the club Sunday evening was because we sold our old washing machine and the buyer was coming to collect it that evening. We had bought a new washing machine over the weekend. Why, you ask? Because our old one was stinky and old. We wanted to sell it while it was still working. 

Stuart and the kids got home just before 7 pm. Millie went to bed nicely for the second night in a row. She knows she has a gift at the end of the week if she keeps it up. 

Monday I was more prepared. My Mondays are easy anyway, as I only teach 3 lessons. After school Jack had a basketball game at another school. Millie and I went to watch the game and pick him up. He played really well and loved every minute. We then delivered the keyboard I had sold. The guy I sold it to gave me a creepy picture he must have gotten off of Facebook. Ick! I think this was a snap chat picture Jack took. It’s weird. He works at a photo studio, so I assume he thought it was a nice gesture. After the delivery, I stopped by KFC to get the kids dinner. When we got home Stuart was leaving for training. Millie went to bed with no issue, again. I told her if she did this for one week straight I would give her a prize. 

Jack was at swim squad early on Tuesday morning. The day at school Tuesday was great. Millie went home with a friend and the mother took them to dance. I went to sort out bank stuff as they will freeze my money without my new visa. I didn’t have all the documentation so they said I had 45 days to get it all in. Now I have to wait on immigration. 

After I picked Millie up from dance, we got McDonalds for dinner, just for Jack and Millie. Clearly we are the fast food folks at the moment. When I got home I did my best to get Millie to take a shower and get into bed. She was having none of it. So the prize was taken away. She would have to start all over again on Wednesday. 

Wednesday was an even better day at school. I did a few more hands on activities, and followed the plans a little more closely. Jack and Millie acted up and were grounded from going outside to play before or after school. This punishment would last a week. I’m not sure who will be more punished, me or them. 

The theme in my year group right now is The Greatest Showman. This is our hallway. It looks like a circus. 

We left for home just before 5 pm. The kids went straight for showers and then we were off for sushi for Claire’s birthday. She turned 18 and passed her driving test. It was a big day. I saw one of my teammates at the restaurant and got him half price dinner. He happens to be Millie’s teacher as well, so it’s not a bad idea to be nice to him. 

We got home and the kids were in bed. Stuart came home after training and brought food. I finished my work for the evening and was ready for the next school day, with some wonderful activities for my lessons. 

Thursday morning I went confidently to school and the day was okay. I’m really starting to get into a groove and I am a bit ahead of each day, thank goodness. School was awesome. I stayed and worked until almost 5 pm. 

Once we were home, Cathy came over for nachos. We had a good catch up and then I stayed up and watched television. 

We went to the club to set up on Friday morning. 

Jack was in charge of picking up the empty water bottles that morning. 

It was the opening match for the league play. The day was filled with sponsors, a garage sale that I made about 700 dirhams on, and two men’s rugby matches. It was a very successful day. We made about twice the amount of money than on a normal Friday. I had a headache most of the day and felt my cold coming back. We were home by 9 pm. It was a long and exhausting day. 

The kids showered and were off to bed. Jack had pulled his tooth earlier in the day, so he put his tooth under his pillow and said ‘I hope the tooth fairy gives me 100 dirhams,’ which is about $30. Then I said, ‘I don’t think the tooth fairy is that rich.’  I then winked at him and he giggled. I like that he is willing to still play along.  I stayed up and cut out some learning centers, played tooth fairy and then went to bed. 

I was up Saturday morning and went to school for a bit. I forgot my spelling lessons for Sunday. I did some laminating in order to cut it out for some centers for Sunday. 

When I got home we decided to go to the driving range for an hour or so. We then ate at the restaurant at the golf club. It was a bit of an irritating meal. No one told us that the sushi chef didn’t get to work until noon. Therefore all of us had our food and had eaten before Jack got his food. It’s the way of the UAE. It can get a bit maddening at times. We got over it and went home. 

The rest of the day was homework and school work for Stuart and myself. We took a break at 4 pm when we brought Jack to the club to practice with his Tuesday evening touch tournament team. They decided to call themselves Oreos, because Jack is the cream center. He’s the only white kid on the team. Everyone else is from New Zealand or surrounding islands. Kiwis have no need for other players on their team because they have so much talent. I told Jack he was very privileged to be invited to play with those kids. He’s so excited. 

We got home and fed the kids, had them shower and all went to bed, including us. It was a great week and we were ready for another one.