Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Back to School
Well, vacation is over and it is time to get back to real life. For us that means homeschooling! This year Unicorn is a sophomore in high school, Ladybug is in 3rd grade, and Monkey is in 1st grade!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Our Daily "Hotel" Life in Al Ain
Time to play catch-up...it has been a little over a week since my last post.
Mon., Feb. 10 - The kids and I got up early, had breakfast, and then headed out to a friend's place to do some laundry. One of the many wonderful things about being an expat in the UAE is you have an instant circle of friends! We are all living in a foreign country so we band together to help each other out and help each other learn about this amazing country we are in. Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) we are used to this type of instant "family" within our Church and it is even stronger here! While I was doing laundry and visiting with my friend our children had a great time playing together! Then she surprised us by taking us to a local mall and out to lunch at Papa John's! This was also hubby's first day at his new job! Wow...it is going to be much harder than we thought BUT we still feel this is where we are supposed to be and that all the pros will outweigh the difficulty of the job. Let's just say that 6th grade Arab boys aren't any better behaved than 6th grade boys in the US of A!
Tues., Feb. 11 - After another wonderful breakfast, the kids did some school work and then we checked out the pools (yes, plural, as in 3 pools)! They had a blast! After swimming, we ran everyone through the showers and Unicorn got ready for the Church Youth Activity...they played ping-pong and then cleaned the church building (a rather large Villa). Today hubby had to fill in for a math teacher that was gone to training. He said the day flew by but that he felt like he was thrown to the wolves! He is glad he gets to shadow the other teacher for a couple more days!
Wed., Feb. 12 - One of these days I need to remember to take my camera to breakfast as it is quite the spread! After breakfast the kids did their schoolwork and we headed out to the mall. We signed the kids up for ice skating lessons, bought a flat iron, and tried to find some jeans for me (I have lost 5 pounds since we got here and my jeans don't fit anymore) and failed. On Wednesdays (and Mondays), hubby has professional development after school so he is home a bit later than usual.
Thurs., Feb. 13 - Thursday is the new Friday! Yippee! Hubby survived his first week! The kids and I enjoyed another day of school work and the pool. We also found the trampoline that is at the hotel! Monkey and Ladybug had a BLAST jumping (poor Unicorn is to old for the trampoline). We had a nice relaxing evening as a family and then ran everyone through the showers again as Friday is the new Sunday! ;)
Fri., Feb. 14 - The Muslim Sabbath is on Friday so Friday is our new Sunday and off to church we went! Our little Branch is just that...LITTLE! We had 45 people in attendance and we meet in a nice Villa! The kids call it "Villa Church"! Since they knew we were coming there were lots of hugs and many people were glad to finally meet us!
Sat., Feb. 15 - I got a massage and a detox body wrap!!! Then we took a family field trip the the mall to get some more long sleeve dress shirts for hubby to wear to work and I finally found a couple pair of jeans that fit...and a cute new top!
Sun., Feb. 16 - It was back to work for hubby...his first day going solo with his own classes. It wasn't too bad, only 3 forty-five minute classes! He also got his schedule and he will have 3-4 classes of 6th grade science each day. He has to be at his school by 7. The boys do stretching, read from the Koran and sing the National Anthem at 7:15 and then classes start at 7:30. The boys are finished at 1:15 and the teachers can leave at 1:30 (except for Mon and Wed when they have professional development until 3:00). The kids and I hung out at the pool and the trampoline again (tough life, I know)! Around 5 in the evening we got an email that all the new (middle and high school) teachers would be heading to Abu Dhabi for training for the next 3 days and to call if they needed hotel accommodations. Hubby decided to catch a ride with his normal carpool and come back to Al Ain each night. Unicorn went to Seminary in the evening.
Mon., Feb. 17 - Hubby was up early and off to Abu Dhabi for training. The kids and I had breakfast, did some school work and headed off to the mall for their ice skating lessons. Have to say I was impressed as the have NEVER ice skated before. They got out on the ice about 20 minutes before their lessons and started trying to figure out how to move on the ice. Then they had about 25 minutes of lessons and the girls were able to ditch the "walkers"! The practiced for another 45 minutes or so and then I had to drag them off the ice so we could go get some lunch! They have begging to go back ever since we left! If they still like skating after a few more lessons we will sign them up for lessons on Wednesdays too! After lunch we found a nice little clothing store that had some cute clothes for kids and we picked up a few items for the kids.
Tues., Feb. 18 - Laundry and play dates again! In fact, we had 2 play dates today! Lots of fun. Unicorn had a Youth Activity in the evening. They went to the Rugby Club and played Frisbee Golf!
Wed., Feb. 19 -Today we caught up with some school work after a busy week. Hopefully we will make it to the pool tomorrow! Insha'Allah (means God willing...a VERY common phrase here)! Hubby was able to pick up his passport with his permanent resident visa today and get some information from the bank too. We have a local account and our housing allowance but no house or bank card! No worries...it will all happen eventually!
Mon., Feb. 10 - The kids and I got up early, had breakfast, and then headed out to a friend's place to do some laundry. One of the many wonderful things about being an expat in the UAE is you have an instant circle of friends! We are all living in a foreign country so we band together to help each other out and help each other learn about this amazing country we are in. Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) we are used to this type of instant "family" within our Church and it is even stronger here! While I was doing laundry and visiting with my friend our children had a great time playing together! Then she surprised us by taking us to a local mall and out to lunch at Papa John's! This was also hubby's first day at his new job! Wow...it is going to be much harder than we thought BUT we still feel this is where we are supposed to be and that all the pros will outweigh the difficulty of the job. Let's just say that 6th grade Arab boys aren't any better behaved than 6th grade boys in the US of A!
Tues., Feb. 11 - After another wonderful breakfast, the kids did some school work and then we checked out the pools (yes, plural, as in 3 pools)! They had a blast! After swimming, we ran everyone through the showers and Unicorn got ready for the Church Youth Activity...they played ping-pong and then cleaned the church building (a rather large Villa). Today hubby had to fill in for a math teacher that was gone to training. He said the day flew by but that he felt like he was thrown to the wolves! He is glad he gets to shadow the other teacher for a couple more days!
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| Can you see Ladybug? She is getting ready to go down the water slide! |
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| Ladybug school (with a Monkey in the mirror) |
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| Monkey School |
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| Unicorn School ?!? (looks uncomfortable to me)! |
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| Probably not a bad way for a red-head to sunbathe! |
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| Monkey sunbathing? |
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| Ladybug catching some rays! |
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| She loves the water slide! |
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| Monkey enjoying the water slide. |
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| I think we wore him out! |
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| Valentine's Display at the hotel |
Sun., Feb. 16 - It was back to work for hubby...his first day going solo with his own classes. It wasn't too bad, only 3 forty-five minute classes! He also got his schedule and he will have 3-4 classes of 6th grade science each day. He has to be at his school by 7. The boys do stretching, read from the Koran and sing the National Anthem at 7:15 and then classes start at 7:30. The boys are finished at 1:15 and the teachers can leave at 1:30 (except for Mon and Wed when they have professional development until 3:00). The kids and I hung out at the pool and the trampoline again (tough life, I know)! Around 5 in the evening we got an email that all the new (middle and high school) teachers would be heading to Abu Dhabi for training for the next 3 days and to call if they needed hotel accommodations. Hubby decided to catch a ride with his normal carpool and come back to Al Ain each night. Unicorn went to Seminary in the evening.
Mon., Feb. 17 - Hubby was up early and off to Abu Dhabi for training. The kids and I had breakfast, did some school work and headed off to the mall for their ice skating lessons. Have to say I was impressed as the have NEVER ice skated before. They got out on the ice about 20 minutes before their lessons and started trying to figure out how to move on the ice. Then they had about 25 minutes of lessons and the girls were able to ditch the "walkers"! The practiced for another 45 minutes or so and then I had to drag them off the ice so we could go get some lunch! They have begging to go back ever since we left! If they still like skating after a few more lessons we will sign them up for lessons on Wednesdays too! After lunch we found a nice little clothing store that had some cute clothes for kids and we picked up a few items for the kids.
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| Ladybug before her lesson |
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| Monkey before his lesson |
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| Unicorn and Ladybug before their lesson |
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| Lesson time! |
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| Unicorn skating without the walker |
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| Ladybug without the walker |
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| Racing to the other end of the rink |
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| Not bad for first timers! |
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| Monkey without the walker |
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| Monkey going all the way around the rink after his lesson |
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| Practicing after their lesson |
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| Ladybug not wanting to leave! |
Wed., Feb. 19 -Today we caught up with some school work after a busy week. Hopefully we will make it to the pool tomorrow! Insha'Allah (means God willing...a VERY common phrase here)! Hubby was able to pick up his passport with his permanent resident visa today and get some information from the bank too. We have a local account and our housing allowance but no house or bank card! No worries...it will all happen eventually!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
What to do while we WAIT for our Golden Tickets
One of the first things we were told when we applied to teach in Abu Dhabi is that we will need to be patient as things won't go the way we think they should. We were also told to eliminate the word "should" from our vocabulary and be prepared to both leave tomorrow and have a plan in case it is a couple months before we leave. It is funny because, while we are fine with the way things are going, family and friends seem to have issues with it. We keep telling them that everything is going the way it is supposed to and that we get there when we are supposed to get there.
In the meantime, we are living in my parents 400 sq. ft. casita and going on with work and school while we wait. Unicorn has finished 2 of her semester courses which is awesome because now we don't have to pack those materials! We have switched Monkey and Ladybug to Time4Learning.com to make schooling while we are in limbo easier. We have been checking out parks near my parents home and even went to FlipSide (kind of like an indoor mini amusement park). There has been some baking with Grandma and my mom and I got to meet Ann Romney and have her sign copies of her cookbook yesterday!
In the meantime, we are living in my parents 400 sq. ft. casita and going on with work and school while we wait. Unicorn has finished 2 of her semester courses which is awesome because now we don't have to pack those materials! We have switched Monkey and Ladybug to Time4Learning.com to make schooling while we are in limbo easier. We have been checking out parks near my parents home and even went to FlipSide (kind of like an indoor mini amusement park). There has been some baking with Grandma and my mom and I got to meet Ann Romney and have her sign copies of her cookbook yesterday!
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| At the "Barn" Park |
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| Monkey at FlipSide |
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| The kids playing at FlipSide |
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| Ladybug checking out the HUGE trunk in our rental car. |
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| Monkey and Ladybug doing their school work. |
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| Unicorn doing her Latin. |
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| Another park |
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| Monkey being brave |
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| Unicorn on the monkey bars |
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| Ladybug on the monkey bars |
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| Unicorn making banana bread with Grandma |
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| Monkey made zucchinni bread with Grandma |
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| Ladybug making chocolate chip cookies with Grandma |
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| 1st in line for Ann Romney! |
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| Mom waiting for Ann Romney |
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| ANN ROMNEY! |
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| Mom meeting Ann |
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| Me meeting Ann! |
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