Awhile

It has been awhile since I last blogged.  I was ready to just throw in the towel but one of my friends told me that I was so close to the end of the year that I should just finish the project 365 blog.  I actually wrote a post about why I haven’t blogged all this time, but I ultimately decided it was just too personal and I am not ready to post it if ever.  My last post was on September 18th.  We were getting ready for Doss to leave for England the following week.  The kids also had all sorts of activities planned for October including Fall Break so these last few weeks have been busy.  I guess maybe I will do the same thing I did when I got backlogged in the summer.  I will start with today’s post and then work backwards until I am caught up.


#310/365

These are the lovely plants on our balcony…courtesy of the guy that cleans our apartment 3x a week.  I just found out today that it is his last day of work.  He is retiring.  He said he has been working for the Hotel Sultan (previously Hilton) for 29 years now.  We are sad to see him go as he has been the same person that comes and cleans the floors and bathrooms MWF for the 2.5+ years that we have lived here. 




#309/365

Tuesday Nov. 5th was a school holiday.  It was the Islamic New Year.  Doss had the day off.  We woke up and found that Joseph was still asleep.  He slept unil 8am!  Doss and I said it was a miracle or some weird fluke of nature.  Joseph NEVER sleeps in!  We said maybe there was hope for him as a teenager…lol.




#308/365

Monday was an all school teacher prep day so the kids were off school.  Some of the parents had asked for some “action” shots of the boys from the soccer games.  I had some time to download and edit pictures on Monday.  This one is my favorite.  #2’s name is Angus.  He has quite the leg and can kick the ball hard.  The look on the other kids’ faces just makes me laugh.  At the game on Saturday, Angus kicked the ball way up on to the roof.  I think that ball will be there forever!





#307/365

Joseph is singing a solo for the Primary Program.  We started practicing right after Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.  I don’t think the kids know the songs as well as they should, but hopefully it will all come together.  We also started practicing new songs for ward choir.  Playing for choir keeps me on my toes.  I can’t believe how many songs I have learned just this year.  Luckily, most of the ones for Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t too complicated.

 


#306/365

Joseph had his last soccer game on Saturday.  It was a tournament.  It was double elimination so if you lost 2 games, you were out.  Sadly, Team Netherlands lost their first 2 games.  The boys were so sad.  I think half the team was crying.  Joseph said he was disappointed but he didn’t cry.  The positive was that all 12 boys showed up for the tournament so we were finally able to get a team photo with the entire team!  Joseph played on a good team this year.  The coach, the boys, and the parents were all great.  We had a really positive experience this season.





#305/365

The first grade classes had their Halloween party on Nov. 1st (Friday).  It took a really long time to get everything ready for the party. I made goodie bags from scratch for all 3 classes. You would not believe how difficult it is to find 60 bags in this town…crazy!  I also helped get the stuff for the frame craft that the kids made. Everything turned out well.  The kids had fun. The teachers said the moms had outdone themselves.  I was just glad to have it all over with.
Here the kids were waiting for the 4th graders to teach them dance moves to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.




#304/365

Halloween day was busy.  Katelyn had a celebration at school that morning. For dinner we had a small celebration. We had Pizza Hut and Halloween cupcakes for dessert.  Doss helped the girls carve a pumpkin.  That evening Joseph went to a Halloween party with a friend and I took the girls trick-or-treating at the apartment.  One of the other moms and I threw the trick-or-treating thing together last minute.  The apartment did not organize a Halloween activity for the kids this year so we made a bunch of phone calls and signed up about 20 apartments to hand out candy. 
Audrey and Katelyn went trick-or-treating with a couple of friends from the apartment complex.




#303/365

I spent Wednesday morning with one of the other moms cutting out the frames and embellishments for the frame craft that the kids would make at the 1st grade Halloween party.




#302/365

One of the Taiwanese moms gave me some fresh clams she picked up at the market. I made chili clams.  They were really yummy.  It was really interesting how the clams did not cook all at the same time and it was fun to see them open up as they cooked. 




#301/365

Most of the week of Halloween was spent getting things ready for all the parties and activities.  Doss helped me cut labels to put around some play doh containers.  I decided not to hand out candy this year for the class parties.