Putting up the Tree

We put up our Christmas tree!

The many votive candles which we have were put to good use, and we managed to use some McGyver techniques (yes - toothpicks) to get the top of our tree a bit straighter than it's been in past years.


It is so fun to take out the ornaments and remember the special stories - our Spring Break trip to Sydney or our special memories from last Christmas in Paris, and getting to spend Christmas Day in Notre Dame cathedral!  There are also the memories from the ornaments which the kids made when they were young.  Some of them, we realized, were not as well labeled as we would hope - so we could remember each special Christmas memory.


Christmas is coming!

But the best part is probably getting out the Christmas music.  Why can't Christmas music last a lot longer than just a few weeks?

Thanksgiving!

The annual middle school Thanksgiving tradition was elevated a notch with the move to the indoor canteen (instead of the graveyard deck).  The decorations were really quite impressive (hooray Kim Wright and Sharon Peters!).  The food was, of course, absolutely amazing, and it isn't Thanksgiving without Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving making an appearance.

The kids also had a special performance, singing (thanks Don Cosgrove) for the parents and everyone else!  It was an amazing celebration for Thanksgiving as the event gets better and better each year.

It was sad not to have family around for the first time in our KL Thanksgiving experiences (we miss you, mom and dad!); it is not quite the same.

At the Lims

We had a nice tradeoff with the Bouwens when we were at the Lims.  The kids had spend the morning with the Bouwens due to school commitments that Doug had as a result of presenting at the Google Summit - and we met up at the Lims as part of Samuel's baptism so Doug could re-collect the kids.  The girls were amazed at such a big (and friendly!) dog.

Google Maps Engine Lite - KL Summit

Playing with the Google Maps Engine Lite at the KL Google Summit. See the better version from this link and see some of our travels from the past year.

Tracy to the Hague

Tracy made the big continental trip to the Hague for an inclusion conference.  It was a quick turnaround, but a good experience to bond with colleagues and spend some time seeing a bit of the Netherlands.   We're not sure we have pictures of the fun memories and many laughs that were had by the ISKL delegation - but it was a good experience and quite a trip.

Accreditation in Singapore

Doug had the tremendous privilege of being invited on a CIS-WASC accreditation trip - to a school in Singapore.  It was a tremendous professional experience, as always.  He greatly enjoyed the challenge and the incredible teammates.  It was a high-powered team!

One of the funnier experiences came as a result of visiting the Japanese restaurant next door to the hotel.  Always beware of restaurants without prices!  But lots of laughs and a whole lot of work during an intense week.  Some incredible Italian food - and impressive dialogue with various teachers and administrators.

Doug even overcame bits of a headache for a couple of days.  On the final night, the lights on Orchard road were starting to come out for Christmas.  It was a pretty cool sight.

Oobleck

Thanks to fun science projects at school, we brought Oobleck to our house.  It was fun to play with the mysterious solid / liquid substance - and we got plenty gooey!

The kids had a great time - and it was fun to do a little bit of a hands-on activity while we were at home - thanks to mommy's amazing supervision!

Rania at School

Over the past few weeks, we've gotten a couple pictures from Rania having a super time at school!  There has been international fest - where she is part of a very diverse class.

There has been the Terry Fox run where students raise money and awareness for cancer.

Working with Tanagrams.

There was the Hari Raya dress up day, too.

Based on all we see and hear, it is huge smiles from a super happy girl having a great time in second grade!

Phuket Tournament

The days of international friendlies have begun! Reeve was part of the U13 soccer team that headed off to Phuket, Thailand for some games against other schools for the region.  Nothing like international travel to exotic locations in preparation for an aspiring soccer career!  The team did very well - and Reeve was solid on defense, from all we heard.  One of their big games was held in a driving rainstorm - providing quite the picture of one determined player!