Random

The first few photos are not posed. She really does sleep like this:








And she really does like a belly rub:


Birthday party:


My favourite bookmark:


Really have no words for this one:


AUB campus has a little bit of a cat "problem":


As you do:

Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We went to the school carnival during the day and a wonderful party in the evening. Even Tigerpapa dressed up in a costume. He was a vampire. He went a little crazy with the blood around his mouth and looked more like a lion feasting on prey than a vampire but oh well. Fun was had by all!



Katy was a Wet Cat:

Katykins meets Bazooka

New Writing Skills

Last year I posted Tigergirl's first few attempts at writing. She had written out the lyrics to that song from The Sound of Music about needles pulling thread and tea with jam and bread. This year it's Tigerboy's turn. I have found two great examples of Tigerboy's blossoming skills as a writer. This one is short and to the point:



The next one is a bit more complicated. Tigerboy's music teacher sent it to us via email. Since TB is usually a model student (the teacher's own words), I'm thinking the contract was sent to us because it's so cute rather than as a concern about Tigerboy's behaviour in class.

Blogs?

As most of you know, I am starting a post-graduate diploma in teaching elementary school here at The American University of Beirut. I had my first classes last week. In one of them (Teaching Reading to Elementary School Students) the professor had us get together in groups of four and write down all of the things we had read in the past week. I had "blogs" down on my list and, I KID YOU NOT, a young (they're ALL young) girl in my group asked me, "What are blogs?". Is it possible, in this day and age, for young people not to know about blogs? Wow! Anyway, it got me thinking about how much I enjoy reading blogs and how neglectful I have been towards this one.

I'll try to do better.

P.S. I sent out the three packages for the pay-it-forward blog giveaway at the end of August. I hope they arrived!

High Kicks

Tigerboy loves his Taekwondo. He's been going since February. Yesterday after class he was showing me a new kick he learned.

Tigerboy: "It's very important that you tilt your head back mummy, otherwise you might kick yourself in the face."

Me: "Of course!" (seriously? How could you kick yourself in the face, wouldn't it be a natural instinct to tilt your head back and just exactly what would you be trying to kick by aiming so high, a bird?).

Apparently it IS possible:



The tooth was already loose so it wasn't really painful. Just lots of blood. Now Tigerboy walks around saying, "I can't believe I kicked my own tooth out!"

Me either.

Poetry Cafe

Last week we had "Poetry Cafe" night at Tigergirl's school. It was such a wonderful event for the parents and for the children. In a nutshell, all elementary school children (teachers and parents too) are given the opportunity to perform an original poem in front of an audience made up of other students, parents, and teachers. The children use time at home as well as time in the classroom during the 2 weeks beforehand to prepare their poems. The parent committee (of which I am a part) decorated 4 rooms with various themes (Spa, Garden, Living Room, and Curtain-call) to make room for all of the poets. The rooms were amazing, covered with meters of gauzy materials and beautiful background collages. I wish I had snapped some pictures but I was too busy acting as one of the MC's. The poems were read simultaneously within the four rooms with 3 sections of 8-10 poets in each room. I think those numbers show you how successful the event was and how much the children enjoy writing and reading poetry. I was especially proud that Tigergirl chose to participate. Here is her poem:

My Cat

My Cat has three colors

Orange, white, and black

With a cute black stripe

Right across her nose

Her eyes are as green

As grass

Her belly as fluffy

As cotton candy

She rubs my chin

Purrs and purrs.

When she is excited

Her pupils open wide

I love my cat

I always will

By: Tigergirl

I'm so happy that the kids can attend a school that encourages and supports events like this. :)