Good Tuesday morning! Are you as "candied" out as I am? I am not sure that is a word, but it should be!  Did you all have a good Halloween? Can you all tell Ms. Paradise when and why Halloween started?

As you can see, I went as a ghost. But a very cute ghost, I think! I had stickers and stamps on my ghost gown! It was a great time at the office and we had LOTS and LOTS of food and candy. Here I am sitting at the dessert table after filling up with at least 10 different kinds of chili and 5 different corn breads! I was so stuffed, I couldn't eat a bit of the dessert, so I just took some back to my desk. 

Here I am relaxing with my pail of candy and am just waiting to go home so I can rest! It was quite a day.

Now I am watching the news..bbboooorrriinng...but I know I have to listen so I won't be uninformed about what is happening in my community!

The rest of this week is going to be a bit on the slow side I think. Grandma Pat says we can't go anywhere until Saturday and even then she is not sure where she wants to go. We'll see...maybe she will take me somewhere fun!

I hope you had a good day and I will talk to you all in a few days! I hope Bella or Gus will write something pretty soon. I am anxious to hear where they are and what they are doing!

Gilbert

What a week!!!!

 You wouldn't believe how busy we have been  this week! Monday I had to stay at the hotel to do laundry and help Grandpa Frank get some work done. Then the rest of the week it was just crazy at work! I was just WAY too tired to write when I got home. But I did read all your posts to me and you ALL made me smile! You have such nice and interesting things to say.
However, I have to disagree with you on one thing. FREDDIE...when he is with me, is the trouble maker. He is the one who comes up with all sorts of crazy ideas! Sometimes I don't tell, because I am not a tattletale, I know Ms. Paradise doesn't like those! So don't tell her, I just don't want you to think I am a big trouble maker! LOL!

On Friday, we had a ice cream party in the afternoon. We all had worked hard all week, so we took a little break for some fun. It was also "Fan Day" and we were to wear our favorite team shirts. Grandma Pat wore a Thunder shirt since I already had my OU jersey. We had great fun and even found a couple more OU fans! Then I went over to Jiggles work area (you can see him in the background) and stopped by his Daddy's desk, but he had stepped out. So he could not go with me.
But last week, we were able to have some ice cream together after work. Turns out Jiggles likes chocolate ice cream too!
Next Friday is our Halloween party! I have to decide what I want to dress up like. Ms. Paradise told Grandma Pat not to spend any more money on clothes, so I may have to find something from the hotel room to make something up. Maybe I could take a pillow case and be a ghost. I'll have to ponder (a vocabulary word!) on this and see what I come up with. I'll be sure and post a picture. It is going to be another REALLY busy week again, so I am not sure how often I will get to post, but I will try to do better. This week I will be going to Randolph Air Base in Seguin, Texas. We are going to look at the mobile homes they move into areas that people lost their homes. They can live in them temporarily until they can rebuild what they lost!.
Be good, listen to Ms. Paradise and study hard! You are almost in 4th grade and if you work really hard this year, then 4th grade will be easier! I love learning and am so glad I get to travel to such fun places and learn so many new things.
Gilbert

This seems like a long time ago!

I wanted to post tonight, but I have to tell you, I am overwelmed by all your posts to ME! You are all so kind and care so much about me. I would love to respond to every single one of you, but I am just way too tired tonight. Grandma Pat has had me working hard and then Jiggles and I had some time off to play, so I am ready for bed! No late night tv for me tonight!

I have added a picture that was taken in Maryland. Can you find Maryland on the map? (hint: it is on the EAST coast, near the Capital of the United States). Guess what I was getting ready to do? We were in class, learning  the FEMA mission. Our table made up a 'rap' using the words of the mission statement and I was the one who had to do the 'rap'!! Do I look like a rapper  there? I did not wear my jeans that day, so the plaid shorts are a little odd, but I think I did ok with the necklace and hat. After the picture I put on an earring and fancy watch..LOL! Of course, I ususally dress more appropriately when I go to work, this was just a fun thing to do. Someone has it on tape and if I can get a copy I will post it here.

Ms. Paradise told me she was getting you all ready for testing next week! I want all of you to pay very close attention and work very hard! I know tests not the most exciting things to do, but sometimes you just have to "do what you have to do" whether you like it or not! So please study hard and ask for help if you need it (it is never a bad thing to ask for help!), I think you will be very proud of yourselves when it is over.

I'll write more later and again, thank you all so much for caring about me. I do miss Max, but I am quite sure that he is with a very nice family somewhere that is taking good care of him. I miss Bella and Freddie though. We can have quite a fun time together...sometimes we get in trouble when we are together! LOL! It's usually Freddies fault..he comes up with the strangest ideas of things to do! But Bella and I could say no..but usually follow along. You tell me, is that a good idea?? Maybe you could have a class discussion on making your own decisions....

Have a good day,
Gilbert

Happy Day after Columbus Day!

Happy day after Columbus Day!! Did everyone have a relaxing weekend? I had a great time! Some of it was working, as you can see, but most of it was spent just watching tv and doing a little shopping for groceries, that sort of thing.

I have to tell you, I was SO glad to see that so many of you posted on my blog last week! It was such a pleasant surprise. I hope you will continue to talk to me. I would love to hear your ideas about what you would like to see and things you would like me to do!

A'Donte and Ahmad, thank you for the greeting and the good wishes! I AM doing great and having a fun time with Grandma Pat.

Reyna, thank you for the encouragement! It is sometimes scary to try new things and it is helpful when friends support you. I bet you know the feelling!

Tyson and Christopher! I am so glad you are enjoying my travels and feel like I am doing well in my work. It is great to be appreciated! I am hoping that I can show you all new places and help you learn about the world you live in!

Ingrid, you did awesome with your writing! And thank you for the compliment on my suit. Because it is a firemans suit, it is hot and heavy, but that is what a fireman has to do!

Deyona and Emily, I think you guys are funny with your :)'s..LOL! I am definitely :) :) :)!!!

Deshawn, you will be glad to know El Paso is not burning with fires. That is a relief to know isn't it. Ms. Paradise can go to http://www.fema.gov/ and find the map of where all the fires are and put it up on the smartboard for you to see (if she has time, I know you have a busy busy teaching day!)

This weekend, I went back out to Bastrop, the county that burned SO badly. I helped pass out water  and masks to people who were out at their burned homes cleaning up. They really appreciated the water and some were not wearing masks and were grateful to know we had some so they could protect their health! It is always a good feeling to help your community.

Tuesday is back to work! I like to tease and it will be a good teasing day since OU beat Texas SO badly on Saturday! I also have to help look for Jiggles, my frog friend. He disappeared on Friday. We think he is just off having some adventures around town, but we had not heard from him yet. We will have to get serious about looking for him on Tuesday if he has not returned. I'll let you know.

Thank you again for writing to me and I am looking forward to many more!

Gilbert

Whew! What a week!

As you can see, I am now back in the office. I haven't even had time to change. There was another big fire in Bastrop County and all the fireman were "hands on deck" to keep it from burning down anymore homes! We had lots of big airplanes flying over and dumping fire retardant (oh, there is another vocabulary word!) on the fires to slow it down and get it stopped. Fortunately, it is working and I was able to come back to learn something else VERY important.
Today, I had to learn the Federal Emergancy Management Agency (FEMA) MISSION STATEMENT. Ms. Paradise will explain to you what a Mission Statement is. This is FEMA's:
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Wow, that is alot to memorize for a little bear like me, but I am working on it! And lots of new words for you!  FEMA works very hard to keep me safe when bad things happen, I am going to work very hard to help them and to learn what they do and what I can do to help them!

Now, once Ms. Paradise tells you more about a mission statement. I would like to hear back from YOU and I would like you to think about YOUR mission statement is for you 3rd grade school year. Can you do that? Give it a try..I know you can..it doesn't have to be long. Once sentence will do!

Now, I am going to rest, because I am sure you are aware this is a BIG game this weekend and I have to rest up to support my team! I am looking forward to hearing from you all!

A good day!

 Today was a good day! Was lucky enough to be able to help a group of people go help families start to clean up their burned homes. Of course there was nothing left but ashes and burned empty appliances and lots of metal, but it all has to be moved to the curb so the city can come pick it up and take it to a dump site.

 As you can see, I am wearing a mask as the ashes that we stir up can be toxic (your vocabularly word for the day) and I had to be careful not to breath in too much. The last picture is when we were almost done..it looks much better and the scrap metal people can come pick up the big pieces of metal and then the bobcats can come and clear the ground completely so a new home can be constructed!
An interesting day and it is always good to be able to help the community!

It came!

 I am SO excited today! Coach Stoops finally got me my jersey and pants and helmet for the big game next week! I think Ms. Paradise helped a little bit...thank you Ms. Paradise!! As you can see from the picture with the very nice man at the front desk...not everyone is an Oklahoma fan here in Texas. He told my Grandma that since she was a guest of the hotel, he would have his picture with me, but he wasn't going to be happy about it LOL!

Tomorrow, it is back into my fire attire (another vocabulary word for today), as I will be going out to Bastrop County (have you found it on a map yet?) and help some homeowners clean up their property. It will be hard dirty work, but lots of people need lots of help and that is what bears do!

Max

Max in Colorado in 2007

This is Miss Paradise writing.  I was going through a box of Gilbert's things (he gathers stuff as he travels, and he leaves it all at my house!), and I found this picture of his friend, Max.  Max was traveling a couple of years ago when he was DOGNAPPED!  It was very sad.  He was in the airport in California, resting after his flight from Oklahoma and before he got on the plane to go to Hawaii when someone decided they would take him with them.  :(  Max was a good friend to Gilbert, so I thought he might want to see this picture.  I hope that Max has been in a good home for the last couple of years, and I am sure he is still teaching wherever he is.  If you have seen him, please tell him we all miss him!

Happy Thursday from Austin Texas! I thought I would pick a  random picture of my past travels and try to catch everyone up to date on what I have been doing!
This picture is me with my Aunt Ann. She is Grandma Pat's sister and she lives in Cascade Maryland. It is a mountain top community in near an old Army fort called Ft. Richie. It is also very near a place called "Camp David". Camp David is a large home and woods that our Presidents go to when they need to get away from work and get some rest. They fly in on a helicopter from the White House in Washington DC. No one can see them when they are there as it is very secluded ( a new word for you to ask Ms. Paradise to add to your vocabulary lesson!). They are VERY protected from anyone that is not supposed to be there because they have lots of Secret Service men or woman standing guard at all times.
I was in Maryland because I was with Grandma Pat at a school for emergancy preparedness in Emmittsburg Maryland which is just a hop, skip and a jump from Gettysburg, the site of a large battle in the Civil War. I will post more pictures from there later.
Anyway, meeting with family, especially those that I don't get to see often is always very nice and I enjoyed my dinner with Ann.

what I saw yesterday

Grandma Pat took me out to a large area of Texas called Bastrop County. It is one of the many areas of Texas  that had HUGE fires this year. No one knows exactly how many of these fires started, but I am afraid some were started because people were careless and did not think of how their actions might effect the lives of others. Some may have been smoking, never a good thing, but if you do smoke you should NEVER put the end of the cigarette on the ground as it could still be hot and catch the grass on fire.  Some people may have not put out campfires properly (ask Ms. Paradise how to do that!). Some of the fires were started by lightening. Regardless of how they started, the destroyed lots and lots and lots of homes and businesses. It is very sad. It is hard to see, but at the end of the driveway is a large pile of ashes that was once a lovely large home.
Part of what Grandma Pat does is help the elected Congressmen and Senators help people who lost their homes or businesses. Remember, she used to work for a Congresswoman in Oklahoma? Well, now she works for the Federal Emergancy Management Agency or FEMA and her job is to work with those offices so THEY can help the people that elected them.  FEMA  has  teams of people who do different jobs to help communities in an emergancy or a disaster. Some people help the families find a place to live, some help them get food, some help them clean up their property. We all work together as a team to help families that are hurting feel better again.
Now that I have this blog, I will go back and post old pictures of different places and tell you about that picture. However, for now, I am tired and need to get some rest as tomorrow is another busy day.

Am I doing this right?

Here I am, ready to work.  I'm traveling with Miss Paradise's Mom while she works with FEMA down in Texas.  We are helping people who have been affected by the wildfires.  I will be telling you more about that later, but I wanted to practice this blog thing.  It is new to me, and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing!