Catching Up

Wow, it has been forever since I have posted here to let you know what I have been doing! It has been crazy, but I will try to remember most of it! LOL!
The last time I  talked to you, I was in Austin, Texas. I got sick while I was there, just a bad cold I think, but I ended up staying in bed for quite awhile.

Right before Thanksgiving we came back to Oklahoma after a Thanksgiving dinner with my family in Denton, Texas.
Then....things started happening so fast I didn't know what was going on! People I hadn't met before were moving in my house, we were moving out and it was just crazy! JT and I were playing hide and seek one day, trying to stay out of the way and we got stuck in a box!!!!!! We weren't able to get out until February 1st! Thank goodness we had each other or I would have been bored to death!

Feb. 4th, Gus and I got to leave with Grandpa and Grandma on a cruise to the Caribbean, specifically, the British Virgin Islands. The ship we went on was the biggest boat I had ever seen! But first we had to fly to Miami, Florida, then we "embarked", got on the ship.

 One of the first things we had to do once we got to our room and got our suitcases unpacked was to "muster". That means we had to all get our life jackets and meet in a certain place on the ship and learn how to abandon ship if something went wrong. We learned how to put on our life jackets and were our lifeboats were and what the signal was they would use to tell us to go to our lifeboats. Thank goodness we never had to use what we learned!

 One of the places we stopped had a really big water fall and we got to climb down to the bottom where the water collects in a pool. It was very rocky and hardto climb around, but the water was SO warm and fun! Gus went with me every where and he and I had alot of fun. It was very warm and we stopped for water and a snack before going back to the ship.

 One of the MOST fun things we got to do was ziplining! As you can see, we were all strapped in with lots of safety stuff so we would not fall. Gus and Grandpa were listening very carefully to the instructions in this picture. We were able to go on TWELVE zip lines! Grandpa and Gus were much better at it than Grandma and I. They were able to go all the way on all the lines facing forward just the way you were supposed to. Grandma kept twisting around in circles and going in backwards! She was scary to ride with. So the last two lines

which were very long and fast, a man who worked there came up and rode down with us so we would go in feet first like you are supposed to. It really was so much fun though, even if a bit scary. I want to do it again! (I lost my pants during one stop, but Grandpa got them for me, thank goodness!)

 Another stop, we took a tour of the island we were on and the lady that was talking to us showed us how bananas grow! Those tiny white things on the flower she is holding are the bananas when they are first starting to grow! It was really cool to see that. I knew bananas grew on trees, but did not know they started like this!

Here Gus and I are dressed for dinner on the ship. We were going to a fancy Asian restaurant that night. Grandpa and Grandma were taking FOREVER to get ready so Gus and I snuck down to the lobby and were sliding on the banisters of the stairs.  I guess we were not supposed to because pretty soon Grandma came and got us and she was pretty mad that the ship people had to call and tell on us. :( We got to go to dinner anyway! :)

I have lots more pictures, but wanted to get this off. I am hoping to come down to your classroom with Gus and talk to you more. I have to get with Ms. Paradise and find out when a good time would be. Hopefully I will be better about posting more often!

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!