My friend was in the paper! – Exchange Student

My friend Sherri was on the front page of the Houston Chronicle’s Neartown section last week.  We became friends while waiting on our little girls.  They adopted Zoe the same summer we adopted Shea.  This year they are also hosting Ruth as an exchange student from Hong Kong.    Hosting an exchange student is a wonderful thing to do.  Unfortunately, I believe next year there will be a shortage of families in the US b/c of finances.   The host family does not get paid and provides room and 2 meals a day.  You also spend time with them in your home and running them around like you would any teenager.  It is a big commitment.  Our students were with us 3 months and I was worn out!  Good for Sherri and Will…. they are hosting the full year.  It is an international friendship that will last a lifetime.

See Houston Chronicle here

See pic here

Our friend Tanya moved

Last August, we had an exchange student from Ukraine join for for 4 to 6 weeks. We were her welcome family until the program gave her a full year placement. She is such a lovely girl, the weeks turned into months and we had a long “welcome”.

She made the drill team and the schedule just didn’t work out with the other family commitments we have. So she decided it would be best to go with a family who could get her more involved in school activities. I am so pleased that the program found her a home within walking distance to the school, so she can be very active in afterschool activities.

Last Sunday she moved to her new home. The house is quieter without her. Maggie cried when she went to bed last night. I thought she’d be happy b/c she had given up her room to Tanya and had regained her private space. But she was more interested in having her friend back.

We are getting settled into a slower life and that is good for us all.

Nick won 1st place

Tonight Nick rec’d a trophy for winning first place in a computer competition.  It was a competition of several schools and he smoked the competition.  This guy is a computer whiz.

Nick turns 18

His favorite meal is a hamburger so we took him to Fuddrucker’s to celebrate his 18th birthday.  He ate a HUGE burger.  We sang happy birthday as loud as we could and gave him a little American embarrassment.  The entire restaurant clapped and yelled for him.  He turned red. Then on Sunday we took him to my mom’s and he drove the golf cart.

Tanya fell in love with the American Chocolate Milkshake.  We offered her a milkshake when we ordered and she asked for sprite instead.  I guess she thought she’d get a glass of “shaked” milk which doesn’t sound very good.  But when Maggie’s arrived at the table she went crazy and we had to get one more.

It is Monday

Were did last week go????  And it is Monday already.  We’re focused on school and music lessons today.  Tonight Nick and Bethany attend the Houston Symphony.  Our neighbor is a violinist and is performing a solo.  Bethany is so excited.

Nick has decided to start looking for another host family.  He is not pleased with the public school in our zone.  The exchange program is starting to look for a family in Mass b/c he’d love to be near MIT.  If that doesn’t work out, we’ll be looking for a family in the Houston area who is zoned to a public school with a strong technology focus.  He wants to be in a computer club and in classes that are advanced in this area.  We hate to see him leave, but totally understand.

Nick is here!

Nick arrived this afternoon about 3:30.  He flew in on 9/11 from New York to meet Ike.  Their plane was delayed b/c the pilot wasn’t sure Houston was “open”.  I’m glad he made it safe and sound.

This is one neat kid.  He doesn’t get my humor yet, but Tanya is rolling b/c she has already been through humor bootcamp and gets what we’re going.  Nick loves computers.  To give you an idea of how much he loves them… he loves them more than Dave loves dogs.  He looked at our network setup and just grinned with a look that this is really messed up.  He had several suggestions.  I told him I just want to watch a video from our video camera…long story but we’ve never figured this out.  I’m very electronically challenged.

He is excited about the hurricane.  They don’t have hurricanes in Germany.  I hope he is still excited on Sunday morning.

For my friends in Houston, I’m sure he’ll work on your computers for dinner out somewhere.  I’m already getting requests.  This guy is really really really smart.  And did I mention he likes computers???

Welcome Nick… meet Ike – the hurricane!!!

Nick arrives in Houston today at 2:30 pm.  I was planning to take the kids to the airport to greet him, but we have mandatory evacuations in surrounding areas and the freeway to the airport is one of the evac routes.  So our exchange rep is meeting him and bringing him to our house.  There was no need to have two cars on the freeway today.

We have bottled water, batteries, flashlights and a stocked pantry.  This is reason #1739 to have a stocked pantry.   I’ve never been in Houston during a Hurricane, so I admit I’m a little nervous.  I know… I can’t let the kids see b/c they will be afraid.  Most of my neighbors and friends are staying put.  We considered leaving, but we tried that during Rita and the roads present their own risks.  If we lose elect we’ll look at leaving b/c Maggie can’t handle much heat with her skin condition.

Our exchange student from Ukraine, Tanya, is taking this all in stride.  It will definitely be a memory and story to tell her friends about!

I’ll keep you posted.  If I don’t update this blog, it means we don’t have electricty.  We won’t have that to deal with until late Friday or Saturday, so you’ll hear from me at least once more.  I’ll let you know about Nick’s arrival.

Take care my Houston friends!!!

Housekeeping – Laundry

This is what happens when laundry is not folded for three days. Sometimes with laundry I feel like Lucy during that old episode where she is packaging chocolate from the conveyor belt! If you don’t watch Lucy, go back want watch a few shows. Laughter is good for the soul and Lucy is clean humor.

We have our second exchange student arriving on Thursday, so I want the house to be in order for his arrival. His addition will bring the kid count to 5, do I need order in our home. And my husband LOVES a tidy house. This week I’m trying to keep up rather than let things pile up. I folded the laundry and picked up from the cleaners. Now I need to just keep things running…

See Handprints on the Wall for other posts on organizing.

Birthday Celebration at Benihana’s

This is from our Birthday celebration last Fri night…

Sweet 16 – Happy Birthday Tanya

Our exchange student turned 16 yesterday. Friday night we took her to Benihana’s. Our friends Travis and Michelle joined us. I’ll add pics from the restaurant later..that camera is in my car. We really had fun watching the food being prepared and Tanya had never been to a Japanese restaurant. She had a very good time.

Yesterday we went to church, and our preacher announced it was her birthday and that she had made the schools drill team. The entire church clapped, and she thought that was “very cool.”  For her birthday cake, we gave her the option to make her own.  Baking is new to her, and she loves to be in the kitchen.  Making the cake all by herself was a thrill. Now my other girls have proclaimed that when it is their birthday they get to make the cake “ALL BY MYSELF” too. What have I started??? My little one is 4:)