Day 2 of School

I'm happy to say Celine enjoyed her first day of school. I asked her about her Spanish class since that was the one I was most worried about. She said it is super easy! I'm so relieved.

We had our morning coffee together, she isn't a breakfast eater. It was a good conversation. I noticed that her polish was wearing off so I asked her if she had remover. She forgot to bring some so I offered her mine along with her choice of polishes. :) I have a HUGE tub full of colors. She had a surprised face for all the colors.

The bus came at 6:45 ... school doesn't start until 7:40. We decided that we would take her in the mornings and her ride the bus in the evenings. It's silly for her to leave an hour before classes begin. I believe she is a go-getter. I went to wake her up this morning and she was already up and getting ready for the day. My kids I have to harass to get them to climb out of bed and even once I get them up and moving, once their chores are complete they go lay back down.   America .. we are lazy!

After school it was easy to see her day was much more enjoyable. Celine even said she would like to try Zumba with me. Of course I'm so happy because she is going to try my passion and hopefully love it.

UPDATE: I introduced Celine to my Zumba family, even my German friends. They spoke very little in German but it may be because she isn't supposed to speak it while she is here. After class she said she loves Zumba but it was exhausting. :) Although it took her a song or two to get the hand of it, after that she caught on very quickly and soon a big smile came over her face. I didn't think to get a photo of her but both my aunt and her mom asked for one so I will the next time she goes with me.

1st Day of school and more

Last night before we headed to bed Celine surprised us with gifts. :) I have a new cookbook that I have full intentions on using. It's a German cookbook with recipes just like my grandma used to make. I also received a kit to make a black forest cake, YUM, and some perfume that smells heavenly. She brought Jim cologne, food, and some history books ... he's in love with history so it's perfect. Daughter received perfume and gummy bears ... son, he's a boy ... hoarding his gifts in his room.

I got up and made her lunch then when I went to wake her she was already up and preparing for the day. :) It was so strange not to have to wake a child to start their day.Makes me see how spoiled my children are! :/ She's not a breakfast eater which I will try to remedy. I don't like sending anyone out for the day without something to eat.

Once at school we had to wait longer then I feel she should have. I have a feeling the counselor didn't have her schedule finished because he did know she would be in first thing this morning. All of her classes seem well chosen except for one ... SPANISH? I'm so confused as to why this counselor would think it's ok to place an exchange student in a foreign language class when she's her to master our language. Celine said she wanted to try to stay in the class but I let her know I didn't think it was smart on the schools part to put her in it and if she felt overwhelmed in it she should let me know so she can be placed in something else. All of her classes are honors. :) She seemed shocked at that thought but honestly, I think she will do well in all of them.

I'm eagerly awaiting her arrival back home so I can see how her first day went. She wanted to ride the bus home.

UPDATE: Celine is smiling but her poor face looks like she was overwhelmed all day. She called her mom almost as soon as she got in. :/ I pray tomorrow will go smoother for her.

Exciting Day

Today our new daughter will arrive ... I'm so excited to add a new family member to our home. I pray that this will be a very wonderful year full of great memories for all of us.

Today is a busy day for us. I have to finish up a welcome poster, drop by and pick up flowers and balloons that have been ordered. The school has called to let me know Celine will be placed in honors calculus and that the guidance counselor will give her the school schedule in the morning and show her around the school as well. She missed the open house when they did the school tour and received their schedules. She's only missing a day of school but I'm sure this won't affect her grades in any way.

I'm outta here until she arrives we'll be keeping an eye on her flight hoping for an early arrival but with the rainy weather in the area expecting her to come in later than expected.

Host Family

Our family has decided to take on a new adventure. Well, actually I've taken this journey in my younger years and I thought it would be nice for my kids to experience this as well.

What is this new adventure? What is a host family? Well, we have decided to be a host family to a student from Germany. She will come to America, live in our home as one of our family members, go to the public school and basically just live the American life for one school year and then she will go back home after graduation.

We chose a young lady who seems (by her bio) to fit well with our family. She is 17 years old and will be a senior in high school. We are so excited to receive her into our home. She arrives tomorrow night. :) She actually arrived in America 3 days ago and has had the opportunity to travel through New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC. So many sights have been seen that man Americans have never seen ... myself included. The first day she went to the Empire State Building, Day 2 was Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty, then onto the 9-11 Museum, Time Square and of course Hard Rock Cafe. Day 3 ... she went to see Arlington National Cemetery, Washington Monument, White House, Lincoln Memorial. Day 4 they took a group photo ... 21 students! Then they will all pretty much just hang out tonight and fly out tomorrow.