Visit From Jeannetta and Family and ITC

This week has been a very busy week for us and it seems like it will continue to be busy. On Monday, Jeannetta came to visit from Holland with her mom, brother and sister. They came for dinner and we had a nice visit with her. We didn't tell Ian she was coming because we wanted to surprise him. He was very surprised. When he saw her, he dropped everything he had in his hands and gave her a big hug. He couldn't believe she was here. We enjoyed meeting her family too. We had a nice dinner together and everyone played some games on the Wii. Our visit was much too short, but she was going to be travelling around Texas with her family.

Today, we went to the Institute of Texan Cultures where Deborah and Kenneth have been volunteering all summer. Kenneth worked in the barn and told people all about life on a farm back in the 1800's. He did a great job. He sometimes helped in the fort by sneaking up behind a "soldier" in the fort and trying to attack him. That surprised visitors and it added a some realism to the presentations. Today was the last day for the season and I know they have enjoyed it. Since Deborah has been volunteering for so many years there, she is a supervisor and helps to be a tour guide. She started there when she was going into 7th grade. This year she will be going into 11th grade. It has been a great experience for her and I hope that Kenneth will continue to volunteer there and that Ian will want to in the future. I love going there and seeing all the cultures represented and they add new displays every year.

Summer goes on

The kids are all home now. No more camps for any of them. We haven't done anything exciting or gone anywhere this year. We went to the pool one day and want to do go to Fiesta Texas too. I feel like I don't have too much to do and I have decided that I don't like that at all. I would rather be busy and not sitting around as much. I miss taking classes and have been working on my resume for finding a job next summer. That has kept me busy.

We have been seeing the babies, Olivia and Joshua a lot and that has been fun too. They are so cute but can exhaust me. I love being around them and listening to all their little stories. They love being around Deborah, Kenneth and Ian too. Oh, and everyone gets a kick out of the fact that little Joshua calls me Aunt Grandma. We aren't sure why, but he has decided that's my name. Makes me feel OLD! He can call me that. He's just too cute. We are all going to go swimming tomorrow so that will be fun. Olivia wants to be a mermaid like "The Little Mermaid" and looks so cute when she pretends to be her. She also loves Prince Eric from the movie and says that Joshua is Prince Eric. The best part about having these two cuties around is that I can spoil them, love them, hug them and send them home again. It's great being an Aunt, even if I am called Aunt Grandma.

Summer

I cannot believe it's already July. The summer goes by too fast. I will be entering my senior year at university and I will have to find a job by next summer. Unbelievable. It has only taken me 6 years, but I will do it.

Kenneth is away at Boy Scout Camp and I am guessing that he is having a blast. He loves being involved in Boy Scouts. It means a lot to him. Deborah hangs out with Cody and helps at home. Poor Ian is lonely because his best friend is on vacation until the end of the month. He has so much energy and I can't figure out how to channel it. We have been going shopping and to the pool too. I want to go to Fiesta Texas, but I hate going alone without another adult. I want to have some adult conversation while I am there. Ken is on vacation this week and I am trying to get him to go with us today. We'll see. Other than that, nothing exciting going on. Here is a newer picture of the kids. We took this at the airport right before Igor left. I need to take more pictures of them.

Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift

Got to see Rascal Flatts in concert last week and it was AMAZING!! I went with Deborah and we had second row center seats. They put on a great show. Taylor Swift was the opening act and she was fabulous too. This is really the only concert I go to anymore, but I always look forward to it. It's also nice to be with Deborah and just spend time together. She is growing up and moving on and this is a great thing we enjoy doing. It's hard to believe that she will be a junior this year in high school. She turns 16 in August. How did I ever get old enough to have a 16 year old daughter? Where has the time gone? It is fun to do things with her sometimes and have great conversations. She thinks I am crazy as I stand and scream for Rascal Flatts, but she never knew me in my Osmond concert days. I am mild compared to that. I still lost my voice the next day, but, it was worth it. So much fun and a great time to let the worries of the world slip away for a couple of hours and enjoy real talent. I know a lot of you don't like Rascal Flatts, but I love the uniqueness of the voice of the lead singer, Gary LeVox. It amazes me and I enjoy listening to him sing. And Taylor Swift...talk about talent. She wrote hit songs when she was only in 9th grade. Wow!! That is talent.

Igor left yesterday

The house is always different when our exchange student goes home. Everyone misses Igor so much and we cried a lot when we said goodbye at the airport. He didn't start packing until Wednesday night but he seemed to have the least stuff to take back from any of our exchange students. He just needed one more small bag besides the one he brought with him. Time just went by so quickly. Ian and Kenneth miss him the most. They loved to mess around and do things with Igor. They would play video games, wrestle, play basketball, go swimming and go on bike rides all the time. I keep thinking Igor is still here and have been looking for him.

Deborah started Youth Conference at church yesterday too. She doesn't seem to be having a very good time. They come home between activities so I have seen her a lot. I wish I would be able to help her understand how great she is and that she can have a lot of friends. She is still insecure in a lot of ways, but is so mature for her age too. She feels more comfortable directing people on what to do instead of participating in the activities. That is a lot like me. But, I love her so much and she is a great girl. She has so much potential. I worry about her every moment of everyday. I pray that the morals I have taught her will remain strong and her desire to make the right choices for her future.

Krissy was visiting

Ken's sister, Krissy was here to visit for a few days from North Carolina and it was fun to see her. She's a great person and the kids love Aunt Krissy. Last 4th of July, we went to see them in North Carolina and had a great time. The kids played at a nearby lake and were fishing with Uncle David. They also got to go tubing from the back of the boat. That was so funny to watch them. Some fell off. Some got water in their faces and couldn't stop laughing. Ken tried too and he fell over. I missed seeing that. In the evening, we had a great barbecue and David got fireworks. We sat outside in their driveway for hours while David was shooting them off with his friend. He let the boys try to set some off too. They loved that. I wish they lived closer to us so we could see them more. The kids enjoy them a lot.

But, we did have fun while she was here. We went to Ken's Mom's house for dinner last night and we played this game called "Catch Phrase." We had a blast. The kids knew a lot of the answers but I smoked everyone and got the most right. I never win so it was nice to actually win for a change :) Seeing everyone is so nice. Even though we live close, we don't see each other as often as I wish we could. I love sitting around talking with Ken's Mom and Dad, Krissy, Barry, Kraig, Amanda and of course Ken.


That is what I miss the most about my parents. We all loved just sitting around the table talking and laughing. There are some really fond memories of us all sitting around the table on a Saturday afternoon when the older siblings would come to visit with their kids. We would laugh and talk for hours. Those days are gone and I hope that our dinner table time will be something my kids will always cherish. I hope I am making good memories for them to hold onto as they get older. I can't believe how fast time goes by and how quickly the children grow. I miss the baby days a lot and want to go back to those times some days; especially when they are talking back or fighting.
Look at those cute little faces...I miss that sometimes. They are all so wonderful and adorable still but I do miss the days when they were so little. This is on Ian's 1st birthday so Kenneth was 3 and Deborah was 6. Seems like such a long time ago.

School is almost over

The kids will be home for the summer. We are trying to find a lot of things to do and keep busy. Kenneth and Deborah will be volunteering at the Institute of Texan Cultures in their youth program. This is Deborah's 5th year and Kenneth's 1st year. They work in an area of the museum that has a mini pioneer village and Kenneth will dress in costume of the period. They act as tour guides and explain things to the visitors. Deborah will be a supervisor and be in charge of all the tour guides.

All of the kids have different camps too this year. Deborah goes to Young Women's Camp next week, Kenneth goes to Boy Scout Camp the end of June and Ian goes to Cub Scout day camp in July. They like these activities and it should be a lot of fun for them. It will keep them from being bored and picking on each other.

I plan on trying to take it easy a little bit and enjoy this summer. It may be my last summer off since I will be graduating in May of next year from College. That is something I still can't believe. I have to work hard the last two semesters, but I am looking forward to it. The exchange students are all going home and I will be done with AYUSA at the end of June. It will be hard to not have the exchange students around anymore, but I know it's the right thing to do. This student in the picture with Ian is Kanar. She is from Iraq and has really been great to Ian. He has learned a lot from her and loves to spend time with her. She will be missed and we will always worry about her.

Ken will be busy with work and he may take a few business trips too. Other than that, there is nothing going on here. Will post more interesting things next time.

Fiesta Texas

Yesterday, I took Kenneth and Ian to Fiesta Texas. It is less than 5 miles from our house and we have season passes so we can go when we want to go. It's a lot of fun. Kenneth took a couple of friends and they went off on their own. I kept Ian and we just had a real blast. I watched him play in the water and swim around at the water park. We spent some time in the lazy river, which is a place that you sit in tubes and float around in the water. It's really relaxing. We played and played and played. I watched him swimming around and I just couldn't help but think that our times like that would be fewer and fewer as he is growing up so fast. The baby years flew by for all of my kids and sometimes I wish I could turn back the hands of time and go back to those simple days. Deborah will turn 16 in August and Kenneth will be 13. Where has the time gone? I cry to think they will be out of the house before I know it and I will miss the noise and laughter. I am trying to hold onto every little memory and think of the moments that pass so quickly. I hope I am making great memories for the kids too. I hope they won't look back and think what a terrible mother I was and how I yelled at them to clean up their messes. I hope they will remember days like yesterday or times when we would all play Wii Sports together and Mom would get so involved in the game. Or our many road trips to the west and to the east. They were some fun times too.
I have been thinking about my own youth more and more too. I have so many great memories because of my parents and I am grateful to them. I miss them every day and I want to have them back with me. It seems impossible to think that Mom has been gone for 5 years and it has been almost 6 months since Dad died. I miss the days of hanging out down at Cape May with them and just talking. They are great memories.

Exchange Students

Today the exchange students did their presentations. I had Igor from Kyrgyzstan, who is our student living with us this year, Kanar from Iraq and Sam from Turkmenistan. It hit me hard that they will all be going home soon. I started to cry when I watched Igor with the little kids and saw how much he has grown and matured. He is like my own child. It's hard for people to understand if they have never had exchange students in their homes. I am so proud of his accomplishments and all that he has done while he was here. I can't help but cry when I think about his departure in June. It's like they take a little piece of me with them when they return to their countries. I have gotten close to Kanar too and she is a great girl. I worry about her future in her country although she lives pretty far away from most of the fighting. She has great potential in her future and I see that she can do many things. I have just gotten to know Sam and he is a funny kid. He has made some mistakes while here and didn't follow all the rules, but he said it has been a huge growing experience for him and he thinks he will always be a better person because of it. I wish I could just keep up with the kids when they go home, but I can't keep track of all of them.
At home, things are just going the same. The kids seem to be feeling better and everyone went to school today. Kenneth has his energy back and Ian is running around as usual. He is actually at a birthday party for one of his friends from school right now and I have to go get him soon. It is a party for a girl named Daniella and he his the only boy there. He gets invited to all the girls' parties. It cracks me up. He is only 10 and in 4thgrade yet he already has the girls chasing after him. I worry so much about the teenage years. I will have to keep close watch over him.

Another Day in Paradise

That is what I have to say right now. All of the kids have been sick to various degrees over the past few weeks and it's been hard to have everyone healthy. Deborah was sick with a sore throat and cough. Ian got the same thing, but he had a fever. Igor was next with a sore throat and headache. Then, Kenneth got a sore throat, headache and fever. None had strep and none had it at the same time. I actually thought I was going to enjoy some quiet around the house before they were finished school on the 4th of June, but I must have been wrong. I think all of the kids will go to school tomorrow but Ken is going to work late so he will be home until about 12:00. I suppose I won't get too much time alone.
I have to take some exchange students to an elementary school to do presentations in the morning. It will be one of my last official projects with AYUSA. I have been with them off and on since 1999. I will miss it in many ways, but the stress will be gone and I can focus on school. It's bittersweet. The exchange students have influenced and touched our lives in so many ways. We have learned about the world around us and the desire that we all have to have peace in the world. The kids fall in love with the students and feel like they have brothers and sisters all over the world. I don't think we will be hosting again next year. I know the kids want to but we have been so busy this year, we just need some time with the family. I think it will be a real change for us, but we need that change.
Well, that is all for now. I will keep this up and hope you are not too bored.

Trying again...

Well, here we go again. I am just going to keep this updated as much as possible and letting everyone see what we are doing. I don't want to bore everyone, but it's a nice way to keep up with everything.
School is over for me for the semester and I am officially a senior. I can't believe that I only have one year left to graduate. I finally passed the remedial math class after trying 3 times. I actually got an A!!! I was in shock. I just have to take one more math class and a few more communication classes and an accounting class too. It has taken me over 35 years to get to this point, but I know it's the right thing for me to do. The kids finish school on the 4th of June. We just plan to have a lot of good summer days relaxing by the neighborhood pool and going to Fiesta Texas. It will be another hot summer.
We have been hoping to go to Pennsylvania again this summer, but we aren't sure because of the price of gas. We will work on getting some painting done in the house though. The kids like to help do that. So, we will just try to relax and take it easy for the most part.