Exciting Times

It has been a crazy summer and been awhile since I have blogged. I admit to being discouraged by lack of followers, etc. Then I realized...I blog for me! Who cares!

So we had a nice vacation in Ohio...or maybe crazy...but I will probably blog about that tomorrow. For today, I am excited and sharing that!

My mother was approached a few weeks ago about the local area being short on host parents for exchange students. I have always thought that would be fun and Cory and I have talked about it before but were going to wait until the girls were older. There were a lot of circumstances that made it a need NOW in our area. I asked Cory, in passing, and honestly figured he would tell me NO outright or say I was nuts. Instead he said...why not? GASP! SHOCK! Heart attack! I couldn't believe it!

Had the lady come over and do the paperwork and then LEFT on vacation! We were completely unsure what was going to happen. Well, she came over right before...like HOURS before we were leaving on vacation so the house was NOT as clean as it could have been. So she called back and said she needed new pictures because the state wouldn't approve with the kitchen being that messy, etc. I admit it. I was shocked. Horrified...humiliated....angry...but I also understood! The house was NOT where I wanted it...and the kids were NOT helping. So I used it...while we were on vacation and NOT home to shove it in their faces, we talked calmly to the kids about the fact that our house is not up to par and should NOT have been that way. That one person can't do all the cleanup for 6 peoples' messes. That they needed to step up and not just do what they are TOLD to do, but to start seeing things that are out of place and take care of them. To be more diligent about cleaning up after themselves. That way it would NOT be such an issue. We also talked about the fact that apparently the state of Indiana is pretty picky since they didn't like a basket of CLEAN laundry, IN the basket that has JUST been removed from the dryer being set on the couch. Gee, I COULD have stood there and held the basket while the picture was being taken!

Anyway, after some hard work from my wonderful friends and family, the house was tidied and new pictures were taken and we got approval. Then we waited...and waited...and waited! And heard nothing! So impatient! Finally we heard that our exchange student, Laura, would be arriving on Friday. Then all of the sudden we hear it will be Tuesday....then we get told it will be Monday! ARGH! Get it straight! Turns out she left Belgium on Friday but she spent the weekend touring New York and will be arriving in Indiana on Monday, tonight! But she doesn't arrive until 8 pm so essentially she won't be doing much here until Tuesday! Crazy days!

My girls are excited. James doesn't have a clue. My super random, God-filled, crazy people are SUPER excited and can't wait to make a new friend! They already friended her on facebook and have been getting to know her. That makes me happy. I know she will be welcomed by friends at school.

I will get to learn a little about how it is to have a high schooler...in preparation for Rebekah getting in high school next year! I will also be dealing with a school sport for the first time ever as she intends to try out for basketball. So I will be learning lots of new things over the next 10 months also!

As we welcome Laura into our house, if you have read my posts in the past you will now notice I will be posting about her too. If you haven't read them before, welcome and I hope you enjoy our family!