Prepping for our International Student

I am just getting ready to pick up our exchange student at the airport. We have been looking forward to her arrival for weeks but as the pick up time approaches our nerves are kicking in. 

The older boys have asked "will she like us?" and the six year old has asked me "will I like her?". Today my answer has been the same to both questions, "I hope so".  

I really want a good experience for all of us. We are looking forward to introducing her to all of the things we love about our new home and hope that we can learn a little more about Italy as well. 

The hubby finished the bed last night...

and put it up this morning.

(These photos are a perfect example of why I need to go to photography school. I could not get clear pictures at all.) 

I love that my hubby made a bed out of 2x4s. 

The boys insisted on trying it out. They wanted to make sure she had a good view looking out the window. 

I am happy that we have her room all put together - on time - and I am looking forward to meeting the girl who will be part of our family for the next few months. I hope we can make life comfortable for her. I am sure she is much more nervous than we are.  

I am also really looking forward to seeing what the hubby makes next. The boys have been asking for shark beds...

Decisions, Decisions...

Not feeling great today. I think I have an end of summer cold coming on. But, aside from that possible cold my family and I are all healthy.

 I am so thankful for my family. I feel so lucky to have an amazing husband, four great kids and to know that we all love and support each other.  I know that is a great blessing and it is the most important thing in my life. 

After my last post I was introduced to and reminded of a few big problems belonging to other people that helped me put my own problems into perspective.

For those who asked  - my problems almost always tend to be financial. That and trying to maintain all of my values and priorities in a world that doesn't always support them. Well, very rarely supports them ... maybe almost never supports them. It is difficult for all of us in our family to always be doing something different from everybody else around us. Sometimes what we want to achieve seems nearly impossible. But we feel strongly that we are making the right choices for our family and we continue to push forward hoping that at some point everything will work out. I often feel that I make as many steps backwards as I do forwards and wonder if I am really just standing still. But, as I look back I do see progression and improvement although it is never as fast as I would like.  I feel like a little kid wanting to cry out, "but I want it all now" and I am constantly reminded that that is not how it works. 

Sometimes not having any money is really annoying. Every time (and I mean EVERY time I seem to finally have the budget balanced something else comes up to knock it off balance). I really don't like having to choose between two things that seem important - this week as I confirmed enrolment in photography school and worked on finishing applications to graduate school - that I was hoping to do next year - I made the discovery that I would not be able to afford both the gas money to drive to school and application fees for graduate school. Money is needed for both in the next two weeks - before payday. So again I must choose. 

Yes, I realize that this could be seen as a really pathetic example of a hard choice and I have had much harder ones. But, this is what is hitting me this week. I will probably look back on it a year from now and understand it better; but, in the moment it feels hard.

I swear I am not as flaky as I appear. I know I must always look to people like I am constantly changing my mind about going to events or doing things. But, it is very rare that I actually change my mind. Usually I just run out of money. Not having enough gas in the car keeps me from hundreds of events and activities that I want to attend. 

Education is so important to me and is also the area of life that has given me the biggest headache. For my husband and myself it is expensive, time consuming, stressful and surrounded with deadlines that I often have a hard time meeting both physically and financially. For the kids the education they are offered is often not what I am wanting, usually not what the kids are wanting and I have a hard time getting them excited about going. This year is no exception. The kids were doing so well but as we get closer to the actual day of starting...they are hitting the brakes - hard! I am definitely not one of those parents who looks forward to the end of holidays. This is always the most difficult time of year for our family as we prepare to leave our sanctuary and support group and head out individually into the world.     There has been a lot to talk about in our house this week as we make decisions and try to encourage each other. Some days I would just like to wrap a cocoon around our house and forget about everything else outside the walls of our home. If only I could.

On a side note the bed my husband has been working on is almost finished...

he finished painting it last night and we are going to try a few different techniques on it today to see if we can get the exact look we want...I will post a photo when it is done, which will have to be soon because our exchange student arrives Saturday!

Checking Off My To Do List

It always feels good to get to the end of the day and place a number of checkmarks on my to do list.

We have been prepping the house for our new houseguest who is arriving next week.

We are hosting an international exchange student from Treviso, Italy and we are so excited to meet her. Our house is still not fully furnished. I am hoping she doesn't mind. We have been working to make sure her room is furnished.

My husband is making a bed out of 2x4s and 2x6s. He even made the paneling out of 2x4s (read: very small budget). Here is his little preview... I'll be taking photos when it is finished.

It is going to look great. He is putting it all together today and should have the first coat of paint on it before we go to bed tonight.

Slowly...slowly...the house gets put together. I am hoping to have it comfortable by Christmas.

Today all of the kids were registered for school, which was a little disappointing for a couple of them but I was really happy to get all of the paperwork done. That took up most of the afternoon and was a bit of a reality check for all of us that summer is coming to an end very quickly.

My hubby starts a new job on Monday. Not his dream job...but, not so bad either. We are happy that he has full-time work. After a month of unemployment our bank account is looking forward to finally getting some inputs.

The best part (for me anyway) about my hubby's job and the school info getting done is that I have been able to co-ordinate all of our schedules and discover that I can move forward on my own plans for September.

For a long time I have been trying to improve my photography. I love being behind the camera and I have been enjoying learning how to improve. Maybe I am just impatient but I haven't been improving as quickly as I would like to. So, I have decided to really do something about that.

In 12 days I get to go (oh yes leave the house and physically go) to photography school...for ten months. I am so excited. I was accepted months ago but I wasn't sure how our schedules would work out. I have been hoping I could go but, I am always a mom first and I needed to make sure my kids would be taken care of and that either I or my husband would be there to take them to school and to pick them up...and it has worked out. Today is the first day that I have been able to say that I am definitely going to school this fall.

The first couple months will be a little intense as I am also finishing my last degree ( I finish in October). But I am ready for the challenge...