One Month? No Way!

Yesterday, Astrid said to me, "I need to get a new card for my phone."  And I looked at her like she was crazy, but then I thought about it, and sure enough, one month has gone by, and I literally do not know where it has gone.  She said, "This has been the fastest month of my life."  I agree.  It has been a blur of activity and highs and lows and laughter and music and friends and school and all kinds of stuff.  Every time I host, I feel I get better and better at it, and although I have my moments even now, this year I feel more confident in my abilities and I am enjoying the process in different ways.  If there's a next time, I suspect I'll say the same thing. ;-)

Ok, onward... So last time I blogged, I forgot to include that we had a Blessing of the Backpacks at the UU.  All the kids (and adults) who were going to school were invited to bring their school bags and they were each given a little rock that had been painted with a UU chalice and had a word on it for the kids to keep in their bags as a reminder that our community is with them at all times.  Astrid and Leah both had their schoolbags "blessed" and each got a rock--Astrid's said "Dream" and Leah's said "Kindness".  It was a lovely little service and our first time doing such a thing.  The girls, unfortunately, got stuck behind the podium, but Astrid got Leah to peek out so I could get a picture of them up there.

I can't entirely remember what exactly we have done in exactly which order, so here is a basic rundown of the highlights of the last 2 weeks since I blogged.

Astrid had her first track meet.  This was last week on Tuesday, I do believe.  It was the only one that they are having locally this month, so Leah and I went to cheer her on.  At first she said she didn't want us to, then she said she did want us to, so we decided to just show up.  The meet was at St. Michael's High School in Fredericksburg, and I think the entire team was able to participate in this meet because it was local.  The boys ran first and then the girls, and I was able to go live on Facebook so Astrid's family in Denmark could watch if they wanted to.  I do like that about the live option on Facebook!  When Ine was on the swim team, I'd have to film her swimming, then run outside and post the video on Facebook so her family could see it as close to real time as possible.  Even though my connection was kind of spotty, it was still neat to be able to live stream the race.

Pre-race.  I have no idea why Leah is looking grumpy

We arrived early and the kids were busy with team things (translation, wandering around the field, chatting, waiting for their turns).  Leah LOVES being around the teenagers, and Astrid is very good about making sure that she feels included, but also taking her space when she needs it.  Leah doesn't complain when she's asked to go back to Mom, so I think they have a nice balance struck between them.  The top runner for the boys was from Fredericksburg Academy--Chris, the boy I embarrassed Astrid with on the first day of practice.  Leah asked me if I thought Astrid would win when she ran.  I said, "I think she'll be in the top 20!"  In fact, Astrid was second amongst her school runners and 13th overall.  We were so proud of her!  The boys team won the team trophy, and the kids had a very successful first meet.  It was nice to see how encouraging the coach was of all the runners, and the kids had great support from the parents and from each other.  Below are some photo highlights with comments...

Getting ready to run!

Happier girl

Astrid at the finish line

Astrid with her results card

Leah meeting Astrid's friend and talking princesses

High fives from the coach

The team celebrating a great meet!  Way to go, Falcons!

I also took the opportunity to take Astrid to Wolf Trap for the first time.  My 80's rockin' idol Bryan Adams was coming and I really wanted to go.  The only downer was the heat--summer absolutely will not let go of Virginia and it was in the high 90's and HOT.  We picked Astrid up from her practice and drove up to Vienna.  Leah and I had prepared a picnic dinner, and we were lucky to find a spot kind of in the middle of the hill with nice people who made room for the three of us to sit.  We took the little tram up the hill and when we got into the venue and Astrid saw the size of it, she said "Wow!"  It really is a wonderful place to see a show, and I'm looking forward to the Christmas and Memorial Day free concerts later on during our exchange year.  I think Astrid was fully prepared to be bored or not like the concert (when we were listening to the radio recently, she asked if I'd put on music "from this century"... That did not go over well!).  But she actually knew 2 songs and she enjoyed herself.  I had a blast--the concert was amazing, and worth the 30 year wait.  Bryan still has it.  He played for a long time and even did an encore--a phenomenon Astrid was not familiar with.  I explained to her that if you scream and cheer long enough, the performers will come back out and sing some more.  She was impressed by that and I was happy for another 3 or 4 songs.

The girls helping haul our picnic at the bottom of the hill at Wolf Trap, ready to eat some dinner!  We all pitched in and enjoyed a great night

Bryan Adams, first concert at Wolf Trap

We have also enjoyed some fun times as a family.  Of course most evenings are now filled with homework and our school routines, but we do try to carve out time for family activities.  My favorite time of day is dinner time--we all eat together as a family and there is always lots of chatter and giggling.  Sometimes we play cards or games, but usually we just enjoy each other's company.  Astrid and Leah have each come up with activities to do together, and they have "sisters nights" a couple of times each month when I go to game night with my friends, which neither one of them is interested in.  They make slime together, watch movies, put on make up, or God knows what else.  Recently, they decided to try making their own lipsticks using a technique Astrid saw on line.  There were 2 ingredients: Vaseline and crayons.  We went all over the place looking for containers that they could put the completed lipsticks in, but unfortunately we had a lot of trouble and wound up using mini Altoids tins.  Each girl got two tins and could make two lipsticks.  The smell of melting Vaseline is something I have discovered I cannot stand, but Astrid loves it. Consequently, Leah has informed me she loves it.  I was just happy they had fun.

Astrid explaining the science behind the fashion

The completed product

Leah also found a "make your own ring" kit using some kind of magical plastic compound similar to the slime they've been manufacturing, so the girls made their own rings one night after dinner.  They fell apart a little bit, but it was the togetherness that mattered.

Astrid canning applesauce

We also took a canning class to learn how to preserve our own fruits and vegetables.  This was a class I won at the UU during the spring service auction, as I am very interested in learning how to can, but also a bit intimidated.  If you could have seen a 7-year-old's and a 15-year-old's faces when I told them that we were going to take a canning class...well I can probably leave it up to your imagination.  But they actually both enjoyed the class a lot, especially the samples.  We preserved applesauce and got to bring a jar home with us, which was fun and they both ate it very happily.  Astrid says I'm allowed to preserve spaghetti squash, which is her most favorite food in America and I'm not sure, but I'm thinking we're going to come to the end of spaghetti squash season soon enough, so she feels we should guard against future shortage by putting our newfound canning skills to work.

We also went to the Breakout Game Fredericksburg.  This is SO MUCH FUN!  They have opened a new room in which you have to investigate some kind of barbershop business that is a front for the mafia, and you have one hour to collect the clues and get out of there before the mafia returns and kills off your federal agent squad.  The game has a 17% escape rate, meaning only 17% of people who try it manage to escape, and we did not manage to get out on time.  It is REALLY hard.  And you overlook things all the time.  But it was a blast, and we all want to go back and play again and try to defeat the room.  We were locked into the house with a couple on a date, and worked hard on word puzzles, chess games, opening locks, finding keys.  We did manage to break into a secret room but ultimately we didn't get all the way through all the different puzzles we had found.  Still, it was really fun and a great activity for us to do as a family.

This weekend, we had been told that a local AFS volunteer was organizing us all to participate in a color run, the Color Me Rad 5K.  I asked Astrid before she arrived if she would like to participate and she said she would, so I got us all tickets and we went down to Chesterfield yesterday to 'run' with the other AFS'ers.  I had done one other color run in the past and it was no big deal, but this was absolutely the messiest run I have ever been involved in.  The girls' hair was literally crunchy from slime and color powder and all kinds of mess.  But it was a total blast.  Astrid did a great job of letting Leah be with her for a little while before sending her back to Mom and just having fun with her friends.  Time with the other AFS'ers is so important--they are the only ones who can really understand what they are all experiencing and going through.  But Astrid is always very mindful of Leah's feelings and how much she loves her big sister, and what a responsibility that is, so I'm pleased she does a good job of balancing her own needs with Leah's feelings.  It seems very natural to her.

Below are some pictures from our day.

Astrid signing the "Awesome Foreign Students" sign

The AFS'ers 'before'

Darn right!

The first colors have been thrown

Just a little way into the race

Leah and Astrid filling their water bottles with purple color

She is getting messy...

The kids decided to make snow angels in the color

Our "after" shot--I have never been messier in my life!

Afterwards, we picked up AFS'er Nana from Japan and brought her back to Fredericksburg.  She was switching from her welcome family to her permanent family, so it was interesting to talk with both girls before they fell asleep--we all had an early start in the morning (Team Kosior left home at 7AM) and then were very active during the race, obviously, so everyone was tired.  We talked about the American military presence in Europe and Japan, and it was interesting to get their perspectives on if we should stay or go (want to know the answers?  Host an AFS'er yourself! :-D )

After we got home, we took showers and Alex from AFS came and picked up Nana to bring her to her new family.  The girls and I had some downtime in the afternoon--I fell asleep, Astrid did whatever she was doing, and Leah watched a movie.  In the evening, we had a party to go to at the home of a member of the UU who I did not know very well.  We kind of debated going--we were all tired and I didn't know who would be there, but we decided we should go for a little while, and we had an absolute blast.  There were lots of little kids running around, which Astrid loves, and several of my good friends from the UU were there, so I had people I was comfortable talking to.  As the party was dying down, the host broke out some fireworks for the kids to enjoy, and I think the adults enjoyed it just as much!  I made a shrimp dip to take with us, and Astrid said if she had tasted it before the party, it never would have made it.  The girl does appreciate my cooking--she went nuts over a baked potato bar the other day! So all in all, a very nice day.  We had a discussion the other day that we are always busy on the weekends, which Astrid isn't used to and she would like a little more downtime, versus me who is glad everyone is family home on the weekends and I am ready for action!  So we are trying to strike a balance between those two needs, but obviously have some work to do.

All in all, the first month with Astrid has blown my expectations out of the water.  It has been a blur of running, Dollar Tree shopping, good food, lots of laughter, family activities, crafts, non-stop chatter, movies, school, church, and more.  Thanks for reading and see you in a few more weeks!