1 month in!

Wow...time flies!  Aba is quite busy with school, football and friends.  I'm so happy he is doing so well here and is so well liked by everyone!

The weekdays are pretty uneventful.  Saturday night, Scott made his famous pizzas.  My new favorite was prosciutto, peach, goat cheese with basil and a honey balsamic glaze. (Not my photo, but this is what it looked like, mostly)

Aba had us laughing at dinner as usual...some of our words in English sounded like bad words in Hungarian...one was balsamic the other was MacDougall...during dinner, he got a phone call to head out for the evening.  Off he went with some of the guys from football.

Sunday, the New England Patriot's had a televised football game.  It was pretty nice and warm here and I wanted to take the boys to the beach, but, I had no takers!  Later in the afternoon, Aba and Jack were tossing around the football so I took some quick videos.  Here it is...

I'm heading out on my biggest photo assignment ever this week and will be gone until October 1st.  The boys will be in good hands with Scott, but, this blog will probably not be updated for a couple of weeks!  

~Linda

International night, football and chillin...

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Tonight was the Orientation Party with all the exchange students that are in our area for the school year.  Aba will get to gather with this group of kids throughout the school year and go to parties, camping and hiking, skiing etc.

It is really fun to be around kids from all over the world...some of the countries represented were Serbia, Mexico, Spain, Germany, China and Lebanon.  I noticed lots of girls having their picture taken with Aba ;) 

Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and we were all squeezed in the house.  I didn't have an opportunity to take any photos, but Linda Coffey did.  Here is her group shot.

Sunday, September 14

Me and the boys went to see my parents and to an apple orchard for a photo shoot.  My niece, Jill, and her 6 friends are Seniors in High School and wanted some nice photos of the group together.

I wanted Aba to join us, but, he had lots of homework to catch up on and a football game to watch.  He was invited out with a friend for ice cream and later they went to see a movie.  If you want more details than that, you will have to ask him yourself!  :) 

Monday, September 15

Jack had a Cross Country Meet and Aba had a home game today.  It was a beautiful day to be outside.  Here are the both boys...

Aba #41 coming in after a nice tackle

All the guys congratulating Aba on his play!

Scott and the boys watching the game. 

Aba in the middle of the action!

Jack went to see him as soon as he got off the field

Tyler congratulating him on a good game

Heading into the locker room

Even though they lost, Aba still had a great time. Did I mention that Aba had his very own fan club in the stands?  

Tonight he had to take a photo of himself "chilling"...I volunteered to help!

All is well and everyone is happy :)

~Linda

Three weeks in...

Wow...three weeks in already and Aba hasn't been to the beach yet!  I asked him to join Jack and I on Monday night to see the full Harvest Moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean, but, he was too tired from his big weekend.

Although the moon made a much later than expected appearance, the sun put on quite a show!

Aba is our 5th student we have hosted and the first one to stay for the entire school year.  I must admit, I like the pace of this.  I no longer have the pressure of planning daily activities and trying to make the most out of a 4-5 week stay.  What I am finding with a high schooler is that about 45% of the time he is at school and with friends, 30% of his time is sleeping and 25% of his time he is with us.  He is out the door before 7am and returns about 6pm.  

Jack had his first Cross Country meet yesterday.  Other than Cub Scouts, this is his first "team" activity.  I love seeing him active and having fun with the other kids.  My friend Lynn said to enjoy this time because it goes fast.  The days are long, the years are short!  Every year is another milestone, another grade.  But, she is right, I think these years are just going to accelerate and blow right by me.  

There are so many different families out there with parents my age.  Bonnie has a daughter in preschool, while Nina has triplets in their last year of high school, Kerry has 6 kids who will be in school endlessly and Karen has teenage boys and a girl just starting elementary school.  I guess you get what you get, we all have our challenges and all my friends are awesome parents and only want the best for their kids.  I admire Aba's family for allowing him this opportunity, while I am sure they would prefer to have him sleeping in his own bed every night.  I hope we all make it while enjoying it at the same time.

I only got pictures of Aba on his birthday this week, so I will end this post with one of him!

~Linda

Happy Birthday, Aba!

After a long day at school, then football practice, Aba made it home around 6pm.  We decided to celebrate his birthday at one of our favorite places, Wasabi.  

For those who may not be familiar, it is a Japanese Steak House specializing in "hibachi-style" and is often used in the United States as a term for Japanese teppanyaki cooking, in which gas-heated hotplates are integrated into tables around which many people can sit and eat at once. The chef performs the cooking in front of the diners, typically with theatrical flair—such as lighting a volcano-shaped stack of raw onion hoops on fire.

After a fun dinner, we went home for more desert and to open his gift.

He was so surprised and happy to get his first American football!  Lots of laughs and smiles all around on his first birthday away from home.  For a surrogate family, I think we did OK!

~Linda

This Exchange Mom takes a break!

Scott and Aba got his international phone all set to be able to use here.  with football practices and games, it's much easier for us to coordinate rides etc.  It will also be nice for him to get in touch with all his new friends.

Here is our first text...we were hysterical because I was sitting right in front of him and I do not think he was expecting a text from me! 

This has been a long week for me with a cracked rib, needy puppy, early wake up calls, sleeping in a chair.  Trust me, I am not in this alone...Scott is a huge help and the work is definitely 50/50.  It takes 2.5 hours to get 3 kids out the door 5:20am-7:50am. It would be nice to have the boys be 100% self sufficient and sleep thru it all, but, then could I really do that?  Probably not...the mothering instincts do kick in and I like to see them off!

Thursday, Sept 4

I'm off to Chicago today to surprise my sister for her 30th wedding anniversary party!  While I only had a couple of days, I managed to see my oldest and dearest friends and spend time with my sisters and their families in the Chicago area.  

Back Row: My niece, Gia, my sister, Donna & her husband, Alex then Me
Front Row: My niece, Effie, my sister, Alicia, my niece Laney, my sister, Sandy in blue
and her daughter, my niece, Taylor.

Jodi & Dale, with Me center

Bonnie, Me & Sari, friends since elementary school

My niece's Laney & Gia willing got up at 5am on Saturday morning to watch the sunrise over Lake Michigan.  We walked about 4 miles and had a great breakfast! Here are a few pics around the city.

The Bean

Taking The El back home...

Meanwhile, back at home, I heard that Aba had his first "Team Dinner" hosted by the cheerleaders, he went to the Varsity football game Friday night and off to a bonfire on Saturday night.  He is making lots of friends and he is well liked by everyone!  They all survived without me...although I never had any doubt!

For Sunday night dinner, Scott made is famous pizza! Here are a couple of them. He made 4 different ones.

Full Harvest moon tonight!  My favorite day of the month...I hope to take Aba and the kids to the beach to see it!

~Linda

Settling in...

I am not a fan of the first week of school.  It always comes too fast, like a slap in the face! Gone are the nights with no specific bedtime and the mornings of walking up at our own leisure.  Suddenly, my alarm is set to go off at 5:20am Monday-Friday and I don't even get the reward of seeing a proper sunrise!  Don't misunderstand, I can always go back to bed.  It is the kids that I feel bad for!  Especially Aba, leaving at 6am.  One morning, he didn't have a minute to spare, let alone eat.  While he was getting ready, I was making him a nice warm egg & cheese sandwich.  He thought he would be leaving hungry and the look of gratitude on his face was priceless!

It's hard to believe that Aba has only been here for 5 full days.  It seems like he has been here for weeks! He has been going full steam ahead since his arrival and handling all these new changes so well.  He has easily slid right into the hearts of our family, we didn't have to make room for him, the room simply multiplied.  

He joined the football team and has made new friends easily.  Friday night was the teams first scrimmage game, away from home.  I picked him up from school  at 2pm and was waiting for him for a few minutes.  He apologized for being late, he just had to find out a girl's name! haha We had planned to go the sporting goods store to buy him some cleats and ran into twin bothers who play football with him.  They were already inviting him to go skiing this winter and stay at their weekend home.  I dropped him off back off at 4pm to take the team bus to the game and could see the boys greeting him like he had always been a team member.  He even found a ride home after the game...score one for me!

paparazzi photo from the car :)

So many teenagers are quiet in the car. Not Aba. He likes to chat and tell about his day.  I love to hear his stories and see him smiling and happy.  His only problems are deciding what winter sport he is going to participate in.  Does he go for Wrestling or join the Ski Team with his new friends or play Hockey with the boy down the street...decisions, decisions.

Saturday, he finally got to sleep in and we spent the afternoon at Scott's brother's house for an end of the summer pool party.  We were just there on Thursday night as well.  It was a beautiful day with lots of fun, sun, food and swimming.  Aba got to meet my niece Jill who is the same age along with Ryan who is also in the family, along with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins etc etc

Clockwise, Uncle Glenn, Scott, Mark, Brian & John.  Missing: Dave

kid shot

So, our dog Scout hasn't had a good week.  He turns 14 yrs old on September 3rd. He has an acute case of vestibular disease. Symptoms include head tilting, loss of coordination, circling and stumbling, staggering, falling and rolling, as well as involuntary, rhythmic, jerking eye movements from side to side or up and down.

To make a long story even longer...we had been taking turns sleeping on the floor with Scout in the family room.  I got up one night and slipped on a pillow.  I landed pretty hard on the arm chair.  At the pool party, I was in more and more pain.  I went to the Urgent Care and I have a cracked rib!  All the boys get to take care of me today!  ugghhh...who thinks I have time for this? haha

~Linda