My kiddos

Caught some candid pics tonight of these two gems. Sure am one lucky Mommy :)

Chinese Exchange Student

Last night we welcomed in the new member of our family for the next 3 weeks! She is a 7th grade student from Far East China School outside of Beijing China, her name is JingYu Ye or her American name, Shirley. We didn't have a whole lot of notice of her arrival maybe 2 weeks. In those few weeks we prepared by cleaning Grace's room and making a bed for her. We also shopped for a few gifts which we got her a Wisconsin Tshirt, photo frame and some tea. Upon her arrival yesterday they kept us updated via text on their pending arrival into OHare airport. They landed about 5pm and got into Janesville via coach bus service about 8pm. She seems to be a very shy modest girl. Not sure if the shyness is due to her overwhelmed feeling of being in a new place or the language barrier. She seems to understand us fairly well but has a hard time communicating to us in English. After getting her settled into Grace's room I spent some time trying to find a good translation app on my phone. She wanted to ask us a question but was having a hard time finding the words. After playing with Google Translate I was able to figure out that there is a note pad that she could write the Chinese symbols on and it would translate to English. She told us she would like to have our wifi hookup so that she could contact home! Later on as I was showing her how to use the app she told me she likes me very much. That made me relax a little bit and know that it will all come together and that she was happy to be here! She brought me a couple of gifts one of which was a Chinese fan that has an old photo of her home town the other was a bottle type thing that you drink out of. This morning her and Grace are still asleep. I may try and rouse them about 11am to have some lunch and take Shirley with us to the grocery store. I am happy we ended up on this adventure, I think it will be a fun one!

Growing up

She's catching up to me fast! Not the greatest pic but I wanted to take one with her to show how she is growing up to me :)

Emotions running high

* I had meant to post this yesterday *

The school year is coming to an end and I have been through a field of emotions today. It all started with my drive into work and being excited I was going to be done. Even more so when in the first 10minutes of being there I have boys beating each other up and having a very difficult time diffusing the situation. After school I see a fee posts of friends that talk about their daughters graduating and how far they have come and grown up. Started feeling like I am on the fast track for that and it makes me feel sad and overwhelmed! Thinking of how grace is only 5 years away is crazy and it will be here in a flash. Later that evening I run her to a last minute event she has to be at and find myself grumbling that I have to run her. However, as I drop her off I pull away and think about how I only have a short amount of time to have this time with her and how some of our best moments and conversation are in the car together. What am I going to do with out that time??  

This evening I see a post on Facebook from a neighbor/friend who has a son that is autistic and goes to the school I work at. She tells about how sad Parker is that it is the last day of school and he is so sad because he has so many friends at school and he won't see them again for a long time and will miss them. She then proceeds to say that he has a lot of friends at school but never gets a call from them to play outside of school. This makes me so sad for him. I love Parker, he is one of my favorite students and the most polite and well mannered kid at school. This makes me think about my job and what I will miss if I don't return. The wonderful students and all the fun times we have had! It's sad that the difficult students so over shadow the good ones. Unfortunately with the nature of the job I spend most of my time with the difficult ones and it doesn't make for an enjoyable time. Anyhow, Parker made me think of the good ones and how my job is so bitter sweet. 

The emotions always get me this time of the year as I look back and see how the kids have grown and how fast time passes by. Just hoping the much cherished summertime slows just a little bit to have some time to stop and smell the roses!