Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Update
Ok so it has been a while since i have updated. We have been busy busy busy. I never knew how busy your life gets when you have a teenager, but it is great....i love it!!
So lets see what all have we done since the last time I posted. Katrine has been in school for 5 weeks now. She is doing really good. We had an open house/meet the teacher night a couple of weeks ago and all of her teachers love her. They only had good things to say about her. We were so happy to hear this. She is taking some really hard classes.
This is what she is taking this semester and this is what her grades are right now:
Sociology 100
Geometry 79 (this is the class she is having the hardest time with)
English 3 85
Psychology 80
CJ has been helping her alot with her Geometry he has had to re-learn some things himself through all of this.
A couple of weeks ago we took her to her 1st High School Football game. That was alot of fun it had been a really long time since I had been to a game as well. We sat next to the band and behind the drill team so that brought back alot of memories for both me and CJ. Let me tell ya high school is ALOT different now then it was when I was in school. It is alot of fun getting to re-live the high school fun stuff without having to do the homework.
Gotta run for today will update again...we have several things going on right now!!
I will add pictures of the football game.
So lets see what all have we done since the last time I posted. Katrine has been in school for 5 weeks now. She is doing really good. We had an open house/meet the teacher night a couple of weeks ago and all of her teachers love her. They only had good things to say about her. We were so happy to hear this. She is taking some really hard classes.
This is what she is taking this semester and this is what her grades are right now:
Sociology 100
Geometry 79 (this is the class she is having the hardest time with)
English 3 85
Psychology 80
CJ has been helping her alot with her Geometry he has had to re-learn some things himself through all of this.
A couple of weeks ago we took her to her 1st High School Football game. That was alot of fun it had been a really long time since I had been to a game as well. We sat next to the band and behind the drill team so that brought back alot of memories for both me and CJ. Let me tell ya high school is ALOT different now then it was when I was in school. It is alot of fun getting to re-live the high school fun stuff without having to do the homework.
Gotta run for today will update again...we have several things going on right now!!
I will add pictures of the football game.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
more pictures
These pictures are from the tailgate party for my work and the petting zoo at the stockyards!Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Ok I need to do a little updating here! I am going to add some pictures of some of the things that we have been doing with Katrine since she has arrived in Dallas.
She has been here 2 weeks tomorrow...wow I can't believe it has already been that long. We have been having such a great time with her.
When she first got here she was so tired she had been up for over 24 hours I am sure it was close to about 48 with all of the time changes and everything else. When we saw her at the airport we had a nice sign welcoming her and some flowers and balloon's (we wanted to make sure she could see us)! I couldn't wait to see her face when we got outside and she had the first taste of this Texas heat. I think it actually took her breath away...it was really hot that day I think it was around 101 or so at 7:45 pm. When she left Norway it was 56 there...that is a huge difference!! But I think she has adjusted very well to our heat.
The first night we went to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner we wanted something that was Texan so that is where we went. She had a huge cheeseburger with everything under the sun on it...it looked really good. She ate about half of it! After that we went home and showed her around the house and then took her to her room (i think she really likes it...i am glad) then we left her to unpack and go to bed. She got up alot earlier that I thought she would the next day she only slept until about 9:30. We just hung around the house and watched a movie then got ready for our day.
Our first stop was the High School. All of the teachers and office staff was there so we went in so she could walk around and see some of the school so she wouldn't be totally clueless when she started school. While we were there we found out that they wouldn't be able to get her classes scheduled until Tuesday so she had an extra day off from school...she loved that! After that we went to lunch (cheap pizza CICI's) then headed to my work to get something for the Corporate Challenge tailgate party. While we were at my work she meet some of my co-workers. Then I had to take her with me to our tailgate party out in the heat....i felt really bad but i did make sure she stayed in the shade and at least that night there was a really nice breeze so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She did survive!!
The next day (Saturday) we went to run a couple of errands and took her to meet CJ's mom at her work. She gave her a nice flower arrangement and some cute little earrings. Then we (me and Katrine) went school clothes shopping. She did find a few things that she liked we really didn't get nearly as much as i thought she would get but she has enough for now!
On Sunday we took her to the Fort Worth Stockyards. She got to go to a petting zoo she had never done that before then she got to pet a horse (first time for this too). We saw the cattle herd and then watched the gun show. I think it was a little loud for her.
Monday since we couldn't get her into school that day we went to see a movie Step up 3D. It was a pretty good movie I think we all liked it. Then the rest of the day we just relaxed and watched TV.
Tuesday was her first day of school!! We were able to get in and get her schedule changed pretty quickly. The school counselor was very nice and got everything changed to what she wanted for her. She told us that she is the counselor for all of the foreign exchange students and after a couple of weeks she was going to get all of the exchange kids together so they could all meet. I think she said that there were 4 exchange students enrolled right now. I think it will be good for Katrine to meet the others then she will have someone to talk to about any problems they are having being in an American school.
Well I post how everything is going in school later!
Patrice & CJ
She has been here 2 weeks tomorrow...wow I can't believe it has already been that long. We have been having such a great time with her.
When she first got here she was so tired she had been up for over 24 hours I am sure it was close to about 48 with all of the time changes and everything else. When we saw her at the airport we had a nice sign welcoming her and some flowers and balloon's (we wanted to make sure she could see us)! I couldn't wait to see her face when we got outside and she had the first taste of this Texas heat. I think it actually took her breath away...it was really hot that day I think it was around 101 or so at 7:45 pm. When she left Norway it was 56 there...that is a huge difference!! But I think she has adjusted very well to our heat.
The first night we went to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner we wanted something that was Texan so that is where we went. She had a huge cheeseburger with everything under the sun on it...it looked really good. She ate about half of it! After that we went home and showed her around the house and then took her to her room (i think she really likes it...i am glad) then we left her to unpack and go to bed. She got up alot earlier that I thought she would the next day she only slept until about 9:30. We just hung around the house and watched a movie then got ready for our day.
Our first stop was the High School. All of the teachers and office staff was there so we went in so she could walk around and see some of the school so she wouldn't be totally clueless when she started school. While we were there we found out that they wouldn't be able to get her classes scheduled until Tuesday so she had an extra day off from school...she loved that! After that we went to lunch (cheap pizza CICI's) then headed to my work to get something for the Corporate Challenge tailgate party. While we were at my work she meet some of my co-workers. Then I had to take her with me to our tailgate party out in the heat....i felt really bad but i did make sure she stayed in the shade and at least that night there was a really nice breeze so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She did survive!!
The next day (Saturday) we went to run a couple of errands and took her to meet CJ's mom at her work. She gave her a nice flower arrangement and some cute little earrings. Then we (me and Katrine) went school clothes shopping. She did find a few things that she liked we really didn't get nearly as much as i thought she would get but she has enough for now!
On Sunday we took her to the Fort Worth Stockyards. She got to go to a petting zoo she had never done that before then she got to pet a horse (first time for this too). We saw the cattle herd and then watched the gun show. I think it was a little loud for her.
Monday since we couldn't get her into school that day we went to see a movie Step up 3D. It was a pretty good movie I think we all liked it. Then the rest of the day we just relaxed and watched TV.
Tuesday was her first day of school!! We were able to get in and get her schedule changed pretty quickly. The school counselor was very nice and got everything changed to what she wanted for her. She told us that she is the counselor for all of the foreign exchange students and after a couple of weeks she was going to get all of the exchange kids together so they could all meet. I think she said that there were 4 exchange students enrolled right now. I think it will be good for Katrine to meet the others then she will have someone to talk to about any problems they are having being in an American school.
Well I post how everything is going in school later!
Patrice & CJ
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Katrine's Room Pictures
One day I will learn how to do this blog where I can put pictures where i want them!!!
Today is the Day
Well it is finally time for Katrine to get here! We are so excited to meet her! We have been working really hard to get everything ready for her. CJ worked in the attic the other day getting our wireless set up so she can have wireless in her room. I have been working on alot of different projects for her room. And I have to say I absolutly love it!! My friend Leslie came over last weekend and helped me get everything on the wall and put up.
I have made her a cute little sign welcoming her to Texas for us to have at the airport and i am going to have some balloons and a small bouquet of flowers. ( i will post some pictures of this tomorrow). She shouldn't have any trouble finding us at the airport.
It has been a really long day of travel for her and when i spoke to her dad he said she hadn't slept in over 24 hours. She is goiong to be so so tired when she gets here.
I am posting some pics of the new room!
Friday, July 30, 2010
20 days until Katrine comes to live with us for the year! I am so excited and can't wait to meet her. She is coming in on August 19th at 7:45. This isn't the date that I wanted for her to come in on because school starts on the 23rd so that doesn't give us very much time. I was trying to get her registered for school before she got here but when I went to the school I found out that she has to be there in person to register so we will have to do it on the first day of school. I just hope that she will be able to still get into some of the classes that she wants to get into. I did learn that high school is a lot different now from when I was in school. At Lewisville High they are on a schedule that is more like college they have 4 classes a day. It will be fun to see what else has changed about high school since I have been out for 21 years...oh that makes me feel really really old.
I still have alot to do to get ready for her. I have to finish cleaning out everything from her room so she will have room for her stuff. I also need to finish decorating also! We did buy her a new dresser for her room. I have the curtains up now i just need to get other things put up on the wall.
Patrice & CJ
Monday, June 7, 2010
Hello!
Well today is Katrine's 17th Birthday!! We sent her a birthday package and I was afraid that it wasn't going to make it to her in time but just a few minutes ago I got an email from her thanking us for her gifts! I was so happy that she got it on her actual birthday! We sent her 2 t-shirts from old navy, a Texas trivia book, a bag that has alot of the different cities in Texas on it and I made her a necklace. She got a really nice digital camera from her family that will be perfect for when she comes here she will be able to send alot of pictures to her family of all of the fun stuff that we are going to do while she is here in Texas.
Speaking of that we have a list of things that we are planning to take her to do and see. We would love to hear some things that you think we should do.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Hello everyone!
Well not alot is going on right now with our student we are still just emailing back and forth getting to know her. She went to a meeting this past week with the EF organization and they talked to them about their departure, expectations, rules and practical information. The main rules that she told me about was that if they are caught drinking, smoking or doing any drugs they will be sent back home. She really seems like a great kid so I don't think that we will have any problems with any of those rules. She did find out that they like to have the kids come to the American homes about a week before school starts so she should be here the week of August 16-20. She said that they like for them to only have to travel for one day so she will be leaving her home around 4 in the morning so i have no clue what time she will be getting here. We are supposed to be having a meeting sometime this summer also with the local EF people and they will be going over all of the rules with us too. And then I think that we were told that once the student gets here we will have another meeting with the parents (us) and the students to go over the rules again that way we all know that we were told the same information.
When I talked to her last week we were talking about school clothes and I was asking her if she was going to shop before she came or if she was going to wait until she gets here and she said she was probably going to wait until she got here to do her shopping. I was so so happy I LOVE to shop for school clothes and school supplies....i am so excited. I am probably going to take off of work that week she comes in so we can spend some time together getting her ready to start school.
CJ has been playing a little game with her. He has been sending her US trivia questions and then she sends him a Norwegian trivia question. So if anyone has any trivia questions they would like to share with him please comment. I think it is his turn now.
Well I guess that is all for today talk again soon!
Patrice & CJ
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Norway Independence Day
I learned from Katrine this week that Norway will be celebrating their Independence Day on May 17th. It looks like everyone walks together she explained it that they celebrate by going in a train (the picture above). And then the community gather together on their soccerpath (she didn't know what it was in english). After this she will go to her friends house with her family and they will have a barbecue. She really likes this day. It sounds a lot like how we celebrate our Independence day also.
The picture of her in a dress is the Norway national dress called "bunad". She says that Norway has many different national dresses depending on where you live. Her dress is the one from Vestfold which is the county she lives in.
It is so cool to learn about how other countries celebrate. I can't wait to learn even more from her as the year goes on. I am sure once she gets here we will learn a lot more.
CJ is looking forward to learning Norwegian. We will see how that goes.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Ok so i am new at this and it posted last time before i was ready and didn't post everything that i had typed so i will continue.
We were assigned a local coordinator and they sent us 9 student profiles to look over and see which one we would like to have come and live with us. This is a really fun thing to do because you get to read about them and find out what there interests are and what they like to do for fun. You also learn about things that they are wanting to do while they are here in America. We found three that we liked and sent those names back to the coordinator when he got back to us he said that two of them had already been assigned to other families and one of the girls were on hold with another family. I was really sad about this because I really liked the three that we had sent him. A couple of days later he emailed me and said that we had gotten one of the girls that I had wanted. We were so happy to find out that we were getting Katrine.
Our student
The student that was matched with us is 16 her name is Katrine and she is from Norway. She lives at home with her parents and a younger sister. She has two cats (so she will fit in with our spoiled little kitty). We have been emailing back and forth getting to know each other. We have learned that we have alot in common, we like to watch alot of the same t.v. shows and movies and she likes history so that excites CJ he has been sending her some Texas history emails.
We feel very lucky to have been paired with her. We are both so excited and can't wait for her to get here. I already feel like she is part of our family and we haven't even meet yet.
How we were matched
We were assigned a local coordinator and they sent us 9 student profiles to look over and see which one we would like to have come and live with us. This is a really fun thing to do because you get to read about them and find out what there interests are and what they like to do for fun. You also learn about things that they are wanting to do while they are here in America. We found three that we liked and sent those names back to the coordinator when he got back to us he said that two of them had already been assigned to other families and one of the girls were on hold with another family. I was really sad about this because I really liked the three that we had sent him. A couple of days later he emailed me and said that we had gotten one of the girls that I had wanted. We were so happy to find out that we were getting Katrine.
Our student
The student that was matched with us is 16 her name is Katrine and she is from Norway. She lives at home with her parents and a younger sister. She has two cats (so she will fit in with our spoiled little kitty). We have been emailing back and forth getting to know each other. We have learned that we have alot in common, we like to watch alot of the same t.v. shows and movies and she likes history so that excites CJ he has been sending her some Texas history emails.
We feel very lucky to have been paired with her. We are both so excited and can't wait for her to get here. I already feel like she is part of our family and we haven't even meet yet.
Our Foreign Exchange Student
Hey Everyone!
We want to share our exciting news about what we are up to these days. We have decieded to be a host family for a foreign exchange student. It all started one day when we went to see a movie I saw an add for EF Foundation. The next week I was still thinking about the add that I had seen so I looked them up and after reading about them and reading alot of student profiles I talked with CJ and asked him if this would be something he would be interested in doing. I was so happy that he was happy to do it as well. So after that we started the paperwork we had to fill out several pages of questionaires, we had to do a background check, send in pictures of our house and have a home visit. We were so happy to find out that we had been approved!
How you get matched
We want to share our exciting news about what we are up to these days. We have decieded to be a host family for a foreign exchange student. It all started one day when we went to see a movie I saw an add for EF Foundation. The next week I was still thinking about the add that I had seen so I looked them up and after reading about them and reading alot of student profiles I talked with CJ and asked him if this would be something he would be interested in doing. I was so happy that he was happy to do it as well. So after that we started the paperwork we had to fill out several pages of questionaires, we had to do a background check, send in pictures of our house and have a home visit. We were so happy to find out that we had been approved!
How you get matched
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