Our newest family member

Mia arrived all safe sound last week and it's been a bit of a whirlwind since then. (Actually, the whirlwind started way before her arrival but it's definitely intensified since.) We picked her up from the Indy airport Wednesday and grabbed a quick dinner before heading back to Lafayette. I would have rather had a nice dinner and proper intro to Indiana cuisine but knowing that she'd been traveling for nearly 13 hours and was arriving at 1 am Norwegian time, we opted for fast food. After our quick bite, we made the one hour drive to Lafayette where the boys gave her a quick tour of the house and showed her to her room.

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She was able to stay up for a few hours to get settled in while everyone got ready for bed. We were all so excited to finally meet her and Nicklas' concern about not being able to understand her was quickly squashed. Her English is excellent! She's been a great addition to the family, so polite and helpful and very outgoing. I think Mia can make friends with just about anyone.

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On her second day in the US, we took her to the high school to register for her classes. She was able to get in to everything she wanted and has a nice mix of academic and "fun" in her schedule. She's taking the required English and US History courses and is also registered for Algebra II. That will be interesting because math in Norway is integrated. The students take Math I, Math II, Math III, etc. which is very different than learning math by subject like we do in the US. She is also signed up French III, parenting, theater, and a current social problems course. While at the high school, we introduced her to a few teachers, got her student ID, and locker combination.

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Wanting to join an athletic team, Mia considered trying out for Volleyball. While we were at the school, the team was practicing so she meet the coach and watched practice for awhile. Since she's never played on an organized volleyball team, she ultimately decided soccer (which she's played for several years) might be a better option for her. They were practicing as well that day so the Polack took her to meet the coach and watch the team practice. Their first game is this week so they've been working hard. Mia will be on the JV team and must attend 10 practices before she's allowed to play. It won't take long to meet the requirement as the team practices every day except Sunday's. School stuff took most of the afternoon so we opted to eat out for the evening and took her to one of our favorite "American" restaurants - Texas Roadhouse. After dinner, we stopped by a sporting goods store so she could buy soccer cleats, socks, and shin guards. Once we returned home, we made our to-do list with everything we needed to accomplish over the weekend.

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Friday morning we set out to get Mia a bank account and cell phone plan. It was a hot day so we spent the afternoon at the pool before taking the boys to their school to meet their teachers for the school year. Seeger is so excited about starting Kindergarten, especially riding the bus, and Nicklas can't wait to see all his friends. Mia had soccer practice that evening and then it was dinner and movie night. She wanted to watch something funny so Nicklas pulled out some of his favorites. She chose Elf which had us all laughing. It would have been perfect, although the heat outside definitely reminded us that it wasn't Christmas time. Mia mentioned that she had learned a new word at soccer - humid. She now understands what it means!

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Soccer again on Saturday morning and then we had an early lunch scheduled with a few other families who are hosting exchange students. I think Mia was excited to meet some of the others although she wasn't able to sit with them and really chat. Luisa is from Germany and Aor is from Thailand. We're supposed to all get together once a month so I'm sure they'll all get to be friends. The other two had already started school so Mia was interested in hearing about their experience. After lunch we went food shopping, had dinner, and then made a trip to Target. Mia had been to Target before and was happy to tag along. We both tried on shoes and commented about what we liked it and didn't like. As a mom with only boys, this was so much fun for me! I'm usually in and out of stores which I need to shop so I'll enjoy having someone to shop with. Later that evening, I dropped Mia off at an all-ages club for dancing. She had met a girl at Volleyball practice who invited to come hang out. As she spent time getting ready and making plans, it really hit me that we now have a teenager in the house. It's very exciting yet kinda surreal. The Polack and I have never had to "wait up" for our child to return home from an evening out. I think Mia had fun hanging out and meeting new people and her friend as already invited her to sleepover next weekend. With so much going on, I asked her to put the invitation on hold a few days before discussing it. I don't remember doing planned sleepovers in high school so I'm not sure what I think about the invitation but I'm definitely glad that she's already involved with social activities.

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Sunday was a birthday party at a local park for my nephew. It was a great opportunity for Mia to meet more of our family and enjoy yet another American experience. Again, I was amazed by how outgoing and social she is! She even spent time playing with the kids which was so sweet of her. Here are photos from the party. Seeger is watching Ben open his gifts and Mia is playing with Nicklas and Anna.

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After the park, we went back to the high school so Mia could try her locker combination and find where her classes are. While there, we were able to meet her French teacher. She's registered for French III but her teacher seems to think she might want to do French IV. Luckily French IV is offered during Mia's study hall so she decided to attend both for a few days to see which might be better for her. Sunday evening was quiet - dinner and hanging out around the house. With the first day of school looming, we wanted to take it easy. Everyone was in bed early.

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Here is a photo of Mia and the boys standing at her locker. (Mia is wearing her new shoes she bought at Target. Super cute!)

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The next few weeks will be very busy with back to school activities, Mia's soccer, Nick's flag football and IU football games. And of course we want to plan activities for Mia which we'll hopefully squeeze in among everything else. What are your suggestions? What are the must-do's we need to organize while she is here? Leave me a comment or send me an email at ngkubat at yahoo dot com.