Preparing for Mia

With less than four weeks to go until our exchange student Mia's arrival, the Polack and I spent the weekend getting the house in order. We've moved the office/sewing stuff out of the fourth bedroom so we can begin setting it up for her. The closet in that room is huge - seriously, it's about 24 square feet - so it took the better part of a day to clean it out. Yesterday we picked up a bed to set up and in the next few days, I'll sweep and dry mop the floors and we'll bring up the dresser we have stored in our basement. It's slowly turning into a fourth bedroom!

Since we use our living room as the family hangout, our family room was fair game. We decided to turn it into a workcenter. We set up our computers and my sewing stuff. I'm so excited to have my sewing stuff downstairs. You can see a photo of it on my new quilting blog. I've decided to maintain two blogs - one personal and one for my quilting.

Getting in the spirit of things, Nicklas decided to prepare for Mia's arrival too. He made the Norwegian flag and I think he plans to take it to airport when we pick her up. We're all getting very excited!

The Mouse Game

Growing up in a small Indiana town, my community always looked forward to the end of September when the county fair was held. It's the last county fair of the season and everyone came out to celebrate. The schools even closed on Friday so everyone could spend even more time ingesting elephant ears, hurtling around on the rides, and dropping $20 bills on the games. One game my mom and I would play is called the Mouse Game. Everyone stood around a tent and put their quarters on the number combination they thought would win. The announcer would let a mouse out of a box into an enclosed wheel and the mouse would run into one of the holes of the wheel which had a designated number. If you had a quarter on the number that corresponded with the mouse's choice, you won a prize.

In the olden days (you know way back when), your quarter would cover six numbers - like 7-12 or 25-30. But from what I gather, you no longer get as many numbers with your quarter. There were two mouse games, right across from each other in the same spot every year. I always went to the same one. The same guy was there year after year. I always remember the way he said, "And here he goes..." before letting the mouse free. I'm reminded of this every time Freddie takes off on a running fit around the house. I mimic that mouse game announcer, "And here he goes..." Of course, I'm the only one who gets it.

The family and I attended our county fair a few days ago. It's different than the one I grew up with. It's enclosed in the fairgrounds and much smaller. I miss the one I remember. The one that took over the town. It covered several blocks around the court house and spanned almost a mile south the official fairgrounds. When I suggested to the Polack that we take the boys to our fair this year, he rolled his eyes. The fair doesn't have the same meaning to him.

(Cuz he grew up with the crappy small fair while my fair was super-awesome! I mean, who wouldn't like a fair that caused the school district to shut down for a day?)

I realize that my expectations of my hometown fair won't ever meet the memories I have of it. But I'm hoping that sometime in the next few years, I'll have an opportunity to take my boys and experience it again through their eyes. In the meantime, here are some photos from our recent visit to the crappy fair.

iPhone + roller coast = bad things

So apparently this is what happens when an iPhone falls out of your pocket while riding a roller coaster....

I have to give Cedar Point some credit. They were very responsive and helpful when I went crying to them about losing my brand new phone. I gather they are very experienced with these sorts of incidents. When I filed my claim and told them which coaster, they asked if it was lost "in the tunnel". Cuz apparently LOTS of phones are lost in the tunnel of the Magnum. They promised to mail me the phone if they found it.

And of course the day I went to purchase a new phone - exactly one week after losing it - I received a package in the mail from Cedar Point. I wasn't home but the Polack was excited. The package obviously contained a phone and since we'd just bought a new one, he knew he'd get the old one. His hopes were quickly shattered when he saw the condition of the phone. (Which was also shattered - ha ha!)

And the best part? It's not even my phone. Someone else must have experienced the same fate as I. Mine is still MIA but I suspect it's found its way into a new home.

Blogaversary

I just realized I'm approaching my one year blogging anniversary. Happy blogaversary (yep, I made that up) to me!

In honor of the momentous occasion (okay, it's not REALLY that momentous - but I'm trying to build some excitement here!), I've decided to celebrate with another giveaway. I can hear the cheering already. A giveaway, a giveaway, a giveaway! What, you're NOT cheering? That's okay, I love you anyway.

Here's how it will work. I'll ask five questions below. For loyal readers, the answers will be easy. For those that don't know the answers, you can find them somewhere within this blog. It's like an open book exam! You send me an email. With every correct answer, you get one entry in the giveaway. So you can potentially get five entries by correctly completing the quiz. Got it? Great, there's more. If you're a follower or you start following my blog, leave me a comment on this post and you'll get an extra 10 entries. So that's a total of 15 entries you can earn! How exciting!!

I have a prize in mind but I need to do a little research to make sure it can happen. It will be even cooler than the Heather's giveaway. I promise! I need all emails by 11:59pm (eastern time) on July 30. That's my official one year blogaversary. Email answers to ngkubat (at) yahoo.com.

The questions:

1. Where did the Polack and I spend our last wedding anniversary?
2. Why did I have to learn to paint faces in the fall?
3. Why did I get pulled over by the Michigan State Police?
4. What country is our exchange student coming from?
5. What was the prize given in the Heather's giveaway?

See those are easy enough, right? Now get that email to me. This is going to be so much fun!

Vacation - in the end

Sorry for the delay between posts. Things happen. Like we realized our exchange student will be arriving in less than four weeks. And I'll be out of town the 10 days prior. And we don't have her room set up yet. And her closet is mess. SOOOOOO... we spent the weekend cleaning and organizing to prepare for Mia's visit with us

But before we get to recent household activities, I need to recap the rest of our vacation. After spending the fourth of July weekend and following week at the Lake, we got up Friday and packed up everything for our next adventure: Cousin's Weekend. A few months ago, the Polack's cousins decided to organize a reunion. Our destination was a lake cottage in Michigan owned by some of the family.

But before leaving the Lake (for the Cottage - notice a theme here?), we had to have one last ride on the Sea-Doo. The Polack's brother and family stopped by for lunch and a ride too.

And then kids were really wanted to swim one more time - this time with their cousins.

Finally, we said our goodbye's to Grandma and caravaned to the Cottage. We had a GREAT weekend. The boys enjoyed playing with all the kids. The played hard.

And there were a few ice cream runs on the boat with Captain Bob.

And lots of good food.

The big cousins had fun too. Fun involving corn hole tournaments, dominoes, marshmallow wars, and other adult like activities. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) I don't have any photo's. With over 20 people staying at the Cottage, we had hoped to get a group shot but it never seemed to happen.

After the Cousin's Weekend, we were off to Chicago. I had a conference to attend and since the Polack and boys don't have anything better to do, they tagged along. On our way, we made a detour in Ann Arbor to visit my cousin and his new house. He took us to his favorite ice cream place.

We were staying in the outskirts of Chicago and since I had to work, the boys didn't venture into the city. We spent our time swimming and exploring the area and decided to end our vacation with a yummy meal at a local Mexican restaurant.

My goal for this vacation was to stay close to home, spend time with family, and save the money that would have been spent on a bigger vacation. Goals one and two were achieved. We didn't do as well with number three (Sea-Doo's take A LOT of gas!) but we had fun. And that's what matters. We'll definitely make more visits to the Lake and the Turner's are already planning the next Cousin's Weekend. Woop, woop!

Vacation - Cedar Point

Growing up, I went to Cedar Point pretty much every summer. I have always loved riding roller coasters. I still do for the most part, although I sometimes take a bit longer to recover. Nicklas and the Polack like roller coasters more than I do so it was only fitting that we took a day to visit "America's Roller Coast". Nicklas could ride all but two of the coasters. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to all of them all. The upside is this gives us another reason to visit.

Seeger wasn't tall enough for anything but the Junior Gemini. Check out Nicklas in the last car!

The boys waited in line for the Matterhorn by themselves. The Polack and I were off riding one of the coasters Nicklas couldn't do and my mom stayed with the boys. Apparently just before getting on the ride, Seeger tried to chicken out. Nicklas talked him into trying it one time and promised him he'd have fun. And of course he did. What a great big brother! They rode that ride a few times.

My brother tagged along for the day. He and Nicklas decided to ride Thunder Canyon. Nicklas was excited about riding without his shoes.

This is a photo of the Wicked Twister. We didn't have a chance to ride this, nor did we ride the High Speed Dragster or the Maverick. (I may or may not have gotten those names correct!) There's always next year!!

At the end of the night, we let Nicklas choose the last ride. He picked his (and mine!) favorite coaster - the Millennium Force. Here's a great photo as we were making our way to the line.

It was a great day despite the fact that I lost my phone while riding the Magnum. I think it fell out of my pocket when I was getting off the coaster. I'm pretty sure someone else has a brand new iPhone of their own. It was only six days old!

Vacation - in the middle

After the Fourth, we spent a week at the Lake with my Grandma. The boys spent a lot time swimming.

And riding the Sea-Doo.

Seeger caught a fish with his new fishing pole. I'm not sure how he did - he somehow hooked the gill of a pretty good size bass. We weren't really paying attention until we heard him yelling, "I got one! I got one!"

Monday afternoon the Polack and Nicklas ventured to Detroit to catch a Tigers game. Seeger and I stayed behind. We took Grandma out to dinner. My dad and his wife joined us. After dinner, my dad helped Seeger light some sparklers.

One evening we took the boys miniature golfing.

Our only big mishap occurred when we took Nicklas tubing. We were on the Sea-Doo and stopped in the lake, trying to get him set up. I wasn't being careful with the tubing rope and it got caught in the impellor. The Polack was quick to shut off the engine and we ended up swimming everything to shore. Someone let us put the Sea-Doo up on their lift so we could get under it and get the rope untangled. We had to cut it out but got it cleared safely with no harm to the Sea-Doo. (Which belongs to my aunt and uncle. Thank goodness there was no damage!!) I didn't fair as well. When we were still in the middle of lake, trying to see how bad the rope was, I fell and bruised my leg pretty badly. Luckily it's my upper thigh so it's easily hidden.

We also spent a day at Cedar Point which was Nicklas's absolute favorite thing we did. More on that in my next post!!

Random Thought Thursday

It's Thursday, it's Thursday, it's Thursday!! Time for some randomness...

1. We have no big plans for the weekend and it feels fabulous. We're hoping to watch Harry Potter and the Kubatski cousins will spending the night but other than that... NO PLANS! My goals for the weekend - quilt, clean out closets, quilt, pedicure, quilt, grocery shopping. (Lofty less, eh?) I would add pool time to the list but the forecast isn't in my favor.

2. Speaking of swimming... Nicklas has been out in the sun so much lately that his hair has turned very, very blond. Someone asked me the other day if I dyed it. Seriously? Who dye's an 8 year old boys hair (other than Gwen Stefani)?

3. I haven't played a single game of Bejeweled since returning from vacation. Aren't you proud? (This may or may not have something to do with earning my highest score ever on Facebook right before vacation. I think I know I'll never top it so why bother?)

4. I'm finally all caught up on all my blog reading. Finally. Oh how I've missed Sandi's drama, Dawn's antics, and Vodka Mom's stories.

5. Just before leaving for vacation, I noticed I was developing a strange addiction to ABC Family television. I classify this as strange considering I'm a 34-year-old mom watching tv targeted for a 14-year-old. But oh how I love Make It or Break and I really, really want to watch 10 Things I Hate About You. (And then there's the Secret Life of an American Teenager. I had high hopes for this Brenda Hampton series which doesn't at all reflect the typical American Teenager. It's not a good show but still I watch it.) But then I left for vacation and had to put the obsession on hold. And now that I'm back, I'm at a crossroads. Do I play catch up with the episodes I missed or stop watching the teeny bopper shows? Hmm....

6. Scratch that - I'm gonna watch the shows. In less than five weeks, I'll have a teenage girl living with me. It's all about research, people!

7. Did you know that the Tri-State Tollway in Chicago doesn't take credit or debit cards? You actually have to carry CASH with you. Absurd. We were okay for the first two toll stops (after borrowing money that Seeger had collected) but the third stop called for $.80 and we only had $.71. The Polack tried to hand the attendant his credit card and she couldn't take it. Luckily she accepted the $.71. The fourth stop however was a challenge. We had to zip through without paying. I'm sure the Illinois State Police will be after us. Hopefully, we'll get off as easy as I did with the Michigan State Police.

8. I miss the Lake. I want to be there. Right now.

9. Apparently, a mouse has been living in drawer of a co-workers desk. She keeps snacks there and found his nest. Ew.

10. I love handbags and purses. I don't shop often so I'm not usually tempted but we were at T.J. Maxx the other day and I spent a lot of time browsing the purse aisles. I found no less than 34 purses/handbags I wanted to buy but was able to restrain myself. I did walk out with a killer new green dress though so I was happy.

That's all for now folks. I'll be back soon with more tales from vacation.

The Brightside Tour

Remember when I talked about the Compliment Guys? Well they're taking their show on the road. What a great story to brighten the day.

Vacation - in the beginning

After nearly two weeks of travels, I'm finally home and getting back into the swing of things. We had a great vacation - minus the loss of my new iPhone and some recreational mishaps (more on that later.) I'll be attempting to summarize the Kubatski adventures in these next few posts.

Our story starts on July 3. I was off work for the holiday and it was the last day of swimming lessons for the boys. The boys looked forward to the last lesson because it's free play in the water + snacks. Nicklas spent most of the time in the water. Seeger spent most of the time snacking.

After lessons that morning, we headed up to the Lake. Freddie loved hanging out on the pontoon.

I try to spend every Fourth at the Lake. Many of my cousins, aunts, and uncles gather for the holiday and everyone looks forward to the fireworks. We take the pontoon out to watch the show. Here is Nicklas with my dad and another family member.

Here's me with Bri who is married to my cousin, Ryan. Ryan is five years younger than me and growing up, we spent every summer weekend together - swimming, boating, playing cards, going on candy runs, playing school. Bri is awesome and I can't wait til she and Ryan have babies who can play with my kids during summer trips to the Lake.

Saturday morning, we headed into town for the Fourth of July parade. My dad's wife was participating and promised the boys lots of candy. The rest of the weekend was spent with family - hanging out, playing corn hole, playing dominoes, eating, and of course, riding the Sea-Doo.

Everyone left by Sunday evening which left the boys, the Polack, and I to spend a quiet week with my grandma. Next chapter, coming soon!

Random Thought Thursday

This will be short and sweet. Cuz I'm on vacation. And there's no internet at the house I'm staying. And I'm stealing wireless from someone. And it's late. And I'm tired.

Vacation is going well although several mishaps are leading me to believe that I'm jinxed. I got into a fight with a sea-do, lost a battle with a tubing rope, and no longer have an iPhone. That's right, my one week old iPhone was lost on a roller coaster yesterday. Along with my drivers license and credit card. I can get a new license and I've cancelled the credit card but it will be at least a week before I can replace my phone. No texting, no calls, no contact info, no emails, no facebook. For a whole week. This won't be good. God grant my husband patience in dealing with me. I'll be going through some sort of withdrawal.

Anyway, on with my random thoughts.

1. I'm super excited about the new Harry Potter movie. I finally finished the series and since I have a strict "must finish the book before watching the movie" policy, this will be the first Harry Potter movie I'm watching on the big screen. I can't wait to see it.

2. I really want to see The Hangover. Really, badly. Really, really badly.

3. I have a sunburn on my chest. It's prickly. And annoying.

4. I want to live on a lake. We've had a great week staying at my grandmother's lake house (more on that in another post) swimming, sea-doing, reading, sleeping in the sun, hanging out on the pontoon. I wish I could stay here the rest of the summer. Maybe I should become a teacher so I can have my summers off and live at the Lake.

5. I'm so tired right now, my eyes are getting droopy. Must finish this post. Soon.

6. I spent the evening with some friends from high school. It was so much fun to catch up with them. I wish I could spend more time with high school friends.

7. I have so many blog posts swirling in my head. I hope to have time to get them all written.

8. I feel like the summer is almost over. Boo on that thought.

9. This weekend, we're headed up to Michigan for a cousin's reunion weekend with the Polack's family. It will be so awesome to see everyone.

10. I spent yesterday at Cedar Point - America's Roller Coast (I had to throw that in since I heard that phrase repeatedly). It was fun riding all the coasters but I wonder how much longer I'm going to be able to enjoy them. I was almost thankful for the long lines because they gave me time to recover in between rides.

Wow - that's ten already? I have so much more to say but it will have to wait for another day. Sorry for the lack of activity lately. I've barely had time to keep up with work emails much less my blogging and Facebook. I haven't read a single blog post in 6 days. I'm going to have some major catching up to do.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Random Thought Thursday

Yay - it's random thought thursday!! I usually plan for RTT throughout the week. As in, I keep track of my random thoughts to share on Thursday's post. But apparently I'm somehow out of sync this week. As I was lying in bed last night, I thought, "Holy crap, tomorrow is Thursday and I haven't a single thought for RTT!"

I'm just glad I didn't forget.... And now, on with the show!

1. First of all, I have to say it. I love my iPhone.

2. Today was my last day in the office for awhile. Yippee!!! The university is closed tomorrow, I'm on vacation next week, and I'm in Chicago for a conference for the beginning of the following week. I used to dread coming back from vacation because of all the emails and phone calls. But with blackberries and iPhones, people don't really take vacations anymore. We're all working all the time. At least next week I'll be working in my swimsuit.

3. I have not touched my sewing machine in over three weeks. That's terrible - I have so much I want to do and try and create and finish.

4. Did you know you can buy a book on how to be a better Bejeweled player? I had no idea there was that much strategy involved in the game. On that topic, this week I lead my facebook friends in the bejeweled weekly tournament. Go me!

5. While we're on vacation next week, we'll have limited internet access. I likely won't be blogging much but I'll have lots of fun pictures to post upon my return. (Rest easy Bethie and Christy, this also means that I won't be at the top of the leader board on facebook bejeweled.)

6. Is it me or do there seem to be a lot more people riding mopeds lately? As much as I wish this is because people are trying to be environmentally and fiscally conscious, I can't help but think it's because the riders are drunks who lost their drivers licenses. (Wow, that sounds so judgmental.)

7. I think it's funny that people are calling Kate Gosselin's haircut the reverse mullet. A mullet! HAHAHAHA! Mullets make me laugh.

8. I have the best kids. Seriously, they're awesome. I'm so fortunate and blessed. When I'm around other kids I'm often struck with how lucky I am. People tell me and the Polack that we're good parents and that's why our kids are so well-behaved. And while I think that's true to an extent, I also think that we're just really lucky. I hope they know how much we love them.

9. You know what's not awesome? The new voicemail system at work. It seriously stinks. The old one was simple, press 7 for this, press 3 for that. The new one? Press *76#. Dial your mailbox number. Now dial your password. Press 543#. Now dial the mailbox number again. Waaaa-aaaaayyyy too complicated. If I could figure out how to forward my phone so that everything went straight the iPhone (thus avoiding the need for voicemail at all) then I would. On the old system, I just hit a button. The new system? I don't think it even offers the option. Grrrr....

10. Did I tell you the Polack bought a urinal? I can't remember if I did... Anyway, we're finishing our basement this summer and instead of spending lots of moola on plumbing a toilet, we're going with a urinal. It's more environmentally friendly, cheaper to install/maintain, and since I'm the only girl in the house, it makes sense. The boys are very excited. Seeger keeps asking about the "pee toilet". A big chunk of the basement work is happening when we're gone next week. It will be interesting to see what we come home to.

11. I love my iPhone. I realize that's more than ten posts but really, the iPhone deserves an eleventh post because its just. that. awesome.

(oh and heather.... i downloaded bejeweled. for $2.99, i couldn't resist!)

I hope it warms up before the weekend...

The boys have been taking swimming lessons for the past two weeks. Temps the first week were well above 90 degrees. And this week? I'm not sure we've hit 80. Indiana weather can be entertaining (in the annoying, keep you on your toes, kind of way). Here are some photos Seeger and I shot with my NEW iPhone while we were waiting for Nicklas to finish up.

iLove

I'm in love. With my new iPhone, that is. After numerous sighs of desire over iPhone commercials and not so subtle hints to the Polack, my wish has come true. After learning I could get an iPhone for $99, the Polack proposed his master plan. I buy the iPhone, he would take my Blackberry (and add internet to his phone line), and we'd use his phone to replace our little LG for our third phone line. (That LG has been with us almost as long as Nicklas has. It can only hold about half a days charge but it's still kicking it with the big boys.)

I liked the idea of the plan but I was worried about the implementation. I love my Blackberry. It's been my trusty sidekick for nearly five years. And the key pad. I LOVE having a key pad. Plus everything is set up just the way I want it on it. But ultimately the call of the features of the iPhone triumphed. The iPod, the camera and internet (both better than the Blackberry's version), and of course, the apps seduced me into giving up my Blackberry.

Now if I could only get used to the keyboard....

The Polish Olympics

Over the weekend, the Polack and I hosted Kubatski's first annual Polish Olympics. The event featured classics such as wiffle golf, paper airplane flying, and rock/paper/scissors. Teams were formed, names were chosen, and flags were made.

Let the games begin! There were 18 events in all. I'm happy to say I swept rochambo and the endurance challenge. I stood on one foot for 17 minutes!

I didn't fare as well in chubby bunny. I was only able to get 5 marshmellows in my mouth.

My favorite event of the day was the relay race. It was a team event - the first team member ran around the house, the second put together a puzzle, the first person ran around the house again, the second person had to unroll a roll of toilet paper, the first person ran around the house, the second person had to dig through a tub full of corn kernals to find a dime, and then the first person ran around the house again.

We started at 11am and by midnight had completed all but two of the scheduled events. It was super fun and we're already planning for next year.

The end of the season

Baseball season has officially concluded. Nicklas's team finished third in the tournament. He was devastated at the end of the game. I'm not sure if he was upset about losing the game or just the fact that baseball was over. Its been a long time since I've seen him cry that much. He's hoping to go to the championship game tonight. We'll see.

Seeger's league doesn't have a tournament and he could care less about the end of the season. I should point out that he's very proud about the fact that he can make it through a game without playing in the dirt. He reminds me after every game, "Mom, I didn't play in the dirt!"

Here is a photo from Friday night. Seeger's game was at 5:30 and Nick's was at 6:00. Since Seeger's coach has a son who is on Nick's team, he was very motivated to get the first game finished. I don't think we've ever finished a game so quickly!

A bit of randomness...

Whoop, whoop - it's Random Thought Thursday!

1. As much as I hate McDonald's with their albeit cheap but not very tasty food, I do have to give them props. They have the BEST Diet Coke. I think they put something special in their fountain drinks or something because I would choose McDonald's Diet Coke over any other dining establishment. I think it's the straw that really seals the deal for me. It's girth is perfect. I wonder how long the $1 soft drink promotion will last?

2. Despite how it sounds, I really do prefer Diet Pepsi over Diet Coke. Nearly every place I visited in Austin offered Pepsi over Coke. I was in heaven. If I have a choice between Diet Coke or water, I will often choose water. But if Diet Pepsi is offered, I have to get it. In my neck of the woods, it's such a rare treat.

3. Oh and speaking of drinks, what's up with restaurants charging $2+ for a fountain drink? Seriously - they are making a killing off their drinks. I take my family of four out to dinner and shell out nearly $10 just fordrinks. And they don't even have any alcohol in them! RI-DIC-U-LOUS. I've started making everyone order water lately.

4. Man, I'm thirsty all of a sudden.

5. Has anyone caught the latest episodes of Weeds this month? Season five just started. What a great show! A little extreme at times but always captivating in how much they'll push the envelop. I don't have Showtime but I've been able to watch online via Google and view clicks of the mouse. I can't wait for the next episode!

6. It's been a busy week in the Kubatski household. We're hosting the first annual Polish Olympics on Saturday so our lives are revolving around baseball and party planning. We have 18 events planned including rock/paper/scissors, the grand prize game, whiffle golf, and chubby bunny. We even have prizes and a trophy. It should be interesting.

7. Speaking of baseball.... Nicklas's team is knee deep into their tournament. It's double elimination. They had a bye for the first round, won two games, and then lost to the #1 seed Tuesday night. They play again on Friday. It's interesting to see how intense the coaches, players, and parents are getting. It's silly, really, the emotions are running high. But I suppose it's a good preview of what to expect here on out with Nicklas and organized sports. I'm guessing it's only going to get worse.

8. It's HOT outside. Really HOT. It feels as HOT as Austin did last week. I've been getting my walking in at lunch time but I have to bring a shirt to change into because I get so sweaty. The poor Polack, he's been taking two or three showers a day.

9. I HATE to sweat. I think it's one reason I never played sports. (That and my dead had a strict "one activity" rule. I did ballet so I wasn't allowed to do anything else that cost money.) I don't mind the heat, as long as I don't sweat. Sweating is so gross.

10. I'm still really thirsty. I only have 47 cents in my desk drawer (since I'm writing this blog post from work today). Darn it. It's not enough for a McDonald's coke.

Message to Mia

I was talking to the boys about the fact that our exchange student, Mia, will be arriving in less than 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS! We are all VERY excited to officially meet her. Since it's been awhile since we've done a video, they decided to film a message to Mia.