MARCH 4, 2010

Yesterday was Roselyn's 17th birthday! I can hardly believe it. She is such a beautiful young lady. The number 17 makes me happy because it is the mark of so many great things that are still coming in her life. I'm glad that we will have her for at least 2 more years. It makes me sad because we missed out on so many of her early years. We were all at home (the 6 of us!) for dinner last night. It lasted only about 20 minutes, but well... we did get a few minutes to recognize her. We had chicken wild rice soup at her request and Steph made the cake. We will have a bigger celebration in a few weeks with another cake, candles and gifts. Our two girls, Kristin and Roselyn share the same birthday month. Add in my mom's birthday and there are lots of reasons to celebrate!

Roselyn's good friend, Janice (from CSC) surprised her with a skype call last night. Janice now lives in Colorado with her new family. I love that fact that these two girls are still friends. They have both been in the States for 1 1/2 - 2 years. They have been a support to each other even though their paths met for only a short time. They talked for a long time. It is amazing that we can connect with people all over the world through something called skype. The best part - it's free!!

Happy Birthday, Roselyn!

Other highlights from the day...

*I volunteered in Rigo's room yesterday. One little boy came up to me and said..."My parents haven't decided if I can come to Rigo's birthday party yet." The funny thing about this is that there has been no talk of a party at our house. Evidently Rigo has invited the entire class to his alleged party. They are supposedly all going to Chuck E. Cheese (which is also rather funny because I'm pretty sure that Rigo has no idea what the heck Chuck E. Cheese is)! I tried to bring him down easy and explain to Rigo's friend that we haven't exactly decided what kind of party Rigo will be having.

*Another little girl came up to me and said..."My mom is very sad because my dad is going to fight..." I, of course asked if he was going to Iraq or if he was in the Army. She said, "No, he goes to a bar and fights. He is a boxer." I had totally misunderstood. A little bit funny, but maybe more sad than anything. I love the simple honestly of little people. They just say it like they see it.

*Rigo busied himself while I was in the classroom. I sometimes wonder if he even knows I am there. When I got ready to leave, he came running over to me, jumped into my arms and gave me a big hug. It felt really good. He walked back to his desk and yelled "Bye, Mom!" as I left the room. I guess he did notice that I was there after all.