How many people can you fit in one house?

Yeah, I know, I'm asking myself that too....It seems you can always fit one more. At least in this house. We are expanding our family. Yes, Really. We are getting a foreign exchange student. (Had you going there for a minute, didn't I?) His name is Hua Qiang. I believe his last name is pronounced "Hway" and his first name is pronounced "Chee-ang" but we don't know this for sure yet because school started today and he is still in China. Not sure when he will get here as we haven't heard from him yet. I'm assuming he's trying to find flights, which could be fun since the Olympics just ended Sunday in China and everyone will be trying to fly out of there. For those of you who aren't sure you can pronounce his name, you will be relieved to hear that his nickname is Kimi. He will be a senior this year at MLCA. For those of you interested, the process is much faster than adoption. We heard that there was a student from China who needed a home on Thursday, we were signed up on Friday and told he could be here as early as Sunday! HELLO! Now that will wake you right up. I think they do it this way so that you don't have time to think WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING? Unfortunately the olympics screwed up their strategy. lol

So we are looking forward to welcoming to our family a 16 year old, 6 ft. tall Chinese student from Shanghai who will room with cranky ole Joe. Good luck, Kimi.

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Life is never boring with a 4 year old around. Sometimes we're pulling our hair out, sometimes we're too busy laughing to even try. A few weeks ago, Susanna and I were working in the garden, weeding and picking strawberries. I remember Sanna had brought me something she had found, but I don't remember exactly what it was now that I'm telling the story. Anyway, she says to me and says, "That's kind of fu*ky." My head whips up out of the strawberry patch and says "EXCUSE ME?" "That's kind of fu*ky", she repeats. "HUH?" Did she just really say that? "Yeah, it's fu*ky." What did you just say? It's what??? I think, obviously I am missing something here, obviously she can't be saying THAT word......""fu*ky....Fu*ky.....FU*KY....", she says, getting louder each time as she is clearly frustrated that I am NOT getting it and if she can just say it louder, I will stop being an idiot and understand her new word that she had obviously waiting for the right occasion to just share as a little tidbit....as if saying, look how smart I am...I have a great new word! By this time, I am looking nervously at the neighbors we don't know very well who working on putting in their new lawn, thinking, they are going to think we are raising a hoodlum over here. And as she steadily gets louder, repeating her new word over and over for the idiot who calls herself mom, I notice that my very nice Christian neighbors on the other side are sitting outside on their back patio, enjoying the cooling evening air. The same evening air that is now carrying my sweet daughter's voice oh-so-well. Lord, just open up this ground and swallow me up now....thank you, Jesus....Is it just me or does it seem like my neighbor's have suddenly gone quiet? Then it slowly dawns on me....her new word.....Did you just say that is fuNky? "yes, I did", she says, smiling happily, very relieved that her mother is not quite a moron. SIGH....OK, then that is more like it. "Oh, funky...." "Yeah, fu*ky " "No, funnnnnnnnky". "YEAH," she yells, "FU*KY".....big sigh...."You know, we probably better not say that word, it doesn't sound so nice." (yes, let's save that one until you learn not to drop your "n's") "oh, ok," she says as she enters back into her innocent world of play. She has already lost interest. Unfortunately it's not so easy for me....I have to figure out how to face the neighbors ...... @%&* ...... expletive deleted.