Storms

I am soooooooooooo tired! All last weekend (Thursday night-Monday night)we had storms. According to Tuesday's "Wichita Eagle", Kansas got 80 tornadoes in those 4 days! Every night the kids were up crying, scared of the thunder, every night we had to wake up and scramble to close windows. Every morning we had to clean up debris and dump water out of things. I was sure there was no way there could be any moisture left in the sky! Surely all the water was dumped in those 4 days onto our house and city!? LOL
We did get a break, for which I am grateful! Tuesday thru Friday, we've been playing outside, riding bikes, going to the YMCA waterpark. Coincidently, we've met just about everyone we know at the YMCA waterpark! I guess all the parents and kids were sick of being couped up!
Saturday (today) we have a Royal Rangers fishing trip. Carol and I were going to leave the kids home with David in the morning and her and I were going to go shopping, then this afternoon we'll go fishing. I dunno if that's going to happen now! I can't even open my eyes wide enough to make it to the shower to get ready for the day! Last night about 4am, Sky (our black puppy) started barking and woke us up. We sleep with our back door open to cool off. It was starting to hail! He kept barking, so we let him and Butterscotch out of thier kennel to stand at the door and observe what was happening. Sure enough, that knocked off the barking. Well all of a sudden, it sounded like the roof was just being pounded by baseballs! We ran around closing all the windows and I decided to go in the little kids' room to sleep with them, as the lightening and thunder were getting louder and closer together, that way, they didn't have to come looking for me, I'd just be there. Even Carol was up and couldn't sleep. The thunder was so loud, the hail just pounded the windows and house. I spent half that time with my hands over Shanndon's ears! When we woke up, we found what seemed like half of a tree torn down in our front yard. I haven't even looked at the car yet. I'm so tired.
According to the news and weather.com, we're suppose to get rain again all week with sever storms and HAIL! There is a thunderstorm warning posted til noon today and then a moderate chance we'll get an afternoon one too! I don't think we're going fishing if there's a strong chance we'll get hailed on! There's a 40% chance tht we'll get sever thunderstorms with giant hail tomorrow too, which was the day I was planning to take the family on a two hour drive to see Kansas waterfalls! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
I know we don't live in a drought area, desert, etc. I know that we are blessed to have the rain and water we have. Logically, I know this. Emotionally, I'm so sick of it and am annoyed. I'm sick of mud, dirt, water. I can't sit anywhere outside, cause all my outdoor furniture is soaked to the hilt. I can barely keep a clean towel around, cause the kids and dogs track in mud and dirt, so my doorways are lined with towels, then they need baths too, so there goes the other half the towels. I'm tired of not knowing from hour to hour what to expect.Most of all, I'M TIRED of not sleeping...more like the KIDS NOT SLEEPING. Shanndon is terrified every night. I didn't even know there was a storm coming and he woke up at midnight crying and scared to death because there was a storm coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about freaked out at 4am when it started! Creepy!
So, now it's almost 1030am on Saturday and I have no desire to move to get ready for the day. I have no idea if we're going fishing. I have to go to Walmart to get worms...I don't want to buy worms if they aren't going to get used and just sit in my fridge all week!!!! IF we do go fishing, it's going to be a muddy mess! And we'll all probably be miserable anyway! Grumble. BAH HUMBUG! OKay, I'm done bitching. Going to go lay on the couch and doze. Thank GOD my children like TV, that's what's keeping them occupied and QUIET at the moment! David is dozing in the recliner with Shanndon in his arms. I think we'll all take a nap today starting very soon!!!!!!!!!

Carol's Party

We had a storm Thursday over night that tore up the yard. We woke up, got breakfast and headed outside. I worked on the inside of the house and David and the kids worked on the yard (raked sticks, picked up trash and dog poop, and David set up the tent). Carol's stalker (Dillion) came over at 10am, rode his bike from Pawnee and Broadway to here! He wanted to say goodbye before she leaves and gave her his sudent ID. How cute! Anyway, he was here for a while, so I informed him that today was her ALL GIRL party and that I needed her help getting ready. So he left and Carol helped work on the house and yard. About 1pm I started cutting up food. We had so much food! Meat, cheese, crackers, pretzels, chips, strawberries, cherries, bananas, apples, chocolate.
About 230pm one girl showed up and it was a couple hours before the others came. Stalker boy (Dillon) came back with his mom! This time he gave her a picture of himself. We had two 6 ft. tables set up in front with inflatable guitars, wax lips, dog tags and stickers on it. We had chips and peanut platter out there too. The girls hung out at the front tables for a while talking. In the kitchen we had the fruit and chocolate fountain, and meat and cheese platter. In back, I had buns and condiments set up.
We ate hamburgers and hot dogs about 6pm. The girls hung out in back talking for a while. There was music going in the living room, front yard and back yard. The chocolate fountain was a hit! After a while the girls came in the house and hung out in the living room. I think that's when Carol opened her presents. They played Dance DAnce Revolution and then April came and brought Guitar Hero. Maialen and Myla were leaving about 9pm, so we went out and did S'mores. The girls hung out by the fire table for a while. Myla's parents came to pick them up about 945pm. After a bit one other girl had to leave and there was a water balloon, hose fight. They decided to come in and wanted to watch a movie. They ended up putting in "What lies beneath". David had to be up at 430am and was ready to go to bed. We cleaned up a bit, left the girls with chips and peanuts, popcorn to snack on; then headed to bed. They were suppose to camp out in the tent overnight, but we got hit with a very bad storm about 1am, so they camped on the living room floor instead.
230am I woke up and checked on them, they were still up, talking and giggling in Carol's room. In the morning I tried to keep the little ones occupied and quiet in my room and back half of hte house, so that we didn't disturb the girls too badly. Ben had spent the night at my friend Stephanie's house. Shanndon was sick and was no trouble, and really Christianna wasn't too bad either-TV is a wonderful thing sometimes! LOL. So is a mountain of clean laundry!!! LMAO. Abie and Phoung left about 10am, they didn't even want breakfast. Abie leaves Tuesday and Phoung leaves Wednesday...they are stressing out...so many parties and things to do to get ready, and not enough time. School records won't be ready til Tuesday morning, so she has to go to the school and then go get her driver's license (cheaper and easier to do it in AMerica then in Germany) and a bunch of stuff, before going to the the airport. Melanie and Stephanie stayed til about 330pm. They had bagels and juice for breakfast.
This evening we went to April's graduation party and tomorrow is Maialen's graduation party. It's a party weekend I tell ya! I'm so tired already! LOL. I decided to have a spur of the moment party on Monday. I invited 5 other homeschooling families to come over- we're gonna grill and hang out and have a fire...IF it doesn't rain! That'll be nice to have some adult interaction. The kids will be very happy to have thier friends over!
So, that was Carol's birthday! Hopefully it was a good one, one to remember. There was lots of pictures taken, so hopefully all the girls remember it well. It was the first time I ever threw a party for a teenager. Hopefully, I wasn't too overbearing, it wasn't too boring, etc.
Happy Birthday Carolina Lago Silva! I love you and I wish you the best no matter what you do and where you are! You'll always be a part of our family.

Spin the bottle

David's dad called as he was getting ready for work. I guess Paul took a drive out to California and was headed back and since he was alone, he was calling for us to keep him company. David talked to him for a while and then handed him to me, so he could finish getting ready and make his lunch. I was standing in the doorway between the kitchn and living room. David was walking thru the laundry into the kitchen when he was trying to put a soda can in his sack for lunch.
He missed the hole!!!!!!!!!!
The soda can hit the floor and proceeded to spin uncontrollably for seconds sprayin soda everywhere! Including, my shoulder and face across the room. Once he got the soda can picked up and we saw the "damage", it was crazy. I simply said, "Awww, David!" And then told Paul what happened. David got a mop and mopped up the soda on the floor, then I sprayed a bit of cleaner on the floor and he mopped it again. Then David went to work and I got to get several towels and for the next hour...scrub my kitchen! It was 3/4 the way up every wall, cabinet, dishwasher, refridgerator and chairs! Hey, my kitchen looks really good now! It's deep cleaned!
I had to get kids and myself ready to go to friends houses and me to Carol's graduation, so I didn't finish the floor. I need to do the laundry room and kitchen, but, that will keep til tomorrow. It was given a little pre-rinse when David did it. You know what David's dad (Paul) said to me? "Oh well, it was an accident, you still love him. Now he gets to go to work and you get to clean it up. I do stuff like that all the time and Amy just rolls her eyes and cleans it up." I think the only reason I didn't freak out or yell or get mad, was cause the kids were in bed. That meant they weren't needing something or running thru the mess, etc.
Now to work on the rest of the house! Eventually. LOL

Gas

David called on his way home from work and said gas was $3.79/gallon. HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!! What is this world coming too? We can't afford to do anything at this rate! we're staying home as much as possible at the moment. We did go to the lake this weekend, but then we stay there for hours. I can't believe this crud. And, we haven't had any storms or hurricanes yet, which will ultimately make it sky rocket more!!!!! GRRRRRR.

Purchasing Friends

There is this thing on MySpace where you can buy/sell friends...as pets! Then you can edit thier messages and make them do things. I was bought several times and I went to check this thing out and have done it a couple times now. It's wierd. Silly. But, what if people want to be mean? People that I don't even know have bought me and edited my messages! What if they were to put something bad?! I'd have no control over it! I don't think you can buy yourself, which would give you power to edit your own message. Another friend blogged about this, she's actually kind of annoyed and doesn't know if she should be flattered of offended. Me either! But for the moment, it's funny and no big deal. Just weird!

Riverfest

There is this 8 day event in Wichita called Riverfest. For the purchase of a $5 button, you get free admission to various places and events all over the city each day: Zoo, Botanica, Cowtown, Exploraion Place, Indian Center, Etc. Last year, my friend Ashley was an advocate for it and was all into it. With the kids being so little, I just couldn't hack it at the time. This year, we have Carol. Since it's the biggest thing in Wichita, I felt we had to experience it. So...we did. We didn't do as much as I wanted...We only made it to a couple places, but I feel like we got our $5 worth none the less. We all enjoyed it. We walked the streets, went to Cowtown and Bontanica, did the rides and bouncers in the kids area, and listened to music and got free ice cream. Carol's coworkers at her community service told her about funnel cakes, so we bought one to share as a family. She fell in love with it!
May 17th was the last day of Riverfest, and they have big fireworks. The whole city comes out for this. It almost seems bigger then 4th of July, or equal to it! This was also our friend's birthday. We went to his birthday party at Exploration Place park and then were gonna stay for fireworks. It was awesome. The kids had so much fun. Ben and Mikey got in the river, the other big kids played on the sandbar, the little ones followed the big ones, climbing "mountains", playing at the park, etc. No one fought, no one cried, no one whined. We had lots of snacks and cake, juice and water for the party, then as we got our spot for fireworks, our family walked to McDonalds for dinner. It was a nice walk. Everyone was outside! Everyone smiles at each other, nods, the cars drive slow and let you pass and cross. It's a whole different city on this day.
The fireworks started out having some problems...there were booms with no lights, lots of pauses. Once the fireworks got started, they were awesome. Christianna was scared to death, screamed bloody murder. Shanndon was cool with it, just wanted his ears covered. Half way thru it, he didn't even care for his ears to be covered. The kids were fascinated! They were naming colors, gave each firework a name like: shooting stars, whistlers, etc. They were pretending to "catch" the fireworks. It was so cute!
It was a great night. We all really enjoyed each other's company. The kids got along...this gives me hopeful dreams for the summer! The kids passed out easily once we got home, about 11pm. Unfortunately, they still woke up early...church is going to be a bear. Maybe after naps, we'll go to the lake today?! Or maybe we'll just work on the yard! LOL

Last day of school

Carol's last day of school was Thursday. Friday we had her Senior Breakfast. I was the only host mom to attend. I picked up Abie and Phoung. I felt so honored that she asked me to go. David stayed home with the kids. It was bascially just breakfast and some kids and staff spoke, and then there was a slide show of photos from the year. Then they had convocation practice afterwards. April's mom was staying to do some stuff, so she gave the girls a ride home about 10am and then about 11am we went to Botanica Garden's. Then we came home and ate lunch and Shanndon went for his last day of school. His bus driver gave him a remote control truck. The aide on the bus said that kids like Shanndon make thier job worth it, that he is such a good, sweet kid! YEA! How awesome is that!
I'm so relieved! There is so much more "time" now! No rushing around to get here and there, time constraints, etc. Everyone is asking if Shanndon will go to preschool next year...I don't know. The way I feel right now, NO. He liked it, but man, it was a pain in the butt! I didn't like his teacher, and he'll probably have the same one next year! If I couldn't handle the "schedule" and teacher for the 3 months he attended, how will I do it for a full year?
On one hand, this is a great time on the other hand it's very sad. While we have more time and things to do with the weather getting better and no school...It also means the time is closer for Carol to leave! She leaves June 5th! The kids are going to be sooooooooooooo devastated! We've been talking about "when Carol goes home" but I don't think the little ones have ANY concept of what's about to happen to them! I am so sad. I love her so much. She's grown up and changed so much. She's really like my daughter and good friend at the same time. I dunno how I'm going to say goodbye. I'm trying not to think about it. I'll just fall apart on June 5th.

Weather

Our public fountains are on here in Wichita. The pools are due to open this coming Friday. It should be warm. IT'S NOT!!!!!!!!!! I'm cold! I'm sick of cold! I fell in love with Arizona, I think I want to retire there! It's winter in Brazil right now and it's the same temperature as it is here. I want to turn my heat off! I want to open my windows! Oh sure, there has been a day here I can turn off the heat and open windows, and then the next day it's cold again! UGH! One day it's 80, the next it's 40! I grew up in Chicago...I'm sick of the midwest! Even David, who doesn't care for heat, is longing for heat and sick of the cold! That is sad! GRRRR.

Mother's Day

Saturday night about 10pm after a couple games of "Clue", I told Ben he needed to go to bed, so he could wake up early to bring me breakfast in bed and shower me with flowers and diamonds. He started laughing hysterically and said, "why would I do that?" I said, "cause it's Mother's Day and you have the best mom in the world who does everything for you and gives you everything and you love me." He said okay and went to bed.
I went to bed a little after midnight, I woke up to pee about 130am and David was not in bed, I stumbled to the bathroom without my glasses, saw the kitchen light on and David standing in the doorway. I said, "what are you doing?" He said "nothing". So, I peed and went back to bed. In the morning, I asked David if he'd make me scrambled eggs, so he did. Then the kids filed in and said Happy Mother's Day. I got a card, bouquet of flowers, and a watch (while I was in Arizona, Shanndon broke my watch that was on my nightstand here at home). It was a very relaxing day. I hopped in the shower, we went to church, came home and ate lunch and put kids down for a nap. Carol, David, Ben and I played "Clue". That evening we rode our bikes to the park and played, then went out to dinner.
Ben at some point during the day, I think it was over lunch, proceeded to tell me (he's 8 years old!)..."Mommy, I thought about what you said last night about giving me everything I want, and really you don't give me everything I want, because I don't have every Bionicle". I just looked at him blankly. No expression. Inside I was dying, it felt like I got stabbed in the heart, but I want him to feel free to talk to me, so I showed nothing. He looked at me and stopped himself and said, "Uh...nevermind, forget what I said." I just said, "Ok".
Other then that one comment, it was a nice day. Valentines day, David stopped at the base convienent store on the way home from work and tossed a plastic bag with candies and a card to me and said "Happy Valentine's Day", at least today he got it in the middle of the night and had it ready for me when I woke up. When he was talking to a friend at church he revealed he had no fore thought, he just stood there and picked something out. What is it about men? No creativity, romance, fore thought, etc. UGH! Oh well, lol, such is life as I know it!
I do have to brag on my kids...Ben searched his room high and low to give me something and he loves this item, but he thought I'd like it, so he gave it to me...a feather he got from the zoo (taped to a quarter and put on the coffee pot). Isn't that the sweetest thing?! Shanndon made me a card with my favorite color and gave me a rock. SOOOOO cute!

Re-Enlisted

I forgot to mention a couple important things this week...
When David was deployed September 2007-January 2008, he got an Article 15. The result of that Article 15 was a stripe taken away (which cost us $800 a month pay until he tests and gets his next stripe back!!!) and an additional $500 fine. He felt this Article 15 was unjust and appealed to have it reversed. The result of the appeal is no. The officer felt that officers need to stick with officers and so he did not want to overturn another officer's decision. The upper levels of military are VERY politcal...which is why David has no desire to be one! So David was disappointed about the appeal, BUT...
He was granted re-enlistment. If they wanted too, because he got in trouble, they could have very easily said...nah, you can't re-enlist. BUT...May 1, 2008 David took his last re-enlistment oath! March 21, 2014 David will hit 20 years in the military. At 20 years, you can retire! May 1, 20014 his enlistment is up! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOO! We're in the home stretch! 14 years in, 6 to go.

So much!

Things with Carol are pretty much done with. She was granted the ability to stay. She has to do 15 hours community service, write an essay and still be grounded.
Last week the kids started getting sick (even the dog-Sky- was sick!!!). Ben first, then a few days later Shanndon, then the next day Christianna, Wednesday Carol, then me Thursday. Well by Thursday Ben woke up saying his ear hurt (although he seemed on the mend from his cold) and Shanndon and Christianna were not getting better, so we took them to Urgent Care. All three were given meds...ear infections and cough medicine. Be was wheezing, so he been getting the nebulizer 3 times a day. This has been a fun week let me tell you. Shanndon hates taking meds! I gave them the antibiotics the second the pharmacy handed them to me! They were on the mend, YEAH! Shanndon missed the entire week of school, but I don't even care!
Saturday Carol went to prom, she left in the early afternoon with April and her mom to get hair done and pictures and what not. We went in the late afternoon and evening with friends (Dan and Rachel from church and thier friends Steve and Linda) to Lake Afton. Walmart vision center called saying my glasses were in, so I stopped and picked them up, then we headed to sporting goods, got our fishing licenses and a new pole for Ben and bait, then we headed out. It was fun. The kids had a great time playing with thier friends, it was nice weather. The adults all fished (well me and the guys-Rachel and Linda wanted nothing to do with it! LOL). Ben and Shanndon even fished. I caught the first fish of the day-all be it a tiny 4 inch blue gill. David followed with a 12 1/2 inch Carpe and Dan with an 11 1/2 inch Catfish, then Dan again with a 13 1/2 inch catfish. GRRRR. David's fish swallowed his hook, so by the time he got it out, the poor thing shouldn't have been thrown back, he was gonna sharpen his knife and cut it up for bait. WELL, Christianna got a hold of it and threw it back. Boy did she think that was funny! That girl had no problem touching the worms and fish!!! Who's child is she anyway? It was really cold that night and we all huddled by the fire in blankets. We had a great time.
Sunday we skipped church. David was now starting to feel sick and the kids actually slept in. We vegged around, played outside, the weather was great! I cooked a big dinner and we ate outside. Then Carol's friends mom and sister dropped by with pictures of prom. We came in the house and looked at them. The girls had a great time. No dates, just all the girls went as friends. Why didn't I think of that when I was that age? No, it had to be ALL about the date!!! Crimeny! After they left, all of us got on our bikes and we rode around the neighborhood. We ended up going to Kiwanis park for an hour, then rode up to Orchard park for another hour. We played in the sand, burying each other. Then we came home.
Monday, I woke up and called my dad. He was having surgery at 1130am and was given 50/50 chance of making it off the table! I expected Shanndon to go to school. About 130pm, the bus had not shown up, so I called the school. The Pre-K is having testing this week and while Shanndon doesn't need testing, they don't have school Monday-Wednesday! Being as he was sick all last week, I didn't get a reminder and being is I was gone 2 weeks before that, I didn't ge the initial notice...my husband did...and neglected to tell me! GRRR. So, he took a nap (good and long too). We went to Cici's to eat and then the YMCA to swim. I am happy to report, my dad made it out of surgery and so far is doing well. We will see how this week goes, it's touch and go. He's got a 25% chance of making it thru the week.
Tuesday (today), was the last day of YEA. We had our end of semester picnic. Steph, Kendra and I showed up. WOOHOO! This is what YEA has turned into. 3 families. Last week, it was Kendra, Cindy and me! What will happen in the fall? No clue and really at this point I don't care! I quit! I am done take responsibility for things. I am done leading. Speaking of being done...we were going to host another exchange student. We had picked a boy from Korea. Today we got notice that he dropped out of the program. I told the representative that I think it was for the best and I'm going to take it as a sign to hold off this year!!!! When I told Ben we weren't going to pick another student, he was very sad. But, once we explained that it didn't mean we were done forever, he understood. I think with all the things going on: me having surgery in June, possibly moving on base sometime, and wantng to go on vacation in October...it's for the best. Now to end Tuesday...I was going to take the kids swimming again, but I had a couple errands to run...Michael's to buy 11 Tshirts (we're going to make our own uniforms for Missionettes), then Dillon's and then swimming. I pay for Michaels and get to Dillons, go to grab my wallet...NO WALLET! I lost it. Spent the next two and a half hours calling Michaels, going to Michaels, cleaning out my car, coming home, searching high and low, cleanng the car more...finally I was called at 830pm. They found it at Michaels! Totally untouched, THANK YOU GOD!!! Aisle 13-Tshirts, right where I was and LOOKED!!!! I had Carol sit with the kids for the 10 minutes it took me to run up there and back.
Craziness, I tell ya. Well, that's been my week in a nut shell. I'm heading to bed. I am going to try to get some cleaning and organizing done this week. HA! We'll see how that turns out!

Carolina's Trouble

Friday, April 25th, Carolina asked to go with her friends: April, Melanie, Abie, and Phoung to the mall before meeting our family at the YMCA. I was going to call her when we were on our way and April would drive her to the YMCA to meet us. We have soccer practice at 5pm, so we were expecting to meet about 6pm. At 445pm, I called Carolina to let her know that we were considering cancelling soccer practice (it was very cold and windy this day) and we may go to the YMCA sooner. She said she was at Target and to just call and let her know when we're ready. So, we ended up holding soccer practice and David and the kids were home at 536pm and we packed up and got ready. I started calling Carolina to let her know we were headed to the YMCA, I called a couple times but I got no answer, I thought maybe she was already there and the phone was in her locker). Finally at 6pm we were at the YMCA and I called her again and this time I left a voicemail. She called me back a couple minutes later. She was crying, saying that they were out at Lake Afton and she was driving April's car and they got pulled over. I scolded her, asked her lots of questions and told her to call me when it was over and come straight to the YMCA and told her she was severely grounded! I called her several times over the next little while to find out what was happening and where she was, etc. Once at the YMCA, we had a long talk in the hallway while David got the kids dressed and ready to go. Carolina's version of what happened is that: April was teaching her how to drive-they were on the wrong side of the road, and they may have been going a couple miles over the speed limit. Once we returned home, I had her immediately call her mother. The punishment I gave at the time: I felt since she loses her judgement when with her friends, she's no longer allowed to be unsupervised with her friends. We can meet friends at the YMCA, they can come here to the house, etc. I pulled her off the soccer team, since I can't commit to loading up the kids and picking her up everyday at 530pm, or 10pm on game nights, etc. and I can't trust her to be alone with friends. I also said I was going to call April's parents.Friday, it was late by the time we got home, got kids to bed, scolded Carol more, had her talk to her parents, etc. so we went to bed. Saturday we were busy and Sunday we went to church. April's mother (Laurie) called twice while I was at church, so I called her back. She was very upset. She hadn't heard from me, so she had called another host mother to get my phone number and was calling me. She felt very strongly that there was more to the story than the girls were saying. She asked if they were riding on the hood or roof. I asked Carolina while on the phone with Laurie, and Carolina told me no. I called April's dad (Gregory-who went to the scene and spoke with the officer and who had given April permission to drive his car out there). He told me that the officer told him there were several violations, but didn't know what the violations were, that the officer didn't want to get the girls in trouble and since they had no records, he would allow them to be let off with a warning. I explained to him my punishment of severe groundation and he said he understood.Monday at 230pm, I got another call from Laurie. She had called Lake Afton to find out what really happened and as she had suspected, there was more to the story. She said Carolina lied straight to my face. I said, let me call Lake Afton and hear the details for myself. I spoke with the Lake Afton Security-Corky. He proceeded to tell me: Carolina was driving 25mph (speed limit was 20mph) while April was laying on the roof of the car. There was also 3 other girls in the car (one in front and 2 in back). When the park ranger approached the girls head on, Carolina slowed down and then jumped in the back seat with the car still in gear and rolling. April got into the car and the emergency brake was thrown. The park ranger called the Sheriff-Officer Page. I called Laurie back to tell her that I was sorry and that I had spoken with the park ranger. She was very angry and wanted my address to come over and confront Carolina. She also wanted to contact the other 3 girls' host parents. I called Connie (our exchange program regional director) in confidence to find out what to do and how to handle the situation and the other hysterical parent I had been dealing with. At this time Connie, had told me that the other host parent had contacted her on Sunday and that she was going to confront Carolina on Sunday, but hadn't gotten a chance too. At the time I was speaking with Connie, Connie was speakng with Jodi (the Eastern U.S. director) and the chain of events that is the possible dismissal from the program for Carolina was started.345pm Monday, Carolina arrived home from school. I had her sit down and I proceeded to ask her what happened on Friday. She reluctantly told me that she was driving and that April was on top of the car. She asked if I already knew and I said yes. Gregory (April's step father) and the other girls had conspired to down play the events that took place, in fear that I would send her home. Gregory (April's step father) told the girls it would be better to hide the truth. After I spoke with Carolina, I had her call her mother to tell her everything and I called Connie back to tell her about my conversation with Carolina.I spoke with Officer Page at 445pm on Monday. Officer Page told me that he scolded the girls and explained all the things that could have happened and what would happen if he writes them tickets. He said that April's step father (Gregory) arrived and scolded them. The Sheriff felt that the girls were very honest with him and remorseful and he proceeded to let them go. He said he felt on a scale of 1-10 that it was only a 3.Tuesday at 130pm, I was informed that Carolina will be allowed to stay on the program and finish. She will have to abide by my punishment and do 15 hours of community service and write an essay that Face the World can share with future students that may advise them and disuade them doing this (breaking the law and lying) to thier families.
What a roller coaster weekend. We are all so emotionally and physically drained. But, we are so relieved that Carol gets to finish her last 3 weeks of school. We are also so glad that it's over!