8th Month

This week (April 6- April 12) We were in Harpers Ferry at the house of my hostmom's parents. We went here because we wanted to go out of Philly for a while because everyone was getting crazy. Also my hostdad had been tested negative a few days before we left so we were quite sure we wouldn't have the virus because we see him almost every day. We had a great time there an I really hope we will go back there soon. I went outside a lot with the girls because the nature is wonderful and there are not many people at all! You can go outside without being scared about touching things and risk to be exposed to the virus. We still have to be careful because we were staying at the grandparents' house but it felt more relaxing. I was also able to call with my friends more often because the grandparents spend some time with the girls too. Also we had 'Springbreak', so the girls didn't have any homework or something. We decorated Easter eggs, made some other things for Easter and on Sunday we had a great brunch with the family. Also my one of my hostmom's sisters came over with her husband on Thursday so we spend some days all together which was nice. We finished a 1000 piece puzzle again and this was a really hard one because there were lots of trees in it which looked all the same. I really hope we will go back soon! I really liked it!

Happy Easter everyone!

This week (April 12- April 19th) I didn't really do anything special. I went out for a run a lot and I did some exercising every morning. I was really busy with the girls and we went outside a lot. We did some baking. We did some school work. And I called with some friends which was really nice. Especially in this time I feel lonely sometimes and to be honest, I completely lost my mind now, because I don't know what to do... I just heard some of my best friends here are leaving, and I am really sad about this. Especially because I probably won't even have a chance to say goodbye to them... This makes me really sad... One good thing is that calling with my friends makes me feel better. So I call a lot during weekends. This weekend I called with my friends here and I also called with some of my friends in the Netherlands which was really really nice! I miss them so much! Especially now! But they really help me by texting and calling me sometimes! It gives me a little boost to go on here! And to be honest, I don't really want to go home yet, because then I still can't see my friends and family, I can't really work, I can't go anywhere, so it doesn't really make any sense for me to go home. But of course, sometimes I think about it because so many people are leaving now... But I'll see for how long I can handle it here with the girls. I really hope to stay here until the end of my Au Pair year and then travel in September. I also really hope the trip with my hostdad and the girls to The Netherlands still can go on... Let's pray for it!

This week (April 20th - 26th) was a little harder with the girls. They both couldn't really listen and the weather was quite bad and it rained a lot. Still I tried to make something of every day and we did some fun things. We started making our own dollhouse of a big cardboard box. I cut out the windows and made the roof etc. so the girls could already start playing with it for a bit. We are now working on the outside of the house and after that we can start working on everything on the inside of it. It is definitely gonna be a big project, but I like the idea! I also made a lot of fancy fruit plates for the girls because they seem to eat more fruit if it looks better! I called with some friends this week and I had to say goodbye to my best friend in the USA which was pretty hard! I am so sad Lara is leaving next week, but I can totally understand her! It was so weird sitting 6 feet apart from each other and talking with a mask on, but I really wanted to go to her to say goodbye. We had such a wonderful time together and we made the most beautiful memories together. So I am really gonna miss her a lot! On Friday we celebrated my host dad's birthday and we had a pizza kit from a really good pizza restaurant so we could make our pizza's and we had some other things which were really good. I made brownies with Jana and we made a caramel sauce for on top of the brownie and a white chocolate- oreo dip sauce which was really good! So for dessert we had a warm brownie with ice cream and the caramel and oreo topping! Yummy! On Saturday we went to Harpers Ferry again where we will stay for a week or probably even longer> I am happy to be back and the grandparents are very nice:)

Happy kids are the best!

This week (Aril 27th - May 3rd) was a very busy and also a tough week. Everything became a little too much halfway through this week. The girls are very sweet and I love them so much, but they are very hard to deal with sometimes. I know it's also very hard for them to do schoolwork at home and not seeing any friends, but still. It is hard to work 10 hours on a day if the kids are crying and screaming a lot. Of course they don't do that the whole day, but sometimes it all becomes too much for me and then I can't handle it anymore. So this is what happened on Thursday. I called my mom and this helped me a bit and then I went downstairs again and I still enjoyed the rest of my day. I also talked with my host parents about how I felt today and they really appreciated it that I told them. I am so happy they understand my feelings! This makes it much easier for me to talk more about these things that bother me in this pandemic. On Friday my dear friend Lara went back to Germany. I am happy for her that she is home with her own family, but I am really gonna miss her! We did so many great things together! During the weekend I called with a lot of friends in the Netherlands! I even think I called with too many people... Woops! But it was great and it made me feel so much better! We also had a really nice picnic and I finally found a place where I can get ice cream nearby! So happy! Yeehoo! We also had a lot of funny moments together as you can see in the pictures below and we went on some hikes which is great here in Harpers ferry! I am happy that we are going to stay another week!

Having a great time in Harpers Ferry!

Week (MAY 4- 10). Happy 8 Months USA! Woohooo! 4 months left to go! I am proud that I made it so far, especially in this hard time because of the virus. It was nice to still be in Harpers Ferry this week and we went on some picnics again and I went out for some runs. I called with some friends and family, helped cleaning the house a bit and I cooked together with my host mom for everyone every night. The girls were ok this week but of course there were ups and downs. But we had a lot of fun outside and we started making our 3rd puzzle. On Thursday we went back to Philly and the girls stayed at my host dad. On Friday they still came over to work on school and after that they went to him again. I made dinner on Friday and Saturday and I also called with some friends which was nice. I went out for a run on Saturday morning and I did the Run 5 Donate 5 & Nominate 5 challenge. I ran 5 km in 18:15 mins so I am really proud of myself! I donated $5 to the charity for the coronavirus and I nominated 5 friends. On Sunday it was Mother's Day and I made breakfast for my host mom and I gave her a card and her favorite cookies (snickerdoodles). Later when the girls came over, we had a high tea with tea sandwiches, brownies, scones, fruit and tea of course which was really nice! At the end of the day we did a 'girls night' with a face mask and we watched a tv show together.

Happy Mother's Day!