Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Welcome Veronica...better late than never!

It has been a while since I have posted a blog and I have made myself a promise to become better about keeping up with this!  As most of you all know, we welcomed our third au pair, Veronica, in April.  She is from Paraguay and has been a blessing in our lives.  In 5 short months she has become so important to us.  I wanted to share something wonderful that she did for the kids on their last week home before school.  Veronica organized a camp out in the back yard with the kids, and two of their neighborhood friends!  This was not her working hours, she was not trying to impress us (she doesn't need to), this was just Veronica bonding with the kids and doing something special with them.  They pitched two tents, she organized scavenger hunts, smores, movie, and in the morning a breakfast competition....girls vs. boys!  I encourage all of my au pairs to take the extra step with your host kids.  Do special things with them as a "big sister".  This goes so far in building a wonderful relationship! 

Friday, February 12, 2010

Weekend Courses at Soujourner Douglas


Exciting News!!! The rule used to be that au pairs could only take courses that were within 1.5 hours from their homes. Now....you can take them ANYWHERE! It might be an exciting way to see the U.S. and use your vacation. Find a weekend course in California or Florida....somewhere warm and sunny!!! Make a vacation out of your credits! In the meantime, check out http://www.aupairweekend.org/ to find out about the upcoming weekend courses at Soujourner Douglas in Maryland. I recommend emailing the other au pairs in our cluster to see who is interested so you have friends to go with:) Make sure you let me know how your classes go ....I love to hear about which courses are interesting!!!

Share a Bear Event Feb 21st!!!

I am so excited about this NationWide event taking place for our cluster on February 21st at Build a Bear Workshop! We will each make a teddy bear along with a card and I will give them to the Fairfax Children's Hosptial to cheer up the sick children! What a neat way to give back to the community! Below is a press release that many newspapers have picked up about our event!!!

– THE LEADER IN LIVE-IN AU PAIR CHILDCARE, PARTNERS WITH BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP® TO HELP LOCAL CHARITIES
Local Children’s Hospital to receive over 30 teddy bears from AuPairCare’s Share-A-Bear party
Haymarket, VA – AuPairCare, a leading au pair placement agency located online at www.aupaircare.com, is teaming up with Build-A-Bear Workshop stores nationwide to hold their annual Share-A-Bear campaign which invites au pairs to give back to their local communities by making a bear and donating it to a local children’s charity.
This is the second year that AuPairCare and Build-A-Bear workshop have teamed up to hold Share-A-Bear. Last year, AuPairCare held over 100 events nationwide and au pairs donated 1800 furry friends to over 100 local charities. Heidi Woehl, VP of AuPairCare, says “AuPairCare is present in many of same areas as Build-A-Bear Workshop stores and their mission of creating a place “where best friends are made” is very much in-line with the role an au pair can play in the life of a child and host family. We are very excited about our continued partnership and the opportunity for our au pairs who make a difference in the lives of the children they care for, to extend the spirit of international friendship through these bears to other children in their area.”
Viginia area au pairs will hold their party on February 21, 2010 at the Fair Oaks Mall Build-A-Bear Workshop. Led by AuPairCare Area Director, Michelle Sims, over 30 au pairs from 13 different countries will stuff and name teddy bears while also creating individual cards wishing the recipient of their bear good wishes in their own language. These special international bears will then be donated to the Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children.
About AuPairCare
In 1989, AuPairCare, www.aupaircare.com, became one of the first agencies designated by the U.S. Department of State to legally sponsor au pairs to come to the United States. We have successfully placed more than 30,000 au pairs across the U.S. Our au pairs come from over 40 countries and have been fully screened by our overseas representatives. They all have previous childcare experience, speak English, attend a four-day AuPairCare training program, and have a sincere interest in living with an American family and providing quality childcare for twelve months.
About Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.
Founded in St. Louis in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop is the leader in interactive retail. The Company currently operates more than 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide. For more information, call 888.560.BEAR (2327) or visit www.buildabear.com.

About Inova Hospital for Children
Inova Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency- and urgent-care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research. Inova provides a healthy environment for its patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians by prohibiting tobacco use on its campuses.

Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children is a 186-bed facility on the campus of Inova Fairfax Hospital. It houses Northern Virginia’s only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), a subspecialty Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and a Pediatric Emergency Department. Specialties include pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery programs, as well as a pediatric hematology/oncology unit.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

December Events

We have two events this month! Our first event will take place on Thursday evening, December 10 from 6-8pm at SERVE. We will do crafts and play with the children at the shelter! The address is: 10056 Dean Drive, Manassas, Virginia 20110. Please remember that we are collecting items to bring along. Some of the much needed items include: Baby Items – teething gel, bottles, sippy cups, over the counter medications (Children’s Tylenol, baby aspirin, cold medications, Benedryl, etc.), large sized diapers, Pull Ups (size 2T and up).
Pajamas (size 2T and up)
New underwear for children
Socks for children
Slippers for children
Baby monitors
High chairs
Umbrella strollers
Hats
Gloves
Mittens
Scarves

Our second event will take place on Sunday evening, December 13 at my home, 6017 Smooth Stone Pl. Haymarket VA 20169. It will be a Christmas Party. Please come dressed up and bring a Christmas food from your country as well as a wrapped gift worth $10 or less for a gift exchange! I'm excited to see you all!!!