Birthday presents for Lexi G. Oliver,

Heya!

So, I'm Lexi, Paige's little sister. Who, according to Mel {ody}, has not posted on here yet. (I did something before my older sister. Well, that's a first.) Mel's telling me (actually she's yelling from the kitchen) to say stuff about myself. Here we go:

 

                                                       ^^^ Pretty neat, huh?

  When was a few months old, Alexa Grace Oliver was adopted from Singapore. She has an older sister name Paige Audrey Oliver…also adopted. (‘Kay, I'm not writing in third person anymore.) I enjoy playing the ukulele, and I'm very good at getting dirty. Haha. I'm sharing a room with Natasha. (She's from Russia and has an amazing accent.)

  Getting my parents to let me come to stay with Paige & Mel' was work, but it's been pretty cool. Though the airport saga was er…different to say the least. Paige was freaking out! It was hilarious!

  My birthday was the 22nd of February. 14! Whoo-hoo! I got some gift cards from the other girls here and Mel' gave me a huge bag (like a Sam's bag) of Reese's Pieces. What was she thinking? Me and candy? I'll be bouncing off the walls! I was. ;) 

  The best present was......

 A puppy!

 I thought Mel' was going to shoot Paige when she came in with the doggie. I can't think of a good name for him. Any thoughts?

The collar he's wearing is one of Liliana's dog's, Golden, extra collars, till I can get one for my puppy. :)

  The barn is being built for Ghost. I'm staying away for that thing! Mel's gonna go nuts with those workmen banging around and I quote "A barn is being built, but the workmen love (I mean LOVE!) banging their hammers around at 6am! Oh well, we need to be up for school anyhow. ;)"  The girl is nuts. Lyric (The technical owner of the horse) is still in deep trouble for not telling Mel. 

  Now, don't get me wrong. Lyric's great. We just don't get along. We should. But we don't. She's more girly. I'm not. (She's a living Barbie doll.) Okay, so that was a little mean. I'm trying to be friends. That's good, right? She likes doggie. That's good. :)

  Doggie needs a name. I'm not good with naming anything. I had a stuffed animal pink cat when I was little (I still have it...somewhere) named pink kitty. Yeah, moral of the story is I'm not a good person to name things. 

  'Kay, bye guys!

 Lexi

  Oliver

Horses, Birthdays & Magic Bags- Oh My!

Long time no see!

  Things have been CRAZY here.

  Let’s start off by saying, everyone is here! Now to update y’all!

  So, we had a miscommunication with the time when Kaitlyn came in; she had been waiting two hours before we arrived.  Apparently, Kaitlyn does not have my cell phone number.  But, she’s here now. That’s what matters. J

  Lexi celebrated her 14^th birthday on the 22^nd of February, which I’m sure she’ll tell you about in her post. And Riley’s birthday is the 6^th, her 13^th birthday.  More about those to come. ;)

  School has been different for the girls. Lexi’s been there for a while now. Just a little private school. Natasha isn’t happy about the uniforms much.

  I talked to Lyric on the 10^th of January and told her about who is here, etc. And, yet, she forgot to mention about the horse. Yes. Horse. Apparently, she won one or something. I guess she thinks we have a barn. Yeah. Right. So, on the 17^th of January, a big man who’s losing his hair, knocks on our door. ‘Course, being a Texas Chick, I almost grabbed my gun. Hey! Safety first!

   To say the least, we now own a horse. Alicia, Liliana & Aspen think ‘Ghost’  is sweet; Riley thinks it’s going to eat her; Lexi & Erika are keeping a distance; Charlotte screamed when she saw Ghost. Not the good scream. She wasn’t  on cloud nine, that’s for sure. Paige thinks I’m crazy for letting Lyric even keep it. I think I agree with Riley. “Don’t eat me!”

  Lyric is set to be here on the 11^th of March. So soon! She’s been in Colorado for the past three years. She’s rooming with Charlotte, though. If Charlotte keeps pulling things out of her magic bag, Lyric won’t even have a bed!  

  And, so, for this not to be a picture-less post, A picture of us on January 1^st.

Left to Right- Paige, Lexi, Me, Erika, Liliana, Natasha, Riley, Alicia, Charlotte and Aspen.

No one’s paying much attention to the camera though. ;)

All for now,

Melody J. Chambers

The Airport- Part 2,

Hello all!

   So, if you haven't read the first Airport drama episode click {http://melodytravels.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-airport-part-1.htmt} 

   January 10th. 10:29am.
  
   "Then it hit me. Riley. 10:15. I glanced at my watch. 10:29. Paige must have seen my look since she told everyone to get up and push the carts.
   "We're late!"
   Now to some people, picking someone up late usually isn't a big deal. But first impressions are everything.
   "Are you all always late?" Natasha asked.
   Oops."  ~From The Airport- Part 1

   "Run! Come on y'all!" I yelled to our group- Paige, Lexi, Erika, Liliana, Natasha and I.

   At 10:37am, we all finally got to Riley's gate. We all looked around. Erika tapped my arm,
   "Is that her?" Erika pointed to a girl with wavy brown hair pulled back in a pony-tail, reading a Nancy Drew novel. 
   "I think so," I said, walking towards the young girl, "Hello." I smiled at her.
   "Hello. Are you Miss Melody?" She asked.
   "Yes. Ril-"
   "Yep! That's me! Do you all have any good book stores around here?"
   "Sure do!" I helped her get her carry-on and walked with her over to the rest of the bunch. After I introduced her to everyone, we walked over to the baggage claim. Riley pointed to the huge- I mean HUGE -trunk coming our way. Then, another one comes out behind it.
   "I don't even want to know how much those weigh," I whispered to Paige. She just shook her head in disbelief.
   How we even got the trunks on the carts, I don't know. I think we were at four or five carts by this time.

   At 10:35, we inched over to Alicia's gate. Yes! Earliness!
About ten minutes later, a girl with chocolate skin came over to us. An Alicia Fernandez. She and Erika are roommates and seemed to get along well.
   At 10:49, we pushed ahead to the baggage claim- again. And just let me say, another cart was in our future. Five good-sized dirty-black suitcases came out and got picked up by us. On to the cart they go!

   At 11:23, we still had time to kill before Charlotte was here. But, I was not going to be late. Off we went to Charlotte's gate.
   "Mel, can we make a bathroom stop?"
   We stopped.
   At 11:44, we waited for Charlotte's plane to unload. Ten minutes later, a pretty brunette came out holding a Louis Vuitton duffel bag. A smile came across her face when she saw us.
   "Bonjour. Melody?" She asked, pointing to me.
   "Hello Charlotte." I smiled.
   And to the baggage claim we went. More Louis Vuitton suitcases came our way.

   At 1:38pm, our last girl (Save Kaitlyn) Aspen Smith came out quite sleepy looking.
   More suitcases. Joy!

   At 2:36, we all were at the hotel. For ten girls, and only one night, it cost a lot!
   I swear, I thought we were going to break the elevator. I wanted to ask the girls what in the world was in their suitcases- gold?  
  
   We were all there (Save Kaitlyn and Lyric); Erika, Liliana, Natasha, Riley, Alicia, Charlotte, Aspen, Lexi, Paige and I. We all skyped with Lyric, and I told her (to her happiness) she'd be rooming with Charlotte.
   "Who am I rooming with?" Riley asked.
   I told them all that Liliana would room with Riley; Erika and Alicia; Natasha and Lexi; Charlotte and Lyric; Aspen and Kaitlyn; and Paige and I.

   More from the girls and I will be up this week! It's been eventful.

All for now,
Melody J. Chambers
  
   

The Airport, Part 1

Hello everyone!

   When the girls (and Paige and I) blog, we'll have our picture up ^^^^ so you all can see who's writing!

   Let's see, where to start off.... so, on January 10th, Paige, Lexi and I all climb in to our 'new' van (Used, but new to us) and off to the airport we went!

   We had a gap between girls coming in: Erika (Germany) at 7:30am, Liliana (Italy) at 8:45am, Natasha (Russia) at 9:15am, Kaitlyn (Canada) at 9:50am, Riley (England) at 10:15am, Alicia (Argentina) at 10:45, Charlotte (France) 11:55am, Aspen (Australia) at 1:35pm.
   One day.
   Nuts, right?

   Lexi, Paige and I had a 'sleepover' on the 9th (Really just getting their stuff in my house). Paige picked Lexi up from school (A private school that Lyric is going to go to and the rest of the girls as well) and came over.
   We had to be up and out of the door that next morning at 5:30am!
   Do you know how hard it is to wake Paige up?! Lexi's usually up this early for school, so she was already up.
   Putting on our clothes took longer than it normally does, as with eating breakfast, etc.
   By 5:38, we were out the door. (Pretty good, if I say so myself.) I did the driving mainly because Paige was asleep on the passenger side, while Lexi was bouncing up and down in the back.
   Driving, driving and more driving.
   At 6:25, I had Lexi wake up Paige. (Let's face it, you need two hands to drive.) Paige finally woke up when we were pulling over, so she could start driving while I took pictures from the passenger seat.
   At 6:45, we were at the airport!

 

   At 7:32, a petite curly-haired blonde came out looking quite pale, then perked up when she saw us. Miss Erika Koehler. We made our way over to baggage claim, where Erika picked up four huge leather Ghurka (a popular German designer) bags. We still had an hour to kill, so we went to see what we could eat as a breakfast/snack. We talked, and I told her she'd be rooming with Alicia, a girl from Argentina.

   At 8:20, Paige, Lexi, Erika and I all moved over to Liliana's gate.
    Then twenty-three minutes later, a tall, slender, brunette came out of the plane. This was Miss Liliana Giordano. We introduced ourselves and made our way back to baggage claim, then waited a bit, and Liliana took five pretty big vintage Gucci suitcases. We now had quite a few bags, so I sent Paige and Lexi to get us two of those carts.

   When Paige and Lexi came back with the carts, we loaded Erika and Liliana's suitcases on one of them.

   At 9:11, we were told by a flight attendant that Natasha's plane was being moved to the other side of the airport. Terminal E. We were in C. We would have to get on the subway thing inside the airport, with thousand dollar bags? Uh, no. I don't think so.
   "Should I put 'Kara's and 'Ana's bags in a van?" Paige asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Wait- what did she just call them. Oh no. The nick-naming starts.
   "No, y'all go to Kaitlyn's gate," I told them the number, "and Lexi and I will go to Natasha's gate. Then we'll meet up at Kaitlyn's," I instructed.
   "Alright."
   "We'll meet y'all in 30 minutes- at Kaitlyn's gate," I added.

   At 9:24, Lexi and I ran over to Natasha's gate, hoping we were right this time.
   We were. Me and Lexi looked around for our new friend. A long, curly blonde-haired girl caught my eye. She looked so scared, it almost made me cry. Miss Natasha Sokolov. I pointed her out to Lexi, and she nodded. We started to make our way over to her. I tapped her arm. She looked like a sad little puppy. She probably thought we were never going to show up.
   "Melody Chambers?" her voice whispered.
   "Yes, I am she. Natasha Sokolov?" She got up and gave me and Lexi a bear hug. Man, that girl is strong!
   "Good. Good, good, Good! I was hoping you would not forget me!" She let us go and smiled. We walked over to get her bags--and another cart--as I explained what happened. A few minutes later we- Lexi, Natasha and I- made our way back to the others with Natasha's six medium-sized suitcases.

   At 10:20, we got to Kaitlyn's gate. Late. Oops.
   "Melody! Melody!" Paige yelled, catching a few weird looks. Worried was written all over her face. Oh no. Lexi, Natasha and I ran over to her.
   Suddenly, Paige, Liliana and Erika all start talking- non-stop and fast.
   "Whoa! Whoa! Slow down! One at a time!" I had to yell over the three of them, making more strangers look our way. I pointed to Paige, "What happened?"
   "She- Kaitlyn- wasn't- on- the- plane!" Paige said in between gasps.
   "WHAT!?" Now I was white as a ghost who just saw a human. I'm already pale, so you really can't tell.
   "She- talk-"
   "Paige! Your asthma!" Now I was really white. Paige has had asthma since- like forever. She rammed through her purse, pulled out her inhaler, and took a deep breath. 
   "Okay, now what happened?" I asked, trying not to yell.
   "Kaitlyn never got on the plane."
   "WHAT!?!" I stormed over to the desk where a lady was on the phone, she saw me coming and put up the 'One minute sign'. I looked at her name tag- Betty. Okay, then, Betty, what happened to Kaitlyn?
   "Hello Miss, I heard about your friend." I went to say something, but she keep talking. "Your older friend," (Paige) "here, told me that a Kaitlyn Moore was supposed to be on this plane."
   "Yes. But she's not here."
   "She's not even in our system. I called a flight attendant at the airport Ms. Moore was supposed to be at, and she never checked in." I popped like a balloon that got touched by a needle. I was quiet for a while. Thinking.
   "Hmm. Can she be put on the next flight out?" I asked hopefully.
   "It'll cost her."
   "How much?" Betty scribbled on a piece on paper and showed it to me.
   "Okay, well, that's not so bad."
   "You call her and give her this info," she gave me another piece of paper, "and let me know."

   I walked over to where Paige, Lexi, Erika, Natasha and Liliana sat and told them what Betty said.
   "Will she be able to come?"
   "Why did she miss her flight?"
   "She is coming right?"
   "Who's she rooming with?"
   "How much is this going to cost?"
   The last one was Paige. I showed her the paper and she nodded.
~
   "Hello? Mrs. Moore? This is Melody Chambers." I waited.
   "Melody? Oh, yes, the Texas traveling girl. How are you, dear?"
   "Not so great, Mrs. Moore. Where's Kaitlyn?"
   "Oh! Katie's here. We overslept and missed her flight. Her dad and her are at the airport now seeing about getting her over there. She feels so bad. Oh, she doesn't show it, but you can tell."
   "That's good to hear, Mrs. Moore. Do you know if they've found a flight for her?"
   "No, not- oh, hang on I think I'm getting a text. "I heard her pull the phone away from her face, "Ah! Yes! She did. Oh, wait. I think she's trying to call me... Hello?"
   "Still here, Mrs. Moore."
   "Oh, right sorry, dear. Did you hear-"
   "Yes, I heard. When will she be here?"
   "Looks like she'll be there at 4:35.. is that AM or PM? Oh, wait it says PM. Today? Is today the 10th? Yes, it is, I do believe."
   "Does Kaitlyn have a cell phone that I can call her on?"
   "What? You don't like talking to me?"
   "No, no, Mrs. Moore, I didn't-"
   "I'm pulling your leg, sweetie, yes she does."
  She gave me Kaitlyn's cell number and said she had to go, "something's burning in the kitchen".
   I walked back over to everyone, replaying my conversation with Kaitlyn's mom.
   Then it hit me. Riley. 10:15. I glanced at my watch. 10:29. Paige must have seen my look since she told everyone to get up and push the carts.
   "We're late!"
   Now to some people, picking someone up late usually isn't a big deal. But first impressions are everything.
   "Are you all always late?" Natasha asked.
   Oops.

The last three,

Hello!
  Hello!
    Hello!


I can't believe all the girls (minus Lyric) will be here in the next two weeks!!
  The last three:

And inside:

A Miss Aspen Smith

Full Name: Aspen Smith
Age: 12

Date of Birth: October, 19^th 2000

Nationality: Australian
Hometown: Adelaide, Australia

Religious Affiliation: Christian
Where you attend school: A public school.

Favorite color: Mocha (Brown)
Favorite food: Blueberries

Languages: English

Allergies?: {none}

Left Hand or Right?: Left
Pets, if any: My cousins own a ranch, and I ride the horses.
Favorite past-time: Sports
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Confident and out-going.

Anything you want to add?: I really want to come to the States.

Welcome Aspen!



Miss Kaitlyn Moore

Full Name: Kaitlyn Moore
Age: 13

Date of Birth: September 21^st, 1999

Nationality: Dunno, I’m adopted.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Religious Affiliation: Roman Catholic
Where you attend school: Public

Favorite color: Anything bright.
Favorite food: Baked apple dumplings.

Languages: English, and a little of French.

Allergies?: Strawberries! Yuck!

Left Hand or Right?: Lefty Left!
Pets, if any: I had a fish. It died.
Favorite past-time: Being awesome.
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Awesome and crazy.

Anything you want to add?: I’m unique.

 Welcome Kaitlyn!

Miss Valerie Verrinder

Full Name: Valerie “Riley” Verrinder
Age: 12

Date of Birth: March 6^th, 2000

Nationality: English
Hometown: Reading, Berkshire, Great Britain

Religious Affiliation: Christian
Where you attend school: A private school.

Favorite color: Light purple.
Favorite food: Yorkshire Pudding (Not a pudding)

Languages: English

Allergies?: none

Left Hand or Right?: Right
Pets, if any: none
Favorite past-time: Reading
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Caring and Loyal.

Anything you want to add?: Do you have good bookstores over there? I hope so...

Welcome Val-uh, Riley!

Cleaning is all I've been doing this week. Getting ready for everyone. Paige and Lexi have been helping me as well, so thanks! And since Lyric's birthday is tomorrow, I called her today; and she's so excited!
Happy Birthday lil' sis!


All for now,
Melody J. Chambers



Two of the Eight,

Здравствуйте!
  Bonjour!


  Hello all! I have two more of the girls who will be joining us! Here we go!

And inside:

A Miss Natasha Sokolov

What she wrote:

Full Name: Natasha Sokolov
Age: 12

Date of Birth: November 15^th 2000

Nationality: Full Russian.
Hometown: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Religious Affiliation: Jewish
Where you attend school: A little school outside of St. Petersburg.

Favorite color: Midnight blue
Favorite food: I like trying new things.

Languages: Russian and English

Allergies?: Dust

Left Hand or Right?: Right Handed.
Pets, if any: A kitten named полночь. (Midnight)
Favorite past-time: Dance! I love ballet!
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Trying and honest.

Anything you want to add?: I hope полночь and I can come to America.

Welcome Natasha!

Next was:

And inside this letter was:



A Miss Charlotte Couture

Full Name: Charlotte Couture
Age: 13

Date of Birth: May 23^rd, 1999

Nationality: French.
Hometown: Rennes, France

Religious Affiliation: Catholic
Where you attend school: A little boarding school near Rennes.

Favorite color: Light Pink
Favorite food: Brie on crackers.

Languages: French & English

Allergies?: {None}

Left Hand or Right?: Right Handed.
Pets, if any: {None}
Favorite past-time: Designing!
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Fashionable and Honest.

Anything you want to add?: I like fashion, but I love designing better!

Welcome Charlotte!

Five of the Eight! I can't wait to meet them all!

All for now,

Melody J. Chambers



Three of the Eight,

 Ciao!
  Hallo!
    Hola!

   Hello all!
  I am very sorry for not writing more. I have been fighting a cold all week, and have been trying to catch up on picking the girls who will be joining us! =)




{Going through the mail}

   I have three of the eight (as you read in the title) here to share!

When I was going though the mail, this letter caught my eye-





I mean, look at this stamp! Pizza!

I opened it up, and what I saw was:

A immagine (Picture) of Miss Liliana Giordano

Here is what she wrote, I translated in red:

Full Name: Liliana Giordano
Age: 12

Date of Birth: August 14^th 2000

Nationality: Full Italian
Hometown: Florence, Italy

Religious Affiliation: Roman Catholic
Where you attend school: A private school named “Scuola della Sapienza” (I do not know what it means in your language.). (This took me a while, it means 'School of Wisdom')
Favorite color: Violet, like the flower.
Favorite food: Being of Italy you think I am going to say pizza, no?

Languages: Italian and I’ve practiced my English since I hear about this.

Allergies?: (none)

Left Hand or Right?:  Mano destra.  (Right Handed)
Pets, if any: A mutt named d’oro (Golden) (Would he be able to come with me?). (If he can travel, he likes people, and does his business outside, then I guess so.)
Favorite past-time: Listening to music and playing football (Soccer).
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Hmmm.... colorful and spunky.

Anything you want to add?: The shirt I am wearing in the immagine (Picture) my dear friend gave to me. I have never been outside of Italy. This is why I do hope to go to your home.  (I have to admit, I was confused at her shirt)  

                                                     

Welcome Liliana!

Next was a letter from Germany:

And inside that letter was:

A Miss Erika Koehler.

Full Name: Erika Koehler
Age: 13

Date of Birth: June 11^th 1999

Nationality: German, full.
Hometown: Mannheim, Germany.

Religious Affiliation: Christian.
Where you attend school: A boarding school for girls.  

Favorite color: Aqua
Favorite food: Any kind of kuchen. (Cake)

Languages: German, English and Danish.

Allergies?: keiner. (None)

Left Hand or Right?: Left handed
Pets, if any: There are some mäusen (Mice) outside my Vathers (Father's) store that I feed, does that count?
Favorite past-time: Writing, and reading.
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Quiet and detailed.
Anything you want to add?: I have a thirst for knowledge, that is why I would like to be a part of your “Chamber House Girls”.

 

Welcome Erika!

The last one for today is from Argentina:

And when I sliced the letter open,

Miss Alicia Fernandez

Full Name: Alicia Fernandez
Age: 13

Date of Birth: April 29^th 1999  

Nationality: Half Latin, half Hispanic.
Hometown: San Juan, Argentina.

Religious Affiliation: Roman Catholic.
Where you attend school: A public school near my home.

Favorite color: Bright Red!
Favorite food: Empanadas.

Languages: Spanish, English, and a little of Italian and German, since there are many people who speak it here.   

Allergies?: Bananas.

Left Hand or Right?: Unlike the rest of my family, I am left handed.
Pets, if any: None, sadly. I love hedgehogs though!
Favorite past-time: I like horses, but I don’t ride them much. I would do riding lessons over there, if I could.
Two words YOU would use to describe your personality: Resourceful and Gentle.

Anything you want to add?: My mama says I spend to much time with my four brothers, and I need to be with more girls my age. (Her English is very good!)

Welcome Alicia!

I'll try to have the rest of the girls coming here up soon!

All for now,

~Melody J. Chambers