Random School Post

Helping Jee learn colors :)What Jee does during school (yay, right...you think he always is this cooporative? This lasted 2.5 minutes).
Ree's fingerpainting masterpiece.
Jee's first experience with finger paint....
CM was not super excited that he had to do his spelling while we were fingerpainting....
RM helping mommy make cookies....it really is a learning experience. She loves cracking the egg all by herself.
Learning the letter "B"

Numbers.....
More fingerpainting masterpieces.....
Jude's first work of art created with finger paints....
On  Thursdays the two little ones take a music class that is similar to gymboree music but incorporates praise music as well, we love it.....This is when they get to hear Scripture and light a candle to honor God. Their favorite part is blowing the candle out of course. 
Field trip to a local arcade.....CM is proud of his tickets
Ree is proud of her tickets too
Visit to a local children's museum. Ree's favorite part is guessing whose tail is this....
Yes, this is the best picture I could capture of him with the cowboy hat on....have you ever tried to chase down a 17 month old cowboy?!?!?

I've got it....

The swine flu....confirmed case this morning.

Why am I sharing?

One, please pray for my kiddos and hubster. Pretty sure CM is done with it because he has been uber sick for SIX days now-blamed on a bad ear infection but when not responding to antibiotics realize now it was probably the flu as well (negative flu test last week). He is now on a new antibiotic, steroids for his asthma, and tamiflu for prevention just in case it wasn't the flu and now he is being exposed to it by me! RM is perfectly fine. MJ was coughing and kinda sick a few days ago so maybe he already had it too. JH is coughing and Lord knows I am praying he doesn't get it, that kid stays sick for longer than any I have seen when he gets sick. Pretty sure I was crying last night on the couch when I realized that I had a fever and had been holding and loving on him all day :( God is soverign, I am reminding myself.

Two- I have to tell you something wonderful. 

My small group rocks. Many of them were texting me today to check up on my "cold" and to check on CM. When I told them I had the flu I am serious, in FIVE minutes I got like 3 texts and a bijillion emails. We have meals for like the next two months nearly :) .....They are seriously awesome. They joked that they would drop food off at my door and run. But,honestly, I know if I needed them to they would come over in my germ infested house and care for my children, do my dishes, even sit in the same room with me without a mask!!!!! 

This reminds me how God lavishes his love on us. This is a smaller version of how wonderful heaven is going to be. This is Christ's work done through His Children. Simply Amazing. 

Do you have a small group? If not, you need one :) I'd love to tell you more about mine. I honestly cannot imagine living life without one. I really first experienced this  several years ago and it has changed my life. I always thought that is what family is for and I have a great family so I don't really need a small group. That was dumb. I do have a fabulous fam-they rock-but seriously, could you ever have "too much love"?!?!?!?!

My small group is true to this verse, exactly....see Romans 12

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

 ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 

SO GO DO IT, RUN DON'T WALK TO JOIN A SMALL GROUP.....

Happy Chuseok!

A traditional table set for ChuseokA celebration of Chuseok in Korea, as featured in the Korea Times (love that newspaper)
Korean flag with the U.S. flag. taken on our trip to Korea 
Chuseok, originally known as Hangawee (한가위) (from archaic Korean for "great middle"), is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, notably the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival^[1], it is held around the Autumn Equinox. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food.
We will be officially celebrating Chuseok toward the end of this month when we go visit with Jee's foster mother who is visiting the U.S. later this month!!! How wonderful is that? She is an amazing, precious woman who I didn't think we would see again until we someday return to Korea. She holds a very special place in our hearts. We are so blessed to have this opportunity. 

My Little Punkin'

Me....one year ago today (read the post to see why I was freaking out)Look how young the big kids looked a year ago!!!!! I can't believe how much they have changed!!

Our newest little punkin'!......(this year)

I remember this day exactly one year ago. See the photo above. This is right after "THE call" as I was waiting for MJ to speed like nuts to get home so we could open the email!!!! CM, RM, and I had just gotten back from the pumpkin patch picking out pumpkins and they had just gone down for a nap when the call came. 

One year ago today we got the call that would change our little family of four to become a family of five. I didn't give our social worker time to say a thing I just said "I knew you were going to call today, I just knew you were going to call today!!!" Then, I conference called MJ and she began to tell us about about a little guy that was 15,000 miles away that we fell in love with instantly. He was our little Juju from that second on. 

Happy Referral day, Juju bee. I am so glad God picked us as your family and you as our son. If I could look all over the world and choose one boy to be my baby boy, I would look and look and look and do you know what? I would choose you. 

First Day of School

Yes, I blurred out their school name, yes, I know that I have made the blog private so their should be no pedophiles on the sight....seriously, how long have you known me and known about my obsessions? Come on, now. 

His eleven newest buddies.....

CM's nervous face as he is leaving the "Good Morning" school assembly they have every day where they sing worship together and prepare for the day with prayer. 
My first-grader...that is just nuts. 
The whole fam....check out this classroom size....awesome. 
Ridin' up in the elevator....almost ready.

Seriously, these two love birds know how to fight but man do they love each other madly/deeply. They are best friends. I was filling out an "all about me" book with RM the other day and one of the questions is "who is your best friend?" She promptly answered "bubby" without a beat. "OH," she said ...."and Juju too".
Yes, I got RM a present for CM's first day...are you nuts? Of course I bribed her that if she didn't cry then i would give it to her. And, absolutely I did it because I knew if she cried I would be a bumble-ing fool. 
Rooters first day of school. Making cinnamon toast with mommy for her kids choice breakfast.
All dressed up in her first day of school wears with best friend number dos.
Her interpretation of a funny face.
Try to see if you can tell why she is grinning from ear to ear in these pics.....

someone was hiding behind her :)
A special guest popped in with a special first day of school treat....

I am a little delayed on CM's first day but it was fabulous.  He is amazing me that he can do and comprehend so much. They do 2nd grade math in first grade but he is whizzing right along. He loves his teacher and his favorite parts of the day are: talking :), learning about Missionary Heroes, recess, and P.E. He gives me a blow by blow account every day after school and I love it. I honestly thought I would just really enjoy the day so much with RM and Jee that I would barely have time to think about how much I missed my big boy....not true. I think about him constantly. Rinn and I now have memorized where he is every moment of the day. It's funny, RM said right after lunch the other day "I bet bubby is in P.E. about right now." Sure enough, that's where he should have been. 

RM is so cute when we talk about school. We started her a little later than CM started this year because we wanted to be done with our vacation. So, when I would ask her if she was getting excited about the first day of school she would always respond with a little hesitancy in her voice "umm...yah, ummm...I am going to homeschool though, right?" Implying that she would not under any circumstances leave my side and go to a school such as CM's "right mommy?" she would continue. Then, for the first few times someone would ask her she would say "Yes, I do pre-k in the afternoons at homeschool." Haha...the afternoons are Juju's naptime and is when we get most of her schooling done on the days that CM is in school. She is a smarty pants. It is fun to get a little time alone with the little red headed love of my life. 

Happy Grandparent's Day!!!!

Enjoying the Beach

We are having so much fun at the beach. Our babies have been fabulous. We have stayed up late, no naps (except for the black haired boy) and played from morning until night. The weather is unbelievable and the beaches are gorgeous. C and daddy body boarded all day yesterday. CM is really amazing how much energy he has. Adrenaline is really an amazing gift from God (I think it's a gift....). RM has hunted for shells ALL day EVERY day. She particularly enjoys finding the "baby shells" and says we have to be especially nice to them because they miss their mommy and they are scared of the water (pretty sure that one is some sort of psychological transfer of her fear of the waves). Jude has been a trooper. He loves the beach ball and also really enjoys just getting pounded by the waves. The kid is fearless (Lord, please have mercy on me in the future....lots of ER visits I predict). We've eaten out every night at nice places and last night at 11 pm we had warm brownies....that is what vacation is all about. I love my family.

See below for some more pics...