Paging a dr....

The solution....

The problem....Pre-op
Before :(
After :)
The Dr's assistant

Happy October 31!!!

From Captain HookTinkerbelle....
and Peter Pan (Who won't sit still for a photo)
What is it with that look he brings out for photos? This is the exact same face he pulled out in every photo we got from Korea. Cracks me up.
Two Tinkerbelles.....
The Cousins.....
My little sock monkey. I know many of you pray for Ponesy so I thought I would include his pic for you. He is doing so well. He is still having seizures but his meds seem to be helping a bit. He is also just jabbering up a storm and really coming along nicely with his walking. I saw him take two unassisted steps. He is doing great with his walker and Sky's hubby made him some cane things that he can use too. Of course, he does very impressive wheel-ee's with his wheelchair too!

Prayers from a year ago.....

Some things happen in your life and you have prayed against. You have worried about it. You have hoped nothing like that would ever happen to you. There have been a few times like that in my life. 

One year ago we got a call that knocked us to our knees. "JeeHan was in an accident in Korea" that's all I kept hearing. He was burned and being cared for in a burn hospital. A terrible accident. Our baby was 15,000 miles away hurting.

Why did it happen? I had honestly prayed that day (before the call) that God would protect him from everything, keep him safe while we were so far away from him. 

Those few weeks were hard, really hard. He was in the hospital for nearly three weeks. We got updates rarely and hardly ever as specific as I wanted. We were thoroughly out of control of the situation. I hate that feeling. 

You know what I learned? God is good. God is Sovereign. God is still in control. There are no hands like the strong hands of the Lord. 

Honestly, I have been given a glimpse of why all that happened . (The sweet nurses that loved on him, me learning a great deal about God,getting him home a bit quicker, and his sweet time of bonding with his foster mother). A lot of times we don't even get that. I still don't fully understand it all. But, ya know what? That's not our job. Our job isn't to "figure it all out" or get answers to everything. 

Would I want it to happen again? No way, never. Have I learned from it? Absolutely. Do I want to remind God (even as I type this) that I don't need to learn a lesson like this again? Yep. 

This verse provided such security to me....maybe it can help you sometime.

Deut. 33:12 "Let the beloved of the Lord rest securely in Him, for He shields them all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders."

Impossible

For her to be any cuter!!!!! Check RM out in her new spectacles. How cute is she!?!??!?!?!? She looks so big to me though :( 

We picked them up today and she has not taken them off!!! She was begging to sleep in them. She keeps saying things like "wow, I can see my food...wow, I can see the T.V........Wow, mommy, I can see the toys......." It's so sweet. I had no idea her eyes were that bad. I have to say her glasses are uber cute and they are thin but they are like bottlecaps when you look into them. Her perscription is STRONG. 

We took her to the eye doctor after we noticed a few things; what appeared to be a "lazy eye", when she failed her vision test at her checkup, and when she was sitting super close to the t.v. The sweet nurse (who was enthralled with the cuteness of my little roo-see photo above for proof) took one look into her eyes and said "wow----her right eye is really, really fuzzy." The doc came in and said the same thing and told us she would LOVE her glasses so much that she wouldn't want to take them off because she would finally be able to see. He was right. 

Pretty sure we are going to have to get several colors to go with all her little outfits :)

Side notes: We just got out our fall/winter clothes and Roo has not grown at ALL! Her clothes all fit that she wore last year...my sweet little "fetite" thing. 

I am seriously feeling like a million bucks. Tamiflu is a miracle drug. Did you know I used to be a pharmaceutical rep and sell Tamiflu? Boy, I sure wish I was still selling it, I'd be making a sweet mint and be able to send my kids to college on this years commission. Today was my turn around day in my recovery from the madness that is H1N1. Praise the Lord. 

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.