God's Angels have been moving around furniture on and off today. Or maybe they have been bowling up there. We can't really tell which it is. The angels have been crying happy tears to help things grow down here in our neck of the woods. We have beautiful strawberry plants coming up, scallions that are going to seed, Roses of Sharon bushes that are doing quite nicely and more.
~Ryan, Katie and Bella
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Preparing for Camp Mu Ji Gae 2008
I have been in the midst of preparing for the Rising Stars (age 0-3 years old) group of Camp Mu Ji Gae. I'm helping out two other mothers with this group, the planning, the prep work, and my donation to camp of the items I'm working on. I need to come up with a list of stuff that I'll need to bring to camp that evening (the kids' Hanboks).
Ryan and Katie liked looking at the flashcards that I created for Rising Stars. Ryan asked if he could have a set which of course my kids are getting a set each.
I have to admit that they are pretty cool looking. They have a picture and the English word for that picture on one side and the Hangul and the romanization of the Hangul on the other.
I did up flashcards for the parents to learn London Bridges in Korean as well which I will be teaching them during the class. Sorry folks no picture with the London Bridges flashcards.
The two oldest are excited to attend camp again this year and are very excited that they are in the same class (Curiosity for ages 3-5 year olds). Jeff will have his hands full but he might have some from my dad.
I'm excited to be giving back to the camp in a more volunteer capacity which is amazing since I have kids ages 4 and under. Jeff thought that I was nuts just nuts since I'm busy with the kids. But for me helping a friend of mine out who was running the Rising Stars group this year was far more important. I didn't think that I would be singing in front of a group of parents and grandparents though...but it's not a problem for me since I'm not talking on the steps near the Lincoln Memorial like I did in April 2001 on the Endometriosis Walk for Awareness in Washington DC.
Did I tell you before?? Since Ryan likes to help others in need, for Ryan's birthday instead of toys we asked for donations to be sent off to Mu Ji Gae. So Mu Ji Gae got some monetary donations from Ryan's birthday guests.
Off to prepare more flashcards and read my ESWS newsletter that I just got in the mail yesterday,
~Jen
Ryan and Katie liked looking at the flashcards that I created for Rising Stars. Ryan asked if he could have a set which of course my kids are getting a set each.
I have to admit that they are pretty cool looking. They have a picture and the English word for that picture on one side and the Hangul and the romanization of the Hangul on the other.
I did up flashcards for the parents to learn London Bridges in Korean as well which I will be teaching them during the class. Sorry folks no picture with the London Bridges flashcards.
The two oldest are excited to attend camp again this year and are very excited that they are in the same class (Curiosity for ages 3-5 year olds). Jeff will have his hands full but he might have some from my dad.
I'm excited to be giving back to the camp in a more volunteer capacity which is amazing since I have kids ages 4 and under. Jeff thought that I was nuts just nuts since I'm busy with the kids. But for me helping a friend of mine out who was running the Rising Stars group this year was far more important. I didn't think that I would be singing in front of a group of parents and grandparents though...but it's not a problem for me since I'm not talking on the steps near the Lincoln Memorial like I did in April 2001 on the Endometriosis Walk for Awareness in Washington DC.
Did I tell you before?? Since Ryan likes to help others in need, for Ryan's birthday instead of toys we asked for donations to be sent off to Mu Ji Gae. So Mu Ji Gae got some monetary donations from Ryan's birthday guests.
Off to prepare more flashcards and read my ESWS newsletter that I just got in the mail yesterday,
~Jen
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Our trip to the library...
We went to the library since I had to do some research on a doctor using the ABMS directory. Thank goodness our local library has the most recent edition. While I was in Reference with Bella in the stroller looking up doctors, Ryan and Katie were in the children's section with Jeff.
Bella first reaction in this quiet area is "dada DADA DADA". Meanwhile the librarian there is smiling and giving me the signal not to worry. Other library patrons were not so amused so I told Bella to shh. She repeated me and quiets down for a moment while I go back to work. Then she starts in again with the same emphasis as before. I tell her to shh again and again she repeats me. She quiets down after I give her a small piece of paper I had to hold on to. I make the copies that I needed to and leave the reference area and we head to see what Daddy is doing with Ryan and Katie.
Ryan immediately greets me and says that he's making dinner for Daddy and us. Jeff tells me the first thing that Katie finds is the Good Night Moon book and wants to bring it home even though we have 2 copies of it at home. She still has it in her hands. I spy the area for Children's Folktales and see what they have. I found a Korean folktale book without too many words to it but the pictures look a little scary for my kids...maybe when they are a little older.
Before we leave, I get library cards for myself, Ryan and Katie. Bella can't get one yet because Bella isn't legally our child. Once she gets finalize, we are getting her own library card as well.
Katie wants to head back to the library as soon as possible. Ryan is in agreement. Bella looks at all of the books at her fingertips and says "book BOOK BOOK".
My response to her is that "yes Bella the library has books". Maybe I've got a future librarian here in our home along with a chef and an author/teacher???
~Jen
Bella first reaction in this quiet area is "dada DADA DADA". Meanwhile the librarian there is smiling and giving me the signal not to worry. Other library patrons were not so amused so I told Bella to shh. She repeated me and quiets down for a moment while I go back to work. Then she starts in again with the same emphasis as before. I tell her to shh again and again she repeats me. She quiets down after I give her a small piece of paper I had to hold on to. I make the copies that I needed to and leave the reference area and we head to see what Daddy is doing with Ryan and Katie.
Ryan immediately greets me and says that he's making dinner for Daddy and us. Jeff tells me the first thing that Katie finds is the Good Night Moon book and wants to bring it home even though we have 2 copies of it at home. She still has it in her hands. I spy the area for Children's Folktales and see what they have. I found a Korean folktale book without too many words to it but the pictures look a little scary for my kids...maybe when they are a little older.
Before we leave, I get library cards for myself, Ryan and Katie. Bella can't get one yet because Bella isn't legally our child. Once she gets finalize, we are getting her own library card as well.
Katie wants to head back to the library as soon as possible. Ryan is in agreement. Bella looks at all of the books at her fingertips and says "book BOOK BOOK".
My response to her is that "yes Bella the library has books". Maybe I've got a future librarian here in our home along with a chef and an author/teacher???
~Jen
Sunday, June 15, 2008
On Father's Day...
The kids woke up this morning and picked out their own presents to give Daddy for "Daddy's Day" (their term for Father's Day). Ryan picked out several of his books to give to Jeff along with a old non-working flip up calculator that the kids call a cell phone. Katie had her Care Bear storybook to give to Daddy. Bella just had a big hug to give him.
Ryan and Katie had to go with Jeff to the auto parts store to fix my car. They wanted to spend time with Daddy. Bella and I watched Signing Time to teach her a few more signs. When they got back home from the store, we all played outside for awhile drawing with sidewalk chalk on the driveway, riding on the ride on toys and more.
The kids are resting now since it's nap time. My thoughts are wandering to my grandfathers that I have lost many years ago and my kids' First Dad and other losses as well. Tears swell up in my eyes when I think about it. Pain and tears that are there just below the surface. I can only imagine what the First Dad looked like. Do my children look more like the First Dad than the First Mom or vice versa? What his favorite things in life are? What his dislikes are? So many questions that as a parent, I don't have the answers to.
Tears flow over their losses as well as my own. And compared with all of their losses, mine pales in comparison...just pales. I haven't lost what they or other adoptees have. I can only imagine what those losses might feel like...which sometimes makes me weep more.
I think sometimes that there aren't too many adoptive families who think the way that I do, that think about their child's First family, foster family, loss of country in the case of international adoption, loss of language, the loss of the sights, smells, sounds, and touch of their First Family and foster family. I base this on my interaction with them be it in person or online. Let me just say that I didn't say ALL here just that there aren't too many who think this way. I hope that my posts about my thoughts about my children's First Family cause you to stop and think.
Tears still flowing here on this Father's Day...
Ryan and Katie had to go with Jeff to the auto parts store to fix my car. They wanted to spend time with Daddy. Bella and I watched Signing Time to teach her a few more signs. When they got back home from the store, we all played outside for awhile drawing with sidewalk chalk on the driveway, riding on the ride on toys and more.
The kids are resting now since it's nap time. My thoughts are wandering to my grandfathers that I have lost many years ago and my kids' First Dad and other losses as well. Tears swell up in my eyes when I think about it. Pain and tears that are there just below the surface. I can only imagine what the First Dad looked like. Do my children look more like the First Dad than the First Mom or vice versa? What his favorite things in life are? What his dislikes are? So many questions that as a parent, I don't have the answers to.
Tears flow over their losses as well as my own. And compared with all of their losses, mine pales in comparison...just pales. I haven't lost what they or other adoptees have. I can only imagine what those losses might feel like...which sometimes makes me weep more.
I think sometimes that there aren't too many adoptive families who think the way that I do, that think about their child's First family, foster family, loss of country in the case of international adoption, loss of language, the loss of the sights, smells, sounds, and touch of their First Family and foster family. I base this on my interaction with them be it in person or online. Let me just say that I didn't say ALL here just that there aren't too many who think this way. I hope that my posts about my thoughts about my children's First Family cause you to stop and think.
Tears still flowing here on this Father's Day...
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
For Julia...
Hi,
It was so difficult for me on Sunday to put on my happy face and go with my family to see Thomas the Tank Engine. My mind was on several things including Julia, John and everyone else touched by her. Since then, my thoughts are with all of you who are grieving her loss. Besides the
online candles for Julia what else could I do. She had a way with her words that I couldn't think I can accomplish. Most days that I'm am writing and not writing on behalf of my kids, I'm speaking from my heart. Julia seemed to speak from her heart with every posting she did.
Her one from May 9th posting entitled "Simply Not Done" speaks volumes. I couldn't write her back...I couldn't see through my tears each time I opened up that particular one. I still can't. Nothing came to my mind when I did try...I hate the way this last chapter ended, Julia and John. Just hate it.
I wished that I could have been eloquent and said something. I don't know if my posts are so eloquent as Margie's Post on Julia and all of the other posts about her that Margie wrote. Judy wrote about the grief as well. It made me think about my losses of loved ones and the losses that my kids, their First Mom, and their Foster Families experienced and still experience. It's well written and you should read it. And reading John's post and this one from John as well is just heart breaking. Be prepared with the tissues for all of them.
If you haven't read Julia's blog read it from the earliest days to now...you'll learn alot from this woman. I know that reading her blog affected me just like going to Korea did in November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know that I've posted about this before but I have to post it again...my labor of love for you, Julia, and all who loved her so much:
If you are not a bone marrow donor please consider doing this.
Read up how the bone marrow donation and Myths and Facts about Bone Marrow Donation is done.
Also head to National Marrow Donor Program Medical Guidelines for the requirements.
Also Race and Ethnicity matter when it comes to donating.
Head to Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, Asian American Donor Program, Asian and Pacific Islanders Can Save Lives brochure in Korean, and Korean Focus Info on Bone Marrow Donation to learn how you can help.
I learned that 3% of Asian Americans are registered
I learned more that there is a 35-45% of match if your ethnic minority but nearly 85% if you're Caucasian and that is due to more Caucasians being on the donor registry than the ethnic minorities.
I also learned that of the 6.5 million registered bone marrow donors only 50,000 are Korean.
Can you help these people? They need a bone marrow transplant:
Omar
Project Michelle
Theo, a KAD
Pastor Paul Kwon's Story
And that is just the Asians that I know about...how many others are there??
Do you remember reading about these people?
Brian Bauman's Story
Korean Actress Choi Kang-hee's Donation Story.
and that is just a small sampling of what I found.
Julia and John, I did this for you and all of the other Korean adoptees out there. John, it may not be much but it's my gift. I hope that this post inspires others to register to be a bone marrow done and accept when they are called as a match. Please feel free to pass this along to others. And please please please donate since you never know whose life you might be saving. If you aren't in the minority, please consider honoring your children by getting the word out about bone marrow registration, giving money to pay for the testing, volunteering at a bone marrow drive, and more.
~Jen
It was so difficult for me on Sunday to put on my happy face and go with my family to see Thomas the Tank Engine. My mind was on several things including Julia, John and everyone else touched by her. Since then, my thoughts are with all of you who are grieving her loss. Besides the
online candles for Julia what else could I do. She had a way with her words that I couldn't think I can accomplish. Most days that I'm am writing and not writing on behalf of my kids, I'm speaking from my heart. Julia seemed to speak from her heart with every posting she did.
Her one from May 9th posting entitled "Simply Not Done" speaks volumes. I couldn't write her back...I couldn't see through my tears each time I opened up that particular one. I still can't. Nothing came to my mind when I did try...I hate the way this last chapter ended, Julia and John. Just hate it.
I wished that I could have been eloquent and said something. I don't know if my posts are so eloquent as Margie's Post on Julia and all of the other posts about her that Margie wrote. Judy wrote about the grief as well. It made me think about my losses of loved ones and the losses that my kids, their First Mom, and their Foster Families experienced and still experience. It's well written and you should read it. And reading John's post and this one from John as well is just heart breaking. Be prepared with the tissues for all of them.
If you haven't read Julia's blog read it from the earliest days to now...you'll learn alot from this woman. I know that reading her blog affected me just like going to Korea did in November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know that I've posted about this before but I have to post it again...my labor of love for you, Julia, and all who loved her so much:
If you are not a bone marrow donor please consider doing this.
Read up how the bone marrow donation and Myths and Facts about Bone Marrow Donation is done.
Also head to National Marrow Donor Program Medical Guidelines for the requirements.
Also Race and Ethnicity matter when it comes to donating.
Head to Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, Asian American Donor Program, Asian and Pacific Islanders Can Save Lives brochure in Korean, and Korean Focus Info on Bone Marrow Donation to learn how you can help.
I learned that 3% of Asian Americans are registered
I learned more that there is a 35-45% of match if your ethnic minority but nearly 85% if you're Caucasian and that is due to more Caucasians being on the donor registry than the ethnic minorities.
I also learned that of the 6.5 million registered bone marrow donors only 50,000 are Korean.
Can you help these people? They need a bone marrow transplant:
Omar
Project Michelle
Theo, a KAD
Pastor Paul Kwon's Story
And that is just the Asians that I know about...how many others are there??
Do you remember reading about these people?
Brian Bauman's Story
Korean Actress Choi Kang-hee's Donation Story.
and that is just a small sampling of what I found.
Julia and John, I did this for you and all of the other Korean adoptees out there. John, it may not be much but it's my gift. I hope that this post inspires others to register to be a bone marrow done and accept when they are called as a match. Please feel free to pass this along to others. And please please please donate since you never know whose life you might be saving. If you aren't in the minority, please consider honoring your children by getting the word out about bone marrow registration, giving money to pay for the testing, volunteering at a bone marrow drive, and more.
~Jen
Monday, June 2, 2008
A Day Out with Thomas 2008
Hi,
Mommy and Daddy surprised us yet again with a Day Out With Thomas yesterday afternoon. We arrived at 12:30 pm and ate lunch first. Now the weatherman said that it was only going to rain after 4 pm. BUT they were wrong...
It was drizzling when we arrived and through lunch. We met up with friends of ours and had the 2 pm train ride. With the coaches, you could choose where to sit or stand. If you wanted to sit you sat in the enclosed coaches. If you wanted to stand you stood in the open air coaches.
We took a 25 minute train ride which was wonderful. It was Bella's first train ride and she didn't complain except that she was up in the chunei (the baby carrier I have). We loved the ride. Katie looked like she was an old pro riding the rails. She stood up and mostly refused to hold onto anything. Daddy and Mommy commented that she must have been an regular rider on the Seoul subway!!
After that we did the hay bale maze, pictures with Sir Topham Hatt (well except for Ryan), played in the Imagination Station with the various items in there, had pictures taken with Thomas. Mommy will post pictures on here when she gets a chance.
When Mommy asked us in the car ride on the way back home what we liked most about the day, I responded that I liked riding on Thomas the best. With Katie she said that she liked giving Angie (the friend of ours who came to the Day Out With Thomas with the rest of her family) hugs.
~Ryan and Katie
Mommy and Daddy surprised us yet again with a Day Out With Thomas yesterday afternoon. We arrived at 12:30 pm and ate lunch first. Now the weatherman said that it was only going to rain after 4 pm. BUT they were wrong...
It was drizzling when we arrived and through lunch. We met up with friends of ours and had the 2 pm train ride. With the coaches, you could choose where to sit or stand. If you wanted to sit you sat in the enclosed coaches. If you wanted to stand you stood in the open air coaches.
We took a 25 minute train ride which was wonderful. It was Bella's first train ride and she didn't complain except that she was up in the chunei (the baby carrier I have). We loved the ride. Katie looked like she was an old pro riding the rails. She stood up and mostly refused to hold onto anything. Daddy and Mommy commented that she must have been an regular rider on the Seoul subway!!
After that we did the hay bale maze, pictures with Sir Topham Hatt (well except for Ryan), played in the Imagination Station with the various items in there, had pictures taken with Thomas. Mommy will post pictures on here when she gets a chance.
When Mommy asked us in the car ride on the way back home what we liked most about the day, I responded that I liked riding on Thomas the best. With Katie she said that she liked giving Angie (the friend of ours who came to the Day Out With Thomas with the rest of her family) hugs.
~Ryan and Katie
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Game of Go Fish
Well we had Katie and Ryan playing Go Fish before dinner last night. It was pretty funny to watch.
The kids don't know enough to keep their hand away from prying eyes and when they had to draw a card, they would announce what card they got. It didn't matter to them if they got a card that they had in their hand or a brand new one. Katie and Ryan would announce with glee that they got Thomas or they got Percy (can you tell that we were playing with a Thomas the Tank Engine deck of cards here???). They were playing for the fun of the game. As for me, I was just trying to teach them the game and the idea (yet again) that they need to take turns and not to cheat.
I filled in for Jeff who was cooking dinner. I got beat by Ryan who won the game. Katie and I came in second. I would like a rematch please when they are a little older.
Bella wanted to play but it was decided that she is too young yet to join the rest of us with this type of game.
~Jen
The kids don't know enough to keep their hand away from prying eyes and when they had to draw a card, they would announce what card they got. It didn't matter to them if they got a card that they had in their hand or a brand new one. Katie and Ryan would announce with glee that they got Thomas or they got Percy (can you tell that we were playing with a Thomas the Tank Engine deck of cards here???). They were playing for the fun of the game. As for me, I was just trying to teach them the game and the idea (yet again) that they need to take turns and not to cheat.
I filled in for Jeff who was cooking dinner. I got beat by Ryan who won the game. Katie and I came in second. I would like a rematch please when they are a little older.
Bella wanted to play but it was decided that she is too young yet to join the rest of us with this type of game.
~Jen
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