kids book recommendations

If you have Korean-born children, here are 2 books that we love and recommend.  The first one is Bee-bim Bop.  It is the cutest little book about a Korean family making a traditional meal(Bee-bim bop which is veggies and rice in a stone bowl).  Our children love this book.

The next is an oldie but goodie.  When You Were Born in Korea tells the story of Korean adoptees.  The adoption language is a little out of date, but the sweet explanations and pictures are so precious and make me cry.  Abby keeps this one in her room and I've caught her looking and reading it recently.  Hope you all enjoy

Hudson sings

Scroll way down to pause my Music Player so you can watch angelic Hudson sing with his fav...Kari Jobe.  The little man adores her and insists I play her on my ipod every time we get in the car.  I had to hide the camera to video him, otherwise he acts like a dork every time I try to video. Ohhh, he's too adorable.

Pinning ceremony pictures

I'm horrendously pale!  Lucky Abby with her gorgeous brown skin.  Check out the mini-me pic below.  Abby and I busted out laughing when we saw it.  Carter and his daddy, 2 peas in a pod! And may I just say, thank you my sweet husband?!  Your unfailing belief in me and support spurred me to keep going.  I am so honored to be your helpmeet.

Shout out to my blog-world friend, Meredith!  You leave in 3 days to finally pick up your sweet Korean son(after a 20months wait).  The treasure waiting for you is SO worth it. I'm praying for little man to have a God-imparted sense of peace and love when he meets his forever family.

And, shout out to my great buddy, Wendi, you leave tomorrow for a 2 week trip to serve in Tanzania.  I 'm so dang proud of you girlfriend!  Love you both.

here's what I learned being sick last week.

I almost feel sacrilegous saying anything about being sick.  Surely, my pneumonia was no severe illness and I'm bouncing back nicely.  I mean, in my  job, I take care of really sick, and chronically sick people.  No way am I comparing myself to those people.  However, I think God has used this to teach me some lessons I needed learning.
I'm learning patience and the value of health.  I'm used to being a crazy active busy bee.  I tried walking about a mile this morning and coughed constantly for about 2 hours.  I feel good, even great!  But clearly, I'm not back to 100%.  It is very frustrating because I want to run in the early morning, like I've been doing for years.
 I've been trying to relax and read Proverbs.  One thing that I'm concerned about is our savings plan.  I missed 1 week of work.  Thankfully, I have sick time and we have investments for future needs.  However, as far as liquid savings for "what if", we are not in the place we should be.  But, Mike and I don't believe in storing lots up.  In fact, the Bible teaches that hording for ourselves when others are so needy is sin.  However, the Bible also teaches about planning for the future and being good stewards.  Somewhere in the middle is God's will for our lives.  Our family values generous and outward living.  We'd much rather live on less and be able to donate to people adopting or going on missions, or heck, we love to go on mission trips ourselves and typically spend several thousand dollars a year on just that.  But what about being a wise manager and have savings for when hard times come?  That was a big wake up call.  What if Mike or I did get really sick and burn through short-term disability and savings?  I guess that is where we seek the Holy Spirit's leading for our family--somewhere between living outward focused and below our means and yet planning for the future and taking care of our family. I don't guess we ever will figure out exactly what is "right."
Which leads me to another revelation.  I've been doing number crunches lately.  I'm a hypocrite about budgeting!  Please forgive me for pretending to be good at managing my family's finances.  The past 6 months we've stunk it up!  I'm just sick at what we've dumped down in the drain at the local grocery and superstores.  We could put so much towards paying Mike's truck off early. Poor planning is all it has been.  As of June 1st, I'm back on track.  Menus, lists, and taking cash only to the grocery!!  I need a budget accountability partner.  Any takers?
And lastly, I learned that I love my job.  Hats off to stay at home moms and all!  This chic loves working 24 hours a week outside the home.  I miss it and am glad to be returning on Wednesday.

Carter-His holiness

Here's my son, the priest in Trinity's rendition of The Sound of Music.  He didn't have a single line and dang near stole the show with his costume and antics.

Our little school has the absolute most talented teenagers.  They can sing like crazy, can act beautifully, and do all the backstage themselves.  Carter usually has a large role, but this year, he had a much less significant role.  When the curtains opened for the wedding scene, the house went crazy for Carter, who looked and acted like he was about to break in to the wedding scene in Princess Bride--"maiwage, maiwage is the weason we are gathered togwether"   Such fun. 

Pandemonium

I've got pandemonium of the lung.  Actually, I've got pneumonia, but a little old lady from the country I took care of in the ER called it pandemonium of the lung one time and since then, Mike and I always prefer that title!  I began coughing at work Friday, was fine Sat morning, had a lovely pinning ceremony, got acutely ill Saturday evening and was just so-so Sun/Mon.  Tuesday, sick!  So, I left Abby here with the little boys and headed to our fabulous urgent care center a few blocks away.  I expected a shot for bronchitis and go home in 20minutes.  The doc listened to the lower right lung a good while and asked I hurt there.  I told him I hurt everywhere, like flu, even my skin hurt.  A chest x-ray confirmed a  nice white patch in the lower right. When the doc came in to tell me, he had quite a tongue-lashing for me.  "You nurses are all the same, you wait and wait, you think you don't need to go to the doctor, until you are really sick!  I'm right here everyday, why didn't you come in sooner?"  Sheepishly, I admitted I'm stubborn :)  Mike, I know you'll read this, you have my admission in writing.  So, I got iv fluids and antibiotics, and a work note saying I have to be off til next Tuesday and strict instructions to rest.  I'm not liking this at all!  I hate being still, I miss working, and as dumb as it sounds, I hate missing my weekend shift this weekend because it comes with a handsome differential on top of my hourly wage--and with a Korea trip looming, I could sure use that money!  Anyway, I'm trying to chill, finish reading The Blessed Woman(Debbie Morris) and the book of Proverbs(God)--Lord knows I need wisdom.  Would ya mind saying a prayer for me to sleep?  I'm so miserable at night.  The coughing is constant, I nearly wet my pants twice with coughing.  My cough syrup with the narcotic in it made me hallucinate that bugs were on my skin.  Mike made me a special hot toddy last night.  I slept several hours, thankfully. 
Anyways, enough about the pitiful old lady, on to my children, who are so funny!  They are seriously lacking in nature and green space play.  We live in a cookie cutter neighborhood with tiny trees, we drive miles and miles in the car to get anywere.  So, yesterday, before I began feeling awful, it is always worse in the afternoon, I took them to the little creek behind the park.  We took string and some ham.  They used sticks to try to catch crawdads(basically a mini lobster thing that lives in muddy water). 

one big prayer answered

Mom and Susie found flights to Seoul for about 1050 each.  Hooray!  I have been praying that they'd find a much cheaper alternative to the $1400 ones we'd been looking at.  They won't be flying with Abby and I, but will land at Inchon airport a few hours before us.  They will enjoy chilling out in the nicest and most modern airport I've been in. Only 5 more months til our trip!  And only a few more prayers to be answered.

Side note:  several people have commented about how am I going to go work with the children in the orphanage and not end up adopting again? Well.... so what if we do?  Is it funny, or weird, or crazy, or bad for us to adopt again?  Mike and I both feel our family is complete-for sure.  But, if we did adopt a 5th child, why is that so crazy?  The Bible calls children a reward. There are 163million rewards living in the world with no parents. Seems to me that most of American society sees children as a burden and temporary pleasures as a reward.  Mixed up world we live in!