Tae Kwon Do Pictures

Pictures as promised

Josiah doing what Chief Instructor Twyman tells him to Giving Mom the thumbs up to let her know everything is cool!

The class following instructions

Teacher Conferences - Mommy Brag

Yesterday Josiah was off school because they had parent teacher conferences. I went early to talk with his teacher about how he was doing in his 3yo/4yo pre-school class and what we were going to do with him next year. His class is a combined 3 and 4 yo class so he will be in the same class for next year.
Josiah's teacher says he is very bright and has far exceded the work that he was required to do for the year. In fact, she said that he is far above many of the 4 year olds in her class getting ready for Kindergarten. She said that he is ready for Kindergarten, but is not allowed to be promoted because of his age. I was thankful for that since I don't think he is ready emotionally. We talked about how he is reading short basic stories at home on a fun website we found (thanks Jan). I also told her how he knows how to sound out complex words using the rules: 1. when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking, 2. silent e makes the first vowel say it's name and 3. the sh, ch and th sounds. She was shocked since he has not let on at school that he can do these things.
The plan for next year is to work more on reading and math with him and to send him to one of the kindergarten classes for a few hours a week. I think that is a good plan.

During quiet rest time yesterday Josiah came busting out of his room and said, "Hey, Mom come look what I did in my room!" Now for those of you that read often are probably thinking oh no what did he do now as was I. Josiah cleaned his whole room up all by himself, without being asked. Wow! what a nice surprise. He then said to me, "Mom, do you think you could lay with me a while? I'm tired and I need to sleep!" Another shock to my system. Of course, I said yes. He fell asleep right away. Boy was the day turning out to be a major praise for Josiah day.

I woke him up from his nap to get ready for a fun evening. We went to All About Kids to watch Josiah's friend Chad do Tae Kwon Do. After Chads class, Josiah got to do a trial class to see if this would be something he would like. He was scared and didn't want to go into the room. I went in with him and sat on the floor in the back for a few minutes. He had so much fun that he wants to go back today. We are still deciding if we are going to sign him up or let him play soccer instead. Any comments/suggestions on this would be appreciated.
I forgot to take my camera, but I will get copies of pictures from Chad's mom, Tamara, and post them later.

Adoption Update

So many people have been asking if we have heard anything more so I thought I would let you know what we know. All of our immigration paperwork and approvals here in the US are completed. We are waiting for our approval to be logged in at the National Visa Center and then forwarded to Korea. Once Korea has our immigration approval they will issue an exit permit and a passport for Naomi. When her passport has been issued we will get a phone call to say she is ready to travel. At that time we will book our tickets within 24-48 hours and be in Korea within 10 days of travel call. We will probably be in Korea for about a week before coming home with our little girl. SO now is the big question when do you think our travel call will come? Please vote in our poll and leave us a comment. I have changed the settings on comments so you will be able to leave a comment without signing into a google account.

Shovelling 101

Yesterday afternoon and last night we had a few inches of snow. The first real snow of the winter. When Daddy got home from work Josiah wanted to go out and play. Considering he had been cooped up in the house for a week with the flu, how could we say no. After dinner Daddy and Josiah bundled up and went outside for some fun.
The first thing they did when they got out there was shovel the entrance steps and part of the driveway. Josiah decided that it was too hard work and stopped and watched Daddy. I then went out to try to convince Josiah to make a snow angel. We have been talking about making snow angels all winter. We finally had enough snow to make one and Josiah was a "poop" about it. Jan I put the word "poop" into my post just so that I could get my blog rated PG like yours. I convinced Daddy to show us how it was done. After getting very wet they came inside for some hot chocolate and Josiah got a warm bath before bed.
Today was a snow day so Josiah and I went to a friend's house for the morning. Boy how different are snow days here in Kentucky than when we lived in Wisconsin. Today would not have even come close to counting as a snow day there.

Down and Out!

On Wednesday evening at Cubbies at church Josiah kept telling me he was grumpy and didn't want to play with his firends.
Mmmm, something was up!
We got home and he wanted to go straight to bed without his and Daddy's customary story telling time.
Mmmm, something was up!
At 10:300pm he comes into my room and instead of crying and saying , "I want to sleep with you!" He said, "hey, Mom, I'll lay really still, I promise."
You guessed it - mmm, something was up!
I picked him up to take him back to his bed and burned myself on his little body. He had a fever of 102.7 F. Motrin time and back to sleep in my bed. We woke up and his fever had climed to 103.2 F. More Motrin.
Daddy wasn't feeling too good either so he stayed home. Since Greg and Josiah were both feeling bad and laying around watching TV, I went to Bible study. On my way home Greg called and said that Josiah's fever was 104.2 F. We called the pediatrician and took him in.
Josiah has the flu.
Of course I felt bad since I didn't get him the flu shot this year, but the pediatrician assured me that it would not have helped. She said that she had more kids in her office with the flu that had the flu shot than didn't.
24 hours of Tamiflu, lots of juice and plenty of rest and we have a somewhat normal temp now.

36" View

Recently I have allowed Josiah to use my camera to take pictures. It has been very interesting to see what he finds fascinating enough to take pictures of. He took pictures around the house and then we went on an adventure (a walk outside) and he took pictures of all kinds of things. Here is a glimpse into how a 3 year old sees the world.

Recruiting Warriors

Job Title: Prayer Warrior ("Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" Philippians 4:6)

Qualifications: Personal relationship with Jesus Christ Calloused knees Be a righteous person (proverbs 15:29)

Job description: Applicant needs to be committed to pray fervently and without ceasing(1 Thess 5:17). They need to believe that their prayers have been heard (Psalms 6:9). To pray with thanksgiving and in faith.

Should you choose to accept this position you will be joining an organisation that has existed since before the beginning of time. Retirement benefits are excellent including full housing and health care.

Recently my Dad has been diagnosed with cancer. As you might expect it was a shock to our family. I personally responded with an attitude of lets just get that out. I tried to convince my Dad that his only option was surgery and radiation. My Dad has chosen to treat his cancer with alternative therapy including prayer. My parents are both believers and feel strongly in the power of prayer. After much research and lengthy discussions with Dad, I have come to a place where I support him in his treatment decisions. So now all that is left to do is pray. I ask that anyone that reads this will pray for my Dad. Pray for healing, for wisdom and for strength.

We know many others who are struggling with cancer or the effects of it. I ask that you would also please pray for our friends John and Tamara as they are going through a really tough time right now.