Playing At The Park

A Full Filled Day

Yesterday was a very busy day for us. Naomi decided to get up early (several times) and Josiah had bad dreams in the morning hours so our day started at about 5am. We got up and dressed and headed to Sam's Club by 8am. We have a business membership so we can go early which always works out better for me. We got home in time for Naomi's nap and Josiah's Korean lesson. He is doing very well and practices his new phrases all day long.

During lunch I got a surprise phone call from some very dear friends of mine. Jan said that they were about 30 miles from Louisville and wanted to stop by on their way back to Cincinnati. Of course my house was a mess so I ran around picking up a little just so I wouldn't have to clear a path from the door to the couch for them.

I know Jan and Mark from our days in WI. I was the physical therapist for one of their foster boys at the time. We spent a great deal of time together every week during those therapy times. After I left that particular clinic for one closer to home we stayed in contact. Jan has many incriminating photos of me hidden some place in her computer archive.

We had a really good visit. Josiah and Michael made themselves scarce and played with trains while Mark, Jan, Sarah, Naomi and I had fun talking and getting Naomi to warm up to everyone. After Josiah and Michael were done playing trains, Josiah warmed up to Mark and they rough and tumbled for a while. I did not take any pictures of our time together, but Jan did so visit her blog to see them.

After Jan, Mark and the gang left Naomi took her afternoon nap. Josiah and I tried a new adventure. I bought a cookie gun this week and Josiah and I made spritz cookies with chocolate glaze. They were really good and we had a grand time making them.

So our day was not yet over. we left after Naomi's nap to pick Greg up from work and then headed to the Celebration of Schools at the Convention Center. We wanted to talk with people from the potential schools we might send Josiah to next year. It was interesting and confusing. I think we have 3 schools picked out that we will tour and them make our decision.

The Golden Ruler Award

Yesterday I picked Josiah up from school and it seemed just like any other day. His teacher said he had a good day and that was it. When I asked Josiah how school was he said, "Great! I got an award today."
M: "What was the award for?"
J: "I got my picture taken inside the cafeteria and a picture taken outside"
M: "What did you do to get the award?"
J: "It's the golden ruler award"
M: "That's great sweetheart! What did you do that made your teacher give you an award?"
J: "It's for being a good listener and for being kind to the other kids"

Wow! I was so proud and amazed at how much he has changed and matured this year. I looked in his backpack and found no info about the award. When Greg got home he told him the same story. Today when I got him from school his teacher told me that she had forgotten to tell me about his award and that he had been doing a really good job in school. Again, we are so very proud of him.

Today Naomi and I got up very early and were at Kosair Children's Hospital by 7:30am. Naomi had her 3 month hearing test today and passed with flying colors. She did such a great job in the sound booth that we don't have to go back for another 6 months - yay!
After the test we ran up to the PICU where Chase (a friend of mines little 6 month old) is recovering from open heart surgery. Jan was not there, but I talked with Mark and got to see Chase. He is doing so very well today. They are thinking of moving him to a regular room and possibly going home next week. Praise the Lord for this little miracle baby. He looked so good. His color looked great and he was sleeping so peacefully.

The "Germ Bug"

The past 2 weeks I have been away from the computer since I have been sick. Josiah tells me that I caught a "germ bug". I am ready for the germ bug to leave. The first week I was sick I pretty much lay on the couch with my eyes closed while my children watched cartoons all day. I moved off the couch only to feed them and to lay Naomi down for naps. Beyond that not much got done. I went out occasionally to church to allow other people to watch the kids or to get some much needed food. The second week of being sick the germ bug stole my voice and even more of my energy. Yesterday and today I can talk although it sounds like I have been a smoker all my life.
Yesterday I even took Josiah and Naomi to the park for an hour. By the time Greg got home though I was back on the couch. SO I am hoping today is better and tomorrow even better than that.

언어 학습 - Learning the Language

Since Josiah and Naomi are Korean we feel very strongly about them learning the language. Of course that means Greg and I have to learn Korean too. Last week we got our Rosetta Stone Korean Level 1 in the mail and have started working our way through the program. I have to admit, I am scared to even attempt this, but I need to for my children. Josiah has done the lesson 1 for 4 days now and is learning fairly quickly. I am not surprised.
The program is very interesting. It is total immersion. There are no English characters or spoken word in the program. We can choose to learn just to speak or we can learn to speak and read at the same time. Reading is a little too daunting for me since everything is in Hangul, but Greg is doing both. Since Josiah is learning to read in English I didn't think he should be doing Hangul at this point. It is going to be a long road, but hopefully worth it in the end.

Shameless Plug!

At the marriage conference that we went to in Utah, there was a well stocked bookstore in which I spent a great deal of time. I had to cut my buying list down from about 20 books to only3 books and a Christmas nativity scene. I got out for only $60 which is really good for me. I just love books and can't keep from buying them.

So, we have been home for a couple of weeks now and just today opened the nativity scene to take a closer look. It is called, "What God Wants For Christmas" by Family Life. In the box is a pop up manger scene, 7 gift boxes and a book with poems that tell the Christmas story. In each box is a different character from the story. Each day you tell one part of the story and open one box. The angel Gabriel is the first box that is opened and he takes you through the rest of the story asking probing questions in a way that young children can understand. It promotes discussion about Jesus and why He was born. The first 6 boxes are characters from the nativity scene and in the 7th box is a surprise. It is a mirror! As your children looks into the box and sees themselves looking back an opportunity is created to share the gospel message with them and to make it personal. There is material at the end of the book of poems that guides you through explaining salvation with your child in a way that is easily understood by little ones. I love this nativity scene and am so excited to make it a new tradition this Christmas.

The Best Gift Ever

The other night I put Josiah to bed which is usually Daddy's job. I have to admit I was not overjoyed to be spending time with him at bed time because Josiah has a very hard time listening to me when he is very tired. Daddy is far better skilled at calming him before bed and talking to him about his day. For some reason that is just good Josiah and Daddy time. For what ever reason it was that I was putting him to bed, I was not having a joyful moment.
We got through all the getting ready for bed stuff like brushing teeth and going potty without too many arguments and then we sat down on the bed for story time. I was tired so I told Josiah we would only be doing one story tonight and that it would be his Bible story. He complained a little, but I insisted.
I picked up his Bible and started to read. I do not remember the story we read, but in the becoming a man of God section, it talked about receiving gifts and it asked what was one of the best gifts he had ever gotten.
My sweet little boy looked me in the eye and said, "I think the best gift I ever got was my mommy!"
Boy can we be humbled by our children so quickly. I felt terrible for not wanting to spend this precious time with my son and then was blessed so much by his loving attitude.
Our conversation did not end there. We continued on to talk about God's gift to us. We talked about Jesus, God's son, coming to earth to die on the cross to save us from our sins. He had several questions about sin and about salvation and how that really happens. I told him that we have all sinned and that we cannot make it right with God except by asking Jesus to be our saviour. When we do that Jesus comes into our heart and lives there.
Josiah asked me, "is Jesus in my heart?" I said no I don't think so and that for Him to come into our heart we have to ask Him to and that we have to believe that He died to save our sins. Then he said, "let's do that right now!"
So, we did and I really don't know how much he understands, but the Lord knows his heart and we will keep praying for him and talking to him about salvation.
The next morning he came running into the bedroom to ask me if Jesus was still in his heart. Every day since he has told me that he just wants to tell Jesus that he loves Him.
My heart is joyful and I have learned from my son this week that I should cherish every moment with him since I never know what I might miss.