December 24th
Sungjae doesn't speak a whole lot of English, he mostly speaks Japanese, but there are a few things he always says in English. One of them is "Mmmm~ smells good!!!" I love it when he runs into the kitchen, says "Mmmm~ smells good!!!", asks me what I'm making and then asks me to pick him up so he can see.
Well, today, after bath time, he had to go #2. So while I blow-dried Juhee's hair, he did his business. When he finished he called me so I could wipe him. However, I forgot to take a big breath BEFORE going in so nearly passed out. He very innocently asked why I was opening the window and informed me that it's cold. As Juhee passed by the downstairs toilet to go to our bedroom upstairs, she said, "Ewww! Stinky!" A few seconds later, Sungjae followed her up the stairs and said, "Mmmm~ smells good!!!"
I have a daughter and a son. Love them both. Stink and all.
December 10th
need to sleep... it's one of those nights. i have so much to do but my brain's too tired and too wired all at the same time. sleeping late tonight is not going to help me be effective (nor nice/patient/not-cranky) tomorrow... turning off my laptop, going upstairs and lying down might help...
i leave you with a photo of one of our family's newest menu items. i don't know what this fish is called but i had it at a friend's house and it was good so i tried grilling it for dinner too. i'm the only one in our family who's willing to eat the heads though. hopefully the others will start eating the whole fish soon too!
November 21st
Made a big pot of chili, first one since Spring. Been a while so forgot the onions - oops! Still tasted good and got thumbs up. A big pot of chili used to last us at least two meals. Now it only lasts us one and a half... Must be because I forgot the onions!
(A few of my Japanese friends actually came to ask me about this one. It was hard for them to understand... ;P)
November 20th
Yay! Visa renewed so we're ok for another three years. US driver's license renewed ONLINE so ok for another five years. Everything here still seems to be in-person and paper/cash/stamp-based so being able to renew such an important document/ID card online was like a dream. 3 years ago things like that to us were normal, now they seem like amazingly high tech luxuries!
Been drizzling the last few days even though my weather app's been telling me that it's only supposed to be cloudy. God, please don't let it rain tomorrow. My little Sungjae's really really looking forward to his field trip to the zoo... May tomorrow's rain all fall now and may there be no rain tomorrow. Clear blue skies would be a bonus.
October 6th
Juhee's first tooth came out. She was so startled when it came out that she came to us crying holding the tooth in her hand.
October 4th
Recent quotes from my precious little Juhee...
"So what happens when my baby tooth falls out?"
"An adult tooth will grow in where the baby tooth used to be."
"But I'm going to go to Elementary School! I'm not going to be an adult yet!"
Juhee didn't want to eat the small pineapple chunks in the yogurt dessert I made. When I told her that that was going to be her afternoon snack, her reply was "But I can't eat pineapples. I'm allergic."
"Mommy, you're allergic to apples, right? But how come you can't eat them? 'Cause they make you laugh?"
"Huh?"
"You said it makes you feel funny."
I love my little Juhee
October 1st
For me, praying and planning for the summer teams that came - the events, planning, the people who would attend the events, the cooperation between us, Hiroshima EV Free church, and the summer teams, the fund raising, budgets, etc - started last winter. Today, we treated the pastors, wives, a full-time volunteer staff member and his wife, and our PI team to lunch, followed by a time of giving feedback re STM2013. It was great to be able to discuss things openly in an environment of mutual trust. Everyone's objectives were the same: to be able to do even better next time, to be more efficient and effective in reaching out to the people of Hiroshima. It's great to be around people who are willing to hold a newbies hand, who are willing to take the time to explain, who are willing to try new things and even take a risk. I thank God for surrounding me with people that I can grow and learn together with. It's humbling to be here!
September 25th
my ice-cream-loving little three year old was eating his creamy strawberry popscicle and about 2/3rds of the way thru, looked at it and sadly said, "大きくなってない" ("it's not getting bigger")
i had a good chat with juhee's teacher last week. she told me that both the bully and juhee have "leader" qualities, one of the reasons why the bully has thought of juhee as a "rival" from the beginning. juhee's teacher said that the bully recently realized that the way she leads is not good and is in fact, turning kids away from her. she's realized that if she *doesn't* hold the other girls' hands to keep them by her and tell them that they have to play with her and cannot play with juhee, then they *won't* play with her because she's bossy and aggressive. but with juhee, kids just naturally tend to be around her and want to play with her. the teacher said that the other kids are now rallying more to support juhee too as they're also learning how to deal with bullying and are becoming less afraid of the bully. juhee's teacher said that the bully herself, is trying to change. it obviously won't happen overnight, but we're grateful for any signs of improvement.
thank you everyone for your prayers!!! please keep praying for our little ones.
September 11th
God is amazing. Who would have thought that all that time spent watching Sesame Street would help a 16 year old boy with autism enjoy his English tutoring class and help the teacher to be able to understand him better. Who would have known that Elizabeth Yang coming to visit would have opened up such an amazing opportunity and more. God's plans are always so awesome and mysterious.
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