First Day in Kindergarten

With a blink of an eye the summer is over.  I am not ready for homework and all the busyness.  Today is first day in school for the boys.  J was filled with excitement and C was a bit nervous.  I want J to have a great year in Kindergarten and want him to have fun.  All summer I prayed and ask around to see if there is a familiar face in his class.  All his friends seem to be in other classes.  But God is really good.  He did prepare for J a friend from his preschool.  Even though that friend was in a different class in preschool, they appearantly played together before and we even went to his birthday party last year.  In the trial day of Kindergarten before the first day of school, J sat next to an old friend. 

C seems to get the short end of the stick all the time in terms of class assignment.  He always was given strict teachers.  This year, he have two part time teachers.  One teacher does not want to teach full time, so she will team teach with another teacher.  I just don't like this arrangement.  I fear that with two different expectations, teaching styles, and personalities, C will have a hard time opening up and the teachers.  I really want him to enjoy and love school.  I just have to trust that God is faithful.  I am praying that He will open up my eyes so that I can see the positive instead of the negatives.  I pray that C will thrive and succeed.

Sitting next to an old friend from Happiness Hill.

First day of school.

Going to school, what a big boy!

Final Step in Adoption

The final step in the adoption process is to have the adoption legalized and recognized in California.  We had to take Mui-mui to see the Judge in the Superior Court.  Once the adoption is recognized in CA, we can apply for a California birth certificate.  Mui-mui wasn't born in a hospital in China, so she didn't have a birth certificate.  We are finally done with all adoption paperwork. 

Mui-mui is thriving and learning new things everyday.  Recently, she can do a few new things.  She can repeat the sounds that we make.  She can use the all powerful word "no".  When she wants something and we give her the wrong thing, she would say "no" and shake her head.  And she can say the word "give" in Cantonese.  When she wants something, she would point to it, stretch out her hands and say "give". 

J Learned to Ride 2 Wheels at Camping Trip

My family enjoys camping, so we tried to go annually.  This year we went to Big Basin Redwood Forrest in Santa Cruz.  I have to admit, this year I was not that excited to go because K is still small and I was fearful of mosquitoes.  At all church camp in Santa Cruz last year, I got three bites that still itches till today.  K did not like camping because she can't climb, roll around on the ground, get into trouble, and she didn't get much sleep.  I was thankful that my parents and Uncle prepared all the food and also cooked it.  I spent the entire time looking after K, which tired me out.  H bought all kinds of insect repellent for me and the kids.  We had insect repellent with 64% deets for me, natural and nontoxic repellent for the kids, repellent only made for clothes and equipments, citronella candles, OFF powerpad lamp, and OFF clip on.  I guess all those things worked.  I left with only ONE bite on my forehead.  I forgot to put repellent on my face. 

Hebron took the time there to teach J how to ride two wheels.  At home J was nervous about riding without training wheels because he said he is not as old as his big brother.  But we assured him that if he tried, he will be able to do it.  Sure enough after alittle while he was able to balance and ride, but can't stop or start.  After another session, he learned to stop.  But was not very good at it.  J told H, "I am so proud of myself.  I am such a big boy."  Unfortunately before we ended the second session, J ran into a wall and hurt himself badly.  We had to take him to urgent care.  The doctor said that the injury was not as bad as it looked.  Praise the Lord for that!

Then and Now

San Luis Obispo is a special place for H and I.  It is where we met, grew in the Lord, learned to serve God, met many of our good life long friends, and of course earned our degrees.  We love Cal Poly and had fun walking on campus again. It brought back so many great memories.  We passed by Yosemite dorm rooms where I stayed during my freshman year and where H and I tried to "study" together.  It is the place where H tried to impressed me with his piano skills.  It's worked!  I admire someone who can improvise on the piano.  We stayed up many many night in the lounge to worship God.  H and I lived in the same apt complex after I moved off campus.  Mustang village was where I shared a tiny room with two other girls.  Then after that both H and I moved to Boysen Street where we lived two doors from each other.  Along with our roommates, we started a cooking schedule.  Each person cooks one night for everyone.  This way we have hot food daily without having to cook everyday.  Yes, H actually cooked in college. 

 Then: At pismo beach with our roommates and friends (1996).  Can you find H?  I was holding the camera.

 Now: At pismo beach 15 years later with our kids.

 Then: Look at how young we were. 

Now: On the same surrey three kids and 30 + pounds later. 

A Free Meal

We are currently in San Luis Obispo. We normally take a vacation in the summer, this year we've decided to make a weekend road trip to the the place where H and I met. We can reminis and also bum out at Pismo Beach. When we were students, we love going to Thai Classic in SLO, but it was getting pricey. H found another Thai restaurant on Yelp near our hotel, Thai Dheva. We decided to go because Yelp was selling a $20 coupon for $10.

Look at our meal! Four delicious dishes (fried rice, green curry with pork, green beans with tofu, and eggplants) and it was FREE to us. What did we do to get this? Nothing. How did we get it? Well, the couple at the next table, who were strangers to us, paid for our meal and ask the waiter not to tell us until they left. When the waiter told us, I was in shock. They did what? Why would they do such a thing? Who would do such a thing? They did a good deed without expecting anything in return, not even a thank you.

The Father has taught me so many lessons about giving in the recent year. The first lesson is to give generously to everyone. Most of us are giving to our family and friends. We often buy them gifts and treat them to dinner. What about the people we don't know or don't know so well? Our adoption and this experience of generosity from strangers made me think about who I am to give to. During our adoption fundraising, there were many many people who generously supported us; some are good friends, some are strangers, some we didn't know so well, and some of them I have not heard from in a long time. Everyone gave out of their giving hearts. Again, I thank you with all my heart. The strangers at the restaurant made me think about the people that I give to and the people I don't give to either intentionally or unintentionally. I am not sure if you are like me. I don't hesitate to give to those in need. Well, that's because those people can't provide for themselves. But I don't intentionally seek out for opportunities to give to people I perceived to be financially well off. This experience taught me to be generous to everyone because generosity itself is a blessing to both the giver and receiver. The strangers gave to us for the sole reason of blessing us. Not because of our good looks, my cute children, and certainly not because we looked needy. They knew we can afford it; we were there intending to pay for our own meal. God used their generosity to teach me something.

The second lesson I learned is to give without the expectation of anything in return, not even a "thank you". Those strangers gave to us but didn't give us the opportunity to thank them. Have you had the experience where you searched long and hard for a gift for someone or you got him/her a HUGE gift and you waited for that person to say "thank you" and express their appreciation? Most of the time, I don't wait for the appreciation, but sometimes I do. The waiting for the "thank you" is expecting something in return. We should not give expecting anything. I always teach the boys to say "thank you" to be polite and rightly so. We should be polite and say "thank you" for a gift. However, the generous giver does not expect appreciation. Good lessons learned.

Students from China

Last week we hosted two junior high school boys from China.  They came on a language program to visit the US.  There were about 24 students staying with 12 different families from Jensen Ranch.  We only had to provide them with breakfast and dinner.  During the day, they participated in a program in Palo Alto.  It was an interesting experience.  Even though I can understand Mandarin, it was hard to communicate and speak the language.  And they don't speak much English.  So conversation are limited to "Are you hungry?" "Do you want juice?" "What did you do today?" "It's time to eat." "Are you tired?" "What do you need?"

We are always happy to open our home and share God's blessing.  I tried to be a good host and expose them to some traditional American breakfasts and dinners.  I get up early to make them hot breakfast everyday before going to work.  (Boy, that was hard)  The two Chinese students were respectful and polite.  They ate everything I serve them, but not the fruits.  I bet there are things that they didn't like, but ate anyways to be polite.  I try not to torture them too much with American food by making one Chinese breakfast and dinner.  We also took them out to dinner one night and to Boomers.  Boys will be boys, so they had fun driving go kart, playing lazer tag, and mini golf. 

I was surprised to find out how wealthy these students are.  I have always thought that the majority of people in China are poor.  I see otherwise through this experience and our trip to China in December.  I guess as the country gains more wealth, so does its people. These students are from very wealthy families.  They are meerly in Junior High and one boy bought himself an iPad2, the most expensive version.  Another girl in the group bought her mom a Louis Vitton purse for $5000. From talking to the guide of the tour, these students' family own businesses and have net worth in the hundreds of million.