tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255528312024-03-07T20:56:14.601-06:00Team HsuNo, this isn't about athletics at Humboldt State University or Hardin-Simmons University or Helmut Schmidt-Universität. It's about our family - Al, Ellen, Josiah and Elijah Hsu! Go team!Al Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-90947539411786627312009-12-22T06:37:00.011-06:002009-12-22T07:18:55.271-06:00Merry Christmas 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhus3hVVQwnO0l5ADQvhbGMXVqsaBMvgkJnZsOMCaqpfzgDgDfgTLcKeVdSCD6ttPmX_qPAf6yMjTfFBEAn52vYM28Fn2p_73Hxb1OMvZFnkKE2x6TR0v32sK7Z-MlbogeXT_/s1600-h/2009+Mar+Apr+044.JPG"></a><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFiVLy38MhSEV5baF98OfVUMVRPJAtDsHuCiWY0H2HIY_u_XIPSMH8sj4KDfNuYyDEsSppWBQG2xtg8FNBAWPikpLi4TZOFVGqcjeFO9D3T47XCpU8QWq1NGZcfI74KE3Kbnz/s200/Summer+2009+243.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418045656971363522" />Greetings from the Hsu family! We hope all has been well with you this year. We’re grateful to still have jobs in this economy, so we can’t complain. This summer we managed to get away for a week in Wisconsin Dells, where we avoided all the waterparks and instead enjoyed the boat tours, mini-golfing, go-karting and a magic show.<div><br /><div><div>Our main entertainment indulgence this year was seeing various musical shows. We saw a local production of <span style="font-style: italic;">Miss Saigon</span>, the Broadway tour of <span style="font-style: italic;">Rent</span> with two original cast members, the farewell tour of Topol as Tevye in <span style="font-style: italic;">Fiddler on the Roof</span>, and a high school version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Les Miserables</span>. We also went to the amusing <span style="font-style: italic;">25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee</span>, the romantic <span style="font-style: italic;">The Light in the Piazza</span>, and the Tony Award-winning best musicals <span style="font-style: italic;">Spring Awakening</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Jersey Boys</span>. We took the kids to a stage version of Disney’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Aladdin</span>, and Josiah saw <span style="font-style: italic;">Seussical the Musical</span> on a school field trip. We also caught a musical revue of <span style="font-style: italic;">100 Years of Broadway</span>. (Not surprisingly, we also like the new musical TV show <span style="font-style: italic;">Glee</span>.)</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTH26iBRgzgRQ5GRt3K6m0lxqaC2J3g0oUdlgmYcGqGTx3oPpMJOy-752wuOIH4J7al9jcdbjP661TxJhk_VLMKCM2dFCcPLSm_J35Lmv4wRPyC-Aepvx6_Y_9fROVo-j6f7oI/s200/Fall+2009+094.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418047457817144498" /><div>Elijah is doing well in preschool. He loves the art table and the computer. He inherited Josiah’s Leapster and enjoys his Dora and SpongeBob games. Extra speech therapy has been helping him communicate more clearly, and he participated in a reading recital through his literacy group. He can read Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie books aloud with little problem. After he turned four he moved up to the big kids’ class at church. And he also learned how to unbuckle the seat belt on his car seat. Sigh.<br /><br />Josiah is in 2nd grade now and is having fun in the district’s gifted program. He started piano lessons on our new (used) baby grand, and he enjoys it well enough that he practices piano for fun without needing to be reminded. He also took a chess class and likes his new strategy game Pentago. Josiah volunteered at some Chicago 2016 Olympic bid events and handed out wristbands. He is enthralled with his Nintendo DS and various Teen Titans and Lego things.</div><div><br />Ellen was thrilled that <span style="font-style: italic;">Christianity Today</span>’s Her.meneutics blog for women ran her article about Elijah, “<a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2009/11/the_day_we_let_our_son_live.html">The Day We Let Our Son Live</a>.” It was the <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2009/11/top_10_posts_of_the_last_30_da_2.html">top-ranked post</a> for the month. She also had a moderate amount of travel for InterVarsity Press, with managerial meetings and business trips to Germany, Dallas, Madison and Denver. She continues to plan and lead worship at our church, and she plays a lot of Scrabble on her iPod Touch. Ellen will be serving as IVP’s bookstore sales manager at Urbana 09.</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqXd5_QAebBz_gvLO7XPTWj5jWXem_nVn69ae_j7r4-Mbx1iZuC1PLzYXh7q9TwywyWHEAaK1tg7uKhX2Us64qnz_KhrH-a1cWyvgzoDmPN56H1Jmdzg8eVioJIc4ElPgvHrl/s200/Apr-May+2009+029.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418045860428800210" />Al was the <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2009/05/crossroads-college-commencement.html">commencement speaker</a> at Crossroads College this spring, fifteen years after his own graduation. He also gave a <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2009/06/acts-8-on-reading-and-understanding.html">devotional message to the board</a> of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, planned and led a publishing seminar at IVP, taught a class at Willow Creek Community Church and wrote an <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/commentaries/2009/johnhughes.html">article about filmmaker John Hughes</a> for ChristianityTodayMovies.com. His PhD studies are going slowly but well, and he celebrated fifteen years of working at IVP. Al will be serving as IVP’s book info booth manager at Urbana 09.</div><div><br />And now for our annual reading list: We went on a science fiction kick this year and highly recommend Mary Doria Russell’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sparrow</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Children of Men</span>, in which Jesuits in outer space face cosmic theological questions of suffering and evil. We also read Orson Scott Card’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Ender’s Game</span>, Ursula Le Guin’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Left Hand of Darkness</span>, Frank Herbert’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Dune</span>, Piers Anthony’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Split Infinity</span> and Eoin Colfer’s <span style="font-style: italic;">And Another Thing</span>, the sixth book in Douglas Adams’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</span> trilogy. Other fiction Ellen liked included Audrey Niffenegger’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Her Fearful Symmetry</span>, Kathryn Stockett’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Help</span>, Lynn Austin’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Though Waters Roar</span>, Suzanne Collins’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Catching Fire</span>, Jennifer Erin Valent’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Fireflies in December</span>, Jodi Picoult’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Second Glance</span>, Lisa See’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Snow Flower and the Secret Fan</span> and Anne Tyler’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Back When We Were Grownups.</span></div><div><br />In nonfiction, Al thoroughly enjoyed Kevin Roose’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University</span>, a fascinating inside account of a conservative evangelical subculture.<span style="font-style: italic;"> The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment </span>by A. J. Jacobs is on a smaller scale than his previous books but still great fun. <span style="font-style: italic;">In-N-Out Burger</span> is an engaging history of the beloved burger chain. Dalton Conley’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Elsewhere, U.S.A.</span> and Malcolm Gladwell’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Outliers</span> provided interesting cultural insights. And we commend our friend Caryn Rivadeniera’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Mama’s Got a Fake ID</span>.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88Qcb0p3Oa3dqPIy_HYy6Qrw3mIO2revJZ-Lwqqp-haX0-K0R-2zvU7ma8bIMJ2XiigEbZXrquWeYXhDfE42XO3ssIllhyjNesqp0M2V0chYsf_qVu48OkDJUJ23d_iJHTjTl/s200/Fall+2009+059.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418046925798102178" /><div>Josiah read through the entire Magic Tree House and A-Z Mysteries series and started working his way through The Chronicles of Narnia. He enjoyed Encyclopedia Brown, Teen Titans, Amelia Bedelia and Hardy Boys books, Foxtrot comics, Lego magazines and the Lego Star Wars <span style="font-style: italic;">Visual Dictionary</span>.<br /><br />Some IVP books that we’re pleased to have published this year include Soong-Chan Rah’s prophetic <span style="font-style: italic;">The Next Evangelicalism</span>, Jim Belcher’s well-received <span style="font-style: italic;">Deep Church</span> and James Bryan Smith’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Good and Beautiful God</span>. Adam McHugh’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Introverts in the Church</span> was excerpted and featured as a cover article for <span style="font-style: italic;">Christian Century</span> magazine. International AIDS activist Princess Kasune Zulu tells her extraordinary story in <span style="font-style: italic;">Warrior Princess</span>. Societal and global justice issues are highlighted by Julie Clawson’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Everyday Justice</span>, Mae Cannon’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Social Justice Handbook</span> and John Perkins and Charles Marsh’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Welcoming Justice</span>. A helpful guide to immigration policy reform is <span style="font-style: italic;">Welcoming the Stranger</span> by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Green Revolution</span> by Congressional candidate Ben Lowe calls for a new generation of environmental stewardship. </div></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhus3hVVQwnO0l5ADQvhbGMXVqsaBMvgkJnZsOMCaqpfzgDgDfgTLcKeVdSCD6ttPmX_qPAf6yMjTfFBEAn52vYM28Fn2p_73Hxb1OMvZFnkKE2x6TR0v32sK7Z-MlbogeXT_/s200/2009+Mar+Apr+044.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418045391097091986" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /><div>N. T. Wright’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Justification </span>got a lot of attention, and John Sailhamer’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Meaning of the Atonement</span> cracked Amazon’s top 100 in sales rank. And our bestselling book of the year was … <span style="font-style: italic;">Finding God in the Shack</span> by Roger Olson.<div><br />Well, that’s more than enough for this year. May you experience the peace and presence of God this Christmas season, and blessings to you in 2010!</div></div></div></div>Al Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-19251285454510232092009-04-27T16:46:00.015-05:002009-04-27T17:06:45.414-05:00Open House<div>Last week was Joisah and Elijah's school's annual open house. I took photos of a lot of Josiah's work<br /><div><br /><div><div><div>Josiah's desk<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahlGksj9JomcWezyrbrbWjN5b5hTMhtTHp_5XCfhCPhxgvn_6WnuWERKSGtpGM6L1PUbSJZFtVykygKwgQNVb_Dq_tB15T656Ra3NSMUMVooQ66OSQSWbzxdnCm_jN7eLA_4bmg/s1600-h/Josiahs+1st+grade+desk.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329493113744540978" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahlGksj9JomcWezyrbrbWjN5b5hTMhtTHp_5XCfhCPhxgvn_6WnuWERKSGtpGM6L1PUbSJZFtVykygKwgQNVb_Dq_tB15T656Ra3NSMUMVooQ66OSQSWbzxdnCm_jN7eLA_4bmg/s320/Josiahs+1st+grade+desk.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Symmetrical Art (Josiah's is the one on top)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeZFi_Tp5JL-bxltcFCO4OTq7afiY_wO5WkF1LkxJicu4z7lI4_fWzP_1Mw3mfRmW16i1oQt_KLkeXDGxngAMtEvyzyo6ZKSXfv21Kt6JX-h_wNmjfrOe8NgCjE_EohYkfDqRog/s1600-h/Symmetrical+Art+j+1st+grade.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329493614082544546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeZFi_Tp5JL-bxltcFCO4OTq7afiY_wO5WkF1LkxJicu4z7lI4_fWzP_1Mw3mfRmW16i1oQt_KLkeXDGxngAMtEvyzyo6ZKSXfv21Kt6JX-h_wNmjfrOe8NgCjE_EohYkfDqRog/s320/Symmetrical+Art+j+1st+grade.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><div>"My Fraction Creature" <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSXU2Rgpq4sAWEcy2kR8zwVJ_T8zSdlmm9OODPyzotBXMU_3qAzAKjVTpG43zZRqS7A3XI3R_TC4Tk3TKZuvKSlkIT8ZiorDt_2rrDnCKbldMJHQ6WY-OTq0ZqfI2m8p3OmRAfw/s1600-h/J+1st+grade+cube+art.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329493405489020642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSXU2Rgpq4sAWEcy2kR8zwVJ_T8zSdlmm9OODPyzotBXMU_3qAzAKjVTpG43zZRqS7A3XI3R_TC4Tk3TKZuvKSlkIT8ZiorDt_2rrDnCKbldMJHQ6WY-OTq0ZqfI2m8p3OmRAfw/s320/J+1st+grade+cube+art.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br />"My Nice Bug" by Josiah Hsu <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP62PviMXq44dQ4QGK7rG53G6v3w3DkbLTV0ezCvsvLj6tdmquG7OKmVII90em_EBD9iePlvr3M2enFOo9Kxb6nFtCYEXPAL2A0NruFDSXORg13dTB4eMFH0o-PllTEGhgLGo2rg/s1600-h/A+Nice+Bug+J+1st+grade+story.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329494120155459218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP62PviMXq44dQ4QGK7rG53G6v3w3DkbLTV0ezCvsvLj6tdmquG7OKmVII90em_EBD9iePlvr3M2enFOo9Kxb6nFtCYEXPAL2A0NruFDSXORg13dTB4eMFH0o-PllTEGhgLGo2rg/s320/A+Nice+Bug+J+1st+grade+story.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br />Goldfish bowl</div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibuzQ4HsZeGOIHXgMRJcBlQupN7m9hATr14ddvXuj9nBAnteGSuekXGWTNGh30YDpJeV5fV7GRtkY2kCavkd11uFwoQvhjSy0rVq7h2xGBve0JxElDZCN6Hw3L3_v4lOxPCIW9xw/s1600-h/Goldfish+J+1st+grade+art.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329493266665795394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibuzQ4HsZeGOIHXgMRJcBlQupN7m9hATr14ddvXuj9nBAnteGSuekXGWTNGh30YDpJeV5fV7GRtkY2kCavkd11uFwoQvhjSy0rVq7h2xGBve0JxElDZCN6Hw3L3_v4lOxPCIW9xw/s320/Goldfish+J+1st+grade+art.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br />"Where Am I?"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpMIM2QOVFeW3eDwao-yO3lmYG62ju8sagKMx9T7fUv7MDJ9qlzY4eHAHq8WT27Gh6HtdNp49k4y-Pnhq8jvFCi-9Xg4yCi2yBeqJCjeNNeX5d13_G09yLk-2WsBYylyM_oOwuA/s1600-h/Where+Am+I+J+1st+grade+geography.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329494434378084322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpMIM2QOVFeW3eDwao-yO3lmYG62ju8sagKMx9T7fUv7MDJ9qlzY4eHAHq8WT27Gh6HtdNp49k4y-Pnhq8jvFCi-9Xg4yCi2yBeqJCjeNNeX5d13_G09yLk-2WsBYylyM_oOwuA/s320/Where+Am+I+J+1st+grade+geography.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><div></div><div>More symmetry</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ilh5LmKd85wY6grJ7gPiraYAlFHoeFAM1b_3Uoif-2ku8HYewDI3SOQTe6MbOxM1XA9sGFDeidLwuTn06ZGz42u76pZUML52FIuGmdOaJRuFmCepB_F1nQvPgQ3dXqbmFCI6jA/s1600-h/Symmetrical+art+2+J+1st+grade.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329494674268750002" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ilh5LmKd85wY6grJ7gPiraYAlFHoeFAM1b_3Uoif-2ku8HYewDI3SOQTe6MbOxM1XA9sGFDeidLwuTn06ZGz42u76pZUML52FIuGmdOaJRuFmCepB_F1nQvPgQ3dXqbmFCI6jA/s320/Symmetrical+art+2+J+1st+grade.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Elijah in his preschool class<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzwHyRjGgghzvTHbqDkJJrucnxD8T90j4jgE4y8Edn31iFapfAaPX-VSJLznx9jblbV0wBQtsrF0nge9aHZglNVzwcy0WYLHmzCMTtVU7SIj2qWrPbfDPdchzNDGlnq8O0CsDdQ/s1600-h/Elijah+at+preschool+open+house.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329495835589663090" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzwHyRjGgghzvTHbqDkJJrucnxD8T90j4jgE4y8Edn31iFapfAaPX-VSJLznx9jblbV0wBQtsrF0nge9aHZglNVzwcy0WYLHmzCMTtVU7SIj2qWrPbfDPdchzNDGlnq8O0CsDdQ/s320/Elijah+at+preschool+open+house.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-48102317228202116702009-02-17T17:11:00.001-06:002009-02-17T17:12:38.726-06:00The Day We Let Our Son LiveI gazed in wonder at the blurry form on the screen. “Hi, Baby,” I whispered. The image of our baby was much clearer on the level two ultrasound. The technician rolled the ultrasound wand over my growing abdomen, now slippery with gel, and I marveled as I watched our son squirm a bit and suck his thumb. A new life forming within me.<br /><br /><strong>Hoping for the Best<br /></strong>Al was supposed to be with me at the doctor’s office, but was running late after discovering his car had a flat tire. I hoped he would arrive in time to see the clearer images of our son. Our OB/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">GYN</span> referred us for a level two ultrasound after our noticing choroid plexus cysts on our baby’s brain during the standard 20-week ultrasound. I was anxious about what the maternal health specialist might find. We knew a couple whose ultrasound also showed choroids plexus cysts, but whose baby was perfectly fine when he was born. We had spent the past week praying for our baby and hoping for the best.<br /><br />Al walked into the exam room as the technician was finishing up. She <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hadn</span>’t said much while she worked and explained that the doctor would be in to take a look for himself and to explain what he found. Al and I chatted quietly while we waited. I was relieved that Al had made it before the doctor came in. Little did I know how much I would need him.<br /><br /><br /><strong>“Something is Very Wrong”</strong><br />The doctor came in and began his exam. I was delighted at the chance to see more images of our baby. But my world was shaken when the doctor finally began explaining what he saw. “Something is very wrong with this baby.”<br /><br />He continued to roll the wand over my tummy as he pointed to various spots on the screen and began listing all of the “abnormalities” he found. Larger than usual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">nuchal</span> folds…clenched fists…possible club feet…something wrong with the liver…enlarged ventricles in the brain, no stomach (but maybe he just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">couldn</span>’t see it yet because the baby was so small). My tears flowed as his list grew longer. My delight at the new life within me turned to icy fear and I clutched Al’s hand tightly.<br /><br />The doctor suspected a chromosomal problem, possibly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Trisomy</span> 13 or 18, birth defects caused by an extra 13<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">th</span> or 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">th</span> chromosome. The doctor explained that both of these conditions are generally “incompatible with life.” We were told that if our baby was born alive, he was likely to die within a day. If we were lucky, he might survive for 6 to 12 months. We wondered if we should begin preparing for death instead of life.<br /><br />Frightened and uncertain of our baby’s future, we agreed to an amniocentesis. We would not, we thought, consider aborting our child, but we wanted to know what to expect. And this situation <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">wasn</span>’t really covered in What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Al held my hand while the doctor extracted amniotic fluid from my womb using a long needle. The procedure was over quickly and the baby seemed to be okay, that is, if you <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">didn</span>’t count all of his “abnormalities.” The doctor explained that it would take around two weeks to receive the results and mentioned when we would need to make a decision regarding termination.<br /><br /><strong>Thinking the unthinkable<br /></strong>Once we were home I went to our bedroom and wept. I left Al to explain what was wrong to his mom, who was watching our three-year old for us that day. I was worried she would blame me.<br />Later that evening, after we’d both had some time to process the news, Al and I talked. I felt lost. This scenario <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">didn</span>’t fit any of my plans and I had no idea how to respond. We talked about funerals, and, if the baby survived, what life would be like for us and for him.<br />“What should we do?” I asked. “I never thought I would even think this, but do you think it would be more compassionate to terminate the pregnancy?” I felt horrible even thinking about abortion, but given what the doctor told us I honestly wondered which was more the more loving thing to do; save him from the pain and difficulties he would likely experience if he survived or allow him to live. <br /><br />After a moment of silence Al responded, “I think we should do no harm.” Relieved, I quietly agreed. From that moment on we began to prepare ourselves to welcome our son into this world, no matter what that looked like. The most important day in my life is the day we decided to let our son live.<br /><br /><strong>The Diagnosis</strong><br />We chose a name and began to refer to our son as Elijah instead of “the baby.” It helped us to remember that he was “real.” Even if he <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">didn</span>’t survive the pregnancy, he was alive now and we would enjoy him as long as we could.<br /><br />A couple of weeks later, shortly before Christmas, the doctor called with the results of the amniocentesis. Elijah was diagnosed with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Trisomy</span> 21, more commonly known as Down syndrome, a condition caused by an extra 21st chromosome. We had done some research. We knew that a diagnosis of Down syndrome meant that Elijah would have difficulty learning. We knew that he would experience developmental delays, such as walking and talking later than typical children. We also knew that he was more likely to have a congenital heart defect and other medical problems.<br /><br />The doctor asked if we had made a decision regarding termination. I was surprised. “What? Why would we terminate? It’s only Down syndrome!” I was actually relieved. Elijah would most likely survive. I had no idea at the time that close to 90% of people who receive a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">pre</span>-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome decide to terminate their pregnancy.<br /><br /><strong>A New Life</strong><br />Although we were glad Elijah would most likely live, we still grieved our lost hopes for a “perfect” baby. I vacillated between mourning, “This is not what I planned for my life!” and making new plans. I spent many evenings crying (pregnancy hormones were bad enough, but a difficult diagnosis made things even worse!). We read whatever books we could find about Down syndrome. We contacted the National Association for Down syndrome (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">NADS</span>) and were paired with a support family. I was put on partial bed rest and spent a lot of time at the maternal health specialist’s office for appointments and non-stress tests.<br /><br />On April 8, 37 weeks into the pregnancy, I went to see the maternal health specialist for a standard appointment. I told him I was little worried because Elijah <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">wasn</span>’t moving very often. Since Elijah was technically full-term, the doctor decided we should deliver him via C-section. I was promptly taken to a hospital room where I called Al and told him that we were having a baby…today!<br /><br />A few hours later Al held newborn Elijah Timothy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Hsu</span> up for me to see. He was small, just four pounds seven ounces, and looked like a little old man. I had a few moments to gaze at him before the nurses took him to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">NICU</span> (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). After several difficult weeks, Elijah was released from the hospital and we took him home.<br /><br /><strong>A New Normal<br /></strong>Other than having Down syndrome, most of the other “abnormalities” the doctor listed were not present. Today Elijah is a happy and healthy three-year old. He loves preschool and is learning to read. He communicates using a combination of sign language and spoken words. He enjoys giving hugs, dancing and babbling in front of a mirror. His smile lights up a room and his laugh is contagious. He and his six-year old brother, Josiah, play and fight together like any siblings. He also gets into trouble, like any three-year old might. He often throws his food off the table when he’s finished eating, and once he colored on our white furniture with a purple marker.<br />What has surprised me most about Elijah is how he is more “normal” than he is different. He has developmental delays and it sometimes takes him longer to learn new skills, but for the most part he’s just a normal kid doing normal kid stuff. Elijah’s first year was sometimes difficult and overwhelming, but life with Elijah has settled into its own routine. Taking care of him is not all that different than taking care of our typical child. And loving Elijah comes just as naturally to me as loving Josiah.<br /><br />I can’t imagine life without Elijah anymore. He brings us so much joy. I’m so glad he’s alive and that he’s a part of our family. And I look forward to the day when Elijah can tell me about the most important day of his life.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-44485559519449255112008-12-22T06:58:00.001-06:002008-12-22T07:34:48.260-06:00Merry Christmas 2008<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0wyMPirnKm-jmuQCrPr6urVZl86b7TKgTKsQgW8LeQUvo7Dna3parxwctE0CGvX3ceX0LiOpwoY6JybeUGGq5XLQtJjIcD7krW1rBPgjtO2qfaaZB8n9d9yPx5JAX8GvTL_P/s1600-h/DSCN4837.JPG"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FppzwyEwy_j4Oeh1v9sFzEfAthG6rerInuXk9c5_RycNF1qifKYxQhxtWlOx3twx7hd5iOFTxPtMc2bYcwZoarPMK5YZO2JgjrrL-JWjSno2aCWAGZrtRJ1jLlQ32FR9PN-k/s1600-h/Fall+2008+235.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FppzwyEwy_j4Oeh1v9sFzEfAthG6rerInuXk9c5_RycNF1qifKYxQhxtWlOx3twx7hd5iOFTxPtMc2bYcwZoarPMK5YZO2JgjrrL-JWjSno2aCWAGZrtRJ1jLlQ32FR9PN-k/s320/Fall+2008+235.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282600093522417250" border="0" /></a>Merry Christmas from the Hsu family! Blessings to you this Advent season. We’ve had a good year, and everyone has been healthy and happy. Elijah is three and a half now, and he transitioned out of his early intervention program and has begun preschool through our local school district. He is in a reading tutoring program and is reading words and sentences beyond his age level. He loves reciting letters, numbers and colors and singing songs like “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” He asks to go through his deck of word flash cards, and at bedtime he’ll sit by the bedroom door to read Blue’s Clues books by the light of the hallway. He also likes helping make pancakes and putting away laundry.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLbf3kiGP-2ZtKZzqgw4I5Txx4u1sTfbSSxxa0jO_GUpJdxrnQsJecLZbNSV91EPOu-ccY2RYH6K9f7yuxSju9eQmgCo9ARyo7H6x_rz_Y-QbHqA5Ziuw4Ha2Zk0aX-2s8AAuZ/s200/Fall+2008+097.JPG" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282601059702739314" border="0" />Josiah is now 7 and in first grade. He tells us, “I love learning stuff.” He’s in an advanced reading group and a gifted math class, and he enjoys all of it. He started riding his bike and has been learning to play a little tennis. Over the summer he took swimming lessons and enjoyed a day camp through the park district. Other highlights for him were playing Sonic Heroes and Lego Batman. He also finally watched the original Star Wars movie (twice – both the theatrical release and the special edition, and he counted all the differences).<br /><br />We had a few local “staycations” this year, with day trips to the zoo, the arboretum, the children’s museum, the beach and so on. Josiah was excited to visit the new Legoland Adventure Center here in the Chicago suburbs. And for our 11th anniversary, we went to see the musical <i style="">Wicked</i> before it wrapped up its Chicago run. We love musicals, and this one was a delightful deconstruction and reconstruction of the Wizard of Oz narrative.<br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H7Ex86h_Ie8-9ZzBXu1HZ_W8Jes32fVx-Ly7NX5aPOpKPn5qeoQLUOM_whDC9ByMNEocHM3PnB4c1RPK9uSr1kP-9g7K73yHcx1XgFNi9HDUMyD8ih_8DZdsOXJT2FMWPsYp/s200/Fall+2008+095.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282601399559594290" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" /></span>As the rights manager for InterVarsity Press, Ellen had some domestic trips to Miami and Orlando, and this fall her international travel took her to a <a href="http://teamhsu.blogspot.com/2008/09/reporting-from-asia.html">rights conference</a> in South Korea, Marketsquare Asia in <a href="http://teamhsu.blogspot.com/2008/09/going-home.html">Hong Kong</a> (where she met up with a former IVP intern) and the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. She was invited to join the board of her professional industry group, the International Rights Managers Association, and promptly helped the group rename itself as the Licensing and Subsidiary Rights Association. She also took two sign language classes to continue to progress in her signing skills and vocabulary.<br /><br />In addition to his editorial acquisitions and development work for IVP, Al applied and was <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/08/back-to-school.html">accepted into a PhD program</a> in educational studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. (He scored in the 99<sup>th</sup> percentile on <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/01/hitting-mat.html">the MAT</a>, so he used that test score to join the Triple Nine Society, which has a higher standard of admission than Mensa.) He took his first doctoral classes this fall, and things seem to be going well so far. Al also served as <a href="http://kingdomsightings.blogspot.com/">a columnist</a> for <i style="">Christianity Today </i>magazine this year, and he continued to do some <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/08/missional-in-suburbia-seminar-and.html">occasional speaking</a>, including the <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/06/at-envision-08-us-for-all-of-us.html">Envision 08 conference</a> at Princeton Theological Seminary and <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/12/is-life-is-worth-living.html">a chapel</a> at Wheaton College. Al also signed up as a volunteer for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJ-ZnkuCUuzHMLV4PlvEI21uQQKdFEcfOiRQL2hz0HzahW6427ZbBlr5liKwYr7LThgCfMpF-iJN35YAojsWyqQ8XnZ40d7uH_Wv0pOqPGcx7f1rlipYMsN1NDGehVazMfH4x/s1600-h/DSCN5024.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJ-ZnkuCUuzHMLV4PlvEI21uQQKdFEcfOiRQL2hz0HzahW6427ZbBlr5liKwYr7LThgCfMpF-iJN35YAojsWyqQ8XnZ40d7uH_Wv0pOqPGcx7f1rlipYMsN1NDGehVazMfH4x/s200/DSCN5024.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282602559121347586" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" /></a><div>What have we been reading this year? Josiah’s big thing has been puzzle books, brain teasers and riddles. He would ask friends, “What’s purple and in China? The Grape Wall of China!” and “Did you hear about the man whose whole left side of the body was cut off? Now he’s all right.” He particularly enjoyed the Picture Puzzle series of “can you spot the differences” books, and he also read through lots of Calvin & Hobbes and Garfield books.</div><div><br />In the realm of fiction, Al and Ellen read through Stephenie Meyer’s stand-alone sci-fi novel <i style="">The Host</i> and her Twilight series (the last book, <i style="">Breaking Dawn, </i>seems to draw some intriguing parallels between vampirism and resurrection life)<i style="">. </i>Ellen read through T. Davis & Isabella Bunn’s Heirs of Acadia series and Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter family series, and she enjoyed <i style="">Love Walked In </i>by Marisa de los Santos and Linda Nichols’s books <i style="">In Search of Eden</i> and <i style="">If I Gained the World</i>. Al liked Sebastian Faulks’s new James Bond novel <i style="">Devil May Care</i>, which picks up where the original Ian Fleming novels left off. And Jorge Cham’s books of the comic strip series Piled High and Deeper (also known as PHD comics) provide a hilarious portrayal of grad student life.<br /><br />In non-fiction we both appreciated Randy Pausch’s <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/07/last-lecture-on-living-well.html"><i style="">The Last Lecture</i></a>, an inspirational and moving account of a dying man’s life of purpose and meaning. <i style="">The Big Sort </i>by Bill Bishop explores how people <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/12/kingdom-sightings-family-ties.html">tend to self-organize</a> themselves into like-minded communities. <i style="">The Female Brain </i>by Louann Brizendine is an accessible and explanatory tour of neurobiology. <i style=""><a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/03/fortune-cookie-chronicles-by-jennifer-8.html">The Fortune Cookie Chronicles</a> </i>by Jennifer 8 Lee is a fascinating cultural history of Chinese food in America. Tim Keller’s <i style="">The Reason for God </i>is a sophisticated and intelligent presentation of the Christian faith for our day. (And Al was thrilled to find the out-of-print and amusing <i style="">The Unrelieved Paradox: Studies in the Theology of Franz Bibfeldt</i>, and even friended the elusive obscure genius and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Franz-Bibfeldt/656559357">enigmatic figure on Facebook</a>.)<br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0wyMPirnKm-jmuQCrPr6urVZl86b7TKgTKsQgW8LeQUvo7Dna3parxwctE0CGvX3ceX0LiOpwoY6JybeUGGq5XLQtJjIcD7krW1rBPgjtO2qfaaZB8n9d9yPx5JAX8GvTL_P/s1600-h/DSCN4837.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0wyMPirnKm-jmuQCrPr6urVZl86b7TKgTKsQgW8LeQUvo7Dna3parxwctE0CGvX3ceX0LiOpwoY6JybeUGGq5XLQtJjIcD7krW1rBPgjtO2qfaaZB8n9d9yPx5JAX8GvTL_P/s200/DSCN4837.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282603142692593986" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" /></a>Top of our list of IVP books this year is Andy Crouch’s <i style="">Culture Making, </i>which received a starred review in <i style="">Publishers Weekly </i>and was also named one of the <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6610357.html">best religion books of 2008</a>. It’s a stunning, paradigm-shifting book of how Christians need to move beyond merely critiquing, condemning, copying or consuming culture and instead create and cultivate culture. Also receiving a starred review was <i style="">Living Gently in a Violent World </i>by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier, which looks at the profound lessons of the L’Arche communities’ experience of disability and friendship. James Choung’s <i style="">True Story </i>is a fresh narrative retelling of the gospel that goes beyond escape-ticket-to-heaven and provides a holistic, missional vision for both individual redemption and global transformation. <i style="">Jesus Made in America </i>by Stephen Nichols examines how Jesus has been imagined and reinterpreted throughout American history. <span style="font-style: italic;">Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes</span> by Kenneth Bailey unpacks historical and cultural dynamics of New Testament passages. <i style="">Finding Calcutta </i>recounts what Mary Poplin learned from her time visiting Mother Teresa. <i style="">I Once Was Lost </i>by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp shares how their skeptical postmodern friends came to faith in Jesus. And <i style="">Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers </i>by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove brings together prayer and social activism.<br /><br />That’s it for this year! May the Lord bless you and grant you his peace.</div>Al Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-17259625482206323202008-12-12T17:16:00.002-06:002008-12-12T17:25:11.055-06:00Elijah Pray!I was getting ready to eat a nice breakfast of pancakes with Elijah (our favorite!) when Elijah looked at me and said, "Elijah pray!"<br /><br />So I said a simple prayer leaving time for Elijah to repeat each word after me. "Dear...God...Thank you...for...pancakes...Amen!" Elijah repeated each word, emphasizing the amen. I smiled, happy with Elijah's spiritual development, and picked up my fork.<br /><br />"Mommy pray!"<br /><br />I looked up and Elijah was signing that he wanted <em>me</em> to pray now. So I said a slightly longer prayer and got ready to eat.<br /><br />"Elijah pray!" I looked up and Elijah had his hands folded ready for yet another prayer. We said three or more prayers together before I finally said, "All done prayers, Elijah. My pancakes are getting cold!"<br /><br />This has become a common theme at mealtime. Elijah is quick to remind us to pray and eager to repeat the words (and complete prayers) as often as we allow him. This morning I was eating my pancakes (I told you its our favorite breakfast) when I heard Elijah babbling. I glanced up and he had his hands folded, clearly chatting away with God. I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">couldn't</span> understand many of his words, but I have no doubt that God understood exactly what Elijah was saying to him.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-75661263112388562852008-12-08T12:19:00.006-06:002008-12-08T12:55:41.146-06:00The Most Wonderful Time of the Year<div>Along with Christmas music and snow, December has brought me a sense of lightheartedness and joy. The past few months have been full. After traveling to Asia in September I went to Frankfurt, Germany in October. While I was in Germany my assistant (who was in the office, not in Germany) went into premature labor. They were able to stop the contractions and she eventually had a beautiful and healthy baby, but the early labor also meant an early departure from work leaving me to train the new assistant. Things are going well, but I was feeling pretty stressed and pressed for time for most of October and November.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277494793207315362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1rv-ZM_Jzv4N50zZnIIMwkoUZbwwPynD7wKd3UD56JEWfbed24_B2c88cwRstkAGAU-YfK9p87wQwKcbSr1gEHm9aOma4rusCga0tB3PEg7NEh6FN9I3SqShWXdE1HVSyxAoFA/s320/Elijah+Christmas+08.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div>This is my absolute favorite photo of Elijah right now. It captures a sense of his joyful nature better than usual. And it expresses a sense of how I am feeling these days.<br /><div></div><br /><div>I love Advent and Christmas. Our Christmas tree is up, I've been playing Christmas music since Thanksgiving and most of our gifts are purchased and wrapped. We attended a couple of Christmas parties this weekend, both of which were a lot of fun. </div><br />Michael Card sang at IVP's Christmas party this weekend. I was talking with Michael a bit and wondering if he even remembered who I was when he said, "I think of you every day." Huh? I must have looked bewildered because he explained that he keeps translations of his books behind his coffee-maker. Since I handle translation rights for IVP and helped facilitate the translations, he thinks of me each morning when he gets a cup of coffee. I'm a bit of an affirmation junkie, so that made me feel pretty good. I really enjoyed the concert, particularly a new song he played for us called "Freedom," which has been a recurring theme in my Advent ponderings this year.<br /><br />I have also been enjoying <a href="http://www.saragroves.com/">Sara Groves'</a> Christmas CD, <a href="http://www.saragroves.com/store/oholynight/">O Holy Night</a>. Al and I especially like the song "<a href="http://www.saragroves.com/store/oholynight/lyrics/toypackaging/">Toy Packaging</a>." If you haven't heard this yet, you really need to find a copy and listen to it, especially if you are a parent! The whole CD is really nice, but this song is a lot of fun.</div>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-88735595827261988832008-09-09T07:45:00.005-05:002008-09-09T08:37:26.361-05:00Going HomeAfter eight days of travel, I am ready to go home. I'm glad I came to Asia. I've had good meetings, visited some interesting places and enjoyed conversations with industry colleagues and friends. I took a few photos and bought a few gifts. I've also endured long hours, awkward conversations and food that is not familiar. With the exception of the past few evenings, I have been "on" for seven days straight. I'm ready for a little time off. And I am soooo ready to be with my family again. I'm going home.<br /><br /><br />Symphony of Lights and the view from Victoria's Peak<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptk1yoD3ri9TD6JGAz7wI_1lsQo2x_2YnGbPK76MUbwlPRJYEVgY1ZljZghQUHhvWQ7oIJ8dvQ6loU87jeRTJAR_1UnfkZqY8IdhViZX77cMg5F3MHiIxg709HxIZtvwiviQSqQ/s1600-h/Asia+Trip+08+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244013379023569186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptk1yoD3ri9TD6JGAz7wI_1lsQo2x_2YnGbPK76MUbwlPRJYEVgY1ZljZghQUHhvWQ7oIJ8dvQ6loU87jeRTJAR_1UnfkZqY8IdhViZX77cMg5F3MHiIxg709HxIZtvwiviQSqQ/s320/Asia+Trip+08+009.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bRXe1cOMq5XgJAz3yWEs4cz5ViAIJ4mLlJDTCGAhLG1aVjcGgmncXfvBtBc2gIJf65KipncSbhJP-HQVutJJiznBv9I2VkaSyOicbFJlUj4GBhUxny0tILFIAai1zys1ECcbig/s1600-h/Asia+Trip+08+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244013378729467602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bRXe1cOMq5XgJAz3yWEs4cz5ViAIJ4mLlJDTCGAhLG1aVjcGgmncXfvBtBc2gIJf65KipncSbhJP-HQVutJJiznBv9I2VkaSyOicbFJlUj4GBhUxny0tILFIAai1zys1ECcbig/s320/Asia+Trip+08+010.jpg" border="0" /></a>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-17502857258615663842008-09-06T21:54:00.007-05:002008-09-06T22:56:09.828-05:00Reporting from Asia<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggLhF4NVSJaZr1-nLHCbU0RXF_A32TSNpDi_neeyF1_DqNvU7rjGG7gvrQk24kRu-lDwmll92OIcKuF2Q_wjwcWnvz7V-pH2F8RQawrGYt6If7hlbPDrV1H3B1AI5ysVxb1L_Ysg/s1600-h/Asia+Trip+08+001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243121256784604178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggLhF4NVSJaZr1-nLHCbU0RXF_A32TSNpDi_neeyF1_DqNvU7rjGG7gvrQk24kRu-lDwmll92OIcKuF2Q_wjwcWnvz7V-pH2F8RQawrGYt6If7hlbPDrV1H3B1AI5ysVxb1L_Ysg/s320/Asia+Trip+08+001.jpg" border="0" /></a>I am travelling in Asia for work this week. I spent three days in Seoul, Korea and am now in Hong Kong for another few days. I have been honored by the graciousness and generosity of various people who have hosted me and others in my group for office visits and dinners. I was able to visit the the offices of four publishers in Korea in addition to meeting with 25 publishers in a convention setting. I participated in two traditional "royal" Korean feasts where we were served course after course of the finest Korean food. And I went to an Outback Steakhouse and the martial arts comedy "Jump!" with a group of friends and publishing industry colleagues. </div><div><br />Last night I visited a publisher here in Hong Kong and was treated to a wonderful buffet dinner. At 8:00 pm the city of Hong Kong lights up with a laser light show. Our table was in front of a large window displaying a panorama of the city and a splendid view of the light show. The light show is synchronized to music, which the restaurant played for us. Many of the buildings in central Hong Kong have large lights on the face of their buildings that light up and change color in coordination with the music. In addition, large spotlights appear to shoot from the tops of the tallest buildings. It was quite a spectacle. I forgot my camera, but the people I was with took some photos for me. I'll have to post them another time.<br /><br />I've been with other people for the past four days, mostly as a guest where I needed to display certain decorum and sometimes squelch my own personal preferences so as not to seem rude. As much as I have enjoyed everything so far, today I am happy to have some quiet time to myself. One of my dinner hosts last night gave me an entire itinerary of interesting things to see and do in Hong Kong today. If I were more adventuresome and brave I would be out exploring the sites of the city. As it is, I'm an introvert and a bit timid so I am spending the day in my hotel room reading a book and catching up on some blog reading. I hope I'll have some time to explore on Monday or Tuesday evening (I'd really like to visit Victoria's Peak, especially), but today I need the rest.<br /><br />I'll spend the next two days in meetings, building relationships with publishers and showing them our newest books. I'm looking forward to visiting with these people, but I'm looking forward to going home on Wednesday even more. Traveling can be fun, but "there's no place like home."</div>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-75955409908922012452008-08-29T15:27:00.009-05:002008-08-29T15:39:39.617-05:00First Day of SchoolJosiah and Elijah started school this week. Here are some photos.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVXfpD4cm_J4lJkN8HxIcEZGiMG7ExZThvkI7wZG6VGOvKHTKQynisRwEVvJA2bFswAHLL2nVYBabAs6bVIrDZFqT_E4aTeRo5wvx80p1GdxW1xXg_F8DfwEQ9AaUZRMxkkOJKg/s1600-h/DSCN5121.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240040186629938850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVXfpD4cm_J4lJkN8HxIcEZGiMG7ExZThvkI7wZG6VGOvKHTKQynisRwEVvJA2bFswAHLL2nVYBabAs6bVIrDZFqT_E4aTeRo5wvx80p1GdxW1xXg_F8DfwEQ9AaUZRMxkkOJKg/s320/DSCN5121.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDJYwELhnv0gRzi2rMMm2EAwTV_VovLNKjDM2KQhfSkrkn-vkDlVJ23Taxi8w-3TZqim7qprXEX3S5WTa3L7XdKj1Ytjp6osKjPtO9Vt9NtJoJzsI5fIKTwd1952L0LomenWl8w/s1600-h/DSCN5123.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240040189295642818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDJYwELhnv0gRzi2rMMm2EAwTV_VovLNKjDM2KQhfSkrkn-vkDlVJ23Taxi8w-3TZqim7qprXEX3S5WTa3L7XdKj1Ytjp6osKjPtO9Vt9NtJoJzsI5fIKTwd1952L0LomenWl8w/s320/DSCN5123.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5y6OHGCxpvoZpQmR3y0-_e30GBNwy4hdBOGQZGHJom-qkjR6cD6ksA1f3K-7d_ISMbYVSgYMw76NNwFOBpvUZhluS7O0exZyjWi9iDDGgH6oSuI8idU_TWTpvvywKYhkfCkv2ew/s1600-h/DSCN5125.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240040193008425874" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5y6OHGCxpvoZpQmR3y0-_e30GBNwy4hdBOGQZGHJom-qkjR6cD6ksA1f3K-7d_ISMbYVSgYMw76NNwFOBpvUZhluS7O0exZyjWi9iDDGgH6oSuI8idU_TWTpvvywKYhkfCkv2ew/s320/DSCN5125.JPG" border="0" /></a> This is Elijah waiting for the bus. He refused to stand still for photos. His bus didn't show up and I forgot to bring the camera to school with me, so these are the only "first day" photos I have of Elijah.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCD04uuF6ibw5ZyJDwZggYegoUIkgLfuTORt8sb1XMNNh1wg_49w9de65ZCClSHzGdOaALT8xnpsigUFapY49gC39_5PTbWeBi5CGUis7JeYH3-TmNYmaqZzt03DwmHJegYEv3w/s1600-h/DSCN5121.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7_Wa1FXlPcaR6IU0OxOnegqsAoVOGVBNjxlPyJsRF4FlgxnJl0jvyuXwx1t6yr3f1Ibp3vEw0udNR0r9tDJcBOxjF2WadjksteSeZGNxTo0L0VKjFgrtSFmKEmTT5mkCqaaYNw/s1600-h/DSCN5123.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19HXVIvloqSeU4vBuQulbiZvXc7Vtq9pbkGp563_jKY34H7qs8A1MzsZFcFMev_sU__fFoZU7z16B-yunvR-NoBnj3hy0G70eJrz1RtJ0r7iJQBOoG8z2j5uT-NUFqRUuZssObA/s1600-h/DSCN5125.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHRn-N2oVsTpS89BVYNntAck5rHUQyTdFVWDe42tBswDV2bKehnfNNmR5_ran7nvLKtKmSHYL4McDcjc6i77H4cLsAzWhsKcrbg117eQLljorDkVYqEbi06QvqvJFq3cdLRGOKA/s1600-h/DSCN5094.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240039629758813314" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHRn-N2oVsTpS89BVYNntAck5rHUQyTdFVWDe42tBswDV2bKehnfNNmR5_ran7nvLKtKmSHYL4McDcjc6i77H4cLsAzWhsKcrbg117eQLljorDkVYqEbi06QvqvJFq3cdLRGOKA/s320/DSCN5094.JPG" border="0" /></a> If Josiah looks a little nervous, it's because he was.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidy7NZ2As30knCBxCUmw3wDpahvS84xPSdBBl7eX0SSvGKo_nanXIQt-fWrftBVQOOgv5j1utT7kSpgvlcMlMSs0Hy1eeGyncHgCFSieRnhvIy4Bm60b8R21q-MqB6mKfVpCQZ3A/s1600-h/DSCN5095.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240039630819830802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidy7NZ2As30knCBxCUmw3wDpahvS84xPSdBBl7eX0SSvGKo_nanXIQt-fWrftBVQOOgv5j1utT7kSpgvlcMlMSs0Hy1eeGyncHgCFSieRnhvIy4Bm60b8R21q-MqB6mKfVpCQZ3A/s320/DSCN5095.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLtamL6-A-5g_CKOc5-klP60yRCY53nMWeJkBDXfuUWHrvHl-IWPsDwCAxXqf6YOWgvocabGv2VtUnNuxkAWTQFaCo3JsDE_v7fkYexuBgrTLXO4_KMFnzIowIuaxTTLxTxHVDQ/s1600-h/DSCN5098.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240039631339537330" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLtamL6-A-5g_CKOc5-klP60yRCY53nMWeJkBDXfuUWHrvHl-IWPsDwCAxXqf6YOWgvocabGv2VtUnNuxkAWTQFaCo3JsDE_v7fkYexuBgrTLXO4_KMFnzIowIuaxTTLxTxHVDQ/s320/DSCN5098.JPG" border="0" /></a> Josiah was really happy to find out that his friend from our neighborhood is in his class this year.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69B96hz0-BVagDcuXO5JtbkY-WoRWzY0viX_OwX64P4dQPjp7IC87cr2jo5FyhV1Pu7yaoFnzO4YCsv1giqX-EoBvpos7gpxdMqN1HfwiUlx9Q9OeA-d71SPIYdivmP09iRLUdw/s1600-h/DSCN5096.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240039638104297362" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69B96hz0-BVagDcuXO5JtbkY-WoRWzY0viX_OwX64P4dQPjp7IC87cr2jo5FyhV1Pu7yaoFnzO4YCsv1giqX-EoBvpos7gpxdMqN1HfwiUlx9Q9OeA-d71SPIYdivmP09iRLUdw/s320/DSCN5096.JPG" border="0" /></a>This is Josiah meeting his teacher for the first time.</div>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-16893825440756600542008-08-14T16:46:00.006-05:002008-08-15T13:49:01.265-05:00Fun in the Sun (and Sand)!Last weekend we took the kids to the Indiana Dunes. The water was closed due to the risk of rip tides, but we still had a lot of fun.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234495862931487986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCRboPfKUBi6hoFCzNEKhPOPTe_r0x0IOg3Nhzyslhw6pweS5kBEfVxw9o1w2eNtbBJ6u4wHNYeSQmEoiwTXzdcF_xAQK6rnxiBlU5u-mpr-Vo5I3fRNy7SDMgaO3UfxKP01qRQ/s320/DSCN4917.JPG" border="0" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtiOhGTQA4BMeR7C8cLw-nF2k1QvPAhaee7_THhnIJR56XcgHhgCP-y0UjtUbS2aMXwq1j803fkmNzyVG0UkxXQ__WMH0pba1I89FigMBNmABR1hSixM6TSQU5NwO9gDFgyT9CHw/s1600-h/DSCN4925.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234495866290847266" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtiOhGTQA4BMeR7C8cLw-nF2k1QvPAhaee7_THhnIJR56XcgHhgCP-y0UjtUbS2aMXwq1j803fkmNzyVG0UkxXQ__WMH0pba1I89FigMBNmABR1hSixM6TSQU5NwO9gDFgyT9CHw/s320/DSCN4925.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234494518727477650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrg3P8jyr3mi7iOYw-tkB-P-VuBYBH24j0G2dZxOGeiurQEyrEW3xVz9Se23KMPkYxlVCc5GwQQIp4j0vbrI7ayhRKL3hUM_cKewY2D3DLlT0o9rhT3bFGnylzAiSF-UM6hyphenhyphenUAA/s320/DSCN4910.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hWa4xAzokDotugnYxEdaXFkKmjlwXRBTSQgzGMLEJWR9HUezFKM6OoPEV3IJTZk0o_a6incDI_VTbqN7r-7NEMonzZ9v5lmGzAwlGuHXpG9Nq_wuJQbwrX16JEqvxw9ZN5Y1-w/s1600-h/DSCN4994.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234494523976697858" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hWa4xAzokDotugnYxEdaXFkKmjlwXRBTSQgzGMLEJWR9HUezFKM6OoPEV3IJTZk0o_a6incDI_VTbqN7r-7NEMonzZ9v5lmGzAwlGuHXpG9Nq_wuJQbwrX16JEqvxw9ZN5Y1-w/s320/DSCN4994.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMCb2-kb9nWDxh_mummFJCEqAzHASQ6YGLtjInK2uEt7i-4a96FrDEiWq651IewnuwWbxTFi7isJvn833zUjJyt9u7WMb0qHv0SvUmFqqanxVP4kpXu5nwxsGI-5_MmSzuLEV1w/s1600-h/DSCN5006.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234495864770178674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMCb2-kb9nWDxh_mummFJCEqAzHASQ6YGLtjInK2uEt7i-4a96FrDEiWq651IewnuwWbxTFi7isJvn833zUjJyt9u7WMb0qHv0SvUmFqqanxVP4kpXu5nwxsGI-5_MmSzuLEV1w/s320/DSCN5006.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWlxkuVTCcdfOYVGMmMPGAH-bUxy4-rsg6r2wZwfet_L2nK2OihfPT_ibloXs2fLc3CJhDbjvZIDNdSUZl_ZRcRySPEreKYuhHGrSFjS0GDUhQv3zP9WVI-cpu8DqXVntntanRg/s1600-h/DSCN5010.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234495869003746914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWlxkuVTCcdfOYVGMmMPGAH-bUxy4-rsg6r2wZwfet_L2nK2OihfPT_ibloXs2fLc3CJhDbjvZIDNdSUZl_ZRcRySPEreKYuhHGrSFjS0GDUhQv3zP9WVI-cpu8DqXVntntanRg/s320/DSCN5010.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVDB1FPYRyLj_GviMzyz6ufSn4xSTtpxLy2E34TuzkRNHpHxfwA4KCI0nFFfpqttG6ZYJzxXYheeFXgrQ4EDl-MupGGkD051SUsoVdMCGYwW7qxeL9yR5iF-YZJfswvFdv0WOZg/s1600-h/DSCN5004.JPG"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVDB1FPYRyLj_GviMzyz6ufSn4xSTtpxLy2E34TuzkRNHpHxfwA4KCI0nFFfpqttG6ZYJzxXYheeFXgrQ4EDl-MupGGkD051SUsoVdMCGYwW7qxeL9yR5iF-YZJfswvFdv0WOZg/s1600-h/DSCN5004.JPG"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTt2jHMs_eNnsWd-vcltXeLQPtrFttKjBJ96inSrgUVONiophTU8rPzwkugwhiuj5-IrGYyopZkbHPCAAVH0uu5yZ1ZKkp_uFpicdafmeJNDQ8ruuHgcfRU091TblqTdFWsDZOA/s1600-h/DSCN5013.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234495869160203042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTt2jHMs_eNnsWd-vcltXeLQPtrFttKjBJ96inSrgUVONiophTU8rPzwkugwhiuj5-IrGYyopZkbHPCAAVH0uu5yZ1ZKkp_uFpicdafmeJNDQ8ruuHgcfRU091TblqTdFWsDZOA/s320/DSCN5013.JPG" border="0" /></a>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-66529678729717747632008-08-05T12:23:00.008-05:002008-08-05T13:35:10.220-05:00A ConfessionI have a confession to make. Not everything I do is for the enrichment of my children. Sometimes I do things just because it's something I enjoy.<br /><br />At a recent event I attended one young mother mentioned how her sisters' lives seem to revolve around their children and the various activities they are enrolled in. One mom mentioned that it would be good for our kids to have one night a week where they can't participate in outside activities because it is mom's night to do something. Another mom mentioned that her friend tells her children that date night with her husband is "to make sure you are happy."<br /><br />As I drove home from the event I thought about the idea of explaining date night to our kids as something we do to keep them happy. Explaining alone time with my spouse in this way, I realized, would actually <em>reinforce</em> the idea the world revolves around our kids. While it may be true that maintaining a happy marriage will help my children remain happy, the main reason I spend time alone with my spouse is that I really like him. I enjoy having uninterrupted conversations with him that allow us to connect at deeper levels than "When was the last time we changed Elijah's diaper?" or "Have you seen Josiah's backpack?"<br /><br />The same is true of other activities that take me away from home. I enjoy taking sign language classes, leading worship and having coffee with friends. I could explain to our kids that I am a better mom when I am able to pursue activities I enjoy, but I think it may be better to simply tell them, "I am doing this because it is something I enjoy."<br /><br />I can't do everything that I enjoy all the time. Sometimes I decide not to do something because I would rather spend time with my family or because my kids need me to be with them. I enjoy being with my kids and I want them to feel loved and to know that they are important to me. And I am intentional about making sure that I am frequently home with my kids. At the same time, I want them to know that I am more than just their mom. God has given me gifts to serve <em>both</em> my family <em>and</em> the world around me. Having children may require modifying my activities, but it doesn't mean that I have to hit the pause button on my life indefinitely.<br /><br />Having a child with special needs can sometimes exacerbate this issue. Children with special needs often require more of our time and energy. We may become so wrapped up in helping and advocating for our children, that we allow <em>their</em> diagnosis to become a primary part of <em>our</em> identity. If mothers of typical children are tempted to believe that their kids can't survive even one evening a week without them, imagine how mothers of children with special needs often feel, especially when our children require special medical care.<br /><br />But when we lose our own identities to our children we are not the only ones who lose something. Our churches and communities lose out too. They may lose out because we are not using our gifts to serve, but they may also lose the opportunity of using their gifts to serve us. And, if we are so worried about our children that we do not allow them to spend time in someone <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">else's</span> care, they may lose out on the opportunity to learn about our kids and how to love and serve people with special needs.<br /><br />I just signed up for a second class in sign language this fall. I'll be out of the house on Wednesday evenings from late October through early December and the kids will be spending a little more time with Al or, in some cases, with a babysitter. But that's okay. I enjoy learning sign language. The kids will survive without me for one night a week.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-2762015742853770912008-07-10T12:51:00.003-05:002008-07-10T13:06:08.064-05:00The Tooth Fairy's on VacationJosiah recently lost his two front teeth. The first came out while he was eating a piece of toast. We washed it off and put it into his special tooth treasure chest and tucked it under his pillow for the tooth fairy to retrieve. I had a sign language class that evening and by the time I came home the kids were in bed and I had completely forgotten about Josiah's tooth.<br /><br />I was in Josiah's room when he woke up the next day. He squinted at me and asked, "Is it morning?"<br /><br />"Yep, it's morning. You can get up if you want to."<br /><br />Josiah brought his hand out from under his pillow. He was holding the treasure box with the tooth still inside, "Why is my tooth still here?"<br /><br />Thinking quickly I said, "Oh! I mean, it's still night. Go back to sleep!" Once his eyes were closed I rushed into my bedroom and rooted around my dresser for a quarter. I found one and sprinted back to his room where I tucked it under his pillow while retrieving the tooth. Phew!<br /><br />"Um, mom? That was you, not the tooth fairy."<br /><br />"I know. The tooth fairy is on vacation and asked me to take care of things, but I forgot. I'm sorry."<br /><br />Josiah looked at me askance, but didn't make further comment.<br /><br />That weekend his other front tooth came out while he was playing with friends at church. He ran over to me and showed me that his tooth had come out. I washed it off and put it in my purse for safe keeping. Josiah then went to the sanctuary where he walked up and down the middle aisle, smiling as largley as possible to show off his missing teeth until I realized what he was doing and had him sit down (church was about to start).<br /><br />After church he continued to show off his missing teeth. A couple of people asked if he was going to put his tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy. Josiah responded flatly, "It's just my mom, not the tooth fairy."<br /><br />Oh well. I guess he to find out eventually.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-88059232275332428562008-07-03T16:18:00.005-05:002008-07-03T16:51:45.444-05:00At Home with Down SydromeAl just sent me a link to a nice article about Down Syndrome in <em>The New Atlantis</em>. This is a very nice article exploring recent books about living with Down Syndrome. I highly recommend the article.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/at-home-with-down-syndrome">At Home with Down Syndrome</a> by Caitrin Nicol<br /><br />I love the beginning of the article explaining the possible origins of a painting by Andrea Mantegna, who may have used a child with Down Syndrome as a model for the Christ child. I came across this <a href="http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=32474">painting</a> in a book while I was still pregnant and dealing with Elijah's diagnosis of Down Syndrome. It was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">immensely</span> encouraging to me.<br /><br />I've read most of the books reviewed in the article. I think my favorite book of those reviewed is <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890627852/the-new-atlantis-20">Gifts</a> edited by Kathryn <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Lynard</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Soper</span>. This is a terrific book for families who have just learned that their child has Down Syndrome.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-72783186205134562872008-06-25T17:05:00.010-05:002008-06-26T17:17:36.945-05:00Meme: 7 Things About MeMy husband, <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/06/memed-7-things-about-me.html">Al</a>, tagged me with a meme. Here are the rules:<br /><br /><p> </p><blockquote><p>1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.</p><p>2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.</p><p>3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as<br />links to their blogs.</p><p>4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.</p></blockquote><p> </p><p>So, here are seven facts about me:</p><p>1. I have a <em>huge</em> sweet tooth. When I was a kid I walked six or seven blocks in a snow storm (school was cancelled due to the weather) to buy two candy bars and a coke. My mom would give me quarters so I could call her from school and was always upset when I couldn't call her because I used all of my quarters in the soda machines. Fortunately, I have strong teeth and very few cavities. Our six year old, on the other hand, inherited my sweet tooth but not my strong teeth and has a number of cavities. (I'm munching on M & Ms while I write this).</p><p>2. I am learning American Sign Language. We have purchased a number of <em><a href="http://www.signingtime.com/">Signing Time</a> </em>DVDs for Elijah, who uses a combination of sign language and speech to communicate (his speech is delayed) and I've found that I really enjoy signing. I've been signing the liturgy songs at church for awhile now and decided to take an ASL class at College of DuPage. I am thrilled that our church's children's ministry director is taking the class with me!</p><p>3. I totalled my parent's car one month after I received my driver's license. I was following a friend home late at night on a country road and took a curve <em>way</em> too fast. I haven't been in a car accident since then (I also get nervous if someone I am riding with takes a curve faster than usual).</p><p>4. My biggest fear is that something horrible will happen to our kids. I usually don't express my fears aloud, but when I do mention them to Al he usually thinks I'm really weird. Last night I worried that Elijah would strangle himself in the safety rail of his bed. Al, of course, thought I was weird when I expressed my concern. Elijah was fine and we actually got a decent night of sleep since he didn't fall out of bed even once. </p><p>5. I am very organized at work, but less so at home. I think this is because once I get home from work I no longer have enough energy left to deal with things like filing and organizing. I do try to keep the floors clean, but that just means our dining room table is laden with books, old mail and various school papers. There is also a very cluttered corner on our kitchen cabinet and other trouble spots that seem to overflow with paper and other things.</p><p>6. I have a strong sense of justice. This means I am drawn to organizations such as <a href="http://www.ijm.org/">International Justice Mission</a>. It also means that I can get pretty angry if I feel like I have been wronged. When we moved to our current house we reserved a U Haul moving truck, but when we went to pick it up it was not available. We quickly rented a truck from a different company. I was angry, but didn't lose my temper. Until, that is, we learned that U Haul still charged us $50 for the reservation. I was livid and made numerous calls to their customer service department until a refund was issued. I may look nice, but you don't want to cross me. Just ask Al (he gets to listen to my side of these phone calls).</p><p>7. I am an introvert and somewhat shy. In high school the simple act of talking to a boy (whether I liked him or not) made me blush. This is why I can say with confidence that <em>Al asked me out on our first date! </em>(see number five of Al's <a href="http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2008/06/memed-7-things-about-me.html">meme</a>).<em> </em>I would have been way too shy to ask him to take me to a movie unless it was utterly clear to me that he was actually asking me out. </p><p>So now I am supposed to tag seven other people. I'm an introvert though and I can't think of more than three folks to tag that haven't already been tagged by Al. Here they are:</p><p><a href="http://llamamomma.blogspot.com/">Llama Momma</a></p><p><a href="http://farrier5.blogspot.com/">Shannon Farrier</a></p><p><a href="http://kourifamily.blogspot.com/">Julie Kouri</a></p>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-91260922734336897402008-06-16T10:46:00.003-05:002008-06-16T13:34:11.115-05:00Marker WoesYesterday Josiah bought a book on how to draw Transformers. I read my own book while he sat at the kitchen table and worked on his drawings. After a while he came out and said, "I'm tired. Can you finish the drawing?" I refused for awhile, but after 30 minutes I gave in and agreed to help him if he sat with me. He had done a pretty good job, there were just too many steps and it was taking more time than he wanted. After a few minutes of working on the picture, Josiah moved over to work on a different picture.<br /><br />I was wrapped up in drawing Optimus Prime when Josiah came over with a wet piece of paper. He had drawn the symbols for the Autobots and the Decepticons and was working on coloring one of them with purple marker. "Josiah, why is your paper all wet." When he looked up at me I could see tears beginning to well up. "It's not coming out."<br /><br />"Oh, honey," I said, "marker doesn't come out of paper."<br /><br />He walked to the counter to check the marker and then cried, "But the marker says 'washable'!"<br /><br />I explained the marker was referring to washing out of clothes, not paper. He was disappointed, but went back to work on his art. A few minutes later he came over with a dripping red marker.<br /><br />"Josiah, is the marker all wet?"<br /><br />"Yes. I think the red is all gone."<br /><br />"Did you put the marker under the water?"<br /><br />"Yes. It had stuff on it... Can you put the red back?" He was clearly upset (again).<br /><br />"I'm sorry, buddy, I can't put the red back," I said as tears started rolling down his cheeks. "Put the cap back on the marker and let it sit for awhile. Maybe it will be okay if we don't use it for a few minutes."<br /><br />A little while later Al came home from a used bookstore. He proudly showed me a couple of new CDs he picked up. Then he said, "Look!" and proudly held up a copy of <em>The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon</em>. (At this point I should mention that Elijah has vandalized our house with a purple marker twice already. Once all over our downstairs, including our formerly white furniture, and more recently all over our upstairs. He wrote on the walls, the carpet, the refrigerator, his pillow...practically <em>everything</em>. Most of it came out, but it was still pretty frustrating.)<br /><br />I looked at Al in disbelief. "You bought <em>The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon</em> for a child who has taken his own adventures with a purple marker twice already?! Do you really want to encourage that?" Al gasped in sudden realization and quickly dropped the book in our kitchen garbage (which, conveniently, was right next to him).<br /><br />We all laughed. Al retrieved the book and went to hide it somewhere until Elijah gets a little older and has more self-control.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-7415385509420710402008-06-13T14:27:00.006-05:002008-06-13T15:11:59.426-05:00To Sleep or Not to SleepAs I mentioned <a href="http://teamhsu.blogspot.com/2008/03/goodbye-crib.html">earlier</a>, Elijah has outgrown his crib. We quickly converted his crib to a toddler bed and surrounded it with pillows until he learned how to stay in bed without falling out. Three months later he is still falling out of bed multiple times each night. Each time he falls out of bed, we get up and gently settle him back into bed.<br /><br />Tired of, well, being tired all of the time, Al and decided to buy a bunk bed. We thought between having a larger bed and adding a safety rail we could get Elijah to stay in bed and that we might actually get some full nights of sleep again. So last Sunday we went to IKEA and found a reasonably priced bunk bed and brought it home. It was bedtime when we got home so we left the boxed bed downstairs. Al left Monday morning for a trip and I thought I would wait until he got home to put the bed together.<br /><br />On Monday I was excited about the new bed and had the day off anyway, so I thought I would start getting things ready for the new bed while Al was gone. I started by rearranging the toy room so we could move Josiah's old bed into it. Then I decided I may was well move Josiah's old bed while I was at it. Then, since Elijah has been sleeping on his crib mattress on the floor anyway, I decided to take apart his crib and put into storage. Once I finished that I realized it was only mid-afternoon.<br /><br />To make a long story short, I ended up assembling the new bunk bed and rearranging the toy room and the boy's bedroom on Monday afternoon. I did most of the work by myself while the kids occupied themselves watching videos and playing on their own. Josiah helped a bit when I got into a bit of a fix. I kept saying "Dangit!" when something didn't work quite right and Josiah kept responding, "Mommy, that's a bad word. Please don't use bad words anymore."<br /><br />Josiah also used part of the time I was busy working on the bed to crumble some of the styrofoam packing <em>all over the house!</em> I knew he was up to something when I heard him<br />laughing nefariously (seriously - he was cackling while he went around on his crumbling mission). Elijah used part of the time to dump foam alphabet stickers all over the family room. By bedtime I had finished building the bed, cleaned up the toy room, bedroom and family room and vacuumed most of the styrofoam up. Oh yeah, I also did a few loads of laundry. The next day I woke up tired, bruised and sore. Actually, I'm still bruised and sore.<br /><br />To make matters worse, I'm still tired. Why? I found out that you can't use a safety rail on a bunk bed. It's not safe. (sigh). Thinking I was oh-so-smart I put the mattress crib on the floor next to the bunk bed and put the safety rail on the crib mattress. I figured if Elijah fell out of the bottom bunk he would land comfortably on the crib mattress and that the safety rail would keep him from rolling onto the floor (and waking us up). Not so. He woke me up two or three times last night. He falls comfortably onto the crib mattress and then ends up scooting off the head or foot of the mattress, which are still open. Then he kicks the floor to sooth himself back to sleep, which always wakes me up and I just can't leave him sleeping on the floor without feeling guilty. Well, that and I can't fall back to sleep with all of that incessant foot banging!<br /><br />So, our investment of approximately $400 and 6 hours of hard labor for a good nights sleep resulted in a battered and bruised body and a new bed that both kids think is fun. It did not, however, result in better sleep for Elijah or for the rest of us. Oh well. He has to learn how to stay in his bed all night <em>eventually</em>, right? Until then don't be surprised if I'm a little tired and grumpy.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-91979746855201533572008-06-06T16:45:00.003-05:002008-06-06T16:57:16.726-05:00ForgivenI was able to visit my parent's on Mother Day weekend and gave my mom a copy of my <a href="http://teamhsu.blogspot.com/2008/05/apology.html">apology</a>. After reading through it she sniffled a bit and gave me a hug. A few minutes later she commented, "Ellen, do you realize how little any of the things you apologized for really mattered? When I read your apology for wrecking the car I had to stop and think for a minute before I remembered what you were even referring to. I had forgotten it even happened."<br /><br />This reminds me of how God's forgiveness works. When I go back to God apologizing for something again and again I wonder if he looks at me gently and thinks, "You know, I'd completely forgotten about that until you brought it up again."<br /><br /><blockquote><p>The LORD is compassionate and gracious,<br /> slow to anger, abounding in love.<br />He will not always accuse,<br /> nor will he harbor his anger forever;<br />he does not treat us as our sins deserve<br /> or repay us according to our iniquities.<br />For as high as the heavens are above the earth,<br /> so great is his love for those who fear him;<br />as far as the east is from the west,<br /> so far has he removed our transgressions from us.<br />As a father has compassion on his children,<br /> so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;<br />for he knows how we are formed,<br /> he remembers that we are dust. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=103&version=31&context=chapter">Psalm 103</a>: 8-14)</p></blockquote>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-59957149387139262922008-05-09T12:41:00.004-05:002008-05-09T12:58:20.605-05:00An ApologyI would like to apologize to my mom. I'm sorry for all the times that I did not listen to you. I'm sorry for all the times when I embarrassed you in public. I'm sorry that I sometimes I avoided being with you or said mean things to you. I'm sorry for sometimes running out of the house in a huff and not telling you where I was going. I'm sorry for the time I poked wholes in wall with my baton. I'm sorry for wrecking your car. And if I ever wrote on your furniture with markers, I am really, really sorry (now I know how frustrating that is!)<br /><br />In my defense, I never fully understood how deep a mother's love is until I became a mother myself. Last week I was reminded of how very, very much I love my kids. Then it occurred to me that you probably love me in the same way. Wow! I've always known that you love me. You made a point of telling that you loved us every single day and I haven't forgotten. I just never realized how deeply you love me until now.<br /><br />So, thank you for all the ways you have shown your love. Thank you for the times you let me eat the last Dilly Bar. Thank you for buying me nice dresses for special occassions. Thank you for putting up with me when I was angry, frustrated, grumpy, sad or just plain silly. Thank you for buying me the little trophy at the pageant. Thank you for painting over the football wallpaper in my bedroom with pretty shades of blue that matched my bedspread. Thank you for driving me to summer camp, college and other far off places. Thank you for letting us back track two hours when I left my purse in a restaurant on vacation. And thanks for understanding how important that was to me at the time. Thank you for taking care of me when I was sick. Thank you for always supporting and encouraging me. Thank you for not being completely perfect. It gives me hope that my kids will turn out okay, too. Thank you for loving me so well. Thank you for teaching me to love. You're a great mom and I love you.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-49929127738516954072008-05-05T11:30:00.004-05:002008-05-05T12:03:30.386-05:00I'm an Artist!Like many kids, Josiah enjoys drawing and coloring. His bedroom walls are quickly filling with the fruit of his crayons, markers and creativity. Yesterday he drew a picture and then proudly proclaimed, "I'm an artist! I once was a little boy, but then I drew and drew some more and now I am an artist. I don't wear an artist hat though. I may only be a little boy, but my art is big!"<br /><br />Oh to have his confidence. We talked briefly about how everyone in our family is an artist (Papa is an author, Mommy sings and Elijah's at least learning to draw), but I would never describe myself as an artist to someone else. I might say that I enjoy singing and that I like stamping my own cards, but to call myself an artist would seem like a stretch. And yet, in many ways, I am an artist. We all are in one way or another.<br /><br />Later in the day I was working on stamping some cards and Josiah asked to help. I'm a little too protective of my own creative works to let him help with my cards, so I put him to work creating his own cards. He observed different techniques I used and wanted to try them all. I had to work on my sharing skills since my stamping supplies are more expensive than his, but we worked things out pretty well. He particularly enjoyed making Transformers "postage" stamps for use on future letters.<br /><br />Our art may not be displayed outside our mother's homes, but Josiah and I are both artists, even if one of us is reluctant to admit it.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-57867943238409686522008-04-22T13:24:00.000-05:002008-04-22T13:24:59.289-05:00Wrong NumberThe other day I tried to call Al at the office to ask him a question. I was surprised when a woman answered the phone, quickly apologized for dialing the wrong number and hung up. As I was hanging up I thought, "Wait! Her voice sounded familiar..." I glanced at the LCD display of the number I had just called and quickly redialed.<br /><br />"Hi Mom. That was me. I didn't mean to crank call you. I was trying to call Al and dialed the wrong number." We both had a good laugh.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-24253723978922853912008-04-16T13:42:00.007-05:002008-04-17T10:39:15.877-05:00Photos of Elijah's Birthday and First Day of SchoolHere are some photos of Elijah's birthday and his first day of school:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q1yUokIjF8n6gCUC25o3IMw4lONvAILphsakc_plKLha8f_aHqFKc-MoRigpnbPgGizHvHOnggxkQfDqpeN-HzWdp6PNH888kOEvAEQpmFiqcr8MrJ03Vl7VKxadlUEVB0cs_A/s1600-h/DSCN4131.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q1yUokIjF8n6gCUC25o3IMw4lONvAILphsakc_plKLha8f_aHqFKc-MoRigpnbPgGizHvHOnggxkQfDqpeN-HzWdp6PNH888kOEvAEQpmFiqcr8MrJ03Vl7VKxadlUEVB0cs_A/s320/DSCN4131.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189916337294757010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yay! I'm finally three years old! <br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZ535NfSjzh2QhcsluG6sqGCnfLzhuOtNaQl2Ns8s8QgkF0w-pC1YOpZCLezEoZKi1oZla_Lf4Xyn7naEo-Uzy5mrBOqi_-joZQGWVVlHCiEL15w8p0OxIZlX-EoN34oJGPltJg/s1600-h/DSCN4163.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZ535NfSjzh2QhcsluG6sqGCnfLzhuOtNaQl2Ns8s8QgkF0w-pC1YOpZCLezEoZKi1oZla_Lf4Xyn7naEo-Uzy5mrBOqi_-joZQGWVVlHCiEL15w8p0OxIZlX-EoN34oJGPltJg/s320/DSCN4163.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189916345884691634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Trying to put on a new shirt.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2qpm-_PB00227b_TjczUYuM231_eDdWUc1vm8IobarVUEMIM8qB0by1zsvXYtG4nMqO2A_U1MgaR9r9Ui9kvGj9xuxWyE-Bfj6xZ9uh0wIsFozbPcuogkZ6AmMb6A-IqdolgAA/s1600-h/DSCN4179.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2qpm-_PB00227b_TjczUYuM231_eDdWUc1vm8IobarVUEMIM8qB0by1zsvXYtG4nMqO2A_U1MgaR9r9Ui9kvGj9xuxWyE-Bfj6xZ9uh0wIsFozbPcuogkZ6AmMb6A-IqdolgAA/s320/DSCN4179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189916350179658946" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Birthday cake, yum!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkthBhJlj6kQkjqgDpiXoEqbfKZab_3Vywe42TLR-tvPRZ3fU2yXWmMEGcfgXPIJMHNelUsbu812WPFnzBZbwAiRcrKU_z_oaiHoZR4-g9cyZNvjS2PqeZHBaYSL6XAEM0EbHkg/s1600-h/DSCN4198.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkthBhJlj6kQkjqgDpiXoEqbfKZab_3Vywe42TLR-tvPRZ3fU2yXWmMEGcfgXPIJMHNelUsbu812WPFnzBZbwAiRcrKU_z_oaiHoZR4-g9cyZNvjS2PqeZHBaYSL6XAEM0EbHkg/s320/DSCN4198.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189916337294757026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yay! I finally get to go to school!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhF33bks5vD0m6lrj9PkUSewhyphenhyphenSdje2LN_Ny_nhFa69a-tJSpmyhl_e7_fZl1zca2BpFN4ADNm8jYUqNjv2CUzSbg9FaekmLhqEdJQvmm2iVJwWSRGmFIyHXmqhxDqLgsYX8rXQ/s1600-h/DSCN4201.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhF33bks5vD0m6lrj9PkUSewhyphenhyphenSdje2LN_Ny_nhFa69a-tJSpmyhl_e7_fZl1zca2BpFN4ADNm8jYUqNjv2CUzSbg9FaekmLhqEdJQvmm2iVJwWSRGmFIyHXmqhxDqLgsYX8rXQ/s320/DSCN4201.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189916354474626258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Isn't his backpack cute?Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-11793452174136400822008-04-16T12:39:00.006-05:002008-04-16T13:13:35.053-05:00Bus WoesWe have decided to have both of our kids take the bus to school. Our decision is based on a number of factors including what is best for the kids, what works best in our daily schedule, safety and what is best for the environment. As well thought out as our reasons may be, I am still feeling mommy guilt and recent situations with the bus have only increased my anxieties.<br /><br />When Josiah started taking the bus to school we had problems with the bus not showing up because he was new to the route and they forgot about him. This winter the bus was extremely late a number of times due to substitute drivers who did not know the route very well. So, we knew there might be some glitches, but were hopeful that things might go well. This was not be.<br /><br />Elijah started preschool last week and we've been waiting for the bus company to call and tell us when they would begin providing bus service for Elijah. We had not received any calls so I left for work yesterday thinking that Elijah's grandma would drive him to and from school again (I'm stuck in meetings for work most of this week and can't be home as much as usual). So, when the school called at 2:40 and told me that Elijah was stuck on the bus because there was no one home for the bus driver to drop him off, I freaked out a little. Okay, a lot. ("What?! I didn't even know he was on the bus today! Why didn't anyone call?!")<br /><br />After a frantic phone call I learned that Elijah was already at home at that his grandma had driven him both to and from school. Apparently, the driver was new to the route and did not know the kids by sight and had misunderstood which kid was actually on the bus. Eek! When I told Al about my conversation with his mom, he laughed and said she probably thought I was crazy. ("Mom? Where are you?! Elijah's still on the bus and they said you're not home!...No, not Josiah, Elijah! He's stuck on the bus!")<br /><br />Later the bus company left a message saying that they would begin Elijah on the bus on Wednesday. I called back that evening to remind them that Elijah needs a safety vest and to make sure I knew as much information as possible about what to expect.<br /><br />Today I received another phone call, this time from Elijah's grandma. The bus arrived on time, but they did not have a safety vest for Elijah. Thankfully, Grandma said she would not allow Elijah on the bus without a safety vest. Unfortunately, I did not think to leave my car keys at home which meant that she had to transfer the car seat from my car to her own, which is not an easy task. She seemed very flustered and kept mentioning that she does not trust the bus company. This, of course, simply adds to both my anxiety and my sense of guilt. sigh.<br /><br />I called the school to explain that Elijah would be late and to complain about the bus. They are working to remedy the situation.<br /><br />On the bright side, Elijah's principal called to tell me how well Elijah is doing in class. She had just visited his class briefly and mentioned that he sat for most of the circle time. She also mentioned that one of the teacher's aide's said that Elijah is "really smart." Yay, Elijah! I really like our school. I just wish the bus company was a little more reliable.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-9979322434686055112008-04-10T17:15:00.003-05:002008-04-10T17:24:07.765-05:00Elijah is Three!This has been a significant week for Elijah. His Individualized Education Plan (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">IEP</span>) meeting with his school was on Monday, his third birthday on Tuesday and his first day of preschool on Wednesday!<br /><br />We are very pleased with the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">IEP</span> and the services that Elijah will receive. Our school district has been very easy to work with so far. Elijah's birthday was fun, but low-key. Al's mom and brother came over for dinner and we had cake and presents. Josiah had fun helping Elijah open his gifts and Elijah had fun throwing his arms in the air and yelling "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Yay</span>!" when we wished him a happy birthday.<br /><br />Elijah's first day of school went well. He was a little nervous when I dropped him off, but had a good day. His <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">teacher</span> reported that he was happy and that he enjoyed exploring the room. I had a much harder time. I was able to hold my smile while dropping him off but started crying as soon as I got in my car to drive to work. Once I got to work I bawled in my office for awhile. He's just so small and he's our last child and he's starting preschool earlier than Josiah did... It all added up to a traumatic couple of hours for me. I felt much better once Al picked Elijah up from school and called to assure me that Elijah had a good first day. I think Elijah will really enjoy school once he gets used to the new setting and the new people.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-71513516963913408582008-03-25T06:28:00.007-05:002008-04-02T13:52:26.752-05:00Quick Quotes from JosiahThe other day Josiah came home from school and said, "Guess what!"<br /><br />"What?"<br /><br />"An older girl on the bus called me a cutie... I didn't mind. She's going to sit next to me tomorrow."<br /><br />(I love the "I didn't mind" part!)<br /><br />--<br /><br />While looking at his chest in the mirror Josiah noticed his ribs. I said, "Do know what ribs are for?" (I was planning to explain how they protect his heart and lungs).<br /><br />He responded, "They make women."<br /><br />It took me a few seconds to realize he was thinking about how God used one of Adam's ribs to create Eve.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25552831.post-7753459244529890492008-03-25T06:19:00.004-05:002008-03-25T06:28:34.039-05:00SleepwalkingI woke up at 3:00 this morning to the sound of someone closing the refrigerator. A quick glance to my left confirmed that Al was still in bed so I quickly got up to investigate. I found Elijah sleeping in the hallway outside the kitchen and a jar of applesauce (his favorite food) sitting on the kitchen table.<br /><br />At 4:00 this morning I thought I saw Elijah walk past our bedroom door. I worried that he might fall down the stairs in his sleep and struggled to wake up or at least wake Al up. I thought, "I have to get him! I have to get him!" When I finally woke up I realized I had been dreaming. I got up to check on Elijah. It was dark and I couldn't see very well. I leaned forward to look into the hallway and bonked my head on our closed bedroom door. Al woke up when I said, "Ow!" a little too loudly. Elijah, of course, was sound asleep in his bed. I wasn't able to fall asleep again.<br /><br />On a happier note, on Sunday Elijah walked up to me at our church Easter celebration, signed "Love" and gave me a big hug. That was the first time Elijah told me he loved me. It made an already wonderful day even better!Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16568492060920048890noreply@blogger.com0