Summer Reading

How did that term get started? Do people read more in the summer than other seasons? If it's refering to students, believe me, they don't read more (if at all) in the summer than they do when school is in session. So, I'm the nerdy type who reads in all four seasons. When Tim watches the History channel until 11:00 pm, I'm in bed...reading. And this summer's selections, so far, have been extraordinarily good! So good, in fact, that I thought I should share and encourage others to pick one of these up. In no particular order:

1. The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel.
I just finished this today. It won the Man Booker Prize, so I'm not the only one who found it delightful. It's the adventure of an Indian teenager who seeks God in Christianity, Islam, and his native Hinduism. He lives at the zoo that his family owns. When life gets bad in India (after Ghandi is killed), his family moves to Canada; though, the Japanese charter boat that they're on-with all the animals-sinks outside of Manila. Bum luck. Pi (the boy), a tiger, a zebra, an orangutan, and a hyena make it to a life boat. I dont' know what type of luck that is. Everyone else perishes. How did this kid survive 200 plus days on the open Pacific in a crowded lifeboat with wild animals? You have to read the book, but here's a clue: God. And supposeldy, it's a true story....but that's part of the plot, so I won't give it away. Favorite line in the book? "And so it goes with God." Awesome novel!

2. Acts of Faith, by Philip Caputo.
Philip Caputo actually won the Pulizer as a journalist, writing for the Chicago Tribune. But, since then, he's written a lot of novels that are based on real wars, places, true to culture, time, and circumstance. Maybe you have to have been an NGO worker to really appreciate this novel; it is slow in the middle. But it definately succeeded in it's point: to show that good works are not always good works, and vice-versa. Like when visitors to Phnom Penh would look at me as if to say, "...and you call yourself a Christian!" whenever I told them NOT to give money to the begging children on the street along the Mekong. But what they DON'T see is the man in the suit across the street taking the money from the "poor" children who collect it from naive tourists. In the developping world, good and bad actions aren't so transparent, even "acts of faith." This novel is set in war-torn, modern Sudan, and focuses on the Christian groups who try to buy slaves their freedom, NGO's who deliver food and medical supplies to starving tribes, trans-religious Sudanese rebel commanders, and arms smugglers. Like I said, this one was a little slow in spots, and I had to continually ask Tim questions, like, "What's a Kalishnikov?" and "Explain this paragraph about mortar rounds to me." But, in all seriousness, it was a thought-provoking study on ethics and aid in the third world.

3. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant.
First off, this choice does not win any awards for literature, as most "Christian novels" don't. But the surprising thing was that this book wasn't Christian at all. It was much more Jewish, if anything, as the author is Jewish, but YHWH was hardly even a supporting character. This book had been recomended to me for years, and I always said, "Uhhhh...that's just not my type of writing." And it isn't still. But it was one of those intruguing, quick reads, very accurate histortically and culturally to ancient Middle-Eastern times, and an interesting Biblical supplement. It is, as most of you know, the story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. In the Bible, Dinah is only mentioned twice: the fact that she is the only girl born to Jacob , and that she is raped, and her brothers lead a vengeful massacre against the rapist's people on the wake of their circumcision. In the Bible, Dinah's brothers, who become the 12 tribes of Israel, are well recorded. This novel-admittingly fictional-atempts to tell the unknown story of Dinah. Even if you're a strong Christian, read it with your Bible open! There were several times I had to look up and see, "is that really how that story goes?" Most of the time, it wasn't. But the book is a culturally accurate celebration of women, rites of women, birth, and wifedom in Dinah's time. Warning: A LOT of sex. I mean, after all, Jacob had four wives...this is the story of how those children came to be...Dinah becomes a midwife...where do babies come from?....

4. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes.
Yeah-that little book about the mouse that most high school students have to read (not in the summer). Somehow, I missed that unit and never read the book. This novel is written as a journal, and when I realized that, admittedly, I groaned. But, it really works for this little book! There is a reason this one is required reading. It's fabulous! I will never look at a retarded adult this same way again! Not that I was inhumane to retarded people before, but this book will give you understanding beyond words for the plight of the mentally retarded. I cried and cried at the end of this book! I won't give it away, but most know that it is about a scientific experiment done on a mouse-Algernon-that makes the mouse a genious. A mentally retarded adult is chosen to undergo the same experiment, and he rises to a man with an IQ of 170+. The book is his journal, at first written as a retarded adult. Warning: parts of it are hard to read! I mean, with an IQ of 45, he doesn't use grammar, punctuation, and he can't spell. But the journal entries get better and better until he reaches genious level. And then Algernon, the mouse, starts to deteriorate... If you missed this in high school, like I did, read it now! It was so enlightening!

5. The Known World, by Edward P. Jones.
This one, like most of the others, and most books I read, is based on true events. However, there never really was a man named Henry Townsend, or a widow named Caldonia. But there was slavery in North Carolina after the Civil War. What I didn't know was that there were black slave holders! That's what this book is about: free blacks in the south who purchased slaves. Would having been a slave make them more temperate slave owners? Would they have intensified internal ethical debates over this issue? This was a spectacular look at true history, through the lives of fictional characters, who made complex moral choices. It was also a lesson on racism, then and now, and love in its purist form. My favorite line: "I wonder if Moses done ate yet." Oh, if only I were at the level of forgiving, unconditionally loving, humanity to be able to ask that question... Yes-you have to read the book to get it. By the way, this one won the Pulitzer, and goes right up there with Roots, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Invisible Man in the genre of African American literature. As the previous three are, The Known World should be required reading.

What are your favorite reads right now? I'm all out of new novels, and I need a heads-up on a good one! Happy Reading!

C.'s New Game

Hey-wanna play my new favorite game with me? It's so fun; I play it all day!

First-now this is the amazing part-I throw a blanket over my head, and POOF! I disapear!

Look! I'm invisible! GONE! Betcha can't find me...Where am I??? Where am I??? Ha! Ohhhh... I told you this game was great...but wait...

"PEEK-A-BOO!" (That's what you say when you find your way out from under the blanket). "PEEK-A-BOO!" Is that great, or what?!

Oh, I love this game...HILARIOUS! Let's play it again.

New Teeth!

My name is J, and these are my old teeth. The top ones were rotten from my life in the Philippines. My big sister let me go to sleep with a bottle when I was a baby, and the sisters at the orphanage did this too. They didn't know any better, but that rots your teeth. When I came to America, to my new home, Mommy took me to the dentist. I don't like the dentist-not at all-but he said he needed to give me new teeth so that I could eat and talk better.

Here's me with my new teeth! These don't chip away, and I can eat better, and I speak better in speech therapy. They're nicer than the ones Mommy thought I was going to get because the dentist only had to use enamel instead of caps. He realized this after he gave me some medicine and tied me down on a papoose board and started scrapping away at my brown teeth. I didn't like that one bit! Mommy doesn't like it either; she told Daddy that if she went to the dentist with me she'd cry and that would scare me. So Daddy got to go with me! He was very patient-even after I screamed and screamed (for four hours!). Daddy was there in the operating room to hold my hand, and he gave me ice-cream when it was all over. Mommy still cried though-when I smiled at her when I came home with my new teeth-but she said it was a happy cry, so that's OK. I sure love Daddy, and I like my new teeth!

"How many kids do you have?"
"Two," I answer, but inside, many days, I'm thinking, "Three. I have a 10 mon. old, a 2 yr. and 10 mon. old, and a 30 year old."

But, I wouldn't have it any other way! Without Timmy, who else would take J down the firemen's pole at the park, make goofy faces at C until he couldn't laugh any more, and...teach them the unending joy of riding down the stairs on a blanket. Weeeee! I remember my brother, Steve, and I putting on our fuzzy footed pajamas when we were kids and racing down the stairs head first, feet first, and on our tummies. Those really were fun times huh, Steve? Well, instead of bedtime, this is the scene I walked into after a trip to the grocery store the other day. Actually, I heard it before I saw it,
"Hold on, J! 1...2...3..." Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, "Ahhhhh!" and then two boys-make that three-laughing hysterically.

I know by now that sounds like those require the camera, pre-set to the sports setting to capture any moment that is happening very fast. When I found the boys, they were at the top of the stairs again, and J was signing "more." (see picture) It's hard to tell who is having the most fun here, I know, but that's how it should be, I guess. Enjoy your week!

Happy 4th of July!






We had a wonderful 4th of July with friends that we hadn't seen in quite a while. We went to their house, cooked out, set off fireworks, and talked for hours. We got home about 11:30; the boys were in bed asleep by 11:31, and Tim and I got to sleep just after midnight. So, when C woke up crying at 7:00 am this morning, all I could say was, "You have got to be kidding!" as I put my pillow over head and groaned. There are literally NO days (or mornings) off in parenting, huh? When I went in to get C though, J was flat on his stomach, arms and legs spread wide, lying horizantally across the bed. He was so still that I couldn't help but check his pulse! Alas-all was well. He was breathing, but exhausted.

As expected, J was not fond of fireworks! But, he didn't cry. He either attached himself like a crab to Tim (see picture), or curled up in the lap of a friend. Whenever a round of fireworks stopped, he'd sign, "all done," and we'd say, "not yet-they'll be more," and he'd put his head back down, hold on, and wait for the next round to be over. At least he felt safe, even if he didn't like them. He enjoyed the sparklers, though. As long as it didn't make a loud noise, he liked it. C, on the other hand, well...what doesn't C like? He sat in my lap, gummed a blue icing cookie, and contentedly watched the light show all night!

We hope you all had a Happy 4th as well! The freedom that we have in Christ and country is a blessing that most of the world is living without, and it was nice to take a day to be grateful and recognize those gifts with friends and family.

My friend, Mario

It seems these two were a bit notorious at the orphanage for being, well..."all boy." Here they are climbing around and eating in a couple of shots that were captured for J.'s Life Book that the orphanage put together for us.


Mario and his teddy, "Leonard": We are so blessed to have an adoption support community-via the world wide web. We are a part of a yahoo group made up of families from around the world who have, and are, adopting children from the Philippines. It was from this group that we learned specific timelines for paperwork, how to make USCIS work for you , the details of attachment disorders, what hotels in Manila are within walking distance of the Embassy, and just pure encouragement when the waiting and red tape seemed endless.

Another huge benefit from this group is that sometimes, children from the same orphanage are adopted by parents who are both members of the group. God's hand has been on J. from the day he was born, clearly, and this is no more evident than in his friendship with little Mario. (Don't you love those chubby cheeks!) J. and Mario were best buds at their orphanage. They both spent months together at this orphanage, and though a year apart in age, they had no trouble getting into trouble together! They were inseparatable from what we can tell, and there were several pictures of J. and Mario playing together in the Life Book that the nuns put together for me when I met Judah to bring him home. In the greatest miracle of all, God delivered families to Manila to pick up each of these boys within seven days of each other, so neither boy was left behind for long.

A couple of months after J. came home, I saw a post on the yahoo group that said, "the parents of J.." A wonderfully sweet couple, Peter and Karen from Canberra, Australia, brought Mario to his forever a week before I brought J. home. On a whim, Karen decided to check the group to see if "J's" parents were members. Lo and Behold- we were, and we have been in contact ever since.

It was so amazing to share stories about the boys. How they both are mischievious in the same way, how they both came home signing, "all done" the same way, how Mario named his teddy bear after our son immediately after coming home, and how J. points out Mario in his Life Book with a look of love and loss. We share pictures regularly now, and J. laughs with delight to see Mario show up on the computer screen. (See above) Those two share a bond that few of us do with another human being. Though babies, God put them together as a source of joy in an otherwise tragic time. I don't know if J. still gets "homesick" for his Philippine caretakers, but I can tell from his reaction to Mario's pictures that he misses him. Hopefully, one day, we can get those two together again. Tim and I certainly wouldn't argue against a trip to Australia in a few years! In the meantime, we're encouraged by God's providence even for the littlest of His creation. He shines a ray of sunshine out there for all of us, and for a time in J.'s life, his sunbeam was named Mario.

You can visit Peter, Karen and Mario's blog by clicking on "J.'s friend, Mario" in the right hand margin of this page.

Our Visit with Grandparents

We had a busy and exciting visit with my dad and his wife, Janne recently. They came in Thursday and left Tuesday. We spent a couple of days on the coast at the beach and the aquarium. We swam closer to the pier this time, and the water was so clear you could see the seashells from beyond where the waves break. Judah didn't scream nearly as much, and he even signed "more" a time or two while in the ocean when the waves swooshed over him. The Fearless Caleb considered taking up surfing, but we're waiting until he can walk before we encourage that. Clearly, Judah was not in a mood to have his picture taken at the aquarium, but we saw some beautiful fish up close. We had a nice Father's Day lunch at a Bar-B-Que place in town after church on Sunday. Judah never got tired of the "here comes the bee-bzzzzzzzzzzzz..." game with Paw Paw, and after they left, Judah walked around the house saying, "Paw Paw," looking for him, and signing, "airplane." I think he almost has it figured out that family come and go on airplanes, but that doesn't mean they're gone forever! Dad and Janne, Tim and I enjoyed the dinner out-alone-and we can't wait to see you all again! So, who's next???? Tom and Alexis? Ted and Lisa? We have a room for you, and summers here aren't nearly as humid and miserable as they are in the midwest. Plus...we have the ocean...any takers???

Nothing other than some cute pics

There's no other reason for this post other than I'm so in love with these two boys I think my heart could burst! :) And two other things: 1. C. loves pickles. Isn't that weird? I think it's because they're the perfect teethers; irregardless, he's made a habit of gumming away his "pre-dinner pickle" lately. 2. After a little rocky start full of jealousy and distance, these two have become inseparable! J. is protective of C. now, and C. cracks up at all of J.'s antics. They are true brothers.

Thanks, Mom!

Here are some pictures from our visit with my mom last week (and one cute one from her last visit). J. calls her "La," short for "Lolah" which is "grandma" in Tagalog. It's always nice when grandparents come in to give Tim and I a break! My mom doesn't hesitate to jump in to change diapers, feed a kid, or redirect a behavior. Tim and I even got a night out to enjoy some Mexican food and good coffee-kid free! We had a great time, Mom, and we can't wait to see the other grandparents-oddly enough, the only ones who go by the traditional "Grandma and Grandpa"- in a couple of weeks.