Blessings
Another appointed Gospel reading hits the mark:
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The bookkeeping for our finances seems to multiply exponentially. I haven't always been able to keep on top of it, since there are a few other things in my life that occupy my time. Consequently, we periodically get socked with late fees and overdraft charges.
Deciding to shift the paradigm, I purchased the 2009 version of Quicken and set up our accounts to automatically update from our bank through the internet. What a timesaver! Now I know exactly how much money we have--but it's not enough!
Actually, however, we do have all we need. Read the following portion of the upcoming Gospel for July 19 (Mark 6:37-43):
But [Jesus] answered [his disciples],“You give [the crowd] something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.And we, who live in the richest country in the world, complain about not having enough? I am reminded again of all the generous people who helped us bring Kola here and reunite him with his family.
More Acculturation
"Mom, what is 'heh-ree pah-tuh'?"
"Kola, he's a boy, and that's his name."
"What is 'pah-tuh'?"
"That's his last name. You are Peter Stahlke, and he is Harry Potter."
Kola had picked up these two words from a lively discussion at the supper table last night. He's a rare child not to know about today's premiere of
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So when our library sponsored a "theater evening" last night to celebrate the premiere, we allowed Kola to attend even though the event started at his bedtime.
As I waited in the library near the party room, one of the librarians rushed out excitedly to tell me that Kola had won the drawing for tickets to the movie! He received four tickets, and Jonathan bought four more within the hour. Kola is going to his first Harry Potter movie, and the whole family is attending our first opening-night movie!
Again
We love homophones at our house. They make for some interesting questions about meaning. Here's a few more, although they stretch the definition. Just imagine them spoken with a Ukrainian accent.
Thursday, thirsty
mustard, monster
"Hey, dude!"
Oh, to be young and learning a language! In less than nine months, Kola's English is correct, fluent, and colloquial.
Birthday Outings with Mom (2009)
Paul, 15
The Uninvitedhorror
Adam, 14
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallenaction
Rachel, 13
The Proposalromantic comedy
Sarah, 11
Hannah Montana: The Moviecoming of age
David, 10
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs3-D cartoon
Peter, 6
Monsters vs. Aliens3-D cartoon
Learning to Read
Kola is starting to read by sounding out his first words: "Sam the cat sat and sat." Another word in his workbook came quickly: "bed". His dad asked him how he knew the word "bed" so well. He answered: "It looks like a bed, with the high part for your head and feet. The round circles are the pillows, and the 'e' keeps you from falling out!"
More Homophones
Mama plays the organ at church, and Kola loves to draw pictures of "Mama's big 'pianino.'" He has learned the English word "organ," but he had quite the quizzical look on his face when we discussed making a trip to "Oregon."
A similar moment occured when I finally submitted information to our accountant for our federal tax return. He wondered how "taxes" and "Texas" could be the same!
Mama's Naptime
Today has been non-stop between working at church in the morning and preparing for Rachel's birthday in the afternoon. After we celebrated her birthday at snacktime with cake and presents, I stretched out on my bed for a few minutes in preparation for the next activity (taking the kids to the library).
Kola entered and stood quietly near me. "Mama, are you sleeping?"
"Yes."
"What song do you want to sing?"
"Kola, let's sing 'Old McDonald.'"
After singing, he launched into "Now, I lay me down to sleep . . . ."
When the prayer was done, he gave me a kiss on my cheek.
Peeling an Onion, Part IV
Having decided on international adoption, we conducted a lot of research to find the specific country from which we would adopt. Luckily for us, only five countries had appreciable numbers of siblings groups available: Colombia, Philippines, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. These five options quickly divided into groups based on two factors.
Jonathan's fluency in Spanish (from his years as a missionary kid) gave Colombia both positive and negative aspects for us. While he would be able to speak easily with the children, my language ability would be much less adept. He didn't want there to be such a difference between us, especially since my limited ability in Spanish might affect bonding with me as compared to him.
The Philippines did not have this issue, as the language is either English or Tagalog, and Jonathan and I would be on an even footing. But then the next factor came into play. In Colombia and the Philippines, the children available for adoption would look very different from us. So, we had to decide between a conspicuous or inconspicuous adoption (the terms we saw in the literature). We did a lot of reading and then talked with our counselors and other adoptive parents. It became clear that the reaction of the public to a conspicuous adoption would be something with which we would have to deal. While positive reaction would be possible, so would negative reaction. Actually, any reaction at all is another emotional thing to handle.
After much, much discussion, we decided that, for us, the challenge of adopting a large sibling group would be great enough that we wanted to minimize the impact of other issues. We therefore decided to adopt from eastern Europe, which is where our ancestors once lived (Sweden, Germany, and Russia). Besides choosing an inconspicuous adoption, we also decided to ask for healthy children. But that's another story for another post.
Fourth of July
It is still very, very necessary to prepare Kola for new events. Otherwise, he melts down, and we carry him screaming to his bed for a timeout. Luckily, the other children are learning that he's having a tantrum. The other day I heard David explain to Sarah that we weren't hurting Kola even though he was yelling up a storm.
Kola showed a lot of fear about fireworks this past weekend. I explained to him that we'd see big (in Chicago), medium (in Forest Park), and small fireworks (at our house). On Friday, July 3, we joined a million other people to view the Chicago fireworks display at the lakefront. Kola was relieved that the sparks from the fireworks landed in the lake, quite some distance from our location. After seeing the first few minutes of the show, he told Jonathan, "They're doing a good job." After the show concluded, I pointed out to him that the boats on the lake would start moving as they left the scene. It's fun to see their lights change from stationary to zig-zags.
The next day, as we prepared to watch the Forest Park display, Kola learned from his brothers that the rockets would be launched from the park near our swimming pool. "Mom, the sparks will land in the water! What about the people who are swimming there? At least the toy boats will be ok."
Images
July 1984As I work in a behind-the-scenes storeroom at Baylor's library, a portable cassette player blares the music of Jonathan's recent piano recital. I'm in tears, as we've just broken up, and he's heading to grad school in North Carolina. A door opens, and he walks into the room--his head shaved BALD! In shock, my first thought was "Has he joined the military?"
Spring Break, 1992Since I'm in Germany working on my dissertation, Jonathan joined our friend and fellow professor Harry for a few days vacation away from Hong Kong Baptist College. They flew to the Philippines and took a small boat to an island near Manila. As they strolled on the beach to their cottage, the local children thronged around Jonathan, whose long hair had loosened in the wind. Harry heard the children run and tell their parents that they had really, truly met Jesus!
Memorial Day, 2006 (see the post "Misha's Mop" for more info)Ruslan looked at our seven-year-old Misha, running around with his short brown ponytail, and commented, "He's got War-of-Independence hair."
Easter Sunday, 2008Paul carries the cross to lead the Easter procession. His measured steps, stern visage, and steely gaze are perfectly set off by the rigid spikes of his mohawk.
October, 2008Several people tell me that Kola looks European because of his haircut.
8th-Grade Graduation, 2009Mr. Kress, the principal, gives a short description of each graduating student, gleaned from his time mentoring and teaching them. The crowd and especially the students listen very, very intently. When Paul's turn comes, the principal first complements his athleticism, but Kress brings down the house by explaining his own curiosity each day as to what color (brown, white, pink, blue, or green) Paul's hair will be.
June 2009Adam is experimenting, too: mohawk with head shaved, then the mohawk trimmed short. It looks better now than the jagged "teeth cuts" from last Halloween, which made it into his seventh-grade school photo.
July 2009Not to be left out, David persuades his dad to cut his hair, too. He finds a way to get lots of attention every day, both in time and physical contact. As our kids say (in what must be a direct Ukrainian translation), David gets "balded."
