a warm wednesday in this not-so-warm weather

Despite the freezing cold weather, I am surrounded by much that warms my heart---snowman making at its Southern best, the beauty of our Creator displayed in the icy wonder of winter and in the little boy He knit together, small boot prints scattered in the snow, & teeny-tiny mittens that belong to my teeny-tiny Love.  "Praise be to the Lord, for He has showed me the wonders of His love.." Psalm 31:15

the many forms of love

Valentine's Day.  The time of year when love looks like flowers, chocolate, and candy (or a turkey convention if you're like some dear friends of ours ;).  As new parents, love in our house has never looked so different.  During this past year love has taken on many forms--some of which are harder to recognize than others--but no matter if it's wrapped in the extravagant or hidden in the mundane everyday, it's genuine.

It has looked like a trip to the other side of the world with my One and Only to follow the call on our hearts * a little boy with fuzzy black hair and black eyes that gleam with a certain mischievous quality * celebrating ten years of marriage in one of our favorite places * holding the hand of my One and Only to gain reassurance and strength for the journey * a melted heart whenever I  hear the words, "Love you, too, Mama" * unexpected Amazon surprises * a piece of chocolate savored together in the blissful quiet * a tiny hand holding ours * couch time and Downton Abbey on the DVR * snippets of good conversation before the inevitable interruption comes * tag-team parenting so work can be done * Korean food on Friday nights * running to the store for milk and bringing back chocolate * Valentine cookies, made by our sweet Sam, that include a flower & a candy cane * a Heavenly Father who meets me in the quiet of the morning, who loves us with an everlasting love, and who has blessed me with two incredible Valentines to love on each and every day.

YaChae BokkEumBap & is he laughing at me??

Thanks to an awesome Korean cookbook that Jeremy bought for me, Sam and I have tons of recipes to try for our Friday night specials.  This week, we tried YaChae BokkEumBap, which is Vegetable Fried Rice.  Easy and delicious.  Sam inhaled it as if he were a vacuum cleaner.  If you're curious and want to try Korean food, this is a good meal to start with.  All of the ingredients are familiar to the American palate.  Promise :).

Sam and I have been playing around with Google Translate, so we can pronounce all these things that we cook.  Sam is much better at it than I am.  When I say a Korean word, he laughs!  Surely, he's not laughing at me....I mean he's much too young to do that, right???  I thought parents weren't laughed at until their children became teenagers....which of course I never expect to happen because I am too cool of a parent.  So cool, in fact, that there's nothing to laugh at.  So, take that Teenage Sam! ;)

the story this coat tells.

Seeing Sam in this coat causes my mind to travel to another time and place.

Back to SK, back to the first time I saw him..walking in all bundled up--snug and warm, protected from the cold temperatures of a January day.  Me sitting there thinking that it was apparent his foster mom took good care of him.

Next to the day we took custody, the day we became official, the hardest and best day of my life.  The weather was still cold even though it was March, so he came again with the coat on.  After formalities and tears and goodbyes, we took our son, bundled in his thick green coat, up to our room and began the monumental task of becoming a family of three while parenting a child that was traumatized and grieving.  Our room was hot; Sam was sweaty and crying.  We tried to take his coat off, but he freaked out.  Back on the coat went.  Zipped all the way up.  He cried himself to sleep that night and slept in his coat.

Then to the morning after...we were finally able to stem the tide of tears by playing with him in the halls and kitchen of the guest house--distraction at it's best, bonding at it's best.  He's clad in pajamas, black shoes, green coat zipped up all the way.  All the running around causes him to get too hot.  Up came the milk that was in his stomach.  All over the coat.  Grossed him out.  Off came the coat.  Into the washer it went.  Once it was clean, we hid it in the suitcase to keep him from having another meltdown.

We're home from SK, home with our sweet Sam...for the first couple of days home, if he saw his shoes or coat, he would insist on putting them on.  Like he was waiting to be taken back to the life he knew.  Slowly, ever so slowly, this stopped, and we didn't have to keep the shoes out of sight.  March in TN is very different than March in SK, so the coat stayed put away.

This past fall, this winter rolls around and out comes the green coat.  Would seeing it trigger a memory?  Would he remember the trauma and grief?  Was having him wear it again a good idea?  Discussion between me and Jeremy; decision made.  With a hope and a prayer, we show it to Sam.  Put your coat on we say; it's very, very cold.  No meltdown.  No freak out.  No tears.  Praise the Lord!

Writing this has caused tears to well up in my eyes because the story of this little green coat is all too real.  The trauma and grief that Sam went through was heartbreaking to watch, but thanks be to our Heavenly Father for not leaving us in that place with the green coat on, zipped all the way up!  Not only has God healed Sam's heart, He has bonded us together as a family of three and allowed Sam to flourish in his new environment.  Spending a lifetime thanking God for this would not be enough.

friday night special and drinking with the cat

I'm sure my few faithful readers of this blog are waiting with bated breath to find out what Sam and I made for the Friday night special ;).  Well, I will keep you in suspense no longer...drum roll......we made a pizza using goguma, which are Korean sweet potatoes (different in taste and appearance than our sweet potatoes).

Now Sam does NOT like potatoes no matter how they are fixed.  He will eat french fries when he's really hungry but on a normal day, he gives them to Jeremy to eat.  Mashed potatoes are a definite no and usually induces the gag reflex.  Roasted potatoes cut into cute little cubes are also unacceptable, and you can forget potato salad!

I thought maybe it was because our potatoes are different in taste and texture, so I decided to try goguma and, for good measure, hide them under lots and lots of cheese.  Notice there's no picture of him smiling happily as he eats huge bites of the pizza we made??  Um, that's because he found the strategically placed goguma hiding under the cheese, and suddenly, he was "all done eating."  This ends my attempts at introducing him to the wonderful flavor of potatoes.  Maybe one day he'll like them, but until then, I'll just eat his share of mashed potatoes :).

That's it for the latest Friday night special...onto something else that happened on Friday.  This one involving drinking.  {Readers, please, excuse me while I talk directly to Sam.}

Sam,

You have at your disposal all the delicious chocolate milk (made like Mammaw Barbara fixes it) you could ask for; you have an unending supply of apple juice boxes and cold water by the gallon.  What more is there that could quench your thirst???  After what I observed Friday, apparently, a good thirst quencher is found in the cat's water bowl.  You didn't notice when I walked into the bathroom and saw you kneeling down, scooping water with your paw hand, and PUTTING IT IN YOUR MOUTH.  You didn't see me, but I saw you.  And, all I have to say about this is that drinking from the cat's water bowl is unacceptable in every imaginable situation.  So, let that be your last time of drinking with Roux the Cat.