When given the opportunity, these innocent kids will act like a mob! Case in point. Hand them some shaved ice and watch them go craaazy!! 
… and stay out of their way!!
Shaved Ice and Mob Kids
Shanna’s Pizza Parlor
We go to the county library nearby about once a week…
There, the kids, mostly Anna, pick out books to read. Well, somehow, she discovered Shanna, a very outspoken and creative girl. The book character, not a real person! 
In this particular book, Shanna offers all kinds of strange combinations of toppings for the pizza… it’s actually quite gross combo… even Anna agreed!
When I asked her what she wanted on her pizza, she went on all over in terms of the toppings. On top of that, she started asking if you could put non-food stuff on the pizza!! 
In the end, I loved the book for encouraging the kids like Anna to think beyond the typical… beyond the average, and teaching her to think outside the box.
You see, when I was in my 20s thinking of what I wanted my kids to learn, I wanted one of those to be for my kids to be able to learn to be both expressive and creative. I didn’t want my kids to grow up stuck inside the box, per se. I’m glad she’s way out of the box! 
She’s so imaginative… makes me proud.
Current Favorite Albums/Bands
I thought I’d share the current music albums that I’m listening to most and affect me the most…
The Light of Things Hoped for – Brave Saint Saturn
Kaleidoscope Superior – Earthsuit
The End is Here – Five Iron Frenzy
Hearts of the Innocent – Kutless
Phenomenon – Thousand Foot Krutch
I’d be very (pleasantly) surprised if you knew more than two or three here!
Bubba Shrimp
I never did well in Biology class in high school. That fermedahyde smell killed me. Well, I got to re-affirm that today. Soojin wanted some tempura-style shrimps. There must’ve been at least a hundred there!
Don’t forget… I don’t do shell fish… to say the least. So I start taking the shells off… man, is the smell bad!! I started to get nautious… wanted to throw up… Then Soojin tells me that I have gut out the black nervous systems! 
The whole process must’ve taken about an hour! Sheesh… At this point, I’m half the time holding my breath. Nauseated beyond despair…
Soojin got the batch ready… dip it in flour first, then egg, and then the bread powder. After another half hour of frying and taking in the stink, I am ready to barf! I seriously had to go to Wal Mart and get Sweppes Ginger Ale, the best retail-brand ginger ale money can buy! 
I’m feeling much better now… but the place is still striken with the funky bubba shrimp smell! At least Anna and JJ enjoyed it!
Technological Family
Wow… you should’ve seen us today… the kids were watching Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues on TV (via DVD player), mom was watching “Seven Princesses”, a Korean drama via the Internet on KBS website, and I was watching “The 4400” on my Cowon A2! I was so proud of my nerdy family!! Hee hee hee…
CHOICE: Encourage
In my last entry for CHOICE, encouraging is something difficult to do with people you spend most time with. I find myself doing less of that with my kids. I believe that with those you spend more time with, you see more and more of their faults than their potentials. My take is that it is the human nature of our sinfulness manifesting within ourselves.
So I make more and more conscious efforts to see the good things that Anna and JJ do. It’s effortless to just get mad at them when they disobey me and get hurt, or they are doing things I told them not to do. Yet, I let pass the right things and the good things that they do. I now take extra effort, especially in small things, to tell them that they are doing well.
Why? Their mental well-being is in the control of me. Being a parent, you become a world to them, and if I want them to grow up healthy, I need to nurture their mental growth as well. You should see their faces glowing when I tell them how well they did.
CHOICE: Challenge
I drive a lot. If you know where we live, we drive a LOT! From Clear Lake area (south of Houston near Johnson Space Center) to any other parts of Houston and the Greater Houston area takes lots of time. I’ve grown accustomed to driving for at the least an hour. Then you add factors like kids, it becomes an even greater challenge. But in the midst of all this, I want to still make to as many church-related events and meetings as possible. Primary reason is to support the church events. However, secondary is to challenge others, especially the single folks.
I know that after work, the last thing you want to do is drive far. This happened to me on this past Wednesday. We had our share/prayer meeting but I felt so tired that I didn’t want to bother driving across town. I still have my moments of not wanting to push myself. However, in my life-long war against my other (older) inner-self, I laid out an offensive within me and won the battle. I drove out to Joy and Joanna’s place for our meeting.
One of the things that I want others to see or think is this: “If Peter and Soojin can make it, so can I!” If you think moving around after work is challenging, try doing that with two kids! Getting to church on time was relatively easy beforehand, but now, it’s a struggle. But the last thing any of us should use as an excuse to not make it to a meeting or service is because we feel tired or too far or not enough time. God didn’t do that with me. So I sure am going to try again and again to go against my other self and get to where God’s people are meeting. I pray that you do too. 