Just wanted to share this video. A beautiful song written about a mother's love and hopes while waiting to bring her child home. This song takes me back to those long weeks we waited for a travel call. And...hooray! Two friends (Jenni and Kala) received their calls today! A few others still waiting. Just a little longer...
Video: Wanted
8.27.2012
8.24.2012
Friday Flotsam: 8.24.2012
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| © Cheese Curds and Kimchi |
So much to love about fall, except....it's followed by a very long winter here in Wisconsin.
Sigh.
Can't believe summer is really over. But I am looking forward to sharing some of my favorite fall things with Little Man. That's something to look forward to.
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Not sure what to make of this story about a mysterious disease affecting Asians and Asian-born populations.
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Make these personal-sized baked oatmeal snacks this week. Yummy, easy, and no more excuses for skipping breakfast!
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Going to try this idea for creating personalized coloring pages from photos. Think it's a great idea to help Little Man build recognition for family members who live far away.
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I remember my mom leaving a big bowl of candy on our porch each Halloween when we'd be out trick-or-treating. I'm sure the entire contents were dumped into the first kids' candy bag, but you have to leave something out, right? Anyway, leave it to Martha Stewart to create a cute version---a lollipop pumpkin.
8.17.2012
Friday Flotsam: 8.17.2012
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As we pass each animal he says the words for them followed with their animal sounds. I didn't realize he knew so many of them.
Chicken. Bok bok. Rooster. Doodle-ooo. Goat. Baaaaa.
We move on to the other livestock barns and the reaction is the same with a few variances.
He presses his face against the llama's stall and cries when we move on.
When we see the pigs, he wrinkles his nose and says "yuck".
When we see the horses, he holds onto Daddy's neck and is in quiet awe. He reaches out to pet a friendly horse and we had a hard time pulling him away.
But it was when we passed through the cow barn that I felt the rush of a motherhood moment.
"Cow. Big cow," he says. Followed by a low "moooo". I held him and pointed out the different types of cows, remembering back to when I was little and my grandfather taught me the breeds. For years I used to show my grandparents' cows at the fair, spending summers at their home and learning how to walk, show and care for the animals. I loved those cows, but I equally loved getting to spend time with my grandparents. Those are some of the sweetest times of my childhood and sharing the things I learned from that time with my son was really touching.
It was then that I had one of those parenting moments, when the wonder of being a parent becomes fully obvious. As the hay dust floated in the air and the cow's tails swished back and forth, I had such a moment of awe and awareness about what it means to be a mom.
I had the realization that family is really an endless loop that each successive generation joins into. Generations past and present are united through the sharing of familial rituals and stories and passing of knowledge. It wasn't something I consciously thought at the time, but I keep thinking back to that moment, turning it over in my mind like a pretty seashell and admiring it from different perspectives.
A squirm and a shout brought me out of the reverie and rooted me right back into the present. Leave it to Little Man to remind me not to take life (and parenting) too seriously. He lifted his arm and pointed, screaming at the top of his lungs....
"Poop!!"
Good gravy, I love this boy.
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Adoption viewed from the other side---Dominique Moceanu's story. I haven't really heard much discussion/viewpoint from the siblings involved in adoption. Think I might pick up this Olympic athlete's book to learn more about it. Be sure to watch the 20/20 episode, "The Big Lie" for more.
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Super fun photo essay of old family photos recreated by these sisters. Wonder if my siblings would be up for this? But then again....we'd likely kill one another before it was over. Ha!
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My heart stopped when I read this story about a Chinese adoptee's return to her orphanage.
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For those of you who are Pinterest fans, check out this great set of boards, all about Korea and Seoul.
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And of course, you all know I'm totally addicted to PSY's Gangnam Style song. You can imagine the squeal of delight I let out when I found that PSY released a new version of the song, featuring the ridiculously adorable Hyuna. Watch it HERE:
Oh yeah, and be sure to check out the video about the making of the video HERE:
8.16.2012
Korean adoptees and citizenship
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| Korean soldiers at the DMZ. © Cheese Curds & Kimchi. |
Prior to the revision in the law, Korea did not allow dual citizenship after the age of 21. So adoptees would have to choose between citizenship in their adoptive country or Korea. In addition, men over the age of 18 had to serve a mandatory military service, so if an adopted man chose to maintain a Korean citizenship, he had to serve in the military. There are conflicting Korean laws though, which make it possible for a male, born in Korea but not raised there, to be held and drafted into the military. This new Nationality Law revision seems to address that concern for male adoptees. (See this post by Ask A Korean for more information on the drafting issue.)
It sounds like the new rule will make allowances for male adoptees due to language barriers and figure out some other alternative military service (although they will still have to perform some sort of service by the sound of it).
Anyway, a great option for our kids to be able to connect with their birth culture.
For more information, G'OAL has an e-book for sale HERE.
8.09.2012
Multicultural coloring pages
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| {image via babyclipart.net} |
Little Man runs and grabs the art bin, filled with colors and coloring pages. As I pull out the pages and watch him greedily grab handfuls of colors, I watch as he scribbles swaths of blue across a tiger's face.
Most of our coloring pages are animals, numbers, letters, or cartoons. We really don't have any with people in them yet.
Right now he's seeing depictions that have a typical American bent. The scenes are American and show things he recognizes from his life here: housing styles, city scenes, buildings, flags, etc.
That's a great starting point, but we've begun talking about Korea. It would be nice to tie the concept of Korea as a real place and coloring depictions of life there would be awesome!
So, I'm hunting around for some Asian-themed coloring pages.
It's been tougher than I thought it would be! I've found some Asian coloring pages online, but most of theme tend to be educationally themed and really boring for a two-year-old. There are quite a few Chinese New Year coloring pages, which at least depict Asian people. Those will suffice for now but I was looking for slice-of-life themes instead of a logo for a holiday.
So far, little luck.
I'm putting in the links to a few things I have found. If any of you have come across books you like, please share them!
Korean girl in hanbok, Korean flag & Bibimbop
Hanbok, Tol and Korean flag pages
Asian Buildings and Houses
China coloring pages
Japan coloring pages
Chinese people coloring pages
Chinese New Year coloring pages
Pororo
8.03.2012
Friday Flotsam: 8.3.2012
Made this picture of a tip jar at the State Fair. The girls definitely had a sense of humor.
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"No. Bite. Nana. Gus."
Little Man's first four-word sentence last week as he was eating a banana and wanted to tell our dog Gus that he wasn't going to get a bite. (LM is quite bossy with Gus and quite particular about who he shares banana with.)
It's so fun to see his language skills developing. Actually, it's one of the most entertaining things about this stage for me. In the middle of tantrums, indecision and his constant insistence in doing everything himself, when he uses a new word it always makes me smile.
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Great news for several of our Korean adoptive parents who recently received referrals. (Hooray for Dana and Elizabeth!) And plenty of other folks who received travel news. So happy to see things moving again on the Korean adoption front!
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Found THIS awesome tutorial and plans for making a see saw for around $30. Thinking The Man has a new project...my contribution will be riding on it!
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Because I believe all things are connected and I have an affinity for silver rings, totally lusting after THIS right now. They also do custom name rings for all you mamas out there.
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Great piece on teaching your children to be problem solvers in this post Evergreen "answers" to your kids' questions at Parent Hacks. Think I'm going to apply some of these techniques to the adults I know who seem to be independently challenged....
8.01.2012
It's official: I love PSY
Thought this guy was a crack up in the Korean Fight Song video. Just found another video on You.Tube and it's official: I love PSY!
PSY (AKA Park Jae Sang) is a Korean pop singer. Here's what Wikipedia says about him:
Clearly that was a ban in Korea and not the U.S. I think he hysterical and his music has a great beat. Plus, from a videographer/editor perspective, the videos are super well produced.
Make sure and watch clear to the end to see the awesome parking garage dance off! (FYI--this video isn't suitable to the younger crowds.)
PSY (AKA Park Jae Sang) is a Korean pop singer. Here's what Wikipedia says about him:
"PSY received his education in the United States, graduating from both Boston University and Berklee College of Music.[citation needed] He was fined for his first album, the reason being that his music promoted inappropriate content for underage listeners.[citation needed] His second album was also banned."
Clearly that was a ban in Korea and not the U.S. I think he hysterical and his music has a great beat. Plus, from a videographer/editor perspective, the videos are super well produced.
Make sure and watch clear to the end to see the awesome parking garage dance off! (FYI--this video isn't suitable to the younger crowds.)
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