Piñata Day

Today was the final day of VBS, and it was fun to see the kids break a piñata, go diving for the candy, and enjoy a special hot dog lunch at VBS for the whole family. I have been promised some photos by a good friend, so hopefully I'll be posting them soon.

As always, once we got home our day was full of activity: schoolwork, reading, and playing together. We tried to go to the pool as well, but apparently (unbeknownst to us) it had been thundering, so the attendant sent us back home. Unable to enjoy the pool, we watched movies, played foosball, and did a few chores. DooSan hasn't been to a mall in the U.S., so perhaps we'll do a little shopping tomorrow... I need a new camera anyway. :)

Big Brother DooSan

We had another fine morning of VBS today, followed by errands, a trip to McDonald's for lunch, and a visit to our local library. DooSan picked out several books to read, and we spent the afternoon quietly reading and finishing our schoolwork. He is such a help everywhere we go; even strangers comment on how handy he is!

One of the best things about having DooSan in the house is the way he is fitting in... it's almost like he's Nathan's twin! After our lunch at McD's, DooSan polished off Caleb's leftovers just as Nathan would have done if he were here (he is at Boy Scout Camp this week). DooSan is also enjoying playing and reading to his younger "siblings," and they follow him around like he is the greatest! I love to hear Gracie (now 2 1/2 years old) say "DooooooooSaaaaannnnn...!" :)

Chef DooSan, School, and So On

No time to write yesterday with all that went on! The day was filled with activity: VBS, co-op lessons at a friend's house, schoolwork, and meal preparation. DooSan dazzled us with Korean cuisine at both lunch and dinner meals yesterday. The menu:

Lunch:
2 kinds of Korean noodles (one spicy and one sweet)
Hot pepper tuna
Fried egg

Dinner:
Korean short-grain rice
Seaweed wrap
Vegetable dumplings
More of the sweet noodles and hot pepper tuna

I was actually surprised at how much I liked both the seaweed and the hot pepper tuna. Even my picky husband (who won't even eat mushrooms or onions) ate the seaweed! Of course, I really enjoyed the break from cooking for a day! The only downside is that DooSan is a really messy cook! Ha ha ha...

I would have loved to have taken some pictures of DooSan preparing our spread(s) and of us eating the new food! but my cameras (both of them) are, sadly, broken. I hope to get another one by the weekend so that we can get some good photos for next week and for our upcoming trip.

DooSan's Ivy League Tour

DooSan is studying the intricacies of hydropower before viewing Niagara Falls up close.


















DooSan getting wet (and cold!) at Niagara Falls.



















Clowning around with the binoculars (still at Niagara Falls).

Playing pool at the cabin in Virginia.

7/22/07. Back at Ms. Joy's house, teasing Young-Sol, who has not completed his journal (and thus cannot join in on the eating!)

Life after the Ivy League :)

Well, DooSan is finally back from his Ivy League Tour. Of course, he was a little travel-worn when we picked him up on Monday, but today (Tuesday) we went right back into the swing of things. This morning, he attended VBS (Vacation Bible School) at a local church with two of his host siblings. There they learned bible songs and memory verses, saw a puppet show, and learned about Chinese culture, Christian missions to China, and the history of missionary Hudson Taylor. DooSan enjoyed himself very much and wants to return for the remaining three days of VBS.

After VBS, DooSan worked on algebra, studied grammar, added new entries and sentences to his English word list, and completed some journal writing and revisions. He also learned the words to the beautiful hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" and sang with his host mom (me). After this "soul food," DooSan was longing for some good Korean food, so we visited Kim's Asian Market, and DooSan loaded a shopping cart with all kinds of interesting foods. Some of them were familiar to us (rice, tuna, etc). but others will be an experiment in Korean cuisine (seaweed, spicy noodles, shrimp fries, Korean yogurt, and more). DooSan will be doing the cooking tomorrow! :)

Well, time for bed now... DooSan has given his host brother, Caleb, a piggy back ride up the stairs, and it's time for all to go to sleep for the night. I hope to post some pictures tomorrow... the camera batteries are dead tonight! :(

Good evening to all!

Sunday 7/15/07

DooSan enjoyed Sunday school class and a great morning of worship. He was also able to meet some of his host siblings' cousins today at the Cary Church of Christ.

Left to right: Megan (cousin), Gracie (host sister), Jansen (cousin), Nathan (host brother), Jessica (cousin), Caleb (host brother), DooSan, Zack (cousin), and Joshua (cousin)... And that's not all of them! ; )

Here are DooSan and his co-travelers from Korea, ready to leave on their Ivy League Tour. DooSan, we'll see you when you get back!

DooSan's Day at the Lake

Saturday... finally a day to relax. (whew)

Looks like a beach, because it is... Sandlin Beach! This is a wonderful man-made beach at Falls Lake. It's great for swimming, boating, fishing, playing in the sand... you name it!

Hard to see in this photo, but just beyond the yellow rope, Mr. Greg is taking DooSan and Nathan for a ride in our canoe.



Here Mr. Greg has come onto shore in order to accomodate some new riders. Pictured are (left to right): Caroline, Caleb, DooSan, and Mr. Greg.

DooSan apparently thinks he's a pirate! ; )

DooSan and Nathan having fun with water guns.

While waiting for their turn on the boat, the rest of the kids do some water and sand exploration on the beach.

Caleb and Gracie enjoying their own private pool... er, mud bath.

Now it's home for showers and bubble baths!

Friday, July 13th Activities

Here are Nathan, Caleb, Gracie, and DooSan starting their schoolwork for the day. Nathan and DooSan are revising their journal entries from the past two nights. Last night, they wrote on the subject of martial arts. I can't wait to see the two of them sparring! :)

Caleb and Gracie are coloring bible pictures. They are very cheerful this morning.

Here is a photo of everyone working on homemade cow masks and cow costumes in preparation for a special lunchtime outing to Chick Fil-A. The kids enjoyed making and wearing the costumes. I can't decide whether the older kids or the younger kids had more fun! All these creative juices sure worked up an appetite, though.

The fruits of their labor: A FREE Chick Fil-A meal for lunch. As you can see, DooSan is fitting right in!

Here is the entire happy crew at

Chick Fil-A, posing with the official mascot.

From left to right: Mr. Greg, Caleb, Gracie, DooSan, Nathan, the cow mascot, Caroline, and Kristin. We were quite a spectacle, but it was a lot of fun, and we all agreed we'd do it again.

Back to the books after lunch. After watching a Math-U-See video, we worked on math with our cuisenaire rods and books. DooSan is really getting the hang of it! After math, we did some reading, reading comprehension exercises, bible study, and vocabulary. DooSan and the kids enjoy studying, working, and playing together. And Caroline has been a wonderful math teacher for the little ones. Come join us sometime! Homeschool's cool!

DooSan's First Swimming Lesson

Well, unfortunately the pictures we took at the pool didn't come out very well, but in this one at least you can see that DooSan is having a good time. (Happy and busy!)

We had private swimming lessons today with Ms. Natalie, a lifeguard and swim instructor who is also currently a student at North Carolina State University. She taught DooSan several strokes and techniques, and she gave him wonderful feedback for his effort and skill. The other kids were given lessons as well, and they enjoyed them, but brrrrr... the water was really cold after yesterday's rain!

Our First School Day

After our morning devotions and an English grammar lesson, the older children had a math lesson using cuisenaire rods to help them with problem-solving, working with fractions, and figuring the area of various types of figures. Here is DooSan calculating the area of a square featuring rods of different lengths. DooSan appears to enjoy working with manipulatives, and these have already helped him to understand the mathematical principles behind some of the problems he is solving on paper.
Caleb is doing a math lesson of his own, using snap cubes to form patterns. He likes working in the same room as us!
Gracie is familiarizing herself with the snap cubes, but she also likes to see what DooSan, Nathan, and Kristin are doing with their cuisenaire rods. And she's a ham in front of the camera!
DooSan has constructed a whimsical figure according to the instructions of his new Cuisenaire book. It might look easy, but calculating the area of such a figure takes some thought! Using the cuisenaire rods is helping him to practice using the English words for colors, numbers, and essential mathematical expressions such as "area," "perimeter," "volume," and so on.
Our math lesson is over, and DooSan is enjoying a quick cuddle with one of our puppies. Now it's off to the pool for our first swimming lesson! We'll post the pictures of that in our next blog.

Our First Day with DooSan!

DooSan is quite tired from his long trip to the USA, but he is settling in well. We are all excited to meet him! The pictures show Nathan and DooSan in their room, and Nathan and DooSan playing foosball in the playroom.

We have a lot of schoolwork to do tomorrow... DooSan is determined to learn English, so we'll be hitting the books early. But tonight, it's Arby's and a movie! Blog to you soon! :)