Our return to the great Republic of T. has apparently helped rid Kaitlyn of her fear of bugs. She soon decided to "raise" a Walking Stick and was devistated when it died nearly a week later. I tried to explain that we probably would not have been able to catch it if it had not been an "older" Walking Stick, but she thinks I killed it while she was at school because I didn't want it running around in my kitchen (hmmm, it was a thought but the creature was so large it probably would have attacked ME! lol) . This pic was taken in May 2010. Oh, did I say the move helped rid her of her fear of bugs? Well, just so you know FLIES ARE NOT BUGS!! She will scream and run wild if she sees or hears a fly and it seems we have hoards (what the heck to you call thousands of flies!?) of them outside...

We still have not found another piano teacher for Miss Kaitlyn as she refuses an American/English teacher-she only wants a Korean speaking teacher (and we miss Chae, NamHee and her family!)

lessons in survival

Survival:

Miss Kaitlyn has learned much about survival since Thanksgiving.

She learned she can survive Christmas if only part of the family is home, no matter how much we desire to have 30 people sleeping and eating and playing in our house for Christmas it just isn't always possible (and I learned also!)

She learned what a blizzard is and that yes, one can survive an entire week without school, ballet, swimming, or other activities that require one to drive in a car or leave the house for that matter. She learned how to make snow angels, how to "dig an igloo", how many layers of clothes it takes to keep one warm when the temps are 20 degrees or less and the snow is 3+ feet deep, and that "wet snow" makes better snowballs than "dry snow" and that one CAN survive a snowball fight. lol

She learned that school is NOT the place to test the rules of "no talking during quiet time" and that she will and can survive not getting a perfect report from school- but she also learned it is not acceptable if you have not done your best. Mom and dad also learned we can survive finding out our daughter is not perfect :) We are actually thrilled that she got into trouble for talking in class as she is finally interacting with other students and is socially blossoming.

She has learned that as each day passes she despirately wants a sibling more than the day before and that desire does not go away and we are surviving this too. She has learned that survival does not mean giving up, it means finding a method to achieve ones dreams despite obstacles- so for now, we search for paths over, under, around, in the midst of our obstacles!

I pray you too learn something positive about "survival"!