Jesus is the Reason

If you read the previous post, you can see I had to have a talk with Tyler about the real meaning of Christmas. So the nativity scene is the best way to show a child about the birth of Jesus and why He had to come and save us. I must say Tyler had more fun putting this foam nativity scene together from scratch than listening to me but I pray the Holy Spirit is working in his heart so that one day Tyler will be able to call Christ His Savior. As for now, he knows Christmas is Jesus' birthday so our focus should be on Him. It would be alot easier if he wasn't getting loads of gifts from family and friends as well. Like I said, I'm praying for the work of the Holy Spirit and God's grace. I should have waited to put baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas. You live and learn.

Here's Mary, Baby Jesus and Joseph. Those wing like things are supposed to be capes but I had trouble getting them to adhere to the body. Who knew there were palm trees in Bethlehem? =)

When did Mary get a halo? It's funny how people reinterpret the Bible stories. Btw, thank you SL for the nativity scene. Tyler loved putting it together!

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

I am Tyler Kim. I was a good boy this year. I would like

1). Zhu Zhu pets

2). Air Craft Set

3). Vacuums

4). Design and Drill

5). Train Set.

Thank you Santa

The above letter was written by Tyler (with help from Eugene) right after looking at a toy catalog. We never mentioned Santa Claus but I guess school has a great influence on an impressionable 4 year old. As parents, Eugene and I had to play along and were on a mission to get the much hyped (don't ask me why) Zhu Zhu pet. To be continued on Christmas Day...

School Pictures

Tyler's first school portrait

Tyler's Pre-K class picture. I love how all the kids sitting are holding their hands together. So precious and so cute.

So Thankful...

This Thanksgiving, we are so thankful to God for a wonderful year of good health and wonderful family and friends. Tyler was asked what he was most thankful for in school and he said for his brother Justin. Even before his mother and father who came in a close second. Third was books, toys, games, God, Jesus, and Noah. So to celebrate how much we are thankful we decided to have a cozy pre-Thanksgiving dinner at home. We had lovely turkey place settings for each person (courtesy of Henna, can you believe we made these at playgroup one day with all the kids running around?) Tyler set the table for everyone.

Justin LOVES to lead everyone in prayer first.

Roasted Turkey Loin with cranberry stuffing courtesy of my favorite place Trader Joe's.

The full plate with roasted turkey, green bean medley, corn on the cob and barley risotto. It was a wonderful time of dinner until the boys started screaming. Oh well.

The Kim Family Thanksgiving place settings.

It's not a holiday unless we celebrate it in Tyler's school. There was a harvest Thanksgiving lunch and each parent had to bring an ethnic food to share with the rest of the class. Let me add by saying that Tyler's class is mostly made up of Chinese and Korean kids. So the lunch was very familiar to Tyler. We had mandoo, pa jeon, jap chae, dduk, lo mein, spring rolls, mashed potatoes, cornbread and pizza. As you might have guessed the most popular item was the cupcake. There was not even one left over. Kids love cupcakes!

Tyler brings home a plethora of arts and craft papers on a daily basis. While they are all cute and noteworthy, I really thought Tyler did a great job at putting all the stickers including the food, leaves, pumpkins as well as the pilgrims and the Indians in appropriate places. Tyler was so proud of it he gave it to his grandfather. Gotta spread the wealth, you know. =)

Tyler enjoying his Thanksgiving lunch with his Indian feather hat on. (In case you were wondering what was on his head.)

Here's Justin making himself at home in Tyler's classroom sitting at a table and enjoying lunch. The benefits of having an older brother in school. FYI - I think Justin may have found a older girlfriend in Tyler's class. Whenever we visit this one cute little girl runs over to Justin to hug and kiss him and never leaves his side. (Note the little girl behind Justin). Justin is already a chick magnet. I'm starting to worry. All in all it was a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you Lord for your bountiful grace.

Marathon Fever

So I started running last year to lose the post baby weight that I never lost from Tyler (not Justin but Tyler my first child!). My friend Grace asked if I wanted to run a half-marathon and I said why not. How hard can a half-marathon be? Man, was I ignorant. I tried to train for it but I wasn't that dilligent and I ended up walking most of the second half of the 13.2 miles in Central Park. My only saving grace was my friend Maria who is a full marathon and triathlon athlete who literally was at my side encouraging me the whole way. She could have finished the race in half the time but she was so patient with me and ran/walked with me for 2 hours and 45 minutes to the finish line. I must add that it was record high of 95 degrees that April day so even the full marathon was cancelled. It's just comforting to say the heat was too much to run in. Anyway, I even received a medal for my accomplishment. Then I vowed to never run in a race again.

Fast forward 6 months later and my friend Grace asked to run a 5 mile run in Central Park. I thought why not. Compared to the half-marathon, 5 miles shouldn't be that hard, right? It's all about perspective, I guess. So I started to train and it was hard to run longer than 2 miles but it's amazing what your body is capable when you put your mind to it. I realize in sports it's mostly mind over matter. In the end, the 5 mile race was not that bad and I tried really hard to finish it under 1 hour so I'm glad I accomplished the goal. Then it dawned on me. Unless I run a race there is very little motivation for me to run so I decided to register for a 4 mile run for Autism.

I was lucky this time because I had my good friend Susan run with me. I think she was cursing me the whole time we were running but I was so proud of her for running the whole 4 miles in good time without much training. I say it again, mind over matter. It was really fun running with a friend and for a great cause. Thanks Susan! (Let's do it again next year).

I used to work on Sundays many years ago and every year I would witness the runners in the NYC marathon. It was truly inspiring to see runners of all ages and physical form and it has been my dream to run in it one of these days. I actually was tempted to register for next year's race but I don't think I'm ready yet. I think I'm going to try another half-marathon next year and see if I still like running. Until then no more races for me this year. If anyone would like to join me in a race next year, let me know. =)

Happy Halloween

It's almost Thanksgiving so let me get my Halloween post up. The boys had a wonderful time trick or treating this year with a few friends. As you can see they were dressed up as race car drivers due to Justin's obsession with the Disney movie Cars. Luckily, we bought Tyler's costume last year for a great deal so it worked out wonderfully. This pic is pre-trick or treating. Look at the excitement in their eyes.

Look at the couple of cowboys (aka, Michael & Jeremy) we ran into. Aren't they so cute?

Here's a star trooper (?) aka Matthew Kim


This has to be Tyler's favorite holiday. You just have to say trick or treat and people just pour candy into your bucket. They only had to go around for 2 blocks and the boys' buckets were overflowing with treats. We did give some candy to Tyler's school to send to the troops in the Middle East but there's still some left and Tyler asks for one treat everyday.

The happy boys after scoring their bounty.

Tyler also had a wonderful Halloween party in his classroom one day. All the kids got dressed up in thir costumes and they invited the parents and their siblings. It was my first time seeing Tyler in his class so it was a fun time for me as well. Here is one of Tyler's classmates, Mikaelah who ran over to take a picture with Tyler.

There were three craft stations, singing time and the all popular cupcake decorating time all before 10:30am. It was so nice to see Tyler having a great time in his class. Justin loved exploring the new environment and who could resist decorating and eating their creations.

There was even a pumpkin picking time. It was such a pleasant surprise! They hid a pumkin for each child outside their classroom in the yard and the kids went out to pick one. It's a good thing because the pumkins we picked from philly became rotten when we forgot about them in the car. Thank you P.S. 213 for a wonderful treat!

Here is Tyler with his teacher Mrs. Francis (aka Pocahontas). She is such a nurturing and caring teacher. Tyler is lucky to have her as his first teacher. He only has the nicest things to say about her. I hope he can continue to like his teachers.

Tyler and me. (Justin was making a mess somewhere near me). Tyler is loving school and days like these are such highlights for him.

Road Trip to Philly

So last month over the Columbus Day weekend, we took a road trip to Philly to visit a very good friend of mine and her family. We went to Linvilla Orchard for pumkin picking. It was such a wonderful time spent with our families. Here's Tyler sitting in the midst of the biggest pumpkins I have ever seen in my life.

My longtime friend Irene, her husband Gabe and their adorable son Ryan.

Justin seriously inspecting each decorated pumpkin.

The boys posing with their pumpkins.

It's amazing how much fun kids can have with balloons especially with a pumkin one.

Cool train ride. Thanks Gabe!

Justin tired from playing with pumpkins decided to play with mommy's sunglasses.

We also got the opportunity to go to the Please Touch Children's Museum. I think it was the best children's museum we have been to. It's been recently renovated and it was very impressive for both kids and adults. We highly recommend it! You can use the reciprocal program and get in free if you're a member of another qualifying children's museum. So cool!

The children's museum was housed in this historic building. The picture doesn't do it justice. The space inside was very well thought out and there was so much to do for the children.

Ryan having fun at the water play station. I love how they provide more than enough waterproof smocks for the kids.

Tyler making music on the bigger than life sized piano from the movie Big with Tom Hanks.

Even at the children's museum, Tyler loves to read right next to Mother Goose.

Alice in Wonderland Exhibit - Justin seems just as confused as Alice was from the book.

The attention to details were impressive.

Justin loves grocery shopping. He was mesmerized by the playfood which looked like the real thing and he loved the fact that he can take anything off the shelves and throw them in the shopping cart as you can see above.

Future Doctor Tyler Kim?

All in all it was such a wonderful time spent at the museum. I couldn't take enough pics but there's so much more to do at Please Touch. My boys loved it and we hope to go back real soon.

Tyler for some reason can't pass by a dandelion without having the urge to blow it in the air.

I couldn't resist taking a pic of Justin and Ryan eating strawberries together. Thank you so much Irene and Gabe for your generous hospitality. We had an amazing time! We hope to visit you again very soon.