Mon Susan

Asher has a really hard time saying "Monsoon season" and has shortened it to plain old monsusan. Catchy. I like it.

Jensie came home from school today excited to take a treat to her class party tomorrow. It's the last day of school. Summer vacation here we come! I suggested a bag of chips, but she insisted her treat be homemade. I talked her into brownies even though she really wanted sugar cookies with lemon frosting (blech). I made her wait 'til the littles had gone to bed before to start baking. Gluten=danger. You know I love to cook, but brownies, or any baking for that matter, make me feel totally out my element. It's a good thing Jensie likes to take charge in the kitchen. It's her domain. She took over the whole project but I sent her to bed as soon as she slid the last pan into the oven. There's a big fat gooey mess to clean up and I've decided to ignore it for a while and write a little nothing-much instead.

Speaking of, my girl J has an awesome menu planned for the week. Tomorrow's meal? Almond crusted chicken kabobs with coconut dipping sauce and roasted artichokes. I emailed Ashley for some photography tips- gonna see if I can get a few good shots of Jensie's culinary handiwork. If it works out we'll post them on her blog so she can toot her own horn a little. She could really use some horn tootin' these days, bless her heart. We talk a lot about the things she struggles with--it's high time talk about something she was born to do! You know what is really cool? Having an eight year old chef in the family. She is the bees knees.

The kids will get the weekend to relax but it's business as usual come Monday morning. During the break they still have to go to school for Korean lessons Mon-Fri and have to do five book reports a piece. The tutor Heejin, who stays late on Thursdays to translate their school papers, had me fill out a form this evening about what volunteer work the kids want to this month. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about volunteer work, but when I asked if it was mandatory Heejin said "Well, it looks good on their applications when they go to University." Those Koreans sure like to plan ahead!  The kids aren't real excited about the new summer plans, but Nate's got a pretty good plan of his own:

"I know," Nate said ,when he called from Hawaii this evening, "give them an even longer list of stuff they'll have to do. Tell them they have to go for math sessions, and study Chinese characters, and practice traditional Korean dance (all things their classmates will actually be doing) plus the Korean lessons and volunteer work. Make a really big deal about how hard it will all be and let them cry about it for a day or two. Then Monday morning we can tell them 'You know what guys? We've been thinking. All that stuff is probably too much and we want you to enjoy your summer vacation. So instead of having you do everything, we'll only have you take Korean lessons and do your volunteer hours.' They'll be totally relieved!"

That man is brilliant! Does it sound like all we do these days is torture our kids? Maybe just a little.  At least the volunteering is all worked out. We'll be visiting a local orphanage as a family once a week. The orphanage is always looking for folks to come and spend time with the children there. Nate's company actually visits on a regular basis. We've wanted to join them for a while but it never worked out because they visit at the same time our tutor comes. So we are going to go on our own instead. I'm really looking forward to  it.

Well those dishes aren't gonna wash themselves. Guess I'd better run. When my brother asked me to blog more often, I'm sure this is what he had in mind! Just wait Trace, tomorrow I may post a list of all my favorite beauty products. 

Just kidding.