Pumpkin makers

Here's our little pumpkin carvers. So, we started this tradition last year. There's nothing like hands on crafts that bring a family together. It's nice to see them stepping away from the TV and putting away their DS's to gather around the table, talk, and pull out some pumpkin guts.

I think the girls were anticipating making the pumpkins because of our experience from last year. Every time we went to the grocery store they would see the pumpkins and ask if we were going to carve pumpkins again. I guess I have to finish what I started. Well, the tradition has now been passed onto their little cousins. Saturday, they were planning on coming over so I asked to see if they would be interested in joining us in this new tradition. They were excited, really excited. Well, our Saturday afternoon plans started growing, from prayer meeting, attending a special service at a local church, and helping one of our church members move. OK, the kids project had to be put on hold. They were obviously disappointed but they knew that we would do it eventually. Don, (bro-in-law) said that his boys woke up asking when we would carve the pumpkins. Oh, boy! I created a frenzy. Of course it would have to wait because of our church service and lunch. So, long story short we got to carve our pumpkins this afternoon.

It was a fun project, as expected. It's always neat to see our kids creativity. It's also neat to see all of their different personalities expressed on these cute little pumpkin heads.

Ok, so the question that came up is, "is this a pagan ritual that we are encouraging our children to participate in?" I guess it could be. I'm sure this is how Christmas (trees, Santa, exchanging gifts) and Easter (chocolates, Easter Bunny, and bonnets) got started. But, as a pastor, I am comfortable that this was simply a craft and a fun family activity. I pray that our children will not grow up to pass this onto their children to "celebrate" on the level of their faith and practice. I pray that our children will love Jesus and the hope that we have in faith to practice Christmas and Easter to celebrate the true meaning of these events. I also pray that our children will be able to discern the traditions of Thanksgiving and Halloween as holidays that are part of our culture.

Back in the office

reading at my favorite Starbucks

To Banff and Back

We (Suj and I) got back from Banff last night. We, or should I say Suj, had to attend a conference for people who are involved in children and family ministries. We had Suj's sister watch our kids and take them to school. I came along to drive her on the 4+ hour drive.

It was pretty nice (for me). I got to relax on my normal day of rest (Mon). And Tues, I was able to go to Starbucks and read like I would normally do when I'm home.

Just getting back to the blogging thing... (if you're happening to be reading this).

Little Girl #2 is growing up!!

Here is our rosied cheeked little girl the night after she lost one of her front teeth. She's growing up! I think I posted a blog about that some time last year. So, every little milestone is reminding me that she is growing up to be a little lady.
All these changes are making harder for this dad to accept that the girls in his life are growing up. Here's a picture after she got her ears pierced for the first time. Phoebe had gotten her ears pierced at the age of 6. Both of them had made their own decision when they felt that they wanted to get them. I believe Su Jin and I decided that they would be old enough to make that decision around that age. Phoebe knew pretty confidently that she wanted to get them. So, she sat down and got her ears pierced without a tear. Chloe took a little more time to decide if she wanted to get it. I was a little surprised b/c this little girl will look at the needles going into her arms. Even when she had to get her blood drawn into a tube, she was curious and was watching it fill the tube. Chloe reminded me that Phoebe had gotten her ears pierced during Christmas time. She just wanted to wait until Su Jin came back from Korea. So, after Su Jin came back she was still not sure if she wanted to get it. It took some convincing that it would not hurt that she decided to get them. It was kind of a special moment b/c it happened on a Kim ladies night out. Chloe's aunt (Suj's sister) joined the Chong women and went out for an evening. The special event went without a hitch just like Phoebe's, not even a flinch.

So if that's not enough, just a little over a week she pulls out the other fronth tooth. Chloe doesn't really like going to bed. She'll be in her room but we know that she is getting out of bed. We can hear her foot steps. But on that night she was in bed and playing with her other tooth. She comes into our bedroom (about an hour and a half after we had sent her to bed) and announces that she pulled out her 2nd tooth (still bloody).

I don't know what it is with me these past few days - midlife, nostalgic father, or that I am just outright nuts, but I've been wanting to have more children!! I've shared these thoughts with Suj but she just gives me the "can't you see that I am tired and you must be nuts" look. I think it would be great to have another little girl in our family. Gotta think about it some more.

Blast from the Past!!

Have you been hit by the Facebook craze yet?! I was getting reconnected with people all over the states through Xanga and Blogs. It was really neat but now there is this new site where you can get reconnected with people through the schools you attended and former jobs and the site will also scan your email contacts to see if friends have registered on Facebook.

The reconnections have been fun. One reconnection has been with a former youth pastor that served in Philly -- Leo Rhee. I lost touch with him over 15 years ago. Since then he has circled the globe (literally). After Philly, he went to MD, CA, to the homeland, S. Korea, and currently in Chicago.

So, part of the fun on Facebook is uploading pictures and "tagging" friends. When you tag a friend (those who are registered to Fbook) a message is sent to them notifying that a picture of them has been shared online.

So, this is a pic that was shared by Pastor Leo of a high school retreat.

Are you in this pic? I tried to blow up the picture so you can actually see people's faces but not sure how to do it. People you might recognize (and those reading my blog) - Becky, June, Chris, Liz, and Jeff.

Join facebook and you can probably see it after you make me your friend.

Join http://www.facebook.com/.

My Very First Concert

Can you make him out?

OK, I zoomed in as far as I could. Can you see him now?

Still not so clear, huh? How bout if I zoom in on the jumbo screen? Is that a little bit better?

I guess you can figure out by now that we went to the Josh Groban concert. It was last week. Someone from our church had gotten seats from a friend so he invited us to go. We had heard some of his songs and thought it would be fun to go. It was so much fun. Of course he was romantic and has a great voice but he was funny too. He did a little improv of Bon Jovi and Elton John.

So, as you can hear the crowd going crazy when he pops up practically right in our laps. He couldn't have been more than a meter away (hehe, I'm trying to use the metric system). We were in a state of shock for a moment until we realized that it was really him.

So, that is my first experience at a music concert. I don't include orchestra or musicals. I just don't consider them in the same category. I guess I consider myself more of the sit back and enjoy the musical peformances. This fit right down my alley.

News flash: Laser printers may be bad for your health.

I've posted things on my xanga (username: xinjinc) that came out of gizmodo.com. I like that website b/c it gives a lot of great info on upcoming technologies. They give some funny editorials too (usually of the geeky variety). But, I was checking it out today and they gave this warning that originally came out from the BBC. You can check it out for yourself (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6923915.stm).

So, apparently the toner in laser printers can be emitted from the laser printer into the air where it can be breathed in. It makes sense, right? The more the printer is used the more likely particles can be produced in the air. It is more harmful if the printers are being used frequently and in an area where the air is poorly circulated.

Now, take a look at my previous blog where I was showing you my new office! I'm in the basement where there is very little air circulation. I may not be printing that often but I now I am not going to stand around when I'm printing out the church bulletins (right, now I'm printing out about 45 bulletins with 4 full pages). Time for a good hepa filter.

Su Jin didn't want me to stand by the microwave when it was running. Wait till I share this news with her!