Temptations, temptations

Preparing for our trip to China, I've been doing quite bit shopping recently, mainly buying gifts for family and friends. Each time before we went to a store, James would ask, "Can I buy something?"His face fell upon hearing my response "What do you want to buy? You don't need anything." If he sees something (a toy) that he really likes, he goes on begging, "please, please, please". One time, I did allow him and Daniel each pick an inexpensive toy because they were behaving well that day.

The store is full of temptations. Yes, not only for the kids. On one of my recent shopping trips, a nice wallet caught my eyes. Don't ask me why I ended up looking at wallets even though they were NOT on my shopping list. I easily came up with a few justifications: my old wallet is 13 years old and does not have a see-through window for picture ID and does not have a coin pocket; this one is good-looking, the right size, very functional, and not so expensive ... Well, you got the picture. Before we walked to the checkout line, however, I decided to put it back. It's the question of want vs. need. Do I want it? Yes, just like James wants a new toy. Do I need it? Not really. Especially now that we're living on one moderate income, what I need is to learn to adjust to the new life style.

Here's a story my dad told. Before China's open door policy, in the factory he worked as an engineer, everybody was equally poor. Even if you had money, there were not much selections in local stores in the median sized city. Occasionally dad would go on business trips to Beijing or Shanghai where the selections of stuff in the stores were much better. One time my dad, who likes shopping or window shopping, called his coworker (also an engineer) to go shopping, but the guy said, "I never go to the store on business trips or even at home unless it's absolute necessary, because I don't want to spend money on things I cannot afford. If I go to the store, I'll be tempted."

Isn't this the solution or one of the solutions to this kind of temptation?

A visit to daddy's office

Guibo has been really busy at work lately, having to work overtime almost everyday, partly because he has to finish several projects before our upcoming 5-week "vacation".

July 9th, Saturday, I took the boys to lighthouse fellowship while Guibo went to his office. After our meeting, I drove the children to his office to pick him up. It's James' very first visit to daddy's office. Daniel has been to his office building once (not his current office room) when he was an infant.

Summer pond

We made a short visit to a pond behind a shopping plaza this morning. Compared to winter time, the pond has shrunk significantly, but is still full of life--ducks diving in, dragonflies dancing, and crickets chirping. The dragonflies are  the length of my little finger, with the most beautiful blue, sort of the electric blue. I cannot take a picture because they never stay still.

While walking by the shore, loudly Daniel announced his finding:"Frog!!". Yes, a tiny little frog was resting at the edge of the water. When Daniel moved closer, the frog jumped into the water to swim away. Daniel caught it so we can get a closer look. See how tiny they are. Also see how similar the frog's color and the sand color is? They have the perfect camouflage. Growing up as a city girl, I was almost as excited as the kids were.

Oh, we did release them back to the pond after our observation.

Thank God for summer camp!

This week I have the luxury of having kids-free the mornings. Registered them to a summer camp at a church close to home. I learned of it sort of late, so Daniel didn't get into the soccer track.

Daniel said to me after the second day, "They have lots of Bible in this summer camp, while at BCS (the Christian school he used to go to) they did not."
"Then it's good." I replied.
And they're having fun too.

Honestly, the main reason I sent them there is to have the morning to myself so I could do some preparation work for our homeschool. Day 1 and day 2, I drafted our family educational philosophy and completed the registration package for ACAEC. Day 3, some errands and some reading on Amberside online. This site is fantastic! Thanks to Ashley. The volume of information is a bit overwhelming though. I haven't finished FAQ and introduction yet. I will definitely use the curriculum (mainly the subject and book list) as a framework for our first year, very likely with some adaptions.

Today is day 4 of summer camp. Between dropping off and picking up the kids, I didn't go home but went shopping. Got a pair of sandals for Daniel, a T-shirt and a sling handbag for me, plates and mugs (these were accidental find, but I love them!), and a sofa cover.

Tomorrow is the last day. Hope that I will make the best use of the morning time. So much more needs to be read and so much more needs to be done. Not to mention that there's only 9 days left before our trip to China.

Camping by the river

Our camping trip this year was at the same camping ground at Coloma as last year. We stayed two nights and two days. It passed very quickly. Having a very cool spring might have be one of the reasons why the water of the river was so cold, icy cold. Last year, Guibo was able to swim across the river but this time during the two days we did not see anybody swimming in the river. 

James was posing by the tree at our camp site. It was a site right next to where we camped last year.  

Daniel was ready to go with his fishing pole. 

About a year ago, it was in the same tent, after the kids fell asleep, with the background sound of rushing river, Guibo and I lay on the air mattress, talking about the feasibility of homescholing. Back then, although convicted and with a burning desire, I never imaged that we are really going to do it. I am so thankful!