Archive for the 'Deep' Category

Just Angelina

Published by Daphne on May 18, 2010 in Angelina, Deep and Firsts. 0 Comments

Today started a new chapter for the twins. Instead of Jubilee getting to spend the afternoon with Pau-Pau and Gaun-Gaun, it was Angelina!

In the morning, I tried to be careful with my words. I said to Angelina and Madeleine, “You two are going to start taking turns spending the day with Pau-Pau and Gaun-Gaun. Today it’s Angelina’s turn.”

Maddie was perfectly happy and not jealous. Whew! Angel was excited.

We all had lunch together before they took Angel. When Pau-Pau told Angel she was going to be with them, Angel said, “Not Jubilee?”

They spent the day in San Francisco. Pau-Pau and Gaun-Gaun said Angel talked the entire drive up. They attempted to go on three merry-go-rounds. The first one was closed, the second one was broken, and the third one was working…except Angel freaked out and they had to get off. According to Pau-Pau, Angel said she would go on it when she’s bigger. Or maybe with her Daddy.

They walked in Chinatown, bought Chinese bakery goodies, and she got to eat a Chinese sponge cake. She fell asleep on the drive home, so they stopped in Mountain View for dinner.

When Angel got home, Maddie announced that Angel was home. I told Maddie to go say hi. Maddie ran to her twin sister and gave her a hug.

For me, the day went well. I couldn’t believe how much easier it was to take care of two children who are of different ages! They played together very well, put on a Spring Performance, did arts and crafts without creating a disaster. The most bittersweet moment came at dinner time. The four of us sat together at the table and we fit so perfectly. But it wasn’t perfect. When I said, “It felt weird,” David replied, “It’s very American.”

My life is crazy, messy, stressful, and difficult. I like even numbers and symmetry. In spite of the odds (pun intended), a family of five and raising three little girls brings a harmony that has no parallel to this world.

Upcoming Mother’s Day

Published by Daphne on May 7, 2010 in Deep, Humorous, Jubilee and Signs & Words. 0 Comments

I’ve been seeing Jubilee mature this week as I’ve seen her preparing for Mother’s Day.

Yesterday she quietly stayed in her room during room time. When I came in to put clothes away, she said, “Don’t look at what I’m doing!”

When I pick her up from various activities, she’ll clutch to her arts and crafts and protest, “You can’t see this, Mommy!”

This afternoon, she told me, “Mommy, you’re getting many presents for Mother’s Day.”

“Wheeeeee!” I squealed. “This is going to be better than Christmas!”

Today I was trying to open her closet door, but she had hidden all of her presents…right where the door is suppose to be.

Knowing that we are going to Grammy’s for the weekend, she says, “I have sooooo many things to pack.”

By far the sweetest maturity I’ve seen was yesterday, again during her room time. Looking worn out (I’m not kidding you), she says, “Whew. I am soooo busy. I have lot of work to do.”

This is going to be the best Mother’s Day ever!

Broken and Beautiful

Published by Daphne on Apr 3, 2010 in Deep, Jubilee, Signs & Words and Songs. 0 Comments

I’m sitting on the floor with my JAM girls while they eat a popsicle. I decide it’s a good time to teach a simple worship song to them with the hopes of adding to our small repertoire of “Holy Holy Holy” and “Jesus What a Wonder You Are.”

“I’m going to teach you a new praise song,” I tell them. Of course I still have to come up with a song.

“I know which song,” Jubilee says. “It goes like this.” Then, to my amazement, she begins to sing the chorus to a song. I’m pretty sure I know it, though her lyrics are only about half correct. I’m also impressed that she’s singing on key!

“Where did you learn that song?” I ask her. “Did you hear it today at the Easter Festival?”

“From your class,” she replies, meaning an adult program at church. She further clarifies, “In the sanctuary. I heard it a long time ago.”

So I pull out my iPod and play the song. She’s very happy that I used her suggestion. She even asked that we go to a concert to hear this song. I’m ecstatic that she wanted to sing a song praising Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

What’s the song? “Broken and Beautiful” by Brian Doerkson. You can hear a snippet of it on iTunes Someone also put a slideshow together on YouTube.

Here are the lyrics. In bold is what Jubilee sang. (=

As we break this bread
As we drink this cup
Lord we remember
How You gave Your life on a brutal cross
Lord we remember

This is the way You’ve chosen to say
This is the way You make all things new
This is the way You’ve chosen to say
This is the way You make all things new
Broken and beautiful
Extravagant love
Prodigal grace
Broken and beautiful
God’s perfect justice
Mercies embraced

As we break this bread
As we drink this cup
Lord we remember
It was for my sin that Your flesh was torn
Lord we remember

This is the way You’ve chosen to say
This is the way You make all things new
This is the way You’ve chosen to say
This is the way You make all things new
Broken and beautiful
Extravagant love
Prodigal grace
Broken and beautiful
God’s perfect justice
Mercies embraced

Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
This is the way You’ve chosen to say
This is the way You make all things new
This is the way You’ve chosen to say
This is the way You make all things new

As we break this bread
As we drink this cup
Lord we remember

Jubilee has a smart brain

Published by David on Jan 23, 2010 in Deep and Jubilee. 0 Comments

Jubilee had trouble falling asleep tonight. She called out to me at some point and explained that she’s afraid of the monsters. She knows monsters aren’t real, but her mind was full of some images she remembered from a story, and naturally the emotions were real too. Then she told me, “My brain is a smart brain because it thinks of things even though they were a long time ago.”

Three Answered Prayers

Published by Daphne on Oct 7, 2009 in Deep, Jubilee and Prayer. 0 Comments

Sometimes Jubilee’s faith amazes. It certainly always humbles me. Here are three answered prayers for the day.

1) Jubilee and I attended BSF while in Redondo Beach. Auntie Andrea was at a doctor’s appointment. While at BSF, I found out she needed us to swing by her house to pick some things up, then meet her at the doctor’s office. Trouble is, we didn’t go directly to BSF from Auntie Andrea’s house, so I wasn’t exactly sure how to get back there. Now that I was under a time constraint to get to the house, I was a little worried.

“Mommy, let’s pray,” Jubilee suggested. So I did, then Andrea called to say we didn’t need to go to her house and gave me directions to the doctor’s office.

2) Jubilee and I were at lunch the same day. We were in the bathroom and I COULD NOT figure out how to get the paper towels to dispense. I couldn’t find the infrared light or a manual wheel to force out the towel. I was actually sticking my fingers into the dispenser trying to grab some paper towel and pull it out.

Then I notice Jubilee closing her eyes, clasping her hands together, and whispering. Wheeeeer! The paper towel came out!

3) But I needed another paper towel for myself! I start digging again, then I ask Jubilee to pray again. She prays. Wheeeeer! I kid you not.

Scoff all you want. But if it will increase Jubilee’s faith (and mine) to move mountains, who am I to argue?

Mushrooms

Published by Daphne on Sep 23, 2009 in Deep, Jubilee, Madeleine and Prayer. 0 Comments

Mushrooms keep growing by the big tree which stands in the middle of our backyard. Madeleine started to grab at one today, so I had to explain to her that they are dangerous.

Jubilee said, “Mommy, I have a great idea.” Note: whenever she says this, she emphasizes the word “great.” She’s intentionally boasting, but she sure is convinced of her cleverness.

“What’s your great idea?” I asked.

Very seriously, she said, “We should ask God to take the mushrooms go away. I’ll do that right now.”

Jubilee bowed her head, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands together. I could hear her praying softly. I rushed to be near her to hear as much as I could. Sadly I didn’t hear it all, but I know she prayed several sentences. And I heard her whisper, “Help Maddie to not eat the mushrooms.”

Severe Daddy Withdrawal

Published by Daphne on Sep 18, 2009 in Angelina and Deep. 0 Comments

Every day since we’ve returned from vacation, Angelina has cried whenever we leave without David, or vice versa. I don’t know if her not wanting to be in Children’s Ministry programs is related. Yesterday I don’t think she cried at my church’s Mother’s Support Group, other than a little bit in the beginning. Today at MOPS, they said she didn’t want to be held, but just played by herself and worked it out.

My poor Angel baby.

Feeling Better

Published by Daphne on Sep 14, 2009 in Deep, Humorous, Jubilee and Signs & Words. 0 Comments

On Saturday, Jubilee watched tv, slept, and didn’t want to play with kids at the party. At one point she tried to socialize but she quickly gave up.

On Sunday, she slept the entire day and evening. She didn’t even want to watch tv! I learned that I had to wake up every 30-45 minutes to give her liquid to avoid dehydration. By the end of the day, she was enjoying a little rice in chicken broth.

Around 2am, she woke up hungry. I gave her two saltine crackers. We were sitting together as she quietly munched away. Out of the blue, she turns to me and says, “Uncle Aaron yawns loudly.” Now, this is something she was fixated on the day before she got sick. So her statement sounded like the last two days hadn’t even occurred. Right then and there I knew she had almost fully recovered.

Escalators, Baby Banger, and 1-2-3

Published by Daphne on Jul 25, 2009 in Angelina, Deep, Jubilee, Madeleine and Pictures. 0 Comments

I was alone with Jubilee the other day and we were running errands together. At one store, we took the escalator. Suddenly, my heart became wistful. As far as I can recall, Angelina and Madeleine have yet to ride an escalator! When Jubilee was their age, riding escalators was one of her favorite pastimes. Our trip to NYC involved many an escalator ride as part of her tourist experience. And it’s not simply because she’s the oldest and the oldest always gets to do more things or do them first. It’s because she was a singleton. I just don’t walk around stores with my children anymore; Angelina and Madeleine are always in a stroller or cart. The most I’ve walked in public areas is from the car to the closest shopping cart so that I can “cage” the toddlers before going shopping.

It’s not just escalators. Every once in a while I would let Jubilee play a computer game called “Baby Banger.” It taught her that if she pressed a key, then a picture would pop on the screen. But how can I play that with two toddlers? I’m sure it’s possible, but it’s not easy because they already fight over toys. Nothing is easy when you’re raising multiples… and an older child!

Another game that they’ve missed out on is “1-2-3” where each parent is holding the child’s hand and you lift the child up into the air. Kind of difficult to do when you’re outnumbered by your children. We did manage to play 1-2-3 with Angelina the other day. We were both holding her hands and David was carrying Madeleine with his other arm, and Jubilee wasn’t with us to get jealous. Needless to say, Angelina loved it. Thankfully, Madeleine didn’t seem to care.

I guess a lot of this comes down to being more diligent in giving Angelina and Madeleine these experiences.

Jumped Ship Again

Published by Daphne on Jul 25, 2009 in Deep, Madeleine and Prayer. 0 Comments

Madeleine jumped out of the other crib this afternoon. I think she was pumped with adrenaline as she had been trying all afternoon to do it and finally succeeded. Now we really have to consider putting her mattress on the floor. This is difficult because 1) we have to make sure the room is safe if she wanders around, and 2) she will likely wake Angelina out of her sleep by poking her.

Sleep training Madeleine is not fun. We’ve been praying a lot for this strong willed child.

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