Garage Door Grace

     Today, I need something to remind me of how blessed I am to be married to a man who always accepts me with so much grace which I do not deserve. If you are a good mind-reader, you might have already figured out that I am a judgemental, feisty, insecure human being.
     Last year, I was on my way home from my physical therapy session and I was listening to a radio station while driving. When I got to our driveway, I tried to adjust the driver seat so that it would be ready for CJ. I was multi-tasking: listening to radio and adjusting the seat...and the car was on Drive mode! Guess what happened. Yes, I drove into our garage door and made a dent. I panicked and could not believe that I did what I did.
     If CJ drove into the garage door, I would have made sure that he knew what a bitch I am. If CJ got angry at my stupidity and stomped around the house for weeks, I would have thought I deserve it. However, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, 'Are you Ok? I am glad you are not hurt.'. You see, God really wants to teach me something: to show grace towards all those imperfections around me.
     Our car insurance covered the repair cost, and I believe it did not affect our insurance premium for the new year, which was a big relief. This accident really made me realize that I need to work on showing grace towards my husband, my children, and even myself.

Everyday is a miracle.
    
     

How much did I make by raising questions?

     When you receive bills from your doctor, what do you do? Do you ever suspect there could be a mistake? Believe or not, a lot of times, the amount on the bills that you receive from your medical service providers are incorrect.
     We do have a very good health insurance called Foreign Service Benefit Plan (FSBP). We became eligible for this insurance when my husband was working overseas as a part of DoD system. We used to have BCBS for a long time, but FSBP is much more superior than BCBS and other insurance plans we are eligible for as a federal employee.
     As y'all know, I gave birth to twins last year, which means lots of doctor visits. For each bill, I compared what the bill states with what I see on the EOB (Explanation of Benefits) on FSBP website. Believe or not, for most of those bills, I found the provider charged me much more than what the EOB states as 'member responsibility'. Why couldn't they figure out correctly how much I owe them? Are they hoping that I would be naive enough to succumb to their fancy bill and 'just' pay whatever they charge me?
     Frustrated and annoyed, but I picked up the phone to call my insurance company. To my relief, the customer service representative agreed with me that I owed $0 instead of $1,130, $5.80 instead of $90.79, etc. Then it took another few weeks or sometimes several months for FSBP to talk to/resolve the issue with the provider.
     Do you want to know how much I saved last year by being me, the TAPO mama? $1562.94
     Ha! The morale of this story is ' NEVER, EVER pay your medical bills before checking your EOB'. You don't want to bother? Well, let me do the work for you and you pay me 20% of what I save for you. Just shoot me an email. 

TAPO

Something's Got To Go

     I got sick over last Thanksgiving week. It was meant to happen. I was running on an empty gas tank for a while, and just...crashed. I have not been sleeping nor eating enough to survive the pressure of motherhood. Everyday seemed to be just way too short to take care of the four human beings living with me.
     Lying sick in bed, I decided to let go of something that has been dear to me. Cooking. Cooking everyday. I decided it is okay to feed my family a few frozen meals each week as long as they are free of harmful ingredients.
     Now that Elisha is 6 years old, homeschooling alone is a daunting task. With twins crawling and being introduced different kinds of solid food, I have been spreading myself pretty thin. I had to think over: what can I give up without compromising the quality of our lives? No more cooking EVERYDAY.
     I still cook quite a bit, but now I spend about three half-days to prepare for two-week's meals, usually right after our every-other-week grocery shopping.    

     Here is a list of what I have been doing to streamline and simplify cooking:  
1. Chop, marinate, freeze chicken thighs. I would thaw and use them to make spicy chicken with carrots and potatoes or honey glazed chicken with potatoes.
2. Marinate chicken thighs with soy sauce, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and then freeze them. I would bake/grill them in a toaster oven, and then shred the meat to add to burrito bowls.
3. Fry and freeze bacon, and add them to our Sunday sandwich lunch.
4. Make pork cutlets and freeze them. We eat them either with rice or a big bowl of salad.
5. Make burritos (baked beans, shredded cheese, bacon, egg), and freeze them. These are mostly for CJ's weekday breakfast, but they come in handy as an easy lunch menu for Elisha and me.
6. Cook a big pot of chili. This is solely for CJ's weekday lunch.
7. Bake bread pudding with lots of egg, milk, and honey. This is also for CJ's breakfast. (Yes, somebody eats A LOT!)
8. Bake, slice and freeze 2 bags of sweet potatoes. I add them to breakfast oatmeal, which makes kids gobble up their otherwise plain oatmeal.

     Here is a list of frozen food from Trader Joe's we have been trying and enjoying:
1. Meat lasagna
2. Kalbi (Korean style short ribs)
3. Organic grilled vegetable pizza
4. Tilapia cutlets

     I would love to hear what y'all homeschooling mamas are doing to feed your family well without killing yourselves.

Everyday Is a Miracle    

Bible Geography

     This past Summer, Elisha and I started studying from Genesis using Grapevine's Stick Figure Through the Bible. As you can see from my review of the curriculum, we really enjoy this study. I plan to do one lesson over two days, but, most times, Elisha does not want to stop in the middle and we end up spending a good hour to hour and a half at one time.
     For a long time, I have wished I had a map showing all the different journeys occurring in the bible. And this bible study with Elisha made that desire even stronger, especially with Elisha loving geography so much. Well, I found a wonderful book which is so fit to our needs, and we found it at our local library!    
     Children's Atlas of the Bible is the one. Tonight, as Elisha and I sat down with this book, we were so mesmerized that  we didn't even realize it was past her bed time. Being able to trace Abraham's journey, Joseph being taken to Egypt, Exodus, desert wandering, Israelite's conquer of Canaan....it made everything we have learned from the bible study, Story of the World,  and Classcial Conversation (CC) come alive.
     This is one of the books I would like to purchase and keep on our bookshelf someday. There goes my Christmas wishlist, honey!

TAPO

Thousands of Marbles

     That's what Elisha said during the science experiment time at last week's Classical Conversations meeting. The experiment was about orbital speed, and they used marbles on a cake pan. The tutor told the kids how they can easily do the experiment at home if they have a marble and a cake pan, and one of the children, Hunter, said 'I don't have any marble at home'. That's when Elisha blurted out 'I have thousands of marbles at home'.
     She does have a lot of marbles, but not thousands. Maybe a few dozens at most. 'Thousands' was an exaggeration, far from the truth. Where there is an exaggeration, there certainly will be drama as well. Most of all, I believe exaggeration is a lie. CJ & I agreed trimming is necessary.
     CJ talked to Elisha that exaggeration is a lie and how God hates a lying tongue. I sat down with Elisha and we decided to give Hunter some marbles so that he can do the experiment at home. Elisha picked several marbles and put them in a cute little bottle, which is ready to be delivered to Hunter when they meet next time. I really hope the lesson is learned and impressed in Elisha's heart.

TAPO

4 a.m. Sticky Fingers Love

     Deborah has been waking up around 4 a.m. I feed her some milk while she is still in daze, but after burping, as I put her down to change her diaper, she comes out of the daze and smiles at me. My logical mind tells me to put her down on the bed and help her to go back to sleep, so that I can rest too. However, we end up playing - tickling, giggling, peekaboo-ing for another hour while everyone else is fast asleep.
     I know my body desperately needs the sleep, but those sticky little fingers on my face are too sweet to let go. Those giggles and cooing are too precious to shush. I know I will miss this wee early morning silliness.
     Kids grow too fast. Time flies too fast. My heart aches to know that I cannot slow down the time, let alone stop it. Tomorrow, I am going to kiss them more, hug them more, and laugh with them more.

TAPO

Passing on TAPO Spirit

     If you know me, I take promises very very seriously and I despise empty promises, broken promises, forgotten promises...Very often, instead of giving a definite promise, I would rather say 'I can't promise that, but I will think about it'.
     Last year while I was on bed-rest with twins inside me, I had promised to Elisha that I would join her to Aquatica & SeaWorld 'sometime after twins are born'. CJ & Elisha have annual passes (they got their passes when they were for BOGO sale!), but I don't. However, a few times a year, annual pass holders get a chance to 'bring a friend' for free. This month we received a day pass for both Aquatica & SeaWorld, and I was on a mission to fulfill the promises I had made.
     Last weekend, we all went to Aquatica and enjoyed a beautiful, not-so-crowded day. I got some mosquito bites, but the trip made twins very tired and they slept a lot for the next two days. Best of all, it felt so~ good to finally keep my promise.
     Yesterday was SeaWorld day, and Elisha and I made a late afternoon trip. We arrived there around 4pm, and soon we were met with thunders with dark, heavy clouds over our heads. We were told that all the shows were cancelled due to the weather, and we had no choice but to leave....BUT I really wanted to honor the promise I had made to Elisha last year, and decided to talk to the guest service if it's possible for me to get a day pass to come back another day.
     When we arrived at the guest service, there was a long~ line of people and it was very hot and humid out there. In addition, Elisha thought it was nonsense to ask for another free pass. For a brief moment, I thought about turning around to go home, but then I realized it was a great teachable moment. It was a chance to teach Elisha the TAPO spirit: tenacious, assertive, persistent, obnoxiously patient spirit.
     After a long wait, I was able to talk to a staff at the guest service. In Elisha's presence, with respect and clarity, I explained the situation and made a request for another day pass, and guess what!? They gave me a rain day pass which I can use sometime within a year! Elisha was super surprised. Was she proud of mama? Yes! Did I set a good example for her? Yes! Would I be able to fulfill my promise on a cooler day? Yes!

TAPO

Put Your Money to Work

     With such a low interest rate, it feels so lame to let the money just sit in the checking or savings account. I want to see my money go around the town and bring in more its kind.
     This past summer, CJ & I put our money to work, and the outcome is quite significant. Chase bank offered $300 for $500 direct deposit every month. We need to keep this minimum 6 months. Citi Bank offered $400 for keeping $15,000 balance for the 1st month and $10,000 for the next two months. Both CJ & I took advantage of these offers, which means we made $1,400.
     We just found out that HSBC is offering $350 for keeping a balance of $1500 for 6 months, and both of us plan to take advantage of this as well.
    Having extra 6 bank accounts can be overwhelming, so we plan to close them whenever the minimum time requirements are fulfilled. In order to keep things organized and to remind us when we are going to close those accounts, CJ put the dates on the google calendar.

     Where do we get these information? From here.

TAPO

Mother's Helper

     A mother's helper is different from a babysitter. Babysitters are expected to work independently and often to work in the absence of the parents of the child/children. A mother's helper is rather expected to provide an extra pair of hands to a busy mom, and she works with/alongside the mother. It's a great concept for a person like me who is reluctant to leave kids with another person other than my husband.
     With twins, we hired a mother's helper. Sophia stayed with us for the first two months. She was referred to us by someone at our church. She is 13 years old and is one of the 11 children in her family, bringing a lot of experience taking care of her younger siblings. She worked 5 hours a day for 6 days each week, and we paid $200 per week.
     Her work included feeding babies, changing diapers, washing and sanitizing bottles, folding laundry. During the first two months, twins slept most of the day, so Sophia also took Elisha outside for half an hour each day to fetch mails or to walk to the playground. She was free to read books or study when there was nothing to do. I left kids with Sophia once a week for an hour so that I could see my physical therapist, but CJ and I have never left kids with her for an extended amount of time.
     After Sophia left us due to her family's busy schedule, we hired another homeschooled girl, Mercy. She comes 3 days a week for 5 hours each time, and we pay $100 per week. Now that twins do not have to be fed so often, she spends the extra time to help Elisha with her memory work for Classical Conversations. Also, she just started teaching Elisha violin whenever her hands are free.
     Before we hired Mercy, I had interviewed several other girls. One of the biggest challenges was to find someone who will set a good example for Elisha who is very observant. So the one who showed up with not much clothes on, another 13-year-old girl who was wearing lots and lots of makeup, and a 14-year-old girl who watches TV until 4am...they did not get the job. Oh, and the high school senior who we test-hired for a week, just because she was referred to us by someone in our homeschool coop...I had to ask her to stop coming because she was on her smartphone ALL the time. As you see, there was quite a drama until we found Mercy.
     For pay-wise, we are paying more than the going rate in and around our neighborhood. However, both CJ and I think it's a fair rate considering the peace and rest our family gets to enjoy by having Mercy.

TAPO

Back to work after 7 years of staying home!

     The last time I had gotten a paycheck was January 2010, and right after that last check, CJ and I moved to Seoul, Korea for CJ's job with US Army Corps of Engineers. So, it has been a little over six and a half years since I was a part of the US workforce.
     I am now back to work...I mean back into an official payroll system. It has been two weeks since I started teaching ESL classes at Alamo Colleges' Palo Alto campus. With three kids taking up my mind and body most of the day, I did not have much time to ponder about what it would be like to go back to work after so many years. I just had to jump in. There was no moment to enjoy that nervousness, excitement, and the kind of feelings people usually experience in situations like this.
     I am having fun teaching my hardworking students, who come to 6pm-9pm classes three times a week after a long day at work. I respect them, and I want to contribute to their growth and success.
     Considering how much time I spend to prepare lessons, the hourly rate is pretty small, but I am thankful that I can close up the six and a half year gap in my work history. Also, it is enough to pay the mother's helper who helps me and CJ on the days when I work. Also, CJ says this will help with my social security paycheck later on.

 TAPO