A New "Red Rider" for Kijin

Kijin's new "Red Rider" is a bike trailer that I have to pull on my bike! We tried it out the other night. Kijin did NOT like the helmit on his head !!! Screamed at us and then we just took off with him in the trailer. He held on for dear life ! LOL !

So we just went around the block and that was it. I think he was relieved to get out ! But , he will have to get use to it. WE are taking it up to Wasaga Beach this July long weekend to try it out longer on the bike trail rides. Kyler and I then will take many bike rides this summer with Kijin ! Wish me luck for pulling it !!

KKK Wiersma

A trip to Riverdale Farm Toronto

Today we had a nice visit from Grandma Wiersma. She wanted to check out the "Riverdale Farm" in Toronto. So off we went. ( I hate driving on the DVP and downtown TO) But we made it ! Free Parking ! and Free Entry ! This a cute little park that has farm animals such as goats, pigs, horses, cows, sheep, ducks and little trails to check out the ponds. Who knew this little farm is in "Cabbagetown" Toronto-not far off the DVP? Kijin munched on his lunch as we cruised along the pathways looking for the chickens to come up to the stroller looking for hand outs !

There is a little cafe at the farm for a sandwich lunch ( which we had ) , a gift shop and a art shop there as well. It's a good place for little ones and stroller friendly. No play park though , but you could probably spend a few hours there. Its just a small little farm for small little people to check out :) Check out their website before you go for hours--but its free and go early for a parking spot !

Thanks for a nice afternoon Grandma !

KKK Wiersma xoxoxoxo

Weekend Words--A great BBQ and 3 Kute Koreans !

Hi all.....its been awhile....!

A few weekend words.....

This past Sunday we had a great road trip to see the other Wiersma's in Beamsville ! We visited their church first then headed to Uncle Henry and Aunt Diane's house for a BBQ and have some great social time !

We have a wonderful connection to 2 other familes who have also adopted from South Korea.

Belinda and Steve Wiersma adopted, Adam ( on the right , who is now our cousin by adoption ) who is now an active 3 year old ! We met Adam in the fall of 2008- not long after Belinda and Steve brought him home. When we saw them at a baby shower, this is where I asked all the questions about their adoption process and who their agent was. Ed and I were already thinking about adopting at this point, but really had no idea on where to start. I got the name of the Agentcy and their contact and off it went from there ! From then on, we have been emailing back and forth and having them follow along with our process !

Daniel is on the left of Kijin. He is also an active 3 year old ! His parents are Barb and Andrew. ( she is Belindas sister ) They also adopted him and brought him home not too long after Adam. Kijin has met a new friend ! Aren't these boys cute???????? !!!! ( thanks for the pic Belinda ! )

SO we decided to have a BBQ to re-connect the family's once again :) Such a good idea eh girls? LOL--!

There are also 3 more boys missing from this photo though ! My Kyler is 9, Ben ( Belinda's boy-20months? ) and Barbs little one who is 11 months now? They all played well and had a good day! Kyler kept an eye on Adam and Daniel who played soccer together !

What a great day !

KEKK

Karens Yummy Koffee Krisp Dream Dessert !

Karens Yummy Koffee Krisp Dream Dessert !
( i had to add the K's of course ! )

This dessert is often a hit at BBQ's or for a ladies night out !
My Sisinlaw gave it to me, so I am passing it on as per request !

**** Make the night before ********

500 ml Real Whipping Cream- ( the kind u whip up yourself from milk carton )
4 tbls Chocolate Syrup
3/4 Cup Icing Sugar
4 tsp Instant Coffee in 1 tbls . of hot water
2 Coffee Crisp Bars ( or more--up to you )
1 box of Graham Wafers

Whip cream and icing sugar together until thick
Add chocolate syrup and coffee
Whip again
Place 1 layer of wafers in a 9by9 pan , than 1 layer of cream mixture
Repeat another time ( sometimes i add a coffee crisp bar here too )
Repeat 2 more times ending with cream.
Crush and sprinkle coffee crisp bars on top.
Refridgerate over night.

Enjoy !! Its great served with coffee of course !

Karen

Dedication Day-Fathers Day June 19th, 2011

June 19th, 2011, Father's Day. Kijin gets Dedication at our church, C4 in Ajax. He wore his Hanbok and did great in church ! Kyler had to speak a bit on stage with the children's pastor before she began to Dedicate Kijin. He told the church when Kijin came home with us, about being a brother, and what "Kijin's" name ment in Korean. ( Korean Truth ) Kyler spoke well on stage !! Good job Kyler ! Thanks C4 for your prayers and blessings for our family on this wonderful day ! Happy Fathers Day everyone !

Karen, ED, Kyler, Kijin

Karens Korean Kooking Recipes and Karens Chicken Rice Casserole !

Ed bought these books when we were in Seoul, SK. He bought about 8 books from the Hospital that was up the street from where we were staying.

So we looked through them and decided to do the easiest Korean Recipes we could find !

The Watermelon Punch ( Subak-hwachae) was actually easy to make. I went to the market and got the biggest Watermelon I could find. I had to make the punch twice over the weekend, so I might as well. It turned out great. You don't have to make it with brandy in it- !

Ingredients : 1 large watermelon, 1 bottle of soda pop , 1/2 cup brandy, 1tsp pine nuts, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water

Method: 1. Cut the the melon in 1/2 and add a sawtooth design ( we didn't ). Scoop out the watermelon balls with a melon baller. ( I got one at the dollar store and it worked great )
2. Boil 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar to make the syrup.
3. Soak the watermelon balls in the syrup in a bowl. Scoop out all the watermelon and Wrap pieces of the watermelon in a cloth ( tea towel works great ) and squeeze out the juice into the shell.
4. Place the watermelon balls, syrup, soda pop, brandy and all the watemelon juice in the shell and float ice pieces on top.
5. Serve the watermelon punch sprinkled with pine nuts. Place the watermelon in a large punch bowl surround it with ice cubes.

This is the picture of the table on Dedication Day-June 19th, 2011 ! A full table !

Barbecued Beef- (Bulgogi)

Ingredients: 1 1/3 top round or tenderloin of beef, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp . rice wine ( its a vinegar) , 5 tbsp chopped green onion, 2 tbsp chopped garlic, 6 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame salt ( Ed could not find this, we used small sesame seeds instead ) 2 tbsp sesame oil, black pepper, lettuce , garland chrysanthemun, sesame leaves, garlic , small green onions

Method: 1. Slice the beef thinly and score lightly to make the meat more tender. Cut them into bite size pieces and marinate it in the sugar and rice wine. ( you can do this for 24 hours later if you remember and if you have the time )

2. Mix the marinated beef with the soy sauce, chopped garlic, sesame salt, and sesame oil.

3. Broil over the BBQ grill or frying pan. Serve it with lettuce leaves, sesame leaves, garland and garlic.

It turned out great for us 2 times. I added some red wine too a bit and threw in whatever the book forgot to mention in the steps ! Im sure it would be great to add a bit of BBQ sauce to it at well !

Karens Chicken Rice Casserol ! Crock Pot Recipe ! YUM

I decided also to make a simple crock pot recipe with some rice. I have a great Crock Pot book called, " Fix It and Forget It cook book" It has simple and easy and yummy recipes for your crock pot. It's really called "Wanda's Chicken and Rice Casserole" by Wanda Roth--page 173 ---But for yesterday, Im calling it "Karens Chicken Cassserol"

Makes 6-8 servings

( i put this together before church, turned on my crock pot and it was done when we got back ! )

1 cup long grain rice, uncooked

3 cups water

2tsp chicken bouillon granules

1 soup can of cream of chicken soup

1 bag of frozen broccoli

2 cups, chopped, cooked chicken

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion salt

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker-crock pot.

2. Cook on High 3-4 hours.

If the casserole is too runny, remove the lid and cook high for 15 minutes.

Enjoy !!!!!!

Karen

The big day ! Kijin turns 1 !!

Kijin turns 1 !

He had a late night on the night before. He was either teething or has a cold ! Ugh.

He woke up happy and us singing Happy Birthday to him.

The Marshalls ( my side ) came over= My parents, My brother Kolin, his wife Jenn and Sydney who is turning 5. Great Grandma was there ( who is 90 ) and my Great Uncle Paul arrived as well, Friends- Carl and Ange with Claire-!

We had a great BBQ !

We had hotdogs, burgers, sausages and Korean Barbecued Beef( Bulgogi), ( Ed and I made), and a Korean Watermelon Punch (Subak-hwachae) and many more snacks, Bday cake and the Korean treats.

Uncle Kolin tasted the Red Bean rice cakes and his face said it all ! " It tastes like rubbery playdough! " hahahahh

The Bulgogi was a hit and the Watermelon Punch ( of course , there is Brandy in it!!! )

It was a hot hot day, and the deck was finished ! YEAH DADDY !!!!!

Kijin got nice gifts from everyone ! Thanks for coming and bringing the gifts everyone !

Then we headed to the "Toljabee Event" table I had set up in the living room.

Kijin picked the rice !!!! ( he will be rich ) the Pencil and ruler ! A Rich Scholar !!!!!

Because it was soooooooooooooo hot, we did not put him in his Hanbok this day. ( he was also very cranky for not having a good night before or a good nap ! )

We decided he will wear it in church the next morning for his Dedication Day. ( plus he wore it for his photos ! )

Kijin blessed the cake by putting his hand in the icing and had a good piece of yummy cake !

A great day ! All the food turned out great even our try at the Korean food !

Thanks everyone ! :)

K.E.K.K. Wiersma

Friday Costco Birthday Cake pick up !

Friday came and off Kijin and I went to pick up his cake, balloons and food. Ed was home still working on that deck !!!!

Costco did a great job with Kijin's cake. They even wrote his name in Korean-Kijin ! This cake was also for his Dedication day for Sunday. Yummy !

1st Year picture day

Picture Day ! I took Kijin to Loblaws this morning to get his 1st year pictures done in this outfit and his "Hanbok" ( thanks for that sugesstion Belinda and Barb!)
That was fun ! Not! LOL ! WE get to the photo shop and get ready to take his photos- and man was he ever fast and up and ready to take off on us ! The photographer and I had to tag team it and get him to sit still for his photos ! Then it was time to do them in his "Hanbok"
He was now slippery and fast ! The fabric is like a silk--and he did not want to sit in the chair for that photo ! But he kept smiling and we got some great photos ! Now it was time to pick , 2 poses out of many many good photos ! I picked the best 2, and hoped to pick them up before the weekend parties !! Whew !!!!! Glad that went well and its over !!!!
Thanks Pickering Loblaws ! :)

Ajax by the Lake walk

AHHHH....... a beautiful Wednesday....a break from shopping......a nice stroll at the Ajax by the water park and bike path. It was a hot morning but it was nice by the water ! We dropped Kyler off to school and Kijin and I went for a stroller stroll!

A busy, busy week! It started off........

Hi all ! What a busy week we had last week!!!!

I first started off by preparing a "ShowNTell" table. I put all the stuff on the table on what we got while in SK. Our Photo Album, purchases we bought, brochures, toys, books, stamps, Kijin's SK Flag, won$, etc. I printed off the information as well for "Tol" Birthday , explaining the SK Tradtion .

This is the "Toljabee Event Table". In this event, the birthday child goes around the table and picks up items that attract him or her. The child's future is predicted according to what he or she grabs. After placing the child in front of the table, the child gets to pick whatever they want. The first and second items the child grabs are considered the most important. The child's future is predicted according through these items and more.

bow and arrow - the child will become a warrior

needle and thread-the child will live long

jujube- the child will have many descendants

book,pencil or related items- the child will become a successful scholar

rice or rice cake-the child will become rich ( if they choose the rice cake, the child is not smart ! ) so of course I did not add this to the table !

knife- the child will be a good cook.

I added my own few things to the table - a stethascope, a musical instrament, an animal-( a vet? ) a ball ( athlete) a wrench ( architech? ) etc. This was set up for him to do on his actual birthday.


Now time to shop! Where do we go and get Korean snacks or food?
Pickering has an International Market called "P.Hat" Market. Apparently they have Korean food and among many other foods from all over the world. So Kijin and I went to check this out !
I sort of had a list on what to buy - when we got there, the market seemed to smell really really bad and the stuff was all over the place and not really marked out well on where the Korean food was. I did my best and bought a few Korean "snacks" and ice cream bars.

Then we decided to head out to Markham and checked out "TnT Market. WOW! Clean and well organized ! Yeah ! I bought rice crackers, some Red Bean rice cakes, and chocolates ! The shelves were labeled Korean or Japanese Food. ! The bakery smelled great, but too early to buy their bread--it was possible we might come back?

Next it was off to watch Kyler play a soft ball game ! GO Kyler Go!

WE lost , but Kyler got 2 more boys traded to their team ! He is happy about that !

To BE CONTINUED................................Daddy was home trying to get our deck finished for the party !

Kijin's Hanbok

This is Kijin's lovely "Hanbok". His foster mother gave it to us when we visited her and met Kijin in her condo the first time.

It is a lovely shade of pink, yellows, and greens. The pants ( not shown ) are a dark green colour.

It is the traditional Korean dress. It is often characterized by vibrant colours and simple lines without any pockets. The term "Hanbok" means "Korean clothing" and worn to any semi formal or formal traditional festivals or celebrations. The children usually get one every year and they wear them on their birthdays, celebrations and other cerimonies. Kijin's is about a size 1 and it should fit him just fine or a little big on him ! We will take many pictures this weekend with him wearing it on Saturday and Sunday in church for his dedication.

We also plan to keep in touch with Kijin's foster family in South Korea and send them pictures of Kijin in his "Hanbok" outfit and amoung many other updates as he grows !

Karen

Weekend words---a wedding, grandma and grandpa babysit and preparing for Kijins bday on June 18th

Hi all ! A few weekend words .....( thanks for the pic Belinda LOL) Ed and I had our "first night out" since coming home from Korea. ( over 2months now )We attended a beautiful wedding, and recruited Grandma and Grandpa Wiersma to babysit the boys ! One of Ed's coworkers got married- ( I have a pic to post later on ) so off we went to have a night out ! Kijin did really well with his grandparents and having Kyler help supervise ! hehehe lol --they took him for a long walk, and to the park--pooped him out and he went out like at light at bed time ! YEAH ! That means we can go out more often ! heheehehh
Kijin turns 1 on the upcoming weekend......so we are having my side of the family come for a BBQ and bday celebrations on Saturday and Sunday we have some of the Wiersmas attending and we will be dedicating Kijin at our church in Ajax. So all in one weekend ! SO the prep begins for the weekend. ! Shop Shop Shop--Food Food Food !


The Koreans have a Traditional "Tol" Ceremony for 1st birthdays. Kijin will be wearing his "Hanbok" outfit and our families will be enjoying a little bit of Korean food and information about this celebration. I will write more about this later on this week, as I run around and prepare for this upcoming weekend ! So far though, Kijin and I have visited an Internation local P'Hat" Market here in Pickering. This was fun ! I was able to pick up a few Korean favourite snacks- but everything was all over the place , and the staff could not direct me in the righ direction for the Korean food. Oh Oh ! So I "winged" it and grabbed what looked good and hope for the best ! Next stop is a few stores in Markham ! I need a few things yet --wish me luck !!!
The Birthday cake has been ordered- ( Costco of course ) I have booked Kijins photo sesstion in Loblaws to be taken this week with his traditional "Hanbok" outfit on , in case I cant get a good picture of him in it without a piece of cake on it !!!!
This is only Monday---but I think I have my shopping lists ready and Kijin and I will be out to get the stuff we need !

More to blog later....... Karen

Happy in the Pool and a Published Poem

Hi all ! Kijin loved his little pool ! For sure we will be hanging out around the pool and sunshine.

Kyler had his published poem printed on page 8 ( moms favourite number !!! --Kyler born on Oct 8th, 8.2oz at 8:12am--Kijin born on June 18th ) He is finishing grade 4 in a few weeks !

Week/Week end Words

Hi all !

Kijin is walking - well most of the time anyways ! He definately on the move ! He is eating and sleeping great still !

He will visit the doctor this week for needle # 3 ! Yikes ! and a check up ! Those teeth are still trying to come in, I don't think it will stop for awhile yet.

He loves his stroller walks , the park and shopping with mom ! YEAH ! Kyler was a terrible shopper ! lol ! So it's great, I can pack him up and take him everywhere !

Kyler is on the go with Softball x2 a week. His first game was last week--they bombed it ! ( Kyler blames it all on the girls of course , since most of his team is girls ! ) But he got a hit !

He will be finishing Grade 4 in a few weeks ! Already ?

His "Haunted House" Poem was just published in a childrens book , Young Writers of Canada, "Under the Pumpkin Patch " it's called ! So we have a Wiersma who has had something published in a book ! Kyler took the book today to school to show it off ! ( I will post pictures soon )

I am going to put him in a few things this summer, swimming , VBS camps and hook up with some boys from his class. Im sure he will be bored all day home with mom and Kijin !

Kijin will be turning 1 on June 18th, 2011--WE are planning his bday "TOL" for that weekend and his dedication ( Babtism ) I will be on the hunt for Korean foods, or baking something from our Korean Recipe books! Plus a Korean store to find a few things to add to his bday party ! Wish me luck ! This should be fun !

Ed is trying to finish our deck before the 18th of June ! It will look great when it;s done ! ( the before picture is above ) I will have an "after" picture I hope soon !

Have a great week everyone !

KEKK

Shower Pictures x2

Thanks for the pictures Grandma !

A lovely cake for us ladies to eat at the shower ! Yum ! Thanks Trudy and Jennifer !

And Kijin trying to open some of this gifts on his own! He was more interested in the paper and ribbon!

Karen and Kijin