Happy New Year!!!

Wishing everyone a joyful, healthy and very blessed 2009!!

The Cohen family has big plans for this year. We want to get healthy, get organized and SIMPLIFY. I love the feeling of a new chance, a new start - change. No matter what 2009 brings, we follow the one who created us with His Purpose in our heads, His love in our hearts, and gratefulness on our lips. How wonderful to know that we can have peace and comfort even in the hard times when we live for Him!!

Our three angel babies are getting bigger and we are filled with wonder at them everyday. (Sometimes we wonder how we'll keep our sanity while trying to raise them to adulthood...) We had a great Christmas and Hanukkah. Aiya was here for a wonderful visit and we spent lots of time with family. We did simplify this year in the area of gift giving and it was BRILLIANT. A much less stressful season this year in that way. The kids loved having Aiya here. She has a great relationship with them and even though we don't see her as much as we would like, when she is here it is REALLY special time.

So - here is a Cohen family Resolution for 2009 - live with FAITH every day that God will accomplish His Will through us this year - to make the changes we need for His purposes to be fulfilled.

Happy New Year!


(Eric, baby, you CAN do ANYTHING you put your heart and mind into. Here's to you this year - I BELIEVE in you. I have FAITH in you. You are still my soul mate - ten years into this crazy adventure. I love you.)

Christmas Time

What does Christmas mean to me?

1. The birth of Jesus. My savior and my Lord. In his birth he laid the foundation for his death and resurrection. In all honesty, Christmas is all about The Gift. Ryan and his classmates sing a song about "The Greatest gift of All" and that is what the holiday is all about to me. I remember a Christmas I spent at Rosie's Place. Simply the best Christmas ever. Sometime you get a chance to talk to me, ask me about it. The story is too important for me to butcher in words.

2. Family. I spend a lot of time thinking about family throughout the year but this time of year Lori and I usually get to spend the most time with family of any time. My mom usually comes to visit and we get both Thanksgiving and Christmas family get-together. I realize every December how little time I get to spend with my brother, my parents and extended family but I try to be thankful for technological advances which allow me to be a bigger part of their lives from so far away.

3. Fun. Let's face it, there are too many stresses in life and pressures. When we get a chance to have some fun, try and take it and enjoy it. We got to go to Silver dollar city with the kids and it was a brisk but wonderful time. I was proud to see my kids get up on stage with Frosty, decorate some cookies, and shoot some guns :D Nothing better than knowing your little girl can shoot a small target form a distance. Maybe I will survive when she starts dating at 35.

4. Friends. I must admit that I dont take a lot of time with my friends. Some of it is family time and some of it is just my lack of energy when I get done with the kids. Either way, this year I feel closer to more good friends than I have in a while. From old friends far away to more recent friends far away to friends here in Bolivar, it seems there are more good friends in my life this year. I honestly am so blessed to have them all.

5. Community. I live in a wonderful town (who have an excellent 911 responce time in case you were worried about it). We are members of a good church with good programming for our entire family.

While Christmas is about the Greatest Gift of All and I am very greateful for that gift, I would be remiss not to mention the 2nd Greatest gift of All. This gift makes each of the above better and helps define why they are all important to me. This gift is all about what ties Christmas, Family, Fun, Friends, and Community together. I am of course talking about a 52" HDTv on sale now at many stores.





Lori and kids decorating cookies. I would have got a picture of the final artistry but they didn't last long enough

The kids wrapped up and ready to go back out and have some fun.



Noone cries and everyone is happy. Chances are they all asked for a 52" HDTv.





How awesome is it to watch life size events as a family? This parade was fun and I can't wait for the next one, which I hope we can enjoy on something other than such a small low definition television.


Yes, that is Xandie under the scarf. We all really enjoyed our time together.

(Editor's Footnote: The subliminal advertising for a 52" HDTV was put on by a staff member as a joke. Please understand that it does not represent the author or any of the family that publish this blog. If you are given an HDTV that you wish to donate to a family who promise to watch every episodeof 24 on it, feel free. Otherwise be informed that that was all in good fun.)

(Author's Note: The editor was covering for me. I was hoping to get a wealthy reader of our blog to donate an HDTv. I do not wish anyone to get me one for Christmas. The 2 greatest gifts should have been listed as Jesus and Lori Jean. The TV was meant as humor! ;)

Have a wonderful holiday season. No matter what you believe in or what you take from this season, I wish you and your family the very best. Enjoy what you have, ingore what you don't, and be thankful for what's to come.

WARNING: BRAGGING PARENT AHEAD

OK, I warned you.

We are always proud of our kids for their gifts, talents, and accomplishments. Today was no different for me. Alex went to school today and looked so big sitting at the table waiting patiently to get started with his first task. It finally hit me that he is such a great student in his class. We heard his teacher tell us how hard he works and that he spends free time with his friend Kate doing math, but sometimes it is easy to fixate on his home persona and forget the kind of student he is. I am so proud of him. The other day he subtracted 12 minutes from 5:08PM and come up with 4:56. Scary, I know. If you need to see a little of Alex the student, try and spot his intense bell ringing face here... http://www.bolivarmonews.com/articles/2008/12/02/news/doc492c7736a136b592866567.txt

Katie and I always get a little special time going from PCCS to BUM Kids where Katie gets to ask me 100 times "BUM Kids daddy?" or "Going to BUM kids daddy?" or of course "Katie BUM Kids?" Then she gets to grab my leg and play shy (while giggling the entire time). Finally, I offer to stay and play here while she goes and cleans the house and she says "Nooooooo daddy" and runs off to play. Then when I go pick her up, she always yells "DADDY!!" and runs up to hug me. The feeling is soooo awesome. She loves to snuggle with me and really grabs my neck and squeezes.

Ryan, on the other hand has always been the one who shows his gifts and talents as much as possible. He loves to perform and I found out how much he loves it today. His music teacher asked if he could go and sing at a christmas party with some of the other kids at PCCS for Bank of Bolivar's christmas party. He seemed a bit overwhelmed at first but there were times I could hear his little voice singing over all the other voices. I stood there videotaping the group singing but I was filled with such joy seeing him having fun and doing something he does very well. Each gesture and word were sung from his heart with such pure joy that I probably looked goofy with a huge smile on my face. When he was done, we went back to the van where I told him how proud I was of them for doing such a good job. Ryan said to me, "Daddy, why can't I be as good at P.E. as I am at singing?"

It was then I realized exactly how much he was like his mother. I remember the first time I heard Lori sing (it was on tape though) and how her voice was so amazing. She was shy back then and hearing her sing was just the most beautiful music I had ever heard and now I hear that same joy and beauty in Ryan's voice.

Anyway, enough rambling..... I tried to take pictures but they came out dark, so here is the best I got. Have a wonderful holiday season! :D

Just Random Stuff

I think I might just be going insane. I am spending time daily being more thankful every day for the blessings in my life. Mostly, I am focused on my family. I realize that one of the side effects of the depression that seems to infect so many people is the inability to truly count our blessings on a daily basis and put them in their proper perspective. It seems easier to focus on what we aren't and what we wish we were than what we have and what blesses our lives daily.

My kids are tough for me to really appreciate because they are my full time job. They consume my patience and my fears. I worry about everything to do with them and feel sometimes feel like being with them is a chore. But in the silliest and sweetest of moments, I truly get a chance to see the blessings my kids are to me and the wonder and joy they bring to my life. From Alex's joy of the change in time to Katies demand for her Teddy bear Blankee to the lengthy history of the continents of the earth from Ryan; I am a truly blessed man to have the time to spend with them as they go on with their day to day lives. Sometimes I know I take it for granted.

It is easy for me to appreciate my friends, our town, and our church, but it is tough sometimes to tell them what I feel about them. Either way, I doubt Ill be writing them mushy cards but suffice it to say I am very blessed with the people God has brought into my life.

My family (both the one I have and the one I've always had) are a blessing I sometimes take very much for granted. How many people can offer their kids 3 generations of advise from many different perspectives on any given day? My kids have 4 great grandparents, 4 grandparents (plus), an uncle, and 3 aunts (who pronounce aunt 2 different ways). while I wish we were able to spend more time with each and every one of them, we are just flat out blessed to have them.

Finally, Lori is often overlooked as the source of my strength and the receptor of the garbage I spew when I am stressed. I am proud to know her, let alone get the chance to share my entire life with her. Today I was telling a customer how I think people shouldn't congratulate Lori for our anniversaries because I am the one who should celebrate another year of her putting up with me. I guess in any good relationship a person will feel like they give more than they take and in the best relationships, both partners feel that way. I know I say I love you a lot to her but I dont think I show her often enough.

Anyhow, don't ask me why I posted today, I just felt like it. I have 2 thoughts for today:

Always count your blessings
Peace isn't the absense of conflict, its the ability to deal with it.

Have a wonderful day/night.

Race for Parkinson's

I ran my first 5K on Saturday. I have never run in the cold like that before, but it went well. It was a race to raise money for the Parkinson's Disease foundation. I was running for my grandfather, Farrel Dablemont, and for a friend and extended family member, Harold Wolrich. I felt a bit odd at first and nervous but everyone was very nice and encouraging. It was my best time so far, but far from where I'd like to be. I'm thinking someday maybe Ryan and I can run a marathon together.

"A Walk to Beautiful"

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beautiful/

I am still on a listserv for my residency program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. I met so many wonderful people and physicians there - it is nice to stay in touch with them. There was an announcement that they were having a showing of this film somewhere and I was intrigued. I was amazed to find the "NOVA" version free on line for viewing. INCREDIBLE! I emailed the link to Eric and asked if we could either: move to Ethiopia so I can work in obstetrics there OR adopt an Ethiopian orphan. While I'm not quite ready to do either of the above yet, I am more and more convinced of God's calling to me in my "second life." When my rambunctious three are grown and I am "retired" - I am headed out to live internationally to do medical work. My first love, of course, is China. (I am hoping for opportunities as the kids grow older to do short term medical work overseas as well.)

Anyway, this is an incredible film that impressed upon me how wasteful and selfish I can be. I do take so many things for granted as a woman and a physician. I am renewed in my committment to make an effort to help others in need - to raise money to support activities like this and New Day Foster Home. I want to be a part of the "solution" to poverty and suffering as much as I can where I am now, as I pray for God to show me how and where the "next step" will come. This film was a challenge to me to make my time, my money, and my actions really COUNT for something. I don't want the craziness of life and my innate desire to chase after my own personal happiness to make me forget - every minute and second - what is REALLY important in this world.

If you have a minute (50 actually), check out this great documentary. I don't think you'll be sorry. LJC

World's Best Daddy

The boys had their first quarter report cards and Parent-Teacher Conferences last week. They are doing wonderfully. I hope that Eric realizes what a testament this is to his great job of "Mr. Mom" for the last six years. I don't tell him often enough how great he is and his job is so behind-the-scenes, under-appreciated and thankless. There aren't any raises or promotions, no "Employee of the Year" awards. BUT he is "Daddy of the Universe" to us and the least I can do is remind him publicly how much we need, love and appreciate him. Thank you, Honey, for the great job you do every moment of every day. None of us would be functional without you.

Mama, Ryan, Alex and Katie Hui

Election Day

I am praying for this great nation that we live in. It is a wonderful and historic day and whatever the outcome, I am asking God to pour out his blessings and favor on the United States of America. I am praying that he would allow us all to come together - this great melting pot - to overcome partisan politics and petty arguing.
Our nation is singular in it's history of freedom and democracy - a light shining in the darkness of dictatorships and despots - terrorists and tyrants. Truly the greatest Land of Opportunity in the world - look at all the immigrants trying to get here. They can see what so many of us take for granted. I don't believe in ethno-centricity and I am in awe of the diverse and beautiful world our Creator has fashioned. I love to learn about and visit other lands and cultures. BUT I think we here in the US need to remember and be proud of our great heritage. I am tired of hearing nothing but criticisms and complaints about this country. I'd like to see her citizens roll up their sleeves and really WORK to make this nation great again. We are all talk and no ACTION. We are in danger of forgetting who we are and what we stand for. In all our differences - we must still be able to come together to focus on our common purpose and our common love of freedom and love of our country. The world can not afford for the United States to falter. They need our light to continue to shine brightly and NOT to fade away. LJC

Questionable Parenting....

Tips for others parenting preschoolers...if you let them play with swords and knives, they will lose an eye. These poor children learned the hard way.






HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Madison Keeley

Okay we need another small creature in our household like we need a hole in the head...that said, they seem to find me!!!!
I was minding my OWN business one afternoon at my office and I went outside to my car. I heard a funny noise - thought it was the machinery from the construction lot next to our building. As I walked over I kept hearing it - weird noise - coming from one of two vans parked next to each other in the employee lot. Pretty soon I was on my hands and knees looking under cars and I figured out a cat was stuck in one of the motors. Long story short - 20 minutes, three female employees, and two very sweet construction workers later we pulled a tiny kitten out of the motor. The lady whose car it was in thinks it rode to the office from her home. She is in a rural area and "there are always strays around." The kitten promptly ran into some bushes and shrubs by our office. It stayed there yowling for almost 48 hours and after failing to catch it(picture me tromping around overgrown bushes at 11:30pm with a pen light and cup of milk), I called animal control to come trap it. We have a kill shelter here and since no one else would claim it...meet Madison Keeley. There was a big discussion/fight over the name - Alex and Katie like Maddie and Ryan insisted on Keeley so here we are.

Eric was not too pleased at first. I did enjoy the look on his face when I first brought her inside. He has LONG tried futilely to impose a leg-limit on our household..."okay Lori - no more than 10 legs at one time..that's it..." We've consistently broken those rules. Now he loves Keeley, though ... she is very sweet and great with the kids. He always seems to come around and he knew what he was getting into when we got married though he feigns innocence now. You can take the girl out of the country but you can't keep a girl who grew up with a raccoon, snapping turtle, garden snake, guinea pig, gerbil, a house mouse (Mom had a FIT about that one), a cat, and about 25 Labrador retrievers from loving and rescuing animals. Good thing we don't live on a farm with lots more room....yet.
Lori

Naptime Shananigans

Alex and Katie still take a nap after lunch. At least that's my plan. However, Alex has got very good at trying to dodge naptime and Katie follows behind him usually. This time it was only Alex who came out to "tell me 4 things" 1 of the 4 is always about things of his falling into a hole, 1 is always asking me to take care of Katie for something she did, 1 is always that hes to go to the bathroom, and the final 1 changes from day to day. Anyway, after going to the bathroom, Alex went quietly to his room to find a new way to dodge napping (or so I thought). When I noticed he hadn't come out and Katie and he weren't playing I got a moment of insanity thinking he may have fallen asleep in his room. After that moment I went to dash into their room because silence is either sleep or something I need to stop right away. Before I could leave the living room, I found out that alex had not gone back to his room. He ducked behind the side of the couch to hide from me and was successful. So I had to take a picture.......






Anyway, later in the day we had some "happy apples" and Katie enjoyed it:

Happy Anniversary Lori

Tonight we almost made it until midnight to officially hit our 10th anniversary. Sometime after noon on Friday it will be exactly 10 years to the minute that we said I do. I have told her that the warranty on me expires at 10 years, so she had until midnight to return me and to the best of my knowledge FedEx wasn't sent here to pick me up and ship me back to MA.

Anyway, we didn't get each other cards or presents this year but I think we got all we needed when we checked in on the kids at bedtime. Seeing Katie and Ryan on the top bunk snuggled up and asleep was quite the sight. Elsie was asleep next to Lori on the couch and I was in the loveseat. To top it all off we saw Alex asleep in our bed with Maddie (or Keelee if you listen to Ryan) asleep on top of his head. There was a real sense of peace in our house. Lori and I spending some nice simple time together, the kids asleep un their own special ways, and our cats close by was a nice change of pace from the chaotic life we usually have. However, it all reminded us of why we go through all the chaos. We are so blessed well beyond what we could have ever dreamed. like all couples, we have our challenges and issues to work out but overall, tonight I realized that I wouldn't change anything.

Lori is a true gift from God. She was created perfectly for me and our kids. I am so blessed to have the chance to grow, learn, and live with her. I look forward to the next 10 years, no matter how chaotic or how many changes we endure. As long as I have God and his gift, how can I go wrong.

Lori, I love you.

San Diego in September

I (Lori) was away last week for the annual conference of the American Academy of Family Physicians. It is the first time I have attended their large, national conference and it was impressive. I spent A LOT of time in very good lectures and it helped renew my enthusiasm for family medicine. My good friend Sarah went with me and we did have fun. We took some time to stroll in the "Gaslamp" district and sit outside of the cafe people-watching. One afternoon we took off and went to "OB" - Ocean Beach. It is a very laid-back little beach town that seemed classic Southern California. It was a throw-back to the Sixties with a burger joint called "Ho-Dad's" and an infamous store called "The Black" that sold tie-dyed T-shirts and drug paraphenalia. Dude! We sat and relaxed on the beach then walked the longest pier on the West Coast at night. It was incredible. We also were able to visit a state park high on a point above the bay/harbor. There is a lighthouse there and it used to be a military surveillance point in WWII - used after Pearl Harbor Day to watch for a possible attack on the coast. Now there is a large naval base in San Diego and we watched naval ships coming in and out as well.

I did have a severe allergic reaction to some food I ate and ended up in the ER. That was weird but I'm fine now and have a new appreciation for everything I eat. My doctor is trying to figure out what it is I'm allergic to and now I carry an EpiPen.

Eric did a GREAT job with the kids while I was gone. What an awesome husband! I owe him big now though and he is not likely to forget it.

The kids are great and all of us are looking forward to Halloween. The dentist today said Alex's tooth is looking pretty good and so far, no surgery to remove it.What a blessing!!

Photos from CA (click on them to enlarge):

What Happens When Mommy Slips Away for a Few Days (NO PICTURES)

Lori has run off with her buddy Sara for a "medical conference". Of course every time I hear from her, she is looking at boats, eating at Nobu, or goofing around. I'm not really sure what they do at these "medical conferences" but I assume a large part is sitting around laughing at their spouses trying to do it by themselves for 5 days. While I trust Lori and Sara, I am worried they might meet the San Diego Chicken and get swept off their feet.

As for me, the kids are sensing weakness in me and going for it. I should have known that they had figured out that Lori was gone for a bit when the little ones stopped scratching and biting each other and starting heading to random rooms being relatively silent. When Alex and Katie are together and quiet, only bad things can happen. In fact when I hear the sounds of silence, my heart stops, I run to get the Spot Shot and then take off to find whatever they have done.

All said and done, the week is going OK and I am feeling like I will survive. I just need to make it until Friday afternoon when my sister-in-law will spell me for a bit and then I can handle the rest. It's strange how Lori and I are always talking about how much she works and never gets to see the kids or me, but only 2 days into her trip, I am realizing exactly how much she does see me and help me when she is here. I hope she relaxes and enjoys herself because she does an amazing job at work and at home and this trip reminds me of that.

"Absense makes the heart grow fonder" has always been a saying I understood but now I UNDERSTAND it. I am glad Lori is getting a chance to get away, learn (which she loves), and spend time with a good friend/collegue. However, I am selfishly awaiting her return.

Maybe I've lived in Missouri too long

So, I am in the living room with my 3 little angels (I am told by law you must use "cutsie" terms of endearment to refer to your kids on your family blog). Ryan turns to me and says,"daddy, can we have some hick juice".

"What????," I said as I turned to look at my eldest child. "what did you say?"

Ryan replied, "Can we have hick juice with dinner?"

My mind started to wonder. hick juice? What is that? Where would they have heard a term like that and what could it be? I thought maybe he read it in a book. So I asked, "Ryan, what is hick juice?"

Ryan said, "You know daddy, hick juice like we had for lunch"

At this point I wondered what he was talking about but I knew for lunch they hadn't had moonshine so i was a bit relieved and since I had made lunch and there was nothing hick about them. There was nothing hick about the juice......

Finally Ryan says, "Daddy, you know, H, I, C juice"

Still not sure until Alex chimes in, "Hi-C. Yeay. I want hick juice."

Hope Now

I've been listening to KLOVE(online radio at www.klove.com)a lot lately. Sometimes the problems of the world just make me so negative - so pessimistic. A song I happened to hear really made me think and it really helped lift my spirits tonight. Something to come back to when the darkness creeps in........


"Hope Now" - Addison Road

If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours

I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm

I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
You've become my hearts desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

One-on-one Time

We've been really busy. We had friends over on Sunday for a BBQ. Some were new friends that have moved to this area from China. It was wonderful serving them the tea I brought from China last year and hearing Mandarin spoken in our house.

This last few weeks before school started I tried to take my days off and spend one-on-one time with each of the kids. I took them to different places - Silver Dollar City, the park, and to Kansas City to a wedding. We had a great time and it was nice to have special time alone with each of them. Here are some photos:

First Day of Kindergarten

Ryan is in kindergarten this year. His first day was Thursday, Aug. 21st and he was thrilled. He likes his teacher and has a lot of friends in his class.
I took him that morning and as the parents got them settled the kids were encouraged to go and play with the toys scattered around. Ryan went over to a big bin of dinosaurs and got them all out. I came over after a bit and started to say good-bye.
I noticed he had one group of dinosaurs on one side facing another group on the other side. I asked what he was doing - "Oh, the meat-eating dinosaurs are going to battle the plant-eating dinosaurs."

Grandpa got him camoflauged clothes this week too. They tried them out today when they went out fishing (you don't REALLY need to be camoflauged to fish but oh well). Ryan caught a big blue gill and had a blast.

Alex is really angry when we don't say that he goes to kindergarten too. He is going to Ryan's school this year and that is BIG for him. His first day of preschool was today. He is frustrated that he doesn't go every day like Ryan. He is so proud to be wearing big boy underwear to school.

Katie will be going to a Mother's Day out (BUM Kids - Bolivar United Methodist) that all of them have been to in the past. She also starts speech therapy tomorrow. She feels QUITE grown up as well because now she has her OWN back pack and goes to her own school without her brothers.

Should be an interesting year....