Don't Quit -- Keep Counting the Blessing!!!

ARISE AND SHINE

2012-02-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 60 : 1-3

1 Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Four processes that happen according to these verses:
1) First, God is the Light
2) Then, He gives His Light to us
3) We receive the Light
4) And finally we reflect the Light to those around us

What kind of Light are we reflecting? Among others, let that be the Light of our characters. The characters that bring people to Christ. The characters that let people see Christ in us. The characters that do NOT become a stumbling block for people to believe in Christ.

Are you ready to reflect the LIGHT?

-From Pastor Hosea's sermon-

May this be a blessing!!!

MY PROVIDER MY PORTION FOREVER BE

2012-02-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

On the way to lunch this afternoon, Marcel stopped by to get some cash since the place we're going to only accepts cash. While at the ATM, he withdrew some for me too. When he gave the cash to me, I said, "Oh, it's OK Koko. I still have $10 with me." He said, "No, you should keep some extra in case you need it. Take it. Remember, I want to provide for you."

That statement penetrates deeply into my heart. After the LORD, it is true that Marcel is the next person I feel the most comfortable with being provided by. With Marcel, he provides for our family because He obeys God's commandment for the husbands to be the head of the family and provide for the family. He provides because he loves me. He provides out of his responsibility to God. He provides and asks nothing in return. He never said, "OK Yanny, here goes $40 for you. Get grocery and cook delicious meal for me." When he gives, he gives with trust. And the most important thing for me is that his gifts are NOT associated with "power control."

And with the LORD, I feel the same way and even MORE. I know He will never change. He always wants the best of me. He provides unconditionally in EVERY aspect that I need His support on (mentally, financially, physically, and spiritually). He asks nothing in return. It got me thinking at times that WOW, what a privilege I have ... I'm so unworthy to accept all these; yet He continues to provide for me. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, LORD.

Right now, I'm asking God to be my portion as I'm dealing and healing from the wound of the "power control." Something happened recently that made me realize that all my life I've been a slave of this sin of "ill feeling" towards some people whom I felt using their ability to provide for me to gain more power and control over me. And I let them do that to me OVER and OVER again which did not solve the issue but continued to let my "ill feeling" towards them to grow even more. I felt like I have been in the crazy cycle and could never go out of it.

This morning, we drove to Church and intended to come to the English Service (ES) as usual. For some reasons, the Indonesian Service's Care Ministers fell short and that Marcel had to attend the Indonesian Service (IS) to cover for them. These past 4 years, when similar situation happened, I normally let Marcel serve in IS while I went and serve in ES. Effective this month, since I no longer have commitments to serve in ES, I am more flexible to follow Marcel where he needs to be. So I was in the IS with my husband and thankful of the situation. Turned out my coming to the IS was God's purpose. He wanted to me to hear and be enlightened by Pastor Hosea's sermon today. That's what God wanted me to ponder and reflect on as I deal with the "power control" thing.

I feel like what God just asked of me is too much. I've never extended grace to that level before. I know I'm incapable of doing it. I know I need God. And I need Him to be my provider and my portion to extend the grace towards these people as He wants me to. As I let God do His thing with me, I only expect that it will be good for me, my character and His Kingdom in the long run. If after all these, the people still don't change a bit, I will not be disappointed or have any regret about it. Because from the beginning, I want this to be all about my relationship with God. If they don't change, at least I will change ... and the change will be towards the Heavenly goal ... free from the bondage of "ill feeling" sins towards these people.

AMEN?? AMENNNNNN. Have a great Sunday, Everyone!!!!

"My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Psalm 73:26

SECOND TRIMESTER WITH MANNY

2012-02-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

Click here for our journal on the first trimester.

Verses that Comfort Us
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 4:6-7

On Manny

Did you spot the "turtle"???

So we found out from the doctor that you will be a BOY. :-) You've been growing steadily. We could finally feel your kicks, moves, and stretches. You often let us know how you feel through your different moves. We found that very interesting!!! You also enjoy the "tummy time" with Papah and Mamah ... the time when we sing, talk, and read to you.

This is also the first time you met Engkong, Ema, and Encek and heard them directly talking to you. They were here from Thanksgiving time till New Year. We knew you recognized their voices from the video hangouts we'd had with them before their coming. And you greeted them with lots of kicks which they also found very exciting.

Another great experience was finding your name. We involved our immediate families to help us find the name for you. Since we live far away from them, we thought this will be a great bonding experience for everyone so we can feel connected with you since very very early. We want to bridge that distance by allowing them to be a part of one of the most important experiences in having a child ... which is finding a name. They thought carefully and sent us some of their recommendations that involve their hopes and prayer for you when you grow up. Finally, we narrowed it down to ONE.

On Mamah and Papah

Finally the belly popped!!!

After we shared the good news to the bigger groups of people about us expecting, it's very overwhelming for us to hear their advice and opinions. May they be about pregnancy, giving birth, parenting, caring for newborn etc. Some are good. Some are REALLY good. Some other are either contradictory to our belief or made us less peaceful. Though we appreciate everyone's care towards us, we needed to filter out some of the stuff that we should or do not want to hear. And then we let God fill that gap for us and guide us to what He desires us to hear and do. Hence, the Bible Verses above.

Not only that the Bible Verses helped us filter out people's advice and opinions, they also guided us through some difficult times with my mom's health conditions and finding out that I have glucose intolerance -- which is an early stage of gestational diabetes and if not cared for as early as possible could lead into the real diabetes and reduce the chance of having the unmedicated natural birth that we have been preparing for.

Things that We Learned or Got Reminded of

It is harder to expect someone to change. It is easier to change our own expectation towards this person to avoid further disappointment.
Disappointment happens when what we expect is not what we get (of an event, from someone, of something, etc). But God is the ONLY thing that NEVER changes and is ALWAYS faithful. He is my only rock and the source of my satisfaction.
Giving up the driver's seat to God is the best thing ever!!!

GRANITE VEIN

2012-02-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

This post is to document and share with you what I learned from Lysa TerKeurst's Mommy Stress sharing just so that it can serve as a reminder for me in the future. Also I want to document this just in case the recording will be deleted, archived, or moved to a different place that I can no longer access it. :-)

Illustration: Granite Vein

Lysa talked about her new installed granite countertop that had something that looked like a crack or gap. She was disappointed. It looked like an eye sore to her.

When she called the store, the representative told her that what she saw was NOT a crack. It was rather the granite vein. And the vein is good to have on the granite because it indicates that it's an authentic granite.

[Click to enlarge]

Granite vein that looks like a crack or gap in Lysa's story

Granite vein can also look like a burn mark like this one at our home

Things that encourage me:

We, moms, sometimes build the stability of our identity on the fragile choices of our children
And when we do have bad moments (in parenting), we easily think of ourselves as a bad mom
Each one of us has that "crack" or "gap" just like the granites do
And our eyes tend to be drawn into that "crack" more than to focus on the entirety of the beauty, strength, and authenticity of the granite itself
Sometimes the "crack" could be small; sometimes it could be big
However, do NOT let the "crack" define who we are, label us, and impact our relationship with our kids (and spouse)
Let the "crack" be the call to action through prayer to God
Ask God to be our "portion" and fill that "crack" or "gap" for us
Just because we just had a bad moment, that does NOT mean we are a bad mom
As a mom, we shall focus on adding the QUALITY of our children's life and not the quantity as God has already numbered their days
Our anxiety does not add or reduce the days God has numbered for us and our children
Sometimes we as moms want to write the story for our kids no matter how old they are, what situation they are in, etc
Be courageous enough to let God write our children's testimony

"My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Psalm 73:26

Though the sharing is more about parenting, I believe that this can also serve as a reminder for other parts of our relationships (with our spouse, family, friends, etc). So I hope this encourages and challenges you as it did for me.

And to all moms who read this, if no one has told you yet lately, let me tell you that "You're doing AMAZING!!!!"

If you'd like to listen to Lysa's 25-minute recording, click here.

SMALLEST BLESSING

2012-02-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

"The smallest blessings can be the hardest to notice; but they are also what give our life the richness and meaning."

[Click to enlarge]

Walking (especially after each meal) is one of the most important things I have to continue doing in order to keep my glucose intolerance under control. The above photos were from my walk this afternoon. This nice weather is what GOD has given me to enjoy. It's already February -- almost the end of the Winter months -- the time when other places could or have been getting snow storms, rain storms, chilly weathers, etc. But God generously gives me this kind of weather so that I can continue to walk during and throughout my pregnancy. I could count with only one hand the days when it was TOTALLY impossible for me to walk outside ever since I got pregnant.

God knows what we need for sure. He doesn't give us challenges or allows us to be in the condition that is above what we can bear. And He gives His grace and deliverances for us FOR FREE. When He gives, He also gives GENEROUSLY. But a lot of times, they slipped off my mind. I failed to stop to realize even the smallest blessing of the nice weather. Now that I've been enjoying this nice weather FREELY, am I still in the position to call this "small blessing"?? No way ... this is AMAZING blessing.

Oh God, forgive me for taking You and Your blessing for granted every day. And thank You for allowing unworthy being like me to enjoy Your creation. I am blessed and honored to be cared for by You, Lord.

What a blessing huh!!!

WORSHIP DURING TUMMY TIME

2012-02-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

Marcel and I really enjoy talking, reading, and singing to our Manny. Especially these days when Manny can respond back through his kicks, moves, and/or stretches.

Here is a video of Manny during worship. The moves were kinda subtle. Probably because he's distracted with the on-going soccer game on TV. Maybe next time I'll try to get another take when Manny's more focused during worship and show you guys some of his favorite worship songs. :-)

Hope you enjoy the video!!! Have a great one!!!

OUR LITTLE SOCCER PLAYER

2012-01-31T13:29:00.000-08:00

You probably already know by now that Marcel is a major soccer fan. Lately, I have been growing into enjoying this sports so that I can spend more of that should-to-shoulder time with Marcel.

Well, now that we're expecting, I REALLY enjoy this moment when Manny is still inside of me and that I can take him wherever I go and expose him to the things I normally do. Cause time will continue to pass. And one day, my baby will start crawling and get busy with the new things he encounter. And pretty soon, I will have to chase him in order to cuddle with him. So I might as well enjoy this very moment. :-)

Here is a video of Manny while joining Papah and Mamah in watching soccer. :-)

Hope you enjoyed the video. Have a great rest of the week!

GROWING IS A PROCESS

2012-01-30T13:28:00.000-08:00

During our Nursery teachers devotion 2.5-3 months ago, I was sharing about how uncertain I was about the baby inside of me. My belly had not popped yet at the time. I couldn't feel his moves. Was he OK? Was he growing? Was he still inside? Did I feed him enough healthy food to survive (since I couldn't eat well in my first trimester)?

Throughout my second trimester, God continued to whisper this Word of comfort in my heart which just so happened to be the Nursery's Bible Verse for the month of Nov. 2011. I found comfort in these Verses as God guided me through some concerns and mood swings in my second trimester. God really tended to my "hi-jacked" minds through these Verses.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 4:6-7

Fast forward to the month of Jan. 2012. We had another teachers devotion before the start of our Nursery. This month the kids and adults have been learning about God who loves us and helps us to grow. Growing is a matter of process. The result doesn't always come up the next day.

Just take for an example the life of Jesus. I can't think of a bigger and grander birth announcement and the birth itself other than Jesus'. Mary and Joseph was told that they would give birth to a Savior. But when Baby Jesus was born, He was just a very vulnerable baby like other babies. He needed Mary and Joseph to feed him. At his younger ages, Jesus did NOT perform any wonder. He did not turn water into wine yet. He did not heal sick people yet. He was basically like a regular human being. If I were to be Mary, I would have been very disappointed and give up my patience. THANK GOD I wasn't Mary. God indeed chose the right Mary :-)

Then what happens? God fulfilled His Word through the life and death of Jesus Christ. And that's why we're here today. But it didn't happen overnight, did it? Jesus had to go through the "growing up" process first before He's ready to fulfill God's purpose and perform wonders here on earth.

That story was very encouraging to me. It challenged and reminded me to put my FAITH completely with and in God. And the sharing I told the teachers 3 months ago could finally be used to testify that God is still at work in MY life ... in Manny's life ... in our family's life .. in all of our lives ... even though our eyes cannot see and our mind cannot understand at times.

With that, I want to share this video of Manny's update. All this time of waiting, God was perfecting Manny's muscle, nerve, sensory, etc so that Manny's ready to show and "communicate" with Mamah and Papah through some of his moves and kicks.

Hope you enjoyed the video. And may this be a blessing!

MANNY'S JOURNAL: 25 - 28 WEEKS

2012-01-26T10:20:00.000-08:00

It's me again ... MANNY. Oh wait, actually, Mamah and Papah have been calling me with a new name these days. I think that's my real name. At first I was like, "Who are they calling?" But now I know that they're calling me because every time they call the name, they would rub Mamah's tummy and I could feel it.

Anyway, I'm getting taller and heavier each week. Mamah's tummy is getting less spacier these days. Sometimes I get bored inside and started moving, stretching and kicking in all directions. So I let Mamah and Papah play "Guess the Shape" of Mamah's tummy. The three of us could have good giggles from playing that game. I'm really good in making weird shapes for them to see haha.

Lately I've also been enjoying tickling Mamah. You know how I like it when Mamah takes me to swim and walk everyday right? Well, when it rains outside, Mamah told me that we don't walk outside but stay inside instead. The thing is, I love that routine when every time after a meal, Mamah would take me for a walk in the neighborhood. I could hear dogs barking, Mamah talking to the neighbors and mailman, birds chirping, garbage truck going around, music on Mamah's phone bla bla bla. It's so much more fun walking outside. So when Mamah decided to lay down instead after a meal, I would STRETCHHHHH and then wiggle my toes and fingers. I know THAT would tickle Mamah and made her walk a bit. Maybe not outside cause I don't want Papah to find us sick and call me the culprit. :-( But at least I get some exercise after each meal.

Oh, the other day something weird happened. I woke up to Papah's alarm clock and then my breathing started to feel funny. My body went up and down. I couldn't control my breathing. And every time the breath paused, I jolted a bit. It happened for quite some time and I didn't know what happened until I heard Mamah laughing and saying, "Manny, are you hiccuping?" I guess it's OK for me to hiccup. Mamah said that it is a sign of a healthy baby. ALRIGHT!!! I'm a healthy baby, y'all!!!

*Yawwnnnn* Anyway, I'm sleepy again now. I will talk to you later!!!

CRAVING: AVOCADO JUICE

2012-01-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

One of my swimming buddies is a farmer. Sometimes he would bring some of the products over to the gym to sell. I would buy his lemons and honey (yeah, seriously, he grows his own bees too).

A few weeks ago, when he finally noticed that my belly has popped, he gave me a care package to stay healthy during the pregnancy. I've used up the lemons and honey to keep Marcel hydrated as he battled the flu virus. Leaving me with the avocados. I've been looking at the avocados for days ... not sure what to do with them. For salad? Ehhh, no. Not in the mood of eating salad. For hair mask? Ehhh, no. It's too cold to DIY the hair mask these days.

Until finally as I was talking to Baby Manny this morning, "Hmm, Manny, what should we do with these?" Then, Manny inspired me to make AVOCADO JUICE!!!

When not pregnant, I don't normally like avocado juice. I thought it's just too rich for a juice. Since I'm pregnant; and the avocado contains good natural fat for the baby, I decided to make it today. Hmmm, it's so nom nom. I love being pregnant!!! Click here for the recipe if you're interested in making some. ENJOY!

UPDATE ON MOM'S HEALTH

2012-01-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Remember my sharing about my mom's health last month? Here I am recording our journey of praises and prayer request about it.

My sisters and I decided that Mom should be taken to Singapore for further investigation. They were there for the entire week last week. Mom went through the general physical check-up and met with some specialists to check on her liver, pancreas, and womb for any cancer indicators.

Before I continue, praise the LORD that the result = NO CANCER. And the details on what's happening with her are as follows:

1) She has Hypothyroidism due to menopause and the lack of Iodium. This must to be treated using medication to avoid further complication at her older age. She is not yet taking the medication at the moment since more tests need to be done on her to determine the right and balanced amount for her body.

2) Her diabetes was high last month because of the pancreatic cysts that are causing her insulin production to mess up a bit. Praise the LORD her diabetes is under control at the moment. Thanks to the exercises and changed eating habit.

3) The pancreatic cysts remain benign, have not grown in size since 2007 (about 1.1 cm diameter), and are not cancerous. Bi-annual check-up will be required to monitor them. They don't need to be removed if not cancerous because if touched, they could actually become active and more dangerous (potentially become cancerous). However, once they become active/enlarging and/or cancerous, they have to be removed right away. So the timing is everything on these. Hence, the bi-annual check-up.

4) Her liver that was swollen and hardening last month was because the fat had already entered INTO it causing some irritations. Praise the LORD, her Hepatitis B remains inactive. The doctor prescribed her a medication that she should take for the rest of her life to maintain its "status quo" and avoid it from causing Liver Cirrhosis in the future.

To close this post, I am grateful for the power of prayer. And I am thankful for all the praises as things could have been worse. But they are not because God has been in it throughout the whole process. Thank you for your prayer support. I have been a believer in the power of prayer. And I still am.

Please do not hesitate to shoot me an email or call me if I can be a prayer partner in your life.

"Life is good because the Giver of life is good."

"Our help is in the name of the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth." -- Psalm 124:8

CHOICES

2012-01-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

"You didn't have a choice about the parents and siblings you have, but you do have a choice about the kind of son/daughter and brother/sister you are. And definitely you have a choice about what kind of parent you want to become."

GRATEFULNESS FOR GREAT SOUL

2012-01-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

"It is gratefulness which makes the soul great."

SCARS TO STARS

2012-01-16T11:12:00.000-08:00

"God turns your scars into stars."

EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

2012-01-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

KIND WORD

2012-01-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

"One kind word can warm three winter months."

GOOD LAUGH

2012-01-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

"A good laugh is sunshine in a house."

LOVE AND RESPECT

2012-01-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." -- Theodore Hesburgh

I love this quote. And I think it works the other way around too for the mother to respect the father.

"Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." -- Ephesians 5:33

DAY OF MEMORIES

2012-01-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

"No day ever ends if it makes a memory." -- Jackie Erickson

ORIGINAL IS HARD TO FIND

2012-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

"An original is hard to find but easy to recognize."

I woof you, Hubby!!!

NESTING: ORGANIZING GADGETS

2012-01-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

My hubby is a gadgets fan. I felt overwhelmed at times because I couldn't find enough desk space to work from home.

Praise the Lord, gadgets are getting thinner and thinner these days. So earlier when we just moved in to the house, I took advantage of our desk paper organizer as our gadgets AND paper holder. This fits nicely on our side desk.

View from the side. We normally have my work laptop and hubby's work laptop on top of our tablet and Google Chromebook stored in here.

View from the front. Not bad eh??

NESTING: TICKLER PROJECT

2012-01-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

Ci Kiki shared the Simple Mom website several years ago with me. Last month I read their post about the Tickler File to organize the counter paper piles. Inspired by that, I adopted it for my nesting project and leveraged Google Calendar which has been our family organizer for the past 4.5 years.

This was my side desk before. Filled with mails and coupons

Step 1 - I got myself a Tickler folder from OfficeMax for $7.00 (on-sale)

Step 2 - I labeled the pockets by months

Step 3 - I cut all the coupons and placed them in ziplock by their expiration month. Then I put the ziplock into the Tickler folder by month. So I only have to grab the ziplock from the appropriate month when I need to use the coupons

Step 4a - Example #1: our property tax invoice before I put it in the February (due month) pocket of the Tickler folder

Step 5a - I added a new event in Google Calendar with "(T)" in front to indicate that there is an associated paperwork in the Tickler folder. The event date is the due date listed on the property tax invoice. I added hubby Marcel as the guest and reminders to alert me when the time gets closer.

Step 4b - Example #2: our vehicle registration renewal notice from DMV before I put it in the March (due month) pocket of the Tickler folder

Step 5b - I added a new event in Google Calendar with "(T)" in front to indicate that there is an associated paperwork in the Tickler folder. The event date is the due date listed on the renewal notice. I added hubby Marcel as the guest and reminders to alert me when the time gets closer.

Step 6 - The result is ... TADA ...very organized and clean right???

Thank you, Ci Kiki, for sharing the website. Thank you, Simple Mom, for sharing the tips. My house is getting more and more organized in preparation for Baby Manny. LOVE IT!!! It's easy to maintain. It's stress free ... clutter free ... all needed papers are in one folder. All others are either shredded or placed in our filing cabinet.

NESTING: ORGANIZING LINEN CUPBOARD

2012-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

One of the nesting projects we did over the holidays was organizing our linen cupboard.

We didn't buy or install a new linen cupboard when we moved in to the house. There used to be two of them: one hanging and the other one at the corner. For security reasons, we uninstalled the one at the corner because we kept hitting our hip to the edge of it every time we walked pass it.

So with the one hanging cupboard that we have, we store all of our towels and the bed-linen sets. The towels are rolled to save some space. The bed-linen sets are stored inside one of their own pillowcases. So no more hunting through piles for a match for us!!!!

Hopefully with a more organized home, we can be readier in taking on more responsibilities that come with having our Baby Manny this Spring.

OUR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

2012-01-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Well well well, Happy 2012, Friends! Hope you had a memorable 2011 and an exciting start of 2012.

As for our family, Marcel's parents and brother were in town. Since it has been 3.5 years from the last time we all gathered together, we decided to have a family dinner and fellowship to close 2011 and open 2012. It was very simple yet memorable. I always LOVE doing this with Marcel's family every time we get together. Praise the Lord, this time Mario could also join us.

For dinner, we didn't do anything fancy. Something quick so we have more time for the more important one: the fellowship. Our dinner was INSTANT NOODLES!!! :-) But they were NOT just regular instant noodles. They were special because they were prepared with love and care from Chef Mamih Santi and Sous Chef Papih Johny.

Only gentlemen dare to wear pink. Only gentlemen would cook ... especially for his family :-)

Our main chef spreading some love in the food

First time cooking. Papih's proud face of the result.

After dinner, we prayed, sang, shared, and prayed and shared ... AND prayed and shared until close to midnight. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep our eyes open till midnight. So we bid good-bye to 2011 and said hello to 2012 about 30 minutes early. But the entire family couldn't thank God enough for the blessings and teachings He allowed to happen in our lives last year and are so excited for the goals and directions God will unfold to us in 2012.

Trying to stay warm till midnight

Happy New Year, All. Make it a wonderful one!!

LITTLE HELPER FOR NESTING PROJECTS

2011-12-30T08:49:00.001-08:00

We have some nesting projects around the house to do during our time off. Praise the LORD, we not only got a help ... but two, three, ... oh no .. FOUR HELPERS which includes the little helper Maxie.

Maxie was as busy as the adults. Here are some photos and a video of him during the down time. Of course when he takes a break, he needs to do what's fun for him ... can you spot what that is from the 3 pictures below???

Akong is prepping the door extension while Maxie is ...

Akong and Uncle Marcel are measuring the door extension while Maxie is ...

Akong is cutting the door extension while Maxie is ...

Thank you, Ci Kiki and Ko Chris, for sending your little helper to our home. It's always a great joy when he's around. While he's not helping or doing his favorite thing, he is definitely entertaining us with some story telling or funny comments. When are you coming again, Maxie? We miss you already.