["a person, typically a woman, employed to care for a child in its own home"]

warning:

foaming bath bubbles +  jets in the tub + walking away from a mischievous, light-hearted kid in the bath 

=

AN INSANE OVERFLOW OF BUBBLES, BUBBLES, BUBBLES!!!

i walked in the bathroom, to find that ken was having the time of his life in the biggest mess of bubbles -- they were up to his belly-button! he so innocently responded to my initial questioning, shocked yelling with giggles. and instantly i couldn't help but laugh. laugh. laugh.

i'd never seen so so so many bubbles in my life!! when i opened the door, out they would pour! :D

ray usually opposes bubble baths, but he just had to get in on this one...

in the end, there was no getting around it. we were going to have to make a mess on the bathroom floor. :D

i said to ken, i said: "don't ever run the jets like that and let bubbles get up to your waist again, okay?"

                                                                                                  

                                                             "ok!" he said with a cheerful grin...

..............................................................

i LOVE being a nanny.

since beginning my life here at 515 hampshire court i have been falling rapidly in love with the japanese children entrusted to my care. :D ray is 7 and obsessed with dinosaurs. ken is 10 and seems to  be obsessed with bubbles. :D

the thought of being  a nanny first tumbled in and through my mind last summer, as i was contemplating what i would do after graduating from the honor academy. i eventually dismissed it, deciding it would be strange..."i don't know anyone who needs a nanny," i mused. and the thought of nannying for a stranger was not so exciting.

8 months later...

here i am, and the LORD has blessed me with the opportunity for me to enjoy life here, taking care of these young-ins.  i can look back at things in my life in the last year that greatly prepared me for this responsibility. 

among my favorite delights:

- cooking the food of japan: rice 3/4 times a week, the most soy sauce i've consumed in my life, my first baked eel was juicy!, experimenting with these seaweed things, and quickly converting to japanese ramen noodles.

- seeing ken's face light up when it snows because he can't wait to get his boots and coat on to shovel the sidewalk and driveway. "will you get the shovel?! :D"

-the continuous struggle...the most arduous task of mine: taming ray's ridiculous bed-head hair every morning.

- the way ray often expresses his approval of me: "i like people who are nice...people like you."

- discovering from ken's teacher at school that he has been talking a lot in class about his "new sister."

- all the laughs, "just kiddings!," talks about JESUS, and bed-time stories. 

"you look like my mommy."

  i was a little surprised to hear these words from the younger, ray, this afternoon as we snuggled on the couch. his mother is  obviously japanese, not very much resembling me...to say the least. i asked why?

                          "cause you are taking care of us."..."i love you janell camp."

...............................................................