My Riddles 3

What a thrill!! :D

2012-02-13T09:26:00.002-06:00

I just clicked through a random email from I Heart Faces, and noticed that my photo of Gyungbokgung Palace was a Featured Photo for the Letter L Challenge last week!! :D

http://www.iheartfaces.com/2012/02/alphabet-challenge-l-photos/

Mine is the only one under Leading Lines.

What a thrill! :P I was totally shocked when my photo popped up.

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning

2012-02-13T07:08:00.000-06:00

Whew! This last week flew past, and its already the middle of February! I know that as I try to cram as many activities in as possible, the time will go even faster. So far, I have a trip to Dongdaemun planned (need to get the last few craft supplies before our movers come), a sleepover at our house this coming weekends, watching a friends kids the next (payback for both friends watching mine for my CDC observations), and attempting to get to Insadong and Myeongdong before we leave. Although those last two might have to wait til the week before we leave. Jon is going to start leave a few days before we actually get on the plane, so that we can see a bit more of Korea before the opportunity is completely gone. :P I do wish that we hadn't passed so many opportunities up because we didn't want to spend the money, but we have seen lots of cool places and done lots of new things here, so I am happy.

I will definitely miss the kid friendliness here- my kids will not understand why people don't want to talk to them when we get back stateside! Jacob can ( and does!) strike up a conversation with pretty much anyone he sees, even if they don't speak the same language! :P

We have already sold our couch, microwave and crock pot. On the list are the entertainment center, the loft bed, twin bed and toddler bed, since the floors are heated and the kids would rather spend the night on the floor for some reason. Plus, Jacob scared the heck out of me with a huge scream tonight, when he "fell off the side of Cait's bed while I was walking on the edge!" (Insert parental snort of "Well, duh. Don't walk on the bed railings."). He's got a nice little scrape bruise about 2 inches away from a very sensitive area.
Add that to the fact that he has spent the last two days with a 103-104 degree fever, and its still about 101 today, and he wasn't feeling too great at bedtime. My poor man.

I'm feeling accomplished today- finished editing a session super early this morning, got most of my chores out of the way (including mopping the entire living room and kitchen, which I dread), swept and vacuumed the foyer (we aren't allowed to wear shoes in the house, and the foyer gets really nasty very fast with all the dirt that is tracked in). I really need to peel myself off the internet and go fold laundry, since Jacob doesn't have any pants left. :P

Some good news, though- Jon said that the tentative plan is to let him have half days as much as possible until the end of the month, so he can wrap up all the loose ends (vet, car, records, financial paperwork, etc) before he starts clearing. So that will be a huge help to me.. lol.. I won't have to fight to have the car in order to go around and do things.

Anyhow, nothing else to update with. I had planned to share a couple of pictures, but its not letting me click browse, so I will wait for another day. :D

Picture post

2012-02-09T09:20:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share some images from the last few weeks. I apologize if you've already seen them on my Facebook- my goal is to eventually make a book out of my blog, just for the memento and being able to say I did it. :P So I post pictures in both places.

Ghetto sledding at its finest! (Hey, there wasn't enough snow on the hills)!

Catchin some good air! :)

Jamie's turn, courtesy of Daddy

Look at me, Ma!! No hands!!

Delighted grin

The "yay, I did it and I'm not hurt!' grin

A royal bench at the museum- no shoes allowed!

Jacob writing his name and USA in Hangul

Caitlynn writing her name in Hangul.. poor kid had LOTS of characters to write!

Jamie giving a death glare to the lady that had my camera! :P

My turn!

And everyone knows that eating ice cream off the table makes it taste better, right?? :)

Making a Korean good luck charm out of paper.

Her good luck charm. They had to color a paper that said what they wanted to be when they were adults, and it is tucked inside.

This is where the boys were the entire time she was making her charm.

Children's art on 3x3 wooden blocks. Caitlynn was exclaiming, " This one has a CAKE on it!"

Post-it note mosaic

Jacob actually asked me to take this picture. :D

Mirrors on the ceiling are fun!

The number one reason why I LOVe homeschooling, especially in this country- its Thursday around 130pm, and they are learning about the Forbidden Bridge and the Forbidden Stream at Gyungbokgung Palace. (This stream used to be filled with water (duh), and the bridge they are standing on was the entrance to the palace. The King required everyone to stop and cleanse their minds with the water from the stream. Once they had observed this custom, they were able to cross the bridge and continue inside to see the King. The walls of the palace were not ridiculously high- the King believed that he should be accessible to his people. (We had a tour guide this time around).

The crazy picture they asked for.

Jamie playing peek a boo around the corner of the same ledge the other two were on above.

And just cause I like it, Jamie peeking at the dessert buffet two weeks ago at the Dragon Hill Lodge, where we participated in the marriage retreat.

Time is ticking

2012-02-08T06:32:00.001-06:00

We have 38 days left in country. This time is really starting to fly right on by! Today we got our HHG pick up scheduled. 3 weeks and 1 day, and all our house hold goods will be packed and taken away. We have to be out of the apartment a couple of days after that, and will be staying with a friend until we fly out on the 18th.
I still need to get down to Dongdaemun once more, for several basic items I need to make several items I will use in my photography. I also want to go to Osan once more, to visit Happy Quilt- love love love the fabrics there! :P

The animals had their rabies shots this weekend, and will go for the yearly shots this next weekend. We have tons of things to sell and get rid of (only allowed 4000 lbs of HHG going back), we need to fix the van door and sell the van, housing needs to come get our fridge, and amongst all this, I have to finish my CDEC class, and keep the children up to date on their work. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it! :)

I need to order Jamie's new car seat (because his old one is going to expire, and I don't want to lug it on the flights with us), we are ordering the Kindle Fire for the kiddos to use on the way home, and when our tax return hits, I get to pay off a bill or two! :P

Sorry for the rambling, but my brain is racing right now, and my list is in the other room. I'm too cold to get up and go get it.. hehe..

Anyhow, I am praying hard that we will be able to get out of this apartment without having to pay and arm and a leg to fix the floors and wallpaper. My kids are rough on wallpaper. :_

Hopefully I will have some time later this week to post some photos of what we've been up to lately. Night!

2012-02-03T06:24:00.002-06:00

Jumping on here real quick to add my January recap. I'm linking over at Frisk, Party of Five. :) Enjoy!

(Sorry that its not pretty, I literally had four minutes to throw it together and add my link.. lol)

We were blessed to be able to go on the marriage retreat for the last weekend in January, and were able to take the kids this time, as child care was provided. We only have a month and a half left here in Korea, so we decided to make sure we got to Seoul Tower, and it was SO worth it. There are only a couple of pictures here, as well as some shots of the kiddos bowling on the same trip.

Hope you enjoy! :)

PS- I guess it would be good if I remembered to add the link, huh? :P Let's see if I do this right.. :D

I love my job.. :)

2012-01-22T08:43:00.002-06:00

I really love being able to be home with my children, but that's my life, not my job. I am referring to my photography when I say job, even though I do acknowledge that it is a BIG job to be raising three children.

Below are some of the adorable families I have had the priviledge to work with in the last month or so.

I Heart Faces Challenge

2012-01-16T07:46:00.002-06:00

This is my entry for the weekly challenge at I Heart Faces. I absolutely loved this session- it was so fun shooting their family!

Translation Tuesday

2012-01-11T05:35:00.000-06:00

Man, I am LOVING this time difference right now. My two classes require everything to be posted Sunday night by midnight, but I get an extra few hours because we are ahead. :P Its almost like getting a whole extra day! Also, I can post things like this without being late! :D

So, hat and gloves in Korean...
Hat (or cap) is MO-JA

Gloves are JANG-GAP

Wear your hat is MO-JA-SOH.

I also have to admit that for this, I cheat a bit. Yongsan's official FB page has a Korean word of the day feature (which normally comes out every few days instead of daily).. So I snagged this info today from there. :)

Its not totally cheating, right? I'm still learning!

In other news, we are going to be visiting the local firehouse on Hovey on Friday afternoon. It was kind of funny, because the firemen showed me into the house, and said, go left.. and that was it. I had to wander around a bit to find the office. But it all turned out alright- the crew chief that was there said he would show us around, since it would just be the 4 of us. I told him I'd like the kids to be able to see the turnout gear, and what happens when they get a call. Should be fun- the kids will definitely enjoy it. We are going to brush up on firemen and what they do tomorrow. I'll try to take some pictures.

Now off to watch some Warehouse 13 with the hubby, and hopefully go to bed early! Night!

A title eludes me

2012-01-02T09:10:00.002-06:00

Its late, I'm tired. :) Can't think of a witty title. Lots to do this week, so I'll be quick.

Going in the morning to take the kids out of school. Still struggling hard about taking Cait out. She really loves going to school, and wants to continue. She wants to do her 'other schoolwork' after she comes home from school each day. Technically, she doesn't even have to be in school for a whole year from now, because the age in CO is 7 for mandatory attendance. So there's no rush. But I know she is ready, we have been whizzing through her math, and she is so eager to do her work each day (we've been working on her math and LA for the last three days). I'm pretty sure she is just upset about losing the playground, and her friends that don't live in our complex, and all the nice toys at school that we don't have. I just hope she won't miss the independence from Mommy, the different routine, the time away from her siblings, etc.

A breakthrough of sorts

2011-12-30T05:03:00.000-06:00

"The child who craves social interaction the most, may be the very child we need to protect the most from peer dependence. " (Credit will be given at the end of the blog).

The sentence resonated with me. I have been on the homeschool fence yet again, because I am struggling with a HUGE case of Mommy-guilt. Caitlynn likes her school so much, the toys we don't have here, the friends, the painting abilities (cause mommy doesn't want to deal with the mess that accompanies everyone painting...namely a two year old brother..), the sense of independence...

Through reading this article, and a couple more like it, I have realized that my fears about homeschooling are only because I am a product of the education system. It is so ingrained in me that I try to make sure my homeschool will line up perfectly with any school in the States (which is impossible, since none of those school are alike). I worry about when I should teach a certain subject, instead of realizing that as my kids ask questions or read new things, they will find out the information when it matters to them, and when they will be more likely to retain it. Let's face it, I don't remember much of the schooling I memorized back then.

"How much worse spending the best of one’s waking hours in a government school which teaches us to ignore God all day long, among teachers who cannot even mention God’s name; and among students who, if they do mention God’s name, do not mention it with reverence."

Another one of my pros for HS. I want my children to know that God has everything in His hands- that everything we have and are is from Him. What better way to teach this than to have them at home where I can explore with them and teach them what the Bible says about situations, people or places?

"Our children are to be well-honed in God’s commandments, sharp and accurate in applying them. Sharpening our children helps keep us sharp as well."

I know this is more about teaching our children God's ways, but it also made me think about how excited I am that I will get to refresh my memory on so many things that my kids will learn in the next year.

Source- http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/7_und_trs_hsing.php
© Copyright by Harvey Bluedorn. All rights reserved.

Anyhow, I just had these thoughts racing around in my head as I read, so I thought I would set them down so I could re-read in a few months. (Most likely when I will need a pick-me-up, or have a day where I wonder why I decided to homeschool). :D

Quick picture update

2011-12-26T21:10:00.002-06:00

I had to take a couple more pictures of the kids for the modeling agencies.. So far, Jamie has been called twice now, once as an alternate that we had to turn down, cause Jon was working that day, and we would have had to leave at 5 am to get there on time. They just called this afternoon and asked for Jamie to work 6 January.. lol.. we will see how it goes. Anyhow, here are the pics. :)

My favorite! <3

They thought I had all boys, so I had to send one that showed her hair better..lol

Let it snow! :)

2011-12-23T08:01:00.002-06:00

Ok... so I made it further through the December Dailies than I thought I would. Life got in the way, as usual, and while I continued to take pictures, I never had time for a whole week to sit at the computer. None of them got edited or put onto a cute page, so I'm jumping back in with yesterday's. :)

A little backstory- we were down in Yongsan (1.5 hours south, close to Seoul) at the PX eating lunch, and a lady came up, bearing a business card. She asked if she could take our children's pictures (which isn't uncommon here, although it doesn't really happen that much). Its not awkward like it would be in the states.. lol.. Anyhow, she takes a few iPhone pics and asks me to email her some good pictures of them later. Turns out, she's a modeling rep looking for children to do clothing photos. lol.. She points straight at Jacob and says, " I have an OshKosh shoot, and he is the perfect size and age, could you come to Yongsan soon?" (Insert dropped jaw here).

Anyhow, about an hour later, Jacob and I were heading to meet Jon and the other two in the book section of the PX, when a second lady came up behind us and did the same thing, just from a different agency! :D

I got a call on Wednesday, actually, because they had a toddler shoot the next day, but the one lined up was slightly sick, and they needed a backup. They needed us there at 7am, though, which wouldn't be possible, since Jon has the car that early in the morning. Also, I'm lazy and didn't want to get up at 5am to catch a train with 3 sleepy kids at 530am. EEk!

So anyhow, these are the pictures that I'm going to email to both ladies (NOT on the scrapbook page, though)! :D

not back to the regularly scheduled post...

2011-12-10T08:37:00.001-06:00

Just a quick note to myself... slow down!!

Thursday was spent getting ready for the IPR and planning an entire party.. which wasn't actually needed. Urg. Things got misconstrued, and basically we wasted alot of time, but hey, good things did come of it. Now we know what we are doing, so we can move forward.

I do have pictures from each day (even if its only one, like today's)! I will work on them tomorrow, since I will be spending the day in my pajamas! (Well, hopefully). I had a fairly good newborn session today that I will be working on also.
My new class starts Monday, I'm volunteering in Cait's class Wednesday for a little bit, and then Jacob's class Friday. He has a breakfast with a movie deal going on. Cait's class party is Friday at noon, and then the whole school has an assembly at 1. Not sure how much of that we will actually DO, but it all sounds fun, and is fairly short. We will be home right after Jamie's regular nap time, so hopefully we can get most of it in. Jon will be off that day, so he will get to be with us for it all. :)

Anyhow. Its late, the lunar eclipse is pretty much over (I'll post my 2 photos tomorrow), and I'm going to curl up with my new book (123 Magic) and watch The Santa Clause 3 with Jon.
Night!

Decision-making time

2011-12-09T06:33:00.001-06:00

Once again, our family has to make a decision. Well, Jon and I do. The kids will be able to voice their wants, but ultimately, it will be Jon's decision. We are supposed to leave here mid-March. My kids are in 1st grade and pre-k here, but in the new state, they would have gone to 2nd and K (because of how late their birthdays are).
So.. do we let them stay in school and make a rushed trip home before heading to Carson? We will fly into NY to get my car and visit family, then make the 3 day drive to TX (and that is straight through with hardly any stops), and spend a couple of days visiting family and friends there before making the 2 day drive to CO. We would have to rush to CO in order to get them registered during the last week of March (which is CO's spring break) so they could start up on 2 April. They would have all of April and all of May to finish 1st and pre-k, unless they were bumped up into the higher grades due to their age.
Do we pull them now (since school ends next week for winter break), and homeschool them in the 2nd and K grades that they might get to go into in CO?
Or do we homeschool them slowly (from January til August, or possibly just March-August) through 2 and K, and then let them enroll into 3rd and 1st in August 2012?

This is all frustrating for me, because in spite of much praying and weighing pros and cons, nothing is clear. And getting not-so-great reports from Jacob's teacher regarding his inability to focus, sit still, etc, doesn't really help. He is distracting his classmates by wiggling, crab walking, trying to sit on his head during carpet time, etc. Each day he comes home with a not so good color (yellow, orange or red, the 1, 2, 3 strikes you're out basically), he doesn't get to play games at home (meaning the computer, his DSi, or the iPhone apps we let him play). Which means that he only really plays games on weekends, and occasionally 1-2 days per week.
And yes, before anyone thinks that I don't want the rules to apply to my kids.. I know that they need to be able to listen to other authority figures than just Jon and I. For the most part, my children do not have a problem listening to other adults- as long as that adult has made clear the rules and that they will not get away with breaking them. As for socialization, I don't really give a fig if someone thinks my children need to be around huge groups of kids their age in order to be well-rounded. That's just dumb. They get a better feel for how to deal with people of all types and ages by going places with Jon and I, paying rent, grocery shopping, being out in public at all, etc. And they get plenty of time around other kids their age, as well as older and younger, by playing on the playground or seeing other homeschoolers.

All this stress over school isn't something I expected to feel. I grew up thinking that when your kid turned 5, they went to school, and graduated around age 18, went to college, etc. Knowing that most homeschoolers do better on tests than public school kids, though, and knowing that my kids don't conform to 'average' or 'normal', knowing that our day doesn't have to be 7 hours long to finish a day's work, being a military family that might be moving every couple of years, other things like that lean me towards homeschooling.
But worrying about whether or not I will miss teaching them something important (like national holidays and their significance or how to read music, how to diagram sentences, proofreading, etc), or thinking about all the fun things that I got to do in school that they won't (choir, spelling bees, field trips with friends, etc) makes me want to suck it up and let them attend school. On the other hand, I know that if we had a homeschool co-op, the kids would be able to attend most of those things I just listed. We never really fit in at our last duty station, and there isn't a co-op here. There are several families that HS, but half of them are about 20-30 minutes away, and the other ones have older kids.
Yes, its easier when its just Jamie and I at home- I accomplish more chores faster, but then sometimes, we really just sit around the house and play for a bit, watch a cartoon, play some more, read a book, eat, nap, and it feels so purpose-less (even though I know the one on one is great for Jamie). There are always things that can be done around the house, but I admit, a good book distracts me pretty easily some days. When I had the kids at home, we had a purpose, and a loose schedule to the way we did things. I guess I miss the schedule- maybe I need to tweak the one I have now.. Ugh.. I don't know.

I don't know if its just being homesick, or stress about figuring this school stuff out, both, or maybe I am just depressed, but sometimes, I just want out. I just want to be able to sit around and do nothing all day but read, have a good snack, or just do whatever I want for once, without 5 million intrusions. I don't want to do that repeatedly, but man, once would be nice. I feel like life and I haven't really 'clicked' lately. I'm still interested in my activities, but I feel like I'm a shell sometimes.
And this is a really long and rambling post, so I apologize if you were expecting to see my December Daily for the last couple of days. I do have the pictures, but I ended up working on another project last night, and I'm about to hit the hay for tonight- I have an early start to make tomorrow.

Anyhow.. if anyone made it to the end of this, pray for me, will ya? I don't know what end is up anymore, and I'm starting to drag.

December daily #7

2011-12-07T06:52:00.001-06:00

We didn't really do much today, just got to hang out at home and catch up the laundry. James helped me make a snowman, I added the tinsel to the tree, and I'm going to go finish sewing Jacob's pajama pants for tomorrow's Pajama Day at school. He doesn't own any since he outgrew the last pair. :D

Tomorrow we get to go on post to the Education Center to get my paperwork signed, and then we have an IPR for the Christmas social and the orphanage party. :) Should be fun.

December Daily 6

2011-12-06T06:02:00.001-06:00

Here is what we did today! We started out early by taking the kids to school (shoot me, I wanted to sleep in, and NO ONE was awake at 715 when I stumbled out. They have to catch the bus at 725- not happening this morning). Then I came home, took Jon back to work, and headed to the Ed center to find out that my college was closed today. Urg. Picked up Rachel, went back to the school, filled out alternate guardian paperwork (yet another reason I'm starting to hate dealing with this school), and finally headed out for CRC (another Army post about 30 mins away). Get there early, stop at the 3 story Daiso, find flat tire on the way out. Gah. Change tire (picture included at the end.. lol), meet with client (booking for a newborn session), go to McDonald's for lunch (HEAVENLY)! BACK on post, this time to the gas station (can we say $3.98 per gallon for diesel, instead of 1,716 Korean won per LITER?) and to the vet's office for Rachel to pick up paperwork. Whew. Then, looking for my college branch located on this post, we stumble on the thrift store, which is (gasp) open! My friend found a jogging stroller for $15!! I got a pair of new sneakers for James for $3, two pairs of fleece lined overalls for James (score!), and a new pair of jeans for Cait, since she has busted the knees of almost every single pair of jeans. Oh, and two new kids books and a pair of jeans for Jon (for $.50!!). We decided to skip the commissary, since we now had three cranky children (ages 1, 2 and 4). On the way home, they all crashed. Surprise, surprise.. lol
Anyhow, we barely make it in time to get Jacob from the bus, and she calls to let me know they won't let her get him off the bus. I am literally 2 minutes from home, and she said the monitor wouldn't talk to me on the phone, and that since she already called the school, she HAS to return Jacob to the school. GRRR. So I turned at the light I was at, and made it to the school in 3 minutes, where the VP tells me that since it wasn't the correct stop (we use the bus stop at the 200's buildings, and she was at the second bus stop at the 300's, where she lives, which is about 200 yards away from ours), that it was for safety concerns, and the transportation policy states that children can't get off at a different stop. Well, I read the policy when it was given to me back in August, and don't remember reading that at all.. so I asked them to email me the policy. Phooey.
Anyhow, we play at home for about an hour (me folding laundry and straightening my room, the kids decompressing with a bit of Nick Jr.com and horsing around with each other)... Go pick up Jon, go to the tree ceremony, come home, eat dinner, and the kids were in bed half an hour later. :) Jamie put himself to sleep tonight with barely any fussing. WOOHOO!! Its been a struggle to get him to stay in his bed and not ask to nurse every 5 minutes. (and as I write this, I went to my room to get my phone, and found him stretched out under the covers on MY pillow, in my bed.. :D oh well, at least he put himself to sleep, right?).

Ok, I think my ranting is over.. I've run out of things to recap for myself. :) Now, for the pictures.

Jacking up the van.

Happy December, ya'll! I hope you're having fun this holiday season! :D

December daily- part two from yesterday, and Day 5

2011-12-05T05:34:00.001-06:00

Here are some shots from our tree decorating last night. I also took some random shots of some simple Korean decorations we picked up last year. Not that you can really tell they are from Korea, but hey, it works for me. :)

I made two items on my Pinterest Food board today. First was the homemade hot chocolate. I tweaked it a bit, since it tasted heavily like unsweetened cocoa, and added another cup of powdered sugar. We made it with milk the second time, and it was delicious! Even better with a candy cane as a garnish! :)

Homemade hot chocolate

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's, since its what I had)

2.5 cups powdered milk

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cornstarch

1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

hot milk

Heat your cup of milk in the microwave (60-90 seconds) and add 2 heaping TBSP's (for a full cup). Stir with a candy cane or add marshmallows for an added treat. Yum!

Dinner was Crockpot Orange Chicken. I'm not going to re-post the recipe, because sadly, we didn't care for it too much. I will make it again another time and tweak the recipe. This one was WAY too much orange and a bit salty. The kids ate it, but not as well as my friend's manicotti the other night! :D

Yay! I've made it to day 5 on the December Dailies! :D Tomorrow night is the Camp Casey Tree Lighting Ceremony- this year, we are taking hats, gloves, and blankets! We FROZE last year, even though they were handing out hot chocolate and treats. I'll have to look through and see what I can come up with to bake for tomorrow. :)

Santa letter (free printable)

2011-12-05T01:53:00.001-06:00

I am dipping my toes into making printables to share. I have been extremely blessed to be able to decorate my house with some of the beautiful printables that I have found online, and would like to give back in the same manner. Please let me know if it doesn't work on your end- my printer is out of ink, so I haven't been able to print it myself. I hope its sized correctly! :)

Just right click and save the picture. Enjoy!

Catching up on my December Dailies

2011-12-04T02:26:00.001-06:00

PSE didn't want to work for me the other night, which is why I blogged just the photos. But it has been working now, so here are my last two days, and today's pages.

I'm pretty sure that we will have a few more pictures when we decorate the tree after dinner, but I haven't decided if I will scrapbook them or just post them.

So far, the kids really like the felt tree- they get to stick and re-stick all the decorations. Alpha (local Korean craft store) sells ready made kits with various items in it. I swiped the Santa with a sleigh, and 2 little houses. Next time I think I might go get the snowman, and we will cut out our own ornaments, too.

Well, the manicotti is ready, so off to eat. Then we will decorate the tree, and I plan to make some yummy coconut macaroons for dessert. :)

Maybe I'll even get around to sewing my Christmas pillow cover. Hehehe..

December Daily- Day 1

2011-12-01T07:54:00.001-06:00

Well, my PS Elements has decided it hates me tonight, I tried 3 times to create my scrapbook page, and it kept freezing up. So I am blogging about our evening. :)

After school, the kids got to play a bit and have snack. We headed out before dinner to pick up Hillma and head on post for the Unit Christmas Tree Decorating Contest. We had a paper chain, several types of Christmas ornaments from the local Korean dollare store Daiso, handmade crossed cannons, gingerbread men, Santas and colorful yarn hats. Oh, and glittered up stars and snowflakes. LOTS of decorations, as you can see above. We got to go pick up Daddy afterwards, and he stayed home long enough to do our first Advent reading.
It wasn't exactly the reading I was thinking it would be (I thought we'd be reading pieces of the Christmas story- that'll teach me to forget to look up the verses beforehand)! In all, though, the kids sat still and listened while we read John 3:1-21. After Daddy headed back to post, we read day 1 of the Countdown to Christmas and then the kids got snuggled down in bed.

So that was our fairly eventful but fun evening. :P I had lots of cute little papers and decorations for the scrapbook page, but oh well. Simple is good. :)

I was able to order the Elf on a Shelf and the Little People Nativity Set for the kids today- I'm excited for them! I have a few creative ideas on where the Elf can be found, but I want to find a better explanation for him than "he's here to watch how you behave and he will tell Santa whether you've been good or bad." I don't like thinking that my kids will be anxious over it, wondering if they will still get presents, etc. Better behavior would be great, but not at the expense of their minds. :) So far, I think he will have a snowball fight with cotton balls or marshmallows, and he will make a snow angel out of sugar, and make a little tent in the kids' rooms out of their clothes that are laid out.
The nativity set will be for their play, but we will keep it set in the living room. I can't wait to hear if they will retell the Christmas story with it. :)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T08:12:00.001-06:00

This was our second (and last) Thanksgiving in Korea. We had a few friends over, tons of laughter, and LOTS of food. I made a pecan pie from scratch (Jon said it was a bit runny, but otherwise good), a pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Then came turkey, stuffing, rolls, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, creamed corn, and gravy. We didn't have very many leftovers this year, for which I am extremely grateful. :P

I am diving into Christmas this weekend- the tree is up, with the branches somewhat rearranged.. lol.. James and Caitlynn hung their 2011 ornaments (Jacob didn't want to choose one, so his will be up later), we took down the fall decor, and brought out greenery and ornaments. :) I am trying to get my December playgroup items finalized, along with a creative snack for each day, and am also finishing a couple of Advent things. I am trying to keep it relaxed this year, and if I get to it, neato! If I don't, oh well.
Hopefully, I will have time tomorrow to post some pictures of what we are doing. We are attending a birthday party at the Aeshin Orphanage down the road- they have 48 orphans there right now. Up 3 from the last head count I heard a few months ago. Our unit sponsors them. I made cupcakes for each of them tonight, as well as some cookies for other people that are attending. We are hosting an annual Christmas party for them right before Christmas- last year they brought their handbell choir- AMAZING!! During the baking, Caitlynn said to me, " Mommy, are we going to bring some of the orphans home?" Dumbstruck moment for me. I tried to frantically recall the verse where we are to care for orphans, but she beat me to it, sort of, by saying that she wanted some more brothers and sisters. I told her that God would have to tell Daddy and I if that was what we were supposed to do- she said, oh, we should pray about it? lol.. Talk about an eye opening conversation!

And since its 11:22pm, and I can hear Jamie asking to "get out", I think I'll go snuggle him back to sleep. :)

Halloween on the other side of the world

2011-11-01T06:50:00.000-05:00

We are so spoiled over here! We might not be able to trick-or-treat like we do back in the States, but we've never been able to leave candy on the doorstep and go out with our kids together. This year, we found a friend that has a teenager, so she said she would hand out candy for us.

We live in a set of buildings called Viva Family (Shinchang Viva), and we are in the 100's buildings. There is a group of 6 buildings in the 100's, 2 in the 200's, and 4 in the 300's. We went to each building (families sit on the steps in front of each building to hand out candy) in the 1 & 200's. The event was supposed to start at 7pm, but at 642, I could already hear screams and shouts and giggles through closed windows (and even though we live on the 6th floor- it echoes pretty well between the buildings). When we started out, there were only a few other families, but boy, did they POUR outside a few minutes later.

Anyhow, we walked around for about 20 minutes, hitting each building. Take a look at the haul we got!

Here are a couple of photos from Saturday night's Trunk or Treat, sponsored by West Casey Chapel. They had free hotdogs and chips, a few nice games, paint the pumpkins, a bounce house climber, and lots of trunks to get a treat from.

Happy Halloween!

A couple of recent pics

2011-10-31T02:26:00.002-05:00

We went up Soyosan last weekend, and it was amazingly gorgeous. Completely crowded because, of course, we had to go during one of the two weekends that they are having a maple festival! :D I got a bunch of cute family photos for my friends, and a couple of good ones of the flowers at the festival. Here are 2 of my favorites, and one of the kids that just makes me smile. :)

Immediately behind me, there were 100-odd Korean people watching the kids and laughing with them. And true to the nature of Korean people, they called the kids over and fed them cookies. :) They are so spoiled, and so wonderfully blessed to have this experience.

They normally have their babies and children say hi, to practice their English. So we practice our Korean with them, and they giggle. :) One time, a grandma put a newborn baby in Jamie's arms (he was about a year old at the time), and took their picture. They touch their hair alot, because its light blond. Its really fun to see how much they love kids here- we will miss it when we come back to the States. I guess that's all I have for now- my sink full of dirty dishes is calling to me (that, and I'd like to be able to cook tonight.. lol). I'm still waiting to see if Shutterfly is going to respond to my entry- I blogged about their Christmas cards last year, and I'd love to do it again- they have some beautiful ones this year.

A few more gifts to start my Friday off right

2011-10-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

15. Toddler version of Ring around the Rosy- 'wanna ro ro!'
16. Being able to shower without said toddler
17. Beautiful fall mornings.
18. Wonderful friends to trade babysitting with.
19. Time to go check out new photography spots.
20. Health improvements for a friend's little girl.
21. Finishing the top piece of my Halloween quilt.
22. Teaching a friend how to sew a quilt for her daughter.
23. Finding lots of neat ideas for a Halloween party- that aren't gruesome or freaky.
24. Movie night with popcorn and hot chocolate. :)

Just wanted to make sure that I kept up with my blessing list- since I totally forgot to post them for the last few days.

Halloween wreath

2011-10-02T10:28:00.002-05:00

Fall always makes me want to craft ALOT! Since September was so busy with friends and family, I didn't even have time to pull out my fall decorations. This last week, with Jon being on leave and the older two in school, I pulled out my boxes and managed to get most of my fall items out and placed around the house. Just one picture for now, my Halloween wreath. Inspired by Tatertots and Jello's halloween wreath http://tatertotsandjello.com/2010/09/happy-halloween-wreath-tutorial.html , this is my take on it. :) We are a bit limited here as to holiday ribbon, and I didn't want to wait and order ribbon from the states, since it takes roughly a week to a month to get craft orders. Anyhow, please enjoy, and leave some love at TT&J if you liked her tutorial! :)

more pictures

2011-10-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of Gyungbokgung Palace. :) Hope you like them!

Caitlynn took the two shots of me, which turned out to be hilarious, because she had my ridiculously expensive camera hung around her neck, and a Korean lady was snapping tons of pictures of Cait while she was taking my picture. Jon just laughed and shook his head. The lady was nice enough to offer to take a shot of Cait and I, so that's where that one came from. :)

A beautiful reflecting pool. The water was directed in such a way that the water would remain perfectly still, in order to maintain the glass-like quality.

Looking back towards the main entrance.

Nana <3

The King's throne.

more of the throne room.

The actual Palace Museum, which we didn't go into. Maybe on another trip. :)

When the Japanese invaded, this is the palace that was hastily built for the king and queen, since they got kicked out of the main palace. This is also where the queen was murdered, and afterwards, the king moved to one of the other palaces, so this one was never painted.

From the main entrance looking in.

Not really sure... one of the kids took this. :D

Another kid pic. The Korean people believed that these statues would protect them from evil spirits. They are all over the place on many of the buildings here.

More to come, as I catch up on my editing!

And more blessings...
8. snuggly warm blankets.
9. pumpkins, pinecones, candy corn, leaves, apple cider..
10. my children's laughter
11. the experience of living in a different country
12. learning a new language and teaching it to my children
13. encouraging friends
14. being encouraged by friends

1000 gifts

2011-09-30T09:03:00.000-05:00

1. A peacful, quiet night.
2. Cool weather (perfect for a hoodie and jeans)!
3. Beautiful photographs.
4. Memories made with Nana during her visit to Korea.
5. A clean kitchen sink (finally)!

6. Yummy smelling candles burning.

7. A wonderful husband and father who takes such good care of us.

Sorry for the long delay between posts. Sometimes I really don't have time to post, other times I forget, and still others... I don't have the words. :)

Here are a couple of pictures from our recent trip to Gyungbokgung Palace, also home of the National Palace Museum of South Korea. Absolutely stunning architecture, colors, everything. :) It is so much better in person.

ok, so after 2 months of NOT blogging...

2011-06-27T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm back!

Didja miss me?? lol

Anyhow, I have been wanting to pick back up and start posting again.. but then I thought, well, who really wants to read my ramblings?? On the way home from the Sesame Street Live performance (which was pretty cool for the kids), I started thinking, and realized that I really stink at scrapbooking- hence the reason that Jacob only has an album to about oh... 2 years old? So blogging will now be my version of scrapbooking- keeping track of all the little things we do, since I tend to take a bajillion photos anywhere we go. :D I've looked into digital scrapbooking, but I can't really seem to get much into it. Plus, nowhere cheap to print stuff here!

Jamie got a bit jealous when I was photographing two baby girls in the grass.. he decided to get in on the action. This picture is from when he was still relatively clean (this was one of our BBQ get togethers). :D

Jacob and about 6 of his friends played kickball with Jon and Kyle (a friend's husband). Note that they are all barefoot.. hehe

Jon pitching the ball.

Miss Prissy Pants running to second base. :D

Ohh, the dirt that came off of these children that night in the tub... Horrifying!

Well, that's about all for now. I can't find a recent picture of me without digging into a folder that I will be pulling from for tomorrow's post... guess I will have to work on putting myself in FRONT of the camera every once in awhile. :P My goal is to post at least a few lines every night for one week... we'll see how that goes, maybe I can keep it up.

resurrection eggs

2011-04-18T00:32:00.000-05:00

So, as usual, I am running behind on when I had planned to start this Easter activity. :)

I am using the example from http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ and making my own Resurrection Eggs to teach the kids a little more about the story of Easter. This year, we are also not buying the pre-stuffed Easter baskets. 1. because they are too scarce here
2. because I end up throwing away almost all the toys from them within a week
and 3. because I don't want my kids to grow up like I did thinking that Easter is just another time to receive candy and presents.

I want my kids to know the joy and celebration that is Easter... and I want them to know WHY. There is a great little show that comes on AFN channel 4 (or maybe its 3...?) on Sundays right now. It is a documentary of the Easter story, showing the real life place that it happened, and a movie-type imaging of what might have happened. The narrator shares some great explanations for what happened, and has great insights into the Bible verses. It truly does bring the Easter story to life, in a family friendly way.

Anyhow, this is my list of what I am using in the Eggs.

1. a picture of a donkey (Jesus' triumphal entry)
2. picture of a palm leaf (since S. Korea doesn't exactly grow many of those :)
3. a cup (lid to a water bottle, or one of Cait's mini tea set cups, I haven't decided yet- representing the Last Supper)
4. a flower (using a fake one, obviously, from the local craft store- representing the garden at Gethesmane)
5. some coins (Judas' betrayal)
6. a piece of leather (symbolizing the whip)
7. a picture of the crown of thorns
8. a paper cross
9. a dice (representing the gambling for his clothes)
10. a nail (crucifixion)
11. a rock (to cover the tomb)
12. an empty egg (the empty tomb)

Thanks again to Kristen at http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ for posting this. It is a huge help to me and probably many other families that might not have creative ideas to get their kids to learn the real story of Easter.

What are some things that you do to help celebrate Easter?

Catch up posting!

2011-04-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

I just noticed its been over a month since I last updated.. Figured I would take a couple of minutes to unload all that has happened since then.
2/25- My last official function as part of West Casey Chapel- the Newcomer's Orientation Dinner. Lots of fun, got to mingle with friends and meet some new people. Shortly after that, Jon decided that we should try a different chapel, so I turned in a resignation of sorts, if you can call it that for a volunteer position! :P

That Sunday we tried out Hovey Chapel, where Jon's battalion chaplain speaks. It was pretty good! We had a great time fellowshipping with the people there after church.

3/5 We went to a birthday party for Calvin- it was their last big thing here, as they PCS'd back to the States shortly afterwards.

I would just like to state for the record that I really dislike these horns! Whoever thought it would be a great idea to pass them out to several children at once is insane!! :D

3-8- We took the kids to Little Prince Children's Restaurant. My fave! Why don't we have these in America??!? I should franchise one when we get back.. lol.

Can you tell he was excited? He barely stopped long enough for me to snap this! The food at this place is amazing- peach tea, pomogranate tea, chicken tomato pasta, alfredo, even the pizza is delicious! And the hot chocolate... well, let's just say that the hot chocolate is responsible for a couple of my extra pounds

from this winter! :D It is just THAT good.

All for now, have kiddos to go take care of and a slightly crabby hubby. :D

The world is melting

2011-02-23T04:27:00.000-06:00

Spring is on its way! Woohoo! Of course, this means that everything is pretty soggy, but hey, I'll take the sunshine and decent temperatures along with the soggy. Its funny how two months of near zero temps can make us say that 49 degrees is warm! :D

In other news- Jacob is now permanently homeschooled, until we get out of Korea at the very least. The school here wasn't hacking it, and a couple of weeks after the winter break was over, I pulled him. We have been doing well, catching up on the lost weeks of school, and have a plan in place to finish by mid-May. I really hate the yo-yoing that went on, and I wish I had stood firm back in October, but its over, and we are moving forward, not looking back.

As for my resolutions, I am doing pretty well at keeping in the Word, although I'm nowhere near as in depth as I want to be. I ordered several new books that I am loving, all with really good messages. Right now, I'm just soaking it all in, and applying it to my life.

Jon has been in an out every few days this last month, but he's finally back on a decent schedule as of today. Yay! :) Its amazing how bad my recycling area gets when he's gone. hehehe..

Well, that's all I've got for now, its bedtime around here, so I need to go supervise the picking up of toys. :)

2010

2011-01-01T06:27:00.000-06:00

So, I'm a day late on this one. Big surprise, right? I never really thought of wrapping up my year in print, but I'll go ahead and give it a shot.

A year ago, I was busily going through my entire house, giving numerous things away, stockpiling the things we would need on our who-know-how-long journey to South Korea, throwing out all the ridiculous things we had hoarded for how ever long, because we thought we'd use it someday.. lol.. Early February found us having all our household goods packed up in a large truck and taken away.. lots of cleaning to be had there, too (but we managed to get out of housing without paying for cleaning)! We spent some awesome and fun time with friends and family that month, too. March found us in New York with my parents, as we prepared to say goodbye to Daddy for a short while. Steadily, we marched (no pun intended) through Jacob's schoolwork, and for the most part, stuck to our routine. Made new friends while there, and Mommy found Zumba class! :) April, more of the same, just better weather. Early in May, we had tickets in hand (!) and an apartment we had yet to step foot in, on the other side of the world. We moved to South Korea. After a week of jet lag, the adventure began, and here we are, still living it! It is by turns wonderful and not so wonderful over here, but for the most part, we love it, and are glad that we have been able to give this experience to our children and ourselves. We are picking up customs and pieces of a new language, and everywhere we go there is a different culture to be explored and explained.

The holidays this year found us with a small group of new friends, whom we cherish, and without our families and friends, whom we dearly miss. Happy 2011, everyone!

My resolutions are small this year. Getting into better shape is always on there, so I won't repeat it.
I will make more time to have fun with my family, instead of always worrying about how things are going or trying to photograph it all.
I will teach my family better life skills (including myself).
I will make more time for reading my Bible.

I think I can handle three resolutions. The first one is more of a life change, so it doesn't really count as a resolution... maybe.. lol
Anyhow, what are some of the resolutions you are making? Or have already put into practice?

We have a new van! :)

2010-12-18T00:07:00.000-06:00

I cannot express to you how happy I am to say that!

:D

The tricky part is that the van is a diesel, and is a manual transmission. I haven't driven a manual for oh, 8 years? (Tiffany, if you or Mihailo are reading this, stop laughing)! Last night, we piled the kids in the van after watching kids for the BN social, and headed home. Took me a few minutes to remember how to reverse without stalling. :P (In my own defense, the gear shift isn't marked at all). Oh, and it snowed yesterday, so it was a tiny bit slick. Anyhow, I proceeded to make it about halfway home, and was doing fine until I came to a hill. With a stop sign at the top of it. Oh goody. (Yes, Tiff, it was exactly like the one we got stuck at all those years ago). :D Topping it off, there are cabs behind me and buses driving to the intersection I was at.. lol.. I am laughing so hard, trying to wave all these people through the intersection while attempting to find the hazard lights. I wish the van had a sign that said STUDENT DRIVER. Then at least they would understand.. :)

Anyhow, we made it home with no further incidents (ok, except for when it slid into 3rd instead of 1st and when I downshifted it shuddered really bad), and I have just realized that now I have to figure out how to get up and out of the parking garage the next time I drive!

Anyhow, that's all for now. Sorry, no pictures yet of the newest addition to our house. The kids have friends over, and now that they've finally decided to stop arguing and leave me alone, I need to capitalize on it. :) Dishes, laundry, recycling oh my! I also have to lug car seats down to the van, now that we don't have to lug them in and out of taxis. :)

I can't believe its almost Christmas!

2010-12-14T06:09:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are almost to the end of another year. This one has been a great adventure so far. We have been stretched in ways I never could have imagined, and we are so much the better for it.

I am on the fence about my decision to put Jacob in school. At the time, it sounded like a good fit for him, but now I'm not sure. Petty problems with the school are not what I'm talking about, I'm more worried about the part that makes him say, " Mom, I don't like school anymore." When I asked him why, he said, " Because I already know everything!"

How's that for honesty?

I understand that kindergarten is not supposed to be a whole heck of a hard time.. but I keep circling back to feeling like I failed him because we were already breezing through his first grade work with no problem, and now he's stuck going over the alphabet and colors and shapes. The only writing they do is journal time in the morning, and I can't really tell if they do much with math. I'm sure they do, since even small things have to do with math, but he was used to the worksheets he did here at home, and they definitely don't do that.

Part of me wants to say, to heck with it all, and pull him back out. Part of me wonders if it will set a really bad example for him if I do that. Part of me says, oh, he'll get used to any routine that a school uses, if we put him in school a couple of years from now. He can adapt, he's a child.

I want him to like school, and always want to learn new things. Right now, I'm afraid that he's coasting, because there isn't much expected of him. Maybe I should ask to come to school for a day, and see what all they do on a normal day. Maybe they do more than I think they do, based on what I hear from him at the end of the day, and what little bit of information the teacher sends home. I don't want his love of learning to be extinguished because they don't challenge him. I guess what I'm trying to say is that at home, I said, ok, we are going to do this, and we did it. I dont want him to conform to the school system and only do the minimum. He didn't know that he was going to do new things, I just presented them as normal work each day. lol. Im having a hard time expressing what I want to say for some reason. I'll come back to it another time.

We only really have a couple more Christmas gifts to purchase, and then we are finished. Except for each other. Its always hard to shop for Jon. :P The things he wants, he will notice if I buy them, because of the emails or bank statements. Cait has asked for the Fur Real Friends white cat.... that has a huge price tag. I'm still trying to decide if its worth it to get it for her, since its really the only thing she's asked for over and over and over. The other things we have gotten her are from the Christmas money that Grandma and Papa sent. Jacob is getting his DSi XL, because I found a bundle pack here at the PX and jumped all over it before it got snapped up. Maybe this will keep them off my iphone. I have my doubts. I wondered if getting him this system would be a bad idea, but really, with all the time we spend on trains going places, its nice to have a way to distract him. And he's been very good at choosing to turn off the games lately. He's pretty limited in time to play, so he only gets to go hog wild on the weekends.

3 more days til holiday break! Jon and I are going to pray about it, research some different curriculums and decide for good whether or not Jacob will return to school after the break. We may possibly just let him finish the year, while simultaneously doing a couple of his first grade things in the afternoons and on weekends. Pray for us, will you? We want to make the right decision for our family, and for Jacob in particular.

Picture post

2010-11-26T21:42:00.000-06:00

We got our first snowfall! :P The kids were sooo happy, even though Jacob didn't want to go out and play in it at all.

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving, a couple of friends, and a couple of the soldiers that Jon works with came to eat with us. We managed to rotisserie the turkey for 3 hours instead of bake it, but it all worked out in the end. Sorry, no pics of the dinner. I made creamed corn, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and apple cider. Yum!

Our Christmas tree is up, and the total ornament loss so far is 3- 1 by Caitlynn, 2 by Tiger. Surprisingly, James hasn't broken one yet! Although, he did manage to break a coffee mug and break the second leaf off of my porcelain rose that I've had since I was little. Good thing it didn't shatter.

We had planned to buy a car from a soldier that is leaving, but just found out that it got sold out from under us, so oh well. We have to start Christmas shopping anyhow, the kids have the wooden food and accessories for their play kitchen (the big gift from Santa to all three of them), but the kitchen itself isn't even shipped yet! :( It says it won't be here til after Dec. 25, so I might just have to buy the plastic Step 2 one, instead of the wooden one we wanted. Other than that, we have 3 or so gifts to get for each kid, and some stocking stuffers.

Here are some pictures from our snow play earlier- hope you enjoy!

Look! I'm actually IN a picture this time!

Our attempt at a snowman! LOL

And, two minutes later, the death of our snowman, death by consumption.. :D

And a picture of both of us- woohoo! :)

I heart Shutterfly!

2010-11-18T05:49:00.000-06:00

Ok, I have to make this really short and simple, cause I'm WAY behind, and the craft fair starts tomorrow!! EEEK!

Shutterfly is doing a promotion for bloggers- get 50 free Christmas cards for posting a 150word (or longer) post on your blog. Go here to check it out! http://bit.ly/sfly2010

I <3 Shutterfly. We got an amazing photo book last year, right around Christmas, and my kids still look through it. They have great service and it hardly takes any time at all to receive your order.

I'm really liking this one for multiple shots of our family, especially since we are overseas this year. I know it hasn't really been that long since we have seen everyone, but still, a great way to send a small piece of us to everyone.

I also like this one, for a whole family shot- or possibly just the kids.

Last, but definitely not least, I love the cheerfulness of this one. The colors jump out at me, and since I LOVE color, I chose this one- probably a picture of the kiddos, instead of all of us.

I've gotta say, this year's card are AMAZING! I had a hard time narrowing it down to just three items.

We also got a free 11x14 collage poster back when Jon was here in Korea the first time. I love it, I put a bunch of pictures of each kid on there, and titled it, We love you, Daddy! with the month and year written underneath. Good memories from a time that was a bit stressful and lonely, for both of us. Go here- http://www.shutterfly.com/prints/collage-posters to check it out. (Sorry, I don't know how to do cut-tags on blogger)! :)

These looked like a fun way to celebrate, too! Only 39.99 to be in a book with your favorite character! :)

Anyhow, I hear my sewing machine calling- gotta get back to the grindstone! I will post pictures once things slow down, hopefully the craft fair does well tomorrow! :)

Riding the fence... the homeschooling fence, at least.

2010-10-26T06:33:00.000-05:00

Found out today that I could put J in school (kindergarten) for a couple hours a day, for only the subjects I want him to study, like pe, music, math, etc... and homeschool him the rest of the time.. Now Im wondering if I shouldnt just get over it and put him in, period. No point in sending him for 3-4 hours a day only to come home and do more when he gets home.... But, also, if I finish homeschooling him through this year, he can go straight to second grade next year, since Sonlight is an accredited program. I would just have to provide a portfolio, and he would have to take the second grade placement exam. Soooo.. yeah. I don't want to be selfish and put him in just so I would have one less kid at home, but I don't want to keep him out on the off chance that they can do a better job that me, even with 30 kids and one aide. We can still do devotionals at home, over dinner, and talk about the memory verses in the mornings before I take him downstairs to the bus stop.. which was a major reason I homeschooled. Theres a verse that says to teach the Bible to your children, when you walk along the road, and when you wake up and when you go to sleep... basically, teach them as much as you can as often as you can.. And if he's in school more than he's home and awake, how am I supposed to have the time to teach him about stuff like that? I know I probably sound like a crazed loon.. lol.. but I'm really struggling with putting him in. Am I some kind of control freak? Jon was teasing me, and said, what, having a hard time letting go?? Srsly!! Is that what I'm doing???

There are pros and cons to each side, and I DON'T want to be selfish and put him in just to go with the flow of everyone else. I don't want him to have a negative experience with school, and I don't want him to constantly be in trouble like he was last year in the beginning of pre-k. Yes, he will probably throw fits because school is more regimented than we are, and there will be another adult in charge... and I know there will be days that I have to literally drag him out of bed because he 'doesn't wanna go to school!'

Blah. Need prayer. Advice would be great. :)

I think I was bitten by a bug

2010-10-12T08:55:00.000-05:00

The crafting bug!!

I have been working on several things lately. So, here goes nothing! :)

These are some of the items that I will be selling at the craft bazaar next month. I actually had someone ask whether or not they would be there cause she thought they were really cute! :)

Anywho.. off to watch a little more Eureka and attempt to finish sewing my fall table runner.

Busy as bees

2010-10-11T06:50:00.000-05:00

Well, the man has been on convalescent leave for two weeks now, and my house definitely shows it! :)

I find it really hard to get motivated when he is sitting on the computer playing a game, or browsing the internet. I find that I get all my work done when he takes the kids outside for an hour or so- peace and quiet! :P

Lately, we have been running around getting errands done, and going to meetings. We recently started attending West Casey Chapel for Sunday service (by recent I mean we have gone twice now). Yesterday, I volunteered to be the outreach coordinator (what the heck was I thinking)??? I have had a couple of moments where my gut clenched and I thought, oh no, I've bitten off more than I can chew, I have no clue what I'm doing!!!
Today I made a detailed list of what I need to do for each thing that I have either volunteered for, or decided to do. Just for my own accountability, here's what's on my plate for the next month or two:

Partylite- I have started selling as a consultant again. My first show will be this next Sunday, and the other 5 shows will quickly follow. After that, it will just depend on how many people will host for me as to how busy I will be.

Haunted House for Jon's unit- I am helping to decorate, plus setting up a photograph station for the families. We will sell each pic for a small amount, to help in fundraising.

Church- As stated before, I am the outreach coordinator. This means that each monthly fellowship time is mine to organize, as well as any get togethers during the month. I decide what the chapel will offer (main dish or a meat, plus plates, cups, etc) each month, food-wise. I also have to send out emails asking for volunteers to bring sides and desserts.

Craft bazaar- There will be a craft bazaar in a little over a month. Wives can rent a booth to sell their homemade items. So far, my list of things to display is a photography collage, Family Rules Canvas, Boo blocks, Thankful blocks, name blocks, decoupaged picture frames, and a couple of different banners. Some of these things I already have made, some things are on my list to do soon. Tonights craft will be getting started on the name blocks. I will post pics when I get them done.

Phew. If you made it to the end of this, thanks! This was more of a empty-my-brain type of post than an interesting one, but hey, I feel MUCH better now. :D
Thanks for listening!

Sing, sing, sing!

2010-10-02T02:39:00.000-05:00

Or at least, that's what I'm doing right now. There are tons of other little things that I should be doing.. like

folding the massive loads of laundry that are taking over my bed...washing dishes... finding my desk underneath the paper and bills and books and random items that are hiding it.. I think they're planning to ask a ransom for it!

Its a cool and rainy day outside, which effectively has cancelled my shoot for this afternoon. And I don't have the motivation to get up and DO anything.. until I put on my music. I listen to a great mix of some of the latest Christian artists, and its just uplifting enough to get me off my rear. :)

In other news, Jon came through his surgery with flying colors. We left Monday night to travel down to Yongsan, and stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge. It was a nice little room, very reasonably priced($79), with CABLE TV!! :D More channels than we get with AFN at home

Nice chandeliers!

You have to stick the key card in this in order to turn on the lights and air for the room. When you leave and take it out, they automatically turn off. Neat!

View from our room.

Lobby area.

So, the night before, Jon called and was told to report at 0930 for prep. Well, they called us at 0620, wanting to know why we weren't there yet! Apparently there was a huge miscommunication somewhere. We got there a few minutes after 7am, and they immediately converged on Jon, getting him changed, Id'd and asking all the routine questions.

Then they took him back and got his IV started, and the pressure cuffs on.

This is about an hour after his surgery, immediately after he got out of recovery. This is when they called me and said I could come back and see him. He had a slighly hard time shaking off the anesthesia, he kept forgetting to breathe! The O2 monitor would flat line and stay that way for three cycles or more and hit 0, and I'd have to touch his arm and wake him up to get him to breathe. The nurses didn't seem too concerned, although one did tell me that in recovery they were joking him that they'd already taken the tube out of his throat, and HE was the one supposed to be breathing now. :)

Pasty white! His blood pressure kept going down, I think the lowest was 116/53 or something like that.

He stabilized pretty well by lunch time, so we headed out. Only to have him dash for the nearest bathroom to get sick. that happened a couple more times while he tried to get out from under the anesthesia effects. It was a long day. :) We took the bus home, though, and he was able to sleep. We stopped at Hovey and turned in his paperwork (he's on convalescent leave for 30 days, and a dead man's profile til 17 December).

He's doing pretty well, even though its killing him that he can't take off this cast, and pretty much can't do alot of things he could do with the other cast. He goes back on October 6 for a checkup and to get the stitches removed if they are ready.

I have been being crafty lately! There are tons of projects swimming around in my head, so stay tuned, and hopefully I will have some of them featured soon.

Translation Tuesday

2010-09-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

One of the best phrases I have learned so far is, "Do you speak English?"

Yongorul hashimnikka? *yon gah rule hah sheem neeka*

I said this to a Korean lady last week, and she actually understood me! It was great. :) You probably would have had to have been there, though, to be all excited like I was. :P

We also learned last week that using the words Adashi and Adjuma is NOT polite and respectful, like we were taught when we first got here. We were told that its like saying sir and ma'am, because it means uncle or aunt. But its not. Its basically the equivalent of saying, hey you, idiot!
We spent awhile with a lovely Korean couple, and he explained that its only used when talking to someone whom you know for certain is a lower rank than you (miitary wise), or basically the hired help in your house. And its also reserved for someone you know very well, kind of like saying hey bro! to a friend, I guess.

Anyhow, I definitely won't be flagging anymore taxi's down by yelling that! Ooops. :_

Happy birthday to my babies!

2010-09-19T08:20:00.000-05:00

I'm such a bad blogger. I always forget to post updates on how things are going. I guess I should attempt to schedule some posts, that way I don't look at the dashboard every morning and think, hmmm its been awhile since I posted! :)

Anyhow. Cait's birthday was Friday- she's 4 now! So big! Jacob's birthday is this coming Saturday, and he will be 6. We decided this year to have one party, at home, since its probably the last year that we can really get away with having the same party for both of them. We had a slight crisis (our renters are moving out and the company held our rent check with no notice this month), so we made a pinata, instead of buying on. It turned out cute! They are pretty easy to make, just mix up some flour and water into a thick paste, get some newspaper strips wet with it, and stick it on a balloon. :) (ok, so there's a little more to it, but that's the short version)!

Don't you just love the look on Caitlynn's face, in the first pic with me and Jacob? :D I didn't realize she'd done that until I uploaded the pictures. All in all, it was a great day today. I got alot of sewing done before the party, most of my Strawberry Shortcake rag quilt is put together. Now, I have to finish the last strip, and then sew all the strips together, and fringe it all. I will try to post pictures of that.

Its the time of year that makes me want to craft... FALL!! It has started cooling down sooo much in the last week. We have had our A/C off since yesterday afternoon, and it didn't get too hot, finally. With our electric bill being over 500,000 won (for the month of August), we are grateful that it is going to be our last ridiculously high bill. Ayaka and I spent an hour and a half downstairs at the market, talking with a Korean couple that spoke English, learning some of their customs and also that we shouldn't use our Korean dryer! :P It seems that it is partly why our electric bill is so high.

Anyhow, back to crafting.. Blogland has had so many creative posts and tutorials that I'm going insane trying to figure out which ones I can do! :) First on my agenda is to make 3 burp cloths, 3 stuffed balls, and a tooth fairy pillow. The cloths and balls are for baby showers I am going to this next week, and the tooth fairy pillow is for Jacob, who is currently working on his 2nd loose tooth! Who knows, maybe I could sell them, too (the pillow, that is, not Jacob's teeth)! There seem to be an awful lot of wives around here who are making and selling things. :)

We are so blessed to be living over here, it has definitely been a great experience so far! While a friend and I were out last week, I actually asked a Korean lady if she spoke English (I asked in Korean), and she understood me and answered me!! I was so excited.. lol..

In other news, our first week of school went great! We are moving right along, and doing well with our new schedule. It had a couple of kinks in it, just because of when payday fell (I had to go to Yongsan to get some last minute birthday stuff, and its a 2.5 hour trip there, and another 2.5 hours back, so we were gone all day), and then the next day Jon was home sleeping for an hour or two after CQ and then at the TMC (troop medical center) for xrays of his wrist. Friday, they sent Jon to Yongsan, to the 121 hospital on base to see an orthopedic doc, because his staphoid bone is broken in half. He will be having surgery on the 28th to place a pin in it, because not only is it broken, but one half of it is twisted and up away from where it should be.

Whew. I think that's about all I can type for now. Oh, James has all 4 molars coming in at once.. Makes for a cheery household, don't ya think?? :O Other than that, life is great! :D

Can't wait for payday!!

2010-08-29T02:40:00.000-05:00

In one of my recent posts, I mentioned that I was moving my school room. Well, the stuff is all in there, but its playing heck with my organizational skills. I will be ordering 2 6 foot craft tables on Tuesday, one for the kids and one for me. I figure that each kid can have 3 feet of space to work at, and on either side of the table, they will each have one of their workboxes. My table, likewise, will have sewing on one half, and paper crafting on the other. I need to rearrange how everything is stored, also. Right now, the closet space on one half of the wall is school books and some supplies. I also have a 3 drawer plastic bin tucked in there, holding all the wooden blocks, the trios and the marble race pieces, and a small shelf that holds their markers and some paper, and Cait's tot trays.
The tables will allow me to get rid of the really heavy wooden school desk that we have, and the little tikes plastic table that the kids are currently using. Added bonus- the table is much higher than what they use for playdough, so the baby won't be able to grab things off the edge as easily. Maybe I won't walk in to a stream of playdoh all across the floor and under everything! :D I can hope, right?

In other news.. lol. I'm getting hungry. Not really news, but I'm giving my friend the local pizza number, and staring at the menu is making me realize its almost 430pm here. I was reminding her also not to try to tip the guy that delivers the pizza. It flusters them, and they don't really know what to do. They just hand it back and say no, no.

I did learn from our taxi driver last night that Koreans have many different ways to say please. Which way you say it depends on the situation you are using it in. Sometimes it translates as 'Give me this, yes?' and other times its totally different. I really need to haul my rear into ACS and take the Korean class they offer once a month.

Anyhow, the time has come for me to get off the computer and go fix dinner. See ya later! :)

Childhood

2010-08-27T06:57:00.000-05:00

I watched Letter to God tonight, and it made me cry. No surprise there. But Jacob climbed up and watched the last few minutes of it, and when he turned to me at the end, with big, tear-filled eyes, and said,"Mommy, I will be sad if you die! There will be only Daddy left. And there will be three boys and one girl!", I had to hug him so he wouldn't see me start bawling. After which we had a short little conversation about loving God and how only He knows when each person will die. I hope that my last sentence sticks with him. I told him in his life he should love God, love other people, and try his best. And that when God says its time for him to die, that if he loves Jesus and has Him in his heart, he will be in heaven with all the other people who love Jesus.

And in true child fashion, he said,"I know, Mommy." and promptly started talking about something else. :)

These last couple of days, Jon and I have been talking about making some changes. I keep thinking of my Proverbs 31/Titus 2 friend (you know who you are:), and her example that her kids come first, not what we think we should be doing. We have been playing outside each night alot, except in the last couple of weeks when its been rainy more often, and we've been busy. I think we are going to go outside earlier and not stay so long, then come in earlier so we have more time for reading a book before bed.

The other day, we just stayed inside and enjoyed our children. We played Duck Duck Goose, Ring Around the Rosy, and just let the kids climb all over us. Then, Daddy and the kids made cookies, and we all colored. Simple things, really, that meant so much to our kids.

So this leads me to ask: looking back, what are the things from childhood that really stand out to you?What experiences do you want to create for your children?

I want my children to know, above all, that they are loved, are our biggest blessings and a joy to us. I want them to be open and honest with us, and to like including us in their lives as they grow and mature. I want them to love God and others, and be well mannered, mature and respectful. And lots of other things.

What do you want for your kids?

My husband loves me..

2010-08-24T20:17:00.000-05:00

Otherwise, I think he'd have killed me by now.. :)

I move furniture around. Alot. Until I get it just exactly the way that I want it. Or until he tells me he's not helping anymore. :)

I can't help it, I like to change things up a little, and hey, its cheaper than buying new stuff!

This time, I moved C back into J's room, so that we can have an actual school room. Which is the way we had it originally when we first got here in May. I think C had a room of her own for all of 1 1/2 months.

I was going crazy trying to figure out a way to keep the school stuff in the living room, but it just looked WAY too cluttered, and I don't have a good place to keep all of my craft stuff, either. So the school stuff is now back in the other room, and I have to get crackin' on moving the craft table into that room as well. Plus my 6 drawer bin of craft stuff. I will take pictures later today, that way I can link to the Not Back to School Blog hop! :)

I am insanely happy that I found 6 foot folding tables on Walmart.com for $39 each, and that they ship to APO addresses for free! Squee! Thanks, Erica, for the tip! I will probably order one for me (half for sewing, half for scrapbooking/canvas making), and one for the kids for their schoolwork. Right now, Jacob's desk is in the corner, then his school cart, then a little table for Caitlynns workspace, and her cart will go on the end when it gets here. It will look so much more efficient and tidy when I get that table in there.

Then, my next streamlining the furniture move will be to get a Korean desk. They are about $100, but definitely worth it. Unless the resale shop proves to still have the desk I saw on their FB page.. which was only $15, and will fit a printer and a laminator on the top row, and both laptops on the bottom.. That would be insanely awesome! I will feel completely organized! Right now, my printer is sitting on top of the 3 drawer bin that holds my scrapbooking supplies.. Which is supposed to be going into the school room. So, here's hoping that tomorrow, Casey's Closet still has that desk. I plan to be there when they open the doors.. :D

All for now. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. Off to put the baby down for nap, and get to moving some stuff.

My baby is one!

2010-08-11T07:04:00.000-05:00

My youngest turned one year old three days ago. Where did all the time go? I swear, yesterday, we were bringing him home, and getting used to having a baby again.
The day after his birthday, he came down with a nasty virus, high temperatures, and basically just laying in my lap doing nothing all day long. That's why this post is late. :D

He is doing much better now. He can say mama, dada, up, bye bye and some other random baby noises. He likes to hold a cell phone up to his ear and babble. My phone rang at the urgent care clinic, and he looked up and said, dada? It was too cute, since he was so miserable.

Last night, Jacob lost his first tooth! I took pictures, but my honey is waiting for me to come snuggle on the couch and watch some TV with him, so I will have to upload them later.

I hope ya'll have been having a good week!

OW!

2010-07-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

Note to self, its not smart to walk across freshly paved (within the last 30 minutes) asphalt with flip flops on. Jon called a taxi to Happy Telecom (where we get our phones), so we ran over there, only to find that they are paving the road right in front of it. So we walk down the street rapidly, and I'm stupid enough to say, "Well, I saw some ladies crossing it, so it can't be that bad."

Famous last words, huh?

So Jon takes the stroller and runs with Jacob across, leaving me with Caitlynn. We make it to the middle of the strip, where my flip flop promptly gets stuck down, and I step down onto the asphalt. OW.

The traffic begins to move again, and I grab my shoe and try to run to the other side without getting us killed.

So, now that we are home, I cleaned most of the tar off my foot, and luckily, only one area is swollen and blistered in a tiny spot.

Meh.

so what do you do when your kids want to irritate each other?

2010-07-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

Summer is really starting to get to my kids. And me, if the truth be told. I think its time to start a new list of summer boredom busters.

1. Playdoh
2. water play (kitchen sink)
3. finger paint
4. mega lego building
5. playground time
6. puzzles
7. read a book
8. crafts
9. towel skiing (aka mop the kitchen floor)!
10. build a tent

I need some new ideas. there are only so many times you can use these ideas in a row, without someone getting bored. What kinds of things do you do to keep your kids from purposely irritating each other?

quick drive by

2010-07-20T07:47:00.000-05:00

Gotta make this quick, in case Daddy can't settle little man down!

Sorry for the lack of attention my blog has had- its kinda busy around here these days! :P I suck at remembering to post things on a certain day, so I think a couple of hours of writing posts and scheduling when they got out is coming due.

Tomorrow, I get to go out, all by myself, and go to AFTB level 1 training. (Army Family Team Building, for you non-military peoples). The LtCol actually gave Jon the next two days off, so he could stay home with the kids. (insert jaw drop here). Yes, he actually got the time off.. lol So from 9am to 4pm tomorrow and Thursday, I get to learn and re-learn all sorts of fun things, most of which I probably already heard about or knew, but I'm sure there's tons of things I don't know about. And probably some overseas specific items, too, that I wouldn't have a clue about. I'm excited, I get to talk to adults! :P

Caitlynn had her first dance class since last November today. Well, if you can call two little girls a class. We have found an instructor who is graciously giving lessons each week for a drastically reduced price, in her apartment. Works out pretty well, cause she doesn't have furniture yet, and there is lots of beautiful wood flooring. Here are a couple of pictures from class-

I absolutely adore the one of Anya and Caitlynn pirouetting together. <3

Now all we have to do is get Dakota (Anya's brother) and Jacob enrolled in the local TaeKwonDo class!

They actually pick up and deliver the kids to and from the school, how awesome is that? And its supposedly 120,000 won a month, for class every.single.day. That's about $95, or around $3.50 per day. Woot!

Oh, and just because my dad won't believe me when I tell him how big the omlettes at Chong's are:

Jon couldn't finish his breakfast! He took the omlette home and ate it for dinner that night. And that whole meal was about $5.

Our kitten Tiger, a couple of days before he passed on.

my pretty and organized school shelf!

Caitlynn passed out after a full day of shopping in Yongsan. This was about 15 minutes into the train ride home, and she stayed asleep for the whole 1.5 hour ride.

Anyhow, since I get to leave the house tomorrow, I'm going to go snuggle up to my honey, and try to not leave him a to do list! :P

James is walking!

2010-07-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

Bear with me, I know most of ya'll realize he is walking already.. lol.. He just up and started walking a week ago, and has finally figured out that he can chase his siblings!

Since FB is being weird on my mom's end, I'm posting the same little clip here, to see if she can view it this way. Hope it works!

Translation Tuesday

2010-06-29T01:57:00.000-05:00

Here we are again, Tuesday. We just won't mention that I completely forgot last Tuesday, until it was Tuesday night in the States.... or will we? :P

So, I thought I would list how to count to ten in Korean- seeing as how this is going to become part of our homeschooling curriculum this next school year. I plan to print these out and laminate them, and post them around the house in various places, to help us learn. (Ok, to help ME learn, not so much for Jacob)!

one- hana (hah nah)
two- tule (tule)
three- set (sehtt)
four- net (nehtt)
five- tasot (tahsot)
six- yosot (yoe-sot)
seven- ilgop (eel-gope)
eight- yodol (yah-dahl)
nine- ahop (ah-hope)
ten- yol (yahl or ya'll)

Say that ten times fast! :)

Its actually easier to count to ten in Korean than it is to remember the months of the year. Several of the months only have a one letter difference! I'll post those next week.

And a did you know?

Did you know that it is customary for a newborn baby to stay home for the first 100 days of life? The Koreans then pass out 100 rice cakes for people to eat for good luck. Who would have thought? No wonder people with small babies get lots of attention!

hey, Jackson, look at this!

2010-06-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Kasey, you might wanna look away! :P We found another super creepy bug, this time on the playground. Jon says they are poisonous, not enough to kill you, but enough to make a kid really sick. So of course, since I pulled out the camera, I was mobbed by 5 kids all wanting to know, 'what is it?'

Ok, moving on. Blegh!

There was a little disturbance on the playground tonight. It bothered me.

All of a sudden, there was a little Korean girl, about 5 or 6, and she was sobbing her heart out. Obviously, I don't speak Korean, but after a couple of minutes of watching everyone else look around and away, I went and asked her what was wrong. She could speak a little English, but not enough for me to understand. So, since no one showed up for her, I took her a few yards down to the little market next to our apartment. We were able to figure out pretty quickly that the school bus had dropped her off, and her mother was not home.

Gah. That just hurt my heart. I couldn't even reassure her, and it made me feel really bad.

The shopkeeper asked if she wanted to stay with me, and she shook her head no really fast! :P

So she stayed at the store, and about half an hour later, I saw her mom come walking around the corner at the opposite end of the building. It didn't seem like a big deal to her. I think that bothered me more.

Maybe she told her daughter she wouldn't be there, maybe the little girl just forgot she was supposed to stay outside and play for a little while. But still, eek. To be 6 again, and be that scared. I don't ever want my kids to have to go through that.

And that leads me to another reason why my kids will not attend school here. In the event of NEO (noncombatant evacuation), there might not be time for children to be picked up by their parents. Which means that the military will just keep them, and evac them as fast as possible.

Uh uh. No way. Not over my cold ashes. I'm not leaving a hostile country without each of my children. There's no way I would do that to my kid. Good thing that it doesn't seem like it will come to that.

Anyhow, Jackson, I hope you liked the bug. I'll keep watching for some more to post for you. :)

wahh...

2010-06-18T03:27:00.000-05:00

Ok, now I'm just a bit sad that we aren't in the States. Aside from not seeing friends and family, and missing our TV shows, we can't really build the furniture that I was wanting to try my hand at.

http://www.knockoffwood.com/ Ana White designs the plans and publishes them for free on her website, and the furniture rivals Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, etc, and in most cases, is even better! She has built most of what she publishes, and her readers have built the things she has not built. The price is about 1/4 of the cost of buying the furniture brand new, and its gorgeous! I want to make the Farmhouse bed, the simple bench, the nightstands, media center, simple bookcases, the list goes on of all the things I want to make.

Anyhow, that's all. I wish we had a house to be able to make this stuff at (I could find most of the wood, and probably haggle a good price, too)! But, in the long run, it will be better to come back stateside first, and see what house we will be in next, before making all this awesome stuff! :P

Translation Tuesday

2010-06-15T04:27:00.000-05:00

Sooo.... I thought, since we live in a different country now, I would post once a week about new words we have learned. (Good thing I didn't do it last week, cause I was told I had been teaching my kids the wrong word for hello)! :D

Hello- yo-bu-say-oh
Goodbye- annyonghi kaseyo (ahn yong ee kay say oh)
Thank you- gamseh hamnida (gom sahm needa- they say it really fast, so it sounds different than it looks).
I'm sorry- mean hamnida (mee ahn am needa)
How are you- onaseyo (oh nah say oh) (this is what I thought hello was, but was informed by a taxi driver that it was wrong- which is cool, since my kids were speaking Korean to him-and he understood them)! :)

Funny story to go with the I'm sorry part- We walked from the iPark Mall to Yongsan Garrison two weekends ago, and coming through the gate on foot, we stopped to show our IDs. Well, Tabatha's husband was talking to us, and we started walking forwards. He followed, and the next thing I know, I hear him laugh and say, Mean hamnida, mean hamnida! The guard had come running out of the guard shack and chased after him a few feet, because he had forgotten to show ID! :O The guard seemed to think it was cool that he was trying to speak Korean, and said it was alright, though, so no harm, no foul.

Anyhow, I'm off to go make a grocery list- its hot as blazes outside and humid, to boot, but Jon said he'd watch the kids! SCORE! :P No hauling a carseat into the commissary, woohoo!

Will be back in a day or so with an update on what we've been doing, and hopefully, pictures.

Buying a car

2010-06-07T00:23:00.000-05:00

Well, deciding whether to buy a car or have the Army ship one of our cars over here. Either way, it will be a few more weeks. We are still waiting for our DLA to arrive, since that's the money we are supposed to use towards buying a junker over here. A/C is really the only thing I want in our car. The summers here supposedly get to around 105, and completely humid. Yuck. I just want the ability to take my kids upstairs first, and then come back down and deal with the groceries, instead of being dropped off with everything on the sidewalk below, and wondering how the heck to get everything upstairs. (You should have seen the day that I had 5 large priority mail boxes that Mom sent over- luckily, I sent J up in the elevator, and our friends met him there so he could bring our little blue grocery cart down).

I'm supposed to be uploading pics right now, but I keep forgetting to gather the cameras. :P So, please excuse me while I go do that.

Doo, dee, doo, dee, dee, doo, dee, doo....

Ok. Now that I have at least one of the cameras uploading (sheesh, 154 pictures!), I shall continue.

There will be pictures of Second Market, and our recent train ride to iPark Mall. I think I'll spare the general public the blurred photos my children have taken.

We are finally getting back onto a normalized schedule, now that my house does not weigh me down with all its boxes and packing paper. I felt like I was drowning in paper lately, and it just got worse from there.

Anyhow, for anyone that is feeling disorganized, whether it be life in general, your faith, your house, your parenting, or your body, I highly recommend the book Life Management for Busy Women, by Elizabeth George. I have pored over this book so many times in the last few weeks, I think I have some of it memorized. It has really helped me re-prioritize my life, and get going again.

I'm excited, too, because I know what my birthday present is!! :D I even got to pick it out (too bad I have to wait to actually order it)!
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-CS6000I-60-Stitch-Computerized-Functions/dp/B000JQM1DE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1275543762&sr=8-1

I stink at linking to Amazon, so that's just a copied link. But that's gonna be my new baby! It comes with the walking foot I would need to finish my quilts that Sandy helped me start back in Cove. I've been getting all my fabric out and organized, and daydreaming over the things I want to make. Sigh.. :)

Alrighty, its time to get ready to go. We have a meet n greet in about half an hour, and since both my younger ones are still sleeping, I will get the rest of us ready, and plop them in the stroller at the last minute. :P

To test, or not to test, that is the question.

2010-05-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

Or maybe I should make that 'to homeschool, or not to homeschool'.. We will be discussing whether or not to continue homeschooling Big J this next year. With the move happening, we still have about 2, maybe 3 weeks worth of work to do in order to finish up our year. That's one huge plus to homeschooling. It can go with us. After our guests leave at the end of the month, I will be setting up our school room, and then we will be plunging back in. It'll be nice to be back to our schedule completely.

So, the topic was about testing. I am unsure whether or not to get a standardized test for J, just to make sure that he is on the right track as we come to the end of our first year of homeschooling. Its not too expensive, from what I have seen, but I don't really know if its necessary. I know it probably isn't, but I don't want to find that we have missed something in his education (especially next year if we decide to put him in school)! Any opinions? Any sage words of advice? :)

I'm off now, heading back to my world of dirty dishes and boxes to unpack. Wish me well! :P

Well, phooey!

2010-05-25T02:30:00.000-05:00

I just finished hanging the load of laundry that was sitting half-dry in our washer/dryer. I pushed the button to turn it on, to finish drying the clothes. Nothing. Hmm. Tried it again. Called Jon, who switched the plugs. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. I'm sure you get the picture by now.

So, the upshot is, I have a heart-felt thank you to my Mom, who showed me the wisdom in hanging your clothes out on a line a mere 3 weeks ago, and another one to the realty company we are using right now, World Realty (Steve and GiGi are awesome!), who made a call and have a repairman coming tomorrow at 4pm. :) Definitely loving this company.

Not really a downside to this post, because our clothes have been coming out smelling slightly burnt (its a steam dryer), and I don't really have the hang of exactly how long each variously-sized load needs to dry completely. Ok, well the only downer is that we had to go buy the clothes rack we have now (bought it last week), and we need another couple of sets of hangers. Which is a bike ride away at the PX, and with 3 cranky kids, will NOT be happening today.

So, our washer/dryer is plastered with half-dry clothes. My apartment is halfway to wreck-ville, courtesy of the 5 boxes we picked up at the mailroom today (thanks again, Mom!:) full of some stuff I have yet to find a home for. Will work on that later- the kids are at the playground with Daddy, and the baby is napping. Woot! I call it a win.

We are getting our furniture in a little over 15 hours! :D I already have most of the living room planned, and the kids room, and our room. The third bedroom/guest room/ schoolroom is being occupied at the moment by friends, but we should be able to fit everything in other places for a few extra days. Oh, the thought of cups, plates, actual silverware! And a couch, better yet, even a table for us to sit at for meals! Woo-hoo!

And on that note, I'm off to browse to Net for a bit, then to take advantage of the quiet to put some things away. :)

Oh, yeah and I found a Zumba class here! Squee! :) :) :)

Back with some pictures- ok, LOTS of them!

2010-05-24T02:29:00.001-05:00

Last pic with Grandma and Papa

Ok, now that I have a few minutes to myself (read: little J is sleeping for the moment)- here are some pictures from our trip and our first few days here. I've been waiting for our furniture to arrive before taking pics of the apartment, because it looks exactly like the pictures I've already posted here. Except it was cleaner in those other pictures! :P

Walking around in the arcade to kill time on our 6 hour layover at JFK International Airport.

Big J using his Oreo container as a car. More time killing, only about 2 hours left until we boarded.

Cool little double bike at the playground, right outside our apartment building. We later found out it belongs to someone in the other building- oops.

Remembering Daddy. :P

Cutie- but bored with the photo shoot!

View of the mountains at sunrise. (Oh, how fun it was to be up at o-dark thirty for the first four days)!

Love how he sleeps! :)

First bath in the new tub!

Big J's new favorite game, Stratego.

Another adventure to Lotte Mart, which is Korea's version of Walmart. They have a HUGE seafood section. Yes, those are baby octopuses (octopi)? Either that, or they're squids. Didn't get close enough to really tell! :P We were trying to walk and look at everything. Oh, and they had samples of lots of stuff. So now I know that the kids don't like avocado raw. Neither do I, really. But there's some big yellow fruit that tasted really good, and if I could identify it, I would. But I don't speak Korean, so I have no clue what it was he told me that it is.

Big playground behind our building. It has walking trails, fountains, exercise equipment and lots of pretty landscaping. The Korean family that literally descended on James at the playground. I basically just watched as they played with him for over an hour. It was a hoot, trying to speak with each other, although the little girl could speak a bit of English. I have got to learn a few basic phrases other than hello, goodbye, and thank you!

Fountains and walking bridge at the big park.

Really big and creepy looking bug.

Big ants, too. Luckily, those don't bite. They just look icky. That big black thing to the left side. Yes, that.

View from about 1/4 mile away from our apartment.

View of the bridge I took the previous pic from. We can't figure out if they put flowers out just because they normally do at this time of year, or if it was in honor of Buddha's birthday, which was apparently Saturday (I think). Either way, they look beautiful.

Gardens are literally everywhere. The ivy-covered wall is the outside wall of Camp Casey. No clue who owns the plants that are planted there at the base of the wall, but the garden stretches pretty much most of the 1/2 mile of our walk to post. There are also several different gardens under the train overpasses.

The view of our apartment complex, from the flower-covered bridge. Our building is the last one on the right side.

Our adventures yesterday, with our new stuff. Aren't those helmets and vests cute? :P

Little J was exhausted from 3 hours spent at the PX while we exchanged my bike for a different style, and Jon figured out how to put the carrier on the back of his bike. Then, he took it for a test ride with C, and promptly blew the inner tube in his back tire. Woops!

Anyhow, Little J has woken up, so my computer is in peril! I will add pictures of our outing to the Asian-Pacific Luau and Rock later on tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. We've been going to bed right after the kids, pooped from all of that bike riding! :)

So, now that we're over our jet lag..

2010-05-24T00:21:00.000-05:00

What do we do now??

We've been out and about every single day, most of the time walking the half mile or so onto post, and the commissary, PX and a few other buildings associated with settling into Army life (tricare, housing, transportation, etc). It really is true that we are paying our gas money that we budgeted for in the States for cab money over here. This led to our weekend expedition of bicycle-buying. Jon now has a shiny new road bike, and I have a mountain bike (which, we discovered last night, is NOT as good as a road bike). The kids are the lovely users of a new bike trailer and bike seat. This took a good chunk out of our savings, so we are now working on how to get it back into savings. Maybe all the cab money we will save will make up for it! One can only hope.
Anyhow, I am in the process of uploading pictures that we have taken over the last couple of days (which is going really slowly, due to the fact that I have an irate 9 month old grabbing my computer every 4.2 seconds, chewing on my internet cable every 6.8 seconds, and screaming every 10 seconds when I tell him no about the computer. I will be extremely happy to see my computer desk in 2 days. :D

First post from Korea

2010-05-17T05:15:00.000-05:00

We got our internet hooked up in our apartment a few hours ago. I've been like an addict who's been deprived for too long- reading lots of blogs, 63 emails, posting on facebook, etc. And one of the funny things is, I have totally forgotten that I'm not even in the same country I was in 4 days ago. I wondered why no one was around posting things on Facebook. Face it, I would seriously wonder why anyone would be up at 230 am posting stuff on Facebook!

So, a few things about living on this side of the International Date Line...

1. I will NEVER get in a cab for a long distance drive again, unless it is a dire emergency! I lost count after about the third time that our driver (who was following another cab containing Jon and Jacob, along with half our luggage) slammed on her brakes and ended up having to swerve to the other lane in order to not hit the first cab at a stop light.

2. Stop lights really are optional here.

3. This country is beautiful- we are nestled at the base of some mountains, and there are flowers EVERYWHERE. I will post more when I have a chance to take some pictures of them and find out what they are.

4. They recycle everything that its possible to recycle. We now have 7 plastic shoebins (hey, I didn't want to pay 5.99 per mini trashcan!), one for plastic, plastic bottles, glass, cans, paper, cardboard, styrofoam, and then we have to use the Korean-made waste bags for things like diapers and other non-recyclables. We have a neat little composter type thingy under our sink. You put in the food (leftovers, things the kids didn't eat, banana peels, etc) and it dries it out, and the smell is whisked away through some tubes that are built in. Its definitely interesting. Thanks goes to my Mom, who really made me watch it when recycling these last few weeks living in NY!

5. Paying in dollars, and getting won in change.

6. The Koreans love babies and children. I've lost count of how many people have said, beautiful children, good family, so cute, and various other things like that. The cab driver that waylaid Jon at the airport told him he was extremely lucky.

7. Walking everywhere is extremely tiring to three jet-lagged children. (And their mama!) We set out for the second time in one day to walk to the PX (about a half mile), and James bit the dust about halfway there, followed 3 minutes later by Caitlynn, and poor Jacob had to walk all the way to the PX, but he gave in as soon as we got there. Cait was so asleep that she was reeling all around in the cart, and Jon kept having to toss his arm down for her to land her head on. We piled a towel under each of their heads and they slept the whole time we were there, the next 30 minutes while Jon shopped in the commissary, the cab ride home, and upstairs. Cait woke up and stayed up when we got home, but Jacob actually put himself back in bed and slept through the night.

Of course, this means that J was up at 430am the next morning. this morning, we managed to make it til 534. I have hopes that tomorrow will be better. Neither of the older children napped today, and we have successfully fed them dinner this time, without them falling asleep. So, we are off to curl up in front of the laptop and watch Avatar.
Wonder how long it'll take them to fall asleep?? :)

And we're off!!

2010-05-09T20:50:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, that is. :D      3 MORE DAYS!!! I can't wait to see my hubby again!!!

We have to get up super early Thursday morning to make it to the airport 2 hours early, a 1 hour flight to NYC's JFK International Airport, followed by a 6 hour layover at said airport (insert whine here)! THEN, its a 14 hour and 35 minute straight shot flight to Incheon International Airport. Woo!   Altogether, that makes for a 26 1/2 hour long day, and that only gets us to the airport in Korea. It will take awhile to get our luggage, and take it to whatever bus we will be riding for the 1 1/2 hour trip back to the apartment. Then we can collapse onto the air mattresses Jon is buying today (snerk) that the Army says we can't sleep on.

So, I'm praying that I won't have to dye my hair when we land, in order to hide all the gray that is likely to appear, and that I (or someone else) don't kill my children whilst at 35,000 feet in the air.

Seriously, though, I've already started praying for the pilots, none of that flying-too-much syndrome for them, please. I'd like them to be well-rested for this flight. :P Oh, and no children directing the plane when it lands, either, please.

I have a backpack full of new small toys (oh, alright, and a new Leapster game) in order to keep them halfway entertained on the flight. No medications, though, even though I'm sorely tempted.   I learned my lesson last time I flew with two kids, and am only bringing one book with me, plus my Bible. I have a new one, its an NIV/The Message parallel Bible, and it. is. awesome! I love it. Its so interesting to hear one verse, and then get a modern-day translation. Most of the time, I don't really need the translation, but it gives me a whole new perspective on what's being said. Ok, back to the trip stuff.
The kids are all excited, they have seen pictures of our new apartment, and the new blankets that Daddy bought for them. Jacob even pointed out where he thinks our desk should go in the living room. I didn't want to explain that we didn't take the desk.. lol. So, if you're interested, here are a couple of pictures of the new apartment. Oh, and a quirk- its written into our lease that we cannot ever wear shoes in the apartment. Period.

Foyer L. Room, part of the hallway bathroom

Closet wall (master bedroom)Kitchen

Living room Yes, its a picture of the kitchen sink. :P

He was in a hurry that day, so these are the only pictures we have so far. He is going back Tuesday, so stay tuned for some pictures of the bedrooms, and a requested pic of the playground (from the kids) and the front of the building (from me). :)

Sometimes I feel like a fraud

2010-05-06T13:02:00.000-05:00

I think I'm getting caught up in the 'everything's better on the other side' blues.

I see all the wondeful moms who create their own homeschool lessons, have to-die-for photography skills, creatively genius blogs, or wonderful people who have gone through horrible things in their lives and can still find beautiful ways to blog about the experience and be such an example to others, etc... and then I look at my blog, my life, and I feel so inadequate. Sometimes I want to yell, "What's the matter with me, God? You don't think I could handle anything like that?" I wonder if my faith isn't good enough for Him to test, or if I'm not good enough for Him to use. And then I realize that God KNOWS I couldn't handle some of the experiences I have been reading about. Maybe I don't realize it, but He might be using some of the small situations I am going through as a learning and growing experience. Just because I'm not in a third-world country feeding orphans doesn't mean I'm not good enough for God. Just because I haven't lost a child, or a close family member, haven't had marriage problems or been desperately ill, doesn't mean that my faith isn't being tested in the place I'm in right now. Just because I use a pre-planned curriculum, and don't do everything myself, doesn't mean that I am a failure.

Please don't get me wrong, I don't WANT anything bad to happen! I just mean that I've been feeling very down about myself and my faith lately. I guess its one of those seasons where I feel like my prayers are bouncing off the sky. I know He hears everything... it just doesn't seem like anything is happening (according to my pitiful schedule, at least)! :)

So, to help drag myself out of this pity pool, I'm going to list some of my blessings. That way I can be reminded time after time that God loves me, even when I don't feel it.

1. My husband.
2. My 3 beautiful children.
3. My family that loves me.
4. Financial situations resolved nicely.
5. The car I drive, the house we own, the one we are fortunate enough to be living in, and the apartment we have waiting for us in another country.
6. The job my husband sacrifices ALOT of things for, that pays for the bills and some creature comforts.
7. The abundance that we have that we are able to give to others easily.

What are the blessings that you remember in down times?

whew! Its hot in here!

2010-05-02T20:23:00.000-05:00

Its about 80 degrees in here! It was absolutely gorgeous this weekend, temperatures in the low 80's, a little bit of afternoon rain yesterday that cooled the evening off nicely... Tons of flowers blooming everywhere (lol, mostly dandelions in our yard, though), the trees and bushes are blooming and flowering. Its beautiful in the North Country.

On the other hand, I'm really praying about a situation Jon and I have run across. Can't really say much here, but its something we are struggling with (not in our marriage, though). Any additional prayers are appreciated.

I have some of our curriculum for next year set. I have really been waffling on what to use for each subject. I really need to buckle down and pray harder about this. In some good news, though, we will be finished with our school year by mid-June. That's pretty good, considering we didn't start until the first week of October, and had lots of interruptions this year. We are going to relax this summer and enjoy our new apartment, new country, everything. We will be catching up on all of the reading assignments from Sonlight's P 4/5 curriculum. I hope it lasts the whole summer, but I don't think it will, seeing how my kiddos are wanting me to read everything in sight lately! :)

Anyhow, off to talk with my hubby on Skype, and get ready for a brand new week!

Hooky...

2010-04-30T20:41:00.000-05:00

Yep, we played hooky today. I really didn't mean for us to end up that way, but we did. First, we all packed up and went to the early morning Zumba class. From there, I stopped at a couple of resale shops, looking for a couple of things for a friend. Definitely found some- a pair of skechers brand flip flops (normally 20-25 bucks) for 1.99! :P AND they were the right size. And cute, can't forget that! I call it a win. From there, we took Grandma out to eat at the local Chinese buffet, and went to the commissary, where I proceeded to come in at $15 UNDER my budget. Woot!
To top it all off, it was a beautiful sunny day (read- kids were outside all afternoon), I got my laundry folded and put away, figured out that the kids' clothes will fit into the suitcase I'm taking for them, got some other stuff packed up for when we leave, decluttered some things we are donating Sunday, bathed all three kids.... and balanced my checkbook. Oh yeah, and I made cookies.. lol.

Well. Today was awesome, and I'm believing that tomorrow will be the same. :)

Dreaming...

2010-04-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

I keep wishing all of a sudden that we weren't moving overseas. It started a couple of months ago, right after Jon left. I have been reading lots of different blogs, and found several that seem to be tugging at my heartstrings.
I wish that I had gone on a mission trip when I was younger. Check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ for details about her time in Africa recently with Compassion Bloggers. You'll have to read last month's postings, I think.

I wish that we were going to be living in the same spot for awhile, so that we could have a garden, and probably a dog, too. The gardening part is more about wanting to eat healthy, fresh food, instead of processed junk. The farmer's market in a nearby town opens this weekend, and I really want to go at least once before we leave.

I wish that we didn't have to uproot our kids anymore, but sadly, that comes with military life quite often. Last week at the park, there was chocolate lab that came to visit. She stayed right by me almost the whole time we were there, and when she wasn't next to me, she was sitting near one of the kids or babies. Definitely makes me miss our dogs that we had. But it won't really be a good option for us to get a dog until we know we are stabilized somewhere for more than a year.

I want my life to be simple. Once we arrive in Korea, I plan to seriously go through all of our things, and we will be getting rid of what we don't need, use or want. Toys, clothes, household items, everything. I don't want to break my back trying to constantly clean a house full of clutter.
The older I get, the more it seems that I am being just like my mom... lol.. who'd have thought that I would say that?? Last week, I heard myself telling Jacob that if he was going in the kitchen, to take his cup with him, so he wouldn't have to make two trips. I'm trying to find a balance between buying things we need, versus things I THINK we need.

This post is really all over the place. Random thoughts that are going through my head. If you're still reading, thanks. Let me know what your wishes are. Then tell me if you have a plan to make any of them a reality! :)

Woo and two hoos!!

2010-04-28T19:40:00.000-05:00

I completely forgot to post this yesterday. I had emailed the lady that was so helpful about the situation with our household goods on Sunday. Yesterday, I received an email from a company informing me that the estimated time of arrival in country for our HHG will be 14 May!! Yes!! This means that the kids and I can fly over very, very soon. In fact, if everything works out like my hubby's NCO says (who's with me on the skeptical side of this?), he should be going to housing and transportation in just a few hours. Which should mean, hopefully, that we will have airline tickets and a set date by the end of this week. Or at least that's what I'm praying for. The realtor had called Jon that same day, to let him know that they had another top floor apartment that would be finished around the same time that he got out of the field. So, since he is supposed to be done today, I'm hoping that he can get things settled with them, too.

God is awesome! He answers prayers, even if it isn't when or how you wanted it.

In other news, I have found that 5 days of Zumba in a row isn't going to work. I'm disappointed, but my kids come first. Little J screamed his head off for about 30 minutes today, crawling around and looking for me each time Mom put him down. So, I'm scaling back, and only going to the classes that I really like, and I will probably either do AbJam at home on the other two days, or half of the P90x Ab Extreme. I don't think I've lost actual weight, but I can tell that the Zumba class is doing some good things for my legs. :)

That's about all I can think of, so more later.

Love is...

2010-04-25T07:01:00.000-05:00

Sleepy, gummy grins when the baby first wakes up.
A little voice calling, "Mommy, I love you!".
A mischevious smirk and a giggle as he darts away, daring you to chase him.
Holding hands as you walk.
Talking long into the night, and still getting up early the next morning to call them back.

Two arms, spread wide and nailed to a tree.

Happy Sunday. I pray that God blesses all my friends reading this. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Zumba!

2010-04-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

In case you couldn't tell, I think I'm hooked on Zumba! I absolutely love this class. I am only on my third class, but it has been a blast each time I've gone. I think I'm going again tomorrow night, so long as Mom will watch the kids, at least... :) Basically, I found something that I can do without killing myself, its nearby, I have someone to watch the kids (thank you God, for that alone), and its not totally expensive. Oh yeah, I should mention that its FUN, and its somewhere that I fit in.

Now, I just need some prayer. In the middle of class today, I was almost in tears, and I really couldn't even tell you why. Although a big part of it was a piece of the routine that I wasn't comfortable doing, I could not shake it for a couple of minutes, and had to run to the bathroom to get control of myself. I need the confidence in myself to keep going. I KNOW all the reasons why I should take better care of the body God's given me. I KNOW that I should be able to control the food that I eat. I KNOW that I eat when I'm bored or stressed. But that doesn't seem to be stopping me from indulging. I have been alot more careful in recent weeks, but it seems like its a two-steps-forward, one-step-back kind of thing.

And I'm ashamed to admit, but my temper hasn't been great. Today I was extremely ashamed to admit that I was being selfish, spoiled and ridiculous, after I realized that I was snapping at my 8 month old son for crying while I was trying to watch my movie. How dumb is that? There was no excuse, no matter how stressed I was feeling due to things beyond my control, and partly due to how the other two kids were acting. And I can't really believe that I'm posting this. But maybe it will help someone realize that they aren't the only ones who struggle with their temper. Or that you can be a Christian and still yell at your kids, spank their little butts when they need it, and cry because you failed miserably at keeping your own temper in check. That's the good part about our God. He knows we are gonna screw up. That we are going to lose our cool and yell at our husbands, kids, friends, family or even strangers. But He has already forgiven us.
I have to choose, every day, to accept that love and grace, and try to let it pour out of me and into my family. Its not easy, especially when part of your family is what seems like a million miles away.

So tomorrow, when I have a cranky, teething baby that wants to be attached at the hip all day, or a 3 year old who pouts at anything and everything, and a 5 year old who doesn't want to do his schoolwork, I (hope) I will take a deep breath, pray really fast under my breath, and grab them all up for a hug. Cause sometimes I think I need it more than they do! And I'm not even going to think about what the Army can come up with for tomorrow! :D

randomness

2010-04-20T22:23:00.000-05:00

Whew! We've been busy for the last few days, and a power outage caused all sorts of havoc with our internet access these last two days.
Monday was a great day, we went to the playground to meet some friends, and spent about 3 hours in the sunshine! Woot! Then came home and the kids spent another hour or two outside in our dirt pile.
Today we went to Fort Drum to drop off prescriptions for my Dad, and killed some time at the playground on base. Met up with some interesting people, and one of them will be coming with us tomorrow as we go back to the playground from Monday.

Got to talk to Jon this morning, and (insert praying on my knees figurine here) he said they are supposed to be out of the field on Thursday, unless they don't get finished. then they are stuck til next Friday. Boy, oh boy, I'm praying he gets out of the field sooner. We still wouldn't be able to fly until at least May 14th, but there would be more time for him to locate a decent apartment before our stuff arrives.

I ordered a few things from Family Christian Bookstores, and was soooo excited when they got here two days ago! I had read pieces of The Message Bible back at Hood, during a Bible study at the Hohner's house, and was pretty interested. So, I found a parallel Bible, NIV with Message, and that was my big purchase. I ordered some veggietales (a movie and a worship CD, which Cait LOVES), and the One Year of Dinner Table Devotions. CAn't wait til we can start reading that each night with Daddy. We would do it here, but lately we have been having dinner at completely different times, and to be honest, I completely forget about it. Not to mention my Dad hates it when people have books at the table. :P

For those of my readers who pray, I would ask that you keep my nieces and brother in prayer. They are in a difficult situation, and need God's will to be done in their lives.

In other random news- we have our Emergency Fund completed! (For those of you who may not have read all the way back, I am taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University). So yeah us! On to step two, which is to start the debt snowball. (Already done, I applied an extra amount of $ to a debt this last payday, and am calculating that it will take 11 months at this current rate in order to pay it completely off. But that's only if we don't pay anything more towards it, and I am hoping that we can. Once we get settled overseas, I have even thought of watching one or two kids. Maybe. I dunno. I'm sure I'll post more on that later.
Ooh, and the big thing I am excited for is that I tried out a /Zumba class and LOVED it!! It is a great mix of dance and exercise, and I like it even more than the Turbo Jam that I have purchased. I will be going to classes 3 times a week, and my second class is tomorrow night- yeah!

Up next on the blog list will probably be 20 wishes. I am trying to coordinate and plan my blogs ahead of time, so that I at least have a clue what I'm going to talk about before I sit down to write. :) Happy reading, ya'll!

Down on the farm

2010-04-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, we were privileged to be able to visit a local farm owned by some friends from church. Lewis and Deb from Kiffer Farms were generous enough to let me (and the kids!) follow them around for an afternoon, so we could see what goes on on a dairy farm.

I love this sign. Just had to take a picture of it!

We started off by petting the older calves that were out in the field, waiting for dinner time.

(There was a picture of me, too, but I get to choose what to put on here)!

We went to the dairy shed next, where around 60 ladies were waiting to be cleaned and milked.

Behind the rows are where the calves are, and at the back of the shed is where the barn cat has its litter. I think that was Caitlynn's favorite part, aside from the sink. :)

A 5 day old baby. They can get pretty excited, so it was hard to keep the kids quiet around them, because they were dancing all around and flailing tails and hooves. The kids thought they were dancing. We got to see how they pull milk from the tank into huge bottles, which are then heated up in a sink full of hot water until they are warm enough to feed. We helped them carry it out, and before we were finished going down half the line, the first babies were finished! They drink a gallon a day!

Caitlynn helped Deb wash the bottles and nipples after feeding time, and ended up spending the rest of the time playing in the sink with bubbles! She was soaked, but happy.

One of the younger calves turned out to be getting sick, it was noticed because she didn't finish her second bottle. We got to see how calves get meds, and learned that when cows get sick, their ears get cold. Also, their hair stands on end, kind of like when humans get goosebumps.

Cait taking Jacob for a walk on the mule.

We had a great afternoon, and ended up staying way past dinnertime, because I kept asking questions. The cows go on a 60 day break after they calve, in order to rest.

Did you know that some cows can give up to 50 pounds of milk in just one milking??

Can we say OUCH?

We also tasted the milk, which was awesome. I thought that it would taste kind of funny, but its almost exactly like vitamin d milk, just a little more creamy. Jacob liked it, but Cait was in a mood, and didn't taste it.

Every day since we visited, Cait asks if we can go to the red barn farm.. lol They just had a litter of puppies on Friday, so I can definitely see another visit coming soon.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the farm through our eyes!

What are your best boredom busters?

2010-04-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

I have a tendency to eat when I am bored. When I don't have anything specific to do, and miraculously, the kids are either quiet or asleep, I roam the house and end up munching on something. Sometimes its healthy, like a handful of grapes or an apple.. And other times, not so much. Chocolate covered pretzels have been my downfall this last week, so I have determined that next time I'm at the store, I will tell myself I don't NEED them. That way I won't feel that I'm depriving myself and eat the whole bag in one sitting! :P

What is your best tip to keep yourself from grazing through snacks all day long? I'm very interested to hear anything that will help me out. I have been keeping record of my food intake consistenly for the last three weeks, and I'm noticing that on the days that I'm out of the house, I do alright, because I take small snacks in the diaper bag. On the days that I'm home, my willpower seems nil, though, when I have time to sit around and do nothing. :P

Homeschool product review: Sonlight Curriculum

2010-04-10T12:35:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Just to start off, this isn't anything I am being paid for, this is just my honest, open opinion on the parts of the Sonlight Curriculum that we have used. A dear friend of mine suggested it to me close to a year ago when I was struggling with having my son in public preschool. She suggested I get the catalog, and start reading up on what they had to offer. I am definitely grateful to her for that suggestion (and also for the beautiful example of motherhood she is). :)

We have 2008's version of Core P 4/5. This can be used as preschool, kindergarten or first grade, depending on the added in things you use with it. The core itself included the Bible (which isn't included anymore, for some reason- you now have to buy it seperately), the books for Geography/World Cultures, Language Arts, Read Aloud Classics, Poetry and Art, and Science. The classics are in The 20th Century Children's Treasury, and we LOVE this book. It has some great stories in it. Since the core was given to us, it was missing several of the larger books, but I was able to get them from Ebay at fantastic prices. We have switched from doing all of the read-alouds each day, and instead, we do the classics and poetry on the weekends. This frees us up to read for enjoyment, instead of the kids seeing it as just another subject we have to cover. Coming from me, an avid reader, I want them to love reading, simply for the stories right now, and for the lessons they can learn later on. My husband hates to read, but he still reads to the kids at night when he can. Each core Sonlight sells also has an Instructor's Guide (sometimes with the core purchase, sometimes seperate) that has a 36 week schedule already laid out for you. The schedule is not something that you have to abide by, it simply suggests which books you start with, which part of the year you read certain books (The Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science is a good example, the book starts on the first day of the year, and so that's when its scheduled in this core). You are free to mix and match, do all of the reading, or only some of it. But at least you have a guide for what you can accomplish. Some of the books are scheduled 1-2 pages at a time each week, all 36 weeks, but some are only there for a couple of weeks for the entire year.

We use Sonlight's LA K program for language arts. So far (at week 18) it is working so well! I can really see a difference in his handwriting at first to his writing now. When you buy the program, it comes with the worksheets that are used each day. Each worksheet has 3 different types of lines on it, one for each of the three handwriting styles that can be used. We have chosen to use Handwriting without Tears, because it most closely represents our child's handwriting. He zipped right through the HWT K book, so now they are erased and waiting for Princess C to use when we start her up next year. I plan to try HWT 1 next year, too, just to see if it will give him a better grasp of writing. This program goes up to 6th grade, I believe.

Horizons math K is what we use for Big J's math. He is 2 lessons away from being completely finished with the first book. The books are 80 lessons each, so he's about at the halfway mark with math. I like it because it builds on what has already been taught, and slowly introduces one new thing at a time. He has learned so much this year. In my opinion, for this child, I wouldn't use anything else right now. As time goes on, that might change, as he develops different styles of learning. But for now, Horizons fits us. Just the other day, he began to learn what the perimeter of something meant. The second time he had to add up the perimeter of a given rectangle, I asked him if he remembered what it meant. He said, " Yeah, Mom, I know that, its 14! I already did it!" I counted it up, and sure enough, not only did he remember it, he had done it correctly already.. lol.. He definitely amazes me sometimes.

Developing the Early Learner is a set of 4 books that is recommended for use with this curriculum, but not necessary. It is scheduled, though. It helps you figure out what type of learner your child is, and helps them learn in different ways. It is basically like critical thinking skills for younger children. We just finished book 2, and can't wait to get settled so that we can dig out the next book.

Explode the Code is another set of books that are recommended. Actually, with the P 4/5 curriculum, they recommend Get Ready, Set and Go for the Code (set of 3 books). Those are geared towards children that have not learned the alphabet yet, so we moved on, since Big J is already reading and writing well. ETC goes from 1 to 7, I think , and there are 1/2 books in there as well. We are almost finished with ETC 1, and are looking forward to starting book 1 1/2, so we can see what he will be learning. They teach vowel sounds, matching pictures to the letter it begins with, etc. Phonics and rules of writing are sprinkled in, too (capitalization is what we've seen so far). Big J really likes this book, and often asks to have it be in his first workbox of the day. The instructions are written so that a child who has begun to learn to read can read them by himself, instead of having Mom or Dad have to stand there and read them each time.

Well, that's about all we use from Sonlight. Hopefully, this made sense to anyone who read it. If I have forgotten anything, or there was something you had a question about, please feel free to email or comment. I hope that this might be a help to someone who is just starting out. I will attempt to follow this up on Monday with another review of a different product we use in our homeschooling. If you have something you use in your own homeschooling journey, that I haven't mentioned, drop me a comment- we are always looking for new things to try out! Thanks for readin!

Friday, the snow day...

2010-04-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

It really only gave a few half-hearted flurries this afternoon... but still, I thought it was gone, since it was 75 yesterday! Did I bring Texas weather to the North Country??

I have a sick kiddo on my hands. He started feeling ucky yesterday with a headache, then a sore throat, and a stiff neck. Gave me a bit of panic over that, but it was just because he'd been having his Wii time, and hadn't really been moving around alot. Progressed to a fever before I left for my class last night, so I gave him Tylenol. He was wide awake at 324 this morning asking for a drink. He proceeded to slam it back so fast that it made him vomit as I was getting his medicine. Luckily, we were still in the bathroom. I felt so bad for him! He's throwing up and got bad chills all at the same time. He managed to keep a small glass of water down, as well as the motrin. He came in a little while later saying that he was closing his eyes and having bad dreams. I prayed with him and reminded him that he could talk to Jesus when he felt scared or sick.
This morning, he came in my room and the first thing out of his mouth was. "Mommy, I prayed and told Jesus to make my sore throat go away, and he did it!"
:)   I guess we still have to work on the whole asking, not telling thing...

Anyhow. I was able to talk with Jon last night and again this morning, and it sounds like he won't be able to do anything about an apartment until he gets out of the field at the end of the month. I guess I will post more about our flight dates as I know details, because we are still stuck with the 30 day limit, since there are no beds available for us to use until our stuff comes in. Here's my question- how come the military doesn't care about what the soldiers and families sleep on when they PCS (permanent change of station, meaning a move) stateside and have to wait for their stuff to come in? Why the big fuss just because we are in a different country?? Plus, the beds that are available stateside aren't even real mattresses, they are thin little foam things. Air mattresses are much better, to my way of thinking. But oh well, I will not argue with them, I can't change anything by being bad tempered about this. And I refuse to waste my time like that.

The class I attended last night was the free Financial Peace University class offered by Dave Ramsey. It was absolutely awesome! It is actually a 13 week class, and you are supposed to purchase the kit (the class is free, but you have to have this stuff in order to attend). Well, the church purchased them at a discounted rate, just about half price, and when the lead couple found out I would only be here for a few weeks, and probably wouldn't come back because of that and the fact that I can't really afford the kit, they gave it to me.   All they ask is that later on when I can, that I pass it on to someone in need. I can totally do that! This class is awesome, and its only been the first one. I'm excited to get to read the Financial Peace Revisited book that's included.

One last thing- I borrowed a book from the local library, and its one that is astounding me, and I'm only into the second chapter.
The Way of Boys, by Anthony Rao, Ph. D
It talks about how boys need more time to physically and emotionally mature, and how medication should not always be the first answer. And about the crazy things that boys can do! It sounds very promising as a good read, and much learning should ensue from it. I will post more as I get more into it.

And for tomorrow... hopefully a homeschool review on Sonlight Curriculums!

8 months old! and I received my first canvas yesterday!!

2010-04-08T10:43:00.000-05:00

Little J is 8 months old today! (As of 606 am this morning, to be exact).
He is mostly crawling, still inch-worming but adding in a few hand and knee coordinated crawling paces.. lol.. if that even made sense! He weighs in around 21 pounds, has one tooth, with another coming through, and spends his days either scooting around following his siblings, or pulling up and cruising on anything that will hold his weight. I swear, he'll probably get the hang of walking before he completely learns crawling!

Kinda sad that Daddy is missing some of these firsts, but he is working hard on getting us over there. The army has decreed that we cannot fly over there until our household goods get there, since there are no beds available to borrow. So, after several phone calls and emails, I now know that our goods will be released and shipped from Hood on the 14th. Which means we should be able to get tickets, now that we know a date of release... So, please pray that that's what will happen. We have a friend flying into Korea to visit her significant other on the 18th, and we are really hoping to have a place for her to stay, so she can avoid having to pay a ridiculous amount of money to stay in lodging.

And I received my first order from The Canvas People (http://www.canvaspeople.com/), and IT.IS.AWESOME!!

My mom laughed and asked me why I chose this particular shot, but I love it, and am proud of it. Plus, who wants all the pictures on their walls to be serious or formal shots?? Not me! I want cute, fun, hilarious and some formal. Plus, none of the ones that I really wanted would fit on the size canvas that was offered (and since it was free (I only paid shipping), I didn't want to enlarge it). Yes, the picture of the canvas looks a little funny, since its tipped back and there are snowflakes in the actual canvas. Makes it look dusty, but I swear its not.. lol

New mother tips

2010-04-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure ya'll heard, my best friend is having a baby girl at the end of the summer. Squee!! I got to go shopping already, and have plans to make some stuff pretty soon. :) But the thought struck me, what is something that I could tell her that might help her transition to motherhood easier?

I'd love to hear your tips, tricks, and been-there, done-that stories! I will be passing them along, if that's ok. I think I've already talked her deaf, dumb and blind on various topics, so I jokingly told her I'd write her a book. But it seriously sounds like something that would be fun to put together, so I just might do that! :)

And a funny closing- my mom just hollered for me to 'come here' in German. I walked into the living room where she and Dad are playing the Wii, and see my baby sitting in her lap. I said, "He better not be asleep!" and sure enough, he was. Sound asleep sitting up, watching Grandma and Papa play Frisbee Golf!

Oh, and our HHG will be released next week, and the estimated date for their arrival in Korea is 18 June. 0.0
Yeah. That's what I said. So. We can fly 30 days after our goods are released, so hopefully I can tell Jon, and he can get us tickets for 14 May. Yep, its gonna go just like that. LOL! No, seriously, any prayers that this move will finish smoothly and quickly would be much appreciated.

Homeschooling sites we love

2010-04-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

I will start this list off with the sites that I am currently using, and then add to it from the wisdom of several other homeschooling moms who are farther along in their journeys. In the next couple of days I hope to go over each website in more detail. Hopefully this will be a help to any other homeschooling mom that's just starting out. I know I needed all the help I could get when I first started last October!

http://www.sonlight.com/ We use the P 4/5 curriculum for kindergarten. LA K, too, along with Handwriting without Tears. Explode the code can be bought through this website also.
http://www.aop.com/ We are using Horizons Math K, and will be using it again next year. Definitely like it!
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/ This is more for my preschooler, but each letter is fun, and most activities are easy to make, use and reuse. She loves doing them, and there is enough variety that she doesn't get bored repeating a couple of them throughout the week.
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/ I use this to print extra worksheets for both kids.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ Used mainly for art activities. You can buy a year's membership for $20, but I just use the free stuff.
http://www.funshineexpress.com/ Occasionally, we use the Christian supplement from this website. For $7 per month, I can get a Bible story with a month's worth of daily activities, questions, etc, plus 2 worksheets each week per child. This website also has wonderful ABC and number tracing pages, plus numerous kinds of coloring pages.
http://www.bobbooks.com/ These are the easy readers we use instead of Sonlight's Readers K. He reads 1-2 books per week.
We also supplement every couple of days with the workbooks that can be bought at Walmart- Super deluxe mazes, hidden pictures, ABC dot to dots, etc. My preschooler uses the Preschool workbooks, too.
http://www.donnayoung.org/ This is a great website to get some help getting started, planning your curriculum, etc. She also posts the world standards for each grade, so that you can tell what your child should be learning.
http://www.hslda.org/ Use this website if you have legal questions about homeschooling in your state. They have each state's current laws about homeschooling.
http://www.homeschoolbar.com/ Cool little online toolbar that has a phenomenal amount of links for different subjects, different interests, etc.
http://www.christianbook.com/ Good place to get discounted workbooks, etc. Watch for the sales.

The following sites I have not used yet, since my kids aren't quite old enough for some of it, but they come highly recommended from other moms I know.
http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/ Christian curriculum
http://www.abeka.com/ Christian homeschooling
http://www.scottforesman.com/ spelling
Educators Publishing Service (used to be http://www.eps.com/) wordly wise 3000, Vocabulary from the roots up, and Ridgewood Analogies.
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/ Math
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/ Preschool through 2nd free curriculum
http://www.mfwbooks.com/ My Father's World
http://www.fiarhq.com/ Five In A Row
http://www.apologia.com/ Science
http://www.dltk-kids.com/ more printables
http://www.starfall.com/ Reading and games for kids to play online
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/ Speaks for itself.

Whew! That was certainly alot of information. I hope that it helps someone out there in their journey to homeschooling. If you have any questions, please ask! If I don't know the answer, I can contact someone that does! :)

Homeschool helps

2010-04-06T12:02:00.000-05:00

I am writing this so that I will remember to finish compiling the list of places that I have found my curriculum. A friend back in Cove was an awesome help with most of these resources, some of which I have not been able to use yet, since J and C aren't old enough yet. Hopefully I can get it all finished tonight, but no promises- I tend to get distracted way too easily lately. :)

In other news, we have hit a roadblock with our apartment in Korea. Apparently, we can't get it until Jon gets out of the field. Which is another 3 weeks. However, S1 said that they would still finish the amendment so that we can get tickets. I'm hoping that this gets finished this week, so that we will know exactly when we need to leave. I am already making lists and packing up the things that need to be shipped. And in a couple of minutes when C lays down for quiet time, I will be heading out for the Dollar Tree. I am buying a couple of cheapy toys to wrap up for our plane ride.

Anyone have any ideas on how to keep 3 kids entertained on a 15+ hour plane ride? I would definitely love to have some help!

Easter- a time of changes

2010-04-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

I met an amazing couple at church yesterday. They are local farmers, and gave me quite an insight to the farmers' plight.

Each time the milk truck comes, it takes 45 days until they are paid for what was picked up. And during that time, the people who set the milk price can determine how much they will pay for that milk. A hundredweight of milk (11.6 gallons) usually costs about $22 to make. Lately, the farmers have been paid about $11-12 per hundredweight. And the real kicker is that they can say that milk is worth $22/hw on the day the milk is picked up, but they only get paid by what the milk is worth on the day they get paid. How much does that suck??!?

And people wonder why the farms are all going under...

The kids and I will be going to visit their farm sometime this week, probably Wednesday. We will be able to see how they milk their cows, maybe even taste the raw milk (something I've been curious about lately), and see how the cows are taken care of, and maybe what else they do on their farm, since I'm sure that's not the only thing they do all day long.

That is the background story for part of our family change I have been talking about. I don't want my kids to be naive about where their food comes from, and how hard the farmers work to get that food to us. I wish there was more I could do to help the local farmers, but since its not fresh food season, I can't even buy produce from them.

I'll have to post more later, because the baby is tired, and its time to go shopping with my awesome Mom. :)

The final stretch

2010-04-01T18:30:00.000-05:00

We are in the final stretch! The amended orders should be finished by Monday, and then all my wonderful hubby has to do is go to transportation and get tickets for the kids and I. Which means a- I'm starting to get nervous about this, and b- I have to start packing stuff up!!
We thought we would be here through the month of May, so I bought some small stuff to keep the kids occupied outside and in. Plus all of our school stuff, some of the stuff J left here before he left, etc. I need to start boxing things up and getting them ready to ship. Luckily, because of our orders, we are each allowed two suitcases. That means that most of the books and papers can come with us, since they are flat. I have pared down all of our wardrobes and gotten rid of things that don't fit well, or just plain don't fit anymore. Sadly, I donated it all, but I was only sad because little J didn't get to wear some of the awesome clothes I had. He grew too fast! I think he's closing in on 22 pounds now. He is trying to pull up on just about everything lately. He managed to climb two of the porch stairs while we were outside today (it was gorgeous here today), and proceeded to scoot around and eat grass, dirt and bugs! My other two have just come inside from playing in the ginormous dirt pile out front. (C is in the bath as we speak).

I'm really looking forward to being finished with the 15 hour plane ride, seeing Daddy again, seeing our new apartment for the first time, and getting to unpack, get settled and start sight-seeing! We also have a friend who is flying over to see her significant other for the last two weeks of May, so we hope to be there to see her, too.

I mentioned last post that things would be changing. And that change will extend overseas, as well. We will be going through EVERYTHING that was packed up, and if we don't have an immediate use or need for it, it will be donated. Somewhere, somehow, someplace. Even if I have to put it on the curb of the apartment building. There is no use having it if we don't use it. I'm tired of clutter making me feel like I never clean enough.

We will also be buying only a week's worth of food at a time (instead of 2-3 at a time), one set of cleaning supplies (as opposed to buying a seperate one for the bathroom, kitchen, anywhere, etc), doing laundry on a schedule, and probably lots more. I will be cooking more from scratch (you might hear of the dishes that I've ruined from experimentation soon!), and since our apartment has a tiny greenhouse room, we are going to try our hand at growing some produce. Probably tomatos and zucchini, since those are easy.

Speaking of the apartment- Jon says its awesome! We will be the first tenants to live in it, as the building just opened. The only downside to that is the construction that will still be going on all around the outside and inside of the building. We are on the top (15th) floor, which gives us vaulted ceilings, and a pretty glass chandelier. Outside, we have a small balcony, which will probably give me heart attacks until I know the kids won't try to climb the 4 foot fence. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath place, and from what Jon tells me, it is a bit small, but will fit us just fine. (Here is where the downsizing comes in handy). If we had known that we could borrow furniture for the time we spent here, we would have left most of ours in storage. But, hindsight is always 20/20. Enough for now, I have one freshly bathed toddler to snuggle with, and a baby to nurse, while the oldest takes his bath.

I truly am blessed. :)

Long overdue pictures

2010-03-31T18:36:00.000-05:00

So, here are some pictures that we have taken since we left Fort Hood in early February. Lots of laughter, silliness, snow... We are currently waiting for Daddy to finalize an apartment over in Korea. The updated amendment to our orders is already being processed, which is what we are waiting for in order to get a flight. EEEk! Starting to get excited!

In other news, little J has finally gotten his first tooth! It took its own sweet time to come through- about a month total. (I was wondering about it- he will be 8 months old in 9 days- the other 2 got their teeth alot younger). Miss C has been having alot of problems with her attitude lately- she actually broke down into hysterical screaming at Walmart today. First time she has ever done ANYTHING like this. I think that the Daddy seperation is wearing on her. (She freaked out because she was in Grandma's cart, not mine, and since she was talking ugly to my mom, she couldn't get out of the cart. Plus, in her defense, it was naptime, and we should have waited to go, but we had a deadline to get some stuff and drop it off at the church).
Big J has been doing awesome with his school- his reading is coming along nicely, and he is starting to read words whenever we go out somewhere. His math drove me crazy all last week, learning the difference between counting by 5's and by 10's!! We shall not go there again.. lol. Picture me with my hair all frazzled and my head in my hands. Plus, has anyone ever come up with a good way to teach sight words? I was explaining how to pronounce the word 'to', since he said 'toe'. But then, how would you explain the words too, and two? This homeschooling thing has stretched my imagination farther than I ever expected it to. I love how I get to learn right along with him- even if its only a creative definition. :)

Oh, and tonight at dinner, little J signed 'more' to me! It was so cute! He has started to screech at the table each time we eat, when the food doesn't get shoveled in fast enough, or if its something he doesn't like. So, he screeched, and I scooped up some of my zucchini, and showed him (for the 80 millionth time) the sign for 'more'. I said it, signed it, and he looked me dead in the eye and slapped his fingers together in just the same way I have been showing him. :D So proud!

Ok, now that my proud mommy moment is over... on to the serious stuff. Ok, I lied- I just found out my best friend is having a girl!!! Ahhh! I am soooo going shopping tomorrow! So cool! Many blessings and prayers going up for them.

Anyhow. Lately, I have been struggling with trying to slow our lives down, get used to not going somewhere all the time, eating healthier, keeping my temper when we are all stuck inside by the weather for days on end, keeping up reading my Bible, working out... the list goes on. I have realized that nothing is more important (after my relationship with God, then my husband) than spending precious time with my kids. i have been making a much bigger effort to just plop down on the floor and play.

I don't have any eloquent words that will make this sound perfect. I'm not perfect. I lose my temper, holler at the kids, get frustrated when I have to explain things over and over (and over). Daily, I wish I would have done things better. And I am noticing, that each day, I am doing a tiny bit better at holding my calm, or playing with each kid. And I give all the credit to God. Lately I have been praying much more, and at many more times during the day. Only he can give me the strength, patience and knowledge to get through the day He has given me. :)

Things are going to be changing around here... so hang on for the ride!

Dollar Tree...Oh, how I love thee!

2010-03-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

So, I broke my own record for amount of money spent at Dollar Tree today. I spent 3 times the amount I normally do. I went in with the intent to find a couple of non-candy items to put into the Easter baskets, and some educational wall charts. And boy, did I find wall charts. We ended up bringing home charts for:
space, the planets, addition tables, subtraction tables, a calendar, numbers and holidays for said calendar, plus headers for it, parts of speech, today is/tomorrow will be, and today's weather is/tomorrow's weather will be...
And, my favorite part, a bunch of good books, especially board books for the baby. We got several that are Bible stories, and several that have to do with manners, sharing, etc. Oh, and some sight word cards, one set each for pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade. I figured that even if we are not using them right this second, for a dollar, it can't hurt to have them on hand! My parents have this fabulously long, and BARE hallway. We recently put up Cait's Letter Tree, and it looks so lonely by itself... so it won't be lonely long! :) I think my biggest challenge will be figuring out how to get all this stuff to Korea. Does FedEx have tubes to ship things in? I can roll the posters, and the rest of it is small enough to fit in my luggage.

Now, I'm off to go and find some tape to hang these posters with. I will attempt to get a picture of the hallway once I'm done, if the baby doesn't insist on nursing yet again. I think his medicine is upsetting his tummy, he keeps grunting alot!

Oh, and by the way, Turbo Jam is going great! I have noticed that my jeans today are a bit looser than normal, cause I have to keep hitching them up! :P

thy bread overfloweth..!

2010-03-16T20:49:00.000-05:00

I tried my hand at bread making tonight. Hahahahaha!! :) I bought the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day after it was recommended by a friend. Ingredients in, mixed together, no problem, right? WRONG!
I forgot to check on it, since it said to put a lid on the container and let the dough rise. Well, as I was coming down the hall from putting the baby to bed, I hear Mom and Dad in the kitchen whispering, " Well, it said to let it rise!" and "Well, it rose!" With much smothered laughter. :D
Turning the corner, I see that it did indeed rise, popping the lid off the container and overflowing onto the counter!

So. Pictures will follow tomorrow.

I scooped it all back up pretty easily, and plopped it back down for its last 30 minutes of rising. Only to find that it did it again.. so this time I put it into a bigger bowl, and parked it in the fridge to cool down. Tomorrow morning, if I wake up early enough, I will attempt to make some before we head out to meet friends at the playground. Otherwise, I will just wait til I get home.

p31 study has stalled, or at least, I have. I will resume it when I get up tomorrow morning. I have been feeling off kilter the last few days, trying to figure out what needs to give in order for me to get things back to normal. Or as close to a normal schedule as I can whilst living with my parents. I did my first actual workout to Turbo Jam today, and really had alot of fun. At first I didn't think the exercises would do much, but as I got into the workout, and off of the learning part, I really could feel it, but without the pain of pushing too hard.

well, we've made it one week so far.

2010-03-13T19:53:00.000-06:00

Daddy has now been gone for one whole week. We have kept ourselves busy, though, and have been able to talk with him through email and on the phone once. He finally has internet in his room, which means we should be able to talk with him each day.
Jacob came down with strep throat, and it caught him good this time. He was not feeling very well for a couple of days afterwards. The day after we found that out was Jamie's 6 month check up (even though he was 7 months on Monday). He weighed in at 20 lbs, 7 oz, and 27 inches long! Whew! In good health, except for the double ear infection. He is the only one of my kids that has had an ear infection this young, and is also the only one who has had this much trouble with teething. He is FUSSY! Mostly in the evenings, though, so I can totally deal with that.

We went to the Irish festival today- Caitlynn, Jamie and I. Jacob decided at the last minute to stay home with Grandma and help her clean. We got a caramel apple with sprinkles, later some ice cream while we listened to a very nice singing group, and then wandered around the vendors for a little while. Had an impromptu photo session outside in the 46 degree weather, and I think I got a couple of cute shots of Cait. I know she enjoyed the closer attention she got from me today. It breaks my heart on a daily basis that I am not enough parent for all 3 of them at the same time. She usually comes up to me while I am schooling Jacob or feeding the baby and wants me to play with her. I do, but I feel so limited in those times, because I can't just stop what I'm doing and focus totally on her. I do feel like I'm doing better, though, about dropping the unneccesary things and focusing on them more. Bless my mother, because I have not once done the dishes here (I help clean up but she loads the dishwasher), and most of the time when I get sidetracked with the kids, she is folding my laundry when I come back into the room.. lol.. kinda feels like I'm in high school again. But she has been in my shoes, with little kids while a husband is gone, and I think she does it so that I can be more available to them. For which I am extremely grateful, and have told her so several times.

Those of ya'll that know me personally, please keep my brother in prayer. There is alot going on with him right now, and he needs all the prayers he can get.

My Bible study and P31 are going well, I have tried to read them each morning before I even get out of bed. Missed a couple of times, but am getting better in that respect. Going to church in the morning at the local Nazarene church, so I guess I should get off of here and get things ready for tomorrow. :)

steadily slogging along

2010-03-08T22:01:00.000-06:00

I have already goofed.
My P31 study fell by the wayside this week. And my Bible study. I'm still trying to catch it up from last month. Vacations are hard! :)

I have caught up with P31, keeping up my personal notebook up to date, and keeping some notes on things as I think of them.
Bible study is taking more concentration than I thought. I have to break the cycle of staying up late, because then I'm not able to get up before my kids get up (ESPECIALLY since miss Caitlynn has decided to start getting up at 645am every day). I think I burned myself out, because I started working out, doing my P31 study, catching up on Bible reading, all at once. As much as I want to be in better shape and slimmer for the next time I see my hubby, I have to realize that nothing is more important than my time alone with God. That is where my strength comes from, and my joy.

And I'm going to bed now, since Jacob just woke up. His fever is back, along with his headache and sore throat. Yay, a trip to the doctor's is in order for tomorrow. And the day after that will be Jamie's 6 month well baby checkup. Even though he was 7 months today. My baby is sooo big! 7 months, and he weighs 20 lbs 7 oz (fully clothed, at least).

days 3 and 4

2010-03-04T19:30:00.000-06:00

This ended up being my recovery period- I could not move hardly at all. I kid you not, I hobbled around for the last two days pretty much like a 9 months pregnant woman! Not fun at all. Added to that, the tetanus shot affected my shoulder much worse than I thought it would have. Apparently, p90x is way too much for me to handle at this moment. I am currently trying to decide which program I am going to try- either Turbo Jam or Slim in 6. Or possibly 10 minute trainer. All of them have gotten really good reviews, and some not so good. I lean towards the 10 minute one, just because I know that I can handle the pains for 10 minutes. I don't want to order the other ones and not be able to finish them- talk about de-motivation! :)

My Bible study is going well, I have memorized the first scripture that was set for me, have gotten my personal notebook set up, and written out my committment to the study. I haven't set aside a specific place to do my study yet, since I am still more or less getting everything unpacked and trying to find a place for it all. I need to go pick up some ink for my mom's printer so that I can print some things out for the study and also for Jacob's school.

Anyhow, I will try to post more later on tonight, because we are currently making sure that Jon has everything packed up to leave tomorrow. We are spending the morning at the local WIC office with Jamie, and then heading out to Syracuse to have a nice lunch together before actually getting to the airport around 3pm or so. Lookin forward to having a good day with my man before sending him off- cause I know I'll probably badger him a week or so later, once he gets in-processed! :P I would much rather be the one going and dealing with all of the apartment stuff- cause I'm picky. But I have to step back and let God work his ways through this situation.

day 2

2010-03-02T18:03:00.000-06:00

Ohhh.... blah.

I've been moaning and groaning around all day. I. AM. SORE!! And on a personal note, I shouldn't have started p90x the DAY AFTER getting a shot in the shoulder! Plus, I am not in good shape. Period. I will be cutting the workouts down to half, probably, unless I feel I can keep going. I did Plyometrics (jump training) today, and made it 33 minutes into it, and had to stop. I was sick to my stomach, even with hydrating yesterday, and taking very small mouthfuls of water once or twice during the workout. I had to ask Jon to help me take my shirt off for my shower, because I couldn't pull it off with my left arm- could hardly wash my hair because I couldn't raise it above my shoulder height.

My legs are really sore, and I know I'm complaining, but I also know that its a good pain. Or at least it will be once I go stretch out really good before bed. :) I just don't want to kill myself getting into better shape. I want this to be something I continually do- not something I burn out on really easily. I laid on the bed after my shower, and ended up falling asleep, which I can't keep doing, unless I drag my mother to Korea with us! That's another reason I'm cutting the workouts short. I was basically useless for almost 1 1/2 hours, although I did nurse the baby, and we both napped. So I guess I wasn't completely useless! :P

We ventured out to the teeny tiny post office for some stamps, and stopped at the Native American shop that I've always wanted to browse in. Jon bought me a pretty silver and crystal ring, and I bought a beautiful blue scarf for Pat. A green one for myself, and an ankle bracelet. Very reasonable prices, seeing as how this is the off season, and its a really small town.

And now its time to play pinochle with my parents and Jon!
More later!

Day 1

2010-03-01T12:08:00.000-06:00

Off to a somewhat rockier start than I wanted, but still, everything is done that I really, really wanted to do. I was in the local ER last night until 1130, due to a dog bite ( more info to come in a later post), and was too wired to go straight to bed. D'Oh! I completely forgot to set an alarm, so I woke up at 0810. I started with my Bible reading and P31 study, had breakfast, helped J do his schoolwork (and we are loving the 10 drawer rolling cart I bought- he gets a kick out of stacking the finished stuff on top), then it was time for P90X.
Chest and back plus ab ripper x.
I. AM. JELLO.
But, I worked my way through the whole thing, occasionally sitting some out or trying a different way. I don't have a chin-up bar, and the bands don't work so well for some routines. My arms were so weak halfway through that I could only do 1-2 of each type of push-up, but hey, I haven't done push-ups since high school! Jon says I am dehydrated, cause I was getting nauseous halfway through, and kept stopping for a few seconds so that I wouldn't throw up. I think it had more to do with the water breaks it says to take!

Anyhow, I'm off to record my food intake so far, nurse the baby and then head out to take care of some stuff at Fort Drum.

I'm...scared.

2010-02-27T18:18:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is my last day of junk food. Lots of carbs. Sugar, or at least whatever I wanted to snack on. Which was usually something sweet. No more Dove chocolate Easter egg truffles. Or caramel twix bars. Those have been my treats lately, because we are on vacation, and its Easter-time. Oh, and m&m's while we play games at night. Ugh. Just looking at the junk food I've consumed in the last 3 weeks is enough to make me nauseous, even though I didn't eat that much of it at once.

Monday is when I start my new study guide, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be by Donna Partow. I have already skimmed through this guide, and that's why I'm scared. It has some hard decisions in it. But mostly, good things that I have wanted to try, things that will help me feel better about myself, and help me grow.

Monday is also the day that I start P90X. I am reading through the nutrition guide and meal plans, and trying to figure out what I can substitute, since we are living with my parents for the next couple of months, and they eat totally differently. I have read about the exercises, and watched the first couple of minutes of the warm up on disc 1. Jon is going to be doing my 'before' pictures tonight, and I'm recording my weight and size info. Yuck. :D

Anyhow, I am going to upload pictures now, after Jacob's game stuff finishes its work. We have a very slow connection here, so it is taking 2 hours to download items that previously took 5 minutes. Oh, the joys of living in the back of the woods! Or at least, living 50 feet past where the local cable company can deliver high speed internet. I kid you not. They told my parents they wanted over $1300 and then $65 monthly for high speed internet, since they would have to install something in their yard. :O

Anyhow, any encouraging words or advice are very much welcome, since I've never done this program before. Lots of prayer, too, please! :)

whew! Made it!

2010-02-26T22:13:00.000-06:00

We arrived late last night, due to the constant snow, and resultant highway slowdown. I'm surprised I didn't go gray, but we have had much worse drives. Will post more pictures later, but for now I am getting ready for bed, and getting my 'home away from home' set up. I don't want the kids to be too disrupted, at least not any more than they already have. My heart cracked when I heard them talking about going home, and one of them said, ' But we don't have a home.' So I am on the warpath trying to get everything set up so we can get back to our routine as much as possible while living with my parents.
Side note- I am so proud of my dad, he has smoked for 60 years, and he has committed to at least not smoking in the house for the entire time that the kids and I are here. Which is quite a committment, considering the temperatures here in the North Country! Plus, he has slowed WAY down on the frequency of his breaks.
Side note #2- I can already tell that I'm going to have to fight to keep myself from being lazy- every time I turn around to do something, Mom already has it in hand, or done! :P I started the laundry this morning, and she switched it over, started two more loads, and dried and folded it all while I was doing other things and handling the kiddos! Whew! I love my parents! :)

on the road again...!

2010-02-24T22:28:00.000-06:00

So... we are in Pickerington, Ohio tonight. We started out this morning in Clarksville, TN, packing the car in the 34 degree, wind blowing snow in our faces cold (...ahem... this is where I mention that I wanted to pack the car the day before, when it was 50 degrees and NOT snowing)! We said our goodbyes to our good friends there, and headed out around 10 am. Did pretty good, too, only J's Sonic game was left behind, and that was because we couldn't find it. But it turned up about an hour later, so its in the mail now. Nothing much happened until we got into Ohio, and it started snowing and being really windy at the same time, and a teenage driver decided he didn't know what he was doing in said snow. Oh the joys of swerving all over the place! :P

We were able to visit with Squirt, whom we haven't seen in almost 3 years, and boy, do I feel OLD now. Had dinner with her, and proceeded up the road to the hotel that my mom sent us a voucher for. Thanks Mom, we scored an executive suite with fridge, microwave and its own living room! :) Anyhow, we should be in NY by tomorrow night, so all for now- I need to go to bed!

hehehe... doesn't it look like little J is giving Daddy bunny ears?? :D

funky rash time!

2010-02-21T21:01:00.000-06:00

And now... Jacob's funky face rash!
Its all over his face, down to his chin, over his nose, forehead, everywhere.
We still can't figure out what's going on. I put hydrocortisone cream on, and sent him to bed. Haven't heard anything out of him since. More later, cause apparently, we are playing Tristan's new game of Operation. :)

First picture-

Last picture- roughly 6 hours apart, give or take an hour.

little man is almost crawling!

2010-02-14T19:54:00.000-06:00

And I will probably go gray shortly thereafter! (We are visiting friends that live in a 2 story house).
He is up on all fours and army crawling to get to things, and sometimes he will back up like he's trying to sit up by himself. Tried 3rd stage foods today, and he didn't gag, so I guess we will start getting those when we run out of the other stuff. He really likes Wheat Thins Garden Veggie Crackers. :)

Anyhow, its little man's bedtime, and off I go to put him down, snuggle with the older two for a bit, and then we get to scare the pants off ourselves with 'Zombieland'. Or maybe some Wiiplaying.

in liu of pictures...

2010-02-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We are being lazy, and having fun with friends. No snow like we were supposed to get. I was surprised with roses from my wonderful hubby, and the kids are enjoying their small gifts. We are having french toast tonight (yum!), which is a definite treat for us. At least, for dinner it is.. lol

I will get around to pictures, I promise. I just keep getting sidetracked. Diana Gabaldon's latest Outlander series book came out, An Echo In The Bone, and I am almost finished with it. Can't wait to read it again, to pick up on anything I might have missed.

Off to have my nails finished... Tab's glaring a bit cause I'm still typing! :P

I'm baaaaccck!

2010-02-10T12:46:00.000-06:00

:)
Sorry for the long delay, but lots has happened since Thanksgiving. We had a great time over the holidays, then it was time to get down to business, getting ready for our move.
We are on vacation right now, visiting friends in Clarksville, TN, before heading to NY to see my parents. J will be leaving early in March to go get an apartment for us before we follow on. We are waiting right now for the outcome of our command sponsorship. Our kiddos are extremely excited to be here, they have missed being with their friends. Plus, there's snow outside, and a Wii inside. Anyone who knows my kids, will know that this is pretty much all we need!! :P

Jamie is sitting up now, and almost crawling, too. No teeth yet, that I can see, but we are hopeful that this drooling and chewing on EVERYTHING will result in some pearly whites pretty soon. Right now he's stuffy and coughing, poor man.
Jacob is ready to dive back into schoolwork, since he's been off for a week now. He is reading short books, and doing pretty well at spelling some words from memory.
Caitlynn is dancing and singing all the time now, and eating everything in sight (and then some things that aren't). She's really good with Jamie, likes to come and play with him, tickle him a little, play peek-a-boo and then run away.

Jon and I are doing good, too, relaxing and enjoying our time together and with friends. We miss our friends from TX, but can keep up with them online, for which I am extremely grateful. I will try to post some pictures later on, when I get some taken! :P

sorry for the delay

2009-11-25T12:08:00.000-06:00

Its been hectic around here. My oldest was sick most of last week, meaning alot more laundry! Now my baby has RSV, which is somewhat terrifying, watching him struggle to breathe clearly. We are going back in a little while for a recheck. Definitely thankful for my husband's job, which means free medical care.

In other news, my pies are done, with one more in the oven, my honey is on the way home from work, Nana will be here tonight, and our friends will be here tomorrow morning. All blessings, much appreciated, and people we are dying to see. Lots to be thankful for! Off to straighten up, since I'm reduced to typing with one hand while I nurse the little man.

Check out these amazing ideas! GYCO and ASPTL!

2009-11-17T08:22:00.001-06:00

Head on over to see lots of amazing crafts!

I linked up the seasonal board, and autumn blessings frame to both of these pages.

well, it begins...

2009-11-15T21:08:00.000-06:00

My kiddo is sick. He said he had a headache at quiet time today, so Jon gave him some Tylenol. This evening, he came upstairs, and I took one look at him and went for the thermometer. I remember my mom saying once that she could always tell when I had a fever by looking at my eyes. And whaddaya know, she's right! Not quite 102. He went downstairs to watch cartoons while I made dinner, and promptly fell asleep. Definitely a sign of a sick kiddo. At least for him.
And about ten minutes ago, I heard him whining in the bathroom. He said he had to throw up, but nothing happened. He attempted to go to the bathroom, and proceeded to ask me if I thought he would have any bones. Seriously, he is freaking me out right now. He hit his head earlier on the coffee table (no bump or bruise evident, and he hasn't really complained- this was after he said he had a headache anyhow), but now I'm a little worried.
Anyhow, all of a sudden he was getting sick. He said that he felt a little better, but not all the way better. So here's hoping that its just a bug.

weekend musings

2009-11-14T21:34:00.000-06:00

We've been puttering around alot this weekend. One chalkboard is almost finished.. I made a scrapbook page, for whenever I actually get some pictures developed. I also cleaned up the craft room, and managed to finish a couple of other projects. The kids have been having a blast with their friends this week- and I had alot of fun getting some pictures of them playing. Cait has been loving her dance class- but this will be the last month that she gets to go. We will be pretty busy in December, then going on leave for most of January. Then its back for only the month of February, and getting ready to move. I am determined to have a good time this holiday season, because it will be the last one we have stateside for awhile.