2010

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! :)

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!

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

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!

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.

 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

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.