Back with some pictures- ok, LOTS of them!

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! :)

Long overdue pictures

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!