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

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

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!

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

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

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.