From Stanwood to Seoul

Week 9: A Great Leap

2012-03-01T22:20:00.002-08:00

Oh my. It was such a busy week with Cade's birthday, PD yesterday, and an overall overwhelming feeling as I realized that in two weeks I'll be leaving for Singapore. There's still so much to do! As a result, there was no creativity whatsoever this week.
I had ideas, of course: the kids jumping on the bed, a leap of faith, but what you see is what you get. A lot of pictures of Cade. A lot of my memories associated with his birth are people saying things like, "Oh. Good thing he wasn't born a day later. He would've been a leap year baby." Really? He turned 3 this year. If he'd been born a day later, he would have been born on March 1st. He was way off from being a leap year baby. Apparently, they were taking a leap with their logic!

Day 55: Eric and the kids doing a puzzle after school on Friday evening.

Day 56: Cade eating cake at his birthday party with his buddies.

Day 57: Going for a ride in the cardboard box car that Daddy made!

Day 58: Don't be confused by the solemn face. He was simply showing me yet another of his birthday presents: Pororo band-aids. No injuries here. But yes, he does have another cold. Ugh.

Day 59: We went out for dinner to celebrate Cade's birthday on the actual day. The kids even got their own smoothies. Just one of many celebrations during his "birthday week"!

Day 60: The kids attempting to hail a taxi on the way home from Lost night. It was the night before a Korean holiday, so taxis were few and far between at 8:30pm.

Day 61: Cade and I on the couch watching Up before bed. Particularly bad iPhone pics this week since I took them in the dark.

I love how last week, I finally broke down and used one iPhone picture. This week I've got two. I hope it's not a trend! I'm finding it particularly hard to pick a favorite this week. I love the one of Cade and his cake, having just blown out his candle, with the smoke coming up through his eye. You have to look twice at it. But, I also really like the one of the kids with their smoothies. It has kind of a vintage feel to it. Hmmm...maybe I have two this week!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

Favorite Photo: February

2012-03-01T03:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that another month is over in 2012. I can't believe there are only three more months of school. I can't believe that in just over three months, we'll be back in the States. The past year has flown by, and I have a feeling the next year isn't going to any slower with so much going on!
Anyway, it's always so hard to figure out my favorite photo, but here it is: my favorite photo of February.

Yes, I probably should have chosen a picture that had a face in it, but what can I say? This is the one I like! I can say that I am already so excited that I've chosen to do this project this year. Yes, it's hard at times. And I am definitely not always happy with the pictures that I take, but even if they're not great, at least I am documenting our lives each day of 2012.

Happy Birthday Cade

2012-02-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Cade,

I cannot believe that you are going to be 3 years old already. It seems like just yesterday, I found out I was having a boy and I lost the key to the Volvo and was stranded at the doctor's office on the night before Kennedy's birthday party. I still remember how scared I was to have a boy. What on earth was I going to do with a boy?!

And you are all boy. No mistaking that. You like to get dirty. You run everywhere. No walking for you, man. What's the point in walking if we can run?! You bounce off the walls, the couches, the floor like it's rubber. You get hurt about 15 times a day and generally it doesn't phase you. You just find something else to bounce off of. You crack us up all day long; I just wish I could keep up with you more often.

You eat just like your father. I wouldn't believe if I didn't see it with my own eyes every day. You eat off your plate, off the table, off the floor, off other people's plates. It doesn't matter to you. You love steak, chicken, pork, fish. Just about any protein. Vegetables? You can take them or leave them. You often feel like the carbs are an unnecessary way to mask foods. Why would I eat my eggs in a tortilla when I could just eat the eggs, cheese, and bacon? Why do I need a hot dog bun? The hot dog is just fine by itself. Rice? If I have to, but I'd prefer just to pick the meat out of the stir fry! All of this about every two hours all day long. And if we forget to feed you? Well, you just open the fridge and bring us the bread, the jam, and the yogurt. A subtle little reminder: Mom, I'm hungry...again!

You have a great sense of humor, you love people, and you have the best expressions. You come into our bed early in the mornings and cuddle with us. It's the only time all day you sit still and we cherish those moments.

You have done an amazing job adjusting to life in this culture where every female wants to touch, pet, and hug you. You have more patience with that than I do, and I applaud you for it.

You are a great kid. I couldn't have asked for more, and I'm so grateful that God gave me you, my little boy. Your dad says I'm going to have stop calling you "little" soon. I'll try to stop doing it in public, but I'm pretty sure you'll always be my little boy.

Love,
Mom

Opening Presents

2012-02-26T02:30:00.000-08:00

Opening presents has a whole new meaning when you're overseas...

See that computer screen in the bottom left corner?

That's not us just leaving the laptop in the middle of the room...

that's our Skype date. That's a grandma getting to watch her grandson open the birthday present she sent him.

That's technology that allows us to keep close relationships with our family back home.

That's getting to see the joy on the face of the person that you bought a present for even though he's across the world.

This is us being grateful for that technology (and those presents)!

Cade's Birthday Party

2012-02-25T03:24:00.000-08:00

Cade is going to be 3 in just a few days, so we had his birthday party this weekend.

There were 3 little boys all turning 2, so they had planned to have a joint party...we decided to join in since there aren't any boys closer in age to Cade.

Since no one has a house big enough to accommodate that many people, we had the party at church.

The same church where we have playgroup, so there are plenty of toys to keep the kids entertained!

Eric got a lesson in photography and how to use our camera from the high school photography teacher, so he did his best to get some good shots.

Kennedy was very concerned at the onset about the lack of presents and friends her age, but she had nothing to worry about. She had lots of fun, too!

The boys were not too excited to have to sit down...even if cake was coming their way!

Cade put on all kinds of expressions for us...I'm not really sure what he was thinking...

All in all, it was a great time...the kids had a blast!

And, it was low stress for me thanks to the other moms who organized everything. All I had to do was buy stuff, show up, and decorate. I can handle that!

I'll do my best to get the rest of the photos on Facebook in the next day or two!

Week 8: Cabin Fever

2012-02-23T22:37:00.001-08:00

I'll be honest, it's getting harder to keep up. I have finally been feeling better, but as a result of that, I've been able to work out again which means getting home later a couple of days a week. Basically, it means that yes, I have resorted to the iPhone this week when needed. Thankfully, the prompt this week was easy...we've been cooped up with cabin fever for months now. It did get up to 50 degress today, though!

Day 48: Kennedy wanted to color last Friday when we got home from school, so that's what we did!

Day 49: On Saturday, the kids and I played with Photo Book on the Macbook and iPad...just being goofy and hanging out between Skype dates!

Day 50: The kids made beds for themselves on the living room floor on Sunday morning.

Day 51: Watching a "scary" movie with dad...I think it was Veggie Tales.

Day 52: The kids helped dad dry the dishes. Kennedy wanted to earn some money so that she can buy Cade a birthday gift. I don't know if the 100 Won will make much of a dent!

Day 53: Cade was excited for Pizza School on Wednesday night at Ross and JJ's...I just missed the shot of him hugging it!

Day 54: When we got home from school yesterday, the kids had put together this "zoo house" with the nanny...they were so proud!

I think the one of Kennedy with the Duplos is my favorite...I like the way the light hits her hair. I asked her if we could move the house, so it could sit in the light, but she said it was too fragile, so here it is with the distracting background and everything. I'll take what I can get these days!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

Little Readers

2012-02-22T17:23:00.001-08:00

I have already mentioned many times before my love of reading and the ever-elusive stack of books on my nightstand. Last week, I caught a few photos of my littles and their growing love of reading.

We picked up these phonics Curious George books when we were Boston a couple of years ago. I knew they would come in handy eventually!

She is doing a great job learning how to read these simple books, and they're perfect because they just focus on one vowel sound and one consonant sound in each book.

And then there's Cade...reading in his underwear...

he's quite the reader himself! He totally cracks me up when he "reads" his books. Sometimes he tells the parts he remembers, sometimes he looks at the pictures to tell a story, and sometimes he just makes the sounds.

All I can say is that I hope they continue to love reading throughout their lives as much as they do now!

Travel Plans

2012-02-20T02:57:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited!

This weekend we bought our tickets back to Seattle for this summer. We'll be home for nearly eight crazy weeks. We'll be back in WA for about a week at the beginning of June, and then we fly to Ohio for the big wedding. (Still have to buy those tickets...we could only spend so much money in one weekend!) Then we'll be back in WA for about six weeks before heading back to Seoul. So, let us know if we need to get to your name on our calendar. We can't wait to see everybody!

We also booked our vacation to Thailand for Christmas 2012 over the weekend. I'm so excited to be at the beach in the middle of the winter next year. It has been freezing for months now and I'm thrilled to get a break in the middle of it next year.

Speaking of breaks from the freezing weather, my trip to Indonesia and Singapore is less than a month away now. I can't believe it. I'm a bit apprehensive, but I'm also excited to take this trip with our middle school students, experience life in yet another culture, and hang out at Telunas Beach...in warm weather!

We are blessed to be able to travel so much in 2012, and we are excited about everything but the plane rides and the jet lag!

By the way, Eric took these pictures on Sunday morning while I was in the shower. He still refuses to use the new lens, but he did a great job anyway!

Week 7: True Love

2012-02-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't say that I was feeling particularly enthused about this prompt. For me, Valentine's Day consisted of a bunch of kids hopped up on sugar (not my own!) and a good dinner. Just your run-of-the-mill true love. So, inspiration is definitely lacking. Exhaustion is taking over. But, I did take pictures. And, I took them with the real camera. So I'm happy with it.

Day 41: Reading a book will always be one of my true loves!

Day 42: Kennedy holding her Valentine's Day candy...one of her true loves! I was so mad that my Valentine's Day post went live without any words or pictures in it! I really liked some of the pictures I got of the kids and their candy. I have fixed it in case you missed it!

Day 43: I truly love this stage Cade is in...always running around in his underwear, having very few accidents, and loving to read his books!

Day 44: Since I'm working full time now, it's dark by the time I remember to take a picture most nights...this is a blurry picture of the kids watching their evening "movie" before bed...they truly love that 20 minutes of TV they get every day! (And I love the incentive to get them to eat their dinner and try something new each night!)

Day 45: Brushing the teeth...I wonder what part of our evening routine I'll take pictures of next week since I've just about covered it all this week!

Day 45: Ugh. My little iPhone-addicted children. At least they were playing an educational game. Cade told me that you spell cow "C-O-W" after playing this game.

Day 46: The kids love it when I get home from Costco. They're always so excited to see what I have. This time they were particularly excited because Costco had Goldfish crackers (not "marine crackers"--the real ones!), a rare treat since we've arrived in Seoul!

I think my favorite for this week is Day 42. I just love her sweet little hands holding that bowl of candy...and you know I love Jelly Bellies!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

Bathing Beauties

2012-02-16T03:41:00.000-08:00

I feel like everybody lately has been taking pictures of their cute little kids in the bath.

Since my kids never take baths, I had been trying to figure out how I could take pictures of them in the shower...

without getting my camera wet or displaying pictures of all their body parts all over the internet.

This was the best I could come up with...

my two crazy kids in their towels after the shower...they love to take showers!

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

Well, there used to be more words with this post, but considering I was all ready for bed when I discovered that it published without words or photos (the iPad was not working for me tonight)...you are just going to get some pictures today! Happy Valentines Day!

The kids totally cracked me up when I was taking pictures of the candy on Saturday. They sat just outside of the view of the camera patiently guarding the candy they'd gotten in a Valentine's package from grandma.

Then, I told them they could have it, and Kennedy told Cade that he had to sit with it in his hands just like this. It was pretty cute. She totally came up with this one herself!

They were pretty excited when I told them that they could each have a piece.

They carefully picked out a jelly bean and then thoroughly enjoyed it with smacking lips!

Eventually they went for the chocolate...

and managed to get it all over their hands!

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day. We treated ourselves to a taxi to and from Outback Steakhouse in Itaewon. A good dinner without all of the walking (especially since Eric and I had walked home from school earlier)? Quite a Valentine's Day celebration!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

2012-02-12T00:34:00.000-08:00

This week was Spiritual Emphasis and Character Focus Week. Let me just say that alone made it in an interesting week to start teaching full time. When I came in on Monday morning, I still had yet to figure out the schedule for the day, but by the time I'd finished writing it on the board, I had a better idea. I was just praying that the kids knew where to go, because I surely couldn't tell them where they needed to be and when. I was on cold meds and could barely think!

I've already mentioned that here at YISS we have both the NICS (Christian) track and the Oasis (non-Christian) track. So, we run Spiritual Emphasis Week and Character Focus week simultaneously. Each group has its own session where they think about who they are and how they can improve their lives.

Because we had the same speaker and musical guests for both groups, we had a scheduling nightmare. While our Oasis kids were in their Character Focus assembly, we had 90 minute blocks with our NICS kids in the classroom. Then, they switched places, so while the NICS kids were in Chapel, the Oasis kids went to a 90 minute block class. Twenty-five twelve year olds in the same room for an hour and a half. Whew. What fun!

In the blocks I taught, we did a special focus on poetry. We talked about different types, the basic structure, and some figurative language. Then they got to read some poetry on their own sitting on pillows around the room, and have a snack. Lastly, they wrote their own poems where they had to tell me what they'd been thinking about this week in light of Spiritual Emphasis and Character Focus. I'm sure you can guess that they were thrilled about it! I think Eric's classes had a lot more fun because they spent the time creating their own little society where they had to figure out what they wanted to spend their money on (i.e food, entertainment, bills) and got a glimpse into their futures.

For the most part, I feel like the special focus this week had a positive impact. There were times when I was frustrated with their inability to stay awake and focused in Chapel and Assembly. And there were times when I heard poems about how bored and tired they were. There were times when I felt like everything was working against me, personally. But, I think the overall feel is that our students were renewed and inspired.

It's the simple things in life, right?

Week 6: Drink Up

2012-02-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

That's right. We're six weeks into 2012! And, this was the longest week of the entire school year. Not just for me, either. Yes, it was my first week of full time. Yes, I could barely speak and couldn't think at all for the first few days of the week. But, it was also our Spiritual Emphasis Week. Which meant that we had a crazy schedule all week. None of us could keep up. More to do. Less time to do it in. You know. The usual.

That being said, I would have loved to have given this prompt its due and may have been more than willing to "drink up", but alas...I was just too tired. I was in bed absolutely no later than 8pm every night, and my drink of choice was coffee.

You will see that for many of my pictures, I interpreted "drink up" with the classic: coffee. But for the others, I took advantage of what I saw on campus this week: our students "drinking up" the Word of God! Enjoy!

Day 34: My bathing beauties...is it gross that they like to drink the shower water? I think it's gross!

Day 35: My morning coffee...I'm already missing slow mornings and re-heating my coffee four times before I get to drink it.

Day 36: The roaster at Le Cafe, my favorite coffee shop.

Day 36: Our students listening to our musical guests, Russell and Kristi.

Day 38: Students listening to our special guest and speaker, Dave Edwards.

Day 39: The middle school praise band performing with our musical guests for this week.

Day 40: My caffeine and hydration on the windowsill at school...the only way I make it through these long, crazy days!

I had a hard time picking a favorite for the week, but I think I like the one of the boys listening on Day 38. To be honest, they did not all look this alert all week. In this picture, I feel like they are really interested, listening to, and "drinking up" what the speaker had to say, and that makes me feel like this long, crazy week just might have been worth it!!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

C is for Cade

2012-02-09T01:41:00.000-08:00

Cade is crazy.

Cade likes being cozy.

Cade's giggle is contagious.

Cade is creative.

Cade loves cars and Cars.

Cade likes to play collaboratively.

Cade is cute.

Cade only cuddles at 6am.

Cade likes to play in closets and cupboards!

Le Cafe

2012-02-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that Sunday is probably my favorite day of the week? I feel like I post a lot about what happens on Sundays for us. One of the other reasons that Sunday is my favorite is because it's been the only day of the week that I buy coffee...as in a cup of coffee.

Within the first week or two of arriving in Seoul, some friends of ours who have lived most of their lives in Seoul said that their favorite coffee place is in Haebongchong. Now, considering there is literally a coffee shop about every ten feet in Seoul, that is saying a lot!

Le Cafe is their favorite coffee shop and it just happens to be about a three minute walk from our church. Needless to say, Le Cafe has become my favorite coffee shop, too. I know that I need to get out there and try some others, but it so rare that I buy coffee here that it just hasn't happened. It was a whole lot easier to buy coffee in the States where I had a cup holder in my car. Here, if I buy a cup of coffee and carry my purse, then I only have one hand to hold a kid's hand. That creates a whole lot of problems in a city where not even the sidewalks are safe from traffic. Let's just say, I always need to be ready to run and holding a hot cup of coffee is not conducive to running after a two year old.

Anyway, I love Le Cafe because of its close proximity to church, the fact that he roasts his own beans so it smells amazing in there, and there's always the same guy behind the counter. He speaks just enough English to understand your order and say "thank you" when you leave, he has a punch card, and his prices are pretty reasonable (just under 5,000 W or $5 for a cup of coffee is pretty good in Seoul!). Of course, the coffee is pretty good, too!

Just another reason I love Sundays!

I'm Feeling

2012-02-05T03:55:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm feeling....

popcorn for a snack last week. Kennedy insisted I put butter on it "like Grandpa does"!

humbled by God's power and his ability to work within us and around us whether we're aware of it or not. Tonight I was....

my lil iPhoneographer...laying on the floor...taking a picture of a lego!

impressed by Kennedy's reading. I'm so thankful that God has allowed her to learn so much these past few months. Laying in bed listening to her help me read her book tonight, I couldn't help but be impressed by how much God has worked through her this year. I certainly know that it wasn't me that taught her all of this. I still look at these words and think "this doesn't make any sense! How do I teach her how to read that word?". Yet, she has learned, so I guess I'm feeling....

Jenga...after quiet time on Sundays, we play a game while we eat our snack

thankful that I can start full time work tomorrow knowing that my little girl is prepared for Kindergarden next fall even if she doesn't learn anything in the next six months (and we know that won't happen!). Though I'm also feeling....

Cade's dinner when we went out for Thai food last weekend...chicken satay and peanut sauce

exhausted by this cold. And wishing that I had just a few more days. I think I'm also feeling a little...

a happy boy

nervous for the transition to full time this week. I'm just praying that the kids will transition well to being with Miss V twice as much, and that I will be able to handle the work load without having bring much work home. I've never taught full time with two kids before, and I want to be able to get all of my school work done at school, so that I can be with my kids at home. This week, I'm also feeling...

the snow at school last week

excited for our Spiritual Emphasis/Character Focus Week. It throws all of our schedules off at school, but it gives the middle school a week to focus on God in the NICS sections and character in the Oasis section. The school has brought in special musical guests as well as speakers for assemblies every day. I'm excited to see a change in our students, and I'm also feeling...

over Christmas Break, Eric and I played a lot of Bananagrams

scared for the changes for our friends. On Friday, the school that they used to work for comes to get the "key money" for their apartment. Key money is kind of a post in and of itself, but basically it means they no longer have a deposit on their apartment (unless they can come up with somewhere in the vicinity of 10,000 dollars!) and they have to move out. They don't have jobs in either Korea or the States right now, and their Korean visas are up at the end of the month. We are praying for guidance, jobs, and a place to live for them. Apparently, I'm feeling...

Coex Mall at Christmas time

reflective and just a bit lazy because instead of going and turning on the other laptop and uploading legit pictures, I littered this post with my iPhone pictures from the last two months...hope you didn't mind!

Lego Towers

2012-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I had what may have been the worst headache of my life. If you've known me a long time, you know that is saying a lot! I barely got up off the couch all day long, so the kids entertained themselves with legos much of the day.

And somehow I still managed to take some pictures.

I tried my best to give you some perspective on just how tall this lego tower was. And Kennedy did the whole thing by herself.

I was impressed!

Then they stood in awe of it

and danced around it

before they started trying to knock it down

so that they could build another one!

I was in bed by 7:30 that night and woke up at 7:30 the next morning...thankfully without a headache (though I still had a sore throat and stuffy nose).

Week 5: Shadows

2012-02-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

The theme for Week 5 was shadows. I was feeling a bit inspired by it at the beginning of the week, but that tapered off quickly. It was a busy week, and I haven't been feeling well the last day or two; I can feel another cold coming on. I haven't been motivated to take many pictures with the yuck, and I'm pretty nervous about my ability to keep up the every day pace next week when I start full time. I'll do my best, but I'm also going to try to give myself some grace. Some pictures will just be iPhone pics and that's that. Oh well. I will worry about that tomorrow.

Day 27: The heart garland we made. Not a great picture, but it was a fun little project. If you missed the full post, you can find it here.

Day 28: The trees right in front of our apartment. They made great shadows on the building.

Day 29: Walking back to church, I caught shadows of the kids in the street.

Day 30: Oh man. I haven't taken a picture yet today. I guess I'll get one of the ice cream I'm eating right before bed.

Day 31: After finally making it home from school, I took Cade out to get a few pictures of him in the new snow on the night before our first official snow day.

Day 32: Missed the kids playing outside (it doesn't last long when it's only about 7 degrees F outside!), so I just took a few landscape shots of Snowy Seoul.

Day 33: Building Lego Towers! The expression on her face cracks me up!

My favorite "shadows" picture is the one of the kids on Day 29. I like the position of Kennedy's feet as she turns around to look at her shadow. I also like how I Cade came and ran into the picture when I was trying to get one of just Kennedy and then he froze. He's a funny kid. My overall favorite of the week is the one of Cade in the snow. I like the lines of the snow on the wall, and I like that I literally could not keep up with him to get a good up close shot of him. He just kept running away from me and telling me to hurry up. Cade, it's hard to get good pictures when I'm running!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

My Favorite Photo: January 2012

2012-02-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it's the 3rd of February already (here, anyway), and I just realized that if I'm going to choose a favorite photo for each week, I should also pick a favorite photo for each month. I'm so excited about putting together a book (of some sort) with all of these pictures at the end of 2012...ooh I could do a calendar with my favorite 12...ooh so many possibilities! It's going to be really hard to choose I can tell already, but here is my favorite picture of January:

I just love his little grin. I love that it has Kennedy in it (in some way) and I love that it's different than most of the pictures I get of them. I can't wait to look back on this one a year from now and remember that day at Times Square, Seoul.

Snowy Seoul

2012-02-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

We thoroughly enjoyed our snow day yesterday, but we did spend the majority of the day inside. With a high of 9 degrees Fahrenheit, none of us lasted long outside.

Unfortunately, that means that because I spent a few more minutes editing pictures yesterday morning before I headed out to get pictures of Eric and the kids playing, I missed them outside entirely.

I wandered all the way around our complex taking pictures....boy moments like these make me miss the openness of the country. Somehow pictures of the snow surrounded by tall concrete walls just isn't the same!

Anyway, it turns out that they were heading back inside just as I was heading out in the other direction.

Their fun was especially short-lived because Cade lost one of his gloves the day before. Regardless, I enjoyed my short picture walk!

It's back to the grind for Dad today. Koreans are especially good about getting the snow cleared off of roads and sidewalks. They are out there sanding and shoveling just as fast as the snow comes down, so the roads were pretty clear by yesterday afternoon (though there are definitely still icy spots!).

First Official Snow Day

2012-01-31T17:29:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying, we earned this one. You know how we have that extremely convenient bus that takes us home every afternoon? Well, yesterday it started snowing pretty hard right around the time we got out of school. Normally, our bus leaves at 4:10 (an hour after we get out of school) and that's just about right. On Tuesdays, it doesn't leave until 4:30 because usually we have meetings after school. Because this was the fifth Tuesday of the month, we didn't have a meeting. Because of all the snow, we (and many others) decided to wait for the bus rather than try to find a taxi (they're always few and far between in bad weather). Just as we were headed down the stairs to leave, they announced that the buses weren't going to be able to make it out for the afternoon run. Which meant that now we've hung out after school for nearly an hour and a half and we still have to try to catch a cab. Ugh.

We were totally unsuccessful, too. We headed down to the subway, so that at least we could get a little closer to home without battling any extreme hills or stairs (keep in mind I'm wearing heels in the snow, but thankfully with pants not a skirt!). We continue the tredge home through snow, salt, slush, and just a general mess, finally arriving home about 5:15. Like I said, we'd already earned this snow day.

Cade was very ready to go outside and play in the snow by the time we got home.

So, I went out and took some pictures of him, and then he and Eric went to the store.

While I sat at home with a puking Kennedy. Yuck. And the poor kid was so worried that Cade was going to use all of the snow and there wouldn't be any for her to play in. The things they worry about.

I ended up getting snow on my lens, so I got a few really blurry shots before we went inside....

I stayed up 'til nearly 9:00 watching the snow, taking another trip out to take pictures, and checking email. Just waiting. Just hoping that they would let us know the night before. We finally got the call at 9:45. Really? {Ok. I'm not complaining. Momentary lapse in judgement. But I was in bed.} Then, we got to make our phone calls. It totally cracks me up that a school with this much technology: 1:1 laptops, iPads, school-assigned email addresses for every student, still makes calls to each student to confirm a snow day. Yes, they send an email, but I guess in the private school realm, you can still be blamed when a kid chooses not to check his/her email. Anyway, Eric and I each got to call 10 kids, about half of which had home phones answered by their parents in a language other than English. One dad even hung up on me. But, at least I didn't have to make my cold calls at 5:30 in the morning. So, like I said, I'm not complaining.

I don't have a very steady hand anyway, so slow shutter speeds are not for me. My hands were really shaky last night because it was so cold. So I just put a funky edit on this picture so it isn't quite as obvious how out of focus it is!

Linking up with:

Cardboard Box Dollhouse

2012-01-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

The title on this might be a bit misleading. Eric and the kids did create a cardboard dollhouse for Kennedy on Saturday.

On Friday, the nanny took the kids to play with the girl that she watches on the weekends (leaving me entirely alone for nearly 5 hours! What did I do? Spent the time chatting on Skype. Fear of solitude? Nah. Just taking advantage of the moment). Anyway, apparently Leila has an amazing dollhouse. It was all Kennedy could talk about afterward!

So Eric (embracing the TCK power he wishes he had!) suggested they make one out of a box. Kennedy gave very clear instructions for how it should look. Eric said it is the type of project that can be worked on over time, so no pictures of the completed dollhouse yet.

Instead, I thought I'd throw in a few random pictures of Cade.

While we were at lunch on Sunday, he thought it would be funny to sprinkle the pepper onto the tablecloth at the restaurant.

And then lick it off. Ahhh...life with a little boy.

And a little girl. Nothing compares!

So many books, so little time

2012-01-29T04:15:00.000-08:00

I have so many books to read right now that I can't even begin to keep up!

First of all, I have five books that I have to read so that I can write my six page "philosophy of Christian education" paper. Sounds like fun, right? Yeah, I don't think so, either. So far I've read one and a half of the books. Each one has some good parts and some parts where you think, "What is this guy thinking?!". There is so much information that I am at a loss as to where to start the paper, too. I've got about four months to finish it, so we'll see how it turns out.

I'm also in the book club, of course. Our book for this month is Barbara Kingsolvers, The Poisonwood Bible. Wow. That was a long book. I really enjoyed it, so I couldn't put it down so that I could work on other, more important readings. I just had to finish it.

It is a fictional book about a family who moves to the Congo as missionaries. They endure some incredible ordeals, including the death of one of their children. It made me very grateful for all that we have here in Korea. A lot of little things are different, but the big things? The important things? Like heat, running water, even air conditioning in the summer? We've got those things, reliably. And I am thankful for them.

Another group of books I'm working on is the reading list for the sophomore World Literature class. It looks like that may be what I'm teaching next year, so I'm trying to get a jump on the reading now. The class is having a guest speaker from Afghanistan next week to coincide with their reading of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. I'm going to try to get over there to sit in (even though it will be my first week of full time and our middle school Spiritual Emphasis week...busy, busy!), so I wanted to be hearing the speaker in the same context that the kids are. I had to go out and buy my own copy, so that I could write and mark all over it! I'm excited about this reading list, but it will be more enjoyable to focus on these books once I'm done with the philosophy of ed. books.

The books on my own personal reading list are the ones that keep getting pushed down on the priority list. I received Pearl S. Buck's Living Reed for Christmas, a historical fiction novel about life in Korea. I'm really excited to read this, as well as many books on my Kindle, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to it...you reading anything good lately?

Heart Garland

2012-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Alright, just a quick post about our latest Pinterest project...the kids and I attempted this project together on Thursday. They quickly decided they weren't up for it, though Kennedy did help me by holding the paper wrapped around the chopsticks.

I think they turned out really cute, though I wasn't sure at first.

They definitely didn't turn out as cute as the ones that I saw pictured here. That's where you'll find step by step directions, too, if you're feeling like you need some heart garlands in your life!

I was already planning on hanging the lights up again and doing the die cuts, so I figured since I already had the supplies, I might as well go for another cute craft.

Eric says it's too soon to decorate for Valentine's Day, and I've never really gone all out for it in the past, but with these boring, white walls I'm putting extra effort into making this apartment feel like home!

Week 4: Self-Portrait

2012-01-27T00:13:00.000-08:00

If I thought last week was hard...I think this week was even harder! At least last week I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do from the beginning. It wasn't particularly creative, but I ended up liking the edited image. This week, I was challenged creatively because I don't have a tripod...or anything that can be used very effectively as a tripod. My kitchen table is about the only thing that would work and I would have felt weird dragging it around the house. Who am I kidding? Our kitchen is connected to our living room. It's not that far away!
Anyway, I was really tempted to just take pictures of things that "represent" me...and as you will see that's what I ended up with for some days. But, I was also determined to figure out ways to take pictures of me, and I would really like to end up with some pictures of me with my family at some point!

Day 20: I wasn't in self-portrait mode yet, so I've got pictures of cookies...close up. If you want the full story on these Red Velvet Cookies, check here.

Day 21: Eh..still not up for pictures of me yet. Instead I took this one of the kids' lunch on Sunday...

Day 22: I took a pretty funny picture of me...got creative with shadows but I ended up looking like our YISS Guardian mascot...so I decided the books that I have to read on my nightstand are a pretty good representation of me.

Day 23: Started experimenting using the floor as my tripod...

Day 24: Wanted a shot of the snow and my shoes (finally got back to my workouts last week!)...turns out they're exactly the same color...not much contrast, so I had to go with the track...

Day 25: Opted out of following the theme today, so that I could focus on the fun in the snow!

Day 26: Finally managed to snap a picture of me with the kids before they left this morning. Moved the chair over and propped the camera on the back of it. Made me nervous, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I think Day 23 is my favorite of the self-portraits, though I do like the fact that Cade is looking at the camera in the last one. That makes it kind of cute. At least there's evidence now that I've been here!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

Fun in the Snow

2012-01-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

Since we didn't get out in the snow yesterday, I figured I'd better get the kids bundled up and take them out today.

Cade was so excited, he could barely contain himself!

They shovel the snow very quickly around here, so by the time we left for school yesterday at 6:30, most of the sidewalks were clear. Hence my inability to get pictures of the snow at school yesterday!

Thankfully, we were able to find snow in its original state at the park here in our complex. It's a dirt, sand mix so they can't shovel it!

Then we headed over the other park near our house, hoping that the snow there wouldn't be mixed with dirt and sand. But, they had shoveled that park, of course!

So the kids played in the pile of snow that they'd made when they shoveled (and by the way I have no idea who "they" are either!).

Kennedy had fun making it snow!

When the kids were sufficiently wet and covered with snow, we headed back in for lunch. I'm thankful that we were able to have our fun in the snow eventually!

I'm also thankful that I was able to get some good shots with auto focus (I knew they were going to be moving way too quickly for anything else), but I was frustrated with the errors my lens kept giving me today...anybody know anything about the Err 01 message on a Canon 50mm lens?

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday but with Words:

Snow Day

2012-01-25T03:42:00.000-08:00

We finally got snow.

An inch.

Not a lot, but enough, right?

Enough for a snow day.

Especially a snow day in Washington.

Especially a snow day in a private school because you don't have to make it up.

Did we get a snow day?

Nope!

We finally work in a private school and now we live in a part of the world where an inch of snow isn't enough to require a snow day.

Bummer.

And, I was too busy at school this morning to take a picture. By the time I had a free period, they had shoveled all of the snow.

Bummer.

Well, I have tomorrow off whether it snows or not.

That's good news at least.

Sunday Lunch

2012-01-23T03:07:00.000-08:00

Sundays tend to be a busy day for us. In the morning, often times we Skype with family. Then we just barely make it out the door to get to church on time. Good thing this is Korea. In Korea no one starts anything on time. Least of all church.

"Dad, do you see this?! Look at this, Dad!"

Then, after church we usually go eat some lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. Actually, most of the time we only have about 45 minutes before we have to be back at church, so we just get sandwiches to go (the only good place we know of for sandwiches is right next to our church). We take it upstairs at church and eat in one of the Sunday school classrooms where it's quiet and we don't have a bunch of people watching us eat. For some reason, this really bugs Eric, though. So whenever we think we have the time, we eat in the restaurant.

This past Sunday, we went to a different restaurant. It has a typical American menu...breakfast items, hamburgers, salads. But, it's got a little different take on all of these items. For instance, in a typical American restaurant one could order mozzarella sticks right? At La Vert, you can order "Fried Brie Cheese served with chips and fries and green salad". I could not pass that up. I can never order it again, but seriously fried Brie?! Does it get any better than that? It was delicious! I really wish I'd taken a picture of it, but I didn't think I was going to actually admit that I'd eaten it. I guess I couldn't help it. Fried Brie served with french fries (not sure why they listed french fries and "Aussie" chips...but that tends to happen with Korean translations) and a mixed green salad with an indescribable dressing. I really don't know what was in it! So good. Now I can say I've had it, but if I want to live another year, I'd better not have it again!

The kids also got something extraordinary. First of all, we should know this by now (and I had an idea, hence the camera-readiness). A waffle is not a waffle in Korea. It is not a standard breakfast food. It is a dessert. Calling it a "fruit waffle" does not change its status as a dessert. It just means that you have to pile more whip cream, chocolate syrup, and vanilla syrup on the top.

Needless to say, they enjoyed their lunch! Eric's burger? Well, it wasn't anything to write home about...

Then we headed back to church where we spend an hour and a half with another couple and their two daughters. Right now we're on Ephesians...who am I kidding? We've been on Ephesians since we started in September! But we've really enjoyed getting to know them and right now we're praying that they get jobs somewhere in the world. (We're hoping for Korea, but they're actually applying for a position in the Skagit Valley...seriously small world since they've never even been to Seattle!)

Lunar New Year

2012-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we've had two weeks back at school, so it's about time for another break, right? Of course, those of you back in the Seattle area have all had a nice long break with the snow, but we have not been so lucky. No snow at all in the last week or two, so we needed a different excuse. It warmed up enough to rain one day last week, getting up to about 40 degrees. But it's back down to 10 F today. It literally dropped 30 degrees overnight!

a traditional hanok

This weekend we have a four day weekend for the Lunar New Year or Seollal (살릴). Seollal is probably the biggest holiday in Korea and another one of those holidays where the Koreans escape the city and travel back to their homes and families in the countryside. Seollal is like a birthday of sorts in Korea. A Korean turns one on their first Seollal (technically after they eat their tteokguk or rice cake soup), so Kennedy wouldn't have technically turned 5 until after this weekend if she were Korean. Interesting, huh? You can read more about Seollal here.

Hanboks are traditional clothing for Seollal

We had decided that since we didn't make it down to Busan over Christmas break, we would try for the four day weekend. I started looking for a hotel down there and realized quickly that everything is booked. Shortly thereafter, I realized that the trains are going to be packed this weekend and Busan will be busier than normal, so we're back to staying here in the city. Another weekend of awful traffic and travel outside the city, but a "ghost town" here in Seoul. You might remember, that over Chuseok we were excited to experience that emptiness and were a bit disappointed to not see a big difference. So far, I can't say that I've seen a big difference.
Yes, you might recognize these pictures from the Chuseok Weekend album. No, we have not ventured out in the 10 degree weather to do anything tourist-y. I'm not sure if we'll get motivated to do anything in the next 2 days!

Red Velvet Cookies

2012-01-21T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Kennedy and I have a baby shower to go to for both my job share partner and the maternity leave I'll be covering. How did I get so lucky as to be the substitute in a school with two maternity leaves this year?! No, I'm just kidding. It could be worse. Their maternity leaves could be one after another rather than overlapping!
Anyway, one of those fishbowl affects is that everyone is invited to all of the baby showers (there is another one if a couple of weeks for a baby that was born 2 weeks ago), and everyone pitches in so that no one person is responsible for all of the food.

So, I set out to make Red Velvet Cookies. Here's my story about those:
First of all, I have never had anything red velvet...all I know about red velvet cake is how annoyed Julia Roberts was in Steel Magnolias when her fiance wanted a red velvet armadillo for the groom's cake! A friend of mine posted the recipe on my wall on Facebook and wanted to know if I thought we could get the ingredients here in Seoul. A "certain someone" who just recently sent us a package saw that post and was intrigued by the cookies. She made them herself and decided she would send me the cake mix since that is the only thing we can't get here (thanks again--no matter what I say here, I still appreciate the thought!). I decided that the baby shower would be a good excuse to make these cookies. My original plan was to make a batch for my friend, too, but as it turns out, I'm just going to bring her the ingredients...she can make them herself (she won't mind!).

It turns out these cookies are pretty labor intensive, and on a day when Cade decides he's not going to take a nap, that is just too much for me! In the morning, after I baked my bread, I made the cookie dough. That was really easy. Refrigerate for 2 hours...no problem. Then I made the cream cheese filling. Also easy. Form into little balls and freeze for 2 hours...I can handle that.

I knew the labor part would come when I actually had to bake the cookies, so I decided to do that while the kids napped. After 2 hours of trying to get Cade to take a nap and trying to get Kennedy to be quiet enough in her room that Cade could actually sleep, I gave up. So I ended up baking the cookies with both kids staring at me intently. Ugh.

You take a spoonful of the dough and press it out flat in your hand, then you put the little ball of cream cheese on top of the dough and fold up the dough around it, so you end up with these little balls.

For the recipe, she only made 10 really big cookies. And I can see why. She put 3 on a cookie sheet. Because I'd already decided these were for the shower, I knew I needed to make more. I ended up making about 30. A lot of work. I can see how if your kids were older and liked to bake, then this could be fun. The kids could help. It would be done quickly. And while my kids do like to bake, they are not helpful yet. This was not done quickly. As it turned out, I skipped my workout to bake cookies. How ironic.

This morning, I finished them by drizzling melted white chocolate over the tops. I'm quite sure that I will never be making these again, but if you're up for the challenge, then here's the recipe! They do look really pretty...even if they are both having boys...

Week 3: Dream a Little Dream

2012-01-20T03:28:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it. The novelty has worn off a bit by week 3. And the theme: Dream a Little Dream? That didn't do much to help me out. So my pictures this week are definitely less than inspired. But, I continue to get out my camera and that is my number one goal, so I guess it's still a success. I think the fact that all of you back in the Pacific Northwest with all of your beautiful snow and so many reasons to take pictures has me a little jealous and depressed too. We haven't seen any snow in a few weeks, yet it has barely gotten above freezing and the skies remain cloudy. If I'm going to endure freezing temperatures and clouds, I feel it's only fair to get some snow along with it! Suffice it to say, I'm jealous of all of your beautiful snow and the pictures I've seen on Facebook; my pictures were all taken inside this week with very little inspiration. WaWa.

Day 13: the fruit bowl on our counter...it's weird to me that satsuma oranges have been "in season" since we arrived here...

Day 14: the kids "swimming" in the living room

Day 15: Cade had lined up these cars and trucks in the living room...thought it was cute enough to snap!

Day 16: the only thing I could think of to photograph that encompasses the dream that we are living. These are the flags flying in front of the school. I was lucky enough to be able to get a shot when a slight breeze lifted the flag of South Korea.

Day 17: the Wednesdays that I have off (only one more until May!) are really busy. I snapped this picture of the first potato chips we've had since arriving in Korea while the kids napped. Don't feel sorry for me, we could pick up Pringles at the store down the street if we really wanted them, but I finally broke down and bought Kettle Chips at Costco last week. I have been missing them.

Day 18: playing in the tent...

Day 19: no knead bread...

It should go without saying that the only one that even begins to represent the theme is the flags. I suppose there are many ways to interpret the theme and I could always use one of the pictures of the kids because they are always dreaming up something new. I could say that I dream of becoming a baker one day. But you would all know that was a lie. So, Tuesday is my pick of the week. Here we are. Seoul, South Korea. Living our dream. Whether the picture is creative or not!

If you'd like to see more others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

No Knead Bread

2012-01-20T02:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I told you I was going to try the bread in spite of the fact I didn't love the pizza dough...and I'm so glad I did!

The bread is delicious! Of course, the recipe came from the tried and true savorysweetlife.com, so I knew that it had a good chance of turning out. The kids and I have been snacking on it all day!

I was a little worried when I uncovered it this morning because I didn't turn the dough in the bowl and my towel had dried, so there was a crust of sorts on the top of the dough. I did my best to mix it in with a little bit of flour, but I didn't want to work the dough too much (not that I have any idea how it affect it; I'm just lazy!)

In spite of that, it still turned out great! Still not a very dark bread...certainly not as dark as hers turned out, but I've decided there's a good chance that is a result of my oven. I also think that it would have turned out even better if I'd been able to make it in my Le Creuset dutch oven...everything turns out better in that! Hmm...think it would survive the trip back in my suitcase?!

Anyway, I highly recommend this recipe. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to tell you about my other baking ventures today!

The Tent

2012-01-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days. I decided that we weren't going to go anywhere. We were just going to relax at home and play.

Wednesdays are so busy and the kids stay up so late. So on Thursday, we're ready for a day to lay low. It's also the only day of the (work) week that I don't have to go to school at all. So I put up the tent that they got for Christmas for them to play in.

Cade loves to spend all day in his jammies...and yes, he got plenty of new ones for Christmas, so I'm not sure how I ended up taking pictures of him in the same old ones! This afternoon he was willing to get out of his pajamas if he could get on an airplane and fly to Thailand...I'd get dressed for that, too!

Thankfully, he's pretty good at getting out of them to go to the bathroom. He can't always get back in them by himself, though. I tried to get him to put on clothes three times today, but he wasn't up for it, and I didn't have a reason to fight him on it. You've got to choose your battles.

Kennedy has been working hard at reading and sounding out words...not that you'd know it from the made up word they put on the board.

She also decided that today they were going to hide from mom's camera in the tent...so this is what you get!

Silly kids!

Only two more Thursdays to enjoy it, so we're soaking it in!

Thankful

2012-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

This past week I have been so thankful for ordinary things. I'm so thankful that Cade is finally doing really well with potty training. I'm so thankful that he's started taking naps again. It was so nice to be able to go back to work and know that our kids are in good hands. They were so excited to see Miss V last Monday, that they both woke up at 6:30 in the morning when she got to the house!

I have been doing my best to enjoy every last minute of the next few weeks before I start working full time (with actual responsibilities and stuff...). I have really been enjoying not having to do the laundry anymore!

Do you know that I have never cleaned our bathrooms?! My amazing husband cleaned both toilets a couple of times over the break, but our nanny cleans the bathrooms from floor to ceiling, and while we have to buy her a bottle of bathroom cleaner about twice a month, I have yet to use it! How blessed am I?

I love the fact that on my days off, I only have to worry about the kids...you know that whole 3 meals a day thing...well, for them it's more like 5 or 6, but that's it. I sweep the floor once or twice a day (sometimes Kennedy does it), we clean up toys, cook, and do dishes. That's it. No vacuuming, no dusting, no mopping, no laundry (not even sheets or towels), nothing. Hmm. I might not ever move back to the States! (just kidding, of course!)

Just playing. Just pretending that the "picnic blanket" is a swimming pool. Pretending that the stools are horses or that "we're on TV!" as in the pictures above. Playing with cars. Doing crafts. Being kids. I'm so thankful!

(well, for two more weeks anyway...)

Daddy's Craft Project

2012-01-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

Alright, first I should probably admit that this title is a little misleading. I can't say that this was necessarily his project. It was yet another idea that I found on Pinterest. One that I'd been meaning to do for probably about the last four months and just hadn't gotten around to it. Seriously. Those cereal boxes have been on top of the 'fridge for a long time.

Then I was absolutely determined to do it over Christmas Break. So, that last Sunday night before school started again I cut the paper, taped the boxes together, and was all ready to put it together. I wrapped the paper around the boxes and was immediately frustrated.

I decided that no one would know that I didn't have the patience for this. I would just toss the whole thing and not worry about it. That's when Eric walked in. "Can I try it?" he asked. Sure. No problem. So, yesterday, that's what he did.

And it looks pretty good, doesn't it? He did a great job. And had a lot more patience than I did....three cereal boxes and some wrapping paper make a cute little box for Kennedy to put all of those papers that she "just can't throw away"!

Of course, then he told me that he did not want to see these pictures on the blog, so he probably won't be happy to see this, but I just wanted everyone to know how much I appreciate his willingness to step in when I get frustrated, even if it is just a silly Pinterest project!

Pottery

2012-01-14T02:58:00.000-08:00

Remember the pottery that we made on the trip with the Korean Foreign Schools Foundation? (I told you about it here.)

The museum where we made the pottery promised us they would send us something. It sounded like there was a pretty good chance that the dishes that we made wouldn't make it through the kiln, but we would get something regardless.

So, we designed and created our dishes with love, enthusiasm, and lack of experience and hoped for the best.

A few weeks ago, I remembered that they were supposed to be done in time for Christmas. I remember some joke about them making good Christmas presents. But we hadn't seen them yet...

This week they showed up at school! And we are happy to report that all four of ours made it through the kiln! Those are our hand-crafted bowls with our initials inside! Yay! We're so good at pottery.

Week 2: Made with Love

2012-01-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I was pretty relieved to see that the theme for this week is "Made with Love". Nearly everything that I take a picture of is made with love whether it's food (of course), the latest games that my children have made up, or just the kids themselves.
So, here are my pictures from Week 2 for my p52 project:

Day 7: the locks at Seoul Tower definitely fit in with the "made with love" theme!

Day 8: Kennedy actually enjoying her food?! Unheard of! Had to get a snapshot of this one eating something "made with love"!

Day 9: As the mom, and therefore an outsider in this game, I did not have a clear idea as to what exactly they were playing on Monday evening. All I know is that neither of them had any pants on, they both had their "water" shoes on (and they're not normally allowed to wear shoes in the house), and the entryway was their lake. I liked this picture because it's focused on the foot that is on the ground while showing the movement of his other foot.

Day 10: The expression on Cade's face as they opened the package we got on Tuesday. Believe it or not, this is his excited, "Can you believe it?" face...

Day 10: The dishes we made while on the trip with the Korean Foreign Schools Foundation. Definitely made with love!

Day 11: The "stained glass window" that we made out of a sheet of clear plastic and torn tissue paper...an old preschool favorite!

Day 12: I have had this idea in my head of a set-up to create bokeh since about November...I finally managed to put it into action this morning. Unfortunately, I didn't have lights with white string...that would've helped, being able to get farther away from her would have been better, and having my laundry rack be a little wider would have lowered my chances of having it coming out of the top of her head, but what can you do? I'm not buying a bigger drying rack. I didn't even do her hair because I wasn't very optimistic they would turn out. This was the best I could get!

I think the first one of the locks from Seoul Tower is my favorite. So, that's it for Week 2: Made with Love! Remember: if you missed the whole story, you can click on the picture and it will lead you back to the original post.

If you'd like to see more others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

"Stained Glass Windows"

2012-01-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Every morning that I am home, Kennedy gets up and asks "What are we making for craft today, Mommy?". Cade asks, "Will you get me some cereal, Mom? And some orange juice? And some oatmeal? And some toast?". And Kennedy asks again, "What are we making for craft today, Mommy?".

It's a good thing I'm the daughter of a preschool teacher, and an avid Pinterest peruser, and a person who keeps anything that might be able to be turned into a craft, and the crazy woman who picks up clothes pins and popsicle sticks because "we might need them at some point"!

Yesterday, we made our own stained glass windows. I'm pretty sure this was a project my mom did in preschool at one point. We had all of these little pieces of tissue paper from the package that we got the other day.

The kids put new window clings on the windows in their rooms and we were left with thin, square, clear sheets of plastic. It didn't take long for me to put the two together.

She looks pretty excited, right? Considering she continued to ask me the remainder of the day if she could make more, I think she enjoyed it. Apparently I couldn't catch that with the camera, though.

Cade got a little help with his...Kennedy decided to make a door and two windows...

Hmmm...I wonder what I'll come up with for tomorrow...

A Package

2012-01-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

You may have guessed already that getting a package in the mail is very exciting for us. It's pretty exciting to everyone else, too, which is kind of funny. We receive all of our mail at school, as you may know, and so everyone seems to know when you've gotten a package. It sits next to your box (for a day or two sometimes) and everyone notices. Then you carry it up to your classroom (or office in my case). I tend to have a lot of traffic in my office throughout the day because it holds the "missions fridge"--a place where you can buy a pop for a dollar. We all know how much teachers rely on the periodic jolt of caffeine that they don't allow their students to have!

Anyway, yesterday I had a rather large package sitting on my desk all day and everyone who came in commented on it. "Ooooh, that's a big box!" "What's in there?" "That's a lot of duct tape!" Then, you take your package down to the bus and everyone comments on it as you walk down the hall. "Christmas is over! You just got another package?!" Yup, we sure did. We're loved! Then, you get on the bus and on the ride home everyone discusses what might be in the box. What they would like to have sent to them. What the price of shipping is. How this summer when we come back, we'll be able to bring suitcases full of food instead of clothes. You know, the regular school bus chat.

Then you get home and the kids start. "Is that box for us?" "Is it a present?" "Who is it from?" "Can we open it?" "When do we get to open it?" Until you finally open it. It's like it's been sitting on their desks all day!

This particular package, sent to us by one of Eric's cousins, was for the kids and it was filled with books, games, candy, and pretty much anything you can think of that would be exciting for a young child.

Each individual item was wrapped in tissue paper, so they got to rip open everything and they were in heaven!

I don't think Cade had any idea what he was opening as he opened it. He just picked one up, ripped through it, and grabbed another one.

Cade was very excited about the chocolate. Can't you just hear him saying, "Please?"

Kennedy's approach is a bit different. She likes to look at the paper, rip it open, and then inspect whatever it is she has opened. She might look through if it's a book, insist it be opened if it's something to play with, or put it up high ensuring Cade can't get at it before she does. Then she'll move onto another.

Then, after everything was opened, she needed to take inventory. She laid everything on the kitchen table and counted it...it's so funny to see the differences between them in every little event!

Thanks to everyone for the packages...we really appreciate them! Thanks to Doug & Erin for the one we got this week! We're so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!

What to do?

2012-01-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but it has me in it and it's one that I have always liked. Since this is a post all about me, I wanted one that had me in it! Eric took it last summer on our trip to the zoo.

I've mentioned before that I am planning to get my Master's degree next year. I really want to get started as soon as possible. I'm excited to learn more, expand my career opportunities, and finally start my career as a "grown up". The only problem with that is I still cannot figure out what I want to be when I grow up! I have spent the last several months doing research about which online university options I have available to me in my unique position (non-military overseas). And instead of narrowing my options, I feel I'm increasing them!

I started with the idea of "educational leadership" or "teacher leadership" (the program depends on the school). To me, these sound like great options, but my fear is that they're too good to be true. In other words, the program provides some great classes on how to be a leader in your school, but doesn't provide the certification to do anything other than teach (and maybe be a department head). Not a bad idea if I'm not looking to expand my "employability"--I'm pretty sure I made up that word!

Next, I moved onto Administration and Supervision which led me to the question of whether or not I really want to be an administrator. Good question. There are pros and cons, but I've eliminated it for now because of my lack of classroom experience. No one wants an administrator who hasn't taught. Including me.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment is up next. It all sounds good, but it's not going to make me any more employable in the state of Washington where good teachers with Master's degrees abound.

Special Education...a part of me has always wanted to get into Special Ed, and a big part of me still does. I think if getting certified through an online master's program was possible, I would go for it. It would keep me in the classroom, and I would be employable in Washington as well as overseas. Unfortunately, the universities that I have to choose from do not give me that option.

So, career change? I looked into School Psychology. Another degree that I'm really interested in. It sounds great, in theory. The reality is that school psychologists are being eliminated and that many high school counselors spend way too much time arguing with students and parents about schedules than anything else. With over 400 students on their case loads (in Stanwood), how on earth are they supposed to do anything to help those individual students?!

So, right now I'm thinking about Instructional Design and Technology. It's a bit of a stretch for me because I am not a natural with technology, but I am interested in it. I know it's a growing field and becoming a bigger part of education every day. It would open a lot of doors for me as far as my career goes, too, allowing me to stay in education and enhance my teaching or branch out from it if I have to.

What to do?

No Knead Pizza Dough

2012-01-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

Last night I tried yet another recipe found on Pinterest. This one is for no-knead pizza dough. As you know, I am not an accomplished baker, so this sounded like something right up my alley.

The pizza that we've been eating here in Korea definitely leaves something to be desired. Not that you can't get good pizza. I know that you can because I've seen it, but Eric really seems to like the cheap-worse than Little Caesars-type pizza. It's unfortunate.

Have I told you about the toppings they put on pizza here?! First of all, all pizza has corn on it. In fact, we have a Canadian pizza place down the street with a sign on the door that has a corn cob and the big red line through it indicating that they don't serve corn on their pizza (the pizza is a bit better but at least twice the price for not many toppings!). There is potato pizza, sweet potato pizza, bulgogi pizza, spicy chicken pizza. We tend to go for the old classics: supreme and pepperoni because Cade likes them both.

I'd been meaning to make this pizza crust for some time, being sick of the Korean-style pizza and the fact that Eric thinks we need pizza at least every two weeks. I got the yeast in Baking Alley the first time I went (of course I've used it in the caramel rolls since then, but still). I'm also looking forward to making no-knead bread now that I know how easy it is!

The dough only took me about 15 minutes to put together on Saturday and it looked like this:

Then Sunday morning before church, I did the tuck and roll and put the rounds in the 'fridge. In the evening, I used one round to make two mini pizzas for the kids so that they could put their toppings on. Kennedy's had nothing but cheese.

Cade went crazy with the olives and the mozzarella and stuck on a few pieces of pepperoni (that I found at the international market), but he mostly just sat and ate that while we made our calzones.

I don't think I put enough stuff in mine because it was kind of flat and sad-looking. Also, for some reason, they really didn't get brown on top. Just the bottom.

I thought the dough was kind of yeasty-tasting and a little tough, but Eric really liked it. I'm sure I'll be making it again. It was easy and really cheap (except for that pepperoni!), and regardless of how yeasty the dough might be, it's still better than Pizza School!

Destination: Seoul Tower

2012-01-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

I know. You're tired of hearing about (and seeing) Seoul Tower, but I'm happy to report that we finally made it to the (observation deck at) Seoul Tower, so now I can be done reporting our failed attempts at reaching it!

Yesterday, the weather was nice (a pleasant 32 degrees F with sun breaks), so we decided to head back to the elusive glass elevator. It didn't take us long to get there now that we know where we're going!

The tourist books really tout the view as you go up in the elevator, but it's not really too impressive.

Of course, these pictures are taken through the glass, too, which just adds to their quality. I decided not to photograph the toll booth directly below the elevator for you. You're really missing out!

The elevator takes about five minutes and then you reach the cable car station (there are other methods of getting here, but this was the fastest route for us).

The cable car takes you up to the base of the tower (where I took the picture at the top of this post) and it is about a 10 minute ride.

The glassed cable car lends itself to more top-quality pictures.

But you can't resist taking them because the view from here really is amazing!

Unfortunately, it was still pretty hazy, so even the pictures that I took once we'd reached the top (and I was not behind glass) still have a pretty thick haze over the city.

This is the northern part of Seoul, an area that I don't know very well, so I can't pick out any landmarks here.

There is another elevator that you can take from here to actually go up into the tower. I'm sure that the view would have been even more amazing, but we weren't willing to shell out more money for it. We'll save that trip for when you come to visit!

This is taken from the south side of the tower, so our apartment is just above the green screen that you can see at the bottom of the picture. The Hyatt Hotel and our school are off to the left (not seen in the picture). The US Base is just to the right of where this picture cuts off. Itaewon is right in the middle of the picture. The Han River is just past the buildings where the haze really begins. Nice picture, huh? You really can't see any of those things in it!! What's a girl to do?!

Seoul Tower is also known for the tradition of couples leaving locks on its observation deck in hopes of "endless love".

There are millions of locks and the tradition has since expanded to cover everything from locks to keychains to cell phone covers.

Naturally, there were all sorts of photo opportunities here, but my family was not feeling photogenic yesterday, so this is the best I could do.

Could they stand in front of this so that I could take their picture? Oh no!

Though their reluctance to be photogenic may have been impacted by the fact that Cade had an accident 15 minutes after Eric took him to the bathroom. That's right. Cade is on day four of underwear. And we have not stayed home one of those days. What are we thinking?! But, he's only had two accidents in public, so we are feeling very successful!
Underwear and Seoul Tower. A great ending to this great Christmas break!

National Museum of Korea

2012-01-07T02:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our first extremely successful outing for this break. We had no problems either getting to the museum or home from it. We had no problem finding something that we could all eat (well, except Kennedy). We got plenty of pictures. And both parents and children were able to enjoy the experience.

Remember how awesome the War Memorial of Korea was (past tense only refers to the post--the museum still exists, of course!)? Remember how it's free? Remember how there is plenty of history and even more replicas that the kids could climb on allowing both adults and children to enjoy the museum?

The National Museum (in some ways) has those same features. First of all, a museum as extensive and beautiful as this one would never be free in the States. It's incredible to me. I don't know how it works. The museum is huge and you really get an idea of how long the history is in this country. It's also interesting to see so much of the history before the Korean War when the peninsula was all one country.

To be honest, we didn't spend too much time in the "adult" part of the museum. We decided to leave the house at about 11:00, so we were hungry shortly after our arrival. We were able to find the "food court" which was essentially cheap Korean food. There were about six options all for about 6,000 W (or $6), so we ordered three pork cutlets and split our meals between the four of us. Cade loved the pork cutlet, the soup, and he ate a little rice. I really enjoyed the cabbage salad that accompanied the meal. Eric enjoyed all of it, and Kennedy wouldn't eat any of it (not even the rice for some reason).

We wandered around the museum for an hour or two--the kids finding every video that they could--and Eric attempting to read every single display in one room. I got to check out the displays on the evolution of Korean pottery and Celadon. We even were able to pick up a few souvenirs for those of you back home!

After that first hour, though, the kids were ready to move on to the Children's Museum. I had read online that you needed to get a ticket for it (even though it's free), but we couldn't find an open stand to get the tickets. I was also a bit unsure as to what the session times online were for, but I remembered that one of the sessions began at 3:00 and it was about 3:00 by the time we wandered down there.

When we arrived, we could see why they had sessions every 90 minutes. It was busy! They will only let in so many kids during each session, so after 90 minutes, they let all of those children out and a new set gets to go in. Naturally, since it was 3:00 (on a Friday), the 3:00 session was full. Now we know that when you arrive, you pick up tickets for the next session that isn't full and then you wander and get some food.

The sweet girl behind the counter let us in for the 3:00 session anyway and I'm almost positive that it's just because we have cute, blond kids! They had hanoks you could build, old-fashioned tools you could use, straw huts you could play in, and even an outdoor playground. The kids played until they were exhausted! It was an exhausting day for Eric, too, since it was only Cade's 2nd full day in underwear, so he had to take him to the bathroom every hour.

All in all, we had a great trip and it was nice to have something work out easily for us! We can't wait to take you when you come to visit! Don't forget to check out more pictures in the album on the top right of the page.

Week 1: Resolution

2012-01-06T03:53:00.000-08:00

I'm 6 days into my Project 52 (365?) and so far I'm keeping up. Good thing, right? It's only the first week! Though I will say that while I took over 300 pictures in the first 3 days, last night I had just finished putting Kennedy to bed when I realized that the only picture I'd taken all day was with my iPhone in the subway station. I will say that I am certain that I will be okay with that in the future because at least I'd taken a picture.

Last night, though, I decided to take advantage of the fact that both kids got up out of bed to go to the bathroom and Kennedy thought she needed to help Cade pick out his sticker for his "potty chart". (On a side note, Cade has had two pretty good days on the toilet! Yay!)

As I said, my goal is to pick my best picture from each day of the week (if I have one from each day!) and then my from those, I'll pick the best one of the week. This week's theme is Resolution and I can promise you that not each of the days reflects the theme, but my ultimate pick for the week should reflect the theme.

This will (more than likely) be pictures you've already seen in the past week since I do tend to post my favorites, and I will link the picture to the past post, so all you have to do is click on it if you haven't ready the whole story yet.

So I apologize if you get tired of seeing them. And if you find that you want to skip these posts or delete them from your inbox, my feelings won't be hurt. It's really just a way for me to track my own growth.

This one is new though...come back tomorrow to hear all about our trip to the National Museum of Korea.

The following is my favorite picture for this week! I love the look on Cade's face, the fact that you can just barely make out Kennedy running behind him, the lights in the corner, and the fact that (though you know it's impossible) it looks like he's looking at her. I think it reflects my Resolution to take more pictures of my family this year and to put more effort into finding the creative perspective.

If you'd like to see more others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

& www.styleberryblog.com

Finger painting & Noraebang

2012-01-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a lazy day. I feel like it's important to have those on break so that we feel rested at the end. I can't believe we only have 4 days left! I can't complain because this is the longest Christmas break I've ever had. In my whole life. Three whole weeks with no responsibility whatsoever (to my job...still a lot of familial responsibility of course...like cooking, cleaning, laundry...hmm...maybe I am excited to go back to work!).

The kids had been asking every day since Christmas if they could do some finger painting, and since we weren't planning an outing for the day, I figured it would be the perfect day for it. Since I knew that Cade would end up with paint on his face! I think he's working on the cause and effect here.

I got to out to dinner with a group of the YISS moms last night, too.

I had to get to Soonchunyang Hospital by myself, which was a little stressful for me. The last time I was there was that first week of school when we got a tour. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I couldn't have even told you what direction I needed to be headed in. It's a little scary for me to get in a taxi and have no idea in what direction I should be headed. Because, of course, I don't have an accent the taxi driver can understand. He could think I'm talking about somewhere entirely different (so many places seem to have similar names here), so it's imperative that you have a vague idea where you're going. Thankfully, I'd gotten just enough information from Eric and one of the moms that I vaguely knew where I was headed and ended up right where I needed to be (even taking the shortest route to get there!).

The restaurant was really good (just a slight Korean take on the American fare) and was decorated with lots of Seattle paraphernalia which was a lot fun. It felt just like home. Even if the Huskies did have kind of an embarrassing game last week.

After dinner, I had my first experience with noraebang! Noraebang is the Korean version of karaoke. We walked into this place that looked a little like a hotel lobby. We got a room for an hour because we weren't sure how long we would be up for it. So, you take your shoes off (of course), they give you some sweet Korean slippers, and they lead you back to a room that has couches, a coffee table, two TVs, two microphones, two tambourines, and a little round stage.

Unlike karaoke in the States, you're not singing in front of a ton of people you don't know (well, they can hear you through the doors...trust me...it's loud!), you're just in a room with your group. Then you search through the book for the song you want and you get started! Two people held mikes and sang, but we all sang along with them on every song. It was a great time and we had no problem filling two hours! I think my favorite song that I sang with the mike (and yes, I seemed to have it a lot!) was Gangsta's Paradise...oh the memories! We ended up leaving about 11:00 which is pretty late for a bunch of moms with young kids.

It'll probably be another year before I go back, but I'm looking forward to it already! Maybe by then, I will be better with my camera in dim light because these pictures are not very impressive!

Times Square, Seoul Style

2012-01-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we made the trip to Times Square. Before we left for Seoul Tower the other day, I told Eric that would be the easiest trip of our week. Everything else required multiple subway transfers, bus rides, etc. So after our completely unsuccessful trip to Seoul Tower, everything else looked a lot easier.

A couple of weeks ago, one of our friends showed me an easy way to take our little 03 neighborhood bus to get to lines 1 and 3 on the subway. Now that there are fewer transfers involved, everything seems a little closer. We were pretty excited when we discovered that Times Square is only 5 stops away on line 1. A pretty short trip, really.

So, we hopped aboard at Namyeong Station and the kids really enjoyed the ride! This portion of the line is all above ground and when we started to cross the river, Cade yelled, "It's the Han River! Mommy, we're going over the Han River!" It was pretty cute to see how excited he got about it!

Then, we arrived at the station. I'd read that we needed to go out Exit 3, so I thought this was going to be a piece of cake. No problem! Well, it turned out that Yeongdungpo Station is one of those huge subway stations. It's pretty much a mall in and of itself. Can you imagine buying your socks, bras, and underwear in the subway station? Me either, but people must do it because there is one stand after another through many of the subway stations. (We did buy Eric a pair of gloves in one the other day!)

have I mentioned it's cold here?!

Well, we went out exit 3 and didn't find a huge TV screen, any bright neon lights, or any other signs that we might have arrived at Times Square. It was cold, so we went back inside. We wandered around Lotte Mart (also connected to the subway station) while I tried to figure out if we were at the wrong station again.

Then I went back out into the station to wander around and see if I could orient myself. Finally, I decided I would give up and give in to the requests for Krispy Kreme so that the trip wouldn't be a total loss. While the kids inhaled their donuts, I decided to give it one more try by getting on the Times Square website. I finally had a better idea of what I should be looking for and was ready to head back outside.

By the time we got back outside, it was really snowing and the kids were so excited about the snow flying into their faces! We walked about half a block when we saw the sign! It was not exactly what I was looking for, but we had found it and the adventure was not a loss--we found a great place to take pictures, too!

I love that you can tell how excited she is even without seeing her face!

Times Square here in Seoul is really just a big mall. Not the most exciting thing in the world when the clothes and the shoes don't fit you. When you don't really want to spend a ton of money on things to decorate your house (by the way--did I tell you we finally hung pictures on the walls? So exciting!). When you're not hungry because you just went to Krispy Kreme for a snack. And when you aren't sure that you want to spend the money to sit through a movie with Korean subtitles.

I love the sweet expression on his face!

Eric did get me coffee at one of the five Starbucks we walked by before we headed back home. We found the underground path back to the subway station on the way back (through tons more shops), but the kids were disappointed we weren't walking in the snow. When we somehow missed our bus after getting off the subway (it stopped further down than we'd expected and the driver wasn't watching when we tried to wave to him), Kennedy was certain we needed to catch a taxi rather than waiting outside in the snow for the next bus. It sounded like a pretty good idea to us, too.

I don't know if we need to go back, but we had fun and now we can say that we've been to Korea's Times Square!

Entered in my favorite photo of January 2012 at thepapermama.com.

Not Me Monday: Seoul Tower

2012-01-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

My mood did not perk up just a little bit this afternoon when my husband reminded me that the events of today would be perfect for Not Me Monday!

First off, we have not been really lazy about getting out of the house and seeing the many, many things there are to see here in Seoul. We have not whined about how cold it is outside and decided that it is just not worth it to get all bundled up and go outside! So, the last time Eric said that he needed more notice and we could not just get up and go to Seoul Tower, I put it on the calendar! Yesterday was that day!

the tower is behind the cable car that you can barely see!

We did not look up how to get to Seoul Tower in one of the tourist books we have on the shelf. After 7 months, we know how to get everywhere of importance here! Then, I did not decide that I already knew the best way, so we just hopped on the bus that stops closest to our apartment. We did not get off the bus at Exit 4 of what I did not mistake for Myeongdong station. We did not explore the area looking for the glass elevator before I checked to see whether or not we were outside of Myeongdong station. Upon realizing that we were not outside Myeongdong station, we did not decide that we knew the fastest way to Myeongdong station and head out in what was not the right direction. We did not end up walking around an entire (huge) city block (or 2) before eventually running into Myeongdong station (It was most certainly not by accident. I knew exactly where we were going.) We did not decide to follow the sign we saw which did not take us directly to the elevator. We did not finally spy the elevator just yards away from one of the closest bus stops at which we could have gotten off.

Because it was so cold and our children were so whiney, we did not decide that we would march up to that elevator in spite of how tired we were. We did not climb those 75 stairs up to the top when we discovered that the elevator is closed on Mondays (we would never head somewhere on a day when it might be closed!). And, we did not decide that we were not going to take the last step of actually buying the tickets and riding the cable car up to Seoul Tower because it was not really cloudy and hazy out. We did not decide that now that we know how easy it is to get there (literally ONE bus stop away from our house!), that we can go any day that the weather is clear (well, except maybe Monday). Maybe next time it will look a little more like this....

Nope, we did not do any of these things. We stayed in our sweats in our nice, warm apartment because we would never traipse around the city with our two kids in tow when it is 25 degrees outside.

Panang Curry with Beef

2012-01-02T03:02:00.000-08:00

I just have to tell you about the new meal that I tried tonight because it was so delicious! I don't make a lot of Thai food myself. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just because it's so good at the restaurant!

Recently, though, I've been inspired by Pinterest...which I guess is good because otherwise it would a royal waste of time. Seriously. I spend way too much time on it. I'll just give you the recipe here, so you don't have to worry about wasting your time on Pinterest!

In the case of the Panang Curry, though, Pinterest really came through for me. I pinned it, one of my friends at school saw the pin, and said she'd just recently picked some up. She said she'd bring it to me (because she was also bringing something else). This is the friend who took me to Baking Alley. I'm seriously indebted to her!

So, I'd been planning to make it for a few days now and finally got around to it tonight. It was so good and so easy.

And everyone enjoyed it (well, at least Kennedy tried it)! Especially Cade the Carnivore!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

We had a great time celebrating the new year here in Seoul. No, of course we didn't do anything big like go to Times Square or anything. We just went over to a friend's for dinner, dessert, and games. They have a 6 year old, a 4 year old, and a 1 year old, so the kids had a great time! They even played really well all night. We decided to quit while we were ahead and we headed home around 11:00. In seconds the kids were fast asleep in their beds and Eric and I were able to ring in the new year in a quiet house with a glass of champagne. I really couldn't have asked for anything more (well, I could've done without him throwing the Bananagrams tiles when he lost again, but he apologized profusely for that!)!

We made sushi for dinner, had cookies, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake for dessert, and snacked all night long!

We played Bananagrams and Mad Gab while the kids tried to figure out the new four person Connect Four.

This morning, we had caramel rolls and I had a homemade caramel sauce latte while we watched the snow fall. It was just flurries for about an hour and it has all melted now, but it was pretty to watch it fall on our New Years morning. We all got ready for church and then Cade started to break down. It became clear that he needed a nap more than anything, so here I sit relaxing, blogging, reflecting on the last year.

I'm not much of a resolution person. If I made one last year, I don't remember what it was. It's hard to believe that just a year ago teaching overseas was still a dream that we were finally putting some work into making happen. When we started the whole process I don't think we had any idea that six months later we would be living on an entirely different continent, but we know that this is what God wanted for us and we are so thankful for this experience. When I look at 2012, my only goal is that it would not be quite as exciting as 2011. The only things that could make it more exciting would be another transcontinental move or another addition to our family. Since we're not planning either of those, we're praying for less life-changing events in 2012!

My only goal for 2012 is to continue to learn to use my camera and improve my photography skills. I'd thought about doing a 365 project where you take a picture of something different every single day, but I thought we might all get a little tired of that. So, I've decided to go with Project 52. My goal will be to take a picture every day and figure out which one is best at the end of the week, but that way if I don't end up taking a picture every day, I should at least have one good for the week.
The snow just started again, so I might have to head outside and take some pictures. Happy New Year!

Where should I visit in Seoul?

2011-12-30T18:26:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked where a person should visit in Seoul if they have only 3 days. That is a big question. There is so much to do in Seoul that 3 days is definitely not enough. It also depends on what kind of person you are--a history buff, a shopper, a nature fan. And, of course, it depends on what time of year you're here because it literally doesn't get above freezing these days, but in the spring there are many outside activities to do.

Namsangol Hanok Village last summer

With that in mind, here are my suggestions:

1. There are lots and lots of palaces to see (though I kind of think they all look the same). I would recommend Unhyeongung palace because it is very close to Insadong where you can do some tourist-y shopping for Korean pottery (Celadon) and other traditional gifts (Line 3 Anguk station).

2. Myeongdong, Cheonggyecheong, and Seoul Tower: these are all in the same area. There is a lot of modern shopping in Myeongdong--Lotte Mart and Shinsegae department stores, as well as more traditional Korean shops. Lots of good restaurants here, too. Cheonggyecheong is the stream that runs through this area. It's not hard to run into and is very pretty with walking paths along it below street level. There is an elevator you can take up to Seoul Tower which has an observation deck, too. We haven't done it yet, but it's supposed to be amazing. (Line 4 Myeongdong station) Itaewon (the foreigner area) is pretty easy to access from here, too, if a person wanted to be surrounded by Americans, English speakers, and some American restaurants and stores.

Seoul Tower last fall

3. National Museum of Korea and Korean War Memorial: We haven't made it to the National Museum, but it's supposed to be pretty cool (Line 4 Ichon station). The Korean War Memorial is really neat! (Line 6 Noksapyeong station)

4. Namdaemun and Dongdaemun: these are huge shopping districts, very Korean style. (Namdaemun: Line 4 Hoehyeon station, Dongdaemun: Line 1 or 4 Dongdaemun station). We have been to parts of each of these. It is worth it to do some research and know what you are looking for when you go because they are so huge.

5. Coex Building, 63 Building, Times Square: these are all more modern shopping malls in what I think is considered "downtown". (various stations on Line 2)

Coex Mall last week

6. Evening entertainment: watch the lights and fountains on the Banpo bridge (Banpodaegyo) at 8pm every night or take the ferry cruise down the Han River. I really want to do both of these things when the weather gets a little warmer!

The links here are to my own posts about our experiences at the places we have visited, but these places are all really easy to get information about on the internet. I would recommend http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/ or http://english.seoul.go.kr/. The subway system is really easy to navigate. It's not always the fastest way, but when you don't know where you're going, it's the easiest way, and most of it is in English.

the kids on one of the city buses last summer

Being that it is winter break, during which we had planned on going to Busan and then spoiled our children and spent way too much money on their Christmas this year, I am feeling motivated to make sure that we see more of these things since I am recommending them! Now I just have to get my family out of the house and do it!

By the way, I thought I would share with you some of my iPhone photos from the last 6 months since I didn't want to just post old pictures you've already seen. It's not always the best quality, but it's always convenient!

Will We Ever Be Done?

2011-12-28T22:22:00.000-08:00

The potty training saga has officially turned into an epic. See the tent that Santa got them for Christmas? Pretty cool, right? They play in it constantly (well, until today when Kennedy wanted to carry it around so we finally took it down for a few hours), and last night that tent was the scene of the crime!

I have no idea why he was sitting on the table, but he was so cute, I had to snap his picture before I made him get down!

The whole "we don't have any underwear" excuse could only last until we got some underwear. So, now we have them (big thanks to those of you that sent them!!) and we're trying to put them on him whenever we are home. Last night he was running around, playing legos in the tent, wearing nothing but his underwear and socks. I asked him about every 10 minutes if he wanted to sit on the toilet, and every time it was a no. After about an hour, I hear Kennedy say, "Cade, why are your socks wet? You're getting the tent all wet!" And I realize that there's really only one way that my son's socks could get wet while he's in the tent in the middle of the living room. He had peed, of course!

For some reason, the kid really seems to abhor the simple act of sitting on the toilet. He still gets really excited about getting stickers after he pees, but most of the time he just doesn't want to stop long enough to see if he needs to go. This morning, we tried a new tactic. We attempted to have him use corn flakes for aim (in the absence of Cheerios or anything else circular!), and while he refused to stand, at least it encouraged him to get on the toilet. He had another accident this morning and then finally made it into the toilet before we left to run errands. I'm starting to wonder if we will ever be done potty training this kid!

Coex

2011-12-27T03:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we spent the entire day doing absolutely nothing. We talked to lots more family back home on their Christmas Day and Eric went screen golfing in the evening with a friend from school. But, I hadn't left the house for 3 days in a row, so today we had to get out!

There are so many things to do here that sometimes it's overwhelming. What is a priority? What is something we can only do this time of year? What can we do that is warm?

So today we headed to Coex Mall. I didn't know much about it except that it is big, it has a theater, it has an aquarium, and it has some American restaurants. It turned out to have some pretty, sparkly decorations outside so we got a few good pictures.

We headed out about lunch time with empty stomachs which means that after a bus ride and a long subway ride, we were starving and we literally walked into the first restaurant we saw, Bennigans. Regardless of the type of food being served, every restaurant has Korean staff. And one of the aspects of Korean culture that I cannot get over is the fact that when you go out to eat, they bring out one dish at a time. Whichever dish gets finished first is brought to the table. Yours comes out when it's ready. Even if that is 10 minutes after the first dish. Even if that means you and your husband have finished their meals before the kids' food even comes to the table. Can you tell it bugs me?!

Eric ordered a club sandwich that I had to take a picture of. Can you tell what kind of meat that is? Neither can I, but it's closest relative is somewhere between bologna and Spam. And the cheese? Yup, good 'ol "American" cheese. Processed. Right out of the plastic wrapper. So glad I went with the salad!

We had originally planned to check out the aquarium, but we decided that for as late as it was by the time we got to it, it wasn't worth $60 for an hour of entertainment. The kids loved looking at the fish they could see at the entrance, though!

By the time we were ready to leave, everyone was exhausted. I found a bus route that would take us as close to our door as we can get without any changes or subway, so we hopped on, and all 3 of my "kids" fell asleep!

We had such a late lunch, that we decided to have the persimmon salsa for dinner, so here are the promised pictures.

Just like any other salsa (I think it's more of a guacamole because I didn't have any tomatoes): onion, garlic, cilantro, black beans, avocado, green chili, lemon juice and salt. I just added persimmons! Very tasty!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T18:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great first Christmas in Seoul. The kids were so excited about all of their gifts!

Kennedy had been asking for a bed for Baby Jane and Santa delivered. She was quite surprised that Santa delivers presents made in Korea when you live in Korea. Who knew?

Cade was equally excited about his golf clubs. Without uncles around to actually open the toys as they unwrap them, they plowed through the unwrapping pretty quickly.

We were very blessed to have our friends and family send us so many packages from the States!

Remember how I felt guilty about the lack of toys the kids had when we first moved here?

I definitely don't have to worry about that anymore!

And Eric and I had been getting pretty tired of the small number of books we'd brought with us (about 20), but we scored on books this Christmas, too!

And many, many thanks for the kids' clothes and pajamas! They are so expensive here!

Aunt Nancy could tell we needed more cookie cutters if we're going to keep baking the way we have been!

Eric and I are really excited to finally have our own Bananagrams game!

The book from Uncle Alan and Aunt Molly was a huge hit! They love it and it brought tears to my eyes hearing voices from home!

The caramel rolls turned out perfectly even with the adjustments I had to make.

And I decided to make persimmon salsa for an appetizer. It was delicious! I will be making more today, so I'll take a picture later. Let me just say that avocado, cilantro, black beans, and lemon juice made me feel like home and the persimmon was the perfect accompaniment. Yum!

We had some friends over in the afternoon and the kids had a great time playing with all of their new toys all day! We had bulgogi, rice, and salad for dinner. Not your traditional Christmas fare, but we don't very often have anything traditional for Christmas dinner anyway, so that's okay. Embracing the Korean traditions makes cooking a lot less stressful!

Some friends of our sent us a wonderful care package of some of the more "traditional" foods, but it didn't quite get here in time, so we'll enjoy it for New Years dinner instead. The only thing we were missing for Christmas was our family. It has been great to get to Skype with so many of you! We love you and miss you! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T05:33:00.000-08:00

It's 10:00 Christmas Eve. I'm exhausted, but here I sit, eating Santa's Christmas cookies, blogging, and waiting to make sure that Kennedy is asleep before I fill the stockings and bring out the rest of the presents. I just heard her yawn.

I have been busy today.

This morning while Eric Skyped with his family, I made Peppermint Bark.

And the dough for my mom's Caramel Rolls.

This afternoon, I put together the Caramel Rolls

for Christmas Day and New Years Day just like my mom always did.

Then I made the breakfast casserole for tomorrow while Eric and the kids picked up some groceries

and our Christmas Eve dinner...pork cutlets, kimbap, and rice from Kimbap Heaven.

That's right. We had Korean takeout for Christmas Eve dinner. We figured we'd better stick with the tradition.

Usually on Christmas Eve we spend so much time driving that we don't have time to eat dinner.

Tonight, we did one better than the Jack in the Box drive thru.

After church, we headed home and Kennedy put out the cookies for Santa while Cade threw a huge fit because he was so tired.

I think (for the most part) we were able to stay so busy today that we didn't even miss all of the things we usually do on Christmas Eve. But we sure do miss the people. Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas in Myeongdong

2011-12-22T22:14:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, Kennedy and I go to look at Christmas lights at this time of year. Since she was big enough to see out of the car window, we have driven around town (even if it's just Stanwood) to check out the lights. Last year, I had thought I was starting a few different traditions including going to Snowflake Lane and the Lights of Christmas. Clearly, we are not able to do those things this year!

This year, I was excited to try to continue the tradition with a Seoul spin on it. The only thing is, now Cade is old enough to know what he's missing. Eric is not big on the whole Christmas light tradition. It was tough, but eventually, we convinced Eric to come along. So we headed out into the 25 degree weather to wait for the bus.

As you can see, he was really excited to be there. He did decide to continue the hot chocolate tradition, and therefore the kids have brown smiles in all of these pictures, as well as brown spills all the way down their coats, pants, and even shoes. Oh, what a joy!

Thankfully, I don't think you can tell, but I am doing laundry right now.

Within about 5 minutes, Cade had tried to run across the street and get hit by a car (he's a speedy little bugger and has no fear of traffic!), and we ran across a bunch of lights that were not lit, so we were having a rough start.

Soon, we came across this little area between stores that had a bunch of little trees and lots of lights.

It even had a bench...a prime picture taking spot. And, while I got a lot of good shots of them looking at the lights and decorations...

there isn't exactly a Christmas card picture here!

Oh well. You don't mind, right?

Kennedy did her best.

And Cade escaped from every picture that he could!

It was much too cold for a photography lesson for Eric.

He's not a fan of the new lens yet!

Yes, they have the Salvation Army cans here in South Korea, too.

So the kids each put in some won while we waited for the bus.

All in all, it was a pretty good evening, but I'm not sure that this particular outing will become tradition. We'll just have to see.

As a side note, I tried a new method with my pictures which involved changing the size so that the site speeds up. I'm not sure if the problem is my internet or the size of the pictures, but they uploaded much more slowly for me. Will you let me know if they are slower for you? Thanks!

Grocery Store Surprise

2011-12-22T04:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I sent Eric to the store to get a few groceries. I was making black bean burritos for dinner and wanted a couple of things to go with them. Can you guess what he bought?

**Update**

Yes, Nancy P., he bought Fuyu persimmons! He thought they were tomatoes, of course. I guess I can see where he would have made that mistake, but I thought it was pretty funny! Now I get to figure out something to make with persimmons!

Up for a game of catch?

2011-12-21T03:43:00.000-08:00

You know Eric...he is always up for a game of catch! So, the other night, he and Cade had a little game of catch in the kitchen after dinner. Can you guess what they used?

Cade was totally ready to catch!

And he got some pitching lessons, of course.

I just loved the expressions on his face!

Yup, that's right...they used a washcloth!

The throw is complete...

and he's ready for more!

I just love this little stinker!

The Latest

2011-12-20T04:11:00.000-08:00

Even though I haven't been feeling 100%, I've still been determined to get out of the house and get some things checked off my list.
So yesterday, I took Kennedy to the Express Bus Terminal to check out their collection of Christmas decorations. Just like everything else, it was an experience! Aisle after aisle after aisle of various Christmas decor!

They also have fresh flowers for sale...it reminded me (just a little) of Pike Place Market with its individually owned stands and so many fresh flower bouquets.

Eventually, we even managed to find four stockings that coordinated. For now, they are hanging from the strand of lights that is hung above our sliding glass doors in the living room.

In the afternoon, we took a trip to Kim's Club to get the coat rack that we have been desperately needing. Every Korean house has a shoe closet right inside the door since you do not wear shoes in the house, but they do not have a coat closet. Cade fell asleep on the bus ride home!

This morning, I threw together another batch of cookies. I haven't been able to make it back to baking alley yet, so I had to find a recipe that didn't call for shortening. Savorysweetlife.com came through for me again, and these are delicious!

This afternoon, one of the neighbor girls watched the kids for us so that we could go shopping for their Christmas presents. It was quite the expedition as we traveled from one end of the city to the other, using taxi, subway, and bus, crossing the river and everything within a span of four hours!

We also picked up a present for me right before we stopped for lunch at Outback Steakhouse (honestly, it was the first restaurant we walked by and we hadn't been since we got here, so we figured we'd splurge today. Made it feel like a real date!).

So, I had to take pictures of our lunches with my new 50mm lens!

And, tonight while Eric is golfing, I am working on figuring out how to use it. Couldn't possibly wait until Christmas to learn. What if I missed all of the good shots?!

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

2011-12-20T03:49:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: On Monday, December 20th, the North Korean government reported that Kim Jong Il died as a result of heart attack. South Korea has been on high alert since this was reported as a result of the fact that the son of King Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, who is next in line is in his 20s and a mystery to the world. No one knows what changes the new leader will bring the peninsula.

One of the benefits of the YISS community is that I finally get to be in a book club! Last month we read The Hunger Games. I'm sure many of you have read it. Somehow I hadn't even known it existed and the movie is just about to come out! If you like face-paced action-packed fiction (it's aimed at teens), then you'll like The Hunger Games. I think nearly the whole group ended up reading all 3 books because you just can't put them down! It does have some interesting allegories and looking at the traits of the characters that are a result of the world that they have grown up in is very interesting, as well. I can't say that I would recommend it to any teen, but there are lessons that can be learned from this entertaining piece of fiction.

This month, we read Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. This is most definitely not a piece of fast-paced fiction. It is a very well-written and engaging book about the turmoil that has been and continues to be going on in North Korea. I will be honest in saying that I really knew very little about the history of North Korea before moving here. In the fall, we had a "Korean Appreciation Week" and we talked a lot about North Korea and South Korea. We watched a video that portrayed the bleak streets of North Korea and a lot of footage of Pyongyang. We also had a guest speaker come and talk about the different projects he is working on to provide food and light for North Koreans. I learned a lot during that week, but I learned a whole lot more from this book.

The book is written by a journalist who was assigned North Korea and was located in Seoul while trying to learn everything she could about the cold, desolate, Communist country. She did a great job of intertwining the facts along with stories of real North Korean defectors that she met while in Seoul. I don't read a lot of non-fiction because I have a hard time staying focused on one fact after another, but Barbara Demick does a great job of getting you engaged in the stories of so many people. A week after I'd finished the book, I was struggling to come up with specific details of the characters by name in our discussion, but I still remember all of the stories even if I don't remember all of the names.

There were a lot facts in the book that I simply couldn't believe. It's incredible to me that a country that shares this little peninsula with South Korea does not have electricity in order to produce food and goods. It's incredible to me that when a doctor from North Korea defects to South Korea, she has to be completely re-trained and just like so many of the other North Koreans, she has no valuable skills in the job market. It's incredible to me the amount of money the South Korean government puts into their training and placement, so that they can do their best to fit in this society. And it is simply unbelievable that this entire country is struggling to eat every day by putting ground corn cobs and tree bark into their soup and there is nothing we can do for them other than pray.

I highly recommend reading this book!

Insadong and Donkey Kong....err...I mean Risk

2011-12-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

Well, the busyness of the season has finally caught up with me, and the cold that I have been trying to ignore for the last week has hit me full force. Today, in spite of our normal Sunday obligations, I am laying in bed, resting, and hoping that I will wake up feeling better tomorrow.

We've had a fun couple of days spending time with friends before they take off to spend the holidays with their families in the States. Yesterday, Eric had a few guys over to play an epic game of Risk while I spent the day shopping in Insadong with a couple of friends. Insadong is a major tourist attraction, so we spent hours going through little shops looking at jewelry, scarves, and various souvenir items to buy for relatives.

It is always interesting to see the Korean take on Christmas decorations, too.

You just never know where they're going to throw a more traditional Korean structure in amongst the sky scrapers and brick buildings.

Can you tell what this is?

I did have to pick up a pair of mittens that open up to fingerless gloves to allow myself the ability to be able to take a picture of the random things that I walk by. This is a metal rose vine "growing"up the center of the stairwell.

Yes, Koreans like to graffiti, as well. Somebody loves somebody else no matter where you are!

Do you recognize this sign?! S-eu t-a b-u-k s-eu k-eo yo-yu-i....did that help?! Well, if not, I'm sure the green, the mermaid, and the sign on the doors helped you figure it out.

I made it back to the apartment for about 45 minutes to pick up Kennedy before we went over to another friend's for dinner. I went in, picked up dishes from every bedroom of the house, tried to clear the kitchen counter a bit from the snacks and drinks they had spread everywhere, and was happy to be leaving again! I was also extremely grateful for the rides we got from friends last night. It hasn't gotten above about 28 degrees F the last few days and that makes for pretty frigid walks!

The Last Week of the Semester

2011-12-15T03:53:00.000-08:00

I'm so exhausted I can barely type. But, I have to wait for the laundry to finish, so I figured I might as well update you on our crazy last week of the semester. I can't believe that we're already halfway through this year! It has flown by!

One of our neighbors got a new dog this week. Kennedy might be warming up to it. We'll see!

Monday night we had our school's Christmas party. They do a chili cookoff (without the cookoff part this year--no judges, no prizes--which was okay with me!). What that means is that there are about 20 different types of chili. It was recommended to me to bring a muffin tin to sample all of the different chilis and since I don't like my foods to touch, I was all about it!

On Tuesday, I had a good chat with one of the principals on campus about next year. I've been praying a lot the last few weeks about my position for next year. There are full time English positions opening in both the middle school and the high school next year, so I was approached by both of those principals about them. I don't think I'll be taking either one of them with Cade still not being in school next year, but it looks like there is a good chance that I won't be in my current position next year, either. More details on that as they come...

Cade is still struggling to go to sleep in the evening, as well as his naps, but he does manage to fall asleep eventually. Even if it is perpendicular to his bed.

On Wednesday at play group, Kennedy got to play Mary when they acted out the Christmas story. She was in heaven because she got to hold baby Jesus!

Today, the kids and I finished decorating the cookies and passed out some to the teachers at school. Tonight, we just went to Costco...I know not a big deal for you, but for us, it's kind of an event. Thankfully, it was a pretty easy trip this evening. And now we have food!

Tomorrow morning, we're going to a friend's to have a pajama/movie party with the kids before school gets out early. In the evening, we're having our "Jugong" Christmas party with all of our neighbors.

Saturday, I'm off to Insa-dong to do some Christmas shopping with some of the girls before they leave for the holidays. Eric and I are headed in opposite directions in the evening for some guy & girl time.

It's been a busy week and will continue to be, but we're grateful for new friends and new traditions that allow us to enjoy this holiday season, as different as it is.

Christmas Program

2011-12-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

Last night was the kids' Christmas program at church. It was really cute. They had it set up so that the 2 and 3 year olds were only up on stage for a few minutes and they only sang a couple of songs, so it was hard to get a good shot of Cade. He totally reminded me of my brother singing in church Christmas programs when he was a kid. In other words, there was no singing. He stood there and played with his shirt and stared at the crowd. We were just proud of him for not picking his nose!

Kennedy had been practicing her songs for weeks now. While on stage, though, I think she was a little miffed that Jacob kept encroaching on her spot light.

She spent the first couple of songs elbowing her way out so that everyone could see her!

Once the littles were off the stage, she was able to stand front and center and focus on the words rather than where she was standing.

Cade was happy to sit back and watch.

She was easily distracted when Mom snuck up front to get a closer picture.

And, they were happy to finally get some cookies as their reward for standing up there and singing!

Anyone Can Be a Foodie

2011-12-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

I know...this is turning into such a foodie blog, but we're all "foodies" right? In that, we like to eat. Whether you like to prepare your food or not is a different issue. But you like to eat, so I'm going to assume that you don't mind my talking about all of the fabulous food that we make. And if you're a little bit jealous, well, I guess that's a little more incentive to visit us in this beautiful city!

I'll start with a little confession. When we left the Seattle area I was a typical Pacific Northwest coffee "snob". I loved my Starbucks (and I still do on the rare occasion that I get to go there!), and I brought my PNW beans with me. I bought a french press, so that I wouldn't have to worry about using a transformer or lugging a big coffee maker overseas. (Yes, of course they do sell coffee makers here, I just didn't want to have to buy one. There were already so many things on the list!) Then I arrived. Remember how when we moved in, the school provided some basic foodstuffs for us? One of those things was instant coffee. Here in Korea, they have their instant coffee down to a science. The Starbucks Via? It doesn't hold a candle to these little packets with the cream and sugar already mixed in. You literally dump the thing in the mug, add your hot water (from the water dispenser in every hallway at school and in every apartment), and you're ready to go. Being as busy as we are, and making my coffee at school 2-3 times a week, it had been pretty easy for me to stick with the instant.

Then, the other day, one of our new friends called me on it. "You're from Seattle and you drink that instant stuff?!" I didn't really have a response for her. There was nothing I could say to defend myself, so I pulled that french press out of the box and started making my own coffee every morning (that I'm home). But, I still don't drink it black. I had planned on picking up some vanilla syrup for my coffee when we go to Costco this week, but then I realized, if I can make my own caramel, I can make my own vanilla syrup, too. So, that's what I did yesterday morning. I now have two jars of vanilla syrup which should last me a while. That vanilla extract sure has been coming in handy!

This is one of the other things that I learned how to do the other day...because my kids are SO obsessed with watching every video they see on the internet (good thing they can't get on without me yet!), we ended up watching a video of how to make glaze icing on kingarthurflour.com. Did you know that you can easily sift flour or powdered sugar using just a whisk and a mesh colander? Definitely one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments! I've never been much of a sifter, but this I can do! Especially if it makes my frosting turn out smooth and beautiful!

I ended up frosting most of our cookies myself because Eric took Kennedy on a double date with our friend and his daughter to Jamba Juice (it's about a 3 hour jaunt round trip, but the kids love it!). Cade put on a few sprinkles, but he was more interested in playing with his cars and building Lego bridges.

I only decorated about 3 dozen of the cookies for the kids' Christmas program tonight, so Kennedy and I can finish the rest next weekend. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to make another trip to Baking Alley already, but at least I know I can find what I need now.

I think they turned out pretty well! You should definitely check out that recipe if you're icing cookies this Christmas. It's awesome! I had never tried simply dipping the cookies into the frosting before, but it saved me a lot of time and it covers the surface so much better than spreading! Yup, I'm a regular foodie these days!

1st Snow in Seoul

2011-12-09T03:07:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning and were so excited to see the first snow here in Seoul! We put on our boots, ran outside and tried to catch the flurries with the camera. It turned out Cade was not too excited to actually be in the snow, and that I was pretty unsuccessful actually capturing a shot of the snow itself, but we did enjoy watching it while it lasted.

I did get some good shots of surprisingly cooperative daughter. I was only surprised that she wasn't the one complaining about the cold.

Kennedy reminds me of my mom here...

After breakfast, we tried our hand at a very simple science experiment that I found on another blog last week. Well, it was supposed to simple. It turned out I didn't exactly have what I needed for it.

Eric accidentally dumped the cream that had expired down the drain last night, and I don't have liquid food coloring drops. The gel food coloring sunk to the bottom of the bowl because it was too heavy and the lowfat milk wasn't thick enough, but we still saw some action when we put the liquid soap in. And, the kids still enjoyed it because they didn't know what it was supposed to look like anyway!

Then, we got to work making our sugar cookie dough.

Baking the gingerbread cookies that we'd started yesterday.

And, finally finished the sugar cookies this evening. (And, just so you know, Cade asked me to take this picture of the snowflake cookies for you. He also directed where I take the picture and which cookies I needed to take a picture of!) Tomorrow, we will decorate them, and then we'll be all ready with our goodies for the kids' Christmas program at church on Sunday evening. I think we're pretty officially in the holiday mood, don't you?

Just Another Day

2011-12-08T03:13:00.001-08:00

Yup, today was just another day.

Another day of ice skating in the living room.

Another day of enjoying my children's imaginations.

Another day of Cade insisting to put his pajamas back on after we got home from the store. The socks over the feet of his pajamas? Why those are his ice skates, of course!

Another day of making snow angels on the wood floor. Check out those dirty socks. And I have a nanny that cleans 3 days a week!

Another day of turning our Korean picnic blanket into something other than a blanket (For some reason they all have these foil bottoms and a plastic material on top...not really a blanket by American standards. This one we got for free from one of the Korean staff at school.).

Another day of baking cookies, fighting over naps, and enjoying the power of my TCKs!

Cupcakes anyone?

2011-12-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

I honestly don't know what inspired the face, but the kids loved putting the cupcake wrappers in!

The domesticity continues...last night after getting home from work, I decided to throw together a batch of chocolate cupcakes for this evening's Lost gathering. It's the twins' birthday next weekend and we've done a pretty good job of making sure everyone's birthdays get recognized on Wednesday nights (except Eric's!) in order to provide a little home away from home. I knew I wasn't going to have time tonight to pick up a cake after my workout, so I figured I'd better buck up and try the whole baking from scratch thing again. Thankfully, I had picked up some unsweetened cocoa powder when I ran into it somewhere along the way in the past few months, and the powdered sugar I picked up on my trip to Baking Alley...now I'm going to have to track these things down again!

Thankfully this time, I had the hand mixer, so while I missed my Kitchen Aid, it was so much easier to make these cupcakes than it was to bake Eric's birthday cake! And, I may have made the best cream cheese frosting I've ever had. It is delicious! I'm kind of embarrassed that I've never really baked from scratch before. It's really not that difficult.

Not Me Monday: The Pacifier Saga

2011-12-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

Remember that sweet boy with the binky in his mouth?

First of all, I have most certainly not allowed my son to keep his "binky" until well after he turned 2 1/2. I have also not made one excuse after another for why that is so. I did not plan on being rid of the thing before his first birthday and then I did not make an excuse for why we "just can't get rid of it now". I did not make another lame excuse when he turned two. And, I would never use moving to another country as an excuse for why we still it had well after he turned two (but seriously, the kid needed it for the airplane rides!).
We did not try to put it in the mail and "send" it to Lidi in exchange for a toy. And then, we did not give in and give him the other one when he would not go to sleep without it. We did not then try cutting off the tip of it so that he would not want to suck on it any longer. Finally, we did not give him another one when, again, he refused to sleep without it.
And that is why I am absolutely not complaining about how bad the last five days have been now that we really can not find the last binky. Last week during one of the naps where he would not go to sleep (because he thinks he's giving them up entirely), he did not lose the binky all by himself, finally putting us in a position to be rid of the binky forever! My sweet and loving son would not be putting up a huge fight to take his nap and go to bed each night. He would not cry out for his binky, still asking me to find it for him even after 5 days. And, I would not ever get frustrated with this new (hopefully temporary) phase that we're in. I would never ask my "baby whisperer" husband to put our son to bed five nights in a row because I am scared to do it myself. Nope, not me!

Homemade Caramel

2011-12-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

We had a slow weekend. Thank goodness! It had been a while since we'd truly had a weekend where we had no plans and nothing to do. Saturday morning I was still trying to figure out something low key that we could do. I wanted to get out of the house, but by the time we had lounged around and relaxed enough it was nap time, so instead I decided we would do something fun at home.

Since I went to Baking Alley a few weeks ago, I've been inspired to try to bake (or make) something new. Cooking doesn't really scare me, but baking and any type of candy-making (as you probably already know...see Baking a Cake...and Eating it too!) scares me to death. Nonetheless, one of the things I've been missing is caramel. On Friday, I found this recipe for "Copycat Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate" and it sounded like the perfect motivation for me try her caramel recipe (I love savorysweetlife.com...she has great, simple recipes and she's a Christian living in the Seattle area. How can you go wrong?)

In spite of the comments where people said they "finally got it right on the 8th try!" and my great fear of candy making, I decided to go for it. I was even pretty successful for my first try. It's not 100% smooth, but it tastes delicious!

Then, after dinner, we settled down for some delicious Caramel Hot Chocolate (topped with whipped cream that I made using my homemade vanilla!) and watched "The Polar Express" as a family. A wonderfully, relaxing Saturday! I see a new tradition in the making!