I didn't bother putting on the pants that go with Henry's since they were way too big. He'll wear them for his one-year portrait though.

Today is the first day of the Year of the Tiger. I gave the girls some new hanboks because their old ones were getting too small and worn out. I bought Henry one for his first-year picture since I have that of the girls. It was difficult to pick a hanbok for him because they were all in what I think of (as an American) "girly" colors. I chose this one because I liked the dragon and I will probably take the dragon off and frame it after he's had his one-year portrait in it.

Posted by Becky at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah comes up with some of the funniest stuff around here.

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I have no idea what the game was here.

Adding the "V" and "M" pages to their alphabet books.

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Waiting for the banana-oat muffins to bake.

Playing "muddy-gooey shoes" in the rain.

The kids have been sick again this week (me, too) so we've been taking it easy for now. This morning for our science experiment we put some carnations in colored water. I didn't have any white carnations so I think this didn't work as well as it could have. We did see some good results with green food coloring but not with purple. The colored water shows up in the petals after a few hours of the flower drinking it.

Posted by Becky at 8:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls and I made a list of things we'd like to do before we leave Korea at the end of the month and at the very top of their list was to go to the dinosaur park one more time. We had beautiful weather today so Craig took the girls. (I stayed home with Henry to clean up the house so that some people could tour the apartment.)

Posted by Becky at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since everyone was still kind of sick this week we took it pretty easy again. Sarah learned about the letter D and we made sun prints and butter (Anna got back to her reading and math lessons as well). Today we made some brownies with some of the chocolate I've been hoarding for so long. (I get all of my baking chocolate from home because there is not a good source of chocolate here—on Geoje, at least!)

Posted by Becky at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We made butter for our science project today. The girls shook this container of fresh cream (I put it in a sour cream container in case you can read that it says "sour cream" on the container) for about ten seconds each. When it became obvious that I was the only one who intended to do "my share" of the 20 minutes of shaking required I put it in the food processor instead. We were all just as impressed (I think) and I added some honey to the butter for a different taste than what we buy in the store. It was really good and I didn't realize how simple it is to make butter until now.

Posted by Becky at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone is finally feeling better (still some coughing but no fevers) so we had to get out of the house today for some fresh air and a walk through town. **Note the ride Sarah is on has a "police officer" with his gun drawn.**

Too bad Craig & Henry were not also on the couch. Now that would have been a picture!

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A house in the winter woods.

Stones.

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Sarah refuses to admit she is sick. But she doesn't nap anymore and she doesn't leave fruit snacks un-eaten. Poor little girl. I feel especially bad for her because Henry is also sick and he is in the Baby Hawk a lot which means I can't hold her like she wants me to. At least Craig is back from gas-trials and can help in the evenings and Anna is finally starting to feel better.

Posted by Becky at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I set Henry down on the floor near where Sarah is standing and he made his way all the way around the kitchen table going backwards (he is on the other side of the table there with Anna in the picture above)! I think he has started to realize his potential here because he never backed into a chair or a wall but made all the turns very nicely. We are definitely stepping up the fun-factor here soon! Yay Henry!

I ended up taking the kids in to the doctor this morning because Anna still has a fever, Sarah has it, and I think Henry's coming down with it (he sounds a little congested in his chest). Henry was supposed to go in this week for his six-month check-up but since he was sick they won't do his vaccinations until next week.

Here are the kids stats:

Anna (4 years 10 months)
-Height 108.4 cm (42.7 inches)
-Weight 17.3 kg (38.1 lbs)

Sarah (2 years almost 8 months)
-Height 92.7 cm (36.5 inches)
-Weight 14.4 kg (31.7 lbs)

Henry (6 months)
-Height 70.8 cm (27.9 inches)
-Weight 9.2 kg (20.3 lbs)

Posted by Becky at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls were super-excited to get a box from Anita filled with Valentine's candy and these cute sweaters.

Sarah is starting to get sick now, too, so I can now just hope Henry & I don't get what Anna started! Craig should be home tomorrow though so at least I won't be on my own much longer.

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Henry especially likes his Eric Carle books.

I got in on the action, too, and did this butterfly.

The girls & I really enjoyed this project and I was so pleased with the results that I framed them and hung them up (mine will go into the trash soon). I drew each piece on tracing paper and then the girls laid the tracing paper cut-outs on the colored papers so I would know where to cut/which colors to use. Anna isn't feeling well today (slight fever & a cough) so this just about all we got accomplished today. Craig is on gas-trials until Wednesday so I hope Sarah, Henry, & I don't get it, too!

Posted by Becky at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found a cool art web site so I got the girls started today on some Eric Carle-inspired art. We'll see what they come up with tomorrow!

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Nutella on a digestive cracker. Yum!

Lacing.

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We started our morning with a science experiment.

Now Sarah gets a turn driving with the cat-pillow steering wheel.

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This kept Sarah busy for quite a while this afternoon.

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Sarah started calling herself "Craig the Shipyard Builder" and turned all of the stools in the house into ships. Clustering them together makes it the "shipyard."

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It has been increasingly difficult to get out and about lately as the weather has been colder and windy the past week or so. I think Henry enjoys getting out as much as the girls & I do though. I think we are all already looking forward to some spring weather.

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Trying to get a paperclip out of the water without touching it.

They have been playing some pretty elaborate games lately. I think this involved a doctor's visit for the poor animals.

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Henry & Gunvor.

Sarah likes to sit at the table with Anna & me when we do her reading and math lessons. Sometimes she likes to color and other times she wants an "activity" to do. This week I decided to give her two days of learning about a letter (so I could have some focus when coming up with her activity!). We did H & S this week and she can now tell you what sounds those two letters make.

Our neighbors came back from Norway yesterday and we got to meet baby Gunvor for the first time. She is eight weeks and didn't seem that much shorter than Henry but she is light as a feather compared to him! Henry grabbed her shirt and held on tight. She doesn't move yet and Henry only rolls to the left (both front to back and back to front) so they can safely share a blanket for now as long as we put Henry more than one roll's distance away from her.

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We went to the ferry-terminal playground for a bit today before lunch.

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Henry is 5.5 months in these photos.

Anna is 10 months here. (January 15, 2006)

This is the sweater that Carolyn knit for Craig when he was a baby. I wonder if he also wore it in January?

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Blueberry muffins.

Relaxing with a good stack of books.

(Henry was in the Babyhawk but I couldn't get a good picture of us.)

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Henry is starting to push up on his arms already!

First taste of solid food!

Henry has a rash on his neck and chin from constant drooling (I swear I thought Sarah was a drooler but that was only because I hadn't met Henry yet!) and it isn't going away with my attempts at treating it. Worried it would turn into a yeast infection, I took him in the pediatrician. He prescribed a cream that was part hydrocortisone and part clotrimizole and said it is not yeast. Here's hoping this cream does the trick!

We also decided to get Henry started on solids tonight because he seems like he is ready. He really seemed to like it!

Posted by Becky at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Sarah is super into rhyming right now and loves to sing the "Name Game" song (Sarah Sarah bo-bera, banana-fana-fo fera...) and says stuff like, "I want to be in your arms your arms your barms."

Posted by Becky at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Henry fell asleep on the way home from lunch with Craig and rather than wake him up to put him down for a nap I decided to take the girls to the Lotte Mart play area (45 minute drive). He woke up by the time we got there so it was all just as well that we were out and about. The girls, however, did not want to play in the play area as it was pretty busy with kids. So, we went to the Daiso section (Japanese discount store) and got a few little things then packed up and went home. The kids were all great at the store as they have been each time I've gone out with all three.

Posted by Becky at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls had a blast doing the "Will it Float?" science experiment this morning. Anna was especially thrilled that they had data sheets.

Posted by Becky at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took the girls to the play area at Home Plus today because it has been too cold to go to the playground with Henry. They had a lot of fun but only when it was them and two other girls who were pretty tame. Two little boys came and Anna & Sarah got a little less enthusiastic about being there. This is actually a place where I can drop them off and do my shopping if I want but based on today only they aren't quite ready for it (Sarah anyway). We might check out the D-Cube play area next week.

Posted by Becky at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reading to her friends.

Anna wanted to sit with Henry on the couch and I really have no idea what Sarah was doing here (she wouldn't explain herself).

Today was our first day of school at home for this semester. OIS and Playschool don't start again until next week but I thought it would be best to just get going here to start and set some new routines. I started daily (Monday through Thursday) reading lessons with Anna last week and am adding daily math this week. We will also do a science experiment this week. Next week I might add something else or we might just keep it at those three things for now. I'm also reading chapter books to Anna at night (we're reading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary now) and some longer fairy tales to the girls during the day. The girls are always coloring or drawing and Anna is always writing notes or stories.

The big thing is that I felt like I never saw Anna when she was going to OIS because she was gone five days per week from 8:30-2:45 and she is only four years old. She has learned a lot in Miss Susan's class and that made the decision difficult. What made it easier was that she still got super upset at drop-off and came home tired and grumpy after being at school all day. She also has not made a whole lot of social progress (she does not talk at school to her teacher or her friends) and I wonder if taking a semester off will allow her to forget that she had previously decided that she "doesn't talk at school." If we end up in Texas for the 2010-2011 school year I may also consider continuing homeschooling since that is also a full day for Kindergartners (this is billed as a positive thing).

I've dropped Sarah's enrollment at Playschool down to two days per week but will probably drop it down to one day or none at all. I think it will be hard to convince her to go when Anna is at home but I'd like them each to have something away from home for a few hours per week (Anna started ballet again today so she's going to that twice per week for one hour each time).

So far we've done our schoolwork when Henry goes down for his morning nap and it only takes ten or twenty minutes. Sarah listens in and colors or plays nearby during this time and sometimes I have a little something for her to do and sometimes not (one day this week I had her match pictures of the insides of fruits to the outsides of fruits while I worked with Anna on something else). I think it will be wonderful to spend more time with Anna at this age and to let her have more time to be a kid.

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Henry likes to watch his sisters swinging. At least for now!

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Craig took the girls on a tour of the shipyard today. No pictures allowed there but they liked seeing the massive ships and equipment there.

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Sarah wanted her bag of books & animals on her lap when we got going. I convinced her to put it down on the floor and I would hand her things as she wanted them.

There we are hugging the wall!

Henry and I have not been off of Geoje Island since we went to Seoul for his passport (I'm not counting Lotte Mart since that's barely off of the island) so it felt like a great adventure today taking the car ferry and going to Shinsegae Mall to take the girls ice skating. We had talked about doing that in July but they don't carry Craig's size at the skate shop and I was too pregnant to go so now seemed like a good time. If we had known that Craig & Henry could have gone into the area with us it would have been a much better experience though.

The girls and boy split up and we hoped that Henry could take a nap in his stroller. It took forever for me to find and adjust the helmets for the girls, get a locker for our shoes, get the skates on everyone, wobble to the ice, and then get onto the ice. Sarah's skates were much too big for her so she had a harder time than Anna but she had a good attitude and laughed every time she fell instead of getting frustrated. It would have been much better if I could have left one girl with Craig while I did a lap around the ice with the other girl and then switched girls every couple of laps or so. If we go back we will try it that way. The girls both said the best part of ice skating was when it was time for the zamboni to come and the ice rink guy picked them up and skated them to the carpeted area. (!)

We had fun and we were all glad we went. Henry did not nap as well in the car or stroller as we thought he would but he was still easy-going. I think he enjoyed getting out and seeing some new stuff. Also I was happy to find that there was a nursing room at the mall near the restrooms so I didn't have to go back to the car or into a bathroom stall (I'm not 100% sure of the breastfeeding laws here but I know I have never seen anyone doing it and I am under the impression that Korean moms are more into formula-feeding than breastfeeding—I could be wrong about that though).

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We all made felt crowns with sequins for decoration.

We needed an excuse to get dressed up so we had a formal hors d'oeuvres party with the kids tonight. The kids liked most of the menu and we all had fun. I think we'll do the same next year and make it a tradition as long as they're into it. Now that there are five of us it really felt like we were having a party! The crackers I bought from Crate & Barrel were lame and didn't come with crowns which is why we had to make our own this year.

Posted by Becky at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Making the "2010" look sparkly.

Sarah had the puzzle pieces between her toes until she saw my camera coming. Anna has wrapped up the puzzle in a medical bandage. Henry just thinks hanging out with his sisters is cool.

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Sarah makes the best Hippopotamus Pie this side of the Pacific.

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Sarah is so in love with her new pig pajamas we had a hard time convincing her to put on her clothes today!

Henry seemed to like having more space to stretch in his new full-size crib.

We really want to get Sarah "trained" to sleep in a regular bed before we move (probably by the end of February) so we decided she could "give" Henry the crib for Christmas. She thought this was a great idea but wanted to "wait until Saturday." I think she has matured a lot since we tried this six months ago so I'm hopeful that it will go well tonight (and I'm really glad we don't have to deal with a nap now!).

Posted by Becky at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Solving some dinosaur puzzles.

We had a great Christmas morning. The kids were so excited that it was finally time to open their presents but they were also disappointed that Zamp (the elf that had watched them all month) had gone back to the North Pole with Santa in the night. We made Corrine's sticky buns for breakfast and spent a relaxing day checking out the new stuff.

Posted by Becky at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Henry is five months old today! I think he is looking so much more mature here in these pictures now that he is sitting up a little better. He can sit for about 5 seconds on his own and at some point in the next month he will start eating solid food. I can hardly believe it is already time for that; it seems simultaneously like yesterday and like ages ago I started pureeing apples and pumpkin for him. I'll start letting him have some water out of a cup soon and then we'll probably start with avocado if Home Plus has some in stock (they usually do).

Henry still only rolls from back to tummy and he always rolls to the left. He is starting to get "stuck" on his tummy at night time which is frustrating. If I felt confident in his abilities to roll back onto his back I'd let him figure it out but until he does it (and does it consistently) during the day I feel compelled to go in in the middle of the night when he's fussing and roll him back over.

Henry loves to watch his sisters play and really loves it when they stop and talk to him or show him something. He loves to read books (he kicks his feet in excitement) and he likes to get out and about for a change of scene. It's too bad it's such a hassle getting three kids ready to go out in freezing cold weather or we'd probably go out every day but right now we're probably doing it every-other-day (there aren't that many places to go when it's this cold anyway!).

Henry's naps are getting better/more consistent which is great. He is taking three naps per day now and is still nursing 6 times per day (including one time in the middle of the night). He wakes up around 7 AM and goes down for the night around 6:30 PM.

Posted by Becky at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah & I made another batch of Opa's vanilla pretzels this morning. She went to taste the flour as I was measuring and knocked the bowl on the floor. Thankfully it was at the start of the recipe and not the end!

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Button tree from my mom.

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The girls & I made gingerbread cookies today for part of our Christmas cookie gift-giving. We used the cutters from my grandma. We also made Opa's vanilla pretzels this year so it is nice to have something from each of them on our cookie plate!

Posted by Becky at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had so many exactly like this one; I think his mouth was stuck open like this!

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Craig went on sea trial on Monday with the plan to be back Friday. Thursday he said it would probably be Sunday but luckily today he called and asked us to come pick him up! Funny how he was technically late but we were all excited to have him home "early!"

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The Wombats playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" while they wait for their turn to see Santa.

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Sarah likes to hop around the house. Why walk when you can hop?

Vision is highly over-rated.

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Sarah has been obsessed with collecting leaves this fall.

The boys at Prince Coffee.

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"Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

Sarah spent a long time lining them up and stacking them before she wanted to actually get into the playdough.

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I ordered these stockings from an Etsy store. I need to get one more stocking hanger but Craig & I will have to share this year.

Posted by Becky at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I set up the Christmas tree and a few decorations yesterday while Craig, Anna, & Sarah went to Costco in Busan. The girls were really excited to decorate it this morning but poor little Sarah was sick (I was, too, but she had it worse than I did) so after that we didn't do much else the rest of the day.

Posted by Becky at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Transferring popcorn kernels with some little tongs.

Anna adores Henry and very often wants to hold him.

Anna stayed home from school today because she wasn't feeling 100% and hey, she's only 4 years old and it's preschool. We had a nice time at home and an extra bonus we didn't have to go out in the cold (read: "I didn't have to get three kids and myself dressed in winter clothing")!

Posted by Becky at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anna & I went into town to run some errands. Craig was putting Henry down for a nap. Sarah was coloring the kitchen wall. She says it is "ghosts."

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Getting set up for the experiment.

The girls were really excited when a package from Grandma came with a few new clothes!

The girls & I did a "color hypothesis" activity from the Dinosaur Train section on PBSkids.org today and they really had fun. Sarah got a little bored with the data sheet but liked making predictions and figuring out the results.

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This will be the picture we send out this year.

And we're done.

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Sarah still has a bit of a cold so I kept her home one more day.

The girls were so happy to see Craig come home!

Craig finally made it home today after spending the night in Tokyo on his way back from Houston. Anna and Sarah ran to him yelling, "Daddy! I love you! Daddy, I love you!" Henry preferred when I put him down for his next nap, however.

Posted by Becky at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The girls have been obsessed with dinosaurs lately so I found a few dinosaur activities for us to do today. We also made our own book about them while we wait for Craig to bring us back a real one with more dinosaur information. I have had a really difficult time sounding out all of the dinosaur names in Korean on a sticker set I bought for them and needed the English (although I'm sure I'll still struggle with some pronunciations!).

Sarah's favorite dinosaur is the triceratops and Anna's is the parasaurolophus. I like to call Sarah "tri-SARAH-tops" and Anna "pter-ANNA-don." Poor Henry has to be just "Henry-o-saurus."

Posted by Becky at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I admit that today was the day I was dreading most of all this week. I had originally planned to go to the store on Wednesday with just Henry (Anna & Sarah had Friday off already this week). I usually go to the store by myself on Sunday morning and then once into town for a quick trip on Wednesday night (again, by myself). The kids were perfect. I got a cart with a baby seat for Henry and Anna & Sarah held on to my cart the whole time (I thought for sure Sarah would bolt since she usually rides in the cart). I don't think I'll ever take them again so that they will have a fantastic record of being great when I've had all three with me in the store.

Also, today is Sarah's half-birthday and she can suddenly pedal her little tricycle. She's not going crazy fast yet but I'm sure that time will come soon enough. She was pretty thrilled when she figured it out! Henry is 16 weeks today and is finally starting to look like he might roll over (he looks like he's working on both directions).

Posted by Becky at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The kids & I went into town today to get out of the house for a bit. We went to a park in town, Starbucks for lunch, and then stopped at the convenience store for some milk (we'll do our big shopping trip on Friday when the cleaning ladies come).

Posted by Becky at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My three fantastic kids. I love Sarah's Bumbo hat. Anna worked on art projects for most of the day.

Decorating the ornaments. Sarah wanted to make all of them for Opa. I convinced her that we should send some to a few other people as well.

Day three of no Craig and no school and we are doing great! The girls have been getting along so well, Henry has been napping predictably and fairly well. And, so far, no one seems to have gotten sick! It is only Tuesday, however.

Posted by Becky at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Henry I (heart) you"

Just after Henry woke up from his (awesome) nap this morning Anna's school called to tell me to come get her because one of the Wombats had H1N1 and probably had it on Friday while they were at school. It turns out a ton of kids were home sick already on Monday (I watched all of this unfold on Facebook!) so it was spreading around OIS fast. Henry & I drove over to get Anna and then walked over to get Sarah out of school early as well. We stopped at the Import Lady & Bakery Lady to stock up on a few supplies and then went home to stay away from other people while I started panicking about what I would do if one of my kids got the flu (or me--how would I take care of all three of them with Craig gone?). So far it's just Sarah & Henry with the remains of their colds which aren't so bad. I'll have to think of some fun stuff to do around the house this week and hope for the best.

Posted by Becky at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Craig left for Houston today. He will be gone for one week... wish us luck! Today has gone well so far and since Sarah has a cold (Henry, too), I ended up putting her to bed a bit earlier than usual which worked out very well for getting Henry down hassle-free. (The bedtime routine is the part of Craig being gone that I'm nervous/stressed out about.) I got Sarah to bed at 6:45, Henry in bed at 7, and then Anna went to bed at 7:30. Anna worked on some art while I put Henry to bed which was perfect.

One sad/cute thing to remember this morning is that when Craig was leaving, Sarah was in a panic to find a tissue. She ended up unraveling a large amount of toilet paper, wiped her nose, and told Craig she "wiped off her cold" so that she could kiss him goodbye (we had asked her to not hug & kiss Henry & Anna when her cold started... too bad Henry got it anyway!).

Posted by Becky at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ready for school!

Sarah had a little party at school this morning but she is starting to get a cold so I don't know that she had very much fun. After her party we walked over to Anna's school for the Halloween assembly to see all the costumes. They went from oldest classes to youngest classes so we had to stay a lot longer than Sarah really wanted but I was proud of Anna when she walked on the catwalk (hey, I wouldn't want to do it!). The girls were a bit overwhelmed by all of the carnival activities at school but they really liked Trick-or-Treating. We didn't hit every house (the school arranged for everyone to go just to the row-houses so it had the right atmosphere of trick-or-treating in a neighborhood) and the girls still got a ton of candy. Henry stayed awake the entire time (when he normally would have been sleeping) I think because of the cool air and lights. Everyone went to bed happy tonight!

Posted by Becky at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm really going to try to not eat lunch at Starbucks every other day but it's so good it's hard to resist! I almost feel like I'm on American soil when I walk in there! Sarah had a ton of fun at the Ferry Terminal playground today and was not interested in leaving when I told her it was time to meet Craig for lunch. She did, however, enjoy tasting my hot chocolate once we got there.

Posted by Becky at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've started putting Henry in the (purple!) Bumbo for a few minutes each time he is awake. I still can't make my camera "smile" at him so he stops smiling at me as soon as that big black camera goes up in the air...

The fairies are sleeping under a big window so it won't snow or rain on them.

Posted by Becky at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I didn't have my camera with me today because Craig took it golfing...

Sarah, Henry, & I went to the "Pagoda Playground" today near the old abandoned amusement park. Sarah had a blast and Henry slept in his stroller (the reason we went was because he had such an awful attempt at nap earlier in the morning I thought we had all better get out of the house for our own sanity!). Thankfully Henry kept sleeping as we went back into town and checked out the new Okpo Starbucks! Sarah and I had a really delicious lunch there and Henry had a relatively nice nap (sure it was noisier than home but he actually slept!).

Tonight (I just forgot to put the camera in my purse after Craig came back), I took the girls to Anna's Open House Night at school. Anna showed me all around her classroom and the library. I got to talk to her teacher a little bit and let her know that she is teaching Anna things since Anna still refuses to speak at school (at some point I need to find out when this is going to become an actual problem for her. Kindergarten? First grade? I just hope she gets over it before I have to find out!).

Posted by Becky at 8:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think we're all finally getting used to our new routines. Sarah still (some days) runs up to Anna when she comes home from school and gives her a giant hug and says something along the lines of, "oh, Anna I missed you!" And then some days they start bickering about 35 seconds after Anna comes in the door.

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Posted by Becky at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just a couple of quick Sarah & Anna-isms:

Every night when Craig comes home from work, the girls run to him and yell, "SURPRISE!!!"

One of the "games" the girls like to play is to run up and down the hall of the apartment and yell, " Fire! Fire! My toes are starting to burn!"

Posted by Becky at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anna colored all sides of this box with a marker. (I got her to paint the top at least)

Sarah didn't "get" it at first.

Craig & Sarah went to Costco today (Sarah's first time accompanying him) and Anna stayed home with me & Henry. Anna had a very specific idea for an art project today and spent almost the entire day working on it. She really likes an older girl that rides the bus with her to school and one day this girl had made a house out of cardboard so Anna was trying to replicate that. When she was finally done with it we used the rest of the box we had cut apart to make a finger-puppet theater. Anna & I really had fun making up different shows for each other. Sarah took a little while to "get it" but eventually she started making up some shows, too (kind of).

Posted by Becky at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I enlisted Sarah to help me get the pumpkin seeds separated from the pumpkin slime but she wasn't into the job. I made some cubes for Henry and set aside three cups of puree for us to use in cookies, bread, and pancakes. I will probably have to buy at least one more pumpkin to get enough puree for Henry for this winter.

Posted by Becky at 8:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last week I went the iTunes store to look for some new shows for the kids to watch and I checked the PBSKids page, didn't see anything I wanted, and clicked away. Sarah said, "I want the dinosaur show!" I went back and honestly thought to myself, " 'Dinosaur Train' has more 'train' in the picture than 'dinosaur,' she's really perceptive!" Sarah wanted Barney. I told her we couldn't get that one but we could get Dinosaur Train. The kids agreed and they love it. I'm so glad I was able to navigate away from Barney so easily!

Posted by Becky at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

She wanted to make five owls.

Then she topped it off with a drawing of an owl family. And she did it all in her hanbok.

Posted by Becky at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I took the girls to Angel-in-Us Coffee this morning after we went to two playgrounds to play. We left the boys at home this morning.

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Sarah, Henry, & I went to check out new-to-us playground this morning. We called it the "Rocketship Playground" but I think that the jungle gym looks more like a spaceship. Sarah won't budge on the name.

This afternoon, Sarah, Henry, & I went to watch the Wombats & Pandas perform a few songs and poems. All of the kids made their home flags for the presentation. Anna is now interested in going to South Africa to see where her friend River is from.

Posted by Becky at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Henry is wearing a 6-9 month outfit in this picture!

This is Sarah's "family" that she has to load in the (play) car or the shopping cart and take to the store (Costco or the Apple Guy, usually). Daddy the bunny, Mommy is Hello, Kitty, Anna & Sarah are the Minnie Mouses, and the owl is Henry.

Today was the last day of the Chuseok break (Craig & the girls had Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off).

Posted by Becky at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Craig bought a season pass to NFL.com so everyone got on their Broncos shirts for the game this morning. Enthusiasm died pretty quickly but I'm sure as the kids get older they'll get more interested (hopefully anyway, for Craig's sake!).

Posted by Becky at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All Photos today by Craig.

Anna on the left, Sarah on the right.

Craig took the girls to watch the sunset on Gajo Island tonight and then we did sparklers when they got home.

Posted by Becky at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I still have a little work to do on Sarah's costume but she was really happy with it (and so was I). Anna's & Henry's are store-bought, obviously!

Posted by Becky at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah just love playing games right now. We are playing a lot of Cariboo and Sequence right now. Jacques (the cat) and Baby Timon (the giraffe) also have to take turns and give high-fives throughout the game which adds to the fun.

In other news, today Sarah asked Craig the following question this morning: "Daddy, why are you brushing your teeth... with mommy's toothbrush?" I promptly got a new toothbrush for myself out of my toiletries stash.

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Today was crazy day at school and the girls were super excited (although Sarah didn't even have school today--and her school wasn't having crazy day anyway!).

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Anna wanted to get her hair cut because it was getting too tangled and hard to brush in the mornings. Sarah thought she wanted to get her hair cut, too, but chickened out when it was her turn to sit in the chair.

Posted by Becky at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sarah suddenly cared about not getting messy today.

Sarah cried at drop-off on Wednesday but today she just got a little teary-eyed. Henry went in for a couple of immunizations today and it was the first time he noticed his shots. He was so sad. It's a good thing he doesn't realize that he's going in for some more in a couple of weeks. Poor little guy.

Henry weighs 6.72 kg (14 lbs 13oz) and is 62cm (24.4 inches) long.

The strange thing about Henry's appointment today was instead of laying him on the table like his last visit and like they would in the US, Henry sat on my lap and the doctor gave him the same "exam" as Anna & Sarah. Which is to say he listened to Henry's heart, looked in his ears and throat, and felt his tummy. That was it. End of exam. This is very strange to me. They also don't measure his head here so I have to remember to do that this weekend!

Posted by Becky at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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I wanted to have Sarah make a leaf garland like Anna did two years ago when we moved here and I knew Anna would want to, too, so I cut out enough for both girls to work on it. I set Sarah up with it and she refused, saying, "I want to do it with my sister! I will do it with her when she gets home." She seemed a little bored with just me today so I hope that means drop-off at school will go better tomorrow. Anna was super excited that I had a craft ready for her to do when she got home this afternoon and spent a long time coloring. I'll string them up and take a picture of their garlands later on.

Posted by Becky at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was my first day out with all three kids and it went amazingly well. The girls were on the see-saw at OIS and a little girl said, "Hi, Sarah!" It was her new friend from Playschool, Michelle. It was a strange moment for me to witness Sarah's social life developing. Sarah did cry when I dropped her off today so I hope that goes better (she didn't cry the other times I dropped her off maybe because I didn't have Henry with me?).

I read The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear to Henry today and he was chatting and laughing at the book. I'm trying to start the reading before nap-time routine but he's not really into it yet (so I am reciting Goodnight, Moon while I wrap him in his blanket).

Thankfully, I have Craig bringing Sarah home from Playschool and Anna is taking the bus home every day from school. This makes everything much easier!

Posted by Becky at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Craig & Anna took Anita to the airport and I stayed home with Henry & Sarah. I think we're in a much better place than we were when my mom left probably partly because Anna & Sarah are going to school now and partly because Henry is a few weeks older and more "organized" with his day routine. Thank you for everything you've done to help us get to this point, Nana!

Posted by Becky at 8:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sorry this is fuzzy, I took it through the screen.

Sarah showing off her new walking shoes with "Jacques" (formerly known as "Mater" but he's been Jacques for much longer now so I think that's going to stick).

Summer is coming to an end already, I think we'll take down the terrace pool after this weekend. I think the girls went into the big, apartment pool for the last time last weekend. Nana leaves for Colorado on Saturday and we'll be left to fend for ourselves as a family of five without a granny-nanny or a nana-nanny to help out. We are so lucky that our moms were able to come out for so long to help out.

Posted by Becky at 8:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lookin' good on the griddle!

I can't imagine why we never made English muffins before. We have missed them for so long and they are so easy to make! I imagine we'll have them at least once per week now.

Craig & Anna went to Anna's back-to-school night. I think she was super excited to show Craig around her classroom and for him to meet her teacher.

Posted by Becky at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I keep forgetting to write here how well Sarah is doing in the big pool with her swim vest. She hasn't taken any swimming lessons yet but is a little daredevil so has just gone for it. She has really improved a lot since I went with her last (in early July). Swim lessons are one thing I'm really looking forward to having the kids do when we move back to Texas next year!

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We made some homemade pretzels today. I hadn't made them since the first year we were in Korea and forgot how much we loved them! The girls liked rolling out the strips.

Posted by Becky at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Waking up on the couch.

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Baking oatmeal cookies. Sarah loves to help but she's quick and sneaky always looking for an opportunity to "taste."

Sarah loves Henry!

Posted by Becky at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't seen this for about a month!

Sarah took a monster bite of ice cream!

Craig picked up Sarah from school today and the report was that she was talking her teachers' ears off! She had a good day at school and told me that she took turns on the swing with her "school friends." She is so funny and it is crazy how she and Anna are so different! The girls are alike in that they "don't remember" what they did at school that day. Apparently Sarah's second day of school wore her out though: she took a nap today for the first time in a month!

Anna told me a while ago that she would start talking at school when she is five. I'm not sure why she's going to wait until then but I hope her teacher can convince her a little earlier. Anna seems to really like her teacher this year and is having a lot of fun in her class. She has taken the bus to school once and home twice and I wonder how many days it will be before I'm not totally worried about her finding her way to the Wombats line in the morning and finding the bus driver in the afternoon.

Posted by Becky at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I couldn't resist taking this lady's picture as she walked past Prince Coffee, sorry, Lady.

Today was Anna's and Sarah's first day of school. We started out by taking Anna to the Wombats classroom. This year I won't take her up each morning, instead she will line up with her teacher outside and walk up with her class when the bell rings. We found her cubby and made a name tag and then the kids sat on the mat and waved goodbye to their parents. I could see that Anna was nervous but she was brave and reports back that she had a good day. She is going five days a week from 8:30-2:45 (until 2:30 on Fridays). Tomorrow will be another big deal since she is going to take the bus to and from school (!!).

After we said goodbye to Anna, Sarah and I walked over to Playschool. When we got to school, we put her outside shoes in her cubby and put on her fancy new sparkly indoor shoes. Sarah went straight to a rocking horse and started to play. One of her teachers came to play with her and I said goodbye. Sarah looked up and waved goodbye and that was that. When I picked her up from school, Sarah saw me with Henry and got a super big smile and said, "that's my new baby!" I could tell she had been crying and her teachers said they took her for a walk outside until she told them she was thirsty. But she had settled down and was fine when I came to get her. It was so strange to walk into the Playschool and see Sarah sitting in the same chairs Anna used to when I went to pick her up (and with Henry in the sling just like Sarah used to be). Sarah will go to school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:45-12.

As for Henry, Anita, & I, we went to the silk store with Karen & Alfred and then to Prince Coffee before we had to pick up Sarah. Today was kind of crazy with running back to school all day and I don't think I could have done it without Anita here! Hopefully we'll figure out our routine before she leaves.

Posted by Becky at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I took the girls into town today to buy some new indoor shoes for school tomorrow and (obviously wishing she were wearing her new shoes and not her old ones) in the car on the way home this is the conversation I had with Sarah.

Sarah said, "I've got two problems....."
Becky: "Oh, really? What are they?"
Sarah, pointing to her feet, "It's these shoes!" (her old ones)

How did she get so hilarious is what I want to know!

Posted by Becky at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The girls were pretending the couch was a firetruck and they put on their seatbelts to go to a fire.

The girls helped Nana in the kitchen this afternoon.

Henry is getting more fun already at only six weeks! He is definitely getting more social and I think he gives out more smiles than either of the girls did at this age. He has still been easy at night (with the occasional gas-bubble causing a ruckus at 4 in the morning) and this past week Anita & I have gotten him on a 2.5-3 hour schedule instead of the 2-hour schedule he had been on. Last night he ate at 6:45 and didn't wake up to eat again until 1:45 (usually it's closer to 12)! He woke again at 5 but I think I could have had him wait until 6 to eat since he didn't eat very much/very well at 5. This was very nice and I am sure I'm greedy for hoping he does it again tonight! He is having a hard time taking decent naps during the day unless he's being held which is fine while Anita is here but I imagine he'll be taking a lot of naps in the sling after she leaves until he learns to stay asleep longer than 30-45 minutes in the crib.

Posted by Becky at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anna is wearing her star necklace, shoes, earrings, & ring. She was a wide variety of people today but every name she called herself had "star" in it. Sarah has been "Click the Mouse" from the kids' Click Magazine or Timon from The Lion King most recently. The girls change who they are (what their name is) so many times per day it is hard to keep track and I often just ask "who are you?" when I'm talking to them because they get so upset/offended when you get it wrong. Today on the way home from the store in the car Sarah asked, "who am I now?" So even she gets confused! I told her if she was ever in doubt she could just go by "Sarah" to which she replied, "No! I'm Click right now."

Posted by Becky at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mijung & Jaynie stopped by to meet "The Henry" on Mijung's day off from work.

Henry has a bit of infant acne (not as bad as Sarah's was, I don't think) so we will wait to do portraits with Anita for another little while in hopes that it will clear up a bit.

The girls schools were delayed one week due to the Swine Flu but today the Playschool had the kids come in to meet the teachers and other students. Sarah got to meet three of her teachers and went to play with one of them when she asked. Anna went with Sarah & her teacher (Sandra) but came running back to me and said in a worried tone, "mommy, Sarah's talking to her teacher!" Anna totally reverted to her super-shy self while we were at school so I thought maybe it was a good idea to walk over to OIS and see if we could take a sneak-peek at her classroom and meet her teacher, too (thanks to Jacki for the idea!). I'm glad we did but I forgot my camera which I think would have been nice to look at the pictures this week. Anna didn't talk to her new Wombats teacher but I have hope that maybe she'll do it this year since she has gotten a lot more self-confident over the summer it seems.

Posted by Becky at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah got the pillow balance-board idea and didn't care any more that she wasn't the one playing the game.

Henry really likes getting baths!

Posted by Becky at 9:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah was dragging "Jacques" around like he was Bernie in Weekend at Bernie's.

Posted by Becky at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the worst things about a blog is coming up with entry titles. At any rate: here the girls are having a blast in the terrace pool while Anita gets sun exposure to help with the jet lag.

Posted by Becky at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anita missed her connection in Tokyo last night and didn't make it to our house until bedtime tonight. She got to hold Henry a bit, give Sarah a goodnight kiss, and read Anna a story so she made it just in time!

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Henry's first family hike.

I don't know what Anna's goal was here, but she was happy with the result.

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Henry at 4 weeks.

Anna at 3 weeks.

I guess I've changed the size of my thumbnails as the years progressed as well!

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Anna & Sarah love to set up the Gymini and the bouncy seat for Henry with lots of stuff to look at.

Henry is doing a good job lifting and turning his head!

We survived the first two days without my mom. Craig worked a half-day yesterday and then came home for a long lunch today. The girls have watched a bit more TV than I would normally prefer but we are working our way through it!

Posted by Becky at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks, mom, for everything you did for us while you were here the last four weeks!

Posted by Becky at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I let the girls have the bottom of the background paper. Anna wanted me to trace her and then she decorated her paper self.

I'm not sure how Craig claims he's tired. Henry has been so easy at night, Craig hasn't had to do anything at night after the second night home from the hospital.

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Modeling his cloth diaper on the play blanket my mom made for him.

Anna & Sarah both wanted to read their books to Henry.

Henry is two weeks old today! He is still Mr. Wonderful in the night and he is definitely setting high expectations in the sleep department. He is more alert now during his wakeful times of the day and seems to enjoy tummy time. He practiced lifting his head up off the floor and turning it a few times today which was exciting for everyone to see since it's really the only thing he "does" so far.

I also decided to start using his cloth diapers today since I'm almost out of the newborn size diapers I bought last week and I'd rather not keep buying more. They are super bulky on him because they are one-size diapers. Sarah started cloth at 15 months and I never used the smaller settings so bulk didn't seem so extreme on her. I wonder how long it will take to get used to the bulkiness?

I weighed Henry on our home scaled and it said he is eleven pounds. He is getting more efficient at nursing (only taking ten minutes now) so we're not spending so much time doing that and he gets more time to play and stretch during his wake-time. I'm so glad my mom is here and that Craig has had time off so that by the time I'm on my own with the three kids he will hopefully be even more predictable and our days will run relatively smoothly. Craig is planning to work half-days the week between my mom & his mom's visit so we'll see how it goes then!

Posted by Becky at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Photos by Craig Waiting in line. Thankfully we got there right when it opened so we didn't have to wait long.

Sarah was a bit of a grump once we got to the top of the tower. She was hot, tired, and hungry. I guess I'd be a bit of a grump, too! She took a nice nap once we got back to the hotel this afternoon.

Posted by Becky at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Nice drawer, Henry!

Outback Steakhouse.

Craig, Henry, & I went to the US Embassy this morning to apply for Henry's passport and to get our wills notarized. The Embassy here is much smaller than the one in Doha (but maybe the one in Doha was just "grand" as was everything there?). We were done with everything in about an hour and it wasn't too big of a deal. Now, we wait for Henry's passport and then we have to get his Alien card right away once we have it. I am also really happy to have our wills taken care of. Now let's hope we don't need them.

Craig & my mom took the girls to the hotel pool this afternoon and then we all went out to Outback for dinner. You can see in the picture above that Henry was happy to just sleep on the bench at the restaurant even while his big sister Sarah was throwing fits (in the picture above she is yelling that she didn't want me to take a picture). We're hoping she's getting her two-year molars but it's probably a lack of naps, being two years old, and all of the changes that are getting us a lot of nice tantrums from Sarah lately.

Posted by Becky at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We got a minivan for our trip to Seoul this week and the girls were excited to sit in the "way back." Henry lost his cord stump between rest stops on the drive up (yay!) and he slept so much in the car that I'm worried he won't sleep well tonight... especially since he is sleeping in a drawer. We asked for a baby crib when we made our hotel reservation but apparently that didn't matter to the hotel! Luckily we brought the Pack n' Play for Sarah or we'd be in all sorts of bed-time trouble. The kids really did pretty well on the drive up probably partly because we stopped every two hours or so so Henry could eat (and the girls were able to check out rest-stop playgrounds, etc.).

Posted by Becky at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally we had a day with enough sun to somewhat heat up the big pool today. We have had significantly less rain since my mom arrived but it has not been the sunny summer I was imagining with us at the pool every day.

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Just a picture of the three kids hanging out together. It is going to be fun to see how Henry interacts with his big sisters as he grows!

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Sarah found out this past week that we have some fun games in our cupboards and we found out that she is actually mature enough to play some of them! The best one is a Haba game called "Keep it Steady" and the other two she really likes are "Sequence for Kids" and "Cariboo." She does have a problem of sticking the Cariboo balls in her mouth though so that one has had to go up on top of the fridge a few times.

Posted by Becky at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is my current favorite of Henry. HOW did he get so cute?!

Posted by Becky at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Good morning, Henry!

The girls were excited when I asked them to get in the picture with Henry. We might try for a more formal portrait session later in the week when I have a bit more energy.

Anna & Sarah are adjusting really well to Henry but it is an adjustment to our routine and I'm sure things will be a little crazy for a little while as we get used to our new routines. I'm so glad that my mom is able to be here to help out and that Craig is able to take time off of work as well.

Posted by Becky at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I keep forgetting that we left the hospital so early and that we normally wouldn't have even been home by now! Here are some things we've heard around the house since we brought Henry home yesterday:

Anna talking to Grandma: "His skin is so soft! Your skin is really hard... like wood."

Sarah: "I don't like Henry's crying voice."

Anna: "He is the cutest baby!"

Sarah: "I love you Henry."

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The seeds the girls & I planted have finally started flowering; at least they have enjoyed all of the rain we've had!

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I am so lucky that my mom came out. Too bad I didn't get her out here earlier though because it's almost like having her here made me realize how tired I have been... I am so glad to know Anna & Sarah are in good hands while Craig & I are at the hospital tomorrow!

Posted by Becky at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We haven't seen the sun for weeks and it was out this morning so we went to the beach. Sarah even tried out a new hairstyle for the occasion!

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My mom arrived last night and the girls did not run down the hall screaming "Grandma" as they had planned but it didn't take long for them to warm up to her. I'm glad my mom is here but I think I caught her jet-lag!

Posted by Becky at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls are super into doing everything alike lately. If one is wearing a dress the other wants to wear a dress; if one changes into a skirt and shirt the other must change (and they must share some of the same properties: color/pattern/spin-factor); it goes on and on. Anna started wearing the gloves so the whole thing snowballed into a princess party. Anna informed Sarah that "princesses dance" so they had to do a little dancing in their get-ups, too.

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The girls & I drove up to Tongyeong to ride the Sky Car today but apparently it is closed until the 27th. So, on our way back toward home I kept seeing signs for the "Undersa Tunnel" and thought we'd give it a try. The amount of signs made it seem like an attraction (and the signs were brown like the other tourist attractions in Tongyeong). So, we found a place to park and walked through the dripping, moldy tunnel. It's just a walkway that happens to go under the water. I thought maybe there would be a window or something to see some water but it was just concrete. The girls didn't seem too disappointed but Sarah dropped her cat in the mud and it had to take a trip through the washer and dryer before I could give it back to her!

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We had Alfred & Karen up this morning for something for all of us to do while it is raining again. The girls invited Alfred to tea and he didn't seem quite sure of what they were going to do until Anna turned on her hostess charms and started serving him cookies and tea. Pretty soon they were giggling and have a grand time.

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Craig took Anna sailing today but they went with one of Craig's co-workers so I'm not sure if Anna liked it as much this time as she did last summer when then went. Hopefully he can convince her to go again! Sarah and I stuck around home and played in the terrace pool. At least we got a break from the rain today!

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We met up with a bunch of the other foreigners that are spending their summer in Okpo at the indoor play area after all of us being cooped up in our apartments the past few days. Spending the summer at the pool is just not happening around here with all of this rain!

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It was raining today so we we made playdough this afternoon. I used this recipe and I really like how it turned out although both Anna & Sarah seem to have gone a bit crazy with the green food coloring...

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Angel-in-Us coffee. Sarah has her angel wings on!

Sarah was hesitant to get in this photo but put on a brave face in the end.

I let the girls watch Finding Nemo last week (which is really super scary!!) and Sarah has been calling herself "Nemo" for the past three or four days. Anna is "Peach the Starfish." We went through the aquarium pretty fast today because they just wanted to find Nemo and he is toward the end... They were also excited to see Gill, Dory, and Peach. They pet the starfish again and Sarah just giggled when she did it. Anna was picking them up and really inspecting them which surprised me a little. Sarah was very scared of the sharks in the tanks so we had to go by those very quickly.

The girls and I drove home after the aquarium and Sarah had a couple of meltdowns in the car but we made it home and everyone was happy to be here. Craig is scheduled to start living with us again starting Wednesday night. I thought I'd be much more worn out by the end of this business trip than I am but I'm surprisingly still doing OK! I think we all needed the family vacation this weekend and it was our last as a family of four!

Posted by Becky at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We checked out Shinsegae this morning. We told the girls we were going to go check out the new mall and then asked if they knew what a "mall" was and they said, "no." Half-way through though, Anna was proclaiming that she wanted to live at the mall.

After lunch, Craig and the girls ran around the "Sky Park" on the 9th floor of the building.

We had an American day to celebrate the holiday weekend. We ate McDonald's breakfast, went to a mall, and then went to the beach. Today Sarah did take a nap which threw off our beach/dinner schedule a bit so we ended up eating corn dogs from a vendor and then buying some chicken from the chicken-lady as she passed by. One could also order delivery from one of the many nearby fast-food places but we weren't sure how you would tell the delivery person which umbrella you were under and we weren't willing to ask our neighbors to order for us! It was a pretty nice set-up though. We rented an umbrella for 5,000 Won both days at the beach, too.

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Sarah was excited to pack her own suitcase (a Miffy backpack) for our trip. She really wants a wheeled-suitcase like Anna's though. Maybe for Christmas or her birthday next year.

Maybe we should have named her Sandra?

The girls were so wonderful on our trip to Busan today. We had to take both cars because Craig is in Ulsan again next week and will leave from our hotel to Ulsan on Monday morning. I drove the girls in my car and they just read their books and listened to music. We were in the car for over three hours total (we stopped at the Lotte Department store for lunch which caused quite a delay in our schedule). They were also perfect angels at the restaurants today which was amazing since Sarah didn't get a nap today. (I think she's phasing it out—she didn't take one yesterday, either, although she did rest in her crib.)

Posted by Becky at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Sarah loves to give you a shot and a band-aid.

Doing one last big sparkler together.

We made cupcakes to celebrate Anna's last day of school, Aunt Rachel's birthday, and the Fourth of July! The girls were excited about all of the preparations but were disappointed when they realized that there are no presents to open at a Fourth of July Party (unless you're Rachel, I suppose!). I think the sparklers made up for the lack of presents though.

Posted by Becky at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today and tomorrow are the last "mommy & Sarah" mornings! Of course we'll still have time when Baby Boy is napping on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings but I'll miss these days with her.

Sarah at the start of the 2008-2009 schoolyear.

Posted by Becky at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kitchen table fort. Unfortunately there was a lot of head-smacking going on here.

The girls with their "rain jackets" and "rain boots."

It has been rainy the past few days which has actually been OK for me since it hasn't been so terribly HOT. It would be nice to use the pool though...

Posted by Becky at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Craig took the girls on a hike this morning while I got to work on some projects at home without interruptions (the big one was photographing the girls' art so I can make book of the art and get rid of most of the originals).

Anna created her first installation art piece on the freezer door with ribbon, magnets, and a tissue.

Posted by Becky at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah & I stopped by Playschool this morning to confirm she's on the list for next fall and to find out any other information we needed before the first day. She did not want to leave! I have explained multiple times to her that I will not be staying with her at school this fall and she claims to understand this. We'll see how it goes! She'll be going every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday from 9-12.

I set up the air mattress in Baby Boy's room (where my mom and Anita will stay when they are here in August & September) because our bed is too hard and the couch is too short. Unfortunately the air mattress isn't really working out for me, either. However, Sarah has been spending so much time by herself reading books in here that it's staying up! I really hope that she can maintain this level of self-entertainment after her brother gets here in August.

Posted by Becky at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took the girls out for molten chocolate cake at ChoRo this afternoon to reward Sarah for not hitting her sister or the cats. Time-outs don't seem to affect her so we're trying the positive approach and food speaks to Sarah more than any other reward we've been able to come up with.

Posted by Becky at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls have been on a major tea-party kick lately. Sarah actually started serving cappuccinos this week instead of tea. Anna is now Princess Cotton Candy and Sarah is Princess Sunset; I am Princess Buttercup and I'm going to start calling Craig "Prince Humperdink" (from The Princess Bride).

Posted by Becky at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We could not find Sarah's water bottle this morning so I let her drink from a regular cup and she surprised me by doing a really super job with it! I knew she could do it but wasn't sure she would. Sorry to have such low-expectations for you Sarah, but I really thought you'd dump it out just for fun which was why I was hesitant. I found the water bottle later on in the day but we stuck with the cup for the rest of the day anyway. This is nice because I never fully trust that the valves, etc. get clean in water bottles. I do still have to remember to fill it up to take when we go out which is becoming increasingly difficult for me these days (I have been a major scatter-brain this week!).

Posted by Becky at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know exactly what Sarah was doing here but she moved all of the kitchen chairs into a line and got all of her "friends" on the chairs with her. Then she put them all back at the table. I love it when the kids think up games like this that keep them busy but I really wonder sometimes what they're thinking about when they are doing it.

Posted by Becky at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back in January of this year Anna asked to learn more about money so we set up a chore and payment plan for her. She gets paid 200 Korean Won per chore and her chores are typically to feed the cats, help fold clothes, set or clear the table, and then any other odd-jobs we can come up with. She finally saved enough money this weekend to buy this "ultimate princess set" at Lotte Mart and she is so thrilled with the thing and when she is wearing it she calls herself, "Princess Sunset." She was really upset when we told her she couldn't wear it out in public but that it had to stay home for dress-up only.

The pools were finally out today since it is officially summer. This tiny pool was 45,000 KW (about $45 USD!) and I know you can get something much larger for half the price in the US. It had better last all summer for that price!

Posted by Becky at 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah has decided to name her cat from Build-a-Bear, "Mater." This is the first time she's come up with a name for one of her animals on her own. Thanks again to Corrine for the trip to Build-a-Bear; Sarah is still in love with this cat!

Posted by Becky at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The last day of school isn't until July 3 but the Ladybirds had their end-of-the-year party today because a lot of kids will be leaving for the summer or for good before the last day of school. We went to the "rainy-day-play area" and the girls had a ton of fun. I haven't taken them there since last summer and now it will be on our agenda several times this summer. Anna tried the zip line and Sarah loved the ball pit.

Posted by Becky at 7:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am so impressed with Sarah's potty training! We were having a snack in the park this morning when she told me she had to go to the bathroom. We had to pack up our stuff and walk through the park, across the street, and into the Okpo Shopping Center and she made it on time! I initiate taking her every 2-3 hours but she often tells me before that time-frame that she needs to go. She has been so much easier than Anna and partly because she is not afraid to use public restrooms. I'm interested to see if Baby Boy is as easy as Sarah has been (I certainly hope so!).

Posted by Becky at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight as I was helping the girls with their bedtime-bathroom routine, Sarah turns to me and says, "Let me tell you a story." Surprised, I said, "let's hear it!" Here is her story:

"I walked up to a wall. I bumped into a wall."

We had just read Days With Frog and Toad before this and something spoke to her from that book. Anna thought Sarah's story was hysterical which prompted both of them to make up new "stories" identical to the first one only changing "wall" to "shower/polka-dot/my sister/etc."

Posted by Becky at 7:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah was a little upset that she didn't get to go sailing today (it was an all-day outing and we didn't think she could handle it) but she cheered up very quickly when I asked her if she wanted to go to the beach with me! She surprised me by not wanting to get a "big wash on my foots" and having me fill up her bucket and watering can with water. I thought for sure she'd be swimming ten minutes after we got there but playing in the sand and shell-hunting was just as much fun!

Posted by Becky at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah had her cat and Anna's dinosaur (which Sarah started calling "my gobble" today) so I told Anna to go get two of her friends and she chose her unicorn and her star.

Clementine came for some treats but wasn't into posing. Chopstick stayed safe under the coffee table.

Posted by Becky at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah at five days.

Sarah at two years.

Posted by Becky at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah's shirt today really accentuated her red hair which is why the camera came out to begin with.

I told the girls that if it is sunny tomorrow we are going to do their 2 & 4-year portraits. I was trying to explain to Anna how I wanted her to at least look at the camera and not do this weird chin-tucked-into-her-shoulder thing she's been doing lately. We'll see if I can get anything of either of them—I'm certainly not bold enough to hope for something good of the two of them together!

Posted by Becky at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anna's class performed The Very Hungry Caterpillar today during their school assembly. Craig came along to watch which was nice because he was able to wrangle Sarah. Anna actually did her performance and didn't act shy (all she had to do was sit down when the caterpillar "ate" the orange, but I was worried even this would be too much based on her last two performances in front of the school!). Sarah was yelling about the car in the Dolphin's class performance. She really wanted Craig to driver her around in it as I'm certain everyone in the assembly hall heard!

Posted by Becky at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Craig took the girls for a hike near our house and then for a walk on the boardwalk in town before heading to Prince Coffee to relax.

Posted by Becky at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls set the chairs up like this while Craig was making breakfast this morning. I'm not exactly sure what they were trying to achieve but they seemed pleased with themselves.

Posted by Becky at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Potty training is as much about training the child as it is about training the parent as I will attest to today. I took the girls up to E-Mart and Lotte Mart on a quest for a kiddie pool for the terrace (we didn't find one). I entertained the thought of taking Sarah to the Lotte Mart restroom before we hit the play area but thought she could make it until we left Lotte Mart. I had to communicate to one of the other moms in the area to get the attention of the Lotte Mart greeter to get someone to come clean up (I did the best I could with the stuff I had in my purse, of course!) the accident Sarah had on the play structure. By the time we got back from getting Sarah cleaned up the cleaning ladies were finished with their cleaning. This kind of public accident never happened with Anna so I need to retrain myself and update my purse contents to better handle this type of thing should it happen again (hopefully not)...

I do, however think this will be the last of Sarah's potty training updates since she's doing so well! Hopefully she continues as well as she has started without any major set-backs.

Posted by Becky at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I finally ordered wall stickers for the girls room and got them hung up this past weekend. We are going to move Sarah back to her crib tomorrow though, however, because she is just not doing well in the bed and is asking to "please" sleep in the wooden crib again. OK! Baby Boy will have to sleep in the Pack n' Play for a while, I guess. (Sarah slept in that for the first four months so I don't feel too bad about it.)

Posted by Becky at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just a couple of things that Sarah mis-pronounces:

Whenever meals are ready she will announce it and my favorite is when she shouts out, "Breafkast is ready!"

I found a dandelion for Sarah at the playground this week and she acted like it was the greatest treasure ever known to man so every time we find one we pick it. However, she refuses to hear me and calls them "fairy lions."

Sarah says "jammas" for Pajamas.

Also this week she has started imagining objects. For example her doll was thirsty and hungry and instead of going into her little kitchen as I expected, she stepped into Baby Boy's room, stuck her hand in, and "grabbed" something to drink and eat for her doll and then fed it to her. This is the first time I've seen her do this and it is super cute!

I've finally convinced her (after an entire week) that she can hop off of the last step of each landing on the Ladybird staircase (there are three landings) and not off of each step. This rule also applies to the stairs to our apartment.

She does not want to be restrained by hand-holding but I insist on it in parking lots, crossing the street, and going down the stairs. She also gets very upset with me if I try to help her put her shoes on in the morning. I am trying to teach her to get the left/right shoes on the correct feet by placing them side-by-side the right way but she inevitably grabs the opposite one for her foot and it's a very delicate matter to convince her that I'm not going to put her shoe on for her, I'm just trying to help her get the correct shoe for the correct foot. She is so independent! This is good, I know, but she's definitely hitting this phase earlier than Anna did!

Posted by Becky at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Accident-free again today. We even stayed out all morning and she used the toilet at Home Plus without a fuss. I will note that I sometimes have to coax her to "try" but she always gives in when I find a compelling (short) book to bring into the bathroom with us. And then she doesn't want to get up or wants to keep trying even though it's obvious she's finished. Anyway, this has (so far) been much less stressful than the experience with Anna!

Posted by Becky at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Accident-free today! Sarah is doing so awesome!

Posted by Becky at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that Sarah's heel has healed I decided we would go ahead with potty training. I asked her last night if she wanted to wear underwear today and she said, "yes." She was super excited to pick out a pair to wear this morning. We had one accident but I think it was my fault because I started talking about going to the bathroom before we were on our way and I think just thinking about it made her go! She didn't seem phased and we didn't have any more accidents. She also woke up dry this morning and I'm not sure if she always wakes up dry because she wakes up so early that we haven't been in the habit of changing her diaper right away. So, for now, she will wear a pull-up at night. If she actually is waking up dry every morning (now I will check!) then she can switch to underwear at night, too, after a week or so.

Posted by Becky at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Craig took Sarah to her follow-up X-ray today and the doctor says her heel has healed! We could have guessed by her improved mood and her extreme urges to JUMP off of everything and everything but it is great to have confirmation. Craig said she was a doll at her appointment now that she knows what to expect! We do not have to go back for further follow-ups.

Posted by Becky at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The girls really wanted to take Craig back to the Dinosaur Park to show him the things we did on Anna's field trip. We also went down to where Craig & Anna go sailing, took a tour of a large ship, and Anna & I walked through a giant dinosaur egg. Sarah was a little grumpy today but who knows exactly why. We ended our day with a visit to ChoRo for dessert. We got some delicious coffee & chocolates right here in Okpo!

Posted by Becky at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wish I could tell the girls to "go read a book" but I'm happy that I catch them doing this on their own and try to get a lot done when they do!

They were watching the street get torn up from our seat at Prince Coffee.

Posted by Becky at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For some reason I can't just say, "go play by yourself" and have that happen. Today, however, both girls were lost in their own little worlds playing on their own. This morning Sarah was happy on her own in the playroom and then this afternoon Anna set out to work on a book-boardwalk (to keep us out of the mud and away from the pigs). Sarah sat on the boardwalk and read a few books but didn't destroy it. I wish I knew how to repeat this at will!

Posted by Becky at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah can count to ten and then starts to make stuff up after that. She'll say eleven, twelve, fifteen, seventeen, nine, etc. Today on the way up the stairs she started saying, "five-teen" which makes sense. Today while playing with blocks that have pictures of things on the sides she was counting, "ten, eleven, thirteen, ice-cream-cone-teen." Obviously she saw a picture of an ice cream cone but I thought it was pretty hilarious!

Posted by Becky at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anna's rainbow.

Back of Sarah's card.

These are for Grandma's birthday next week. We mailed them on Thursday but since she won't be home next week to get her mail I am posting them for her here. Hopefully the girls will be equally inspired in time for Anita's birthday next month!

Posted by Becky at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anna has been "Star" for a long time now. She actually changed her name to "Starsong" on her 4th birthday and yesterday she was playing with play-doh and we have a star-shaped cutter. She cut out a star and said she wanted to keep it so she could have her very own star to sing to, hug, play with, and be her friend. I said she couldn't keep the play-doh one but I'd make her one if she wanted.

She requested a "white star" and wanted no embellishments. Of course I can't just make her a star, I have to make Sarah one, too! So, I had some old baby blankets we had gotten from someone else that were fuzzy on one side and satiny on the other which met her requirements exactly.

The girls loved them this morning when they found them and I think they've played with them for more time than it took me to make them which is all I had really hoped for! Anna is sleeping with hers tonight and said, "I love it!" and gave me a big hug. Sarah said, "it's cute!" and then proceeded to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to it.

Posted by Becky at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not part of the tea party but this is what we are doing multiple times per day.

Hanging the cups on the kitchen hooks.

Posted by Becky at 9:08 PM | Permalink