School's Out!

We survived another year with 4 in school.  They all had good grades, some B honor roll and some A.  The elementary still gives awards by class, so Kaelin got one for completing the Presidential Fitness test and Chelsi got Top Reader and Top Musician in her class.

Good job girls!

Big Changes

I shouldn't really say changes, but they are, but maybe they are more adjustments....for me.  Cole got his license.  He's a pretty good driver, but it still scares me because he's an impulsive teenager and there's a million really bad drivers out there driving with him.  I'm happy for him.  I know this is a sign he's growing up.  I just pray God is with him all the time.  Hopefully his St. Christopher medal protects him as he's out there.

Chase is 13

Brought this guy home on Mother's Day 13 years ago. He's a blessing too.

Good Choice

I'm so glad that since we've had 7 years of saving, we've also had 7 years of planning our Korea trip.  Needless to say there is A LOT of planning for a family of 7 to leave for 2 weeks.  I've had so many lists going for the last several months.  I have to-do lists, packing lists, itinerary, lists of maps in Seoul, etc.  I've spent the last few weekends working hard around the house every single weekend, of course, that also means every one else in the house has been working hard too.  We got all of the flowers in, the garage cleaned up (that wasn't planned until the septic backed up), windows are washed, Spring cleaning is done.  I knew May would be terribly busy and I didn't want to stress any of us out anymore than we'd already be getting ready to go and getting ready for school to be out.  So this weekend, I cleaned the windows one last time, so much pollen on the outside, and am just sitting back to enjoy.  I've printed my coupons for my last shopping trip before we leave.  Chase had his birthday party last night and is enjoying spending the day fishing with his brother, dad and his friend for his birthday.  Mother's Day I'll spend doing my monthly shopping and finishing laundry up.  I spent some time earlier in the week to do the meal planning for the next week and 1/2 so we don't end up with an abundance of left overs or perishables.  I have one last grocery list; no perishables allowed.  So far, very relaxing!

Next week will be very busy, but we knew that.  I have the 5K for a fundraiser for our neighbor's grandson, a local celebration will be the rest of the day, possibly dependent on weather.  Then, Sunday is set to clean the house one last time and set all of the suitcases out and realistically pack everything.  Monday, the boys have their sports physicals and of course I have to work.  Hopefully, Cole will get his license this week.  That could help a bit, bur Brian has to have time to take off and take him first.  Tuesday I'm taking off early to take the girls for some couponed pedicures for their first time.  Taking the in-laws to dinner for their anniversary (40th) and then packing up the van to leave.

Chelsi is so excited she wants it to be here so bad.  Jaemin wants it to be in 2 days, he says.  I hope it's not a beach incident like Chelsi had.  She was so excited to see the beach for the first time, got knocked over by a wave and that was the end of all excitement and beach going for the week.  Hopefully, Jaein's experience will be as awesome as Chelsi's was 4 years ago.  Afterall, this is the only time the 7 of us will be able to do this together.....or probably every again for any of us since it's SO expensive and took so long to save for.  So worth it.....I hope!

A little more planning time

Our trip is almost here.  Just have to wait until school is out...well, a little after that yet, but still it's finally coming.  Here is our itinerary (yes I'm kinda Willie-ish (Duck Dynasty), but it's not in stone, it's just ideas so we can see everything we really want to.  Then, I have some other things written down that we will try to squeeze in, if we have time.

Ø      Friday –  Jogyesa Temple, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seodaemun Prison and maybe Nanta in the evening

Ø      Saturday – Hello Kitty Café and Hongik Free Market

Ø      Sunday – Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral and Seoul Grand Park

Ø      Monday – SWS(fostermom/babies home), Amsa Prehistoric Site and Coex Aquarium 

Ø      Tuesday – Suwon Folk Village/Hwaseong Fortress 

Ø      Wednesday - Holt (fostermom/reception center)

Ø      Thursday – ESWS (fostermom /unwed mothers home) for 10 appt and Trick Eye Museum

Ø      Friday  – Free

Ø      Saturday  -  Free

      Ø      Sunday – Seoul Tower and Korean War Museum

My alternates are Bukchon Hanok Village, Cheonggyecheon Stream and Rainbow Bridge.  We'll just see how it goes, but I would like to at least stop and see them.  I will definitely be venturing on my own to Etude House to stock up on my make up too.  That's a for sure, weekend thing.

These are the sweet moments

With our septic backing up this week, a $1000 bill to fix the pipe that caused it and possibly more septic costs coming, it wasn't exactly a pleasant week.  May is going to be VERY busy anyways.  Brian was out of town last week and will be out for a couple of days again next week, so today was pretty welcomed.  We bought tickets to the Cardinals game for Brian's 40th this year.  His birthday isn't 'til Winter, but can't really go to a baseball game then.  He's not a partier type, so this was great.  Just us and another couple for an adult day.  Chase had a field trip there anyways, so it worked great.  We sat by ourselves and drove, but brought him home with us.  Weather couldn't have been more perfect and they won!

Jaemin has been so interested in reading lately.  He reads pretty well and doesn't want to be read to any longer.  He reads anything he finds.  If he doesn't know the word, he spells it.  He has to read a book before bed every night.  We've never been those great parents that read to our kids and do nightly rituals.  But this one loves to read.  He reads 30-70 page books a few times a night.  His newest (but shorter) favorite is Green Eggs and Ham.  He took to reading that quickly.  It was getting late tonight, so I told him to read quietly with his lamp on.  It was SO cute!

I got the job

So it happened over a week ago, but I was waiting for current management and new management to work things out.  I was set to get an increase on May 1st (these don't come easy, ever or at all, where I work) because my position was reclassed to a higher level late last year.  If I started my new job before that I would lose that.  I'd still get the new increase, but the 5/1 increase would add to that if I waited.  I didn't feel like I should tell my new supervisor 'when' I'm starting.  Seems very demanding, presumptuous and rude.  My supervisor was good with letting them train me a bit and then really starting on 5/1 and so was my new boss.  But, higher level management has an issue, that none of can seem to understand and I'm allowed to start on 5/1 as long as I do no training.  Shouldn't be a problem, though because the girl who is leave for retirement said there's only a couple things she has to show me.  She said I'm already doing everything else.  We work pretty close together already even though my new job will take me away from the bulk of what I do now and everyone I've worked with for the past several years. 

It's all alright though.  I get to keep doing what I enjoy.  I will be doing more analytical reporting and then training all of the other staff who get the tool.  The people in my new unit all seem to be pretty hard workers who seem very smart.  I'm excited about my new group, they seem very cohesive.  Best part is my new boss already seems very nice.  I haven't worked for a man in almost 20 years.  He approved me to keep my current hours, has no problems with Tuesday speech classes for Jaemin (which means I'm late every Tuesday), and was patient enough to let me give more than 2 weeks so I could keep my extra increase.  Of course, I had checked him out before I ever applied.  No money is worth an awful supervisor.  And now, we may have a little extra breathing room every month.  If something comes up or we just want to actually go out to dinner once, we could afford it.  It will be a nice break.

1st Youth Turkey Season

And Chase got his.  He missed a really big bird, but moved and got this 17 pounder, so he still did pretty great!

Late Easter Pic

Brian took most of them, so they're blurry, but we did have some.  I just didn't want to focus on pictures.  It's too hard to just enjoy sometimes.

Wish Day!

So the whole process hasn't gone smoothly; he lost his first wish, the wish granters quit 5 months into the year long process and Make a Wish didn't even know it.  But today, Cole had his day and the girl that was located at the Wish Office city we went to was wonderful.  Ashley was so good and walked around Bass Pro with Cole from 10:45 until 4!  Of course we stopped and ate lunch so that cut out about an hour of that.  We ate at the restaurant in Bass Pro and they kids LOVED it!  They got to get whatever they wanted, so the older 3 picked the buffet and it was full of shrimp, catfish, mahi mahi, roast beef, mashed potatoes, everything!  The little kids and I got meals.  Cole also ordered alligator as an appetizer and we ordered calamari (squid).  Everyone wanted to try it all, but Ashley (from MAW), said she wasn't very adventurous.  :)  Then, after everyone in the family had eaten so much our waitress came in and said they were getting together a special dessert.  Then, they brought out these really pretty, gigantic, wine glass looking things full of white chocolate, chocolate and caramel toppings.  Next game even bigger, gigantic wine glass looking things full of ice cream and fruit and other toppings.  When they placed one in front of Chelsi she took the serving spoon and almost dug right in.  We had to tell her that was for everybody.  But, then she got her own spoon and almost dug in with that.  The waitress started to laugh and told her she brought her a bowl.  It was so kind of the Bass Pro to add the extra dessert to the wish.  That was not part of the gift from Make a Wish.  It was SO nice to not have to worry about adding up everything in my head, worrying about the tip and all the worries to stay in a budget for 7.  That was MY favorite part.

We continued shopping and Cole had everything on his list within a 1/2 hour after lunch.  But, Bass Pro through him for a loop when they gave MAW a 15% discount plus with their tax exempt status, it left him with an extra $200.  It wasn't as easy to spend as you would think.  He really had a hard time since he had nothing on his list.  He had gotten small things for his two grandpas that hunt or fish and something small for his Godfather already.  He ended up going back to spend it on more fishing lures, extra gloves for himself, some shirts (Duck Dynasty and Swamp People) and some other small items.  Each of the little kids got $50 to spend.  Chase got a very expensive Under Armour camo hoodie he would never spend that kind of money on and then paid for the rest with his own Bass Pro gift cards.  Kaelin got a necklace, earrings (literally fishing lures) and something else that escapes me right now.  Chelsi got sunglasses, a hat with a blinged out deer on it, a bracelet made of fishing swivels and a little pink gun.  Jaemin immediately attached himself to a pillow that's a big sea turtle we call Crush (of course from Nemo) and he now has his very first camo hat (Duck Dynasty) he calls Happy, Happy, Happy (if you know the show) and a shirt for deer hunting.  He also spent his own Bass Pro card money and bought his own little gun.

Cole's goodies were so amazing.  On top of that he had already ordered things from Walmart, or rather MAW ordered them for him.  So he will be able to put some small speakers in his car to thump it a little louder.  He also is getting his very own laptop.  So glad.....no more fighting over the computer.

They paid for our gas since it was a 2 1/2 hour trip there and back and also gave him dinner money.  We didn't get home until 7pm and no one was really hungry.  Since he's supposed to enjoy all of his Wish items, we decided to defer his Wish dinner until tomorrow when he could be hungry enough to enjoy it.  We're all just exhausted!

Check out the sign.  It wasn't just a cheap poster board sign, it was heavy duty.  Cole kept it as a souvenir.

Lots and lots of shopping.

And time to eat....look at the ice cream!

And, well, luckily Jaemin had already decided he wanted to buy Crush and he went out after lunch.

Cole shopped and really loaded his carts....multiple.

It's finaly here

The week has come for Cole's wish come true from the Make a Wish foundation.  It was a bumpy ride.  The wish granters disappeared on us and MAW and so everyone kinda forgot about Cole.  So, we decided just to go ahead and do it, so no more stress for Cole.  He was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen.  Onto Bass Pro so he can shop hard.  He has been limited in life because of his heart condition and not been allowed to do everything most kids get the chance to try, not because he physically can't, but because no one will allow him to take the risk of his heart stopping or anything like that.  This time, it's his turn.  Cole will do something no one else his age really gets to do....okay maybe in a wealthy family, but not terribly common.  He's had a great time making a list of things he wants.  He pretty much can shop anywhere, but since he has to have a rep from MAW with him to purchase everything, he chose to order the items he wants from Walmart and then enjoy his time at Bass Pro.  They will pay for our gas, lunch and dinner since it's an all day trip.  The little kids are excited too because they will get a few bucks to spend at Bass Pro as well and for once they get to order their own meals when they eat out instead of sharing everything (that's the only way we can afford to eat out even once a year with them all).  :)  I told them they can even order a drink instead of water.  So exciting!

I can't wait.  I know Cole's looking forward to this.  He may not have gotten his first wish, but this is something he really wants and will thoroughly enjoy!

Multiplication

In first grade and she's onto multiplication.  I don't know that she actually does it in school or anything, but she obviously understand the concept. 

I was talking to Kaelin about working hard and I was using an example of using coupons and sale ads to save money.  I gave an example of saving $20/week.  I asked her how much that would save in a month.  I got the cricket chirping stair.  I asked if they had taught her how many weeks are in a month and then told her 4 (average anyways).  I restated and said 'okay, now if I save $20/week, how much will I have saved in a month?'  The crickets were back.  Chelsi had climbed into bed and was giving me that 'call on me, call on me' look.  So I looked up at her and said 'okay Chelsi, how much'.  Curious if she really knew the answer.  She confidently tells me '$80'.  Yep, you're right smarty pants!

Spring Snow Day!!

By calendar Spring is here, but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature.  I think we had to have been pretty close to 10" of snow today.  The big boys decided they weren't going to be stuck inside and they got creative.  Their dad hadn't quite gotten around to taking his old truck bed liner somewhere to dump it, so they decided to redneckify it.  They made it into a pulled sled, since we have no sleds.  What can I say?  The last few Winters were a little short on the snow scene.  Not so much this year.

They worked together on this project.  First they tried just taking it down the hill.

Then, they decided to drill holes.

And add rope.

And pull the new sled up the hill to the top of the driveway.

And then they pulled it down the hill with a boy inside.

                                                     And attempted to go back up.

 Then, the big boys came in and Chase went back out with the girls.  He and K built a huge snowman.  I didn't go out to the front of the house (way too cold) to take a picture, but apparently he's a hunter.....full on orange vest and camo hat.

Donations and Gifts

I am done.  We have gotten as many gifts and donations as we could.  The only thing I have left is to buy some bags of Dove chocolates for the social workers, volunteer and foster families.....so about 7.  I'll wrap a pretty ribbon around it and call it good.  In addition, I went to the dollar store today to find as much as I could of what one of the agencies gave me as a list of needs.  Since the other two didn't give many really anything, I bought one of everything and they will each get the items.  Plus I knited about 15 hats all together.

Then, we have the gifts for the foster mothers.  I printed the portraits we took of them this fall and added their names and ages in Korean for them and put them in frames.  I knitted scarves for Chelsi and Jae's foster mothers while Kaelin knitted the one for her foster mother herself.

All of this together took almost the entire extra carry-on we're bringing.  I had hoped to bring donations from others, but there's just not space and I while we could just upgrade to a bigger suitcase to check, I can't imagine trying to get through the airport with 6 suitcases and 5 carry-on bags.....too much.  Each one of us bigger 5 will have a wheeled suitcase to be in charge of us and then everyone but Brian and Chelsi have a carry-on.  The girls are sharing one and I'm carrying a big back pack for Brian and I.  I'm going to have to get creative to get everything in all of these bags.  We're bringing some food too, to snack on.  I've already had to pare back my clothes.  The week we leave is when I find out what really can't go and what I can fit.  I'm not bringing an more than what we have decided.  Then, when the food is gone and gifts are gone, we should have room to bring anything we find there home.  I hope not to have to ship it home.  :)

March is almost over

One more week to go and we'll be that much closer to school out and vacation.  I've had my biopsy and it came back clear.  No cancer this time.  Kaelin got to pick her dinner out last night for her 10th (yes 10th!) Gotcha Day.  Chelsi will pick what she wants her dad to make her Friday night for her 7th Gotcha Day.  Cole will hopefully keep his grades up long enough for us to let him get his license.  No, they're not terrible, but I need him to stretch to his potential.  I finally got my interview over with today.  It was terrible and I don't think I did well, but it's in God's hands now.  It's time to accept whatever is meant to be.  I may think I want it and it's perfect for me, but He knows better than I ever have, so I have to let it go.


Come on April!

New to me

I've never played or really watched volleyball, so kinda like wrestling, we have a new sport to learn.  Kaelin seems to finally really be enjoying something.  Her first game was tonight and she asked if she could play a summer league too.  Funny.

It happened.....16 years....

of my biggest boy!

I can't  believe he's already 16....driving age.  He's not getting his license right away.  He's had his permit for 11 months and is a decent driver, but I don't think a little more time practicing will hurt.  We told him when he trust he'll keep his Bs up to As and Bs we'll take him in.  No sudden drop in grades to low Cs.  That won't get an insurance discount and no waiting to pull them up at the last.  He's been working hard, so we're going to give it a little more time and then take him in for the big step, for him AND mom.

He's really beginning to show us the person he's becoming.  He's judgmental to the point he doesn't necessary criticize others, but realizes what he doesn't want to do himself.  He just strong willed enough he might follow his own road.  He does care about his future and is growing there.  I like him as a person and that's a good thing for a parent to feel.  Not just because he's my son, but because of who he's becoming.  I hope the next 16 years are just as great for him and us.