Hotteok! Finally

I finally looked up the recipe for hotteok.  We had them on a nice rainy day in Seoul.  And they were so good I've been craving them every since.  We have snack day at work, so I'm bringing a few, but Kaelin and I made plenty for us.  Brian got to have his first.  He was too full after the meal Yunjin fed us in Insadong that he didn't want to try one then, so Kaelin gave him one today.  They were just as good as Insadong!  So YUMMY!

Party Time for Jaemin

Jaemin has been SO excited about his party for the last week.  It's not really a big party, but it was just right for him. Luckily, his Godparents' daughter is his friend, so he got to have his friend over and his Godparents in one.  They got along well, for the most part, trying to share the jeep.  He liked having the fire in the firepit later when it got cooler.  He loved his dinosaur cupcakes and Ninja Turtle plates and napkins.  Thank goodness, he's easy to make happy. It was all outside and super easy for clean up and the weather was perfect.

Money is Jaemin's favorite gift.  He always likes to announce he got 'monies'.

Growing and preparing

Jaemin is preparing for Kindergarten next year.   He's in his 3rd year of speech.  Today, I chatted with Miss Ashley and she said he was very engaged today.  She said he started to flap briefly and caught himself, but still runs his hands on the concrete block wall.  He likes the texture.  She still thinks putting some velcro under his desk will help take care of his sensory seeking needs when he goes to school.  I hope so.  But, she said he was participating well and asking questions.  He's been participating much better for the last year, but is just now starting to really ask questions back and being part of a conversation.  AND he LOOKS at us more often when he talks!  This is HUGE!  I couldn't get him to do this just a year ago.  It was like it was painful to look you in the eyes while talking.  He'd do everything to look away....even for a camera.  Now he looks at you and you can really see him.  His questions are getting bigger and longer.  He no longer hates going to speech.  He walks down the hallway at school, beside his teacher, like he owns the place.  He's so sure of himself.  He said he's ready to go to school.  I'm so proud of his hard work.

At home, lately, I've noticed Cole holes himself up in his room or is working or is with friends....usually in that order.  I finally decided that the reason teenagers keep themselves in their room in solitude is to prepare their parents for the day they leave.  This way they're still here and you can get used to really not seeing them.  Then, one day they'll be gone, but they will not have been around much right before anyways.  God has a funny way of getting you ready for the next step in life.  Or at least that's how I see it. Gotta find the bright side.

my collages

I finally got all of the pictures I wanted printed from our trip and hung on the wall.  Love my Korea art.

 This is my collage from our trip in 2009.

Some.....of the birthday pictures

I will have more of Jaemin after his party this weekend, but I finally got Chelsi's off the camera and Jaemin opening his gift from us.  You can see his look at the blanket....less than thrilled.  But, he likes it now and sleeps on it.....yes, not under it.

Cheerleader in the Making

Even one of the cheerleading coaches' husbands said Chelsi is a born cheerleader.  I agree.  She loves cheerfair time of year and she did great.  I had to video tape it this year.  Hope her foster mom is reading.

Happy Birthday Jaemin!

I CANNOT believe my sweet baby boy is 5 already!  My youngest child is actually 5!  He has been such a blessing for the past 4 years and 3 months we've known him.  We have not done any cake yet.  We will be having grandparents, etc. over next weekend and he'll get to blow out his candles then.  He did want biscuits and gravy for his birthday dinner, so that's what Brian made tonight and I made a quick stop at the store to get his orange juice.  We gave him his birthday present too.  He needed to have something to open ON his birthday.  He liked the Duck Dynasty blanket okay.  I really thought he would love it since he loves anything Ducky Dynasty, but it didn't quite strike him yet.  He LOVED the Ninja Turtle color book best.  Go figure, the $1 color book!  But he's happy and he's made happy easily.  What more could you love in a boy.

I took this picture this morning of my 2 birthday kids.  Chelsi's birthday is tomorrow, but we won't be home together as a family until Saturday, so we're going to have her cake and ice cream then.

My sweets

Now that the weather has cooled down, Jaemin couldn't wait to play outside.  He actually stayed outside for awhile.

Growth for some

Chelsi and Jaemin lost a little weight, a few pounds each, for their annual checkup.  Jaemin, of course, had to get a shot, but I chose to wait for the other shot and give his system some time.  They both grew a couple of inches as well.  Kaelin shot up 4 inches this year.  The doctor thinks she's going to be relatively tall for a girl.  Maybe even taller than mom!

Cole's all signed up for the ACT.  He took it in the Spring and didn't do terribly for a sophomore, but he wanted to take it in October too.  I hope he does considerably better just because it will boost his confidence.  He said his teacher said it is all booked if we hadn't signed up by today, but we had no problem getting in when we logged back in.  Now, we're having to have more specific discussions regarding colleges.  He changed his list for who gets access to his ACT scores tonight.  I really want to believe he's giving it his full effort.  Time will tell just how much he's maturing with age.

Football Season

Just breath!  Every time one of the kids starts their sports season, I get nervous.  Especially, the ones that seem so hard and scary at times; football and wrestling.  If Jaemin does it all one day, I'll be a wreck!  Volleyball for Kaelin is tame at least.

Football already started, but today is Chase's first game since he broke his finger at camp.  He'll have it all taped up under his gloves, receiver gloves over it and buddy taped on that.  He gets to go back to doc in a couple of weeks and should be good to leave the tape off after that.  This year he got a practice jersey with the same number as his playing jersey, so I have a jersey to wear to the game instead of the usual, boring shirts I always have to wear.  Kind a different and hopefully breathing since it's going to be HOT!

Here's this year's official pictures and hopefully I'll get some good action shots too.  I got my camera all fixed up and ready to go.

Campout!

The men are gone tonight, so I promised the 3 little ones they could camp in the living room on the floor.  We ate ice cream (IN THE LIVING ROOM) and they're watching Chimpmunks now.  Hopefully, they'll go to sleep.  I guarantee some of them will be in a recliner or on the couch by morning.

Funny Parenting Post

http://wellcommons.com/weblogs/larryvillemom/2013/aug/21/5-ways-were-making-parenting-harder/

They're totally serious, but this writer has a great sense of humor.  I, personally, do not really find any fault with the way our parents raised us.  They made mistakes like I do, but as a whole, I think they did well.  I do think this author has a point, but it could go much further (at least 10) than 5 Ways.  Add Facebook, etc.  Not everything is puppy dogs and roses in life, but that's how a lot of parents want it to look on the outside.  I don't know if it makes them feel better, superior or what exactly.

The good old fashioned ways of doing things isn't always worse.  Sometimes, there's room to improve, but we don't have to make drastic changes to parenting to do that; just change with the changes.  Such as you can't let your kids ride in the back of a pickup anymore.  Obviously, you will get arrested for child endangerment.  Parents find the need to compete with each other on how much time they're spending with their kids (but are they really if they're maxed out in activities and trying to have everything set up just perfectly for their child's life).

So, to begin with the 5 things the author mentioned:

1)  Birthday Parties - Never done the themed thing.  I know that would stress me out and no one, I repeat no one, wants ME stressed.  We decided long ago that the kids would have parties for their birthdays at 1, 5, 10, 13, 16 and 18 (milestones).  All other birthdays are only spent with those living in this house.  The birthday kid gets their pick of supper and we have cake and ice cream.  Not over indulgent, but it's still special.  On the birthday years, they have their grandparents and Godparents over as well as picking 3 friends to come over or 1 friend to stay the night.  We don't go to venues, etc.  Just at home where they can play and adults have conversation.

2)  Elf on a Shelf - Never did get this thing.  Everyone brags about the time they spend doing this at work, but I personally find it hard to squeeze in the Tooth Fairy when random teeth of 5 kids fall out over the years.  Apparently, the Tooth Fairy is over extended as well.

3)  Organic Everything - Nope.  5 kids, 2 adults (may as well count the older 3 as adults too) means a very hefty grocery bill already.  We throw in the fruits and veggies and make things from scratch, not a lot of processed foods or out to eat, so it's all good.  That would break our budget and we'll all be fine.

4)  Kids Sports - Yes, we do feel it's important for them to participate in AN activity.  Not all activities.  They don't need to be overextended and neither do we.  Again, no one wants a stressed ME.  They each pick one they love and we go with it.  They'd rather be outside hunting, fishing, walking in the woods or just lying with our dogs than constantly be in a regimented activity almost 365 days a year.  That's what most sports have come to.  At least at our school.  They'll be well-rounded this way.  They even have time to squeeze in a job as our 16 year old has found.

5)  Pinterest - I've seen some pretty cool things there.  Only because other people have posted them on Facebook.  All-in-all though, Pintest is too much for a Type A, OCD individual like myself.  If I can do it, I may, but I don't need to have my house look like a magazine, my food look presentable enough to be on the internet or anything of the sort.

As for school lunches, if your school doesn't allow them to just eat anything, they're pretty healthy.  I know ours are.  Our kids are good with most of them.  Occasionally, the 16 year brings leftovers to eat at school, but not too often.

Parents need to quit trying to outdo each other in the parenting arena and just parent.  Quit trying to be better than every other mom out there (the most creative, the best cook, the most volunteered, the coolest, whatever).  Try to just be mom.  Be home.  Have dinners together.  Don't try to be their friend.  Let them get hurt.  They're going to eventually and we're here to protect them from life.  Life hurts you, so they better be armed with how to deal....do it while they're still young.  We need to help each other.  Talk about our low days when we feel a lot less than perfect....you know you have them, admit it.  It makes you feel better to find out you're NOT alone.  Instead moms and (yes, some dads) spend all their time with their peers just trying to tear them down or make them feel inferior.  What does that tell or say to our kids.

I'm not perfect and by the grace of God, my kids seem to be doing well as human beings, but we have to have done some things right.  I pray I continue to find the right people to bounce my erroneous parenting ways off of to improve.  And I will continue to steer clear of the ones that only exist to make me feel worse.  The internet can be such a curse.  We no longer have to visit at a child's birthday party, we just have to post all of our perfection on Facebook.

Happy Birthday Haebinah!

Kaelin was born 11 years ago on the island of Jeju in South Korea.  Today, she is a young lady and very much looks like one.  I hope she continues to grow into the person she has already become.  Happy Birthday Kaelin!  My kids are so lucky.  They're loved here and half way across the world.  I know that the adoption agency personnel love all of my kids because we're all family now.  I could tell when we visited.  I'm sure there's another woman in Korea who's a little sad right now.  If only she knew how much love she found.

The love-hate relationship of raising kids....

I say that because there are always parts of parenting you love and there are definitely times you hate!

I love the cuteness of little ones and the way littler kids are able to show their affection for parents and loved ones more freely than any of us as we get older.  And I definitely love the inexpensiveness of littler ones.  Yes, with daycare obviously they're more expensive, but if you take out that sometimes necessary budget line-item, they're cheaper.  I can see why stay-at-home mom have more kids in closer age ranges than we did.  It seems so tempting while they're little.  You just have to remember that they do grow up.  Everyone always tried to tell me that teenagers were harder and more expensive than toddlers and babies, but I too brushed it off instead of listening to sage advice....or rather warnings.  The good thing is I didn't have the kids too close together, so we get a bit of breathers at every stage.

Teenagers are just a different beast. They think they don't need you, so you get attitude.  They're hungry all the time, much like infants, but eat 100 times what an infant does....at least my teenagers do.  They have awkward ways of showing love and affection, but if you work really hard every great once in awhile you get the reward of seeing a glimmer of it shine through their gruff exteriors. One, older parent, once told me that what they are by the time they are about 16 is about what you can expect, with more maturity of course.  They meant, most often if they continue on that same path, with friends, morals etc. if they're not doing drugs and major offenses by then they will probably be okay.  I'm hoping for that because even though my 16 year old gives attitude from time-to-time and makes mistakes, I like who he is.  13 was definitely rougher for him than 16 seems to be.  But, I also think he likes his newly found freedoms of driving and having a job.  Not many hours, but it's still some independence.  I even like my 13 year old better than I did when he was 10-12.  I'm not overly worried about my kids like I was when they were younger.  I'm starting to see, now that they're teenagers, who they're becoming and I like them and I'm proud of them.  I pray they keep down this same way.

I had to have a serious talk with the 11 and 16 year old last night.  13 year old had football practice...we're saving the conversation for a later date for him.  I started out explaining something to them and then we had a nice little chat.  Eventually, the 11 year old got bored, but I chatted with our 16 year old for over 1/2 hour.  We talked about school, politics, everything.  It's interesting to hear his opinion.  He actually thinks ahead for a teenager, more than we give him credit for.  We have very open and honest dialogues with our kids and try to put it in context for their ages and what I've found is that they may not get every piece of it, but as they age they seem to be able to put the pieces together and see a bigger picture for themselves.  They're very aware and observant.

Sometimes, these conversation are needed and we only find out through conversations, they had misgivings.  We were talking about adoption and conversations kids at school had had with him.  As I suspected, people who do not know us equate adoption with wealth.  My child set them straight and informed them their mom is just good with money.  Then, they all found out about our trip to Korea and really assumed we were wealthy, but he nicely informed them all how many years we'd been saving just for that.  He asked more about the little's adoptions and I told him that we had gone the special needs route.  I told him after his birth defect and Chase's birth defect we were okay with kids with some possible special needs and that that route meant reduction in adoption fees and grants (since our income was lower).  He asked about the girls' needs, and I of course, told him that was something to be shared with them first, but then he was asking about Chase.  He knew we had talked about the chromosome translocation in the past, but some how only remembered crohns.  So, I guess he's had it in his mind this whole time that Chase had crohns.  We got that all straightened out now.  :)

Sometimes, teenagers are so pleasant. I really don't mind for the most part.  They are 10 times the worry as you cut the apron strings (and thankfully it's more of a process).  They are 10 times more worry because the mistakes they make are no longer so little, but more impactful to their adult lives.  But, the journey to watching them grow up is absolutely priceless!  And not one I'd trade for anything because I don't have 1 kid out of 5 that I could assume how they will turn out.  I want to watch and see how it all unfolds for them.

Lots of Learning Going on.....just starting.....again

Let's see.

Chase is still injured, but has his stitches out.  We're having to butterfly bandage his knee though.  The wound just didn't quite heal in 10 days.  Now that it's getting some air, it's starting to stay closed.  It doesn't help that he goes and runs and sweats in football practice every night.  No tackling or real drills, but the boy can run.  He forgot the other night and ran out with the 1st team and caught a ball one handed.  Coach made him sit.

The kids are BACK in school.  2nd day and we're getting used to all the structure again.  Poor Cole is finding out what real life is like.  He had to go to school today and work after school until tonight.  He'll be tired.  No one has really said anything as far as teachers, but I don't have the most talkative kids unless something is really great or really bad.  They're too much like their mother.  Ha!  Chelsi had a neat assignment last night.  They were getting ready to read a book today about a mouse with a really, really long name.  Then, they were going to discuss how special names can be, teasing and how to handle teasing.  Great lessons for 2nd grade!  She had to work with us on a paper with two questions to go with it.  She had to write her full name and then explain where she got her name from and why she thought it was special.  It was fun explaining to her that her big brothers picked out her first name from a list her dad and I came up with.  Then, her first middle name is after her Korean mother.  Her 2nd middle name is her name in Korea.  She really liked the story of how her name came to be.  She simply wrote that she thought her name was special because family named her and she got to keep her Korean name.

Tonight, I decided it was time to brush up on my photography skills again.  It's that time of year.  I need to take the kids' annual portraits, Chase will have football pics and I just need to get some new skills anyways.  Kaelin was out practicing volleyball (finally! the girl found something she loves), so she humored me and let me practice on her.  They actually turned out great once I learned how to take advantage of some additional settings.

Mostly, I wanted to compare my older lens to my newer lens for portraits.

The kids' first day.

Practice, Practice, Practice (for both of us).

That annual event is here, and then some

Yes, the start of the school year is here again.  #1 is a junior, #2 is in 8th grade, #3 is in 5th grade, #4 is in 2nd grade and #5 has one more year of daycare before he gets to go to school.

Cole started his job today.  I don't think he likes it, but don't think he hates it either.  It's money either way.  Not too many hours, but luckily it's only a 10 minute drive from home (and there aren't too many of those), so it won't cost too much in gas.  He has to pay his bills some how.  Hopefully, they'll work with him when wrestling starts, but we'll see in November.

Chase officially started practice, but for him was more unofficial since he broke his finger and still has stitches in his knee.  A friend is taking them out for him Wednesday night before practice, so he should be able to slap on some bandaids and get his football pants on finally.  The coaches are being pretty careful with him.  They don't want anything to happen on their watch for sure.  He said he ran and got to take handoffs, but no contact.....he can't anyways without the doctor's release.  Hopefully, he'll only miss 2 games.  I'm thinking in the end, most kids that play football for years are going to have some sort of injury they'll experience.  If not, you're not playing.  I'm really hoping this is the worst of it.  Fingers crossed!

Chelsi is SO ready to go back to school.  She told me how much she misses her kids class....all summer, I've heard about this.  This is her gifted class.  She loves the other students and likes writing the papers and research.  More than I thought, but she's only in 2nd grade, so we'll see if she feels the same way next summer.  :)

Kaelin, I'm pretty sure is ready for school.  She just isn't going to say too much if she's a little nervous.  I'm sure she is now that she's a little fish in a big pond at the middle school.  But, Chase will be there with her this year and she has some of his same teachers, so that's good.  She'll be fine as always.  And now that she's older she has so much more to look forward to.  She gets to start real school volleyball in 7th grade!

Jaemin is ready for school.  Brian's right.  It took 5 kids to get one just like him.  He has at least as much energy (as Brian used to have) and LOVES to read.  I had him put his book down (in bed) to kiss me goodnight and he was upset because he thought I lost his place.  He said it was his favorite part.  It's so cute!!  And I love how much he loves reading.  He says "YAY" when he gets to read every night.  Just so we're clear.  I am NOT allowed to read to him.  He reads to me or himself.

All in one visit

I've made it over 16 years and 5 kids without any unplanned stitches or broken bones.  Leave it to Chase to get a diagnosis for both in one visit.  First, he hurt his hand playing football.  Then, he cuts open his knee before he even gets to start fishing.  We thought his finger was just jammed, but since we were in the ER we got an xray.  Sure enough, it's broke right at the base.  We'll see an orthopedic tomorrow to find out if it needs turned.  Ouch!  Then we should also get the rules and limits for continuing football.

Swimming....finally

We haven't gone to Lois' all summer to use her pool.  Since daycare was closed all week, I had mom take the kids the first 3 days and then took off today and tomorrow.  We finally got to swim at Lois' house.  Jaemin knew as soon as we pulled up.  He said "it's Lois' house".  We invited Jaemin's friend S and her mom to go with us since I knew she was off too.  They were TIRED by the time we got done.  And I did get pictures taken before Kaelin knocked the camera off the table.  :)

What does a lens filter do?

Well, a $40 filter could actually protect your $1,000 lens.  Thank God.  Kaelin knocked my camera off the table, in it's case and it still smashed the lens filter.  We finally got it off to find the glass for the lens okay.  We carefully cleaned the broken glass off and I took some photos and it seems to be okay.  The filter didn't fare so well.

Swimming lessons

My good camera's battery was dead so hopefully I'll remember to bring it to their last class.  Cool water or not Jaemin loves his swim time.

Slide show from Korea

It took awhile, but I finally decided I needed to make time to do this before it got away from me.

High school?

Would you ever want to be young and repeat your high school years again?  I know I would NOT.  They weren't awful, but not that great of memories either.  But, what I'm realizing as I'm getting older is high school really never ends.  At work, in social circles; sometimes those issues you thought only related to high school still occur.  And, then when you feel like you need to talk and there's no one it really stinks.  Back in high school, it was always off again on again.  That's just how girls are (boys don't get that and they're lucky).  You would think you'd be past that and beyond those stages in adulthood.  And I guess that's the problem with me.  I don't want to repeat that. I'm too old for the drama and need someone, as a friend, I can count on.  I mean what happens when things really fall apart and you don't have someone?  Who wants a friend that's only there in certain times?  The downfall of being independent...I guess.

My kids.....

I really do love spending time with them, but I think the best time spent is when I only have 1 or 2 at a time.  Jaemin didn't get any special time this weekend, but the others did.  I took all 4 of the younger kids swimming Friday afternoon.  Kaelin had a volleyball swim party and it was really hot, so I decided I was caught up enough at work to take the afternoon off and take them all.  We had enough swim passes for all 5 of us except Chase. I guess really that was my Jaemin time because I spent all 4 hours chasing him around the pool.  :)  Chelsi ended up find friends from school there and obviously Kaelin had her volleyball friends.  Chase ended up with friends there as well.  Kinda cool since we never go swimming and definitely not at that pool. They were so tired, but had a good time.

Chelsi had a birthday party to go to Saturday.  I had only met the mom once, so I took her to the YMCA for a little tumbling time with her friends, but I stayed.  It's always a good time to get to know or at least try to get to know some of the other parents.  I'm not very keen on just leaving my kids unless I know the adults really, really well.  I guess I just don't trust people.  Not with my kids anyways.  They're irreplaceable you know.  She and I always have good talks on the way to and from the Y for gymnastics.  This time we just talked about her friends a little more since I got to meet more of them.  They all, of course, hugged her as soon as she walked in.  She is definitely very loved by her friends.

Saturday night there was an indy film premiere.  It was here because they filmed it here.  Since I had never been to any premiere let alone the world premiere (even though it will probably never go mainstream), I wanted to go see what it was like.  It was a scary movie, so I asked Cole and Chase if they wanted to go.  I don't let the girls watch those kinds of things yet and the boys only watch them with me.  We left the house at 10:30 pm for midnight showing.  Got home about 2 am.  They're pretty fun to hang out with.  They're always so different when I just have 1 or 2 of them.  They almost seem more outgoing with me when I have both of them though.  Like they feed off each other a bit.  We talked about the movie the whole way home and laughed a lot.  I hope I get plenty more moments like these. These are my favorites.

One of the other moms at the pool, Friday afternoon, asked me at one point where Kaelin was.  Her daughter couldn't find any friends to hang out with and I think she assumed Kaelin was with her friends.  I saw Kaelin up waiting to go down the waterslide with Chase.  I told her that they generally hung out together.  She thought that was pretty interesting since her son and daughter are the same ages as they are.  I told her how they fight, but they are the closest of the 5 and will always come to each other's rescue.  I hope Kaelin and Chase are always friends like that.

I hadn't gotten to spend much time with Jaemin over the weekend.  Of course, we read every night together, so I guess we have that 10 minutes together alone.  Tonight he decided to read Bee Bim Bop and Happy Adoption Day.  He's really a good reader.  Hard to understand because of his poor speech, but I know what he's saying, so I know he's a good reader.  He is such a sweet little boy and I'm so lucky Korea found us for him.  I thank God for him everyday.  I came to kiss him goodnight before I went to bed, as I do every night on my way to my room.  I could just sit with him and listen to him for hours.  Just watching him sleep.  I guess because I look at him while he's sleeping and really take the time to realize how lucky I am.  He gets mad every so often when he doesn't get his way, but in general you can easily distract him if you just try and he's such an easy going kid, outside of his sensory issues.  I absolutely love his personality.  He has so much.
Thank God for my kids.