He's still a CM fan!

Jae is definitely still a country music fan.  He loves music in general, just like his big sis'.  We were finally watching the CMA's tonight and he was air guitaring for awhile, but then went and got his little toy guitar.  He was rockin' around the room and even threw his momma a kiss and went back to some rocking.  I'm not a HUGE Keith Urban fan, but that's who he looked like grooving around the room.  I think he learned a thing or two from him and Brad Paisley tonight. 

Cole went and got his beginner guitar and Jaemin took right to it.  He's a lefty, but he holds it naturally.  I can totally see him playing one day.

Thankfulness Reminder #7

Thankful for kids who, sometimes, actually help out without complaining so I can actually get more done then I stressed about at work.  Chase sweetly replaced the nasty shower curtain downstairs so I could wash the old one.  Kaelin helped put away the items from my shopping trip.  Brian helped me fold the load of laundry and cut up the deer and pork chops for the bulgogi while I was out.  This girl just can't stand the site of the redness of deer meat.  I will eat it, but I can't stomach cutting it.  Chelsi picked up the toy food, twice!  Jaemin just kept creating his usual disasters.  But, thanks to extra help I got the grocery and monthly shopping done, a load of laundry washed, folded and hung up and a shower curtain soaking.

Tomorrow will be spent doing a couple more loads of laundry, making bulgogi and kimchi pancakes and a playdate after dropping kids at school.  Oh snap....the kids are off early too.  Well, it will be a full an noisy house while I get that done.

Lisa

Thank you God!

Earlier this week I decided it was time to teach Jaemin to say his prayers at night.  He doesn't string too many words together yet, so I just had him repeat "thank you God, Amen".  He put his hands together to pray and repeated me.  Not very clear, but he repeated.  The next night I just put him to bed and sat by his bed to give him a kiss goodnight.  He put his hands together and started yelling at me "I pway....I pway".  It took me looking at his hands before I realized what he was saying.  He was perfectly content after we finished saying "thank you God, Amen".  He did it again tonight, so I guess last night was not just a quirk.  Then, he took his paci out of his mouth and said "popo".  I gave him his kiss (in Korean) and left.  OOOHHHH my little man.....I love you and you melt my heart and amaze me so easily.

Lisa

Thankfulness Reminder #6

I know that as time goes on this is going to get harder and harder.  Not that I can't find things to be thankful for, but finding them several times per week.  I mean....I always remind myself how thankful I am for the kids, etc., but not for the little things that happen or how they happen.  Of course, sometimes, I just don't realize how thankful I am for something until I see the reason why it happened.  Does that make sense?

So, tonight I'm thankful that no matter how badly Cole and Kaelin get along...and trust me they do NOT get along......he 'can' do what's right and big brotherly when she really needs him.  He rescued her tonight and I'm thankful.  He chalked it up to boredom, but he saw her being bullied in a subdued way, but still rescued her. 

Lisa

Thankfulness Reminder #5

So, after having the 3 younger kids line up for the lotion rub down, I realized that Jaemin's is getting better, Kaelin just has dryness on her face, but Chelsi's eczema is getting worse for the Winter.  So what am I thankful for today, you ask?  I'm thankful Jaemin has his eczema flare ups during the summer while Chelsi's is in the Winter.  So, YAY....at least they're not at the same time.  They are to the point that they're hard to reign in sometimes, so this is a VERY good thing!

Lisa

Thankfulness Reminder #4

Tonight, I'm just simply thankful our church dinner is over!  No more worrying about my pies or bread in the freezer and geez my feet are tired.  But, boy that food was YU U UMMY!

Lisa

Thankfulness Reminder #3

I remind myself that even on, what I consider, a bad day I need to post the things I'm thankful for.  At almost any given moment in my life I can find some small thing to be thankful for.  This is what I always hold onto and a lot of what has gotten me through the bad things that can happen in life.  So, even though today is not the greatest day for one of our children and in return, for me either, I make myself look for something.

Today, I'm thankful that we have an extra $40 cash (from aluminum recycling) that we can now afford to take the kids out to eat sometime in the next month or so.  We rarely go out to eat because it's hard to validate spending that kind of money on food for a family our size.  But, it is still an enjoyable thing to do for them and us, so since we got it we will use it.  Now, to debate on where to go.

Korean Background Inaccuracies

So when you see a movie that, supposedly, takes place in another country that you have never been to, do you assume it's an accurate portrayal.  For that matter, just another American city.  Well, this Korean lawmaker has a problem with American dramas and their portrayal of Korean cities, life and backdrops.  I found the article quite interesting as I know enough about Korea to know it's assessment of the issue is true.  I realize that Hollywood has a lot of work to get shows to flow together, but come one.  You can't spend a little more time to make it look a little more like the real thing?  At the very least costumes, etc. should be easy enough to get.  I can almost understand not being able to accurately recreate the Han River as it is SO vast and their bridges are different than ours, but then maybe you shouldn't say it's the Han River?

Anyways, an interesting article. Hollywood Inaccuracies Regarding Korea

Lisa

Thankfulness Reminder #2

I'm totally thankful that tonight Jaemin is already asleep because he has his 'unsnipped' paci and likes going to bed again.  Nevermind that he still crawled over the footboard at midnight last night to get in bed with me....it was still better than it had been....and I'll take it!  Totally gives up the paci to sleep with mommy though.  MIL says it's because I'm his security when he's in bed with me.  Maybe she didn't mean it that way, but I totally took it as a sweet comment!

Lisa

Geez!

I can't believe I've been suffering (and I'm sure Jae too) for no reason.  No reason at all!  I was checking in with one of our supervisors today, about an issue, and we were talking about how tired I was.  I told her how Jae has been having so much trouble sleeping all of the sudden; naps and night.  It's been terrible.  He doesn't want to go to sleep, talks, scratches, whatever.  Then, it donned on me while we were talking that this started about the same time as I started to snip his paci....3 weeks ago.  I started to snip it hoping he would give up what was left of his addiction.  He just takes it in bed, but after talking to another mom who said this works, I thought I'd try.  The other 4 gave it up cold turkey by 2, but I didn't see that happening with little man.

So tonight we decided to experiment.  I gave him one of the reserves I was keeping and sure enough it worked.  He went to bed, stayed in bed and fell asleep right away.  No, 1-2 hours of coming out of his room, going through his drawers, throwing toys around the room, whatever.  He's sleeping.  All this because I snipped his stinkin' paci.  Looks like he'll be keeping it bit longer.

Lisa

Thankful Reminder #1

I decided tonight that I'm going to try to post one thing.  Just one thing as often as I can about something I'm thankful for.  Not the usual, I'm thankful for my family, etc., though that might be thrown in from time-to-time depending on how I feel.  I want to reflect on small things.  Small things we all take for granted and need to remind ourselves to be thankful for.  We all find ourselves in the wo is me mood from time-to-time and this is something I do to help myself during those times anyways.  So, no matter what it is your thankful for, big or small, find something almost daily to be thankful for and remind yourself that life is good.

Today, I'm thankful that Brian has uniforms for work so that we can a) cut down on laundry and b) cut down on clothing costs.  I was reminded of this as I threw in 2 more loads tonight.....it's a daily fight here.

Lisa

Crystal Ball

I think at some point in most of our lives we sort of wish we had a crystal ball to see a glimpse of our future to know what choice to make or just for a second to know the choices already made were right for us.  I also think it's human nature to be curious of the lives of others.  Why else would reality tv be so popular?  I watch very little, but not because I'm not curious, but because I just don't have time.

I belong to various support groups between adoption and broken hearts and can't help but wonder what's behind the screen....really?  I mean, what someone shows us on screen is not really them....I would think not anyways.  I mean, do you really think this is the real me?  Here I may look perfect from time-to-time.  No one sees my failures or the times I just plain lose it.  Heck, the folks at work see me all the time and they don't see a lot of that.  My family, however, does.  The ones in the house who are with me on a day-to-day basis and the ones I'm most comfortable with.  I do think this is normal.  That's why I think I sometimes wonder when I see a mom totally lose it at the store thinking they're toning it down there, is it that much worse at home?

I also wonder about myself.  I see other families adding to their family through adoption.  I'm happy for them, but is a tinge of me really a little jealous?  Sometimes, I think maybe.  No, I don't want more.  I'm doing good with the 5 I have.  But, what if I'm jealous of how some can handle 5 little ones (I mean barely school age and under) while I'm treading sometimes with a 13 year old on down to 2?  But, then another part of me thinks maybe that's easier.  I used to think things would be easier as the kids got older, even though wiser moms told me otherwise.  But, yeah, now that we have 3 kids in school, and almost 4 in school, it's getting SO busy.  Not bad busy, sort of fun busy, but definitely crazy busy.  So, yeah a part of me wonders how hard it's going to be for these moms when the kids are all going to school, almost at once.  What if you had 5 then?  Wow!  In then end, I'm glad I heeded some of the warnings and at least kept a little spacing between our 5.  I think that helps a bit.  It eases you into it a little.  I can't imagine all of the kids one by one turning those magical ages each year when they begin school and therefore you have homework, school events and eventually extracurricular activities.  What about the magical age when suddenly you're paying to go somewhere or eat something....or worse yet.  Cole has hit the magical age where he costs what an adult costs.  Of course, for us that 'can' be good sometimes.  If it's to get a free kids meal with the purchase of an adult we end getting all the little kids free and only paying for an adult.

I don't know.  Just some random things I think about on occasion.  Maybe I just needed to write it down to get it out of my head?  Things are never what you think.  A lot of people look happy on the outside or perfect on screen, but life is not perfect.  The one thing I've learned.

Happy Hallow's Eve!!

So, my kids weren't so scary.  The girls, were fairy witches....they're own invention after Chelsi couldn't decide between a witch or fairy.  So, her Godparents found her a costume, for her birthday, that fit the bill just perfectly.  We added some soot to Jaemin's face to go with his fireman's costume and Chase got dressed as a zombie football player.  I'm sure we'll have a ton of candy by nights end, but some will last until almost Easter.  The newness wears off after a bit.  But, the kids will pay us our dues in chocolate for being mom and dad.  How evil....huh?

This one's great.  They were waiting for Jaemin to look at the camera.  Never happened.  :)

Worn out shoes

Me selling shoes at a rummage sale or donating them to anyone is such a rarity.  We cleaned the garages out where the kids keep their shoes that have started to wear and we had to toss a lot of them.  And I mean A LOT.  Most of them are getting tossed because they look like the ones below.   Literally, they are missing parts of them.  So, no....we do NOT waste our wears.  We wear and wear and wear them some more.

We went to a local event for Halloween, just me and the 4 youngest, while Brian took Cole deer hunting.  The kids had a great time and came home with a boat load of candy.  Jaemin and Chelsi got to ride barrels around and then Kaelin, Chase and Chelsi walked through a haunted house all by themselves.  Please excuse the awful pictures at the end.  They were taken with the camera I keep in the car that's over 10 years old.  We had fun, but they're all tired and grouchy now.  More candy tomorrow, right?!

Sorry about the tongue.

 

 Jaemin the firefighter on a real fire truck!

Aahhhh....kimchi

Since I'd been craving kimchi I thought we'd make a night of it since our closest Asian market is about an hour from us.  So, we stopped by the market and Bass Pro.  Had some great pizza buffet too.  The kids really enjoyed the nights as the big boys decided on how to spend the gift cards they'd been saving.  Jaemin was in an extra great mood and quite the little character tonight.  We looked through their kimchi selections, at the market, and since the cucumber kimchi was only in tiny jars I got white kimchi instead.  It's not quite as spicy and I'm really NOT a fan of cabbage kimchi and neither is anyone else in the house.  Kaelin and I are about the only ones that will eat it anyways, unless Jaemin does.  He's never had it so I guess we'll be finding out.  He did hear us say it was kimchi and yelled "Iunt kimchi" at the store.  Brian even got an extra large jar for someone he knows that loves kimchi.....but he eats the cabbage one.

And since kimchi always has a way of leaking out on the way home, it managed to leak through the two bags they put it in and onto my mats.  Everytime we got back in the van we opened the windows (cold air and all) to air out the car a bit.  My garage will smell like it by morning I'm afraid.  I think it was turning Brian's very full stomach after supper.  Kaelin and I still thought it smelled good.

So, yep, we'll be having some for lunch tomorrow.  I'll make another quick batch of sticky rice to go with.   And another enjoyable family night.  Yum!

New dish invention

The other night, literally, while I was lying in bed trying to sleep I thought of a food concoction.  So, today I decided to try it out for real and see if it was as good as what I was craving in my head.  It was AWESOME.  The kids....all 5.....LOVED it and asked for it to be in the weekly rotation.  How cool is that.  It's totally an Asian inspired dish, since that's mostly what I crave 24/7.

Super easy.  All you have to do is make Asian coleslaw, but I substitute the vinegar for rice vinegar and put a dash of sesame seed oil and soy sauce in it.  Cut up about 3 or 4 pork chops into small bite size pieces.  Mix a tablespoon of sugar in with about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.  After the sugar is mixed in and dissolved poor over the pork chop bites and add 2 cloves of chopped garlic and some sliced mushrooms (to your liking).  Marinate this in the fridge for an hour (minimum).  Fry the refrigerated mixture until it's browned and slightly crisp.  Get the Asian coleslaw out of the refrigerator and mix the pork chop bites in.  Heat in the microwave until just warm if the pork chop bites are cool or you can eat cold.  Serve with a side of sticky rice.  If you need the Asian coleslaw recipe comment on the blog and I'll post it as a response.  For now I'm going to save myself the time if no one cares.  :)

Sooooo healthy and sooooo yummy!  Glad I made a ton because I get to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Apple doesn't fall far

Not with Brian anyways.

He tells me after work tonight that he has something awesome to show me.  He wouldn't tell me what it is just that it was the best.  I immediately asked "did you get it out of the trash or on the side of the road?"  This is his dad in him.  So, I go to the garage and he shows me the burner/stand for a fryer he found in the dumpster.  He says the dial's not working properly, but his dad (of course) said it's an easy fix.  Brian's been wanting a fryer, so I guess now we need to get the pot and strainer.

Sometimes, I wonder what people must think of us.  :)

A question of Heaven

So, last week when Butter died, Chelsi asked me where he was, as I tucked her in to bed.  I told her he went to Heaven.  She asked where Heaven was and I told her God was there.  She then said that she thought God was in Church.  I told her God was everywhere.  Kaelin quickly piped in to ask "does God see me in the shower?"  After I laughed I had to explain to her that I doubt God had any interest in her showers.  :)

Lisa

Fresh start

We got another dog to help the boys heal their hearts.  The boys and I sat down on the internet Friday afternoon looking through the ads and found a 2 yo yellow lab just 45 minutes away.  She said her dad didn't have time for him like she'd hoped when she gave him to him as a pup and she couldn't have anymore dogs, so she wanted to give him away.  So, while Brian worked late I loaded up the kids in the truck and went to pick him up. 

He's slightly neglected.  I think he was pretty much fed and watered and that was about it.  From time to time he played with their two yo grandchild, so he follows our 2 year old around like a lost puppy....no pun intended.  He's skinny and doesn't have as much muscle tone as our other dogs have.  He's finally starting to eat...a little.  He's not shaking anymore.  But, he's scared of every single noise and doesn't seem to care for men much.  You can't even clap without him ducking and running for his kennel.  He hides in there most of the time anyways.  That's what he's use to.  We've had him loose in the yard all weekend to get used to it.  We also invested in the fencing for him so it couldn't happen again.  He's a pretty good dog and I think he's got a lot of potential, but for now we're just trying to let him adjust and teach him how to play.  He doesn't know how.  He's great with the kittens, which made me feel better.  The lady that had him was so happy he was going to a big family she gave me a hug. 

Poor thing though.  He had never been in a vehicle and was scared to death.  He sat on the boys' laps and got so scared that he crawled up under my legs and I had to pull over before we had an accident....He's really long legged so I don't know how he got up under there.  By the time I stopped his collar was tangled on the emergency brake pedal.  The boys got him back and he laid on the floor and shook the whole way home.

The kids love him so that's all that's important right now.  And he's starting to come out of his shell somewhat already.  He'll make a lot of progress.  He seems smart enough.

Sad week....

Football's over.  They lost their first playoff game, but did so well being 6 and 1 for the season.  So while I'm sad to not watch Chase tackle anyone anymore, it's nice for life to calm down a bit.

Cole tried out for basketball, but only being 5'4" at 13 is not tall enough to make a competitive junior high team.  I'm very sad for him since this was the only sport he was interested in that his cardiologist would allow him to play.  I'm hoping he'll find peace with it.

The worst part of the week, and by far the most sad, was the loss of our lab Butter.  He came to us from the local pound in June and has been the favorite dog to me and the kids.  He was a wonderful dog and so much fun.  He was so well behaved at 3 years old.  He didn't jump and go crazy.  He loved to be pet and lay with the kittens.  He LOVED to play frisbie and catch balls and sticks the kids threw.  He was hilarious sometimes.  He would run and roll over because he tripped over himself or run into things as he ran.  He reminded me of Chance in the Incredible Journey.  Just a great, great dog.  But, we came home to find him laying across the street.  He obviously had drug himself over to where he was and his back legs were paralyzed, so he did it all with his front.  He was bleeding everywhere and we could tell he had been completely run over on his whole back side.  The person who hit him didn't hit him.  They ran over him.  There's no way they couldn't have known what happened after running over an 80 lb lab.  And since our road is dead end they had to have been driving way too fast which makes it all the worse.  No one has called or let us know they did it.  He has tags and everything and nothing.  They just did it so callously.  We called the vet and got him there, but after taking xrays he found that his pelvis was fractured so badly it had pierced his colon and he was bleeding out.  We had to let the vet put him down so he could go in peace.

We tried to reinforce to the boys that we did everything possible.  The vet didn't know of anyone who would have a decent chance of saving him.  He said there was truly nothing we could do.  We told the boys we had to accept it.  Chase said his goodbye after they brought him back home.  He couldn't bear to bury him.  Cole didn't go with them to the vet because he was afraid it was this bad, but I talked him into helping his dad bury him so he could have some closure and say goodbye.  They each had a cup of hot chocolate and we talked and hugged and cried.  Jaemin still goes to the door calling for Butter.  They both seem a little better this morning, but it's going to hit them again when they go outside to play after school and he's not there to play with.  I miss him not walking to the mailbox with me or going on our walk down the road with us.  I miss him not scratching on our door for attention.  I miss not seeing him lying in the sun, warming himself or sitting with the kittens.  I miss Butter.  How can you replace such a great dog!

Life

It's been a bit since the last post, but what can I say?  I'm just enjoying life...other than a near run over crossing the street (at a light like I was supposed to I might add) going to work this morning.  You'd think I'd be less tired working part time, but I'm slightly more tired.  Just more active I think.  Tomorrow's a busy day, but Friday should be a little more restful...as much as possible with 2 little ones at home.

We spent the other night outside playing with our Walmart purchases from the weekend.  We bought some water colors and the kids painted.  Then, the girls colored one of my rocks in the rock garden.  It's okay, I told them they could.  Jaemin didn't last long painting, so Cole took him inside.  But the girls were out for awhile.


This, obviously, is not of them painting, but Jaemin so reminds me of Chase in this.  So cute!

New pictures for grandma

Fun with pictures.  They're all edited and complete.  Here are a few.