Decorating for Christmas

Darren and I have been married for 12 1/2 years now, we have 3 kids, and by default are starting to create some family traditions. One of the traditions that we have in place is that we decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving weekend. Since we live in Korea and you can't get a "real" tree it doesn't matter how long we have the tree up.

Here are some pictures for our decorating for Christmas 2011. While the girls have become old pro's at decorating, this was a very new experience for Ethan. His first amazement I think came when we turned the lights on.

We quickly found that we were going to have to set some paramaters for Ethan. Ornaments stay on the tree! He really like taking ornaments off and spreading them around the house.

As we pull out the Christmas decorations we also get their Christmas books and puzzles out. They always enjoy these every year and it seems like they are brand new.

Thanksgiving

I don't remember the last time that we celebrated Thanksgiving in the American sense of the word. I mean we always usually had some sort of meal in which we ate together and were intentional about giving thanks, although it is a general practice that I would hope we are always doing (giving thanks).

This year however has been different. There have been many challenges and uncertainties that we have faced. However through it all we have known that God was in control and have worked to focus on Him and walk by faith knowing that he would direct our paths.

So, it was nice to have two unexpected days off to relax and give thanks. Mom and Dad were in town and Mom always knows how to set things up to be magnificent. So, we had a great dinner with family and friends.

"Singing in the Rain"

Sunday afternoons around our house are notoriously slow. It is the impeding Sunday night/Monday morning feeling that is coming towards you. I want Sunday afternoon to last forever. Our typical routine has us out to lunch until Mid-Afternoon and then some sort of activity in the late afternoon...followed by a light dinner, cereal, fruit, something small. The girls have started to notice this and are wondering if we will ever have a "real" dinner on Sunday night! :) I doubt it.




Anyways, this particular Sunday afternoon we had been inside a lot throughout the weekend due to rain. So, when we saw a glimpse of reprieve we darted outdoors. The girls were not that thrilled about going for a walk, but Sara quickly found the puddles and "1, 2, 3 go," quickly ensued. After Sara had done it a few times, Kacy significantly more timidly decided to join in. By the time we returned home, the girls were soaked and jumped right into the bath to clean off.

The next weekend we were out for a hike. We went up towards chicken foot for those that are familiar with the area. We really were just on a leisure stroll as we had the stroller. Here are some pics from this little expedition.

Cute Pics

As I go back and try to backpost some I found these cute pictures and thought that I would start with them. Ethan thinks he is as big as the girls and loves climbing up on Sara's bed (top bunk).

Here are some sleeping beauties. I love pictures of them sleeping as they are so calm and peaceful.

Sara's Homework

I have to admit and acknowledge that I have married a 21st Century Educator, aka a tech dude-geek! He loves to dabble and play with technology. Some of that has worn off on me, but not everything!

So, when our then four year old came home with an assignment to look around the house and draw sources of light, he decided that wasn't the best way to show that and it would take so long to draw it all. So, Sara and Darren went around the house with our I-pad and took pictures of light sources. Sara was able to take the pictures, it is super easy. Then Darren opened Keynote on the I-pad and demonstrated to Sara how to add the pictures into the keynote. Pretty soon Sara was adding her own pictures to the keynote. Sara also came up with the idea of doing a dark light pattern with her backgrounds. Darren added the text, but overall this project was done by a four year old. Darren sent it to her teacher and Sara presented it to her classmates. Watch the video below to see Sara sharing with her peers about sources of light in our house.

Busy Weekend...

This weekend as been unbelievably busy...

Friday day...we had a little birthday party for Sara in her Pre-K classroom.

Friday night...Sara got to choose where she wanted to eat dinner...her choice...McDonald's...as my Mom said...what does McDonald's have to offer or entice to a girl who can't eat anything there but the french fries and ice cream...the fact that Mom will let her eat only french fries and ice cream. Kacy had a friend, Jamie Lee come spend the night.

Saturday Morning...we had 10 little princesses come to our house for Sara's birthday party. You can see the previous post to see the video of the party.

Saturday afternoon/evening...we headed up to GSIS to watch TCIS play YISS in the KAIAC championship game. This was super fun as TCIS lost the first two games, then being tied 23-23 came back to win game 3 28-26 and won game 4 and 5. It was a GREAT game! Go Dragons! We traveled back late Sunday night.

Sunday we had church nursery and then Lisa cooked us dinner so we went over there to celebrate Kirk's Birthday. Happy B-day Kirk! This was followed by the Fall Frolic in which the kids got to dress up and go around playing games and getting candy. This was followed by roasting marshmallow's and grilling out hotdogs.

By the time we got home Sunday night we were all exhausted and ready for a vacation on Monday, unfortunately, school started back and it was back to reality.

Princess Sara's 5th Birthday

Sara Emma turned 5 the other day. I know it sounds clique, but really it is hard to believe that she is that old. I truly do remember the day clearly. We were having a soccer jamboree here at school. I was walking around talking to people that morning. Thinking, man am I ever going to have this baby. I went to my classroom to work and prepare for the upcoming week. When I came out of my classroom and walked back by the jamboree talking to people I was no longer thinking when is this baby coming...I was thinking...this baby is coming...although I didn't tell anyone. Boy were people surprised when I delivered Sara a few hours later. They had just seen me! :) Sara came in with a good 8 lbs and the adventure of life with Sara Emma Price began.

Fast forward 5 years and here we are at Sara's 5th birthday! Enjoy the video that shows the day.