Friday, September 28, 2012

"5"

Today is the big day... my little one turns "5"... not sure if I'll get on the computer in the next day or so to share/document this event... I'll get to it eventually... I have tons to accomplish, and we also have visitors coming into town. Hopefully this is a birthday that she won't ever forget...



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Week 3 Complete

This week completely flew by... probably because we had a million and one things to get done (we have birthday to celebrate on Saturday, and visitors coming into town)... but nonetheless, schooling was done. Lots of coloring, lots of writing the letter "C", lots of singing during song time, lots of sidewalk chalk, etc... We had tons of fun this week with cars. We created "C"s out of them, we traced over sidewalk chalk "C"s that were roads for the cars to drive on, and did lots of counting with the cars. When it came to coloring sheets, we stuck with those that were related to her birthday on Saturday- cupcakes and cake pictures. We had our first playgroup of the year... fun was had by all. There was a bouncy house, tons of tumbling mats, jump ropes, balls... a kid's paradise... and my paradise when she took a 2.5 hour nap later that afternoon. Next week, is going to be a little more relaxed (since we have visitors in town), and we'll be doing some day trips... I suppose you can say that they're school trips, because I'm sure she'll learn something from where we'll be heading! I love how portable school can be... I think it's  one of the things I'm going to love most about it.



and my personal favorite... "C" is for... 


Oh, and I had loads of it this week... but, I am starting- half regular/half decaf... trying to kick caffeine all together, but it's going to take some time. I didn't have any headaches, but felt completely lethargic the one morning that I only brewed decaf. blah.
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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Popping Fall Colors

Fall colors are popping over here in Korea, which means the rice paddies are turning a beautiful golden shade, before being harvested. Some family time, NEEDED to be captured in them... they will be a reminder of our time in South Korea... that this is where our family grew.













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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

"One and Done"?

I would be lying if I told you that I believe in the idea of "one and done"... hmm, what's this in relation to? Certainly not a cup of coffee... wait, yes, I do believe in the idea... when I'm talking about my husband... so, I'm NOT completely against the idea... but for most things, I definitely need/want/desire more than one. When we first adopted Charlotte, I truly believed she was "it"... she was a lot of work in the beginning... work, that I wasn't 100% prepared for. But what mom is ever truly "prepared"? I think that ruins the surprise! Not to mention how different each and every "little being" is. On bad days, days where I wish I could creep into a hole and hide forever, I might believe in the idea of "one and done" when talking about children... but again, I think everyone has a day like that every so often... and if they say they don't, I'm fairly certain they're the liars. We're all human... and lets just clear the air, no child is perfect. Oh no, my sweet friend Anna and I always called little ones, even babies, "little sinners"... yes, they're cute, but they're little bundles of trouble.... trouble, that need to hear/learn of a love that is greater than anything in the world. To show them a love that is unconditional...

And that brings us to this crossroad... Charlotte has been asking Mommy and Daddy for a "baby brudda or sitta"... she sees other moms with babies in their bellies, and other friends that have brothers and sisters, and it's only natural for her to want a play friend. Her dollies just aren't cutting it anymore, and I don't blame her.



She loves other little babies/kids and always want to love on them like no other. She smooches other little ones, offers comfort when they're crying, tries to help out with soothing however she can (even if it means tickling when the little one doesn't want to be tickled)... she has "big sister" genes, there's no denying that. 


The hubs and I have a desire to have another... and we tell Charlotte that she needs to pray for a little one (and she does just that)... but we're asking you for your prayers as well... whether it be biologically or through adoption (again). It's not that we haven't "tried"... it just hasn't be successful, and I'm scared to go down that road again (perhaps I'll share that tid bit with you sometime on the blog)... Our desires are there, so hoping God blesses us with a little one again. After all, Charlotte needs someone to "boss" around, because disciplining her for bossing me around, is getting old! 


If she is supposed to be the one and only, then I just pray I'm content with the idea of "one and done"...
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Playing With Garbage

Walks have become a daily thing for Charlotte and I... part of our physical fitness... if you'd like to call it that. But it really gives us time to enjoy some fresh air, and take in "Korea" these last few months. I recently purchased some Vibrams, and I'm happy to say, that I have successfully been running a mile everyday around 10 minutes, without dying (I'm writing this blog post, so point taken). I knew I was going to enjoy the "barefoot" running experience... and so far all is well. I'll start to up my amount of running-adding more mileage a little here and there... hopefully one day I'll be able to do a 5K, and maybe even a half marathon (that's a lofty one, but a girl can dream, right?!) I feel lighter when I run, which makes me want to keep on going... and going... and going... and not give up.. that's the point.


So on all of our walks, I've been wearing these babies, and I couldn't be happier with the purchase. The little one, of course, has to wear her purple boots. She's a 100% "fashion before comfort" kind of gal.



I guess she proves her point, that they work just fine, when she jumps from the stairs, skips, hops, and never complains about her feet hurting...


Sometimes when we're along our walk... I can't help but stare down at the little one who's holding my hand. I feel so privileged. Those sweet little brown eyes, just win me over, so of course when she asks to play with the garbage, I can't help but say, "Yes"... now, I know what you're thinking... but really, in this case, the dumpster dive, wasn't too bad. 


See, it's not so bad... she's still cute... and she certainly knows how to be a stellar driver... 

Lets just say, that the walk we took today, wasn't as pleasant, because the "garbage" was picked up... yup, there was no happy camper on today's walk.
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Monday, September 24, 2012

The Bright Side

I can't believe that when I looked at the calendar this morning (to check, and re-check my to do lists), that I noticed we're nearly a week away from September ending... where did September go? I think I usually feel this way about most months, but people... this month, FLEW by. I know it's because our schedules are completely full, but I just wish it would slow down a little. I feel overwhelmed most of the time, trying to keep up with the housework on top of everything else. Really, how can 3 people make so many dishes? or so much laundry? or such a mess? I suppose we're totally going for that "lived in home" sort of look these days. It's super easy to concentrate on the mess, that we completely forget to see the better side... the bright side... the side that says, "Oh, I have a messy house, well at least I have a roof over my head." Or the side that looks at the piles of dishes in the sink, and thinks, "I am so grateful for the fact that we have food in the fridge to put on all these plates." Or taking a glance at the huge pile of laundry and thinking, "Wow, we have water/washing machine to actually clean our clothes." 

Today was a day where I looked at my crazy, messy house, and wanted to bury myself. There are piles of clean laundry all over the couch waiting to be put away, beds needing to be "made", toys needing to be put away- a house that has visitors coming to stay in it soon, but it's a complete disaster. But then I saw that in that crazy mess, were some of Charlotte's toys... and in that pile of laundry, were the cutest little unders (that's what Charlotte calls underwear) with bows and hearts all over them.... and in that pile of dishes, were the tiniest spoons/forks that are only used for one little mouth in our household.  And I thought, "It's okay, it's all good... mess is what shows us, that we are living..." If I was on top of all of those messes, I would miss out on SO many things, the moments that make all those messes... 


Take a moment today, to look on the better... brighter... side. It's way lovely over here... Oh, and did I mention that I took a 2 hour nap thanks to that side? Yeah... I could have made the house look lovely, and I chose to snuggle with my little one instead... now it's your turn.
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Friday, September 21, 2012

Week 2 Complete!

This week we tackled the letter "B" during our schooling, and words that start with the letter "B". Charlotte has NO problem identifying letters... everywhere we go, she points them out-spells the words out to us, that she sees. But this week, she learned how to write the letter "B"... well capital version... lower to come soon. We created a "B" box, and Charlotte collected items throughout the house to place in the box, that start with the "b" sound. We did lots of coloring, took time out in the week to celebrate "Pirate Day", made it to the library, ballet, music school, and managed to start discussing weather. It was a busy, but fairly successful week... and only hope to get the hang of this a little more, each week. It's really not a whole lot of new in our day, just more intentional learning, versus spontaneity. Here's to week two (as I raise my cup of coffee this morning)... excited to see what week 3 brings.




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