Christmas is coming!!

Henry's school class was going to sing at the annual tree lighting ceremony on Thursday night. They sent the notice home, and I wrote it down on my calendar. Henry was to show up at 5:10pm for the lighting ceremony which would happen at 5:45. I was doing all kinds of things to make sure we were going to be there as a whole family. I sent Henry out the door right at 5:10 and told him to walk himself down to Base Theater where his class was gathering. I fed kids dinner early. I had everyone dressed, etc. But at 5:30 when the Major suggested we should walk out the front door, I suggested we still had fifteen minutes before it "said" it was going to start.

Still, we left pretty close to 5:30, all bundled up and prepared to listen to the music and enjoy the glittering festivities. So I thought it was kind of strange that the closer we got to the base theater, the number of people who were walking the other direction. And Darin tried to tell me about 1/4 mile away that the tree was already lit up, but I countered that I thought the tree had been lit up all week, and the "lighting" ceremony was mostly the kids singing, and I was sure we had not missed it. But sure enough, when we finally got in front of the Theater, there was Henry wandering around all alone, sipping some hot cocoa, because the singing happened right about 5:35.

Then everyone blamed me for everything going wrong. The kids missed the lights. Santa was leaving on his fire truck, etc, etc., and everyone turned to ME to ask why we missed it all.





What can one do? I tried my hardest. And that's my only defense. I really thought I knew what I was doing. Needless to say, that story pretty much sums up how I feel about the entire start of the month of December. I seem to be ten minutes late and out-of-the-loop, everyday. We don't even have the advent calendar out yet. I think I'm a little bit in denial that Christmas is really coming. I feel the need for some time laps photos in a blog post in the near future. I know I say it almost every time I write, but it's because I think it to myself every SINGLE day...Where does the time go?! Really. Where?

Unrelatedly, people often tell me how much they wish they had twins. I think it's a funny comment, because I don't really think there are that many ladies walking around with a four month old baby wishing she were walking around with TWO four month old babies. But maybe there are? But sometimes I understand what people mean, especially this week when I was sitting at Ruby's Make Over Store...

Because I didn't just have one four year old who wanted to doll me up, I had TWO. And then, I felt really special.


P.S. If I look really old and tired in this pictures, it's because sadly I am. I am both old and always tired!

P.P.S. Boy oh boy did I look fine. The girls were beside themselves at their creation. Jane kept saying over and over again how she had never seen a hairdo like mine before. And I said, "I surely haven't either!" And they couldn't wait for the Major to walk through the door to take a picture of me standing next to him. It turned out so awful. I'll admit it, I have too much pride to post that picture!

It's kind of like I quit blogging...

And I was okay with that, until George said he wanted to run the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5K with me....



Then I knew I would need to post pictures about that! If I were to say something about what I most want out of life, on the list somewhere would be to have kids who love running. Much like some of my best memories are of running races all around the US with members of my family, I would really love to run races with my kids, all around the world!

So I told George he could totally run a 5k if he wanted to. After all, he can come home from school any day of the week, and run 2 miles on the treadmill, so 5k is just 1.1 miles further. I told him I'd do it with him, but he had to train.

He trained MINIMALLY. He could have trained more, that's for sure. But knowing my George the way that I do, I knew that the experience and the emotions of a race would be something that would only benefit him. I knew that physically he could run 3.1 miles, and that emotionally he would be soaring. So I wanted to help him accomplish his little dream.

The race was on Wednesday after school, and when he came home from school, he nearly talked himself out of it ten times. And I was having a hard time knowing what my role was. I DID NOT want to be some crazy "stage" mom who wants to throw their kids out there for all the world to see, how great I AM. I only wanted to help him accomplish something that he wanted to do. But I'll admit that I was struggling with the line I was walking.

In the end, I told him if he didn't feel ready for it, there would be another race on another day. But ultimately, I didn't want him to feel disappointed in himself or regret that he didn't do it. He came back to me in about five minutes and just said, "Mom, I'm going to do it!"

So off we went.

It was 100% the correct decision. To experience, all of the struggles, challenges, joys and excitement of Georges' first 5K race are almost too much for me to put into words.



When he saw that he was the only kid there, he grew about two inches taller. When the race started, and he looked back and saw that he wasn't going to be the last person to finish, he grew another two inches. When we turned around at the half way point to run back to the finish line, and he saw all the adults STILL BEHIND him, he was completely shocked. And when he saw Darin and the kids parked a little ways up the road, all standing in front of the van cheering and clapping, I thought George's heart might burst. And for all those moments of realization for my George, well, it's basically priceless.

The last half mile were totally hard for him. He wanted to stop, but then he told me how hard it was to start running again after you stop running, so I knew that I should just help push him through. I decided to tell him the story about when he was born.





Once labor started with George, things progressed really fast, and I basically pushed once, and he was out. So I crafted that memory into a story for him during the last half a mile to help him forget how hard the running was getting. And I told him that ever since he was born, I knew he was going to be a really fast kid, because he was born so fast. He liked my story. And before we knew it, the finish line was in sight. And right as we turned up the way to the finish line, all the adults who had already finished gathered around and totally started yelling and cheering, just for George. And I felt so proud, because he totally earned that applause. Because running 3.1 miles is hard for lots and lots of people, and he did it, he totally did it. And he's only 7.



And the thing is, I knew he could do it, but I'm not sure if he knew he could do it. It's so important to have experiences in our lives, when we surprise ourselves. It builds our confidence and helps us remember to set the bar a little bit higher the next time we have an idea, and that's how you achieve things. And I think George is here to achieve things. I just do.

The race director was so excited that a kid came out to participate in the event, that she wanted to give him a prize. I guess they were out of airplane trophies, because instead, they gifted George with a ten pound frozen ham! And then I learned a lesson, it pretty much doesn't matter what the prize is, people just love to win a prize. George wanted to carry that ham around with him for the rest of the day. And if you bump into him on the street today, he'll probably tell you that he won a ham at the race yesterday. And he's totally excited that he's providing the meat for our Sunday dinner this week. He really, really is. Just ask him.





So, that's the story that made me want to write a post on my blog again. I hope you agree, it's a good story.

And while I struggle as a mother with all the tiny details of my responsibilities towards all these amazing people who call me "mom", you have no idea how grateful I am that I was physically prepared for the day when my son told me he wanted to run a race. That I could run with him and comfortably pace him and talk to him and pull him through, because it was not physically taxing to me at all, I realized how grateful I am for my body. I spend a lot of time hating my body, because I'm a girl, and we do that really, really well. But through this little experience with George, I realized that it can accomplish things, and I should just be really grateful that it's strong and capable. I love learning new lesson/being reminded of old lessons.

And now it's Thanksgiving, and I feel all full of things to be grateful for. Like when I look from the kitchen to see the Major surrounded by his adoring off spring, all cracking up at the latest family friendly video on U-Tube.

Or when I look at my ladies, and remember the time when I pleaded with all my heart to the Lord for ONE little girl, and He answered my prayer with TWO.

That's all I have to do on any given night, to remember all that I have to be grateful for. It's a lot, I know.

A few favorites...

This outing:

We managed a trip up to the Seoul Grand Park last Friday. Korea is really offering the most amazing fall you have ever seen. I know you think fall is beautiful where you live, but I'm just saying, it might not have anything on Korea. The weather was perfect. The kids were delightful. The company was lovely. It was darn near a perfect day. Everyone wanted their picture taken with the fox ears.

"Say Cheese!"

This photo...

The Barbies and Princesses got replaced for a day, by the Cabbage Patch dolls. My ladies were so enchanted with their game of "pretend you're mom", that Jane had to line up all the babies for a photo shoot. You know she's seen real moms do this a thousand times. When downloading the photos, I wanted to remember the sweetness of that day.

This outfit...

Jane walked out of her room all decked out. She was delighted with each element of the outfit and wanted me to admire the addition of each one. And with only the addition of some leggings, I absolutely told her she could wear it to the movies that afternoon. Who am I to judge?! (Not to mention that daddy is out of town, so we're all acting a little crazy.!)

This smarty pants...

For making the Principle's List of 4th graders with straight As for the first quarter!!

They sent home a notice that there would be an awards assembly, but they didn't tell you if your child was going to get an award. I figured my odds were pretty high, with Henry as my 4th grader, so I showed up to the assembly. The Principle's List students were the last ones honored, so he sat nervously through the whole thing, wondering and worrying if his name would ever be called. He thought straight As meant you had gotten an A on every single worksheet and homework assignment since the first day of school! Which he thought meant that he had not qualified. After the assembly was over, he told me, "Mom, I really wanted to get an award, but I was just so nervous that I hadn't qualified for straight As. So I just decided to cross my fingers and hope I'd get lucky!"

I loved his innocence and humility. I'm pretty sure I had a huge lump in my throat when they called his name. I'm just so darn proud. And so happy that crossing your fingers is still believed to be a tangible solution! I love the magic of childhood. I just love it!!

And those are my favorites from this past week.

Dorothy, and Glinda, a Zombie and Yugi, oh my!

Good morning November 2nd!! We survived another year of Halloween. But like I say every year on the Monday after Halloween, "good riddance Halloween, we will not miss you for these intervening twelve months. You were good while you lasted, but good bye now. " And least you think that is a bad attitude, I will let you know that it did not in the least prevent us from fully celebrating almost everyday of last week.


Dorothy, Yugi, Zomumbie (say it out loud, it's the combination of a zombie and a mummy, although the mumminess didn't really get added until the next party!), and Glinda the good witch, were all dressed and ready for the Tuesday night PTO Halloween party.

On Friday we successfully attended the pre-school class party, without a camera, and the elementary school wide parade. Later that night we made it to our church Truck-or-Treat, again without a camera but with a winning pot of chili (although it won for most "unusual", so is that really winning?!).

On Saturday we (maybe it was mostly Darin?) managed to carve four pumpkins. George vowing this year to be able to pull out the pumpkin guts, and carve his own jack-o-lantern face, all without loosing his cookies. Happy to report no cookies were lost, but neither were very many guts extracted without parental involvement!

Carving pumpkins somehow turned into roasting mini marshmallows over candles. The candles were burning in an attempt to help Ruby stay in the same room as the pumpkins. Have I mentioned yet that we are an extremely smell sensitive group of people?!

Later on, dressing up for the final time to go trick-or-treating. And I'm pretty sure that by this point I was not the only one getting tired of this routine. But I am positive that I was the ONLY one in this house who was getting tired of eating candy. These kids (and maybe Darin too?) were eating it like it was the very manna from Heaven. The candy monster may or may not be coming here VERY soon to snatch all the candy from the children while they are sleeping some sad night this week...

trick-or-treating

candy inventory, weighing and sorting.

So you see, it was fun while it lasted, but it's time to move on. The girls are 100% focused on their birthday. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day are all just road blocks to their ever important birthday. This morning on our way to school they were down right jubilant as they announced to me, "Mom, it's almost Christmas now, and that means it's almost our birthday!!"

Slow down ladies, we all just need to slow down.

We never had this happen before!!

We were inside our apartment this afternoon doing the regular late afternoon routine. I was tired of the girls being on the computer, so when I heard voices outside at the playground, I tried to encouraged them to go play with their friends. Sure, I noticed there was a firetruck parked in front of the playground, but I didn't think anything of it.

But suddenly, the Fire Chief saw me standing on my balcony (because I was watching to make sure Ruby got down to the playground safely) and he says:

"Don't worry ma'am this is just an exercise. We're practicing."

And I yell back to him from my balcony:

"Okay, that's great."

And then I gave him a friendly wave. Mostly I was so happy because Ruby had run outside to play in the real world, instead of on the computer.

But then, I see him talk to his partner for a moment and suddenly he's yelling at me again saying,:

"Actually ma'am, can we land the bucket on your balcony?"

And I yell back without even a moments pause,

"Oh sure!"

Like we do this every afternoon at 4:25pm.

So before I could even realize what was happening, the firetruck bucket was swinging up in the air coming over to our balcony. And George even quicker, ran inside to put his shoes on. The idea had already occurred to him that he might be going for a ride in that bucket!



Because he's George, so OF COURSE he was about to go for a ride in the firetruck bucket off of our third story balcony!









And then when he landed, he was the biggest playground celebrity you have ever seen, at 4:35pm on a Thursday.

It was actually really awesome. I'm not sure who was smiling more, me or him! It was by far the funniest thing that has happened to us while living in an apartment in Korea.

Double digits at last.

While I am into celebrating single digits of time left in Korea, Henry has been anticipating his first double digit birthday with an anticipation that was great. Nerve wracking to be quite honest. Since Henry had a grand birthday party last year, this was his "off" year to just celebrate with the family. And his birthday was going to fall on a Sunday, so the big question was, were we going to be able to make it fun enough? I am happy to report that due to Henry's tremendous personality he turned 10 on a Sunday like a pro.



We went bowling and out to dinner to Chili's on Saturday night. We made him endure the entire waitressing staff coming over to the table to sing to him "happy birthday". An event which we all got a good laugh out of, but which Henry might have wished never happened.

Then he got a traditional Earnest Family 7am birthday party to open Part 1 of his presents. And then a less traditional, "cake is for lunch" birthday party at noon, where he opened Part 2 of his presents. Then to solidify how truly mature Henry really is now that he's 10, his feelings weren't even a little bit hurt when BOTH of his parents fell asleep shortly after the party at noon. It was after all, still a Sunday afternoon, and these parents don't frequently stay awake all the Sunday long. It's how we honor the Sabbath around here!





But never fear for Henry's personal pleasure and well being while we slumbered. He was TOO busy with his various new video game options to even know how long our nap actually was.





Then on Monday, came the event he had been anticipating the most of all, the issuing of his very first military ID card!! We were told when we arrived in Korea that the kids wouldn't get cards until they turned 10. It didn't take Henry very long to realize that that meant he would get his card while we were here. And while I seem to be not fully comprehending what it means to a young boy to receive his very first bona fide ID card, I was sensitive enough to understand that it was very exciting, so I pulled him out of school on Monday, where he met up with our favorite Major who helped make him ID card official. The biggest concern on the young lads mind while he waited in line... "...should I smile or not. Most of the time when I smile it turned out really bad. I think I shouldn't smile. Do you think I should smile?" And so the conversation went, around and around, with the Major and I weighing in with our varying opinions about the age old dilemma that our man had to face at the tender age of 10.

He settled upon smiling. Oh how he loves his mother! What a sweetheart. I am honored to be his mother. He makes me proud on so many levels. I simply don't know what our lives would be like without him. He sets a tone among his siblings and his peers alike that is one of measured and quiet kindness. When he was a baby people sometimes told me that he looked like an old man. And I think it was my Grandma Z. who told me he looked like he arrived on earth wise from the beginning. I think my Grandma was onto something. I am nothing but optimistic when I look at him and think of the future for all of us. My Henry makes me know that goodness is a virtue, and I thank God everyday that he is mine.

Happy Birthday to my 10 year old "little man." We love you.





P.S. It wouldn't be a birthday report without a tiny shout out to the sewing that the occasion inspired:

New fabric streamers in more "boyish" colors. Jane wanted to take photos all day long on Sunday. I like her angle. And oh how I love fabric streamers. I'm about to make enough to stream through the whole house!

Pajama bottoms. I can't seem to make them long enough for Henry! He grows seemingly, every other week. He told me these ones were a bit too long. And I said, "just wait a week, they'll be just right."