21 days until...

November has come and gone-all too fast. How is it that time seems to go faster than it did a few years ago? We have so much to be thankful for, and I pray that we don't let our desires for worldly goods or to be the "best" overtake our thankful attitudes.
We spent the month of November trying to prepare for winter's inevitable coming-mentally prepare that is :) We had a small Thanksgiving feast with Grandpa and Halmammie and a few other family members. Kaitlyn got to spend the day with cousins and had a blast. It was warm enough to play outside (with a child, is it ever too cold to play outside?) and only required wearing a light jacket. Kaitlyn still has not learned the American "art" of eating until one feels as if they will burst, she has not acquired the taste for pumpkin pie, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, or vegetables that aren't spelled c-o-r-n, or k-i-m-c-h-i. She still only eats chocolate chip cookies but feels 2 is more than enough and usually gives 1/2 of the second one to her daddy or tries to feed it to the dog. Some days I wonder how she manages to grow so fast but figure Korean rameyon, kimchi, seaweed, rice, and soybean paste must be more nutritious than we give it credit (we do throw in a McDonald's hamburger happy meal on occasion! lol).
Today, 1 Dec, 2009 Miss Kaitlyn realized that in 21 days her sister will be here to visit. Then, it dawned on her that it is no longer November.
"momma, what will we do for December?"
"lol, we won't do anything "for" December. We will do lots of things IN December"
"oh, I forget in and for"
Kaitlyn has been living with us for 4.5 yrs and adopted/legally our daughter for 3 years and still she has days when she has to translate Korean / English in her little head. There are days she speaks better English than I and other days she seems to not understand a lick of English.
She still eats Korean food for breakfast-nearly every day :). Today she had kimchi-miso soup with "bap" or rice. As I watched her eat I felt a TINY pange of sadness- thinking she would have loved a Korean family where she could get all the Korean food she ever wanted and as she asked why I was starring at her I told her this. She quickly looked at me and said "that would be nice but I like you the most and we need to remember God made this happen and He DOESN'T make mistakes!" I will be honest and say there are days I am glad her biological mother could not parent her and then there are days I feel sadness for her biological mother-she is missing out on such a wonderful little person!
Kaitlyn says she can't wait for snow but complains when the temperature falls below 75, she misses her swimming pool and can't believe we closed it up for the winter "if we had just put a heater in it...". She looks forward to moving back to Texas where she can see her sister frequently but then states "oh man, I will not see Grandpa and Halmammie very much, or have ice cream from "N" store, I am so glad I don't have to make the choices of moving but Mom, you realize we have to live with your and dad's decisions, right?"
Kaitlyn's teacher admits that Kaitlyn still has difficulty processing into English but also admits that this little wonder is quickly beginning to read above grade level and before the year is out will be above grade level in all areas. She is not smart because of anything I do as I don't make her do extra writing, reading, math, or anything else. She reads and asks to be read to on her own, she "writes" books on a daily basis and is learning math by helping in the kitchen, playing and reading piano music, and just living life. She loves ballet but wants it to be more challenging, she is always trying to improve on what she already knows and does and has a natural curiosity for life and the world around her.
This will be Kaitlyn's 5th Christmas with us and all she wants is to have her family in the same room for one day-ok, I lie...she wants a sister and a brother, as in adopt 2 or 3 more children; she wants another bird to keep this one company, she wants a cat, another dog, some fish in a BIG tank, and a larger bike; she wants to go visit her friends and family in Korea, she wants to go to the beach, she wants to see her "yobo" who lives in Hawaii...but other than that she doesn't want much-lol
I hope to get pics posted soon!

Just Imagine

Today, 8 Nov 2009, in an Eastern USA state-we had 75 degree weather and completely clear, sunny skies! Just imagine if we could live like this every day! Or imagine we lived in Alaska-where my good friend does, and had to endure (or for some, enjoy) minus 5 degree temps at 3 PM! (sorry, I just can't imagine this one, not at my age. Mind you, I have lived in cold climates where it was minus 20 and colder at high noon, but again-don't even want to do it again!)
Just imagine we could chose the temperature and weather we wanted for that day-how many of us would chose rain, or much warmer weather, or snow, etc? Not many-and we would end up with larger sized mosquitos in greater quantities, the grass, trees, and flowers would wither, and the glorious life as we know it would cease...
So-just imagine being happy and thankful for what we are given each day-how would that change our outlook on life? How would it change the outlook others have on life if we were content to live today and accept the weather it offered realizing that today's weather effects "all our tomorrows"!?
Hmmmm, Just Imagine....

Sept 09

WOW, what a busy summer we have had.
Kaitlyn finished school the middle of June and was so sad that she will have 2 months off as "we don't have enough kids at our house"! lol
I had surgery on my shoulder (replace/repair the torn cartlilage, re-attach the biceps tendon, repair and attach the rotator cuff, shave some clavical...) in early June and managed to whimp my way into July. A friend who was at one time one of my soldiers came from Florida to visit and we enjoyed catching up and seeing DC together.
The end of July my nephew spent a week with us before he left for Navy boot camp and we spent a few days sight-seeing in DC again. We also managed a trip to SC to visit my sister and her family as well as spend a few days at Isle of Palms beach where the sand is fine and smooth as baby powder. Kaitlyn and her cousins managed to catch 40 plus starfish; they were upset that the starfish were the velvety black ones rather than the throny orange ones. The kids were amazed that when a leg broke off it crawled off by itself (haha) so we threw the parts and pieces back into the ocean. We managed to collect some cool shells but will have to visit the best beaches for shell hunting at a later date
August flew by with Kaitlyn teaching herself to jump rope, hula-hoop (with 2 hoops!), blow bubbles with her gum (oh my! she is now a "pro" at cracking her gum as we drive down the road!!), and swimming. Kaitlyn now jumps off the diving board and swims the lenght of the pool; it will be sad to see winter come and she loses her favorite sport but she will again pick up ballet and piano.
September is now here and we spent the first week in California meeting family I have not seen in 30 years and Kaitlyn loved Uncle John and Aunt Janet. We got some -how be it very little- time with Oppa and his girlfriend and of course who can pass up the beach when it is only steps from the hotel and Oppa's home? lol Kaitlyn let it be known that she can now "jump the waves better if you don't hold my hand" and she chose to swim under the waves rather than over so I spent hours fretting and chasing her as I tried to keep tabs on my youngest, suddely no-fear child!
We will spend today getting ready for school to begin tomorrow and life will again become "busy" (lol, as if it has been calm and restful over the summer?).

I survived...

Well, it seems the pictures "floated" to the top-hope you enjoy!

Two year olds..."you wanna bwush u teef too?"

How a 2 yr old reaches the sink...to "bwush mah teef!"

My sister at her first Korean restaurant and she tasted EVERYTHING and mastered the chopsticks...

My girls with Mickey Imo...the angel who aided the progress of our adoption in Korea! We love Mickey Imo!!

One of our Korean "sons" was able to visit while in the US-and during the holidays with 12 extra family members present! Poor Song! We sure miss him!

My oldest daughter and youngest son...was nice to see them!

oops...Kaitlyn's tree is laying on it's side...lol, she had a snowflake and bell theme...

Introducing her dog (his tail end, so he was not as excited as she was!) to her favorite thing about Christmas-the singing trio...

Our oldest son, on left, my niece, my next to youngest sister and her "excited" hubby...

Trev kept wondering how he managed to be the most sober and get stuck with the less sober of us...lol; my niece...

My youngest grandson (on left) and a nephew...both are miracles!

wow! Minnie Mouse for Halloween-a little out of order, but those "floating" photos are killers.

feeling the "guts" of a pumpkin...the face says it all! lol

"oh no! I'm not gonna touch it any more!"

after arriving home from school- she LOVES school and as of December 30th is reading most anything she can gets her hands on!

the cute sister with the...other sister (the left side is the cute one) ...sarang Hae!

Cousins in Korean princess dresses! Kaitlyn is 2 yrs older than Mak, but only a few inches taller and she had SO much fun meeting Mak.

J.M., and Kaitlyn

The last posting is dated 27 September 2008-since that time I have survived the last shipment of household goods out of storage, a hurricane damaging my house and dealing with unscrupulous contractors and property managers, a broken shoulder (oh yeah! survived but still not frixed), my father having major surgery, Thanksgiving, Christmas while in a sling and 12 people coming to stay in my house while the boxes were still stacked up (remember the broken shoulder...), the adoption of a baby cockatiel who was supposedly weaned (yeah, right!) from formula and eating cockatiel feed along with a dog who has decided he should be the only baby around here and Cockatiels are NOT wanted, and now...COLD-sheeze, what is it with the weather?

Miss Kaitlyn enjoyed the holidays- Thanksgiving gave her time to visit with her niece and nephews (lol, our oldest son's children-she still does not comprehend being their "Aunt" as she is younger than the oldest two!) and some 2nd cousins; Christmas gave her 2 weeks with new cousins and she thorougly enjoyed the boys (are we in TROUBLE!). The evening everyone left, she looked at me and with teary eyes stated "mom, I don't care what kind of child we get, but I really do need a brother or sister- even an older one. You gotta hurry and adopt me one!"

Theresa has been spending quite a bit of time with "Rachel" and was to spend some time over the Winter holiday (in Korea from Christmas to Mid-Feb then again a few more weeks into March) with her bio-grandmother and sister and brother; the last time I talked to her she was not thrilled but felt a family is important, even if they (siblings) don't treat you properly. I will be calling in a few days to speak with her-praying she at least has a decent visit with her grandmother.

I am going to try to attach a few photos during the period of Sept 2008 to Jan 2009-enjoy.