You don't need a translating app when you have smiles and hugs

I don't even know if I have the words to describe how much I love the people in this country.

Sam, giving a huge hug to this sweet ajumma (older Korean lady).

Molly refuses to be left out of this.

The excitement on this woman's face almost made me tear up.

This sweet ajumma hugged my babies as they fought to be in her arms and hold her attention, and she generously dished out big hugs and planted kisses all over their chunky, porcelain cheeks until they ran back to me, giggling and chasing each other around the playground. 



I have other things that need to be blogged (Molly turned 2, say wha?), but this was one of the sweetest things that's been caught on my camera lately, so I had to share. Never underestimate the power of a hug!

Project 365 - week 12

Started the week with a photo snapped before bed, and ended it that way too.

This was the first day I almost forgot to take a picture, but I snapped a quick shot of the breakfast I made Steve before going to bed (breakfast burritos and peach chunks... yummo..). Love that man!

We had some time to kill at the Korean Walmart while we had some pictures printed, so after we squealed over the pet area, the kids were drawn to the big TVs.

My mom sent the kids some crazy sunglasses the other day. Molly was a very willing model. (She also got the sweet nose boo boo by falling all of 6 inches from a ride-and-scoot toy to the ground. Her nose broke her fall so her hands wouldn't get dirty. Priorities.)

Birthday party time.

Hooray for the return of the golden hour!

We spent all day long outside on this breezy spring day, hiking a mountain behind our apartment in the morning, then heading over to a fun playground near post (and this "jungle river") after naps.

I lugged my camera all over creation with me today, but didn't see anything worth snapping a photo of. But a friend gave me these flowers at Molly's party and they are so nice to look at while I'm washing dishes. I've even remembered to water them! Miracle of miracles.

Molly's 2nd birthday party (but really, it's only her first-ever party)

I spent way too much time making this invitation, only to render it useless by creating a facebook event for it. So now I'm posting it here, because someone needs to look at it and acknowledge that the greater majority of a naptime was wasted over my lack of design skills. And now, behold- puppy party pictures.

Wipe your paws. Har har har.

Probably my favorite decoration

Plates and napkins were purchased well over a year ago for Molly's baptism party (which we never had). They somehow survived the trip and were found in time to set the color scheme for the entire party.

Cocoa Puffs and cinnamon Scooby Snacks

Cheesy Chex Mix- this was popular, especially with Sam.

I didn't think anyone actually ate these anymore, but they were devoured fairly quickly.

Molly doesn't like cake (wha??) so I made MY favorite- chocolate/chocolate/chocolate.

When in Korea.... you must make all of your own party supplies because you can't trust anything to ship in a timely manner. Hence my doggy with a big ghetto booty.

This little plastic beauty showed up on the yard sale page a few days before Molly's party, and I knew that it would tickle her pink (literally). She loves it and it was also a hot item to play with at the party.

While the idea of having crayons out around many MANY children who might get away with drawing all over our very white wallpaper freaked me OUT, I'm glad we had a little coloring station. I'm happy to report that our walls are still white, and all crayons are accounted for.

Not pictured- I got out all of our puff balls and had the kids surround the carpet. I gave them each a small basket, then poured the puff balls out onto the floor. I counted to 3 and let them scoop as much "poop" as they could. It was funny to watch the kids go nuts over a game of cleaning. And while there are a few stray puff balls under the couch, I'm shocked that I'm not still finding them everywhere. Nightmare averted!

We had to wake Molly up for her party, so she was a little dazed and confused for the first half of it. Also, screaming and crying. After the party, all the kids went and played on the playground and she found her happy on the swings.

Party favors- the names the kids gave their dogs were hilarious.

Sam says he likes cupcakes, but in reality, he just scoops the frosting off the top and returns the bottom half to us.

And there you have it- Molly's puppy party. I managed to snap a few pictures of the party "in progress" but Molly was so clingy that it was nearly impossible to get anything really good. Hoping naps are less of a staple next year so she can enjoy the entire thing. Overall I am very happy that we did it (the party), but I am relieved that I didn't put such effort into a 1st birthday party. Now Sam tells me he's having a "frog party" in "fowuhteen munfs." Okay then.

Project 365 - week 11

Can anyone out there believe that I'm still keeping up with this? Me neither.

New-to-us kids cafe. Molly kept letting other kids hijack her cart, then standing there with her bottom lip out, waiting for them to notice and give it back. Let me tell you how well that worked for her...

Taken just a few minutes before Daddy walked through the door after getting back from the field. This is a common Molly face.

I got him a "special" cereal yesterday (Cinnamon Chex), and he asked me to sit with him while he ate it. While I was watching him shovel big spoonfuls into his mouth, I asked myself if I missed feeding my little baby Sammy every bite of every meal. Do I wish for those days back? Eh, not really. I love it when children can feed themselves. Gives me more time to take photos of them.

This might have been one of Sam's best days ever. "Fishing", playgrounds, picnic, escalators, nuggets, and lots of sunshine.

A trip to the big Army post in Seoul for Molly's birthday party supplies meant a stop at the playground and another picnic lunch. We actually broke a sweat, so that was a nice change.

Took the kids to preschool so Steve and I could go to the big city to find more party supplies, eat lunch at a beef and leaf, and practice being that annoying couple on the train that kisses and sits too close. Then we picked up the kids and went "fishing." (Sam classifies throwing rocks in the river as fishing. Too cute to correct.) A train rolled by on the bridge over us, so overall, it was a stellar day.

Back to the grind- hiding in the corner, sneaking raisins.

Project 365 - week 10

This day sucked more than a brand-new Dyson, but I tried to salvage it by letting Sam paint. (The look on his face when I said he could, omg- "Are you my Mother?")

Determined.  to make a mess

Tried to spend some time outside at this beautiful place (not even sure what it was), but the cold had Myer feeling a bit crabby...

Sam: Take my pitchurrrrrrrr..... wahhhhhhh..... Me: I AM taking your picture! You're in the picture! You're not smiling though. Can you smile? Molly: Jesus, please deliver me from the never-ending whining of my brother. And maybe convince Mom to buy the next size up in this jumper, amen.

Was finally able to vacuum the floors, and while I was at it, under the couch and cushions as well. We could feed a small third world country with the crumbs that were sucked off of the couch. Meanwhile, Sam bounced from cushion to cushion counting, "wun, tew, free, four, nine, dubble yew, forty-six, TEN! There's five cushions, Muwm!" (For the record, we do have five cushions, but I'm still not sure how he came up with that number, based on his counting.)

A wee bit hard to tell in this picture, but I had my hair dyed red today. Every time I see it in the bathroom light, I feel it getting lighter and lighter. In full sun, apparently it still looks pretty brown. When Molly first saw me, she touched my hair, then touched her hair, and smiled.

Crossed legs. He's so cute.