Summer in pictures

Finally my computer is letting me get on and finish this blog. Our computer is having a terrible time with a virus right now I haven't been able to get into the blog. Here is a quick run-down of our summer in pictures.



We spent two weeks of swimming lessons for Henry and Charles as soon as school was done, and then went into Camp Moon-Hwa, our local Korean culture camp. The boys LOVED it!! Here is Min eating mandu....I think he ate about 8 or 9. I can't believe he didn't have a stomachache. But....it is so good...and, as Charles say...'Mom, your mandu isn't as good as it is at camp.' Thanks, buddy!! Of course, I've never made it homemade. I buy the frozen kind at the store. So, he's right...it isn't as good.
Charles at camp with...I'm not sure, but I think it's a piece of a game. He actually got sick at camp and had to stay home on Thursday. He got Fifth's disease.
Henry's birthday fell on the Tuesday of camp. Our president called Henry and another boy whose birthday is the same day up to the front. We all sang Happy Birthday and then K.C. asked Henry what he was getting for his birthday. My wonderful, oh-s0-honest boy said, 'My mom hasn't gotten me a present yet.' I still haven't lived it down. Yes, he did get a present.
Henry at bowling. On Wednesday of camp, we loaded all the kids onto two busses and took them bowling...Extreme bowling. COmplete with disco black lights, loud music, and about 80 kids.

A picture of Min just because he looks so cute in this towel.

We went to ND on the last day of camp. Spent some time at the lake and with family.
On the way home, Min was eating a donut...and he was so tired.
Here he is...asleep with sugar donut on his face and the rest of it clutched in his hand.

Henry got 'paddled' at TKd the day of his birthday. Everyone in the class got to give him 7 swats with a paddle. This is his instructor giving him a paddling.

Min absolutely loving corn on the cob. This cob is still raw.
Downtown. I'm not sure what Min was telling..or showing Henry. But, they were having a great time.
Charles downtown. He was posing for me.
Charles when we were camping. I'm not sure why he decided to wear the bandana and sunglasses, but he sure gave me a nice smile.

We took the bus downtown one day to have lunch with Travis. CHarles had pancakes and then wanted to take one with when we left. He carried it around with him for awhile, eating every so often. I had to take this photo with the pancake on his knee.

Highlight camping trip of the summer was going to TKD camp in Wisconsin. We went a day early to swim and hike. After camp started, we saw very little of Henry.

Min got a great hairstyle from Mr. Hwang.
Henry getting ready for ninja training. Wow...did he love that. Pitch dark, inthe woods, weapons, every 7 year old boys dream.
Here he is!! All ready to go with his dok bo (bamboo sword).
Charles playing in the water near the waterfall.

Charles colored the water fountain with pink chalk. It looks so creepy this way...like something out of a horror movie.

Henry breaking his board at TKD testing. He advanced to a blue belt with a red stripe.
I took this of Min at the TKD testing. It is edited but turned out so well. I really like this one.
Min with his water gun. He had to wear it like the big boys...in his 'pocket.'
Henry getting his red stripe.
Min was on the cupboard eating rice out of the rice cooker. What a funny boy!

The computer, hopefully, will be done tomorrow. I had to come to the coffee shop to finish this....makes a very nice time-out for mom!! I have a lot more to add though...Henry and CHarles first days of school.

We're Baaaack!!

Oh...it has been so long since we updated. I couldn't believe that it had been over a month. I just dumped a bunch of pictures that we've taken over the past couple weeks. There isn't a lot of news from here. Henry has 4 days left of kindergarten. We're all excited for summer break. I'm mostly excited because I"m so tired of having to get everyone up, in the van, drop Henry off, pick him back up.... Ugh!!! We're ready to just play. I'm sure I"ll be ready for school to start again by,.... July, but we'll enjoy ourselves and try to have a lot of fun. Charles took swimming lessons and LOVED them. He and Henry will both take lessons again once school is out. Min is still a wild man and is hard to keep up with. He's still a talker and wants to do whatever the brothers are doing... which is really scary. In the backyard. I've been trying to get some pictures appropriate for his 18 month photos. However, he's too fast.
I really like this picture of Charles. I just wish the sidewalk wasn't in the background.
Our silly boy. He has such a variety of facial expressions. It's funny to watch him.

Speaking of fast, this is Min when he got into the tub with Henry.... in his jeans.


This is what happens when you let your 6 year old watch the last 15 minutes of Rocky III. He immediately began trying to box everything. His tae kwon do pads served well has boxing gloves. Charles wasn't very happy when Henry tried to box him...so he chased him around with a plastic sword.
This is a typical day at our house. Henry is 'walking the plank.' Charles had been waiting at the bottom of the ladder with a plastic sword but decided to fix the swing instead.

We filled up Min's little pool on one of our warm days. They would fill up the bucket and Henry got stuck when he tried to sit in it. As you can see, Charles thought it was pretty funny.
I really liked this picture of Charles. Too bad the strainer is in the background.
Wrestling in the front yard.
Sword fighting on the deck.
Charles and Min helping Henry get out of the bucket.

Those pictures are pretty typical of life around here. Pure chaos most of the time...loud almost all of the time....some crying and lots of laughing. I've pretty much given up on ever getting my house in order. I feel very productive if I manage to get everyone dressed and fed. I'm always behind on laundry but feel okay that they always have SOMETHING that is clean to wear. I'll try to do better about updating more often!

Fire Trucks, Ambulances, Emergency Rooms....Oh my!!

I wasn't even sure where to begin with this entry. It has been so long since I've posted, and SO much has happened. I decided to start about 2 weeks ago and work myself forward. Just to forewarn you, there are A LOT of pictures....
Thursday, March 27th...
Henry had tae kwon do. This is a picture of Min when we got home. He had been given a green sucker and ate it on the way home. You can't see it on his coat, but it's covered with chewed up sucker bits. If you look closely at his face, you'll see green sucker all around his mouth, on his foreheard, by his left eyebrown and cheek, and even some in his left ear. We just laughed at him....and took a bunch of pictures. Friday, March 29th...
Our day started out normally. Travis had taken the day off so we took Henry to school, Charles to preschool, and then had a date (with Min) at Panera. Andrew was running a little fever (100 degrees) when we got home, so we gave him Tylenol. That was at about 10:30. At about 1 p.m., I was rocking him for a nap and he started seizing. Travis was downstairs giving Henry a haircut. Min was having ineffecient breaths and was starting to turn gray. We called 911. By the time the fire truck got here, he was breathing but not responding to much. The ambulance came and we took him to the ER. His temp. still wasn't very high...about 101. They did a chest X-ray to rule pneumonia. When we got back, he had another seizure. THe doctor was right there. It only lasted about 2 1/2 minutes, but seemed like forever. He had an oxygen mask on and then they started an I.V., took blood, and admitted us to peds for the night in case he had anymore. They also stuck a monitor onto his toe to measure heartrate, oxygen sats, etc. Of course, this meant that he was actually attached to a machine by a long cord...However, he was not pleased and kept saying, 'stuck, stuck.' Thankfully, he didn't have anymore seizures. But, he did start running a high fever needing both tylenol and motrin to keep in check. He also decided that he did not really like any medical professional who came into his room. He would cry and say, 'no no no no.' Our resident just started standing on the other side of the room. He was also coughing so we were restricted to our room. Min wasn't at all pleased about that. He would stand at the door and say, 'out, out.'

Coudln't resist a few pictures in those oh-so-cute hospital jammies.
Playing with the buttons on the bed. So...we were restricted to our room...came in by ambulance so didn't bring any toys...and, nobody brought us anything to play with. So the buttons onthe bed helped....a little.

Then we had to move on to the telephone. I'm fairly confident he wasn't able to call any foreign countries. You have to dial 9 first, and we haven't received a telephone bill....yet. We made it home the next day (Saturday). Min and I were tired because though he slept fairly well...I did not. Every time he twitched I thought he was having another seizure. The nurses came in every 4 hours to take vitals, but I had to ask for extra medication to control his fever.

He started having a terrible cough when we got home. We started giving him albuterol on Sunday night which seemed to help. Took him back in to peds on Monday because of his cough. Had another chest x-ray, prescription for albuterol.... On Tuesday, he was working hard to breathe. STILL had a terrible fever...took him back to peds. Albuterol by nebulizer. Started to come around a little Thursday. At least we could control his fever with only TYlenol. Needed albuterol until about Saturday.

This pictures must have been from Wednesday or so.
Eating Dad's birthday cake. He HAS to use a fork and...well....he doesn't always get the food to his mouth. His fingers work really well as a second resort.
Charles playing t-ball. This picture was taken out the window so a little hazy. Min wasn't feeling up to going outside.

Henry told me he had found a rat in the little shed under the slide. I refused to leave the deck. Travis went over there and saw that it was only a mouse. This is the Great Mouse Search party.
He loves to do this. Today I helped him do a somersault. Wow!! What a thrill!! He had to do it about 100 times....okay...maybe more like 15 : ) The boys in the Gator. Min learned to like it, but isn't quite as fond of it as the other two.
Min and The Brothers going for a ride. If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that he isn't really that happy. And, he's got really great hair.
And, this was from yesterday. He was very sick for a few days. But finally, we see our little Min coming back to us with his smiley, expressive face, funny words, and activity.

An attempt at bilingualism

Min is obsessed with the Korean online dictionary. Here is a link http://www.indiana.edu/~koreanrs/kordic.html. Our agency sent it to us. We can't walk past the computer without, 'kwaja, kwaja...' which, I've been taught, is how you say 'cookie.' And then, when we sit down to listen, we hear 'more, more.' We had to put on a couple videos of Min repeating the words. Enjoy!!

We still have sick family members. Min has an ear infection..though he's much better now. Charles is going back to the doctor today for an eye issue. He had pinkeye a couple week ago, was treated, and has had clear eyes for about 10 days. Yesterday, i picked him up at preschool and it looked like he had been punched in the eye. Doesn't look like pinkeye, but maybe allergies? Anyway, so goes the illness saga at the Paul house.

The next couple weeks look to be busy. Easter this weekend, we're planning a trip to ND to see our families for spring break (if all kids are well), and then Henry has a tournament on the 12th. By then, I am convinced, it will truly be spring. The very best thing we did this past week is set up the trampoline. I do love the trampoline!!! I know that there is a lot of concern about safety, but we insisted on the safety enclosure and it is truly a great family activity. We have had more fun and laughs on that thing... it was definitely worth the price.

Sorry!!!.... can't think of a title

Had to post another video. It seems as if we've been doing a few lately which is good. Poor Min has hardly any home videos compared to the other two. Of course, he has WAY more pictures taken of him. Partly because I found that I like taking pictures. Anyway, I had to put this one on because it shows him so well. He is like this most of the time...at least at home. He's a little more subdued when we're in public. However, he's getting pretty comfortable at tae kwon do and enjoys running up and down the hallway and rolling around on the couch.

We've had a quiet weekend so far. We've been hanging drywall in our basement. Travis is doing most of it, but he does need an extra pair of hands for the ceiling. It always seems that when we start a project like this the rest of the household jobs get pushed aside. Scary, since I have trouble keeping up as it is.

Henry had another tae kwon do test last Saturday and passed. This means that he got a blue stripe on his green belt.

I am most excited about the forecasted weather change. They say that by Wednesday it will be 42 degrees!!! I am so tired of winter that... I don't know....I may get crazy and open the windows...hang the laundry on the clothesline.... I have been hearing some spring birds singing in the mornings lately. Even though I will be cursing them in a couple months when they start singing at 5 a.m., right now they sound really great.

I can run!!

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Min running is a scary thought. He's already into everything and moves pretty fast, but I guess everyone needs to learn to run sometime. He's been working very hard on it and is getting pretty good. He practices by running laps from the kitchen through the living room and entry and back to the kitchen. He's also learning so many more words. We have an interactive Korean dictionary on our computer (thanks to our agency). When you click on the picture, the Korean word is said by a native Korean speaker. Min LOVES it!! He's always saying 'more, more.' THen repeats the Korean word when its said. Scary!!! This definitely does not come from us. Anyway, all else is well here except that we've all been sick. Henry missed 3 days of school last week. Travis has been sick with sinus things. Charles has pink-eye. Min has a cold. And, I also have a cold along with laryngitis. I can't wait for spring!!!!

Happy Family Day, Charles!

4 years ago today, Charles came home. Another family was also waiting for their little boy who was on the same flight. We had been talking about how old they were, and the other family, who had recently received an update on their son, was saying that their little guy was over 20 #. We had also just received an update and knew that Charles wasn't that big. So, while we waiting for him to come through customs, the airline attendants and pilots came off. They stopped to ask us which one had the 'big, wild one.' The other mom spoke up that it was probably her son. Then they said, 'Oh, you have the little docile one!' Of course, Charles might not be that big, but he's certainly not docile. Travis and I sometimes watch him and then say, sarcastically, 'Oh, he's so little and docile.' Anyway, we had a nice quiet day at home. Travis' brother and family came for the weekend and left this morning. So we were all a little tired...especially the boys. However, as is the tradition in our family, Charles got to pick where he wanted to eat....the Sky Dragon....and what kind of treat he wanted....chocolate cake. We let him open his present....a video about two kids and their families in Korea. He loved it...and so did Henry. Andrew has learned how to bow and everytime someone on the video would bow, he would say, 'bow,' and...bow. His other new word for today....mandu. We made mandu and bi bim bop (both Korean dishes) for supper last night, and Min certainly does LOVE mandu. This past week he also learned to say, 'si chak (means start in tae kwon do) and 'june bee' (means attention in tae kwon do). Certainly interesting words for a 16 month old, but when you spend as much time with Henry and at tae kwon do, I guess it's only fitting that those words would join his list. He also LOVES to say 'no', especially when he doesn't mean it and then gets mad that you didn't give him what you asked him.

A few pictures of Charles on the day we brought him home. He was sleeping when they gave him to us, but woke briefly to smile at Henry. He then slept for the rest of the day and into the evening. Sleeping in the car
With Dad and big brother
Kisses from Henry

One of my all-time favorite pictures.