Not very creative today so....no title!

Just stuck on a couple pictures taken on a really nice day this fall. I've not had time to download any recent ones. The past three weeks have been simply unbelieveable, and is the major reason I haven't updated for awhile. Hmmmm.... let me see if I can even remember....

I had my yearly appointment with my hematologist. I always look forward to it. Partly, because we really my doctor, and he gave me quite a bit of advice on raising 3 boys. Thanks!!! Also, since I've never really been quite normal since my transplant ( especially on paper : ) ) it is a good reminder for me to really live every day and not worry about the details.

Then, Travis went out of town and left me with the boys for 6 days. He returned home the Tuesday before last, and we were so very glad to see him. The next day we found out the my sister-in-laws two nephews had been in a serious car accident leaving one dead and the other in very critical condition. This particular family lived in a nearby town and we had known them through my sister-in-law. Her nephew is now in Rochester for surgery and trauma care.

My parents came for a visit on the Thursday before Thanksgiving. The boys had a great time and talked Grampa into taking them to the grocery store. This is a tradition for them and they always come home with special treats. They told me before Mom and Dad got here....'Grampa really likes kids, and Gramma really likes kisses.' My parents visit got cut short when they were called in the middle of Friday night (early Saturday morning) that my dad's brother passed away. They left for home that morning so they could help with funeral plans. My uncle and his wife had moved to Colorado a few years ago, but the funeral would be in our home town where my uncle had grown up. My cousins and aunt arrived at my parents on Sunday and Monday. Andrew and I flew to ND on Tuesday morning for the funeral. Of course, all funerals are sad but this one included a lot of laughter as well. My cousins asked people in the congregation to share memories and stories. My uncle always managed to get into some crazy scrapes which, of course, leads to some really great stories. Uncle Allie was like a second dad to us. He and my dad were close in age and they lived near each other until their move to Colorado. My cousins were close in age to us and we spent quite a lot of time together. They were more like brothers. I even have a twin cousin!! They were all boys which is probably why having 3 boys has never really seemed so scary to me. I was well schooled on 'cops and robbers,' sword-fighting, and could make roads in the garden for matchbox cars with the best of them. My 'twin' and I had the most fun riding the ponies through the woods and playing cowboys and Indians. Not so appropriate these days, but quite acceptable when I was 8. Andrew and I got to stay for Thanksgiving dinner which my sister had at her house. And we flew home on Friday.

Andrew is having a horrible time resettling into a regular routine and is needing a lot of comfort at night. It doesn't help that he's getting another tooth. He picked up a few new words while we were gone which include the oh-so-approrpiate words for a baby; pop and chip. Thankfully, he's also saying 'wa-wa' and 'eat.' We're not sure what happened with him since he's seldom read to. It must be the brothers who never stop talking. He's also loving to play 'chase' with the big brothers. This has the brothers crawling around pretending to chase Andrew while he tries to 'run' away. Yes, he is trying to run....and jump which usually ends in him sitting. He'll be 14 months old on Friday. We had a nice visit with my great-uncle and his wife this evening. She is here for diagnostic tests and treatment. Now it is time to return to the real world and start preparing for the holidays.

And update for Dad!!

So far...all has gone well with my by being home alone with all 3 boys. They spent part of yesterday at Ja Neal's which was a godsend because I got some housework and laundry done. Friends with kids the same age as Henry and Charles came last night for pizza and movie so the boys were so tired they absolutely crashed at bedtime. This morning we went out for breakfast which was a request of Henry's before Travis even left. They were very good at the restaurant and then Henry had his tae kwon do test this afternoon. He did great!! He broke his board on the first try with a step-behind-sidekick. Andrew got to see his very best friend, and Charles crawled back and forth under the chairs pretending he was a train going through a tunnel. At least he wasn't disrupting anyone. We're having a quiet night tonight with spaghetti and playing. Henry is busy drawing right now and CHarles is playing with the Little People. Andrew is sleeping. Tomorrow is church and then I don't know what else. Henry this afternoon dressed up at Spiderman
At the test this afternoon.
Charles making a scary face
Last week, Andrew helped Dad install the baby gate at the bottom of the steps.

THis is Henry's form, tae guk il jong.

Happy belated Halloween!!

I have become terribly slow about updating the blog and adding pictures.... oh,well. Here, finally, are the Halloween pictures. The boys were so wild that day that we barely got them to eat supper. Travis headed to the store to buy some extra candy (you never know if you'll have a lot of kids and run out. Even if you don't have many trick-or-treaters the candy never really goes to waste now does it?) Charles had had a Halloween program with his preschool at the Charter House on Monday. That is always a lot of fun and the kids did a very nice job. Charles even held the microphone and told his name and age. When the lady asked who he was dressed up as, he said, 'Just Charles.' Henry had a Fall Festival parade (apparently, they can't really say they'll have a Halloween parade at schools anymore either) but he brought his costume and the rest of the classes dressed up and they had a parade around the school. He was so excited it was like trying to talk to an empty bucket. Just imagine....18 kids all putting on Halloween costumes with the excitement that can only be shown by 5 and 6 year olds on Halloween. It was incredible! We FINALLY got our pumpkins carved the day before Halloween....after the boys went to bed. I tried to do it while they were still up, but it is awfully hard to cut a face into a pumpkin with a sharp knife and three faces within inches of the pumpkin. And, let me ask....who ever got the idea to hollow out a pumpkin and cut a face into it?

Andrew as Tigger, Henry as a Clone Warrior (from Star Wars), and Charles aka Buzz Lightyear.
Here is my little Clone Warrior!!! Who couldn't be proud of their 6 year old, machine gun toting son?
Here is Just Charles. He managed to make it to quite a few houses before I had to carry him home.
And, Tigger!! All the boys have been Tigger for their first Halloween. We certainly couldn't break the family tradition this year.

Henry didn't have school on Friday and went to Ja Neal's with Charles. He has been wanting to go so he could play with his friend, Mikka. She's in kindergarten, too, but goes in the afternoon. They had a great time. Min and I spent awhile in the social security office applying for his social security card, and at the Credit Union opening up a savings account. Now, we just have to get him a passport and we should be set. On Saturday, we went to the Park Institutes open house and demonstration which was a lot of fun. Henry, actually all of us, enjoyed seeing what the instructors can do, along with the older kids. Of course, this meant that Henry spent the rest of the afternoon trying to break boards with punches, kicks, and yes....even with his head...though only one time... along with about 20-30 runs through his form. Thankfully, we talked him out of trying to break a glass bottle. We managed to get quite a bit of wood cut for the fireplace. And, the boys started practicing for the Christmas program at Sunday school. Life is going to be VERY busy from now through Christmas. Travis leaves early Thursday morning to travel back to ND for hunting. He won't be back until the following Tuesday. I will be home with the boys. If anyone feels inclined to pray for my sanity during these 5 days, I'm sure the boys, and I, would very grateful : )

Blood, tears and chocolate

Why would I possibly title a blog that way? If you lived in our house, you would understand. My pictures got a little out of order so I'll just revisit our week in the order of the pictures, which is....backwards. On Sunday (yes, I know...we were supposed to be in church, but we all COMPLETELY overslept). To our credit, Henry asked at about 11 if we were going to church and we said we weren't going today. He and Charles were both very disappointed. Instead, we unloaded and stacked wood. The boys would load up their wheelbarrow and wagon and then we would go stack it by the fence. It looks like we worked them to the bone, but it was only our second trip. They weren't able to fit many logs in their wheelbarrow and wagon so we hadn't worked very hard. We were having fun though. The weather was gorgeous and the boys were helping each other by carrying each log together. Now, only if they could be like that all the time...wishful thinking.
We went to the park in the afternoon. Henry and I are at the top of the rock climbing wall. That's Min at the bottom. It helps put the height in perspective. It wasn't terribly tall...at least looking up at it. But, when we got to the top it looked a lot higher than it really was.

Actually, the 'blood' part of the title comes in at the park. I was going to go down this long tunnel slide, and as I was taking off, I said to Charles, 'Here I go!!" He jumped on me from the back and held on around my neck. At the bottom, it got a little steeper with a bump. When we bumped, he whacked his nose on the clip I had in my hair. Of course, he screamed bloody murder and got a bloody nose. This was shortly after we had watched another boy cough so hard that he threw up in a garbage bag.
The park we were at was right next to Soldiers Field Memorial Park. We walked over there and this is the boys playing on an Iraqi cannon. Doesn't that sound like a nice, safe way to spend a Sunday afternoon, playing on an Iraqi cannon?
This is Charles from today. His preschool went to a local nursing home to sing for the residents. They were all dressed up for Halloween and did a really great job. The residents handed out bags of candy afterwards and treated the kids (and parents) to juice and giant pumpkin cookies. No, I didn't start my diet today.

Here comes the tears part of the title. Last Sunday, we finally did Mins' toljabee, which is part of the first birthday celebration. It is where the child gets to pick from a variety of objects. The items he picks are said to predict his future. Mins' first choice was the pencil, predicting him to be a scholar. His second choice was rice which predicts prosperity. His third choice was jujubee's which, in Korea, are dried dates. We used raisins. This indicates many children. So, I guess our son is going to be a prosperous scholar with many children. Hmmmm....maybe he gets it from his smart, rich parents....Ha Ha Ha!!!!
Here he is a little happier and eating the raisins.
Our own Elton John. Charles found these somewhere and loves to wear them.

Now, for the chocolate part of the title. On Saturday, we went up to Minneapolis for an anniversary celebration and fundraiser for a magazine we subscribe to and love that targets the Korean-American community. First, we stopped at a Korean market in St. Paul to get some groceries. Of course, we had to buy some candy and a favorite of the boys is a long, thin cookie stick covered in chocolate. We left the market and drove to where the celebration was. When we were parking, Charles said, 'Who's going to help Min?' We said, 'Help him with what?' Charles, ' He has chocolate on his hands.' 'Oh. We can just wipe them off.' Well, little did we know what he would ACTUALLY look like. I guess it is our fault for putting him between his two older brothers who are both eating chocolate covered cookies.

This was what we found when opened the back door, and yes, his hands were covered in chocolate. Thankfully, his clothes were pretty good and I was able to wipe the chocolate off of them. We had a great time at the celebration but didn't get to stay as long as we had hoped. We DID get to eat a great lunch of Korean food and take in some of the traditional Korean drumming which the boys had been so excited for. We also ran into the lady who started the Korean adoption program at our agency. She even remembered us!! I couldn't believe it! We had seen her as we walked in the door, and when she turned around and saw us she came right over to visit. She waited at the airport with us when we were waiting for Henry. She was so excited to see the boys. She's retired now.
We were outside playing before we left the celebration and Min thought the leaves were so funny. Charles would throw them up in the air and he would laugh and laugh!!

That's the end of the saga about blood, tears, and chocolate.

Futility

We learned the meaning of the word futility on Sunday as we tried to get one decent picture of the boys to use for a Christmas picture. We've decided that maybe we've set our expectations too high. These were a few of our favorites. Charles getting ready to hit Henry with a stick.
Charles after he hit Henry with the stick and now listening to Dad say that he's going to take the stick away. Henry is pretending to be mad because Charles didn't really hit him that hard. Notice Min who seems to think its a little bit funny.
And, Dad taking the stick away.
Charles trying to feed his baby brother a pine needle.
And, Andrew crying because he didn't really want to eat a pine needle.

No other news here. We've been leading very boring lives the past few weeks, but have been so busy with daily things that it's been hard to blog. People really just want to see the pictures, so I'll try to be better about posting those ; )

Finally...blogger is letting me upload pictures

I've been trying to upload these photos for a couple days, but something was wrong with Blogger and I haven't been able to post any until today. This was us last Thursday at Andrew's finalization court hearing. Yes, the poor boy is stuck with our family forever and ever. Little does he know that he's become a member of the family who hopes to post a sign at the door that says...nope, not 'The Paul Family,' but 'Where the Wild THings Are.' It is a family joke, and when we go down to our unfinished basement in the winter so the boys can ride bike, inline skate, etc....we say, 'Let the wild rumpus start!!' Now, everyone is going to have to go out and read the book, 'Where the Wild Things Are.' Anyway, the court hearing was pretty short and sweet. We answered questions from the judge, and Henry would whisper, 'Ugh,' every time we answered 'I do,' because it made him think of people getting married.

This is Min at our traditional finalization supper. I'm not sure why we ended up at this particular restaurant after Henry's finalization, but the 'Hunan Garden' is where we have celebrated all finalizations. This is Min with a spoon in his mouth.
On Friday, I drove the Paul Bus to their preschool so I could transport 3 other kids to Tweite's Pumpkin Patch. Their preschool tries to do this every year or two. We had a really great time. We had never been there before, and it was like a kids paradise. There were so many things to do that we didn't get time to do them all before having to go home. This is Charles peeking out of a little door on a castle tower.
Henry pumping water on an old pump. Both boys loved this, and I told Travis we should have one at home. Charles absolutely adores any running water and would happily water the trees, grass, and sidewalk all day.
And, this is our very curious, just 1 year old who thinks climbing into the refrigerator is a lot of fun. I hesitated putting this one up because then everyone can see the inside of my fridge, but I couldn't pass up on showing you what a little monkey he is. He also loves it if I hold him up so he can stand on the window ledge to look outside. Thankfully, he hasn't tried the stairs yet.

The boys and their (borrowed) Hawg

Just a few photos to post tonight but not much news. Min in his new winter cap. Who can resist a cap that looks like that? It was pretty chilly today and I realized that I don't have a winter coat for him. Though he came home in the winter, he was younger and smaller than the other two. Their first snowsuit will fit him this winter, but I didn't want him to start wearing a snowsuit now and sweatshirts aren't quite warm enough. I ordered him a coat that, hopefully, will be here in a couple days. A good friend let Travis borrow his Harley for a few days while he was out of town. The boys have been begging for a ride so Travis took them around the neighborhood this evening.
Charles was pretty excited to go. He loved it when Travis revved up the motor. Andrew was not so impressed. He cried.
Travis and Henry riding around the neighborhood. Henry has been wearing Darin's helmet all week when he rides his bike. He pretends its his motorcycle.

Henry was all prepared. Note the welding gloves he's wearing on his hands : ) He's also wearing a black, Jolly Roger adorned dew rag that he got from his friends' pirate birthday party.

These boots (I mean slippers) are made for walking...

HI'm sorry!! I saved this video in the correct orientation (so he's not sideways) but it switched back when I downloaded it and I don't know how to switch it back. Oh well. Here is a video of Min walking. I guess you'll just have to tip your head to the side or imagine that he can walk on walls. There is sound too though he isn't saying much. Yes, we have a walker!! Min has reached that huge developmental milestone of walking. The one that strikes fear into the hearts of most parents as they envision their child falling down the stairs (it can happen even with gates. In our old house, Charles just climbed through the stair rails and would make his way into the entry), climbing out of their crib (Henry used to help Charles out of his crib. Actually, only once because when I asked him to show me what he did, Charles started to cry.) or finding electrical outlets. However, he is very happy and so proud of himself. So are we. I still get very surprised when I see him walk into the kitchen. Or, today when I was putting his clothes away, he walked into our spare bedroom and got a book off the bookshelf. He's quite a repeater when it comes to words. Now, whenever we're in public, he says 'Hi Da,' to everyone we pass.

Min had his 1 year well child check on Thursday and he's doing fine. We had to postpone his vaccinations (which reminds me that I need to call back and schedule them) because Henry was with me and got so sad when he found out Andrew needed shots.

Henry learned to tie his shoes...a huge milestone for him. I forget what a big deal that is. But, he needed new shoes and insisted he have the ones that tie. He's also close to losing a second tooth.

Today is my 9th transplant anniversary. Yaaay!! We were trying to explain to Henry what that meant. And I told him that I wasn't able to make any blood so Uncle Lance gave me some of his bone marrow so that I could make blood. Then I told him that now my blood is really Uncle Lance's. I think that was a little too much information because he gave me a really funny look and then said, 'That's gross!'

We go to court on Thursday to finalize Min's adoption. And, we'll have his tol on Saturday. I"m going to make bi bim bop, which our family loves. Of course, the boys insisted on mandu. Kimchi is a must-have, and we'll see about anything else besides cake. We bought a tae gukki, a Korean flag, on Friday. The boys have been wanting one for a long time. We got it onto the pole and carried it outside to hang up and Charles grabbed it and hugged it! He loves to come home and see the tae gukki.

Happy Birthday, MinSeong!!!

I am posting a day late, but we were all so tired last night that I couldn't get any pictures posted. We actually had a pretty quiet, family day. Andrew had been up coughing for about 4 hours in the night. We tag-teamed with Travis on first duty. We were so tired we didn't even make it to church. Yesterday went a little better for him, and we found out today that he does NOT have whooping cough. Apparently, just a bad cold and cough. He slept better last night and has had another good day today. We postponed Min's tol party to the 13th. The boy's had fun making cake, as you can see below. Henry was stirring and, as a 6 year old boy, was making faces as he imagined all kinds of unmentionables having to do with brown cake batter.
Andrew getting his hands messy. He wasn't very impressed with the frosting, so we gave him a piece without. Charles was the same way. Charles and Travis went to the store to buy the cake mix, and Charles chose chocolate cake with triple chocolate frosting. (Charles favorite cake is chocolate. Henry does not particularly care for chocolate so he had an orange pop float instead. )
Andrew's present was a push-toy/ride on car. He LOVED it. I tried to download the video but it was taking so long I cancelled. I'll save it for another day. He's really on the go and can cruise the furniture and walls all around the house. We put up the stair gates the other day so we should be safe.

Getting into the toy basket.
Andrew was so cranky when he woke up on Sunday, and we were talking about him being mad and sad. Henry said that he thought he was sad. I asked him why Andrew might be sad, and he said that he was probably missing his family in Korea. I asked Henry if he missed his family in Korea, and he said yes. On your birthdays? Yes. Do you get sad on your birthdays? You guessed it... yes. I was aware that this was common. Henry didn't want a birthday party last year or the year before. Isn't that interesting from kids that some people say shouldn't remember/grieve the loss of their parents?

Reflections

We decided to throw a couple old pictures in just to throw everyone off. This is Henry at about 18 months in our old house. He'd climbed up the couch and onto the ledge so he could look out the window. This picture is of Charles the day we brought him home. He's still wearing his travelling clothes. It's one of my favorite pictures.

We've actually had a hectic week. Andrew has been sick since Monday with a fever, cold, and a terrible cough. I took him in on Thursday to see our doctor because his fever had been so high and he would cough so hard that he would vomit. It's likely just a bad cold, but the doctor tested him for whooping cough. We have no results yet so we're keeping him quarantined until we do. This also meant that we had to cancel his birthday party for today. We were going to celebrate his tol, which is a Korean first birthday party. In Korea, the first birthday is a big celebration. His birthday isn't until tomorrow...well, I guess technically it is today since it's the 30th in Korea. Hmmm....maybe we should start having a Korean birthday the day BEFORE their birthday since that's actually when they would have been born, and an American birthday on the day. I'm sure the boys would LOVE that!! We decided to have his party on the 13th since we also finalize his adoption in court on the 11th. It will be sort of a double celebration. So, we were disappointed that we couldn't have his party, but the day of rest has done him well.

The days around their birthdays are always a little sad for us. We think about their Korean moms, dads, and families every day, but especially around their birthdays. And, ESPECIALLY around their first birthday. In a town in Korea today, there is a very sad mom and dad. And, of course, it makes me sad that she's sad. It's also made me think about how much sadness and grieving sorrounds adoption. Oh, yes....it's wonderful and we've been so truly blessed through adoption with 3 amazing boys. And, there is a lot of happiness in adoption. However, there is sadness for every person involved. Imagine their Korean moms' and realizing that you wouldn't be able to parent your child and having to hand them over to someone and not knowing where or with who they would spend their lives. Wondering everyday if they were happy, well, and thriving with their family. Missing their first words, steps, going to school. Not being able to comfort them when their sick? Yes, they can be happy that their children are living a life they may not have been able to give them, but the sadness is still there. What about the kids? Oh, yes... people say, 'They were just babies. They don't remember anything. They're not sad about their family.' I know that they ARE sad about their families. They DO remember. I've brought them home and held them while they cried for their foster families. I've listened to them ask me why their moms gave them away. 'Didn't they like me?' they say. Sometimes they're sad on their birthdays, Gotcha Days, their brothers birthday... And, then the questions start because they're thinking about and missing their Korean families. I feel badly for the kids because they have no control, and they're expected to be 'grateful.' They don't get to choose who to live with. They didn't choose to leave their homeland, their birthculture to join a family who looks nothing like them in another country. They didn't choose to live as the minority in their city, school, and church. My children are generally very happy, but they have/do/will greive their loss. And, yes, even we, the parents who gained so much, feel sadness because of adoption. For many, their sadness starts because of infertility. Thankfully, that wasn't the issue with us because, in all honesty, we could have had biological children. We chose not to partly because it wasn't that important to us. Our sadness stems from that of our children and their Korean mothers and dads and families. When our kids are sad, we're sad. We're sad for their moms and families because they are missing so many wonderful things. I was sad when I left Korea with Andrew. I felt like was robbing him and his brothers of a truly beautiful and amazing culture and country. I was taking them away from so many people who loved them. Oh, I know they're not at a loss for love. They're loved by so many I can't even count them all. I realized in Korea, that they're loved by people I have no idea even exist. But, I can't teach them to be Korean, and that makes me sad. Because, I truly believe that they need to know how to be Korean and what it means to be Korean. Thankfully, we have been blessed with a number of amazing Korean mentors who are making a huge difference in our lives. So, in spite of the sadness, we have experienced so much happiness and have been so blessed. We have the 3 most perfect boys, and we couldn't be happier.

Chaos rules at the Paul house!!

Just posting a few pictures and a quick update from the past week. I can't believe how chaotic our life has become with the addition of kindergarten. And why? It's just dropping off one 6 year old boy for almost 3 hours in the morning. However, it's amazing what a difference it makes. On the days Charles goes to preschool, we leave the house at 8:15, drive to his preschool and drop him off. Of course, Henry ALWAYS wants to go in so he can see his friend, Mikka, so that adds a few minutes. And, then we visit a little with the preschool teacher. We leave her house by 8:40 so I can get Henry back to the school and dropped off so he can play for 10 minutes before the bell rings at 9:10. Min and I go home so that he can have his morning nap. I manage a few minutes of cleaning, laundry and the like before he wakes up. We play or run errands before having to be back to pick up Charles at 11:30 so we can make it back to the school to pick up Henry by 11:50. Then home, lunch, quiet time so Min can have a nap. The hard part.... Charles daycare is on the other side of town. Henry's school is about 3 blocks from our house. Usually, by Friday, I am so tired of the van that I wish I could just walk or bike wherever I need to go. The good news is that we are settling in.

Charles is doing great going to preschool alone. He is becoming such a big boy and a really great big brother. He's participating more in preschool activities, and has become so much more grown up at home. I got to drive Charles, Andrew, and two other boys from Charles preschool to Sekapp Orchard on Monday. Ja Neal was taking everyone and needed an extra driver. I actually really like doing this because the kids are hilarious. When you drive, you are essentially invisible and they talk as if you aren't there. You hear the funniest comments from the kids. I had 3 4 year old boys and Min, and the conversation was hilarious. Henry is really liking school and has made a couple good friends. I feel much better since I've gotten to know the teacher and a few of the other moms whose kids are in Henry's class. Henry started running on adrenaline on about Wednesday because he was testing for his yellow belt on Saturday. He could hardly go to sleep at night and was up at the crack of dawn every day. The test went well, and he found out the he passed so now....he's a 'yellow-belter.' Of course now it's...'when do I get to test for my green stripe?' We've created a monster!! But, a good one. He's doing really great and absolutely LOVES tae kwon do. We camped on last time before the winterizing the camper. The boys vegging in the camper. Actually, it looks like only Henry is since Charles has that 'look' in his eye, and I KNOW that Min isn't vegging.
Cruising around a boulder. Min is cruising around like mad. He can go from lying to sitting, and is getting very good at going from sitting to standing without holding onto anything. He can walk as well holding with one hand as he can with two....except on grass...and is occasionally taking 2-3 steps alone.
Here he is taking about 3 steps. The grass is not such a good choice, but he managed. New word of the day...'apple.' He LOVES apples. Not much other news from here. Andrew turns 1 on Sunday, but we're having his party on Saturday. Actually, his birthday techinically is on Saturday.... we're planning a smaller version of a Korean tol. In Korea, the first birthday is a huge celebration. So, we'll have a very traditional meal that people who aren't very familiar with Korean cuisine will like.... for Korean food lovers out there, you guessed it... bulgogi, rice, mandu, kimchi, kimbab, and I'm going to try my hand at a Korean salad. I'm going to try to make bibimbap on Sunday for just our family. But, we'll see how that goes.

I had to leave you with a link to this video. I really hope it works because it is hilarious!! I laughed through the whole thing. Unfortunately, I think I need to post before I can actually click on the link and have it take me to the video. Hopefully, it doesn't take me to something horrible. I'll let you know....

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=203514

Is Vanicream nontoxic?

I better first clarify the title of the blog. Last night, after Andrew was done in the bathtub, I had taken him out and was putting lotion on him. Henry and Charles, who are still in the tub, start yelling to come see this...I know, scary... They explained that they were playing Mulan. For anyone who hasn't seen Mulan, there is a part in the movie where Mulan goes to prepare for a test to see if she is worthy of marriage. In this part, she is in a bathtub and a lady is washing her hair. So, Henry is Mulan and, when I get into the bathroom, Charles is pouring shampoo over his head. About 1/4 to 1/2 of a bottle which is A LOT of shampoo. Once we got it rinsed out, I returned to Andrew who had managed to sneak the lotion lid. And, since apparently lotion is VERY tasty (I can't confirm it since I've never tried it....that I can remember anyway...but Charles used to like it too) he tried to lick the lotion off the lid. He managed to get a little, but at least some...thank goodness... made it to his face.
Just a few other pictures from the weekend.

Andrew is getting VERY good at cruising. I had left him at the chair so I could finish supper. When I turned around, he was gone. He had gone under the desk and was patting the wall.


The past week has been very busy. Henry is really enjoying school, and Charles is settling into preschool without Henry. We had various appointments and meetings last week which served to make a very tired, stressed-out mom. Thankfully, I already had plans to meet with a couple friends on Thursday which was a great stress-reliever. This actually followed one of those days when I seriously thought I must be raising wild animals. Andrew had an appointment in the afternoon so I took the Brothers along since Travis was working. We had a very nice discussion before the doctor came in about letting Mommy talk to the doctor without interruptions, and sitting quietly on the couch while I visit.... HA!! What was I thinking? Once I finally got them to sit on the couch, I was interrupted with...'Mom! Charles spit on my book!' Then, when the appointment was nearly over, they start trying to wrestle and Charles starts to pull Henry's shorts. Oh my...at least the doctor found it funny.

We had a great weekend with wonderful weather. We watched the demo team from Henry's tae kwon do school perform on Saturday morning at a Kid's Fair. Andrew took 3 steps unassisted, got his only 2 teeth, and added a couple new words to his vocabulary. This week looks to be much more manageable.

A few pictures

Min and Dad on the first day of school. He's doing very well walking with just one hand.
Picking up dandelions. As always, he tries to eat them. We say, 'ick.' He spits it out and say, 'ick.' He's saying a few more words. 'Ouch,' 'ball,' and just starting to say, 'puppy.' He doesn't quite have both syllables down in that one, but he's getting it.
His first mandu which he loved! We had to steam them since he has no teeth, and won't eat anything except big people food. He won't let us feed him either, so it has to be something he can pick up.


My two tough guys. Henry went to a birthday party today with a pirate theme. He thought it was great!!! Charles, who has never been one to dress up very scary, except when he wears the Darth Vader helmet (a very funny sight, by the way) decided to dress up like a pirate. He was even able to swing a mean pirate face. I managed to catch this picture before he started to laugh. And, Henry of course, has no trouble making a mean face. He LOVES to dress up like scary people and make this face for us. He's our little actor!
Henry still likes school and seems to be excited that he gets to go again on Monday. He hasn't quite figured out that he will go everyday for many months. But, he's enjoying it so that's good. Now, he wants to ride the bus. I told him we needed to get settled with just going to school first. I think we'll try to ride our bikes on the days Charles doesn't have preschool. By the way, Henry's party was over by the school where Camp Moon-hwa is held. As soon as we got close, the boys started talking about camp, when does it start, we want to go everyday....as soon as we turned the corner and could see the school they were cheering...'We LOVE Korea camp!' Too bad we couldn't go more often.