Our Last Single Digits

We celebrated our last birthday in our family with single digits. Time flies when you'r parenting. 

 birthday breakfast

nine

 Momma snuggles.

 Zeke snuggles.

 The Birthday Boy requested McDonald's for lunch. Then I brought birthday treats for his class later in the day.

 This is it. The whole class.

I brought our ruler with us to Korea to measure everyone, but the measurements are not 100% accurate. The ruler starts at 6 inches. We're just placing the ruler on top of 2 bibles that measure *about* 6". It's close enough.

...Goofy boy.

 '9'

 Daisy scattered his presents around the house for a treasure hunt.

 Birthday cake!

 Make a wish.

The evening ended with some Xbox.

 Happy birthday to our Lijee!

He's a train wreck, but we love him immensely.

[January 21]

All Screens, No Screams

Lijee wanted just 2 friends from school and his best friend his brother for his birthday party. The reason for just 2 outside guests was because you can play a 4-split screen on the Xbox; I agreed to a screens party. 

All screens for the boys with no screams to get off from me. That's exactly what happened.

 Of course we had a timeout to eat Eli's favorite (that I can make in Korea) baked spaghetti and brookie (brownie/cookie) cake.

 Nic, Lijee and Alex

Time for birthday presents!

 Can you hear that? It's the beat of his own drum.

 Finally Eli's best friend joined the party.

Even Eli's best bud from home Jack got to join us via FaceTime and Xbox.

Alex stayed the night. The next day Nic came back and another boy Mars joined the group. Eli and Alex spent over 24 hours together and on screens, only with a few breaks to eat and sleep. That was quite a birthday gift from Mommy!

I love my Lijee more that he loves screens. And that's a lot.
[January 17]

Everything is *NOT* Always Bigger In Texas

Texas likes to brag about everything being bigger, but that's not necessarily so. Not when it comes to produce in South Korea. They tend to grow most of their fruits and veggies very large here. For example, celery:

 this gourd-type thing:

these carrots: 

 and these beets:

Those are just a few pics. It's all big here. 

Costco trips are always kind of therapeutic, because it's a little taste of home. Yes, they have Costcos here, but the downside is that the closest one is a couple hours away, so when we go we totally stockpile. The Koreans think we're off our rockers when our buggies are overflowing and theirs have about 5 items. One day while we were at Costco the sample brigade paraded right past where we were standing. There were probably about 40 or 50 carts coming by, and they all followed each other on the same path. The only thing that was missing was circus music.

I have eaten some samples when I'm at stores and have even been persuaded to purchase something because of it. However, not all samples are foods that I want to eat. Especially when it comes to seafood.

Those are eels in there.

 And there is always something that you have no clue what it is.

When that happens, you win some,

 (Yes, that was indeed chicken.)

and you lose some.

(No, those were not little cuts of pork.)

Since there is not a lot of land in Korea, grocery stores are always 2 or 3 or more stories and I've seen basement parking 4 stories deep. There are escalators for your buggies.

 There are elevators, as well. Since Costco has to have everything in bulk, the elevators are no exception. The picture does not show how huge this thing is.

 Costco has the food bar here upon checkout, just like at home. However, the Koreans add onions as a side dish. Not as a condiment, but they make it a whole dish. See that white pile on this guy's plate? Onions. They all pile them on like it's the best thing since sliced bread. It's nuts.

So that's a snap shot into groceries in Korea. 99% of the time I think it's an adventure and it's fun. Once I had a rough day and when I was at the store I could't find the extra items I was looking for and nothing seemed to be going right. When Abe got home that night he sensed my frustration and saw a box on the counter and innocently commented, "So, you bought tooth paste today?" and I exasperatedly cried, "I think I bought tooth paste today BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW!" 

That was just one bad day; usually I think it's all an exciting adventure.

The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same - 7th Annual NYE Hourly Envelopes

New Years Eve means return of hourly envelope activities!

🕛12:00 noon🕛

~open Santa gifts~

OK, a little lame, I admit. However, our flight from Kuala Lampur was scheduled to land in Busan at 9:35am. If things went as planned we would be home around noon. But just in case there were delays of any kind, I kept it simple.

🕐1:00🕐

~read yearly blessings~

Again, a little lame, but see excuse above. Besides, I enjoy reading them every year.

🕑2:00🕑

~ABC photo scavenger hunt~
Our neighbor Lauryn joined us at this point, so it was girls against boys.

Daisy and Lauryn started with 'Apples.'

This one is 'Daisy.'

 'Money.'

🕒3:00🕒

~obstacle course~

Us girls bundled up for the cold and we all headed out to Spider-Man park. I say us girls because the boys never dress for the cold. It was quite chilly out there. Abe's nose was literally blue when we came inside. That didn't stop the kids from doing 2 rounds each, improving their personal time. Zekers won with the fastest time.

🕓4:00🕓

~watch Harry Potter~

Eli, Zeke and I recently finished reading the first book so we watched the first movie. 

🕔5:00🕔

~dinner out~

I felt pretty proud of myself—I ordered Big Star Pizza on the phone! That was a first since being in Korea. We ordered carry-out, so I didn't have to communicate my address, but I still consider it a win! We dined with our neighbors the Smiths. 

🕕6:00🕕

~card game~

Keenan and Josie joined us at this point in the evening. 

🕖7:00🕖

~ice cream sundaes~

Paula and Chris came over for sundaes/floats too. 

🕗8:00🕗

~Heads Up~

Both families played Heads Up. 

🕘9:00🕘

~board game~
New house, new friends, new country...Daddy still went to bed at 9:00. He's consistent, if not anything. Like I said, some things never change.

We played Apples To Apples, but we chose funny cards. 

🕙10:00🕙

~hide-n-Zeke~

The Smiths were doubtful when we opened this envelope, but we turned out the lights and it was a lot of fun. 

🕚11:00🕚

~FaceTime grandparents ~
When I created this list way back before we left for our Thailand trip I did not realize we would have friends with us. I would have made something more inclusive if I would have known, but it's always a treat to talk to our grandmas!

When we finished our calls Josie thought it would be a good idea to write down our New Years Resolutions. Most of us struggled with writing one. The two overachievers Daisy and Josie wrote a list as long as their arms. As Daisy was sharing hers Josie squealed, "Ooh, that's good. I gotta add that to mine."

🕛12:00 midnight!🕛

~blessings for the New Year~

I wrote something about being blessed in 2020. The kids shamed my lack of creativity.

We watched the ball drop at midnight. This is what it looks like on Korean TV.

The Daniels and Smith kids had a fun time ringing in 2020 together.

May you be blessed and bless others in the coming year. Make 2020 a good one!