To Do....

So, one of my little undercover "only in my head" things on my to-do list has been to write from the heart...not just the little every day stories about my kids that I document here on my family blog, but the kind of creative and more thoughtful writing I did long ago, in a galaxy far far away.  


So... to cross off that "to do", I wrote a blog about to-do lists.  Yes, seriously.


And it's on a "real" blog...you know, one that is professional looking and has giveaways and followers and regular posts- yikes!  That blog would be Speaking of Truth, a great site created and managed by my dear friend Sarah Nutter, and geared toward young ladies and women who want to have transparent discussions about being followers of Christ.  And you can read it here.

Was It Worth It?

This past summer we made a couple of more decadent purchases.  I got an amazing Nikon D5100 DSLR camera that I still barely know how to use six months later.  We also purchased a backyard playset from Costco that made us sweat just looking at the price...but we went for it on the advice of many friends who assured us it would be worth it.


I think the pics speak for themselves as to the worthiness of both purchases!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Gene and I have never been very big celebrators of Valentine's Day.  A thoughtful card is enough for me.  I gotta' say, though, that I really enjoy the kid aspect of this holiday now that I am raising my own.  It's just fun and sweet.  And for some reason it brings out the hidden craft monster within.  



I like to get a little something special from mommy; this year I have a pack of markers and a silly lollipop.  I have also enjoyed making homemade Valentines with little girl for the past few years for her preschool class.  This year we got crafty with a big batch of Nanna's buttons.  It was a fun project - very do-able for a 5 year old while still allowing mommy to have a little creative fun as well.  


Next year I am not sure if we will continue to spring for a completely handmade item - hard to believe that my baby girl will be a kindergartner and probably in a much larger class of 20 or more kids.  The craft monster will have get much bigger to handle homemade in double digits...

Disney Top 10

Peanut #1's big Christmas present was a trip to Disney World and we went in January.  Little brother, at 17 months old, went to Nanna-PopPop World.  The trip met and surpassed all expectations.  Gene and I love that place and have been several times.  Going with your child brings it all to a whole new level!  To help remember my trip, here's my "Top 10" List of fun and funny memories...

10.  Pre-trip build-up:  KK received a huge plush Minnie doll holding the following note:
Plus she got this count-down calendar and a set of Disney stickers to mark it off.  Every morning it was the first thing little sleepyhead wanted to do!   

9.  The POTUS: Tries to mess up our trip.  Obama decided to make a speech about tourism and apparently it needed to be in front of Cinderella's castle.  This girl had our trip planned by day.  Did you know there are very accurate crowd predictors available by park?  And what is shocking is that one park might be rated a 2.0/10.0 (low crowds) on the same day that another park is a 7.8/10.0.  So I had it all figured out...till he decided to crash our party on the very day we were supposed to go to the Magic Kingdom.  Every Disney employee we asked about it said "Don't go that day!"  So this planner had to wing it a little... just goes to show that you've gotta' roll with the punches with the beast that is Disney, even when you go in the low season.


8. KK's first Coaster:  Little girl is very tall-taking after her mama.  This means that even though she is only 5 years old, she can go on every ride at all the parks except for one!  On our first day at the parks we took her on a HUGE coaster - Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom.  About halfway through I looked over at her terrified little face and felt like the worst mom on the planet.  However she didn't melt down--till the next day when we tried to take her on Space Mountain!

7. Coaster Fall-Out:  KK yelled clearly in her sleep one morning:  "No! No!  KK doesn't want to go on that ride!"  Uhhhh....see #8.  Yep, worst mom on the planet...


6. Princess Luncheon:  Or shall I say - "the ripoff that is the by-reservation-only princess luncheon".  On the advice of numerous friends we decided to book one of the expensive lunches where the princesses all show up and meet individually with each table. It was with trepidation that I did so because I know how cheap I am.  Should have trusted my gut.  By the time we went to the luncheon, she had already met every princess 3 times over at all the other parks and it was pretty darn anti-climatic.  And now we have this receipt to show for it...check out the price of a hot dog when the princesses are in attendance!

5.  The Toy Story ride:  Disney's creativity is amazing... so much fun for the whole family.  By arriving at the park early and working the FastPass system, we rode it 3 times with no waiting!

4.  Characters, characters, characters:  KK loved meeting characters; thanks to FastPass and the low season we never had to wait long to meet them.  So fun to see her nervous the first day, and hugging everyone by the last day.  She says her favorite was Minnie Mouse.  I personally like the pic where she was trying to figure out how the heck to hug a big green eye-ball! 


3.  Strollers rule:  It felt strange to take a stroller for our big 5-year old, but wow was it the right move.  She happily rode around in it and that made for a less tired little girl and no whining about being tired of walking.  The best thing about them:  great storage spot for snacks, drinks, extra jackets, etc.  I think I may be taking one to Disney from now on, even if I don't have a kid with me!  

2. Bonding time for Baby Boy:  Peanut #2 had such a great time at Nanna-PopPop World that the little guy, a consummate mama's boy, clung to PopPop and cried upon being reunited with his mama and papa!  A little heart breaking for mommy...but at the same time thrilled he enjoyed himself and is falling in love with the grandparents.

1. Jedi Training School: KK fought Darth Vader at Hollywood Studios...followed by Daddy buying a $25 light saber for her at the gift shop.  (Believe it or not, this was doing better than the $50 light saber that was available as well...)  Our little padawan did great; getting to see her in a Disney show will be a fun memory for all of us for years to come.  

17 Months

How did my Tyler get to be 17 months old?  Of course he will always be my baby, but really he is turning into a little boy now.  I wish I could bottle him up like this!  Stuff he is up to:

• Flirtatious winking at everyone, which is really blinking...even cuter!
• Lots of motor boat noises.  Bbbbbbbb is his favorite sound.
• Obsessed with balloons...and trying to say it comes out like: Bbbbbbbbbaaaallooooo
• Also likes the word ball.  Tries to say juice, Pop-Pop, down.  Growls to imitate lion noises.
• Hitting his sister all the time when frustrated or she invades his space the least little bit.  Already?! Need to get the pack-n-play set up for time outs downstairs...
• The kitchen stool - it's one of the tall ones and he has taken his share of spills off it.  It helps him see lots of things and get into lots of kitchen drawers!
• Sliding - sister takes him down the tulip slide in our backyard and it is soooo sweet to see them come shooting out the end of it, giggling with wild abandon.
• Getting pickier - he used to eat everything and he has already figured out how to work the food system to get the stuff he wants the most.  Ack.
• Still crying for church drop-offs, transition to babysitters, even transition from mommy to daddy sometimes.  But unlike big sister, who would cry and scream for hours, he gets over it pretty quickly.  I have never had to be paged out of the church service.  Can't even count how often it happened with big sister!
• Getting into the pretzels.  PopPop's fault....

Jingle's Final 3 Nights

Happy New Year!

Well, I dropped the ball with the flurry of activity before Christmas and didn't get Jingle's final 3 nights onto the blog yet.  In the interest of complete documentation (very important to us CPA auditor-types), my 2012 will begin with the end of 2011. Huh?  OK, you get it...onward...

Night 8 - Perhaps the pinnacle of his 10 nights in the Kim household, at least in terms of work required by mommy.  Jingle camped out in the candy dish after making cookies for his children.  K and T for the little ones, J for....well, take a guess.

 Night 9 - Going for a ride on Katelynn's beloved "Dino".  She liked this one.

Night 10 - Jingle hid in our (fake) ficus tree.  Nothing too exciting and apparently I was so tired that I even forgot to get a picture of that one.

So there ya' have it.  I had a lot of fun with this project.  I'm not sure how many years I have with this kid...she asked me again today whether Santa is real.  (I have taken to vague responses rather than outright lies... I asked her today "What do you think?")  Hopefully she will still love it even once she realizes Jingle is just pretend-fun. 

A Thankful 2011

I am so thankful for many things this holiday season.  A beautiful and smart little 5 year old girl who loves to learn and loves to sing songs about God.  Getting to enjoy her first choir performance at church.  Baking gingerbread cookies with her in our beautiful aprons handmade by Nanna.  Watching Christmas be truly magical for her.  Her ability to control the frequency and intensity of tantrums improves every day.  She lavishes so much love on her mommy and daddy and wants to spend every minute with us.

A skinny cutie pie 1 year old boy who speaks so enthusiastically in his own baby language.  The adorable way he rolls his r's!  His sweet hugs and snuggles reserved primarily just for mommy.  His enjoyment of dancing, climbing, log-rolling on the floor, running, trying to jump, and anything else physical. 

A husband who works hard to take care of his family and who lavishes lots of love on us.  Who takes good care of himself and makes me proud every day with his discipline.  Who knows me inside and out - the good, bad and ugly - yet still wants to hug me every night!

This blog post could go on forever...about parents, brother, sister-in-law, miracle niece, friends, ability to travel and do lots of fun things, good jobs.... I am blessed beyond belief.  Thank you God for an amazing 2011. 

Jingle Incurs the Wrath of Katelynn

On night 5, Jingle rifled through Katelynn's advent boxes.  He went through every one of them until he found one that had candy in it.  Very elf like, don't you think?!

I thought this was hilarious but should have known better. KK is pretty attached to her beloved advent boxes.  After all, that tradition started years before Jingle showed up!  Our morning started with crying and a declaration that "he hurt my little feelings."  I had to put EXTRA candy in the box, close it back up, and let her open it.  You would think the darn elf actually ate her candy.

So, elf fail #1.

On night 6, Jingle decided to make it up to her:

This was a success.  She stated several times:  "I can't believe he knows my name, mommy!"

Now on night 7- Jingle is still all about the sweets.  I saw this one on someone's blog and thought it was cute.  He went after the maple syrup in the pantry.  Gene pointed out this might attract bugs but I'm taking my chances...

Jingle's Adventures - Nights 3 and 4

Yesterday little girl went off to Weatherford for a night with her Nanna and PopPop.  Jingle traveled with her, inside her little Tinkerbell suitcase, and adapted well to the new location. Saturday morning he was located riding in a vintage toy car.

(The truck is an amazing antique toy that belonged to my grandfather as a boy.  Jingle already knew that, of course.  This Elf has good taste.)

On Saturday evening he returned home and decided to go fishing.  He broke into KK's candy stash to get the fishing rod so she may not be too happy about that.  We shall see!  I know she will be up bright and early to search for him...

I thought that some of you might enjoy a good laugh by this blogger that isn't too happy with us Elf loving mamas - check this post.  (Warning - reads like a crude standup routine - but hilarious nonetheless.) 

Very Pinteresty

When it comes to teacher gifts, I think substance is important...in other words - GIFT CARDS. Let's keep it real here - they deserve a little more than a candle at Christmas for all they put up with during the year!  However, I'm all about packaging it up in some sort of cute way and Pinterest is perfect for that.  This year, each teacher got a package of Extra gum (plus a Target gift card) inside a clear gift baggie along with a note like this one tied onto the bag (created in Photoshop Elements):

Cute, huh?  The downside of Pinterest:  I may never have another original idea in my life.

Elvish Fun - Nights 1 and 2

After Jingle arrived this week, Katelynn quickly became obsessed with feeding him.  She really wanted to set out a meal for him.  I pointed out that our story book said nothing about this - so therefore Santa must feed him, or he could take care of himself.  You know, he could stop by the local McDonalds' on his flight home from the North Pole.  (Side note:  It's so funny that kids want their fairy tales to be logical to some extent.  Yes, she can believe that there is a small felt elf that moves about our house at night, but surely he needs to eat!) 

So, I thought it would be appropriate for Jingle to set up his own tea party on night 1.  Here he is with a couple of KK's beanie babies. 

When KK woke up this morning, she immediately went and checked Jingle's previous resting spot on the fireplace mantel.  She ran to our bedroom, where I was getting ready, and announced excitedly:  "He's gone mommy!  He moved!"  She had a bit of trepidation about searching for him alone, so she waited till I was ready and we journeyed into the living room/kitchen area together.  As soon as I flipped the lights on she saw Jingle and his tea party.  She was just bursting at the seams with glee and excitement; I love seeing my normally somber (or irritable or grouchy) girl like this!  She really started giggling when she discovered there was actually water in the cups.  Then she flooded me with a barrage of questions:  How did the other animals get down the stairs?  How did Jingle find all the plates?  And on and on.... oooh I'm buried deep in lies now!  (The tangled webs we weave...)

Tonight I decided to borrow one of those Pinterest ideas.  Jingle couldn't find any snow here in Texas so he played in the rice instead.  Good thing we have a humongous bag for him:

Looking forward to another morning with a mesmerized little girl...

The Answer is Yes

About once a month, LBJ Highway is a complete disaster and Gene takes back roads all the way home from work. When this happens, I often get a phone call that goes something like this:
Gene:  "I'm taking back roads home...want me to stop there?"
Katie:  "Yes."

Gene:  "I wish the calories weren't so high."
Katie:  "I don't care.  My weight never changes.  Stop and get them."
Gene:  "I wish it wasn't so expensive to buy a small amount."
Katie:  "It's a rip off.  Get a dozen."


By now you may have figured out we are talking about cookies (as if the picture didn't give it away).  Very, very decadent cookies.  From Paradise Bakery.  These things are amazing.  Gene's favorites are chocolate chip sprinkled with toasted coconut.  My favorite is a toss-up - chocolate chip walnut or oatmeal raisin. And since we have a strange 5-year old that does not like cookies, we have 6 apiece to ourselves....or maybe that is a curse.  We made the mistake of looking up the calories one time.  About 300 big ones for one chocolate chip cookie.  


Nope - so worth it.   I'll just run 5 extra miles this week.

It Only Took An Elf....

Jingle awaits his first night of mischief in the Kim home...

....to break my 2+ month blogging hiatus??

I guess we will see.  Lately I just haven't been feeling the blog thing.  It seems like one more "to do" on a big, long stressful list... writing is normally enjoyable for me but it can also feel like work when I'm trying to make it read somewhat decently for my vast audience (ok, so all 3 of you).  So I just decided not to do it for awhile.  But today our "Elf on the Shelf" arrived in the mail and the whole experience has screamed "Blog me!" 

I had no idea what an Elf on the Shelf was till this year.  I will chalk this new (to me) discovery up to our friend the Internet, and Pinterest.  It seemed like suddenly I was seeing pictures of this happy little elf doing all sorts of silly things in peoples' homes.  The basic jist:  your elf is keeping an eye on your kids and flies to the North Pole every night to report in to Santa. He doesn't move except when the little ones are fast asleep.  When the kids wake up in the morning, the first thing they do is see what their elf has been up to. 

So for $30 on Amazon Marketplace we got our little elf and the nice book that comes with him.  Seemed a little steep to me, but - let me tell you- I have one smitten 5 year old.  I think it is going to be way more than $30 worth of fun for both of us!  This is right up this mommy's alley.  KK has already named him Jingle and is taking all the "rules" laid out by the book very seriously.  (She can't touch him... he can't talk but is observing her...etc.)  She has talked about nothing else all evening!  She even said at one point:  "Mommy, he's eyeing me!"  Hmmm...it does kinda' feel like his eyes follow you around the room...a little spooky actually.  And thanks to the Internet, I don't have to come up with too many ideas on my own, just enjoy the fun of making them happen.  I can already pick from a vast list.... should Jingle be fishing for goldfish crackers?  Decorating cookies?  Making snow angels in rice?  Hmmmm....what to do first?  I can't wait for her to fall asleep! 

More blogs later with some of Jingle's antics...

Oh Happy [Reading] Day!

Today Katelynn read the following words all on her own, using phonics:  am, an, ad, at, rat, pat, sat, cat, fat, mat, bat, hat, man, fan, ban, ran, can, van, tan

What an amazing parenting moment to see that lightbulb over her head go "click!"  I was a little hesitant about this post because I don't want to come across as a show off and I certainly try not to be one of "those parents" who talks incessantly about her kids.  But I am posting away, because it was truly a joyful moment that I couldn't help but document!  She was beyond excited; it's rare to see my often serious girl with such a big smile plastered on her face.  And mommy was excited too.  We called Daddy and Nanna right away.  


For anyone interested or curious, we have been working through The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington.  My friend Erin recommended it.  The format is easy to follow for both parent and child, and has been fun for both of us.

A Post for Nanna

Well, I know that Nanna will not be happy about the Pinterest post unless it is followed with appropriate posting and pictures of one of her grandchildren.  Tyler has been up to a lot of cute things lately that I felt deserved a mention anyway.

13 months is such a fun age.  It is also really interesting to watch your second grow and see how different kids are from one another.  Things I somehow expected to be the "same" as his big sis are so different.  For example, Tyler walked a little earlier than KK - but that's not what surprised me.  I knew there might be differences like that.  But he did surprise me with the insane speed in which he has ramped up to coordinated FAST walking.  The little guy could tear across the living room at warp speed with a couple of weeks of his first steps.  KK's ramp up to fast walking was much more slow and cautious and took a couple of months.  

Tyler is super expressive and chatty - this is the same as his sis.  However while she spoke her first clear word at 7 months, he still mainly babbles. However, it is clear he is trying to communicate.  His favorite word besides "mama" is "Oh!" - said in all sorts of cute and different ways and with different kinds of emphasis, often as a means to point out things he wants to touch or "discuss" with mommy. I really need to capture it on video because it is melt-your-heart adorable.   

He loves to take things in and out of bags and can occupy himself for quite awhile with this task.  He likes to get into the plastic cups in the pantry and take them in and out of the various school lunch bags that reside there.  He then proudly carries his filled bag around the living room.  He has become super observant of the world around him.  He likes to get his own wad of toilet tissue and hurl it into the potty after mommy, sister or daddy are done.  He also likes to take a wet wash cloth and "clean" the floor the way he sees mommy do so frequently. 

Who knew these tiny little people would capture my heart so... Yes, Nanna, you knew - didn't you?!

Pinterest Projects

So, I can thank/blame my lovely SIL Jen and this blog post for introducing me to Pinterest.  Not only am I copying Pinterest, but I am also copying her with my latest projects.  I will also attempt to use this as my latest sorry excuse for not blogging too much these days...a girl can only focus on so many things at once!

Project 1
I finally tackled the "art wall" that I had wanted to create for the little girl, to display all her creative drawings and crafts.   Here's the inspiration from Pinterest, which Jen found for me... she is also doing a smaller version for her daughter's play room:

And here's my almost identical take on it:

I got the vinyl letters from DIY Lettering, and the service/ quality was great. 

Project 2
I love candy displays and have seen some cute ones on Pinterest, but they seemed pretty loud and large.  Then I saw my SIL's take on the Pinterest project and pretty much exactly copied her version.  This will be my new tribute to seasonal decorating, since I basically do NONE other than Christmas.  At least  now I will have some appropriate candy for each holiday/season.  Here's the original idea from Pinterest:

And here's my version which is similar to Jen's...I might add a cute ribbon to it to liven it up a bit:

Also thanks to Pinterest/Jen I have become re-enthused about home decorating.  I feel I am below average at it, but I am trying to improve by copying all these great ideas.  I am also finding that browsing lots of pictures helps to train my eye as to what looks good in a room.  It still does not come naturally for me at all.  But I have spruced up a few things in my living room and bedroom without spending too much $$.  Maybe a separate post later about that! 



iPad

The other night our creative little 4 year old brought us a picture she had created and asked if we knew what it was.  The answer?  It was her personal iPad that she thinks she should receive for Christmas - ha!  I have nothing else to say here...

KK's picture

This is what she was drawing - not bad!

The Incident

So, last weekend we were at our favorite Mexican place, Mi Chulas.  Lately we find ourselves there a lot after Gene's long Saturday morning run.  He is starving hungry and wants lot of carbs.  It is a nice family outing and combination fajitas for two feeds our entire clan - even TyTy now chows down on the beans and rice and indulges in a bit of fajita meat too.  The managers know us as regulars.
I had taken KK to the pool that morning.  As is typical, she did not eat much breakfast before we went.  Then I took her for a slurpee after our pool trip.  Gene was at home recovering from his run and taking care of Tyler.  Then we all got ready and headed out to lunch - by the time we got there it was nearly 1 pm and all Kims were starving, not just the runner.  The restaurant was packed because of tax free shopping weekend.

We were all inhaling the chips and salsa.  Then Katelynn said "Mommy, I feel like I need to cough - but I can't."  Suddenly, vomit was pouring out of her.  I mean POURING out.  To quote my brother's longtime friend Kevin: "It was quite the launch."  At this particular restaurant, they use cloth napkins and keep them stacked in a square bin on the table.  Gene rapidly began unwrapping the napkins and tossing them under Katelynn's faucet mouth.  Every time he would get another napkin down, more would pour out and he would frantically unwrap another.  We went through about 6 nice cloth napkins before it all seemed to be over.  I tried to make a big mountain out of the napkins to hide the situation from our closest table mates.

At this point the manager had taken note and was trying to help.  We were desperately trying to shield all the mess with the napkins so as not to completely offend the entire restaurant.  Luckily it was loud and that seemed to help - if anyone did notice they didn't give it away with a look of disgust - as I surely would have at the sight of another child barfing in a restaurant.  KK's shirt and shorts were covered in it - mostly red/purple from the Slurpee. 

I headed to the one-stall bathroom to clean her up.  (Note to self:  Will carry emergency clothes in the car at ALL times from now on.)  She was grossed out by her barfy shirt and shorts, but all I could do was rinse them out a little and make her put them back on - damp clothing heavily stained with purple puke....lovely.  After a few minutes a woman waiting to pee begain to get impatient and knock rudely on the bathroom door.  Whatdoyouwantmetodolady?!

Finally, I return to the table with a little girl streaked in Slurpee vomit.  Tyler has been screaming his head off at the table the entire time I am gone- HUGE mama's boy. In his fury he knocks over a large glass of tea that had been moved too close to him during the great vomit clean-up. Gene and I are both so frazzled by this point!  I am just trying to get my wits about me, and KK begins begging for steak fajitas.  Try explaining to a starving 4 year old that you really don't want them to eat...

Needless to say I did not enjoy my meal.  I shoved a couple of fajitas down, all the while arguing with Katelynn that she should only eat one tortilla for lunch and wait to see if she was ok.  Turns out she was - but mommy and daddy are scarred for life.  If you ever want to see Gene or me recoil in horror, just mention "The Incident" to us.  No additional description needed.

First Steps, First Birthday

 

Tyler John is one now - how did this happen?!  He is at a very FUN age and it will be a little sad to see the "baby" slowly disappear over the next several months.  Sniff sniff.  But I know with that disappearance will come lots of fun new developments as well.  


TyTy took his first steps on August 13th, a little over a week before his big birthday.  As of today he is still very tentatively making little "bursts" of walking from one piece of furniture to another.  I have tried to capture all this on video with no luck so far.  It's like he knows what I am trying to do and immediately sits down when the iPhone comes out.  He is pretty cute though.  His preferred method to attempt walking is to slowly stand up from a sitting position - with no assistance from any furniture or objects!  Then he looks for me, smiles and claps, then takes off for several steps. Then he sits down before he even has a chance to get wobbly.  


Last weekend we had a very fun family party to celebrate one year of our little guy.  I chose a monkey theme and had a lot of fun with that.  We served a yummy lunch and then had all the usual festivities - smash cake for Tyler, opening presents, etc.  We also adorned him in his formal Korean wear purchased by his Grandma Joy and he didn't seem to mind.  We had four kiddos in attendance - KK, cousin Izzy, and our best friends Bobby and Lindsay.  Since it was just a small number of kids I splurged on the goody bags and everyone got an adorable Ty stuffed monkey, plus some monkey tattoos and candy. Pink for the girls, brown for Bobby.  


KK was a wonderful big sister and helped to open presents, dress TyTy in his outfit, etcetera.  She got enough attention that she didn't seem to mind the fact that it wasn't her party.  I know that my dad was giving her lots of positive reinforcement which helped a ton in this regard - THANKS PopPop!  All in all, it was a wonderful time with family.  We are so very blessed!