I *heart* him

I'm a little obsessed with this guy lately.  I skipped over all the boy band craziness when I was a teen, but this guy's voice has won me over.  Right now my older girls and I are learning the Korean lyrics to this song:  The Day the Sun Rises  The first person singing in the video is one of his boy group buddies.  Sungkyu comes out half way through to amp up the whole thing.
I also get a kick out of watching his group's videos on You Tube with English subtitles.  The group has 7 guys, and their group name is INFINITE.  Sungkyu is the leader and is responsible for keeping them in line. 

He has the same super power that most mom's have, which is the ability to tell the younger members of the group to straighten up and act right with just a look.  Here's proof: Eye Control  I'm anxiously awaiting his music CDs which we ordered through a website called YesAsia.com, and the girls and I plan to learn the lyrics together.  Polly says she'll help us.  And just for fun, here's Sungkyu doing his best to sing in English: Lucky  I really love this song.

Gifts from Korea

 Polly surprised us with some really beautiful Korean gifts.  I especially liked the gorgeous wooden box, since I actually have a small collection of wooden boxes.  The silk bags that the gifts came in were awesome, too, with the tiny embroidered flowers on them.

One of the most unusual gifts was a wind chime with a fish on the end that Gloria received.  There was also a game for celebrating New Year's that Polly promised to teach us when the time is right.

The tea was really good, too.  It tasted like sweet raspberries.  She also gave us a fan, but I can't post a picture because the painting on it is a bit risque.

We had fun preparing some surprises for Polly, too.  We made a gift basket and bag and put them in her room.  They were full of American themed trinkets and candy along with a few useful items for school.  I hope she really enjoys her year here in America.

Welcome to America!

We brought all the kids to the Denver International Airport with home made signs and some American flags to welcome our new foreign exchange student, Polly. We even practiced saying "annyeonghaseyo", which means "hello" in Korean.  (It sounds like "on YONG zay oh" when you say it fast.

Getting to know Polly and learning more about her culture is going to be fun and educational for all of us. The kids and I already looked up where South Korea is on a map and read a little about it's history and people. Polly is teaching us how to pronounce Korean words correctly. In Korean, the word for mom is "Oma"! I get to be Polly's American "oma" for the next 10 months. And she gets to suddenly become a big sister to nine kids!

Polly (nickname, not her real name) arrived tired and a bit overwhelmed. We warned the kids ahead of time not to batter her with questions right away. The next day she mostly slept, although she did take time to give us presents from South Korea. I had asked her dad if he could find some playing cards with a picture of South Korea on the front for our card collection, but he thought I meant some red cards that they use to play a game called "Go Stop", which is a popular gambling game. The cards are really pretty, but I have no idea how to play.

Adoption Anniversary

 Celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Shane and Brianna's adoption at Berry Patch Farms.  This has become a tradition for us, although they've asked if we can do something new next year.  I'm thinking they don't get the concept of "traditions".  Anyway, we got a good haul of strawberries, despite it being near the end of the year.  The raspberries were abundant, but honestly, the strawberries were just more fun to find.  It was nice and hot and we all had fun yelling, "Jackpot!" every time we found a bush with a handful of berries on it.

Brianna and Shane have matured a lot in the past few years.  Their negative behaviors have drastically decreased, and their attention spans have lengthened.  I see them performing more random acts of kindness toward their siblings.  I think Brianna and her sisters have gotten closer.  Shane has really bonded with his brothers.  They share a love of all things electronic, and by "they", I mean all the kids, so they have something to connect through.

Daniel and I are working to improve our patience and trying not to sweat the small stuff so much.  We're learning to go easier on Shane and gradually give Bri more responsibility.  I'd say our whole family has grown in a positive direction this year.  Love you Shane and Breezy!

Magic Shrinking Hats!

Bike Ridin' Baby!

Karyie finally got her very own big girl bike for her birthday!  Can't believe she's finally three!  Her first birthday that we got to celebrate with her since she came in October of the previous year.  She loves her bike and had to ride it around the living room and kitchen several times before she ever got to go outside.

Video Game Addiction

We were originally going to wait until our anniversary to buy this game, but we got impatient.  The LEGO series of games is our absolute favorite.  We have every one they currently produce for XBOX 360 and also some for Playstation 2.  When we hear about new ones coming out, it becomes an endurance test to wait a bit for the price to drop or to buy a used copy.  The minute we pick up a new LEGO game, you can guarantee that nothing else will be accomplished in our home for the next 3 days minimum.  Daniel and the kids usually play during the day, and then I play with Daniel after the kids are in bed.  Daniel and I make a really good team.  I like the fact that they are cooperative games that are more fun when you work together.  We occasionally have minor disagreements on which way to go, but since it's all split screen now, those problems are few and far between.  If you have kids (or husbands) who enjoy video games, I highly recommend avoiding ones that require fighting each other and instead suggest you aim for ones that allow you to team up to fight bad guys...  and if you get to be Wonder Woman while you're at it, all the better!

Pool Party Pals

 My friend, Brandy, invited us over to her house to try out their new above ground pool.  It was a little too big and scary for some of the smaller kids, but the big kids had a blast.  Brandy has five kids and we brought our nine, so it was an instant party.

Preschool Fun

 I love finding materials and games for the kids' homeschooling in unexpected places.  That's why, when people ask me the standard, "What curriculum do you use?" I always laugh and begin with, "Well..." because it's not an easy answer.  We found these fun little mini dry erase books at Target for a buck.  You can use them for everything from phonics to colors to shapes to categorizing and counting.  I'm sure we'll think of more uses eventually.  Katie really loves it, and Brianna likes helping both of the little girls with their work.  Karyie still thinks we're just coloring.  It's amazing what half a year difference in their ages makes.

Farewell to Family

 The Maxwells got to see my beautiful grandbaby, Alayna, while they were here.  Chloe loved having someone smaller than her to play with.  Sadly, we had to say goodbye to the Maxwell cousins now that the soccer games were over.

Little Brother

Our youngest daughter, Karyie, is actually a big sister.  Jordan, Michael and Karyie all have a little half brother named Yahkai.  (Pronounced "yuck-eye" with the emphasis on the last syllable)  He was adopted by the family that had fostered him since he was born.  He's about a year younger than Karyie.  We got to go swimming with him and his family in August down in Commerce City.  He is a bundle of energy, constantly moving, jumping, screaming and smiling.  I really enjoy his adoptive mom, Robin.  She is amazing at braiding hair.  Styles that take me hours, she can accomplish in about 30 minutes.  She said I'm doing a good job on Karyie and Jordan's hair, which really boosted my confidence.  She is a foster mom, too, and has had up to 14 kids at one time!  I hope we can keep the kids in contact as they grow up.

Soccer!

 Daniel's sister, Robin, and her family came up to spend a few days with us at the beginning of August this year.  Our niece, Meridian, was in a soccer tournament.  They were the only team from Oklahoma, and the altitude definitely took its toll.  It was fun to watch and the beautiful weather certainly didn't hurt.  We sat on the hillside and the other kids ran around and played.  We were very proud of Meridian!

Chick Fil A Day!

Hey, we actually got to be on Fox News!  Well... the website anyway.  We don't often get involved in political activism, but this felt more like standing up for freedom.  This year a tempest in a tea pot got stirred up because the President of Chick Fil A stated in a speech that he and his family have always used the profits they make from Chick Fil A to support Christian causes including groups that support keeping the definition of marriage in alignment with the biblical definition of marriage as its always been.  Then a lot of gay rights activist groups started condemning the company and the family that owns it and then it got worse.  Some mayors and people in leadership in places like Chicago started saying that Chick Fil A was not welcome in their city and that they would work to guarantee that the company could not open any businesses there.  This is where a lot of Americans got angry.

It's not about civil rights, because most people don't care whether a gay person decides to unite with another person, although many people prefer that it not be called marriage, which has a strong religious meaning.  No, this was about our government leaders trying to block a company because of the owner's religious beliefs.  The owners aren't discriminating against gay employees or making them feel ostracized.  They aren't holding prayer services during the work day in the Chick Fil A lobby.  No, they just are choosing where to spend their own money.  So, a lot of people decided to show support for Chick Fil A.  We don't even eat there more than about twice a year because we think their food is too expensive, but we made an exception on this day.

The line was incredible.  All across the country people were coming out in support of "Chick Fil A" day which was not even an event sponsored by the company.  We waited in line for almost two hours before we got our food.  Cars were wrapped around the building, threw the shopping center's parking lot and out into the street.  Everyone was in a good mood and friendly despite the long wait.  We saw several of our friends there.  I wish I had a great photo of the crowd.  I was proud of the kids for being so patient.  Daniel was at work, but we sent him pictures.  I made sure the kids understood why we were there.  Hopefully, this kind of occurrence will stand out in their memories and not become something they are constantly fighting against as adults.

Michael's Alien Birthday!

 This year was the first year that we got to celebrate Michael's birthday with him since he only joined our family last October.  He wanted an alien party.  That's harder to do than I thought it would be.

First, he played laser tag and went bowling with his friends.  Then they came home and made aliens out of green playdough.  Surprisingly, the boys all loved this part and the fact that they got to keep the playdough.

 Then they had an alien football cake.  When it was dark, they went outside to throw a flying saucer Frisbee into hula hoop targets that we pretended were planets.  The Frisbee glowed and had flashing lights.  It was very cool.  Then they played inside with glow sticks and flashlights until it was bedtime.

But the drama didn't end there.  One of Michael's guests, "A", doesn't handle sleepovers well.  After several hours of phone calls to his parents and trying to sleep, he went home around 2am.  It was a very long night.  But Michael said it was the best party ever, so I'm calling it a success.

Youth Group Camping Trip

 Danya went on her first ever youth group camping trip this summer.  I was so nervous letting her go.  Shannon, our babysitter, said she'd be there, and also our friend, James, who is a police officer in Denver.  She had a great time, even though it was crazy windy and rained on the last day.  It's so hard seeing her enter the world of teenagers.  This is her last year before she officially becomes a teen.  She is so mature and I'm so very proud of her.

 I feel like lately she has become someone that I can talk to and treat more like a friend.  There are still days when she gets in trouble or displays a bad attitude, but we talk about it and she usually comes to me and apologizes for her behavior.  I think she's becoming an amazing young woman and I can't wait to see her future... well, maybe I wouldn't mind if she holds on to childhood just a little longer.