Friday Night Marching Band

 PVHS Thunderhawks took the field for their first home game on a gorgeous Friday night with perfect weather!  I took some of the kids to watch Polly perform with her band.  This was definitely a first time experience for her.  She looked so good in her marching band uniform!  It was also a first time for my kids to see a live football game.  We surprised Polly and her bandmates by providing a table full of fruits, cheeses, and other snacks to enjoy after they were done marching.  I felt like a real band mom!

High School Back2School Night

 Polly's high school also had a celebration for the beginning of the school year.  There were inflatable games like a bouncy house and all the teachers were set up at individual tables so that we could meet them and talk to them about our student.  I was glad to meet Polly's English/Language Arts teacher since his class will probably be a struggle for Polly.  I can't even imagine trying to take high school level classes in a foreign language, much less writing essays in one.

Options Back 2 School 2013

 So begins another school year at Options, the one day a week school for homeschoolers that we send our kids to.  This was the first year for Jordan and Michael.  I think it's good that they have this as sort of a link between public school and home school as they transition between the two styles.  I'm also hoping that Jordan will have a better year this year.  Last year at the local public elementary school she didn't make any friends and said that the other girls treated her badly because she's so much bigger than them.  She's VERY tall for her age.

Here at Options she gets the chance to be in classes with a wide age range of kids.  Some of her classes have other 5th graders in them, but some had slightly younger kids and others had high schoolers.  She made friends with one girl who became the school Vice President and was several years older than Jordan.  Jodie (Jordan's self chosen nickname) is fairly mature for her age, so she often gets along better with older kids.

A nice surprise right before back to school night came when Gloria gave me this picture she made reminding me that I'm still her favorite teacher even though she has lots of other teachers at Options.  I love this kid.

Girls Gone Shopping

Shopping with my oldest two girls, well, sort of.  Polly's on loan from her parents for this school year.  It's been nice having another older girl in the house.  It feels like having a friend to talk to more than having another daughter.  We went to several different stores, but Polly had a really hard time finding dresses that matched her style and fit right.  I've been learning more about fashion in South Korea.  They seem to like covering up the upper body, but exposing a LOT of leg.  So you'll see a girl wearing a shirt buttoned up to her neck paired with really short shorts or a mini skirt.

Fortunately, for my peace of mind, Danya shares my preference for cute, but modest, clothing.  She really wanted me to buy her this jacket.  Sadly, her odds of getting me to say, "yes" won't improve until tax return season.

Lunch with the Sitters

All our babysitters are growing up and moving on with their lives.  It's like, once they start silly little things like jobs and college, they suddenly don't want to make less than minimum wage while babysitting nine kids.  Go figure.

I'm so sad that we don't get to spend much time with Shannon and Luke anymore.  They are so much fun and really care about our kids.  It's hard to find babysitters that really click well with all the kids and can still maintain authority.  I'm going to miss them as they continue becoming adults and starting their own independent lives.  I hope these two, in particular, remain a part of our extended family.  I kind of think of them as my "other kids".

Anniversary Gifts

Church Fire!

 Fire at church?! Actually, it was just a false alarm.  But we did get the building cleared in a very short amount of time.  We were all sitting in the sanctuary when the alarm went off.  The pastor told us to head on out and our children would meet us outside.  Sure enough, the teachers brought them out before we could even get out there.  I was a little concerned about Katie and Karyie at first, but it turns out they came out on the other side of the church because their classroom doors are on that side.  We all prayed out front with the pastor before heading out to an early lunch.  It was definitely a unique Sunday morning!

16 Year Romance

 "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend,
Lucky to have been where I have been,
Lucky to be coming home again."

These song lyrics make me think of Daniel.  I'm just lucky, lucky, lucky to be the one this amazing man chooses to spend his life with.  Even when he drives me crazy or frustrates me, I still wouldn't swap him for anyone else in the world.  He gets me.  He accepts me for who I am and loves me enough to want me to be my best.  I have loved every minute of the past 16 years we have spent together.  Happy anniversary, Sweetie.  You are still my Hunka Hunka Burnin Love Man!

Water Birthday

 Our kids' friend, Briella, invited us all to her birthday party at the Peter Pan Park.  She's the cutie in blue with the ribbon on her shirt.  Her mom, Rainie, is a good friend of mine.  She's one of those people who will always volunteer to help when you're in need and is always involved in whatever is happening at church.  She's just a joyful person that I love being around.  Her daughter makes me think of that quote:
"A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot." - Allan Beck

 I think Polly was a little shocked that we were all throwing water on each other, but she joined in after the kids soaked her a bit.  Poor Katie couldn't find her swimsuit, so she ended up wearing her leotard.

Class Cookout

Our Sunday school class leaders have started a tradition of an annual class cook out. We all get together at the Pastor's house (our class leader's dad) and roast marshmallows to make S'mores and eat something unusual.  This year they made packets of food with chicken and veggies wrapped up in aluminum foil that roasted next to the fire.  I thought it was pretty good.

The best part is getting to spend time just talking and hanging out with our adult friends.  I enjoy events where we bring our kids, too, but often we don't have time to talk to other adults because we are busy supervising our own children.  I usually miss out on Sunday morning fellowship time before class because I'm required to attend band rehearsal.  So, these kinds of events are especially nice.

3 Year Old Princess

Polly's Band Practice

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy picking Polly up from band practice?  Band was the absolute most fun part of my teen years.  Now I get to live a little bit vicariously through Polly watching her finish up marching band practice in the afternoons.  She is tired and feeling overwhelmed by it all, but this is also her very first true band experience.  They don't have high school bands in South Korea.  Kids who learn instruments do it independently.  Luckily, Polly's mom is really into music.  She's an amazing singer and teacher.  Just for fun, I've added a photo of Polly's mom performing.  She actually teaches music professionally.  I'd really like to hear her sing someday.

Wagon Groceries

 Daniel and took the younger kids on a walk to get groceries from the local King Soopers grocery store.  I'm loving that this thing is finally built.  We needed a closer grocery store soooo badly.  I'm not loving how much money I keep spending there.  Convenient? Yes.  Cheap? No.  Katie thought it was hilarious riding home on top of the toilet paper.  Karyie enjoyed all the compliments she keeps getting for her cute hair style.

Kevin?  He enjoyed what may be his last ride on the penny ride horse.  Sorry, Bud.  Six year olds just look a little too big on there.  A good sign that you've outgrown the ride is when your feet hang past the stirrups.

Farewell Aquarium

 We took our final trip to the aquarium since our one year membership was about to expire.  We were really glad that Polly got to experience it, too.  She hadn't been in the U.S. for very long, but we had a list of things we wanted to do with her, including visiting the Denver Aquarium.  It was doubly fun since we did it right after Karyie's birthday party.

Karyie was grinning nonstop and clinging to her new giraffe backpack that her friend, Molly, from church had given her.  It instantly became her tiny diaper bag.  I'm loving that she can carry her own changing supplies with her now.

Daniel took some of the kids home first and let Danya, Polly and I stay longer at the aquarium.  We also had dinner there in the restaurant.  It was fun watching fish and a diver float by while we ate.  Then we had a HUGE dessert.