The Recovery

I have spent the majority of today cleaning the house and
putting away the Christmas decorations.

It is always amazing how fast the time goes between
Halloween and New Years.

This year I just blinked and it was gone.

I love putting up all of the decorations for the holidays, especially Christmas,
but there is something so refreshing about boxing them all back up again.

Isabelle was practically in tears as I dismantled the trees.

Although the house seems to feel a little empty now,
it also feels like a clean slate.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning and organizing the school/play room.

Well one thing leads to another and cleaning that one room
required me to also clean out 3 closets.

I was going to wait until January to start getting the house organized,
 but I already have a big headstart.

Its not the most exciting post I know, but it has taken up two days
of my life so it deserves a paragraph!

I am so very tired.  It's time to hit the hay!

You're a 5 Year Old

Every year for my kids birthdays we get pictures taken.

I have loved that tradition.

This year I am feeling broke and cheap at the same time

so I didn't go to a studio like we usually do.

I took Isabelle to the Joseph Smith Memorial building
to see what we could come up with.

It would have been better if Isabelle had smiled,
but I think we got some cute ones. 

It's sad to admit, but that really does look like a 5 year old.

She's becoming beautiful instead of cute.

She was in love with that chandelier.

"Mom, it's so pretty, I can't believe it!"

Thanks for the nice backdrop Salt Lake City.

She had to take her "Fancy Nancy" doll with a matching dress.

I had to limit the number of pictures Nancy could be in.

How many cities can you get a picture like this in?

Sometimes she felt like this about the pictures...

Sometimes she felt like this...

I always laugh histerically when I see a nativity scene too.

Welcome to being a big 5 year old Isabelle.

I am so excited to see what will be in store for you in this next year!



Wii Fit...Wii Wish!

I got the Wii Fit for Christmas this year.

Yesterday was the first time I got a chance to try it out. 

I think it is going to be pretty fun.

I am not sure I like the idea of my games being able to weigh me

and tell me what my BMI is.

When you turn it on it goes through a setup process and it has you

try out some basic balancing techniques.

I am not Jillian from Biggest Loser,

but I consider myself to be in somewhat good shape.

Of course not as good as before I had kids,

but I could hold my own in a tug of war.

After I did my balancing practice the little digital "me" says

"I don't think balancing is your forte."

SLAM!  What a little snob digital "me" has become.

That really hits you where it hurts.

If she told me "I don't think being a chemist or a professional opera singer is your forte", then I would have to agree.

Isn't balancing just one step above breathing and brushing your teeth?

I mean it's lower than walking in terms of physical fitness. 

It's a miracle I even manage to get out of bed in the mornings.

Come to think of it maybe my "me" has a point, sometimes

I do find getting out of bed to be difficult,

could it be my poor balancing skills are to blame?

I refuse to give up though. 

I pledge to work on it every day until snobby digital "me" has to eat her digital words.

At my funeral all of my friends will say

"She might not have been a genius, but that girl sure had good balance!"

Christmas Day

The countdown finally came to an end!  Santa didn't fly by!  He came!
The kids got new jammies on Christmas Eve, one of our few traditions.
I tried to get a picture of them together in the new PJ's but alas my children never
hold still, and certainly never at the same time!

We are fortunate parents, our kids didn't wake up until 8:00.

I wonder how many more years we'll get away with that.

William was feeling partly cloudy and mostly just wanted to be held all day.

It wasn't too bad, but he didn't get overly enthused about his presents.

A Pillow Pet is the only thing she really wanted!

She wanted the unicorn one, but Santa thought it was too ugly to buy.

Fortunately Jee Hoon was nicer than Santa and got the unicorn for her.

2 Pillow Pets in one day!  Life is sweet.

William needed one as well. 

I think Santa might just buy duplicates of everything next year.

We got Isabelle this dog because William got one for his birthday and she is
stealing it ALL of the time.

The age recommendations are 6 to 36 months. 

There is no way I am going to tell her it's a baby toy,

I am going to let one of her friends break it to her when she's 7.

Paybacks!  That'll teach you to steal my dog!

He wasn't excited about his presents but he couldn't get enough of Isabelle's!

Daddy's toys.  He was saying "Mine" to Isabelle.

I am 98.8% sure that he was joking!

This tent was a spur of the moment buy at the last minute.

This was the favorite of both of the kids.

They played in it for hours and when it came time for bed

we had to clear off Isabelle's bed and put it on top.

It was there that she slept for the night with a pile of blankets,

her new pillow pets, and all of her Christmas loot.

The last thing she said before going to sleep...

"This was the BEST Christmas EVER!"

Victory is mine!

Oh yeah, what did I get for Christmas? 

Well besides my Wii Fit I got the best thing ever,

a 2 hour nap!

Christmas Eve 2010

Oh what a fun day! 

Today we had our family Christmas party.

We decided to do it at our Lehi Taekwondo center so that we would have LOTS of room for the kids to play.  It certainly wasn't as formal as many people's Christmas parties probably are,

but we had so much fun!

We had to start off the party with some food!

Holy Cow - our family looks HUGE!

It was so nice to have Grandma Great with us for our party!

Sue and Mac stopped by too, that was nice since we haven't seen Sue since she moved out.

(She stayed with us for just a month or so not too long ago, but Isabelle still misses her!)

Let the games begin...

Now thats what I call a handful!

Erica will always be a kid at heart.

I have to let you know this was only 2 days after Erica had a

very large, very painful shot for her cancer treatment! 

She is amazing!

This is way harder than it looks...

Unless you are Nathaniel and you have a very big mouth!

He didn't seem to find it challenging at all.

Isabelle on the other hand found it very challenging!

Oh, oh...you almost got it!

DODGEBALLL!!!

I think the dad's were playing a different game than the kids.

Liam was just running around the whole time thinking he was a big kid!

Last but not least....presents!!!

Isabelle played with Hungry, Hungry Hippos for hours tonight!

What a hit!

Yay - Cars for him to be excited about,

and shoes for me to be excited about!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa.

Boots, and they are even pink - score!

Again, I was more excited than her about these.

I love having practical parents.

Wesley's 1st Christmas.

I think he's pretty into it!

After the party we still had to come home and have a little fun.

Christmas cookies for Santa just had to be made.

Well, 2 for him and 1 for her.

I left her alone for 3 minutes and when I came back 95%

off the sprinkles in that bottle were on those 3 cookies.

I hope Santa loves sprinkles!

After a few games of Hungry Hippos and a game of memory it was off to bed for Isabelle.

The scary thing about this memory game is I won, but not by very much. I only had two more matches than Isabelle.  She has a good little memory and I am afraid that by the time she is

 6 she will be beating me everytime.

Soungsik on the other hand...didn't care so much for that game!

Another Skeleton in the Closet

We are at the beginning of 2 weeks vacation for our family.

Now sadly, vacation for Soungsik doesn't equate to vacation for me.

The house still needs to be cleaned, there are piles of laundry to do, children still think they have to eat, and paperwork for Taekwondo needs to be completed before the new year can begin.

Today however I am being sneaky.

The kids were both extra whiny today so I just put them down for naps. And miracle of miracles I think they are actually both going to sleep.  This would be the ideal time to catch up on dishes, fold laundry, and clean the house.  Here's my dirty little secret. 

Instead of doing all that junk, I am going to read a book, with my hair and makeup undone while eating a large piece of chocolate cake in place of lunch.

Soungsik is going to come home from shooting and ask
"What have you done all day?"

I of course will answer him in a shocked voice with "I can't believe you would even ask that...doesn't the house look so much cleaner!?!"

Ssshhh...don't tell okay. It's not like I murdered anyone!

The Gift Not Wanted

 Isabelle came running into the room the other day
and she was incredibly excited.

She was saying "Come quick mom, come quick. 
I have found what I want to get you for Christmas!!!"

Of course I went with her fast enough to see the ad on T.V. for this super great gift.

This is what she wants to get me...

Now clearly we have not watched "A Christmas Story" enough if she believes this to be a good gift!  The only thing these jammies are missing are
little bunny ears and eyes looking up at you.
And just look at how big the model's butt looks in them,
and she's a MODEL.
Can you imagine what a regular sized person's butt
would look like in those?

Isabelle enthusiastically tells me "and mom, the BEST part is you can unzip the feet
and take them off if you get too hot!"

I am still in shock that anyone over the age of 5 would want these.

The ad is targeted to husbands.

I am truely concerned about the homicide rate this Christmas if any men are dumb enough to believe that their wife will want these, and that she will feel beautiful in them.
Husbands are completely dilusional if they believe they'll get a little "something extra"
 on Christmas because of this gift as the commercial implies.

The only place I could see wearing these jammies would be a padded cell,
or that prison in Arizona were all of the underwear is dyed pink.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Santa won't pull thru on this wish for Isabelle.

I am also very thankful she doesn't know how to order things online...yet.

I do really appreciate the thought though.

She really wanted to get me something special that I would love.

Happy 5th Birthday Isabelle!!!

I have had a hard time with this birthday. 

 I am finding myself unable to accept that my "baby" is

turning into a full fledged kid.

She is starting to have hopes and dreams all her own. 

I find that amazing, wonderful, and also very scary! 

Since her birthday was on Sunday we had a

low key birthday this year.

It turned out GREAT!

She said "This had been the best birthday ever!!!"

She has been waiting all year for the
primary kids to sing "Happy Birthday" to her.
 She was beside herself with happiness today at church.

Of course it wouldn't be a birthday without presents.

It was also a great way to warm up her
unwrapping skills for Christmas.

Rapunzel doll from Grandma & Grandpa! 

She is in heaven!

Fairy wings and a tutu from Uncle Nathaniel, Aunt Jenny

Natalie, Lily & Wesley! 

Let the make believe begin!!!

This book looks so cute! 

Good choice Khun Aupa & Jee Hoon!

Smelling it didn't help her guess what was inside.

If she needed help, Liam was only a heartbeat away.

We watched "Despicable Me" before bed. 
We were all laughing histerically.

Sometimes we were laughing at the movie, but most of the time we

were laughing at Isabelle laughing at the movie.  She was in stitches!

This one was more for me than her...she is constantly

asking to use my digital camera!

I am a little scared about all of the horrible pictures

that are going to be taken of me in the

following weeks and months!

I think we might be getting some good

laughs in the next few weeks.

She helped me make and decorate the cake.

It tasted much, much, much yummier than it looks!

Her birthday wish???

"That everyone in the world would help each other."

Proud mommy moment.

When I tucked her into bed she got a little serious and said,

"Mom, I have never been 5 before, how do I do it?"

I only had one answer to give her,

"One day at a time, and the best you can.

I love you!"