Christmas In July

The kids had Christmas early this year!

Actually our friend Doo Il ordered a Cadillac 

Power Wheels for the kids (Thank you, thank you).

It finally arrived last night.

We had to let the battery charge all night. 

It also needed to be assembled.

 

The kids were a big help with that!

After the assembly was complete and after Isabelle had asked us 

4,000 times if the battery was charged, it was ready to roll.

Soungsik gave a brief tutorial to the excited driver. 

Possibly too brief, because she ran into our neighbors shrub twice.

And she may or may not have run into Grandma's flower bed and the neighbors flower bed, 

and she may or may not have broken 2 sprinklers!

 

Have no fear, after those minor mishaps she got the hang of it!

Of course toys are funner when you share with friends.

 

Many of our little neighbors came to drive too.

I quickly decided that no matter how much I love my neighbors,

it would probably be best if we didn't all live by each other when 

our kids turn 16 at the same time!

 

What little yuppies with their puppy!

The kids had a blast with this today and I am sure they will for many years to come.

I do have to admit that I have a small amount of 

black Cadillac SUV envy because of my children!

Some kids get all the fun!

BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST BATTLE

Title: The Last Battle

Book 7 in the Narnia Series

Author: C.S. Lewis

Number of Pages: 211

Number of Stars I'm Giving: 5

I really loved this book! I think this may even be my favorite book of the series.

I was beginning to lose hope after "Prince Caspian" & "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  This book brought me back to being a Narnia fan.  The story in this book moved fast and was interesting from the first few pages.  The ending is not at all what you would expect, and also unlike all of the other books.  This book really makes you think about life, God, and the afterlife.  I think people that don't believe in God would hate this book.  It takes on the unpopular topic of there only being 1 true God.  

This book brought together the lives of all of the previous heroes and heroins.

The ending should have been heartbreaking, but it was really happy.

I knew I didn't like Susan during the rest of the series and now I know why!

Jill and Eustace had matured and this was the 1st book where the little

Earthlings didn't bother me to a certain extent.

I think this was a book written well ahead of its time.

If you are reading this series and get stuck in the middle on some of the more boring books, don't give up.

Or, at the very least, just skip to the last one.  It's entirely worth your time.

 

FYI: This book was awarded the Carnegie Medal.

Extra FYI: C.S. Lewis was friends with J.R. Tolken.

They were even in a writer's club together - who knew?

I'm sure a lot of people knew that, but I didn't.

Learn something new every day!

Cell Phone Envy

We received a package from Doo Il today.

Among other things it had a memory card 

with pictures from his cell phone.

I have cell phone envy.

His phone takes better pictures and videos than my camera :(.

Thankfully he was kind enough to share what he got with us.

It was a nice surprise and a great way to remember the fun we had over the last couple of months.

 

Doo Il is the new president of Isabelle's fan club, I think!

They miss each other like crazy.

The Korean picnic.

A pair of hooligans.

TKD stuff.

Soungsik loved taking his friend to work with him.

This is one tough cookie.

A cookie with NO FEAR!

My hard working, good looking hubby.

Doo Il enjoys a good prank.

 

William and I enjoying the great outdoors.

I am a bit of a tough cookie too.

Out to lunch.  

I can't get over what cute kids these are.

And they are great friends to boot!

Taking in the views in Vegas.

The Grand Canyon.

Zions.

 Even though his camera is better,

it still doesn't make you look tanner or skinnier.

For shame.

 

Out by the buffaloes.

 

Thank you Doo Il.

Not many people are as cool and thoughtful as he is.

Days of '47 Float Preview

This morning we went to the Days of '47 Float Preview.  

It was so fun!  This was definitely the way to see the parade.

We were in an air conditioned building and we didn't have to wait for hours for the parade to start!

There were so many cool floats, 

so I couldn't get pictures of them all.

A BYU float, the donkeys looked almost real.

 This one was made by a Methodist church.

It had little houses all of the way around,

too cute!

This float was especially cool from the front, 

but my picture keeps loading sideways.

What is a technologically challenged girl to do?

I like big boots and I can not lie,

you other brothers can't deny...

Ducks and swings...

I don't know what it means, but I still like it! 

I thought this one was cool.

They had missionary penguins! 

 This one ended up being Soungsiks favorite, for obvious reasons!

Wilford Woodruff fly fishing.

This float was made by a youth group, not bad!

This one ended up being Isabelle's favorite - for obvious reasons!

 Kung Fu Panda baby!

Balloons puppies and swords - oh my!

 I can't believe how still the kids were when she did this!

A beautiful butterfly for her.

A slippery slimy snake for him.

William's favorite part were the marching bands. 

He was mesmerized by the drums.

Soungsik doesn't understand why I don't want to buy him a set,

seriously he doesn't know why?!?

We may have to make this an annual tradition!

A Moment in Time

Here's what we are all up to at this moment in time...

William:  I personally have never met a more independent and stubborn child.  I am sure that some other mothers would argue this with me, but I am just calling it as I see it on a day to day basis.  I have decided that he will use his super power strength and determination to become an amazingly great person or he will become an evil dictator - only time will tell!  He has to do everything himself.  Peeling bananas, opening doors, changing diapers, getting on counter tops or other furniture, combing his "hair" and brushing his teeth. He is a boy that does not need or want my help.  I am taking the not being needed a little badly.  Fortunately he still messes up a lot of the things he attempts to do and after a short time he comes crying for mommy.  I suppose there is validation in that.  Aside from trying to conquer the world he spends the rest of his time teasing his sister, or anyone else he comes in contact with and helping me out around the house.  He loves to make sure the dishes in the dishwasher get washed at least 2 or 3 times before I can put them away. He is a great help at putting the knives away too!  He also makes sure the washer and dryer are both turned on at all times.  Don't get me wrong, although we have plenty of power struggles and near death experiences every day, we have plenty more laughs, hugs and love.  If he is going to become an evil dictator, I want to make sure I am on his good side!

Isabelle: Oh she is the talkative apple of my eye.  She is full of questions, and sadly I am mostly devoid of answers.  Thank heavens for the internet and Grandpa!  Right now she is just enjoying being a kid.  And isn't being a kid the best in the summer?  She has been going to sleep with the sun every night at around 10:00 which means she's been sleeping in every morning too.  At night I think this is a bad thing, but in the mornings I think it's awesome.  Is the glass half full or half empty?  It all depends on the time of day you look at it I guess!  Today I taught her the all important life lesson of how to lay on the sidewalk to dry off quickly when you are freezing in the kiddie pool.

Here she was laughing because Yepi wanted to lick her toes.  William didn't really grasp that you have to hold still for the process to work.  Maybe by next year he will figure it out.  Isabelle is really turning into a kid, and  a good one at that.  She loves to help me around the house and with William, and unlike William she is actually becoming helpful.  At this very moment in time my children are sleeping in drawers.

 

Why?

Why not!

Actually they are playing in the drawers while they are supposed to be sleeping.

When I finish typing I will make the trek upstairs one more time to threaten 

something horrible if they don't go to sleep this very instant.

Soungsik:  He is usually focusing on work  Things are not working out quite the way we had planned with our partner so in the next couple of weeks we won't have a partner anymore.  In the long run this should be much better for us.  In the meantime it is leaving us without a much needed instructor.  Soungsik is focusing most of his energy on finding a good employee. The rest of his spare time he spends focusing on his new boat.

 

Which has become a very expensive kiddie pool.  

I wonder if Soungsik is aware that we have a kiddie pool in our garage?  

Me:  I always hate typing about what I am doing because it's usually pretty mundane.

I am enjoying the summer and consequently enjoying  the break from routine that it brings.  I haven't been reading as much as I should, but I have been cleaning and learning to cook more.  Soungsik is thrilled about that.  As always I wish I could stop my children from growing. In truth I could let William keep going until 2 and a half, but that's it!  I caught the furniture re-arranging bug, and a couple rooms in our house got attacked. I have also been spending time watching Korean dramas, my one guilty pleasure.  Well that and chocolate - but that's it I swear!  My days are filled with happiness, blessings, and mostly peace, so I can't complain about that, now can I?