Did I mention...

... that we're expecting baby Kolbe #3? Well, we are! Yay! He, yes HE, is due in March. His first name is Nathaniel and we don't have a middle name, yet. We tried to pick a first name fairly quickly because we wanted to be able to tell the kids the name when we told them about the baby. Elisha doesn't give a hoot about the baby, yet. Max is excited, and asks questions, but, thankfully, not nearly as many as I had anticipated. We had held off telling the kids (Max) because she LOVES to ask questions, and the same questions, over and over and over and over and over again. Until Mommy wants to scream. Or just start giving ridiculous answers. Or both. But, we have been pleasantly surprised thus far-she has asked some questions, but it hasn't been the steady stream that we expected. (Thank you, Lord!!!!!)

We are hoping and planning on birthing at the Mediflower Women's Clinic (can't remember the exact name) in Seoul, with a doctor who is very pro-VBAC and natural birthing. Two friends of ours from school here have given birth there this year, and another friend is working as a doula, and helps there a lot. So we're super excited about the clinic, the doctor, the doula, and the birth.

Almost didn't check...

... my blog, because I couldn't remember posting in October, and figured it would be too depressing to see how lazy... um busy... I've been. That, and, pretty much everybody who reads the blog is also on FB, so they're up to date on the happenings around.

Of course, not everyone who is on both here AND FB actually CHECKS Facebook (ahem, I believe you know who you are), and thus rely on phone calls and video chats to keep up to date. Video chats that usually get cut short due to children getting into things and/or fighting. And my laptop battery is shot, so if the computer comes unplugged it shuts right off. No grace period. Just BAM. Off. What that means mainly for me is that I can't schlep my computer around the house while chasing children AND attempting to video chat. And we haven't replaced the battery because, to me, it really IS just a first-world problem. It's not a necessity, it's a want, and even then it's not at the top of the "wants" list. (Although that does make me wonder what's at the top of my "wants" list. Hmmm.)

So, anyway, I DID post in October. Once. AND in September. Once. Ha.

I'll be back in a bit with more. =)

Birthday Kalbi! Part 2

A few weeks ago Ryan wrote a good post on going out to eat kalbi with friends. And promised pictures. So, here they are!!

Everyone sits on mats on the floor, and you cook your own food.

They bring you the raw, marinated meat, along with a plate of lettuce, garlic, peppers, and some carrot sticks. Then they come around and light the burner in the table and put a grate on it.

See the scissors and tongs? For the cooking and cutting of meat. And a little button to push up there for more of whatever you need.

You get a variety of side dishes, which are unlimited. (Which is good for us as they have this yummy pancake type thing that the kids love. One waitress finally figured out to just keep bringing piles of it for us.)

Jason's disembodied hand cooking the meat.

On the left, onions in something... yummy, anyway. We put those on the meat when we eat it. And rice, which you have to order separately. Go figure.

Clockwise from top: cold seaweedish soup, pickled jellyfish tenticles, hot egg stuff, and stinky dog soup- containing tofu, and some vegetables.

Eating some kalbi- I can't tell what all Ryan put on there, but it's usually a piece of lettuc, some onions, and sauce. In that white bowl with that that round flan looking thing- that's not flan. It's tofu.

This particular kalbi place has a nice play area, which is why it is our overall favorite place. It has stuff to climb on, play on, etc.

The sad thing that this place keeps raising it's prices. =( And now I'm hungry.

Birthday Kalbi!

We are at home waiting to go to Laurie Zanger's 2nd 29th birthday party. Since there was not much better to do, Corrie told me to write a blog post. I am complying because I am an awesome husband. Laurie's party is a multi-stage affair that is starting at our local Kalbi restaurant, then going bowling, and finally ending on Zanger's roof for dessert. Since I have no experience bowling in Korea and dessert will be pretty much you would expect, I am going to tell you about Kalbi.

Kalbi is a traditional Korean meat dish. It is usually done with pork because that is the cheapest/easiest meat in Korea, but it can also be done with beef. Long, wide strips of meat are marinated for a long time and then given to diners raw for them to cook and serve. I am very thankful that Corrie has turned out to be a great Kalbi-cooker...and a good-looking one too. While the meat is cooking, the table is set with various side dishes as well as a platter of various leafy greens, raw garlic, peppers, and carrots. The leaves are for making little wraps for the meat once it is cooked. The side dishes are quite diverse, from green salads with a bit of dressing to pickled jellyfish. I usually eat a bit of the jelly fish, pretty much to say I have and then I stick to the more familiar stuff. Tofu is also popular, but a bite or two is enough for me. Max and Elisha enjoy the "chun" which is like a dense pancake that has bits of carrot and, I think, green onion baked into it. Anyway, the star of the show is the pork. Once the meat has cooked a bit, kitchen shears are used to cut the strips into bite-sized chunks which are grabbed with chopsticks and put on the leafy greens with garnishes to be eaten. Kalbi is a good meal that is meant to be shared with friends and family. Our local place wont even let you order for one.

I will get some picture up from our dinner tonight. I hope you enjoyed me talking about food.

Later!

Readers are Leaders

Our kids like to read. They like to read to themselves and they like to be read to. Victoria and Elisha see Ryan and I reading all the time, as well, and like to imitate us. It's really great how they rarely need encouragement to read a book, either by themselves or with us. In fact, Victoria even asks Elisha if he wants to read a book with her and they'll sit and "read" together. Cuteness overload.

More Sunday afternoon fun

Our Sunday afternoon naps started and ended earlier than usual yesterday, so we took to the outdoors to enjoy unseasonably pleasant weather. (August in Korea is usually a nightmare, but not the last couple of days!!)

First we went to a public park that has an in-ground fountain that shoots water up really, really high for the kids to play in:




Then, when that ended (it only runs for an hour), we hit another public park, this time for the swings and slides. Although lately the swings have been the items of choice.


You'd think with over 2 hours of outdoor time, the kids would have gone to bed right away at bed time. But, you'd be wrong. =)

The end of an era...

...the era of Summer Vacation 2011. Sadness all around the Kolbe household. Corrie doesn't get to sleep in anymore. Ryan's at work all day. The kids miss their daddy something fierce.

But, with the start of school come paychecks and the promise of cooler weather. The last part was more of a "normally" thing, because this August has been nothing like last August. Crazy nice weather this year. No complaints.

Ryan had a great half-week start to school. He even has extra planning time during the day due to the absence of a 10th grade this year. (There is one 10th grader at the school, so it made more sense to combine with another grade.)

Please pray:
- that Ryan would continue on as he has started.
- for more students for the school.
- for extra wisdom and patience for me as I care for the kids by myself all day.