We came, we saw, we petted...

 Is petted a word? It just doesn't sound right. Anyways, the boys and I went to the Anseong Farmland (aka the petting zoo) today with some friends of ours. We had a great time, in spite of a hiccup or two.

Wide open spaces, the wind in our hair, dirt, rocks, things to climb on... not to mention the cows, horses, ostriches, goats, sheep, dogs, ponies, chickens, ducks, geese, and some other small critters I didn't get to see because NATHANIEL GOT BIT BY A DAGGONE DONKEY.

Oh, but he loved those sheep, though!!! Could not stop petting them and talking to them.

 

I have no pictures post-donkey bite. Gee, wonder why. But we did get to go on a great tractor ride, in the wind... But hey, the kids had fun, so who cares, right?

A love/hate relationship

Yes, I talked about Facebook in an earlier post. And I'm about to do it again. There really is a love/hate relationship going on here. I love being up-to-date on my friends who are living all over the world. But my skin isn't as thick as I would like it to be, so I get my dumb feelings hurt too easily, or I get upset about something too easily. After a day of checking FB on and off, I'm definitely grumpier then when I started.

A few months ago, I began a self-imposed complete computer fast on Sundays. That was actually reeeeeally nice. However, I actually need my computer, with its Skype and, yes, Facebook, to communicate with family and friends. So I can't just leave my computer off all the time. So the last couple of days I've been on the interwebs, but don't scroll through my facebook feed, and even just that has been helping! Less grumpiness, more happiness. A good thing.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to school they go!

Max started Kindergarten on August 14th, and I think it's safe to say that we were all quite excited. She loves it, as we knew she would- she's so dang social, and has a LOT to say. We love her teacher, which we knew we would, LOL; this is her second year here in Korea, so we've had a chance to scope her out get to know her.

She gets to ride to and from school in the teacher van with Ryan, yay! And it's good, too, since we don't have a car anymore, and trying to load up three kids at the buttcrack of dawn super early, into either a car OR public transportation OR getting her to the bus stop for school, would all just be insane. 

She loves having more one-on-one time with Daddy, both before and after school; but doesn't get to see him much during the actual school day.

We're on Ryan's 4th year of teaching here in Korea, and his 8th year of teaching overall. Pretty crazy!

Then I sat and thought about what year I would be on if I was still teaching, and this would have been my 10th year! Now I just feel old. Or at least not as young as I once was.

Almost two years...whoops

Yeah, it's been almost two years since I posted something on here. Oops. But it just seemed like I was posting everything twice- once on Facebook and then again on here. Which seemed like not the wisest use of my time and energy. However, I am becoming increasingly disillusioned with Facebook. (And it seems like I'm not the only one who leaves FB at the end of the day feeling less happy and connected then when I began- read me.)  So it's back to the blog for me.

I'll be back after lunch time with a decent post. And who knows, maybe even some pictures!

It's Happy Market Day!!!

I may or may not have written about market day here in Korea, I don't remember. But I have a few vegan pictures to share. (Meaning I didn't whip the camera out for all the fish, sea creatures, and various and sundry land creatures.)

It's kimchi making season here, so you see piles of asian cabbage like this everywhere (including your own front and back yard):

And let's not forget the green onions!

Persimmons, which I have yet to taste. Ryan says they're not too bad.

Garlic!!! Usually I can find taller stacks- as in taller than a small person- but this was it for today:

Free Advice Tuesday

I think it's Tuesday, anyway... I'm not real sure...

Anyway, so here is some advice for you, from me, free of charge. Consider it an early Christmas present. Or my attempt to help keep fellow parents from the bag of chocolate sitting in the freezer. Or the looney bin.

If, say, your children have some pots in their room that they've been playing with for a day or two, and they disappear into said room and close the door- don't forget that one or both of them was carrying an almost empty jug of dish soap.

Last I saw of them E was waving them both in the air, not sharing with his sister, so I thought nothing of it. Then, I heard their bedroom door close, and all was silent. Still didn't think about it because I'd already forgotten about the soap.

Went to check on them a bit later..... and I'll let you use your imagination.

Happy Birthday to Elisha

Elisha celebrated his 2nd birthday on October 23rd. And even I don't think he quite understood what was going on, he was perfectly happy to get new toys, fishies, and lots of attention. As well as lots of his favorite foods, LOL!

We didn't have a party, as I wasn't up for it, but we still managed to celebrate all weekend long. We started by enjoying dinner out and then a trip to the theater... dinner provided in the church basement and then several short skits put on by the drama group of teens from church. (The total time for the skits was half an hour- the kids not only lasted through it but enjoyed it as well.)

Saturday Ryan took Max to Home Plus to look for some "Cars" toys, but ended up with some fun little trains. I took Elisha to E-Mart where we picked up an inexpensive fish tank with a filter and some fish. After naptime we went to park to play and ended up going to an inexpensive restaurant with friends for dinner.

Sunday was E's actual birthday, so he opened some presents throughout the day, had a good time at church, and ate some of his favorite foods for lunch. (Hot dogs, cheddar cheese, and apples.) After naptime we hit another park, taking along some new toys to play with, then had dinner at McDonalds (he couldn't have been happier.)

Even though we did a lot, it was all low-key. I didn't even make a cake, because he doesn't like cake!