Waiting for the Big Man in Red to Come

We are waiting for Santa to come to our home. We were reluctant to sleep (well at least two of us were and it wasn't me). We are hoping that Santa thinks that we are on his nice list since we haven't been so nice this month.

Well gotta go for now before Mommy and Daddy catch me on the computer!

~Ryan

Pre-Christmas in our Home

We have been preparing here for Christmas to come. The tree is up and decorated by mostly the kids (I'll have to upload photos after Christmas for you to see). I have hung up the special ornaments for the kids. The lotus blossom trinket that I picked up at Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in Seoul when we were there last year, the individual grandson/granddaughter ones that the kids have gotten from their grandparents and more. I have baked brown sugar cookies already (and have already tasted the ones that broke--mmmm good!!!!).

On the menu so far for Christmas is:

pineapple/cream cheese dip with crackers
Christmas ham
peas and pearl onions
corn
scalloped potatoes
homemade bread
various cookies
chocolate cream pie (that is if my dad is good)
Korean pear (got them from the Korean food market and boy are they good!!!!)
Korean rice cookies for Bella in particular but also for Ryan and Katie if they would like it

The kids are awaiting Santa's presence however the kids in this household haven't been on Santa's nice list this month (uh oh!!!!!). We hope that changes very soon as Christmas is just days away.

~Jen

The Monster...

Ryan now calls my van the most affectionate term possible from a boy...it's "The Monster".

Ryan: Mommy, we are bigger than that blue van next to us
Me: Yes sweetie we do
Jeff: So we are comparing now are we?
Ryan: We are taller than that car too!!
Me: (to Jeff) does that answer your question??
Jeff: (to Ryan) so is it a monster then?
Ryan: yes since we are bigger than the other blue cars on the highway...we're riding in The Monster

So Mommy doesn't drive a mini van anymore...it's "The Monster".

YIKES!!!!

Mini Van Momma

Never in a million years would I consider myself a mini-van person. They drive like school buses (or at least the one that I have tried years ago did).

Jeff and I have been going back and forth since February that we needed one...we needed space in the vehicle especially during the winter months with the kids and their coats. So we researched and looked but never really found anything we liked. If we spent the money on one, we want the vehicle to last for awhile.

So this Momma to three beautiful kids got herself an early Christmas present this year...a beautiful blue Toyota Sienna LE mini-van with some options on it. We picked it up the evening of November 25th from the same dealership that we bought our two Toyota Corollas from. Except this has more doo-dads and whiz-bangs than my 94 Corolla.

I'm officially a mini-van Momma.

Off to learn how to drive my mini-van (just wishing that we didn't find this right as the holiday shopping season was starting)...

What's for Dinner Mommy??

The inevitable question comes from the two oldest kids each late afternoon...what are we having for dinner, Mommy??? And today was no exception.

Ryan: Mmm something smells good...is it Shepherd's Pie, Mommy?
Me: No it's not Shepherd's Pie sweetie
Ryan: I can smell it all the way upstairs...it's NOT Shepherd's Pie???
Me: No it's a Korean dish that Mommy decided to try
Ryan: (screams of delight for almost a minute)
Me: Are you excited?
Ryan: (jumping up and down) Yeah Yeah Yeah!!!!!!!!

What I made is Taktoritang and some rice. I didn't do the spiciness level that they wanted but used 1 tablespoon. All three kids LOVED it immensely...

And quite frankly so did I...

~Jen

Giving of Ourselves to Others in Need

We donated food yesterday morning through the Boy Scouts to the local food pantries. The kids had picked out the food themselves to donate. The Boy Scouts came by our home to pick up the bag full of food. After that we went to the local mall on a playdate since they have a play area. We stayed there for an hour with the kids playing on one thing then rushing to play on another.

After the playdate, we were heading to the food court for lunch however on the way there and in the main part of the mall, we heard bell ringers and a brass band playing Christmas Carols. I immediately asked Jeff for three $1 bills...I knew the bell ringers' bell sound. I knew why they were there. I handed the money out to the kids.

Once we went around the Santa's Workshop building the mall employees were putting up we saw the Salvation Army band playing and saw two women bell ringers and the familiar red kettle. I read earlier this past week that the local Salvation Army needed bell ringers. They are desperate for them.

We walked up to where the band, bell ringers and kettle was and Ryan was the first one up to the kettle however he covered his ears because he didn't like the loud noise of the bells. The ringers noticed this and stopped their bellringing. Ryan placed his dollar into the kettle.

Bella was next and I picked her up to place her dollar bill into the kettle. Katie had helped her push the dollar into the kettle. Katie was next and she placed her dollar bill into the kettle. I stood behind the kids while they were doing this.

I noticed that a professional photographer was taking pictures of us...the kids putting the money into the kettle with me standing behind them. Afterwards, he introduced himself and took our names for one of the local papers (one of course we don't get). He said that he thinks that he thinks the "pictures will appear in tomorrow's (Sunday's) paper". He says that he hopes that Salvation Army will meet their goal of bellringers and of donations this holiday season. And so do we.

After the kids donating the money and our discussion with the photographer, I explained to the kids why we donated the money and put it into the kettle. In the food court, Ryan seem to catch on to everything that we did today...donating food this morning to people who don't have enough and donating money to people who don't have enough food, clothing or a place to sleep.

While waiting for Daddy to come back to the table with our food, he starts shouting out... "free food...free food". I had to explain to him that (1) he had to have food to give food away and (2) yelling free food in a food court wasn't a good thing to do.

While we are eating, we see the brass band walk past us. We caught them at exactly the right moment in time. They are done playing the Christmas carols for the day. They are done collecting money for now at this particular location but they will be back and if we hear the familiar sound of the bell ringing and see the familiar red kettle again, we will be donating money to them again. It's just something that I do each year that I see the red kettle and hear the bell ringers.

Today's newspaper has the article in it on page 3. We went out today to pick up copies of the paper for us. While we are out we are at the same mall again to buy winter boots for Jeff...okay not very interesting. However we were asked if we wanted to donate $2 to March of Dimes while we were checking out the boots. I look at my three kids and respond "yes".

We had a happy weekend this weekend helping others in need. And I'm glad to have helped my children to understand what it means to help another person. I just hope that they grow up helping others on a regular basis.

~Jen

Pumpkin Picking and Halloween Parade

Here's a few pictures from pumpkin picking and our Neighborhood parade!!




Pondering on how you decide on the perfect pumpkin.





"I found a pumpkin, Mommy!!!" Of course she found a better one after this.



Taking it easy while we're trying to pick out our 3 pumpkins!!!


Here's a few pictures from Halloween and our Neighborhood parade!!







Yes sir!! We're behaving for the state police officer.





Helping my Little Sister out with her candy!!



Checking on the candy in the bucket!! Yup it's still there!!!




Me having fun on the parade route still shaking the noisemaker that we got on the beginning.




Look who we found on the parade route!!! Now where is that R2D2 unit????



We dressed up to answer the door for the trick or treaters on Halloween night. Mommy dresses up every year to answer the door for the trick or treaters.