Merry Christmas Everybody!

I know my blogging skills have gone down the tubes lately...but I thought I would post some fun pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas! We had a wonderful time together and my hope is that your Christmas was great too! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! We went to my sister's (Kelly)house and we had some yummy chili and some fun times! Our good friends, Kim and Jason, came over with their two kids too! We had so much fun watching our kids get so excited!

Oh yes, and Dae-Sung rocks the pumpkin carving every year! One year he made an ELMO and this year he did Transformers! Caleb was so excited!

scary spiders!

Every year, I usually have so many things that I want to do with my kids during the holidays...well, this year, seeing that I am a working mom now (I say that lightly since it is only part-time), I realized yesterday that my time was dwindling! Yesterday, I finally put the Halloween decorations out...I made it by 5 days! Now, I have to say, I am a "cute" Halloween person, not the scary kind...I have some issues with truly gruesome stuff...so I pick carefully. I also decided to make these quick little spiders with my kids...they are more like blobs than spiders! But, they are tasty and cute! I think my kids enjoyed them too!

Ashton's 8th birthday party

My nephew turned 8 last weekend, which is crazy to me because he was the first born of all the grand children....so to be 8, just means that time has flown by! Rachel had a nice party for him at my parent's house and we had fun. The best part was the hula-hooping! My parents got a wii fit...for those of you that have a wii, this is a BLAST! The hula-hooping is hilarious to watch and do (sorry mom and Rachel to post the pics) but it is great fun...and it makes your abs sore! :) That is a bonus! Well, the kids had to get in on the hula-hooping as well...so there are the pics. Abby skipped her nap and ended up crawling up in papa's lap and sleeping there...I don't think he minded a bit!

Happy 8th birthday Ashton!

First trip to the zoo....

since April anyway! We don't go to the zoo here in the summer...talk about being miserable! But, it has finally dropped below 100 degrees (although, by not a lot)...so we headed to the zoo with Grandma and Aunt Kelly and Parker. It was our last day of Fall Break today...and I have been promising the kids that we would go to the zoo this week, and today was the only chance to go. We walked around for a couple of hours and then the heat got to be too much, and it was lunchtime and naptime, so we left to come home. This time, my battery was charged...so I got some good pics!

Dae-Sung's parents have come and gone...

Well, it has been since Caleb's 100 day celebration since BOTH of DS's parents have come to town. Miracles do happen, as they came this past week. We fully enjoyed eating his mom's food (Korean food of course) and having extra hands around to play with the kids. The kids took to them right away, even though it has been so long since they have seen each of them (8 months for his mom, and 1.5 years for his dad). I do hope they will start coming more often...the kids LOVED having them here, as did we.
Below are some pictures during their time here...if it hadn't been for the battery situation, I would have had more!

The butterflies!

We had this great idea of taking DS's parents and the kids to go see the Monarch butterflies at the Botanical Gardens. Last time we went, there were butterflies everywhere! The whole way there, my mind floated to the awesome pics I was going to be able to take. Now, we all know that I am no professional...nor do I claim to be. But, the last time we went, butterflies were literally landing on my kids...and I couldn't wait to capture that moment again. We walked into the butterfly pavillion, and I take 1, 2, 3 pictures...and then someone shook the tree and up flew 30...maybe 40 or 50 butterflies. I grab my camera...but something is not working. I start to panic as I realize that I missed the "moment" of all the butterflies right above me. Then, it dawns on me...I look at the battery, and it is gone. I have no battery left. :( This is one of the first times I have had my new camera in such an awesome picturesque (is that a word?) place. The kids loved it...and DS's parents loved it too...so it was worth it. Maybe I will make it back before the exibit is gone to take more pics...better pics!

I am so behind on all this blogging...we just ended our first nine weeks at school, so I have been super busy with report cards and parent/teacher conferences. Whew...that is over now though, and I have one week off! YEAH! The in-laws are coming, so I am sure I will have lots of pics to post after this week. :) So, come back and take a look!

These are from almost a month ago, from my dear friend, Nicole's, son's birthday party...
(did that make sense at all?)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day. We had fun eating and playing this weekend. Of course, for us, Labor Day does not mean the end of summer, but it does mean we only have a month or two left of 100 degree weather...then comes the nice 70 and 80 degree winters. That makes it all worth it! :)

It was so nice to have a day to play as a family...I was bummed when I had to come home and grade papers for a couple of hours, but hey, it was all worth it! :)

My parent's dog, Izzy




Caleb jumped (below) and landed right on the mat (above)...it was hilarious



Abby loves to swim with her own noodle "all by me" says Abby.



My nephew, Parker


Caleb and Ashton doing what they do best...playing the Wii



Abby and Caleb goofing around at home before we went to grandma's house...gotta love their giggles!