Less than 48 hours...

I think it's around 39...my math isn't great! Especially with 2 kids running amok and 5 suitcases. Yes I said 5. I have managed to not use up all 6. Now we do have 3 carry ons between the 4 of us. Wow, that's a lot of numbers in the first 5 sentences! This post will make my parents happy. I ALWAYS wait until the last minute to pack. Like hours before we leave for the airport last minute. I know, for someone who is very Type A, this is ODD. Anyway, I am almost totally packed and we aren't leaving for Seoul until tomorrow! I have no laundry left, the kids clothes are laid out and our clothes for Tuesday are in a separate bag. Go me! Why this new behavior might one ask? Well, Dave and I are taking different paths to get to the airport tomorrow. LOL, this should be one fun trip! We are each taking a kid as well, so everything has to be ready to go because it just can't be done when there are only one set of eyes and a million bags to load up! Emma and I will be going to Yongsan with BFFs Sarah and Eve. I have to pick the kids shot records up and some last minute street vendor shopping, don't laugh. It is the one thing I will miss most about shopping in Seoul...the accessories on the street! Dave has to run by our mail room on post and do something to the car so they are coming later. Emma and I will catch the airport bus from Seoul and meet the men at our hotel. What hotel? Why, the Best Western Incheon Airport! Who knew they had Best Westerns over here?? I still have no pictures to put up but I promise to overload your server when we get back to the states, and I have recovered from jet lag and a 12 hour flight with my family. LOL! So, my next post will probably be from TEXAS. See you guys soon!!! And to my BFFs, thanks for everything, I will miss you guys SO SO SO much and will think of you while strolling through Target. Love you guys! Thanks for making Korea so much greater than it already was!

Sorry to inform you...

that I probably won't be blogging(with pics at least) until we are back in the states. Dave took down our desktop for the packers and that is what I have all my pics saved on. So I have to blog about my girl's weekend and Christmas when I get home...plus the plane ride!!! We will be landing on the 30th at DFW!!! We are excited and sad. So much left to do here in Korea with less than a week to go!!

I'll let the Pics tell you...

...that Mason has learned to stand up...scare a mom to death why don't ya?! I went in to get him up from his nap, noticed he was in a super happy mood and decided to snap some pics...looked away for a minute and came back to him standing and laughing. Guess it's time to lower the crib huh?

Santa!!!!! I know him!

Anyone who knows Emma will know what movie that is from. It is her favorite Christmas movie, in fact I had to take it away last SUMMER, because we were still watching it! So, Emma LOVES anything Santa. Last year Honey took her to see the famous Northpark Santa in Dallas. Santa loved her SO much, he personally asked to use Emma's picture in their advertising! Who would have guessed she would be so sweet and nice to Santa?! Well this year in Korea, we can't go to the local mall to have their pics made so we have to settle for a soldier dressing up as Santa. Emma didn't care, she clung to him like glue! She got to see him 2 nights last week. On Thursday Camp Eagle had their tree lighting and gifts for the orphanage. We also decorated cookies that night in the Camp Eagle DFAC. Friday was our Battalion Christmas Party which was very nice. They had a Christmas dinner made and even gave out some raffle prizes. On a side note, Mason wants nothing to do with Santa this year. Dave thinks its the hat. Mason cried one time when Dave was wearing a hat(I don't think he could see his face) so Dave is convinced this is why Mason cried at Santa. Emma still doesn't understand that Santa "brings" her gifts, but maybe next year! As of right now, I think she is just fascinated by him!

Christmas Cards

Ok, first...Christmas Cards are going to be late this year. I think they were late last year too, oh well! Better late than never right? My mom would say, no...they need to be on time. I really tried mom, ok no I didn't, I just got behind. Second, we need addresses. Obviously family we already have, but if you are reading the blog and have become addicted and would like for our family to plaster your refrigerator, then send me your address! I think that was the world's longest run on sentence. That's why I am not a teacher. lol! Oh, and these are Korean Christmasy Cards, so if that makes you interested, not our bright shiny faces, then that is fine too. Just send me addresses ASAP! My BFF Courtney and I have found a little store that sells the BEST Korean Christmas cards, not too pricey either...some even play Christmas music in Hangul!! I wonder who will be lucky enough to get that card! The picture included is one of the "simple" Korean cards. I found these before I became addicted and started buying the "more festive" ones. Enjoy, and addresses NOW!

Ok, never mind about the pic...I will upload it later...I thought it was on this computer! Oops!

Oh no...

It's an obsession...lol!

New Hobby

So pretty much anyone who knows my mom, knows that she is crazy into scrapbooking. Crazy like going to cropathons or whatever they are called. So long, that they serve dinner and snacks! She has tried multiple times to get me interested and I have tried. There is something about the page not looking perfect right away and that it takes forever to decide on layout/pictures/themes/etc. that drives me batty. Maybe it's the anal Type A person that my father made me. Fast forward to today, I was online looking for cheap ways to make a last minute Christmas Card...(no lecture please!!) I stumbled upon digiscrapping. My mom had told me about it before but since it had to do with scrapbooking, I declined. Omg, it's so much better! You are not surrounded by a mess and you can save it and come back later, and better yet...if you don't like it, you can start over! No, this doesn't mean I am going scrap crazy like my mammacita, but I do like this and will probably get more into while Dave is deployed. Here was my very first attempt today, nothing spectacular, just easy and it was fun. There ya go mom!!!

I made it back alive...

from the DMZ! No, I did not bother any soldiers nor was I a problem! I listened to all the briefs and didn't point or make fun at any North Korean soldiers, out of fear for my life. LOL! I recommend this tour to anyone who has a chance to visit Korea. It is a lot of propaganda and he said/she said drama, but it's very eye opening to what is still going on between these two countries. I don't have the time to educate everyone about the JSA/DMZ area, so just google it. So much to learn!!! I did cross into North Korean territory for a few minutes but it was totally allowed! It was in the part of the JSA building where the armistice was signed for the cease fire of the Korean war. There is a wide slab of concrete that serves as the divider for the North and the South at the JSA and I was on both sides at once! LOL! I'm only posting a few pics because this trip was mainly for my Uncle Jody(my Mom's uncle). He served in the Korean war and I promised to take pictures for them, so I want him to be able to see them first. I know you all will understand. It meant a lot today to be able to see this and know he (and SO many others) were apart of it. I almost forgot to add, thank you to my BFFs for watching our kids so Dave and I could go do this before I left! You guys are awesome!!!

Daddy got new Wings!

Quick post as it's already really late here...But, Dave got his Senior Wings today! This means he has been an Aviator for 7 years and flown over 1500 hours! Whoa, go Dave! Our intent was to let Emma pin his wings, but the Battalion Commander held her and Mason instead. No worries, Emma will just pin Daddy's next accomplishment, CW4! Years to go on that one. The pics are blurry, not your fault Sarah! It's the crappy lighting in the gym and delay on my camera. I never get good pics in there. I don't think anyone does. Anyway, you get tell what's going on through the blurriness. We are laughing because the BN CDR told me hit his wings after I pinned him. It's an Army thing. If you remember, this is the same man who made me pull Dave's CW2 rank off with my teeth. Class, I tell ya, these gunpilots. It was fun and creates great memories down the road!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Well, with our move pushed back a little bit(an understatement) I figured I would put our tree up today. Mason was a little frightened of it at first, but warmed up enough to chew on some branches. (It's fake for those concerned about his health.) I took some pictures(ok, a lot) but I can't show all of them for fear of revealing Christmas card photos. My dear BFF Courtney is taking our family picture but I got some great shots of the kids in their matching Christmas Pj's. I will show you one photo and one photo only, but it is guaranteed to make your whole Christmas. Hope you enjoy and we miss you all very much!

What a weekend! LOTS OF PICTURES...

As I told you, we were in Seoul this weekend right after Thanksgiving. We left early on Friday to do a little shopping at Yongsan and to hit up Itaewon. I just had to have some more fake designer scarves and some fake Uggs. Hey you can't beat 20 bucks for a pair of warm boots to just need to throw on! And they weren't even 20 bucks with the exchange rate these dates! Dave hates them, but I don't care! Emma and I will rock our cheap sheepskin boots. After lunch we headed to our hotel. Did I mention we got to stay at Lotte World's hotel?? It was so much nicer than the Ritz! They even brought us a mini full size crib for little man and Emma had her own bed! Anyway, we did some exploring around the Lotte Center. I say center because this place is massive. It has a hotel, ice rink, department store, discount store(Korean walmart), mall, theater, and the amusement park!! We made it down to the ice rink, but no one wanted to brave taking our precious Emma out on the ice with crazy Koreans skating aimlessly into people, kind of like how driving goes around here. We mainly just explored the place, had some snacks and waited for Dave's friend Aaron to come meet us for dinner. We ate at the Sizzler. Yes the same branch that is in the states, but very different. The hostess placed us in the very back or the "family section" where kids were crawling all over the floor, running around, just plain craziness going on in there. It was a fun experience though. We finally made it back to our room and crashed. We got up early(thanks Mason) and headed to Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast and then onto the park. This place was so neat! It was all dressed up for the holidays, just something a little odd...Happy Christmas, no Merry Christmas? We found out it says that because of the way the words are translated from English to Hangul. Either way, it was very Christmasy and made the whole visit that much more special. Emma couldn't ride a lot of things but really enjoyed just looking at stuff and talking to the characters and her Korean paparazzi. Yes, they were out in full force. My poor children are going to wonder why people don't dote on their every need in the states! Oh well. Ok, this is getting way long...and no pics up yet. Short story, it was really cold out today so we mainly stayed on the inside part, yes it has indoor and outdoor. I am going to upload a video of the Christmas parade, forewarn it's almost 10 min long! I had to get it all though because it was CRAZY! If you have any questions about the pics, just comment and I will answer them...there are so many crazy things in the pictures I can only imagine the questions an outsider would ask! Hope you guys enjoy, I know we did! Two crashed out kids to show proof!

P.S. #1 Yes Emma got her bangs chopped off by a Korean hairdresser, it's not what I asked for...I would have remembered saying "Can you please give my beautiful daughter a mullet?"

#2 In the first pic, Mason looks like he is falling out, but I assure you he loves to sleep with his head thrown back like that, ask my BFFs and Dave. I always freak out that his neck is going to break...ok, that's it.