Addysen update

This sweet little girl is no longer my baby! (Of course she always will be, but she doesn't think so.) Addysen has grown up so much the past couple months. I really am just shocked at all she has done. Here is a list of just a couple of major changes...
-Giving up the binki and that was AWESOME and pretty painless!
-Then sleeping in a big girl bed super easy. She still hasn't ever gotten out of her bed without permission. I don't know why, and how I got so blessed!
-The next major achievement at our house started the first Monday in January. She woke up and told me she wanted to wear panties. For the past year she has been going off and on in the toilet. At least for the past 6 months always going #2 on the potty. But I couldn't get her to tell me all the time or she couldn't hold it long enough so we would barley miss making it. Or she would be playing and not want to stop etc. She knew exactly what happens on the potty but this one is a bit stubborn. She likes everything to be on her own timetable. So when she told me about wanting to wear panties I was excited but didn't get my hopes up to high. This time she was serious. I can't tell you how great and easy this was. She just did it! I was still nervous for a couple weeks when we went out, nap, and bedtime she would wear a pull up. Finally after never having any accidents outside the home I had to be BRAVE. Not her it was me. I packed a sack full of extra clothes and we wore panties all the time out and about. Then after a week of no accidents at night I stopped the diaper then too. We are diaper free! About a month later at the store we passed the diapers and she said "Addy no need diapers only for babies". So we bought baby Sadie some diapers instead of her! SUCH a BIG GIRL!!
Some of the fun things we get to do together is paint our fingernails and toenails. It has been such a great bonding time for us. It happens at least once a week if not twice.

I know she is naked and I probably shouldn't put this on but I love it! She is so proud of herself and you might just get your own little show if you were around. For a while she kept pulling down her pants showing people her pretty panties. Her favorites--Dora, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Any princess etc.
Addy has always loved books and babies. So when our sweet friend Zara comes to visit Addy loves to read to her. She also will sing her songs it is so cute.
Having fun feeding her babies. She is going to be my big helper I'm sure. :-)

Another favorite activity is painting. She really enjoys doing it everyday.

We played Yahtzee the other night for FHE and of course had to take a picture of Addy's first YAHTZEE! I still remember when Logan got his and the excitement we all had. We sure like spending our family time playing games together.

Addysen is so great! We sure enjoy her sweet personality. She is also talking up a storm. I can't think of a thing she doesn't say! This little one is our pretty princess and our spit fire all at the same time. She has her own ideas and likes to be heard. She loves playing with Spencer when he gets home from work. When he lays on the floor she begs him to do "up down touch the ground." He holds her an lifts her up and down while singing the Winnie the Pooh song. It is precious. I am grateful she has a Daddy and brother that love her so much. We are blessed to have her tender spirit in our home. If she gets her feelings hurt you will know about it and she will need a hug. :-) We love you Addy!

Logan update

I feel like it has been forever since we posted. I figured it was time to give a little spotlight on each one of my special little ones. Logan has had a great time the last month learning about Dinosaurs. Yes, a whole month what a cool teacher right! For the class Valentines party we did an "I love Dinosaurs" theme.
My amazing, talented husband drew, colored, cut, and lamented, this Triceratops. We have 3 horns for them to try to put on the dinosaur. (Like pin the tail on the donkey.) Logan was so proud that his dad made this for him. I LOVE IT!
Mrs. Donaho giving Logan a good tickle for a smile!
Dinosaur cake for dessert.
They made the spotlights because they are all Paleontologists. Addy loves going to Logan's school functions, she feels like such a big girl.

Logan you are always so nice to your sister. I am so thankful for your kindness and the love you show her. You are always so patient when she plays with you and your friends.

The other day we were at the play ground and Logan helped Addy on all the big slides etc. He doesn't leave her for his friends and in return all his friends follow him and include Addysen.
I made baby Sadie a new blanket which was my first one I've ever made. The kids both loved it so I decided they both needed a blanket too. I have now finished Logan's but haven't taken a picture. I still need more yarn for Addy's...hopefully this weekend I can pick some up.
Logan was trying and trying one Saturday to draw a dinosaur. He was getting so frustrated because he couldn't get it right. Then Spencer came to the rescue. They sat down together and Spencer gave him a little lesson in drawing. I am amazed at the talent they both have. I bet Spencer was just like Logan when he was little. It's fun to see them working together and Sp helping Logan with his talent. I loved hearing Spencer teach Logan about seeing the shapes etc. Logan keep it up buddy!
Logan is getting so big and it's so fun to be a part of it. He is learning how to READ right now and LOVES it! He picks it up really fast. I think the other awesome quality he received from Spencer is his ability to memorize. I have to test him on words out of order just to make sure he really knows them...smarty pants!
Logan and Addy are also my big helpers around the house. They have the job of cleaning the windows. I usually help them and do the top and they clean the bottom, well this day I was busy and Logan figured out how to get the job done without me. :-)
Another example of a creative mind. Addy & Logan were playing in the playroom and then called us to come and see the zoo they made. Do you see the jeep drops people off and they walk down the path to the zoo. I was amazed!
Logan sure gets worn out with school and other activities. He is a special little boy with a HUGE heart. I hope that I can always keep that soft side of him in a crazy world! I love him so much. I have enjoyed seeing his excitement about our new baby coming. Lately he has been asking me if today was going to be the day she comes?? I wish I knew? He loves babies in fact the other day he said "I might like babies even more than a dog!" That is pretty huge. I am grateful that both of my little girls have Logan as a big brother, he is the best.

Valentine's Day 2011

I usually have the kids help me make sugar cookies but this year my energy level is kinda low. So I made them up fast during Addy's nap and they helped me frost and decorate them.
I don't think it made a difference to them!

My cute kiddos. I sure do love them.
I love this picture of Addy she was so excited to get her Snow White book.
We had a great Valentines day and hope you all did too. Spencer and I were able to go out on Saturday to dinner while Jeff & Diana watched the kids. It was fun to get out together and get to visit. We have big changes coming our way and we are super excited. Spencer bought me a new purse/diaper bag but it hasn't arrived yet. (Just in case you were wondering....Logan asked "Mom where is your Valentines?" He is so sweet.)

This super bowl commercial reminds me of Logan

When we moved to Korea, our front door could be opened with a remote and he would do the same thing every day to open the door. here is an old link to it.

Bike, Scooters, and Snow

A few weeks ago Amber's friend gave her the idea of filling a jar with cotton balls for every time that the kids listened and obeyed the first time. Last week when the jar was half full, we went to the aquarium. Today it was full so we decided that even though it was cold outside, we needed to go to the track and let the kids play with their new bike and scooters.
Here is Amber at 35 weeks.
Today was actually a beautiful day, and when the wind wasn't blowing, it was not too cold either.
Addy and Logan got some new outside toys from Santa this year, but because of the cold winter, they have only been able to ride them up and down our hallway.
Logan's new scooter is crazy fast.
And Addy did a few laps on her Strider bike. She is getting pretty fast. She tried out Logan's old scooter but could not figure out how to make it turn so she kept riding off the track into the snow.
I sure love weekends, spending time with Amber and the kids is my favorite thing to do.
We sure love the 'helicopter' park, Logan did soccer and baseball here last year.
Mom prepared well and brought us each our own cup of hot cocoa.
After about an hour of playing around, everyone's noses were running so we left for home.

Lunch with Ronnie and Una

A couple of weeks ago we got bundled up and headed underground to the subway.
A few stops later and we arrived at the restaurant to meet up with Una and our friend from Maryland, Ronnie. Ronnie was one of Logan's favorite friends because she has a pair of silly cats. It was fun to catch up on old times and eat the good food.

Logan's First Kindergarten Field Trip

I had the great pleasure to go with Logan on his field trip to the Samsung Children's Museum. We have been once before with some friends and Logan was excited to go back. My sweet friend and neighbor from church Motoko was able to take Addy for the day. It was strange leaving Addysen for a whole day but she did great and so did we.
Logan buddy it was so fun having a day just for you and me! I sure do love you and your sweet smile. (32 weeks pregnant)
We had lunch together it was so nice to sit and visit. Yes, we had to document the chairs in which we sat in. They were a perfect Korean sized chair. I love all these "little" things and hope we never forget our time here in Korea.
I was so proud of Logan he waited in a line this long for his chance to run the crane. It's one of his favorite parts of the this place, but it is so slow you have to be patient.
William was our friend we kept with us all day. They had fun peddling these bikes to make air to blow the balls out of the tubes.
Logan thought this was super great because he was able to do an ultrasound for this lady. (I thought a bit random to have in this museum but he thought it was cool to see the baby moving on the screen.) I am sure it meant more to him than most because he actually knew what was happening. He was pointing out all the different parts of the baby up on the screen.
This was a blast...playing a bunch of different instruments and making music that was played on a big screen in front.
A little Korean statue?
Logan was a news anchor.
We had a fun day together. I really enjoyed having this one on one time with Logan. Everyone loves Logan, it was fun to see him interact with his friends.

Sting

Tuesday night, Diana came over to watch the kids and we went to the Sting concert. It was kind of a crazy trip getting there. We rode a packed subway for over an hour till we realized that we missed our transfer. By then it was too late (so we thought) to head back on the subway so we tested fate in a taxi. It started to snow and the traffic was terrible. We pre-ordered our tickets and were supposed to pick them up 30 minutes prior to the show. We were still stuck in traffic about 2 kilometers from the gymnasium 15 minutes before the concert was to start. Finally we told the taxi we would just run the rest of the way, got out and started jogging in the snow. I ran ahead to get the tickets and luckily I was not the only one caught in the storm, I got the tickets, found Amber and we got to our seats about a minute before the orchestra came out.
Our seats were not the greatest but it was an awesome concert. The show went for about 1.5 hours and then had an intermission. Then he continued for another 1.5 hours. He came out for 4 encores! The last one he came in noticeably ready to leave (coat, scarf...) the orchestra did not have any more songs to play so he just sang without accompaniment. It was amazing. What a talented guy, he played his harmonica, a guitar, a base... it was a blast to hear all the songs we love.
On our long trip back on the subway, we noticed this.... during the day someone creeps in through that little door to sell drinks, candy and newspapers... I would love a picture of that:)

New negative scanner

For Christmas from my parents we got a scanner. Last trip home we finally found all of our Bob Boyd wedding negatives. We wanted to get them all "digitized" but it was too expensive so we decided a scanner would do the trick. Unfortunately, not all of the negatives are 35mm so we had to do a little research to find one that could deal with Medium format film negatives. Today we finally got around to hooking it up and trying it out. I am going to tweak a few of the settings, and we are going to pick up some compressed air to blow the dust between each scan but, I think this is going to be great. Once we get them all scanned I am going to put together a photo book.