You Were Right!

We have been talking about getting a minivan for a long time. We started thinking about it more seriously last summer when my car starting making that weird noise and we knew we were going to have three kids. There were only a couple of colors that we liked (it's sort of large vehicle to be covered in a color you don't like...it's a little too much 'Salsa Red' for me.) I also wanted the beige interior. Turns out that the combo we liked best is the least common. Our friend has searched for us for a long time. He was pretty sure it would never happen. Since number three is so far away it really didn't matter to me if we waited to see if one would come up. Well...on Friday afternoon Harvey told me that he had to go to the store to get some things for work. A couple of hours went by and I was starting to wonder where exactly the store was located. He finally called and said our friend who works for Toyota had a minivan that we might be interested in. He had to get home though so we had to hurry over there. Harvey got home in a few minutes and then we all drove over to the dealership. Well, it was exactly what we wanted. Our friend said we would probably never have a chance at this combo again. I asked Harv if we should talk about it, and then our friend handed me the key. Harv had already bought it! Happy Valentine's Day, birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas...for the rest of my life! Ryan knew about it for the last week or two. I can't believe he never even hinted about it. Anywho...I am a minivan mom!

Since no one is bringing their kid home anytime soon, our agency is letting us send another small care package this week. I went way colorful! And coordinating!

Ryan's teacher suggested that the kids make their valentines...which meant that Ryan absolutely had to make the valentines. Imagine how long making 16 valentines took...now add a couple of days.

This is what our dining room table looks like every day! : (

But they turned out so cute!

(I asked Ryan if he wanted to do something different for the boys. We had some old race car valentines..."No, I'm going to put an arrow on it. An arrow is kind of like a weapon, so the boys will like it.")

Guess What This Is!

 

The Smile

 

It always ends like this!

For Your Reading Pleasure

Erik loves to tell me stories.  Here is the latest.  I think he has a writing career ahead! : )

  He was a fish named Erik.  He ate a yummy little fish.  Then he ate a bug.  Erik had a friend named Kitty Cat Girl.  They played in the water.  They started splashing.  Then Erik’s mom said, “Stop splashing me!”  Then they cuddled in Erik’s soft blanket.  At night they read books.  Then they played dot to dot in the morning.  They started hugging a monster.   The monster got angry.  He drove a street cleaner to get away.

(gotta love a surprise ending!)

 

 

And a little alliteration for you all: Ryan raced really recklessly down the road. 

 

 

Ten tardy turtles tug a timid ranger.

On to Cuter Topics

Now this is a cute hairdo!  I wasn’t expecting a photo right now so it was a very nice way to start the day.  How about those chubbalicious hands!  She is slimming down.  She is just a little over 25lbs.  So she has gone from the 75%-90% group to 50%-75% in weight.  We didn’t get any other info. this time, but a short time back we learned that she is walking well, saying a few words, and that she likes to tear pages out of books.  She is really looking like a little girl.  I hope we don’t lose too much more chubbiness before she comes home!

From Hair Don’t…to Hair Do

We spend the big bucks on the boys hair...$8. The downside is the language barrier with the stylist. It has been hit and miss but usually I can go with it. This last time I was trying to explain that I wanted to keep Erik's hair a little longer but to clean up the sides and back so it wasn't coming over his ears...Well, it ended up really short on the sides and had a thick section on top. I tried to go with it, but every time I looked at him I was staring at the thick blob of hair on top. I asked him if Daddy could buzz his hair like Ryan's. "Can I have a lollipop?" was the reply and off to the bathroom we went.

So I went and got a perm today. It is always nice to sit down and have your stylist say, "Wow, you have so much more grey hair!" I was kind of kidding (but not totally) yesterday when I said not to comment on my hair, but as I sat in the chair after she took the rods out and cut it I was sort of panicking. It was so short and curly! My last cut was a little short for me but I really didn't care. But this was ugly too! As she was blow drying she was telling me how it would relax and look longer. She kept pulling it down towards my chin. Ha! It would have been hilarious if it was someone else's hair! Once she dried my bangs it looked better. But just to be safe, tell me you love it.

I’m Back

 

This is not my first 3 pack in the last couple of weeks.  I’m not a big fan of keeping track of those kinds of things, so we’ll leave it at that.  I AM a fan of Tin Roof Sundae.  Last night Harvey asked me if there was any ice cream left.  I hit him in his good arm, the one without the SHINGLES.  No, I haven’t finished the second gallon yet!  How rude!  And yes, I am refraining tonight…well, maybe.  It’s only 9pm.

I looked to 2012 with such excitement.  Finally, we were in the year we would bring our girl home.  The excitement filled Jan. 1 (except for the painful rash on my face.)  It, the excitement, left Jan. 2nd.  (The rash lasted the rest of the week, which was a relief, since I had to then focus on a broken crown and a broken filling on two different teeth.)  On Jan. 2, our agency called with troubling information.

As much as a part of me wants to write out all of the details, I know it’s better not to at this point.  It was a month of waiting on our agency and another country over things we have no control of.  It is a situation that only pertains to us.  Some things we have been able to find out, other things we probably won’t, at least until later. 

To make matters worse, Korea has made no movement on a single EP (emigration permit).  This means that not one child has been allowed to start the process of coming home.  There is some hope that they will start again in Feb. but no one has heard anything from the government.  No one knows how many EPs will be issued and at what pace they will flow.  No one knows if/when they will stop again.  New rules begin in July.  Trying to imagine how things are not going to slow or stop again then.  Nothing yet.  So, sitting around eating chocolate and ice cream felt better than blogging.  I’m getting phone calls about the lack of photos though, so I’m going to see if I can blog and eat at the same time.

So back to the SHINGLES…Harvey finally got started on the bathroom again.  I may have had ulterior motives in my cute little “2012 New Year’s Eve” paper I had everyone fill out.  I mean, I didn’t force him to write down “finish bathroom” in the goal section.  I just don’t think I’m that kind of person.  I’m probably not that kind of person.  It’s only been four and a half years.  I’m more of a patient person…No, that’s not right.  Anyway, I don’t like keeping track of those kind of things either. 

Well, Harvey was under the house welding for a couple of days.  Not continuously…but you know, for a long time.  A day later or so he started to say how much his shoulder hurt.  Next day it was the same.  And so on.  Finally yesterday, he was talking about it again and saying how it was swollen.  Seeing as I almost have a degree from Web MD, I took a look and concluded he must have gotten bit by some horrible creature that was crawling under my bathroom (which does not have a floor to keep such a creature from crawling into my bed…)  I told him to head over to urgent care, so he went to bed and called the doctor today.  The doctor looked at it and immediately said, “Shingles.”  He also said that he waited too long and he could no longer have the shot that would have halved its course.  Nothing makes you feel young and fit like a case of shingles!  So if you are old, sick, or pregnant, stay away from Harvey.

So the reality is that we don’t even have a guess of when Kimmy will come home.  The chances of it being this summer don’t look good, but I still think it because I can’t afford to buy new pants.  I’m still in the/an angry stage so don’t say anything about my hair, or anything that might make me clear out Trader Joe’s bin of chocolate again.

Tomorrow I’ll put up a photo of Erik’s new hairdo.  But don’t say anything about the area Mommy tried to fix!

Time for some Tin Roof!