Happy Birthday baby Esther!

Over Chuseok, we also had the opportunity to attend a sweet little girl's first birthday party- Korean style! Esther's, or Eun Young- her Korean name, mother teaches at TCIS and Esther is part of the ELC.
A child's first birthday in Korea is a big deal. You invite lots of people and have a big dinner usually at a restaurant. Koreans have this down to a science in that the restaurants have packages for these events that include the food, and emcee, and even the clothing.

So much of a Korean celebration is more for show. The emcee was dressed like a cow, the cake is not real, and there are beautiful and over the top decorations. They go through the tradition of blowing out the candle on the cake but you don't get to eat it.

Check out the knife that Esther got to use to cut her cake!

It is tradition for the child to pick an item that will represent their future. Items are placed before the child such as money (meaning rich), string (meaning longevity), a food item (never go hungry), a book (intelligence), a paintbrush (an artist), and in modern day a microphone (famous). I was also told that a computer mouse is being put out sometimes now. Most parents want their child to pick the money obviously. Esther will be the famous one though as she picked the microphone.

The emcee also asked questions about Esther and if you could answer it, you would get a prize. Our family answered the question of how many teeth Esther has. Zachary got to claim the prize....men's dress socks!! Boy was he excited.
The kids did get a candy treat from the birthday girl.
One cultural fop a I made had to do with the gift. I debated back and forth if we were supposed to bring a gift or give money. We brought a present and then quickly realized that money was supposed to be the gift of the night. However, Esther's mom is Korean yet from New Zealand so she understands both cultures.

We had a good time at Esther's party. Zachary loves Esther and had a hard time sharing her with others for the evening but we were able to get one picture with the birthday girl!

Chuseok Break

In Korea, we celebrate Chuseok which is pretty much a Korean thanksgiving in which they celebrate the harvest moon and their ancestors. We get a week off of school and the town pretty much shuts down for three days.
For break we tried to go outside to a new park each day but we were hindered due to a few days of rain. We did get our apartment cleaned out a bit though with lots of goodies share with the school yard sale.
The days that were sunny though, we thouroughly enjoyed our time outside.

The Loweens took us to a new park. We had fun till it started to rain and the fun had to continue at their house.

We got to hang out with the Price family one night. The kids enjoyed movie time and snuggling on the couch with some popcorn.

I got to go to pottery class and work on some bowls that I had thrown on the potter's wheel. This was only my third time on the wheel btu I am getting somewhat better. At least they looked like bowls. :) Each one is different and has its own flaws but they are fun an unique.

I add some texture to them to help cover up some of the flaws but I think they look pretty good! A soon as I can figure out what color to paint them, they will get a coat of paint or glaze and then fired again for me to bring home.

One funny moment of break was our venture out to a new park the day after the actual Chuseok holiday. A bad choice due to the amount of people at the park but we still had fun. At a park full of Asian faces, we stand out obviously. Zachary was followed by a little boy who did everything that he did. He wasn't bothered by it and thought it was funny. I get a little more bothered and sometimes want to be left alone. Shelby Grace tends to agree with me and freaks out a bit when people hover around her. Check out the video and see what you think. Zachary is getting pretty good at his cartwheels too!

There is hope!

Shelby Grace loves her brother and desires to be just like him so she is into all things boy- cars, trucks, balls, jumping off the couch, and fighting with light sabers. During our Chuseok break, I tried to play dress up with Shelby Grace. She agreed for a little while but wouldn't put on any of the dresses, only the tutu. She loves the bracelets and necklaces so I know there is a little girl in there somewhere. Mommy keeps trying. With Baby Batman coming along, the girls will be out numbered so Shelby Grace and I have to stick together or at least try. I may be the one out numbered in the end!

My little ballerina

Push it back! Way back!

Here in Korea, parking lots often have fewer spaces than you really need for the cars around. And often, there is not even a parking lot at all so roads and sidewalks become parking lots wherever you are. In our apartment complex parking lot, if all the spaces are filled the driver can park parallel to the cars in the spots and leave their car in neutral. Drivers push the cars back and forth so they can get out of their spots. Most of the time, cars have the driver's cell phone number in the window so you can call them if the car is in your way.

Our kids have gotten really good at pushing cars out of the way so we can get our car out. Shelby Grace likes to try and push all the cars as we go along too even if we don't need it. We'll just call it learning how to solve a puzzle on a large scale :). Good skills to learn for the future.

16 weeks

"Baby Batman" is 16 weeks along. He seems to be growing well. The nausea is finally gone so this mommy is much happier. Mommy can't wait to feel him practice his superhero moves so she knows that everything is ok. We're working on a name for this little man but find it difficult for number three. Zachary wanted to name him Batman but we all agreed it's a better nickname than a real name but we could call him that now until he is born. So for the next 6 months, "Baby Batman" he will be. :)

It's a...

We found out if our new baby is a boy or a girl. Check out how we told our TCIS family and find out the news for yourself as well!

The other side of the rainbow

Korea has had quite a rainy season this year. We haven't had this much rain for 103 years! Yes, at times we are going nuts but it is nice to see God's promise in the sky that one day it slow down.

We have never seen a rainbow in Daejeon before. I went to pottery and was picking up my classmates at school when I saw the rainbow. I called Patrick to tell him to look outside with the kids.

They say the rainbow but we didn't know until later that they saw the other side! How fun! A full rainbow in Korea. God is good!