merry merry

Christmas!

Yes, it is officially the happy day here in Korea!

We had a fabulous birthday party for Jesus tonight...

it included meat fondue, salad, THE bread, and red velvet cake.

Daddy read from the Bible & told the girlies the story of Christ's birth.

What a GREAT night! :)

We have all the goodies under the tree,

and I'm up *working* on a few last-minute sewing projects!

Here are a few shots that cover our last few days...

Beks & Abby LOVING each other.

THIS has been a long time coming.

They have been playing together & enjoying each other much more over the last few days.

LOVE IT! :)

Abby's first official manicure!

I found Piggy Paint & decided she could have it...

even still sucking her fingers!

For your viewing pleasure...

Abby's PINK tree.

She loves it & HAD to have a STAR for the top!!

Well, Merry Christmas!

We are set to have a good one here in Korea!

Miss all of you back in the states very much...

we're off to Thailand on Saturday, so we'll be back with some stories, I'm sure!

Bloggy love,

{p.s. Beks kept saying, "Obama" on a regular basis. I could not figure out why his visit here had such an affect on her. Then, I realized she said it every time we said presents. HA. President, presents...what does she think she is opening tomorrow?! Maybe that's why Santa is freaking her out?} :)

deactivated

I feel like a robot.

I have now deactivated my facebook account.

Can I just say,

WOOHOO.

While facebook has been great to get back in touch with

& reacquainted with people I haven't spoken to in years...

it has also been a huge time suck.

HUGE.

So yes,

I have a time management problem.

I'm not going to set timers.

Or just do it into the wee hours...

I would rather be creating something that I can see & doing something I truly enjoy.

I love to sew.

And scrapbook.

And play games with my girlies.

Read books.

Exercise.

Read my BIBLE.

{One of my friends commented that her relationship to the Lord might benefit by taking the facebook time & reading her Bible. As Bekah would say, "Amen sister."} :)

I want a piano. And to play again.

I want to learn how to play the guitar.

I have lots of things I'd rather be doing than seeing what someone wants to tell me about every 20 minutes.

You get it, right?

If you don't, I'm sorry.

I wish I had it in me to allot the perfect amount of time to it.

But it sucks me in.

I get tired & it sucks me in too late most nights &

I want to be a good mommy.

Won't you still be my friend?

Bloggy love,

Christmas, Christmas & more Christmas...

Let me just say,

I love Christmas.

But seriously,

there have been so many things to do in the past week,

I'm exhausted!

{OR, it could be that I stayed up WAY too late last night...

and maybe had a little too much of the drinky drink??}

I won't go into unending detail, but here's a little bit of the past week:

MOPS, baking, more baking, baking & wrapping goodies for 400 gift bags, PWOC Christmas Party Bible verse exchange, squadron Christmas party, and OSC lunch.

So, last night we had the squadron party...

look at the cute goodies our commander & his wife gave the wives.

Isn't it great? :)

LOVE it.

I like that we're the Mongrels here--

so fitting!

Plus, I just like dogs in general, so that's a bonus.

Date night, baby.

Do you see Brad's sexy vest?

This is just too funny to comment on...

there is an enginerd joke here somewhere.

Or some CE joke, but I'm tired.

Brad, SMSgt Nuque, Shirt, & SMSgt Casey...

we have an awesome group here!

Have I mentioned lately that we really enjoy the people here?

Because we do...tremendously! :)

Some form Brad signed for the CE Christmas tree in the O'Club...

Brad & Ricky Bobby! :)

Still don't have a great view of it, but...

Brad wanted an ugly Christmas sweater to wear, but come on,

we live in Korea.

The BX only has so much to choose from &

I hadn't given my mom that job early enough!

SO, he sent me on a mission to find something ugly for him to wear.

Let me just preface this,

{being that I know people who have worn this exact Christmas vest!!}

it's a woman's vest.

There was nothing in the guys' section that was even remotely Christmas themed.

The best part

is that he had a reindeer tie that he could actually match it to.

Sort of.

I won an Ipod Nano.

I gave it away.

Actually,

I made the people who wanted it do a dance off.

Would I ever be in a dance off?

Um, no.

But it's definitely not beneath me to make others do it.

Must come up with some other ideas for this in the future...

any good ones, please leave me a comment! :)

The annual scavenger hunt...

All in all, it was a great night!

The people who worked hard getting it together & doing all the fundraisers were awesome.

Crazy to think it's our last Christmas party here...

Bloggy love,

project 320

Project 320

This group of wonderful ladies is trying to accomplish something meaningful this Christmas season.

Go ahead...take a look.

Be challenged to donate just $10.

Every little bit helps. A lot.

Here is what their blog has to say:

{you can also click on the groovy button to the left over there!}

We are going to build a well.

You are going to build a well.

(photo courtesy of Jody Landers)

Because we can.

Because you can.

How?

Right now sweet, generous, creative and caring women from all over the country are sewing, knitting, painting, shopping, blogging, praying.

Donating.

Over 100 items.

Handmade and heartfelt happiness.

Starting

December 14th

and ending

December 18th

Project 320

will be holding a virtual raffle.

10 prize bundles.

Each $10 donation to the well

earns one virtual ticket.

You get to choose how many "tickets" to buy

and which prize package you want to win.

On December 21st we will "draw" ten winners.

But most of all,

we will celebrate the victory.

The promise of clean water for a village.

Life.

Are you excited?

You should be!!!!

Because it is going to be awesome.

Grab a button.

Spread the word.

Bloggy love,

because i need more ribbon...

Okay, go here to check it out!

I love me some ribbon & would love to get this kind of fix!!!

Bloggy love,

note to self

I'm a little slow.

That pretty much covers it, but you know I'm going to tell you more.

I am not a fast paced kinda gal...

sure, I'm busy, but that's different.

I don't do anything fast.

I procrastinate. Badly.

I also spend too much time on the computer. Imagine that.

So, here are the Thanksgiving outfits I finished 10 minutes before our guests arrived!

Oh, and that was because I hadn't done button holes on this machine before.

{And I waited until the last minute!}

Beks & her candy cane smile :)

Abby posing...it was pretty big on her.

But it twirled!!

Madness...

25 hair clips for our MOPS silent auction.

It brought in like $45 people.

No pictures on the 3 aprons, 1 taggie blanket, 1 taggie chewy...

and I'm not done.

More aprons, cowgirls outfits, skirts, jumpers...

have I told you lately that I love buying fabric in Korea?

Love it.

Have more deliciousness stacked in the laundry room!

Who needs sleep? :)

I do...I have turned into my mother. Off to bed!

{But Mom, I made it until 11!}

Bloggy love,

this child

While Abby was at Cubbies tonight,

Beks and I did a little grocery shopping.

Indy dog got a new bag of food,

so you can imagine the excitement of my #1 dog feeder!!

We got home and all she could say was,

"Feed Indy. FEED INDY."

So, she helped me put his food in his bowl.

{minus a small amount due to OTHER items he stole throughout the day!!!}

Then I continued to put the groceries away.

It was entirely too quiet.

I asked Beks what she was doing...

she responded by muttering something about Indy's water.

I told her to please stop playing in it,

continuing to organize my refrigerator.

Hmmm...not the smartest move.

So here is what she was doing...

While Indy was eating,

she took food from his food bowl & moved it into his water bowl.

Ick.

She was VERY proud of herself!

Indy tried to make the best of it,

but I thought it a little unkind to make him bob for his food!

This child is going to be some kind of fun!

Bloggy love,

black friday...korean style

SO...

I decided to go to the midnight market in Seoul on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The bus was scheduled to leave at 11pm & bring us home sometime around 6am.

What was I thinking?

I was thinking that it would be a cool experience.

That I might find some good Christmas gifts.

It would be fun to have some me time.

This would be the time to do it...a bus dropping me off right where I need to be.

Well, it was a good plan.

It was cold. Well over half the booths/shops were closed.

I can't buy clothing here. Or shoes.

I'm a big mama by Korean standards! :)

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the trip.

The time out with the girls was great!

Next time, we're going to wait until it's warmer or just go to Dondaemun where they do this crazy all-night shopping, all the time.

As a side note...

I did figure out why Alexis looked familiar.

Turns out, we were in the same squadron at Hurlburt Field, FL.

Good ol' HMXS. Well, it wasn't so good.

But, it was good to realize I wasn't crazy & did know her! :)

The wild all-night party animals...

Kellie, Brooke, Charlotte, Alexis & Christina!

Hmm...so I'm pretty sure I haven't ever seen anything like this in Decatur on the way to Kohl's

Bathroom...delightful!

{insert sarcasm here}

BUT...

Kellie does look pretty excited about the experience! :)

The animal hat guy...wheeling & dealing for the warm kids' hats that are so popular around here!

Christina, Brooke & Kellie posing in front of the bright lights

Let's get a little BLING for our Christmas!

Hair accessories...gotta love 'em!

Yippee...the warm coffee shop.

They served warm water while we were waiting for our drinks!

We made it...6a.m.

Well, it was an experience!

I couldn't remember the last time I stayed up all night.

But then I did.

The trip to Hawaii.

That, I will blog about when I have more stamina!

Bloggy love,

some excitement at osan

The big arrival...

Here, you can see two really excited 19 month olds.

They were acting crazy because a plane just landed.

Really.

They didn't care who was on the plane.

{I'm just being honest!}

We have an amazing view from our apartment...

with it comes all the noise, but it's more than worth it!

Here is Air Force 1...

you can tell, right?

It's my awesome camera. HA.

Oh well, I could tell. :)

Okay, now do you believe me?

Pretty self explanatory! :)

Dear readers, please write my husband to tell him I need a new camera!!

Okay, there he is!

Welcome to Korea, President Obama.

Great set up CE!

All your hard work in action!!

Another exciting video...

this one includes my colorful commentary, because I just can't stop myself.

It's an illness.

Just be thankful I haven't pulled the footage off of the video camera yet! :)

At least there are 2 really cute girls in it, and they were SO excited to watch the plane & listen to the helicopters take everyone off to Seoul!

Bloggy love,

introduction to the chickens

Here's a little taste of what is to come...

Come HERE chickens. Chickens!!!

it was innocent enough

Today I almost killed the fish.

Tragic.

{Well, it would have been tragic to listen to the drama that would have ensued!}

We have to clean Glory's little bowl out once a week.

Well, I went to Hawaii and Daddy B was otherwise occupied.

That bowl was in dire need of a cleaning.

Innocently,

I scooped Glory out with a big slotted spoon & put her in a measuring cup.

I have to say, I did think it might be a little small.

BUT

I also knew that in just a little bit, she'd be back in her real bowl.

{Which is not really that spacious, people)

At that point, we went about our afternoon.

The girls rested while I worked out.

At some point,

I called Daddy B with a question & as I was hanging up,

I noticed that there wasn't a fish in the measuring cup.

Or by it. Or in the sink.

Where did the fish go???

I raced around the counter to take a closer look.

There she was...laying on the cold, hairy & dry ground.

Trying not to freak out,

I picked her {and the large hairball she had thrown herself into} up, and put her back in her bowl. Her tail was even a little crispy.

She started to swim around.

I couldn't believe it.

This can't be normal, but who am I to ever make a big deal about that?!

Normal just isn't our thing...

Bloggy love,

the big sleepover

This is for Grandma Lene...better late than never! :)

{I'm pretty sure I haven't posted these for you yet!}

Abby & her good buddy Ella decided they could handle a sleepover.

So, we had the whole Davis family over for dinner.

Then, they snuck out as fast as they could.

HAHA.

In all actuality,

Ella came up & asked Janelle when they would be leaving.

She then pointed out that it was dark outside. :)

Let's just stab the mommas in the heart, girls!!

Boy, did we peg them wrong!

The night went exceptionally well!

The girls did talk & get silly, but I'm pretty sure when you're 4 & 5,

that's allowed!

Here they are the morning after...

Cute little things...they're just precious.

Silly faces!

Beks getting in on the big girl action

Look at me...I'm a big girl now!

It was loads of fun & Daddy B cooked up a great breakfast that morning!

Of course, we told Matt & Janelle that we probably got the easy end...

they get to have Abby over next! :)

As my dad said when Brad called him to tell him he was going to propose...

"Good luck with that!" :)

Bloggy love,