Happy 5th Birthday, Jessie Bug!

Jessica opening presents on the morning of her birthday.
Jess eating her cinnamon roll and apple juice, her breakfast of choice.
She is modeling her gift from Mommy and Daddy - a pink kimono pajama and robe set. She calls it her karate or kung fu outfit. I think she and Carson have been watching Kung Fu Panda too much. We love that movie!
Five Candles!
We were all helping her open her presents. She received her 1st Webkinz pink poodle, a cheerleading outfit with pom poms, and a Pretty Princess game. Carson even played the Princess game. He's such a sweet brother.

Happy Ch'usok!

Jessica mastering the use of chopsticks while eating strawberries - She also tried the Korean rice cakes, see the pink flower on her plate, and Bulgogi.

The Korean holiday of Ch'usok is this weekend. We plan to stay on Post most of the time - we'll finish hanging pitures, watch movies, and have friends over for dinner. Jessica's class celebrated Ch'usok on Wednesday this week. Many of the children were wearing Hanboks, the traditional Korean dress for Ch'usok. Carson's class celebration was on Friday. I couldn't attend because Jessica was home from school. Sorry, Carsy, no pictures from your party. PBS had the following information on Ch'usok. "Perhaps the greatest Korean holiday is Ch'usok, or Harvest Moon Festival, which is held on the 15th day of the Eighth Moon according to the lunar calendar. That is usually in September or October and is marked by the rising of a full "Harvest Moon." Ch'usok is usually described as a kind of Thanksgiving for a good harvest, but it is really an ancient holiday dedicated to the ancestors. Families gather from all over the country and from overseas for the great holiday. Visitors to Korea are always warned to stay where they are at Ch'usok time because almost everyone is on the road going back to their ancestral homes: journeys that by car would normally take two hours might take fifteen!"

"Fancy Nancy" Party

Jessica had her 5th Birthday Party on Saturday, September 6th. We had a "Fancy Nancy" barbecue at the picnic pavilion outside our apartment building. The girls all wore their dresses and tiaras. We read Fancy Nancy books, colored Fancy Nancy pictures and the best part of all, ate parfaits. Parfait is a fancy word for ice cream sundae, according to Fancy Nancy. Happy Birthday, Bugaboo! I can't believe you're 5 years old now.

Street Vendor Food

We ventured to Dongdaemun Market to shop for birthday supplies for Jessica's party. After shopping we ate food from the street vendors. Carson ate a hot dog that had batter and French fries fried around it, somewhat like a corn dog but with fries. Jessica had a hot dog on a stick. Joe and I had spicy chicken on a stick. They were all delicious, so either we were really hungry and desperate or we found a good vendor. We weren't alone with our food on a stick. Everywhere you looked people were eating from a stick. We did break our sticks afterward and toss them in the trash, because the rumor is, they re-use the sticks. Gross! I just had to keep that out of my mind. While we were sitting on this street corner we had 20 or more Koreans stop and say "oh, ah" about our blond hair, light eyes children. They touch them and ask to take photos of them also.

Jessica's 1st day of Kindergarten

Jessica had her 1st day of Kindergarten at Seoul American Elementary School on September 2nd. She was very brave and didn't even cry when we dropped her off. This is an improvement from last year. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Hoffman. Her friends Gabriela and Kimberly are also in her class, so it helps to see them every morning. Rest time is her least favorite activity and she cried during rest time the 1st few days, but we decided that if she can go 5 days without crying at rest time then she'll get her nails polished at the Dragon Hill Lodge, she loves that!

New Crocs

I bought Garrett his 1st pair of Crocs. Joe and I went to Namdaemun market on Tuesday, Sept. 2nd while the kids were in school. I found these tiny Croc knock-offs with 3 jibitz each for 5,000 won about $4, what a steal! Garrett doesn't like them and immediately kicks them off his feet. I'm glad I didn't spend $30 on Crocs to discover this.

Garrett, the Mess Maker

Garrett gets into EVERYTHING! His favorites are the plastic shopping bags, garbage bags, sandwich bags and disposable gloves. I have moved all of these items out of his reach since these pictures were taken. The two middle photos look like he's saying, "Who Me?" He crawls around our apartment so quickly that we can't keep up with him. Just this week he also got his fingers shut in the sliding glass door by Jess and his hand in the bedroom door by Carsy. Double ouch! The kids are learning to watch out for him before shutting any doors/drawers/closets. He can also stand up right on his knees now.