New Year's Eve

Well, it's here again.  New Year's eve.  The girl is with her cousins.  the boys are sleeping.  splitcat is with his family.  I am home watching random bits of korean t.v. on the internet.  Splitcat may or may not be home soon(It's 10:20pm)  I have to work in the nursery at church tomorrow so I didn;t want to stay up too late.  I'm kind of hoping everyone sleeps in.  The nursery has been a little crazy lately with lots and lots of little babies.  and lots of pregnant people in the church means lots more babies to come.

I never finished my 37 before 37 list, but I've got six months left.  I've always thought it was cool that my birthday is exactly 6 months from Christmas.  So I am officially 36.5.  There are alot of things to look forward to this year.  2 weddings.  The boy will start middle school in August.  the twins will start kindergarten.

Speaking of the boy, his birthday is coming up very quickly.  He will be 11.  He's a handsome lad.

So, thinking back this past year, it's been a pretty quiet one. I am thankful for that. I'm not sure I've learned anything new this year, skill wise.  I haven't been crafting for a while. I've gotten interested in new music much more this year.  I think I've bought more cd's this year than in my whole life.  What am I listening to?  My favs have been We Were Promised Jetpacks(I just ordered their newest cd with my christmas money), Villagers, Radiohead(King of Limbs).  I am waiting with bated breath for a new Mumford and sons album.  Thankfully there's lots of them performing on youtube.

Of course, I shouldn't leave out my addiction to Korean t.v.  I'm not sure why everyone makes fun of me.  I've actually learned alot.  but yeah, one of my new year's resolutions is to be a little less addicted. Maybe get some laundry done.

I should also mention that I think I've made more friends in the past year than in the 10 previous ones(combined).  It was at times a little overwhelming to find myself wanted after so many years of having no one.

So anyway.  Happy New Year.  I shall leave you with a new artist I've been watching on youtube. 

Fangirl Friday

Okay, so I'm a total fangirl now.  I love my kdramas.  So I am going to share some of my faves with you.

First, Best ending ever........You're Beautiful.  (I believe it is still showing on Hulu)

The first time I watched, for some reason they did not subtitle the songs(which were a major part of the plot), so I looked it up the final song on youtube later, and I will not lie.  I cried buckets. This drama is definitely in my top 3 favorites.  It's silly, wacky, and a tear jerker all at once.  So, here is Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung singing what "What would I do."  (As a side note, he is squinting throughout the song because he is trying to find someone in the audience).  One thing I have really come to like about many shows is that the actors actually sing the songs, it's not them lip synching to someone else's voice. All three male leads in this show have great voices--Two of them have their own bands in real life.




Here's a fanvid of one of the songs from the show's fictional band A.N. Jell with scenes from the show.  I will sadly admit it took me well into the 2nd or 3rd episode to figure out why all their fans wore angel wings. 

Last night when Splitcat came in from work, I heard him say, "Why do you have underwear on your head?"  I went up to see who it was, and W had a pajama top(it looked like undies from afar) on the top of his head.  As I was chatting with splitcat, I happened to glance up and see W in the kitchen doorway and heard him say very quietly, "My hair was in my eyes."  Puzzled, I looked a little closer, and well, his hair was no longer in his eyes.  I started laughing and he ran off.  I almost couldn't stop laughing, but I managed to tell splitcat what he had done.  We had to go looking for him.  He was hiding under his bed.  We got him to come out. 

He had cut a good two inches off the front of his hair.  He did really need a haircut, it was in my plans for this week, but he beat me to it.  Thankfully it wasn;t too short.  So I stuck him in the bathroom and finished cutting it.  It looks pretty bad because my hair scissors broke and I needed to buy new ones, so I had to use just regular scissors.  Thankfully his hair is so wavy you don;t notice the hack marks too much. 

As all this was happening, I remembered about an hour before when I went into splitcats office to use the computer, W was there and he dropped a pair of safety scissors and ran out. I wondered what he had been up to.  If I had looked in the garbage, I would have seen.  At least he knew to put the hair he cut in the trash. :)

Never a Dull Moment

The thing about having 4 kids is this....someone is always up to som,ething.  M has decided he doesn't want to go to school.  So as it neared time to leave yesterday,  I was busy chasing down W to change his clothes when I heard M say "I'm  going to hide your keys."  I had a momentary thought to chase him  down, but I just gotten W in my grasp, and I wasn't sure if  he'd really do it.

He did.

He hid my keys. 

I could not find them..

Yes, I was not happy.

About 11:30  I said, since it's too late for school, can I have my keys back.  He went and got them  and gave them  back.

When I told my book club girls, their reaction was "did you beat the crap out of him?"  No, I did not.  He will be suffering over the long haul as his privileges have been removed for some time.

Seriously, I am  glad my kids are smart, but really, I could live without these sorts of ideas.  And to think he's only 5.  What's he going to be like at 15?

I need a nap.

Time to Play

Fall has fallen!  Well, sort of.  It did get up to the low 90's the other day, but the past two days have been gloriously fallish.  So of course we took the kids out to the park to play.  It ended up being an exciting outing.  After many years of trying, P finally figured out how to swing.  He and I have both been frustrated by his inability to swing.  We would try every time we went to the park.  I don't know what magic finally happened, but he did it.   He was so excited.  So was I.  I have no idea what was so difficult for him .  Perhaps it was a certain timidity or fear.  He does not like when he doesn't feel in control of himself, and swinging requires a bit of letting go.  Perhaps the fact that school is going well for him  has given him  a little more courage.  I'm  so happy to have my smiling boy back.  We've only had one big incidence of bullying this year, and the kid got caught.  P was more excited by the fact that everyone was talking about him  than worried about someone being mean to him..  I'm  sure there have probably been more times that people have not been nice, but he will rarely tell me or his teachers.   I'm  glad that we will be able to leave elementary school on a positive note(at least I hope it will keep going this well).

Ten Things I have learned

from watching Korean T.V. Dramas

1. Sweet and happy girls are not too bright and tend to be clumsy(and her parents are usually embarrassing)
2. If you are eavesdropping, stay until the end of the conversation
3. Smart girls are evil and/or manipulative
4. You never get over your first love(I guess it's good I married mine, then)
5. say what you mean and mean what you say
6. Don't interrupt people when they are trying to declare their love because you think they don't like you
7. Guys who are jerks have hearts of gold hidden beneath their handsome exteriors
8. The nice guy almost always loses
9. Product placement is key
10. True Love conquers all

Seriously, I think have learned a few things from my recent obsession/addiction. It has made me think about the nature of misunderstandings and the roles we play in them. In fact, I just cleared up a small misunderstanding about an email splitcat sent me(he had no idea what he had written could be read in several different ways). It's so much easier to simply ask the meaning of something instead of spending hours or days dithering over what you think it means. Of course, sometimes this is easier said than done. I have a tendency to dither rather than ask. But I am learning.

It's Friday

And we've made it through the first two weeks of school. P is doing amazingly well. He loves his teacher. He comes home fairly happy. Does his homework without complaint. I feel like I have entered the twilight zone or something. But, of course, I have learned with him to take it one day at a time and to rejoice in the good, and move past the bad. But two weeks of good is pretty much a miracle.

Also, you may have noticed a new link on my sidebar that says Follow me on Pinterest. This is a sort of on-line wish -list, idea board, collection of things I love. It's fairly addictive and fun. I have a few invites left if someone wants in. This has proven a great tool for my Craftster swapping. I used to use Wist, but it kept locking me out of my account, so I gave up.

splitcat is waiting for the computer, so I must away. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Pandas at Atlanta Zoo

Pandas at Atlanta Zoo, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

Took the kids to the zoo today for a last day before school fun day. The pandas were very cute. IT was very hot outside. More pics over at Flickr. I must go bake cupcakes for twins birthday party tomorrow!

Summertime

Summer time is nearly over. As summers go, it has been a good one. Not too much fighting, not too much heat, way too much humidity. But that means it has been raining, which is a good thing. The trees are actually still green instead of parched brown.

Things I've done this summer:
Vacation to the Smoky Mountains
Painted my bedroom furniture
slept in (thank you splitcat)
turned 36
cleaned stuff out and taken it away
opened an Etsy store
cleaned out our storage unit(our wallet thanked us)
plus all the everyday life that goes on.

The children start school in two weeks. Well, two of them do. The twins are doing another round of pre-k, so they will be starting the day after labor day. We decided it was best to hold them back. I need to try and get them both into speech therapy as soon as school starts. I may work with them at home on reading skills, and depending on their emotional status at the end of the year, start them in first grade. We'll have to wait and see.

This year has gone by really fast. Every year seems to go by more quickly. I still time my years by the school calendar, rather than the actual calendar, so I feel like it is time to take stock and examine where I want this year to go. I feel far more sane now than I have in a long time. It's kind of nice. I hope it lasts.

Weight loss is always high on my to-do list. But not because I want to be skinny, but because I need to be healthy. I am getting back to my homemade beauty routines, which always makes me feel better to know what I am washing myself with. I have even forayed into homemade deodorant(so far it works quite well). Knowing how insanely sensitive I am to chemicals really makes me think about what I am putting into and onto my body. Now I just need to make better food and beverage choices.

This year I also hope to do better keeping up with everyone's school work. In some ways I am glad the twins won't be in kindergarten because our school gives them tons of homework which is mostly parents doing something. Mulitply that by 2 and add a fifth grader and a third grader. P did not have a good year last year, and I really want to help him have a better one this year. But that means I have to stay right on top of him and his work. And if you haven't noticed, I have a hard time staying focused sometimes.

Perhaps I need to set some tangible goals for the year. Like a 30 before 30 list, except it would be a 37 before 37 list.

I guess I have some thinking to do!

(yes, this is double posted on my blogs so I remember to make a list)

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Wow, two posts in one day.

Anyway,

Tomorrow is my 36th Birthday. We took the kids out to the movies and then for ice cream today. We saw Rio at the $1.oo movies. It was pretty good. I think everyone liked it. I think splitcat and I are going out tomorrow. We haven't decided what we are doing yet. He surprised me on our last date and took me to Amicalola Falls( I thought we were going to the movies). He has a bunch of gift cards from the end of the school year, so we will probably use some of them up.

Also, I would like to send belated birthday wishes to my sister, to her new youngest daughter, and her oldest son(whose birthday is actually today).

Speaking of my sister's new daughter. I had meant to announce this some time ago, but forgot. My sister and her husband recently adopted a beautiful little girl. She just turned 2 and they have had her since she was 6 months old. They have been doing foster care for quite some time, but we all knew she belonged with them right from the beginning. She looks just like my sister except for her eye color. We are all so happy to have her as part of the family. So we now have 9 children between the two of us between the ages of 2 and 16. It makes going out together quite an andventure.

I guess that is all. Oh, I meant to add on my last post that there are a few more pics of our trip on Flickr. You can click on the pics to take you there. The last pic is from splitcat's acct, so it will take you to his pictures.

So,

Happy Birthday!!!!!

At long last! We went on vacation! This year is splitcat's parents fiftieth anniversary, so they took the whole family(there were 18 of us in all) to the Smoky Mountains. We stayed about 15 minutes outside of Gatlinburg, TN. The girl rode with her grandparents, so it was just us and the boys on the trip up.



We stopped at Chickamauga on our way.





We did the driving tour. A huge storm blew up and followed us all the way to our cabin. At one point it was raining so hard you could barely see the road. Splitcat's cousin, who went the scenic route through North Carolina and the National Park was delayed by several hours due to downed trees. It was apparently quite a storm.

The girl went to the Dixie Stampede that night with her cousin and Aunt. We hung out at the cabin with John's nephew and his girlfriend.

The next morning my father-in-law, niece, my nephew's g-friend, E, and I all went horseback riding. If I had a bucket list, horseback riding would have been in the top ten things I've always wanted to do. It was fun, but not something I think I will pick up as a hobby.

Here is my horse, he is the spotted one on the left. He was extremely obstinate. He really wanted to stop and chew the flowers the whole way.





The trail we rode on was very pretty as it skirted a large valley and went partway into the forest. We went first thing in the morning so the weather was really beautiful. My horse did not want to follow in line. We were always about 2 feet to the right while the other horses followed nicely in line.



Taking pictures on the back of a horse is not easy.


That was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

While I was riding horses, splitcat and his nephew were fishing in the Little Pigeon River. Only the nephew caught anything. But later that day me and the boys went back to the spot they fished from to enjoy nature.


Well, most of us enjoyed nature. He saw the beware of bears signs and kind of got a little nervous. There were reports of a mama and two cubs about a half mile up the trail, so we stuck by the riverbank and the road.

On Friday the grandparents took the kids to the WonderWorks Museum, and splitcat and I took the morning to explore the Roaring Forks Motor Trail. We had hoped to hike to the Grotto Falls, but the parking lot was full, so we explored the empty spots along the way. Splitcat helped me learn how to take waterfall pictures with his camera.



While we were discussing camera settings, a car stopped and started pointing frantically to something behind us. Thankfully it wasn't a bear.



It was a beautiful drive with lots of fun little spots to explore. I really wanted to go back later with the kids, but the weather never cooperated.



We stopped in Gatlinburg on the way home and had lunch at Bubba Gump's. It was pretty tasty.

And that's pretty much all I did. Saturday the brave people went white water rafting. I am glad I didn't go, plus someone had to stay and watch my kids, everyone had already been really nice about keeping an eye on them while we went out . A nasty storm blew up right after they got on the river. I watched it from the safety of our cabin. Our cabin was right on the edge of the National Park, so we had a lovely view of just mountains. Watching the clouds was a favorite activity in the cabin. This is the beginning of the storm from our perspective





After the storm:


We didn't do much else because of the weather. Sunday morning we had family portraits done. I don't have a copy yet. It went better than I expected. But M refused to smile.

Monday we stopped at Clingman's Dome on our way out of the park. The twins ran the whole way up. We got there a little too early so the view wasn't too good. It was also very very sad. The Hemlocks and Fir trees have been attacked by insects and are being wiped out across the park.



So, that was our trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. I would love to go back and do much more hiking. I am hoping we can get our kids out hiking this summer and fall in the North Georgia Mountains.

Partied Out

Partied Out, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

Apparently the lasts day of school was just too much for him.

Graduation

Can you believe it? The twins have graduated from Pre-K. It's hard to believe they are almost 5 already. We are trying to decide if we are going to send them to Kindergarten next year. One is ready, one is ready academically, but perhaps not emotionally. They turn 5 the day school starts. So we could hold them back without any problem. So please pray that we would have wisdom and make the right decision for the boys.

Happy Easter

Easter-W2, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter today! We are egg-hunted out over here.

Skating Party

We had a skating party on Friday as the last celebration of the girl's 8th birthday. My sister, 2 girls from work, and I all chipped in and rented out the rink for 2 hours. It was really fun. I was a little worried about the twins. I had no idea how they would do skating. They did great! W was trying to get up and get going before I had even laced his skates. They both just took off. We had to keep getting on to W because he wanted to skate on the rink instead of the carpet. Thankfully they have a carpeted walkway that goes all the way around the rink. So a good time was had by all. M was surprisingly taken with the whole skating thing. He usually has a tantrum when he hurts himself, so I was a little worried about what would happen when he fell down. Splitcat got him on video.

Candle light breakfast

Candle light breakfast, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

The power went out the other morning right as it was time to get up for school. Of course, it came back on just as it was time to leave. We had fun having breakfast by candlelight. I was a little sad when the lights came back on. It was really quiet without all the electricity.

Looking Glass Clock

Looking Glass Clock, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

I don't usually post my crafts here, but I really love this one. It's a clock that runs backward. I made it for a swap on Craftster. Click on my Flickr to see what else I made. I am pretty proud of the stuff I made for this swap. I didn't want to give any of it away! It was an Alice themed swap.

Baby Lady

I seem destined to be the baby lady. I quit my job this year, ready for a break from the crying and diaper changing. They've been through 2 teachers already. Now, it's back to me. I will only be working Mon and tues(until my boss can find a replacement), so it's not too bad. There were just 2 babies, now there are 3. Hopefully I won't get too bored. So, no more spending all day watching Netflix or playing on POGO. It's back to the grind for me.

February has been a busy month. I've been busy crafting for swaps over on Craftster. I'm in an ongoing embroidery swap, did a Wall Art Swap and I am finishing up an Alice in Wonderland Swap. I am enjoying it. The kids have been out of school all week this week for winter break. So that's been exciting. Splitcat is assistant coaching middle school boys soccer this year, so we haven't really seen much of him lately. He's also been busy collecting coins for pennies for patients. Their school was 5th in the nation last year for donations. He told the high school he would shave his goatee if they raised a certain amount of money. Today is the last day and they need to raise another 4,000 or so to make it to his goal. However, that's how much they raised last year on the last day. So splitcat may have to shave this weekend. He's only shaved it off once since I've known him, and he did it over winter break and grew it back in so no one at school saw him beardless. I think it's funny that his students want him to shave.

The weather has been amazingly beautiful. We've been playing outside alot.(photos by splitcat)







Well, I am subbing today, so I must go gather the troops and take myself to work. Thanks for stopping by. Will update on the whole beard thing.

Well, January is nearing its conclusion. It's been quite a month. We spent almost a week completely iced in. Thankfully we never lost power or anything. And splitcat had the foresight to go grocery shopping before all the crowds hit, so we had enough food and such. All in all it was a pleasant time. I kind of hated that everyone had to go back to school. The worst part was that the garbage didn't come for 2 weeks. But it worked out because splitcat had to clean up the garage to get out the extra garbage cans.

While we were iced in we celebrated the boy's tenth birthday. He thought missing school was a great way to spend his birthday. He also had to miss his scheduled dr's appt. He was devastated. The in-laws braved the icy roads and brought him(and us) some Dunkin Donuts(his favorite treat). We also made a cake and gave him a book about weapons. Last night we went out for pizza with splitcat's parents and he received a nintendo DS Lite and a couple of games for it. Next weekend will be another party for splitcat's extended family, and sometime in February I am going to take him and his boy cousins out for the day.

He is growing into a fine young man. He is still struggling with school, but his appetite for knowledge is pretty voracious. The highlight of the past few weeks for him, though, is that splitcat is letting him play Medieval II: Total War. He has been playing an older version of civilization, so we thought he was ready to move on.

He is a funny, funny kid. In the car on the way to the pizza place last night, we passed a house that had horses in the yard. One of the twins yelled out excitedly that he saw some cows, so he was quickly informed that those were horses. Which led the boy to make a remark about how cows had lots of "pee-pees" but that milk came out of them, not pee. We quickly informed him that those were called udders(I guess I need to get him a book on animal husbandry). Of course, a general discussion broke out about the word "pee-pee." His sister(of all people) informed us all that they were called "weiners." (and yes, we were laughing really hard in the front seat). And in his most authoritarian voice, the boy said, "Actually, the real word is......(dramatic pause)....the Urinator of Doom."

In other news: the bible study I attend has started back up, so I now have something to do that involves people over the age of 10. I am amassing quite a pile of stuff to send to the thrift store. It's taken me a really long time, but I almost have my stuff down to a manageable level. Now, if I could convince everyone that they only need 7-10 changes of clothes, I would have a lot less laundry to pile up everywhere.