Moving On

Wild West night is officially over and I must say it was so much fun. We all had a good time. The OSC here went ALL out. It was a well ran, huge fund-raising evening. I've never seen such a total transformation of an O-Club. Impressive.

The boys were equally excited. The plan was for all of us to spend the night at Heather's and share a babysitter. I didn't go into ALL the details with Cole because when I picked him up from school on Friday this is what he said:

Cole "Mom, am I really spending the night at Jacob's house?"
Me "yes, on Saturday while we go to the Wild West night"
Cole "but what if I have an accident and pee?"

Oh, my heart. He's scared to death. I assured him that he and Brad will be in their own room and I will make sure to pack the pull ups. The babysitter will help you and Jake will never know that you're wearing one and I'll be there before you even wake up. Then he told me "you better pack 10 pull ups just in case"

Later that night and following morning: "I'm so excited and nervous for my sleep over" He wants to go but is so worried about another accident. It's all we talk about. I wish I could just wipe the slate clean for him. We did talk to the teacher, but it kinda went nowhere. :-/ Keith and I approached him and said "is there something that happened or we're missing? Why does he hate going to school? Why do I have to fight him to come? Why the accidents? How come there's only been 3 in the class this whole year and my son is two of them? Why is he afraid of his teacher?" Guess what.... his teacher was totally shocked. I can't even type it without my eyes rolling. How do you spend 7 hours a day with my child and not know if anything could have possibly happened? He thinks maybe he might have got in a fight with one of his friends. Yep, that was his only answer. That's the answer he gave me instead of wanting to dig into the deeper issues of these accidents.

Parenting failure. He's six and potty training once again is an issue. I've been working on wiping his own hiney, and the importance of not holding it. I don't think he's used the bidet in WEEKS! Small victories. Now, I'm having to remind him if he ever feels scared to just go empty his bladder whether he feels like he has to "go" or not. Keith and I have also set an alarm in the middle of the night to wake up and take him to the bathroom. So far he's dry at 1am, but still wet again at 6:30am. I feel like I can't limit his liquid intake at night because they don't get enough to drink during the day.

I'm counting down the days. If things don't improve after this vacation, decisions will be made.

Speaking of vacations.... it's almost time!!! We might have had one suitcase packed for the past 4 days. I had to pull out all the shorts tonight to see what fits the boys. Brad wears a 4T. He is wearing the same brand new shorts Cole wore this past summer when we got here. Good thing because I bought some sale stuff this winter for next summer - Cole is wearing it now. I'm hoping they will still fit in 4 months. I've been over treating eczema spots so the sunscreen and bug spray won't burn Brad's skin. We've packed life jackets the boys will be wearing 24/7 because I'm a bit loco when it comes to them around large bodies of water. What a great idea: island hoping in the Indian Ocean! I need to pack some Valium for myself. We have sand toys, straws (it's known they "recycle" drinking straws over there and we can't drink the water), towels, snorkel gear, our flippy floppies. Oh... and this:


This is about the only New Year's Resolution I've put any effort into so far. Since I have never read nor seen the movie Gone With The Wind (and I miss my friend Erin) I have some beach reading material! The thickness of the book is slightly daunting, but I will prevail. I just hope it's as exciting as the Twilight series. Margaret Mitchell might be rolling over in her grave. Sorry! Expect a full book report to follow!

DISCOVER Me

I found out the Airman and Family Readiness Center offers some pretty neat stuff. In my search for a hidden talent the AFRC announced a new service. You can DISCOVER yourself. It says:

This program is designed to provide one stop shopping and seeks to match an individual's likes, dislikes, skills, abilities, and values with occupations and school majors.

An online quiz to figure out what I'm good at! Perfect! I took the four areas of the test and this is what it showed me.



Does it make sense to you? Me neither. However, after each quiz it would suggest career options I might be interested in. I so wish I knew how to capture the screen shot because you'll never believe this. Keith was sitting right next to me so he can attest to the results.

First it told me that I should consider being a flight attendant or animal trainer. Then it told me that should look into the medical field such as occupational therapists, allergist, nurse anesthetist, registered nursing, and dental hygienist. It suggested being a dancer, and to Keith's absolute delight, a photographer,. The final directional push was teaching. Now isn't that something? I took a test to tell me exactly what I was and already thought of doing. So much food for thought.

I should think about it after I catch up on years of missed sleep. Starting right now. Goodnight.

World Worst Mom

Do you want to know what Brad's favorite song is? Sexy B*tch by David Guetta featuring Akon. Nice huh? It's kinda catchy if you get past the name. I actually had to look the song up and am totally embarrassed that is what it's called. I blame the AFN. I feel bad this one little radio station has to play music to fit EVERYONE's tastes. You can be listening to heavy metal in the morning, rap by lunch, pop mid afternoon, with a easy 80's/90's relaxing remix by 5:00pm. And did I mention the DJ's were just about the world's worst? Here's a little sample of the song for those acting like they've never heard it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqYHPEUUcHg

Today on the way to base Brad heard this song and said "Turn it up, I like this song. It makes my tummy, my head, and my toes dance." Dance on brother, you know this mommy won't discourage it.

Oh my gravy - I'm writing this post and listening to the song. I don't think I've ever listened to all the words. I'm a HORRIBLE mother. I blame the clunker car and it's 20 year old speakers. Do I deny dancing tummy and toes? I'm so torn.

Better news is that Grandpa Greg might have found a new BFF. With as many times as we've watched The Princess and The Frog, Brad's love of jazz music is growing. I'll have to get video but the little toot just can keep still when he hears those horns start to blow. It's the most endearing thing I've ever seen. For that reason alone the movie is literally on repeat. If he uses this love of jazz excuse when he's a teenager begging to go to Mardi Gras, please help me keep my head on straight. I will totally fall for it. Especially if Grandpa Greg promises to chaperone ;-) Happy Birthday SlothBear!!!

Oh, Yesterday we had to wake up early for a parent/teacher conference. Keith had to go into work later that afternoon and work late so a nap was needed. At 9:30am we turned off the lights, closed the thick hotel type curtains, and all crawled back into bed (Keith, Brad, and I) and took at two hour nap. It was As Good As It Gets. I love his schedule. I have no idea how I will adapt to a regular work week 12 hour day routine. Never be afraid of the Korea remote!

The Frog Movie

My "Korean Blockbuster" movie store has become a favorite pit stop in our downtown shopping trips. 3 movies for 10,000 won! (although it's a rip off because in Seoul you can get 5 for 10,000) That calculates to less than $10 for 3 hot off the presses movies. I do mean HOT.

Our last trip included the movie The Princess and The Frog. It's Disney's latest and since I'm on a Disney kick with the boys I got it. Brad has requested everyday to watch this movie over and over. I put it in but I'm always cooking, cleaning or "working"... I mean surfing the web. Today I sat down to watch it with him. I LOVE IT! No wonder he has it on repeat all day everyday. It is a cute movie. I might even say better than The Little Mermaid and pretty darn close to The Lion King. Totally adorable and I can't get the songs out of my head.

Since Brad is into little creatures and this movie is about frogs (kinda), his new obsession is the squishy frogs. He's carried one around the past few days and I'm going to bet good money that he has one in bed with him right now. Now I have to go google to read the cast and credits - it is cut off on our movie. Go watch it if you can - very cute!

**edited to add**

I went to check on the boys before I headed to bed and sure enough Brad had a squishy frog right on his chest. I wish I took a picture.

Ugg!

Remember the time Ashley and I decided to drive across the country with 2 kids, 3 dogs, and a cat? Remember when we stopped for lunch at Taco Bell and it immediately gave me a migraine? Remember when Ashely was driving and I was sick in a clear Ziploc bag while my children were screaming because the DVD player was broken with Marty Cat meowing like we were killing her in a slow painful death and the van reeked of puke and dog breath. Yea... that was fun.

Ever since that trip I swore off Taco Bell. I just can't take it. I once had a deep deep love for their Taco Pizzas at 3am. I think we ate there at least once a week growing up. During my broke college years I would scrape together coins to grab a 49 cent taco because it was a stone's throw from my apartment. It was time to part ways and we did. Till I moved here.

It seems as if Taco Bell has an undercover deal to infest every military base I've ever been to. Korea is no exception. After months and months of the smell of kimchie, I caved and went back to my Taco Pizza. It was nice and just as yummy as I remembered.

However, I am officially stating on record that we are broken up again. This time forever. I can't handle the fake food and cheese. It hurts my tummy, it makes me feel gross for 48 hours. The number one reason we're breaking up: It makes Brad poop 5 times a day. I'm done wiping hinnie 5 times in an afternoon - unless it was on a tinie tiny newborn hinnie then I would reconsider. Goodbye Taco Bell. I know we'll cross paths but I can no longer enjoy your cheap lard filled food. No Quierro Mas.

Cole's Basket Game 4

We will be working on dribbling, but I think this is a great shot. It's not a clear video but did you see The Look? Ahhh... good day.

Dr. Fish

Life is pretty low key here in Korea. There's not as many rules and regulations about each and everything you come across. This is good when you're tired of waiting at a red light... just go if the path is clear. This is bad when you are eating at a restaurant and wonder about their health code standards. There isn't a PETA chapter considering they eat dogs (bad thing in my book), but good when it comes to Dr. Fish.

Have you heard of Dr. Fish? It's a large fish tank at spas where you can stick your feet into and the fish EAT the dead skin off of you. These little aquatic vertebrates will nibble at your body while taking away your corns and callouses. (every time I say callouses I want to finish with "bluestar ointment the one that's guaranteed, ask for it!" I watched way too much tv when I was younger.)

Walking the streets of downtown today we stopped into Escape Nail Salon for some Dr. Fish. I wanted to take my family here when they visit, so we went to check it out. You know it didn't take long for my children to have their hands in the tank allowing the fish to eat their fingers. Brad was a little more timid than Cole. Cole had his shoes off and in the water 30 seconds later, Brad was more of the watcher. The kid didn't even flinch. He just stuck his feet in and was laughing away. It took a while longer for me to join in the fun. I shouldn't say fun...

I almost couldn't stand it because it starts off as a tickle. Then it turns into an irritating pain. Do you know when your foot falls asleep and when it start waking up you have the pins and needles feeling? That's exactly what these fish felt like!!! You know when it tingles and you have to walk on it but don't want to walk... Dr. Fish!
It was different but really cool. Cole loved it, by the way, are those the cutest little man feet you've ever seen? Ignore the pasty white mama legs, they will be Thailand tan in 11 days. Cole said he wants to go back tomorrow. Finally - I have a legitimate reason to go to the spa everyday! Whatever you say baby!!