"mok"

It never fails.  Every time he wakes up, whether it's first thing in the morning or after his afternoon nap, Parker asks for "mok" (milk) and then promptly waddles his way back to his bed like a penguin back to his nest, covers himself up with his blanket as he slowly lays back on his pillow, and enjoys his milk in peace and quiet.

Sometimes he ventures out and climbs into our bed to snuggle up with his cup of milk, as he did this afternoon.  I laid next to him just to visit for some one on one time, and he moved right up on me and nuzzled his cheek against mine...while he continued to drink his milk.  :)

I called Talton in to take our picture, because it was such a sweet moment that I just don't ever want to forget.

I could've sat there for the rest of the day, snuggled up with this sweet Bug of mine.

P.S. - I love the way he says milk: "mok".  I'm going to soak it up every single time he says it and never correct him because one day he's going to wake up and call it "milk" and my heart just might break a little.

I walked in and saw this...

"I'm playing a game with Daddy, Mommy." ....followed by a huge, all teeth smile.

Talton: "Did we get them?"
Connar: "No.  They're on the stairs!"

"Oh no!  Look out!"

"Stop that truck!  Come on, Daddy."

"He went that way, Daddy!"

me: "Can I play too?"
Connar: "No.  Only boys can play this game, Mommy," as he throws his head back cracking up, as if what I've asked is completely ridiculous.

"We're using the Boss Hog Outlaw Gun!"  Hmmmm...wonder which parent taught him that phrase...

Funny thing here is that T never plugs in C's controller, but C obviously doesn't know that.  He plays with all his might and truly believes that he's making major plays in the game when he pushes his buttons.  :)

Okay, so here's what I want to know.  (1) Is a love of video games hereditary?  And if so, (2) Is it too early to start an intervention?  I kid....I love seeing how excited C gets to play with his daddy, at whatever game that may be.  :)

Chauffeur Connar

When we Skyped my family the other day, Connar thought it would be fun to take them for a ride on his new bike. 

So one by one, they took turns holding the iPad on their end while he put the iPad on the back step of his bicycle.  All they could see was the ceiling and part of Chauffeur Connar's back as he drove, but every one of them played along as if they were here holding on to his waist enjoying the ride.  "Wow, Connar!  This is so much fun!"  "Thank you for taking me on a ride, Connar!"

It was so fun to watch him "share" and show off his bicycle.  He's such a sweet, sweet boy.

It's that time of year...

...when Girl Scouts are out selling their scrumptious cookies!  I'm pretty bummed about not being able to indulge in my favorites... Peanut Butter Patties, Shortbread, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

It shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone that even remotely knows me that the Peanut Butter Patties are my all time fave though.  Because I don't have the opportunity to buy boxes from my students like I did when I taught or even as I exit the grocery store this year, I decided that now was the perfect time to put on my true Girl Scout hat and make due with what I have at my disposal in Korea.

A few months ago I was reading one of my favorite blogs and came across a post on how to make Tagalongs (AKA Peanut Butter Patties....Tagalongs was the name of the cookie when I was young...Talk about confusing people when they changed the name and you went to sell cookies the following year!).  When I saw it, I thought, "That's genius!  I can totally do that!"  And so I did.

It doesn't get much simpler than this!  3 ingredients!

After spreading peanut butter on one cracker, I dipped it at least halfway in the melted chocolate.

Then, I laid them on wax paper.  To help the chocolate harden, I opened a window (since it's cold outside), and set the cookies out on the table nearby.

Well I was being too impatient to wait much longer (AND I wanted to do the second half while the boys were napping which was going to be VERY soon!) for the chocolate to harden, I stuck the cookies in the freezer.  It worked like a charm--and was much faster!

Once the chocolate was hard, I dipped the other side in the chocolate, laid them back on the wax paper, and put them back in the freezer.

:)

When my hubby got home, he promptly popped one in his mouth and said they were really good (and he's always my taste tester ;) ), so I tried them and had to agree!  I love sharing my creations, so I'll be sending the rest of these babies to work with Talton tomorrow for his Korean coworkers to enjoy.  They went batty over the cookie dough balls I've made several times in the past for them, so I'm thinking the same will happen with these homemade cookies.


Although they turned out really yummy, nothing will ever be able to replace the real deals....my real favorite G.S. cookies.  So let me put this out there... I think someone should come on a surprise visit to Korea and bring along all 3 of my favorite G.S. cookies (and maybe some extras of each too because you know they freeze well!).  No?  You're right.... Just mailing the cookies to me would be cheaper, after all.  Just some food for thought, people.  ;)

In case you're interested in seeing this using two crackers as my inspiration, Jill, did on her blog, here you go: http://www.theothersideofthemoon2009.blogspot.kr/2012/11/homemade-tagalongs.html .  :)

Let's ride!

We took the boys for their first spin outside on their new bikes in front of our building.  They really loved it, as you would've guessed. 

Connar has gotten the hang of steering and pedaling so well now that he's almost fearless.  It totally scared me when he started going so fast down the slope of concrete that leads to the boardwalk and eventually the beach itself that I ran after him a few times, because I was afraid he wasn't going to slow down in time.  There was one time he took a corner too fast and nearly fell over, but he threw his foot down and stood up to catch himself.  He looked at Talton and I, smiled, and said proudly, "Good catch!"  :)

Parker has crazy good balance on his bike!  So good that he rode without holding on to the handlebars....because both hands were full of goldfish.  :)  He had it made in the shade with his daddy pushing him and me feeding him, all while he was enjoying the view of the ocean and the people around us.  Smart boy.

We rode on and off the elevator on the bikes.  Thank goodness nobody else was in the elevator!  Heading outside now!

And they're off!

Polar Bear Swim

My oldest little guy snuggled up in his warmest clothes to go out to the beach with me to watch our first Polar Bear Swim.  It's not actually polar bears swimming at the beach.  It's where a bunch of crazy people run into the freezing cold water for fun....in very little clothing.  As crazy as it may seem, I can't say that I would never do this.  I watched as not only individuals did this as their families cheered them on, but there were also tons of groups of friends as well as entire families that ran in the water holding hands.  I can see why people would have an event like this on their bucket list....what an experience!

I so enjoyed the entertainment they had out there and especially all the silly outfits.  C & I spent 2 hours out there (with little wind blowing, it wasn't too bad really) people watching.  I treasured this time I got to spend with him one on one, and I could tell that he loved every second of my undivided attention too.

I thought it was so cool that they wore letter jackets for their college.  Prior to this I would've put money on the assumption that letter jackets were an American thing.  Guess I was wrong.

Here's the first round of people going in.  There were a few groups like this that actually swam a course way out in the water.  They wore wet suits and fins to help them since they had to swim so far and stay in the cold water for so long.

Before each round of people, you'd hear the MC yell on the microphone, "Hana!  Tul!  Set!" (1, 2, 3!) and off they'd race.

There were so many people there just to watch!

The buoys were set up far out in the water, and the swimmers had to race out, around, and back.  If it seemed like forever to me for them to get back, I know it had to be a long swim for them in that water.  Every person that did that is amazing in my book.

There was some sort of contest going on where groups of people would dance, and then the crowd voted afterwards by applause.  I think it's awesome that you can sense sarcasm even when it's in another language, as I could when this MC would talk to/about these groups of people.

There were interviews going on here and there...

A group of women taught the crowd how to do the moves from the song and music video "Gangnam Style".... I don't know, maybe you've heard of it?????  ;)  They must've played that song at least 10 times, which makes me wonder what song(s) they played at events before Gangnam Style was popular.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it's played everywhere, every day.  My husband said they even play it and have this same sort of "dance class" led by a group of women at several work events he's gone to.  I do have to say, though, that I thoroughly enjoyed watching a big group of people, especially the older people, take a stab at these dance moves.  It kind of made my day.

Here, I think you should enjoy it too.  :)

And you have to check this one out.  Focus on the woman in the pink on the left.  She's a dancing fool!  My guess is she had been drinking all morning in an effort to keep warm (she had little clothing on because she was participating in the swim later), and whatever she drank made her a bit hyper and extra friendly.  Loved her!

He drew "C"s in the sand to pass some time.

It was finally time for the people that weren't racing to get in.  This is what I had been waiting to see!  These were the people who chose to strip down and run into freezing water for no reason at all.  And into the water they all went!  It might sound like they're in pain from all the screaming (as you can imagine they more than likely were with the ice cold water), BUT I can guarantee this is also the sound of the time of their lives.  The smiles and laughter were contagious.

C's face was hilarious as he watched the people run into the water.  I asked him if he wanted to get in the water too, and, knowing that the water was really cold, his response was, "No!  They're crazy."  Ha!!!

We watched this madness for about 5 minutes before deciding to head home.  What's amazing to me is that instead of jumping in and then straight back out of the water, most of the people stayed in the water long after we left.

It was such a treat to be able to watch the Polar Bear Swim AND to have it be within walking distance from our condo.  Even though we didn't hop in the water ourselves, it was an experience I'll not soon forget.  What a fun way to spend our morning together!  :)