nap time

the glorious magic of nap time.

lily and topher are at school right now. my mia is napping, and I even have one other baby napping in my room right now. the quiet is heavenly.

I have lots of other things I could be doing right now, but instead I sit. and I write. wait, i'm gonna drink coffee too. cause I can multi task...

 

excellent. you know what I could use? some chocolate. any chocolate. as simple as a twix bar, or a brownie, or maybe a twx bar melted on top of a brownie, with some marshmallow fluff in between. oh yeah. that sounds GOOD....

 

but I don't have any of that stuff in my pantry, so I will continue to write and be content with what I have.

 

this idea of contentment is a funny one. I have been struggling with it for quite some time. chris and I live on a budget. we don't hardly eat out, which means i make almost three meals at home every day. (sure one of those meals is cereal and milk, but i still get the bowl and spoon out and then wash em after they've been used. all of that goes with the labor that is known as 'making a meal happen at home.') anyway, i really want to go out and buy stuff. new shirts, new shoes, a rug for the living room. just stuff. pretty stuff.  but not necessary stuff.

 

remember how i got a kate spade purse for my birthday from my phenomenally generous and magical sister? i was SO anal about that purse. i wouldn't put things in that purse that might tarnish that purse in any way. for instance, at church chris would give me his empty travel mug after finishing his coffee and he would say: "can you put this in your purse?" and usually, my response would be "sure". but when kate came into the picture, my response changed to a firm "no. kate doesn't hold coffee mugs."

 

and then one day, i was having a lot of things go wrong. a lot. i was in my van with topher and mia, and the driver's side window rolled down but wouldn't roll back up. all i could see were dollar signs fluttering out of the open window. so i called our car repair guys and they told me to come on over. but before i called them, topher told me he really really had to pee. so i got an empty water bottle and he started to pee in it. cause i am a multi-tasking fool, i called our car guys while i was still holding topher's personal little urinal. cause i'm awesome like that.

 

mid way through my conversation with the car guys i started to put topher's urinal away. why? i assumed he was finished peeing. it had been quite awhile since he started peeing. but you know what they say when you assume something- you just make an ass out of you and me.

so before i knew what was happening, topher was STILL peeing, and wouldn't you know- he peed on kate.

 

the horror.

 

fortunately, my car window rolled back up. and fortunately, it was just a little pee. but it was still pee. but i could hear Jesus laughing at me, cause he has a serious sense of humour. and he was laughing at me and my love for stuff.

 

"do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (and children urinate) but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

-matthew 6:19-20 (i added the part in parenthesis)

 

and with that- nap time is over. time to do some serious multitasking now that both littles are awake! and there is a strong chance that pee will be involved, as usual. 

life lately

besides school- here is what's going on with the kids:

lily:
the other day we were finishing up with dinner. lily finished first so she started to clear the table. she was like a hard working little waitress. it was so beautiful to witness! she would ask if someone was done with their plate, take it to the trash, throw anything out that needed to be thrown out, and then she would put the dish in the sink. if I had some money I would have tipped her! that girl is so ready to get a job.

topher: "noona! I am using the force to choke you!"
me: "topher, do not use the force on your sister."

topher: "it would be so cool if our house was made out of gum balls! it would be slippery and sticky. it would be awesome! I should pray about it: 'dear Lord Jesus (that's how he starts all of his prayers. so sweet), can you please make our house be made out of gum balls? amen."
so spiritual for a five year old! (and crazy, for wanting to choke his sister and all..)

mia:
pretty much everything she does is hilarious. or extremely dangerous.
she is talking so much more and has the cutest little voice. she loves to show off for her daddy and after I do lily's hair for school, mia comes over and says "my turn!" and I put her 17 hairs into a tiny little elastic and make a 'pony tail'.

see? 17 hairs= happy hair pony tail

getting ready for school and hiding in the rose garden

topher fishing for his breakfast

topher the farmer

loving hanging out at nana and papa's new place

I love these monkey children of mine

school is cool

so, as I mentioned earlier- the kids started school on Wednesday July 31st!

 

Lily and Topher's school is pretty awesome because it has all kinds of different times that you can choose to go to school. since topher is in half day kindergarten, I opted for the 'pm' program for lily and the late start for topher, so that they get out of school at about the same time. and fortunately lily and topher's cousins have opted for the same times so I never drop the kids off at school! instead I get in my awesome minivan once a day and pick up five happy and talkative watsons and drive everyone home. it's a sweet gig!

 

lily is in first grade and already loving it. her teacher is so sweet and is a seasoned veteran with 13 years of teaching at our school under her belt.

we are looking forward to how much lily is going to learn and grow this year.

 

topher was apprehensive about starting kindergarten, but fortunately his cousin cooper is in his class, so having a familiar face in class has helped immensely.

topher has a first year teacher, but she is so sweet and organized, and I think she is on her way to a long and happy career at our school!

 

here's my sweet lily getting in a little exercise before school:

 

 

topher doing his homework- he LOVES doing homework! my precious nerd :

 

topher, lily, and grace enjoying some ice cream to celebrate our first week (aka three days) of school:

 

topher and cooper on the first day of school:

 

topher and lily's first day of school breakfast of champions- star pancake and heart strawberries. cause they are stars and I love them! :

 

 

apprehensive, and still cute:

 

lily, jace, and kiefer on the first day of school:

 

so the journey begins. I am so proud of my kids and in awe of how stinkin' old they are getting!! I held my composure for drop offs. it was way too hot to start crying when I dropped lily off. and I thought I was in the clear for dropping topher off, but then as I watched him cross the threshold into the building I teared up as topher marched towards his classroom.

my babies aren't babies any longer!

Good God

so, the kids started school last week. and as you can only guess- that's going to get it's own post- but that post is not this post.

sometimes I have a wicked good memory- like I remember that I wore this shirt from a pizza parlor in korea and a pair of blue pajama pants the first time that chris and I hung out for an extended amount of time in my apartment in seoul (while my sister and other roommate were home with us!). that day was actually almost ten years ago to the day...

anyhoo, but sometimes my memory is CRAP. like this morning I went to work and I didn't bring my key to get into the office. I told my boss that I forgot my key, but truth be told- I actually couldn't remember the safe spot I put my key in before I left for Toronto.... fortunately, after some prayer and something like scales falling from my brain- I remembered where I left my key. it's not easy being this dumb folks.

anyhoo, I had such an excellent trip back to my other homeland, and I just do not want to forget all the times Jesus personally showed up on my trip, so I am going to write about them here:

- I flew with the kids by myself on a Saturday. I checked our itinerary and it said something to the affect of a united flight in association with us airways. so, who was in charge of the flight?? surely united. so I got to terminal 2, with plenty of time to spare. but I was wrong. it wasn't united- it was us airways that was actually flying me to Chicago. hot diggity. so we busted our buns over to terminal 4, and almost missed our flight. but alas, Jesus knew I was going to be late and crazy, so he let my plane breakdown and gave me an extra hour to catch my breath and get ready for my 3.5 hour flight. the kids- especially Mia, did so great on every flight, and on the 2 hour car ride to my parents house from buffalo. praise Jesus. it was such a good day, even though it could have been ever so terribly bad.

-I left the United States of America without a passport. not wise. not something I would ever recommend that anyone do. ever. but I tried to renew my Canadian passport from Arizona, and apparently that is harder to do than for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle. it was a disaster to put it very lightly. but God is good. all the time. and I was able to drive into Canada with just my Canadian citizenship card, AND I was able to drive back into the USA with just my permanent resident card. so great. you have to have a passport if you are FLYING out of the US into a different country. but if you are driving- not necessary. so awesome. to this day, I still have not received my renewed passport...

-Coming home from Toronto, Mia fell asleep for the entirety of the drive from Toronto to Buffalo. a seriously solid 2 hour nap she took. we flew to Chicago with no problems. then in Chicago Chris and I parted ways. I took Lily and Topher, and Chris took Mia. we were all supposed to be on the same flight home, but priceline changed Chris' flight, so he was on a different flight. ridiculousness. I almost had a panic attack as I envisioned having to fly home with all three kids again, but Chris is the best human being and he took Mia for the long flight home. and she rewarded his awesomeness by sleeping for 2 hours. TWO HOURS. the five and a half hours that I had been on airplanes with Mia two weeks previously- she did not sleep for even ONE SECOND. not a second. but that's ok. we all got home safely and I was SO HAPPY to be home.

we had an incredibly great time in Toronto. but home is sweet. thanks to all of you who lifted us up in your prayers, especially as we traveled. God heard your prayers and answered them all!!!!

Growing Family. Always Growing...

1. Archer Jack

 

 

here is my nephew- Archer Jack. He was born at the beginning of July- NOT the end of June.

Chris' younger sister Breanne and her hubby Scott welcomed this awesome bundle of joy into their family July 5th after 46 hours of labor and an eventual C-Section. Breanne officially wins longest and craziest labor. Dang that girl is so competitive! ;)

 

2. Amber Ham

 

 

Amber joined the crazy Ham family on Saturday July 27th, by marrying Topher.

Just kidding. But look how cute that picture is!

After months of wedding planning, the big day finally arrived and everyone was so happy for it.

Amber is a SWEET and kind and compassionate soul who truly, deeply, and madly loves my excellent older brother. Sure my brother Alex has his faults, but he is truly one of the NICEST and most loyal guys out there. this marriage is a blessed one and I am so glad our whole family was around to take part in it!

(a whole separate post will follow to explain the awesomeness and ridiculousness of our Canadian vacation. )

 

3. Watson Baby #4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

just kidding suckers!

if your heart stopped for a second- I can only hope that it started back up again. and if you were thinking- oh yeah- Jihae has been looking round in the midsection... then... I guess I am the sucker who needs to hit the gym.

 

(I stole that ultrasound picture from Cindy's facebook. thanks Cindy for always having so many awesome pics of your kids- in vitro and out :)

 

 

Anyway, I just wanted to dedicate this post to the two newest members of our family. Congrats Archer and Amber! You guys are stuck with us. Forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)