Korean Snow White

We went to Children's Grand Park in Seoul on Saturday. While we were there we watched a show called "Anistory". It it a Korean version of Snow White. As you can see from the pictures of the boys above, it looks like they have the right characters. When we get inside to watch the show... things aren't quite like Disney. When we first meet Snow White she is dressed in rags doing cleaning chores and talking to birds like another princess we know... Cinderella perhaps? Then we meet the dwarfs... little monkeys dressed in costume. The story then begins to look more familiar as the evil witch forms a plan to feed Snow White a poisonous apple. But wait, now we have two princes competing for our lovely princess. How do they compete for the love of a sleeping princess you ask? Well, with sports of course! They each have a seal play basketball to see who wins. The winner gets to wake up Snow White with a beautiful flower. Not a kiss folks! Finally, Snow White, her Prince, and their two seals play beautiful music. Who would have thought that fairy tales would vary so much from country to country? I wonder how other countries stories differ from the ones we were told as children.

Seattle or not, here we come

Atkinson clan rejoice, Stewart's get out the tissue box. Joe just received his Orders this morning and it looks like Fort Lewis, WA. Fort Lewis is just south of the Seattle/Tacoma area. The Pacific Northwest is a beautiful part of the country with a lot of fun stuff to do. As you you can see from the pictures above there is the waterfront and the Puget Sound. Then you have Mount Rainer which Joe want to climb. He might be slightly crazy, but I still love him. He asked me if I wanted to climb with him and have to admit my first thought was, "Uh, OK?!? Are you Crazy?" I did tell him I would think about it, I need to get in better shape and maybe that would be great motivation. Any who. Of Course, I can't mention Seattle with out thought of Pike Place Market. Home of the World Famous Fish throwers, and the FISH Philosophy. This is an amazing farmers market with incredible variety. When we were there we saw fruits, vegetables, baked goods, fresh flowers, and even art. It will be a good move for our family. I am excited but sad. We will be about 8 hours from Joe's Family. Which is great I love them dearly. But at the same time I have mixed emotions because it would have been nice to be close to my family also. We will make the best of it while we are there I am sure. The best part is that the Winter Olympics in 2010 are in Vancouver, BC (close enough to drive)! I am really excited about that! At this point after living in Korea "non-command sponsored" I am not sure it really matters where we live any more. I just look forward to getting my household goods again. I miss my fridge, and my washer and dryer. :) Silly, I know... It's the simple things in life.

Shh...baby sleeping

Tonight I watched this sweet little 5 week old so his Mom and Dad could go out on a date night. He was really good for me the whole time they were gone. He went to sleep while I was trying to get my boys ready for bed so I made him this comfy bed. Yes, I know it is two towels in the bottom of the laundry basket. That is not what matters. He slept comfortably there for an hour and was also protected from Skoebie. Skoebie ans Stew both love this little guy. Stew was a big helper with him tonight. Stew softly snuggled him, held his bottle for him, and gave him a pacifier when he was crying. Skoebie was a handful. He was jealous of Mama holding a baby, wanted to help with the baby, but couldn't, wanted to love the baby and was a little to rough. It was a fun evening. Best of all, I got to give the sleeping little guy back to his loving Mom and Dad before he woke up in the middle of the night.

Can you feel the Beat?

The boys love music. It is so fun to watch them get into the beat and start dancing or bobbing to the music. Skoebie's new thing is to start shaking his fist in the air. It is like the beat just takes over them. They are goofy. Here they are wearing Joe's headphones thinking they are cool as can be. They normally are not allowed to touch them, let alone wear them. Then we have my handsome Stew. He saw Joe putting his tie on for church a couple of weeks ago and insisted he needed a tie for church instead of a polo shirt. So, I gave in. He was thrilled that I bought him two ties and new dress shirts. He was begging everyday to go to church so he could wear his tie. When Sunday came I thought he was going to burst with excitement. We had to get pictures. He looks so grown up for being 2 almost 3. Then we have Elton John. Our friend left her daughters sunglasses here and Skoeb wanted to try them on. He didn't seem to care for the pink lenses, but he left them on for me to take a picture. He looks like a mini Elton John. I just had to laugh at him. I love my boys.

Soccer anyone?

Here are some pictures of the boys playing soccer with some of their friends last week on the turf field across from Joe's house. The boys love to play soccer. Skoebie will run and kick the ball as long as you let him. However, with the older kids we had playing too he did a lot of carrying the ball. We have pictures here of Skoebie running with the ball - Run Skoebie Run! Skoebie playing keep away from the big kids. Stew and Sydnee sitting on the balls (I know that one is a basketball...we didn't have enough soccer balls for all the kids). And Finally Stew playing Goalie -stopping the ball outside the net. The kids had a blast. I hope you are having this much fun.

When all else fails... go Bowling!

Ok, so the other day we decided to have some friends over for dinner and then go to the pool. We enjoyed Hawaiian Haystacks and then proceeded to go to the pool. The hovey pool was closed due to a broken filter. Yuck! They told us that the casey pool was open until 1930, (7:30) The book on post that tells the hours of the pools said sunset. We arrived at the pool around 6:30 and just as we get ready to get in the lifeguard blows his whistle and says "OK, Pools closed." Apparently they got to work an hour early and just decided to close an hour early. We were quite upset, Stew cried. So instead we decided to go bowling. Since we were wearing flip flops, Joe went and bought us some socks....Notice, lovely tube socks! So here we are bowling in swim wear and tube socks. Who knew I was a fashion diva! I actually bowled better in a tankini! Crazy! We are going to try the pool again this afternoon. Wish us luck! I don't think the bowling alley can handle much more of this. ;)

Kelsey's Baby Shower

My friend Kelsey is having a boy! We had to help her celebrate. Tiffany threw her a surprise baby shower that was a tremendous success. As you can see by the group photo above we had a good turnout. Kelsey is only 5 months along, but as life in the military goes she is leaving us and going back to the states in September. So we took advantage of the moment. Tiffany made this adorable diaper cake. I had everyone decorate onsies for the baby. I couldn't believe the talent we had amongst us. And, of course, we played games. We scooped cotton balls from one bowl to another while blindfolded, which was tougher than it sounds. We stuffed jumbo marshmallows in our mouths and tried to say different baby related items such as diaper, sippy cup, and pacifier. You get one marshmallow in your mouth for each word. Who knew that marshmallows swell in your mouth when you don't chew them and try to stuff as many as you can in your mouth at once. The are not kidding when they say Jumbo! We also unscrambled baby words and tried to guess what baby animals were called. Did you know that a baby eel is called an elvin? The things you can learn. We had a great time. I have some great friends.

Joe - My Hubby

OK, So I did posts about the little guys, I better include the Papa. Can you Believe it folks? Yes take a second look, or a third if needed. Joe IS smiling in that first picture. Honestly, after being married to him for 8.5 years, this is the only picture I have of that handsome smile. I see it often, but the camera makes it disappear. I wish I could catch it on camera more often. Obviously the pictures here of Joe are of my handsome devil in uniform. The first is from some field training here in Korea. The second is from last summer. And finally taken today, "Yeah! Papa is home!" This is the welcoming committee helping Joe get his boots off. Joe works hard so that we don't have to.

Stewart - My big boy

Here are some pictures of my crazy Stewart. He is a sweetheart. He also is my comedian who knows he is funny. In the first pic here I told him to smile and this is the face I got. Then he tells me, "Mama, eyes open!" Joe tried to take a picture of him last week and he kept closing his eyes so Joe told him to keep his eyes open when he smiles. Well Papa, ask and you shall receive. The next picture is from Kelsey's baby shower, Stew was apparently trying to help me win the game. I could just hear the other ladies saying "No, don't help your Mom." At least we know who's team he is on. And finally, Stew's favorite pastime... Playing in the rain, and big puddles. This puddle he is standing in came up to mid calf on him. He was having so much fun he didn't want to stop for a picture. Stewart is a great big brother too. Skoebie loves his "Stew-Stew" and always wants to play with him.

Skoeben - My happy boy

Here are a few pictures of Skoebie. He is starting to develop a fun imagination. He loves to play. The first and last pictures were taken at my friend Kelsey's baby shower this afternoon. They played the scoop cotton balls into a bowl while blindfolded game. After we were done Skoeb had to play with all of the cotton balls. His favorite thing was rolling around in them. The middle picture is of him playing in the laundry basket yesterday. He had a blast. He put his blankets in there all by himself. He is a sweet boy.