Happy COVID Holidays!

Originally, we were supposed to be back in the Philippines by Christmas. Then, we were gonna be with my family in NJ for Christmas. But…..COVID. So we ended up tucking in and spending the holidays in KS.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful and cozy gathering of nearby family with all of our favorite dishes! We started the day by watching the Macy’s parade, which of course, was altered to accommodate for COVID. (eye-roll) As usual, the hours of prep made for a few minutes of delicious consumption, and then spending the rest of the day feeling like a stuffed turkey!

That evening, our Phamily (Philippines friends-that-are-really-family) arrived for the long weekend! Since the girls still had their volleyball and basketball practices, we had to stay close by, so we booked a hotel in the area. It had a pool with a slide and lots of shopping nearby, so everyone was happy.

I love that charcuterie trays have become quite the tradition with our phamily! We reminisce about the days when we all first moved to the Philippines and nothing in that picture was available to us!

The weekend was so fun and too fast! The most odd moment was when 4 of the 8 kids coughed so hard while/after swimming that they threw up! We decided that the pool had so much chemical in it that our systems were boycotting it. I was just sitting poolside and my eyes were burning, so I can verify that being in the pool would be hard on the lungs!

After Thanksgiving, the kids finished 3 weeks of remote-schooling (as the numbers had surpassed the threshold). They did great with it and I think they’ve all learned a lot about self-motivation (which is just fancy talk for “mom is done with overseeing all of this, so I’m on my own!”).

Deacon had the end-of-season football banquet and was given this amazing trophy from his coach! It will be a great reminder for him of his one and only football season!

Mackenzie had her first volleyball tournament and they won the whole thing! No spectators were allowed, but we got to watch via tech. It was really fun to watch her with this new team!

Soon after, teen and preteen cousins arrived for the week. Our kids love having them around bc they are easily entertained around the clock!

More family started to arrive throughout the week and with each arrival, life got more fun! We had one day of beautiful weather, so in the spirit of outdoor fun and social distancing, we took the kids to the park.

Nana had a Grinch party for all the grandkids! They made these adorable snacks, along with green popcorn with little red heart sprinkles.

They made a Grinch pillow by tying fleece and stuffing it. They watched the Grinch movie, and finished up by making sugar cookie Christmas trees. It was a fun-filled day for all of them.

We also went over to another house for gingerbread house making and lots of yummy snacks! Katie is a rock star for hosting so many small children who are “being so artistic!”

Sim loved matching his jammies with Max!

Christmas morning was so much fun!

….followed by an amazing Christmas dinner. The family fun just flew by way too quickly!

On Christmas evening, we zoomed with my family and exchanged our secret santa gifts. It was so wonderful, but bittersweet, to see them but not be with them!

Hopefully soon! (which is our 2021 motto!)

Family Pics

I love me a beautiful fall picture! My sister-in-law offered her time and photography expertise to us for a fall photo shoot. Not only is it wonderful to have a set of spectacular pics, but the entire experience was stressless! win, Win, WIN!

And finally….the pic that makes me look 300+ lbs! I super love the scene, but wow! The breeze, Josh’s leg, maybe a little quarantine weight, plus the-camera-adds-10 lbs, created the perfect storm.

I can’t wait to get big ol’ prints made (except for the last one obviously…)

Bella’s Birthday

Baby Bella is 14! (So I should probably stop calling her that…)

Since we’re in a military town in the US, Bella gets off school for her birthday bc it’s Veteran’s Day! She jumped at the opportunity for a sushi lunch. When we got there, she was feeling “weird.” After a few questions, I figured out that she drank some of my very strong coffee without eating anything because she was saving up for sushi. I know the feeling that accompanies strong coffee with no food, but she’s new to it. So that was her first learning experience as a 14-year-old. A few spicy tuna rolls took care of the jitters!

After lunch, we picked up Bella’s cousin, and headed back home for her to make a pineapple upside-down birthday cake with Nana.

She got lots of craft gifts, cash, a pop socket with Polly’s picture on it, and an Apple (knockoff) watch. She went to bed feeling loved and excited about another year of life.

This has certainly been a crazy year, but Bella has become a better person with so much to be thankful for this year! She is such a great part of our family and offers so much personality to all of our lives. We love her so much and can’t wait to see what her 15th year brings!

Boys Day/Girls Day

This weekend had beautiful weather and it worked out wonderfully for all of us! Josh and the boys had already made plans to go to the Chiefs game, via Gates BBQ, on Sunday afternoon.

Since they were having such fun plans, Katie made sure us girls had a blast also! She got all the supplies and videos for the girls to have a painting party!

In addition to the craft activities, she had terrific snacks like smore mix (marshmallows, scooby-snacks, and m&m’s), sandwiches, cheese & crackers, and punch. We kept the Chiefs game on just to see if we would be dealing with happy menfolk in the evening or grumpy. It came down to the wire, but they were happy indeed!

Here are our finished products! They did such a great job and we loved seeing their different personalities in their painting!

COVID stinks, but these moments remind me how many blessings Covid has snuck in for us! We wouldn’t have been here for this beautiful fall day with cousins if everything was business as usual!

Fall Highlights

1. Mackenzie and her volleyball team made it to the State Finals! It was a big deal and we had so much fun riding along with her. She got pulled up to varsity for a tournament earlier on in the season and played great. So when one of the middles got quarantined, she got pulled up for good. Then the other starting middle burnt her foot badly and Kenz got to play a lot again. It turned out to be a perfect season. Almost perfect – we did lose the state championship, but whatayagonnado?

1. Bella made the A team for the 8th grade volleyball and now the 8th grade basketball team! Unfortunately, she’s been quarantined for possible contact, so she has to miss her first game today. But she did great in volleyball, and the daily practice made her improve so much!

1. Deacon has loved playing football for the last several months! They practice 3x a week and have games most weekends. Sometimes the weather is perfect for sitting and watching football. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it! Most of the time, I have no idea what’s happening, but I just cheer when I see the other mom’s cheer. Deacon has had a couple touchdowns, but I can see that he really loves tackling the ball carrier. He seems to hunt them down like a shark and doesn’t stop until he takes them down!

They wore pink for October!

They won their league championship!

1. Caleb is our only kiddo who hasn’t had to quarantine. (Although, I’m sure we’ll get a phone call from the health department now that I’ve put it in writing! Face palm) As expected, he’s well-liked at school! The exciting school news for him is that he did great on his math testing.

Caleb and Deacon played in a church football league with their best friends from the Philippines!

1. Sim played soccer this fall. He showed so much improvement from the first game to the last! The first game, he was just kind of aimlessly chasing the crowd as they went after the ball. By the end, he was leading the crew, making plays, and scoring goals. He loved it, and as expected, loved the halftime and postgame snacks!

The first pic is from our last furlough, when Caleb played soccer on the same field. Simmy would just play along the sidelines. Now he’s front and center!

1. Josh got certified to sub at school! They use a ton of subs this year, with quarantine protocols in place, so he can work when he’s free, and opt out when he isn’t. The boys love it bc they don’t have to ride the bus and can ride with him! He’s been in mostly kindergarten classes so far. It makes me smile to think of giant Josh teaching a bunch of kinders!
2. Faith should be announcing very soon what the plan is for next semester. I feel like I’m happy with whatever they decide, but I just want to know so that we can plan!
3. The election – blazing right past that.
4. Teaching – it’s fine. I feel like its just a to-do these days, along with my other chores. (Oh right. I should be grading right now, not blogging. )
5. We are all super-loving the fall! The sunny 60 degree days are the best. My kids have NO idea how to dress. Bella’s wearing sundresses when it’s 40 degrees out and wondering why she’s cold. Simeon changes clothes at least 4 times a day because he starts off cold, then gets hot, then gets cold again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

My sis-in-law took some amazing fall family pics!

We also had some birthdays this fall!

Deacon turned 12 and his dream came true – Josh took him to a Chiefs game!

His birthday happened to be on the first day of school!

Speaking of the first day of school….

The more realistic first-day-of-school-in-2020.

The most realistic first-day-of-school pic.

Simeon turned 6 this year! We had his cousins over for a Sonic party, but we had to squeeze it in after soccer practice, so it wasn’t the longest party. But they crammed in a lot of fun, presents and cake in a short amount of time!

Caleb turned 9 and Mackenzie turned 16 a day apart from each other, so our besties drove down for a couple days and we all went to Worlds of Fun.

Sweet 16!

(Sweet 40!)

Bella turns 14 next week, so hopefully I can get back on track with posting! I keep thinking I should give up blogging because it’s so hard for me to stay updated. (I used to post every other day!!!! Now it’s about once every two months.) But then I think of the few times when the kids scroll and scroll and scroll to look at all the old memories, and it makes me want to create more and more for them to see. I just want to make sure I don’t just hit the highlights because there is so much gold in the day-to-day memories!!!

For example–Simeon calls Almond Joys “Milka Joys.” I’m thinking he is combining Milky Ways with Almond Joys. I love it!

I’ll reward myself with a Milka Joy if I can make myself post again before 2021!

Never mind, I’m gonna go get one now.

Venting

I just need to vent a smidge….

*Deacon has to quarantine for two weeks because one of his football teammates just tested positive. Deacon was just getting comfortable at a new school and making new friends and now we have to start all over with zoom classes. Not to mention….no football for two weeks!

I feel like I have a titch of PTSD with the zoom classes! When I think about Deacon sitting in front of a computer all day with a bunch of people that he barely knows, I get a little twitchy!

*Wordpress has changed stuff and I have no idea how to post pictures and I really don’t feel like learning!

*Caleb just got stung by a bee.

*Josh is gone for the weekend, hence the venting on here.

Ok, I figured out the picture thing, so Val, get over it and move on! At least he isn’t stuck online all semester like he would be in the Philippines!

So I left off with July 4th celebrations! The entire family arrived and every moment was a blast!

We all went to visit GG at the nursing home, and since we couldn’t go in, we all stood at her window in our matching family shirts to say “hey!”

The cousins absolutely loved being together all weekend!

There was a lot of kickball, volleyball, trampoline, eating, campfiring, watching old family movies, and of course, fireworks! It was over the weekend also, that we learned that Faith would start school online, so we made the decision to enroll our kids in public school here.

(It was all going great until today!) – ugh who let that ungrateful girl post on here?

While 92 photos are uploading…

Whoops, the summer kind of got away from me! Now that we are back to online school, I’m on the computer a lot and just now realized that my computer life used to include blogging! So I closed the Google Classroom, email, and school tabs, and went to work catching up!

Picking up where I left off, we headed to my sister’s house for our first of many family reunions!

Uncle B went to work spoiling the kids, and succeeded wonderfully! The kids’ pancreases worked overtime, trying to balance out all that! delicious sugar. Thankfully, the kids were also super active, with homemade pools and slip n’ slides!

We also ventured out to the Field of Dreams movie site, which was super cool, as it is literally in the middle of miles of cornfields!

Sigh…this pic makes me miss my Korean noodles. But each bowl is about 500 calories, so it’s probably good that I’m on the other side of the world now!

We had an epic date night on the back deck! Josh and Heather outdid themselves in the kitchen, and as I write this, I’m trying to work off the 10+ lbs that I picked up in those first few weeks of being in the US. As I see these pics, I’m like, “Well, duh. What did you think was gonna happen?!”

After a few days with my sister and fam, we headed down to KS to see Josh’s family. We were welcomed with (another) amazing meal, I believe it was Father’s Day, and lots of excited little cousins!

The uncle rough-housing has been #1 on the boys agenda for many weeks now!

Josh’s birthday was right after Father’s Day, so I snuck him out to…where else? Chipotle. By now, his body can’t go two days without being restocked with sour cream, rice, pico, etc etc.

Josh’s mom made his traditional favorite, Mississippi Mud Cake, for his birthday. Since she came to the Philippines last summer, she’s been with her son for two birthdays in a row!

Our next stop in the busy summer schedule (bc at this point, we were still planning to return to the PI in Aug.) was Arkansas for more family time!

Being The Natural State, we got lots of moments in nature, and it was painfully obvious that our family are city folk! We went to a watering hole, and my pool-babies were so weirded out that they couldn’t see the bottom of the murky water! Behind the kids, there was a rope swing that the older kids liked. Deacon had a scary moment when he pushed off the cliff, but didn’t let go over the water. When he swung back, he didn’t make it far enough to push off again, so he was left dangling over rocks! As he slid down the rope and struggled to get over to the side, my heart of pounding out of my chest! We were across the water, so we didn’t have any way to help him, aside from yelling out instructions and praying. Thankfully, Deacon stayed composed even though he was scared. He let go of the rope and as he fell, he push his feet off the rocks below, and landed in the water, popping up with a big smile on his face!

Sim got his first taste of Braums, always a life highlight for anyone!

Thanks to our college days, we have lots of friends living in AR, so we always want to make sure we get to see them. We spent the day in their beautiful back yard pool until it got dark out. When I looked over, Deacon was just about passed out on the inflatable llama. I’d say the pool did it’s job!

I snuck out for a wonderful lunch with two of my best friends from college. I think we were there for over 3 hours and we were laughing and chatting the entire time. It filled up my heart!

Alright, I’m taking a time-out! There is a lot to catch up on, so I need to pace myself!

 

Quarantined With The Best

As soon as we arrived in their driveway, Abby and Olivia came running out to meet us. It’s always a special reunion with those girls. Sonic was a must-do.

Josh’s instructions were that we drop off the luggage and head to Chipotle. Since our kids are all older, we could leave them at home with the 15-year-olds in charge! (That’s a wonderful new phase of life!) While Josh was giving his (oh-so-specific – [eye roll]) burrito order, Dave snuck up behind him and surprised him! He didn’t even know that we were going there, but he was in the area,  so he just quickly looked for their car and wasn’t at all surprised when he saw it!

Since we arrived at 9:30 am (after leaving Seoul at 10:30 am THE SAME DAY – mind blown), it was a little hard to stay awake all day, especially because of the amazing blankets Michele has sitting on her couch! I fell asleep for a few hours, as did Josh.

That night, we ate Lou Malnati’s Chicago Deep Dish pizza in their back yard. It tasted sensational. (So sensational that we got it again on our last night!)

The first thing that I just can’t get over when I arrive in the US is how amazing the weather is in June! It’s sunny, cool, and stays light out until late into the evening! I just sit in the yard like an old lady, just enjoying the weather for hours, which is why I now have a watch tan. A new characteristic of mine as I approach 40 is that I now appreciate trees. Michele and I would go for daily walks around the neighborhoods and I must have commented 58 times on how beautiful the old trees are. Before I know it, I’ll be all excited to see a “blue-breasted whipperwhirl!” (*not a thing)

Here’s another look at jet lag…

Dave and Michele took off from work, so we had lots of time together! We took the kids to the park…

The kids absolutely loved having the freedom to ride bikes to the nearby grocery store for cookies that they give to kids for free!

Kenzie and Abby on National Best Friends Day.

Dave and Josh took the kids fishing. Each of our kids caught something except for Kenzie.

A long anticipated date night was had at the local Mexican place. We couldn’t dine in the restaurant, but they had tables set up outside, so aside from being a little chilly, it was a legit date night and so so wonderful to be out with our friends (while our kids ate tacos at home!)

We had fires at their fire pit almost every night.

I tried cheese curds for the first time! (Yeah, I think I’ve already gained 10 pounds….)

See what I mean about the blankets?

We did a LOT of reenactment photos!

Michele took me out for pedicures for my birthday, just like the old days! (only it costs 5x the price that it costs in the philippines, and of course, we had to wear masks…)

A tradition that I’m A-ok with developing is going to Dairy Depot!

Another date night that we planned and implemented spectacularly was our charcuterie night! We hit Sam’s and Vali Produce for some fancy cheeses,  caviar, and sausages. Unfortunately, the weather made it cold and rainy, and we wanted some privacy from the kids, so we took our fancy charcuterie to the garage, with lawn chairs and a plywood table.

Another night,  Josh made a scallop and shrimp platter that was amazing. ( I mentioned the weight gain, right? No wonder I have to train for marathons when I’m in the US!)

The kids got to do the ice cream truck experience (for the first and last time!)

It was such a great visit! We all got our best-friend-cups filled to the brim! It’s never enough time, but what makes it so great, I guess. Although….it was pretty great when they lived in our building and we did everyday life together. (sigh)

Regardless, I’m so thankful for it all!

Across The Pond

We’ve been in the US for almost 2 weeks and every moment since we left our condo has been sensational! We left late at night, so we hit McDonalds on the way to the airport. Since we hadn’t had much outside food for the last several weeks, it tasted so amazing. I know! McDonalds….amazing!

The one annoying hiccup of the trip was that they were not letting people into the airport until 8:00pm. We were there around 7, so we had to stand around outside for over an hour. The line had advanced us just under cover when it started to rain! I was so thankful, because the thought of beginning a 24-hour trip, soaking wet, did not appeal to me. 

When we finally got into the airport, we zipped through check-in. We tried to check in online to speed things along, but they wouldn’t let us check in the kids online. (facepalm) We decided to get Josh and I checked in online so that we could at least try to get into the web check-in line. That was the jackpot, because when I asked where the web check in line was, the guy asked for my last name. When I gave it, he checked his list and said, “Yes, there you are!” So we had to wait for one person in line ahead of us instead of the 100 people in the other line!

The next potential hiccup was immigration. We had literally just completed our new visa work the day before! It’s not a common visa, so we were anticipating a long immigration-desk wait, where supervisors were called and lot of discussions would be had. However, before we knew it, we were pulling down our facemasks to smile for the camera, and were hearing the glorious “stamp” of the immigration officer! 

The worst part of the trip? Starbucks was closed.

We got to our gate with two hours to wait–that’s how smoothly everything went. We had some friends on the same flight who were not so lucky! They showed up at the gate just as we were boarding….and they had arrived at the airport before us! When they checked in, their flight out of Korea had been canceled. This is just how everything has been going around here. Flights were being canceled left and right, so we didn’t totally exhale until our plane was wheels-up! Thankfully, they got everything sorted out and we all made it to our final destinations.

(That one flight to Incheon was ours!)

The flight was surprisingly full. Thankfully, there were enough open seats that we were able to spread out enough to have an empty seat next to each of us. Even though it was midnight, I jumped right into watching Downton Abbey! I might as well get a head start on beating jet lag.

We arrived in Korea at 4am. Incheon is literally the best airport to layover in! We followed the signs to the napping lounge and settled in. The boys were wide awake and had memories of the play area that we settled in the last time we laid over in Korea, so I took them for a little walk. Unfortunately, everything in the airport was closed due to COVID-19. Hopefully, when we fly back, we can avail of the fun stuff there. We found this cool globe, so we hung out there for a while.

Once the boys were tired again, we headed back to the napping lounge and the boys conked out. Our layover was 6 hours so everyone got a good rest.

We powered up at Dunkin Donuts right before boarding our next flight. I remember texting my family and saying, “Unless I’m missing something, this flight is really empty!” When we boarded, we were so excited to see very few people on the plane. Business Class only had 2 people in the entire section! 

It turned out that each of us was able to have our own row! It was amazing and so much more restful. Josh stayed with me while we ate our bibimbap and then I didn’t see him again until they turned on the lights for breakfast! I watched It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and then fell fast asleep across my three seats. I couldn’t have had a better flight (unless they let me up into Business Class!)

When we arrived in Chicago, Josh took the boys to one Immigration kiosk and I took the girls to another. We breezed through those, and since there were few passengers, we breezed through baggage claim too. Before I knew it, we were greeting our best friends in the Arrivals section! Deacon hasn’t seen his best friend, Seth, in over three years so he surprised Deacon at the airport. I kind of missed the reunion because I was bringing up the rear, but I heard it! We haven’t stoppedsmiling since.

 

Life in the Longest Lockdown

We’re going in to week 11 of quarantine….and it feels like year 11!

The kids did an amazing job finishing a quarter of distance learning. The girls both earned straight A’s! Caleb got a quarter of one-on-one tutoring, which I think, I hope, benefitted him! Simeon had the least amount of work, but wanted to work more than anyone! He was always asking for some more schoolwork!

So now school is over….online graduation commenced….the zoom app has gone unused for a few days….and the kids still aren’t allowed to go out and stuff isn’t really open….so it’s challenging to keep them busy all day, unless we are cool with unlimited Fortnite.

Which we are.

For now.

We have been planning to go to the US for the summer, but when our first flight got canceled, we weren’t sure what God had planned for us. In addition, foreigners aren’t allowed into the Philippines for the time-being, so if we leave, we run the risk of not being allowed back in. And, we have no idea what will happen with school.

Needless to say, we’ve been praying fervently for the Lord’s leading. More than anything, we just want to do what He wants us to do! As long as we are in His will, we are good to go.

The canceled flight turned out to be a blessing because it was flying us into NYC. However, CMML is closed and wouldn’t be able to house us. So when a multi-city ticket into Chicago and out of NYC opened up, with no change-fee for a year, we accepted that as an open door, so we booked it. We have 4 days until we are supposed to fly. After all of our praying, we feel like we are to go in faith. The thought of staying here makes us feel like we are fearfully disobeying.

We’ll continue to pray that foreigners will be allowed back into the country by Aug. and we will pray that Faith will be able to start face-to-face schooling on August 24!

The thought of getting out of this lockdown and going to the US brings me so much excitement, but on the other hand, the unknowns are terrifying. It almost brings me to a panic, but there is so much peace in knowing that GOD IS IN CONTROL! It really is the peace that passes understanding. It keeps me panic free for a little while anyway, and then I have remind myself again….and again…..and again.