Heartwarming Scene...
With all the press about bullying and knowing how mean kids can be...I have been worried about JT at school. He is the THE youngest kid in the grade 1 class and he is so much smaller than the other kids that it seems likely he will eventually be left out of games or told he is too little to play. He seems to be making lots of friends and having a great time but a mother never stops worrying. I know that adversity will only make you stronger, but as a mother, it is always hard to see your child sad or upset.
This morning while we were waiting for his teacher to take the kids to class, JT and I watched the older kids play soccer in the school yard. Some grade 3 & 4 boys were running around and having a great time. JT shed his backpack and handed me his lunchbox, and said "I'm going to play too." I nodded for him to go ahead, but inside, I assumed the boys wouldn't include him and that he would probably just head back. I struggled in my own head, trying to find a way to make this situation into a lesson about resilience, when I saw a heartwarming scene...
JT has a friend in his class named Tommy who he talks about often. Tommy is a good head taller than JT and fits in well with the older kids. That is probably why I didn't notice that he was playing soccer also. Tommy ran over to JT who was standing on the fringe of the game and asked him if he was waiting to play. When JT said yes, he grabbed onto JT and pulled him into the middle of the game. While the boys were organized into teams, JT just ran around aimlessly chasing the ball. He had no idea what he was doing and was helping no one. After a bigger boy, made a goal, the game paused for a brief moment. Just then, Tommy said, "Hey! My friend JT never got passed the ball. Can he have a turn?" At this point, I worried. But the older boys just passed JT the ball, showed him where the goal was (a place against the curb) and gave him pointers on how to shoot. They cheered him on and let him try several times. Once he seemed to get the hang of it, the game continued, but Tommy put his arm around JT's shoulders and guided him over to me. "JT's Mom, did you see JT's goal?"
Yes, I did. Thank you for reassuring me that little kids can be so very thoughtful and kind; that despite all the stories about bullying and negativity...most children are sweet and caring. That even though my little man is a little fish in a sea full of bigger ones, he will be okay. Hopefully, in the future, JT will remember how hard it was to step into a game without the assistance of a friend, and maybe one day, he will be the one to reassure a friend. I hope so.

Tropical Storm HANNA

Here I am! I am a Tropical Storm! Luckily, I am not going to affect St Maarten...so yay for me! I hope I behave myself and just rain on the ocean...but I guess you never know what I'm going to do. I tend to be a little unpredictable at times. Looks like I might want to head home to Georgia. I hope I don't turn into a hurricane...I don't want to be remembered for making trouble...

Extreme Zipline!

Daniel and I finally had a chance to do something with just the two of us! We dropped JT off at school and dropped Nate off at a friend's house (thanks a bunch, Ash!) and took off for an adventure! This is something that I've always wanted to try but never had time to do...and I've always been a little nervous about it too. Many of our friends have tried it and I was assured we would love it and that it wasn't scary. It was pretty awesome! I am so happy that I got to experience it. The pictures and even the video don't do the zipping sensation any justice. You'll have to try it for yourself!

All geared up and ready to go! Nervous and wondering what I had gotten us into, we followed our guide to a truck. He drove us high up into the mountain where there were some beautiful views of the surrounding area.

Our first few zips were short and good for practice. It helped us get comfortable with the sensation of hanging from a cable high off the ground. In between ziplines, there is a ropes course that you have to cross to get to the next zip. You are still suspended in between trees and high off the ground...so it was a little unsettling at first. A girl in our group started to cry...(it wasn't me!) but you quickly get used to it and it is super safe since you are always tethered by at least one safety harness. (Don't worry, Mom!)

The next picture is Daniel before a long zip...it is still pretty high up and the view is amazing...

As you go along the course, the zips get progressively longer until...you are doing 700, 800, and finally a 950 ft long zip. The last few zips were super fast and exciting! I wish we had succeeded in filming while we were zipping...but after multiple tries, we gave up. All you can see in those videos are green blurs and our arms or the gear. But, we did get some good footage of each other doing the ziplines...I uploaded to facebook but can't seem to upload here...darn! Once I get it figured out, I'll post it here, too!

Our 1st Week of School and Our Awesome Vacation So Far

We did it! JT finished his 1st week of school and he loved every minute of it. His teacher gave them an 'award' for finishing the 1st week and he couldn't have been prouder of himself. He randomly talks about how much he loves school, his classmates, and most of all his teachers. I am so relieved that he is enjoying himself...I don't know what I would've done if he had come home unhappy (probably cried). It definitely lookes like Hanna worried for nothing as usual!
Where has the time gone?! The 1st week of vacation has come and gone and we are nearing the end of break. It has been relaxing yet eventful for the past week. Daniel has really tried his hardest to spend as much quality time with the kids as he can. He has taken them swimming, to play basketball, they have washed the car, done crafts, played with every toy in the house...hehe...
Friday, Danny treated us to mini-golf followed by an awesome dinner at Skip Jack's. I have to be honest...I wasn't too thrilled with the mini-golf idea. We went at 3:30 and I was so sure we would be miserably hot! But it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and the boys loved spending time with their Daddy. Dinner at Skip Jack's was a real treat. We went early enough to get the 2 for 1 happy hour special, so we all treated ourselves to Daquiris and Pina Coladas...the boys' were virgin of course! The boys got to watch tons (thousands...maybe hundreds of thousands) of these tiny little fish swimming off the dock...there were so many the water looked inky. The highlight of the day was when the boys got to pick which lobster we were going to have for dinner. They pointed one out in the tank and then the server, snatched it up, weighed it, and put it on the floor for the boys to play with before they took it back to the kitchen. Ok...so here is the problem...I don't think Nate quite got it that we were going to EAT the little guy. When they brought out the lobster dinner, he was clearly disgusted and would NOT touch it, let alone eat it. He was really disturbed and kept saying how the mean men 'broke' his lobster. By 'broke' he means they had split it in half before putting it on the grill...I guess that is pretty gross when you were playing with the little guy just a short time ago! JT made no comment but quietly declined to taste the lobster. Daniel and I enjoyed the lobster just fine! The boys stuck to their shrimp and pasta. Haha!

This weekend, we hit Orient Beach and Le Galion...

Daniel took the boys out to ride some waves at Orient but the wind was really kicking up and the waves were pretty harsh (Hurricane Gustav was passing by far enough away not to really affect us except for some wind and huge waves). Well...the boys were anxious about going out in the big waves because they are pretty seasoned beach-goers and they have been rolled in big waves plenty of times. Silly mom told both of them that it would be fine since they were going with Daddy...I was pretty wrong. They were tumbled around enough where Nate left the water crying and that was enough of Orient for the Oh Brothers! Moms are not always right! Le Galion is just down the street and we spent the rest of the day there. It is much more fun not being out-numbered by your children! Daniel and I were able to take turns lounging around and playing with the kids. I haven't had such a relaxing day at the beach in the looongest time.

The boys swam out to the dock to jump off...it is actually pretty far away but I zoomed in for a picture.

Building Nate a 'bathtub' out of sand...it was quite a construction project...haha

Nate taking a 'bath'

the END of the Semester but the BEGINNING of School

What a bittersweet day! Daniel took his last test of the semester today. We have him for 2 whole weeks!! It is such a great feeling to get my husband back!! But, JT started his 1st day of school so we will be seeing less of him. I guess you can't have it all!

JT's 1st day of school was harder for me than it was for him. He never shed a tear but I cried multiple times. I cried last night after he went to bed, I cried this morning when he followed the teacher to the room, I cried when I came home to a quiet house, and I cried this afternoon when I stalked him during recess (I know...I'm unstable) and saw him look nervous. Apparently, he had a wonderful day so I had nothing to worry about! Doesn't he look handsome in his uniform?! Enjoy the short montage....in case you can't tell...I was feeling nostalgic...

The Finish Line is in Sight...

The semester is almost over which means we will get our Daddy back for two whole weeks! But until then, we are still on our own. We have been trying our best to keep busy to pass the time. Here are some pictures of the past couple weeks...

This morning, our friend, Chanak took JT skimboarding. It took lots and lots of practice and falling...(and patience from Chanak) but he kind of got the hang of it towards the end.

Thanks for an awesome lesson!! He had a blast!

I know, I know...Time for an update...

By now, you must have figured out that I haven't been in a blogging mood...surely, you know that! Life has been chugging along on the island the past couple months, but backlogging would take ages and I'm just too lazy for that! So, here are a few blog-worthy pictures from the past week.

Our Pal, George...

Yes, that is a monkey! It is our pal, George. He is our very good friend that comes to visit us when the kids are feeling particularly sad or lonely. Most of the time, he thinks of clever ways to amuse them and make them feel better. He is just like part of the family...

Well...actually, no. There are monkeys in St Maarten and we have heard lots of people tell stories about monkey encounters, but this is the first time we have actually seen one. We were at the playground with some friends when all of a sudden, a monkey decided to take a stroll across the playground (...maybe to amuse the kids?!) Well, I sprinted for my camera so I could document our first meeting...but that sucker moves pretty fast! Meanwhile, the kids were all in awe and I was a tad afraid one of the kids might actually attempt to touch him...he was pretty big! Not to mention, wild. Note to self...remind JT & Nate that wild animals are dangerous and can bite when frightened...

As you can see from the picture above, he was about the size of a medium dog. (That is JT in the picture) And you can also see that the kids weren't too shy about getting close to him. Once they started to mob him, he high-tailed it outta there.

One last parting 'bum' shot. Bye George! Come visit us again! I think the next time we visit the park, I'll pack some bananas...

Happy Anniversary! Daniel & I have been together 7 years since these pictures were taken. I cannot believe it!

Our Korean Wedding was so cool :)

The picture above was taken right before we were married. I can't believe how much younger we look! Since then, we have had 2 kids and we have changed so much!

This past week was our anniversary but Daniel was busy with school and my sister was visiting, so we had a mini-party with the family that day. We had a yummy cake from Sarafina's :)Last night, Daniel took me out to a romantic restaurant, Mario's Bistro on the French side of the island, to celebrate. (Thank you Sam & Diane, for babysitting!) It was nice to get dressed up and get away, just the two of us. We spent a lot of the time watching the HUGE fish swimming next to us in the channel that connects the ocean to the lagoon. We talked about random things, snapped pictures of each other, and stared at each other a lot, too. Haha. We had an awesome time! The food was yummy, I highly recommend it!I really lucked out in the marriage department...for the past 7 years, I have always felt loved and special. Daniel is the best husband and a phenomenal father. I really don't know how I got to be so blessed. And during the past 11 years that we have been together, we have grown together so much! When we started dating, we were just 2 clueless kids...and now...we are still clueless, but no longer kids, and have gotten to a comfortable place where we know we can depend on each other, no matter what. Here's to many, many more years of wedded bliss and to growing old and cranky together! I love my husband!

The (Mis)Adventures of Nate

It seems that two is the age when kids are trouble-magnets. No matter how hard a mom tries to keep her eyes on the little boogers, they somehow manage to get into some kind of mischief. If I wanted to write a book about my mischievous Nate, I probably could. For instance, right now, my dear little boy is missing an entire nail (it fell out after he tried to climb up my entertainment center, fell, and knocked over a chair onto his finger). Another example, the other day, some toys that I had put away on the very top shelf of his closet...miraculously appeared in the living room. When I went to investigate, I found Nate had climbed (like a monkey) up the metal shelving unit that houses toys in his closet, and was dangling from the pole that you hang clothes on, and teetering (leaning backwards!!) at the very top of his closet. I have to use a step stool to reach that shelf so I was very disturbed that he would even think to climb up there! Mommy was unhappy but couldn't stop laughing for some reason.

Anyway, most of the time when he is naughty, I am too frazzled to take pictures...but here are some recent Nate-esque things that I was able to document.

The Abstract Self-Portrait

Sometimes, Nate gets happy with a marker and pen and draws on the wall or the table...or the sofa...or if he is afraid of getting in trouble, underneath or behind the sofa. This isn't a HUGE deal, because most times I can wash it off just fine although I am still very unhappy about it. We are still working on that issue, everyday.

But, when you tell a child to "Draw yourself" you definitely don't expect to see....THIS!
He certainly took me VERY literally. It took a few days and some good scrubbing to get that masterpiece off of him. Fun, fun, fun! Still couldn't help laughing. haha.

The Haircut I didn't pay for...


This one is sort of a toss-up on whose fault it is. So, I will give you a play-by-play. I was putting away laundry in the boys room and the boys were 'drawing' in the living room. When I walked out to the living room, I noticed suspicious behavior but that is pretty normal. I didn't think much of it until...I saw this...

"Ahhhh!!! Oh no!! Please, No!!" That's what I was screaming inside my head. Then, I was thinking, "Ok, it's not curly, so it's not JT...Oh no! Nate must have chopped his own hair off!!" At this point, I'm afraid to look, but I force myself to look over at the boys. This is what I saw.


Yes, half his hair is missing in the front and half is missing in the back!!

Adding two and two together, I started interrogating JT.
Calmly, "JT, did you cut your brother's hair?"
Matter-of-fact answer: "Yes, Mommy."
Not so calmly, "WHY would you do that?!!"
Still very matter-of-fact: "Nate handed me scissors and said he wanted short hair. He was hot."
In the background, I hear Nate saying, "It's too HOT, Mama! Too Hot!"
What can I do? I was torn between hysterical laughter and manic rage. I chose to laugh and grab my camera.

Isn't JT the absolute sweetest and most considerate brother?! Little booger!
Well, if Nate wasn't Nate, I would say JT probably forced a haircut on his brother, but well...he's Nate. This whole episode sounds very Nate-like. If he hadn't wanted a hair-cut, JT would never have gotten those scissors anywhere near his head. This I know for sure. At some point, Nate consented to have his hair cut, but I'm still trying to figure out whose idea it was in the firstplace. I guess I'll never know for sure. I tried my best to even his hair out and now he has a very attractive bowl-cut look in the back and a Jim Carrey 'Dumb and Dumber' look in the front.
I'm just absolutely thrilled!

Hangin' out in Atlanta I know, I know! I've been extremely lazy about blogging...I get it. If I tried to backlog everything, it would take forever, so I'm just going to recap our visit to Atlanta over the last break and let the last couple of months go.

The semester ended in the middle of April so we had a couple of weeks to spend in Atlanta and it was really great. It was paradise having Daniel around after 4 months of never seeing him. The boys got lots of quality Dad-time and I had a husband again! We basically, hung out with the family, saw friends, and tried our best to eat as much as we could before we came back. Daniel insisted on having Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast almost every morning...the kids and I do not need to see a donut for a very long time, but Daniel misses them already.

JT had a list of things that he wanted to do in Atlanta, so we tried our best to do as many of those as possible. Most of the time, we had our favorite little girl, the boys' cousin/my niece, Kaylee with us.

We spent a lot of time outside...a few playgrounds that we like...


Went cosmic bowling...twice!


Went to the Children's Museum

Had some fun playdates...these are our best buddies, Spencer and Claire

Had a sleepover..

and did lots of other fun things we can't do in St Maarten.
And, on the last day, we asked JT what he wanted to do and he wanted to go on a date with his girlfriend. So, my mom (JT's slave) drove across town to pick her up and bring her over. JT's girlfriend showed up in a pink dress with a crown on because she wanted to look pretty for their date. Too cute. We took the kids to one of my least favorite places ever, Chuck E. Cheese, where the two lovebirds took off without a second glance in our direction. That left Daniel and I to take turns chasing Nate and my brother-in-law, Johnny, and my sis to chase Kaylee. All in all, it was pretty fun. We had pizza and played some games and caught glimpses of JT walking around holding hands with his gal.

Alas, this story is not just a love story, it has some tragedy also. The tickets that they had been saving all day for cotton candy and toys was stolen about 5 minutes before we wanted to cash them in! The kids were absolutely devastated. We all were...because it was a lot of tickets! If the thief is reading this, I want you to know that you should be very very very very ashamed! Luckily, you can purchase the prizes with money, (1 cent per ticket) so I was able to get them their cotton candy and told them each to pick out a small prize. It wasn't the same, but it was better than nothing and most times, cotton candy can make kids feel happy again. It did.

We moved onto Grandma's house, where JT played 'house' for the first time ever, I think. He vacuumed and responded to "Honey" while she cooked dinner for him and fed the baby (Nate). I was doubled over laughing, it was so funny. He is going to make a fine husband someday! haha. When it was time to say goodbye, it was a very sad and heart-breaking farewell. Ah, young love! What a great way to end our spring break!