Happy Halloween 2009! Jackson was Ghost Rider (Marley was scared of the mask) and Marley was a princess. We all went over to the other base and went trick or treating at the housing over there. It is not a huge housing complex and less than half of the people participated, but the kids still walked away with about 1/3 of their bags filled. It was a whole lot of walking for very little candy, but we had fun.

Band-Aid Princess

Here is Marley in her Halloween costume. Jackson had his costume on and ran out the door before I could get his picture. Tonight was the carnival at the school and tomorrow we will trick or treat for some serious candy.

No the Dora band-aid was not supposed to be part of Marley's costume. Earlier in the day she flipped off the couch and split her eyebrow open. It was not bad enough to need stitches, but I bet it will leave a small scar.

My babies

I love this picture. We were all in the living room watching "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and I could not resist taking a picture of how sweet they looked.

I bought these cowboy boots at one of the markets here for Marley to play dress up with and now I cannot get her to take them off.

Jackson tickling Marley to the point of tears. They were having so much fun that day.

Our Hood

This first picture is of the little Korean grocery store just outside the base. None of the products are in English, but most of the time we are able to recognize packaging. The kids love to stop here because they can get ice cream bars for like 50 cents. Jason and I get such a kick out of the owner and his family. They all love to show off the new English phrases that they have learned. Each time one of us goes in there we try to teach them a new slang term that they might hear from the soldiers and their families.

This is the main street leading to the base we live on. The Americans have nicknamed it Suicide Alley because it is narrow and traffic can be crazy.

Good Food

This is one of our favorite places to eat here in Daegu. They serve American style Chinese food and it is so good. You have to be very careful when you tell anyone here that you are headed to Shanghai Grill because everyone wants you to bring them something back!

Hook Em Horns

Fractured Hand

Sorry I forgot to update everyone on Jackson. The x-rays came back and Jackson has a deep fracture of the 5th bone in his hand. The doctor put a removable cast on his hand that can be taken off for showers. Most of the swelling and bruising is getting better and he does not seem to be in pain unless you squeeze it. The only thing that seems to be bothering him is the fact that it hinders his fun on the playground.

Not the way I wanted to spend my time with the car!

I took the kids out to the playground today since the weather was so nice. Marley had a wonderful time playing on the slides. Jackson and a bunch of his friends were practicing wrestling and having a great time being boys. Leave it to one of my kids to be the one to get hurt. According to Jackson it took four other boys to wrestle him to the ground, but in the commotion he hurt his hand. He immediately came over to me crying and I sent him in the house to wash his face and compose himself. About ten minutes later he comes back outside and he is still crying. When he first came over to me I assumed he was just being a baby, but for him to still be in pain after ten minutes I knew I needed to look at it. Sure enough he had swelling and pain on the outside of his hand between the pinkie and the wrist. We all pile into the car and head to the after hours clinic for an assessment. Basically the PA told me that he needs an x-ray (duh!) but that since it is a four day weekend the clinic will not be able to do this until Wednesday. I was given the option to take the kids up to the Korean hospital or have the clinic put on a temporary cast-like splint and wait until Wednesday. The idea of going to an ER and spending an eternity waiting is bad enough, but then to compound that with the fact that very few people speak English made the decision easy. The clinic immobilized his hand from fingers to elbow, gave him an ice pack, told me to give him Motrin, and sent us on our way.

Long time no write

I know it has been a long time since I posted on this blog, but there has not been a whole heck of a lot going on lately. Jackson and Marley were both sick most of last week. Marley was running a low fever and throwing up for the better part of the week, and Jackson spent most of the week on the toilet. Jason and I finally won the battle against some terrible sinus headaches. All in all it was not the best week for us and I decided that I would spare you the yucky details.

Jason left on Thursday for a field exercise and he will not be back for at least 8 days. I love him with all my heart and I miss him when he is gone, but I have to admit I did a happy dance when he left. THE CAR IS MINE!!!!!! ALL MINE!!!! I can go where I want, when I want. I get to watch what I want on tv. I can stay up as late as I want without feeling guilty. I can cook what I want, and yes cereal is ok for dinner. I get the whole bed to myself and the sheets don't smell like fart! I know that I will be so excited to see him when he gets back, but for now I am enjoying myself.