Kenny and Chloe have spent the last few months collecting balls, toys, jump ropes and other outside toys for the children at the City of Children.

For about 3 weeks, a new package has arrived daily from amazon. It was like Christmas! And the best part the toys were going elsewhere!

Finally the collecting has drawn to a close and we are shipping it off.

I love that my kids love to give to others!:)
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Oh how I love these two little girls. The fun. The giggles. The messes. The competition. The baby doll playing. The messes. Did I mention messes? Kenny and I went on a date tonight. We came home to mess after mess after mess. One large mess being BLACK acrylic paint dumped down one wall, all over a 2 foot area of fawn colored carpet, bathroom walls and sink where 2 little girls tried to clean up. It was a huge mess. But thankfully with my fabulous carpet shampooed and magic eraser.. It looks brand new.:)
Cleaned up these two munchkins. New Jammie’s. Clean faces. Clean teeth. Flossed teeth. And now time for some singing and hugs.
Sometimes doesn’t always go smoothly…

One wants to run away while one insists on picking up the other.

Much better. Mia is still
Flossing.

So sweet. Such happy girls.

Time for a little Korean posing.

And Avah’s thick Korean accent rendition of Tomorrow… With some help from Mia.

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Finally….it is finished. And exactly as i have always wanted! Of course now we are planning on adding an addition on but for now we are no longer under construction! Garage was completed last Summer, Second floor was completed last winter, porch was completed in August…ahhhhh it is wonderful!:)

And living in one of most beautiful places in the world is incredible…

Above is what I see across the road from my house and below is our side yard. Love love love it!!

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At the perfect time.
I have learned over the past two years so much about God’s timing. My friend Jen traveled six weeks ahead of us to get her daughter, Cora from the same orphanage as Avah. She recieved the preschool end of the year program on DVD. For some odd reason Avah and Cora were the only two children at their orphanage to attend this preschool, I find this so odd just because I do know of one other little smart preschooler who SHOULD have been there as well.

But timing.. God’s plan… It has been shown to me in unbelievable measures these past two years. Unbelievable and I can’t share all my details yet. But I can share this.
Back to this performance, of outrageous costumes, musical performances, dancing.. Avah was in two shows dancing like we have seen this child dance before. 😉
For Gods reason… Jen felt she should send me a copy this week.
Avah has been missing her orphanage something fierce. But this video, really brightened her spirits and reminded her of happy times and she was sharing with us.

This is the envelope that Jen and Cora sent the CD and small card in. I have never seen a child so excited to receive something just for her. She was kissing the stamps as she thought they were stickers. Hugging the card that had a simple 3-4 words on it. I must make an effort to buy her more gifts. With a birthday the day after Christmas, I am sure she isn’t used to getting things throughout the year.

We all gathered around the laptop to watch. She thought it was a video of Cora. But three seconds into it, she exclaims, “Oh I like it!!”

And a video.. She says thank you Cola SeungJoo… I love you.
She says Cola only because ‘r’ is not used in Korea(Hangook). I think it is so adorable!!

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Congratulations Kelly and Andy!!!! I am so happy for you!:):)

This picture was taken at Avah’s orphanage. This was the day one of her best friends was to leave with her family. This is Cora aka Cola as we do not have the R sound down just yet.
Avah is watching her second bosom friend leave to go to Migook. Such a sad girl. She knew Sarah Had just left the week before and didn’t return. Now it was Cora’s turn. She had already been told she would be leaving in May.

This picture kills me.
She looks so lost.
Alone.
What about me?
Why isn’t my Migook Omma coming?
My friend Jen recieved this photo while I was still waiting to bring Avah home. I am so thankful she chose not to give it to me until Avah was home. Since I was mentally unstable while waiting for my girl.;)
Many of you know Avah now… I know looking at this picture is hard. Here is the girl we see all the time.

I mean all the time.
She has been asking about her orphanage, Amsa every single day now. Not all day, just a few times a day. She seems very sad when I tell her she can go back when she is a big girl? She usually Says I go right now. I see the let down in her face and hear the sadness in her voice.
I know this normal and good. And needs to happen. I feel like she is tired of playing Migook Omma game and is ready to go to the only home she remembers.
She will heal.. Its just going to take awhile. Breaks my heart.
I know the feeling of homesick(not like this though), if in fact this is what she is feeling, my sweet girl’s precious heart is broken.

I do not typically allow the kids to use my iPhone. But at my cousins wedding, I allowed my older kids to take my camera for some entertainment while we waited for the wedding party to get pictures done.

Here is what I found…

Love my two older kiddos!

Me and my look alike.:)

Isn’t my little guy so cute? So many freckles and dimples.

My older girls are gorgeous!!

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The leaves are coming down. So I am cramming in some gorgeous fall photos.

The little girls love working the camera!

And in these adorable (shouldnthavepaidsomuchbutwhilewaitingforAvahmadeasplurge) outfits!!

Such a perfect fit!!

Seoul Sisters forever.

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43 days until Black Friday.
74 days until Christmas.

Love love love this time of year. Here are a few promised photos.

Mia is trying in a hard hat.. Kenny brought home. Adorable.

Avah in front of my favorite tree!

Being silly as usual!

Our new garage is finished!

And the floor is an awesome epoxy glaze. Can you tell the kids love it?

Like want to do their school on it…

And a new garage calls for new bikes!:)

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My favorite time of year: Fall. I love everything about it. Even the few sneezes it brings on. I especially love living in Pennsylvania this time of year. It is simply beautiful!

This is a tree in our front yard. Yes we live on a hill.. It’s Pennsylvania. This tree is hollow and I can get inside of it. It is the most beautiful tree!

This was taken outside of Kenny’s office. Gorgeous!!!

Soccer is over. We have stopped the little girls in dance for another year. Chloe is working and we do miss her dearly. School routine is setting in. Calm times… Just the way I like it. Which means I will be taking more pictures. My large family meal planning did not please my oldest brother, so I am whipping something out here for him.:)

A little light reading. Below, Avah is holding Chloe’s apologia biology book from last year. She was extremely fascinated with it.

Lots of youth rallies for my oldest two kids.:)

Cute. Cute.cute.

A little time for some Pinterest crafting…
Just the fact that I am wanting to decorate it be crafty is awesome. For two years, I could not even concentrate on the house at all.
These two crafty deco things I made are not my style.. Not my thing at all. However, I have always done what I was raised with or seen in other houses where I grew up, and let it influence my decorating. Well, I have realized I am not sure I really like that style. So I decided to change things up a bit and made the projects below.

I love this ‘R’. Love everything about this project.

However, this i am not sure about. It is just not how i have ever decorated. BUT i am sick of country or antique or rustic or whatever you want to call it. I liked this. So i painted it and put it up.

More pictures of the kids coming soon! I promise!!

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