The Rest of December

December has just rushed by in a flash. Of course, getting sick didn't help the rush. So here's the run down of what the last few weeks have held for us:

Ugly Christmas Sweater and All!

We had an ugly Christmas sweater party for the Draggins this year.  I had sent my sister out shopping for me, because where else but retirement home laden Florida would you be able to find a tacky sweater.  But the mail was running real slow to this side of the world this year (we are still getting cards and Christmas presents in the mail even now), so we resorted to some other sweaters we had holed away.  Ronnie went for the preppy log cabin look, while I was striving for elementary school teacher.  

Us, and the winners of the sweater contest (right)

Santa is Rated in the A-10

Santa flew an A-10 to see all the kiddos in the 25th for our annual children's party.  He had to stop by the firehouse first, so the guys let him borrow their firetruck this year!   He brought the girls books and we had lots of good Christmasy fun. 

Sleepovers

We had a slumber party with our friends Kaitlyn and Ryan.  As with any sleepover, it was full of watching movies, eating junk food, playing the Wii, making cookies, dress-up and anything else we could find to get into.   Too fun!

Family-time at the Nutcracker

This year is the first time Sarah was able to go to the Nutcracker.  We got all dressed up and headed up for the Saturday matinee.  According the Sarah, it was "good" with two thumbs up and a big smile (even though she fell asleep right before the finale).  It was a fantastic performance this year, and so much fun to continue the tradition. 

He Came, He Came!!!

I love Christmas morning, especially hearing the excited squeals from the girls when they see that a certain someone came to visit them.  This year, it was Sarah who was first up and this is what I heard:  "He came, he really, really came.  Daddy, daddy, Santa was here!  He left us presents, daddy.  Look, they're right there."   I drug myself out of bed to partake in the present opening fun. 

Unfortunately for me, I came down with a cold that I had been fighting off for a few weeks.  The official diagnosis was bronchitis and a sinus infection. Yes, a double whammy.  I'm still on the mend and still have a wet cough.   

White Christmas Weekend

The girls experienced their first white Christmas weekend.  It started snowing the night of the 26th, so we woke up to a winter wonderland the next day.  We've had a few more days of snow this past week, so there is lots of snow on the ground, making for some fun sledding and snowball throwing. 

LotteWorld

We ventured to Seoul on Thursday to take care of our passports at the Embassy.  That was about the best trip to get passports anyone could ask for.  We all had appointments and started at one window and worked our way down.  We were done and out of the Embassy an hour later, and only because we randomly ran into the Smileys while there.  With the rest of the day at our disposal, we decided to head to LotteWorld. 

LotteWorld is an indoor/outdoor amusement park.   Holly has been begging to go back since she visited this summer during camp.  We decided to go ahead and use our Christmas money on annual passes so we could head up anytime we wanted.  This trip was more to get the lay of the land so we knew where to go, and more importantly where not to, for the next trip.  What we discovered is that Holly is a hair shy of 122 cm  now, meaning she's definitely going to be able to ride the roller coasters this summer.    

A Decade Down, A Lifetime To Go

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary.  We've lived in 7 states (Alabama-Oklahoma-Georgia-Arizona-North Carolina-Texas-Louisiana) and one other country.  And we've been blessed with the two most beautiful girls on this earth.  Not bad for the first 10 years.


View Our Life in a larger map

A Few of My Favorite Things

1.  My new favorite website:  Kim Jong Il Looking At Things ROCKS!   I just laugh and laugh.   There are a few who don't get it and I don't get what they don't get.  Check it out Here

2.  Google docs may quite possibly be the best file sharing site.  I have my half plan save out there and can access it so long as I have computer access.  Of course, I'm also that dork who has this next thing

3.  iPod Touches are the bomb.  I'm a recovering Crackberry addict and I refuse to get a smartphone while we're here because I'm saving up for when/if we get back to the states in a few months.  I also have my half plan saved on my touch.  No excuses, right.

4.  We're working through watching our favorite Christmas movies with the kids.  I love family movie nights. Really, it's just the being lazy after a long week. 

5.  My kids are super excited about Christmas.  We're starting our baking this weekend - we'll see how long they last. 

The Student Becomes the Teacher

There's a point in your life where when someone says you act like your mother, you say thank you because it's a big compliment.  I'm not sure where that point was, but I am my mother and I don't mind it at all.  I hear her words coming out of my mouth even before they register with me that I had heard them somewhere in my upbringing.  To be fair, I also have my fair share of things my dad used to tell me coming out of my mouth as well. 

Pearls of wisdom like: "if you're gonna be stupid, you gotta be tough", "Shhhhhh - the news is on", and my personal favorite "do you just want to be average in your life, or do you want to be excellent."  They are all favorites really, because there is one pearl that has successfully been passed down to the next generation.  The Plan. 

My sister and I were raised with "The Plan" (read more here).  But I say successfully because of this fantastic exchange I was privy to the other day.   

Last week, we were driving somewhere with the girls.  As usual, they are chatting away in the back seat about who did what, said what, ate/picked/hit what or who.  I had mentioned to the girls that the Smiley family was going to have baby Hudson joining them soon.  The following conversation ensued:

Sarah: I want to be a mommy
Holly: Well, you can't be a mommy yet Sarah.  You're not big. 
Sarah: But I still want to have a baby.

And then, it happened.  Water parted, Angels sang, and there were harps playing.  Because then Holly said, "Well, you can't have a baby until you're married Sarah.  And you can't get married until you get done with school, and you're not even in Kindergarten yet.  So you have to wait.  Because you  have to go to school, then get married, and then have babies."

She skipped the part about getting a job, but I was really proud anyway.