I usually don't like to post things I do with Tyler and Chase but this one always brings a smile to their faces so I thought I would share with you parents out there.

When they were old enough to understand, I told them that we would have our own secret code. I told them that whenever I was holding their hands (which is often, right?)  that I might squeeze their hand once and that means "I." Then, they are to squeeze my hand back twice and that means "love." Then, I would squeeze their hands three times and that would mean "you." I make it a big deal and tell them not to tell anyone and that it's our secret language. They love it, especially if we are in a big group and they think that we've just told each other I love you without anyone else knowing it! When they feel me squeezing their hands once and realize why, they get a HUGE smile on their face. Then, Tyler started initiating with one squeeze and that was so cute.....

until Tyler taught me a new "code" the other day and told me that it means, "I don't like you." haha....kids!

Another one of my favorites. I remember driving around in high school with this on full blast. Now, the song holds a different meaning as I hold one of my babies and rock them to the song, with the lyrics, "All I needed was the love you gave" whispered directly into their ears. Such a sweet song....Only You by Yazoo

What a beautiful song. To my boys.... Tyler and Chase, when I heard this song, I thought of both of you. These are the words I would say..... by Sidewalk Prophets.

Classic. This song introduce me to Korean music in college. Still makes me want to jump up and dance! So Tyler and Chase could see what mommy danced to when she was in college! haha....gotta love them costumes....like I said, classic.

I woke up with a hive or a bug bite on my left cheek- nothing like a big ol' red WELT on your face to make you feel beautiful and ready for the world! :)

Tyler is turning into a big NAG! (Sorry, Tyler, but it's true!) I call him my little "ha la bul gi" (grandfather in Korean) because he is always nagging me...like a Korean halabulgi would! If I change lanes without doing the blinker, he asks, "Aren't you suppose to make your lights blink when you're changing lanes?" OH MY! If I check my phone when I'm driving in the car, he yells, "Give me that phone! You are not allowed to touch your phone when you are driving! It is ILLEGAL and you will go to jail!" He is really into learning what is legal and what is illegal these days. One day, he wasn't getting ready fast enough to leave the house so I told him I was leaving him at home alone. He surprised me when he calmly said, "You can't leave me here alone. You're not allowed to leave children at home by themselves. You will go to jail or maybe do community service." I was laughing so hard. Where do they learn these things?!!!

Another thing that Tyler does is tell me when he does something bad. We went to a pool party the other day and he kept coming out of the pool and whispering something in my ear. After the fifth time, another mom asked me what he was saying. I told her that he was telling me that he thinks he was swallowing some of the pool water which I had asked him not to do so he felt the need to confess to me. Another thing that I ask him not to do is stare at people. I must have told him once that he shouldn't stare at people who might be handicapped or might be different in some way. Yesterday, we were at the play area of a mall and he ran up to me a couple of time to tell me something along the lines of, "I stared at that woman right now, but I was staring because I thought she had the same shirt as you but she doesn't. I'll try not to stare at people." Haha... That is my Tyler....wants to know what is right/wrong, what is good/bad and wants to do the right and good thing.

Which reminds me. Tyler forgot to do one sheet of homework for Korean school last month and the teacher told me he cried for a good hour. When I went to pick him up, he had red eyes and his folder was wet from tears. The teacher told me that half the class didn't finish their homework and that she had repeatedly told him that it was ok but that he just kept crying. She also told me that not one other student cared that he/she didn't finish their work...only Tyler. I felt so bad...I completely feel like if a preschooler, kindergartner, or 1st grader doesn't finish his/her homework, it's the parents fault! In this case, I take full responsibility. I even told him that morning not to check his folder for unfinished work because I was thought he had finished all of it. After I picked him up, I hugged him and I told him not to worry, that sometimes things like this happen and it's not the end of the world. He was still very sad about the whole situation. Very typical Tyler story. I don't know where he gets this. Katherine told me the other day that her kids' personalities, which are all so different from one another, have nothing to do with what she or her husband did, but that her three children are the way they are because that is how God made them. I'm starting to think that is true.

Hope you are enjoying your 4th of July!!! Some competitive eating contest is on TV right now. Why in the world would people force feed themselves? I would never do this...that is just plain gross. I know nothing of it but maybe the the prizes are great.

Motto for the year: (I know that it's probably weird for some of you that I make goals in the middle of the year,  but if you are a teacher, you understand....cause for teachers, summers are the beginning of the next year, right? This is when I buy my new calendar!) 1. Save money 2. Don't THINK about doing things, don't LOOK up how to do things online, don't READ about it....JUST DO IT! JUST DO IT! JUST DO IT! :)

THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME!!!

My boys play together for HOURS! I can't believe it. This week, since we are on "vacation" from school, they have been spending a lot more hours together, just the two of them, so I've been able to see them play together without other children around. Of course, they've played with each other before but it's on another level now. They don't need any help from me and since Chase is a lot more verbal now, they interact like friends! I hear Tyler say, "Let's play the piano together" and then I hear Chase say "Ok." Hearing that alone makes my heart melt! They color together, "bowl" together by setting up pins and rolling balls at at the pins, they play Candyland together after Tyler explains the game to Chase. They have morphed from being my little babies to being BROTHERS! :)

Lately, Oprah has been replaying her debt diet shows and  I am totally motivated to save money! I am only going to buy the bare essentials this year. I'm going to buy food, some needed clothes for the boys, and THAT'S IT! I'm going to think and rethink all purchases that I make from here on out.

I've even started thinking about what I buy at the market and even the COST of each meal I make at home (something that I've never done before). My goal is to only buy take out once a week for dinner and all other meals will be made by me! I will give myself a weekly budget for groceries and follow it!

Also, I need to stop going here and there with the boys. I always think that is what my boys need, but really they are happy at the park and library. Oprah said it best when she said that kids just want to spend TIME with their parents. That hit home to me because I am always thinking of where I can take the boys next. What show or movie would they want to watch? What amusement park/museum should they go to next? I'm not saying that I don't want to spend money on these things, but I need to remind myself that they don't need that much of it and that what they really want is TIME with us. It's the simple things in life that my boys want ...an evening walk around the block, breakfast outside on the patio, a swim in the kiddie pool, etc. Man, now I even rethinking going to San Diego this weekend! See how fickle I am!

Well, next summer, I will let you know how I do (I say "I" because I do all things "financial" in this house). It's a shift in how I think about money and spending...I'm totally excited! :)

A couple of days ago, while I was driving and the boys sat in the back, I heard Chase screaming. I turned around and saw Tyler was pinching Chase's cheeks. I told Tyler to stopped and asked him why he did that and he said that Chase hit him first and that the cheeks were the best place to get him back. He said, "All the other places have bones and I don't want to break his bones so I had two choices- his butt or his cheeks. Since Chase is sitting on his butt, I had to pinch his cheeks, mommy. Are you glad that I didn't break any of his bones when I got him back?"

They crack me up.

So, this week, I'm taking a little "vacation" from work. Jason was suppose to take this week off as well so we had these plans of going somewhere but he ended up just taking Monday and Tuesday off so we didn't go anywhere. I just made him work around the house. :) We were suppose to go to SF this weekend but I didn't think I could handle the ride back and forth so we will be in SD to visit Jason's sister for the 4th of July weekend.

Did I tell you guys that Tyler and Chase have pretty different personalities? It's so fun to see Chase grow up and see more of his personality come out. Tyler is my timid, sweet boy. He listens very well usually. He is so good that, if he does something that he doesn't think he should be doing, he will tell us immediately what he did wrong even in cases when he really didn't have to tell us. Chase, on the other hand, is very mischievous and loves to be silly and wild. He is rarely scared of anything and NEVER scared of getting in trouble by me. I've done everything legally possible to see how much it would take for him to be scared of me. The worst trouble I dole on my boys is to put them in the dark garage. I remember Tyler being mortified if I ever brought up the idea of putting him in there. Just the thought of it would put him to tears. Chase, oh my, GOES IN happily and practically skips out of there. He will literally laugh in my face when I get mad at him. Sometimes, he personality is so akuda matada that I laugh back at him in utter amazement. Anyways, here is one more thing that they do that is very different- Tyler will suck a lollipop for hours until it is all gone, Chase will bite and chew at a lollipop and it will take him less than a minute to eat. They are both very happy boys but Chase takes it to another level. Everyone who hears his crazy laugh says it sounds like a drunk old man!!!

I finally fulfilled a dream of mine last week. Ok, don't laugh. Ever since Chase was born, I've always wanted to take the boys to Medieval Times. Like, seriously, I have no idea why but I just always really wanted to take them there....maybe cause I think Medieval is a place that little boys will like? In any case, the boys got really into it, screaming for their green knight. I was practically falling asleep during the "show" and have no idea what in the world was going on (I still don't know if there was a story or if the long haired men were just fighting to just fight, hmmm...) , but at least the food wasn't as bad as I expected and I didn't have to think about dinner that night. It's worth it to just not to have to think about dinner. :)

You know what makes me feel bad? When I'm out with the boys late and Jason comes home to an empty house. Jason doesn't say anything but I just feel like we should be home to greet him at the door. I'm very old fashioned like that. The kids should be washed and I should instruct them to run to the front door like they've been expecting Santa Claus to come through the doors all day long and I should know what to serve for dinner in case he is hungry. Anyways, I write this because I was visiting Claud yesterday and totally lost track of time and came home around 8:30 with the boys. I was like Cinderella because I looked at the clock and practically ran out of the house so quick, I think I lost a shoe or child. I think I scared my mom, who was there as well, because I looked like I was worried and she probably thinks that Jason will get mad  at me. I have to call her today (once I find my dang phone) to reassure her that it's NOTHING that Jason has ever said, its something that I put on myself because if I were a hard working man, that is what I would want from my wife!

Did I tell you guys that I have pegged a little girl to be Tyler's wife? She's only 4. haha... Jason thinks I'm crazy but I'm all for arranged marriages! He's like, how the heck are you going to know what this girl is like when she is older? Well, for one, I can look at her mom because don't little girls turn out like their moms? and I really like her mom (Yo, Christina!)! And since her mom and I already get along, that's perfect so we could go on family trips and stuff! :) Anyways, I have high hopes for this girl. haha...I jokingly told her mom that I will make sure Tyler has a good, stable job when he is older and she was like, good! haha...moms can be so weird!

Two of my cousins graduated high school this year. The last of our generation to graduate high school. Man, makes me feel so old! Matt and Tiffany, so happy for you two!

Yesterday, we had a playdate with my future daughter in law and Tyler threw a fit that he would not go into the ladies' restroom!!! He kept saying, "I'm not a girl! I'm a boy!" It was so funny cause he was in the ladies' restroom just the day before without any problems but yesterday, I think he got embarrassed in front of his wife! (haha, maybe I'm taking it too far by calling her his wife! haha!) My boys are growing before my very eyes...first, it will be not going into the ladies room and then they won't want to hug me or kiss me....oh, just the thought makes me sad!

Can't believe it's already July! Oh where, oh where does the time go? We've been in this house about a year now. Can't believe that my BABY will be starting kindergarten in the Fall. I get nervous just thinking about it. Not because I don't think he is ready, but I don't know...what if someone is mean to him? What if he feels like crying and I'm not there to hug him and tell him it will  be alright? I guess I better let this little bird fly on his own wings for a bit. :(

Ok, why do my posts always turn sad?!!! haha... Hope you have a safe and relaxing 4th of July weekend!