Chuseok-Part 2

I realized that although the Chuseok is a very important holiday, I only have enough "Chuseok" material for one last post (instead of three total like I represented).  So we took my Japchae and we headed to a friends house to celebrate the holiday with old friends and new.  The photos really speak for themselves.  We are so lucky to have connected with other families who look forward to celebrating this holiday with their kiddos, too.  Everyone had a blast, adults included.  So much so that we are planning an adult night out to a Korean cooking class...to get ideas for the next holiday perhaps.

The boys are suppose to be "cooperating" by holding up
their artwork!  

Nash was loving the food.

He barely was coming up for air.

Time to burn it off!  

Monkeying around on Simon's bed

Nap time?  Ha!  Right.

Just a couple of dudes....

Dining on fake corn.  

Chuseok 2012- Part 1

Chuseok is Korean holiday that involves celebrating the harvest, paying tribute to your ancestry and participating in folk games. This is really our first celebration of a Korean holiday together as a family. The holiday is celebrated for 3 days and some compare to the American Thanksgiving. The holiday actually falls on the 30th but we've been busy celebrating! In honor of Chuseok (Chu-sock is how you say it), I'm dedicating 3 blog posts to it.
This first one is all about the preparation. This past weekend we celebrated with old and new friends. I'll talk more about that later but today's post is all about the food! At the party we dined on all the Korean favs, Bulgogi, kimchi, rice, and japchae. I love Korean food but have to admit I typically leave it to the experts at the Korean restaurants to make it. No excuses this time though, I made the japchae. It's a noodle dish made with sweet potato noodles, lots of veggies and often meat. I tried to document the steps.  Not quite the photo quality as the Pioneer Woman's pics, but I tried.....

Sweet Potato Noodles.  Good thing my recipe had instructions on
how to boil because they were in Korean on the package.  I smuggled
these back from a Korean market in Seoul.  

These are my ingredients:  Mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic, sesame oil, and whaaaa?  Candy corns?
Nope.  Just a cooking treat for this chef.

Replace candy corns with spinach.

The cooked vegtables

Finished!  

Kara + Paul = Happily Ever After

This past weekend, Bret's sister got married!  We were so happy to be able to be part of this intimate family affair.  The event was small and perfect.  The backdrop was the beautiful northern woods of Wisconsin.  The weather gods were smiling down that day, the bride looked beautiful and everything fell into place.  It really was the complete opposite as our wedding, but I just loved the simplicity of it.   The bride and groom got it right, and the wedding fit them perfectly.  We couldn't be happier for them.

I took oodles of pictures but here were a few of my favorite.

Killing us with cuteness

Close-up!

Love.

Add caption

Bear hug from Grandma....no shoes, no tie...getting sleepy

WW: Scooter Gang

Eat.Sleep.Football

It's that time of year again when the family plans revolve around a little team by the name of the Green Bay Packers, maybe you've heard of them.  We bleed green and gold!  It feels like just yesterday (literally, like just yesterday) that we all were planning our Sundays around the big game.  I admit, I've never really gotten the obsession with the game.  But over the years, I've joined in the fun, mostly for the game day snacks and excuse to have a beer on a Sunday.  But this year, the anticipation was all about having Nash join in the fun.  Que the game day jitters, for Bret is was about the kick-off, for this mama, it was about how in the world we were going to entertain Nash for 3.5 hours!    

I've been thinking a lot lately about family traditions (by thinking I mean talking obsessively about it to the hubs).  Football is near the top of this families list.  I want Nash to have memories of all of us gathered around the TV, joined by the bonds of the wins and loses, nachos and touchdown dances (discount double-check).  Fast forward 15 years and I can picture Nash someday having the same Monday morning quarterback conversations with Bret as Bret has with his dad.   Even though the game ended up a bust (they lost), we still have fun introducing Nash to one of our favorite pastimes. 

Introducing the starting lineup!  At wide-receiver, Nash Larson!
(crowd goes wild)

Can you say endorsement deals?  Head and Shoulders and Chunky Soup.

1st and 10.  Coach Larson giving the route.
"Set.Hut."

"Nash Larson runs the route, high stepping over dog poop and weeds."

"Look.At.The.Ball."
(Bad throw by the quarterback).

Time-out for a quick photo-op. 

Going Long!
(like really long, like, come back Nash!)

"Oh and the tackle by the evil purple and gold"

What's a football game without an injury.  Yes, that is Bret icing his foot with a bag of frozen corn.
Don't ask.  

Game day snacks!
Funny story, that popcorn bowl is from one of Bret's ex-girlfriends parents.
True story.  It gets lots of use.

Till next game!

A serious case of...

I can honestly say that our most challenging week as a family was this past week when Nash came down with a serious case of the Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease.  Yes, it sounds like some sort of virus you catch on a farm.  I guess it's common, can't say I knew that much about it.  Our sweet, little, sensitive boy turned into something from the exorcist.  I'm trying to block out many of the memories over the past week but I'm pretty sure at some point his head spun around and green stuff started coming out of his mouth.  I can hardly blame him really, these tiny little sores inside his mouth made it impossible to eat and drink for days (4 to be exact).  I'm not sure how he caught it, the most likely place would be his daycare, or maybe his little gym class, but I like to blame it on the random water bottle Nash was drinking from at a fro-yo shop when I was busy making him his sundae.  (That expression you really can't take your eyes off your toddler is super true).  He came down with it on a Sunday.  My first thought was he just had some canker sores, but then it started to spread like wildfire and by Monday, with confirmation from our doctor he was diagnosed.  The sad part is there is not much you can do, just try to manage the pain and make sure they are not getting dehydrated.  Not only was I worried about this, his pain seemed to be at it's worst during the night.  Nash was home all week from school, because it's highly contiguous, thankfully my mom came down and watch Nash for two days while Bret and I went to work.  Love you mom!

But I'm happy to report that all is back to normal!  Our little boy is back, he's making up for all the meals he missed, and giving us lots of smiles.  So hopeful that he will NEVER come down this awful virus again.  

Pictures of us at happier times!  Did I mention that this past week was awful? Ok, I'm over it.  Promise.

The every family photo op in Minneapolis

Grandma Bev!

Nash a Vampire?

There must be an explanation why my lovable, sweet, caring toddler has decided to take up biting as his most beloved hobby at school.  The first call we received from his school notifying us that he had bitten a child, I think I might have chuckled to myself.  "Oh silly Nash, must have picked it up from the other kids at school."  The second call I thought "Another misunderstanding, perhaps another child took a toy from him?"  The last step in this mama's denial came during a full on surprise intervention at school.  The setting was perfect, I got to school early (it was a Tuesday) and I was excited to see Nash and hear how wonderful his day was.  I spotted Nash from afar, and I proceeded to approach him on the tire swing, the teacher corners me and says she wants to chat for a few minutes.  She then proceeds to tell me that Nash had yet again bit another child.  Seriously, I was waiting for the cameras to jump out of the bushes and my intervention turned reality-life-made-for-tv story on "Denial-Mom's Who Think Their Kids are Perfect" show.  The teacher proceeded to give me a "tip" sheet on what biting means and things we can do at home to help move past this behavior.  Frankly, the "tip" sheet was pretty common sense.  The behavior could be a language barrier (duh), teething (uh huh), or if they are hungry or thirsty.  I'd be the first to address this with Nash if he were to DO IT AT HOME! I think this is why I'm having such a hard time with processing that he is doing it.  Trust me, the other toddler behaviors (meltdowns, hitting) he has mastered at home, but biting is not one of them.  Maybe he sneaks down on Sunday nights and watches "True Blood" with me behind my back?  Is he secretly reading the Twilight series?

As I was leaving with Nash that day, the teacher offered the most comforting and reassuring words a mother could here.  "Oh, we've seen worse."  YES!  Music to my ears.  We have started to talk at home about this behavior, and the next step might be rewarding him for days he does not do it.  I'm sure this phase will pass, hopefully sooner than later.

Lawn mowing day always makes for a great photo op

The Berg Family- All together!

WW: Sneaky snack attack