Sunday, March 29, 2009

Hylidae

Hylidae is the scientific name for tree-frogs.

This is my first time putting a collar on a shirt and I know I've done it wrong but I still think overall it is a pretty cute shirt. This is from the Ottobre that I bought in Germany so sometimes the directions don't make perfect sense to me.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Hardly Random: Part 3

An ongoing series in which I discuss my thoughts on first reading Darwin's Origin of Species

Finished Chapter 3 some time ago and just haven't posted yet. In this chapter Darwin begins to write about Survival of the Fittest, Natural Selection, and the grand struggle for survival that all species undergo. He makes the point that humans tend to remember those things that are beautiful and forget those that are hideous. Many creationist use things like rainbows, spring flowers and a baby's laughter to make the case for god. However they seem to forget floods, poison ivy, and childhood cancer. Or maybe they want us to forget.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Hello Kitty Blouse

I haven't been able to sit and sew since before Christmas. After getting everything out of the living room and about 50% of my sewing room put away and organized I got to sit and sew for a little while today. I made this little blouse from an Ottobre 1/2009 pattern.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Household Goods are Here!

Woot! Our household goods arrived on what was the first springlike day of the year yesterday. And yes the house is a wreck, and yes I am complaining about my kitchen cabinets and lack thereof, but I am so happy to have a few essentials back after eight long weeks. Best of all perhaps is that Deniz's potty is here and she actually made pee-pee in it twice today! Hurray! Fingers crossed she'll be out of diapers soon.

The truck with our crates. We were over our weight limit by 1000 pounds. Oops!
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Elevator truck. They loaded the goods on this and shot them up to our balcony.
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And just a small portion of the mess.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Hardly Random: Part 2

On ongoing series wherein I discuss my first reading of Darwin's Origin of Species.

Last night I finished Chapter 2. Darwin writes about telling apart a species and its varieties and how difficult this can be. He makes two points in particular though that I want to quote.

... if we look at each species as a special act of creation there is no apparent reason why more varieties should occur in a group having many species, than in one having few.


In other words if g-d did all this why does it look evolved?

... when many species of a genus have been formed on an average many are still forming; and this certainly holds good.


Meaning evolution is still ongoing.

Just look at all these varieties of Oak Trees for example.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Household Goods

Hurray! Our household goods are being delivered tomorrow. Get ready for pictures of boxes everywhere and me complaining about our kitchen cabinets. I'm so excited to be getting my sewing machines back and the kids are looking forward to their bicycles. Mr. K is anxiously awaiting his set of good knives and we are all eager to see the homeschool materials arrive. Just hope we weren't massively over the weight limit.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Hardly Random: Part 1

This will be an ongoing series in which I post my impressions of The Origin Of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition Sadly I am just reading this classic work for the first time, and because I have been out of school for so long find it a bit rough going.

Chapter 1: A lot about pigeons, dogs and sheep. It is obvious that Darwin is struggling with explaining his theory without knowing the exact mechanism (genetics) which makes it all work.

Chapter 2: A pet theory of creationist is to compare the chances of spontaneous evolution to a tornado ripping through a salvage yard and creating a 747 airplane. Obviously they have never read this book. On pages 59 and 60 of my copy Darwin states, "Almost every part of every organic being is so beautifully related to its complex conditions of life that it seems as improbable that any part should have been suddenly produced perfect, as that a complex machine should have been invented by man in a perfect state." In other words the forms of life we see today have become what they are only through change just as the 747 airplane of today barely resembles the airplane the Wright Brothers created just over 100 years ago.

Wright Brothers glider.


Modern 747.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Hail and Farewell

We attended a Hail and Farewell dinner last Friday night at a buffet restaurant. It was a mix of Korean, Japanese,Chinese, and Western. Wasn't the best food we've had since arriving but I knew you'd all like to see photos.

Izzy gets a little shy at these kind of things.
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The little bamboo box contained really yummy rice.
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Sweet and sour soup etc.
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No idea what any of these are LOL.
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Various raw fish.
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And lots more.
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Thursday, March 5, 2009

Hour of Power

Wednesday was the first story hour at our new library. I'm not sure who had more fun, me or the kids.

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Alex and Mina did a great job organizing reading. The kids danced, played finger games, and listened to several stories.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Hound Sitting

The kids had been watching over this cute little Pomeranian named Ming, but last night her daddy came to pick her up. Ming wasn't terribly found of me nor I of her, but she was starting to get used to us. Thankfully, D did a great job looking after her, feeding her, and taking her for walks. Of course now they want a dog of their own more than ever.

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Hall of Science

Tuesday the kids and I went to the Gwacheon National Museum of Science in Seoul with the Camp Humprheys Play Group.

Here is Izzy on the bus with her baby crack.
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They had a special exhibit on Darwin that we didn't have time to go to (boo!)
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D did get to go on the earthquake simulator.
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In addition to the rocks and galaxy formation we really enjoyed the evolution of life exhibit and especially the dinosaurs.
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We took a pack lunch but enjoyed seeing what everyone ordered from the cafeteria and tried some BBQ flavored Cheetos.
This is a hamburger patty covered with gravy and spaghetti on the side.
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This is a bit more traditional and looked really yummy.
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Finally we went to the hands on part were the kids enjoyed playing with water, pretended to be prairie dogs, and basically burned a lot of energy before we loaded back onto the bus for the trip home.
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Monday, March 2, 2009

Hungry?

I have been loving the food here in Korea way more than I ever thought I would. Mr. K the kids and I eat out at least twice a week. Pork, beef, chicken, seafood, it is always delicious.

Our friend Greg has been helping us out by taking us to great restaurants and reading the menu for us. We are going to miss him tremendously when he leaves next week.
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D's favorite is dumplings.
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Izzy's favorite is soup.
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This is a soup that you cook yourself at the table.
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D is really getting good with chopsticks.
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This mixed dish comes to the table already cooked but stays hot over a burner.
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I love how everything is immaculately presented.
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And if I want a taste of home it isn't hard to find.
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