Last Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Move

Watching the movers unpack crates of household goods to his new home in Jacksonville, Florida.

Rhett being a military brat has moved four times in different states and lived in five different houses in his eight young years. From Gainesville, Florida ---> Newport, Rhode Island ---> San Diego, California ---> Seoul, Korea. He's lived in apartments, military housing and a house.

It has been a long journey for Rhett with a lot of changes. He does not remember all the relocation's. He does miss his house in San Diego because according to him it was big and he can play inside the house with his scooter. "I like that house mama!".  Or "I miss daddy's car mama" when we were only allowed one vehicle to shipped overseas.

Jacksonville is way too hot for him. Actually humid then it rains briefly in the afternoon. Rhett always prefers cooler temperature. He does enjoy the pool in the backyard.

 

Taking a break with his frozen treat amongst boxes and boxes of household goods. 

He said he cannot help too much with the unpacking because he is a "kid." Too funny of an excuse. Ha ha. He was just happy to see familiar things once again - Skylanders, PS3, toys, collection of teddy bears (his friends), etc.

Is this his final stop for a while? It would be ideal because moving is stressful (new friends, new school, new dentist, new doctor, waiting for household goods to be delivered, etc.) and lots of adjustments. But then again home is where your heart is.

STEM Project

 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathermatics) project in first grade.

 He can home with this and I could not make up what it was. Looks like Geometry to me.

 Made of marshmallow and toothpick to illustrate the angles.

 This was a project from Ms. McMurray class who was very focus on academics (no popcorn day!). 

 Mommy was pretty impressed with the whole board and how they can do this at 1st grade.

Hmmm time to eat the mallows. Ewww!

Baseball and me (The Pirates)

 

 Rhett receiving his medal from his Baseball Coach and Assistant Coach. They did a terrific season and thanks to the dedication of these two volunteers.

 

 Rhett with the Pirates team - with Sam and Louis..

 

 "Okay what do we need here?"

Private coaching time with dada.

Rhett's First Day of School 2nd Grade

Rhett went to Seoul American Elementary School of the Department of Defense School System (DODDS) for his second grade. It is located inside the post we live. Here is his building.

 

Everybody is ready to begin their first day in school.  We drive to school and stopped by the "Kiss and Drop" area.

 

  

Rhett looks like he is a bit wary of how his class and teacher will be. Geared with his LL Bean backpack. Cheer up Rhett - everything will be alright!

 Ms. Lowder who is his classroom teacher is busy taking photos. They have more boys than girls in their class.

 Lining up to get in the classroom. They have to do this in the mornings daily. Winter time can get to be very cold. Everybody wants to be first in line.

 Jason up front and Daniel at his back. Congratulations Rhett you made it to second grade!

Christmas Carols

Every year at this time of the year for the past two years, Rhett would performed at the Dragon Hill Lodge lobby with his classmates and sing Christmas carols. So here he is with the all the 2nd graders making us proud. They rehearsed many times to come up with such joyous songs.

Normally, he would be shy and hiding and I cannot hardly take photos. This year he was coming off his shell.

All of the 2nd Graders from Ms. Crawford, Ms. Lowder and Ms. Stewart singing popular holiday songs.

Gingerbread house display from the Dragon Hill Lodge. Every holiday they display elaborate Christmas decorations.

www.dragonhilllodge.com

 

The DHL also provide food to all the participants after the performance at the Bentley's bar and restaurant.

Rhett with his 2nd grade teacher - Ms. Lowder. Ms. Lowder loves to spoil her class.

Here is Rhett's class photo. Thank you son for an awesome performance!

Suji's Restaurant in Itaewon

 

When it came to picking a restaurant for Rhett's 7th birthday lunch... it didn't take a second to make up his mind. "Mom, Suji's!" He loves Suji's so much he has a teddy bear named after it. LOL.  Suji's is on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the building above Han's Engraving. It is a hop and and skip from where we live on post/base. 

It is located in 4-16 2nd & 3rd Fl. Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea with telephone

02-797-3698. It is famous for its brunch in Seoul. Suji's home-style menu includes such American favorites as mouth-watering blueberry pancakes for 13,000 won and giant omelets for 15,000 won ($15). http://www.sujis.net/

Rhett and I waiting at the crowded entry. This place gets real busy and waiting time varies. Fortunately, Rhett had his PSP to pass time.

 

This is the counter where you pay after your meal. 

And true enough he ordered what he likes best in Suji's - guess what?!

Chicken Alfredo pasta. He had Dr. Pepper soda to go with it. Chicken Alfredo is his favorite food.

 We ate at the second floor with a nice window view. The weather was just perfect. Sunshiny and all.

Happy 7th birthday Rhett!

Hello Mommy Goodbye Tummy! Baby Shower 2005

i was basically cleaning up my photos online and came across some baby shower photos seven years ago for rhett. he had three baby showers. this one was from my employment in blue cross blue shield of florida in jacksonville. pretty cake.

i was told by my supervisor - jonathan that he needed to talk to me in the conference room for something. this was not something unusual since we do discuss about our corporate accounts. i was in membership & billing and we have our own dedicated accounts. however, this is what i saw in the conference room.

surprise! it was a baby shower.
 

 they had me sit in front to open the presents. here is froggy and i showed it to rhett (age 7) and he yelled with excitement. that's froggy!!! we still have him and he has traveled with us throughout miltary relocations.

lots of baby clothes. i swear he had more matching outfits when he was a baby. carter's, gymboree, children's place, etc. it was easier to shop too. just me picking things up. now, he has favorites. or he would say... that's gay mom! and he would not wear it. ha ha.

diaper bag with things hairbrush set. i think i registered with target for the baby wishlist and i had picked a lot of winnie the pooh items.

there were more gifts... it was really so sweet and thoughtful to think about the baby. i was with blue cross for five years prior to relocating.

thank you guys!

a book for mommy's. i still have that today.

now it's time to pack and thank for all the blessings.

rhett-ism

"Why do people sing about husband and wife all the time? Almost all the time. Bruno Mars is singing about it right now."

 - Rhett (7)

rhettism july 2012

rhett (age 7): "you know why i don't like the world?"
mama duchesne: (shock) "why anak (son)?"
rhett: "because you have to pay and pay and pay." "you have to pay a lot!"

Rhett's Baby Shower in Dave n' Busters

this was taken around february 2005. your baby shower (you had 3 of them) in these photos was at the dave and buster's in jacksonville, florida.

there's carlos signing the souvenir book  for the event. i still have the book and it has some very good tips about parenting. there is bhel  next to carlos and josie garlock(bhel's cousin). carlos resides in arizona now. they always had awesome get together in their home.

the cajudo family came as well with rydell, noel, mackee and mommy delia. a very tight and spiritual family.

my friend gemma from blue cross and her son. the last i heard she opened her own quizno at the regency mall and also was expanding.

my armenian friend natalya and her daughter. we became friends from training class in blue cross. she was my lunchmate as well.

there were many gifts such as baby clothes.

some gave toddler clothes since babies grow so fast.

and feeding bottles. we ended using those bottles with disposable liner. mommy likes convenience.

baby blankets.

warm clothes.

blue for a boy.

a wardrobe for rhett and he was not even born yet.

the baby register was with target and had lots of winnie-the-pooh character motiff. i didn't know what you would like yet. so pastel green seem safe.

giftcard came in handy

and more blankets... wnnie-the-pooh

hey a practical idea-diaper.

winnie-the-pooh jumper

winnie-the-pooh set of photo albums. you still have this in your bookcase. these days your photos are online.

winnie-the-pooh feeding set

bib i supposed.

onesies. when you actually used this, mama would only snap 2 buttons out of 3 because we had too many diaper change. lol.

 my dear friend pamela ashley-mercer from blue cross and her son.

ms hannon with her daughter kapri(now in college) and joyce. we all worked together in the navy disbursing world.

carmen de guzman who i met up in blue cross and also we went to the same church. and there's crazy loren who is so funny. she made you cry at times. ha ha. never mind how mama look. i really had a big belly because you were huge.

melanie, rebecca and tina.

we had games later on at dave n buster's after dinner.

daddy played a bit too. this was taken in 2005. there's the disclaimer. got it.