I am trying to recap the past month of life in a blog post, but it is turning into A Big Thing That Is A Huge Time Suck, so that will be put on the back burner and I am going to go ahead and pretend like you've already read that post and we can continue on in real time. Otherwise this blog might die and never be revived. So here we go.
- Just to give you some scene details, we are back in America, living in PA with my very generous in-laws, and renovating our house.
- We went apple picking at a local farm and the kids LOVED it. Once they realized that they could get these apples off the trees with relative ease, they could not be stopped. We ended up with way more apples than we ever anticipated taking home with us. This farm also has pumpkin picking and we passed the pumpkin area on our way to park near the orchard. As we were leaving, they asked if they could go pick pumpkins now. "Of course not. You are not in pumpkin picking outfits. You know full well that you can't pick pumpkins in apple picking clothes." We'll be back. And appropriately dressed for the occasion.
- One day I might upload the pictures I took with my real camera, but for now, cell phone quality will have to do!
- In order to bribe them to stand still for the whopping six pictures I did take of them with my real camera, we told the kids they could get a happy meal for dinner afterwards. McDonalds currently offers Hello Kitty and monster truck toys in their happy meals, which is probably the best toy combo of all time for our family in its current state. Molly almost crapped her pants because she thought I said "Hello Kitty monster truck", but sadly, there is no such thing. She did not want to be left out of the monster truck action, but settled on Hello Kitty in the end.
- The next day was the kids' first day of school at Steve's former preschool. (I am really loving that they get to do so many of the things that Steve did as a child. Makes my sentimental side all tingly and happy.)
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| I don't think there's room for another ounce of sass in that little body! |
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| Gah, he is the sweetest!! |
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| Big girl! |
- Both of them went straight into their classrooms with no trouble. I had to remind them to tell me goodbye and give me a kiss.... no, my feelings aren't hurt at all... They are a little ticked that I pick them up before lunch because in Korean preschool I would pack their lunch and pick them up right before naps. Trust me, children, if I could leave you there longer, I would! Molly is SO excited to show me what she's colored at school that day and I think the structure (as well as the constant use of the English language) is really her style. You can tell she enjoys every minute she spends there. And that makes me so happy. Sam likes to go to preschool, but he seems a little put off by the fact that they expect him to use that big ol' muscle in his head and write his S like an S and not like a Z. His teacher is more focused on learning and pencil grip and making sure he's prepared for kindergarten. (God bless her.) Sam is wishing there was more emphasis on playing with toys and friends. He also seems to think that since we took them to lunch at Chick-fil-A after their first day, that that is where we should be going everyday after school pickup. (If only!!) Since school has started back, it has become glaringly obvious that naptime/rest time/quiet time needed to be reinstated. Molly is just so overtired at the end of the day that she gets a little.... (how to put this nicely).... FRIGGIN PSYCHOTIC by dinnertime. I had to lay with them today to get them to go down, but they finally passed out, and hopefully they will continue to do so every day because they both really need it!
- Later after picking the kids up from their first day of preschool, my MIL watched the kids while Steve and I went to another car lot to look at cars. I don't know why, but I find this to be one of the most boring, adultish things ever. Of course having a second car is nice, but the thought of test driving and negotiating and plunking down all that money is not my favorite. Luckily, Steve had seen a car he was interested in online the night before. We went to the dealership, test drove it, decided we liked it (or did not give any more effs about going to any more car lots and looking at any more cars), and bought it. Steve is so happy. I got to drive it yesterday to my hair appointment and it really is a fun car to drive! And Korean-made. Of course.
- The afternoons tend to drag a little bit (especially when the kids refuse to nap), so one afternoon we headed into town to a cute little ice cream shop that Steve used to go to when he was younger.
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| Chockwett! Chockwett! Chockwett! |
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| Such a tough life |
- As mentioned earlier, I finally went and got my hair done. It had been long overdue, but I really needed to speak to someone who spoke English in order to get this mop fixed. The stylist asked me what my family had thought of my red hair (I showed her my before picture from last December) and I said they liked it. She looked a little shocked, like "how on earth could they like that?!" Then she asked if they were the ones that told me to come get my hair colored that day. I said no.... I don't take a bunch of selfies, so they never really saw my hair deteriorate into what it is now.... "Well, they must have been being nice to not say anything!" Fear not, I promptly thanked everyone who had to stare at me for the past month for their kindness in not telling me what an awful mess I was to look at. Then the stylist used about 8 gallons of corrective hair color on my head and then I was fixed.
- A little darker than I anticipated, but I am told by many that it will lighten soon and my normal hair color (see: disgusting 6-inch roots in second photo) will reemerge. Thank you for your patience and tolerance as I went through this phase of disfigurement, and please know that I will leave the red-headedness to the professionals (Molly/Steve/Sam) from now on. Also, I am eternally jealous of anyone with natural red hair. The end.
- Since we picked no fewer than 15 pounds of apples at the orchard, I decided I would make apple butter and applesauce out of some of them yesterday. The crock pot made that incredibly easy and now I just need my family to step up and eat their share of apple products before everything spoils. While cruising Pinterest for other apple things to make, I came across a recipe for apple dump cake. And omg you guys. Three ingredients. Make it. It tastes amazing. So once I decided to make this, Steve and I made a trip to the grocery store for cake mix. We had to get milk while we were there and as we were standing in front of the milk case, I wondered aloud at how it is legal in this day and age to charge $6.29 for a gallon of organic milk. Regular milk was three dollars less... I have a cheap side and I have a side that worries constantly about what is best for the kids. Steve, apathetic to my internal mom struggle and only concerned about the cake, suggested I just get the regular milk.
- Steve - "It's cheaper."
- Me - "I know, I know! But all those hormones! I don't want Molly to get her period in the 3rd grade all because we were too cheap to spend an extra $3!!"
- Steve - "You're right. We'll save money on tampons in the long run. Get the organic."
- And then I almost peed my pants in the grocery store from laughing so hard.
- I will be back soon to recap more things in a backwards order.
