Weekend recap - world's most original title for a blog post on a Tuesday

Another weekend in the books.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying 70+ degrees wherever they were. Minnesota is still firmly planted in winter territory though. Our mud yard has since frozen over and been snowed on. So that's nice. Preferable to mud, in my opinion. And the kids were overjoyed by the sight of fresh snow. Even though sitting out on the back deck grilling sounds really nice, I have to admit that the untouched snow in the morning light was really pretty on the way to church.

On Saturday evening, we were going to let the kids make their own personal pizzas and then camp out in the living room and watch a movie. When I finally got the dough all ready for them though, they had skedaddled across the street to play with the super cool second grader who likes to play basketball is basically Michael Jordan. So I made their pizzas for them and I think Will enjoyed it the most.

OMG all this food for meeeee????

After baths, they decided to watch a show about animals instead of a movie. Will crawled around and did his best to throw himself on top of anyone who looked too still.

He was put to bed at 7 and the big kids were allowed to stay up a little longer to watch their show. Steve and I got ready for bed and after the kids probably assumed we forgot about them (we did not- just enjoying the blissful silence!!). Sam popped in. "So how's it goin in here, guys?" I almost felt an ab form I laughed so hard. Even though nothing like that was going on, I couldn't help but picture the mom from Mean Girls.

Molly was not too thrilled about sleeping in the living room without us (despite sleeping in her bed without us every night), and then Sam crawled into our bed at some point to sleep with us and then Will woke up screaming for his banana and then everyone was awake and THIS IS WHY WE DON'T DO FUN THINGS WHERE IS THE COFFEE.

We rallied (aka made coffee) and went to church. Last Sunday before Lent! I can't believe it.

That afternoon we headed over to Rick and Monica's house, as per our usual Sunday afternoon activities. We walk around outside and hang out, cook dinner, watch the kids play, etc. Nothing photo-worthy apparently as I never take any pictures, outside of the dinner picture.

Poor Mav (front right) had just fallen off the bench (and took his plate down to the floor with him) so he was less than thrilled about cheesing for a photo.

On our way home, close to 7!!!

NOT PITCH BLACK!!! WINTER MIGHT BE ENDING SOMEDAY SOON!!!

I don't mind the temps so much, but all of the darkness really gives me the SADs (Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is basically me being sad about the lack of sunlight).

Apparently this is Dr Seuss Week at school so there is a different theme everyday for them to dress. Nothing too crazy. Monday was Pajama Day.

Today was Color Day and each grade had to wear a certain color. Sam's class had purple. Wtf. Luckily he had a Vikings hoodie I bought at the thrift store so I feel like that satisfied the purple.

Molly and I made bagels this morning since Casey sent us a bagel seasoning that I have been dying to try. I almost bought some store-made bagels but then decided against it. Molly loves making bagels so much.

Ugly as sin but delicious as all get out.

I just cannot stress how good this seasoning is. Perfectly salty and garlicky and just everything a bagel should taste like. Mmmmmmm....

Molly scattered her Valentine's flowers in the backyard for the deer. (To eat or to look at as they eat the berries off our trees, I'm not sure exactly which, but it's a nice thought.) Sam scattered some lettuce out there last night for them but it doesn't appear to have been touched.


Ash Wednesday is tomorrow and I think in place of giving something up, Steve and I are going to say a rosary together every night. I am already giving up wine thanks to pregnancy (the greatest "give up" of all in my boozy opinion) and since Steve has been eating clean, we don't have any sweets or anything like that in the house to give up. So I think doing instead of giving up will be a better solution to Lent this year. I have clearly not put enough brain power into thinking of what to do to make Lent more meaningful for the kids but maybe I can pull something out later this afternoon/evening. If you have any ideas, please feel free to let me know!

Let them eat cake

Or bagels. Any sort of a carb is bound to make just about anybody happy.

Molly and I set out to make bagels this morning. I realize that after living in NYC where bagels are so plentiful and delicious and cheap and readily available, that I have become somewhat spoiled when it comes to bagels and how they should taste. Store bought bagels can do in a pinch, but I don't really want to waste the calories, money, or time on something that's just "meh." And it may or may not be obvious, but there are not a lot of bagel options here in the middle of nowhere, Minnesota.

I used to be terrified of baking breads and using yeast. It just seemed so hard and the people that did it were much more Laura Ingalls Wilder than me. My mom even gave me a cookbook signed by Sister Schubert herself, reminding me to "be gentle when touching bread." I think the first time I made any sort of dough was while we were in Korea and I wanted to make "normal" pizza. Korean pizza is delicious but is covered in odd things like corn and sometimes there is green crust and interesting sauce. I loved it and still miss it, but while we were there, I missed good ol' American pizza every now and again. So my friend Kelly gave me her foolproof recipe for pizza dough. Having success with that was enough to bolster my spirits into thinking I could make anything, so I made bread, and then a really delicious cake (that is still in heavy rotation today), and even English muffins.

Once we moved to NY, I had no real reason to make any of that anymore. It was all quicker and easier to buy fresh bread from any of the many bakeries scattered throughout the city. So I was slightly out of practice and the thought of bagels was a little intimidating. But what was there to lose? Three cups of flour and a packet of yeast?

The recipe was easy enough though, and we came out with eight bagels! I followed the recipe from Jellibean Journals. (Hint: I'm a sucker for anything labeled "the best". I can't tell you how many of "the best" chocolate cake recipes I had to try before finding the actual best one. A burden my hips still gladly bear. Heh.)

Molly helped me measure and mix and we were left with a lovely smelling fresh dough ball. We let it rise for an hour, and I think Molly might have snuck a taste in at this point.

After the dough had risen, Molly punched it down and we separated it into eight dough balls.

Hair nets are on my "to buy" list.

We rolled and stuck our thumbs through the centers and made little bagels.

Next, we boiled a big pot of water and let the bagels sit in the water for a minute on each side. Then we scooped them out and stuck them on a greased pan.

Terrible photos courtesy of the fact that I was trying to get this done quickly because BAGELS.

Garlic bagels were always Molly's and my favorite in NY, so we did a quick egg wash and put some minced garlic on top of each one.

YUM

After this, they went straight into the oven.

The smell was almost too much to handle, waiting for those suckers to finish baking.

The face of approval

Y'all. These were so so good. They were soft and the texture was perfect. Not too chewy.

Do yourself a favor and only buy whipped cream cheese to put on top of these!! I foresee myself making another few batches very very soon; maybe a few different toppings or just plain (Sam's personal favorite). If your new year's resolution doesn't involve eating good food, well, I think you might be missing out.

• According to the massive amount of photos on my phone, it is time for another photo dump.
• Last weekend we went to Seoul to see a big Christmas tree and a train display inside the Seoul Millennium Hilton.

• We also noticed that Santa would be arriving while we were there. And then all of my dreams of living abroad were fulfilled when Molly sat in the skinniest Korean Santa lap ever.

Further proof that Molly will do anything for a donut.

And Sam will never be a fan of the big guy in red.

Delivering on our donut promises

Sweet, blessed naps on the long drive home

• That night we read the story of Saint Nicholas and I realized that I need to get a book of saints that is more child-friendly. I tried summarizing as I was reading, but it still came out like, "and the girls were saved from a life of sexual slavery!" Anyways, I thought a picture book of saints would be geared towards young children, but apparently not. On my to-do list! Good ol' Saint Nick brought the kids some Christmas pj's.

• The next morning, our neighbors came over and we cooked blueberry-apple muffins, bacon, and eggs. Then we set to work constructing and decorating gingerbread houses (which were actually graham cracker houses). After many piping bag explosions, reminding the kids where the candy is supposed to go (the house, not your mouth!), and then decorating our own (in shifts, so someone could always keep the kids from destroying the rest of the house), we had our own little Christmas shanty house village.

• Upon seeing the aftermath, I declared that I think we should just move. Leave everything as it is and leave. Seemed more reasonable than cleaning this.

The floor was worse. And the kitchen side was worse than this.

• Behold, our Christmas village.

• I finally figured out how to turn our heated floors on. Poor kids. They were starting to get used to wearing a full winter layer indoors.

• Our neighbors celebrated their wedding anniversary, so Steve and I watched their boys. Let me just say, two sets of twins would not work out well for me.

Unless we ordered delivery and drank a ton of wine every night. Then I'd at least survive.

The effects of wearing a ski cap while having wet hair. Could not stop laughing.

• Made biscuits from a Pinterest recipe and while they tasted fine, their looks left much to be desired....

Little hockey pucks

• Made some candy trees and was reminded of all the fun things I did at Christmas as a child. I also am wondering at what age I started to help with things like candy trees because I got a bit twitchy as the kids tried to "help" (aka scatter chocolates everywhere and unroll all of the tape). Mama? Please say something like, age 8.

• Had a girls' day out to the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul. 

If you squint a bit, you can see Seoul Tower off in the distance!

• Our main reason for going to the Express Bus Terminal was the shopping- fresh cut flowers (suuuuuper hard to find here) and Christmas decor.

None of my cell phone pictures do this place justice. It was just a maze of flower stands and signs I couldn't read.

Found cotton! And knew it had to come home with me.

• I didn't get any photos of the Christmas decor because my arms were BREAKING and the aisles were about two times too small, but rest assured that it was bananas and I wish I was a millionaire because there was plenty I could have brought home with me (had I brought a pack mule and a bank's worth of money).
• We had budae jjigae for lunch, and although I was a bit scared to try it (the man warned it was a little spicy, but coming from a Korean, what does that even mean???) and it looks kinda funny, but it was so SO good. The flavors were perfectly complemented by the fake orange juice we were given to drink.

Doesn't it look SPICY?? It was not. Full of beef, spam, hot dogs, ramen, veggies, dumplings, and udon noodles. I want to eat this again right this very minute.

• Saw this gem for sale and am suddenly very concerned that shopping won't be nearly as entertaining in the States after living here.

• We finally arrived back home to the sitter. Molly was on Cloud Nine all day "taking care of" baby Lorene.

Taken right before Molly lost all control of her limbs and almost belly-flopped on poor Lori.

• Yesterday we stayed home all day and made bread and flower arrangements and washed clothes. Super fun stuff.

• Steve had a work dinner last night, so I took the kids to McD's to eat in the snow.

Can't you just feel the excitement??

• As soon as I buckled everyone up after dinner, Sam asked me what was for dinner. I wanted to find the nearest patch of black ice and just run as fast as I could. After leaving McD's, we drove through town and looked at Christmas lights and then stayed up until everyone started melting down.
• Today has been spent drinking coffee, making pizza dough for a farewell dinner tonight, running errands (holy packages, Batman! The mail room probably thinks I have some sort of online shopping problem.... and when it comes to Amazon Lightening Deals, maybe I do), and doing more laundry. Time to get moving and figure out what to make for dessert! Nothing like a time crunch to make me extra productive!

It is so cold that my dough won't rise on the counter anymore! Gotta preheat the oven and then set it in there. Unfortunately, only one bowl will fit at a time.

• Annnnnnnnd I just realized that all of these photos are from this past week only. Wowza. I either need to blog more than once a week or stop taking so many cell phone pictures.