Short sleeves in January

Normally it would be cold in Georgia in January. Not as cold as Korea for sure, but cold. Coats etc.

The high yesterday was near 70 degrees.

Seriously warm enough for Emma to run around in a leotard and tutu and not be chilly at all.


Of course, by the time we got to church at 5pm Sunday evening for the weekly kids program- we were very much under-dressed in our short sleeve shirts for the temperature had DROPPED.

OH well, it was nice while it lasted!

Breakfast (on a snow day in Georgia!)

Introducing Harry

Please meet Harry, the newest member of our family!

 
(Well, now he's downplaying his enthusiasm about being a member of our family, but believe me, earlier he was running pug circles around the living room!)

 

The Christmas Tour

We've had fun decorating our house this year because in Korea, living in a highrise, decorating was just... not really an option or not worth the effort some how.
We have a faux tree in our living room, but went out and cut that little tree down for the front porch. The red boys and garland were all purchased at Michael's and the santa? FIVE DOLLARS at GoodWill. But I am going to devote an entire post to that deal next week.


The wreath makings I purchased at Hobby Lobby (GAH I love that store. I go there too often since it is right around the corner from the kids' preschool.)

I used fancy gift tags to decorate the vine wreath. Different, but I like it. Hobby Lobby sure does have some awesome gift tags and other decor. And nearly always 50% off.

Speaking of gift tags, these Christmas soldiers (that's what we are calling them) are gift tags as well! I put up enough to use as a count down to Christmas. Each morning a child gets to take one off the door until only the Christmas tree in the middle is left. It's a great idea, but we are terribly behind already.


Our holiday village. We've picked up different pieces over the years from Michael's. And it is GREAT to have a fireplace and mantel to hang the stockings from!

(I'm standing at the front door to take this picture. Off to the right is a bathroom and the kids bedrooms at either end of that hallway.)


The kitchen! I love our kitchen. Those are our expensive curtains we had made in Korea. They were made for giant windows, and we dont want the cost to get them hemmed, so we placed them high up on the wall and the only pool on the floor just a bit.

Above the sink. I am BEYOND proud of my abilities to make this space look festive and organized and cute. It gave me a chance to show off some of the antique glass pieces I've picked up over the years.


These tiny little santas were purchased at IKea. They are hanging from the dining area chandalier and a few other places around the kitchen.

Next week I'll share some of our other rooms (not decorated for the holidays, but I imagine you want to see them too) and I'll share some of the fabulous GoodWill and Salavation Army deals I have scored here in Augusta!

Chopping down a Christmas Tree

One thing you can't find in Korea is Christmas Tree farms. We had a faux tree while we were in Korea and that was hard for me. I love real trees and I love the experience of visiting a real Christmas Tree farm!

Well,now that we are back- wouldnt you know that we put that faux tree up in our living room? We're trying to save some money, so we put the faux tree in the living room and visited a Christmas tree farm and bougth a little (and inexpensive) tree for the front porch.

Win Win


It was frigidly cold. Thankfully they offered free hot cocoa.

The winning tree.

Emma loved being Daddy's helper!


And what did Jackson do the whole time?

He fell asleep on the drive to the farm and slept thru the whole experience! Oh well.

Tomorrow I'll share pictures of our house all decorated up!

New School

This Wednesday Emma and Jackson had their first day of school at the Church run preschool I picked out a few months back while we were still in Korea.

(long sentence, huh?)

It was tough to pick a prechool from overseas, but I knew it was important to get it done over the summer rather than wait until we moved here because then all the school year spots would surely be full.

(Oh look, I am quite good at writing really long sentences!)

So I searched around, contacted a hand full of schools and made a decision based on:

• how well the Director communicated with me
• cost
• type of program

I had no idea what area of Augusta we would eventually settle in, so I had to just make a choice and handle the travel distance.

As it turns out, we live about 8 miles from their school. In traffic, its just shy of a 20 minute drive.  Not bad I am sure, but when we were used to living within 2 miles of nearly everything- the Car Time is tiring.

Anyway, Wednesday was their First Day...

(Girlville made Emma's dress!)

Emma is an old pro at preschools, but this was Jackson's first experience!

They eat lunch at school and both kids were super excited to get new lunchboxes to take to school. (Of course, now I get the task of making lots of lunches!)

Today was Jackson's 2nd day (he goes 3 days a week, Emma goes 5 days a week) and Jackson- who ALWAYS runs to me when I pick him up from anywhere and says, "MOMMMMMY!!!", didnt even bat an eye today. Hmmrf. His teachers say his is doing really well. Hasnt started any fights yet! Sucess! :)
Emma wishes her school day was longer (it ends at 1pm, where her old school ran until about 3pm). They do offer a "late stay" option 2 times a week, where you get to stay at school and eat popsicles and play on the playground until 3pm for just $5- so we told her we would do that once a week starting after Thanksgiving. (School is closed all next week)

Today at school was their annual Thanksgiving Pow Wow.





They sang a few Thanksgiving songs at the Pow Wow, but Emma didnt know all the words since she just started school a few days earlier. I'm excited for her to make some new friends and hopefully we'll be able to work on some playdates soon!

The Rainbow House

(this was written a couple weeks ago)

Tuesday was our (rental) house hunting day in Augusta, GA. In all, we saw 8 houses. At least half with dead roach bodies hanging out on carpets and such. But that's life in the South.

(Terrifies me.)

The first has was in the perfect neighborhood but had more roaches than rooms and the kitchen was a nightmare. One house didnt have a fenced backyard and neither did the neighbors and it was all just too much sharing for me. One house was fantastic but Jason didnt like it.

And one house had each room painted a different color. And that is the house we went with!



It's very different shopping for a rental home when all you've ever done is buy houses (we've bought 3, mostly because we are silly people). Shopping for a rental house you can not be nearly as picky.


The living room was lime green. And I LOVE colors, but this lime was LIME. Even more so than the picture shows. And the hallway to the right is a deep red.


And the room that will be Jackson's is a dark blue.

The house is a split bedroom plan with two little bedrooms and a bathroom on the right side and the master bedroom and bath and garage on the left side. The back of the house has the large eat in kitchen with an island (yeah!!!!!!) and off of the kitchen is a room they called the "office", and we are going to call the "playroom".  And there is a good-sized level fenced-in backyard.



I am so excited about that island yall! And that door on the left is a pantry! Yippee!!!


This is the playroom although I know you cant tell much from the picture. It's roughly the size of a child's bedroom and it has a doorway that leads to the kitchen and a backdoor that leads to the yard.

(backyard, devoid of character, but am happy it is easy to maintain and flat)

(masterbedroom)


Much as I do love color, we've asked the homeowner to repaint the entire house in a neutral color. I think its best to start fresh.

We're going to move in on November 15th, even though our big shipment of furniture etc from Korea will not arrive until (very sadly) December.
We'll make do.