The First of Many Dress-Up "Incidents"

Poor Maddox. The other night McKinley was so excited about something and she kept telling me and Milt to come into the room because she wanted to show us something she had "done" to Maddox. Low and behold, Maddox was happily dressed up in a Princess hat. McKinley was very pleased with herself, and Kennedy thought it was pretty funny too! But seriously, poor little guy. How many times in the next few years do you think this is going to happen to him? I guess that is his lot in life with two big sisters. And of course we had to take pictures. That's our job as parents, right? To let him know all the things he needs to get even with his sisters for when he gets bigger than them!

Community Day Fireworks

Now, I promised that I would be a better blogger once we moved so that everyone (especially Nana Betty and Papa Kirby) could see what we are up to. And we have finally got our own high-speed internet, so now I can actually do it regularly! So, I promise to be a better blogger (and if I’m not, I will go back and erase this part.)

This last weekend, we decided to be social and attend our Township Community Day. We got to hear a great Beatles cover band and then watch fireworks...which all the kids loved! We were very proud to not be one of the families with the screaming kids (for once) when the fireworks started going off.

We had a great time and even Maddox seemed mesmerized by the lights (see pictures). It was nice to take a break from painting and cleaning and to show McKinley that Pennsylvania can be just as fun as Utah (she says she did a lot more "fun" things in Utah than in PA....um, maybe because she had 5 years in Utah and only 3 weeks in PA, most of those spent unpacking)! I would really love it if she didn't have the memory of an elephant. She forgets nothing (every sentance starts, "remember that time in Utah..."?) What a funny girl!

Milt holding McKinley up so she can see the band

Me and Kennedy watching the Beatles cover band...they looked just like the Beatles!

Maddox is very happy just sitting and watching everything. Watching the fireworks

Culture Shock

Moving away from Utah and being in a new state is kind of a surreal experience. I have completely had culture shock for the last couple of weeks, but I think/hope that I am finally getting my bearings. Everywhere I turn I find myself saying, “where are we? This place is so weird!” I mean, I know it’s Utah that is different from the rest of the world, but you forget what everywhere else is like. I mean really…no one lets their children run from neighbor to neighbor's house all day and not worry like we did in Utah. And to bump into other MOMS at the bus stop…I never realized there was any other way! So I am adjusting, and I really am learning to love it here. The people have been SO nice everywhere we go, and it truly is beautiful. I just think it’s going to take time to make friends (which is normal), but I just don’t like waiting for the normal "year" (or so I've been told) that it takes to truly feel at home in a new place! So here is a list I've compiled to try to explain what's so different about this new place (and for me to try to put it in words so it doesn't feel so strange anymore.)

GREAT THINGS ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA:

• The diversity is awesome, and it is so good for the kids to grow up realizing that they're not the center of the universe, in so many ways! In fact, I love just hearing the names of the kids in McKinley’s class at school and hearing about the different cultures and things their families do.

• People think my children are adorable and stop us everywhere we go (even when I’m jogging) just to look at them and tell me how cute they are…if this happened in Utah, no one would ever get anywhere because there are so many kids!
  


• We have grown closer as family (the kids have to like hanging out with us, we’re the only people they know.)
  


• Milt is home every night (although he’s not real fond of driving in traffic everyday to get to work…)
  


• I now have a child with curly hair like me! Kennedy wakes up everyday and her hair is CURLY! Check out the pictures, they are too cute!
  


• There are so many cool historical things to do everywhere, and I LOVE seeing all the really old buildings (and by old, I mean OLD) that are so well kept up.
  


• All parents need to have a federal background check before they are allowed to volunteer at the schools here. This is actually very reassuring, but it is a pain that I need to get one too…
  


• The TREES! They are everywhere, and they are BEAUTIFUL! I jog every morning after we take McKinley to the bus stop, and the neighborhood next to ours is much older and has some ginormous trees. I just put the two little ones in their stroller and we go squirrel watching while I jog. I absolutely love it, and I’m trying to get as much in as I can before it gets too cold. (I’ll have to take pictures of the area sometime to post, because you have to see it to appreciate it).
  


• Our house. I REALLY love the pantry, and the laundry room, and my bathtub, and MY OWN closet (and Milt likes his quite a bit too…). We’ll post some pictures when we get it all decorated up.

THINGS THAT WILL TAKE SOME GETTING USED TO:

• Having to drive McKinley for 10-15 minutes to play with someone in her class at school or 15-25 minutes to see someone from church. It's totally worth it to make her happy, but it's different.
  


• Being the only Mom at the bus stop with the all the nannies…I kid you not. It took me a week to meet a mom in our neighborhood. And I will never assume that anyone is anyone else’s child for fear of offending another nanny. (I asked one about her “kids” and she informed me she is only 25, and just the nanny…little does she know that there are millions of kindergarten moms in Utah who are 25 – it is possible!)
  


• Hearing little kids talk like mobsters. I have been told that it is actually just a Jersey accent, but to me, I’ve only heard mobsters talk like that on TV. Hearing little 3 year olds talk like that is more than a little unnerving (but it is actually pretty cute once you get used to it.)
  


• Streets that zigzag every direction (usually to go over/around rivers) and the main streets are called by their highway number rather than name (and I keep making up my own numbers, so people look at me funny when I ask questions about how to get places.)
  


• Waking up in the morning and having all the windows in our house fogged over (like when you’re in a parked car…). It’s just bizarre.
  


• Hardly any selection at the grocery store of certain things. For example, there are very few brands of Mexican food (like only Mission brand tortillas) and almost all the Crystal Light here is Iced Tea (we are Raspberry Lemonade Crystal Light addicts, and can’t find it anywhere!) I guess we'll have to drink more water...
  


• Watching the news and seeing actual scary “NEWS” that is happening not far from you!
  

• Tropical Storm Warnings (WHAT!?! …It apparently doesn’t matter that we are not in a coastal state. We still can lose power for weeks, so we’ve stocked up!)

• And of course: no Café Rio, Cost Vida, Bajio, Los Hermanos, etc….

Kennedy's BedHead Curly Hair

This is what her hair looks like after I've just let it dry naturally...it's so much easier than straight!

The steamed up house windows..this is what they looked like one morning when we woke up

The kids in their stroller for our morning jog (and yes, Maddox is still increasing in size rapidly)

Milt in HIS closet that he doesn't have to share with me (he is standing by his "hawaiian shirt section" for his ONE hawaiian shirt, and explaining why he can't share any room for any of my stuff)

The difference a year makes

McKinley started school here last week, and of course she loves it and has been right at home since day 1. But I was looking at the pictures of her first day of kindergarten last year, and I can't believe how much older she seems now! What happened to my little girl? She now uses the words 'awesome' and 'sweet' about every other minute and she thinks she knows more than me (although, let's be honest...she's always thought she knows more than me.) But she is adjusting extremely well, which makes feel so much better about the move. This last Saturday we went to Lowe's down the street from our new house and we saw a little girl from McKinley's class at school, and when the two girls saw each other, they ran up and gave each other the biggest hug. It was hilarious. I mean seriously, they had only known each other for 4 days, and they acted like long lost sisters. And we met the little girl’s parents, who were great, and McKinley got to go and spend the day with them and have pizza at their house, so she was in heaven (and they have WAY cooler toys than us, because other people’s toys are always cooler than your own). So she is very happy here, which makes me happy too. She does occasionally color pictures and write letters to old friends in Utah (that I will someday send out if I ever finish unpacking), so it’s good that she remembers “home” too. If only it were quite as easy for adults to make friends!

McKinley's first day of 1st Grade, she doesn't look a bit nervous, does she? (Just look at her face...I wonder where she learned to be such a smart aleck...)

FLASHBACK: First Day of Kindergarten...wasn't she the cutest (and so little)?