Slider in blog, left sidebar cut short

I’ve set up a very nice site using the new MK theme by WordPress. However, I’ve run into two main problems:

1) My sidebar on the left (with my menu) doesn’t scroll down. I’ve limited the number of menu items so that at least all the menu items are visible, but I can’t see what’s below the search icon (copyright info, social media links, etc). And I’d like to be able to ensure that these menu items are visible regardless of screen size or number of menu items I might add later, so having it scroll is imperative. How can I do this?

I only have six menu items so I’m confused about why I don’t see the bottom of the sidebar like you can in the theme example.

2) My blog page on the website features the same (very large) slider photos as the home page. To see the new blog posts you have to scroll down below the big photos, so actually on first look you can’t even see any blog posts at all because the photos take up the entire screen. I don’t want to change the look of my home page, just the blog page. How can I do it so that the blog page has the same look as the other pages (just a header photo)?

Thanks very much for your help!