Family
Mom, Do We Hate Donald Trump?
Last Friday after school we played at the park with friends until it was no longer a question of if it would rain, but could we beat the rain home? We made it to the train station 8 minutes prior to our train arriving with scooters and backpacks in tow. This particular train station has one covered shelter, so we made a beeline for that area to protect ourselves from the wind. An elderly woman, bundled from head to toe in winter gear, had already claimed one corner of the shelter. My children (ages 6 and 9) are used to waiting for trains. We sometimes play I-spy, but since my daughter always “spies” one…
Happy Halloween
It’s here! It’s here! My kids are busting with excitement. They love Halloween! For those of you who have wondered, yes, Halloween is celebrated in Ireland. The kids do dress up and go trick-or-treating, so that is on the agenda for later today. We also carved pumpkins! The teeniest, tiniest pumpkins. Honest to goodness, I don’t know why we didn’t do this sooner. See that little hole in the top of the pumpkin? Mom and dad cannot fit their hands in there. Therefore, mom and dad’s ability to help with this process is very, very limited. Or so I told my kids. Worked like a charm. These were Irish grown, “medium-sized” pumpkins. They…
Moving to Ireland: First Week of School
PHEW! We survived the first day of school. It’s the second day that’s the real killer. And the day after. And the…you get my point. via GIPHY It’s been an awesome summer. It’s also been a long, long summer. My kids were ready to be with their own kind. I was ready for them to be with their own kind – for at least a few hours a day. I was nervous dropping them off though! So nervous. My jazz hands were working overtime that morning to make sure my neuroses didn’t rub off on my kids. Fake it ’til you make it! The first day of school is always a…
Summer’s Twilight
For us, summer is almost over. It’s been an extra long one. Normally, the kids would already be two weeks into their new school year, but Irish schools start a bit later than schools in Georgia. I call it a moving bonus of sorts. For the kids. I think of this time of year as summer’s twilight. The season is coming to a close and I’m going to miss all of the fun summer dished out for us this year. I’m really going to miss the unscheduled, flexible nature of summer. I’m taking this week off from blogging to just be in the moment with my kids and husband. We’re going to explore,…
Living in Ireland: Exploring Our New Country
For our friends and family back home, today is just a little bit of random life as viewed through our iPhone lens. We know Ireland’s beautiful summer weather is fleeting, so we paused for a picture one night. I’m not 100% sure, but I think Handy Husband was trying to blend into his surroundings. This is hard to do when you are standing next to a kid wearing multiple colors and prints. I admire her sense of style bravado. Wearing an uniform to school is going to be a big adjustment for this 9-year-old. She did ask me if she could wear any headband she wanted to school. My answer? Well, they didn’t…
Two Books That Made My Eyes Leak
As a general rule of thumb, I’m not a crier. I make exceptions for the occasional sappy movie and anytime my kids are on stage. Oh, and when I was pregnant I could cry during those Coca-Cola commercials with the polar bears. Dang hormones. The point is I don’t remember the last time my kids saw me cry. That’s why it’s a little awkward that the two books that made me cry recently are CHILDREN’S BOOKS that I was reading aloud to my CHILDREN. Oy. On a whim, I picked up A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd while in a bookstore in Corvallis, Oregon. It was on the bookshelf of staff…
Happy Birthday Junk Whisperer
The Junk Whisperer had a birthday yesterday. She’s going to be SUPER glad I’m mentioning this milestone. And she’s probably wondering if I’m going to share that EPIC photo of her showing my kids how to do a cartwheel. I’m not. The thought did cross my mind though. Briefly. Ever so briefly. I simply want to wish her a very happy birthday and a year full of blessings. And hopefully international travel. To a little island called Ireland. I also want to tell her thank you. Thank you for sharing her life with my dad. I can go off on these adventures because I know he’s not alone. Thank you…
Irony, Thy Name is Child
I mentioned my kids have really grown up this summer. Further evidence of this happened last week when my son decided to make his own lunch. Apparently the chef was too slow for his liking. His “take matters into his own hands” approach suited this chef just fine. He got out the bread, peanut butter, jam. I stayed in the other room with my eyes averted and my ears plugged. My son is a relatively picky eater. Among other things, he refuses to eat the crusts on bread – any bread. It drives Handy Husband nuts that I indulge him by cutting the crusts off. My logic is less bread is wasted this…
Moving to Ireland: A Day Out and About
Can I get a hip-hip-hooray for Friday? I have a bunch of posts in progress to share with you, but I just wasn’t feeling it for today. Instead, I thought I’d just share some random pictures. These all happen to be taken the day we got the keys to our new house, but have nothing to do with the new house. In the last month, we have become quite adept at taking the DART train. We’ve taught the kids to swipe their own train tickets and to read the signs so they know which train we are taking and when it is due to arrive. Tourist Tip: The trains are marked with their final…
Adventure Awaits
There has been a frenzy of activity behind the scenes of this little blog. This happened. Then this happened. That’s right! We are moving! Again. Ha! Handy Husband accepted a new job with his same company and a transfer to Ireland! IRELAND. As in that foreign country that’s really pretty and green with a pub on every corner. That Ireland. Even though I am mired in all of the moving details, it still sounds unreal when I say it out loud. This has been a collective dream of ours since college, but even more so after we had children. We want our children to grow up considering themselves to be global citizens with a…
