Colors of Ireland (Other than Green)

Ireland is such an enchanting place-- there are layers and layers of history, culture, beauty and nonsensical quirkiness to unfold and discovery every moment.  It is a passionate country, and you never quite know what will speak to you until you're standing on the soil, living the dream.  This time around the colors of the buildings captured my attention for some reason.  Who thinks of these color schemes (and meticulously maintains them)?...because so many of the townsfolk seem like elderly men (and women) dressed in tweed (or faded floral-print cotton dresses).  Not the type you would imagine to pick hot pink for their storefront.  But, who knows.  The Irish are a whimsical people.  So, if you ever need inspiration for a bold paint job, here it is: 

Even on deserted, wild islands you can find a bit of flair.  

We went to Ireland....

A few weeks ago we claimed a year and a half old present from Cody's parents and we went to Ireland.  The country...in Europe.  It was one of those trips that was so amazing and wonderful, its too overwhelming to wade through all the pictures and experiences, and you feel like if you actually do so, you might cheapen the real experience somehow.  I'll try to get over that feeling and document our trip.  It WAS amazing.  And wonderful.  And I was a ball of crying nerves before we left the kids with Cody's capable parents.  As soon as our trip started though I could feel how much we needed it.  Married seven years, five of them with kids, we had one or two nights away here and there, but never any really significant amount of time to just BE together.  To not only forgot schedules, but be so far removed from them that you stop feeling schedules. There was no 1:00 p.m. drop dead naptime (oh, there were plenty of naps, but they didn't have to be at 1:00 p.m.), we didn't have to be back from dinner by 7.  In fact, we didn't even have to be back from a kids-free dinner at any reasonable hour in order to get up with the kids at 6:30 the next morning.  Gasp.  We could.....stay....out.  Late.  There was no one but our B&B proprietors to demand our attention in the morning. And that was just to feed us breakfast.  And, in our seven years gone from Ireland (we went on our honeymoon), technology has changed so much that we skyped and FaceTimed with the kids about every other day.  And guess what-- they really did not seem to miss our presence in their house.  GG bought them chocolate milk.  They went to Chic-fil-a, they went to the park and got special snacks.  It was fun.

This post will definitely not have all of our pictures--I have to start small (in fact, reviewing the pictures I just chose, this is such a random smattering with no logical connections or coherence).  But I will leave this by encouraging any young married couple, laden with small children, who think watching Jeopardy together at night counts as enough alone time throughout the week--- GO.  Go and spend time with your spouse.  Go somewhere where there will be no squabbling about who is making dinner and who is doing the dishes.  There are no baths and stories and prayers to fit into an insanely short amount of time.  Go somewhere you can't turn on the TV and somewhere you can go to church and think.  Where you can eat ice cream before dinner and not worry about anyone seeing you, and buy gummy bears and eat them anytime you want without anyone begging for one.  Then have a beer or two and stay out late.  It is so worth it.

Kinsale

Old Head.  

Probably our favorite bar in the world, which was also featured on the cover of one of our favorite books, by the same name (McCarthy's Bar).  We visited on our honeymoon and came back to the very tiny town of Castletownbere this time around too.  

Inside the bar-- we played scrabble while the owner fed a large dog scraps from the grocery-store part of the bar.  The dog was not hers.  It belonged to a frazzled looking woman who's 4 year old son Oscar ran wild in the streets outside.  

There was a beautiful beach, and there were people in the water.  I was wearing a coat and long sleeves.  Several people told us this was their first real summer in a few years.  It did not get above 70 degrees (F) while we were there.  

Castletownbere at dusk.  Beautiful!

On the Aran Islands.

On Dursey Island after taking a cable car built 60 years ago over the sea.  More pics of that experience later.  

Our hostess on the Aran Island (actually, our hostess's mother whom we ran into) took this picture of us.  When we told her we have three kids (everyone was interested in their names and ages), she gasped and said "3!  Oh my, I thought you were a young couple a-courtin'!"   After a week alone-together in our favorite place, that's what we felt like too :).  

And for good measure, I saw selkies on the Great Blasket Island.  

Jamesie's First Day!

After Labor Day Jamesie conquered a huge milestone-- his first day of (pre) school!  Jamesie is going to the school Sean went to for the last two years-- the school with all the work and the playground Jamesie has silently coveted for the last two years.  Now it's all his.....mwha hahahahaha!

His first day went great.  Sean went off to school early (7:15), which left over an hour before it was time to take Jamesie to school.  He spent that hour with shoes and socks on, his lunch bag slung over his shoulder like a satchel to create his "back pack," walking around the house saying "I ready to go now!....I ready for mine...." I could only tell him "not yet, a little while longer" so many times, so I started stalling by changing the baby, looking for my keys, getting him some milk, etc etc.  We finally departed for school and arrived only 5 minutes before the doors opened, so it was a mild success. 

Jamesie did AMAZING upon separation.  Jamesie-No-Cry is his Indian name when he does something brave without crying, like going under the water, falling down or going to pre-school.  Was he ever Jamesie-No-Cry.  He was definitely shy and nervous, but I was so proud of him for pulling it together and choosing to go into the classroom and sit down with the other children.  When I picked him up three hours later, he was sweaty as can be (a good sign of vigorous playing) and reported "my head hot."  When I asked if he made any new friends he said yes, and listed his teacher.  I'm not too concerned since we know most of the families in the class. 

"I three!  I go to school!"

Jamesie and Tay-tee (his word for "Sissy," which she now responds to as much as her real name).

She was so tickled to be part of the boys' going-to-school pictures! And they are both the most loving, inclusive big brothers ever made.

"I have mine pack-pack, I ready to go now!"

School.  Moment of truth....should I stay or should I go?  Should I cry or should I play?  The Youngster chose wisely.  Horse bag gave good counsel, as usual.

 

Part of the Montessori method is to have kids of different ages (3-6) in the same classroom so the Bigs can teach the Littles.  I try to give our guys a lot of freedom in choosing their own activities around here, like in a Montessori classroom, and clearly some of the method has worn off.  Look how I found Mrs. Baby as soon as the big boys were out of the picture.....

I will sit at my desk....

and do a little drawing.  Just like those Big Boys who live here. 

Perhaps I'll write a sonnet while I'm at it.  An Ode to Brothers, whom I miss. 

First Day of Kindergarten

We've had an amazing summer...so much so it called for a hiatus from blog-writing, or being anywhere near a computer for long amounts of time.  But alas, all good things must come to end (Cody and I have one more summer adventure before we settle back into real life), and with all great endings come another great beginning.  Today we embarked on a new beginning for our little family: full time public school.  Cody and I have spent many many hours debating all of our schooling options for Sean (including long pro-con lists, logic tables and emotional late-night conversations at the kitchen table)--homeschooling, Catholic school, public school, charter school-- and at the end of the day we decided the best route for our whole family this year is the excellent charter (public) school at the end of our street.  We have met so many families at our pool who go to the same school that it really fulfills this vision of a neighborhood school.  Today, which happens to be my birthday, we sent our baby off to his first day of full-day kindergarten (by the way, whatever happened to half-day kindergarten?  I would have jumped at the opportunity to only send him half a day-- anywhere!).  Our baby is SO big.  It's so trite-- but he was just a baby.  When did he become a KID?

Bruddahs. 

When did this happen?

LOVE the over-sized back pack.  Full of his pencil box (with mini-notebook, colored pencils and glue sticks), a folder, his lunch, his snack and his current chapter book, Ramona the Brave.  

Happy Birthday to me.  Now give us your first born.  

Total miniature. 

The night before my birthday, 9 years ago, Cody and I held hands for the first time.  It feels like yesterday.

Where did all these children come from!? 

We were all smiles until the moment came when we had to separate.  Then the silent tears.  And square-mouth.

Nothing a little pep talk from Daddy can't fix (and your classmates staring at you).

2 minutes later he calmly walked into the classroom with his caring and kind teacher.  

And about 4 minutes later he was up singing songs and dancing with his class.  Is it me, or is Sean a mammoth-child?  His height is even more remarkable when you think he's probably the youngest one in there, having just turned 5.  I guess all the other boys in the class chose their red uniform shirt ("for Lightning McQueen") today too.  

We are back home now, and Jamesie and I already miss Seannie's presence in our home this morning (Sis would too, but she's napping).  The lack of squabbling and bickering is nice, but we miss our playmate.  I just can't play cars with Jamesie like a 5 year old boy can.  I feel a little emptiness in my heart as I wait for the next 8 hours to tick by.  So I'm filling it with leftover birthday french toast and other carbs.  That makes it  a little better.  

Are these the good old days?

Lately when I'm around friends pregnant with their first I think back to my first pregnancy and think-- those were the days. If I was exhausted, I'd go take a nap. If I was still tired, I'd sleep in the next day. No schedules to coordinate, no children inevitably waking up at 6:30, no matter how late their parents got to bed.  Then my thoughts wander to when I had "just one," who napped all the time, slept twelve hours like a champ, and who would happily be handed off to dad after the early morning feeding for a slothful mom to turnover and go back to sleep.  Fast forward to three children not yet school age and long days at home together.  I've gone from no caffeine back to (minimum) two cups of joe in the morning and back on diet coke in the afternoon (yuck).  Our baby mostly sleeps through the night, but on nights she doesn't I'm grumpy, mean and dramatic to anyone who crosses my path the next day. Mealtimes are like an exercise in seeing how long the children can keep me out of my seat-- getting milk, water, cinnamon for the apple slices, another spoon, cleaning up a spill, finding another napkin, finally getting food other than Cheerios in the baby's mouth, just in time to get seconds for everyone, then if I'm lucky I'll remember to eat a few slices of cheese for my lunch (and the diet coke). Some days I exclusively eat cereal until dinner time. 

Then we went out to dinner with two couples the other night who have 5 and 6 kids, respectively.  They were lamenting the middle-school drama of their eldest.  Then I read a blogpost from a woman who has six kids about how it was so easy when she had four.  It made made think-- will I look back on these days, when I had "only three" as the good old days-- back when I was well-rested? (Frightening!).  But the reality is-- my three are awesome.  They are good sleepers for the most part. They all "rest" for the same hour in the afternoon, with another hour of me quietly reading and cuddling Sean by himself.  On my more dramatic days I can go lay down during naptime.  My kids love each other and their biggest fights are over who gets to hold the baby next.  Sis is an "angel baby" according to the Baby Whisperer. Sean has started getting dressed by himself in the morning (today it's Hawaiian shorts, a long sleeve Furman shirt and Thomas socks). Jamesie is mostly making it to the potty. And, this time in our lives is almost over. Sean starts school in a few short months and that's this beginning of letting my babies go. These are the good times. I get to cuddle and pet and kiss them whenever I want. There are days it's physically exhausting, but there are just as many days sitting on the family room floor with books and Legos and k'nex for hours at a time.  

And one more anecdote to prove these are the good times-- last night as I was approaching 5 straight days without folding any laundry and our arm chairs were starting to become a clean-clothes avalanche threat I mused that I just needed someone to come into our house and "jump start" our laundry situation-- then my housekeeping skills would also be jump started. Just now as I brought the baby up for her morning nap I noticed (for the first time, as I think my eyes were still closed as I fumbled downstairs for breakfast (which was already made for me)) a huge laundry basket of clean, folded clothes at the top of the stairs. I looked at the laundry-chairs, I mean arm chairs-- they were empty. My amazing, well-rested husband spent his early morning folding laundry while I slept after being up with the baby.  These are the good old days, with "just three" great kids, built in nap times, a helpful and doting husband and a softer than soft baby to pet in the middle of the night.  Lord, let me live in these good days, and not just remember to remember them later!

Super Seannie Super Reader

 Sean has become an absolute super-reader over the last few months.  We have dived head first into the Little House books, which he Ioves and we love reading to him.  When my sister gave him an early birthday present of the whole series last week (so, as Sean says, we don't have to keep going back to the Library for every single one....), he was overcome with joy and couldn't speak!  The other day I read a few chapters to him while the little ones were napping then I had to go lay down myself, still recovering from our trip to St. Louis last weekend.  Unfortunately, we were just at an exciting part of Silver Lake (wolves!). I told Sean he could wait for me to come back down or he could read the chapter himself to see what happens. I came back a little while later, and not only had he read the whole chapter himself (and told me what happened-- Laura and Carrie saw wolves up close, but they didn't chase the girls), but he had proceeded to open the Oxford English Dictionary of Word Histories and was just reading the entries to himself.  We bought him that book after incessant questioning about why certain words are called certain things (for instance, yestday it was "but WHY is a 1 and a 2 called twelve?" Or, "but WHY are they called pants?"... And more importantly, why do I have to wear them?). 

Yesterday we went to the public library pick up our summer reading charts. The program this year is as follows: read 10 books over the course of the summer, win a slew of prizes and treats and river dogs tickets.  Sean read 9 books (out loud) yesterday.  And when I went into their room this morning he was reading a Curious George to jamesie, with three other books already completed at the bottom of his bed.  So, 24 hours after obtaining the reading chart, we can bring it back for our prizes.  This begs the question- are our societal expectations for education (in this case, summer reading) so low that we have to offer bribes and treats and prizes for a modicum of reading a 4 year old can do in one day? 

(This is how Sean ate lunch yesterday- reading a story to us and occasionally remembering to eat. He has the academia lifestyle down already!)

Which leads me to our family summer reading chart. Sean's rules: one star for each book or chapter read out loud, and one star for 5 pages of a workbook.  Cody and I have no idea what he will earn with his stars yet because we don't know how to gauge his pace.  At first I thought for every 10 stars he could earn an ice cream.... But then his chart starting looking like this....

Yes, there are 9 stars on yesterday's square. And I short changed him on stars, too. The first day he had his workbook he did 19 pages.  (That's when the 5:1 ratio was started). 

It's hard not to brag when you have a super reader super seannie on your hands.  But I feel like I can brag because thisis not my doing-- this is innate in him.  I buy him workbooks and tell him to read, but his hunger for words comes from within-- it is not because of our parenting!

Second-ever chapter book! The first was Charlotte's Web.

Reading by headlight with dad.

And not to lose sight of the big picture- he still is only 4 years old, and still likes to do this when he gets his hot little hands on the iPad without out permission!

Apraxia Awareness Day

Today is the first (I think) Apraxia Awareness Day.  And, while I know our blog has been a little Jamesie-heavy lately with his birthday and new speech news, indulge me once more as I write a bit about Apraxia.  Tonight we will go to a first-ever Charleston area apraxia event at a local restaurant and I'm really looking forward to meeting other families and kids in our same situation.  A year ago I had never heard the word apraxia and now I feel like I have to limit our exposure to everything-apraxia so we aren't consumed by it.  I want to help Jamesie and do all we can for him, but I don't want our lives (or his) to be defined by his IEP or how many words he strung together in a sentence today.  I want him to be defined by his heart and his soul and his decisions and the way he is gentle to his sister and pesters his brother and his beautiful softness.  But, the reality is that we do work hard every day and we don't know what to expect in the future.  So, in honor of Jamesie and his hard work and our support team developed over the last year, I have put together a list of hopes for Jamesie in the coming years--some have to do with apraxia and some don't.  For Jamesie, I hope:

-that you can tell us what you want for your next birthday;
-that you can tell kids you meet on the playground your name;
-that you will go to kindergarten and make new friends;
-that your teachers will love you and listen to you with patience;
-that your brother will always be your best friend and will always stick up for you;
-that you will always stick up for your sister;
-that you and your brother will stay up way too late talking;
-that I can take you (for once) to the doctor without having you earn a time out in front of our pediatrician!;
-that you will play soccer and call to your teammates for a pass;
-that you will choose a sport that you like;
-that you will read normally;
-that you will like math;
-that you will ask someone to prom;
-that you will go to college and learn something that makes you want to keep learning;
-that you will be the quiet, observant, hilarious type;
-that you will meet a girl who listens to you because she knows what you have to say is important;
-that you will meet a girl who loves your beautiful, fat lips;
-that you can tell your children about how hard you worked to learn how to talk when they need encouragement.

Really, this list is just a number of selfish wishes I want for my boy.  What I really hope and pray for more than anything else is that Jamesie is the person God made him to be and does what God wants him to do with his life.  I pray that he knows God well enough to ask him what that is.

We have all worked so hard this past year, but Jamesie especially.  It is unbelievable to watch a 2 (now 3) year old develop a motivated work ethic.  I know it's trite, but we are so proud of him.  The communication skills he has gained in the last year have enabled his mischievous, stubborn, funny personality to emerge and despite the increase in discipline, we have loved getting to know him better.  We love you sweet, sweet boy....happy Apraxia Awareness Day everyone!

who knows, maybe Jamesie will become the first American Pope....quiet and thoughtful :)