My Dad

(The Irishman put this blog together all by himself – today is all about my father-in-law as we send birthday wishes and happy thoughts across the pond for his big day!)

Today is my Dad’s birthday. He hits the magical 70 today and I wanted to write a guest blog to surprise him when he turns on the computer back home in Ireland.



Dad loves Blackrock and when the tide is in, there is no finer sight than “the back of the Castle”



We have gone on some amazing trips and could tell you all some great stories!



The World Cup in 1990 is still a trip that we will never forget. Even now, I have managed to teach Caitlin all of the words to “Put ‘em under Pressure” and no doubt Sean will soon follow.




We have gone to a fair number of matches, whether it is hurling or football, and no doubt we have had many a conversation about others!





Dad is always willing to do his best to put a smile on your face. He would never normally wear a football jersey, but his arm was twisted on this occasion. How many times have he watched a football match only to have to leave the room when it gets too exciting at the end. And people wonder where I get that from!





Even though I am a whole ocean away from home, I know that Mam and Dad are all only a phone call away. Whether it is news from Jenny and the kids, work or a match on the television, they are always there. No doubt Mam will make a sherry trifle for the party this evening, and it will be a great day. If I can turn out to be half as good a dad with my kids, as my Dad has been with me, I’ll have done alright.

Jenny, Caitlin, Sean and I all send our love.

Happy Birthday Dad (Granda)!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Caitlin loves two things about the rain.

1. Singing “It’s raining. It’s pouring. The old man is snoring!”

2. Holding the ‘come-brella.’

(Yes, umbrella starts with a c when Caitlin says it. Don’t ask me where she got that from.)

Pink come-brellas are her favorite!

According to the news last night today should be a nice day, but we are still trying to recover from all the rain this weekend. The TV is going to the shop today. The cable company is coming to see us this weekend. Let’s hope it all falls into place without being overly expensive for us!

My friend Mauree and her family are in town right now. We met them for dinner on a very rainy Sunday. Hopefully the kids and I will get to meet up with them again this afternoon. Rain, rain, stay away!

One for me…

Sunday morning before Mass we headed to Publix for our weekly shopping. We usually go after Mass and Sean more often than not naps in the car. He was still awake so we had double occupancy in “green car.”

We stopped by to get our cookie like we always do and Caitlin was thrilled that they had sprinkle cookies. (She doesn’t like chocolate chip. Oh, the drama!)

“TWO cookies! One for me and one for…

KITTY!”

Poor Sean!

(He did get some at the end. Though it *might* have been kitty’s leftovers. Caitlin was completely sure the cookie was intended for Kitty Cat. It wasn't until she herself started to munch on Kitty's cookie that Sean got a turn. Thankfully he is still a little young for sprinkle cookies!)

My Hands are Full

Saturday morning the Irishman had to go to a funeral. We’d left his car at work the night before when we picked him up for dinner at my grandparents, so the kids and I drove him down to the church. We’d planned on meeting up with my brother and his family, but when that fell through I needed a backup plan.

We needed kitty litter and big girl panties so we stopped at Target. This particular store is two stories and does not have a cart that will fit two kiddos. (I’m guessing they don’t fit on the cart escalator) That meant Sean was in the cart and Caitlin walked along.

Caitlin is much easier to shop with when she is contained in a cart. About halfway through she found some of her “special treat.” She loves these fruit/yogurt pouches. We usually buy one as a treat when she comes to the store with us. (As far as “special treats” go we could do much worse!) My cell phone rang as we were in that aisle and a certain little girl decided she needed one of each flavor.

I started to say she could only have one and then I looked and realized her hands were full. I still had a little more shopping to do and decided that this limitation would work in my favor.

Sean had taken to reclining at this point. He could have sat up, he just didn’t want to!

So in the toy department I am feeling good about my hands-full plan.

Until my daughter out smarted me. She is too smart for her own good.

Thankfully it was nothing I couldn’t bribe her away from with a box of band aids!

Chef in the Making

Sean has been carefully watching Caitlin for some time now. This weekend when she wasn’t paying attention he decided to take his turn in the play kitchen.

I think this might be the “if I look cute enough can I keep doing this please?” face. It worked.

He stretched as high as he could to open and shut the door.

Can you tell he is proud of himself?

Then he plopped down on his diaper clad bum to try out the fridge.

Big sis was too busy watching TV with her friends to notice!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of TV, yesterday we had some terrible storms. They are the very outer bands of TS Debby. We spent a while at church after Mass waiting for the weather to slow down and then once in the car we waited another hour or so as another storm cell passed over us. Thankfully the kids napped so it wasn’t too bad.

That is until we got home.

It seems that Debby killed our TV. The power never went out and all the devices attached to the surge protector seem okay, but the TV is dead. There are no lights on. No one is home.I suspect a surge through the cable box.

This TV is the one we bought to replace the one that was ripped off the wall when our house was broken into. Talk about bad luck. We really liked it. I was just admiring the set up the night before. It was lovely.

We need a new computer. We need a new washing machine. We need a new car. We did not need to replace a TV.

Sigh.

That’s life, huh?

Rockin’ and Rollin’

We’ve been rocking the chairs

and checkers

at Cracker Barrel

and rolling along

in Daddy’s new jogging stroller.

Good times!

10 Years Ago Today

The Irishman and I decided to “give it a go” 10 years ago today.



















































In that time we have worked together (see the photo from our camp counselor days!), dated, gotten married, travelled, and had two beautiful children. I had an impossible time picking out photos this morning. It has been a wonderful 10 years and I can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Love you babe!

Baby’s First Light Saber

Saturday we went to Cracker Barrel for an early Father’s Day dinner. While Caitlin and I were paying for the meal, so found a little Star Wars toy for her Daddy.

(Okay so she MAY have wanted it for herself…and she says Star Wars with a distinct H sound at the beginning of the second word, but we will ignore those facts for now!)

She did hand over the toy and loudly wish her father a Happy Father’s Day. On the way out of the restaurant everyone wanted a turn. Nothing made the Irishman prouder though than seeing his son with a light saber.

“Sean, I am your father!”

The force is strong with this one!

(And yes, even Sean seems to have noticed that I need a haircut! I’ve had to reschedule that appointment twice already…)