project daily: day 6

1. toddler carnival

2. lunch with friends

3. birthday party fun

project daily: day 5

1. hike with the girls (in the rain)

2. pick up Wonder Boy (no pic)

3. dinner out with the fam - yum!

project daily: day 4

1. drop Miss O off at school

2. preschool land for Baby Love and I

3. pick Miss O up from her dance class (no pic)

3. impromtu lunch/play date with ballerinas

4. home

5. pick Wonder Boy up school

6. tae kwon do

7. home

8. pilates (imagine this picture with a big ball and very, very sore legs)

project daily: day 3

1. drop Wonder Boy off at school

2. early to speech, stop at Starbucks
3. drop Miss O off at speech
4. Target run
5. pick Miss O up from speech

6. home (no pic)

7. pick up Wonder Boy

8. play date with cake!

9. home again

10. hot yoga - awe!!

project daily: day 2

1. drop Miss O off at school

2. Baby Love and I go to preschool land

3. drop off movies

4. get money

5. home again, home again, jiggy jig

(Frieda the Super Mutt waiting for me)

6.pick up Wonder Boy

7. stop for a pick-me-up (Don't judge me, I have three kids!)

8. weight watchers

9. home at last - g'night!

project daily: day 1

Oh the places you'll go . . . .

1. drop Miss O off at school

2. Baby Love and I go to preschool land

(The Reptile Man came to preschool land with interesting critters! What fun!)

3. pick Miss O up from school

4. Home! Found gift on front door from my Mystery Mama (Yay!)

5. Pooch Spa came to us for Angus' first hair cut

6. pick Wonder Boy up school . . . this was the first day they got excused from class without their teacher walking them to the kindergarten gate.

7. back home (didn't take another picture)

Angus Andrews II

Pooch Spa came to our house today for Angus' first grooming appointment. The Divine Miss O's observed "He is a 'fancy boy' now!!" He's a fancy boy indeed.

project daily begins

Okay, first I would like to say . . . . I have been trying to post pictures of my family's little hike this weekend all day today and for some reason I am unable to upload photos onto blogger. The post is sitting in my drafts awaiting. Hopefully it will work soon. It was a fun little hike in a newly found spot near Beaver Lake. It was love at first hike!!

Second, I have been teetering on a bit of stall in blogville. I run across lots of funny tidbits or mishaps and adventures within my daily grind that I often think "I should blog that!!" But by the time I get in front of my computer, I go blank. Writers block perhaps?? (Not that I consider myself as a writer) For the three loyal readers of Little Irish, I'm sorry for the delay in daily posts. I have been thumbing through Margaret Mason's book: No One Cares What You Had for Lunch (yes, I own a copy - don't laugh) for inspiration. On the last page it talks about obsessing . . . . . maybe taking a picture of everywhere you go for a week as an idea. Aha!! Project Daily is born. Just where does Little Irish go every day you ask. Are you on the edge of your seat in anticipation yet???? Yeah, I thought you weren't but hey, it might be fun. Stay tuned!

new spot found

We found a great trail yesterday just near Beaver Lake. It was so nice to get out of the house and go for a "hike" with the kids. A 1.2 hike to be exact. Lots of little bridges to cross, cool trees to discover, and dogs to pet and chase along the way. Baby Love trooped along like she owned the trail. Miss O kept asking for her picture to be taken near every rock, tree or fallen log. And Wonder Boy fell down after tripping on his walking stick and wanted to go home. Oh well, can't please them all.

more photos to come hopefully . . . . . .still having a hard time uploading them. Grrrrr!

time heals all wounds

My parents split and divorced when I was around five years old. I have a memory of one of their last encounters as a couple "breaking up" etched into my memory. They were fighting and my mom told him to leave the apartment we were living in across the street from the local high school. He was pissed, climbed into his old, yellow, Chevy pick-up truck, screamed at the very overweight neighbor lady to "mind your own business, you fat bitch" and sped off. The kind of speeding off you do when you are really trying to get your point across about just how pissed off you are with screeching tires and clouds of burnt rubber filling the air.

This is how I forever remember my biological father. As a hot head. Never sure if he was going to happy to see you or mad at the world around him and taking it on you. After the divorce I rarely saw him. He skirted his responsibility as a father in more ways than one. He left my mother in a lurch financially and psychologically. He was and still is to this day not a well man. As an adult I understand that he self medicated himself with drugs to fight the demons he battled with, which as we all know, only makes the demons worse and harder to battle. But that doesn't leave the child in me feeling any less bitter, angry and hurt by his actions.

When I was eight, he had met another women and together they had a baby girl. My half sister. I think my step-mother tried to make a real effort after her daughter was born to ease any hurts and bring us together as some semblance of a family. This moment in time leaves me with another very vivid memory of my father. This time he didn't screech off leaving in a trail of anger, but instead he broke down. It was and still is the only time I had ever seen my father vulnerable.

He and my step-mom had been arguing. I can make many assumptions as to what was the cause, but only being eight at the time, I won't. I was confused. One minute he and I were eating banana Popsicles on the couch, watching old reruns of Batman together. The next he was loading me up in a car to take me home. But this time was different. Instead of driving me home in silence, before he even started the car, he cried. Telling me how much he loved me and how sorry he was. For everything. That was the last and only time we ever communicated as a father and a daughter.

After that, I didn't see or hear from the family of three much at all. Around holidays. A phone call on my birthday. Here and there. Random. As time went by, the months between visits became more and more. A year or two would pass without either of us realizing it. In many ways I was made to feel guilty for not keeping in contact with him. Which only pushed me further away. I was living my own battles with a single mother, stumbling through life. There were many, many, many situations I could have really used a father to lean on and not just for money. But for love and support. A cheering section if nothing else.

"God man!!! If only you could have realized that early on. The trouble you would have saved us both. Seriously!!!"

One of the very last weekends I spent in his house, I slept on the couch. The two kitties they had woke me up super early. The world still dark. Everyone sleeping. I heard him walked down the hallway getting ready to leave for work, my step-mother in charge of getting me home. He wrangled up the kittens and I laid still pretending to be asleep. I'm not sure why. I wonder sometimes, if I had let him know I was awake too if we would have had a father-daughter moment. Him, sober from the early hour, and me. I'll never know.

What I do know is when I got home after that last visit, I found these two in the bottom of my bag. He collected figurines like these out of tins of tea he liked. I showed favor towards the cute dogs and he secretly gave them to me.

Now, some 22 years later, they live in my medicine cabinet. With every stroke of deodorant. With every application of eye cream. There they are. A little reminder. They sometimes remind me of him and his very guarded tender side. They sometimes remind to forgive and to let go. They sometimes remind me of my half-sister and a relationship I know she wants. A relationship I'm unsure I'm able to give. They sometimes remind me I am strong. They sometimes remind me to kiss my children and make sure they know I love them with every ounce of my soul. They sometimes remind me of how I want to grow old with my husband and vacation in Hawaii with him as often as possible. They sometimes remind me that I love dogs! But mostly they remind me to keep moving forward. To break the cycle. To believe in myself because I'm worth it.

Happy Second Birthday to Baby Love

First of all, how freaking adorable is this cake. Seriously!! I was disappointed I couldn't get a panda cake for Baby Love's 2nd Asian themed birthday lunch. I even went to an official Chinese bakery and the best she could do for me was Winnie the Pooh. I called my long time friend (who is super talented in the cake decorating department) and she agreed to "whip" something up. The cake was just adorably perfect! Thank you Kristen!! And thank you Grandma and Grandpa for picking it up and bringing it up north. It wouldn't of been a party without it.

The spread!

We had sushi (real and kid friendly versions), rolled sandwiches, noodles for life longevity, tea, rice cakes, pot stickers and egg rolls. Oh and we can't forget the black olives. Miss O and her little cousin are nuts about them!

Baby Love sampling the spread.

Cake time!!

Baby Love blew the candles out as soon as her "happy birthday" song was over. She was so quick, I didn't even get a chance to take a picture. She knew exactly what to do.
"Don't even think about eating my panda cake!!"

After a quick costume change (Baby Love spilled drink on her dress) it was present time. Sissy (The Divine Miss O) opened, I mean helped Baby Love with opening gifts. That's what big sister are for right?!?!

Drink break! Opening presents is a dirty job, but some two year old has to do it . . . .
Now to playing with all the great presents. This puzzle was a hit.
Big brother attack!! Wonder Boy goofing around here. But this a nice snap of the paper lanterns we have hanging in the living room. It's a sickness, I can't help it!