Summer Greetings and Dirty Looks

Wishing you well!

Love,

The Irelands

Back Then

I hate that my memories are fading. I know there are so many good ones back there. Today I'm asking my brain to remember you. Back when I was carefree and you were the boy across the street that made me feel as if the world revolved around me. I watched Dear John today and I was surprised by the affect it had on me. It was as though I was losing you to this terrible war all over again.

How many other "what ifs" were caused by 9/11? How many other love stories took a different road?

Videos Speak For Themselves

Amy Update

Lucas Update

I tried

I know its time. I know I should. I came on here to do it. Nope, not going to happen.

Last Moments of 2009

Goodbye 2009, Welcome 2010. I sit here watching An Affair to Remember with my mom while my husband tries to light himself with fireworks back in Texas. It will be 2010 for him before I finish this entry. I have another hour and 4 minutes to go. Holidays and work have caused us to ring in the new year separately this year. I miss him dearly. Lucas and Amy almost made it but they have both tuckered out and I find myself longing to join them. Quiet, warm, and loved is a great way to start a new decade.

New Years Resolutions:

1. Move more.

2. Goodbye Mt. Dew.

3. Learn to sew.

4. Learn Spanish.
5. Live Greener and more organically.

However, it feels wrong not to stay up and bang a pot. Funny how beating up an old pan somehow qualifies as "doing something" to bring in the new year. Hmmmm, better go get my kettle ready.

Warm Welcome

The coats arrived today and now we are offically ready for Utah. See you soon Grandma & Grandpa!

Dancing With Dad

This is from October but still worth sharing.

Me & Marly & Me

I have Netflix now. It is great. Even thinking about ditchin' cable. If you use the Instant Streaming feature you'll ask yourself why you didn't sign up sooner. Marley & Me came in the mail today and I thought, "Ha, did I really sign up for this one? Oh well, I liked Beethoven as a kid. Maybe Lucas will enjoy this." I think I wanted to see it because it came out at the same time as the LameO'Case of Benjamin Button and Jennifer said on Oprah that she wanted to beat Brad in the box office...and she did. Can I just tell you, this movie is really good. If you have a family and dreams still waiting in the wings, this movie is for you. These guys made a relavent and realistic movie out of what happens when you get married and start a family. I wonder how many other people like me skipped this movie because we thought it was 2 hours of a dog chewing up pillows. He does, but it's not. I have yet to watch the last 20 minutes because I decided I wanted to make Ben watch it with me. Single people can learn from it and married people might just get a little group style type therapy out of it. I like being pleasantly surprised.

Pants & Pumpkins

I used to keep the blinds open. I like natural light. Potty training has me in a world of darkness. I told you in my last post that Lucas has taken an interest in potty training. It seems that is all it was. He did really well for awhile, then he stopped, then I made charts, he did better, then he stopped again. It is very hard to stay patient when your cleaning up poop on a daily basis. It is even worse when that poop is on carpet. To top that, the carpet was just cleaned. If I put a trainer on the kid, he goes in it. If I leave him naked he'll (usually) go to the toilet. I often have a naked 2 year old running around my house. Thus, my blinds are closed. I thought I would be original and post the pictures of our trip to the pumpkin garden (we didn't go to a patch.) Alright, so everybody has a picture of their kid with a pumpkin right now but it is about the only place we've gone in a month. Too many sick people everywhere. However, you might find these pictures more interesting because it burned down a few days after we picked out our pumpkins. I am still loving my Web Design class. Here is the latest webpage I put together:
Check Out My Latest Site!
I will be posting the link for my portfolio soon. I wish I had $1000 to spend on Adobe CS4 Master collection.

A few of you have asked how the kitchen is going. Great. We are doing a little at a time. The latest improvements consist of removing the center cupboards and choosing a stain color. We love how open it is now. I have purchased my ticket to go home for Christmas. I will be there with the kids from December 15-January 13th. Ben's vacation will not be quite so long but he is coming too.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!
Oh Utah! How I miss the fun spirit you put into Halloween. I didn't realize how special it was until I was in a place that doesn't have it.

Ireland Updates

Individual Ireland updates today:

Ben

Ben is doing great. He is a super father, husband, and friend. Thanks to his most important employer; Officeconnect.net, he was hired on by a partner company and has recently been promoted. I sure am proud of him. I asked him to write a little update for himself and he sent me this: I don't care to have people know about me.

Trish

I'm great. Happier then I have been in awhile. I LOVE not working. I have the coolest kids. I am taking 2 classes this semester to get my Web Design certificate and I am LOVING it. I am really excited to start putting my skills to use. It feels like EVERY blog I read has someone saying, "I just ran a 5K," or "I'm training for my 5K." It feels like the whole world is running except for me! I have a goal to start running and biking again. If I say it out loud maybe it will happen. I'm finally starting to redecorate my house. (THANK YOU ANDREA!) I'll blog more about that when I'm further along. I do however need your help finding me any dishes that belong to this set:

I have 11 dishes so far and they look great but I don't have any in the red pattern and only a few of the green so if you are in a DI or Salvation Army or WHEREVER, please keep your eye out for this pattern. It is Sakura Tapas. Any of the color (green, red, orange, yellow) would be great. Thanks

Lucas

This kid is a delight. He is so funny and creative. He can entertain himself for hours which I didn't realize was such a blessing until Andrea came down and told me how a lot of kids are not like that. He is definitely a creative personality like his dad and ONLY does things when he is good and ready. Like potty training for instance. All attempts before he was ready were a waste of time. He is now taking and interest in it and goes to the potty by himself. He's not perfect yet but within a few days he has just decided he's going to start doing it. He loves juice, Ritz & Cheese (ha ha, Ben can't stand that we eat cheese in a can!) and Blue's Clues. He hasn't completely abandoned Spongebob but he is branching out.

Amy

The sponge. She is amazing. My two children have been very different as far as when they did things. I remember Lucas just hanging out on the floor with no desire to move forever. Amy on the other hand has been trying to figure everything out right away. She has been scoot crawling since before she was 6 months and now that she is 7 months today she is a speedy little crawler, climber, and is trying to conquer walking. She LOVES her brother and the sound her diaper makes when she scratches at it. Especially the Velcro things that hold it on. She gets so overjoyed to eat that we can barely get the food in her mouth. She also still loves sucking her toes and has a strange fascination with laptops.

Quick funny story: I took her in for her 6month checkup and I was signing in and the lady looks up at me and says, "Uh uh, no way." I was a little confused and then she says, "She is too cute. (Pretty good for a pediatrician's office.) Oh my gosh, is she always this sweet?" So anyway, I have new insurance with Ben's job so I had to check back at the end of the appointment to see if I had a copay. I headed back over to the desk and there was a few ladies in line with their kids. I got in the back of the line and pretty soon she spots me and shouts over all the other ladies with their babies and says, "Uh uh, NO, no copay. I told them she was too cute." I instantly felt the eyes of everyone around me go to the little bundle of cuteness in my arms. I gave an embarrassed thank you smile and turned to go. Boy, I think kid compliments are more fulfilling then personal compliments.

One last shot of the two newest best friends. I think the moment you actually see your kids start playing together is a whole new level of parenting. It is so heartwarming. We are so blessed.