It's a Lazytown Day

Well, we're on the count down to Lazytown Live!!! The show is tonight at 5 pm and Hazel and I are taking off around 2:3o or 3 to ensure we get to Belfast in time to have a small snack and get into the theatre in time. We have Hazel's Stephanie Wig ready to go. Her skirt is at the other house and I'm still debating whether to retrieve it or not. She has Stephanie PJs that I thought she could wear the top with jeans. We'll see. I even thought about getting her something to wear at the concert, too. Who knows. We'll see what we come up with.

Poor girl is getting cabin fever. She hasn't left the house in a week and a half except to go to the backyard. I was going to take her to Cheeky Monkey's yesterday, but with Lazytown being today, I thought 2 really big days out would be a lot too much. We'll have a day in tomorrow and then maybe Daddy will go with us to CM's or Junction One and play on Friday.

Brett has a 4 day weekend this weekend due to no more working Fridays (which started in June and will continue through the year until further notice) and a holiday on Monday. Stinks that his 4 days will be full of moving. We've still got so much left at the old apartment that we can't take the weekend for anything else. Maybe. We do have until the 28th to move out, so maybe we'll do something fun this weekend instead. One of the guys Brett works with is going to Rome and inivited us to go back in May. I'm so jealous. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanna go to Rome, but that may wait until October when the weather is a bit milder and prices are cheaper. Tourist numbers will be down, too, which will make taking Hazel through the touristy places a lot easier.

We still have a few growing pains in this house. The clothes dryer gave out last Thursday and once looked at, it was declared unworthy for repair. Then our landlords decided they weren't going to replace it unless they could find a cheap one at a second hand shop (which is fine) but even then, shopping for one wasn't a priority. So my laundry keeps piling up higher and higher. Hazel and I are going to venture out back to hang up a load here in a few minutes, I'll let her run like crazy so maybe she'll take an early nap to rest up for the evening. We're looking into buying a new dryer as we can't live without one and have a toddler in the house. The weather is just too cold and too unpredictable to rely on the clothing line. Besides, the line only holds one load at a time and takes about 3 hours per load to dry. Not reasonable if you ask me. Our shower continues to clog unless you clear out the drain of hair before every use. I don't mind cleaning out the drain, it's just annoying not to be able to just jump in and clean it out once every few days, ya know? I dread the thought that we're moving home in a few short months, provided FG Wilson doesn't renew our contract for another year, but I do miss everyone. I miss my car. I miss being able to jump in the car and run into town and get whatever I need at anytime of night. Shops around here close around 5:30 typically, being open late (8pm) on Fridays only and most being closed entirely on Tuesdays. I'll miss our friends, and soft play areas (like Cheeky Monkeys) and mom and tots groups. I'm grateful each and every day that I was able to find friends shortly after moving here otherwise, I think living in a foreign country would be nearly unbearable. Most people don't make living abroad more than 6 months. I can't tell you how many women I talked to while living in Peoria who couldn't handle it and in the process thought it was cool that I could live in Ireland but thought I was nuts for agreeing to it. I'm so lucky to have Marina and Michelle and all the lovely other people in my life. They're what make this worth every second.

Well, I need to figure out what the Nut is up to and go hang up clothes....hugs to all and hope you have a great day!

Just another lazy day

Nothing much has been going on these past 3 days. Pure boredom on Hazel's part. Poor girl. I was going to take her to Cheeky Monkey's today to get her out of the house, but then Brett reminded me that we get to go see Lazytown tomorrow in Belfast, so I'm thinking it's probably a better idea that we stay home. Lazytown starts at 5, meaning we have to leave here no later than 3:30 to get there in time, although we'll probably head down between 2:30 and 3 just to be on the safe side. I don't want to get there early as we have purchased seats and she's only 22 months (well, nearly) old and I can't imagine her having too much patience with sitting there early. If we get there quickly then we can go get a snack or something before going in.

I'm so excited abotu taking her I can't stand it! I'm a little nervous that it'll be so big and loud that it'll scare her, but I think she should be alright. She's been marching around in her Stephanie wig for a few days now. It's her "hat," she says.

Well, I should be off. Not a lot to say other than that!

Happy Independence Day!

Oh....my....goodness. I think we survived our Fourth party. House is intact, and surprisingly unmessy. I started cooking Friday around 1:30 and between meals and getting stuff ready for the party, I don't think I stopped (with the exception of bedtime and eating) until 5:30 last night. And I was ready to drop.

Jenn and Matt came over early to help us out. Bless Jenn's heart, she tackled the deviled eggs. I would give her the messiest job ever. She was champ and did a great job! Nicola and her son, Alastair, we the first to arrive after them. Everyone else started arriving about an hour later around 4. I seriously can't tell you how fun a houseful of people is. I think at the top of the night there was...(hang on I have to think about this) 22 adults and 6 kids running about. I got to meet Ian(head of Brett's office)'s wife, Caren and their daughter, Charlotte, who was just a sweetheart. It was really nice to get to meet them. I also got to meet Stephen's wife, Valerie, who was just the nicest soul. We had a sick amount of food, beer, and wine, laughter, and chats, the kids ran around like only little kids can, one kid barfed on our patio, the new grill burned the first 4 hamburgers, but the weather was gorgeous and the company was incredible and I couldn't have asked for a better Fourth of July.

Praise God for a gorgeous day b/c the weather called for downpours all weekend. He truly is an awesome God and I'm glad he's on our side!

Well, the aftermath of an awesome party is usually pretty brutal, so I should get started on the clean up!

Painfully tired, but happy...

Just a quick note as I'm about to drop from exhaustion. We got the keys to our new house on Sunday night, and have been here since. It's wonderful. Hazel's in heaven with all the space to run, and I'm just estatic with storage space. I promise to post pics soon.

Tomorrow we're hosting most of Brett's Project Management Office staff and several of my mom and tot friends for a Fourth of July party. I can't wait, but man, it's exhausting trying to get ready today. I got up at 8 and did the grocery shopping by 12:30, then started cooking about 1:30 and didn't stop until 9:15. I'm dying. This is just crazy....wish me luck!

Final Friday

Shear excitement has taken over. We will have the keys to our new house no later than Monday, which is a whole 2+ days earlier than when our lease begins. And the owners (our landlords) said by all means, move in this weekend if we want!!!! HURRAY!!!! That means we have to get cracking on this packing thing. I actually think it's going to be a lot quicker than everyone thinks b/c it really isn't a whole lot of stuff. We may take bigger things like the desk and chair, bookcase, toy box and such on Sunday. The rest is clothing and books. Won't be hard. The one thing I'm nervous about is Hazel's crib. Our little car isn't exactly space friendly. I have a couple of friends who volunteered to help which will be fantastic.

IT'S OUR LAST FRIDAY IN THE CLOSET!!!!!!! HURRAY!!!!!!!!!

On the downside, the whole BT thing is going to drive me crazy. We have to wait for the old service at the new house to be shut off in order to turn a new phone line on. Grrrrr. That means no phone or internet until then. Grumble. Can I tell you BT is one of the few reasons I hate being here? There is a very short list of reasons I don't wanna be here anymore. Missing everyone is on that short list, but BT and other necessary services...like the bank....are huge reasons it will be nice to get back to America.

So, for the moment, I will keep you up-to-date at what's going on....after that, only God knows.

On A Walk

We ventured out toady about mid-morning. The goal was, enjoy the gorgeous weather while it's here. It's near 70 degrees, the sun is shining very brightly, there isn't a cloud in the sky. It's just beautiful.

I loaded the diaper bag, filled Hazel's "baa-pack" (backpack) with varies toys and snacks. We had juice and a stuffed animal (Cat & the Hat, which definitely wasn't my first choice as it's HUGE), diapers and shopping bag. We were set. I loaded it on the stroller and tucked Hazel in and we were off. Hazel did really well in the stroller all the way through town; to the bank, to the yarn shop, to the butcher's, to Boots, she even did well through most of Dorothy Perkins (a clothes shop). It was apparent then that lunch was due. So we made our way to Subway.

Hazel loves Subway. It's like getting a great big cookie for her. Now, that thrills me to no end. Subway is healthy, in most occasions (it always is for her). So we ordered, and sat down to our meal. I loved it. She sat like a big girl in a regular seat, ate from her sandwich like a big girl, wiped her mouth with her napkin, took sips from her juice. It was all so big. And I got to experience it. It was wonderful sitting with her, my little girl, as this person is no longer my baby. (I don't wanna get into how much that's tearing up my heart, it'll just make me cry.)

We finished up lunch and headed home. She walked almost 3/4 of the way home, holding my hand with one hand and grasping the stem of a leaf with the other. Every once in a while, she would see something cool, or something she recognized and knew the word for and we'd get slowed down for a moment, talking about it. Every few steps she'd "hop" and get the giggles over it, and I'd laugh. But for the most part, we just walked; hand in hand, enjoying the day together.

I realized that I wouldn't trade a nano-second of this for any other life, or situation. If living here forever was the only way to ensure I got to cherish my children's every waking moment, I'll take it. Because with every step home, I realized I was one step closer to not having those moments. She'll be too big to hold Mama's hand and giggle at her hops.

She may not be my baby any more, but she'll always be my little girl on a walk.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

Yesterday was our last mom n tots group for the summer (*sniff*), so we all climbed the many stairs up into a large bus and found our way to Ballymena for a picnic!
The ride was....interesting. The main road to Ballymena starts out going up the side of a mountain, and then winds tightly through the countryside. Many hills, and tight turns are involved, making for a very bumpy ride. I think many of us were bright shades of green by the time we arrived at The People's Park. A great little park that had a large playground seperated into an area for kids over 8 and another for under 7. We went in, and with the sunshine like it was, we immediately slathered the kids down with sunscreen. It's a good thing, too, b/c the very first thing Hazel did was lay down in the sand pit and ensure that the sunscreen acted as an adhecive btween her skin and the sand. YAY! She spent the better part of the trip face down in the sand, making sure that she was fully covered in it. The rest of the time was spent on the slide. We then went to feed the ducks. They had grain for sale and we got a big bag and shared it amongst the 3 of us mama's. There were just gobs of pigeons who were more than thrilled about the short armed throws to the ducks. Lunch quickly followed and then we were on the road home!
(Hazel with Betty, the group organizer. This woman is tops in my book as she goes above and beyond what most M&T organizers do. She knows all the kids' names, treats them all as individuals {and not one big group}, takes an active interest in all the moms. She's amazing.)
Hazel's become a big fan of "Let's see what we see." We saw Windmills, which prompted about 5 minutes of "roun roun" statements from Hazel, informing the bus what windmills do. We saw cows, which had a screaming announcement everytime she saw one..."COW! COW! MOOOOOOOOOOO!", and sheep. It makes for a noisy Hazel, but a happy one, so that's all I ask.

Tubby time promptly followed our return home as well as nap time, so that gave Mommy free time to get moving stuff done.

BT sucks. Just so you know. I spent well into an hour on the phone with them, trying to make sense of the whole move. It was painful, and it's still not completely sorted out, but it will be shortly. Even if it's the death of me. Grumble grumble BT.

Well, we're off to do shopping for the day, nice walk into town to take advantage of the pretty weather :)

Laters!