Week of 17th Sept

Monday:

Another week in Ireland. Lino was up and down a little last night then up around 6 this morning...ugh. But he went back to sleep and we (Lino Shaun me) slept in a little while Mike got ready for work. He made Lino some oatmeal so that helped to make up some time but it wasn't enough time for me to get ready so we just dropped Mike off and we came back so that I could get ready. Today I planned to go to a new playgroup in Douglas but I wasn't exactly sure where it was but I had a map, not the best map but at least I had the general vicinity. So we headed out about 15min before the play group was suppose to start and I was worried that it was going to be close. So I headed off the way I thought it was and I got turned around and ended up back in the city center...oops. So then I tried to look at the directions from the website coming from the city center and eventually (30min later) I found it. At this point it was already 20min into the group and we had to leave in 40min because I had to go home to wait for the Sky people to hook up the cable so I decided to not go. Lino seemed to be ok with that but he saw a playground next to the place so he wanted to go there. I couldn't really say no because I had been telling him we were going to the play group but then i couldn't find it and he wasn't really giving me fits so I kid of owed him. Thankfully it was completely empty so I knew he wouldn't want I stay long.  We really didn't stay long at all because it started raining and I wasn't dressed properly for the weather so it was an easy out. At least I know where it is for next week. 

We got back home just in time for our schedule cable visit window...the typical 4hr waiting window.  While we waited Lino decided to poop in his diaper again...I was looking right at him and asked if he needed to go because he had that look on his face and he said no then proceeded to poop...while he looked at me!!!!!  I lost it...I couldn't believe him. So that was it, on the toilet to finish what little was left in him then in the shower for a serious scrub down, I was not easy with the scrubbing what so ever. I wanted him to know that I was not happy then I put him in bed. He screamed for a min but I wasn't going up there to sit with him or read a book I was fuming. So he slept for a little over a hour and I let him get up. After that it was all down hill for him. He wouldn't eat but wanted everything that he couldn't have, wouldn't listen, wouldn't pick up his toys, wasn't sharing with Shaun...just flat out being a nasty pain. So finally after he was being nasty to me I had enough and back in bed he went. He had only been up a couple hours maybe but it was either put him in bed or kill him. I told Mike that Shaun might be an only child by the end of the day if Lino kept it up...so frustrating. So he napped and I tried to find my sanity...it was hard because Shaun was super clingy again today and wouldn't let me put him down for any length of time so it's kind of hard to get anything done with a kid hanging off your boob all day...I'm just saying. So finally Lino got up and was semi ok for the rest of the afternoon. The cable guy didn't come but I had talked to the landlord and it seems like there was a little confusion. The guy was calling us on the house phone...we have no house phone but apparently we have a phone number...anyway he was calling me to get directions but obviously I didn't answe so he didn't come. The landlord came over to look at the lights that we were having trouble with and told me that the cable guy would be there shortly. Oh, he got there when Lino was having one if his little tantrums and I had him in his bed and He was like "is everything ok???"  I laughed and said "remember I have a 3yr old, he's crazy and I'm not dealing with crazy today". He kind of stopped in his tracks for a second then he laughed...hahahah. He left but the lights were still not working so we will have to get someone to come look at it. Then the cable guy showed up and TRIED to hook up our cable but was unsuccessful :-(   He was telling me that because we have an American TV that the cable frequency wasn't being recognized by the TV that's why he couldn't get a picture...seriously???  I can't believe this, we have been here for 16 days waiting on this guy to hook up the cable and we are just now finding out that we can't connect to the cable because our TV is American??? I didn't believe it. And it was annoying because we only get one box so it was either hook it up to the living room or Lino's room. Mike said to hook it up to Lino's room but I decided to put it in the living room incase we have people over to watch a hurling match or something. We can move it later anyway so it really didn't matter, but we need it to work first before we worry about moving it. So before the guy left I called Mike so that he could hear what this guy was talking about and I could tell by the way Mike was answering me that he didn't believe him at all. It didn't really matter because I was there and Mike was at work and the guy said he couldn't do it so he left...what a mess. At least he gave us his number so that when we goes a new TV or figure something out with our current TV he can set it up for us over the phone. So he left and I finished dinner. 

Mike got home and we ate and he looked at the TV quickly and was upset because he said it looks like it should work. The issue is that we only got one kind of cable from the cable guy and Mike seems to think if he used a different cable that it would have worked...what do we do now????  Well there wasn't much we could do at that point so we just finished up the evening...bath and bed while Mike cleaned up the kitchen.  Lino actually went to bed at a good time but I was pooped from him just testing my nerves all day so Mike and I only stayed up a little bit before going to bed. Plus I was worried that he might be up and in our room all night since he took a longer nap than usual so I wanted to get some sleep while I could.  Here's to wishful thinking...

Tuesday:

Oh Shaun Shaun...Mr Shaun has taken to pooping in the middle of the night and usually it's a major blow out. Last night was one of those nights and I wasn't prepared, again, so I had Mike creep into Lino's room to get a change of PJ's some diapers and the wipes. Thankfully he was able to retrieve them without waking up #1...but what a mess he made. Thankfully this time he only stayed up about 15min then went back to sleep. I have to be more prepared next time...need to have the changing stuff in our room just in case!  Surprisingly Lino slept all night but he was up around 6:45 and was hungry (probably be ausw he didn't eat his dinner). So he rolled around in our bed but we weren't moving so he went downstairs and got him a snack. He got a banana and a granola bar and came upstairs to have me open the granola bar for him...at least he was quite but now I have crumbs in my bed. That snack lasted only for a little while then he was ready for us to get up... It was time anyway so we got up. We got all ready to go and everyone was ready in a decent time but I needed to get gas/petrol so it really wasn't "good time"...Mike kind of hinted that we need to start leaving sooner :-/   So of course we had loads of traffic and there was lots of people at the gas station so it took forever (it seemed). Mike hates that gas station because its one of the few that you have to pay first then pump. So how do you know how much gas you need? What if you want a full tank but your not sure if it will take €50 or €53.20...so we got more than what we needed the he had to go back inside ad get a refund. Isn't that a little ridiculous???? And to top it off if you pay with a card they give you your refund in cash...just weird. One of the things that we take advantage of in the states is pay at the pump stations...such a luxury...and so missed. Oh well, we got our gas so that was the point. We dropped Mike off then needed to stall for a litte before the coffee morning sooooooo....well I wasn't sure what we were going to do so we drove around for a minute before I decided to go back to the park and let Lino play for a little while. So we did that then I stopped to get some veggies at the Spar before heading out. We made it to the coffee morning pretty easy, because I didn't get lost, so we were the first ones there...that doesn't happen to often.  Today's coffee morning was kind of quiet but it was nice. We left a little later than I had planned so Lino fell asleep in the car by the time we got home. So I let him sleep in the car (with Shaun) while I made dinner. He only slept for a little over a hour because Shaun woke up screaming and woke him up too. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading a million books and playing with the trains. Lino was actually a really good boy all day and gave me very little trouble so I was happy.  Once Mike got home it was dinner, play, bath then bed. Another easy bed time for Lino and we had over a hour of free time...whoop whoop...and what did we spend our free time doing??? On our phones, we are so generation X. 

Oh, before we went to bed I was scared out of my life by this HUGE spider!!!!!  One of the moms warned me about these spiders and this is the second one we have see so far. This one ran up to my foot and just stayed there...waiting to be killed. So gross...the mom told me that she found one on her babies face one night...seriously?????  I'm just freaked out now, I just pray that they never crawl on the boys...or us!!!!

Wednesday:

Lino was up early as usual and I think he's making a routine of going to the kitchen to get a snack which is kind of nice because we get an extra 20min of sleep out of it but it makes for a mess in the bed...oh the dilemma :-)   So we actually got up about 15-20 min earlier than normal so I was thinking we might be able to get daddy to work early. So I made Lino some pancakes and eggs then went to get ready. By the time I got back down stairs Lino was done and ready to go...sweet!!! Then I found Shaun had another blow out so I had to take care of him while Mike finished up. When it was all see and done and we had all our stuff ready to go we were only leaving about min sooner than normal...how does that happen??  Oh well, so we dropped Mike off but he forgot his jacket because he is going out to dinner with his old plant manager tonight and he thinks he might walk home...we will see about that. Then we headed to Lino's school. It's amazing how quickly kids pick things up, he knows the way we are suppose to go o school and every time we pass the turn off for his school he says "that's the way to school" and whenever I go the alternative route, like today, he ask "where are we going?? This isn't the way to school!"  So I explain almost every time that this is another way to school so that mommy doesn't have to fight the traffic by the big kid school and today I think he finally excepted my response. I'm sure by next week he will start to recognize the new route as an acceptable route to school :-)   

We get to school early and sat in the car for a bit because it was a little cold then finally got out I socialize with the moms. When I dropped Lino off I told his teacher about the issues we have been having with pee pee accidents and why we had a diaper on him so she said she would look after him...good luck.  Then I talked to Lisa again and told her we saw her and her family on Sat when we were taking a walk but I was too nervous just to come over but she insisted that next time we should just call over to her. I told her I needed her number but of course I didn't have my phone and I don't know by number heart soooooooo...  I guess next time I see her or when we are out and about we will have to call over to her.  On the way home I stopped at Supervalu to get more croissants and a few things for dinner then home for some house work. Time really flies when your having fun :-0   Our landlord got to the house at the same time I did and he cut the grass and brought over a drill for Mike to use for the swing...very nice. I made a quick chicken salad for Lino for lunch the headed out to get him. He seemed to have a good day at school and his teacher said she took him to the toilet and he went with no problem which is typical but when I checked his diaper it was soaking wet so he may have went once but he didn't make a habit out of it. Anyway we went home and Lino talked I Ronnie for a while, he loves people, then he had lunch and went down for a nap.  Martha had mentioned she was going to come over so I dcided to make a cake...just in case. I was able to put out a couple loads of laundry and finish cleaning the kitchen so it was a fairly productive day. After nap we went to Mikes job to drop off his jacket because he was going out to dinner with his old boss tonight and it was probably going I be cold by then. Lino checked with him to see if he made HIS money and we both got a kick out of that. While I was there Martha called to confirm she was coming by so we made plans to meet at the playground so we headed there after seeing Mike.  The playground was crowded and I didn't have the proper clothes for the boys because I wasn't exactly planning on going to the park but oh well. Lino ran around and had a good time and kept asking when Patrick was coming over, how cute. We weren't there long before Martha and the boys arrived, she had never been to the park but my directions weren't to horrible so she was able to find it ok. We stayed there for a while and Martha scolded me for not dressing Shaun warm enough for the weather (she reminds me of Gina) because all I had on him was 2 short sleeved onesies. I had more on him earlier but he had a blowout then I didn't think to put more layers on him later because it was getting warm, minus the wind and lastly I don't have very many warm clothes for him so I'm limited to only a handful of long sleeves and pants. All that to say I'm going to get my kid sick if I don't start dressing him better...poor baby. Then Martha man handled my Moby and showed me the proper way to use it with my Shaun Shaun. It was super funny when she was doing it because she was tugging and yanking at the Moby and I was just being jerked all around but once she was done it felt so much better, it was totally worth it. We also talked a bit about Lino not eating and about different ways to get them to get what they need and she had some interesting ideas. Things I haven't thought about before but very interesting so I will have to try it out. Basically watch what he's eating because he may eat all carbs for a day or 2 then all meat then veggies and fruit or whatever and eventually by the end of the week he's had a fairly balanced diet...so basically they eat what they need and if you let them, their brain will regulate what the eat. Just don't give them junk, give healthy options but if they don't want something, like meat, don't make them eat it and just wait for a couple days because they will  be scarfing down loads of it to make up for the absence. It's gotta be easier than forcing then to eat so we will go with that. So we chatted a while more and watched the boys play but then I was cold and it was time to go so we went to my house. We had some coffee and I had a tea and she looked at me like I was crazy when I put honey in my tea...it's just funny how little things like that can be so different. I always thought it was strange to put milk in your tea now I'm on the other side, crazy. Then we talked about laundry because as you all know I HATE doing the laundry here so it's always a topic of conversation. But she told me that she didn't have a dryer at all, because they don't really need one, and I almost passed out!  As wet as it is here how could anyone survive without a dryer???? We have a dryer and I'm trying to manage without using it because its kind of expensive to run the dryer but when it starts being wet all the time I'm going to have to use the dryer. There is just no way I could so without it!!!  And she goes on and on about how you manage without one. Use the radiator to dry when it's on, it will dry socks or shirts fairly quickly (like over night). And when you have clothes that are "almost" dry but not completely but not damp, you put those into the hot box over night to dry. Oh and you use the stair rail to hang dry towels and hope in 2-3 days they are dry. I couldn't believe it. I can't believe it. This laundry nonsense just keeps getting worse and worse...eye yi yi...I guess we will either deal with the week long process of washing/drying clothes or pay 3 legs, a Fallopian tube and a liver to dry then with the dryer. Which I have used 2x so far and I can already tell that thing sucks too...but at least it's better than the washer/dryer combo nonsense we had in the apt. Ugh...anyway it was an eye opener and sad moment. Otherwise we had a good time, I love having them over. The boys play/destroy and we talk and chase after Tadhg...loads of fun...definately better than sitting and playing with cho cho trains all afternoon. 

After they left we had some spaghetti and meatballs then in the bath...well not exactly. I forgot to turn the stupid water heater on so the water was luke warm but I didn't really realize it until Lino got in and gave me the "oh shit" look. So I got him out and turned the water heater on.  Thankfully it only took about 20min to get warm water so we went with that.  Mike usually remembers to turn it on when he gets home...so since be wasn't there it totally slipped my mind. And this is another one of those energy saver things, most people in the states would just set the water heater to a temp and leave it alone but here you set the temp and you heat the tank then turn it off so that it doesn't continuously heat the tank all day. That's fine except when you get to the end of the tank and you haven't turned it on and you want to take a shower or put your kids in the bath...anyway gotta get use to that. Otherwise the bedtime routine went good and Lino and Shaun were out quickly so I had a hour to myself!!!!!! That never happens, it was nice!  I also volunteered for coffee mornings at my house on the 3rd so I'm pretty excited about that...why I have no idea but it will be nice to entertain the mommies...if any of them actually show up. Hopefully I get my directions right, the way I give directions is totally different from the Irish way so I better start working on it now!

Thursday:

Lino up at 6:30am...slept til 6:50 and made me get up at 7am :-)   I felt like I barely slept last night between Shaun not wanting to sleep and me feeling like I had a bug crawling I my head all night it was bad. Anyway Mike had to be at work early anyway so we got up and I made Lino breakfast. He was hungry too because he ate 4 mini sausages and 2 pancakes!  We all were ready to go super early so that was nice...but when I was dropping Mike off I was wondering what I was going to do with Lino for the extra 30min that I had :-/   Lino gave Mike a nice kiss and hug and told him to make his money, he's almost like a pimp then I decided to go back to the house because I was the only one that didn't eat so I was going to get a granola bar really quickly and then wash the dishes. So that's what I did...Lino was content with playing with the garage door opener and Shaun was sleep so I let them stay in the car...it made it a lot easier anyway.  I was able to get a little done and still get Lino to a school early...nice!  The drop off went fine then I went to the store...again...it's a daily thing it seems. But I needed more croissants because Lino and the gang killed my stash, plus I like them fresh, then I needed stuff for dinner & lunch. I thought I would be in and out of there in 20min or so but a hour later I was still missing 2 ingredients. I spent about 30min looking for Panko crumbs...I know I bought them here before because I have a partial bag at the house but I couldn't remember if I had bought them at Tesco or Supervalu. I was so sure I had got then at Supervalu that I walked down every isle very slowly and meticulously to check and I still couldn't find it. And I stil wasn't satisfied so I had half the management team looking for them for me and finally I told them "I must have seen them at Tesco" and I think they about passed out. One guy was like "I will talk to our venders and of we can get it I will have them bring them in". I told them its super common in America to use them instead of frying but still get the crunchy texture and he was like "yeah we will try to see what we can do". Well that was nice of him but it really didn't help me today...oh well. So then I had to rush to the fish store to get fish for dinner and race home to prep the chicken nuggets for Lino's lunch.  I was actually pretty quick so I was able to leave the house and make it to Midleton by 10:40. I thought I was lost for a minute but somehow I was able to navigate myself to the right area. There were only a few moms there today but it's kid of nice because you can actually talk to them and it's not super busy. The host had volunteered last minute to host because the original host wasn't able to do it but you couldn't tell because she had a massive spread that was super good. She made theses really good scones too and she said they were really easy so I got the recipe...I'll be making them for my coffee morning for sure. I didn't stay long but I was able to sort out directions to my house so I think I wi be good...we will see. I had planned to stop by the Tesco in Midleton before getting Lino to see if they had Panko crumbs but I didn't want to risk being late so I said I would make due with what I had. That was a good decision too because I made it to his school just as the kids were getting out. 

Lino's teacher said he had a good day and went potty no problem and when I checked his diaper he was pretty much dry, I can tell he had some leakage because he was probably holding it but it wasn't a full out pee. So I was really excited for him and he was excited too and said he wanted his diaper off. We talked about it and I told him after his nap I would take it off...maybe. I wasn't fully convinced he was really ready for that just yet but I tried to encourage him so I let him have half of his chocolate donut for lunch...I'm a sucker.  Hopefully that little treat will water his mouth to being a big boy...fingers crossed.  So while he napped I did my normal cleaning and dinner prep. After his nap we played around the house and Lino went to go pee outside and took his diaper off so I said whatever. Since he was being so good we walked up the road to pick blackberries. You can tell the berries are about to be gone because the few berries that are left are kind of small so it was hard to find good ones...I'm not even sure what's "good ones" but I know it's not the small ones. Anyway we had fun doing that and Lino seemed to eat as many as I put in the tub...hope he doesn't get sick. I hope I can get a few more because I want to see about making some  blackberry apple jam like Martha gave me. Once we had gathered all our berries we went home and read books until Mike got home.  We had dinner and Lino didn't want any part if it, fish sticks that where yummy so I just let him be, then bath and bed.  Both boys went to sleep right after bath. I'm excited that Shaun is getting the routine and knows that it's time I sleep once he gets out of the bath...now if he would only sleep more than 2hrs at a time it would be great. 

Friday:

End of the week...finally!!!!  It seems like such a long week for some reason so I'm excited it's over.  Shaun had a nice middle if the night poop and was trying to wake up so I was caught at a cross roads...do I change him and risk him crying and waking up Lino at 5am in the morning??? Or just nurse him and let him sit in the poop until he goes back to sleep and then try to change his diaper without waking him up???  Neither seemed realistic so I decided to nurse him and change his diaper at the same time...I wasn't sure it could be done but I was able to successfully accomplish both task without a peep from Shaun. It's really impressive what you can do when you are pressed in the corner with no way out...good thing I have big boobs too :-).  I was so impressed with myself I had to share my excitement with my friend Gina, who was equally impressed...hahaha.  Lino was up and in our bed before 7 as usual...I don't even know what time it was when he got into the bed I just know it was earlier than normal so I was praying he was rested. Eventuallly we all got up right around the normal time. For some reason we were actually efficient in getting ready so we were able to get out of the house 5min earlier than normal. Lino really wanted to wear his underware today and since he basically went potty all day yesterday I let him. I kept telling him to be a big boy and how happy it made me that he went potty and he said he was gonna be a bid boy...I hope so.  So we dropped Mike off then went to sit at his school until the doors opened. He is always so excited about going to his class that I can barely stop him to say goodbye. I guess that's a good thing so I shouldn't complain. Since it's Friday that means I can be lazy so I went to Tesco to find the Panko crumbs and a couple other things then I went home. Shaun was super fussy because he was tired and I think he's teething so we just sat on the couch and had a little QT...it was nice. I was proud of the way I had dressed him today because he had on long sleeves and his first pair of jeans so I sent Martha a picture...she was proud. But it ended up getting warm by the time I left to get Lino so it was kind of pointless to dress him so warmly...but oh well.  I went to get Lino and his teacher said how good he was today's and how he went to the toilet 2x without her even asking him. I was excited!!! Then I looked down at him and he had pee'd his pants...really Lino? I couldn't believe he did that as soon as I got there...I told her he hates me that is why he is punishing me. She laughed and just wished me luck. Today they baked cakes so Lino was excited to eat his but I told him he couldn't have it since he had an accident...I'm such a mean mom. He was not happy about that at all and he screamed and pee'd all the way home...such a mess. I couldn't even talk to him he was so tired and frustrated so I tried to give him a peanut butter sandwich because I know he will eat that any day but he wasn't having it. So I just put him to bed...and pray for a reset :-). Shaun was ready to take a nap as well and a little after Lino went down Shaun was out too...so I should nap as well right?  Well I tried but it didn't really happen as easy as I would have liked. Finally I was able to close my eyes but then Shaun was up about 30-40min later. At least I got a little power nap in, I can't complain too much. Since I had put Lino down for a nap earlier than normal I went to wake him up, set the timer to go off, but he wouldn't budge! I guess he is super tired...so I let him sleep until he was ready to get up...no need fighting him about getting up. Finally after his 2hr 45min nap he was up and refreshed. He ate his peanut butter and played. He had a little poopy accident but I didn't make to much fuss about it because it didn't look like a full poop. Thankfully I cought him in time and he finished in the potty. We played in the play room for a while and I tried to fix the train track but my brain wasn't working. Then I out Shaun in the spongebob chair because he was trying to get to it then Lino wanted to get in too so I had to take their pictures. I can't believe how big they are getting. Shaun is almost 6mo and Lino is just a big ol monster...I love them so much. I just wish they would stay small, like less than 6mo, but I know that's not possible. 

It took for ever to get the picture of Shaun because Lino thought it was a game to stick his head in the picture everytime I would try to get the picture...that little knuckle head.   Right after we took pictures Mike got home and I let him enjoy his boys for a while. Then I had him pull down more baby clothes from the attic. Shaun has only been wearing the 3-6mo clothes since we moved into the house but he's getting to big and the weather is too cold for him to wear them anymore. It's such a waste because I have a ton of clothes that haven't ever been worn. I totally messed up when I packed our clothes for the move here. I should have packed the 3-6mo clothes instead of the 0-3mo...oh well. Nothing I can do about it now. So I organized all his "winter" clothes and packed away the smaller sizes...for give away or for just in case (wink wink).   Earlier in the week we had talked about going to the city center for this Culture Night festival but once he got home we were kind of like "naaaaa" so we just chilled at home. Since it's Friday it's easy dinner day with means, leftovers!  After dinner I was finally able to enjoy a glass of wine...I definitely needed it and deserved it...

Not long before bath Shaun decided to have a major blowout so it took both Mike and I to manage it without getting completely crapped on. He was a pretty happy camper after that. Since it was so close to bedtime I just threw something on him and it happened to be one of the PJ's that my sister gave me when I was pregnant with Lino. As he was sitting in it I realized that was probably the last time that PJ would be wore by one of my moms kids, so I sent the pic to my sister and we both shed a tear together...this thing has been around for over 7yrs (you can kind of tell) and it may have just been used for the very last time :-( 

Bath and bed for the boys and once they were sleep I cut up the apples and dates I needed for the cake I was was going to make for Martha's coffee morning. I figured I would get the tedious part of the cake making out of the way today so all I have to do in the morning is mix and go. It took a little longer than normal because I was trying to be quite but I got it done then it was time for a little TV for Mike and I before we headed to bed. I had 1.5 glasses of wine and was starting to get a buzz so it was time to go to sleep...

Saturday:

Lino got up and was trying to get into the bed and I thought it was early, like 2 or 3 in the morning so I made Mike out him back in the bed...it was not an easy return and it was really 6am. He spent over 45min in the room with him and he still didn't go back to sleep and he woke up Shaun so it was a bad morning. He was back in our room, and bed, about 1min after Mike left his room. So what was the point of putting him back in the room???? I have no idea, not my finest moment. So we were up so I got up and took the boys downstairs to have breakfast. I thought Mike would be getting up shortly because I told him we were going to Martha's today so I thought we would take our walk early. But a couple hours passed and no Mike...I know he's tired. So no walk but I was able to get the cake cooked and the boys fed so now I just needed to get myself ready. I thought we might make it to her house early but no we were late. Mike stayed home to work on the swings, and the train track that I couldn't figure out. I didn't plan to stay super long but we ended up staying all day.  On the way there Lino made me stop so he could pee so I thought he would have a dry diaper day but that was the only time he asked to pee all day. He missed his nap so I just decided to keep him busy and put him to bed a little earlier. He had a good time and I had a good time too. Martha had a couple moms over but t was small which was nice because you could have a conversation with everyone. Martha made a huge pot of stew that was good and Lino ate almost all the chorizo out if it. Everyone like the apple date cake which was nice because I had made a full batch and wanted it gone otherwise Mike and I would have ate it. The other 2 moms left a little after lunch but I stayed and chatted with Martha. We ended up walking down to the playground and letting the kids run around for a little while.  Martha let me use one of her many slings for Shaun because I forgot to bring mine and we borrowed a stroller as well so that we could all walk. It was a nice day so it was nice to get out and walk. We might have stayed longer at the park but it was getting late and while I was pushing Lino on the swings I smelled poo :-[   And low & behold he had pooped in his diaper, a little, so it was time to go.  We had a huge hill to climb to get back to her place but the while country is a big hill so what's new?  I was so pooped after the climb so it was nice to take a little break while the boys had a few blackberries from the bushes.  Martha sent us packing with more crap than we came with, pie and some of the stew but it was nice of her. Here is a pic of Lino & Patrick playing...they love dogs!

We made it home and Mike was almost 85% done with the swing set...that thing is massive. He was glad to have us home but he said it was also nice to have the house so quite while he was working in the swing. If course he hadn't eaten all day, other than a peanut butter sandwich, so he was hungry so it was good that I took some soup from Martha...it made a quick dinner. I started marinating some chicken and tried to get Lino to eat something and all he wanted was a peanut butter sandwich of course. After he ate I put him in the shower and in the bed...he crashed quickly. Then I made some buffalo chicken nuggets to go with our soup and we had dinner!  Then poor Mike lugged the huge swing over to the side of the house but I made him put it back in the place he originally had it...I don't think he was too happy about that...especially since it was at the end of a long day of working on the swings :-/  Sorry    And since Martha sent me home with pie, as well as the rest of my apple date cake, we had to have a slice of pie after dinner.  Even tho we spent the day apart it was a good Sat for all of us...I think. 

Sunday:

Nothing special about Sunday. I made pancakes because Mike wanted then. We lounged around the house most of the morning then when Shaun went down for a nap I helped Mike put the slid together, that part took 2 people. Then we had our landloard stop by and being us some French beans from her garden which was nice. And since she was here we asked her for the charger to the drill that Mike borrowed because he went thru 2 batteries in one day and still had a bunch more to do. It's kind of handy that they live so close because she was able to run down and get it and come right back.  So we were able to get most of the slide together and he connected the 3 pieces that he had and it looked great!!!  There are still a few things to fix but he is missing some screws from the set so he has to call about that and he stripped one screw so he needs to figure out a solution for that but I think it will be useable for the weekend...too bad Lino won't be able to use it. We told him he can only use it once he becomes a big boy and pee's and poops in the potty all the time. Hopefully that as well as no cakes or chocolates will be enticing enough to eventually encourage him to go to the potty. Until then he is staying in diapers!!!!!

Then we got cleaned up and went shopping.  Lino fell asleep in the car as we expected so he was crying to be held in the store. Poor Mike was sore from Saturdays work so he wasn't feeling being held and Shaun was in the seat of the basket and Lino didn't want me to hold him soooooooooo he had to hold him. I know it's ridiculous but the poor kid only got a few min nap so I couldn't be made that he was cranky.  Eventually Mike was able to get him to go into the basket and then he wanted sausages so we got him 2. They were hot so I tried to wrap the in a napkin so he could hold them but he dropped the first one. So I told him to let the other one cool off before he pulls it out of the bag and drop it too but did he listen to me???? NO!!! And what happened????  He dropped it...just like I told him. I didn't get him anymore because I told him to listen, so we ended up paying €2 just to throw 2 sausages into the trash...nice.  Finally we were able to do our shopping and we got stuff to make pizzas but Tesco only had the prerolled dough is we went to Supervalu down the road to get some dough. I assumed that they would have it because I've seen it at the SuperValu in Glanmire but they didn't have it...so we it croissants instead...we were all hungry. Then Mike stopped at a couple other stores looking for a piece to hook up to the TV to get it to work with the cable but he didn't have any luck, then to the Glanmire Supervalu for dough and more croissants then finally home. Sunday dinners are always interesting because Mike usually likes to to cook and try new things so today we had homemade individual pizzas and mushroom & pancetta risotto. They both turned out good but the kitchen was a complete mess...but that was Mikes job to clean up :-).  After dinner I put the boys in the bed and we FaceTime with my mom for a while. She enjoyed watching the boys in the bath because Shaun was trying to eat the bubbles and Lino was playing "kiss me" with her and trying to get Shaun to eat his foot...that nut. It was nice. Then bed...Lino & Shaun were pooped so they were out quickly.  Mike and I enjoyed some cake and football and closed the week off with a nice Carlsberg beer!!!!   Oh and we got our Magicjack to work so we can call family from our cell phones...super excited about that!!!  But no cable yet, guess we might have to buy a TV or just manage   with the sling box for 3yrs...we will see.