Family update...

So it's been a busy two weeks. We went to Waterford to visit my parents. While we were there Derek and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. My mum babysat and we went out for a romantic meal! It was lovely. Our actual anniversary was on the Wednesday. I was surprised by two dozen red roses and a dozen yellow roses. Which was romantic, Derek also wrote me a really amazing card, which made me cry.

And don't forget this... my lovely cupcake! He surprised me with this with my cup of tea that night!

I look back now on our special day, I'm so lucky to have such a special husband, here's to more and more happy years to come.

Dylan and Mummy went to see the Toy Story 3 movie in 3D and poor Dylan, he cried his little heart out. It was quite sad in parts! He still looks so small sitting in the big cinema chairs. I forget sometimes that he's still my baby. He really loves his alone time with mummy. I try to bring him at least once a month to do something on our own. He plays for hours every evening with his daddy, football, rugby, hurling, so he gets special time with Derek, so I think it's important for him to get one on one time with me. We also took him to get new shoes. Dylan's feet have grown a whole size over the past 6 months, he's now a size 11!!

Lauren is getting really big too. She's chatting all the time now and calling me 'mum' and 'mam' and 'ma ma' she has so many more words now, she calls Derek 'daddy' and Dylan 'din' It's so adorable. She's also gotten more new shoes, her feet have grown half a size since the end of may. She got two really cute pairs of shoes. She's also gotten a molar on each side at the bottom of her mouth and she's getting her eye teeth. She's been so irritable the poor little baby! She also got a little arm chair and she loves sitting in it. We've discovered that she loves 'In the Night Garden' and when she hears it coming on, she moves her chair and sits down to watch it. It's the cutest thing. She's transfixed by the characters. I love to see her doing things, to see her growing into a little girl, watching her bonds growing with her family - her daddy, her big brother and mummy too. She's such a happy little girl.

It won't be long now and we'll be back to school again. I've already started to get things organised. I have all of Dylan's uniform sorted. Have his new lunch box and his books all ready. We'll bring him to get his school shoes the week before he's due to go back, in case his feet grow- again!!

The Kingdom

Nestled between the lush green mountains and the patchwork fields, lies 'The kingdom' of Co. Kerry. http://www.contykerry.com/ I've read it's called the kingdom because it relates to the Irish name of the county (Ciarrai), but I think it's a fitting name, because its beauty fit for a king. We visited my brother and his girlfriend, Siobhan this weekend in Kerry. It was great, the weather was cloudy, but even that couldn't take from the scenery, the sprawling fields set against the black of the mountains. Dylan went surfing with Derek, Stephen and Siobhan on Inch beach on Saturday. The view from the beach was amazing, the sea was almost violent against the hazy sky.

Dylan loved surfing, although he didn't last too long because it was quite cold. He was so adorable in his little wetsuit. I was so proud ofim for trying something new, he did a great job. I don't have any photos of Lauren and Mummy, we were wrapped up in the car because it was so windy.

On Sunday we went for a drive through the mountains and up to Brandon bay to see the beautiful view. You could see the dividing bushes of all the fields made it look like a giant patchwork blanket, with so many different shades of green. You could see so far around you with no housing estates or major roads blocking your view. Kerry really is perfect.

It was really great to see my brother and his girlfriend for the few days, and we are going to visit Waterford for a week on Thursday as Derek has a few days off. So I love the summer holidays!

Luckily I had my faithful camera phone, because I discovered after our five hour car journey, that I had left my camera at home. Unfortunately the photos aren't as good as I would have liked. Here they are;

Inch Beach

Views from Brandon Bay

What a great and relaxing weekend...

Failte or Welcome....

While I have a good few readers from the United States and Australia, and you are so very welcome... do become a follower! I was also happy to see some local readers on my stat counter. Arklow, Limerick, Dublin, Roscommon! Yes I can see everyone who reads, I'm a dork at heart!.. It's so nice to welcome all my fellow Irish people to my blog, click and become a follower. I just wanted to say a big 'hello' to all my readers here and abroad.. I really started my blog to keep track of the things that the kids do every day. I never thought that anyone would be interested in it! I suppose it's nice to know that there are readers out there! I must be an exhibitionist at heart!

Dylan has his consultants appointment for his eyes in the morning, so I really should get myself to bed. I can never drag myself off my pillow every morning. Althought I'll here the 'mama' and 'maaaammmy' calls from each room around me, I still seem to remain semi- asleep for at least a half hour after my alarm goes off! and I really should have thought twice about cutting my hair shorter, because that requires me to get up even earlier because I have to wash and style it every morning! not a clever move, when you're mommy to two little ones!

So to the point of the post.... Welcome and hello to my readers, If you have a blog and you would like me to add you to my friends list, send me a message and I'll put you on there. I read some great blogs too, if you want to take a look..... and finally thanks for stopping by.....

School plays and races....

This week we had Dylan's school play and his sport's day! His play was great, he was a boa constrictor and he had to sing the funniest song. I was so proud of him I was nearly in tears...

His sport's day was great too, he won a medal for winning the race. He was so delighted with himself, he's getting a few medals now.

In Lauren's world, she's getting her back teeth and so she's been tired and cranky for a few days now, poor petal, she even fell asleep on the couch this week, while she was eating her snack!which she never does...

So, summer holidays start today.... two whole months of fun... Derek is taking a week off next week, so we're going to have a week of family day's out. I'm really looking forward to that. Then Dylan will have one week of Summer camp in July and two in august, which will give mummy a much needed break. The summer is going to be great. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with the kids, now all we need is some good weather.. finger's crossed! Here's to exploring, making things, running around, days out, laughter, smiles and summer fun and most importantly... making wonderful memories!

First glasses and first shoes

So the last week has been very interesting. We noticed Dylan was squinting more and more, and I decided to bring him for an eye test, just to put my mind at rest. I was thinking to myself that I was over-reacting. So I took him last Monday, and the optician was examining him and looking concerned. I'm getting more anxious by the minute, trying to keep Lauren quiet while the optician is trying to convince Dylan to keep his head still, so he could take a photo of the back of his eye ( which was no easy task) He then informs me that Dylan has astigmatism in his left eye (irregularly shaped cornea), and will need to wear glasses every day. He will also need to go to see a consultant opthamologist to ensure that the optician has gotten his prescription spot on. I was totally and utterly shocked, I really couldn't believe that I had missed this until now. How long had he not been able to see?

 I was concerned about him getting his letters mixed up, and I had spoken to his teacher, and she had assured me that everything was fine. So I had put it to the back of my mind. It just goes to show how important it is to get your children's eyes checked regularly, even if you think there may be nothing wrong with them. Obviously he couldn't see the letters clearly and was getting them mixed up. I've organised for him to have some extra tuition now over the summer so he doesn't fall behind. The last thing I want is for him to start off next year behind in the fundamentals like letters and numbers. We got him two pairs of glasses. A blue pair and a red pair. So far he prefers the blue pair, and he is so adorable wearing them.

Here's a photo of his glasses

In other news, Dylan has his school concert tomorrow night. We are so excited to see him. He was asked to pre-record the songs so that the teachers could play it at the concert, so we could hear it clearly. Only a few children were picked. His teacher had approached me to tell me that Dylan had a great voice and could he sing on the CD! maybe he'll be a singer like his mum!

Lauren also got her first pair of shoes. We brought her to the Clark's first shoes shop. She got a dainty little pair of white shoes, with little pink cut out flowers. They are adorable. They even take a photo of them in the shoes, and present you with a little card with the photo on as a keepsake. I think that is such a lovely touch. I just had to take a photo of the card to show everyone.

Yes I took all the photos with my camera phone again. I really have to use my camera more!

Dylan - our 'all star'

Last week Dylan took part in the 'mini all Ireland' Gaelic football league. He was on the Co.Tipperary team, and his team won the league. They got a big silver cup, for the team and medals and a football each. He was so great. He was on the ball all the time. I was so proud of him. He did so well. I thought he was amazing! Luckily the weather was beautiful for the whole week. To celebrate, on Saturday, we took the kids to Airfield farm http://www.airfield.ie/ . The weather was so hot and sunny. The grounds of the farm are so beautiful and unspoiled, so we had a lovely walk with the kids. They also got to pet the sheep and miniature horses. We didn't get to take many pictures there though. Everyone had a great time. My parents came to visit on Sunday and we all just relaxed in the garden and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Then on Sunday night we had a bbq with our neighbours, which really put a lovely end, to an already great week.

Here are some photos of our little star...

Home for the weekend...

Last weekend we went to visit my parent's in Waterford. Where I'm from is the oldest city in Ireland. It has cobbled streets and quayside shops, and Reginald's Tower, one of the oldest round towers of Ireland, it is the Home of Waterford Crystal, and me! http://www.waterfordtourism.org/

On the Sunday we went to the beach and the amusement park. Lauren had her first turn on the carousel! She loved it, and Dylan even won a toy on the lucky duck dip! He was delighted to win. I can't believe I managed to catch the look of triumph in my photo. After the amusements we all went to get fish and chips and had a picnic. It was a lovely weekend. I really love to see my parents, I just wish I could see them a lot more. Dylan and Lauren really love spending time with them, It was a really lovely weekend....