The Infamous Bathroom Remodel- October 2011

 This was a killer project.  

The aftermath of a looong night's work.

 And now, a week later--we have a tub!!

Yipee!

A Day in the Life of a Busy Toddler

Hi Everyone,

It's been too long since I've posted anything with the kids, so I thought this video is long overdue.  Enjoy!  :)

Ronan in the Kitchen

Connor the Foodie

I think it's official: we're now a Foodie Family.

Connor has been more and more interested in cooking. I think it all started with the movie, Ratatouille. This year, we bought a children's cookbook written by Annabel Karmel. She's very popular over here, and I admit, her recipes have been fabulous. She has several books for children, including several for weening. I've used her guidance for weening Ronan and now her My Favorite Recipes book is bringing Connor and I together in the kitchen.

(Just recently, Connor took pictures of all the recipes he wants to make from the book. When he asked me if we could make them all, I said, "Yes, we'll make them all by the time you're seven years old." Good tactic, I thought. Plus, it'll be fun!)

Here's a link to Annabel's book Connor loves: http://www.amazon.com/My-Favorite-Recipes-Annabel-Karmel/dp/0756671957/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&qid=1332364839&sr=8-31

So far, we've made Banana Bites, Chicken Dippers, Fruit Kebabs with Mango Dip, and Sticky Finger Chicken. These photos were taken during October. That month, Alan got us a gorgeous leg of lamb. I looked up a recipe for Greek-inspired leg of lamb and potatoes. The secret ingredient was orange juice! I followed it and Wow, was it fabulous!!!! I was so proud of myself, I took a picture.

Just as we started making our banana bites, Uncle David stopped by!

I love how happy Connor looks with himself in this picture.

This is our prep station for crunchy chicken fingers. They get their crunch from coating them in potato chips! Connor was so happy we got to make a dinner with "crisps!"

My famous Greek Leg of Lamb. Mmmmm!!!!

Halloween

I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last blogpost!

But here we are, and it's time to get caught up to date. I don't want to skip over special events from the past, since I might turn this blog into a scrapbook. So I'm going to try and tell you about all the major events that have passed us by. At least I can share with you some photos. It will take a lot of hours, but Alan's away in Arizona now so it'll keep me from being lonely.

Halloween, interestingly enough, has roots in Ireland. This article from http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/irishhalloweentraditions.htm talks about the details. Because I just wanted to expand on the traditions that Alan has told me about, I've edited the article to include only those traditions that Alan's shared from his childhood.

IRISH HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS

The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, 'All Hallowtide' - the 'Feast of the Dead', when the dead revisited the mortal world. The celebration marked the end of Summer and the start of the Winter months.

During the eighth century the Catholic Church designated the first day of November as 'All Saints Day ('All Hallows') - a day of commemoration for those Saints that did not have a specific day of remembrance. The night before was known as 'All Hallows Eve' which, over time, became known as Halloween.

Here are the most notable Irish Halloween Traditions:

The Barnbrack Cake: The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is the barnbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued happiness.

The Pumpkin: Carving Pumpkins dates back to the eighteenth century and to an Irish blacksmith named Jack who colluded with the Devil and was denied entry to Heaven. He was condemned to wander the earth but asked the Devil for some light. He was given a burning coal ember which he placed inside a turnip that he had gouged out.

The tradition of Jack O'Lanterns was born - the bearer being the wandering blacksmith - a damned soul. Villagers in Ireland hoped that the lantern in their window would keep the wanderer away. When the Irish emigrated in millions to America there was not a great supply of turnips so pumpkins were used instead.

Halloween Costumes: On Halloween night children would dress up in scary costumes and go house to house. 'Help the Halloween Party' and 'Trick or Treat' were the cries to be heard at each door. This tradition of wearing costumes also dates back to Celtic times. On the special night when the living and the dead were at their closest the Celtic Druids would dress up in elaborate costumes to disguise themselves as spirits and devils in case they encountered other devils and spirits during the night. By disguising they hoped that they would be able to avoid being carried away at the end of the night. This explains why witches, goblins and ghosts remain the most popular choices for the costumes.

The Bonfire: The Halloween bonfire is a tradition to encourage dreams of who your future husband or wife is going to be. The idea was to drop a cutting of your hair into the burning embers and then dream of you future loved one. Halloween was one of the Celt 'fire' celebrations.

Irish Halloween Traditions - An article provided by The Information about Ireland Site.

Back when Alan was a kid, the children would go around from house to house shouting, “Help the Halloween party!” and they would receive gifts of apples and oranges.

Nowadays, the bonfires are banned (but you could see a few circles burned into the grass the day or two afterwards) and it looks more like the American version of Halloween. Children dress up in costumes, have candy bags, and say, “Trick or Treat.” Ireland being the land of chocolate (there's chocolate everywhere!!!) the kids get lots of treats. Some neighbors make up little treat bags full of different candies and crisps (chips). Halloween home decorations are becoming more and more prevalent. We saw some houses lit up and decorated, but nothing really compares with the amount of decoration with American suburban homes.

Our street has mostly seniors, or OAPs (Old Age Pensioners), so we decided to go over to Sean Healy's house, one of Connor's school mates and closest friends. Sean's mom Veronica and I have become good friends, too, so I was delighted to spend the evening with her and her family.

Connor dressed up as a ninja this year. I think it was actually a ruse to get a new samurai sword, but I didn't mind. Connor's warrior side comes out every Halloween. The last few years, he's been a warrior in one form or another. When he was three, he was a pirate. At age four, he was a knight. And now a ninja. He got to dress up for school, putting his costume on over his uniform. Apparently, they do a little fashion show. Then they take off the costumes and get down to the business of the school day.

Connor's friend Sean went as an army man complete with camoflouge and beret, and he decided that's what he wanted to be next year. That'll be next year's ruse to weild a gun, I'm sure.

One modern tradition they have here that I do like very much is the Chinese lanterns they light and release into the sky. We didn't light any ourselves, but we did see several floating up into the night sky.

Here's our photos:

Yes, that is a cut over Ronan's eye. Yes, we were in the emergency room in Temple Street Children's Hospital for that. His cut really should be a blogpost on its own. We'll see if I get to it.... :)

Ronan- 5 months

Ronan turned 5 months old last week. Here's some new pics to show you how he's grown.
:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pyxKm23bKw

Click this link to watch a fun video of Ronan and Connor.

Ronan's Birth-And Then The Bill Came

Hi Everyone,

Just thought you might be interested in the last few details about Ronan's birth here in Ireland. I was curious how much money it would cost and how the billing was all going to be handled.

We have a new insurance program since we've been here, but Alan and I didn't really know anything about it. We moved here so fast, that the insurance beauacracy couldn't keep up with us. For weeks we couldn't log into the computer to read up on our benefits or search their directories for doctors and hospitals that were In Network. I went to the hospital with a temporary card printed from the computer, and fortunately the lady there had dealt with this company before.

So, just to compare, I'll tell you one or two notable memories I have about Connor's birth's bill. I remember the second night I was in the hospital (my very nice, hotel-like private room), I had put Connor in the nursery so I could try and get some sleep after that arduous labor/birth. Later, before the insurance covered it, I saw the detailed bill for that service: $1300. Just for Connor's one night in the nursery. (And they still brought him to me every 3 hours for a feed!)

I remember getting bills for each and every little thing the hospital did during my stay. So many pieces of paper.

Now onto Ronan's birth's bill.

I received two bills: one from the hospital for the birth, and another from the doctor who gave me the Private care. (Private care here means that I had one doctor throughout the pre-natal care, and it was all but guaranteed that I'd have the same doctor delivering the baby.)

Each bill was one page long.

The hospital bill had three lines:

1. For the night I was in a semi-private bed (€889)

2. For the night I was in my private room (€1017)

3. For the private pathology (blood tests) fees (€168)

Our new insurance covered 90% of it, so I was left to pay around €207. I called them up and paid my bill over the phone.

The bill for the doctor equally simple.

Sam's (yes, he's on a first name basis with both staff and clients, even though he's currently Master of the hospital) bill was €2000. Our insurance again covered 87% of that. I owed him €254. So I called up to pay that bill. No answer the first time, so I left a message. Second time, I got through.

But he had waived the balance.

That's right, my OBGYN waived the last €254 of my bill.

According to his office manager, Ciara (pronounced Kira), when she told him that the insurance paid all but €254 of the bill, and that I had left a message during the week saying I wanted to pay it, he just waved a hand and said, "That's all right. Don't worry about it."

Thank you, Dr. Coulter-Smith! I mean, thank you Sam.

Our Summer Holiday In Gran Canaria

Our first ever resort-style vacation: Gran Canaria.

With its location right off the coast of Morocco, you'd think the island of Gran Canaria was Moroccan. But it's actually part of Spain, and a great place to visit if you need a sunshine-filled getaway.

All summer, I think we had two, maybe three, full days of sun in Dublin. Sure, we'd have some sun every day, but it wouldn't last. The wind here keeps the clouds on the move, and 10 minutes is all it takes to turn a gorgeous morning into a rainy one. So everyday this summer, our forecast was "partly cloudy with a chance of rain." Really.

I was going mental. I couldn't believe it. I thought being a Portlander I could handle this weather here. I have my iGoogle homepage set to show the weather forecast for both Portland and Dublin. And by the time Portland started getting really consistent sun, our forecast was consistently a mix of sun, clouds, and rain. And we'd be going through that cycle at least a few times every day. It was never consistent. I was going crazy. It wasn't so much fun to try and get to a playground if it meant that it was going to be a trip in the rain...

One day we did go to a playground I saw two women laying out in their bikinis!! (Did I already mention that in a previous posting?) And it was only 67 degree F! But of course, it felt warm because that was the one day that the sun was out all day long. Really--two moms laying out in their bikinis while their kids ran up and down the slides. Wow.

Anyhow, I really needed some sun. And Alan was working really hard. Harder than he expected. (He wound up doing a job he didn't actually sign up for. The hours were longer and at an incredibly intense pace.) We all needed a break. I mentioned it. And mentioned it again. And then one Sunday, Alan woke up at 10am and started researching family sun holidays. By 8pm that night, we had our tickets. :)

OK-- so this looks like we're advertising Nicorette. But I included this picture to show you how happy and proud we were that we fit all our stuff into that one big suitcase you see next to the stroller. :)))

It was a 4 hour flight from Dublin direct to Gran Canaria. Alan's co-workers were worried for us: how will the baby do?! But they didn't know that when Connor was that age, we took him from Portland to Dublin, which is a 17 hour trip at best. Four hours was easy! Ronan did have some pain on the takeoffs/landings, but we were ready with bottles of formula or water to help him, and that worked well.

The view from our hotel window.

This was our first hotel vacation. But this wasn't any ol' hotel, this was an all-inclusive vacation. No meals, no restaurant shopping. Everything was at this resort. A kids club, babysitting, a spa, everything. It actually took a lot of getting used to. Of all things, I missed my watch. Can you believe it? I needed my watch. It was because all these wonderful services were scheduled. Meals were available at certain times. The kids' activities were at specific times. Sign ups for activities were designated times. The only constant was the pool. And even that needed some attention because if you weren't up early to reserve your lounge chairs, you wouldn't have a spot to sit in anywhere near the pool.

After a day or two of getting my brain around this and the fact that the whole point of a resort-style vacation was to never leave the resort (?!?!?), I relaxed and really had a good time.

Ronan was up every four hours with tummy pains and who-knows-what-else sleeping problems, but we made it work. Alan would help in the middle of the night, and I'd be up with him at 6am, take him and all our swimming gear down to the pools, reserve our chairs, drink a cup of tea poolside, and rock him in the stroller. Eventually, he'd fall back asleep, and I'd be able to relax in the beautiful weather, sipping my tea, and reading Tina Fey's Bossypants. It's a really good book, actually. I highly recommend it.

Our hotel room. On the other side of that little wall was a single bed for Connor. He did really well with Ronan's crying. At first, he was upset he was getting woken up, and yelled out for us to make it stop. (Can you blame him?) But when I explained that this is just what happens with babies and when we're all sharing a room, and that he had to deal with it and not complain, he figured it out. I offered him earplugs, but he opted for the pillow-over-the-head solution. :)

Sunscreen!

Once I figured out our lounge chair reservation system, we were set. I'd always reserve two chairs in the shaded areas, so Ronan (and us) could be sheltered. Then we realized that if we did want to lay out, we needed at least one chair in the sun. So then I'd reserve a third chair, in the sun. For those 10 minutes that Alan or I would want to soak it up.

All-you-can-eat buffet means really good desserts like fruit and ice cream. Yummy desserts= happy Connor. :) Most of the guests were English. And the resort company staff (babysitters, kids club employees) were English, too. But all the hotel staff were Spanish, so Alan and I got a chance to practice our Spanish. We enjoyed talking with our servers in the restaurants, and I mistakenly forgot to get their pictures. They were always so sweet with us, smiling when we were dashing in late right before they stopped serving, and giving treats to Connor and smiles to Ronan. We came away wanting to get Connor enrolled in Spanish classes, but I haven't found any yet. I must contact the Spanish embassy about that...

On the hottest day of the week, we headed into the main tourist town of Las Palmas. It was nearly 40 degrees Centigrade--that's almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He walked around for a long while, looking for the old-world Spanish town that Alan remembered visiting years back. But all signs of that Las Palmas were gone. They probably all left when the creation of EU made the Canaries the tourist mecca it is today. Restaurants all had English and Spanish servers and the menus were in multiple languages.

We kept Ronan cool by keeping a lightweight blanket over the stoller to keep him shaded. And when we got popsicles, Ronan had some, too.

The beach at Las Palmas. It might be the postcard picture of a European sun holiday, but I was secretly glad not to face that trek everyday. True confession: I never stepped into the ocean on our trip. And I never felt bad about it, either. I was happy with our three pools.

Stopping for lunch in an air-conditioned pub. Ahhhh, better!

Back at the resort, in the kiddie pool.

Ahhh, armbands! I don't know why Americans are so down on armbands. Over here, they are widely used, and a required part of children's swimming lessons. And I must admit, they were fabulous! They let me let go of Connor while he was in the pool, and it meant I got to have some fun along side him instead of constantly worrying about him slipping out of my grasp.

Did I mention that the pools were chlorine-free? Yup! They were saline pools. Ahh, what a difference! I actually swam with open eyes underwater. I think that was the first time I'd done that since I was a kid back in Boston. It was fabulous!! Connor still wanted goggles so he could see better. But can you imagine? We never would have swum for so long if the pools were chlorinated. It was heavenly!

The pools were very crowded, unless it was dinnertime.

I signed Connor up for two soccer workshops while were there. His soccer coach, Stuart, was magnificent! Connor was by far the youngest and most inexperienced. (He had never had a soccer lesson in his life!) Stuart helped him greatly, and made sure the other kids were nice and helpful to him. I could have kissed Stuart! My son came away loving soccer and feeling really good about himself.

Connor's now playing soccer in our neighborhood once a week on Tuesday nights. I must say, he might not have all the skills down yet, but he does get right in there to try and get the ball. I've even seen him do a slide tackle a couple of times. At other times, he's down the field near the goal shouting to his teammates, "Pass!" :)

Sioux City?!?! How did we get to Sioux City?!

Well, Sioux City is in Gran Canaria. I think they filmed a John Wayne movie here. Or maybe it's the set and they moved it here... In any case, it's an actual village from America's Wild West days. We went to the cowboy shootout show they had on the night before we were to leave.

It was a show basically built on the old Hollywood Cowboys vs. Indians theme. Definitely cheesy, with some cool lasso-ing talent, there were more than a handful of moments Alan and I were uncomfortably squirming in our seats. The racist "under" (?) tones combined with a hanging scene (?!?!!!) left us aghast. This was billed as great family entertainment, but if we had known in advance what kind of show it was, I doubt we would have booked tickets.

On the other hand, Connor did get to ride a horse, pretend to be locked up in jail, and make a stew over the hearth in a period-style house.

All in all, I had a great time in Gran Canaria. We had gorgeous weather every day--without mosquitos or yellow jackets. The food was absolutely delicious, especially the local fish that was grilled to order in front of us. Alan ate his fill of papaya, too. With less meat and wheat and more fish and papaya, he basically cured his stomach ailments. It was fabulous to see him so vibrant.

And since we didn't have to grocery shop, cook, or clean, it was a great do-nothing holiday in the sun. Ahhhh!