International Dinner

On Friday, Emily hosted all the nearby au pairs for an 'International Potluck Dinner'. We each cooked something that is unique to our home countries and took it to Emily's for dinner. I was debating between cornbread and PB&J sandwiches, but after my mom's brilliant suggestion, I settled on MACARONI AND CHEESE! There were about 12 of us there, so there was a LOT of food. My favorite things were German. Maren and Elisa made a very thin crust type of pizza- one was topped with ham and cheese and the other one was topped with apples and cinnamon (so good!). One of the Hungarians made some interesting dish with potatoes, eggs, and sour cream... not one of my all-time favorites.. Some of us stayed the night at Emily's and she treated us to pancakes ('Canadian' pancakes) in the morning. Canadian pancakes aren't much different from American pancakes, so they were very good.

Emily on the phone for the 100th hour trying to give everyone (the lost au pairs) directions.. for a good hour and half we thought we would be the only ones at the dinner!

Franziska and Maren admiring our feast

Group shot

Maren and I after our multi-cultural dinner

Speaking of pancakes.. on Tuesday, we celebrated 'Pancake Tuesday'. Instead of 'Fat Tuesday' (like we have in Americamp), they have 'Pancake Tuesday' here to kick off the season of Lent. Everyone eats pancakes for dinner! Gillian and Kieran don't like pancakes, so Marie sent down some pancake batter for Eoghan and I. Eoghan excitedly topped his pancake with sugar, while I stuck M&Ms in mine (I was giving up sweets for Lent the next day so had to have one last hurrah with my sweets). I have never done Lent before, but I figure I should try it since I am in a Catholic country. So far we're doing alright (but I must say turning down dessert at the International Dinner was mighty tough). Something else I found interesting about their start to Lent was that they are not supposed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday. I think it was the first day of my life I was ever a vegetarian but I did it! I am so Irish.

Random photo: Katie getting a kiss from her friend Tadhg (pronounced Tyge)

RIP Corsa

So.. I was planning on going to spin class tonight in Mallow at 7:00. At about 5:45, Gillian noticed that my lights were on in my car outside. She said she had noticed Eoghan playing in it a few hours earlier, but had forgotten to tell me. I went outside to check the Corsa and it looked like my car had been vandalized by my worst enemy: my headlights were on, all my windows were rolled down (they are manual so you don't need the keys to roll them down), my rearview mirror was twisted, my back windshield wiper was pulled out, and there was cereal (yes, Courtney, your leftover Irish muesli!) spilled all over the front seat. I cleaned up the mess and headed back inside.

The time for me to leave (6:45) rolled around and I got in the car to head to spin class. I started the car once and the windshield wipers made an attempt to wash my dry windows (he clearly had turned them on too..) but the car wasn't starting. I tried again but the Corsa wasn't having it. Eoghan killed my battery. Sad day, the Corsa has died- temporarily. We're hoping he'll be back in action by the weekend.

In Loving Memory...
Born: whenever cars were first invented
Died: February 11, 2010

Stinky Diapers and Peeing on Potatoes

I don't have much to share except these very entertaining videos and pictures!

Also the two most recent things that Eoghan has done that have made me laugh:

1. Obviously I have picked up some of the Irish terms and expressions after spending so much time here. Likewise, Eoghan has picked up some of our American sayings (ie. he only calls it a 'trash can' now instead of a 'rubbish bin', he uses 'candy' instead of 'sweets', etc.). Anyway, sometimes I like to quiz him on what I call things vs. what they call them. The other day I asked him 'what do I call Katie's nappies?' and he said 'stinky diapers'.. obviously I make it very clear that I don't enjoy the smell Katie's 'bum' (another Irish term) creates..

2. He was sitting on the counter, helping his dad peel potatoes at the sink one day and Kieran walked away to put the peeled potatoes on the stove. Next thing we knew Eoghan had his pants down around his ankles and was using the potato peeling sink as a toilet. Kieran and I couldn't even yell at him for it because we were so much in shock- we just looked at each other and laughed (unfortunately probably reinforcing that behavior!)

Flashback to Eoghan wearing my wellies.. this time he and Charlie decided to take part


Playing "Katie the Dog" (I have never seen a child so happy to be considered someone's dog!)


Not only does she have yogurt all over her face, but please notice her hair

Talented Kids

Katie reading the books to me... I love it how she thinks we sound when we're reading them to her!



This time Eoghan swapped Katie's hat for his mom's! Also notice the glove on his right hand.

Back to Kinsale

Emily (the new Canadian au pair) and I headed down to Kinsale (gourmet capital of Ireland!) yesterday and had quite the adventure. I had visited Kinsale one other time about four months ago, but it was definitely worth another visit. Emily is an even newer driver than I am, so the tables turned and I was the TEACHER and she was the student- can you imagine.. me trying to teach someone how to drive stick? She stalled the first attempt out of the driveway, so I knew we were in for a real exciting trip!

We used her GPS to go to Kinsale... of course taking us through Cork city center on a Saturday afternoon (which even experienced drivers should try to avoid at all costs!). I hope the drivers behind us were amused-rather than incredibly annoyed-by her continuous stalling! At one point she decided we would get to Kinsale and the transmission would fall out.. luckily that didn't happen! Not only did the GPS lead us through the city center, but it also took us to the "Jesus Roundabout" which is called that because "only Jesus can help you get through it". Coming up to it she said, "I'm going to slow down because I know 'Jesus' is coming..."

the harbor in Kinsale

We MADE it to Kinsale and breathed a sigh of relief as we parked the car and set off on foot. We walked around aimlessly and shopped for a bit and then decided to head out to 'Old Head'. Old Head is the southern tip of Ireland with rocky cliffs (a mini-Cliffs of Moher). We of course made a wrong turn and had to make a U-turn in the middle of the road. As Emily was attempting the 3 point turn, we soon realized we were stuck in the mud. Great! I got out and tried to push the car.. unsuccessfully.. so we swapped roles and I tried to rev the engine more while she pushed. After a straight minute of spinning the tires, we were free! And Emily's boots and legs were covered in mud! I think I got a better workout for my abs laughing than I do each week at boot camp.

her boots are covered!

notice the tire marks in the grass...

pictures don't do this place justice

After walking around along the cliffs, we ate at 'The White House' (no, we didn't see Obama) and headed home. The drive home was equally as stressful because of the dense fog. Not knowing the roads (and not being able to see them in the fog...), I think Emily's blood pressure was through the roof. We finally made it home though. What a day!

Glasses!

Eoghan got an answer to his question about 'where do glasses come from?' The answer: Specsavers! Eoghan found out on Wednesday that he has an astigmatism in his right eye so he went in on Thursday to pick up his new glasses. We've been told he looks like the kid from Jerry Maguire (and Stuart Little)- and with his hair spiked up, he definitely does! He is handling them pretty well. We are trying to make it out to be something special that only Eoghan gets to wear (not Katie). Gill has a star chart made for him to reward him at the end of each week if he has been wearing his glasses. (seven stars win a prize) So far he has two stickers! (Although he did try to 'clean' his glasses with his bare, yogurt-covered fingers.. that was a challenge to clean off)

Good Samaritans

A few weeks ago, when Eoghan and I were on a walk, Eoghan noticed all the trash on the side of their road that 'the bold boys' left there. I told him we would take a trash bag out and pick up the trash the next day we went on a walk. I of course kept forgetting to do that, but Eoghan would remember as soon as he would see a piece of trash. As we left for a walk on Monday, he said, 'We need a bag!' so I went back in and grabbed a bag so we could be Good Samaritans. We made it maybe 50 yards and our grocery bag was full! I told him we could get the rest of the trash another day.

Eoghan and his trash


I love this picture 1) because Eoghan has a newly found interest in wearing Katie's pink hat and 2) because it captures the battle Katie and I constantly have to keep her gloves on! She tears them off with her teeth and then has free hands to take off her hat! Argh!

And, the latest list of where things come from (and all of these happened in the course of twenty minutes):

bananas
soap
slides
garlic bread
towels
pipes
paper
bags
legs
tigers
trees
Christmas
cows
tomatoes

Dressed to go to lunch at his "mam's" school!