A magical DIY moment

Over the holidays, I made an unfortunate decision to use paper plates while serving hot lasagna. A completely selfish move on my part to minimize the clean up time. The result was 6 huge white water marks on my dining room table. I thought the table was a goner until my sister gave me a great tip..... Iron them out! I just ironed the water marks over a cotton t-shirt and they came right out.

Not the most interesting post, I know, and I'm sorry about that. But, I was so excited about it, so I just thought I'd share in case anyone else has a similar problem.

Ireland

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with another project team at our "sister plant" in Galway, Ireland (in western Ireland). We enjoyed the pubs every night after work, and also managed to get in a great deal of sightseeing on Friday before we left.

I hate to perpetuate stereotypes, but it is quite impressive to see how those Irish guys can put down the pints and still go to work the next day. I tried to keep up with them, but I was not successful. After hearing them make fun of American slang, I have made a resolution to quit saying the words totally and awesome, and will begin using common Irish words, which include brilliant, grand, lovely and sound. I will also make sure that I say "sorry" instead of "excuse me" when I visit there next time, or else I risk them thinking that I just burped or farted. And, finally, I will not ask any Irishmen to "give me a ride," because that has a different connotation in Ireland than it does here. (I'll let you figure it out.) My photo gallery...

Quay Street in Galway (main street with shops) and fish and chips at McDonough's













Cliffs of Moher (these pictures don't do this area justice)

A random little restaurant

A random abandoned castle near the Sky Highway

View from Sky Highway

Landon is 1!

Our nephew Landon turned 1 this past week, so Henry and I went to Philadelphia last weekend to join in the luau celebration. (Madeline's plane ticket was $600, so it made much more sense for her to spend the weekend with grandma and grandpa K.) My sister put together a huge spread of Hawaiian food and her friend made surf board cakes. The whole thing was so cute.

The boys got along so well. They loved to grab things out of each other's hands. Landon always had the upper hand because he could run away with the loot. It'll be interesting to see how they "play" together at Christmas when they both are walking.

Happy birthday, Landon! We were so glad we were there to celebrate with you.

Whew! It's been a busy week....

I think it's going to take me a few days to recover and catch up from my two recent trips.... And, more importantly, I don't know how I'm going to get enough q.t. with my hubby and kiddos after being gone for a week! Nathan did a great job of being a single dad -- not that there was ever any doubt he would/could.

It's been fun to see how much Henry has changed while I was gone, which I think was accellerated due to his recent move over to the older infant room last week. He is now baby signing "food" and "more," saying "uh oh," and pointing to what he wants. He also gave me the baby equivalent of the stiff arm during breakfast today. I went to spoon feed him baby food, and he sat there perfectly still with his lips locked tight. Then I gave him some french toast and mandarin oranges, and he was back in the game. I think we're very close to retiring all baby food.

More on my 2 trips to come....

And I like to do drawings....

Here is one of Madeline's latest drawings. Daddy added in her description of what everything is. The flowers are a new thing for her.

Family fun night

When the Knutson clan stopped by this past week, we managed to get in all of our favorite family games... Pass the baby, guitar hero, and liquor up the baby. You know. The usual. Cousin Abby even showed off her one-woman-band skills. Madeline and cousin Ella hung out in the play house. Apparently suggesting to take a picture is a cause for a pouty face. Not even 2 seconds later, she decided to cooperate. What a stinker!

Revenge

For years Madeline has had the camera in her face, now it is her time for revenge, sweet revenge...

Don't blink....

...because it's just all going to fast. We are trying to enjoy the summer, but it's going by so quickly (as it always does, I suppose). I am completely in denial that it is August already! Lots of new "tricks" for the kids, so I'll give a full report:

Madeline

• Her new favorite phrase is "I can do it all by myself." (Well, maybe that's not so new for her, but we sure are hearing it alot.) In fact, she refused to let me into the bathroom stall with her at the grocery store today, which was the first time that has happened. She even physically locked me out! I love her independence, but it's not a pretty sight when she gets frustrated because she can't do it herself.
• That being said, it should be no surprise that she is so content these days doing very intense, independent activities. Coloring and 50-piece puzzles are her latest passion. She has gotten really great at coloring between the lines in her coloring books, but I've had more fun looking at the pictures she is drawing - people, flowers, rainbows, sun, etc. I should put those all in quotes, because they require a great deal of interpretation to identify them. But, it's so fun to see her little thoughts on paper!
• She is also starting to show more and more interest in her letters. All of her drawings have the letters M and A drawn on them. Too bad we gave her such a long name. The rest of the letters probably have a way to go.

Henry

• Henry cut his first tooth in a relatively uneventlful manner. A couple of evenings with some tylenol was all it took. His gum lines look really lumpy, so it's probably a matter of time before he's no longer a unitooth.
• He is obsessed with pulling himself up to standing and crawling the stairs. His baby ways are slowly disappearing.
• In addition to that, he's getting less and less patient with baby food. He's much happier to be feeding himself, and, like his sister, mandarin oranges, crackers, and green beans are favorites.
• We're starting to introduce baby signs, but so far he's a master at peek-a-boo, waving goodbye, blowing kisses, and raising his hands "so big." And Nathan swears he got two, wet, deliberate open-mouthed kisses today, so that's pretty sweet.