Liam's P1 School Photos

I still need to get over the fact that my little Liam is growing into a big boy. When Liam tried his school jumper on for the first time in the shop, my eyes welled up with tears. He looked so grown up. Then on his first day of school I let several tears escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks.  He had on his tie and was holding his lunch bag like a briefcase and I got a knot in the bottom of my stomach.  I knew this day was coming, but it still kind of caught me by surprise.

Our dress rehearsal for his first day...

I REALLY wanted to go with the shorts, but Ollie said no other kids would be wearing them and he didn't want Liam to start off being different on his first day of school.  He was right, no other kids were wearing shorts.  But he looks so cute!!

He had his photos taken at school. We could order a set- your usual 8x10, 7x5, 6x4, wallets deal but I rang up and asked for the pictures on USB.  I 'll probably just go with the set going forward, but I wanted these first ones in high res.
Maybe I'll put them on mugs and t-shirts or just save for when he turns 18 and get the mugs and t-shirts made then!

I prefer the more casual one. He has a more natural smile.

Liam is doing really well in school, really well. He comes home everyday and shares the new sound he's learning. One of his favourite games to play in the car is the adding game- Ollie gives him 2 numbers to add together and he figures it out. We haven't gone above 10 yet- he's still adding up most combinations on his fingers.

Liam got the first head teacher's award. The principal (head teacher) presented him with a badge during assembly in front of the whole school. He was so proud of that badge and wore it for days.

He loves doing his homework and rushes in the house everyday to open up his workbook. They have just started reading books- well, they are picture books and we have to make a story up with them and then point to different parts of the picture I hope that continues!!

We're back....

So it's been a while, eh?  I could list a million excuses for not updating the blog (almost everyone who reads this is on facebook or instagram or twitter or pinterest so they see my updates there) but it's mostly just that I haven't bothered.  Well, I'm making a very late new year's resolution... with 2 months left of 2012, I'm going to try and update this thing on a more regular basis.

The past year has been very full of fun and adventure.  Liam started P1 (Kindergarten) and Cian has grown into a very active toddler.  We have been back to the US twice enjoying some warm sunny weather- last year the boys and I were home for 6 weeks and this past summer we were home for 2 weeks.  Ollie and I celebrated 11 years together, 6 years married and I've lived in Northern Ireland 11 years!

At my last post (in August of last year), Cian was 5 months old.  He's now 20 months old and running around wrecking the joint.  Here is my handsome little man (as Robin):

We had a fun Halloween.  The boys dressed up as Batman and Robin for a Halloween party at Daycare.  We had intended to go to Wallace Park in Lisburn for the Halloween Hoolie, but it was so cold and Cian still has an early bedtime (7-7:15) and gets very grouchy when up late.  So we just put on our costumes and did a little trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  It's not as big of a deal over here as it is back home, so only a handful of people were home and giving out candy.  It was still nice to get out and around our part of the development.

All dressed up and giving me a little pose...

We have a random blond curly wig that Liam wanted to try on with his costume (you can see Cian in the background crying because he wanted to try it on too).

My attempt at getting a photo of Cian with the wig on... fail!

Holding hands to trick-or-treat. 

It was really cute.  Liam would take Cian's hand and walk him up to the door.  Then they would both knock on the door (or ring the doorbell several times) and when someone answered Liam would say 'Trick or treat!' and Cian would say 'hiya' and just walk right in.  I spent more time apologizing for his over-friendliness than we did trick or treating!

We're pretty busy for the rest of the year, so I'll have no excuse for lack of things to post about. We have a few birthday parties to attend, my first fund raising event (a sponsored hike up Blacks Mountain) for St Luke's PTA, my first Ulster American Woman's Club Thanksgiving Potluck lunch, Liam's Superhero 5th Birthday party, The Panto, and loads of things for Christmas.

Till then...