Christmas the Second

It's safe to say that Simeon enjoyed his second Christmas a little more than his first. Here he be, moments after receiving a rocking horse from his Mom and Dad.
This, I think, is my favourite shot from this Christmas: Grampy Coffey helps Simeon unpack his stocking.

Christmas Eve Suprise

Just got a very unexpected phone call from two Yemeni friends of ours, Hamed and Yousef (seen here), who are now studying in the United States. Thanks guys - it was great to hear from you!! Merry Christmas!

I know, I know. But not only have I been too busy to post things, I've also been too busy to take any pictures. After some threatening emails, however, here's a couple things I scrounged up. Merry Christmas to You.

Update: Simeon is standing now. Heartily refuses to take a step, but he can stand for quite some time:)

Last week we went skating at Harbour Station with his godparents Kevin and Angelique. While Kevin was at the helm of Simeon's sled I shot a bit of video before hitting the wall (keep your head up in the corner).

Love-triangle

Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe and Stephane Dion; who would have thought? I feel like I'm in that movie where the awkward girl becomes popular against the odds, so the cheerleaders decide to take her down because they don't want her to become prom queen. Well if you haven't seen the film the bottom line is that the cheerleaders are vindictive drama queens. Sound familiar? The funny thing is that I didn't even vote Conservative in the last election (wasn't that just last week?) but I am furious that these guys - in the interest of the Canadian people of course- are trying to overthrow the government. Who do they think they are???? I'm so glad that we voted, our voices were really heard weren't they. I've called the NDP and the Liberal offices and left messages saying how outraged I am. I haven't bothered the Bloc because I don't hold any hope that they'll care what I have to say - Plus if I'm forced to speak to someone in French I'll make quite a fool out of myself. In short, if you're as upset about this as I am please contact the NDP and Liberal offices.

Simeon/Simian

Neat

Ok here's what you do. Next time you have a bonfire, grab your camera. Set the shutter speed really high so that only the highlights of the flames get through and none of the ambient light. Then take pictures in continuous shoot mode so you get, like, 300 pictures in two minutes. You need that many because most will look like nothing except dark fire. Weed through them, though, and you'll find some seriously cool shapes, like these:

The upper half of this one looks like a slightly evil face: man with large mustache wearing a fedora (right half of face in shadow).


And here we have (in the upper left) a beast with ram's horns and long sombre humanoid face. Could be related to this guy.


This is Cosette from the Les Mis poster.


Here you can see a man - probably an early French explorer - looking sideways (to your right) and slightly back. He's wearing a large cloak and a strange hat.


This is among my favourites. It is a full-length view of a woman walking to the right, carrying a bundle of some kind. Her face is completely in shadow, but she looks determined.

Side profile of a viking head with horned helmet. Looking up and to the right.
This one looks like nothing (maybe a surreal seashell) but I love how solid it seems.

Block Party

Learns a new trick every day...

Walk on By

Enjoying his birthday present:)


And, for something unrelated - we forgot to post about Halloween! Simeon was a giraffe. In the morning we went to our mommy & me reading time where a lot of other animals were in attendance, including 3 lions, a bear and dog. That night we stuck around the house for a while passing out candy and then headed over to our friend's place. Simeon helped greet trick or treaters after performing his concerto...
then rejoined the herd. Unfortunately, his very uncool mom made him go to bed before they could reach the plains.
Sigh. Way to go mom.

Birthday boy

Simeon is one year old! November 8th was the big day and it was pretty low key, we sang to him when he woke up and gave him his present. The real hullabaloo was to take place Sunday night. I had to give him a little help in blowing out the candle, but he had no problem figuring things out from there. He got to have cake AND ice cream - his first real taste of sugar. His cousins were on hand to help out with the passing out (and opening) of the gifts...and they were great at explaining what birthdays are. I'm not sure he took it all in, but they gave it their best shot anyway.This past year has gone by so quickly. When I see babies now it's hard to remember that little bundle that we held in our arms with the fuzzy shock of hair. I can't believe all the changes that he's gone through already; first word, crawling, solid foods and the first time when he reaches out to be held only by you - but before I get too teary Simeon wanted to say: Thanks Grammie & Grampy for hosting a great party.

reflect

Nerf guns are fun.

It gets a bit shaky because I was laughing so hard myself!
PS- this was just after Halloween in case you're wondering why mini chocolate bars are strewn all over the floor.

44th President

Sean and I were very excited to see Barack Obama win the election on Tuesday. We stayed up until midnight watching the news - yes, Sean "the old man" Carroll voluntarily stayed up past ten. :) {I'm going to be in trouble when he reads this post lol}
What was really interesting to me was to hear the reactions from the black community the next day. Person after person (of all ages) was saying "I never thought I'd see the day that a black man was elected president" or "Now I can tell my kids they can be whatever they want to be and know it's true". It was incredible to me that in this day and age there is a whole people group who have felt excluded from success because of their race. I'm sure that I sound very naive, and I probably am - because honestly I can't think of an instance where someone's been discriminated against. I heard the N-word once and had I been a little older and a little bolder I would've said something instead of being shocked into silence. Racism is a problem in Canada, I'm not denying that but it's just not something that I've seen firsthand. In short, I congratulate the U.S. on this landmark in their history and I also want to say that John McCain had a wonderful concession speech and took back a lot of dignity that had been sacrificed during the last few weeks of his campaign.
That's my shout out to the USA.
Back to Simeon. :)

House sitting

We spent a week at a friend's house taking care of things and chasing Simeon around the place. He learned to crawl thanks to the hardwood floors and is getting around faster than ever.Simeon also got out the tools to do a few repairs around the house. He's currently trying to get into the local union.
But even after all that he's still raring to go (daddy doesn't have as much energy).
We also took full advantage of the backyard and Simeon had a great time.

His first sail

Simeon liked sailing a lot. In fact, he spent the first 15 minutes trying to "help" grampy man the sails ~ by untying all the ropes that is :) We did have a lifejacket with us, in case you were wondering. He didn't take too kindly to it though seeing as how it made his arms stick straight out LOL. We thought it was pretty funny, but he remained unamused.

About halfway through I took him below because he started to get fussy (missed his afternoon nap) but I'd still say that he did very well for his first trip on the bay. And here he is safely back on land.

The giving of thanks.

We spent the whole weekend in Belleisle and the weather couldn't have been better! At one point I actually wished that I'd brought capris because it was so warm. It was a lazy time - for me at least. Sean usually takes on a lot of the diapers changing and early mornings on the weekends and he outdid himself this time! One morning I was still in bed at 9:30!! it's been at least a year since I've done that and it felt soooooo good. Sean didn't have quite as much sleep - Sunday he actually had to drive Simeon home (45 minute drive) at midnight because the little *ahem* tyke wouldn't sleep. I won't get into the whole story, but suffice it to say that if you pick up and move the playpen a baby is sleeping in, that child doesn't tend to appreciate it. But let's move on.

On Saturday we picked up some pumpkins to carve for Thanksgiving - oh yes, jack-o-lanterns aren't just for Halloween anymore :)

That afternoon we relaxed in the beautiful sunshine and Simeon showcased his sensitive side. I think he may be auditioning for a men's cologne ad in this picture. Not quite sure though.And back to happy.

There's a lot more to come, but I hear the man in question starting to stir. Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!

Airing Out, Clearing Up.

Hi, it's Ruth again. Here we go...

Point 1:
Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision there have been 4 Republican presidents (not including Richard Nixon who was in power at the time). The decision still stands, despite the party's very vocal opposition to abortion. I want to be crystal clear that I hold a pro-life stance and do not support abortion. In my post I wasn't supporting the Democrats' pro-choice stance; I was condemning the practice of Republican candidates using the anti-abortion rhetoric to get themselves elected when they don't change (nor harbour any intention of changing) abortion laws. Now, I'm sure that we can debate nuances of bills and amendments that may impact individual states or grey areas of definition within the abortion laws but what I'm saying is, if these candidates are so anti-abortion, why is it still legal? It seems they've had ample oppourtunity. Could it just be a tactic to get votes? YES! That is my point. Votes should be based on policies and changes that candidates are actually going to make. It might give you a warm fuzzy that McCain is pro-life, but if that won't change anything then what does it really matter?
PS- McCain stated that he would not overturn Roe v. Wade if he was made President.

Point 2:
You can't create/impose a relationship with Jesus Christ by the legislation you pass. By this I mean that even if all the laws in Canada (or the US) were in exact adherence to the moral standards of the Bible, Canada would be no closer to being a Christian nation than it is right now. It is a relationship that cannot be brought about by social pressure or ideology. So say we ban gay marriage and make things incredibly tough socially and legally for homosexual people. Hands up if you believe this will make homosexuals say "Oh! I guess this must be wrong, I didn't realize before it was made illegal." Change in peoples' lives is brought about by Christ and not by government. Again, I don't agree with homosexuality but I'm not going to march and picket about it because I believe such behaviour only alienates people and drives them away from Christianity in general. Incidentally the behaviour in question was rampant in Christ's time and He didn't run around shouting with a sign in His hand, either, or spend His evenings madly dashing off letters to Caesar. Revival is not brought about by government; it is effected by the people. So, is it vitally important to me if my political leader is a Christian? No, and here's why: a) the Church has always been strongest when it has been furthest removed from the state anyway and b) the possession of good morals is not exclusive to Christians. If that's the tack you take then you'd better make sure your boss/CEO/manager, etc. is a believer too because otherwise he/she is clearly incapable of making any intelligent decisions.

Point 3:
Voting is personal and it should not be said that Christians should vote for a certain party no matter what. I'll use the example of the States because this attitude seems more prevalent there. In recent years Republicans have demonstrated disregard for the poorest peoples and have allowed health insurance companies to line their pockets while denying benefits to their customers; there are a lot more issues but you get the picture. To the average Canadian observer Republican seems to equal rich, white men who don't care about anyone else, but they are "opposed" to abortion. The Democrats are not opposed to abortion, but seem to want to help the poor, middle class and oppressed individuals. So, if a Christian feels that the Democratic platform matches 90% of their morals and the Republicans only 10% then why is it unreasonable that a Christian person would want to vote Democrat? Sometimes refusing to do so looks like blind allegiance. I know that the issue of who to vote for isn't that simple and there are probably a lot of good, valid reasons to vote Republican but here's my point: it is positively ridiculous to say that someone cannot be a Christian while not voting Republican. Last time I checked none of us was omniscient, so let's not decide who is saved based on a ballot. Thanks so much.

Feel free to comment.

Old-fashioned blogging

Time has flown by this past week, and I can't really think where it's gone. In lieu of having anything interesting to write about; here are some photos of the person you probably are most interested in anyway :)Simeon has been pulling himself up on furniture, etc. for a few weeks now and he's taken to typing out messages to his fans. Unfortunately he distracts easily, and rarely has time to finish his letters. Pity.

He's also very suspicious of observers - such as his mommy.

Disappointment

Sean has been VERY busy the last couple of weeks and frankly my only excuse for not blogging is not feeling up to it. I haven't been sick, I've just been discouraged. American politics are everywhere and as usual I'm fascinated by their election (I'm trying to get into ours and I will, but it's hard when it feels like we just had one last month. But anyway.) I shouldn't be surprised by the antics especially when the last two elections have been such fiascoes but once again they've managed to shock me with their blatant lies - THAT PEOPLE GLADLY SWALLOW! Let's look at this little gem that the Republicans have come up with at an event that was sponsored by Dr. Dobson and other lovely evangelical Christians - like these two entrepreneurs.

I especially like how they're still spouting the propaganda that Obama is a Muslim because he wore Kenyan dress. Real global thinkers. I am disturbed by the actions of "Christians" in the Republican Party - this is a very mild example. I do not understand why candidates (like Sarah Palin) are so admired just because they say abortion is wrong. Bush has been saying it for 8 years and abortions haven't gone down one bit - how long will this line work?!?
So, I may have to rant from time to time in order to keep my sanity. Oh yeah, and another interesting thing I learned about Dr. Dobson today: He circulated a letter to get Richard Cizik (VP for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals) to resign because Cizik believed that environmental issues should be part of the Evangelical political agenda. Nice work Jimmy.

Bees knees and other things...

A couple of weeks ago Sean discovered the Sheldon Point Trail (it's on the way to the Irving Nature Park) so we went there as a family last weekend. These flowers were lining the path for about 250 meters and we happened to see this bee flying around collecting pollen. The pollen was stuck all over her body and you can see it on her leg in the picture. The hairs it sticks to are also referred to as plumose. By the way, does anyone know the name of the flower? It's seed pods explode if you roll them between your fingers.This leaf got caught by a thread of one of the webs farther down the trail and Sean enjoyed the floating effect it produced.
And here's Simeon; having a great time on his new perch. If you can't tell the tree has grown on top of a boulder and the roots extend down to the ground. He had a ball.

After the ride...

When we got back on shore we couldn't pass up this photo op.Simeon liked the view from his new perch.But he was glad to be going home all the same.

Full speed(boat) ahead!

The weekend before last we were invited to go boating with the Simpsons. It was Simeon's first time in a boat but he didn't think much of the life jacket we got him.

He was much happier without - don't worry we kept a tight hold on him. It was a little choppy in places and Simeon liked the motion so much that he would rock back and forth when he found the ride too smooth.

We tied up for a little while to watch the dragon boat races and the boys took a dip.It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time, especially Simeon who was quite doted on :)

Getting older.

On Monday I walked into Simeon's room when I heard him wake up from his nap and I found the little imp on his knees! He was quite pleased with his accomplishment as you can see.And today he was up on his feet. As soon as dad gets home from work his crib will be lowered. I want to tell him to stop learning - at 91/2 months he's practically a young man. This growing up business is overrated ;)