Saturday

No shirt, no shower, no problem:)

Here's Brayden!

Simeon: "I don't know what my mom's doing with another baby, but I know I don't like it..."

This is Brayden, born to friends of ours half an hour into February 13th. There's only a couple ounces' difference between Brayden's and Simeon's birthweights, so we were a little startled at how light this little guy feels:) Did our kid really use to weigh that?!

Phlashback

So the other day I found these two shots hiding under a rock in my hard drive. I didn't take them, but I sure do recognize them; they're from Socotra, that island we explored in Yemen. These two images so quintessentially typify the Socatri landscape... I just can't get over it. For two weeks we were surrounded by what you see here. And I don't think I ever took a picture quite so representative, so thanks to whichever member of our expedition captured this.

570 minutes

Our little man gave us a wonderful gift last night...sleep. A blissful 9&1/2 hours! And he's quite the morning person too! (Must be from Sean's side) ;)
Before he goes to sleep at night we swaddle him which has worked out very well (thanks for the tip Loralee!) - not that it's sunshine and roses every night, but overall we have nothing to complain about. So, the tube top he's got on is actually the swaddling blanket that he'd managed to squirm out of when he decided it was time to rise and shine!

Here's a pic of Simeon and his Pa saying goodnight.Sweet dreams everyone.

Difference of opinion

Sean didn't think this picture he took was blog-worthy; I disagreed. So, like all good wives do when faced with conflict, I waited until he was out to post it :)
This is what I missed the most when I was in Yemen. It is very easy to recognize the beauty in a sandy beach with palm trees all around, but I think it takes a Maritmer to yearn after a landscape like this. It's home.

A walk in the park

Rockwood Park! It is the largest urban park in Canada at 2,200 acres and was designed by Calvert Vaux, one of the designers of Central Park in New York. Another point of interest is that in 1907 a court battle had to settle the question of who has the rights to the ice - the ice cutters (because no one had freezers at that time) or the skaters. The skaters won and subsequently in 1926, Charlie Gorman (a proud Saint Johner) won the World Speedskating Championships there at Lily Lake before 20,000 fans.
Our little visit was not quite so historic but it WAS Simeon's first walk in the woods and we thoroughly enjoyed our snowy stroll. Here they are reflecting on Robert Frost.

Dust Collectors

I've had some of these shots kicking around my hard drive for two years or longer. Some are more recent, but all of them are pictures about which I said, "Hmm, maybe I'll post that" and promptly forgot about. So here they are, in no particular order, back from the brink of oblivion.Trees reflected in a frosty window at dawn.

The Great Horned Caterpillar of Belleisle Bay (?!)

My sea turtle skull has a new home

My love:)

Self portrait

Frankencord

Ok just kidding:) We're back online. After trying to repair the cord again last night, I wrote the previous post on the last legs of the battery and retired to bed in defeat around 12:30. Though I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep because it made no sense to me that what I'd done hadn't worked. But then it came to me, and I got up this morning and ripped the poor cord apart even more. Having spliced everything back together in this hideously roughshod (and exposed) work of amateurism, I now have a working cord once more. Yay.

Offline

Our laptop cord died. It died a while ago, and I got it going again with a patch job, but now it's gone for good. There's a new one making its way to us from Hong Kong. See you then!

Green cleaning

I've heard a lot about vinegar and baking soda as homemade cleaners but I'm now adding tea tree oil to the list. We've been using it in our laundry when we clean Simeon's diapers and in the dirty diaper bag to neutralize any odour, but apparently that's just the beginning.

It can also used as an air freshener, all-purpose antibacterial cleaner, mold and mildew cleaner/repellent as well as all its medicinal uses. The great thing about it is that a few drops go a long way and it can be found almost anywhere; we get ours at Superstore.

Find out more here about tea tree oil and it's uses and this site provides recipes for other homemade, eco-friendly cleaners. So, as you run out of Mr. Clean or Pine-Sol think about making your own alternative.

If you know of any other green solutions, we'd love to hear them!

Cold

I found the best graveyard tree today. Here it stands, smack in the middle of St. Joseph's Cemetery on Westmorland Road. And it just.... fits.

Newly Revised and Updated

I'm subbing in a machine shop class this week. Came across this gem, Modern Machine-Shop Practice, on a shelf in the shop. It was originally published in 1887, so this 1906 edition contains reams of important additions and up-to-date information.

Four Smiles

Do A Little Dance...

Snowy Lion Rampant

At the corner of Prince William & King.
Sorry I couldn't get closer - it was too high up:) But if you click on the close-up to make it larger, it looks a lot cooler.

~S.

Merry Christmas

We had a superbly wonderful Christmas, first at Ruth's folks and then at mine. Simeon spent his time staring at tree lights and the like. Beth was home from Korea which was cool, and all in all we couldn't have asked for a better day.

You?

And now for his debut!

Kudos, Dan Piraro

30 Days

Simeon was one month old yesterday. Here he is at one hour old...
...and at one month!

Bored much?

Wanna waste some time and laugh yourself to tears while doing it? Head over to icanhascheezburger.com... there are 161 pages of pictures like this:)