Renos!

Well, we've finally got some projects completed....mostly.

The garage was the first thing we tackled this summer. Before and after.

We wanted to paint it to match the house - painting was very hot work for a very pregnant lady, but Sean did the high parts and it was definitely worth the effort.

Next up was getting rid of the stump in the middle of our lawn. When we moved in there was a maple tree in the backyard, which I loved - until I found out that it was half rotted. So down it went! (Thanks to mom and dad for all their hard work, expertise and equipment) Sean decided to burn the stump out as that is easier, and less destructive, than digging it up. So up went a makeshift furnace and cue the flames:Now we just need to spread some topsoil, plant grass seed and hopefully next summer the stump will just be a distant memory.And now Felicity's room! Here's the before:

Sean took out the ceiling because it had that swirly plaster deco going on and it was also in pretty rough shape. Kevin came over to help Sean put up new drywall - a testament to the generosity of friends as it was a difficult, messy job and that's probably his boat calling saying: "Seriously, drywall? You do know the sun is shining right?"As well, Sean took out the rickety closet, the ugly carpet, the warped baseboard and made a sad little room into a top notch nursery. We went with a Beatrix Potter theme.

Sean still has to build a closet next to the crib and I have to make curtains and order a few more prints to hang on the other wall, but we're really happy to have the furniture moved in and the dust cleared out :)Thanks Krista for letting me copy your paint colour, thanks Angelique for helping us get the paint on the walls and thanks Simeon for being daddy's supervisor.

Working hard

Sean has been working day and night, literally. When he comes home from work he's been heading upstairs to finish the nursery and his efforts are really paying off. He's installing the baseboard as I type and hopefully we'll have pictures to show you soon! I'm looking forward to having the furniture back in the room and not piled out here in the office all around me.
Sean's parents and brothers were here on Sunday afternoon for a visit. Simeon loved having the boys to play with and Grammy and Grampy were only too happy to hold Felicity at every opportunity.
Grammy even got a smile or two. At this point they're probably due to gas, but they still look just as cute.We'll be posting more when the nursery gets finished. Maybe in the next couple days! Can't wait!

Anchors away!

Last weekend was beautiful - especially on the water. Saturday a friend of ours kindly invited us out on his boat and the next day Sean's uncle had Sean and Simeon out on his boat! (Felicity and I opted to stay home for some quiet time.)
Suffice it to say, it was an AWESOME couple of days. We took a few pictures on Saturday just maxin' and relaxin' on the motorboat.We stopped at Crystal Beach where Sean came up with his horror movie idea: Attack of the Mutant Baby!Apparently Simeon is trying out for the "terrified bystander" role.Coming soon to a theatre near you.

Felicity

In case you haven't heard- we've got a little girl living with us now. She's been here since July 22nd, 1:29pm and weighs 9lbs, 1oz. She's been a pretty good house guest. Doesn't take up too much space and tends to sleep a lot. :)
Simeon is adjusting very well. He's very gentle with her and doesn't seem too jealous. However, he has had his Aunt Beth doting on him for the last few days, so we'll see if it's different when she's gone. It's been a HUGE help having Beth here and I can't say what a relief it's been to be able to focus on Felicity and not have to worry about meals and dishes, etc.
Tomorrow she'll be a week old and it'll just be our little family for the first time since her birth. A little nervous but also excited. The adventure begins....

Good meal, bad timing.

Yesterday I woke up to rain and fog and I thought "hey, the heat has finally broken - Sean would love a hot, hearty meal tonight". By 3pm it was 25 degrees and crazy humid ~ I had the best of intentions though :(
If it ever should cool off though I recommend Ham & Potato soup with a side of cornbread. I find it salty enough without adding the salt (b/c of the ham) and it's a great way to use leftover ham. According to online opinions it's not recommended to freeze ham unless you slice it very thinly and put paper towels in between each slice. Sounds to me like a lot more work than I'm willing to put into it. But I've found that you can cube it for quiches or soup like this one and it tastes great (and saves time).


Tonight though I'm going for bbq and a cool broccoli salad!

Our little guy is growing up!

About a month ago we bought bunk beds for Simeon. He had a great time building them with dad and he was a great help of course! LOL.

He wasn't too sure about sleeping in the bed the first night, but since then he's settled in and loves to stand at the top of the stairs every morning and announce with gusto: "I'm awake!"

It's all happening at the zoo.....

*I do believe it. I do believe it's true.* Sorry, got a little caught up in Simon & Garfunkel land there.

We went to the Magnetic Hill Zoo last Friday with some friends and we had a blast!

First stop was the monkey enclosure, where we got to see the feedings and we "sang" to the gibbons to get them to sing back. Simeon wasn't too sure what to think but he loved the baboon in the next pen.



From there we went to more familiar animals. the goat was really interested in what snacks we were hiding it the stroller.

Zebras and leopards were next on the agenda. Sean and I were suitably impressed but Simeon seemed just as taken with the seagulls flying overhead and bugs crawling on the fences. As long as he's happy I guess :)

And for some reason Sean took about 2 dozen pictures of the ostrich. It wasn't as enthusiastic about the photo-op as he was.

Still not sure about this

I've been trying to get Simeon used to the idea of having a sister. We've given up on him being happy about it and are just working on acceptance. Last night around his bedtime she was very active and I thought it might help if he felt her kicking.
His response: "Can Simeon kick mommy now?".
It's a work in progress.

Teamwork

Our weekends have been busy lately, but they've been a lot of fun. In no particular order: we got to help some friends move and saw their beautiful new house, helped some other friends build a fence around their garden to keep the deer out, Camp Tulakadik Sunday was a blast, helped with cleanup at church, became members of our church and attended our first business meeting the next night. And this weekend Sean's helping build a "natural landscape" playground and then we're going to a birthday party and to the zoo the next day!

In between we've been doing some yardwork, assembled Simeon's new bunkbeds and a new (to us) crib for the baby and lots more. There were a few days there where everything seemed to be careening out of control as the weekends filled up (and all I could think of was my own to-do list) but I have such a sense of peace now. We've been able to spend time with so many of our friends that we haven't seen nearly as much as we'd like. It's really great when your priorities get straightened out - even when it's in spite of yourself.

The deer fence.

*Note: all these men have at least one university degree.

The two-four weekend

Let's hear it for Queen Victoria, that great lady who gave nearly the whole of Europe their monarchs and gave Canada an excuse to kick off the camping season in May.
Friends of ours asked Sean if he'd like to go tenting to celebrate his birthday (28 years young) and of course he jumped at the chance :)
We headed up to Fundy and had a blast! It was Simeon's first camping trip and he did really well in his sleeping bag - once he finally stopped pacing the tent and jumping on our friends' air mattress.

Just relaxing after setting up the biggest tent I've ever seen. Honestly, we could have hosted Cirque du Soleil. It was hilarious - but very comfy; car camping definitely has its perks.

Whoopie pies took the place of a cake this year. But I think a fireside celebration more than made up for it.

A little hike to see the sights.

On the way in - before I started huffing and puffing ;)

Beautiful photo-ops everywhere.

And the falls! Simeon had a great time throwing rocks in the pool and would have stayed the rest of the day if we'd let him. It was a fantastic weekend - hiking, a visit to Alma (where Sean insisted on some sticky buns from the bakery), browsing in a bookstore, playing at the playground, campfires and a quick visit to the beach. I don't think you could ask for much more out of a weekend. We were all sad to go.

But Simeon was the most vocal about it.

Easter, tantrums and child labour

Well, to continue bringing you up to speed- our spring was a lot of fun. I keep thinking that it's already summer because the weather's been so nice. With the exception of today.

At Easter Simeon and I decorated eggs for an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Sean also contributed by using his rotary tool to drill perfect holes in the eggs so the insides could be easily removed. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous (using a rotary tool), but I remember blowing the yolks out through tiny pinholes when I was a child and being certain that my ears were going to start bleeding from the pressure. And I had to walk uphill both ways through a blizzard to get those eggs too ;)

Anyway, he had a good time finding the eggs and it made me feel a little less guilty about giving a 2 year old a whole chocolate bunny. Although I think we ate quite a bit of it in the end.
I've been waiting for the "terrible twos" to arrive and I don't think we've hit it quite yet. Don't get me wrong; he certainly has his moments and he's definitely a lot more opinionated but it hasn't turned into a battle zone....yet. He has however learned how to go from zero to hissy fit in 3 seconds flat. His saving grace is that he'll usually get over it in the same time frame. Oh, and he's caught on that his mother doesn't care and lacks the capacity for compassion.
We couldn't resist capturing all the stages here:

"Hey, look pizza! That would really hit the spot right about now!"
"What do you mean I have to wait 3 minutes! This is what the apocalypse will be like! Ahhhh!"

"Stupid pizza. I'll show you 3 minutes.....*grumble, grumble*"

In other news, a friend of ours has started her own translation company and she's trying to find a loophole in child labour laws.

His typing speed is improving daily :)

Time flies

I can't believe we haven't posted since December! Whoops :) Anyway, since a picture is worth a thousand words I'll do an image summary rather than bore you with an essay.
We cut down our own tree again this year - on the coldest day in December I think- and Simeon seemed just as unimpressed as he did last year. But we were very happy with the end result and Simeon had a great time helping decorate.
He loved his presents and wanted to play with them straight away. Here he is mastering the art of finger painting. Or having fun trying.He's turning into quite a ham and keeps us well entertained.
We had a lot of fun outings - one of which was a trip to Camp Tulakadik. Here's my brother-in-law honing his goalkeeping skills.Sean and I tried out the new trails on our snowshoes.

In other news this winter; our well stop working. We were boiling down snow for about a week but it wasn't too bad. It sure makes you appreciate running water though.
And in his spare time Simeon caught up on a little light reading over those cold winter months.

We'll be posting regularly again - so keep checking back. Thanks for the patience.

First Snow

A beautiful, pristine blanket of new snow. Ripe to be destroyed by the force that is Simeon.

Sean will be ready for show jumping any day now.