Colin's Blog My thoughts on everything.

1Jun/100

Exciting News

I have two bits of exciting news to share with my readers.

1) On Monday, May 31st, I registered as a candidate for Public School Board Trustee for Cambridge and North Dumfries. I don't intend to write much about the campaign here on this site, so if you want to follow my campaign, please visit the official campaign site at www.cambridgepublischools.ca.

2) My sister and I finally went public with a little side project we've been working on for several months. We are partners in a new venture called Carmichael Digital with a mandate to improve digital literacy in organizations and individuals. You can find out more about what we do at www.carmichaeldigital.com.

It will be another busy and exciting summer for me and I'm looking forward to it!c

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10Jan/100

Oh those questions!

question mark ?
Creative Commons License photo credit: Leo Reynolds

So there we are (myself and the two older girls) in the car driving to the dump of all places when Hannah (4) blurts out "I don't think I want to have any babies, Daddy."

Woah. What? My mind suddenly filled with scenarios of jealosy and resentment towards the twins, etc. I quickly replied "Oh yeah, honey? How come?"

Her answer was very matter-of-fact: "I don't want a big cut on my belly."

Whew! Is that all? That's nothing! Now, I should have had my guard up as soon as we got anywhere near birth, but I was so sure of my answer that I plowed ahead. I dove in without checking for depth.

Confidently, I assured Hannah that not all babies require "cuts" to be born, and that, in fact, both her and Bella had been born without any cuts required!

Great, right? No, you see it, don't you... her next question.

"Well, then, how did I get out of Mommy's tummy?"

Panic. I blurted out the only answer that came to mind - it's served me so well in the past: "You'll have to ask Mommy when we get home."

The Punchline

Knowing the conversation on this topic was decidedly over, Hannah turned to Isabella and concluded: "I must have made my own hole."

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27Dec/091

Christmas Review

It's Sunday, which means a Family Sunday post...

The past week has been all about family so it's hard to pick something specific to write about. It has been an amazing experience to watch the two older kids get excited about Christmas for the first time. Hannah has managed to learn more Christmas songs and carols than I thought possible for a 4 yr-old. (This in addition to her Avett Brothers repertoire.)

Next year will be very interesting as the twins will be running around on their own, Hannah will be half-way through her first year of Kindergarten and Bella will be fully conversant. We'll also be away from home for an full two weeks over Christmas. Should be interesting.

As I write this, we're on the road to Ajax for more family visiting - the girls are more excited than they look here:

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24Dec/090

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas from all of us here at Carmichael HQ:

Emma, Colin, Hannah, Arminta, Isabella, William

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23Dec/090

A Pomplamoose Christmas Message

One quick post before Christmas. Have you discovered Pomplamoose yet? No, not the fruit, the band! They are, in a word, amazing. They do really cool music video covers of really cool songs. Here are a few of my faves. But don't watch those yet, watch the one below - it's the coolest one yet and all Christmas-y.

Oh, and the goat message at the end? I have an alternative suggestion below the video - so watch it and then scroll down.

Giving a goat through World Vision is a great idea, but it isn't the only way to divert Christmas spending to those in need. I humbly suggest the Gifts of Change catalogue from The Presbyterian Church in Canada. There are opportunities there to help out those in need overseasor here at home.

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20Dec/090

Christmas Tree Hunting

There's nothing like the smell of a real Christmas tree in the house. In years where we're away from home during Christmas we make do with our artificial tree but every third year we're home for the entire holidays. In those years we go tree hunting:

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14Dec/090

I Cannot Imagine

I'm not a mommy-blogger. I'm not even a daddy-blogger. I am a Daddy, though, to four fantabulous little kids. So when this news passed through my Twitter stream this evening, my stomach did a little flip.
twitter

I do not know the family, but lots of folks on Twitter seem to. Momdot.com has a post with some details if you need them - but suffice to say that a family lost a child tonight. Many more families lost children today, and yesterday. Many more will lose them tomorrow and the next day.

I just went upstairs to hug my kids. I cannot imagine the pain that Shellie (@military_mom) and her husband are feeling. I will pray for them and I will pray for every grieving family tonight.

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13Dec/091

Oh, for the love of families…

Sundays are family days around here - well, every day is family day, really. On Sunday, though, I try to make a special effort to focus on the family (not Focus on the Family).

Anyway, I'm going to do my best to post something family related here every Sunday - and yes, I'll write the posts beforehand so as not interfere with family activities.

So for this first Family Sunday a simple comic strip:

Natural Parenting from XKCD

Natural Parenting from XKCD

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10Dec/092

A New Year, A Fresh Start

Hi there. Remember me? I own this little corner of the web but have been something of an absentee landlord of late. It's not that I haven't had any interesting ideas or any shortage of things to say, it's just that, well, let's not dwell on the past.

The future is what is important! And the future of this blog is looking much brighter today. Today I have resolved (albeit a few weeks early) to re-energize and re-invigorate this blog. I will be posting more often, and on a wider variety of topics. This blog will be me - in all the various places my brain takes me.

So with that promise to you, dear reader, let wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I will see you in 2010 - renewed and refreshed!

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21May/09Off

Big News… Really late!

I just realized that I never announced this month's big news on my blog! (though I suspect that anyone who reads this would have caught the news on either Facebook or Twitter)

So, the news is that the twins have arrived! William John Sinclair Carmichael arrived at 6:15pm May 6th weighing 6lbs 8oz. Emma Bonnie Jane Carmichael arrived 3 minutes later weighing 5lbs 13oz.

There are many, many photos to be found at our Flickr account.

For those of you keeping track at home, yes this means we have four kids under four years old (and three in diapers). Needless to say it's a busy house. ;)

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