Playing with Animoto

My Book!

A friend of mine told me about this nifty little piece of software that allows you to publish your own book. So I used it to create a memento of our trip to Disney World. The company is called Blurb and the program used to create your book is called Blurb Booksmart. It allows you to choose a variety of layouts and page numbers. The price was fairly reasonable as well and the quality, now that I have the book in my hands, I must say is quite good. You can have a look at my book by clicking on the badge below. Maybe you'll make your own book.

The O'Carroll'...

Where Dreams Come ...

By Simon O'Carroll {J...

Book Preview

Our Trip to Florida

Melanie and I took the kids to Florida for a week's holiday. It was our first trip together as a family and our first vacation since we went on our honeymoon. (Today is our fifth anniversary!). We had actually given up on the idea of going away until we found a great deal online. So we booked our holiday and prepared to visit Mickey Mouse and all his friends at Disney World. Our flight was to leave Toronto at 6:30 a.m. on July 8 (my birthday) and we were also attending Melanie's cousin's wedding the night previous. So when the alarm went off at 3:00 a.m. it was a bit of a struggle to get up. However, we made it to the airport on time and were on our way to Orlando in no time. The flight was smooth and we arrived to the stifling heat of Orlando shortly after 10:00 a.m. The heat was incredible. It was 93F/34C on the coolest day! And that did not include the humidity which made it feel a heck of a lot warmer. Thank goodness for the big, beautiful pool at our hotel which allowed us to stand the heat! We then spent the week touring the various Disney attractions and trying to keep our cool. Hannah really loved meeting the Disney princesses. Seeing her eyes when she met up with them was the highlight for Melanie and I as well. Brendan enjoyed himself too. He was jumping into the pool on his own before we left! Here are some photos of the highlights of our trip to Florida. You can see all of them by clicking on th Flickr Badge I've added on the blog.

My Interview

I was recently interviewed about a project that I conducted with my students here in Canada and a teacher and his class in London, England. We are both RE teachers and we teamed our students up to work on an environmental project from the perspective of a Catholic moral response to the environment. I was interviewed along with my partner from England by Chris Betcher, a leading educator in Australia who broadcasts a podcast called the Virtual Staffroom. If you're interested you can have a listen to it here.

Summa Cum Laude!

Hannah has completed her first year of education and Friday, June 22nd was graduation day at the Cherish Nursery School! Unfortunately I was unable to attend the ceremonies but Melanie, Granny Kay, and Papa John were there to cheer on our little scholar. There was a slide show of the graduating class that assigned each student a nick-name. They obviously haven't heard her at home! Here are a few shots of the occasion which included a cake with a picture of the '07 graduating class.

Hannah with diploma and mommy!

Our Scholar!

Ciao! The O'Carroll's in Italia!

I got an email from Cathal and he sent along some photos of the family trip to Italy. Looks like they enjoyed themselves.

New Neighbours Moved In

We've had a new neighbour move in across the road from us. This is an unusual neighbour however. She stays outside all day and all night! She has become quite popular in the neighbourhood, drawing many visitors to her new home, and it is not because she doesn't wear any clothes! Our new neigbour is a trumpeter swan. She arrived a few weeks ago much to the surprise of everyone. There is a pond across the road from us and she has taken up residence there. There are more people than usual going for walks around the pond. She seems to quite like the attention or perhaps it's the bread that some bring to her. The kids really love going to see her on our nightly walk around the pond. There is also a family of ducks sharing this residence. Seems that this neighbourhood is for the birds!

O Danny Boy, Oh Boy!

A friend at work shared this one with me. Thought you all might get a laugh from it!

Bend it Like Beckham!

Watch out David Beckham here comes Hannah! Yesterday Hannah started an eight week soccer (or football as some of you call it) skills development program. We arrived at the pitch early so Hannah could pick out her kit (she chose orange much to the chagrin of her granny!) and get her ball. For the following hour and a half she ran up and down the pitch practicing her dribbling skills and her right foot. I think we may have a future Canadian international on our hands! Brendan also wanted to get in on the action and I must say for only two he's got a brilliant right foot as well!
He hasn't quite figured out the no-hands rule, but maybe he's going to play Gaelic for Co. Down!

The Terrible Two's!

Well as hoped in an earlier post Granny Kay "volunteered" to have a birthday party on the the 16th of May for Brendan's second birthday! He has now entered the infamous terrible two's, however, I must say that he has mellowed in his old age! He is much easier to handle than he was in his first 12 months! Here are some photos of him in the spotlight.

Guess Who's Coming for Dinner

We (Simon and Melanie) have been in our home for five years now and the same year that we moved in, a family moved into the house next door. We have become very good friends with the Pizarro's who come to us by way of Bolivia and England. Wilson (very Bolivian sounding name don't you think?!?!) and Amanda our good friends and neighbours for the past five years have moved. We are sad to see them go. Hannah will especially miss their young daughter Felicity. They are only a few months apart and have become great friends. So we had the Pizarro's over for dinner to celebrate our friendship. We had a fondue and everyone was stuffed by the end. Amanda kept saying just one more bite but she kept coming back for more! I guess the dinner was a success! In the picture below you can see us getting into the fruit and chocolate part of the dinner. That was everyone's favourite I think! But it isn't a tearful good-bye. Thankfully our good friends are only moving less than 1 Km away. Here is a photo of the dinner and one from Google Earth showing their new location.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!

There has been a lot of celebrating going on in the O'Carroll Clan over the past few weeks. First of all, the O'Carroll's from Milton and Burlington traveled down to Long Point Ontario on the shores of Lake Erie to celebrate Melanie's mother's 60th birthday. A good time was had by all and the serenity of the region was a much needed repose for everyone. Happy Birthday #1.



Not long after returning to Milton, we had another birthday to celebrate. Hannah turned 4 on May 2nd. Melanie was working at the nursing home that evening so Granny Kay had a little party at her house and the two boys from next door, Matthew and Colin, were in attendance along with Brendan and Orla.



The following Saturday there was a party for Hannah and a few of her friends at the local indoor playground. Happy Birthday #2. It doubled as a birthday party for Brendan as well seeing as how is birthday is on the 16th of May. Perhaps there will be another little party for Brendan at Granny Kay's on his day too! Happy Birthday #3.

Ready, steady...

WEEEEEE!!!!!!

Brendan had a ball being chauffeured around by uncle/godfather Steve.

Mmmm, pizza and birthday cake. Could you ask for a better combination???

Can we have a birthday party everyday?!?!