Halifax, Kaslo, and the Super Secret Project

We're back from a brief but lovely trip to Halifax to celebrate my Mom's birthday. My Uncle and cousin as well as my honourary Aunt had flown out to help celebrate as well, so everyone got to meet Griffin, which was super great.

He absolutely loved being at the party, being surrounded by people and passed around. He was babbling like crazy all that night and the next day. "Blah ba ba ba abla ba ba." I guess that's what a big crowd of people sounds like to him. Pretty cute to hear him starting to express himself in new ways.

And of course we all loved meeting the newest addition to the family - Kaslo - named after the very small town in BC where my Mom was born. She's a sweety, for sure.

And now that I have finally gifted it, I can show you what I've been working on for the last couple of months. It was a top secret project, so I haven't even hinted about it, but I did get a little bit of work done in my spare time. I made my first full-size quilt! It was a lot of work, but luckily for me I am blessed with a short memory for hard work. Pretty soon, it will take on this rosy sort of glow, and I'll think, "that wasn't so bad, I should totally make another one!" (Just like babies, I imagine, though I'm not totally there yet!)

Anyway, I didn't get a full-size open picture of it, but this gives you an idea. It's very colourful! On the back, I appliqued some hearts with embroidery written on them (things like the date, and FOR MY MOTHER and WITH LOVE.) It's far from perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well. And yup... already it seems like a lot of fun. (But not babies yet - sorry Mom!)

Birthday Shout-Outs!

Happy Birthday Mom (Grandma!) We hope you're having an excellent day, and can't wait to meet your new puppy!

Also, Happy Birthday to (Auntie) Jo! Here's a rose for you both :)

Leaving Leaves (Ha ha)

Hey Everyone! I can't believe it's November 4th already! The weather forecast is actually calling for snow in Nova Scotia this Friday. What?!?!?! Snow! I mean, I knew it was coming. The leaves are going,

The fire has been lit for weeks now. I'm already craving Christmas cookies. All these things are signs, and yet... Somehow, I'm never quite ready for that first falling flake. Griffin and I have been trying to get outside as much as possible this week, just to enjoy being able to dash out the door in just a sweater and toque. Soon, it'll take us half an hour just to get out the door. Well, at least we have a new bridge!

This is the bridge that goes to the park. It's about twenty feet from the back of our property, and it was down all summer. We sure missed that bridge! But it's back. Griffin and I have rolled the stroller back and forth across it, and he approves. Here's a shot of the view off the side of the bridge, as it looks right now:

Very pretty, in that nostalgic, summer's over, kind of way.

Bzzzzzz

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I found this little bee costume at Frenchy's ($3.00!) So, of course, we had to go and do a photo shoot in the backyard.

Griffin really liked the feel of the fur against his tongue, so we have lots of pics with his little tongue sticking out.

He thoroughly enjoyed his first Halloween, sitting with the leaves and pumpkins, then walking around on Daddy's shoulders, so he could do some Trick or Treating. Just one house this year, but still he got the experience.

Then we had a little party - home-made pizzas from scratch, pumpkin carving, Halloween movies in the background, tons of candy, old friends and new - all the elements of a perfect Halloween! Honestly, who could ask for more?

Finally Back on Track

Hello Again. No, I didn't forget. Things have been a little crazy around here.

Griffin got his first cold. The poor little man has been sniffling and sneezing and coughing. He's mostly maintained good spirits throughout it all, but every once in a while it got the best of him. I did what I could - saline drops and snuggles, mostly. There were times when he could barely eat, and times when he could barely sleep. He's still a little sniffly today, but I'm hoping we are past the worst of it now.

Of course, now Jai has it. Jai was off on a Library Convention all weekend long, down in Yarmouth, so Mom came up to help out, and watch Griffin while I had to go to work at the post office.

Then today, I quit my job at the post office. Or, put my two weeks notice in, anyway. It was all a bit too much, too soon. I feel like I'm operating on half a brain at the best of times lately, and I didn't want to be dropping Griffin off and having him pick up every cold that goes around. Plus, the post office was really looking for someone more flexible, and I was getting tired of feeling guilty for turning down extra shifts.

Anyway, to sum it up, we had a rather long, sometimes frustrating week. Finally Saturday night, at about three in the morning, I was lying there, feeling sick myself, listening to Griffin toss and turn, wanting desperately to sleep, thinking about all the things that went wrong at the post office this week, thinking about whether or not Griffin needed me to feed him, or to change his diaper, but mostly just wanting desperately to sleep, and I was suddenly able to let it all go. I was able to let it go, and just relax into loving Griffin again. Not that I didn't love him all along, but I found myself suddenly thinking more about things that needed to get done, and less about going with the flow and embracing all the joy of having Griffin around. It was one of those moments when the universe clicks back into place. Oh, yes.

And so, I quit the Post Office. I've never just quit a job like that before. I was planning on working for Canada Post until I retired, once I finally got in. Oh well, life's funny like that sometimes.

And just as a sign that I was back on the right track, I won Sherrie's giveaway yesterday! Thanks Sherrie, it was perfect timing.

My other sign was a perfectly beautiful day Sunday. The sun shone, the air was warm, and there was that wonderful autumn smell floating around. Mom and I walked out to get more saline drops, and ended up eating slices of pizza on the baseball field bleachers. Perfectly perfect. Speaking of which...

Tugboat TIme!

Hello Again! Well, I did warn you... Tugboat Time!

What do you think?

I'm totally loving the Yudu, and have all sorts of ideas for all sorts of things I want to screenprint! I was hoping to get some more screens when we were in the city, but Michaels was closed for Thanksgiving. Anyway, my mind is racing - especially now that my interlibrary loan of the book "Lotta Prints" just arrived for me to pick up on Tuesday. It's a gorgeous book if anyone else is thinking about printing their own fabrics for whatever reason. And one last picture of my first two dolls, I promise!

Anyway, that's pretty much what I've been up to. Griffin has mostly been hanging around, looking cute, although he's still working on getting a tooth or two to actually come out, so he can try that food thing out. He's pretty curious about that. He likes watching food go into other people's mouths. That's pretty fun.

He's getting pretty good at looking at the camera. What a gorgeous baby!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! (To all our Canadian friends, at least.) We drove up to Halifax in a slightly whirlwind trip, since I had to work all day Saturday. It was great to partake in the Goulden family Buffet, though (well worth the trip.) And it turns out that Nana Mona makes cheesy potatoes JUST like my Grandma does, so I had to go back for second helpings of those, of course.

I revisited my Grandma and Grandpa dolls, making the margins a lot closer, and I'm even happier with them now. Aren't they sweet? And Griffin just loves looking at their faces.

Our boy continues to do well. He hosted a playdate for the first time this afternoon. Good times were had by all (this is Griffin and Jonah, who play together very well.) We watched Jonah while Sarah got a haircut. Right now, it's not too bad - they mostly sit and look at each other and make funny noises. When they're mobile, it will be a different story altogether.

We've been having a lot of rainy days around here lately. Although it has made for some very nice lighting effects...

And it inspired me to go out and photograph some sheep while Griffin and I waited for Jai to get off work. There's something about those woolly sheep in a field on a wet and misty day that makes my eyes happy.

Tonight there is a chance of flurries, so we have stockpiled the firewood beside the stove, and are hunkering down. Hope you all had an excellent weekend with family and friends! I know we did, and every year we have a little more to be thankful for.