Farewell to 2010

Hello! Here it is, the last day of 2010. "2011" looks so futuristic to me.

And what an eventful year we've had. One of us learned how to crawl and walk and talk and feed himself and blow kisses. And the rest of us survived it all!

In all seriousness, though, 2010 has treated us well. It was a very comfortable year for the most part, like a comfy chair you just fit into nicely. We all settled in a little more, into parenthood, into our house, into the big life changes that 2009 brought to us.

2011, I suspect, will be another big year of changes. Griffin and I have a big trip coming up (more on that soon), we'll be getting a new roof - we're just full of plans, big and small.

And while there is definitely a part of me that wishes we could just stay here, like this, the rest of me is looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Merry Christmas!

Ah, Merry Christmas! Hope you all had wonderful holidays!

We had an eventful one here, it seemed like. Griffin had a cold, so he spent much of the holidays being not quite himself. We took him in to get checked out on Christmas day, though, and he was pronounced generally healthy, with a good set of lungs (Doctors and Nurses have not been on his list of favourite people since he had to get bloodwork done, and it took four nurses to hold him down, and a miss on the first side resulted in not one, but two, needles. He was perfectly happy in the waiting room, but took one look at that room with that bed in it, and hightailed it in the other direction!)

He did rally himself quite well on Christmas morning, though, once he realized what was going on. He tested out each and every one of his new toys, and didn't notice in the slightest that some of them were only new to him. I think we've read through all the new books, and watched most of the new Bob the Builder shows. All those dinky toys were a big hit,

But the biggest pleasure has come from using his new kitchen to bake up toast and pizza. He's a busy, busy boy these days.

And I found myself enjoying the company more than ever this year. Yes, I got some excellent presents of my own, which I have already begun to enjoy, but the biggest treat of all was getting to take a couple of days and do nothing but enjoy myself visiting and reading and relaxing and snuggling, without any nagging "shoulds". Lovely!

This last few days before the year ends are hopefully going to be spent in quiet pursuits, taking a brief respite with each other before the crazy whirlwind starts up again. I wish you and yours some of the same!

A Very Blustery Day

Where to begin? As I'm sure some of you know, our little Valley was hit quite hard with a bad winter storm this week. Griffin was up in the middle of the night, and I went out to go to the bathroom, only to discover water pouring, dripping, seeping, and streaming into the front half of our house. Several towels and many buckets later, after rearranging some furniture and possessions, we went back to bed. In the morning, we discovered a large piece of our roof had blown off in the wind. Hmmmm...

Several days later, we are still waiting for the insurance adjuster to come around (they've been a little busy, to say the least!) but we have mostly managed to deal with it ourselves. It's been an extra busy, extra stressful, extra expensive week, though (to say the least!)

Luckily, I had gotten some Christmas baking done the day before!

And Griffin had a great time splashing in all the (outdoor) puddles.

I can't even believe that Christmas Eve is only a week away. I don't think I'm ever actually ready, but this year we are further behind than usual. It's so easy to let this season get stressful, and I just have to keep reminding myself that most of it is extraneous to what's really important. We have our tree, we have some small gifts under it, but mostly we have each other's company, with a roof (mostly) over our heads, and a fire in the hearth. There will be good food, and there will be family, and everything else is just a bonus. (so... if you're a family member who is waiting for a Christmas package in the mail, I apologize in advance - look for it some time in the new year, I expect!)

Lens Love- OLYMPUS ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-60mm f2.8-4 SWD LENS! (how's that for a mouthful!)

I had fun the other day experimenting with a new lens I just bought. Mostly that meant following Griffin around the house as he went about his day. Under the table, beside the fridge, up on the couch, under the table again. Barely still for even a second. It's a good test, though, I suppose!

I was going to try and photograph some little ducks that I knit for Griffin for Christmas, but he saw them in the window, and yelled "ducks!" He was so excited that he just had to show me.

He was so excited that he threw them in the air and bounced off the couch, and rolled under the table, where he proceeded to pull of his shoes, and announce "shoe!"

I did manage to get one nice close-up while he was engrossed in the singing animatronic mice my granda sent out a few years ago ("We Three Kings" as three mice who dance by bouncing up and down - it's his newest favourite thing. How many times do you think I have heard that in the last week?) I love that the photo is such a small part of his anatomy, but you can still tell exactly how old he is.

Anyway, turns out it's a lot easier to photograph a cat than a toddler.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Hello again! This moment is all about getting ready for Christmas, and Griffin starting to say "hi" to everyone, and long ramble-y walks about town, and hot chocolate, and reading book after book out loud, and then again.

We have lots of presents for Griffin - little things that we've been picking up since the summer, and storing away. And we have no presents for each other, or anyone else, really. It's so much funner to buy and make toys!

We cut our own tree this year, which I had never done before. It's so much fun, and I just love our little Charlie Brown tree - more room for ornaments. All the glass ornaments have stayed tucked away for another year, but everything else is out. Griffin's favourites are all nice and low. He likes to go up to the Santas and say, "Santa. oh oh oh."

And he likes to dip his fingers in the tree water, and then suck on them. Yeah, that's kind of gross. That's what he's doing right now as I type. He's discovered the joys of crawling around to the back of the Christmas tree, and peeking out through the branches - covered in smiles, knowing we can't reach him there. He's got a little collection of ornaments piled right at the back. Mostly we let him. These are the real joys of Christmas.

Hot off the Presses...

They're here! Our annual "sit Griffin somewhere and make him Christmas-sy" photos are hot off the presses. Lucky for me he's so cute.

The hardest part is choosing one...

But I think this is my "photographer's choice":

And tomorrow is December first, which means we can officially Bring On the Christmas!

Joy!

Cats, Muffins, and Hyacinths - LIfe is good!

Hello! Here it is, my last day as a twenty-something... So far, happily, just like every other day!

Griffin's currently snuggled onto my lap watching a Bob the Builder in a tiny screen on the computer, while I use the rest of it. He's fallen in love with Bob. Tractors + cats + happy noises + a super catchy theme song = one happy little boy. This is him pretending to be a cat:

We made it to the city this past weekend to attend the Awards Banquet for our playground award. It was really fun, and the food was AMAZING! I had four different kinds of cake for dessert. It was a little ridiculous!

Griffin did great getting babysat by his grandparents. He even went to bed for them. What a good boy! (and good grandparents, too!) Plus it means that now when we go to the city, we can actually go out at night! What will we do with ourselves?!?

And we had our first big snowstorm of the year (unfortunately right during our drive home!) It's mostly gone now, but the cold is hanging around. Brrrrrrrrr! On the plus side, it's good hot chocolate weather. Plus muffins. I made muffins! This is a big accomplishment for me - it took me about 3 hours. They're yummy though - all full of yoghurt and apple and dried cranberries. I'm not much of a food photographer, but here they are.

And on a final happy note, look what happened!

This flower is a total tribute to being lazy. Sometimes it pays! I bought this pot in the spring, full of flowers. I did trim them off when they died, and had every intention of doing all those things you're supposed to do (which I think involves closets and water???? Digging up bulbs??? Paper bags????) But then I didn't do any of those things. I just left it. For eight or nine months, this pot sat on our windowsill, full of dirt, but otherwise empty-looking. Anyway, lo and behold, suddenly of it's own volition, it started to sprout again. I watered it, just to see. And it rewarded me with hyacinths! Every time I'm at the sink, and I see it, or I walk through the kitchen and smell it, it makes me smile. I feel like I won the flower jackpot or something. Hallelujah!