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!

CBC Radio Interview

Hey Guys, just stopping by briefly to let all you Nova Scotia residents know that I'll be on CBC Radio this afternoon at 3:00, to do an interview with Carmen Klassen about the Natural Playground! We're in Halifax today (so no photos) to pick up our Big Award! Should be fun :)

Racing Around, Occasional Progress is Made

It's not that late, but my brain is definitely screaming "Bedtime!!!" (you wouldn't believe how long it took me to type that sentence out!) It seems as though we have been on the go non-stop. Whipping up to Halifax to do a photo shoot, and whipping back to do Tween Night at the library. Whew! I also managed to squeeze in some time (thanks, Bob the Builder!) to finish up a couple more new pieces to take to the Gallery in Mahone Bay. Et Voila:

They don't have much left in their year, but it's worth a try. I think Christmas is usually a busy season for them.

The week coming up will be much of the same, as we are whipping off to Halifax again, to go to the Awards Banquet (yay!) and then whipping back to run a Geocaching workshop. Holy smokes, sometime I look around and think "how do I get myself into this?" But it's all good. Look at how fast the little one is moving these days!

A Small Step in Some Big Shoes

Speaking of walking, check out this melt-your-heart-moment...

Griffin put his little feet inside Daddy's shoes, and proceeded to walk all around the kitchen in them...

Those are some mighty big shoes to fill...

But if anyone can do it...

Griffin can!

On a totally unrelated note, this is post #300! (two posts in one day, no less)

He's a Rambling Boy

He's walking. And walking. And walking! I think it's his favourite part of the day, most days. We go for a walk around the neighbourhood. Sometimes we end up at the park, sometimes we go to the grocery store, sometimes we just do a loop. The destination is unimportant (until it's the most important thing in the world, that is, usually just when Mommy wants to go the other way.)

There's rocks to pick up along the way. Driveway rocks. Road rocks. Sometimes the occasional pebble. There's leaves to crunch, flowers to smell, and puddles to study.

Mostly he is absolutely uninterested in holding my hand. But every once in a while he just reaches up, trusting I'll be there to catch his little fingers with my own. It makes me smile every time.

We've had a few tantrums in the middle of the sidewalk, and I've definitely had to resort to the old "scoop and carry" a few times, but mostly he smiles and even sings his way along. It's become one of my favourite parts of the day, too.

Grrrrrriffin the Tiger

Hello! I just had to post some pictures of Griffin in his costume, for those who couldn't be here to witness it in person.

We had a very fun Halloween, with friends and pumpkin carving, and home-made pizza. Even with all that (and so much more) I think the highlight of my night was taking Griffin out to go trick-or-treating. We only did the five houses on our street, and at first he was a little hesitant. He didn't quite understand what was going on. By the last house, however, he was banging on the door with his little hand, taking the candy, and then announcing "all done," and trying to close the door on poor Mrs. Irving's face! We may have a Halloween monster on our hands!

Last night was also the first night that Jai put Griffin to bed without me, as I went out with some girlfriends to see The Good Lovelies play in Annapolis. It was an amazing show, and so worth the trip. And Jai, Griffin, and Uncle Brandon did just fine, in the end, as I knew they would!