a little catch up!

so my back's feeling better again...not 100% but Robaxacet is helping take the edge off. i managed to avoid more pyhsio on my back this time around from resting and taking it somewhat easy ( ya right! )

anyway...this morning the kid' school had a beautiful parent Volunteer Tea to say "thanks" to all our supportive moms and dads who help out in the school. I was invited for the presentation performance and also for the snack afterwards ( nice to know that my help is appreciated! )

so Courtney's Orff club in the school preformed the last song of the day with three brave singers in the auditorium and DANG, did they do a fantastic job!

the song they played was to the theme of " The Lion Sleeps Tonight" but the words were of course all changed to express their thanks....so cool....so talented all these young kids!

...yesterday, the little man had his day of "Shine Time" in his kindergarten classroom...

he was to bring along 5 special things from home to talk about and share with his classmates...and i also had to fill out an "interview" questionaire about him for the teacher as well! I stayed for his presentatio and got a few cute pic's of him sharing with his little friends!

so cute....he's quite the little public speaker too!

( this is tyler with his favorite Webkinz - for now - Eggbert the chicken! )

---thank you Mrs. Thomson for giving all the children a special time to shine and share themselves in your classroom!! you are sooo thoughtful and special!

...the other day we decided that tyler's "saving for Scotland" piggy bank was indeed full to the brim with his savings for the last 8 months and it was time to dump it all out and roll up the coins and count it all!! we can now go to the bank and order some Brittish Pounds for his own spending money...a little here, and a little there all adds up! now he's determined to fill it one more time before we go on our trip!! good luck buddy! ( he saved $233 this time around! )

...and now onto the renovations.....
you've all been asking to see pictures, but there are so many things that mike is 'multi tasking' right now that NOTHING is 100% complete yet!
yes, the living room is painted, BUT all the new white corner, ceiling and baseboard moldings are not on yet...
yes, the carpet has been torn out of the living room and the new flooring has been put down in there, and now also down the hallway too...but again, the moldings are not on yet...
yes, the bottom half of the new kitchen cabinets are now installed, and so is the new sink, faucet and countertop, BUT the handles are not on yet or the top cabinets....
it's driving me crazy to have this house is such a disorganzied mess with everything all over the place and homeless in other rooms....
we are also preparing for a HUGE garage / yard sale at our house June 21 & 22...so there's stuff all over for that too that needs to be taken out to the garage in boxes for now....

STUFF LIKE THAT
is just getting to me! I know mike is only one guy and is still working 10 hours a day between all the work he's doing at home too....but it's just chaotic living with every room in our small home in such a mess! our friend dave will be coming over again tonight to help some more with the kitchen cabinets....( he came here last friday and saturday as well to help...what a great guy and we are sooooo grateful for his help and experience in these projects already! )
so, anyway....
here's a few of what I can show you for now...

the hallway walls are the color that the living room USED to be! they will be painted soon too, i think a creamier / whiter color to blend with the natural tones in the living room now...
what do you think?



...this is our grey carpet being rolled up and pulled out of the LR...
bye bye carpet...

...and here's the BARE BOTTOM floor before the new flooring went in...

and of course the colors in the LR now! the dark chocolate wall is a solid feature wall, the other 3 walls are the lighter color.

I LOVE the new flooring that's in now...so much brighter and open feeling in there now! we just have half the kitchen in the LR right now so i don't want to photograph it all until it's all done...including the moldings!!!

what do you think so far??

yes i'm still alive!

been crazy busy around here.

renovations are taking longer than planned.

( don't they always? )

i've been down with my stupid back out since saturday afternoon.

not fun.

tired of eating off styrofoam plates.

can't find anything i need for the kitchen because it's all in the

LIVING ROOM

or

in our

BEDROOM!

( nothing like sleeping with a 4L crock pot beside your butt and waking up to a fruit bowl beside the alarm clock, ya know? )

i spent

ALL DAY

today stressing out from anxiety over all that needs to be done and trying my

gimpy butt hardest to do a few things.

accomplished a home cooked meal tonight for supper.

spaghetti and garlic toast.

a griffin favorite.

must get some rest now...

be back soon, i promise!

the babies are here!

WE ARE SOOOO EXCITED!!

it's GOSLING season again...so PLEASE watch where you're driving for 'geese crossings' at roadsides!!!

courtney and i stopped last night after dance lessons to check out for some hatchings at a nearby 'goose park' ( hahahaha )

and we found THREE families with their 'hands' very full!!

and i didn't have my dang camera with me!!!

( can you believe it? )

so, as promised to the kids after swim lessons tonight, i took them over for a gosling visit and we were thrilled to be in their warm fuzzy little company again!

yesterday courtney found a bunch of freshly hatched egg shells and this one family ( not this one here ) had fresh, fresh wobbly fuzzy little babes with them...AND NO CAMERA!!!

( sob )

anyway, here's a few shots from our happy little visit today!!

( and i always thought my own TWO kept me busy...)

( they remind me of rubber ducks in the bathtub!!! )

...look at this beautiful proud MAMA!!! i LOVE this shot!

...i always love to pick out the littlest one in the bunch for a solo photo shoot...

here's a couple of 'em!

SO DANG CUTE.

C YA, I'M OUTTA HERE!

:o)

long weekend...

my girl.

i am so proud of her.

she works so hard.

she is determined.

she loves to dance.

she makes me so happy.

we went to Regina, Sk this long weekend for the Regina Highland Games and dance competition.

we being courtney, my mom and i.

it was a TOTAL girls weekend and it was so much fun and so relaxing ( well, after the competition! )

she danced sunday morning and placed 3rd overall in her class and then in the afternoon she competed again and placed 5th overall in her new class.

she won medals in all 7 of her dances and is quite proud of herself...and so she should be!

this is her new costume for her national dances that she wore for the first time for compeition...

of course my mom just loves the green!!

lori and her dancing daughter alex went on this trip as well so the girls had lots of fun together and spent several hours in the hotel pool together as well!
it was nice to have friendly company with us while competing away from home too...we were each others support group! hahahaha!!
the girls danced their best and did very well and we are all so proud of their hard efforts!

...we arrived home late last night and saw a bunch of geese with their newly hatched golslings so of course i had to pull over for some photos...courtney loved seeing the little ones again!

...and welcoming us in the door to our house was that ever fresh smell of paint!

mike was very busy starting work in the living room! i will take some photos later for you to see progress, but right now all our furniture is in the middle of the living room floor covered in a dropsheet...the crown mouldings at the ceiling, down the corners of the LR and baseboards are all OFF the walls and in pieces on our deck outside! and the walls are all primed white...a canvas in waiting!! so once we get painted in the LR then mike can start pulling out the carpet and start putting down the new laminate flooring!! yaaaayy!!

we got a call from home depot yesterday to tell us our new kitchen cabinets, countertop and sink are all in now too...looks like this weekend is going to be a total reno weekend!! yikes!!

it will be so nice once it's all done!!

...AND HOW WAS YOUR LONG WEEKEND?? WHAT DID YOU DO??

:O)

been busy...

Hmmmm.....

yesterday was a very exciting day for courtney and i...

i got to come along as a parent helper on her field trip with school to go to the Concert Hall and see / hear the WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA perform MUSIC IN MOTION!!!

..one of the highlights, as you hear now ( is your music turned on? ) was a performance from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie!!

there were many different dance schools performing throughout the show as well...

Royal Winnipeg Ballet ( i have never seen LIVE ballet before ), different younger dance schools throughout winnipeg, an AIR DANCER ( wrapped in flowing 'ribbons' from the ceiling and air dancing - soooo cool! ) and a SPECTACULAR performance ( our total favourite, no doubt ) was when the WSO played "Lord of the Dance" and there was an Irish dance group dancing...

WOW....just in awe still from the whole thing!

I would definately go again any time and would highly recommend going yourself!

so it was a very pleasurable morning to attend the Symphony for our first time together!

( courtney and her music teacher who planned this event for the kids....THANK YOU SO MUCH!! )

...let's see...

this past saturday was an early birhtday party for my little God-daughter, taylor, and also the the girls' first time trying out 10pin bowling!! a fun afternoon!

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY SWEET P!!!!!

( heeheehee...i'm serious about those beautiful pink cowboy boots Nikki...if you can't squeeze them on her...i will buy them from you for courtney!!! GIGGLE ...they're soooo dang cute! )

...and then sunday was mother's day...

we went for a BBQ at my mom's and also celebrated my niece airiel's 17th birthday as well!

so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TOO AIRIEL!! ( stop growing up so fast, will ya? )

AWWWW....love this one!!

...Our big dance school fundraising garage sale on saturday at lori's house went well too!

we made $608 towards our dance families budgets off that event, and i want to thank all of you who donated items to this fundraiser for the dance school once again!

THANK YOU!!!

tomorrow night ( thursday may 15 ) is the big

SCOTLAND 2008 SPRING CONCERT at the Manitoba Deaf Centre 285 Pembina Hwy

7pm sharp!

tickets are $8 each and there is still some available, so if you are still thinking you would like to come, we will gladly sell tickets at the door to you!!!

PLEASE come out if you have a couple hours to spare tomorrow night and take a dance tour through Scotland and relax and enjoy a fabulous show performed by the

Lynn Stephen School of Highland Dancers!!!

...and last but not least...

i taught a sketches class monday night and thought i'd share the 3 layouts we based our sketches on. everyone picks their own color theme and papers, but the sketch itself is to be done the same as sampled. all basic supplies are provided for the class, and the embellishments as well. all you need to bring to sketch classes is your photots, adhesives, paper trimmer and a smile!

:O)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

...just wanted to wish my Mom, my Grandma, Mike's mom and Mike's Gramma

ALL

a very warm and happy mother's day!!!

( sorry i don't have photos of mike's M or G to share...need to take the digital camera out more when we do see you...yikes! )

we are heading over to my mom's for a bbq dinner soon which mike will be our CHEF!!

i am looking forward to steak! i made a pasta salad to bring over and i am getting hungry now just thinking about dinner....

HUGS...LOVE...

..i hope you all take some time today to call your mommies and grandma's ( if you're not going to be seeing them ) to wish them lots of love...

if they are not here to give love and hugs to, then be sure to keep them in your warm and happy thoughts today!!

MOM'S ROCK!!

( don't forget to vote for manny today!)

( manuel bairos of winnipeg )

www.maytagdependabilityhalloffame.ca

PLEASE KEEP HELPING!!

FUN...FUN...FUN...

keep trying for YOUR chance to win one of 25 $100 prizes by helping out my friends Lori and Manny win a dream kitchen makeover!! all you have to do is click and vote!!

WHY???

because it feels good to be kind and help someone!

...as i mentioned before, Manny has been selected as Manitoba's finalist in the

MAYTAG DEPENDABILITY HALL OF FAME contest!

the grand prize of a kitchen full of brand new Maytag appliances may only be a few votes away if you help them out!!

my friends are a very warm, loving and 'from the heart' self-giving couple who put all their time, energy and devotion to their adorable family including their 3 terrific kids and half pint little pup Zoe!

( courtney dances with their daughter, alex! )

i REALLY wish them lots of luck and truly hope that they win this exciting opportunity knocking on their door...they deserve it soooo much!

so, all you have to do is click on this link

http://www.maytagdependabilityhalloffame.ca/

and click on

MANUEL BAIROS of Winnipeg, Manitoba

( Manny )

and vote for this nominee!!

if you wish...you can just fill in at the bottom you first and last name with email address and enter yourself as well into a chance to win of of 25 $100 prizes just for voting!

( or you can just click on " just vote for this nominee" and skip your own chances... )

Please give Manny and Lori a

"CLICK FOR GOOD LUCK!"

...this contest runs until June 1 so you can visit the site EVERYDAY unti then and vote for Manny AND ENTER YOURSELF EVERYDAY for your own chances to win too!!

good luck to everyone!!!

:O)

dance news update

In recognition of our courtney's exciting competition this past sunday, we have discussed and decided that courtney and i will be travelling to Victoria, B.C in July for the Canadian Championships!! She has been gifted from the Manitoba Highland Dancers Association a few things that will help us along in a small way and after investigating and discussing this event with her dance teacher, this honor of being a Manitoba Represtentative is just so thrilling and an opportunity that we will let her induldge in!!

mike and i have decided that even though we are all going to scotland just 4 weeks after we return from Victoria that Courtney has worked hard for and earned this honor and it wouldn't be fair to not enjoy this special privelidge for her!

i thought i would share some photos of this past year of courtney's dance world with you ...

AND

also encourage you to come out to see all the dancers from her school perform in the

LYNN STEPHEN SCHOOL OF HIGHLAND DANCE

SPRING CONCERT!!

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008

MANITOBA DEAF CENTRE

285 PEMBINA HWY

7PM - 9PM

TICKETS ARE $8.00

...there will be a silent auction with TONS of great prizes, a wine basket raffle, and a bake sale table!!!

Please consider coming out to see Courtney and her friends present a 'trip through Scotland' through their dancing and help support our dancers traveling to Scotland in August!

this concert is guaranteed to give you a very enjoyable evening in a very comfortable theatre-auditorium!

Please give us a call or email ASAP if you would like to purchase tickets!!

thegriffs@mts.net

Thank you to all our friends and family who share in our world of Highland Dance and for always being so supportive to Courtney!

we hope you can come!!!

:O)

thanks for having a peek!

( feel free to leave courtney a comment!!! )