The Scrappin Studio...and family

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Babies are here!!!

...well, all my grandma's Tender Loving Care as she watched over, fed and watered her little goose family who nested right outside their bedroom window has paid off.

on tuesday morning, i received a very excited call from grandma hollering

"the chickies are here kimmy....bring your camera...the babies are hatching! "

it was a beautiful sunny and warm day on tuesday and so it was the 'birthday' of FIVE adorable little peeping fuzzballs!

I spent all day with them as we eagerly watched closeby all the little ones making their way out into this world...the parents were very aware and cautious of us being nearby, but have gotten so used to grandma's voice and tender hospitality that they did not feel threatened at all to warn us away...they are soooo tame!

there were 7 eggs, and only 5 have hatched. they weren't all laid on the same day, so we don't know if the other two will survive and hatch or not at this time. the mama still comes to sit and attend her nest but maybe not enough. we don't want to move them or try to 'mess with nature'.

what will be of the other two eggs, will just have to be.

here's the happy little family!!!

( this is of course with the zoom on my camera...i wasn't THAT close! )

"hello world"

...papa goose at bottom of photo on 'guard dog duty'...

hahahaha...he's not so tough, trust me!

...proud mama...

~sigh~

...this last one was taken yesterday afternoon...

a first family adventure!

....SO CUTE!!!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Weekend Update!!!

FIRST of all...my grandparents' GEESE 'parents-to-be' that have nested right outside their bedroom window, are NOT parents yet! I thought their SEVEN little eggies would have hatched by now, but no goslings yet...I'll keep you posted!

i went away last thursday until late last night to Saskatoon, Sask with Courtney for a dance competition out there!

we traveled with our friends Lori and her lovely daughter Alex in their new hotwheels van ( heehee ) and shared the 9 hour drive there all together!

we had a super fun time with them and look forward to another road trip another time!

( thank you lori for offering your sweet new ride for transportation! )

SO.......of course you're now going to get a photo story of our 'long weekend' Saskatoon Adventures!!!

...the girls thursday morning...off we go!

...are we there yet? NOT A CHANCE...but getting there!!!

...finally arrived thursday early evening and after dinner in out hotel room, a fun long swim and waterslides, lori had us all in hysterics with her 'bedtime reading' of Courtney's Jonas Brothers book......you really HAD to be there for this one! ( good times ) and courtney will never look at kevin jonas the same......

...friday was intended to be a fun, relaxing day after the long drive out the day before, so that's exactly what we did...
the girls went for a swim as soon as the pool opened in the morning, then we went out and did a bit of shopping and then decided to take in a movie...we saw 17 Again ( our second time ) and it is just SOOOOO good!! Zac has got it going on!! ( giggle ) we all enjoyed the show and then went on to find my FAVORITE little scrapbooking store in Saskatoon....
Just Scrap It.
http://www.just-scrap-it.blogspot.com/

they have so many great layout ideas and project samples around to get you all inspired ( and spend more money too ) but Lori and i both loved our stop there!
and then it was on to Montana's for a yummy dinner and back to the hotel for a night of swimming and R & R in the room!

( hmmmm.....a little steamy in this pool room??? )

...saturday was the BIG DAY!

the girls didn't have to dance until 2pm, which is an unusual time compared to 11:30am in Winnipeg, most times! But it was another opportunity to take in a quick swim in the morning and then go out for brunch at Denny's and then lots of time to get ready to go!

( we even slept in until around 9am! )

and then we were off to the dance competition!

( courtney on stage ready to do her first dance of the day! )

...our poor sweaty girls after their highland portion of the competition was over, time to change into jig and hornpipe costumes now...

it was VERY warm in the field house...hope they come up with better cool air ventilation for next years hosting of the Canadian Championships in July....WHEW!

...and...

after a fantastic day of hard work and competitive, aggressive competing, courtney and alex did super!! lori and i were feeling pretty anxious as a bunch of dancers from Alberta were competing with the girls again..so from past experience we felt a lot of tension and high calibre of dancing from all the kids, naturally, as it's a competition. but, I think the girls were up for the challenge and really gave it their best...I haven't seen them compete like this before...they WANTED it! it was so awesome to see...( courtney does not usually compete with this kind of "edge" about her, so it was exciting to see her come out of her little shell! )

...and she couldn't have been more proud of herself at the end of the day, and 6 dances later!

Sean Truibhas - 2nd

8 step Hullichan - 1st

Johnny - 1st

Laddie - 3rd

Irish Jig - 1st

Hornpipe - 2nd

Overall trophy winner in her class!!

YAY for you Courtney! Good work kiddo!

AND....Miss Alex also had a fantastic day of dance too!

Sean Truibhas - 5th

8 step Hullichan - 4th

Johnny - 2nd

Laddie- 2nd

Irish Jig - 3rd

Hornpipe - 2nd

...AND she finished 2nd overall in her class!!!

AWESOME!!!

WHEW....what an exciting and nerve-wrecking day!!

hahahaha!!

we didn't get out of there until 6:30pm...it was insane to end that late.

so to celebrate, we took the girls out to the Avocado Fresh Mexican Grill for dinner and 'supposed' virgin margaritas! hahahaha!!

our server was really sweet and she brough out the girls a yummy hot brownie

'congratulatory' dessert for a good day of dance!

...and then back to the hotel to close up the pool at the end of the night, watch some SNL, have some snacks and a good nights sleep....

...and of course, one last fun swim before leaving yesterday morning...

"peace. out. " as courtney would say!

...and since i'm a spontaneous photographer while driving...i kept a watchful eye on the sunset coming home last night and found a great photo opp on the side of the highway for the girls!

What a fun, fun trip to sunny Saskatoon!!!

:O)

Monday, May 25, 2009

where does the time go?

...sorry my friends for being MIA for a while...

LIFE IS BUSY!

i am going to share some ENGAGEMENT photos that i took yesterday of my

brother curt and his fiance erith!

we went to the st.boniface catherdral with some beautiful weather and great light to play in!

their wedding date is in the planning for now...

~ enjoy ~

..thanks for being so playful and photogenic guys!!!

( can't wait to do your wedding now...)

....on saturday, i was set up at lora leigh's ALL DAY crop at rossmere golf and country club...

yep.

from 10am until midnite...i was her vendor there and i also actually managed to create two layouts myself throughout the day!

here's a peek!

...mom and lori were there in my 'store room' with me, so thanks for keeping me company all day!!!

...and a few of the 'slice girls' were in attendance as well!

scrapbooking is so much better with good friends to play with!!!

...this is THELMA on the right...

she is THE scrapbooking diva in my books.

she has a beautiful vintage style about her work and everyone is always in awe at her creativity.

you can keep up with her lovely creations and heartfelt journaling on her blog at

www.originalinspirations.blogspot.com

..i asked her if she'd be interested in creating a 'thelma original' for me with a few photos of

miss courtney when she was only 2 years old...( only intending on one layout with the 3 pics )

and

THIS

is what she came back to me with!!!

...THANK YOU so much again thelma....

i love them and courtney says you are 'awesome at scrapbooking'....she loved them too!!!

...and here's just a couple shots of courtney last weekend at my inlaws having a ride on the kids' mini quad ( on loan from our friends! )

....i will be sending out an email later today with June classes and crop info...

and it looks like i will for sure be having summer crops in july and august too!

YAY!!!

...back to work i go....

( gotta finish prepping my business income tax return this week....Grrrrrrr. )

happy monday everyone!

:O)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Something sweet to share...

last month, my grandparents were excited to discover that outside their living room window in their new senior's apartment ( that they moved into last september ) had

NEW RESIDENTS!

the property that the apartments were built on used to be all fields of tallgrass and lots of water...so this was first home to families of canadian geese!

naturally, building two 3 story apartments and months of construction noise does not change the geeese's migration flight pattern so they have returned to their 'new home' with lots of eager elderly tenants throwing them cracked corn, grains and water dishes off the main floor balconys!

Grandma and Grandpa being main supporters...

( do you think I get it from them? )

hahahha....

keeping in mind of the 'geese history' i have with the kids now, grandma called me last week to tell me that i better bring my camera over because one of the couples had felt comfortable enough and welcomed enough by grandma's hospitality

to make their NEST right outside G & G's bedroom window!!

seriously.

against the wall, right outside their window!

so in our own excitement the kids and i went over for a visit right after school yesterday to go and have a look!

this very proud mama had been sitting on her nest ALL DAY in the warm sun ( as grandma had observed in her efforts to feed her ) but the gander was on guard close by so grandma was afraid to get to close. ( but of course he had no problems coming to their patio for some fresh water and cracked corn for himself...typical! )

ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL AND PROUD?

( family photo before all chaos breaks loose!!! )

hahaha...

...i felt bad for the mama sitting in the hot sun all day so i dared to bring the water bowl within her reach with papa so closeby, but i quietly and calmly assured them no harm and placed the water within her reach from her nest so she wouldn't have to get up....