...almost forgot

...to tell you that on courtney's second last day of school she did her first solo presentation to her classmates!!

she has been learning about ancient egypt this last term at school, so since i have been 'teaching and studying' about the canada goose with tyler, i took on some extra home learning with courtney and her fascinating studies of egypt!! ( now we all want to go there! )

anyway, i found this replica ' statue of anubis ' while looking around in the forks market at the beginning of june. i bought it for her and thought she would have some fun taking out library books and also using the internet to research her new found treasure! after 'taking notes' and deciding what notes would be important information, she put together this little presentation to give to her classmates! she even typed out her presentation as well!

i am very impressed with her efforts and her ability to discover and learn on her own. i did help her to some level, but the bulk of the work was on her own shoulders.

this was not a required topic of her school, it was just something i wanted to do with her to enhance her learning abilities at home and also give us something to learn about together...just like tyler and i have our geese!!!!

way to go courtney!!!! we're very proud of you!

:O)

"treasure of the tomb"

courtney and her happy teacher! ( with some of the library books used to research with )

summer has started

well, summer is definately here and we had a blast ringing in the canada day long weekend by going out to our family cabin at good 'ol Gull Lake!

this little bunny has been making his?/her? little home in our yard over the last couple weeks and is getting quite tame around us...while loading up the truck on friday to head out, tyler noticed it nibbling on the freshly cut grass in the yard. courtney ran into the house to get it a carrot and i managed to snap a few pictures of it...(let's just call it a 'him' already...)

the kids are happy to have a little bunny for a backyard pet...and that let's me off the hook with the purchase of a new hamster for now too!

{GIGGLE}

we didn't have the greatest weather while at the lake...it was always windy and i actually managed to catch a head cold by the next morning. i said that this is what happens when i have to slow down and don't have 'things to do'...i get sick.

oh well.

we dug out a family favorite game we all like to play and introduced tyler to it!

AGGRIVATION!!!!

it's played pretty much like the game 'sorry' but hey, you can't beat this homemade game out of old counter top materials that my grandpa built MANY, MANY years ago....

we played it a lot this weekend to help pass the windy, cool weather.

...we went for a drive out to beausejour on saturday. mike had to buy some sealant for our 'potty' so i conveniently said, 'oh, i'll come to and then i can go check out the LSS in town'...

heeheehee...

i snapped these while on our way to beausejour, although, this one of the 'ditch daisies' is one i planned to take for my Gull Lake tin box album i'm in the middle of making..i always remember seeing these wild daisies along the roads on many walks down at the lake!

and this one of a canola field with an old farmhouse in the background was amazing with the sunshine just bouncing off the field...it was so bright and alive looking!!!



and what would be going to the beach for the first time of the year without making note of it? i actually had to do this twice as the waves washed half of my first attempt away!!!

even though it was quite windy down at the water, it didn't stop the kids from wanting to go swimming...so, i brought my chair down and sat with my toes in the water and let the kids go for it! the water was actually not bad at all. i was expecting it to be a little colder than it was. so they managed to go swimming every day nonetheless! and because of the wind, it was MOSQUITO FREE swimming too...i had no problem being down at the water!

...and one of the most exciting things for me this weekend was having a bonfire! i really don't have any memories of having bonfires in our own 'cabin yard' as a kid even though i have seen pictures of an old fire pit...i only remember having lots of bonfires and weiner roasts at our neighbors yards. so, mike, being the best husband there is, made me a firepit in our very OWN 'cabin yard' this year and we roasted marshmallows with the kids on canada day night!!!

i was excited as the kids, trust me!

and then later in the evening, after a llloooonnngggg wait for the kids, we set off a bunch of fireworks to celebrate canada day!! there were fireworks going off everywhere! after ours we went for a walk down to the water and saw a bunch on the other side of the lake...they looked so cool and pretty reflecting off the water!

...courtney and tyler's first gull lake marshmallows...

( oops, forgot to rotate this one...sorry!GIGGLE )

when we got home yesterday the kids wanted to go for a swim in the pool in our yard...and while tyring to fish out the grass they were dragging in with the net, and while trying to avoid courtney's excited splashing, guess who fell in the pool, shoes and all?

yep.

i think the kids and mike's laughter could be heard for blocks all around us.

we all had a great and fun weekend together....it ended all too short.

now we're back home with my 'to do' lists...

i am grateful for such a happy family weekend, safe traveling and even a funny swim with the kids in our pool ( once i got over the shock...)

:O)

i love goodies

YIPEE!!!

i love getting orders in...it's like christmas in the griffin home!

here's a peek for you at some new stuff i just got in yesterday.

let me know if you see anything you like...i will only be having a few crop nights at my house over the summer so get it while you can!!!

will be going to the cabin for 5 days on friday afternoon ( and i soooo need it ) so you can comment on my blog or send an email if you'd like me to hold anything for you!!!

thegriffs@mts.net

have a great weekend everyone...be back online in 5...

:O)
p,s.

i think the kids are over the loss of our little Squirt now...tyler asked me yesterday if we can get another hamster soon...

should i try again? maybe something else for a pet this time?

(NO dogs and NO cats)

any suggetions???

week 3...

today was another adventurous day!
tyler and i had the sweet company of our neighbor's son jordan for a few hours this afternoon...he's 3 and FULL of energy!! and a sweet little guy that just turns you to putty in his hands too!
after lunch and the return of courtney to school, we took jordan on our weekly visit to see 'tyler's geese' at the park!! he was very excited to go and see them (although i don't really think he knew what he was about to see!)

today is the first day of week 3 with our photo journaling and we had many surprises today...

first of all, we found a new darling family of 5 newer little goslings!! haven't seen them yet and judging by our facts and books we have been reading about, these little guys are only about 4 or 5 weeks old! the parents of these little ones were WAY more protective and aggressive over them. it's almost kinda funny how we as people tend to act the same way...when our babes are so small, so new and completely defenseless, we hover and guard them too. and within a couple years ( or in the goose's case a few weeks ) we're like 'sure mom, you can have 'em for a sleepover...get 'em out of my hair!'

kinda funny.

anyway, here's a close up of a very proud and protective gander of a daddy!

...i LOVE this little fuzzball...isn't it the sweetest little thing???

...mom and dad were very close at all times...although they themselves came to us for some food, but they wouldn't let the little ones come for food themselves...

...hard to believe all their sweet little 'peeps' right now will be taken over within a few short months by the majestic HONK known of our Canada goose!!!

...and then another surprise was coming across the family of 11 babes we've been taking note of!!! since our pictures just last week, most of them have really plumped out, grown their black and white tail feathers and some now have even started changing and growing into that beautiful long black neck and white cheeks!!! if you look closely at some of the bigger goslings, you will see it there!!!

tyler and jordan having fun feeding the geese!










see ya guys next week...

...and after all that excitement at the park, we went home and picked up courtney from school and went for our first 'dip in the pool' of the summer!!! water wasn't too bad but the air was a little chilly. i'm pooped right out now at 10:23pm after a long, fun and busy day with the kids.

...must get sleep soon...

:O)

sad little news...

our little dwarf hamster, SQUIRT, died today.

the kids got him from santa just this past christmas, so he wasn't very old, but i guess you just never know about these little critters how long they will last.

courtney and tyler loved this little guy. he was very docile and friendly and they loved to play with him. they would come home from school or wherever they were and go see him right away, asking if they could take him out and give him some treats...

i often found myself taking him out of his cage and having a wee visit with him when the kids weren't home too! he really was a cute little thing and very playful.

i discovered him this morning lying kinda slumped over near his little nest, but not in it. so i knew something was wrong. i had a visit with him late last night when i came home from doing a wedding (photography) and he seemed normal, so i was very surprised and disheartened with my discovery this morning. i took him out of his cage and wrapped him in a soft tea towel and informed courtney of the news. he hadn't passed yet, he was still hanging on so i offered her to hold him in his little 'blankie' and say her goodbyes to him. i held him in there on my chest for about 2 hours until he finally passed away. it was such a sad and helpless feeling to only offer the little guy cotact comfort as there was nothing i could do for him but wait. i don't think that taking him to the animal emergency clinic would have helped him but just prolong the end result.

now, i'm sure lots of you are thinking...'it's only a hamster'...but he was our little family pet and the kids LOVED that furry little guy!

i am sad that he died too and i will also miss him....

NOTE TO SELF:

this is the 4th hamster in about 4 years, why do i keep getting them?

{GIGGLE}

i have lost a few dogs in my time too, so i know that the loss of a dog is WAY more devestating than a hamster, so i don't want to put my kids through that one...if they want a dog ( which they beg for often ) i tell them they can have as many dogs as they want when they're older and have their own house!!! WINK!

GOODBYE LITTLE BUDDY...

( this is courtney with him on christmas day )

...in other news...

the wedding i did yesterday went great, minus about a million mosquitoes and i would say it went perfect! hahahaha!!!

this was the first time i had a groom and his groomsmen in KILTS!! and they also had a piper at the church and reception..very cool and entertaining for me! i'm sure some people had bagpipe headaches afterwards, but i loved it! also a first for me was the surprise of doing some 'rooftop' photos at the reception! it was at Bergmann's on Lombard on the 6th floor ( quite the lightning show in the evening too...) and we were able to go up on the rooftop for some shots. the groom used to be a chef there so he had some connections...i LOVE connections! i have many myself...the should really be called blessings!!!

and friday night's class was the tin luch box/card album...that also went great! everyone seemed to have a fun time! i still have to finish mine up, inside, but here' s a few pic's of some of them from the class!!!

(tara's)

(lora leighs's)



(grace's)

(and dana's)

i guess that's about it for my news over this weekend, so far...

i have yet to tell tyler tonight when he comes home about Squirt...not going to be a fun bedtime tonight! i was supposed to work tonight, but decided to stay home with the kids as i know when it's bedtime and the tears are coming ( not that they haven't been already ) that MOMMY will be wanted!!!

CONGRATULATIONS LITTLE PRESCHOOL GRADUATE!!!

today was tyler's preschool graduation...whaaahhh!!!

what a great job his wonderful teacher did in preparation for today! the children sang 3 cute little songs for all the parents, then they put on a play ( including props and music!) featuring the story of 'the very hungry caterpillar' by eric carle. SO CUTE!! acting and everything!

and then they were presented with their 'diploma's' and a beautiful memory book made by his teacher!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU LIZ FOR A GREAT MORNING AND A YEAR OF DEDICATED LOVE TO YOUR TEACHING AND PASSION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN'S EDUCATION! TYLER WAS BLESSED TO HAVE YOU START OFF HIS EDUCATION AND HAS LEARNED SO MUCH FROM YOU AND YOUR ENCOURAGING WARM WAY OF TEACHING. WE WILL NEVER FORGET HIS TIME IN YOUR CLASSROOM!

AND THANK YOU FOR SUCH A THOUGHTFUL GIFT OF HIS MEMORY BOOK!!

I CAN JUST SEE YOU SPENDING SO MUCH TIME PUTTING THEM ALL TOGETHER AND PERSONALIZING THEM WITH YOUR LOVING GENEROUS TOUCH!

WE WILL CHERISH IT ALWAYS!

:o)

proud mommy and daddy...

...and proud grandma who came along too...

thank you for coming and sharing a special morning mom!!!

gonna be blog crazy now!

oops.

ok, so bear with me while i learn how to transfer my pictures from my new camera into my blog...it didn't show this one 'sideways' and now i can't rotate it in here...sorry! {GIGGLE}

these pictures are from wednesday night...courtney had her first 'black and purple' swim meet she attended at the Pan Am Pool! obviously she was on the purple team! i was surprised to see at least 150 Manta swim kids there...all different ages to about 17 years old or so. quite an interesting event, and VERY different from her highland dance competitions, i found this whole thing really unorganized, but at the end of the racing, all went well and courtney had lots of fun.! her team ( of half the kids there ) finished 2nd with 114 points and the black team won with 140 points. ( i don't know how they accumulate point value yet) but they swam 6 races altogether! each swimmer had to swim a 25m lap in each race with a total of 150m swam in total per swimmer. and of course they had to swim each race a different style.

it was very different and lots of fun. we finished with a huge BBQ outside afterwards ( but courtney and i checked out the diving that was going on first. HOLY COW. pretty intense. i was thinking of letting tyler try out diving as he got older, but i don't know if i want him to do that...it looks so technical and dangerous. you could probably really hurt yourself if you don't know what you're doing...i tip my hat to those young divers we saw, most cool!

ANYHOW, here a a few shots of court's first swim meet!!!

... a little nervous for her first lap...

...1st lap, freestyle, 25m...

GO COURTNEY GO!!!

...FUN NIGHT!!!