It Is Almost Over!

Life as a teacher continues to be a cycle of crazy and dull, as I sit in my desk in my classroom I am at the tail end of crazy! I have spent the day tossing old files, and re-organizing filing cabinets to get ready for next year. Tonight it awards night, then two more days and a summer stretching before me!

This summer I do have some work to do, I am taking a Nutrition course by correspondence in order to better prepare me for next year. Of course I have a bunch of course to prep, Grade 11 History, two Careers courses and Family Studies are on the docket for September, most are new to me so I have some prep work to do! Of course my second semester is glorious: Psychology, Foods and Nutrition and Clothing and Design. I got awesome news the other day when my indefinite term turned into a full year term. Stability for a year sounds AWESOME!! Sorry mom, dad and Ash, I haven't been home much to tell you that wonderful news!

Of course I do get the perk of having summer "off" so we have some dreams of going camping, days on the beach, a trip to the zoo, and some other typical summer time plans. Griffin will still go to "Manda's" a couple of days of week so I can work on my course, and because he loves Amanda. The other day he informed me he had "two moms, Amanda and Mommy". On the days he is home we will enjoy a bunch of fun thins because I have time to do my work and home stuff while he is playing down the street. I think it is an awesome plan!

So bring on summer... just as soon as I finish cleaning my classroom!

Happy Second Birthday!

My dearest little boy turns two today! TWO! He is no longer a baby, but instead a little boy.
Twenty-four months ago we welcomed this baby into our lives with great joy, and he has changed our lives in every way imaginable.

So in honour of my favourite little boy here is a picture look-back at his life until now:

Gigantic belly!

Daddy finally holding me!

In Mommy's arms!

We are in love!

Hanging out in my bouncy chair!

Griffin with his cousins! He still loves them!

The love affair with curling began young!

On his first birthday.

18 Months old

These days are busy days, as Griffin grows and changes every day. So what is Griffin doing these days, well if you ask him he "plays with girls" all day (his daycare has three girls and him in it). What does he want to do ALL THE TIME: CURLING! He will take it anyway he can get it, with his broom and inflatable rocks on the kitchen floor, on the table game I scored at the thrift shop, at the rink (his first choice), he will even ask to watch it on TV. He is a curling fanatic; his daddy is so proud!

Don't worry, besides girls and curling he has a bunch of other interests that keep him busy... drawing/colouring, jumping, swimming, playing with cars, cooking, play doh, doing dishes, wrestling with daddy, reading books, and generally playing around. His vocabulary grows leaps and bounds every week, and he talks a lot these days. It is so nice to have an idea of what he wants rather than just guessing. He is slowly learning is ABC's and is counting to ten pretty consistently! Shapes, animals, and colours are old hat now. He is polite and often says please and thank you without being prompted. He has books memorized and uses the pictures to help him "read" stories to me. His daycare is great at education and he is doing awesome with his prewriting skills when tracing over lines and shapes. The most recent (and maybe most awesome) development is the move to his big boy bed. He now falls asleep in his bed, sleeps until 2-4 am and then comes to cuddle with mommy and daddy. We will take the it!

Griffin, I am so proud of the little man you have grown into. You are kind, loving, and smart. You enjoy life every day, and brighten our lives with you giggles. You ask to be tickled, and laugh with delight when we chase you around the house to kiss you. You share with others without much prompting from us. You are such a sweet boy!

LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!

BRING ON SPRING BREAK!!

Exhustion has set in, the marking pile looms large, and it has become clear to me that Spring Break is almost a necessity! Since the beginning of Feburary I have been teaching Highschool Home Ec. Some how this middle year teacher is being stretched, embracing a different type of teaching, and really starting to enjoy it as I grow. It has certianly been a learning curve but I am beginning to find my groove and enjoying lots of what I do in each day. I mean I have students painting, sewing, cooking, and exploring career options; it certianly has many enjoyable moments each day! I think the best part is cultivating relationships with teens who are able to converse in a more critical way, it certianly is different than grade 5 and 6 in many ways.

However, Spring Break is coming at a time when exhustion is coming on strong; Jay has had a few weeks of days on end where he doesn't come home, meaning I do pick up, drop off, and all Griffin related things. This means my school work and my sanity gets less important. Luckily this week has Jay and I off for the most part and a few family dates already planned. Marking will get done, and my sanity will return! AWESOME!

Today, the first day of break has us beginning the bedtime battle! Griffin is fast asleep for his FIRST nap in his big boy bed. We set it up last weekend and he has enjoyed reading and playing in it all week. Today was the first day of the bedtime battle and this nap wasn't so bad. It took about an hour for him to go to sleep, but he wasn't crying and screaming that whole hour, just testing the boundaries with running around and such. He has now been asleep for an hour and a half so this one can be chalked up to a win for Mommy and Daddy! Tonight we expect more of a challenge! But, we have a retty adjustable schedule all week so this is the week to do it!



Bring on Spring Break, the last month with a one year old, spring, and more groove finding!
 

12 Great Things in 2012!

Looking back 2012 was a great year! We have enjoyed many blessings and so here are the top 12 of 2012!

1) I turned 30 in January and was surprised with a visit from my closest University friend, Megan. A great weekend of catching up was had!

2) I got a new job (that started on the exact day of the end of my mat. leave) in Arborg. I was blessed with an opportunity to move to the public school system and have enjoyed my time there immensly!

3) Griffin started walking (at just under 10 months) and the fun began! The monkey continues to be an active boy! Jumping off the stairs is a wonderful pastime around here now!

This is a more recent picture but walking is a favourite pastime of the little Dude!

4) Griffin started Daycare and mommy had a hard time adjusting. Thankfully the Riverton Daycare cuddled and coddled and loved my goofy boy!

5) We celebrated a wonderful boy turning 1! How time flies when you are having the most enjoyable time raising a sweet, polite, spunky little boy!

Happy Birthday!

6) Jay got a new job, after his term at Sport Manitoba ended, that he is very much enjoying. Rec Connections has been a great job for him and he is enjoying looking toward the future there.

7) We puchased our first house in the town of Gimli. It all happened so quickly but was such a great decision!

New house

8) We introduced Griffin to the wonderful world of swimming during his summer swim lessons in Arborg and have continued his love of the water this fall/winter as we continued lessons at Misty Lake.

SWIMMING!!

9) The move came and went (with minor hitches) and we spent time getting settled in our new home.

10) G an dI enjoyed our summer outside, playing, sliding, walking and hanging out in the back yard. Moving to Gimli really allowed us to enjoy the outdoors more than ever.

Swinging!

11) I headed back to work and Griffin started a new (home) daycare. The transition was way easier than I expected and he has been so happy there!

12) We had a wondeful Christmas break that we are enjoying as a family!

Smiling 18 month old goof!

Merry Christmas!

I will post a life update at some point but it is Boxing Day so a Christmas post makes sense!!

I L-O-V-E Christmas, and having a 20 month old makes Christmas better than ever! We decided to spread Christmas out over many days and just a few events/gatherings. It has been relaxing and exciting all at the same time.All through December Griffin celebrated Advent by opening a different Christmas book. i had a bunch and bought some more in November. I got a wonderful 5 book box sent of little board books that tell the story of Jesus coming to cave the world. He really enjoyed those ones the best (good for his level, and I liked the message). By the end of the month he looked forward to each opening in the evening.

We enjoyed  a lovely Christmas Eve service at our church here in Gimli and spent Christmas morning at home (AWESOME). We decided not to go crazy with presents this year, in fact Jay and I did not buy each other presents at all. Instead we watch Griffin open, play and explore the gifts he received. His excitement and love of his new toys has been awesome to watch, and despite us not going present crazy he has racked up a nice present haul thanks to the generosity of others.

While Christmas is not all about presents Griffin is at the stage where his child-like wonder makes his reactions so much fun to watch! My crazy generous sister-in-law (and brother) got him a kitchen, complete with tea cups and pot, pots and pans, and a ton of food. He has been saying "cook, tea, hot, cook" very, very often since we opened and put it together on the 23rd. It has made going to bed at a reasonable time impossible, he is absolutely enthralled by his kitchen! Thankfully we have spread out the present opening because on Christmas morning Santa delivered a farm, complete with animal sounds, and his Great-Auntie Linda (Boaz) sent a truck with cars and animal drivers. Both these presents have been played with; when asked if he wanted to open more presents he responded enthusiastically with a "NO"! His Spiderman mitts have been adored and the books have been read. Finally he agreed to open play-doh from friends, and a Bubble Guppies book and dvd from Mom and dad. He was also given a truck by one of my students that has kept him occupied at family gatherings!! The best gift for sure (in my opinion only) was a BC Lions t-shirt :)! Clearly he did not suffer from our frugality this Christmas. He was in need of new toys as he was getting rather bored of his old stuff, the thought and care put into each of his gifts has made him a very happy boy!!

We still have a trip to McGregor at the end of the week for a couple of days. Until then we will have some family time and enjoy our little boy! Family time is one of the best parts of the Christmas Season!

Fall in the Boaz House

We have been a busy family this fall, but have gotten into a nice routine! I am back to work and I must say I am thoroughly enjoying my job. I have a fantastic class of Grade 5 and 6 students that make me smile and laugh every day. I enjoy working with a team of teachers that are teaching the same grade that I am; I must say I am not excited that I am leaving at the end of December. That is the life on term contracts I suppose.

We were so lucky to end up with a home daycare spot in Gimli for Griffin. I drove to Riverton for two weeks every morning at the beginning of September before a spot opened up here. I have to say the transition for him was a breeze! He runs up the stairs to see the cats every morning and is so happy at the new place. I am so grateful for that! He is in a home daycare and having the same caregiver each day seems to have really made the transition easy. All this added to the fact that the daycare is one house away makes life even easier! We walk to daycare each day and Jay walks him home. It has really been a good change.

Jay is still driving to and from the city each day. Our daycare closes at 4:30 so he leaves mighty early so he can get Dude on time. I am so grateful for a husband who puts in so much effort (an little sleep) to make our family work. I have certianly noticed that the few hours that Griffin and Jay have spent together each day has made them a tighter unit. G is becoming less clingy to me and enjoys his "man time". There is a chance that Jay may be able to work a few days out of Gimli each week which would sure be great for his sleep, out schedule, and of course our gas budget! He is really enjoying his job!


We continue to love living in Gimli. Last weekend we took our Monkey to the playground at the beach, he loves slides and climbing!

Of course we live in Manitoba so this weekend we broke out the new snowsuit and had a blast in the sled. I ran around the backyard pulling him as he giggled up a storm!

Love this kid!!

Griffin Update!

It has been a little while since I dedicated a post all about my baby boy, and for posterity's sake I need to keep some record of all things Griffin, plus he is pretty cute so a few pics will brighten my day too!

Griffin is now almost 16 months old, how has time gone so quickly! In general he is active, playful, giggly, and mommy-loving. Here are some specifics:

On His Slide

• He loves to go outside, and now gets his shoes and ours when it is time to go out in the backyard. He knows which shoes are mine, and which shoes are Jays and brings them to the correct parent. He also know that he needs to take his shoes off right as we come in. He sits down and unvelcros them, but can't take them off without help. When outside he plays with water, on his slide, chases bubbles or collects leaves and brings them to me. 
• When inside he can often be found bringing books to one of his parents. It makes my heart happy to see him so into books. He has about 12 in the rotation, and these 12 books get read numerous times throughout the day. His favourite is "I Love You So Much", but he likes his counting book, an alphabet book, nursery rhyme/song books, a Spiderman book and books that have textures. I can now read most of them without looking and he turns the pages! He has now been "reading" when we tuck him in; we always read him a story or two and then leave the book open for him, he flips through the pages before falling asleep. So cute!
• He says a few words: mom, dad, please (it was out of the rotation, but I heard it twice today), what's this?, duck, dog, moo and baa all in context. When asked he can point to his ears, eyes, hair, teeth (his fav.), feet, and hands. I am sure he has said more words that we haven't picked up yet, and often says the same babble over and over in the same contexts, I am sure he knows what he means, I just haven't figured it out yet! 
• He loves talking on the "phone" and every remote, speaker, plastic object is a phone these days. When my mom and I talk on the phone he is sure to get me to put it on speaker so he can "talk" too!



A toy?!? If not it is now!

•  Although he plays with his toys, he much prefers random objects that he makes into toys.  Containers, boxes, tools, pots, wooden spoons (one week he went everywhere with a wooden spoon), etc. all make great toys for a one year old, at the least this one year old loves them!
• Sleeping has improved so much over the summer. At this point he goes to sleep without tears most of the time. He naps for an our or two in the mid day. At night he wakes up at least once and gets a cuddle and nurse with mom the first time (as long as it is before 2am). After that he just ends up in bed with us. Not perfect, but it works for now.
• I marvel at how fast he learns things, everyday it is something new. I am such a teacher that we have "tests" every day, he thinks it is a game, I just want to reinforce what he knows. He always passes with flying colours (or is completely distracted and just laughs at me).
• I had always planned on nursing until at least a year but this baby boy will have nothing to do with quitting yet. He drinks milk from a cup when we are out or I am not around but he is a nurser through and through when we are home. I am sure it will dwindle drastically when I go back to work... for now we enjoy many cuddle times throughout the day.
•   He eats solid food like crazy! People are shocked when he chows down on steak, and broccoli (some of his favs.); he can't go a day without fruit (watermelon, bananas, pears, cherries), and generally loves all food! No complaints here!



Dressing up at the cousins house!



•   I am so grateful to have spent all these summer days with this cutie! He is amazing (yes, I am biased) and so much fun (until the whining starts). He is busy but not trouble, he listens fairly well and has a ton of fun. Although I am sad to be back at work soon he is in need of some playmates. He really like social interaction and I can tell he misses being at daycare with other kids. Until then though we will enjoy our mommy and son days!