Happy Halloween

We went trick or treating in the snow, and snow suits were under costumes, just like the good ole days!

Happy Boo Day

Happy Halloween everyone! It's been very stressful in this house over the last couple of days which is why I haven't posted. There are things going on right now in our life that I don't want to discuss here, but if I don't post for a few days I just wanted to let everyone know we have not fallen off the top of the earth.

I have also decided to try my hand at substituting at the school. Initially I wanted to do this at Colby's school but since the daycare here didn't work out that didn't happen. We are lucky enough to have another community 10 minutes up the road that also has a school. Their school is from P-12 and they have a daycare on site for staff and students. So, I called there last week asking them if I would be able to use their daycare if I substituted in their school. As anyone in the North knows, the schools are desperate for reliable substitute teachers. So, I have been slowly introducing Joey to the daycare. I think the issue we had with the one over here has made him really nervous about daycare. We have been there 3 days so far, with today being the first day I left him there. The last 2 days we have gone and stayed about an hour and I stayed with him. Today I left him for an hour and went down to the library. He cried the entire time. Tomorrow I will be leaving him for 2 hours, and Friday I will leave him for the morning. Starting Monday I will be subbing in the school and he will be there for the full day. The best thing about this daycare is they are used to "southern" kids, as 1/2 of the kids there are teachers kids. Children in the north are raised very differently than children from the south, where as kids from the north are so used to being left with other people that daycare is not an issue. Kids like Joey who spend most of their time with their parents tend to be nervous and cry at first in daycare. This is why the daycare in this community didn't work. The daycare workers at the school are accustomed to kids crying, and know what to do to give kids like Joey time to adjust on his own. They keep assuring me he will be fine, and even this morning when I picked him up they again assured me that he will be fine, because "he has to get used to it". Which is true. I want to work up here, and the financial goals we have set can be achieved much faster if there are 2 incomes. Here's hoping!

Donair recipe

Donair Meat

3 pounds lean hamburger (triple ground*) (I used a food processor)

3/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tsp pepper

1-2 tsp cayenne red pepper (depending on your taste, I found this was REALLY hot)

1 1/2 tsp oregano

3 tsp paprika

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Knead for 20 minutes. Shape into two tightly formed loaves. Bake on broiler pan for 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool loaves and slice into thin slices.

I re-heated mine in the frying pan with a little bit of oil to crisp it up.

Sauce:

3/4 c white sugar

3/4 c canned milk

1/8 c vinegar

Mix the milk and sugar until dissolved. Add the vinegar and stir 3-4 times only. Let stand 1 hour. It should thicken. I stirred mine too much and it was like soup so I just added some corn starch and it thickened it right up.

Defination of cruel

How to torture Rob: Chain 3 brand new skidoos to the new 4 wheeler which is chained to our front deck. And don't leave him the keys to any of them OR the lock which has them all chained together.

Someone talk me out of this

We are CONSIDERING adopting this dog. Living in the North is new for us and we need some HONEST opinions from people who live up here with these guys. He's a purebred Siberan Husky. He's 4 years old. Our concerns are: What do we do with him when we go home on vacation? What about when we move? I know for a fact this guy doesn't like to be inside so he spends a far amount of time outside in a pen. We have a pen here also that was left by the previous people who had this dog. We have a very short time to consider this, or I will be placing an ad online for them for someone else to adopt him. They are leaving this coming weekend and cannot take him with them. I'm also concerned about the kids around here teasing him if he's in the pen, or other dogs around here that run free. Any input from you who have one * JEN* would be appreciated.

A taste of home

I decided to try a hand at making donair meat. I found a recipe online for the meat and the sauce. The meat was a little on the hot side for me, but Rob loved it. Rob made a calzone, and I made a donair plate! I've been craving this since we moved here. It was yummy, and surprisingly easy to make!

We're heading off to a halloween party today that the teachers are having for the kids. Our contribution? Lady fingers!

This was Colby waiting for the bus to go back to school Friday.

This picture was taken at the same time as the one above. It was -12 with the windchill, but this little girl who's a year or so older than Colby had no problem being out without a jacket and her pants rolled up so they wouldn't get wet in the snow. No wonder so many of the kids here have burns from frostbite.

Holy crap!

I stole a counter from Kara's blog, because the one I had on there wasn't working properly. In the time it took me to add the counter and refresh the page, it was already at 3. One was obviously me coming back, but I laughed to think 2 people are here "lurking" with me. Kara, is that you?? :)

It doesn't take much to make my day

I'm really such a geek. I was surfing around Northern blogs that I love to read off other people's blogs but have just been too lazy to link them off this one. I was reading The House and other Arctic Musings (now linked on the right) and to my delight I see he has updated his blog to link to this one. WOO HOO! We are now on quite a few Northern blogs. We're getting popular! LOL. SO, maybe everyone who has linked off our blog will send me a Northern / Northmart picture? (Yes, I'll stop begging for the pictures.... soon) *grin*

Come on people!

So far, I have received 2 pictures of other Northern stores, thanks to Kate Nova and Kara. Come on people, I wanna do my post card and I need some more pictures! Pretty please. :)

IT'S DONE!

IT'S DONE!! AND HIS CUTE LITTLE TOOSHY IS ON IT!

He's the little picture on the far left above the SHOW YOUR BUM. This poster will be distributed in Nova Scotia as a fundraiser for Colorectal Cancer Research. I've already emailed them to get a copy of it sent up here!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

What a difference 24 hours makes! Doesn't look like a lot of snow but it's been blowing around. Yesterday was -6 with the windchill and today is -15. Tomorrow is calling for -13 BEFORE the windchill. I'm hibernating until April!

It was a dark and Stormy night........That is all I could come up with when I asked Tina what she wanted for a caption for these pics. "Make one up" she says.... I'm not that creative, or maybe I'm just lazy...

From the weather network today

Snowfall warning for: City of Yellowknife Issued at 10:40 AM MDT WEDNESDAY 24 OCTOBER 2007 HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TODAY. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM PRODUCING SNOW IN FORT LIARD AND FORT SIMPSON CONTINUES TO TRACK SLOWLY EASTWARDS. UP TO 10 AM THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF 5 CM SNOW ACCUMULATION AT FORT LIARD WITH SNOWFALL INTENSIFYING. THIS LOW IS FORECAST TO TRACK JUST SOUTH OF GREAT SLAVE LAKE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS RANGING FROM 10 TO 25 CM. MOST OF THE SNOW WILL FALL NORTH OF THE LOW TRACK WITH A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW SOUTH OF THE LOW TRACK. IN ADDITION BLOWING SNOW WILL BE A FACTOR THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT AS WINDS INCREASE CREATING POOR VISIBILITIES.

WOO HOO! BRING ON THE SNOW!

Crazy days in the Schwartz house

Couch surfing!

He's getting so tall!

"I'm cute, I know" "Now, which one is it that she uses when she's online?"

"OH SHIT! BUSTED!"

"Yes, they are really comfy!"

Am I the only one who sees a feather boa in this child's future??? My new toy! I finally broke down and bought a stick vac. It's a Shark so I'm calling it Lenny.

I'm not sure why, but Joey felt compelled to show his highchair around the house.

Such a ham for the camera!

That Cavier is a garnish!

We had our date night last night. It was great to just get out and talk without

"Mommy, how much longer is it?"

"Are we in Yellowknife yet?"

"Joey hit me".

"I gotta pee".

We went to Traders Grill, in the Explorer Hotel. The atmosphere is very cosy, there is a big fireplace right in the middle of the room. We sat near the window, and watched snow fall. Our dinner started with appitizers of steamed mussels for Rob, and bacon wrapped scallops for me. (I have been craving scallops for the last couple of weeks so I was more than excited to see them on the menu). Then with our dinner came a caesar salad. I was expecting a side salad, but NO, it was a FULL plate. By this time I'm wondering if I made a mistake ordering appitizers, knowing the main course was still on it's way. Then along came the prime rib steak and lobster tails. (Yes, we splurged, but in our defence we were TOLD to). I didn't care much for the lobster, but the rest was quite good. I couldn't finish the steak, it was just too big. Then we thought "What the hell" and ordered dessert to split. New York Cheesecake. It was fabulous.

Rob and I started talking about how much time is flying since we've been here. We're going into our 6th month living up here. We also realized next month we will be together 13 years, and next year we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. Due to all this time together, we tend to think of things at the same time. This seems to happen more and more the longer we're together. Here's a great example:

When the cheesecake arrived, we were chatting about something. Rob took a forkful of cheesecake and then started to scrape a little bit of the "drizzle" around the cake. I immediately thought of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in "You've Got Mail" when they were at a dinner party and he scraped the cavier off a dish. She looked at him and said "That cavier is a garnish!". No sooner did this thought finish in my head when Rob looked at me and said

"That cavier is a garnish!"

We laughed so hard I nearly cried. I am so lucky to have such a great husband who thinks like I do and shares my sense of humor.

Found this on our google video site

Here's hoping it works!

I have the most beautiful kids

I took these a few weeks ago as a surprise for the grandparents. They have been mailed and received by them. I wanted to wait until they saw them before posting them here, since it wouldn't a surprise if they saw them here first!

She's here!

Meet Lilyan Bishop, Valentina's new little princess. She was born this morning and weighed 6.9lbs. I'm soo thrilled for them! You can see more picture of her on Val's blog. They were posted within the past couple of hours because I have been checking that blog even more than I check Kara and Jen's! Now that's a lot! :)

Shots taken today and tonight

The view from the front deck.

Rob was shown this area by a guy he works with. It's about a 1/2 hour drive from here. I hate ravens but these made for cool pictures.

Date Night!

We're going on a date! A real date that required a reservation! David and Connie offered a while ago to babysit for us so we could go out. It has been so busy at the store and everyone has been putting in a lot of hours. There are long days and nights ahead for everyone at the Northern over the next couple of weeks. The annual "Truckload Sale" happens next weekend, and merchandise has already started to arrive. There are 6 skidoos, flat screen TV's and lots and lots of furniture. The sale is a week long and will happen in the "old store", which is right next to our house. There are also residential education reimbursement cheques being issued next week (I think that's what they are called), and they will be substancial. From what I hear the average cheque is approximately 20,000.00. And as there is no bank here, the Northern provides financial services such as cheque cashing. With all the hours that Rob has put in so far and all the expected hours, they are treating us to supper. This will be the first time that Rob and I will be going out without the kids since we moved here in June. Needless to say I'm bringing the camera!

So sad

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/10/16/nwt-death.html?ref=rss

This was in today's news. This happened here. Alcoholism is a very big problem in this community, like many northern communities. I did not know this man but Rob did.

Some help please

I am in desperation making this post. Not to sound like a whiney baby, but my ear hurts! I have had an ear ache for the last week and I can't seem to shake it. I've tried Tylenol, Ibuprofen, a hot water bottle and a hair dryer. Nothing seems to work. There is an issue at the Nurses station right now and they're not taking patients for the next week (who knows?). I really don't want to drive to Yellowknife for an OTC but I'm getting pretty desperate. I was up until 2Am this morning because it hurt too much to lay down. I have been googling home remedies for ear aches and I have found some that say a 50/50 water/ peroxide combo, 50/50 vinegar / water combo. I can't get peroxide at the Northern for obvious reasons, and I'm a little nervous about putting vinegar in my ear. Anyone have any suggestions? I have an appointment at the nurse's station for next Monday but that feels like a million years away. At this point I'll try almost anything.

Happy Anniversary Nicole and Lloyd

Wow, where has 8 years gone? Hope you have a great one. Lots of love from all of us.

The last week in picture review

My new favorite socks (thanks Kass!) with my favorite shoes.

This is for Gramma and Poppa. This is the new thing Joey likes to do to make us laugh.

The Schwartz Spa.

This is how to spent $10.19 at the Northern. I put the pineapple next to the baby oil just to show how small it is. It better be good!