Our boys

A year ago today we arrived here in Ile a la Crosse. Our lives have been so much better for it. The boys are just thriving, as you can see.

Yes we're still here

I have not been TOTALLY neglecting all of you. Honestly, I think about you everyday. It's just been STUPID BUSY here lately, but honestly I love it. I finally finished up at work, with yesterday being my last day. I have truly enjoyed this past year and can't wait to do it all over again next year. I was also asked to take pictures at the church this past Wednesday for Confirmation. There were 96 candidites, and 30 first communions. The Arch Bishop was in and it made for some great photos. Along with all those pictures, I just finished 7 sessions with grads here in town. My shutter bug finger is still twitching! It has been raining here all week this week and I was so afraid I would have to take pictures inside but someone was praying hard for sun because it arrived this morning after a crazy night of thunder and lightning! So I'll be chained to the computer for the next few days getting all these sorted out, but I figured if I didn't make a post soon Kara was going to have a serious fit! hehe

Thanks to all of you

I just wanted to thank all of you who read and leave comments about my pictures. There is another woman in town who also takes pictures and she is REALLY good. I was very intimated by that, which is why for the longest time I kept my photography under wraps. I started just before christmas letting people know I did photography, and invested some money in a few backdrops and a stand. I was heartbroken when my camera was stolen during the break in, but in the same time delighted with the insurance replacement of a better camera. I am slowly starting to build confidence in myself to promote my photography here in town, and I must say it's taking off faster than I ever imagined. Next Friday is the high school grad here and I'm completely booked. I start taking pictures at 9:00AM and shoot straight through until 3:00, which is when the graduation starts. My phone has been ringing steady since I posted the pictures I did with the old fashioned washtubs. I have also taken a few online course / tutorials by Scott Kelby to familiarize myself with photoshop, and thanks to my friend Sasha (the other photographer) now shoot only in RAW. My biggest ego boost so far in all of this (besides seeing my pictures on other people's Facebook profiles and on the local cable scroll) is that I have been asked to do the photography for the provincial volleyball championships being held here in November.

So thank you my wonderful friends, for encouraging me to have the confidence to do this. Rob said to me the other night when he saw a session I did "Wow hon, you're really good". It just doesn't get any better than that.

My friend's daughter who just graduated from my preschool class. And yes, I did all their pictures. :)

I got the job!

(I figured since this was published on Faceb00k I could post it here). I got the call that I have been waiting for this morning. I was offered the job as Pre-K teacher at the preschool starting at the end of August!!! I must say, this is probably the most rewarding job I have ever had. I have made some terrific friends, both in the staff and in the parents, and some life time memories of the kids. As you can see from my big goofy smile above, I am just as proud of these kids as their parents. I can't wait to do it all over again next year!

Someone tell me when this boy grew up!

Pics from today

Even though they are out of focus I couldn't delete them. I was playing around with different settings on the camera. He's his mama's boy who loves his dewrags!

We had Isabella and Jacob over today as Isabella wanted to make cookies. Making cookies really means ME making cookie dough and the kids eating it. Some of it even made it to the oven!

The adorable Aiden

This is a little guy that I took pics of today. He was so fun as you can see! And, the washtub he is in is borrowed from the preschool, and I acquired 2 more today thanks to a great find at a local hardware store and the generosity of Joey's honorary "kokum'"

Holy hannah it's C-R-A-Z-Y right now!

The title says it all. The last few weeks at work have been crazy, and I find myself doing more and more late into the night. Luckily like some people I know, I'm not marking papers or getting exams ready, but I feel like there are just not enough hours in the day. Our preschoolers are "graduating" on Monday, and we have been preparing for WEEKS for this. And now that it's here we are really scrambling to get everything done. It's AMAZING how much is done for graduations here, and from what I understand they are trying to "tone it down" somewhat. Well, let me just tell you everything involved for them:

A mini hand made scrapbook for each kid (there are 27) with pictures of them that we have taken through the year, a scrapbook of their work that we have been keeping for them, a grad photo with their name and year on it (taken by me of course), a profile to go with that photo that is then laminated (the profile template was done by Rob), a certificate (each is printed with their name on it, done by Rob and I), handmade laminated placemats with all the kids names on them, sweatpants and a t-shirt with the preschool logo on it, a bag of gifts, a big dinner for each grad, their parents and 6 guests, entertainment (fiddling music and people jigging), a large inflatable jumper, and a prize bingo for the parents. THAT is just for the actual "grad", which is on Monday evening, and THEN there is a mini carnival for them at the preschool on Tuesday.

And on top of all this work stuff, there is the added stress that my job is up for renewal. Unfortunately they had to re-advertise it because my contract is up, but they have made it very clear that they really want me to come back. The only thing that will stop me is if someone with the proper certification applies, then I'm SOL. The job is only posted until this Friday, and seeing as no one applied for it last year but me (and I found out tonight that when I applied it was the 2nd time it was advertised, the first time they had NO one apply) I'm REALLY hoping no one applies again. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

The beautiful Sydney

This is my friend's neice, and since I know her parents personally I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of her.

At the cabin

He loves to throw things in the water. You can see the muddy bum from the "playpen".

Running to home plate in a strange version of baseball. It's called "bat and ball" and although it's similar to baseball, it's not. I don't understand the rules but Colby was told to "RUN" and he went all around the bases before he was tagged! This is what we called "the playpen". This is a pit that was started for a new outhouse. As you can see, the boys loved crawling out and sliding in.

Brian.

Jonas.

We went to the cabin today for my friend's son's birthday. It was just a small group, with most of them being family except us. I love the fact that we were included, as I really feel like they are our new "family away from family".

Where has the time gone?