Kid cam

One of the first things I did when we got to Halifax is give the kids the "pink camera". It is a small Canon Powershot that I bought used and use at preschool. It's very versatile and almost indestructable. (It lasted a whole year being used and dropped by preschoolers). I LOVED looking through the pictures, and here are some of my favorites.

Notice the "We love our Crosse". They were over an hour in the driveway with this. Each color in the cross had meaning. Blue for Nova Scotia, Green for Saskatchewan, Red and White for Canada. They amazed me with this, and I'm so glad there was a picture of it.

Sitting under the palm tree. Gramma and Puppa brought this back from Florida.

Only my kid

Me: Joe, if you don't stop bugging I am going to bite your nose off and spit it on the floor.

Joe: Mom, if you do that you'll see my brain!

The beginning of our trip

We had planned for a while that we would travel back to Nova Scotia for vacation this summer. The boys had not been there for 2 years, and although many family members had travelled up in this time, we had not seen Rob's parents, Rob's sisters family or my brother's family in that time. We had a nephew that I had never met, and it was time. School here in Ile a la Crosse ended on the 30th of June, and because of some great seat sales with Westjet we booked to fly out that day. June 30th was also the day of the high school graduation, and that is a BIG thing here in town. Many of the grads had asked me to do their photos that day, but one in particular had booked me for that day LONG before we ever considered vacationing in Halifax. (Think booking in January here). So I couldn't dissapoint her, so we made plans for her to have her pictures done at 11 and then I would leave right after that (our flights were not until 8). As the day drew nearer, I was contacted by another grad who wanted me to do their pictures also. I explained that I was leaving the day of grad and she wanted to get dressed up the night before and do the pictures then, as she really wanted ME to do them. How could I say no? Also, I had 2 other grads contact me for cap and gown pictures that week, so I spent the week taking pictures. I managed to get one session edited and back to them before I left, but the rest knew that they would have to wait until I got back. How could I say no to this?

Thursday the 30th arrived, and I raced around getting that photo session done. Rob and the boys had the truck all packed, and we were on the road by 12. We had to make a detour into Prince Albert for Northern related stuff, and then made it to the airport by about 6:30. The boys were so excited, and Joey had to put his luggage on the weigh in thingie.

All was going great until that dreaded "D" word was mentioned..... delayed. Yep, our flight was delayed and there was a chance we would not make our connection (we were flying to Calgary to get the red eye to Halifax). We watched anxiously as the time ticked away, and our flight was not there. Our flight which was suppose to leave at 8:45 did not leave until almost 9:15. We were suppose to make a connection in Calgary at 10:00. Luckily we were not the only ones that were catching that flight. We boarded the plane, and I noticed that "nervous Colby" was coming out. I honestly assumed that any air sickness would be from Joey, but it was Colby. He was REALLY nervous about flying, and was really upset when we took off. We ended up giving him a Gravol to settle his stomach, but that first part of the flight was quite rough on him. He did manage to keep his cool, and we landed in Calgary. We knew we had NO time to waste making this connection, but walking to the gate we saw a small convenience place and thought it would be a good idea to grab some Gingerale for Colby. While Rob did this I quickly took Joe to the bathroom (which again, right on the way). As soon as I came out of the bathroom (maybe 2 minutes) we hear "Schwartz Party of 4 please go to your gate IMMEDIATELY" so we RAN to the gate. We just made it! Of course everyone else at this point is waiting for us, so we sheeplishly made our way to our seats. I sat next to a woman who smiled at me and said "So, where were you that you made us all wait?"..... to be continued.

Colby is trying to be brave, but his belly got the best of him shortly after this picture was taken. Prince Naveen...... the next post will have his story also....

I'm back... for good this time

I have made a big decision tonight. I will no longer being updating my Faceb00k status anymore. I have sorely been neglecting this blog, and I realized it tonight when I logged on to the blog to see who has updated their blogs, and realized I haven't done my own. I have a HUGE 2 week family vacation to blog about, and I will be doing that as soon as I have the pictures edited. Anyone who knows me knows that I NEVER post pictures that I haven't edited. So I will be blogging about the vacation in pieces, with pictures to go with it. I'm glad to be back.

Halifax

We are having such a good time in Halifax that there has been no time to blog. Many pictures to follow, I promise. :)

Leavin' on a jet plane

In less than a week!! Preschool is now done for the kids, so I have a few days left next week to disassemble my classroom and pack up my personal items. There is still quite a bit of uncertaintly surrounding my current job, but unfortunately I can't post any details yet. Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy father's day

Father's day is bitter sweet for me. Rob is an amazing father and this is his 10th father's day as a Dad. It's also one of the days a year that reminds me that my Dad isn't here.

Maybe it's an East Coast thang....

I've been told I'm too nice (Shut up Adam, your opinion doesn't count). There are contractors in town right now doing some work for the store in the next community and in Rob's store. When they were here a few months ago, I would make extra supper and send it over to them. Tonight we made home made burgers and potato salad, and I took out a couple extra pork chops and some chicken thighs and threw them on the bbq along with the burgers. We plated it up and sent it over (there are 4 contractors here right now). When I have told people about this, I get mixed reactions. (We do this for everyone that comes in town). I've been accused of being a "suck up" (we always cook for Rob's district manager when he comes into town) and was told today that we are just "too nice". One of the women I work with admitted that she would never think to do what we do when someone comes from out of town. Here's the way I look at it: the contractors are here doing improvements on Rob's store. These are 4 guys here, working 10-12 hour days, eating frozen pizza and Hungry Man dinners. I would hope that if the roles were reversed and Rob was one of those guys, someone would make them a home cooked meal every once in a while. The town we live in is really small, and there is only 1 restaurant that the food is average at best, really really crappy at worst. The same goes for when someone comes from out of town. I figure if they are travelling all the way here (it's a 5 hour drive from the airport unless they come on the private plane and then it's only 5 minutes away) they should at least have a decent meal when they get here. Maybe it's just the Newfoundlander in me, or maybe it's the way I was raised. When I asked Rob about this, he said "it's an East Coast thing". What do YOU think?

joey reading

Your laugh for the day

My baby's pre-k grad

You can kiss the student when that student is yours.

So proud!

Joe and Brian. Notice the Metis sash around his waist?!

They're baaaaaaack!

I love them. I always will.

When did he grow up???

There are perks to being the pre-k teacher AND the class photographer.

My not so little boy

I totally get it

Before I met Rob I never camped. We were never a camping family, and the closest thing we ever did was set up a tent in the yard and sleep out there. When we first starting dating, he took me to the campground where his parents were seasonal and showed me where they spent most of their free time. I just didn't get it. Rob's parents, in my opinion, were quite well off. They had a big beautiful house, 2 vehicles, nice EVERYTHING, and yet they packed up each weekend to spend at their camper. They ate off dollar store dishes, lived in a space 1/2 the size of the trailer I lived in, and seemed genuinely happy about it.

Sitting at the campground this weekend, eating breakfast off paper plates, looking at my kids who were already dirty from playing, I got it. I completely understood why they left their lives in the city and camped. I'm not saying that I think we are the "rich" people I thought Rob's parents were ( I see everything very differently now), but for the first time in 16 years we are comfortable. I felt so relaxed when we were away, something I haven't truly felt in months. There is a lot going on right now, some things I can't post here but if you read the news about Saskatchewan teachers and remember that I am employed as one you will understand. I uploaded these pictures last night and it shows how much fun we had. We won't get out camping again until after we get back from Nova Scotia, but we left all the supplies in there. It won't be long after we get back that we hit the road again.

Walking on a suspension bridge we found at a nearby park. I played the girl card and chickened out.

That's Joey, climbing to the top of the hill.

My great rummage sale find. I LOVE this suitcase. Colby had to take a turn running down the hill also.

The boys spent the weekend playing badminton.

Heavy times

I am really trying to get out from underneath the black cloud that seems to be following me around. I've kept it off FB and here, but so many people have been asking why they haven't heard from me so I feel I owe you all an explanation. Yes cyber family, I love you all for your concern.

There are HUGE changes in my very near future (and no, we're not moving). My job is a term position, and the term will be up as of June 30. Every year my job is reposted, and every year I wait to see if a certified teacher will realize what a jewel of a job I have and apply. If a certified teacher applies for my job, I will automatically be bumped. I am in the last course of a 2 year program to obtain my ECE, but unfortunately although the school board has paid for this they cannot guarantee me a job. The Saskatchewan Teachers are also in a union fight right now, and we had our first "rally" day a few weeks ago. These scare me because again, although I'm not a teacher I have to fight with them because I am part of their union. So I have already been required to spend a rally day with them knowing full well I will not be paid for it. They are currently returning to the bargining table so I check my email everyday to see if there is another walk-out planned. We get 36 hours notice by email if this happens.

Add to this I have taken it upon myself to do all the pre-k grad pictures (of course, why wouldn't I?) I did all their pictures in front of a green screen, and there are 34 of them so I have been photoshopping every night trying to get these done. The grad is a big deal here so there's a lot of work.

And speaking of work, there are also big changes happening with the pre-k program. Currently, the program is offered in the headstart program here in town, but next year it will be operated right out of the elementary school. For anyone who lives in a small community, you know that most programs are provincially funded, so this is a HUGE impact for the Friendship Centre to lose this program. So there is a lot of uncertainty going on, because frankly no one really knows the details yet. All I know is this will be the last year I will be working in this building, with these women. That really sucks.

And to top it all off, yesterday at work that one of my students will not be returning because of an incident that happened in her house. Although I am not comfortable discussing the details, let's just say all the children were taken from their home in the middle of the night, their father is in jail and their mother is in the hospital in critical condition. Another little girl told me yesterday on the day home that "Daddy hit mommy and made her cry and now he's in jail". It is hard not to cry at work, and yesterday finding out these 2 things within an hour of each other left me coming home with a very sore lip, because biting it was what I did to not cry and scoop her up to hug her.

But, as usual my hubby is coming to my rescue. I had been asked to do a photography shoot in Prince Albert this weekend, so he decided to make it a camping weekend. Oh yes my friends, we're going camping! The camper is set, we bought a new mattress last night for our bed in there, and we're heading out of town for 3 glorious days. It is just what I need right now. No work, no stress, just 3 days camping with the most important people in my life, and Jamie and Clare of course. :)

Happy birthday Joey!!!

The blog challenge is on hold, because well frankly I have more important things to blog about and I'm honestly losing interest. So I'm going to pepper it in. Today my baby turns 5. Really, 5? Where did the time go? He is growing into quite the little man, so much like his brother. He is now independantly reading, to the point when reading buddies come to preschool he reads TO them. He also reads to us at at bedtime. All he wants to do is go to the "big school". He's funny, smart and idolizes his brother. We are very lucky. Excuse me while I go cry now.

Day 24: Something embarrassing in your bedroom

Made ya look, didn't it?

I have thought about this one for the last day or so, wondering how I would write this. There really isn't anything embarrassing in my room. My room is actually quite asthetically boring. The walls are white, the furniture is mismatched and there is always a pile of laundry just waiting to be put away. (Don't forget, this house is technically a furnished rental). The one thing you will see on my bed is an extra large stuffed Sneezy Dwarf. Rob bought this for me when I was pregnant with Colby. I'm the type of person who, when they sneeze, sneeze at least 10 times. It's an ongoing joke with us.

Did you expect me to write a post about Bob? If you know who that is, then you probably have a Bob of your own. :)

Day 23 - Favorite music video

I haven't watched music videos in years, not since high school. This is one of my all time favorite songs. Although I feel like Saskatchewan is my home now, I will admit I do miss the smell of the ocean. This amazingly beautiful lake I live on is very scenic, but it's just not the ocean. I'm sure there is salt water in my veins, and the pull of the ocean will always be with me. This song explains EXACTLY how I feel.

Day 22: A picture of you today

Well this one will have to wait, as I don't have a webcam on my computer (it's on the laptop). If I did, all you would see is my big smile because I received this in the mail 2 days ago: I'm in love. I have been saving the money I have made from photography sessions since the beginning of the year and finally had enough 2 weeks ago to upgrade. I just bought the body as all my other lenses and cards are interchangable. I'm a very happy girl right now.