The Schuster Scoop

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

2010 in Review (July to December)

**Posting this blog this year has truly made me realize that I need to get my camera back into the action.. sadly there are just a handful of images to share.

** I will finish this blog when we return from our vacation in NJ.... stay tuned! I am back from Jersey and have a ton to do... will get this done before January is over!**

July
Corbin and I did a lot of relaxing in July. We spent our days at the beach or thrifting for books for my classroom library.

August

Lots of excitement in August as Corbin became a first grader and I became a first grade teacher!

My first official classroom!

another view

Mrs. Schuster on Meet the Teacher day

Corbin and I on OUR first day of school

September

I spent the bulk of this month trying to get my lesson plans done and hanging around the house. I did, however, take Corbin to the new children's museum in Tampa for the grand opening and this became our weekend escape for the following months.

Corbin making waves

Testing wind velocity with paper planes

I met Grover!!

Sweaty Boy = lots of fun!

October

My favorite month for many reasons. 1- it is my birthday 2- it is Halloween

Corbin and Ashleigh

Mario and Luigi ( Corbin and I) Trick or Treating

Love this picture.. I figure I have two years at the most to still dress up with him

I was Ms. Frizzle at school

November

December

Monday, December 21, 2009

Welcome to the 2009 Eco(2) Edition of The Schuster Scoop!

Hello! Welcome!

Well, if you are visiting the blog it means you received our VERY LATE Christmas cards!!

I worked very hard to get this blog up quickly with lotsa shots from our year. We have had a very busy year at the Schuster household. We had Pre K graduations, College placements in various elementary schools, an new found obsession with Twilight, landscaping galore, first days of Kindergarten, and various other events.

But first, here are the personal blurbs about each family member...

Chris -
Chris has had a trying year. He is still employed at Sigma, thank goodness, but we are all aware of the impact the recession has had on all businesses. He has continued to be the sole employee and installation tech that helps to keep Sigma alive. Chris took up a new hobby in kayaking and has found solice in being out on the water and has seen some beautiful landscapes and creatures along his travels. We are still very blessed to have him as a hubby and daddy.

Heather -
I am entering my final internship after a full year, including summer semester, of long winded lesson plan writing and I AM THRILLED!! I have stayed busy with photography as well as my new found hobby of working out 4-5x a week. I have yielded some great results as well... check out the pictures in December! I am set to graduate with my B.S in Elementary Education in May 2010!

Corbin -
Corbin has had a great year! He is reading and loving learning at school. He still loves trains and cars and is enjoying a remodel of his "little boy room into a big boy room" as I write this. Corbin has proven to be an exceptional student academically and socially and makes us very proud. He recently lost his first tooth and has a second wobbling as of this morning. I have enjoyed watching him blossom this year and made sure to put many photos of this transformation in the blog.

We hope you have had a joyous holiday and wish you a peaceful season filled with love, laughter, and family.

Be sure to check out the year in review - you wont be sorry!

Love.
Heather

2009 in Review ( January to July)

January
I apparently did not take many picture in January.

Corbin was doing his Pre-K thing and I was in my first practicum with a 3rd grade class. We were both pretty busy - so much so that I don't have but one picture of him with his Build a Bear friends. He had just bought Coltrane the bear to keep Mingus the monkey and Goodman the T- Rex company.

February

Again, not a month of many picture of the family. I did however, enter the world of Twilight and befriended 20 other women that could not put the books down or stop visiting the theater. To spare myself the embarassment, I will not post the images of these get togethers and let you imagine what they were like. ACTUALLY, here is a group shot.. remember what I look like in this shot and make sure you look at the last picture in December (You may notice a difference)

March

This month was one of MANY train shows. We visited the Pioneer Village locally and saw some very cool train layouts, big steamies, and Corbin tried out a telegraph.

May
Okay... I cannot seem to find any pics from May. What is going on with me? I am slacking!

April

This was a GREAT month with lotsa happenings!

Corbin celebrated his fifth birthday. We had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese at his request.

Corbin and Daddy skateboarding at CEC

Posing with the big cheese

I love this next shot.. look at his smile! This makes parenting priceless!

Corbin and his cake!

Then I made a bad decision and added a new member to our family since we were allergic to Mr Stripey.

Meet Harry Potter the Guinea Pig.

I attended my first convention for fans of a movie/book series where I met Kellan Lutz who plays Emmet in Twilight.

There was Easter as well!

Corbin collecting eggs.

June

What an exciting time for Corbin - the Pre-K Graduate! He was reluctant to take part in the ceremony as he said, "If I don't do it then I wont graduate, right mommy?" He was sad to say goodbye to his Pre-K buddies and I was sad to admit my baby was growing up!

Ready to go graduate - we think!

Corbin and his buddies!

Corbin, with mortarboard hat, in front of his self portrait.

Corbin's last day of school and restage of the picture he took with his teacher on his first day.

July
July was an easy month with LOTS of quality time with my little man before he started school full time (gasp)

Fun trips to the science museum.

Hanging on the couch with mommy.

Getting interesting t-shirts from Bepa's oversea trips.

Working on the big train table

* Make sure you look at the rest of the year... remember to look at the last picture from Decemeber!

2009 in Review ( August to December)

August

August was a BIG month for Corbin and I as we took our first road trip, to New Jersey, riding back on the Amtrak Autotrain ( which Corbin LOVED!)

We stopped off in DC for a day before heading back to Florida...

Corbin was ELATED with his train experience!

BUT there was more in August... Corbin started Kindergarten!
(a bittersweet moment for mommy, ofcourse)

Corbin standing outside his pod

Sitting at his seat with his first day of seatwork

Oh yeah... and I got a new ride - thanks Dad!!
No more Mom Mobile! ( yes I am aware it is not a VW)

September

We spent most of September getting used to our new schedules. Corbin adapted to Kindergarten while I started my practicum hours in a 2nd grade classroom.

I also decided to overhaul our property with new plants in every planter which proved to be A LOT of work but very rewarding when it was all done.

Me, sporting my "do rag" and Corbin doing what he calls "helping"

Corbin and I decided to dress up Lilly, Chris's dog, and take pictures of her. Corbin was a champ and posed with her- to my delight.

Lilly looking cute in a dress!

October

Aside from this being the month of my birthday, which Corbin played hookey from school to attend Disney with me, it was halloween and the month which I affectionately refer to as " the month I got grass!" Anyone that has known me since I was young is aware of how beautiful my parents yard was... well I had a tough bill to follow and this was the month I finally shelled out the duckets for sod ( insert angelic singing) So, oufcourse, that meant more yardwork for Heather!

Corbin taking driving serious on the race cars.

Our silly pose with Buzz Lightyear.

The arrival of the sod!! ( cue that angel singing again)

Yard work requires much lifting!

The beautifully sodded backyard

Oh and Let us not forget Halloween!! Corbin was a train engineer and I was his conductor.

Engineer Corbin

and his trusty Conductor

November
Ahh, what can be said about November aside from it allows for fun activities like walking the trails at the park due to it being slightly cooler outside.

Taking a break from walking at Chestnut Park

Not wanting to pose!

And my buddy Kristen came to visit me so we could go to the midnight release of the Twilight Saga - New Moon!!! ( Yes I am one of those Twilight people!)

Dinner and drinks before the movie.

Awaiting the midnight beginning in the theater.

I also had the pleasure of being the photographer at a Twilight related fundraiser for Children's Cancer. The Hillywood cast, a Twilight inpersonation group, was there for photo ops.

Myself with Edward, Jasper, and Jacob (look a likes)

And then.. Corbin lost his first tooth!!!

Corbin proudly showing off his space!

And then there was December..

What a busy month!! I was finishing up shoots from November and adding shoots for December as well as finishing my practicum and trying to find time to have my own holiday cheer.

We decorated our tree, got a visit from Bepa, started a redesign project in Corbin's room this month and I received final word on my internship!!