Weekend in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada

We had the privilege of meeting my Uncle Bob, Aunt Janice, Grandma Kurtz, Cousin Renay and husband Paul and little baby Madeline in Niagara Falls this weekend for a wonderful Mother's Day get together. Saturday at the Falls was spectacular -- we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was sunny, the perfect temperature, and hardly a cloud in the sky.

At first, I was a little anxious about driving all the way into Canada with just myself and the kids for the very first time and not having passports. The drive up was beautiful though -- we took a short cut that went along some rural highways and through a lot of beautiful country. It only took us about 3 1/2 hours door to door. Getting through customs was pretty simple really. She took my ID, our birth certificates, asked me a few questions, and we were on our way.

When we parked close to the Falls to meet up with everyone, I soon realized that I had to exchange some currency to pay for parking! It was the first time I've ever done anything like that and I found out that Canadian money is much cooler looking than U.S. money -- at least, in my opinion.;-)

The entire weekend was a feast for the eyes with all we saw. The tulips and flowering trees were in full bloom and you wouldn't believe the colors. Amazing! We also visited the very quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and that place was amazing too.

It was wonderful to spend time with family seeing all of those sights for the first time and I feel blessed that we were able to do that. A ton of thanks goes to my wonderful Uncle Bob and Aunt Janice for their generosity and kindness this weekend.

Here's a slideshow of some of the pictures!!

A Mother's Day Surprise

Greg's class entered a local contest in which they each had to write a story about their mom for Mother's Day. The stories were submitted to the company and they chose a winner. He only had one day to write his story since we had been in California and he missed a whole week of school. Regardless, Greg's story was chosen as the winner and because of that, I was delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers along with a copy of Greg's story. Below is a picture of me and Greg with the bouquet. His story will now be submitted in the national contest for a chance to win $25,000 and a new car! Wouldn't that be cool?! Below the picture is a typed version of his story.



My Caring Mother
by Greg Beck

My mom is the #1 caring mother in the world which feels like the universe. I feel this way because she is like a mother bird and I'm a baby bird and she is protecting me from the outside in the neverlasting land. She gives me food of healthy parts of the food chain so I can reach my goal I'm now proceeding in. She is a very trustworthy mom and never lies. Never before did she lie to me. She will not spoil me, which if she did, I would be a selfish little brat. That is why my mom is the number one caring mother in the whole world.
*isn't that SOOOO cute??!!!

Spelling Bee

This is a picture of Greg receiving his certificate after the Spelling Bee


The Athens School District puts on a Spelling Bee for local 3rd and 4th graders as preparation for the "official" Spelling Bee that 5th graders are given the opportunity to participate in (the one where they can go all the way to D.C.). The top 2 "spellers" in each 3rd and 4th grade class across the district are brought together for a Spelling Bee. Greg received the most points in his class after a series of mini spelling bees and was chosen to represent his class along with the second highest scoring student. The Spelling Bee for all the district classroom "champs" was last Wednesday. Out of 37 students, Greg came in 8th. His word was "longitude" and he missed the e on the end! He was so close! Had he spelled that word correctly, I'm positive he would have went on to be in the top 2 or 3. Below is a video clip of Greg spelling "frequently".

Back from Cali

We just returned from a week long trip back home to Northern California. The weather was beautiful and it was great to see family and friends. Below are a couple pictures from our trip and I've posted more on my Flickr. Tomorrow is back to work and the day to day grind of getting up at the crack of dawn. Ugh!

Taken on Table Mountain near Oroville, Ca.



A shot of Burney Falls

Jessica's 2nd Solo!

I have to give props to my daughter. Twice now she has stepped up and put herself on stage to pretty much blow our tops off with her singing. Tonight was the Talent Show for her Junior High. When Jessica initially told us she was going to perform, my first thought was...."Oh no...please don't!" This thought was spurred by my tragic remembrance of stage fright I encountered as a child and my own lack of self confidence. How does a child spawned of my (and Paul's) genetic make up get up there and just bust out singing without showing a hint of nerves??? There were 8 acts tonight and Jessica was, by far, the best talent up there on that stage. Our video clip isn't the best because Abbie was taking it on her camera and moving her arm around a lot. We also have it on digital video but I can't upload that to our computer without proper equipment. Jessica is a natural performer...it's in her blood...and God has blessed her with a beautiful voice. And now --- here she is --- Jessica Beck singing "Hey Jude" (by the Beatles) ---- our next AMERICAN IDOL! ;-)

Mama's Got A Brand New.....CAMERA!!

For those of you who know me well, you know that photography is a huge hobby of mine. Well, for two years now I have been hoping and waiting and wishing for a digital SLR so I can expand my options. For my birthday my husband selflessly bought me a Nikon D40x!!!!! I'm so stoked!

So today I decided to experiment with some portraits since I'm not too great with them. I bought some black fabric to use as a backdrop, and below are a few of the first portraits I took. Hopefully I'll improve as I learn more about my new camera.


I did a little playing around with this one in photoshop...as you can see.

Jessi's "pouty" side

Abbie's sweet side. And yes, her eyes really are this blue. No "editing". The quality on this one isn't as good for some reason... I think because I cropped it a lot.

He's Got Skills....Mad Basketball Skills!

So today was the culminating skills assessment for the winter basketball league. Below are some pictures and video of Greg from today. The exciting news is that he did awesome and scored in the top 5 out of 200+ 3rd and 4th graders from the valley!! He was so excited. ;-)




Greg during the dribbling skill assessment


Greg's commentary on the day.

Another Snow Day!!

I'm all for having days off, but really now....ANOTHER ONE? :-) A friend of mine forwarded the following poem and I found it quite fitting for the occasion. Enjoy!



Pennsylvania Winter Poem

It's winter in Pennsylvania
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.
Oh, how I love Pennsylvania
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Pennsylvania
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

Happy 14th Anniversary to Us!

February 19, 1994

Wow! We've made it 14 years...can you believe it?!! Happy Annivesary Paul. I love you!

Videos!

A mini blizzard we had earlier this week...




More blizzard video




Boone doing tricks!