Saturday, December 24, 2011

I thought this was pretty cool..........

Saturday, December 17, 2011

RCA's Christmas Program 2011

Addison's pre-program entertainment




Away in a Manger & Silent Night:




Deck the Halls:




Jocelyn signing "Praise to the King":




McKailyn's solo of "Christmas isn't Christmas":

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Addison's favorite phrases

3 year old Addison's new favorite phrases: "I in charge", "OK, this is the plan...."

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Jocelyn's surprise note to McKailyn

Jocelyn surprised McKailyn yesterday by putting this note in McKailyn's school snack:

Dear McKailyn,
I hope you have a great day have a fun one two!
You are a great sister and you are awesome.
You rock and you JAM!
From: Your sister Jocelyn

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

RCA's Veteran's Day program

Had a blast at the kids' Veterans program at school. The kids did a great job honoring those men and women who have/are serving to keep us free & safe. Then I was blessed to sit next to and hear stories from a gentleman who helped commission a submarine in 1944. He was a torpedo runner who actually bunked with torpedoes. Very humble and reflected all my gratitude to everyone else he served with..."there are many others" 
Enjoy the videos!


Jocelyn's Betsy Ross speech


Jocelyn's "If My People" dance



McKailyn's "I'm in the Lord's army", Psalm 33:12-22, and "God Bless America"

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Hockey, eh?


I have recently gone all-Canadian and joined the OVC staff and faculty hockey team 'Slapshotters'. It was a rough beginning, but I AM capable of skating.... just need to figure out how to stop without falling on my butt!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Jocelyn's fall soccer season



This was Jocelyn's fourth year playing soccer and had a great season. She played a combination of offense, defense and keeper. It's obvious that offense is her favorite position. As her coach for the first time, it was a joy to watch her develop throughout the season: in her confidence, her aggessivness, her skills, her teamwork and her leadership. I am very proud of her. At the end of the season I gave each girl a special award, to make it fair, the other coach decided on Jocelyn's award. She was given the "most heart/best spirit" award. I think it was a perfect for Jocelyn. Although there were other girls on the field who may have developed better skills already as a soccer player, she never backed down, never quit and always gave her best.

The team went undefeated in the round robin tournament. In three games, they only allowed two goals! But since we only scored 2 goals in one of those games, we fell one point shy of qualifying for the semi finals. This is the same team who lost the first three games of the season! It was amazing to see how much the girls improved throughout the season. On top of that, our Golden Eagles were awarded the league's top award, the "Sportsmanship Award". This award was voted on by all the officials who ranked the players, the coaches and the fans for each team after each game. As you can see below, every girl received a big trophy for this accomplishment (this trophy was twice the size of the first place trophy).

Brian




Jocelyn's October Family Report

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Videos from our trip to Santa Cruz, CA

Yeah, it's taken me forever, but below are videos from our trip to Santa Cruz, CA....I think most of them are from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk  Hopefully I will post some pics from this trip later this week.....













This last one scared me. Seriously. Jill thought it was a great idea, I did not not. You can see who won. I was so nervous I emptied my pockets, took off my sun glasses and hat, had one hand on the camera and one hand on the railing. I was ready to jump over the railing if Addi fell off this ride. I thought she was too small...if you listen close enough, you can even hear Jill tell me to not "make a face" (I guess I looked that scared)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

First Day of School 2011

First day of school for Jocelyn and McKailyn at RCA!
Jocelyn is entering 3rd grade and McKailyn 1st!!!




Monday, June 13, 2011

Jocelyn's end of Second grade award ceremony

Jocelyn did a great job in Second grade! Like McKailyn, she had to adjust to a new school and if you watch the videos below, she had to adjust to an entire new curriculum and teaching style as well!

Jocelyn and her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Parker

Jocelyn and her friend, Zera


Jocelyn and her friend, Mackenzie

Mrs. Parker mentions this in the below video, but Jocelyn had a tough time when the school year started, especially with having to learn Phonics and a new style of cursive hand writing. Through her tears of frustration, Jocelyn pressed on with extra homework and did exceptionally well. Jill & I are very proud of her for never giving up and always giving her best effort.

Jocelyn went from being very frustrated early in the year to being recognized as the second highest grade in the entire class. She missed 1st place by a tenth of a point!!! We are so proud.

Jocelyn received a special discipline award since she was the only kid in second grade who didn't get their name written on the board all year! Before the video started, Mrs. Parker mentions that she usually doesn't give out this award, because normally there isn't a student w/o their name on the board all year. It was also very neat because Mrs. Parker paused before saying Jocelyn's name and then all the other students yelled out Jocelyn's name and were very happy for her.

Friday, June 10, 2011

McKailyn's Kindergarten Graduation

McKailyn did incredible in Kindergarten this year, but of course we knew she would! We are very proud of her, especially with starting at a new school, she did exceptionally well in her learning, never "changed her color" for disciplinary reasons and was also one of only two students who had perfect attendance all year!!



Jill also got recognized for being one of the parents who helped out extra in the classroom throughout the year.
 You'll have to watch the videos below to understand this one.....

McKailyn and one of her best friends Avary


The "silly face" pic is mandatory....


The "football" drill...

"I am a Promise"

McKailyn's "Did you Know...."

Avary and McKailyn receiving their diploma

"God's on the Move"

Monday, May 23, 2011

Steph visits Guelph

Steph came to visit me in Guelph, which was excellent and we had a great time. Although we did a lot of fun things such as hiking the gorge, I only remembered my camera for our trip to the 'Kissing Bridge' near Guelph. Built in 1881, the Kissing Bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in Ontario.




Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Videos of my girls

In case anyone has been wondering, the western tier of the Schuckman girls is alive and well.....and I have videos to prove it! As far as a quick update, McKailyn is getting over pink eye this weekend and potty training is going very well with Addison. It's been several days since she's had an accident and is getting very good at telling us when she has to go. As you can imagine, this is making Jill very happy. Of course, she should get the credit for being such a great mom.





Jocelyn practicing for her school Easter program


McKailyn & Jocelyn lip syncing to the Chipmunk's version Justin Bieber



And the best for last...my cowgirl (attempting) to ride a mechanical bull. The funny thing is that she did better than me, but I was smart enough to not let her video my lame attempt :-)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Nick's Hall of Fame ceremony

Nick's high school athletic career on the Varsity level actually began in two sports during his freshman year. Over the course of this first season in the wrestling program, he was able to produce a memorable (2-8) record against Varsity competition. He followed that performance in the spring, as he served as a Co-Captain on the first ever men's Volleyball team.

As a sophomore, he played a key role on the varsity football team. He saw action as a two-way performer at both Offensive Center and Defensive End.

When the Wrestling season got underway, he welcomed the opportunity to put to use the "lessons learned" during the previous season. His results would clearly illustrate that he had learned his lessons well. An overall record of (21-9) included a fourth place finish in the GCL. The placement earned him First Team GCL (North) All Star recognition. He was a Champion at the Sycamore Invitational. He was also a Sectional Chamption.

That spring, Nick abandoned Volleyball to pursue the outdoor option of Track & Field. He predictably tried his hand at the Shot-Put and Discus.

His junior season in Football saw Nick continue to build upon the success he had established the previous season. He was an equally effective force on either side of the ball both in his performance and his leadership. He received numerous honors in both the GCL and the All City All Star balloting.

The dominance of this fine athlete's efforts proved to be even more dramatic under the watchful eyes of Coach Meinking throughout the Wrestling season. His third varsity season produced an overall record of 36-4. He claimed individual weight class championships at the Coach's Classic, the Sycamore Invitational (his second in a row), the Carrol Patriot Invitational and most importantly the GCL Championships. He was rewarded for his performance in the GCL by being named to the First Team ALL GCL North All Star Unit. He was also named as the GCL North CoWrestler of the Year.

During the State Championship sequence, Nick placed 2nd @ the Sectional, 3rd @ Districts and 5th @ State. The Post named him as its Division II "Wrestler of the Year".

As impressive as the credentials are for his junior year, the resume' following his final year is even more so. In Football, Nick earned First Team All City recognition from both newspapers. He was First Team All GCL North, First Team All District and Honorable Mention All State.

When any athlete has achieved the types of goals that Nick did during his junior year in Wrestling, it is extremely challenging to duplicate that feat as a senior. This young man relished the chance and turned in a remarkable final season. Serving as a team captain, he led by example, as he turned in a record of 38-5. He repeated as the individual champion as the Coaches Classic, Sycamore Invitational and in the GCL Championship. Once again, he was a First team all GCL honoree. This time, he was named as the outright GCL North Wrestler of the Year.

He began the State Tournament by winning the Sectional for the second time in three years. At the District, he finished as a runner up for a second consecutive year. In the final match of his high school career, Nick placed 6th at the State Championships.

Upon graduation from Purcell Marian, he accepted a grant in aid offer to play football at Wittenberg University. There he placed two years, receiving All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors as a center as a sophomore.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Heard around the Schuckman house...

Addison turns three next month, so Jill & I have been trying to lead her towards using the toilet instead of her diapers. Friday night while getting the girls ready for bed, Addison walked up to Jill and said, "You give me one dollar and I go on potty." We made her repeat herself, afterwards we weren't sure if we should be proud or concerned.
After playing in the snow for a while today, the girls asked for hot chocolate. We didn't have any left so McKailyn asked for bacon. Makes sense. Sort of. Not really. Oh well, she was happy. 
Jocelyn is turning into quite the inquisitive young lady. No matter where Jocelyn is, whenever Jill and I have a conversation among the two of us, Jocelyn magically appears and starts asking questions...."what does that mean?", "why do you think that dad?", "so what you are saying is....", "are you sure mom?" etc...... I find it funny.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Archived Schuckman pics

All the Schuckman cousins at Grandma Schucky's for Easter approx mid 80's??

Brian and Nick March 1979, 13 seconds after this picture was taken I punched Nick in the face and then he tried to bite my ear off.......and that's how it all began :-)



Maggie & I doing our best Steven Tyler impersonation...which also happens to be the last time we agreed on anything :-)

Laura's letter to me before her trip to Mexico (8th grade? 1997? 1998?). Proving that I am of superior intelligence ("Dear Brain") and that I'm the best big brother. Ever.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Addison is awesome

Addison: "Watch me daddy!" as she jumps up and down
Me: "Wow! You are great at jumping!"
Addison: "I awesome"