We’ve enjoyed a cold, short holiday week. Smells help to define this time of year for us: the smell of burning leaves during the commute to and from work, the smell of burning logs in the neighborhood, the smell of homemade food in the house… We enjoyed another Thanksgiving with the Owens family and put up the Christmas tree this week. Luke had a big basketball game and then finally had a little time off. Abby focused much of her time on dance and even got in some community service. Ann & I continued to fight off some sort of bug, coughing and blowing our noses constantly. I got in a few miles of walking, including my first 10K as I continue to build up towards my goal of a half marathon in 2017. But it was Matt who learned the biggest lesson this week. Ya know, the best thing about this time of year is that we enjoy an abundance of quality family time, which Ann and I cherish more than just about anything else at this point in our lives… Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
Monday was cold, starting off in the 20’s and causing us to defrost the cars before heading back to work & school. I walked 2 miles after work. Abby had Pirateers practice then went on to a Pirateers team dinner. Luke had his fourth basketball home game in a row. Gma & Gigi joined us to watch the 7th grade Pirates face a very good Connersville team. Luke started at center and played nearly the entire game, scoring 3 points with 3 fouls, a bunch of rebounds, good hustle for loose balls and a devastating pick that sent the boy flying in to the first row and into Maryann’s lap! We were down a starter, as Brendan was still nursing his knee he hurt last game. The boys played tough as the game went back and forth, but when Collin fouled out in the last moments of regulation, we knew it would be tough to pull this one out. But it was the old adage again – the next man up! And those Cardiac Kids sent the game in to overtime where they gradually pulled away and won, 37-34 – wow! Their record now stands at 3-1. Luke’s stats: 1-3 FG, 1-3 FT for 3 points. 1 TO forced, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. I came home and uploaded the game film to Hudl for the coaches and players while watching the MNF game in Mexico and promptly fell asleep by halftime.
Tuesday was the last day of school this week for the kids. I walked 3 miles after work on a cool day that started at 30° and only got up into the 40s. Randall came over and went with us to the boys’ home opening basketball game vs. North Decatur. Abby and her Pirateers danced and the girls looked great. Several people approached us afterwards and commented about how good the team looks this year already. Luke went home with Tyler after the game and stayed the night. Abby went out on a dinner date with Randall then came home late and stayed up talking to Ann until the wee hours of the morning.
Bu & Luke enjoyed sleeping in on Wednesday as they began their Thanksgiving Break. Matt was back from school by the time Ann & I got home. We took a half day to start off the long weekend right. I invited Matt to come walk with me on my first 10K in the cold wind and rain. I definitely didn’t dress appropriately as I was badly chafed by the time I got home – and completely soaked. Lukey went with Tyler and Grayson to the YMCA to play basketball before coming home. He had the day off from basketball practice. Abby had Pirateers practice then went to lunch in Columbus with the West’s before coming home for a catnap. It wasn’t long before she headed right back out with Randall to jazz class and then ended up running around with her BFFs – Megan, Brittney & Brooke. Megan & Brit ended up staying the night with us. I feel so old – it’s weird to see all four of those girls driving now! Matt turned me down on my walk in order to attend wresting practice. Turns out he should’ve come with me. He was having a great time and ended up climbing a rope which was fine…it was the coming down where he didn’t do too well. Having never been all the way up the rope before, he had no idea how to get down safely and panicked. He came down too fast, burning his hands badly. After a brief discussion, we ended up taking him out to Urgent Care to have his hands treated. They’re bandaged heavily to the point where he can barely type on his phone/laptop and there’s no way he could work, since he has to use his hands the whole time. Thankfully, he was able to find replacements for this weekend…poor kid. Ann had planned to make dinner but we wound up ordering Pizza King instead and enjoyed watching Purdue win the championship game at the Cancun Challenge. Luke & I crashed out early while Matt & Ann stayed up talking with the girls until late. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week: Abs; Luke; Smith fam; old buddy Brian; Cathy & Tom in Mexico; Bu and friends; Bu; Baili; Vinatieri’s streak is over; Metallica’s new album rocks; Simpsons marathon this weekend was very cool; our favorite Thanksgiving show; Jimmy Johnson won #7; a cool Columbus article; Allen & family in Bahamas and how ‘bout them Cowboys?!
We enjoyed sleeping in a little on Thanksgiving morning. Ann & Gigi made their traditional trek to Rural King for some shopping and then over to Mom’s to “help??? check the dressing and noodles. Meanwhile the kids & I watched the 90th annual Macy’s parade on TV as well as A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Abby volunteered as part of National Honor Society at the Methodist Church that morning, serving lunches to less-fortunate citizens. We met up for our traditional lunch at Mom & Sandy’s with family and football. This year we had Memaw & Gigi; Ann, I and the kids, Dee, Jamie & Grace, Dave & Linda and Grandpa Joe. We enjoyed an amazing spread as always – turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, noodles, dressing, sweet potatoes, baked beans, green bean casserole, rolls, stuffed olives, three different pies, cookies, a cake, and more stuff that I can’t remember now! During the Lions game, Sandy held her annual Bingo tournament with lots of cool prizes. We were having a very nice good time when I was pulled away to work on an emergency situation at the facility and ended up having to go home early to use my computer. Ann and the kids weren’t far behind me, coming home to nap and eventually watch the Cowboys game with me. Both the Lions and the Cowboys won, so all was right with the world. Dallas looked great against the Redskins. Luke & I played a little football in the front yard, despite it being pitch black. We came inside to watch the last game, which had the Colts playing at home. Unfortunately Luck was out with a concussion and Indy got thumped. We sent the kids over to pick up leftovers for dinner as we always do. This year it was Megan and Abby who made the food run for us and I enjoyed a delicious, cold turkey sandwich…something I would take advantage of all weekend.
Ann was up early and out the door on Black Friday with Amy again this year. They again enjoyed dressing up and got several compliments. They didn’t get back until after dark, but they seem to get home earlier each year. It looked like it was dusk all day. We never did see the sun that day – it was very drab. Abby got up and went out shopping with Kuyhlia and later went out with Randall. Luke & I did a little HW hunting in the area, ending up in Greenwood where the people and traffic were crazy. We eventually gave up due to the stupidity and just came home. We did have some success, finding a couple Treasure Hunts! Matt took it easy all day due to getting in at 430 this morning after a long night of shopping. That night we watched the movie Creed before he went out with the boys. Bu came home with Randall and we watched the Santa Clause, although I’m not sure how much she actually saw of it…
It was another early morning on Saturday. Ann ended up sleeping out in the living room after being up and down all night. Abby was out the door before daylight for Pirateers and later worked at BWR until late. In between, we ran her car to Gma’s so she could swap out with the Crossfire while we get her exhaust looked at on Monday. We visited with Memaw for a while before coming home to get the Christmas tree and decorations out of the garage. I made the best Bloody Mary today. I’ve had better, but not that I’ve made before. It helped to take the cussing out of setting up the tree! Luke had basketball practice. Matt was off work due to his burnt hands and Ann took him to his follow-up appointment at Urgent Care. Bu and I set up the tree and got it fluffed and lit while the others were out doing their stuff. Later, we watched the Boilers lose the Old Oaken Bucket game for the 4th year in a row while listening to our Christmas mix and decorating the tree. Abby put up the first ornament this year, Luke put up the “ugly orange ball??? and Matt got to hang the last ornament. We watched a few movies. Matt went out with the boys. Ann baked her yummy jalapeno popper dip and picked up ingredients for Chex Mix! Here are some random pictures from this week’s events.
We finally got to sleep in on Sunday morning. Abby had to work at Wings & Rings all day until late that night. Matt was off work again due to his hands. Luke cleaned his room all day so that he could put up a Christmas tree. Ann napped all day and later made a bunch of Chex Mix. She offered to make Matt a special dinner for him before he heads back to school, but he wouldn’t tell her what, so she just made popcorn. We watched football all day took it easy. The tree looks great this year. We eventually got in to gear and performed out weekly household chores before getting ready to head back to a full week of work and school tomorrow. Matt stayed the night and will plans to have breakfast with Gma before heading back up to U Indy. It was a nice, relaxing day and a great way to wrap up this special week.
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature our second six photo albums of our young family, which focuses on the turn of the century in the big, Main Street home. We lead off this week with an old photo that Ann found of downtown Greensburg, circa 1950s; next we have scenes from Christmas Eve at Gma & Gigi’s house in Ryle Addition in December 1998; next Easter at hour home in April 1999; then down to Walt Disney World for Dinner with Pooh at the Wilderness Lodge in May 1999; then Christmastime in December 1999 – first at our house on Christmas Day and then meeting Santa at WTRE; then we head back down to Florida to visit Bob & Jackie in May 2000; next we head out to the YMCA for Matt’s t-ball game in June 2000; then we see all the fun at our home during Bu’s first birthday party in September 2000; then back to the Y for Matt’s soccer game (looks like Mamaw & Papaw Scheu came as well!); then Christmastime at our home again – this time in December 2000 where we have our traditional Mom & Dad sleeping photo then Christmas morning as crazy as ever!; and finally a special photo of our trip to WDW in Orlando in May 2004 where we met up with Keith, Rosie & Megan.
Next up is our video segment which includes six new family movies as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for our entry this week in the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks as always for keeping up with us this week and we’ll catch up with you again next time. Until then, have a good one. We miss ya Mom.
Later, Scheu