Harvest season is coming to end as only a handful of farmers still have crops standing in the fields. It really opens up the landscape as we travel to and from work now. The trees are really turning and are quite a site to see with all the yellow, orange and red hues. Falling leaves are starting to stack up in the yards, we had our first freeze warnings of the season and it was dark each night by 7:30. I know I’ve said it before, but this is the best time of the year me. The kids enjoyed their second and final week of Fall Break. Abby wrapped up her Pirateers football dances and Luke wrapped up his youth football career this week. Ann continued to hobble around on her repaired knee and I coached my final football game – and quite possibly the final game period of my life. And Matthew surprised us by coming home to make everything right in our little corner of the world. Hello again; and welcome back to yet another installment of the Scheu Family Blog.
Ann and I took Monday off to see Dad & Lynn off and to do our weekly household chores. Megan got up early and headed home after staying the night with Abby again. Luke came back from staying the night at Alex’s house early that morning. Dad & Lynn headed off to continue their journey. They are next headed to Vird & Belinda’s in Indy and Sharon’s in Kokomo before going south to Missouri. Abby did not have jazz class due Fall Break. Luke’s football practice was also cancelled but it was due to a severe thunderstorm. Abby went out with Noah and his family for dinner to celebrate his birthday.
Tuesday was a long day. It was Ann & I’s first day back to work. Abby had Pirateers practice while Luke went to Gma’s house. Luke’s football practice was about a waste as we had six kids on the field. I’m really questioning whether we should even be out here. Only a couple kids are even into practicing at this stage and the others just want to jack around…and who can blame them – it seems everyone else has quit. Without practice, how can we possibly hope to win this weekend? Megan came over again to stay the night with Bu. The girls helped Ann to make dinner – a “gourmet??? dinner, according to Megan! :0) We caught up on our DVR’ed Simpsons episodes and even watched some of the Democratic debate. I know he wasn’t popular, but I really like that Jim Webb. Ann wasn’t impressed with any of them – big surprise… We have more social media pictures to share this week: Abby; Bu & friends; Nate & Steph; Homer jack-o-lantern pattern; Aunt Brenda with her girls; Bu and friends; Bryan on the beach; Jack; Reese; Charlie; Ol’ FC; new Simpson’s HW car; HR Pufnstuf is coming back to TV (!); more of the Page girls; Nathan has a big day coming up; and finally Ms. Megan.
Abby had Pirateers again on Wednesday evening and Luke got to spend time with Memaw. Luke & I mowed when we got home. Ann’s knee continues to remain swollen and sore all the time. Megan & Noah both came over that night to hang out with Bu and play Guitar Hero in the family room.
I left work sick on Thursday for the first time in a long time…that is without ending up in the hospital! After getting sick a couple times I felt much better and enjoyed some couch time back at the house. Coach Mary picked up Luke for me and the boys were able to practice with the 5th graders (thanks to Chris & Jon) because Bryan was in FL, Bob was in DC and I was on the couch. We again had just a handful of kids but Mary said she can recruit enough to play on Saturday if we want to finish the season. Grudgingly, we accepted although half of our team will not have practiced in over two weeks by the time we play the game this weekend. Luke said it was a great practice, so I was encouraged by that and thought we might be able to pull off a miracle in the first game of the tourney. Ann picked up Luke and took Bu to tap class at Dixon. Afterwards, Abby & I watched the new American Horror Story which is a little racy and gory all at the same time.
Ann went back to the doctor for her knee on Friday. It was Senior Night for Noah & the Pirates. Abby & the Pirateers danced before the game and again at halftime. It was a brisk night. Ann and I are old pros at this though and we were plenty warm – especially when five of the Pirateers all piled on top of Ann to keep warm! Matt surprised us, showing up at the game. We had hoped he would be there but never did hear confirmation. He began his Fall Break and is off until Wednesday of next week. Bryan was not able to make it back from Destin in time for us to do stats, so I sat with Annie and Matt. Mom O joined us as did Matt’s old buddies Colton, Andy and Jake. Despite the frosty conditions, the Pirates won big time, smashing Rushville 54-7. Noah got to talk on the radio (WTRE) after the game. Next we all went out for dinner at Buffalo Wings & Rings to celebrate. It was the final football game of the year where the Pirateers will perform. They will now have a short break before they really ramp up to dance at several of the boys and girls basketball games over the winter.
We were up fairly early on Saturday morning as we got ready for Luke’s first tourney game. Luke & I rode to the game with Bryan & Drew and later Ann brought Abby, Matt & Noah to cheer on the 6th grade Pirates football team. We drew the worst team in the league, South Dearborn and played them in Brookville at Franklin County High School. The field was in pretty good condition. It was in the 30s when we got to the game. We actually had 11 of the 6th graders show up for the game – the first time in over a month, I believe. Many of the boys have not been to practice in two or more weeks – and these are the boys that need to practice. The game quickly got out of hand as they had a big kickoff return, and scored within just a few plays. We did nothing on offense and they came right down and scored again. This scenario would be repeated time and time again over the course of the game. We were quickly in to the mercy rule, even though there really isn’t supposed to be one in the tourney. The offense gained a total of about 15 yards. There was no blocking which meant our backs could do nothing. We had a couple of decent plays but mostly went backwards. We did not have Coach Nobbe, our offensive coordinator but honestly I don’t know how much it would’ve helped. Drew called the plays on offense. And Luke called the plays on defense for us. The defense set a new record again, this time giving up 40 points – our worst outing yet. Not really the record I was looking for on what will be my final game of coaching football. But maybe it’s a sign that it’s time to get out. It also turned out to be Luke’s final youth football game. It was a really tough year and this game summed it up as we laid a massive egg, losing 0-40 and ended our season 1-8. Luke was the captain for the coin toss before the game, winning the flip and deferring to the 2nd half. He had only one kickoff. It went 40 yards to open the game. He played fullback, tight end, center (for shot gun formations), kicker, linebacker and defensive end. He ran the ball 4 times for 8 yards. He caught 1 pass out of the 2 thrown to him for just 1 yard. He ran back 2 kickoffs for 30 yards. He had 13 tackles to lead the defense. The boys turned in their uniforms and equipment after the game, which really made it sink in that it was over. Bryan & I had a good run, but as I’ve noted in the past – this isn’t a football town and the league doesn’t have a lot of support. We took the kids out to El Reparo there in Brookville after the game. It was not our finest dining experience and I doubt that we will return anytime soon. We came home afterwards and while Ann and the big kids napped, Luke & I worked outside winterizing the vehicles and the house. We were pretty pooped afterwards and got cleaned up and took our own naps. Ann cooked a couple sides and we went to the Messers for dinner where Bryan cooked steaks and chicken on the grill. It was a wonderful meal. We had a couple drinks and visited while we played Cards Against Humanity. It was just OK. I think we were all tired. Abby & Noah joined us out there after their date. We called it a fairly early evening, especially considering what time we normally leave their abode and slept like rocks.
We enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday morning. We did our weekly household chores and watched football & racing. Ann cooked a great pork roast on the grill for lunch. Matt went back to school. Luke had basketball practice. Noah took Abby out for an ice cream dinner. Our Colts played the evil Patriots in primetime that night. And the kids got to bed at a decent time as they prepared to return to school for the first time in a couple weeks…
Next up we have our Waybac section which continues to feature our first six photo albums of our young family and features a few new ones of Mom. We lead off this time in March of 1996 at CRH for the birth of our first child along with Grandpa B, Daddy and Uncle Paul; then more pix from our first Grandparent’s Day in Columbus with both Grandma O and Grandma B in September 1996; next is Matt’s first birthday in Columbus with Grandma and Grandpa B in March 1997; next we go to Indy for Matt’s first circus at Market Square Arena in October 1997; then on to Greensburg in March 1998 for Matt’s second birthday; and then riding rides on the midway at the Decatur Co fair in July 1998.
Our final segment is our videos which feature two new family movies and several from around the internet.
And that puts the kibosh on this episode of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks 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