It was another fast week here at the Scheu abode. Luke had a couple basketball games. Abby had a dance performance. Matt worked all week, but as long as he was home, all was right in the world. And Ann & I enjoyed listening to Christmas music in the car and at home while we worked hard to facilitate another successful Christmas. Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
The kids enjoyed a 2-hour delay for school as Ann & I headed back to work. As it turned out, the roads were fine. Tonya acted up again with frozen doors but we finally got it figured out and got the right mix. It was a cold day that stayed in the teens. Abby had Pirateers after school. Matt enjoyed a rare day off. He got his haircut in Columbus and went out to lunch with Ann. Luke & I left work and drove to Seymour where the officiating was questionable and the scorekeeping was awful. Despite the snafu at the half (we got “homered??? by the scorekeeper who got the points wrong). The boys came ready to play in the first half after an 11-day layoff. They had a good lead at the half but the refs refused to call fouls against the home team in the 2nd half and the Owls crept back in to the game and tied us to force OT. It was a close game up to the end when Brenden hit a last-second bucket to win the game, 43-41! Luke’s stats: 1-4 from the field and 1-2 from the stripe for 3 points. He also had 1 rebound, 1 steal & 5 fouls. We came home and I uploaded the video to Hudl and fell asleep by halftime of the MNF game.
Tuesday was another cold day that never got above freezing. Abby enjoyed a Christmas dinner with her BFFs Megan & Brooke at Mallory’s house. Luke had another basketball game, this time at South Decatur. The officiating was questionable again in 1st half which allowed them to open up a sizeable lead but our boys fought back after Coach got his 1st tech of the year and they tied it up at the half. The refs turned out to not be properly credentialed and instead were the football coach and a teacher. However, the boys got it together and pulled away in the 2nd half, allowing the reserves to get some playing time at the end of the game. The team coasted to a 40 – 30 win. Luke stats: 0-2 from field with no points & a pair of turnovers. He had 5 boards, a steal, a couple blocks, forced a turnover and had 5 fouls again. Abby studied for finals despite the girls coming over for a little while. Matt returned to work and won’t see a day off for another 8 days. I got the video uploaded to Hudl once we got home and I again fell asleep early on the couch.
The Winter Solstice (shortest day of the year & official start of winter) was on Wednesday. It was the 3rd day in a row of defrosting the cars before work and school. It was also the last day of school for kids as their first semester came to and end and they won’t head back until 2017. I walked 3 miles after work on a cool day that topped off at about 40. Luke had the day off from basketball. Abby had Pirateers after school. Ann made BBQ chicken for dinner. Abby went out with Megan to see Randall & Shay. Matt came home only long enough to shower before heading out with his friends. When Luke turned in early, it was a quiet evening for Ann & I.
The kids enjoyed their first day of vacation. Ann & I got up early to head in to work. Luke had basketball practice. Matt worked at the nursing home. Abby went out adventuring with Megan & Brooke and then later had a Pirateers dance performance at the girls’ basketball game vs. North Decatur where her friend Olivia played. They performed her Christmas routine at halftime again and the girls looked really good. It might be my new favorite performance. During the game, Kyra Whitaker scored her 1000th point of her career. It was only the 5th time in school history! The girls went out with Randall for dinner at Chili’s after the game while I headed to the Sunken Boat Bar for a “coaches meeting.??? While we were watching the NFL game we had Abby, Megan, Randall & Shay stop in for a little while as they were out running around. Luke stayed the night at Tyler’s house and Matt went to bed early, wiped-out from a long day at work.
Friday was the last day of work for Ann & I until next year. We took off after a half day. It was overcast and yucky all day. Matt worked and then went out with friends. Abby went on another adventure with Megan & Brooke and then had them over to bake cookies with Ann. Later she went out with Randall to a couples Christmas party out in the boondocks till late. Luke got back from Tyler’s house then went to basketball practice. Ann began wrapping presents for tomorrow night and I watched a couple bowl games and took a nap. We have several new social media pictures to share:
Saturday was Christmas Eve. It rained all day, making what was left of our snow disappear. The boys & I were up early to eat breakfast at Stacks with the wrestling team (now that Trackside Café is closed, we had to find a new place) then went with them to the K of C’s for Cheer Fund, loading cars in the rain. Later, Matt & Abby worked while Ann baked and cooked all day and I watched more football. That night we had dinner at Gma & Gigi’s house where we had ham, summer sausage, Gigi’s sausage balls, Jamie’s beanies & weenies, Mom’s homemade mac & cheese, Ann’s olive dip, and lots of other snack-y stuff. We waited on Matt to get off work while we watched football. The Colts were eliminated from the playoffs. We eventually got to open presents once Matt got over there. We had a lot of fun as usual and laughed and laughed before coming home and doing our traditional stuff. We again did not sprinkle reindeer dust again this year but the kids did get new Christmas jammies. We read ‘The Night Before Christmas’ and set out cookies & milk and cheese & Santa Coke in preparation for Santa’s arrival. Afterwards we sent the kids to bed while Ann & I listened to Christmas music and helped Santa until late into the night. Although the videos for Christmas Eve and Day are below, I didn’t have time to edit pictures, so those will be shared next week. Here are some random pictures from this week.
Christmas morning came early on Sunday. It rained on and off all day on an overcast afternoon. It was warmer but just yucky all day. Luke was up way too early and was made to go back to bed. I think I was the last one up this year. We got up and opened presents for an hour or so then played with all our new stuff and missed the Christmas parade on TV. Matt had to go in to work at the old folks’ home. Meanwhile the rest of us got ready and headed over to Gma & Gigi’s for lunch. Matt had come over earlier, before he went in to work. We had a grand feast as always: turkey, ham, noodles, mashed potatoes, dressing, cream corn casserole, baked beans, green bean casserole and lots of other stuff and of course a couple pies, a pumpkin roll and a ton of cookies. We watched basketball games and took naps before coming home where we had even more naps, cleaned up the house a little and watched Christmas movies: A Christmas Story, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer and Elf. Luke & I shot his new Valken AEG air soft gun. Favorite presents this year were: air soft gun (Luke), shoes (Abby), phone (Matt), jewelry (Ann) and camera (me). Abby went to Randall’s house to spend some Christmas time with his mom. Abby & Randall ran over to Mom & Sandy’s to get leftovers for dinner. When Matt got home, we played a new game called “Watch Ya Mouth??? and some euchre while enjoying a couple beverages of holiday cheer. Matt went out with his buddies later and Luke & I raced his new Hot Wheels AI cars. Randall ended up staying the night us and we all fell asleep watching Christmas movies on the big screen.
Next up is our Waybac section which continues to feature our second 6 photo albums which highlights our time in the Main St house. We lead off with more pictures of Christmas Day on Main St in December 1998; then up to Rossville to see Mom & Dad before hopping on a jet for Florida in May 1999; next we have Matt & I at the Sand Pebble pool in May 1999; then back to Main St for Christmas in December 1999; Abby & Matt in March 2000; Abby at Bob & Jackie’s house in May 2000; Abby in the Main St home in June 2000; then Matt at the “new??? YMCA: t-ball in June 2000 and soccer in September 2000; Abby with Matt in the Main St home again in October 2000; Christmas Day on Main St in December 2000; and finally the Pirate Cruise in May 2001, I think…
Last up is our video section which features ten new family home movies as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s episode of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up with you again next time. Until then, have a good one. We miss ya, Mom. Merry Christmas…
Later, Scheu
Great to see all the pictures and holiday cheer! So glad you have kept the blog going! I always try to set aside time each week to keep up with the happenings with the Scheu abode. Love you and so much and miss you.