It Feels Like the Very First Time

Another week has blurred past us already. This was the last full week of summer, as school will start next week. The kids enjoyed their last hurrah and I think it was one of the best summers ever! I received a call from the soccer board, stating Abby’s soccer coach had quit the team and they basically had no one to replace her. I told them that I would do my best, but the same reasons that kept me from saying yes the first time still remained – I can’t commit to being with that team every practice and every game due to the other two kids also being involved in sports this fall. So, another couple Dads and I will try to pick up the pieces and move forward.
On Monday night, Luke had soccer practice. Abby & I both helped to facilitate their practice and got a good warm-up for her practice, which followed Lukey’s. Directly after Luke’s practice ended, we started up Abby’s; which was interesting, since we had no equipment (the previous coach hadn’t turned it in). But, we made due and had fun in the process. We were pretty pooped afterward and came home and jumped in the pool to relax and cool off…Ann stayed home with the kids on both Monday and Tuesday, as Brandy (our sitter) was gone on a vacation.
Tuesday brought dense fog and heavy storms…as well as our only night off this week. Matt got out of practice early as well, due to the weather. He is really enjoying football this year. He is the starting center and has been working on longer snaps to allow for shotgun formations on the offense. Our sitter was supposed to be back on Wednesday, but ran into some kind of trouble with a bear; supposedly…that’s what the kids are telling me anyhow. MaryAnn came over and watched the kids during the day and Luke & I mowed over at her house that night. On Thursday night, we were back at the soccer fields for Lukey. He has already learned so much in only a couple practices. He is coming along as a good little goalie and is faster than the other kids on the field. On Friday, I said goodbye to my friend Dennis at work, who came back from his corporate position to help me out all this week (it was a huge benefit for me and our department!). Ann and her girls from work held “Beer & Boobies Day!” 🙂 They close the office at noon on Fridays (rough, huh?) and went to The Garage Pub for a few brewskis and then all went for mammograms! 😛 That night, we had Abby’s practice and I explained to the parents what was going on, handed out uniforms and schedules and did a lot of running with the kids.
On Saturday, we had a great day! Luke led us off with his first soccer game ever. He was so cute out there and looked so small in his little uniform. The assistant coaches didn’t show up for the pre-game festivities and as the head coach was busy trying to get things set up for the game, the kids started to fight and fuss during warm-ups! So, I ran out and got them organized until he was ready to get them lined up for the game. Lukey started at goalie the first quarter, forward the second quarter, defense the thrid quarter and then midfielder the rest of the game. He stopped the only ball that was shot at him and learned more during this hour-long game than he had the previous 6 years of his life. I really think he’ll have a good season. However, they still lost 3-1.

Ann left the game at halftime to go over to Matt’s football game at the high school. He played Milan in a practice game. Naturally, he played center the entire game, but he was really hoping to get in on defense for at least a few plays…but it didn’t come about in this game. I told him to keep working hard and his time will come…it’ll be a long season. On this day, they won 28-0! One of Milan’s kids bit one of Matt’s teammate’s fingers! Matt also got a thumb to the eye, causing a nasty little mouse and the makings of a black eye on his right side…

Matt & Ann came back in time to catch the second half of Abby’s game, where we were playing a whale of a game. We have a very interesting team. We have some scrappy little kids – a couple really good players – but mostly just a bunch of kids that want to have a good time…and I was very proud of the way they played. It was very hot and humid during all the games today and the sun was extremely warm. We only had one sub for Abby’s team, so we rotated them in every 3 minutes to try and give those that need one, a break. Abby’s team looked really good, winning 3-0. I called off the hounds in the final quarter, only having two players on the forward side of the field and allowing a kid who shouldn’t been between the pipes his moment in the sun. It will likely be his last appearance, but this day he was king of the mountain…you should’ve seen him smiling! It was all worth it to see his face beam when I told him to get the jersey on. That is the philosophy I shared with the kids just before we started the game…I told them, “I don’t care if we win, I want them to have fun, smile and not give up during the whole game. They didn’t disappoint. I told Bu after the game that she played harder and better during this game than she did the entire last season. In fact, we almost told her she couldn’t play this year because of the lack of effort put forth last season. She had one shot on goal, but kept her spacing well and passed the ball just like we practiced. She played very well on defense and stopped the only ball that came her way while goalie. Sandy let us bring home her memory card and pull off several pictures – not only from today, but from the previous month or so…thanks Gigi!

Afterward, we took the kids out to Wings & Rings and came home to cool down. We were wet with sweat due to the heat. By the time it was cool enough to go outside and work, Grandmaw & Gigi called to have Matt & I come over and help her sort through and move all the boxes we had moved delivered for Deanna a couple weeks back. We worked over there and got most of it straightened out, leaving well after dark and four hours later. We came home, showered, ate and passed out on the couch!
On Sunday, we were asked to come back over and finish up the job. We moved the rest of the boxes either to a dumpster, to Dee Dee’s house or down in Mom’s basement. We spent a few hours over there again, but took time to catch the last part of the Michigan race. We were rooting for Vickers to run out of fuel and allow either Jeff or Junior to win…but not today. I was just happy the damn race didn’t get rained out this week like the previous two.
I have a few Waybac pictures to share with you. The first one is from 1970 and is a picture that Luke swears is of him! 😛

This second is from 1979; my friend and I are riding the newest, longest and highest wooden roller coaster in the world (at the time) – Colossus! …at Magic Mountain.

Here are a couple from 1982, right here in Greensburg. Both are from Ann’s childhood home on Main St. The first is of her and Grandma Owens in their kitchen. The second is of Deanna, upstairs in her room.

Next is a picture of Drake, Pat, Geno and myself at Clifty Creek Park in 1992.

Here are a couple more pictures from our trip to Mom & Dad’s condo in Treasure Island in August of 1994 at the Sand Pebble.

And wrapping it up the Waybac for this week, we have a couple from Gigi’s camera. These were taken last week while they were in Buffalo with Keith, Rosie & Megan. They went to some sort of Corn Fest; which was similar to a county fair, like what we might have here in Indiana, but with corn instead of animals…I particularly love the last one…:-P

Finally, we have a bunch of clips from Saturday’s soccer games, including highlights from Lukey’s first soccer game (ever!) as well as a few short movies that highlight Abby’s first game of the year. This won’t show up on Facebook, so if you’re reading this over there, you’ll have to come to website to see the videos I upload on U-tube. Mom, I hope you finish up with your interior restoration soon. Can’t wait to see it!!

Well, that’s it for this week. Thanks for keeping up with us this week and we’ll catch up with you next time. Until then, have a good one. Later, Scheu