Geez; and I thought last week was busy This week picked right up where last week left off. The first batch of pictures this week are leftovers from last week. Theres a couple Gigi gave me of Mom O with their friend Susan (who will hopefully be Abbys teacher next year!) out at their new house on her paddle boat. The next couple are Gigi with Bucky Beaver at the annual WTRE Home & Garden show at the fairgrounds. Then theres a few of the kids playing in the fort they built in the playroom, featuring some intriguing head gear on Luke!! Also, I found some pictures I hadnt included last week from Mothers Day that Ive posted below, including Mom & Gigis visit and Lukes outdoor adventure with the dogs.
Well, it is officially Week 19!which means Mom & Dad Bryan headed over to the Sand Pebble in Treasure Island for the week. Rob & Sharon joined them this year as well (lucky dogs!). Mom told a good story about Dad staying up a little late with Rob & Sharon and then having to get up to go to brunch the next morning. He said it was the longest 20 minute drive of his life! Mom O took Abby to her last dance class of the year at Dixon Dance as I picked up Lukey & Matt and headed out to the ball diamonds. Matts team played the same Brookville team they beat on the road last week. Matt played left field and batted low in the order, going 0-2 with a fly out to center and a strikeout. The team won 8-0 and increased their record to 3-1. While Matts game started, Luke and I went out behind the right field fence and played catch and before long, Lukes head coach was calling me, asking if were here yet. I said yes, we were watching Matts game. He requested Luke come on back to the other diamondwhen I looked at my watch, I figured out why he was calling; the game was due to start in 2 minutes! I apologized and sent Luke back to the field while I stuck around long enough to watch Matts first at-bat. Lukes game was equally successful. Because he was so late, he had to bat last (I felt bad for him). He played in the outfield, which is really a better place for him to be in terms of his defensive development right now. Hes lost a little of the aggressiveness he showed last year. We worked on pop flies while playing catch at Matts game and wouldnt you know it; he had his chance for a catch in the first inning. However, he misjudged it and it landed a couple of feet behind it. He got it right back in and also made a nice defensive play on another hard hit ball the went way over everyones head but he hustled out to it and held the runners at 2nd and 3rd. At the plate, he went 1-2 with a strikeout and a ringing double down the left field line that ended up in the grass. He later scored and was so excited. Well, Im not sure if he was proud that he helped the team pull up to the .500 level or that he got to go and get ice cream after the game!! We headed up to the big diamond up front to watch Matt after Lukes game ended, only find him riding the pine again. We did go on to Dairy Point which always makes you feel better!
The next day it started off rainy but cleared upexcept for the wind again. Granted, it wasnt as bad as last Saturday, but it was still tough on the pitchers at the ball diamonds. When we got home from work, we had a voice mail message from Matts coach from last year. He had 4 kids at the sectional track meet, out of town. He was calling Matt to be a fill-in player for one game. Matt was so excited that by the time I got him called back (just a moment later), he already had his game pants on! Don is an excellent coach. Matt learned more last year than he had in the previous four years combinedand had the most fun since our Devil Rays team in 2004. We headed over to the ballpark for Abbys game. She started at first base and made a couple nice plays. She also played 2nd base and left centerfield. At the plate she hit the ball harder than she had all year, but came up empty, going 0-2 with two ground outs to shortstop. Her team played sloppy and looked their age as they were destroyed. After the game we told them that we dont mind losing, but we need to at least be competitiveand that night we werent After the game, we headed up to the big diamond to catch the second game. Matt went 1-1 officially with a single back up the box and two walks for a perfect 3-3 on-base-percentage. He also scored two runs and even got a stolen base! He played second base and right field defensively. Their team won the game easily and hadnt seen Matt smile this much during a baseball game all year. He was very gracious and thankful with Don and he returned the sentiments back to Matt.
On Wednesday, it started raining early in the day and when it finally stopped, we had close to 2???. Obviously, a lot of the talk centered on the flood from a couple years ago, but thankfully it did stop this time. However, it flooded the ball fields beyond repair and Lukeys game was cancelled. 🙁 I took advantage of our new found time off to mow at Mom & Gigis and the front half of our house. By the time I finished, it was nearly dark. Ann had taken Matt out to the YMCA for practice at the batting cages with his teammates and got back right at sunset after a good two hours of worklets hope it pays off! On Thursday, Luke was to have practice, Abby a game and Matt to travel to Brookville also for a game. However, it rained pretty hard that afternoon and jeopardized another night of ballgames. Lukes practice was indeed cancelled. Luckily, however, Matt & Bus games did proceed. Abbys team continued to struggle. Abby herself continued with her great batting, whacking the ball to the outfield grass in both of her plate appearances for a single and a double! She also scored twice. Defensively, she played catcher the whole game. I dont know if thats gonna work out real well. While she did make a nice play at the plate to save a run, at the same time she also had some issues. When I try to give her feedback, I get attitudewhats a father to do?? But it wasnt only Abby who didnt play up to her potential that night, the whole team struggled and the girls dropped their 3rd straight game to start the season, 8-3. Ann took Matt to Brookville to play the best team in the league. Matt went 0-1 with a walk. He was caught stealing and made three errors in right field. Again, he wasnt the only one who didnt live up to his potential either and the coach ripped them fairly well, apparently. Poor Ann was mortified when the only other two parents that travelled were cussing loudly during the game way to go Greens-tucky! Because of Abbys successes offensively, I took the little kids out to enjoy ice cream. Lukey wanted it from the little mobile vendor set up in the Tops Hardware parking lot while Bu went just down the road to Dairy Point. When we got home, it was nearing dusk but we decided to go for a quick walk to burn a few more calories. It felt good for the first time that day the humidity had finally broken. It was so muggy earlier; you could cut it with a knife and eat it. Ohand guess what theyre calling for tomorrowyep, more rainMatt also brought home his track picturesor at least someone that looks an awful like himsomeone with a similar last name! 😛
I was up really early on Friday, heading in to work to set up for our annual Omelet Day where my department cooks for all the staff. We had the best turnout wed had in the last several years cooking close to 40 meals!! It looked pretty ominous all day and wouldnt you know it – sure enough; it rained really hard in the late afternoon on Friday. It stopped early enough for Lukes coach to call a practice for the boys (it should really help them)and practice did go very well; Im pleased to say. We had them doing some simple drills, really working on basic fundamentals including all aspects of the game: hitting, fielding, running bases you name it! He had a great practice. We worked on his batting stance enough to really make him smack the ball by closing his stance up a little bit. Afterwards, Luke & I ran to Wal-Mart for one thing and ended up spending a half hour there; picking up other things that we suddenly needed, talking to Jamie & Dee and searching for new Hot Wheels. Lukes favorite of the 15 or so new ones we acquired was the Ghostbusterss Ecto 1 – just like the one in the movie! While we were gone, Abby got out her pitching equipment and practiced for about a half an hour in the front yard before she and Ann took the dogs out on a walk. Since the little ones were grounded for the evening, we didnt hold family night; instead, we called it an early night because the next day was going to be such a big day. We were all up early on Saturday. Matt went on a class trip to Kings Island for the day. Abby (and Ann) had dance rehearsals all day that culminated in Abbys annual Dixon Dance Revue at the high school. Meanwhile, Luke & I worked around the yard. We mowed, trimmed and drained the pool cover. When I went out in the back lot to mow, I was amazed at what I saw. I think that the two rounds of fertilizer I put down on the lawn the past month ran off to the back lot. The grass had exploded! When Abby & I were out there practicing pitching just a couple weeks ago, it wasnt nearly this long!! Its hard to explain just how tall this grass was. It was taller than Luke! It took me about 2 hours to mow the thin strip easement behind our fence and I got such a sunburn on the back of my neck (this new haircut has given me a redneckaahhhh!!). Afterwards, we came inside to shower, grab something to eat and ended up taking a nap on the couch for a couple hours. Ann woke us up in time to run to Wal-Mart to get flowers for Bu tonight and head over to the high school for the big show.
We were there for about 4 hours and froze our butts off the entire time. We couldnt believe how cold it was in that auditorium. Chad and his parents were there to watch Grace; Amy, Rob and their parents were there to see Baili and Mom, Sandy, Deanna & Jamie were also there. We got there only a few minutes after the doors opened, but still couldnt get a seat in the area we were hoping forthe closest was on the side about of the way back. The people around us were so geared upnot necessarily rude; but just pushy and I really wasnt up for dealing with them so I moved us up to the very top all the way in the back so we could have unobstructed views for pictures & video. Im glad we did; I was so much more comfortable just incredibly colder!! Abby was in the opening number which featured the Star Steppers and an all-star lineup of tap competitors. She then performed in her normal 2 dances (tap & jazz). She was also involved the last routine of the night a complex jazz number set to a Michael Jackson mix. She looked beautiful and did amazingly great! She was so good, in fact that she was runner-up Miss Personality! We are so proud of her. Wouldnt you know our luck though; Matt got back to town just as the show was ending, so I carried Luke (who had been asleep for over an hour at this point) to the car and ran to the junior high 3 blocks away to pick him up and come back to get some pictures of the girls. Matt didnt want to deal with all the people, so he kept Lukey in the car while I ran in got some really good pictures. We were going to have Baili over to spend the night, but she was so upset that she didnt win an award and wasnt up for it. We went out for a victory dinner to Pizza King afterwards. On Sunday, we slept in before Ann took Abby out to spend the day with Baili. She came back around dinner time and immediately took back off for her friend Brookes house to work on a school project. Luke had wanted his friend Sawyer to come over, but Ann couldnt get a hold of his mom. So, he ended up having another friend (Brendan) – who lives in the neighborhood over after lunch. He actually came over here for only a short while before they went over to his house for a while; only to end up over at their mutual friend Alexs house later in the afternoon. Matt, on the other hand, flopped around the house all dayoh; and just in case you were wonderingyes, it rained the entire day again, just for good measure guess I need to drain the pool cover yet again, eh? 😉 It was good to hear that the rest of the Mothers Day flowers finally made it to their destinations this week as I heard from Mom O & Mom Balthough I still need to see if Gigi got hersand finally; I was very saddened to hear that one of my favorite music personalities, Ronnie James Dio, passed away from cancerR.I.P. man
But enough of all the new stuff for now; lets take a look Waybac Leading off, we have a couple from the summer of love first is a great one of my Grandmaw Brown holding a Muskie she caught up in St. Germaine, WI in August of 69 (Mom, is the cabin you talk so fondly of??) and the other is a snapshot from the brewery picnic. Mom, Im sure you have more info about this; but my best guess is that Grandmaw Brown worked there, right? Ive got a few things from this Lafayette brewery still: I know of a sticker that I have a picture of on my music trade page that you can get to via a link off our main website (its down towards the bottom of the page) and I also have an old full can of Tavern beer around here somewhere its the collectible kind with the tin cone top and round, twist-off bottle cap!; the next one is Ann & Deanna out in front of their Lee Edition home in about 76; and finally we have a picture of Ann in her bedroom on Main St. somewhere around 1981.
Next up we have birthday cakes for Rob & I in 1989 in LaPorteI think Robs has Tom & Jerryor at least a black cat that looks like Tom in that cartoonand mine is good old Spuds McKenzie in honor of my 21st birthday; after that is a good one of Aunt Marylou & Uncle Kenny at the start of the 19990s at a fish fry in their pole barn in Rossville; and then three pictures from Keith & Rosies wedding in LaPorte in 1993 including: the rehearsal dinner; a group picture in the church and then Mom & Keith on the big day.
Speaking of weddings, wrapping up this edition are a couple pictures from our wedding reception in Columbus in the basement of St. Bartholomew just a block from our apartment – in the fall of 95 with Mom & Dad B and then the happy couple; and then a bunch from a year later, 1996: Dads new truck and boat (his first Bayliner Capt n Ron) on May 19; Deanna in her school picture in September; Matt in the living room of our apartment in Columbus in November; and Matt with Grandma B on Christmas Day in the same place.
That wraps up another edition of the Scheu Family Blog. I want to thank everyone for keeping up with us this time out and well catch up with you next time. Until then, have a good one!
Later, Scheu
As promised in an earlier version of this post, here are this week’s four videos:
Wow Tom you have been busy! We just got back yesterday afternoon and today is back to the grind for Sharon and I. What a great time we had and so many laughs we shared. I will send you some pictures when I get caught up on stuff around here so might be this weekend. Well bro gonna keep it short have a good week. Love ya
Great pics and UTube videos. Congrats to Abby!! Way to go girl, you looked really good!! Congrats to Matt for baseball. You look good kiddo, just keep it up. And last but not least…congrats to Luke who is doing good also. The grass pic was a classic Tom. Wow it sure did grow!! The brewery picnic pic was a memory. Your Great Grandpa Brown, Grandpa Brown and I think Grandma Brown all worked for the Lafayette Brewery. Grandma was just part time I believe. Grandpa B worked for a couple of years before he got on the Police Force. The muskie pic of Grandma was in one of the cabin’s at the place where Uncle Timmie and Aunt Dorothy used to stay. Also Uncle Kenny and Aunt Marilou and us stayed a couple of yrs there also when we also brought dad up after Mom died. We had many good times there. Well, better go – have a great week son and give my love and kisses to all.
Did you see last week’s entry yet?? I know you were vacationing but wondered if you’d had a chance to see it?? 🙂 Love ya Mom!
The kids will like your comments; it means a lot. Thanks for the stories too…that’s always my reward for doing these – love knowing our family’s history!!!
Thanks for letting me know about last weeks blog update. I went back and watched the video’s which were great and read and saw all the pics. The one with Grandpa and Grandma Morgan, mom, Aunt Norma and Uncle Keith I think was taken at Grandpa and Grandma’s 50th wedding anniversary party. I think this because they are all dressed up. I thought at first it may have been another time but I do believe that it was from that time. Boy, the wind sure was whipping up wasn’t it?? Matt looked like he was ready for track to be over. It does wear them down. Did you get my email about the timing problem I am having on Skype? Let me know and give love to all.
No; I never saw an email from you, Mom. As for Skype, you may want to try installing MSN Messenger; I’m not sure which uses less system resources, but my guess is Skype uses a bunch. You may want to look in to installing this on your laptop to see if it helps with the problems you are talking about…but no; no email. Sorry…
Glad you enjoyed all the pictures; yeah the wind was a precurser to all the rain. The wind lasted about a week and the rain was here for 2 weeks. We actually got measurable rain fall for 12 of 14 days, I think the news said. 🙁
Yeah; Matt felt pressured to even be on the team and he got discouraged about 3 weeks in to it and never fully recovered. In the end, it had become a joke. I still think he should be running and not throwing!
Thanks for the info on the picture!! Seems like it was a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?