I hate the way that this school system does pictures. Instead of us having a choice to order beforehand, they simply take the pictures of every student and send you like $50 worth of all these different pictures and stickers, etc. You don’t have to pay for it, but how can you send that stuff back, I ask ya? I want to…but I can’t bring myself to give them up…so I’m a sucker I guess…Well, I have some bad news…in case you haven’t heard yet, I wanted to let you know that Yahoo! has decided to close the GeoCities portion of their site, meaning our home page that we’ve had for over eight years now (www.geocities.com/scheu2112) and this blog site will be going away at some point this year. I just signed up for the domain of www.scheumann.us . So, if this blog suddenly disappears, you’ll know where I’m trying to go!
On Monday we had softball practice with Abby at the same time that Luke had a ball game. So, I had Matt take Luke on over to his game field to warm up as I helped coach Bu’s team. I was only able to stay with her about 25 minutes before heading over to Lukey’s team. He again played pitcher and although he hustled defensively and made a few outs, he also made several mental mistakes. I just kept encouraging him and giving him directives, hoping he’ll catch on eventually. His coach and I discussed moving him to first base, but ended up keeping him on the mound due to his exceptional speed. At the plate, he was a monster. He hit two doubles, both to the grass…meaning we got to get ice cream afterward! J
On Tuesday, we had the night off, which was good since it rained most of the day. When we got home, we noticed that the bird’s nest in our back yard had fallen and that the little babies had hatched and were lying helpless on the ground. So I very carefully put the little birds back in their nest and thankfully mama bird came back and we found her feeding and keeping the babies warm. Again, it was really sweet that the kids were so concerned with their well-being. Later that night, we enjoyed Ann’s popcorn and American Idol as the kids and I secretly ordered Mother’s Day items. Grandmaw Bryan, Grandma Owens, Gigi and all got flowers through FTD. We will get Ann her flowers from the local nursery (Hatton’s) on the morning of the big day and she is also getting an iPod Nano and a nice, large, new set of ivory Longaberger Woven Traditions dinnerware!
On Wednesday, it continued to rain, so both Luke & Matt’s games were both cancelled. Instead, Matt got a new computer in from Tiger Direct for less than a Ben Franklin bill!! He is now the king of the play room, as he has the fastest PC now (clocking in at a cool 2.4 GHz). I was up way too late getting it all configured. Gracie came over for the evening so that Dee could have a little private time. We ordered our favorite takeout from Koch’s, here in town. In addition, as Abby continues to prepare for her 5K run with Matt and I this coming Saturday, our cousin Katie just completed her own marathon, the annual Mini Marathon in Indy. Congrats to Kate for entering and competing!
On Thursday, Ann took the day off to go on a field trip with Abby to the Indiana State Museum. Afterwards, they went to Girls on The Run, played bingo with the old folks at a retirement home, grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonald’s, met me out at Matt’s track meet, danced the hip-hop routine at a different retirement home, went to dance practice and then made it home in time to do homework, eat a quick snack, shower and head to bed! Matt did very well at his track & field meet against Jennings County – again throwing the discus and shot put. He threw the discus 71’, 7??? and the shot 26’, 8??? (a personal best). Luke enjoyed playing with his good friend, Alex. When Luke & I went to pick him up, we ran one of his buddies home and on our way back home, we found the ice cream man in the Topp’s Hardware parking lot so we had to stop! J
On Friday, it continued to rain but I got a window of opportunity to get over to mow at Grandma, Gigi & Deanna’s houses. When we got home afterward, we noticed that the bird nest had again been toppled and that there were only two babies left and they were near death. We put them back in the nest, but when we checked the next day, they were also dead. Luke and Abby learned a tough lesson about the facts of life.
On Saturday, we were up early for a very busy day. We were at the ball diamonds by 8:30 for Abby’s softball game. She played left field and batted low in the order, due to having only practiced about three hours total all pre-season. In her first at-bat, that inexperience showed as she struck out. To her credit, she kept her head up and in her next at-bat, she got a key 2-out hit that extended a rally and sparked a come-from-behind victory that did wonders for her confidence. I was able to help her team by coaching 1st base. Afterward, Ann ran her to dance class. Matt played immediately afterward. He started in right field and played third base in the later innings. Officially, he went 0-1 with a sharply hit ball deep in the hole that the shortstop made a great play on. His on-base-percentage was .500, as he also received a base on balls. His team also won in an exciting come-from-behind victory in the last inning as well. Luke began playing immediately afterward. He again started at pitcher and then moved to 1st base. At the plate, he was a perfect 2-for-2 with two doubles to the grass…of course that meant that we had to get ice cream afterward. J This game was made even more special by the simple fact that he was facing his good friend Alex! We wrapped up the day at the ballpark with another game with Matthew. By this time, we were all pretty tired, grumpy and wind/sun burned. It was a beautiful day, but it was chilly and very, very windy. Matt again played right and third, but this time his team was blown out. In fact, it was over in the top of the first inning, where the opposing team scored thirteen runs. The game was called early, with a 4 run/15 point mercy rule. That meant that Matt only got one at-bat. However, he made it count as he got one of only three hits his team was able to scrounge. Afterward, we took the long way to Dee’s house, stopping at the Topp’s Hardware parking lot for another round of ice cream! J We met Dee at her new home to help her move the majority of her big items. Matt was a huge help, as we were able to get the majority of the stuff moved ourselves, needing help only one time (a very long, very heavy double-recliner couch). We got home pretty late that night and crashed hard!
On Sunday, Ann and I tried to sleep in…but the kids and dog had other plans. At one point, we had five of us in the bed. Abby made a cool card for all of us to sign for Ann. Ann was thrilled about her iPod. She had been gracious enough to allow me to have Matt’s old iPod when he got a new one. I took the kids out to Hatton’s in the pickup and we got about 25 different flowers. The kids enjoyed riding in the back of the truck on the way home. Luke and I went out to work in the yard when we got home. One of the chores we did was to take the dead birds (and the nest, since it was their home), and buried them in the back lot. Luke had lots and lots of questions (i.e., “Why are there all those ants crawling on the birdies, Daddy???? Maryann, Sandy, Deanna & Gracie all came over for lunch. Ann made a great 7-layer salad, spaghetti & meatballs, garlic bread, spinach dip and chips and salsa. It was wonderful. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! The kids ate outside and enjoyed climbing the tree and riding the horse swing. Once everyone left, the kids helped Ann to plant her flowers. She had so many that not only did she fill the area around the light pole, but had enough to fill a large basket for the porch as well. The kids and I played ball out in front before going in for showers and settled in to new Simpson’s and Family Guy episodes.
…what a week…but it’s time to start a new one that is gearing up to be just as busy as this one, so thanks again for keeping up with us and we’ll catch ya up again next time. Until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu