We achieved a few milestones this week, which kept it very exciting. On Monday, the kids enjoyed their final day of summer vacation. That night, Luke & I went to soccer practice, as Ann took Abby to both her dance classes (tap & jazz). After soccer, the boys had a quick dinner and then went out to test a couple theories proposed by Matt. We had recently obtained a few model rocket engines and he theorized that with a rocket strapped to a Hot Wheel, it should be able to travel over 200 feet. We tried the first one but it wasnt secured well enough and flew off of the car after 50 feet. The second one wouldnt light, so I had to drill it out and put in a new fuse before it would go. Even though it was fastened more securely, it still broke loose almost immediately after take off on the track. However, it launched the car well over 100 feet! We’ll just have to try it again… 🙂
On Tuesday, Matt & Abby went back to school. Ann cooked us all a big breakfast. Luke only goes to school every other day in kindergarten, so he was disappointed he didn’t get to go with the big kids. It rained most of the week, it seemed. Thankfully, I was able to squeeze in both Abbys practice on Tuesday night and Mom & Gigis lawn on Wednesday – but just barely as it started pouring on my way home. On Wednesday, Luke officially started school, riding the bus with Abby. Ann again cooked a big breakfast (I could get used to this!). Lukey was bouncing off the walls all morning as we waited for the bus to arrive. It was again rainy and a little sad for Ann & I as our baby entered the public school system. Were convinced its all down hill from here on out It rained off and on for the next couple days. On Thursday, Matts eye looked a lot better and all the blackness had worn away. That night, I took Luke to practice before having to leave early to meet Ann at home and go out to the elementary school for open house. We dragged Matt along and the boys all went to Lukes class while the girls went to Abbys class. Afterward, we treated the kids to El Reparo for dinner. Ann has worked very, very hard with the school (especially with the nurse) to prepare for Lukes arrival. When we got to school, everyone knew his name! His peanut allergy has proven to be quite a challenge. Ann and the school have worked together diligently to create a plan of action for Lukey. It is very detailed and involves several people; but it is well-formulated and puts him in safe place at all times and gives him the best chance to succeed. We are very thankful for all the hard work the school employees have endured already in this short school year to ensure the safety and well-being of our little kindergartener. The principle stopped us in the hallway and said, “I remember this little one from a few years ago.” He was referencing Luke’s attempt to ‘call the woo-woos,’ as he explained back then…he pulled the fire alarm at the school during Open House (only days after pulling it at the YMCA). I was grateful that he was good natured about it all and Luke didn’t have a clue what we were talking about, having no memory of the incident – lucky him; I was pretty embarrassed and again apologized for the long-ago stunt.
Our good friend Allen had a homecoming Thursday night. We were invited to attend the filming of his return to Columbus at the fire station a block away from my work, where he is currently stationed. Apparently, they did three takes of his arrival, until the producer was happy! We would have loved to be there for him, but there was no way to get around both practice and school that night. I texted him Friday morning and he was very understanding of the adage family first. I am looking forward to seeing him next week, when he promised hed stop by work. On Friday night, we were back on the soccer fields for Bus team. The parents have all been very nice during the transition of the ball team over to the new coaching staff. One of the changes I have been working on this week with the league president and another league coach is moving our Friday practices to Thursdays so that we can have Friday nights open. That will start next week. Matt attended the varsity football game with his buddies and Ann went scrap booking with her girlfriends. Allen was on the front page of The Republic, Columbus newspaper. I had trouble with the link, but Ive copied it to a word document here. And finally, here is the link (sorry, a few days later…) from The Republic: ALLEN IS A LOSER
So, the kids and I grabbed drive through and came home to assemble a new computer for Ann & I that I had just ordered from Tiger Direct only a couple days prior. I was very impressed at how quickly they got it shipped out. Our old desktop PC was over 10 years old and was a very good PC when we ran Windows 95 / 98. 🙁 However, it did not age well and has really gone downhill the past year. We picked up a great deal for a very nice IBM NetVista. It clocks in at 2.8 MHz and has 4 Gb of RAM! 😛 So now were happy little campers! We already had a couple hard drives, a new dual layer DVD-RAM writer, a fat, juicy video card and a high-end sound card that I was able to plug in to the new system. I was hoping to be able to simply swap out hard drives and go; but that would have been way too easy. I tried for about 2 hours to get Windows to boot up, but it just wouldnt go. I eventually had to totally reload everything onto the new hard drive. Thankfully, I was able to copy everything from our current drive, but Outlook and few other things were a little tricky I was up til 3:30 working on getting everything restored, but it was a labor of love.
We were up early on Saturday morning for soccer games. Ann and Luke stayed here in Greensburg while Abby and I left early to travel to Sunman by 8:30. It was still pretty chilly when we were warming up. The kids kept it a close game through the first three quarters. Abby scored her first goal of the season (and the only one for us this game) in the second quarter, after a successful first quarter as our goalie. She stopped several balls and played a whale of a game overall. We were just overmatched. They were bigger, stronger and faster. We held our own going in to the last quarter, down 2-1. Sunman scored 4 more goals, but we never gave up. I was proud of the effort they gave. I had my camera with me, but was too tied up in coaching to remember to get a picture or video of Bus big moment. That is another reason why I truly did not want to be a coach again this year. I want to be the dad on the sideline, taking pictures and shooting video of my daughter scoring a goal
At the same time in Greensburg, Luke was also having a good game individually but struggling as a team. He played goalie for 2 quarters, allowing no balls through! I really wish I couldve been there for him as well. Thankfully, Ann took some good photos for me. He got to play forward 1 quarter and had to sit out an entire quarter as well. which really grinds my gears Ya know; I dont have a problem with allowing all the kids to play in the game, but I also feel the kids should be at practices as well. Luke is the only one of three kids that have been to every practice the last two weeks. On Thursday, only four kids showed up, yet there he was, during the game, taking his turn on the benchfor an entire quarter. I know how hard it is to make all the parents happy as a coach, but I also know whats fair. I had a couple kids show up for Abbys game that hadnt been to practice and they spent more time on the sideline than the ones that had practiced this weekbut no way would I do an entire quarter with those kids; they lose interest too quick. I know Bu will miss several practices going forward, as she will most likely be at many of Matt’s football games; on those weeks, I would expect her to be treated no differently. But I digress
We treated Abby to Dairy Point ice cream after lunch. Afterward, she ended up going over to her best friend Megans house – where she eventually spent the night. The rest of us collapsed on the couches and fell asleep for several hours in the late afternoon / early evening. Matt & I got up to watch the NASCAR Bristol night race, which did not disappoint. On Sunday, we caught our breaths and had a quiet day; relaxing before our busy lives pick up again on Monday
I have a few pictures to share in this weeks Waybac feature. Leading off is a really old one of Grandpaw Scheu with Uncle Chuck at Lake Michigan in August of 1953.
Here I am, styling in 1973dig the collar manLuke thought this was a picture of him and couldnt understand why he couldnt remember that shirt! 😛
Next we fast forward to October of 1979 for my birthday party, out in the back yard of our home in Temple City, CA. I wonder where this crew is now
Here is one a year later of my cousin Nathan in 1980. This was taken in the kitchen of Grandma Bryans home.
Here we have Deanna, Keith and MaryAnn in 1984, out in California.
We finish up this weeks Waybac feature with a trio of pictures from 1989. The first one is of Grandpaw Brown, Rob & I in our living room in LaPorte. The second one is of Rob in his 4th grade picture at Riley Elementary in LaPorte. The final one is of me with my fraternity brother, Jamie at our spring formal in May.
Thanks for keeping up with our family this week. See ya next time. Until then, have a good one. Later, Scheu