Originally posted on 10/6/08…
Fall is definitely in the air. We’ve had much more seasonable weather this week, with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s. The autumn season is a favorite for our family. We’ve enjoyed working out in the yard, getting ready for the colder weather. The yard and trees are fertilized, all the summer furniture is put away and our bedroom A/C is back in the garage for the winter. The lightning bugs are long gone and the cicadas (locusts) are not quite as loud as they were just a week ago. The leaves have begun to change and fall. The fields are all beginning to be harvested, opening up wide spaces on the ground again. I have started working part time in maintenance and much of that experience has begun to spill over to home, including repairs to the shower, commode, both bathroom sinks, replacing a radiator hose on the van, taking a disc sander to rust on the pickup and giving it a quick prime / paint job to get through the winter! We’ve also knocked out other projects such as fall cleaning – the house hasn’t looked this good in a while…now if we can just get that garage cleaned out and have a sale we’d be in great shape! Ann has begun digging out the Halloween / Thanksgiving decorations and we’ve made plans to hit the pumpkin patch next weekend. Ann took off Friday and went to Metamora with her BFF Amy to the annual Canal Days festival, over near Cincinnati, picking up some cool, little artsy things for seasonal decorations. With Ann out of town and Matt headed to his second junior high dance of the year, the other three of us finally got to go to the new Burger King and relax for a while. But with all these changes, nothing says that the summer has ended quite like the fact that the ice cream man made his final trip through the neighborhood (until next year) today…
Matt had another nail-biter on the gridiron. He again started at center and was on the kickoff-return team. He even saw a few snaps at defensive tackle at the end of the game when they needed a stop. The first and third quarters seemed to end nearly as soon as they started. The Pirates got on the board in the second quarter with a long quarterback keeper from about the 35 yard line. They ran in the extra point to make it 8-0. That was the last time anyone scored until a minute to go in the 4th quarter. Greensburg had Batesville’s number all day long on defense. Then, on a desperation 4th and forever play, the Bulldogs threw up a Hail Mary that was somehow answered. The TD pass went for about 40 total yards. Matt and his buddy Brad Wilson stepped-up big time on the next play, as they combined to make a huge tackle in the backfield to stop the point after try that essentially ended the game at 8-6.
Abby wasn’t so much in to Matt’s game as much as she was watching intently to what the cheerleaders were doing and she and her buddies got front row seats to check out all the cool cheers they were doing. She was excited to get back to playing soccer, coming off their first win of the season. However, it was not to be. They looked much better, but couldn’t score and lost 2-0 to a tough Sunman team, concluding her regular season. Her team will travel to Sunman (of course) next weekend, to compete in a tourney. Later that night, the DCYSC held its end-of-the-year awards ceremonies, which included a cook-out this year. We had a great time, as the boys played football and Frisbee while the girls talked, giggled and ran around out at Washington Field.
Abby was so funny the other night. She is starting to figure out where the meat on our table comes from and the other night, she decided that she wants to become a vegetarian. She is torn, though, as she wants to not eat meat but she still likes it so she told us at the dinner table, “I’m going to be a ‘vet’renarian’…except when we have tacos and chicken fettuccini.??? J Luke was equally funny this week, as he had his annual check-up with Dr. Fangman in Columbus. He received his kindergarten shots, which he proudly showed off for me when he got home. He exclaimed, “Daddy, I got four ‘needle’ shots and only cried a little!??? Lukey has been enjoying bike riding more and more these last few weeks and is nearly ready to shed his training wheels. Matt & Abby have also been doing more bike riding, creating a path from our edition through the little woods in the neighborhood back to the new edition and in to the water retention area (that is bone dry and perfect for riding bikes up and down the steep banks) and back to our yard. Matt has also enjoyed shooting his BB gun at the numerous targets in the vacant lots behind the house. Ann and I had to nearly force them to go outside at the start of the summer and now they go out regularly, under their own volition; helping them stay in much better shape and keeping them in better moods as well!
Okay, let’s take a look inside the Way Back Machine, shall we?
Leading off today, we have a triple helping of Abby in successive years. Starting in 2000, we have a picture with Daddy at our house on Main St., followed by 2001 at Greensburg Photography and 2002 at Grandma’s house with her first pet, Slushy.
Next up, we have me in Grandmaw & Grandpaw Brown’s house on Elmwood in Lafayette in 1970.
Next is another of my all-time faves. This is a family portrait of the Brown side of the family from, what Mom, 1964?? Help me out on this one…
Since it’s football season, we have two LaPorte football pics from the 80’s. Mine is my junior year, starting at defensive end for the ‘85-‘86 season and Rob’s Pop Warner picture from about the same time frame.
Here’s little Lukey from 2004 with his Pirate shirt on. Love those big blue eyes…
Here’s a sweet Christmas picture with Matt, Abby & Grace from about 2002.
Next is a great shot! We have four generations of Scheumanns in this one!! We have Granny, Grandpa Scheu, Matthew and I in 1997. This was taken at John & June’s old house on Lingle Ave in Lafayette. This house is beautiful in it’s own right, but nothing compared to the mansion they live in now!
Here’s a funny one! This is me and one of my best friends, Mike Stoewer’s first apartment in LaPorte. I think this might have been taken during our senior year in high school. We had some great parties in that place! J
Next, we have a dapper, future Hugh Hefner! J This was taken at Olan Mills Studios in Lafayette in ‘72.
Here’s Ann in the snow back in ’87 or so…
And then we have this one! This is a mystery photo. I’m not even sure where this one came from…I only know it’s Gigi from sometime in the mid-seventies; perhaps her senior picture at South Decatur or even from her college days at Cumberland U…? Sandy, care to comment?? J
Here we have my newborn little brother in 1979 in Temple City, CA.
Wrapping up this post is another one of my all-time favorites. This was taken by MaryAnn at some party. Ann and I had just started dating at this point, so that puts this picture somewhere in the vicinity of December, 1992.
That’s it for this installment. Thanks for reading and have a good week. Until next time…