Originally posted on 9/2/08…
As the kids start to get back in to the groove of school, things are slowly returning to some sort of normalness again. Of course normalcy really means insanely busy. Each morning, we run Luke to Brandy’s, have Abby catch the bus here and drop off Matt at school. Matt has football practice each night until 6, unless he has a game and then it’s much later. Abby has dance classes on Monday and Thursday until 6:30. She also has soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 – 8 and then has a game each Saturday. Somehow we got the short end of the stick, having to travel for 7 games this season with only a handful of home games. And; to top it off – all of our away games are held at Sunman (45 min drive on the interstate). Luke attends preschool three times a week and just trying to keep the logistics of all of that straight is a nightmare…and in a sick and twisted way – that feels normal.
Matt’s football team got started off on a good note, winning 18-16 that was close right down to the last minute of the game. He (#74 on the field, but #1 in our hearts) started at center and played the entire game. The coach had good blocking schemes and Matt held his own. He had good exchanges with the quarterback, had a cool pancake, made a nice seal-off block that sprang the ball carrier for a touchdown, and recovered a fumble. He said his favorite plays were when he got to pull out for end-arounds. He also got to play a little on defense, recording one tackle in the few plays he was in at defensive tackle. Matt’s good friend, Mallory, is one of the cheerleaders this year; so it’s funny to remember these two running around the backyard, playing kickball and then to see them in these new roles…it makes us feel very old.
Abby’s team is not faring quite as good. They’ve started out 0-3 on the year. Thankfully, they’ve gotten better with each game. She got to be the captain last weekend and called the toss. She thought that was pretty cool. They lost yesterday 3-1 in the closest match yet. Abby is at her best on the defensive side of the field, as a role player in the backfield. This year, she moved up to the U-10 league. Not only are the rules a little different, but the field is considerably larger. She is finally starting to figure out some of the little things we’ve been going over in practice. Her attitude is still (mostly) positive and she continues to hustle on each play. Really, that is all we ever ask out of the kids.
As for miscellaneous things around here, the weather has been much warmer lately. It would be nice to use the pool for swimming instead of fishing (the pool has been a lovely swampy green for weeks now). It is finally starting to clear up, but we haven’t been in it for a good month now. We had the pool folks do some maintenance for us and it’s finally beginning to show. We made the switch over from Baquacil to a chlorine pool in hopes that it will be easier to maintain…since this is the third year in a row that we’ve had issues with the pool staying clear. Lola was a little rowdy the other night, barking at a rabbit and a neighboring dog on Wednesday. As we were going to bed around 11 or so, we heard a knock at the door. It was our friend Larry (Mallory’s father), a local police officer. He was laughing that there had been a complaint called in about a dog barking. At first, we thought it was a joke (he likes to do things like that) but he was as serious as he is able to be with us. …Not sure if we should be mad, embarrassed, upset or tickled that someone would actually call the police because the dog barked. Anyhow, I guess we should mention what Lukey’s been up to…well, um, Luke has been climbing trees quite a bit lately, which is nice to see him finally putting down that Nintendo GameBoy and getting out and doing normal boy things!
OK; now it’s time for the fun stuff…
We now have nearly 250 photos scanned from various years and have several tens of thousands of photos to sift through yet! We have photos from each of the past few decades for you today:
First off, we have Tom and Rob from 1980 in California (notice the cool Colossus t-shirt and hat!):
Next, we have a trip to Niagara Falls in ’98 (Matt still makes that face!):
Here’s a fun one of Grandmaw Bryan in Lafayette in ’68. Where were you when this was taken Mom? There has to be a good story behind this picture:
Then we have Ann in ’73 / ’74 in Greensburg for Dixon Dance Studios (the one that Abby goes to today). Annie is 3rd from left:
Next we have Tom and college buddies at Clifty Creek State Park around ’92:
Next up, we have the Owens kids at Keith & Rosie’s wedding rehearsal up in LaPorte, back in ‘93:
Here’s Ann and Deanna with a friend on their front porch on Main St. around ’78:
Here’s Tom on his birthday in ’80 with his new bike outside our home in Temple City, CA:
Here’s one of my top 10 all-time favorite pictures; Grandpaw Bryan and Papaw Scheu at Granny’s house on Highland in early ’68 (We still have that mug here at the house in storage!):
Here is what spurred my search for older pictures to post. This is a newspaper clipping of Matt helping to put on license plates on Ann’s old Mercury Sable when we lived on Main St.
Finally, another fun picture for Gigi…This is Abby & Gig at the Y to watch Matt’s first ever t-ball game. It was right after she got over her chicken pox around the turn of the century:
If you have any ideas for the WayBack Machine or any submissions; I again urge you to send them this way and we will post them here. Have a good week, thanks again for reading and hope you enjoyed this post!