I don't know where time goes

I don't know where time goes ... it has been fairly busy around here with football, basketball, school, fire station changes, holidays, but i think what has really got me is we can't get well. Believe me I have disenfected my house a million times over - that might be the issue - we have no resistance to anything. We just can't seem to beat the bug. Colds, asthma, allergies, viruses, infections, ... HELP. yes airborne is our friend and it does help and shorten the spurts, we just can't get a leg up on all of this yuck this year. Or maybe its every year. Well I really notice it this year I guess because I'm getting older and time goes faster. It could be because I'm getting older and when I don't excercise for 2 days I feel like I'm starting over again from a year long furlough. I don't know. It has been quite depressing, bummer. I'lll get on those pics as soon as possible. I have LOTS of them to work with :) Hope everyone is staying healthy!

Welcome August!!

Introducing August Schmidt! Isn't he the cutest? He makes cousin number ????? I have to check

August with his big brother Aiden

Playoffs!

It was a good game as you can see, Sasha isn't cheering she is watching the big screen

BUFORD!

Reno always spoils the fun

See you next week!

the grandkids ... we miss you Ray, Mikey, Bianc, and Briann :) Natie was napping!

Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be thankful for. I am very blessed to have such a great husband, daughter and son. They bring joy to my life each day and sometimes frustration:) How boring would life be if we didn't experience both? I am glad to have my mom to make me laugh, tell me stories again and again just to make sure she didn't leave me out. My brothers are both kinda crazy, well one is especially crazy. I have great sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws. My nephews and nieces keep my smiling. Day to day life sometimes makes it difficult to clearly see the small blessings, I think we need to all make a concerted effort to recognize what we have. "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all." Thank you God for each of the people that bless my life each day.

Schrammfest '09

The annual Schramm shrimp boil has turned in to quit an event each year. Just throw them on the paper and EAT!

So much fun:)

My daddy

Today it has been six years since my dad passed away. It is really difficult to think, six years. Some days it seems like a long time ago because so much has happened. Somedays, like today, it is all to fresh and difficult to think its true.

My dad was a great person. He had strong moral character, strong-willed, strong faith, extremely patriotic, and loved his termites. He was a hard worker and believed in persistence because nothing was impossible in his eyes.

He pushed me to succeed in everything, probably contributing to my OCD, haha. He was also quite a jokester and had nicknames for everyone and I do mean everyone. Some were nice and some not-so nice.

I am thankful for the time I had with my dad. I am thankful for all I learned from him. I am thankful we all share in his legacy. I am thankful for all he worked so hard to provide. I am thankful he served our country. I am thankful he believed in community. I am thankful he shared his knowledge. I am thankful he relied on God's will daily and not his own because with that he has given me great strength to share with my children. I am thankful I had the chance to tease him about his accent and share in lots of laughs, even the dirty looks because I'll never forget them either -

a "ditch" of ice cream ... dad do you mean a "dish" of ice cream?

I am thankful for more than he ever knew. I love you dad and I miss you.

Sasha in stunt :-D

At the football game, the groups trade off stunting. Sasha is in a stunt with her group. She about gave Nick a heart attack. As soon as he realized it was her, I was taking pictures the whole time, he was yelling at her to get down. He has this vision that she is going to fall and hurt herself. While that is true, I don't think basing is less of a risk. She could get and has gotten kicked in the face. At times she has bruises up and down her arms from basing and catching a stunt when it is falling. She has been at the bottom of a fallen pyramid; they are both dangerous. It was fun to see her up there enjoying herself. I don't think she will be trying again, Nick will go down to the track next time and get her down himeself. Sasha and I laugh at his protectiveness, yet we both appreciate and love him for it. What's a dad to do :)

some family pics

Nick was the photographer of the night taking some family pics. Although we didn't get a picture of our family :/ If I recall he did ask, by then it was late and we were about ready to leave so we didn't take one. We need to remember to do that first thing when we all are fresh and ready to smile, not ready to sleep:(

Everyone looked GREAT! The wedding was a nice dress-up affair and the men were very handsome in their ties. We need to have another dress-up event so we can get some more good pictures :)

being silly at the wedding

These kids were having a great time at the wedding. They were having some silly fun. I think this should have clued me in on Sunday's Mass. I sat by Sarah and maybe I shouldn't have, they were silly at Mass. Thekla, Charlotte, and Nate played hard. Ella was playing with the older cousins. They all had fun, laughing and being rather silly:) What else do 2 year olds do best:/

I can't wait to see how they act when they are a little older. Nate plays well with the girls but are they going to like him if he gives them bugs? or frogs? Or are they going

to give him bugs and frogs???

Uncle Michael's wedding

Konner in Nate's award winning Cutest baby award :-D I think Konner looks very handsome!

On Saturday Nick's uncle Michael got married. It was a gorgeous view on a hilltop in Hunt. The view was extraordinary. The wedding was fabulous. It was a great evening. The kids all had fun running around. We were the only "group" with little ones. Most of the people there were older with older kids ... I hope our children weren't too silly :) They were silly. They have so much fun together. Nate likes to play with his cousins. They giggle so much and chase each other around, it is quite entertaining to watch. My little man:-D he looked very daper, as did his daddy;-D I love my boys!

another football game

So after all of the halloween fun we went to the football game. It was a decent game. I am finally learning a little about football this year. Sasha has had a great year cheering and enjoying all of the games. It has been fun. We have also had a great time making stuff for her football buddies. That has given us a chance to spend some time together on the evening before she has to give them out. We stay up late, then regret it the next morning, talk about all kinds of crazy things, eat batter, and laugh A LOT. I have enjoyed this experience and time with her. It is awfully strange to think she might not be in the area in a couple of years. She might choose to go to college more than 20 minutes away:-O what will I do????? I don't know Sashies and I have made lots of memories and I am excited to see her grow and learn and explore. I am also nervous. I know she is a smart young lady, focused, and compassionate. Those things also worry me. Parenting is such a catch-22. You teach them to go off and survive, and you are nervous when they do. I will just continue to pray for Lala so she has a good life, follows God, serving Him in all she does, and ask God to protect her and grace her always.

Trick or Treat

Trick or treating was done before the football game, we couldn't miss that:/ That being the game, not trick or treating. I am not a fan of halloween. We met at a friends house and went with a group. Our little Nate lagged behind after a while, then mom lagged behind and we finished up. Besides, we don't need all of that candy and who is home at 5 to trick or treat, not many people.

It was fun to trick or treat. I didn't usually let Sash participate except to only a few houses. We usually just went to a friend or family members that had a busy neighborhood, dressed up, and gave out candy. I have this thing about halloween, it is not my favorite thing to do. I would take her to all of the carnivals and festivities in town, all over town, I was just never up to actually trick or treating. So with Nate, since it was with a group and early, not dark. I thought we would give it a shot. I don't know, I still didn't like it and it made me fairly anxious. We survived. He was tired after about 5 houses. I was glad. We returned to the party and snacked on all the yummy munchies. Oh and yes, Nate had some candy. He was staying with Nana while I went to the football game, so I asked Nana to be sure and BRUSH HIS TEETH really well this evening. Oh the things we do for our children.

Halloween breakfast

This year halloween fell on a Saturday, the first Saturday of Wurstfest. Grammy and Papa had to work at Wurstfest and were going to miss the fun. Meme decided to host a Halloween breakfast. It was GREAT!! Blueberry pancakes, muffins, fruit, juices, sausage, and the kids could share in the halloween fun with Grammy and Papa :-D Thanks Meme for always thinking of ways we can share memories!

and then there's firefighter Nate

and then there's firefighter Nate ...

So we get home from the high school halloween festivities and he decides to put on Nick's firefighter mask. This is a mask we have at home for "decoration". A baseball player fighting fires. When we arrived to the house, we put on the World Series, Nate sat on the couch clapping, "Yay baseball. Me like to watch baseball daddy." Ay yay yay.