The Most Brilliant Grandbaby EVER!

I really hate to brag - ok, not true, I have no problem bragging about my children! But I absolutely have the most brilliant grandbaby ever. Mind you, this child is yet to be born. Ashley is about halfway through her pregnancy and had an ultrasound last week. We were pretty sure it was a boy from a gender prediction test she took over Thanksgiving, and indeed, it's a boy. Everything looks great, and one picture in particular proves how brilliant this little guy really is. Check it out! Pay particular attention to his little hand.

Cool, huh? He's already communicating with his Mom and Dad. Brilliant! To see more photos of the wee one, check out Ashley and Sam's blog. The link is on the left.

He's Home!

One great thing that's happened recently is the return of our favorite missionary, Drew! He returned from the California Long Beach Mission on October 23rd where he has been spreading love for the last 14 months (before that he was in Chile doing the same awesome work.) We were all so excited to see the kid! Jon was out of town (surprise, surprise), but flew back to Dallas from North Carolina for just a couple hours to be there to greet Drew. What a guy! The kids made this unbelievable work of art to hold up at the airport so we'd get lots of smiles from strangers.

He actually looked as happy to see us as we were to see him! He looked really great, too. He didn't come back the scrawny little kid he was when he left - not fat, just bigger. He's all grown up and sporting some cool glasses that make me wonder if he'd actually been studying in High School like he was during his mission, would he have needed them sooner???! I teared up the second I saw him. It's really great to see your squirrely little boy come home a man.


Since Jon had to catch a plane back to North Carolina in just a few hours, we stayed near the airport and went out to dinner. We figured some barbeque would be good. WRONG - at least not at this place. Everything was spicy. Not that comfortable - zing, but freaking HOT. We had a great time anyway. In no time Drew was back in the saddle quoting moving lines and teasing the little kids! We couldn't resist posing for a family photo so Drew could begin to feel comfortable in the Texas landscape. We miss you Ashley and Sam!

The whole neighborhood knew how excited we were to have Drew home!

Here are a couple more shots!


Welcome home, dude. We missed you.

Time flies when you're alive!

I know, I know. It's been too long. (This sounds vaguely familiar - like every entry ever written in my journal!) But, even though it sounds cliche, it's true - I haven't had time!! So, hopefully in the next little bit I'll be able to catch y'all up a bit. A lot has happened since my last entry, and I'm sure you're all DYING to hear about it! Stay tuned.

Oh My Goodness!!

The best news deserves it's very own post - not that all the other kid's news isn't good, it's just this is REALLY good. Ashley is gonna have a BABY!! She's twelve weeks pregnant, which makes her due date April 29, 2008. She and Sam are very excited - as are the rest of us. OK, well, Jon isn't thrilled about the idea of being a Grandpa, but he's really happy for Ashley ad Sam! They've even heard a little heartbeat. And Ashley has been feeling great.

Speaking of Grandpa, I'm a little concerned about what this, certainly adorable little thing might be calling the mother of his/her mother. Now, I only ever called my Grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa. Jon's Grandmother was 'Mimi" and his grandfather was "Pappy." None of those are really working for me. So, I could use some help in the "what to call me" department. Please comment and give me your ideas. My dear, sweet brother, Rich, has already had a little fun with it. I'll let him comment further, if he desires. I'm serious, I have some time before the baby is speaking and can actually utter a name, but I have this feeling that Sam will be immediately referring to me as "Granny," or "Nana" or something even more scary! So please help.

But seriously, we are so thrilled for Ashley and Sam. Ashley will be the BEST mother ever, and this child will be ultra talented because he/she will play sports AND sing! Way to go Ash and Sam - we can't wait to meet the new little Schmidt!

Assorted Thoughts and Happenings

While riding in the car - yes, we do much of that - Molly was describing to me some cool new thing she saw and thought she might like to have. After giving a suprisingly thorough description she said, in total seriousness, "AND it's available in stores everywhere!" The power of advertising.

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Drew, a.k.a. Elder Scholl is coming home in SEVEN days! We are so excited, but aren't sure if we should meet him at the airport with balloons, or a stretcher. He's been to the ER again. This time for stitches. He cut his hand while.....wait.....drum roll please......CLEANING a mirror. I know for some of you that's very hard to believe, but he tells me he's become neater as a missionary. We'll see. Anyway, he cut it pretty badly and the Doctor was concerned the tissue he had to stitch back in place may not be getting enough blood supply and could die. Then they'd have to remove it. Thankfully, it's healing fine and no further surgery is required. The wrist seems to be improving as well.

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Lucy brought home straight A's on her report card, again. She's a great kid. She's reading "And Then There Were None" and came across dialog that said, "she was so pretty and so gay." It's sad when you have to explain to your child that a word that not so long ago represented only happiness has been highjacked by society. That and rainbows. It really ticks me off.

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Will has scabs on most of his body - not really, just his elbow, knee and hip. They are from that fall from the sidewalk. His teacher tells me he likes to socialize in school. Sound familiar, Mom? The girls love Will and Will seems pretty much okay with the girls. He especially likes the ones that play Pokemon and will trade him good stuff.

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Jon is not here. He's a traveling man. We miss him, but the cool thing is, when he comes home, occasionally he brings gifts.

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Me? Most fun I've had in a long time was helping kids from their cars to the school in a torrential downpour Monday. I was barefoot and wearing workout clothes! The parents thought I was crazy, but were glad I was getting soaked, not them. I had to take matters into my own hands when I saw how backed up traffic was because parents seemed to be waiting for a lull in the rain or something before sending the kids into school. There was no lull, and apparently teachers can't go out to help if there's a threat of lightning. No one was stopping me.

Quite a bunch!

Drew let us know he'd been a bit of a scuffle with a grocery cart! I think the grocery cart came out in better shape than Drew. It seems he's dislocated a bone in his wrist. The story is, he was riding his bike on a sidewalk when he encountered the grocery cart. While dodging the cart his back tire clipped it and he continued down the sidewalk while is bike stayed put. He's fine, but was pretty swollen and sore.

Lucy called to come home from school half-way through the day on Wednesday, which is very unusual for Lucy. She wasn't feeling well - sore body and headache. She thought it was from the stunts they were dong in Cheerleading practice the day before. By late afternoon she had a high fever. Too high. So I took her to the ER. My friend, Dr. Martha was working, so we were in and out in record time, but with a presciption for Zithromax. Strep throat.

Will came home from school Wednesday with bandages on his knees. When I asked him what happened, he told me he'd fallen off the sidewalk! No kidding. He fell off the sidewalk in into the dirt, which is where his skinned his knees. I told him he needed a better story.

Molly is really fine, except for some dental work. It's amazing that a child with so few teeth could need repairs, but she's managed to grow a couple cavaties.

The good news is everyone is on the mends. Whew.

My Kids Make Me Laugh

Kids are a crack up. They are very observant and not afraid to ask questions or talk about their observations. We should be more like them.

We were riding in the car yesterday when out of the blue William says, "Hey Dad, when did you get your first arm pit hair?" After we stopped laughing, Jon answered with something like, "When I was 8." (Will is 9.) He laughed in his giddy little boy laugh that makes his face light up and turn red. That was really all that was said on the subject. Will is obviously really concerned about the whole thing because today he asked Jon if he really got arm pit hair when he was 8. Jon told him he didn't, and asked why he wanted arm pit hair and Will says, "I need it for gym class." So, I guess there are fourth grade boys with arm pit hair and he's feeling left out. As you can tell by this photo, I think he has a bit of a wait. Aren't most kids like 14 when they start growing arm pit hair???


Then there's Molly. Funny, funny girl. Her school is adding an additional First Grade class because enrollment is higher than expected. So a few kids from each class will be going to the new class and Molly is one of them. Mrs. Macaulay was really sad and I was worried about how Molly would take it. Her new best friend Katie Beth is in her class now and won't be going to the new class, and she really likes Mrs. Macaulay. Becuase I didn't want to ruin the weekend with the news, I waited until tonight (Sunday) to tell Molly. At the dinner table I broke the news and she says, "OK, but if my new teacher is mean, I'm going back to Mrs. Macaulay's class. (pause) AND I'm taking my desk." No questions about Katie Beth, no worries, nothing. Of course that could all change when she actually gets there Monday, but for now all is well.

FINALLY - The video!

Here's the video taken with our still camera. We missed the first couple lines of the monolouge, but for now it will do! Be sure to go to the URL so you can make it a favorite, comment on it and rate it!

Back to School, Back to School

I can hardly believe it, but summer is over! The kids went back to school yesterday. No more staying up late and sleeping in. No more cake for breakfast. It's time to get serious.

Little Miss Molly is in FIRST grade. She was so excited to go back to school. Her teacher is Mrs. Macaulay and is very nice. Molly was really happy to get her own desk. In Kindergarten you only get a table. Today, she took a whole bunch of extra supplies to school, "you know, just in case a crayon breaks or something...." She had scotch tape, a stapler, a calculator (she's really advanced in math), markers, colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, two extra boxes of crayons (they break REALLY easily) a HUGE eraser (thanks, Ashley) and probably some other things. I noticed them in her desk while at the First Grade Parents Night tonight and asked the teacher if she should have them. I brought them all home. So my child likes to be prepared - that's a good thing. I also learned at Parent Night that she's only allowed to wear footwear appropriate for PE except for on Friday. This could be a problem. Molly is pretty much the six year old version of Emelda Marcos. She has quite a variety of shoes, but very few are "appropriate for PE." Guess we're going shopping for tennis shoes.

Anyway, she's so stinkin' cute. She has this really big, ROLLING backpack with matching lunch box. It's bigger than she is. She's getting the hang of it though. It doesn't flip over nearly as often on the second day. Molly has her clothes picked out for the rest of the week, knows when she's buying school lunch and taking home lunch and finished the whole week's homework on Monday. She's totally into it.

Will is now in fourth grade and has Ms. Young (fitting name) for his teacher. I haven't been to Fourth Grade Parent Night (it's on Thursday), so I don't have many personal observations yet. He, too knows what days he's buying school lunch but would be pretty happy wearing the same thing every day. He's getting right on the homework, which is great. Hopefully it's not a "first two days of school excitement" thing. He only has one person in his class from last year, but told me today there was a new kid (already?) who was very polite. He said things like, "May I take the rest of my lunch home?" Sounds like he moved in from another planet. Ms. Young, can Will sit next to him?

Lucy started her last year of middle school - eighth grade. She's had her schedule changed several times. Mostly to accomodate her desire to have as many classes as possible with Megan. Now she has at least four with her. She's taking as many honors classes as possible, so she has a pretty rigorous schedule. Today was the second day of school and I've already been there twice. Nice. So far all her teachers are really nice. She's anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new Vera Bradley messenger bag which she saw in Pittsburg, but we didn't get there, and they don't have anywhere in Dallas, so we ordered from the store in Pittsburg, to match her lunchbox. In the meantime, as embarrassing as it may be, she's using last years backpack. Horrors.

I am surviving the loneliness and sense of loss I feel with the kids gone all day. I manage to fill my time with little, mundane tasks. Actually things are so busy, the day flies by. But so far I haven't forgotten to pick them up. Two days in a row, YESSSSS!

Lucy Steals the Show

Lucy performed at Plano West Senior High School Friday night in her voice teacher's show, "Voices." She sang a musical theater piece from the show, "A Chorus Line." As usual, Lucy was outstanding and received lots of praise for her performance. She had a great cheering section with her family, Aunt Carollyn, Megan, Katie, a friend from her Cheerleading Squad, Madeline with her Mom and sister, Aubrianne and Rusty Bishop, their friends the Klingers with their three kids and Michele Eagar! After the show we went to Paciugo for gelato - yum! Stay tuned for a video of Lucy's performance. I'm still working on getting the file uploaded! In the meantime, here's a really bad quality photo - a frame from a video taken with a digital (still) camera!

Number 2 Child

Drew is almost finished serving a two year mission for our church. He started out in Vina del Mar, Chile and is now in Long Beach, California. He will be finished on October 23rd! We are excited to see him and looking forward to hearing all about his mission. His plans are to attend school in January, so he'll be with us until then. This, of course, is all speculation. Here's the most current picture we have. If you'd like to write to Drew, I know he'd love to hear from you, but hurry - October will be here before we know it!

Elder Drew Scholl
California Long Beach Mission
2501 Cherry Ave. Suite 255
Signal Hill, CA 90755

We are hoping to take a trip with the kids to California in October to pick up Drew and visit with Jon's mother in Rancho Cucamonga. Our little kids haven't been to California! Some of Ashley and Drew's fondest memories are of Grandma Scholl's house, playing dress-up and picking lemons! Of course Disneyland would be fun, too!

Lucy, Molly and Will's Excellent Adventure

In July, Lucy, Will and Molly visited Sam and Ashley in PA. Ashley and Sam kept them continually entertained. They went to a baseball game, Hershey Park, Bowling, Swimming, Mini Golfing, Del Grosso's (sp?) an amusement park, had a visit with Sam's family in Philadelpia, saw the Liberty Bell, and all the sights there, celebrated Molly's birthday and had an all around great time! Sam has decided that maybe they won't have kids after all, but Ashley reminded them they don't arrive 13, or 9, or 6 and normally they come one at a time. He agreed that would make things easier. Secretly he's really missing Molly. Jon and I were grateful for the opportunity to take a trip sans children to St. Barth. Ashley will be a great mom someday. The kids came home happy, healthy and with suitcases full of CLEAN clothes! Woohooo.

Fun in Philly

Do you think he misses that??

Beauties!

The Birthday Girl

S'mores in Ashley and Sam's kitchen

Thanks, Ashley and Sam for a great time for the kiddos and a break for us!

I'm really glad I married a geek

I got an iPhone. It's awesome. Tonight, Jon figured out a problem I was having with it (first one for all you iCritics out there) and promptly found out how to fix it. I'm back in business, so call me. I can't even begin to say how many times my wonderful, geeky husband has saved the day with his acumen and studliness. Thanks, dude.

I really have no idea what I'm doing.....

I know, I know....what else is new! Since we're really, really, ridiculously bad at keeping in touch with practically everyone we've ever known, we've (actually, I've) decided that we should start a blog. I have absolutely no experience with blogging, so don't expect too much. But here it goes....