The Holidays Are Among Us

The holiday season is here and getting more & more hectic. My goal this year is to keep the chaos to a minimum. Andrew & Trey have their Christmas program at school on Thur. the 18th and Aliska will be playing in the jr. high band concert on Sun. the 14th. Ronnie has basketball games and I am busy selling gift certificates and helping clients look & feel their best for the holiday events they will encounter. That is just to start! All 3 of the children will be in the Christmas Eve program at church and have been attending practices for that.

Today while at work, I looked out & saw some snow flurries! Later this evening when I walked out to the car to go home, there was a thin layer of snow on the car. Who would have thought. What a beautiful sight!

This CHRISTmas season we all need to take the time to stop and enjoy the wonders of the world and all the Lord has placed in our lives. Let's not allow the hustle & bustle to be what our season is about. The Schmidt family is going to try to keep things at a minimum this year too. We want to wish our family & friends a very BLESSED CHRISTmas season!!

Such fun in dressing up

We have had many events happen since I last posted. The Kids had a great time dressing up for Halloween. Andrew was Batman, Trey was Darth Vader, Aliska was Pebbles and I was a Go-Go dancer. Aliska and I worked together and she sewed her costume mostly by herself. Gram-E has taught her well! That evening we went to the baptist church fall festival. Trey participated in the pie eating contest and Andrew didn't want to get off the horse statue. Even Granny had fun Trick-Or-Treating!

Kid Happenings (October)

Aliska has been 1st chair of the french horn/trumpet section all but 2 weeks this year in band. She absolutely loves music! She must get her musical talent from her dad because she certainly didn't get it from me. Her sunday school teacher assigned her a solo part. Aliska hadn't seen her lines and even missed 2 practices and Mrs. Bollom said she still nailed it the first time they rehearsed. Again...must be from her dad!

Trey is totally consumed with football! Not only is he playing flag football, he is waterboy on Thursday & Friday nights. He knows more about football than some of the older boys! My brothers can relate...it's that growing up on the sidelines thing. Trey loves to be with his dad I think most of all.

Andrew...well, is finally getting adjusted to kindergarten. He loves school, but has had a hard time settling down to do his work when it's time. Soccer also has been fun for him. He's starting to get a little more aggressive and go after the ball. I think he is going to be a womanizer...there are already 3 or 4 girls in his class that he has a crush on. Little does he know that more than once he will probably get his heart broken.

Our Quarterback

Set hut...

They all fall down...

Soccer Anyone?

Andrew began his first sporting event today...Soccer! This morning he woke up at 6:45 and asked if he could put on his shin guards. Talk about anxious!! He is on a team with 6 other kids. They pretty much just run around the field in a cluster with the ball in the middle of them. Regardless, he had a blast. He plays for the next 5 wks; Oct 4th & 11th - 8:15, Oct 25th - 10:15, Sept 27th & Oct 18th - 11:15

Blue 42, Blue 42...Hut, Hut

Trey started flag football today and even got to play quarterback. This is his 2nd year to play. He plays every Saturday for the next 5 weeks and would love for any family & friends to come watch them. Game times are Sept 27th & Oct 25th - 10 am and Oct 4th, 11th & 18th -9 am.

Aliska - 11 yrs. old is now in 6th grade
Trey - 9 yrs. old is now in 4th grade
Andrew - 5 yrs. old is now in Kindergarten

My, how time has FLOWN!!

2008-09 School Pictures

We went to the park near Dawn & Jason's house to take our pictures for this school year. The kids had lots of fun getting creative with their posing and locations for pictures. Below is the address for the kids photos I've taken for this school years pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/theschmidtgang/SchoolPhotosForBlog?authkey=YOd3DUw2E-8

1st Day of School

The kids got off to school today. Andrew was excited all morning, but a bit nervous once he got there. Trey was just fine. He's tops in elementary; next year he'll be in jr. high (our 5th grade is in the jr. high wing). Aliska went to her first class by herself for the first time. I think she maybe wanted a little help, but did great. She has become such a big, responsible young lady. When did they all grow up?!

Our Summer Break

Aliska and Trey enjoyed playing in the sand. We even took sand castle building lessons. Who would have thought there was so much to building an awesome sandcastle!





Ronnie & Aliska are
flying a kite in South Padre.
Andrew and Lauren were little
monkeys on the playground equipment.








Ronnie & April together on South Padre Beach at Sunset...how romantic! (Except the kids were running around...ha!ha!)

















PawPaw took all the grandkids out on the airboat this summer, except Andrew wasn't quite yet ready. Maybe he will ride next summer. Trey got a HUGE suprise when PawPaw hit a bigger piece of land than he thought. Trey thought he was about to go swimming.














The summer has passed quickly. The kids have been gone more than they've been home. We started the summer with the annual Schmidt fishing trip followed by a trip to South Padre all in the same week. Whew! We were exhausted. Other trips were to Mike & Laurel's for the 4th of July, camping at Jellystone Park in Waller, playing in San Marcos on the river with all mom's kids/grandkids and the Barta's. The kids also took various trips to visit with aunts, uncles and grandparents. I don't even think they missed us. They will be starting school tomorrow and the excitement is rising.

Aliska

Aliska is now 11...my how time flies. She has become quite a great helper both at home and at the salon. Many times she comes to the salon and works for me answering phones, making appointments and cleaning. This fall she will begin jr. high band playing the french horn. Daddy is just ecstatic that she will be playing brass. He loves the sound of a good brass section.

Trey

Trey is now 9...last of his single digit years! This summer Trey has enjoyed going to the farm with his daddy and would spend every day out there if he could. Pawpaw has had Trey driving a tractor and I wasn't sure he'd ever want to come home. He loves the outdoors and all that comes with it...hunting, fishing, farming, sports, etc. He has inherited Grandpa Meuth's gift of story telling and has plenty of them for all who will listen.

Andrew

Ready or not here he comes...Andrew is now 5 and can't wait to start school. We recently went shopping for his school supplies and I couldn't get him to put down his "Speed Racer" lunch kit. When we got home he had to show dad that it even has a container in the bottom so he can take "psghetti" to school. We'll see how much he likes getting up early every morning.

Ronnie

It is that time of year again...for the sweet smell of harvest. Ricky has had Ronnie working for him again this year. Trey has been at the farm with Ronnie everyday that he would allow it. Ronnie just can't get away from those rice fields; it's in his blood. This year he will be coaching 7th grade boys football and track, while still being the head varsity girls basketball coach. He got out of the classroom to now have 3rd-8th grade PE. No more TAKS...yeah!!!

April

This summer has been a whirlwind. Between shuffling kids for camping, vacation bible schools, volleyball, basketball and football camps, aunts houses and grandparents...I have been busy working at the salon. For the first time since I opened the salon, I decided that I would make more time to do things with the my family this summer. I must say that it has been fun. All my clients are great and encourage me to put my family first. Although, I have to admit that I am "ready for some football" and ready for the school year to begin.