Starting Jumpstart

Today, Monday June 25th 2012, was the first day of Caleb's summer school class, Jumpstart. It's a class to get kids prepared for Kindergarten. 

He was excited to go this morning but we've been preparing him for going to school at the same school that Robby goes to.  When this morning rolled around and he was the only one going to school and Robby kept talking about the glory that was to be from him staying home with Dad (I took the day off to physically recover from our concert last night), he was a bit apprehensive about this new school. Even though, there's no hiding the excitement that he had as well

The drop off went MUCH better than the drop off yesterday at our church's VBS program where it sounded like  a good idea while eating hotdogs and brownies but not so good when it came to dad leaving him in a classroom with about 95% strangers.

All that being said, I am SO glad that we are his people!!  

 

Here's Mr. school boy on his first day of Jumpstart! He was a HAPPY boy when Robby and I came into the room to pick him up.  I asked his teacher how he did and she said, "Good, he did fine.  He ate A LOT!".  We're getting used to that. :-)

Caleb wanted me to take a picture of his new school so we pulled into the parking lot and snapped a photo of the front of the building.

Hopefully, that about wraps up a crazy busy weekend! 

Random Hap'nin's from the Hill, June edition... Part III

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. 

It started slow enough with a bit of a lazy morning around the house but then Mom was due up at Church to help with registration for our 1-day VBS program. She left and about 1 hour later, I had to deliver the boys up there. 

I got them there, registered and had hot dogs, brownies and potato chips (Robby did anyway, no chips for Caleb, yet). Then it was into the sanctuary where all of the kids meet and get organized into their respective classes, sing some songs and then break into small groups from there. Only one problem. Caleb was NOT going to let me go and just leave him there. I tried a few times to prepare him for what was coming but he wasn't buying what I was selling.

I figured that I would go to his classroom with him and send him in at the door, making the break there. Nope. Not buying that either.

I stayed in the classroom for a bit while they started doing activities and then made the break from there after talking briefly with his teacher.

Mom left our phone number with the church just in case he had a meltdown and then we were heading back home so Momma could study for Monday nights test and Dad could practice and get everything packed up for Sunday nights Music In The Park.

We no sooner got home and the phone rang.  Caleb is an unhappy boy.

Momma went back up to pick him up and I stayed and got stuff ready for the concert.

At about 4:15, I ran Mom and Caleb back up to church to finish VBS (Caleb got to say his name thru the microphone, so that was exciting for him!) and I went to the park to get equipment set up.

The concert went fine with the exception of the fact that it can become very difficult to play instruments in sweltering heat!

 

There's the boy with his VBS medal that he got after saying his name into the microphone.

Here's my clown boy during one of the only times that he was not trying his hardest to impress a couple of girls who were a few years older than him.  On the way home, he told me that he's going to need a slide phone (whatever that is!). I asked him if he had given our phone number out to the girls and he said he didn't, but then went on to say that somehow, they have it on their phones. One of the girls is our drummers daughter so he was "guessing" that "apparently" Lance, our drummer, had our phone number and HE put it on his daughters phone and then she put it on her friends phone.  Aha!  That's how it happened.

That's us in all of our splendor, if you will, gettin' jiggly wid it.  Or something.  I was going to zoom in a little more and make the picture bigger, but after I examined it a little closer, I thought better of it.

And another...  really, I just like looking at my strat!  :-)  That's me on the far left.

So a busy weekend has come to a close and I took Monday off to recover. Other than my knees, hips, low back and feet hurting, I feel great!

Random Hap'nin's from the Hill, June edition... Part II

I had intended to cover our already busy weekend in one post but as you all know, I tend to get a little wordy and the last post was no exception.  :-)

So, here we are for part II and there will likely be a part III after today is in the history books since we have the one day Vacation Bible School at our church today and then my band plays at the opening of Altoona Iowa's Summer Music In The Park series at 7pm. 

Long story short, another busy day.

So, back to Friday...

Aunt Molly brought the boys & momma downtown and dropped them off at my work so we could stroll thru the Des Moines Arts Festival on opening day.  It was HOT on Friday, not as hot as it was on Wednesday and Thursday, but hot none-the-less.

I took more pictures of our downtown sculpture park than I did of the Arts Festival but that was probably because Lesley and I both determined that even if we were filthy stinkin' rich, art is not what we would want to spend our money on at this point in our lives.

And it was HOT.

Robby and Caleb were pretty much barking to take a rest or go home the whole time too, so it's obvious that their appreciation of the arts has not quite yet been fully developed.

This is one of the few large art pieces that I've ever seen that I like.  It's letters and numbers forming a person sitting with their knees pulled up to their chest and their hands down around their ankles. That is, if the front had not been cut away so that you can walk inside of it.  The boys immediately started to climb on it and I was reminded by a friendly officer of the law that climbing on the structures is indeed strictly forbidden.  Whoops...

Master C inside of the sculpture.  See that little kid in the green shirt standing behind the scupture (to the right of Calebs head)?  His momma was on the other side of that hill behind the sculpture and didn't have a clue as to where he had gone.  It was one of those situations that as a parent, you can see it developing in almost slow motion but I'm not going to leave my own kids to take him back (Mom was over looking at a booth or two that interested her).  So I kept an eye on the boy until I heard his momma panicking and then flagged her down. She thanked me profusely, hugged the boy and then ripped him a new oriface!  I think that's the proper order in a situation like that...

Big Brother Robby pretending to be happy for the electric eye!

I had the boys smell the flowers. Robby didn't think much either way, but Caleb was emphatic with their "yuckiness". He kept saying his, "yyyeeeuckk", over and over until we were walking away from them.

Both critters thought this was just the coolest thing and they needed to have their photo taken by it!

That is, they both needed to have their photo taken by it, just not together.

Some of the booths and one of the three big stages they had set up for various performances.

Looking down one of the roads at probably 1/4 of the booths set up.

And lest you think you'll be left high and dry should nature call you specifically, you will find a few rows of "portals", as I like to call them, in a couple of locations.  I put a flower over the face of the most recent satisfied customer to protect his identity. I did notice though that he appears to be rubbing his back side so perhaps his experience was less than stellar?

That night after the Arts Festival, I went into the store room to get a frosty mug out of the freezer and Caleb spotted the rocking horse that's been up on the shelf in storage for quite a while. He was adamant that I get it down for him to try out and I think he quite liked it!  I'm not sure of the age of that thing, but it was made by Mommas Grandpa.

Then, somehow, I was talked into setting up the tent in our yard off of the patio from the walk-out door of our basement, or if you'd rather, the ONLY flat spot in nearly all of our yard.  All 4 of us slept out there on Friday night, plus our beast, Rosey.

Caleb has captured the beast and truly thinks the porch of the tent is going to keep her contained for however long he see's fit to contain her.

Look closely through the open door of the tent. Robby wanted me to try and catch him airborne flying from one air mattress to another. Surprisingly, it only took two attempts to get it.

And here is flying man after he had injured himself. He was being as dramatic as only Robby can, limping around and making comments that it's the worst pain ever and so on. So I told him I was going to take video of him and post it on the blog. He saw me aiming the camera and this is the pose I got.  Miraculously, as soon as this photo was snapped, he was healed and went on with whatever was next on his list.

I got up at 5am to head to church for my Saturday morning mens group/Bible study and there was a fantastic sunrise.  I think it's kind of neat that it seems no matter how good of a camera you have, you can never capture the natural beauty of seeing it in person.

After Bible study, we made our first 2012 visit to the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market

.  It was Calebs first visit and he seemed to be right at home with it.  We were a little worried at first because lots of people bring their dogs and they are dogs of all shapes and sizes, including one that Robby and I saw that I honestly could have ridden!

Caleb handled them like a champ.  He was excited to see them and pointed out to his family each and every one of them!  I'm not exaggerating.

Interesting to note, we ate Italian food (pizza), El Salvador food (papusas), Indian food (samosas), Mexican food (okay, America's version of Mexican food in a breakfast burrito), Dutch food (Dutch letters [pastries], and of course, Chinese food in Egg Rolls.  Caleb was enjoying trying all of them as we shared.

This is from the third story of the parking ramp that we always park in.  It's looking East down Court Avenue.

This is looking West from the same location.  You can't see down all of the side streets but it is a large Farmers Market that takes a while to get through all of.  In fact, I'm thinking they've stretched the definition of a "farmer's market" to get to this point, but it's fun and there's really good authentic ethnic foods.

So that about sums up part II. Lesley and the boys slept in the tent again last night while dad and the beast slept in their comfy sleep number bed.

I'll likely be back tomorrow to post about today's happenings.

Until then, take care and God Bless!

Random Hap'nin's from the Hill, June edition...

Greetings!

Things have been busy around the Schmitz Mobile Chaos Unit lately. Momma's school. Getting Grandma Elaine situated in her new digs. Signing Caleb up for Jumpstart (summer school). Robby being Robby and wanting to jam 3 days worth of activities into 12 hours of awake time. Dad going to work and practicing guitar for two (mostly) different shows this summer.

Your usual fare.

Funny story before we get to pictures. Robby has taken an interest in sword fighting. I built him a cardboard sword a couple of years back that has silver duct tape for the blade and until recently, had red construction paper wrapped with black electrical tape for the handle. The handle, due to increased usage in the past two months, became frayed and it turns out that no self-respecting pirate would be caught dead pillaging anothers ship with a sword that is less than regal in a 7 year olds eyes.

I used purple duct tape to "upgrade" the handle for the boy and we let the sword fighting commence. Around this time, he also discovered that on the Wii Resort game, there are two sword fighting games. One is simply a one player affair while the other pits one contestant against either the computer or another worthy opponent via an additional Wii controller.

Dad would battle him for about as much as I could handle but I was really trying to encourage him to match wits against the computer.  He did...  for a while.

Skip ahead a day or three...

Robby and Caleb decide to take the crossbow outside and shoot the little foam darts with suction cups at the storm door window. No problem, I say. Leave the inside door open and I can monitor them while sitting across the basement practicing guitar.

Shooting them at the door was good for a while. Robby was doing the shooting while Caleb was the cheerleader, egging him on to go "higher and further".

Eventually, they worked their way up to trying to hit the bathroom exhaust fan on the soffit of the house. This is from the patio on the walk-out side of our basement so the vent they're trying to hit is proably about 28 feet in the air.

They keep on trying for probably 10 to 15 minutes with Caleb excitedly cheering on his big brother to keep at it until they achieve their goal.

Then, it happens.  The dart goes up past the gutter and onto the roof.  According to our neighbor, Mike, who was watching them, Robby was unprepared for this recent development.  He stood there, looking up towards the roof for a bit until Mike asked him what happened.  He also explained that the dart maybe went all the way over the house and would be laying in the yard on the other side.

I'm inside playing guitar and seeing a bit of what's going on out there when the boys come in.  Robby says, "Dad, we have situation developing out there.  Apparently, I shot a bullet up over the edge of the edge of the roof and it's caught in the gutter. Mike said I'll have to wait for a heavy rain to get that bullet back but I was wondering if you could get it with a ladder?".

I told him that heavy rain was his best bet as well.

He was unsatisfied with that answer and decided that he would try to entice me to a game or six of sword fighting on the Wii.

I was not to be swayed as I'm a little nervous about the show coming up in late June (tomorrow as I type this!) and was not going to stop practicing.

Finally, he decides that it would probably be okay for Caleb to play with him.  I'm guessing he reached the decision based on the fact that he could likely whoop the boy from China quite easily and get a mild ego boost in the process.

 So they battle a few games and Caleb is getting whooped.  Robby decides to let Caleb whack him with the sword a couple of times and knock him off of the platform. 

Caleb was ecstatic!  Jumping up and down while hollering with screeches of delight that he sent Robby off the edge.

So Robby queues up the next game and Caleb knocks him off again. Only thing is, Rob wasn't letting him do it this time.  Caleb is just as excited as the first time and Robby is very very happy for him as well saying, "Dad, I didn't let him win that time and he got me!  He got me good!".

Game 3 - Caleb beats him again. Robby isn't quite as happy but is indeed impressed and probably a little tiny bit incredulous that this Wii rookie from China has just knocked him off the platform legitimently for the second time in a row.

Game 4 - Caleb wins again. Robby is no longer happy for Caleb but is nearly speechless (it's Robby, he's NEVER "speechless"!!) that he got beat again.

Game 5 - Caleb wins yet again.  Robby strips him of his Wii remote and orders him to sit silently on the couch and watch!

I was about dying trying not to die laughing!

On to some recent photos...

The boys casting lots at the zoo to determine who would go over the rope bridge first to determine if it was safe.

Caleb went first and as I understand it, it was his first time across the bridge without assistance!

Superhero Rob comes across next in his typical dramatic fashion.

The boys return to the site where they were hatched...

Riding on the giant callapidder, as Robby used to call them. :-)

Caleb wanted to take a photo of dear ol' dad getting ready to go play some Rock n' Roll for the Lord!  Every photo is just another gentle reminder of the fact that I need to lose a few pounds...

That's about it for now.  I'm being beckoned to the Wii for a round of tanks.

Until next time!

Heads up...

To the readers of this blog who are in the Des Moines Iowa or surrounding areas, the band that I play in is playing at Haines Park in Altoona Iowa this weekend. We should start around 7pm on Sunday, June 24th and continue to play our style of Christian rock for roughly 1.5 hours.

Here's a map (providing the link works):
http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH2#JnE9LmhhaW5lcyUyYnBhcmslMmJhbHRvb25hJTJiaW93YSU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGcuMSZiYj02MC4wMTY0MTYzMDE3ODcyJTdlLTQ2LjM2NTMxMDY2ODUlN2UxNS45NTI2MDE5OTQ3MTMlN2UtMTQwLjg0NzczMjU0MzU=

Here's a link to a youtube video showing a very comparable line-up of us aging men playing music for the Lord. That's my ugly mug on the far left hand side of the video playing guitar.  You'll recognize me by my nose!

Hope to see some of you on Sunday!
God Bless.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Kristen at http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/ posted the answers her kids gave to these questions.  I thought it was cute and copied.  So Ted...Happy Father's Day!  We love you so very much!

Robby's sentiments

And from Caleb.

Have a GREAT Day!

The Devonian Fossil Gorge, Coralville, Iowa

Well, I said in a blog post here, that I would write a post about what we did prior to going to the hospital in Iowa City for Calebs check-up, but it would have to wait until "tomorrow" (that would have been Tuesday) because I had band practice.

Tuesday night, I put up a quick post about the 6 month anniversary of Got'cha day, then had band practice again Wednesday night for a different concert we're doing this summer. We appear to only have two gigs this summer and truthfully, that's about enough with all that's going on!

So, here 'tis Thursday night and I'm home in the quiet since Mama took the boys to a park to play for a bit. I figured I'd better do it now or it'll be another week and I still won't have it done.

We visited the Devonian Fossil Gorge in Coralville, IA.  I could tell you more about here but I'm feeling lazy and will just include a link instead.  It really is pretty interesting so I would recommend a quick read.

I have to wonder what the boy thinks sometimes about where we take him and the things we do. He seems to enjoy them and doesn't complain about anything unless he gets cold, which is a lot. :-)

One of the few occasions where we got Robby to settle down enough to get a photo of them together. Getting them to both look at the camera at the same time is an entirely different/equally difficult task.

A lot of this fossil park is just walking along and spotting the hundreds of fossils that are nearly everywhere around you.  They did have specific fossils marked with little markers like this one here. They have a map overlooking this area that gives you a rough idea of where things are located,  but to be honest, we had a lot of fun treating it like a scavenger hunt of sorts.

Mom and Robby working ahead in an attempt to make the next great discovery.

Robby being...  well, Robby!  :-)  Love the boy!

This is looking back towards the Coralville Resevoir. You can sort of see some concrete off in the distance on the top half of the photo.  That's the emergency spillway and the water comes crashing down the path where we're standing, hence the uncovering of what used to be ocean floor a LONG time ago.

I'll bet something like this has a name...  Had I paid any attention at all in high school, I might know it now.

Tentative Caleb watches Robby get a lesson from Mama.

There was one little spot of moist ground with a few small green weeds growing out of it. As we got closer, you could see a LOT of little things moving away from you.  Upon closer inspection, they were very, very tiny toads!  This little dude is about the size of one of my finger nails.

There was a whole gaggle of turkey vultures sitting on the rocks of the dam.  Ugly little varmints, they are.

Several fossils in this rock that are probably not evident to anybody viewing the small photos on this blog.

Exhibit B.

Thought we had a Sasquatch sighting so I snapped a quicky photo only to discover it was Robby taking a short cut.

This was the boys after leaving Old Chicago Pizza.  Dad is smiling like a hyena because he just laid waste to a pizza buffet!  Yessiree!!

Got'Cha!! 6 Month Anniversary!

Six months ago today, we went to the Federal building in Changchun, China and welcomed a little boy named Chang Rong Bo into our lives. It was a roller coaster first meeting between new family members.  It was at the same time beautiful, sad, exciting and scary. Something everybody should do at least twice!

Chang Rong Bo, or Caleb RongBo Schmitz if you rather (and I do!), is meshing with his new family quite well. He is well fed. He is clothed. He is cared for. He is loved. He is OURS!!

A half of a year has gone by since we welcomed him into our fold.  It seems like he's been here forever even though he still struggles with the language, still struggles occasionally with his parents who can't for the life of them, understand what he wants to tell them. 

He will start kindergarten in the Fall and I can't wait. I know he will do well and I know that he will have fun. I know that he will soak up every morsel of information that is tossed in his general direction.  He is a smart little boy who seems to love life and everything that it has so far thrown at him.

Caleb, we love you and couldn't imagine life without you!

Caleb's Iowa City post-op visit #2 update

Just a very quick update about little Master C.

Today, June 4th, we were due in Iowa City at 11am for his second post-op check-up.  All went well and we go back in 6 weeks, or July 16th for one more appointment. If all is good at that one, we're good for 6 months!

He was released to a less restricted diet, but still mushy.  We told the doc that we'd been feeding him some scrambled eggs and pancakes in the last week. Things that were still soft and edible with his fingers since he cannot introduce a utensil or straw into his mouth yet. Doc wasn't upset and didn't look surprised, so that was good.  :-)

He requested that we still have the lad wear his elbow braces at night, since he is a thumb sucker, until his July appointment. That's fine with us since he's a compliant little cuss anyway.

We celebrated with a stop at the Old Chicago on the way out of town.  Robby had his chicken fingers and fries as usual, and we got Caleb a plate of spaghetti, with a meatball and sauce on the side.  The look on that kids face when we told him the meatball was for him, was GOLDEN!!!  He scarfed that thing down like he hadn't eaten in roughly three weeks, and I can assure you, he has!

I'll be writing another post on what we did (Coralville Dam area) prior to going to the hospital.  That was fun but it will have to wait until tomorrow as I have band practice tonight and two little boys barking about how hungry they are.

That's all for now...