Monday, October 30, 2006
Great Grandma's Visit
We enjoyed a GREAT visit from Drew's Grandma last Monday. Her positive attitude keeps everyone smiling. When we woke her up from her nap she laughed and said "Just look at that wake up one minute and sit down to supper the next." Her quick wit kept Drew hopping during family time. Her sister Esther lives here and is dying of cancer so it is with mixed emotions we welcome her here again tomorrow.
Friday, October 27, 2006
My Conversation with Baruch
This afternoon when Baruch was helping me change Abram's diaper. . .
Mom - "Abram is such a nice baby isn't he"
Baruch - "Yes, he's my friend."
Mom - "would you like another baby"
Baruch - "Yes, but this time could you get one that stands?"
Mom - "Abram is such a nice baby isn't he"
Baruch - "Yes, he's my friend."
Mom - "would you like another baby"
Baruch - "Yes, but this time could you get one that stands?"
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
The Interview
Mary and Jacob went through their first interview today to deliver a free, weekly paper called The Advertiser. Although I'm prejudice, I have to say Jacob looked dazzlingly handsome with his hair slicked back, sport coat, tie and shined shoes. Mary was so nervous she almost backed out of the interview (that is, until Jacob told her he would land the job and hire her under him and pay her a quarter). On the way I quizzed them on what they were expecting. They were convinced the interviewer would be a grumpy old fat man with a big beard. As it turned out, he was in his 20's and he wore a sweatshirt and a large earring in his ear. He lectured us for over 45 minutes on paper delivery etiquette while Mary and Jacob's heads slowly sank back into their chairs and their eyes glazed over. I kept kicking them under the table to get them to sit up straight. While questioning them later, I think they amazingly remembered everything. When we left the building, they hooted and hollered for joy. They will now be pulling down $3 per week a piece - Watch out Warren Buffet. -Drew
On the Route
The route is .8 miles long with 98 houses. I found out how carefully Mary and Jacob listened. They were so cute walking up to each door and examining where to leave the paper. They were told to put the paper on the ground only as a last resort. First choice hanging from the mailbox (as long as the paper wouldn't get in the mailman's way AT ALL), second choice on the door knob. Mary Elisabeth kept saying "Watch out! The Advertiser has a new paper girl and her name is Mary." I pushed the little ones in the stroller while Abigail trailed Mary closely and Jacob did the other side of the street. All in all the route went well, of course there could be snow next week :-).
Monday, October 16, 2006
More Trial News - The Sentencing
Hopefully this is the last of the trial news. It was an emotional day for all involved. Below is the e-mail my brother Matt sent out.
Friday 13th.2006 we arrived at the courtroom at 9:00am, coffey and family were already there.Mom,Michelle,Cheryl,Sue,Bianca(Cheryl’s trainee/assistant )and I had to wait until about 11:15 am until they got to the coffey case. Eric Roserio addressed the court after he had talked to us and I confirmed to him that we wanted the maximum sentence. Then mr.coffey was allowed to address us.He said that the reason why he couldn’t talk to us early was because the police told him not to and that it was still under investigation then he said his attorney told him not to say anything aswell,he said he wanted to say he was sorry but couldn’t. He then told us he was sorry for the pain he had caused our family.He said that after he had read all of our letters is when he tried to runaway and commit suicide, he said he just couldn’t forgive himself.he said that he has contemplated suicide a few more times since then.(I’m thinking and reading between the lines while he was talking if you were truly sorry then why in the heck didn’t you just plead guilty,admit your mistake and try to get a lesser sentence,why did you try to run away and not face the consequences of your actions?Why did you attempt to leave the scene of an crash with a broken ankle, why did you try to weasel out of the dui charge ona diabetic defense and go through thatagonizing trial.commit suicide? Like that would solve a lot of problems! He seemed very cowardly, like it was all about him) he did also though briefly mention that he was sorry to have caused his own family pain.shortly after his apology Mom and Cheryl took the stand,mom did great in reading her statement and then Cheryl read Terry’s letter,Bianca read Rita’s letter and then Sue read her letter which was really nice to have represented the Wisconsin side of the Schoeppe family,then Michelle who did another great job and I,My plan was to read the Tueckes letter(including Mary and Jacob’s) and the Renee’s letter, but by then I was an emotional basket case and it seemed that I couldn’t really add anymore than what was already said. So I stammered and told mr. coffey that there is forgiveness and that it is found in Our Lord Jesus Christ and that if you are truly repentant that I have forgiven him just as Christ has forgiven me. At least that’s what I thought I said(I won’t really know unless they release a transcript)Then the judge sort of briefly outlined the case as he understood it and gave a sentence of 12 years and 3 additional years of probation and a lifetime revocation of his drivers liscense.Michelle and I didn’t really sleep that well the night before then we had to get up at 6:00am and drop the kid’s off in Clearwater then on the way back to the courthouse print out our letters at work. So we could hurry up and wait. Sue then took us all out for lunch because Tommy had given her some money to do so which was his request.Thanks cousin Tommy and Vicki!, Love Matt.
Friday 13th.2006 we arrived at the courtroom at 9:00am, coffey and family were already there.Mom,Michelle,Cheryl,Sue,Bianca(Cheryl’s trainee/assistant )and I had to wait until about 11:15 am until they got to the coffey case. Eric Roserio addressed the court after he had talked to us and I confirmed to him that we wanted the maximum sentence. Then mr.coffey was allowed to address us.He said that the reason why he couldn’t talk to us early was because the police told him not to and that it was still under investigation then he said his attorney told him not to say anything aswell,he said he wanted to say he was sorry but couldn’t. He then told us he was sorry for the pain he had caused our family.He said that after he had read all of our letters is when he tried to runaway and commit suicide, he said he just couldn’t forgive himself.he said that he has contemplated suicide a few more times since then.(I’m thinking and reading between the lines while he was talking if you were truly sorry then why in the heck didn’t you just plead guilty,admit your mistake and try to get a lesser sentence,why did you try to run away and not face the consequences of your actions?Why did you attempt to leave the scene of an crash with a broken ankle, why did you try to weasel out of the dui charge ona diabetic defense and go through thatagonizing trial.commit suicide? Like that would solve a lot of problems! He seemed very cowardly, like it was all about him) he did also though briefly mention that he was sorry to have caused his own family pain.shortly after his apology Mom and Cheryl took the stand,mom did great in reading her statement and then Cheryl read Terry’s letter,Bianca read Rita’s letter and then Sue read her letter which was really nice to have represented the Wisconsin side of the Schoeppe family,then Michelle who did another great job and I,My plan was to read the Tueckes letter(including Mary and Jacob’s) and the Renee’s letter, but by then I was an emotional basket case and it seemed that I couldn’t really add anymore than what was already said. So I stammered and told mr. coffey that there is forgiveness and that it is found in Our Lord Jesus Christ and that if you are truly repentant that I have forgiven him just as Christ has forgiven me. At least that’s what I thought I said(I won’t really know unless they release a transcript)Then the judge sort of briefly outlined the case as he understood it and gave a sentence of 12 years and 3 additional years of probation and a lifetime revocation of his drivers liscense.Michelle and I didn’t really sleep that well the night before then we had to get up at 6:00am and drop the kid’s off in Clearwater then on the way back to the courthouse print out our letters at work. So we could hurry up and wait. Sue then took us all out for lunch because Tommy had given her some money to do so which was his request.Thanks cousin Tommy and Vicki!, Love Matt.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Hulling Walnuts
We enjoyed a lovely visit from Drew's parents on Sunday. A large part of the day was spent gathering walnuts. Monday the hulling began. Drew came up with an awesome invention. . . A hulling table! He drilled four perfect sized holes in a children's table. The kids set the walnuts on the hole and when the walnut was pounded through the small portion of hull remaining just pealed right off. Next the hulled walnuts must dry before cracking.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Baruch gathering eggs
The chickens continue to thrive and grow. They gained weight under the tender care of our neighbors while we were in Florida. I think they were even laying bigger eggs. Thanks Jim and Amber! Drew put a light in their coop as their egg production had slackened with the shorter days. It goes on at dark for about an hour. I guess egg production correlates with the amount of light that hits their retina. In another month we will give them a break as they probably need a rest until spring.
Florida Vacation
We had an excellent trip to Florida. We headed out Wednesday AM around 6:45 pulling a trailer full of dirty laundry. We invaded DrewÂ’s sister KariÂ’s house around 8 AM to change BaruchÂ’s diaper, get Abigail dressed, swig down a gulp of coffee and have a morning BM, then unhitched our trailer (full of dirty laundry), DrewÂ’s sister hopped in and we headed for the airport. We were up in the air before 11 AM (Central Time) and landing in Orlando some time around 2:30 PM (Eastern Time). Getting our rental van went smoothly and we were all excited as we took off for GrandmaÂ’s house. By the time we arrived at GrandmaÂ’s house Drew was completely whooped. I had caught a nap on the way. We had supper and went for a swim.
Every day we enjoyed at least one trip to the pool, several games of connect four, lizard hunts and work in GrandmaÂ’s house on different small projects.
Thursday night Mom, Matt and Michele joined us as we met a few friends at C CÂ’s Pizza. It was so good to see my friends Susan and Colleen from High School and to get to meet their families. We all came back to MomÂ’s after Pizza and went down to the pool for a swim.
Friday we went to Clearwater beach from 9 to 11 AM came back to MomÂ’s for naps and went to the pool before and after supper.
Saturday Michelle and Julie had organized a picnic at Philippe park. The fellowship was sweet and I LOVED seeing everyoneÂ’s children. Drew got some excellent pictures some of which are on the flickr site (click on the side bar). I donÂ’t remember Philippe park being so beautiful. It was a great day of encouragement!
Sunday we enjoyed worship at Riverside Fellowship with Matt and Michelle, then went to Tarpon Springs so the kids could spend the money from Aunt Donna which was burning a whole in their pockets. They each badly wanted a Florida Souvenir. Mary purchased a necklace and matching bracelet made with dolphins and flowers. Jacob, a sharks tooth. Abigail a fish that said Florida and a sparkly green frog and Baruch a stuffed salamander. When we got home Abigail gave her fish to Grandma! It was so sweet to see her be generous. It was really good to see Aunt Donna, Uncle Bill and Frank when they came over Sunday night. Matt grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs. Abram surprised me completely when I saw him up on his knees! Another Mary Elisabeth on the way. Watching Michelle love her kids up really pumped me up to do the same with mine. She is an excellent Mother! Jason, Dawson and Melvin were complete gentlemen at the table. I praise the Lord for such an awesome Mom.
Monday we took another morning trip to the beach. The water was really clear. Their was a huge flock of pelicans that was really fun to watch. Abram slept under Pier 60 while Baruch and I built a sand castles and knocked them down while the others played in the surf. Matt and Michelle came over for supper and another dip in the pool then good byes! I could hardly believe the week was almost over.
Tuesday we took a final trip to the beach, then packed up. I got the bright idea of cleaning up before we left. First Abram scooched right off the bed (Abigail was watching him but had come out to tell me how cute he was). Then Jacob knocked over a planter on the back porch when he was vacuuming! I thought we better get out of there before we did some permanent damage somewhere. We headed to Orlando around 2 PM in hopes of avoiding rush hour traffic. A friend of DrewÂ’s mom came to the hotel around 7:30. The kids really enjoyed meeting Vicky.
The sun rose way too early Wednesday Morning! We left the hotel at 6:30 AM and were being picked up by Aunt Kari the laundry fairy at 10:45 AM. We met DrewÂ’s folks at KariÂ’s house for a wonderful lunch. Then hitched up our trailer and headed home. You guessed it, the laundry fairy had laundered all that dirty laundry and the trailer was brimming with baskets of neatly folded socks, underwear and outfits!
The week absolutely FLEW by. I am leaving out HUGE details but time is of the essence and this gives you a taste of our vacation anyway. When I asked the kids their favorite part about vacation they all said seeing Grandma and swimming in the pool. Jacob also said catching lizards.
While in Florida Drew did the grocery shopping (I made the list). He said he realized how dependent we are on the grocery store. It is our prayer that we would be even more dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That we would be constantly calling out to Him, our Creator, Redeemer and Lord.
Every day we enjoyed at least one trip to the pool, several games of connect four, lizard hunts and work in GrandmaÂ’s house on different small projects.
Thursday night Mom, Matt and Michele joined us as we met a few friends at C CÂ’s Pizza. It was so good to see my friends Susan and Colleen from High School and to get to meet their families. We all came back to MomÂ’s after Pizza and went down to the pool for a swim.
Friday we went to Clearwater beach from 9 to 11 AM came back to MomÂ’s for naps and went to the pool before and after supper.
Saturday Michelle and Julie had organized a picnic at Philippe park. The fellowship was sweet and I LOVED seeing everyoneÂ’s children. Drew got some excellent pictures some of which are on the flickr site (click on the side bar). I donÂ’t remember Philippe park being so beautiful. It was a great day of encouragement!
Sunday we enjoyed worship at Riverside Fellowship with Matt and Michelle, then went to Tarpon Springs so the kids could spend the money from Aunt Donna which was burning a whole in their pockets. They each badly wanted a Florida Souvenir. Mary purchased a necklace and matching bracelet made with dolphins and flowers. Jacob, a sharks tooth. Abigail a fish that said Florida and a sparkly green frog and Baruch a stuffed salamander. When we got home Abigail gave her fish to Grandma! It was so sweet to see her be generous. It was really good to see Aunt Donna, Uncle Bill and Frank when they came over Sunday night. Matt grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs. Abram surprised me completely when I saw him up on his knees! Another Mary Elisabeth on the way. Watching Michelle love her kids up really pumped me up to do the same with mine. She is an excellent Mother! Jason, Dawson and Melvin were complete gentlemen at the table. I praise the Lord for such an awesome Mom.
Monday we took another morning trip to the beach. The water was really clear. Their was a huge flock of pelicans that was really fun to watch. Abram slept under Pier 60 while Baruch and I built a sand castles and knocked them down while the others played in the surf. Matt and Michelle came over for supper and another dip in the pool then good byes! I could hardly believe the week was almost over.
Tuesday we took a final trip to the beach, then packed up. I got the bright idea of cleaning up before we left. First Abram scooched right off the bed (Abigail was watching him but had come out to tell me how cute he was). Then Jacob knocked over a planter on the back porch when he was vacuuming! I thought we better get out of there before we did some permanent damage somewhere. We headed to Orlando around 2 PM in hopes of avoiding rush hour traffic. A friend of DrewÂ’s mom came to the hotel around 7:30. The kids really enjoyed meeting Vicky.
The sun rose way too early Wednesday Morning! We left the hotel at 6:30 AM and were being picked up by Aunt Kari the laundry fairy at 10:45 AM. We met DrewÂ’s folks at KariÂ’s house for a wonderful lunch. Then hitched up our trailer and headed home. You guessed it, the laundry fairy had laundered all that dirty laundry and the trailer was brimming with baskets of neatly folded socks, underwear and outfits!
The week absolutely FLEW by. I am leaving out HUGE details but time is of the essence and this gives you a taste of our vacation anyway. When I asked the kids their favorite part about vacation they all said seeing Grandma and swimming in the pool. Jacob also said catching lizards.
While in Florida Drew did the grocery shopping (I made the list). He said he realized how dependent we are on the grocery store. It is our prayer that we would be even more dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That we would be constantly calling out to Him, our Creator, Redeemer and Lord.
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