I hereby officially designate the country song, “Angels Among Us”, as the Schultheis family’s theme song.  The lyrics to that song have resonated over and over and over throughout Crick’s journey, and as the above picture indicates, those same words are echoing once again!!   Coming to the rescue of a deteriorating, over thirty year old retaining wall were the five gentlemen in the above picture.  Four of Christopher’s Norwich Township firefighter friends heard about our crumbling, decrepit railroad ties and unselfishly offered their considerable knowledge, talent, time, energy, sweat and labor to construct the fabulous stone remake!!!  From left to right in the picture are Tony, Chris, Kris, Brett and Harrison……………….they have definitely earned their names on the “Angels Among Us Hall of Fame”!!  While they were toiling outside, I was getting quite a good workout inside keeping an eye on the “Dynamic Duo”……..that would be these two infamous cohorts in crime……………………………………  who took time out from their escapades long enough to sit safely on the floor for a quick snack while I attempted to regroup LOL!!!  If I were only quick enough with my camera (as in accessing the correct “menu selection”……….did you know there is a setting for “vivid” color……………….uh, would I want “dull” color??, a setting for “poster “effect…………..I would want extra large pics of me or my family??, a setting for a “fish eye” effect……………..wwhhaatt ??, a “miniature” effect……………as if I don’t have enough trouble seeing!!, and believe it or not, a “toy” camera effect…………….wouldn’t I have purchased a toy camera if I had wanted one??)……………oops, distracted myself once again!!!  Anyway, as I was saying, if only I could just “point and shoot”, I would be able to capture the charming pair as they were doing battle over who was entitled to possession of whatever it was that Josh wanted!  You see, Josh has it in his mind that whenever he and Mayce are together………… whatever she has is his and whatever he has is his (LOL),  and he has discovered that pulling on her cute little pigtails makes for a pretty convenient argument that she should just hand it over to him!!  Mind you, Mayce doesn’t always acquiesce (she has two older brothers and an attitude, after all!) and she knows how to push back as well as how to be an instigator herself.  Just the other day after Josh had ended a 20 second time-out  (he is only 20 months old) for some little transgression against Mayce, Christopher had instructed him to tell her he was sorry and to give her a hug.  The scene of Josh laying his head on Mayce’s shoulder and Mayce’s tiny forgiving hand patting him gently on his back would have made a great Kodak moment…………………………….if, like I said…………………..I could have simply figured out which “effect” that Kodak moment called for!!!

There really and truly is rarely a dull moment around here.  Each and every morning that I wake up and “put my two feet on the floor” I have to be ready for just about anything.  A phone ringing can mean an invitation to breakfast or dinner, a reminder of a baseball or soccer game, an Irish step-dancing competition or a school event, or it can mean I am being called into action for some impromptu babysitting when there is an unexpected snag in parents’ working assignments or when a sick grandchild needs to be taken to the emergency room as happened just recently.  Tommy, who had been down with a fever virus over a week ago and then contracted strep along with some gastrointestinal issues finally ended up in Children’s Hospital needing some intravenous fluid.  It is surprising how kids can look like they are at death’s door one day, and the next day they are back to bouncing off the walls driving their parents crazy!!  While Tommy was so sick and feverish, and as he was laying in his bed just before drifting off to sleep, he told Stephanie that his hand was talking to him, whispering to him and saying “inappropriate” things.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, exhausted as he was, he fell asleep before he could explain what he meant by “inappropriate”!!!!!  I’m thinking that “what goes on inside Tommy’s head, stays inside Tommy’s head”  LOL!!!

We celebrated not one, not two, but three First Communions this weekend…………Luke, Natalie & Grace (Billy’s daughter/my great-niece)…………Mom and Dad began the legacy at Immaculate Conception back in 1953 when Jimmy entered first grade and there has been an unbroken line of Clark’s  attending I.C. ever since……we certainly have come a long way from no tuition and the likes of Sister Archangela and Sister Marcia and 100 students in each grade to $$$$$ tuition and Mrs. Hiss and Mrs. Buseck and less than 60 in each grade, but we all know how proud Mom and Dad would be of the tradition being carried on in the great-grandchildren.  Prior to their very special day, Luke and Natalie had a homework assignment which the Riunite Lambrusco (you know, the favorite wine of the informed, highly refined and discriminately tasteful “folks”………………………..[threw that word in there just for you, Christine]!) played an important role.  It seems that the second graders were supposed to taste some red wine and it just so happens that I had some Riunite on hand :).  I poured a teeny, tiny amount in a small glass and Luke and Natalie each sampled it, with great reluctance I should add, and in the end decided that it was palatable.  Apparently, there had also been some sort of discussion in school regarding the drinking of the wine and this information was relayed from Luke to Tommy.  As I was having dinner at Stephanie and Joe’s the night of the First Communion practice, Luke was trying to explain to Joe what the practice would entail, when Tommy excitedly interrupted saying that Luke was going to receive “the Body of the Christ” and “the legal”…………………..it seems that the teachers informed the class that the wine is “legal” for them to drink in the context of the Mass, therefore wine and legal are now synonymous in Tommy’s mind.  (Oh perish the thought!!!)

Now, you may be wondering just what this picture is doing in this post…………..let me explain.  You see, I was invited by our President (via his campaign e-mail) to come see him when he was in Columbus last weekend and so I decided to head down to the Schott (“my left foot” and all).  I parked across the street from the Arena and the Romney campaign bus was in the parking lot and so I snapped this picture.  I got there about three hours ahead of the President’s arrival and having a few more pressing things to do that day, I decided to forgo the speech and hang out for a short while supporting a group from Americans for Prosperity.  All I have to say (well, for now anyway!!) is that, in my continued quest for whatever is truth in this political climate, I am learning that this is going to be a looonnnggg six months :).

Which seems to fit right in with this quote which I should probably read more frequently so as to keep true peace in my heart……..LOL:

“Do not search for security in the world you inhabit.  You tend to make mental checklists of things you need to do in order to gain control of your life.  If only you could check everything off your list you could relax and be at peace.  But the more you work to accomplish that goal, the more things crop up on your list.  The harder you try, the more frustrated you become.  There is a better way to find security in this life.  Instead of scrutinizing your checklist, focus your attention on My Presence with you.  This continual contact with Me will keep you in My Peace.  Moreover, I will help you sort out what is important and what is not, what needs to be done now and what does not.  Fix your eyes not on what is seen (your circumstances), but on what is unseen (My Presence).”                                                                      from Jesus Calling

“Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.”                                            2 Corinthians 4:16-18

TNT

TGW

P.S.  My left foot is now free from the cast, but has acquired a Big Black Boot!!!!!!!