20th Wedding Anniversary? Are we that old?

Here we are in Monterey. The second picture on the left is Ronda and I outside at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the first picture on the top is us Thursday night 7/9/2009 eating a nice dinner at Fresh Cream in Monterey. We are having a great time here and are truly enjoying the 65 degree afternoon high temp. I can't believe that we've been married for 20 years. What a great family we have created. I count my blessings every day!!

IT'S OFFICIAL........finally

Well it's official....i'm a Miramonte Mustang teacher. Starting in August I will be a 6th grade teacher at Miramonte. It sounds like I will be coaching basketball and baseball as well. I am going to be working with two other 6th grade teachers that are really nice as well as being really good teachers. We will have a really strong team in the 6th grade!! I can't wait to get started.

Fireworks Fundraiser

This year my men's hardball league is running a fireworks stand to raise money. Our stand is in the Walmart shopping center at Shaw and Brawley. It's a hot and arduous job but the profit from the stand all goes to our team. Come on out and see us. I know it's pretty far to go to buy fireworks when there are plenty of nearby stands to buy from. However, if you can make the trip over it would go to a good cause and be very much appreciated. Enjoy the 4th and be safe!!

Visiting Mickey Mouse

Kyle and the Alta Sierra orchestra (and chaperone Mom)made a visit to Disneyland this morning at 4:00 am!!! They are getting to have fun riding the rides and seeing the sights. They are only there for the day and are supposed to be heading back home tonight at around 10:00pm. That will put them back around 3:00am!!! They should spend most of tomorrow in bed snoozing I would imagine. Any way....i'm sure they had a great time. From the looks of Kyle's picture at the left, he needs some tooth picks to keep his eyes from

going shut.

As for Cameron, he started playing for his summertime baseball team a couple of weeks ago. Formerly known as the Fresno Blue Devils, the team is now called the Central Valley Bulldogs. They will be traveling a little more than in the past and playing tournaments places like San Luis Obispo and Sacramento among others. He enjoys playing for this team more than any other teams he's ever played for. I'm going to attempt to play an inning or two on Sunday for my men's hardball league. This will be the first time since hurting my ankle sliding into home plate. We'll see how it holds up. I practiced on it last weekend after taping it up and wearing my brace and it seemed to be doing pretty good. I am absolutely chomping at the bit to get playing again. That's about it for us here. I hope this entry finds everyone doing well.

And then there were two!!!

13?
Well, as of Friday the 24th we have two teenagers in the Schmidt house. Kyle turned 13 !!! Who woulda thought? We asked him where he would like to go to dinner and he chose Japanese Kitchen for sushi. We had a really nice time. On Saturday Ronda's parents came and took us all out to eat too. We went to Olive Garden. The kids are growing up so fast. It's hard to believe.

It's Always Something......

This picture is the result of todays baseball game. I thought I might have broken my ankle. As of right now the xray tech says that she doesn't think that it's broke but the radiologist still has to take a look. They went ahead and put a sort of "soft cast" type of contraption. I'm supposed to wait for their call early in the week and also go and see my doctor sometime in the middle of the week. Hopefully it will heal fast. The pain is pretty intense but nothing compared to what i'll feel if I have to miss any games.
Today's game was a rough one as well (my two errors in the first inning surely didn't help the cause!!) I did get to pitch an inning and felt pretty good. I have a lot to work on but then again it's been about 20 years since i've pitched anything other than batting practice. I think I did alright and definately have a base to build on. Hopefully i'll get to do it again soon. Any way....just had to throw out an update on the "old-man" baseball saga. Oh and Eric....how bout those stewardesses?? (and what's that smell??)Lol

A fired up team for game 2.....

This week my men's baseball team is playing at Clovis East High School. The game starts at 2:00pm on the varsity field. Last week was our first game and we played pretty well but had some really costly errors that hurt us. We were leading the game 8 to 4 late in the game and it appeared that we were going to win. Unfortunately the errors came at a very costly time and bit us in the end (no pun intended). Needless to say we came out on the short end of the game last Sunday so come on out and see a renewed team with a fire to prove itself this weekend. My dad came out to watch this past weekend and he commented that it was a fun game to watch. It was really cool having him out there watching me play. Hope to see you out at Clovis East this Sunday!!!

"Old Man" Baseball

Well my first game in the men's hardball league is this Sunday at 10:00 am. We play all over at different high schools (Clovis West, Clovis High, Clovis North, Hoover, Edison, and Sunnyside). This weekend we are at Clovis West. Our team looks like we'll be pretty competitive and I am actually a starter at either shortstop or third base. Who would have thought that there was a hardball league for old guys out there? hahaha

I have been having such a blast playing baseball again. I have played slow pitch softball a couple of times and just couldn't hit the darned ball coming straight down at me from out of the sky. When I finally went out and played in this men's hardball league, and they threw the ball straight at me, it all started to come back to me.

I have watched my two sons play for years, i've coached for many years, and even run baseball summer programs. All of these have been amazing for me....but to be playing again has given me so much self confidence that I had been lacking that I feel like I could conquer just about anything (with lots of creaks and pain for the next few days mind you!!!) So my team is the Dodgers and i'm number 10. Back when I was a young kid I actually loved the Dodgers and my favorite player at the time was the third baseman for the Dodgers named Ron Cey. He was number 10 and every year I played as a kid I tried to get his number. Pretty cool that now (as an old guy) i'm playing on the Dodgers, wearing the nember 10 and playing shortstop and third base. Any way....come on out and watch a game or two. I would love to have you out there to watch (or mock me if the chance arises). Hopefully we'll do alright on Sunday!!

Great Memories......Sad Heart

Well, my long-term subbing job is coming to an end as of this Friday. The 3 months that i've spent in my third grade classroom has been awesome!!! It's amazing how close and attached you become with these kids. I am really thankful for the time that I was blessed with but having said that, I am quite sad to see it end. Come Monday I will be back in the day-to-day subbing pool. Hopefully I will be kept busy and get consistent jobs!!! Keep your fingers crossed.

HELP!!! Please find us a home............

We are in need of a new home. The house that we live in now with the Schmidt's already has too many animals and we need to find a loving home who will take care of us. Please ask everyone you know if they would buy us and take us in as one of the family. We don't shed, we aren't diggers or yappers, and we are very lovable. Signed,

The Puppies

Having a good hair day

Things are going good around the Schmidt household. The boys are both doing well in school and both trying out for their school baseball teams (Kyle at Alta Sierra and Cameron at Clovis North). Ronda's working hard like always at home and at school, and i'm still working in a third grade class at Reagan Elementary. Life is good.

I went with my dad up north to Pleasanton on Saturday to get a television from my uncle Randy. He got a new flat screen and was nice enough to donate his previous 50" tv to my dad. We got to visit for a little bit, went to lunch, and then headed back for home. We had to get back home for my own baseball tryouts on Sunday. I'm playing in a men's hardball league on Sunday's.

Any way, I took this picture of dad wearing a goofy hat called "hat hair" and I had to post it on my blog so here ya go!! Hope everyone is well. Keep in touch.

A career is so much more than just a job.....

Well, I have almost survived the third week of my long-term subbing position. I am working so hard to be well prepared and ready to teach the students. This experience has truly made me realize that I am in the right career for me. I am enjoying every aspect of it so far. The kids seem to be learning and progressing and the staff at my school has been so supportive and helpful to me. I am learning on a daily basis every bit as much as the students are. I am so driven to be the best educator that I can be, so I find myself spending my evenings researching ways to become better and a more prepared teacher each day.
With this teaching experience, I am finally starting to connect some of the great classroom things I learned at Miramonte, at the end of 2008, and putting them into practice. The teacher that I had for my final student teaching was very good with classroom management and truly helped me to gain the confidence that I have used so far. I am very thankful to her.
The teacher that I am filling in for while she's out on maternity leave is the same type of person. She did a great job getting me prepared for her class. I just hope that I do everything the right way.
Any way, I know i'm rambling so i'll go for now. I just had to express to everyone how absolutely ecstatic I am to be finally doing what i've worked so hard to do......teach.