Joey is a Super Cowboy!

I just had to share a quick bit of good news! Joey went to S.M.I.L.E. today and did a great job! This was his third session, and I think he finally is getting used to it again. He helped with the harness by pulling on the straps. and had a great time riding. Unfortunately, Sparky has sore hooves, so Joey had to ride Flash today, but they got along well. He was laughing and interacting with Patty and the volunteers in a great way, and did a good job when they helped him to walk and put the things away. And of course I didn't have a camera with me, but I will make sure I do from now on. Joey, we are so proud of you! Keep up the good work!

Rain, rain, go away....and Happy Birthday Abbie!

Well, another weekend has passed and again it was one we didn't quite expect. If this rain would ever go away, maybe summer could go onlike it's supposed to. Tommie's team was to play in a baseball tournament in Kearney over Memorial weekend and that was cancelled due to...RAIN! John's team was to play their first game in a Milford Tournament on Friday evening that was cancelled due to guess what...RAIN! They were able to get in 3 games on Saturday, advancing to tournament play on Sunday. They got the first game in on Sunday at 5p.m., winning a chance to play in the championship game at 7p.m. - which got postponed until Monday due to ... you guessed it...RAIN! So we spent a lot of time traveling back and forth between Columbus and Milford which actually isn't too long of a trip. Although if you consider we left Columbus on Saturday with the little ones at 1:00p.m. and didn't return until 1:00a.m., it was kind of a long day (the last game started at 9:30p.m.) Luckily, Nikki was available on Monday to watch the kids, which was great because I don't think Shawn and I would have survived a third trip with the whole family. Unfortunately, John's team lost the championship game, finishing second in the tournament. John and Tommie were both supposed to play games for their city teams on Tuesday evening, but they were cancelled due to more...RAIN! John was scheduled to play tonight, but the game was cancelled because the fields are wet from too much RAIN! We managed to sneak in a quick birthday party for Abbie on Saturday morning -- she was blowing out candles on her ice cream cake at 9:30a.m. -- no one minded - heck, we were eating ice cream for breakfast! I can't believe my baby is 2 years old! My signal to sign off has come...The girls are fighting and calling each other "coffee-cats" (translation I believe is "copy-cats") and Joey and Cooper have been playing quietly for a few minutes so I better see what's up. The adventure continues....

Here are the Champions of the 2008 Lincoln Heat Tournament...Columbus Mariner's 14's!!

And Joey finally getting his way in the dirt! ( I swear I will reset the date on my camera! Should read 05/18/2008 -- oops!)

One more hectic weekend goes by...

Well, here we are at Monday again! One more hectic weekend has passed through our household and we made it through! On Friday evening, we went to an end of the year picnic at Pawnee Park for Joey's Preschool. It was a lot of fun and there was tons of great food. On Saturday, John and Shawn left for Lincoln at 6:30a.m. for a baseball tournament. It was way to early to get the little ones up for us to go along so we stayed behind and cheered from home. My mom came to town Saturday afternoon for a pedicure and some shopping so was nice to see her. I was able to join her, Andrea & Cooper at Walmart around 5pm so got some time away for awhile. We had supper at the Hyvee buffet so got our tummies full. John's team won 2 out of 3 games to advance to Sunday's games. On Sunday, Shawn and I loaded up the little ones and left for Lincoln around 10:30a.m. to watch John play at noon. They won the first game, advancing to the championship game which they also won 4-0 so they were excited to get 1st place in the tournament. The kids behaved pretty well, although Joey spent the majority of the time getting in our team's dugout and trying to get on the field. When he finally got there when the game was over, it took him less than a second to get covered in dirt but he sure had fun! Nothing a good bath didn't cure! We got to see my brother and sister-in-law, and my beautiful niece Aubree so that was fun too. Tommie's team had a double-header here in Columbus Sunday also. My sister Andrea and my nephew Cooper led his cheering section so it was great of her to help out. Thanks sis! We'll see what this week brings! Enjoy the pics....

Pictures with the Governor

Here I am giving Governor Heineman some CdLS pencils, bookmarks, and note pads. There is also a picture of myself, the Governor, and John holding Joey's picture up. Sorry--the date is wrong on my camera. Maybe one of these days I will remember to reset it. It should be May 7, 2008

Joey's Playgroup Class

Joey's last day of playgroup at St. Bon's was Wednesday, May 14. Here he is with his classmates!

Not the weekend we expected...

Well, another weekend has passed, and this one was not how we expected it to be. Unfortunately, the Mariner's Tournament John & Tommie were to play in was cancelled Saturday & Sunday due to all the rain we had. They were pretty disappointed -- but on a good note, both of their teams got to play Friday night in the tournament before the rain came, and both teams won their games. John started in the position of pitcher, and ended up pitching a no-hitter so was a great night for him. His team won 11-0. Tommie had a sacrifice fly towards the end of their game, driving in a run. His team won 3-1. So the weekend was off to a great start -- it's too bad the tournament couldn't continue. We had an unexpected free weekend so we weren't quite sure what to do. We don't often find ourselves with no where to go, and no schedules to figure out. Andrea & Cooper, Emma, Abbie and I went to Albion on Sunday and shared a delicious Mother's Day meal with our folks, so it was a nice chance to relax a little. With the cancelling of the tournament, we were also unable to display our CdLS Awareness Day poster and table so that was disappointing also but you never know how things will turn out. The picture is of John with the game ball and a ball signed by his whole team to commemorate his acheivement. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Governor Heineman, John (& Joey's picture) & Rachelle

John and I traveled to Lincoln on Wednesday, May 7, to receive a signed proclamation from Govoernor Heineman recognizing Saturday, May 10 as Nebraska Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awareness Day. We decided not to take Joey as he has preschool class on Wednesdays, and we did not want him to miss attending as he only has yesterday and next Wednesday, May 14th left before school is out for the summer. We took his picture that John held up during the short ceremony. It was a great experience, and I am always excited to spread awareness about CdLS.

Survived

We have survived another hectic weekend in the Riedmiller household! John's Mariner's baseball team went 2-0 in a double header in Lincoln on Saturday. Tommie's Mariner's team went 1-4 in a tournamnet in Omaha played on Saturday and Sunday. They will spend this week getting ready for the Mariner's tourney here in Columbus May 9-11. Shawn had the little ones at the park late Sunday afternoon, and Joey climbed up the play equipment and proceeded to go down the big tornado slide all by himself! He wasn't scared a bit! Yea Joey!
On Monday evening, Shawn and I attended the 8th grade Honor's night at CMS. John received a Presidential Award for Academic Excellence. We left Tommie home in charge of the little ones and he got along good with them (no phone calls any way!). We hope everyone has a great week!