Flower Girl!!!

Well, yesterday was Josie’s, oops!, Scott and Kirsten’s big day.  We were a bit nervous that she wouldn’t walk down, but with her buddy Alex’s hand, she made it.  The only downside to the firm grip on his hand what that no flower petals made it out of the basket.

I was in charge of coaxing her down the aisle, while Cheryl sent her off from the back.  Therefore, we have no good pictures of her actually walking down.  Hopefully the photographers got a few that we can share later.

Josie repeated, “I did great!”, after enough people complimented her after the ceremony.  We are very proud of her (and I’m relieved!)

Here are a few pictures I did get…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josie was very interested in the cool musicians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flower Girl!!!! (The Rehearsal)

For the last couple weeks, anytime we ask Josie what she’s going to be, the answer is always “Flower Girl!!!!”  Well, tomorrow is Josie’s big day in Scott and Kirsten’s wedding (at Prospect Park in Redlands).  Tonight was the rehearsal…

Evan – strictly a spectator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josie with her buddy, Alex, the ring-bearer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Scott and Kirsten for including Josie in your wedding!

Video fun

Life goes on.  After Josie and I returned from Milwaukee, she came down with a nasty cold and is finally getting over it.  Evan got it too, but not as bad.  We’re still battling running, crusty, booger-y noses, but at least they both seem to be back to themselves.

School is winding down with all the typical busyness.  Josie is prepping for her big day as a flower girl on Tuesday evening.  Hopefully she performs well for Kirsten! (and Bev, Alex, and Mike).  If nothing else, she’ll look adorable.  I’ll be sure to get a blog up with pictures later this week.

So the real point of this post is to share some fun videos of Josie and Evan playing.  All filmed by Cheryl at some point over the last couple of weeks.  Enjoy!

(The first was already on Facebook)

Evan really enjoys the jumpy thing:

“Bobby don’t do Hobby Lobby”

The title of this post is evidently a classic quote from my Dad.  It was uttered among his staff while on a van ride down to the teachers convention in South Bend.  I think it’s one of those “you had to be there” funnies, but it’s catchy and therefore earns the title for the post about his retirement celebration weekend.

Josie and I spent a wonderful five days in Brookfield and here is the visual evidence:  (I just inserted the whole gallery – highlights include a trip to the zoo, a Brookfield Christian “parade” through my Dad’s life, testimonies from some Brewer players at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes function — including my twin, Corey Hart)

Not pictured was the very special evening honoring my dad’s career as a Christian school principal.  Check out my sister’s blog for details.

There was also plenty of cousin time with Josie and Jeremiah…

Catching Up

The first weekend in May is historically a big weekend at Redlands Christian.  The first Saturday in May is the annual Holland Festival fundraiser.  It was also a big weekend for our niece Megan, who also graduation from Azusa Pacific University that Saturday as well.  Cheryl and Evan headed to the graduation while Josie and I spent the day and evening at the Holland Festival.

Josie kicked the Holland Festival off with some face painting.

The artist is bride-to-be, Kirsten. Josie will be her flower girl in just a couple weeks!

Then we hit up the bounce house/slide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wouldn’t be the Holland Festival without some ollie bollen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That afternoon, my name was picked in a teacher drawing to have money to spend at the auction.  It’s such a blessing to have such generous people in the community!  With Cheryl at the APU graduation, Josie and I had some tough decisions to make on what to bid on.  We ended up with a big wheel bike, a big class basket full of children’s books, a little chair, and some stuffed animals, a “baby-bullet” baby-food maker, and two lilac trees in a couple of big stone pots.  Oh, and I got a stick of banket for $50  - Grandma Wiers would not be too proud of that purchase because it wasn’t nearly as good as hers.

After a FULL Saturday, we were up bright and early for a 5K walk in Irvine for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.  We were  a part of Team Maddie – the daughter of our dear friends, the Leonards.

Maddie, Josie, and I enjoying the walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A group of bikers also rode to support Maddie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evidently these two found love on a television and are famous. I think the Bachelor(ette) franchise is 2 for 37 or something. Sounds like a Padre shortstop’s batting stats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a crazy-busy weekend, things didn’t slow down.  Stay tuned.

Spring “Break”

Spring “Break” this year was a bit of a misnomer.  Cheryl worked every day this past week – except for two mornings. Since I have a student teacher right now, returning to school tomorrow actually sounds kind of relaxing.  To top things off both Josie and Evan have been battling nasty colds ‘n coughs.   (I know I’m getting NO sympathy from my stay-at-home mom readers.  I’ll admit, last week was hard work!)

I did have some time to work on a few enjoyable endeavors like planting in the garden and reading The Hunger Games (adolescents read this stuff?  A bit gruesome and a tad racy in parts, in my humble opinion).  This week also began another hopeful season as a Padre fan.  That hope lasted about four innings, but I still (mostly) enjoy listening to the games.

On Saturday, we did get out as a family and spent some time hanging out in Oak Glen (we brought home some apple crisp which I’m enjoying  as I craft this post.  As Josie would say, “It’s Nummy!”)

My new favorite photo of Josie. At Oak Glen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we enjoyed a wonderful Easter with some of Cheryl’s relatives in Lakewood.  We also squeezed in an Easter Egg Hunt after church (full disclosure: Cheryl was the only church attender this morning – I stayed home with the snotty ones.  Don’t worry, Mom, I went on Good Friday and Cheryl stayed home with the kids.)

Video of the Easter Egg Hunt:

Warning my voice is way too loud in this one – turn down the volume:

After eating WAY too much candy, Josie painted a few eggs this evening, but Evan wanted to be heard as I tried to video her artwork:

 

 

Evan’s Baptism

Last week, was the annual 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York.  We had a great time, but it was really good to get back home.  My mom spent the week here to help out Cheryl while I was gone, and now Cheryl’s mom and my dad have also joined us.  Today we all celebrated Evan’s baptism with our church family at the River CRC.

Ready for church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evan and his cousin, Megan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Morning

Last Sunday morning I found Evan waking up with his blanket covering his face and I thought it would make a fun video.  Josie added to the film by ditching her PJs after she woke up (she claimed they were wet…they weren’t.  Our niece Megan was out for the weekend from APU, so she was the first person Josie mentioned).  Then Josie had fun playing blocks with Evan.

Update

Some highlights of life recently:

-School for me has been a bit stressful recently, but I think things are getting better.  I have a student teacher who started last week (not the cause of my stress, BTW), and it is fun to have someone to talk history and education with.  Contrary to popular opinions, my next semester will NOT be a vacation.

-Cheryl has been working incredibly hard at home with Josie and Evan.  Her weeks recently have also been packed with activities: weekly music classes with other toddlers at Mrs. Kimm’s house, frequent trips to the park, and Thursday morning Bible study.

-How do I know how hard Cheryl works everyday?  Well, last weekend, I got a small taste of her daily life.  Cheryl headed to Los Angeles for speech therapy conference with her boss/friend, Laura on Saturday and Sunday.  I am so thankful that both kids took nice, long naps on Saturday afternoon, which rescued by sanity.

-Evan is getting big fast.  He’s starting to wear three month outfits, and even a few six month ones.  He still eats every 2-3 hours during the day and usually, every 3-4 hours at night.  Yike!  (Did I say how thankful I am for Cheryl???)

Now for a few pictures and a video from the last couple weeks:

Tired Boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rare photo. Usually Josie is wagging a finger and yelling, "No Amos!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye Smartphone

A few days ago, Cheryl gave up her prized Palm Pre (actually it was a pretty mediocre phone, but could access the internet and take pretty good photos and videos).  In an effort to save some money, we dumped the data plan and therefore had to dump the nicer phone.  Cheryl is now using my old phone sans keyboard for texting.  So if it takes her awhile to respond to messages, you’ll know why.  Anyway, we pulled all the pictures of the phone and I posted a few of them below.  It gives a little glimpse of our lives beginning back in September of 2010…(click on the thumbnails to see a larger image)

Amos, circa September of ’10.

We fondly remember the “bald days” back in September of 2010.

December 3, 2010, already literate and yet not quite a year old.

New Years Eve 2010. No idea where we were. Wait, I think we went to Pasadena to look at floats.

Josie and Uncle Ben during Cheryl and J’s trip to the midwest last March.

Josie at Grandma V’kamp’s last March.

Josie was grumpy in the car last April 6.

Josie doing her best Grandpa Wiers socks/sandals look. From last June.

Josie and Cousin Ben last August.

This must’ve been taken before we knew Norv Turner would be back to coach.

From a few weeks ago. Josie playing peek-a-boo through the glass at Claim Jumpers.

From last week. Cheryl took the kids to a free tour of Bass Pro Shops with a group of other moms with young kids.

Evan’s middle name is actually Matthew, but at this point, most people who know me have come to associate the name Matthew with Handsome, so it kind of works.