The DeWeese Family

Christmas

2010-01-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

So I know this took me a long time, but I have been messing around with Photoshop and let me tell you it is not the easiest thing in world to do. I downloaded the program onto my computer before Christmas time and have been perfecting some skills, by that I mean trying to enhance my pictures, getting mad because it won't work, and saving it for a later date. But, I kept coming back to my computer every so often and try to do some effects here and there. It's a good thing I am persistent (it's one of my favorite qualities)! So hear are some photos from Christmas this year and I have to say that my family had a wonderful time! Josh and I got to hang out with adults that we love, play games, have great conversations, and not to mention eat some darn good food. It was so fun to watch the kids. They are getting at that age where they also like to hang out. They really got along well this year.

Of coarse I took a ton of pictures, so I chose some of my favorites.

It was the year of funny Christmas hats. Joe and Missy bought this for Josh, but I thought it looked pretty cute on Wylie.

I am not sure what the kids are looking at, but I thought it was a good profile picture of Jack and Joey.

Grandma and her semi-annual teary eyed poem reading. Everyone makes her do it!

Grandad reading from the Bible.

Molly snuggling with her Daddy

Josh got to play quite a bit of pool.

I was hoping this picture would turn out bigger, but hopefully you can see Angie being dog piled by all the kids.

Gunnar was happy to get a Red Rider BB gun from his Mamaw and Papaw.

We were not lacking in the present department that is for sure!

A picture of the kids waiting at the top of the stairs Christmas morning.

A pretty picture of Wylie after playing in the snow.

A sweet picture of Jeff. I particularly like the snow on the side of his face which he received from the neighbor boy, who pelted him in the face with a snowball.

Gunnar Boy with quite the snowball.

Jillian and Wylie had to try some of the snow.

The Holidays

2010-01-06T10:41:00.001-08:00

The kids made it through their Christmas program this year. Wylie was more than happy to wear her new fancy dress and pose for a picture. Her brother on the other hand thought that his clothes made him look like vomit. Gunnar just knew that none of the other boys would be dressed in such horrible clothes. Anyway, he survived the whole ordeal and I even managed to get him to pose for a few pictures...one that would be on this years Christmas card.

It's Been Awhile!!

2009-10-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

So I have been a little busy lately! Between teaching, coaching, and the usual activities I have had no time to blog. Quite a bit has happened in the last 3 months. First of all, Wylie Jade turned 6 on September 14th. To celebrate she decided that she wanted to have her closest friends over for a sleepover, which I have provided a few pictures below of the event. I think she had a good time celebrating her birthday.

I finished coaching volleyball for the season, which we ended with a record of 5-2. Not too bad, although it should have been better. Josh is busy with concession stands, video taping football games, and has had quite a few conferences. Gunnar is plugging along with school. All of his progress reports have came back to us with straight A's. Josh and I are really proud of him for that, especially considering his lack of excitement for school. Gunnar refers to school as prison.

The kids had a good time trick or treating this year and at the local Neewollah Festival. Randi and Jillian came over for the festivities.

The kids and I drove over to my dad's to visit. We had a great time and I got some good pictures of the kids playing on the swings in the backyard. I got to play cards with my brother, Dad, and Cindy. And the next day we went to see Christmas Carol, which my sister Chris came to watch with us and eat lunch.

Wylie was so excited for her birthday, she couldn't wait to turn six.

She asked for a white cake with pink frosting and those sugar decorations that I have to say do not taste very good.

The sleepover group! I am pretty sure Josh and I lost some hearing due to all the screaming. Ha! Ha!

Wylie's BFF... Halle.

Wylie, Halle, and Reese have known each other since they were 2 years old because of daycare. They are now in kindergarten together, but they all have different teachers, which is probably a good thing.

Halloween night!

G.I. Joe, Black Cat, and Sorcerer. Gunnar obviously not wanting to get his picture taken.

The kids came back with lots of candy, although we had so many Trick-or-Treater's that we had to give some of their candy away! I know we had over 100 trick-or-treater's, but I am not sure the exact number. The lady who lives a block behind us had 180 kids show up at her door.

Miss Black Cat

Randi, Jillian, Wylie, and I waited in line for an hour again this year to get the girls' face painted.

I still think the wait was worth it.

Wylie picked the cat face to go with her costume for Trick-or-Treating.

I took this picture of Wylie at a pumpkin patch over by Pittsburgh. I wish I had more pictures from there, but my camera ran out of batteries like five minutes after I arrived.

My dad has a big backyard with a couple of swings that he made and a big tree that used to have a tree house in it. It was a perfect opportunity for some pictures...even good pictures of Gunnar.

I have to say Wylie is pretty easy to photograph...she is more than willing to pose for a picture.

Gunnar loves that swing!

Wylie prefers the swing with the good seat.

My favorite picture of the day. It's hard to get a good picture of the kids together.

First day of school!

2009-08-22T10:46:00.001-07:00

Wylie finally started kindergarten last Monday. She has been so excited to start school. She told me the Sunday before the first day that her life was going to change forever. I have to say that was pretty dramatic of her, but she's right.

Last Swim.

2009-08-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

So the summer has almost come to an end and that means covering the pool. Before school started we got in quite a bit of swimming and Wylie as usual improves her swimming skills and becomes a little more daring. Gunnar and Wylie had a great time playing together. They thought they were so funny by have Wylie get on Gunnar's shoulders.

I thought Wylie looked pretty cute in her goggles. She talks cute in them too!

I mentioned that she got more daring towards the end of the summer. Here she is doing a cannonball off the end of the slide.

Wylie also has become quite the diver!

Time to Blog.

2009-08-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

We all made it through the first week of school, work, and volleyball practice unscathed. Both Gunnar and Wylie seem to be enjoying school and Josh hasn't mentioned much about his classes so I assume they are going well and my classes so far have been good.

So I have read online that you can make your blog into like a scrapbook, so I feel that these pictures that I took of our outing at the Independence Zoo were important to post. If you are a facebook reader you have probably already seen these, but I think they are worth posting again.

Visitors!

2009-08-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Josh's Uncle John and his wife and 3 kids decided to spend the last couple days of there vacation at our house. We were really happy to hear that they were coming not only for the visit, but the for the fact that they have never been to our house in Cherryvale. The children and adults had a great time.

Of coarse the kids had to do some swimming.

Jack liked to go down the slide backwards on his belly.

Molly Kate was a good little swimmer. She would jump right off the edge then swim to the ladder and do it all over again.

Molly Kate just hanging out looking cute.

It's not a party without a campfire!

A little bit of bike riding on the side street.

Wylie and Joey having fun.

Uncle John and Molly having a beverage.

Josh took everyone on a tour of the fire barn so the kids could see the ambulance and fire trucks.

Gunnar helped demonstrate.

Lost Pictures

2009-07-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I still haven't fixed the camera...we have tried many things and it just won't download. So the very cute picture of Gunnar holding up his 4 ribbons (3 third place and 1 second) right after receiving them from his swim coach will not get published. Nor will the motorcycle stuntmen or the aquarium pictures that I took, although I did manage to save a few of my friends pictures from the aquarium that they posted online. Which, I have to give credit to Jayme and JoAnne for taking these pictures.

We all met at the fire station and followed each other to Tulsa. Every man that you see is on the fire department, either full-time or volunteer. After the aquarium we went to Incredible Pizza to celebrate Katie's 16th birthday, which we were glad to share that time with her since she has been one of our main babysitters for a couple of years now. From left to right...
(Back Row): Aaron, Danny, Chad, JoAnne, Josh, Me (Second Row Women only): Hilary, Jayme, and Katie (Front Row Children Only) Kenzie, Halle, Wylie, and Gunnar (he just loves his picture taken!!!!!)

Wylie was really excited when told her that her best friend's parent would be coming along. By the way, I had a great picture of Gunnar sitting on this alligator.

Wylie, Halle, and Kenzie in front of the shark tank. It was really neat...you walked through a tunnel where the sharks would swim all around you.

After the aquarium I had mentioned before we that we then went to Incredible Pizza, which I didn't know it even existed. They have tons of games kind of like Chuckie Cheese's, but they also have go carts, bumper cars, miniature golf, and bowling inside the building. Gunnar is now like forget Chuckie's I want to go Incredible Pizza for my birthday! Who could blame him?

A Hopefully Short Delay

2009-07-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I have tons on things that I could post, but I cannot get my camera to download pictures onto my computer, which makes me spitting angry! My other Canon camera was very user friendly. I am really not sure what is going on with this one. We bought the service plan, so I am hoping to get it fixed soon. If my camera was working I would post that Gunnar won three 3rd place ribbons in the Free, Breast, and Butterfly, and also a 2nd place ribbon in the Free-style relay at his swim meet in Erie two weeks ago. I also might post pictures from when we walked to the motorcycle festival they were having in downtown Joplin, where we saw two men doing stunts right in front of us on the street. Furthermore, I would post pictures from the awesome time we had at the aquarium in Oklahoma yesterday.
Yeah, thinking about it...I would post all of this IF MY CAMERA WOULD DOWNLOAD!!!!!!!!!! I just got done hooking my camera up like 6 times to my computer hoping that it will work, but no such luck, so that is why I am posting this. I am needing to vent.

Miscellaneous Post

2009-07-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

There have been a few different things and pictures that I have been wanting to post, so I will do it all at one time. The first will be of Gunnar at his last swim meet, which was held at Coffeyville. He seems to be enjoying it pretty well. He didn't have his best swims yesterday, but I think he still had a good time.

Here he is waiting on the block. Only the swimmers and coaches were aloud to go inside the fence by the pool, therefore I did not get a good picture of him swimming.

I got a good picture of him after a swim talking with his friends.

I have been experimenting with the shooting modes on my new camera. I always enjoy taking pictures of the kids while they swim, hence the pictures below.

Gunnar boy and his goggles.

Miss Wylie.

Wylie is getting much better at swimming. She recently swam clear across the pool (24 feet) to her dad.

Gunnar still enjoys the slide, while Wylie still refuses to go down it.

We sort of have a new pet in the DeWeese household. Wylie named him Toadie, which I am pretty sure this is a frog, but Wylie still thinks she'll keep the name. He hangs out on the side of our fish pond or on a lily pad and then jumps in the water every time we open the back door to go outside. Although, he is letting us get closer and closer to him everyday.

A front view of Toadie on a lily pad.

A side view of Toadie.

So when we tore down the house next door we knew we would find "treasures" that would come up from the ground and they will probably keep coming up for the next 20 years. Josh found this piece of glass on the lot. And yes, the color is actually that pretty and it is also a hefty chunk of glass. I would guess it weighs around 4 pounds. Gunnar liked it a lot. He said he though maybe Superman might be real, because it looks like kryptonite. Gunnar also informed me that if it were a diamond we would get to meet the President of the United States.

The New Lots!

2009-06-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

A BEFORE picture of the front of the house. And the AFTER picture. The BEFORE picture of the lot next to the old house.

And the AFTER picture.

The BEFORE view of the house from the front of our fence.

And the AFTER picture.

We obviously have more work to do on the lot...the next step is to bring in some fill dirt, which we can then plant grass and gravel a new driveway so we can park under the carport easier.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-23T17:48:00.001-07:00

We decided on Saturday morning to head towards Wichita, so that we could do a little camper shopping, go out for a nice dinner (we had all you can eat King Crab Legs...Yum!), stay in a hotel, and then Sunday morning go over to the zoo. Josh was nice enough to let me get a camera Saturday after our dinner. It is the Canon XS10 IS that I have been wanting since I saw it in the Consumer Reports magazine. It's a lot like my other Canon, which I liked a lot, but this new one has twice the mega pixels and more than twice the zoom. The zoom will come in handy for Gunnar's swim meets I think. A pretty good picture of the three of them.

Wylie got a great look at the tiger. The sheets of glass that her and I were looking through were perpendicular to each other.
The tiger exhibit is new to the Wichita Zoo. Much better that before! In the picture I was testing out my 20x zoom. This was a different tiger than the one Wylie was looking at in the picture above.The kids loved looking at the map of the zoo.
Who doesn't like the gorillas?

Gunnar and Wylie looking at the bear.

Josh and Wylie in the jungle, which is my one of my favorite parts of the zoo.

An excellent picture of the kids...this is my new background on my computer.

Wylie with her Daddy.

Wylie and the Komodo Dragon.

The kids had a take a couple of swims in the pool. These were taken right after I got my camera.

Gunnar and Wylie really had a good time playing together in the pool. Overall, I thought it was a good Father's Day weekend.

Busy Summer!

2009-06-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

I finally got the KC pictures posted from the weekend before last and have more to post from last weekend where we had Jillian's (Josh's cousin Randi's daughter) 8th birthday party at our house. We had a great time! It was a lot of fun to get the backyard ready. Also, last Thursday the guys (people who we hired) started tearing down the house and taking out the trees on the lot that we bought next door, which made things a little bit hectic, but it only took them two days and it was gone. I will post pictures soon!

Fortunately Saturday night was a beautiful day to hang out in the backyard and swim. Unfortunately it rained Saturday night and I left my camera sitting in a lawn chair. That morning Aunt Angie found it laying in a puddle of water, which of coarse ruined it.

The good news is I should be getting a new one soon! I have already been checking the Consumer Report Recommended. Anyway, here at some of the picture from Jillian's birthday party. Side Note: I started this post 4 days ago...sigh...and now I have a new camera, which was really nice of Josh to let me get since it was the day before fathers day (pictures with new camera from our fathers day trip will hopefully be posted soon).

Quite a bit of swimming took place. You can see Grandma January (Nanny) checking it out. Wylie liked spraying Nanny with the water guns she brought for them.

This is where most of the conversations took place. And yes, that is a fire going in the pit even though it is warm out. I though Wylie looked cute wearing Dustin's hat, while he gave her a ride around the pool.
Again, everyone hanging out enjoying each other company. From left to right: Aunt Angie, Uncle James (Face is covered has the green shirt on) Joe, Christina, and Grandma J.

The birthday girl (Jillian) with Randi and Dustin.

The kids warming up by the fire after a swim. It kind of looks like Randi is about to get burned by the tiki torch, although no one was burned at this party...only Jillian got a chunk of toe taken out by the sidewalk. She was still a trooper though!

Jeff is giving Gunnar a Wylie a ride around the pool. I am pretty sure anyone who got in the pool with the kids had to give a ride.

Gunnar a Jillian just hanging out.

Dustin and Jeff in the pool doing what they would say "just living the dream!"

This weekend was the start of Dustin's vacation.

A Trip to KC

2009-06-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

Josh had a conference at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City last weekend and we decided to buy one more night at the hotel and make it a mini vacation. The lodge has a huge indoor water park.

Wylie's favorite was the red slide in the kiddy pool. She had to have went down it 30 times, at least!By the smile on her face she definitely liked the slide.

This is a picture of the front of the inside water park.

There is a bucket on top that drops 1,000 gallons about every five minutes.

It's a lot of water!You can kind of see Josh, Gunnar, and Wylie to the right of the waterfall.

A good picture of Josh and Gunnar I thought.

Wylie and Daddy waving from the top of the playground.There were 3 slides that you slid down on tubes. Josh and Wylie rode some of them together and Gunnar and I rode all three together. Of coarse Gunnar had ridden them all by himself in the first 20 minutes that we were there. I think he is so brave! I couldn't have paid me to do that when I was 8 years old. I was a scaredy cat though.The view from the balcony of our hotel room was nice. There was a man that would play steal drums in the afternoon that was nice to hear.You could also see the miniature golf coarse from the balcony. The kids and I went and played a round while Josh was in his meeting. Gunnar had 2 holes in one!

We ended up spending an evening at Josh's' uncle John's house, who live in KC. This is a picture of his wife, Amy and their son Joey.

A cute picture of their youngest Molly.

The kids played with some bugs that they found in the yard. Jack is the oldest of the 3 kids his is unfortunately the one turned around.

Cannon Ball!!

2009-05-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

It is officially swim-time for the DeWeese's! These picture were taken during one of their three swims yesterday. They went to bed pretty early last night...all the swimming wore them out! Well, I think Josh and I had a pretty good 9 days off and now it's back to work again. See, you think as teachers we would get the summer off, but not exactly, or at least not the whole summer. I start my usual summer job at Upward Bound through Independence Community College where I teach ACT math prep to high school students. It's only 3 days a week and only for the month of June. Josh, bless his heart, start drivers ed tomorrow. This too, should only last the month of June and maybe into July. He will usual work 8-10 hour days 6 days a week in order to get it all done in a month. He will also be coaching summer softball a couple of nights a week. As for the kids, Gunnar is going to do swim team and Wylie will stay in Gymnastics.

Pre-School Graduation Pictures.

2009-05-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

I had said that I was waiting for my brother-in-law to e-mail some pictures from Wylie's graduation on one of my last posts. Well, Joe just happened to leave his camera in my car the other day after spending a couple of days with us, so I downloaded the pictures I have been wanting. I thought they were good. I trimmed a few of them up a little in order to get the other faces out of the picture. Enjoy!

A Man of Many Talents!

2009-05-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take a moment to brag on my husband for a moment. If you ask Gunnar what his dad does he will say many things like; Scientist, Firefighter, EMT, Divers Ed. Teacher, Bus Driver, and last but not least Softball Coach. Josh’s team are the Regional runner-up in softball as of last week. I am pretty sure they would have gone to state had his shortstop not have been hurt in the 1st inning. I didn’t realize the team received an award till I found it this weekend in his truck (see Wylie below). Josh is good at everything he does and I think he did a great job coaching this year. Gunnar, Wylie and I are sure proud of him.

I Came, I Saw...I Conquered!

2009-05-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

I conquered the kids' room that is. Holy cow! It was messy! My cousin had left a post on facebook about how it only took her children 2.5 seconds to mess up a room and that it would take her hours to clean it up. I totally understand what she means. I hate to admit that Gunnar and Wylie's room has been messy for awhile now, mainly because I also knew that it would take me hours.

I don't know if it was the waffles I had this morning or the fact that Josh is bringing back more stuff from the farm and I had to organize the storage closet upstairs, but I finally got motivated! I thought it would be funny to show how bad it was by posting before and after pictures.

South side of the room BEFORE...

South side of the room AFTER.

North side of the room BEFORE...

North side of the room AFTER!

Congradulations Wylie!

2009-05-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Wylie graduated from the United Methodist Pre-school last week. I would have posted these pictures earlier, but I was waiting for my brother-in-law to e-mail me some pictures that I took with his camera. (I am still waiting Joe! Ha! Ha!) His camera took a lot better pictures than mine, because of the lighting, I think. I have been working on trying to talk my husband in to getting me a new camera, which I think it's going pretty good so far.

Anyway, Josh and I can hardly believe our baby will be going to kindergarten next year! We are just so proud of her...she is such a good student and loves school! Here are a few pictures of before the ceremony, I will try and get the other pictures that I took with Joe's camera soon!

There was long line to get up to this spot to take a picture of your kid.

Wylie and I got in behind Halle and her mom, so of course they had to get their picture taken together. I am sure the other parents waiting in line were not happy..

Here is Wylie with her teacher Mrs. Julie. Before bed the other night Wylie gave Josh a notebook and pen and told him to write down what she said and here it is: "Dear Mrs. Julie, I miss you very much. I hope you have a nice life. Love, Wylie" The next day Wylie put it in the mailbox. She told me she had to send it, because she really missed her!

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

I sure am glad I am a mom of two wonderful kids! We had a good weekend...we got up pretty early Saturday morning and went to the Cherry Blossom festival held at Logan Park here in town. Josh's cousin Randi called and said that her family was coming to town for the train ride and they ended up staying the night. We got a few pictures of the kids, which I will post later. Josh and I, and the kids had a great time a usual.

On Sunday we went to see X-men Wolverine and then stopped for some Dairy Queen afterwards. I took a few pictures of the kids on our side street and I thought they turned out pretty good.

Did I say good pictures? Well, at least I got some good ones of Wylie. Gunnar has to be in the right mood for me to get a good picture. I try to tell him just to ignore me, but he still doesn't want is picture taken.

Wylie is good at letting me take a pictures.

She is also good about posing for me also.

Gunnar enjoyed the Wolverine movie and a Carmel shake at Dairy Queen on Sunday.

Wylie enjoyed her a Carmel shake also, but she wasn't too sure about Wolverine. Josh and I were expecting it to be a little more comic book like. I told Josh there nothing like scaring your daughter on Mother's Day.

This is the same shot as the first one above, I just thought it was so good that I decided to crop it...that way I could get the expression on her face.

We are the Proud Owners of...

2009-05-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

A NEW HOME!!!!

Oh yes! I am sure you have always dreamed of owning a palace like this! She is a beauty! Josh and I have wanted her since we moved to Cherryvale, mainly because it's right next door to our house. The house as been empty for over 7 years...Josh and I have lived in Cherryvale almost 3 years now, and who wouldn't enjoy seeing that jewel outside your doorstep everyday?

The plan is to first tear the house down and clean up some of the over-growth. The second is to enjoy the space, it actually has two lots. We plan on getting Gunnar and Wylie's swing set back from the farm and some friends of ours are giving us their trampoline, since their daughters have out grown it. Third, is to eventually build a shop for Josh, a two car garage, and family or master suite. I plan on posting some pictures of the tear down process, which we are hoping with be within the month.This is the view of the house from across the street. As you can tell there is a lot of over growth. We plan on leaving most of the mature trees. Josh and Gunnar have their eye on one that might work for a tree house.
This is the empty lot next door that comes with the house. Nico dog is going to love it.

This is the view from our front yard that is outside our white fence.

Two Peas in a Pod

2009-05-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Wylie runs in the room the other day and says, "look I'm Daddy!". Then she went up to Josh and said "Look dad, I look just like you!" She's wearing Josh's Charger baseball cap and his new pair of Oakley sun glasses. Josh owns two of each (cap and glasses) and he just happened to be in the living room wearing the same thing. Being coaches, you can usually catch Josh or I, wearing Charger gear quite often. Since it's softball season cap and sun glasses are worn pretty much on a daily basis. Anyway, Wylie thought she was so funny and wanted me to take her picture and a picture with her daddy.

I have to say that I am on a role with this blogging thing! I have been pretty busy lately and not feeling so well, which makes it hard to take pictures, which makes it even harder for me to blog. I am going to make the time to take more pictures and blog. My strategy has been to download pictures in one day and then write the next day and it seems to be working. I enjoy taking pictures...it's probably my main creative outlet. I am hoping that being more creative might make me "feel better".

Spring Pictures

2009-04-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to post spring pictures of the kids for awhile now and I decided to download them when I posted the Easter pictures. Wylie's picture is actually from her Dance program from Christmas. She is excited for Kindergarten next year...Josh is going to take her to Kindergarten round-up this week. Josh is also going on the 2nd grade field trip with Gunnar, which they are going to some museum in Dewey, OK. Gunnar is definitely ready for school to be out and if I counted right he only has 15 more days left, that means 16 more days for us teachers. I just hope that next school year is as good at this year was, I kind of hate to see it end! As far as summer goes, Josh and I will have the same jobs as last year, with no vacation unfortunately, but we plan on doing some camping at Big Hill.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got the Easter pictures posted! I was at James and Angie's house again this year and we had a great time. Not only did we celebrate Easter, but it was Joe's 60th and Grandma January's 81st birthday.

We had the usual camp fire going with many good conversations a happening at once.

I think there is a good conversation taking place here.

Jeff, Christina, and Bobby hanging out in the lawn chairs.

Nanny (Grandma January) bought all of the kids pin wheels to play with, which it was definitely windy enough to get them spinning good.

I thought this was a good picture of Gunnar.

Dakota, looking very "James Bond" in the picture.

Molly being cute as usual.

The Bulls came close to the fence just across the road. Wylie and Joey wanted a closer look. Those two have a great time when they get together.

Nanny (Birthday Girl) and Grandpa Whiskers sitting around the campfire.

The 60 year ol boy!

James enjoying some good food. Mister Dog is in front of him. We brought Nico, Randi brought Jewels, and Jeff brought Hope...it just wouldn't be Easter without a dog fight. Ha! Ha!

The coloring of the Easter eggs.

It was cold Easter morning and yet Gunnar hunted eggs in his flip flops and T-Rex pajamas.

Like I said...it was pretty cold out! Jillian found a way to hold her basket so that she could keep her hands warm.

If one of the kids found a camouflage plastic egg, they would take it to Angie and would receive a prize. The first prize that she is giving to Joey and Molly are binoculars.

Joe hid one of the eggs on his pocket. Wylie was the one who found it.

Camping at Big Hill

2009-03-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Gunnar has been asking to camp out for awhile now and Josh and I have been keeping our eye out for a good deal on a camping trailer, but we decided to save some money and fix up the camper that has been sitting at Josh's parents farm for a couple years now. We really weren't sure what it would take to get it running, but Josh's friend Chad from the fire department thought that him and Josh could get it going with little money and effort. So, Josh and his brother Joe took a U-hall down to the farm and pulled it back to Chad's house. Within a few days they fixed it enough to get to Big Hill Lake, which is only 5 miles away from home. The short distance made camping life pretty easy, because if you want to take a shower or if you forget something you are only 5 minutes away. We ended up camping out for 2 nights. Gunnar and Wylie both had a great time. They enjoyed roasting way too many marshmallows over the campfire, walking the trails, riding their scooters, and playing with Nico. The fire pit at the site and you will notice the camper in the back.

I wish Gunnar would have held the marshmallow over to the side so we could see his smiling face, but I thought i thought I would post it anyway.

Wylie's friend Gage was staying the campsite next to us (his dad is the athletic director at our school), so they got to blow bubbles and play together.

Josh, Wylie, and Nico took a ride on the scooters around the circle drive through the camp.

I posted this picture to show what Wylie wore while camping. Josh and I wore wind pants, t-shirt, and hoodies...the weather ranged from 40 to 50 degrees during our stay.

I think Nico enjoyed camping out (see the smile on his face! Hee! Hee!). He swam in the lake a little when we walk through the trails and he slept with us at night in the passengers seat of the camper.

Play Date!

2009-03-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Wylie was in need of some socialization during Spring Break, so we called up Halle's mom to see if she could come over and play. The day consisted of the girls playing with the toys upstairs for awhile, making blueberry muffin tops in the Easy Bake Oven, riding scooters outside, and playing dress-up. At first they put on clothes from Wylie's dress-up box and when they got bored of that they started to try on Wylie's many dresses in her closet. Halle and Wylie were more that happy to let me take pictures.

Mother's Day Present

2009-03-08T19:02:00.001-07:00

With any luck we will take possession of Wylie's portrait sometime soon...before the price get out of hand!

Playing Dress-Up

2009-03-06T16:38:00.000-08:00

The other day Wylie went through her dress-up box and put on this lovely outfit, which consists of her leotard that is too small for her, fairy wings, the paper crown that she made at preschool on her birthday, and one of her many high heals that her Aunt Angie and Uncle James gave to her for Christmas one year. I thought she looked so cute and when I asked her if I could get her picture she happily posed for me. I tell you...she cracks me up on a regular basis.

Another funny story that actually happened yesterday was when we got home from school Wylie asked if she could have her baby dolls back...she is talking about the dolls that have been in the freezer for the last four weeks. Now let me tell you Wylie loves her dolls and stuffed animals and she has way too many of them! We put them in the freezer in order to get ride of any lice (scroll down 2 posts to see that story). Anyway, I told her to ask her dad when he got back from softball practice. Well, Josh was home for about an hour before he had to go to the basketball game out of town and Wylie forgot to ask. She cried for her dolls once again to me while Josh was gone and I still told her that I was sorry she forgot to ask, but that she still needed to check with her dad. Josh got home from the game late enough that the kids were already in bed asleep. Wylie woke Josh up at 3 o'clock in the morning to ask if she can have her baby dolls tomorrow. Josh asked me this morning what's the deal with the little girl waking me up in the middle of the night asking about dolls? I then told him the long story.

Happy 8th Birthday to Gunnar Boy!

2009-02-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

I think he had a pretty good day yesterday. He

took goodie bags to his classmates with candy, a punch balloon, bubbles, and a twinkie in it. Then Josh picked him up at early (10:00 am) from school and took both him and Wylie to Bartleville to the dentist, which I am happy to report no cavities! I know it sounds cruel to go to the dentist on your birthday, but Gunnar looks at it from the prospective of getting to miss school. Then when he got home he opened his presents...two transformers (dino bots) that he had been wanting. He played with those at the table for a long time and failed to mention to me that he had 5 homeworks! So, Josh and Wylie went to the high school basketball game while Gunnar finished his homework and I made his favorite dinner Orange soup (tomato soup) and grill cheese. We ate some cake when Josh and Wylie got home and then went to bed.

What a Week!

2009-02-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

So we get a call Super Bowl Sunday from a mother of a kid who goes to the same daycare as Wylie. She says "your going to hate me, my kid has Lice", we look at Wylie as she is looking for something in the refrigerator to eat. Guess what she is doing. That's right, scratching her head! Great, our first experience with lice. So we are about 6 months away from new furniture and Gunnar and Wylie have been needing new mattress's...and therefore we took 3 couches and 3 twin mattress's to the dump. I stayed home Monday with Wylie (Gunnar has been lice free...knock on wood) and shampooed the carpets and did a ton of laundry, all in hot water. Wylie went back to Nanny's on Tuesday and on Wednesday she went to preschool and was checked by a nurse and was good to go. Wonderful I say! Then on Thursday in the middle of class I get a call that Wylie has lice again! So I find someone to cover my next 4 periods of class and go and get her from daycare. We take a trip to the car wash and vacuum out the car and spray it from top to bottom. Note: we treated her hair on Sunday. Josh said something to me about getting Wylie's haircut, which got me searching the Internet. Wylie and I decided on a bob hair style. Anyway, Josh stayed home with Wylie today and they took a trip to Joplin to get her haircut. I knew no matter what haircut she would be cute, but I really think the haircut looks great on her...see what you think!

Back in Gymnastics!

2009-01-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

So Wylie started Gymnastics a year ago in January and both Gunnar and Wylie took classes over the summer, then when Fall came around they took a break (mainly because I had to coach). Gunnar and Wylie have both been asking if they can go back to Mr. Casey's class, which is in Chanute (30 miles away). I have to admit I looked around at other studio's for something closer, but it boiled down to the fact that its a really good place to take the kids, you will see how cool the place is on the video. Gunnar and Wylie love the trampolines and they get to jump for 30 minutes each class. So they are now back at "The Launching Pad" and I even got them in the same class, which Gunnar wasn't to sure about at first, but doesn't mind now. Last class I took some video clips on my camera and made it into one movie, which is part of the reason why it took me so long to post...plus I couldn't figure out how to get it onto the blog. Anyway, here is the "movie"(it only last a couple of minutes).

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's 2009! Were Back to Work!

2009-01-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

Not much tell right now. We had a nice visit at my Mom's in Coldwater, which I posted a few pictures of the kids playing out in the pasture. Josh had a lot of fun watching Gunnar interact with the horses. Gunnar would crouch down amongst all five horses and wait till one would come up to him, so that he could pet him. From Coldwater we drove on to Augusta and stayed at my Dad's house. I got to play pitch with my brothers and also see my step-grandma. Gunnar and Wylie always have a good time at Papaw Tony's, but they were pretty excited for New Years Eve, mainly because they get to stay in a hotel room, swim, and play with their cousins. After Dad's we went on to El Dorado, where the New Years Eve Party was held at the Holiday Inn...Gunka Joe met us there and shared a room. This is our second year spending New Years with Dustin and Randi and we had a great time (we always have a good time hanging out with them). I posted a picture of the "Rock Band" that was played most of the evening. Christina is playing the drums, Brad on base, Dustin singing, and Josh is playing the guitar, it was really pretty fun to watch. they rarely got booed off the stage.

When you gotta go you gotta go! I caught Gunnar urinating on top of the hill out in the middle of the pasture at my mom's house. I took this picture probably 100 yards away. I thought it was kind of funny!

Wylie ended up joining Gunnar up on the hill. They also had a good time going to feed the cattle with Delmar that morning.

New Year's Eve Rock Band! Looking back on 2008 I had a good year and I am looking forward to what 2009 brings. I hope all who reads this has a great year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-26T20:23:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share some pictures from Christmas that we spent Joplin, MO with Josh's parents and brother. We will also make a stop at my Mother's in western Kansas and my Dad's here in the next couple of days. Hopefully, I will get some good picture when I visit that I can share.
So to start off, I decided to make sugar cookies from scratch this year with the kids. I thought it would be something fun for them to do, to eat, and to give to Santa Clause. This is my first time ever making sugar cookies by the way, I even had to buy cookie cutters. Overall I thought they turned out well and even tasted pretty good. Now I do have to admit that Wylie helped me roll out the dough, Gunnar and Wylie both cut out some cookies with the cutters, but as far as frosting them...Wylie frosted one cookie and proceeded to eat it and Gunnar came into the kitchen saw a frosted cookie and also proceeded to eat it as well. Therefore, I was left to frost the cookies on my own. Funny, I thought the kids would enjoy frosting the cookies the most.

Sugar Cookies before...

Sugar Cookies After!

There were a couple of web site that would track Santa. We all had a good time watching for a awhile. We even got out a world map so that we could tell exactly where Santa was and how far he was from Joplin. Gunnar and Wylie both got pretty silly while they were watching Santa's every move, so you will see a few pictures below of their silliness.

A nuggie from brother!

The kids ended the evening as usual with letters to Santa. Gunnar asked for a D-Rex and Wylie wrote that she had changed her mind that she also wanted a Littlest Pet Shop VIP with her Easy Bake Oven.

I have to admit Gunnar's D-Rex is pretty cool!

And Santa happened to have a special bag to reach into, so that he could give Wylie her last minute change for her Littlest Pet Shop VIP.

One of the big presents from Mamaw and Papaw this year was the Green Machine. Both Gunnar and Wylie had a blast driving it in the parking lot next to the house. After only a couple of turns Gunnar was making it go as fast as he could then hitting the breaks and making a sharp turn as the same time, which would make him whip around fast.

I was pleased to see that Wylie really didn't have much trouble making it go. The steering will take a little practice, but for the most part she did a good job.

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas! We sure feel like we are very blessed! I hope all my friends and family had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Programs

2008-12-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

Wylie had her dance recital last Sunday. They tap danced to Jingle Bells. I, of coarse, thought she did a wonderful job! I took a picture of her and Halle before they went on stage. They do not let you take flash photography during the program. And for those of you who knew about Josh's hunting trip...he made it back Sunday evening safely from South Dakota. He said he had a great time and shot well. Gunnar also had a Christmas program last Thursday. I didn't get any pictures of him, because I had to take Wylie to rehearsal and get her pictures taken then come straight to the program, which we barely made it on time, which means there were no good seats left. Oh I was in the front row, but unfortunately that meant the piano was blocking my sons whole body! Anyway, the k-3rd graders came back on the stage for a finally and I saw him singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"! This is good for Gunnar because when I talked to him about the program he said that if he had to sing Silent Night one more time his head would explode! Ha! Ha! Music is not one of his favorite classes in school.

Holiday Confession

2008-12-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

When it comes to holiday decorations I am CHEAP! I never buy ornaments or decorations, I think it is a waist of money. You know I have to take that back, I bought a bag of old ornaments for quarter at a garage sale this year! (No really, I got a good deal on these ornaments, and I like to think they look vintage. Ha! Ha!) The 3 foot tree that you see is a fiber optic that Joe gave us 4 years ago, which is how I aquire decore for any holiday. Thank goodness every year that Gunnar and Wylie are in school we get more and more ornaments and decorations that they have made themselves, which are my favorite. We decorated the tree this evening and thought that I would share some of the things that I get out every year. And I have to say... I think the tree looks great!

I like to put some of the kids' art on the tree, like the wreath Wylie made last year out of a paper plate (it's around the polar bear). Towards the bottom left you see a reindeer made out from a trace of Gunnar's foot and two hands. Wylie has one like it on the other side. They made the reindeer when the were 2 and 4 years old.

This is a Santa Clause that Gunnar made in preschool that I hang up every year. I think the cottonballs are a nice touch!

Another Santa Clause made by Gunnar when he was in kindergarten. Pretty good coloring for a boy who doesn't like to color. Very colorful too I must say!

I like to set these houses out on our side tables every year. The house to the very right was given to me by my dad and Cindy. As far as the other two, I have no idea where they came from, but I definitely know that I did not buy them.

This manger scene was my Grandma and Grandpa Streid's, which actually stays in our viewing cabinet year around. I like it a lot and I remember that it was always set out during the holiday season at my Grandparent's house in Illinois.

Another Christmas decoration that stays in the cabinet year around are from Grandma and Grandad DeWeese's. These Human Beans (get it?) are one of Josh's favorite decorations that his grandmother set out every year.

After reading this, I realize this post may not be real interesting to anyone, but it really makes a person sentimental when you get things out that you haven't seen in a year.

Thanksgiving Fun!

2008-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

Another fun holiday with the January's (Josh's mother's family), 15 adults, 7 children, a four night stay in one cabin on the lake in Arkansas, and tons of good food! Pictures are in no particular order. This actually took me around 4 days to post because when I got back from Thanksgiving I got sick. Actually sick enough that I took my first sick day (for myself) in 3 years, but I am feeling much better now and know one in the house has come down with it either (knock on wood).

Here is a picture of the cabin that we stayed in, it actually belongs to Dustin's aunt, which I am happy to say our cousin Randi and Dustin recently got engaged. And I am not just saying that because of the cabin. Ha! Ha! Honestly, it was a great place that fit all 22 family members and not too shabby views of the lake as you will see below.

The guys decided to pitch in this year and fry a tukey this year for fun. I think everyone agreed that it was pretty good.

I also got a shot of Grandad carving the turkey while Nanny and Jack look on.

The cabin had a walk down stairs down to the private dock where the kids spent some time throwing rocks into the lake. From left to right is Gunnar, Jack, Dakota, Molly, and Amy.

A great picture of Jack, Wylie, Gunnar, and Jillian!

Besides playing Poker, Pitch, and Scene It, the adults (Josh, John, Dustin, and Randi) got to play some Wii. As far a "Black Friday" Josh, Dustin, Randi, and I drove to Eureka Springs, mainly because I have always wanted to go there. I have to say that I really liked the town and we had a great time.

One of the many dinners over the 4 days included marinated Ribeye steaks. I got a picture of Dustin and Jeff cutting the steaks on the desk.

I got a good picture of the kids eating a snack at the bar. Gunnar, Joey, Jack , and Wylie were getting a good laugh at each others jokes.

Thanksgiving morning I took this picture of the fog wall at the end of the cove.

Best Friends

2008-11-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

This is Wyile's best friend, Halle. Her mom was on a business trip in Washington D.C., so she got to come over and play and then go to dance class with Wylie. They have going to the same dance class since August. Halle and Wylie have shared the same daycare since we have moved to Cherryvale, except for this year. Wylie misses seeing her, but they do get to see each other at Pre-school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Hukuna Matata!

2008-11-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Josh had heard from one of his fellow teachers that the Lion King on Broadway was coming to Kansas City...so last Friday he went online and found 4 tickets 10 rows back from the stage in the middle section for Saturday at 2 o'clock in the afternoon (which is why we think we got a good deal on the tickets). Anyway, it was AWESOME! It was so awesome I can't even describe it! Both Gunnar and Wylie loved it! The picture you see is a poster we bought with the autographs of the cast members, which the proceeds went to the American Red Cross. The actual cast members were handing them out as you walked out the door. Our poster was from the actor who played "Scar", who happened to be our favorite. We left for downtown KC at 9:45 am, at 11:45 we arrived at the music hall and picked up our tickets, then grabbed a hot dog at a local stand and ate in the square amongst the tall buildings, watched the play, and then grabbed some IHOP on the way home. Josh and I had a great day with the kids.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T18:49:00.001-07:00

Wylie was a Vampire this year. She gave me a good scary pose after she was done trick-or-treating. I think the kids had a good time this year...one house behind ours had a haunted house that was appropriate for younger kids. We really only went to 12 houses in the neighborhood and they still came back with a load of candy! Gunnar was a wizard, which as you can see below I made him get his picture taken this year, not that he was happy about it. I took one with a flash, which I didn't care for the pose, but the picture with the better pose had no flash...figures! Anyway, hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Neewollah!!!

2008-10-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

Neewollah (Halloween spelled backwards) is a week long fall festival that happens in Independence, KS which is 11 miles from Cherryvale. We have lived in Cherryvale for 3 years now, but this is our first year to go to the festival. My students think were cazy for not going these last few years since people come from Oklahoma, Missouri, and Central/Southeast/Northcentral Kansas to see the play, eat the food, ride the carnival rides, see the parade, and to watch the Queen Neelaw Pagent. We knew that our cousin Randi would be there with Dustin, Jillian, and Dakota so we decided to to meet them on Saturday afternoon to watch the parade and then take the kids to the carnival. The kids loved it! Gunnar rode almost every ride, even the adult ones that I have always found scary, he loves. Below is picture of Wylie and Jillian with their face paint. They of coarse had to play a little dress-up when they got home. Randi and the crew also ended up staying the night at our place, which was nice for us to get to visit and for the kids to get to play together. We had a great time as usual! Thanks Randi, Dustin, Jillian, and Dakota!

Fall Pictures

2008-10-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post school pictures of the kids this year. I thought they turned out pretty well. I had Wylie's taken a Thayer from a photographer who comes to town every 4 years. One of my students sold me a ticket for $10 for a free 8 by 10, which was a fund raiser for her little sister's day-care. Wylie had 8 different poses, which I could have had all for $149.89, (the cheapest package offered) or I could walk out with my 8 by 10 for free. Gosh, I am cheap! All of the pictures were good, but I have seen better through the LCD of my digital camera. It was still fun to take her, they were supposed to look vintage, we got to pick from a rack of old dresses. Well, volleyball season is over (record of 3-4) as of last Thursday. It was nice to get home before 5:30 today. I should have time to blog a little more than I have been, I hope.

Tough to blog lately!

2008-10-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

I tell you what, we are busy at the DeWeese house. Wylie has dance class on Monday nights (Josh goes to the JV football games), high school volleyball games on Tuesdays, Wednesday evenings are filled with sorority meetings or rec. volleyball for me (Josh has fire or EMT meetings), Thursdays are my middle school volleyball games, which our record is 2-3 right now, Josh comes to these games to be acting administrator on duty, and Fridays are high school football games, which Josh does the video for the Charger football network that is shown on our local cable. I spend most of the weekend doing the mountain of laundry that has accumulated from the week. Gunnar and Wylie are doing great! I have to brag on the fact that they are such good kids. Josh and I bring them to about 98% of the activities mentioned above and they are always well behaved. Our middle and high school students just think they are both awesome. Work is going really good for me, although I am ready for a little break...it seems like we have been going non-stop. Josh has a leadership conference in Missouri this Wednesday and Thursday and homecoming is this week at school, which makes it interesting. Hope all is well with everyone who reads this. I will try and get something more interesting posted next time.

Happy 5th Birthday Wylie Jade!!!!!

2008-09-14T18:17:00.001-07:00

Today was her day, although on Saturday we headed to Joplin to Toys-r-Us, so that she could spend her money that was given to her by Grandma and Grandpa Streid and DeWeese. She ended up picking out a Cabbage Patch Ice Cream Doll and a Barbie. She also picked to eat at a Mexican Restaurant for lunch.
Here she is eating pizza for her birthday dinner on Sunday. Her Gunka Joe came over to help celebrate and tomorrow morning he is going to take her to pre-school and pick her up so that they can hang out for the day.
This is a picture of a picture that I took of Wylie soon after she was born. I did not have a digital camera at that time. Her dad and I can hardly believe she is 5 already! I still remember my water breaking at Midnight and being nervous because we knew she was breech and we had an hour drive to the hospital ahead of us. We called Gunka Joe right away to come over and watch Gunnar and at 2:22 a.m you arrived. Josh still brags that he got to hold her first!

Our New Addition to the Family

2008-09-07T09:16:00.001-07:00

Here is Nico, the new family dog. Josh's parents are getting ready to move from the country to the city and asked if we would like to have him. We were pretty sure we were going to have to get a dog for Wylie anyway (because what Wylie wants she seems to get, I blame her dad. Ha! Ha!) and if your going to get a dog why not get one that is already trained (thanks to Josh's mom and dad). More importantly he is out of the puppy stage. So far things have been going great. Gunnar and Wylie love playing outside with him. Gunnar likes him to fetch and I think Wylie likes bossing him around. Josh and I enjoy taking him for walks...it has been so nice outside lately and he does a great job on a leash.
There are a couple of good pictures below. When I started taking pictures of Nico I had a hard time getting a good picture of him. The camera seemed to make him anxious, but after a few minutes I think he started to pose for me, like he was going to be on the cover of Modern Dog or something. Hee! Hee!

Now She Likes It!

2008-09-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Wylie has now discovered that she not only likes to go swimming, but she likes to go under water! Now she can't get enough of the pool, and of coarse the water is freezing because of our cool Kansas nights. I mean to tell you, it's been so cold that I am looking forward to putting the cover on for the winter! These picture were taken a couple weeks ago and I started to post, but was interrupted somehow.

The End of Summer Vacation.

2008-08-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow Josh and I have to go back to work. What a bummer! Wylie and I tried to go swimming today and the pool was actually too cold, which is just another sign of summer ending. Just to fill you in on upcoming events...Gunnar will start 2nd grade on Thursday the 14th, he has Mrs. Fox this year. He will also be starting up Karate again after next week. Wylie will be in pre-school again this year with Mrs. Julie at the Methodist Church. She is going to take dance and gymnastics from a new studio in Independence, which works out well because of the shorter driving time, less money, and she will be in the same class as her best friend Halle. She will be going to Nanny's for daycare, who I think is excellent, and will also watch Gunnar when we have in-services.

As for Josh and I, we have meetings for the next 3 days and then students will come on Thursday. My first day of middle school volleyball practice starts the 18th and I am excited to start the season...I have to admit I am hoping for a better record this year 2-6 (I'll keep you posted, unless it's too depressing. Ha! Ha!). My student numbers look good this year and I only have 2 preps, Algebra I and Geometry, all are new students to me, which I think it will be nice to start fresh. Josh will be teaching 7th and 8th grade Science again this year and will also be the head softball coach for the high school. He will not be the assistant wrestling coach this year and I have to admit I am glad. The sport takes up a lot of time, not only most Saturdays, but also 5 months out of the year. Overall, I am optimistic about the year. I hope all is well with those who read this and have a great year! Only 186 days till summer break! Hee! Hee!

Pictures from Hawaii

2008-07-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

We have been back home now for a week and have been wanting to post pictures, but our Internet has been down. So here they are! Keep in mind we spent 10 days in Hawaii so you will see a good handful of the the hundreds of pictures we took! Josh's friend from high school, Lora, and her husband Mike were kind enough to let us stay at their house, feed us, and let us use their car to drive around the island. They live at Schoalfield Barracks, an Army base on the island of Oahu. They have two children Haley who is 8 and Mathew who is 3. We sure are grateful for their hospitality. A quick note to keep your thoughts and prayers with Lora and her family...Mike will be making his third deployment to Iraq in November and will be there for a year. These pictures are in no particular order although I will try to keep the same places together. Enjoy!

The one group picture of us all smiling. The man to the very left for those of you who don't know, the kids call Gunka Joe, Josh's brother, he also went on the trip with us.

Here is the scene of fourth of July on the Army base. The big American flag in the middle of the picture is the stage where Billy Ray Cyruss is performing. I did not get to see much of the concert because I took Gunnar and Wylie to the carnival that was also at the celebration.

I was worried that the kids would get sick or scared on some of the rides, but they loved it! They were so proud of themselves after going on this ride. I was proud of them too!

This is a picture of Gunnar playing in the waves, he loved them. This is his first time to swim in the ocean.

Wylie is not quite the water dog that her brother is, but she did like playing in the sand. Here is a picture of her and Mathew.

Another time at the beach! This is Gunnar snorkeling at the North Shore. We not only saw huge Sea Turtles, but Gunnar actually touched two of them! Gunnar was awesome at snorkeling!

Here is Wylie playing the sand at the North Shore. By the end of the vacation she was really getting used to being in the ocean and playing in the waves with me.

After the a day at the beach we stopped to get shaved ice with a scoop of ice cream at the bottom. They are delicious! This is Wylie, Haley, and Mathew.

Now we are at Waikiki where we ride on this boat that will take us to our submarine ride.

Here is a picture of the Atlantis XIV, which we are about to board.

Here is a picture of the kids looking out the window of the submarine. Our lowest depth was 112 feet. I took some pictures of the fish and man made coral, but they didn't turn out all that well.

We toured the USS Missouri, which is where World War II was ended

We also went to see the USS Arizona Memorial.

Here is a picture of us before the Luau. Thanks for the picture Joe!

Josh and Wylie with a couple of the Hula Dancers. The girl to the left helped Wylie to get on stage where she did a fabulous job hula dancing front and center of the group of girls! We were so proud of Wylie! There were hundreds of people watching in the crowd. Joe actually has the pictures of her on his camera.

Here is the pig that they pull out of the ground that they cook with lava rocks. I actually ate some of the pork and it was really good!

Just a picture to give you and idea of the stage that they performed on. One guy even came out and danced with the baton of fire when it became dark.
This is the boat we took three miles out to see and swim with the Galapagos Sharks.

Here is the cage that Josh, Joe, Gunnar, and I got into. We have it all on video! What a great show and tell for Gunnar!

Here is a picture of one of probably fifteen sharks that were around. The males were around 10 feet long and the females get up to 14 feet long! They were awesome! Definitely one of the highlights of our trip. On the way back to the marina we got to see around 50 spinning dolphins, the captains said it was a rare treat to get to see them.

One of the days we took a road trip around the north shore. We would stop and get out every so often to enjoy the views at the beaches.

We ate at a Shrimp Shack along the way. Right across the street from here is a beach, so we set outside and watched to ocean while eating fresh shrimp and listening to island music. Very fun!

Another nice stop along our road trip down the north shore. The mountains were also great to look at.

Another stop...and I have to pat myself on the back for this picture, I think it looks like a postcard. By the way, I have no idea who those people are in the picture, I just liked the view.

Josh and I also got to celebrate our 11th anniversary on this trip, so Joe and Lora were nice enough to watch the kids while we went to watch the sunset together. I have to say it wasn't as romantic as it looks, there were homeless people in the trees about 15 yards next to us. Ha! Ha! Once again Mahalo to Lora, Mike, Haley, and Mathew for making our vacation a great one!

Aloha!

2008-07-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

We are into our 4th day here in Hawaii! I will post some vacation pictures when I get back to Kansas in 6 days. Got to run we are getting ready to go to the beach!

Happy Birthday Aunt Angie!

2008-06-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

We went to Aunt Angie's house last weekend to celebrate her birthday. Here are some pictures of the festivities. Quite a few pictures I must say.

Some nice shade was set up for everyone to sit and visit.

The slip and slide was ready to go for the kids. I got a good picture of Jack sliding at the end.

Some of the adults were guilty of slipping and sliding...Randi, Jeff, Christina, and Dustin.

So we are sitting in the shade obviously not paying attention to the fact that Jillian is helping Wylie rub mud all over herself.

Here is a good picture of the mess from the front.

If we are at the Parker's house it means a fire must be built! The place where they live has great views at the front and back of the house. This picture shows my photography side, I like to call it "No Worries", I think it shows how remote we are at the Parker house...no phone calls, no pages, and no visitors.

The kids play in the back of the Dodge, from left to right; Wylie, Joey, Dakota, Jack, and Jillian. Notice no Gunnar. He is to the left, he didn't was his picture taken as usual. We made him promise that he wouldn't be camera shy in Hawaii (only 7 more days by the way).

More play time for the kids. It's great how they get together, you can tell they miss and remember each other.

The night ended with a movie (Star Wars) on a big blow up screen outside, thanks to Dustin. It was awesome! Overall it was a great day! Did I mention there were steaks for supper and biscuits and gravy for breakfast? Thanks Angie for inviting us to you Birthday Party and thanks Randi for hosting and being in charge!

Great Father's Day Weekend

2008-06-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we went to Papaw Tony and Grandma Cindy's and had a good visit. We went out to eat Friday evening and stayed the night. Then after lunch we headed over to El Derado to celebrate cousin Jillian's 7th Birthday. We went over to the 4-H building where the Budweiser Clydesdale's were being kept. We got to see behind the scenes since Dustin is the marketing manager for Budweiser in Bulter County. Now I have to say that I did not bring my camera at all this weekend, because I couldn't find it, although I did find it probably an hour after we got back home on Sunday, of coarse. Uncle James came through for me once again and sent me some good pictures. Thanks James!

We got to get our picture taken with a Clydesdale...there is a worker standing to the right that I trimmed out who is supervising. I didn't think he would want his picture on the Internet.

Gunnar and Wylie must have liked the Clydesdale's, because this is the first time in a long time that the kids, especially Gunnar, pose in a picture together.

This picture was taken after the parade. Dusting gave us a ride in the golf cart down to a parking lot where the drivers practiced with the horses.

Here is a picture of the Birthday girl posing with her Grandma and the Clydesdale.

This is Bud. Not only does he get to ride in the parade, but he hangs out around all of the people. I have to admit, Josh and I discussed taking Bud home with us, but we thought Dustin might get mad. HA! HA!

On Sunday the adults dragged ourselves out of bed and headed toward the Wichita Zoo, which it turned out to be perfect weather. Then we mustered up the energy to eat and play at Chuckie Cheese's. Man were we tired by the time we got back home! We had a great time! Thanks Randi, Dustin, Dakota, and Jillian.

Orange Tip to the Yellow Belt!

2008-06-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Gunnar earned his orange tip yesterday at karate class. I considered having him take a break this summer from karate and just take gymnastics...mainly to give him a break and save on gas. Although, Master Lewis had the kids spar last class, this is where they put on head and hand gear and perform there karate moves on their opponent without full contact. Gunnar was paired up with a boy named Jack, who is almost exactly the same height and I would like to think a half an inch taller. Anyway, I saw Gunnar kick him in the face twice! (no contact, of coarse) Not only was his mother impressed, but so was Master Lewis! Congratulations Gunnar Boy! Good Job!

It's Summertime!

2008-06-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

It's the time of year that teachers love the most, although Josh and I are working at our summer jobs this month, it still seems a lot more relaxing. Gunnar will still be doing karate this summer and he just started gymnastics at the same place Wylie attends. The kids and I go for a swim at least once a day (I need to get some pictures of them in the pool) and another thing the kids have been doing more lately is playing with playdough as you can see from the picture above (notice the hair). Wylie is excited for her first dance recitle this coming Sunday and the whole family is excited for our Hawaii trip in 28 days.

Congradulations Wylie!

2008-05-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Wylie was promoted at pre-school last Tuesday. Next year she will go three days a week to pre-school. Josh and I think she is ready for kindergarten, but she is a September baby so it looks like we will have to wait another year. We have decided that it's a good thing, since there are a lot of benefits to starting later. Here is picture of Wylie with her certificate of promotion.

My Computer Wallpaper

2008-05-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

Our Uncle James took this picture of Gunnar this summer. He had it on a website of his and I downloaded it so I could use it as my wallpaper on my computer. I think that it is an excellent picture. Thanks James! My male students at school always admire the truck, of coarse, which I tell them that Josh's Grandpa bought it brand new and has passed it down to his dad. They also ask if it is still running and I tell them that at the time the picture was taken Joe (Josh's dad) and Gunnar are pulling a branch down from a tree that is tied to the truck. Gunnar thought he was pretty special getting to ride with Papaw.

Keeping Up!

2008-05-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

Man! I am having a hard time blogging lately. We have been really busy lately with the usual routine. Josh's regular softball season ended last Thursday, they ended up with a record of 14-5, which is good. He starts regionals a week from Tuesday. Gunnar lost is front tooth yesterday which makes him have a lisp when he talks. It's cute! Wylie's last day of pre-school was last Thursday, she only has her program left with a couple of rehearsals in between. Nothing real exciting at the DeWeese house, although last weekend we went to Joplin to get a popcorn popper and last night we went to see Iron Man at the theatre in Parsons. Is was an excellent movie! Here is a picture of the kids watching the popcorn popping...they we amazed and excited to taste..

Yellow Belt!

2008-04-05T12:18:00.001-07:00

Gunnar is showing me that he gets to retire his white belt and now gets to wear a yellow belt.

We are proud of you Gunnar Boy!

More Easter Pictures

2008-04-04T18:47:00.001-07:00

When I looked back at the blog I realized that there we more pictures that I thought were worth posting. Here they are.

We spend a lot of our time by the fire pit staying warm. It's all part of the experience.

Dakota giving a thumbs up, while possing for Randi.

The Easter Bunny?

One of many 4-wheeler rides. I know at one point I took the four kids and a dog (Mister) for a ride in the field behind the house.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter weekend at Josh's Aunt Angie and Uncle James house. Saturday night we hung out around the fire pit. Then on Sunday after sunrise service we had breakfast, colored eggs, rode the 4-wheeler, and had corn beef and cabbage for dinner. We had a great time and hear are some pictures.
The kids colored Easter eggs.
Jillian, Gunnar, Dakota, and Wylie carring firewood for the pit.
Four-wheeler fun.
Just a good picture of Wylie.

Spring Picutures!

2008-03-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Josh and I thought Gunnar took a good spring picture this year at school, good enough for Josh to ask me to actually pay for a few pages. I am not sure if you can see the very loose front tooth that is sticking out of his mouth, but it is now gone...thank goodness!!

Happy 7th Birthday Gunnar Boy!

2008-02-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Gunnar's 7th birthday was Sunday (not to mention Josh turned 35 the Friday before). Gunnar opened a couple presents, was visited by Gunka Joe, and ate lemon supreme cake with vanilla frosting, which he picked out for me to make for him. As you can see in the picture I did not buy enough frosting, although my sweet boy said that he thought the cake was perfect. He would like to go and celebrate at the usual, Chucky Cheese's, but Josh had state wrestling and this weekend the Cherryvale Girls are in the 3rd round of sub-state basketball. We should have some time soon to go to Chucky's and celebrate with family.

Strike a Pose!!!

2008-02-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

Wylie is showing off her new gymnastics outfit and in the last picture her back-bend. Yes, another extra curricular activity, but I can blame this one on Josh. One of his friends at the fire department told him how much he liked his daughter going, so now we are taking Wylie every Wednesday for one hour at Chanute. Her new instructors name is Mr. Casey, who happens to be a world champion in gymnastics. Tonight is her 2nd time to attend the class...she seems to like the trampiline and the new friends that she has made.

Snow Days!

2008-02-02T16:20:00.001-08:00

The one thing teachers look forward to in the winter season...snow days! Yes, Josh and I were fortunate enough to get not one, but two days off (Thursday and Friday). Since Wylie did not get to go to pre-school she decided to have class upstairs in her room with her dolls. And yes their room is actually that messy, you should see the rest of it!

Ice Cream Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce!!!

2008-01-26T17:59:00.000-08:00

Gunnar picked out this recipe from a book called "Mouse Cookies & More" by Laura Numeroff. It's a collection of four books in one, which the kids already had two of the individual ones: "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "If You Give a Pig a Pancake", which they both have really enjoyed over the years. When I saw that this particular book had recipes, sing along songs with CD, authors comments, plus "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" and "If You Take a Mouse to School" I had to get it. Anyway, the reason why Mom made Gunnar the pancakes made of ice cream with a scoop of ice cream on top with strawberry sauce...because he got a 100% on his last sentence test! He has brought home quite a few hundred percents on his spelling tests, but this is the first for the sentence test. Before this test I told him after school in the car that spelling the words is not the problem, that if he remembers to capitalize the first word of the sentence and put punctuation at the end he would be good to go. And he did it! Good Job Gunnar!

Masters!

2008-01-12T13:21:00.001-08:00

Josh and I received out Masters Degree in Educational Leadership on December 14th. What this means is that if we take a certification test and pass, we could be principals. I know that when we started this together that I was not interested in being a principal, I was for the masters degree that would move me over on the salary column. As far as Josh is concerned, we will have to see...I think he likes where he is at right now with his teaching and coaching, even though he is the son and grandson of principals. We had the cap and gown just in case we decided to walk, but it sure is hard to find a high school kid to babysit on a Friday night when their is a basketball game in town! That evening the kids and I went grocery shopping in Independence and Josh went to the basketball game. Not a very exciting was to celebrate, but we sure are happy we did it and that it is over with.

More Pictures From Christmas Vacation

2008-01-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

The house where we stayed is located on Tenkiller Lake near Grove, Oklahoma. The day after Christmas we took a walk and ended up exploring the outside of Fin-n-Feather Resort. Here are some pictures that I thought were good.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

All of the kids are at a wonderful age to really go all out when it comes to Christmas traditions. Here is a picture of Gunnr and Wylie with their "cousins" Jillian, Jack, Joey, and little Molly. They all have their pajamas on and are ready to go to sleep so they can see what Santa brings them in the morning.
It's morning time! We make the kids wait at the top of the stairs, so we can gather all of the adults, so they can watch.
Santa brought Gunnar just what he wanted, a Mega Spinosaurus.

Santa also brought Wylie what she had been wanting, which was a Baby Alive doll. Baby Alive can speak, eat, drink, pee, and poop. She is quite the doll let me tell you!

Dad got a good picture of Gunnar and Wylie looking pleased with their Santa gifts.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2007-12-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

Cherryvale's first big snow happened early Saturday morning and the kids had to get out and play, of coarse. Wylie thought the snow was tasty, although I did warn her of the yellow kind. Gunnar threw many snowballs at his mother and sister and made a pretty good snow angel on the deck. Knowing Gunnar, the ground was probably a little too dirty for him to lay down on and make a snow angel. After they took off their wet clothes they thought it was a good time for some hot chocolate.

Only 5 more days till Christmas break for us school workers and this year we do not have to go back until January 7th! It should be a good break for me at least. We are meeting Josh's family in Gore, Oklahoma at a vacation house that is big enough for every family to have their own room. It's amazing, 20 people get together for the holiday. We leave the 23rd and may even stay till the morning of the 27th. Not only do Gunnar and Wylie get to play with their cousins for that period of time, but the house is set up with pool table, foesball table, karaoke machine, fire pit, and plasma tv. It will be even more fun with the kids on Christmas morning! Wylie's wondering how her Baby Alive is going to fit in her stocking and days later Gunnar said to me "how's my Meg Spinosaurus going to fit in my stocking?" Gunnar and Wylie are at great age right now, they are so fun! I hope that everyone who reads this has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Second Yellow Tip...

2007-12-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

Gunnar recieved his second Yellow tip last night, so I thought I would post the pictures that I took. The man who is given him his belt is Master Lewis.

Another Yellow Tip to the White Belt...Next Stop Yellow Belt!

2007-12-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

Gunnar had his test to move up in belts last night, unfortunately I did not take very good pictures, but I will post a few anyway. He did a great job! At the end he got to break a board. I attempted to get a picture of this and it did not turn out.
The name of the studio is Christian Karate Academy, so before they begin their test there is a prayer.
Here is Gunnar doing a what I think is a front punch. They kids are in another room, but parents and family members can watch behind glass. That is what the glare is from, I forgot to turn off my flash.
Toward the end the kids get to do a little sparing before they go up to break the board. After the testing was over Gunnar decided he wanted to spend is $2 that he received from the Tooth Fairy on a smoothie from Sonic. Gunnar had a tooth growing in behind his two bottom front teeth, which were already loose, so the dentist went ahead and pulled both of them. Gunnar thought that the tooth fairy was pretty sneaky, since she manage to fit two dollars bills into the tiny treasure chest he had put his teeth in under his pillow.

Wylie's First Hair Cut!

2007-11-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

At least a trim anyway. With her being 4 years old and all Josh and I thought it was about time to take her to the beauty shop. Josh took her to Tulsa today. They had a father-daughter outing together and just happened to run into Santa Clause. She wasn't sure at first, but Josh told her now would be a good time to tell Santa what you want for Christmas. After she was done telling him about the Baby Alive Doll she wanted, she came back to tell Santa what her brother was also wanting for Christmas, which was very thoughtful of her. Wylie recently had parents night at dance class where I caught a few clips on my camera. I am going to try and post them on the blog once I get to my laptop at school. She really did a good job and her dance instructor picked her to be the leader that night.

Are We Still in Kansas?

2007-11-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to get a picture of Wylie...Gunnar on the other hand insisted that I not take his picture, unfortunatly. We had a good time trick-or-treating, Josh had to work at the fire station, but we picked him up so that he could take the kids down Main Street.

Fall is in the Air!

2007-10-21T12:32:00.001-07:00

Fall is my favorite time of the year, and there is no better way to ring in the new season than by making jack-o-lanterns while drinking hot apple cider (hot chocolate for the kids) on a cool rainy evening.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-10-21T12:30:00.001-07:00

I republished the slide show, this time without the music.

Go Wildcats!

2007-09-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday went to Manhattan to take the kids to their very first college football game. K-State beat Missouri State 61-10. Although, it was not the most exciting game we had a great time none the less. Our seats were 30 rows back from the field, but the kids just had to go up to the top as you can see by the picture above of Gunnar.

Happy 4th Birthday Wylie Jade!

2007-09-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Wylie took cupcakes to pre-school yesterday and woke up to pink streamers and balloons at the bottom of the stairs this morning, opened presents after we all got home from school, and then this evening we went to the football game where she got to cheer all 2nd quarter and dance during half-time with the high school cheerleader. Here is some footage (I promise during the dance I had nothing to drink...you will see what I mean).

Extra Curricular Activities

2007-09-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Gunnar has been taking Karate class for the last month and Wylie has been to dance class twice now. They both really seem to be enjoying it. It sure is fun to watch!

Three Decades!

2007-09-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I turned 30 years old last week, which it seems like yesterday that I was in elementary school wondering what I was going to be when I go up. I have to say… I couldn’t have asked for anything more than what I have now. When I look back at my youth as a struggling student with divorced parents, I am very thankful that my dad’s level-head has been passed on to me. I have always thought of myself as an optimistic person who looks at every experience (good or bad) as an opportunity to learn. One of my students (who’s life story so far is not so perfect either) told me, “You have the perfect life Mrs. DeWeese, with your kids (boy then girl), nice house, nice cars, an education, and a good job”, the response I had for her was, “I have to admit, I’m blessed, plus I have made good choices in my life.” I explained to her that bad things happen to a lot of people and you can either do bad things because of it, or learn from it. So, as far as me turning 30, it’s kind of a bummer that another decade has passed me by, but as far as where I am at this point in my life, it’s amazing and rewarding.

Trip to the Wichita Zoo

2007-08-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

We met my Dad at the zoo this weekend and had a great time. I knew that we had better get together with them before school starts up again. I can't believe that in 8 days work starts up again. It's been a great summer and should be an interesting and busy year. This 1st semester should be challenging! I have all knew math textbooks, new 7 period schedule, two classes for masters degree along with practicum project and log hours, plus I have decided to start coaching again. I am going to be the head junior high volleyball coach his year and I am looking forward to it. Coaching makes you a little more active, more involved with the students, and not to mention the paycheck is nice. I kind of figured that once the kids were a little older I would get back into it and the opportunity turned out to be the right one. I will be sure and post my teams progress. Anyway, here are some pictures from the zoo trip.

Here is a good picture of my dad with Josh, Wylie, and Gunnar enjoying a snow cone on what was probably the hottest day of the year.

You don't get to see a lion up close often. This lion was laying right next to the glass. He would set up every once in awhile so we could get a really good look at him.

We had quite crew at the zoo. From left to right Jesse (my brother), Jeff (my youngest brother), Tim (my sister's friend), Abbie (my sister's friend), Jake (my sister's boy friend), Chris (my sister), and Josh with Wylie on his shoulders. Not the mention myself, my dad, Gunnar, and Cindy were also at the zoo. I must say that the kids did a wonderful job walking around the zoo. Man...they were sure tired when they got back into the car.

I thought that this was a good picture of Gunnar with this Uncle Jeff and Jesse. I can hardly believe how much they have grown. Josh and I had our first date 12 years ago at the zoo. We took all three of my siblings. Jeff would have been 2 years old. I remember Jeff on top of Josh's shoulders drinking a Mountain Dew so fast that it was dripping onto Josh's head. Josh said that he didn't care, he knew that Jeff was thirsty.

Congratulaions Josh!!!

2007-07-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

Josh received he results back from the National Emergency Technician Boards that he took on July 7th and he passed! He is now a certified EMT! Josh had been a volunteer fire fighter while we were living in Oswego and volunteered at Cherryvale's department a little over a year ago. He says that he has learned so much on this department and they gave him great opportunity and financial help to be an EMT. He has been taking evening classes every Tuesday and Thursday since January, not to mention he has been taking masters classes with me every Monday night. I know that it has been a lot of hard work for him and I sure am proud of him for accomplishing his goal. He is not giving up his day job as a teacher or anything, but he is going to go on calls and volunteer a couple of nights a month. Congratulations Josh!

Summer Vacation

2007-07-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

We spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa DeWeese's house. This gave us an opportunity to go down to the creek to relax, canoe, fish, and swim. Gunnar caught his first fish at this part of the stream with his Sponge Bob fishing pole, which I must say was not the littlest fish that I have ever seen, considering that I am almost 30 years old and have never caught a fish. Let me just say that it was exciting and I was so proud that he caught it all by himself. After our many hours spent down at the place on the creek named "Mother's Day", by the DeWeese family, Josh and Wylie took and four-wheeler ride to the lane where Papaw and the kids go to throw rocks in the creek. Wylie also caught her first fist with the Disney princess fishing pole. Not at big as Gunnar's fish, it fit nicely in Josh's hand, although she too caught it all by herself. I wish that I had pictures of these two firsts, but I don't. I did not bring my camera on this trip (of course, I found it when I got back) and papaw's camera ran out of batteries when the Gunnar caught his fish. What can you do??? Here are some pictures taken by Josh's dad from he creek expedition.

As I unfortunately said before, I am almost 30 years old and this was my first canoe trip. Josh and I paddled down the creek and he said that I did very well. Balance is the key you know!

Gunnar was starting to get the hang of casting out. I was not to sure about the live worms. Grandma had to help me out with putting the worms on the hook. (I can't handle the way the worms move from the sharp poke of the hook...who can blame them? Really?)

Although this looks like Gunnar is caught in a tree branch, he isn't. He and Wylie ended up doing really well on their casting out.

Wylie's pole is not doing to well in this picture. I really published this picture because I thought is was pretty good.

This may be the reason why Wylie gets whats she wants most of the time. It's a pitiful site. Josh especially can't hardly stand it.

Ten Year Anniversary!

2007-07-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Josh and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on the 12th of July. We celebrated the day by hanging out with the kids and throwing some nice steaks on the grill. We both agreed that it has not seemed like 10 years have passed or that we have known each other over 12 years. Throughout the years Josh and I have attended quite a few weddings, and looking at them now, a good portion of them have ended in divorce or have had there problems. We feel fortunate that we have managed keep our marriage steady and strong. Our secret... compromise, trust, and friendship, because at the end of the day there is no one else we would rather hang out with than each other.

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

We got the backyard all ready for swimming, grilling, and for setting off a few fire works of our own. Although, I must say the neighbors all around us put on a better show. We like to call it Baghdad in Cherryvale.

Picture in Front of Rose Bushes a Yearly Tradition?

2007-06-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

It was a year ago that I took this picture of the kids by the rose bush that is front of our house. You have a window of time when the roses are in full bloom and I thougt that I might be able to make the picture a yearly tradition if I could manage not to kill the roses while living at 5th and Cherry Street. Well...as you can see from this years picture the kids are not exactly in to having their picture taken together. Wylie tried to stand next to her brother, but unfortunately he was in one of the moods where he's not wanting his picture taken. I may still have time to get Gunnar in a picture taking mood. If I succeed I will get it posted.

Memorial Day Weekend Adventure

2007-06-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

We spent the Memorial Day weekend at Grandma and Grandpa DeWeese's house. This weekend was a good time to get together with Gunka Joe to celebrate his 37th birthday.
The kids played for hours blowing bubbles on the swing set. They called the area "The Bubble Kingdom".
It was amazing how long the bubbles would stay in the grass.
Gunnar got to go for a canoe ride down the creek for the first time this weekend. This creek runs right behind Grandma and Grandpa's house. Josh has spent countless hours as a boy at this creek.

A nice dip in the jacuzzi for Wylie, Gunnar, and cousin Jillian. They slept all night in the tent with Josh.
One of many rides on the four-wheeler, even in the forest!
Playing on the swing set.
Playing ninja turtles with plastic swords secured safely in the underwear.

Graduation Day

2007-05-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Gunnar graduated from Kindergarten today! Josh and I are so proud of him. Except for a few mornings of "I don't want to go to school", which we solved with slushy at lunch for an easy morning, and some time outs for making flatulent noises with his mouth, Gunnar managed to "light a fire" as him and his teacher would call it, and make it through to the end of the year. His favorite class ended up being P.E., library, and the learning lab (computer class). Josh and I are amazed at how well he reads, and I must say that he is not too shabby at working with numbers. Gunnar and Wylie are done with school now, but Josh and I have only 2 more days til summer break! Yepee!

The cards say it all...

2007-05-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Gunnar made me the first card at school, which I particularly like the part where it says I am 21 years old and weigh 70 lbs., although I am also 10 feet tall? I must say the picture he drew and colored of me is done very well. My favorite part is where it says I love my mom because..."she makes me breakfast". You see, at least one of the mornings during the weekend Gunnar requests a nice breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, cinnamon toast, and orange juice to drink. I was happy to see that the breakfast means as much to him as it does to me and that dragging myself out of bed early on one of the few days I could sleep in, is well worth it.
Wylie painted me the flower using her hand prints for petals. I am pretty sure she enjoyed making this considering that getting to paint is one of her favorite things to do at school. Anyway, I just wanted to show off my mother's day gifts! I hope all mothers have a wonderful day today.

The Dancing Princess

2007-04-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Wylie loves her present from the Easter Bunny! She will ask me if she can put on her dance outfit show she can go to the pavilion. One of Wylie's favorite movies is "Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses". It's fun to see her run around the house and in the yard in her tutu.

Kindergarten Easter Hats

2007-04-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

Not all that thrilled to have his picture taken, but he was excited about getting to parade around the school showing off their Easter hats made out of wrapping paper, a feather, pipe cleaners, beads, and a blue rubber spider.

I thought these were funny.

2007-04-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

I thought these were cute. I got an advertisement in the mail where you can order cards, address labels, etc. I had one made for our family.

Easter Pictures...

2007-04-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

I sure wish I had some to post. We ended up leaving early from Grandma and Grandpa DeWeese's house do to sickness. Gunnar and I were not feeling well. Wylie was sick all last week and finally started feeling better yestarday after a good 13 hour night sleep. The Easter Bunny brought Gunnar two of the transformers that he had been wanting and Wylie received a ballet out fit with ballet shoes to match. I will have to try to get a picture of that up on the blog soon She has really been asking if she can take dance classes lately. There is a good studio in Independence, where I plan to enroll her in the fall. Josh has been busy with EMT classes every Tuesday and Thursday night and most importantly has managed not to get sick (knock on wood). Josh and I are also getting our Masters in Leadership together, which also adds some more work onto his load. We should be done in December, thank goodness!

Spring Pictures!

2007-04-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

I thought these turned out well. This is the first time in two years that Wylie actually smiled for the photographer.

A great place to see the kids...

2007-04-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

So...after the field trip to Greenbush I am now back at work. It is time for me to take my knowledge of this blogging business and give it a try. I often look at my Uncle John's blog, who is in Kansas City and my cousin Janeen's blog, who is from Ohio. It's a great way to keep up with them and their families. My goal is to keep up with this so you can keep up with my family. This picture was taken before our big trip to Chicago. We had a great time.

My very first podcast!

2007-04-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

My very first blog.

2007-04-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

It is April 12th and I am blogging for the first time at Greenbush with a bunch of my students. I will soon be posting a brief podcast...very brief.