Get off Me!

Every morning before George goes to work, he lets the boys out to play in the back yard and when I come home from seminary and dropping Forrest and Sadie off at school. This is our normal routine, so when I let the boys in this morning, I was caught off guard when I saw what Benny had brought in with him. My reflexes weren't fast enough to get away from Benny's hug and kisses before I realized I was mudy too. As I pushed him out of the way, he gave me the look that said, "What did I do mom?" I don't know who's heart should be blessed, his or mine. I say mine, because I had to clean up the mess!

Btw, I am going to be posting "two-a-days" on my blog starting today. By doing so, it'll help me get back into the habit of blogging again (I really do miss blogging) and will give you the opportunity to catch up on what's been happening around the Walker Pad!

Best Friends, On & Off the Field

You know you're the best of friends when you can play against each other on the field to win and afterward the game, you're still friends. That's what Forrest and Gentry do each soccer season. This past Thursday, we were up 2-1 with eight minutes to go when Gentry's team scored. When the clocked ran out, the game was tied 2-2. Unfortunately, a tie means neither claims the "bragging rights" That's probably a good thing, because I am positive that Gentry's mom would not have liked to hear all the trashing that comes with the bragging rights for the next week during early morning seminary!

A few cards to share!

It's Been Too Long!

It's been too long since I have blogged! How does one go from blogging regulary for two years, to hit and miss, to a complete STOP? It's called Life! lol Lot's have been happening around here and I'm along for the ride. It doesn't help that the desktop is being worked on and I have to share my laptop with two teens! Anyway, I'm back!

I wanted to share with you from a couple of weeks ago...Since we live in the country, there are lots of cotton fields on both sides of the roads. On our the way to drop Forrest off at school, something seemed strangely out of place...there was a yellow VW bug in the middle of the cotton field! How odd is that? After driving by this "bug in the field" for three weeks, I decide to take a few shots. Good thing I did, because the very next day it was gone!

Better Luck Next TIme

I have really enjoyed watching the Canadian geese fly over me as I'm driving here and there and have always thought it would be fun to take pictures of them in flight before they turn into little dots in the sky. Unfortunately, I never seem to have my camera in the van. But just a few days ago my luck changed, or so I thought. As I was driving home, a flock of feese had just taken flight over me and I remembered I had the camera in the van and quickly pulled over. Unfortunately, the time it took to pulled over, dig the camera out of the case and focus the camera, the geese were already little dots in the air. Better luck next time, right? So after I got back into the drivers seat (with my camera still in hand) I realized I didn't shut the van door. I tired a couple of times to shut it, but my camera bag was in the way. As I was reaching around to move the camera bag out of the door way, I missed the strap and my hand hit the door itself. A scream came out as I felt pain instantly. I broke a nail! It throbbed all the way home and all night long. All I was trying to do is take a few pictures of flying geese and I come home with pictures of the worst nail break I have ever had. As I said before, I sure hope I have better luck next time!

just one more picture!

(this post is dedicated to my Dad!)
My Dad absolutely loves taking pictures of his family and I have to admit, had it not been for him and his obsession with his camera, I wouldn't have any pictures of my children when they were babies and in their younger years. But for some odd reason, when his camera comes out, smiles turn into frowns and the panting, grunts and sighs begin! Dad doesn't take just one picture, he takes tons and even experiments with different settings and says, "Just one more picture!" There are times that he will call for pictures when we are literally walking out the door! It reminds me of when we were growing up when he would whistle at us driving away and shout, "Don't forget to check the oil!"

On this occasion, Dad did give us fair warning tbefore we went to bed that he would like to take some pictures in the morning at 7:45am before we left for school. I'm not sure if we were all awake, but in 10 minutes, we were able to get a couple of half-smiles, a grunt or two and the ole "sigh" before we had to rush out the door to get Forrest to his semester exam, which was over an hour's drive away.

In hindsight, the ritual we go through for Dad's pictures every time we visit is hilarious and it has become part of family tradition for years. We just accept that our looks along with our attitudes will be forever captured in the moment on Dad's camera and that he will always ask for one more picture!
I love you dad, tj

Since my Last Post

This has been the absolute longest I have gone between posts! This wasn't a planned absence, but started after the laptop had to go into the shop for a couple of weeks. With the laptop gone, I thought it would be a great time to start rereading the Twilight saga to get me ready for New Moon. Well, I didn't just stop at the second book, I had to read all four plus the Melissa Marr trilogy books. By the time the laptop came back, Forrest and Sadie devoured it and I just didn't feel like fighting for it. Since the last time I posted, I was involved in someway or somehow with the following activities:

*spend 4-6 hours at the middle school doing my treasurer duties for the band each week

*I've substituted several days for the band director. I absolutely loved it!

*Went to my sister's house in Georgia for Fall Break

*Helped put on a Stake Barn Youth Dance for our youth at church

*did my VT each month

*took Forrest and Sadie to their orthodontists appointments each month

*after school band practices

*more monthly Band Parent Mtgs and weekly treasurer duties

*Helped with the Band Fundraising Rock-a-Thon and stayed up all night long rocking in chairs!

*helped mom and Dad put up some shelves and watched the Bama game

*more substituting for band and a 6th grade class

*Painting bedrooms and bathrooms to get ready for family at Thanksgiving

*Saw Twilight by myself and then took sadie later that night-we both loved it!

*Forrest's orientation to begin working on his Eagle Project-YEAH!

Family over for thanksgiving and shopping on Black Friday!

*Helped put on a band Spaggetti Dinner and Auction. It was a huge success!

*JUde Collins tutored forrest in his math class. Fo played a little too much in the first semster!

*Went to several holiday concerts

*Hosted a band Holiday Dance

*soccer conditioning after school

*george working overtime

*I have rediscovered the joy in writing in my personal journals again

*taking care of my beautiful young women at church

*Our youth at church decorated 120 Christmas cookies as a service project

*made my sister and mom Christmas cards (but none for me! Lol)

*went to the Christmas Festival for the first time this year. It was beautiful!

*3rd Annual Cookies with Cay last weekend. we had a last and left with tons of goodies!

*Getting Forrest and George off to winter camp this week

*Participated in my first cookie swap last weekend. Note to myself: too many cookies to bake!

*I was suprised with a visit from my brother and his family this past weekend . My sister's family spent Christmas in salt Lake Sity, UTah and will be coming home tonight

*I was able to make a card of two during the last couple of months but I haven't scrapped or
even taken more than a picture or too since my last post but I've looked at tons of sites for when I'm ready to scrap!

So there there you have the watered-down version of what we've been up to in the past several months. We are alive, happy and I'm a day younger today! Yes, it's my birthday today ,but I'm only getting younger, not older!I hope you had a beautiful Christmas with your family and friends and please know that you are always in our thoughts and prayers during this Christmas season.

More to come!