I'm still kickin'!

Interestingly enough, one of my pet peeves is when someone starts a blog and/or a website and doesn't keep it updated. Now look at me. Not so easy to practice what I preach!

I will use this post to do a catch up since, well, I don't know, election day?? Unacceptable. Anyway, here goes. . .

First of all, can we all just take a collective, cleansing sigh of relief that the election is over?? No more relentless campaign ads, phone calls, polls, etc, etc. Ok, did that feel good? I sure hope so because everything seems in such a mess I don't think kickin' back relaxin' seems quite the thing to do. Hang on tight people. It's going to be a wild and crazy ride!

As far as my life things have been going pretty well. The boys celebrated their 6th birthday at one of the local bowling alleys here. There were about 13 boys that celebrated with them. It was a lot of fun. I highly recommend the bowling alley venue for young boys' birthdays. They can be as loud and obnoxious as possible and no one can tell. They entertain themselves while the parents can sit back and "chillax" for a while. Except if you are the parent throwing the party of course! Oh - I have to give a shout out to my good buddy Dawn for taking pics at the party. If it wasn't for her, I would have no record of the festivities. Thanks Dawn!!!

The next weekend was Halloween. Every year is a little more fun as the kids get older and get into a bit more. This year we had a princess (Aurora/Sleeping Beauty to be exact), a Knight and a brain guy??!! I don't know, you look and the pic and decide. We ended up going over to a friends/neighbor's/soccer coach's house that gets about 25 neighborhood kids together to go trick or treating at once. The men take the kids out and the mom's stay behind at the culdesac and hand out candy and drink "beverages" awaiting their return. It was in the upper 60's so the weather was perfect. The kids were gone 2 hours trick or treating and came back with a cumulative total of 16 pounds of candy! Insane. Just wrong really.

Just this past weekend, we celebrated Thanksgiving. We went up to north KC to celebrate with my mom and dad. Dinner was tasty as usual. Better than the dinner, was the time I got to spend with my parents. Eventhough they have moved closer to me (used to live in Jefferson City) I still don't see them near as often as I should/could. Ugh.

On to Christmas! We already have our tree up. I have taken pictures, but will have to include in a different post since I don't have them uploaded from the camera yet. The only presents I have gotten so far is for a family we adopted for the holidays. That was a lot of fun.

Other than that, just plugging along with kids' school activities, Tooth Fairy duties (both boys), work and just general craziness life throws at us.

Until next time. . ..

L

A vote for "why"

One thing about kids is they LOVE to ask the question "but why?" I was one of those kids and karma has made sure that that I was blessed with three little ones of my own that ask the "why" question of me over and over. Kids, by nature, are constantly trying to figure out why things are they way they are. A simple one word answer of "because" isn't enough.

Somewhere along the way, many of us lose our quest for "why". Is it because we get too complacent? Is it because we get too busy to take the time to figure it out? Is it because we are so bombarded by what others are trying to convince us of why things are a certain way that we take their word for it because that's easier than finding answer ourselves? Whatever the reason, the "why" concedes to "that's what I heard" and that's that.

How dangerous is this? Afterall, figuring out "why" and fixing the root cause is how we keep from repeating an undesirable history.

So "why" am I thinking about this on election day? As I listen to the news talk non-stop about the state of the economy - the housing market, Wall Street, etc etc and the politicians point their fingers at each other as the reason the for the mess, I stopped for minute to really think about "why" we got into the mess.

Is the economic crisis really a political issue as much as it is a moral issue? Think about it, the housing crisis was brought on by many people's sense of entitlement for something more than they could afford. The shady loans by mortagage lenders were done to pad their own pockets due to their own sense of entitlement for more money. The politicians are all pitching their ideas on how we fix what all this entitlement has caused but no politician can fix the entitlement posture of an entire society. To fix this, Americans need to look to themselves and make a change in their life to stop all of this entitlement, live-for-today, instant gratification lifestyle that has become a norm for our society.

So, my thought is the politicians may be able, by God's grace, to fix the symptom why we are in this mess, but only the American people can fix the "why" we are in it in the first place. If this doesn't happen, history will without a doubt repeat itself in the future.

The sermon at my church last Sunday spoke to this very point. The title of the sermon was "Reset". The message was simple - we all just need to SLOW down and really get back to doing what we NEED to and buying what we NEED to when we NEED to vs. buying what we WANT to NOW just because we can. A great biblical story about this very thing can be found in the book of Solomon. He drank from solid gold cups because he could and silver just wouldn't do. He had chairs that were ivory, and as though ivory is not precious enough, they were gilded in gold because he could, and you know, wood wouldn't do. You'll have to read the rest of the story to get the true "moral of the story" but what a great reminder of how we can get carried away with unnecessary things because we feel somehow entitled to them whether they are needed or not.

So, as we go to the polls today and vote for someone we believe can lead a nation out of a mess, remember to do your parts. Yes, plural. (1) Vote, (2) Reset - ask yourself "why" as you take a look at your own personal economy and make the needed changes and, (2) pray DAILY for yourself and others especially during these crazy times. Afterall, the ultimate leader is not an elected official at all.

Thumbs Up

Tonight Brent and I took part in our very first ever "parent-teacher" conference. I am thrilled to report that both boys are doing awesome in Kindergarten! I'm so proud of them. We took them out to eat afterward to celebrate. School is such a top priority in this household and I pray I can always look forward to their continued success. I'm not saying they have to be deemed geniuses or make straight A's, just that they do what they are supposed to do and do their best every time. Ok, enough bragging but I'm super-proud of them! Way to go boys!!!

So, we are ready for Halloween. It's so funny how different the boys' tastes are and costume choice is no different. Josh is more of a traditionalist - he likes scary, even gory costumes. I had to make sure he didn't pick anything too gory since they wouldn't let him wear it to the school costume parade. He landed on a costume called "Brainwashed". It consists of a black robe, a black hat that goes over his face. Then there is a rubbery brain with eyeballs that sits on top of his head. Kind of hard to describe. I'll have to take a picture. He is quite excited about it.

Zach is more of a action figure type kid. He has been Spiderman and a Power Ranger in the past but this year, he wanted to be a knight. So, he is a really cool knight costume and the other night I went to the dollar store to get him a FOAM sword to wear with it. He is also quite proud of his selection and I must say, it is pretty cool.

Lily, by no surprise, has chosen to be Aurora / Sleeping Beauty. She couldn't wear the Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Barbie Princess or any of the other dress up outfits she has. No. Once she saw the boys got new costumes all bets were off. She'll be a princess. Again. I must say, she makes a beautiful little princess! I will be shocked at the day she wants to be something different like, oh, I don't know a kitten or a cheerleader or even a witch. For now, we're all princess.

So there you have it. A scary brain guy, a knight and a princess. Last year it was a Power Ranger, a Ninja and Ariel (of course). I wonder what next year will bring!

Here's to another Halloween!

L

Bye-bye warm weather. . .

After an absolutely GORGEOUS weekend weather-wise, we are expecting FLURRIES this Thursday. Are you kidding me?? Flurries??!! It's not even November yet for gosh sake. Oh well, that darn "global warming" :-)~

We had a pretty good weekend. The boys played their second-to-last soccer game of the Fall season on Saturday. The weather was perfect for a soccer game. Saturday night we watched our beloved Mizzou Tigers get their butts beat by Texas. What can we say? Texas is awesome and a well-deserved #1 team in the country. Don't let that last comment fool you, it still stung. Ouch.

Sunday, we got up and headed to church. Then I went and had my car washed and vacuumed (serious cheerio/fruit snack/french fry/among-other-unrecognizable food items going on). Finally, I came home fed the kids and put about 4 baskets of laundry away. Man was I tired but it all had to be done!

Tonight I hit the local Party America to get last minute party supplies for the boys' big 6th birthday party this Saturday. We are having it at the bowling alley. I think it will be a lot of fun. I am expecting about 10 kids in addition to my own. Josh and Zach are really super excited. That night, we will go up to my mom's house to do the family celebration. Oh! And our last soccer game of the season is at 8:25 a.m. that day. So, needless to say we will have a exhaustingly fun day on Saturday!

I was thrown into a slight panic yesterday morning when I woke up to find most everyhting in my freezer had ice crystals on it. I figured out rather quickly that there was no cold air in the freezer or refrigerator. We quickly took the frozen stuff down to the deep freeze and the refrigerated stuff to my MIL's. Of course this happens the day AFTER I do my major grocery shopping.

The good news is, the repair guy came out today and it needed the compressor replaced. It set us back $183. I was so happy. I thought for sure we were getting bitten by bad refrigerator karma. You see, Brent and I were looking at refrigerators at Best Buy just last weekend for no apparent reason (can you tell we were kidless?). Apparently our current refrigerator found out about it and showed us who's boss.

Here's to a fun but busy week! Enjoy!

Soggy Pumpkin Patch

Well, we took full advantage of the kids early release day at school. After picking them up from school at 11:30 a.m., we headed to McD's for a healthy lunch :-). It was raining like crazy - a cold October rain. Quite miserable. Since we thought for the annual visit to the local pumpkin farm would be a wash, we rented a movie, picked up Lily and headed home.

About 1 hour into our movie, the sun popped out and all the clouds blew away and left us with a blue sky, lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. Perfect pumpkin weather! So, we all loaded in the minivan and headed to the farm.

It was so muddy! Of course, we expected this but wow. It was A LOT of mud. BUT, the weather was gorgeous and the kids were crazy excited. They did all the fun activities - mazes, swings, wagons, bike tracks and my favorite - the hay ride. I took plenty of pics that I will post later.

When it was time to go (according to mommy. If you would have asked the kids, they would have voted to stay another 2 1/2 hours), we picked out a big pumpkin to carve closer to Halloween and then each picked out a mini pumpkin. Nine dollars worth of pumpkins later, we were on our way back home.

You really can't beat the price for an entire afternoon of fun. $5 each to get in - seriously, where else can you go for $5 and have that much fun for the long?? Pretty good price and makes for some fun memories too.

Next up this weekend - soccer.

Have a great weekend!

Flying by. . .

Everyone has told me that "once your kids start school, the time just flies by". I have to say that is true. Yes, Zach and Josh have only been in school for 2 months now but I just can't believe how quickly the weeks are going, that we are almost to Halloween and Christmas is right around the corner!

I was looking at Lily the other night and it truly seems like just maybe last year she was a little baby I was having to change her and give her a bottle to. Now, she is a vibrant almost 4 1/2 year old with a broad vocabulary and sassy attitude. Unreal.

Tomorrow is an early release day at school. That means (a) Nana is uber excited that she won't have 2 energetic 6 year olds to greet her first thing in the morning not to mention feed, clothe and take to school at noon (remember, we are 1/2 days here in LS) and, (b) mommy will take 1/2 vacation to do something fun with them. That is kind of the tradition I've started with early release days. Can I call it a tradition yet being this is only the second one? Yeah, well, I'm going to anyway. :-)

Anyway, last early release day, I picked them up, we ate lunch outside at one of their favorite eateries, we swung by preschool, picked up Lily and then all four headed to the skating rink. This time, it will all start out the same except we will end up at the pumpkin patch vs. the skating rink. I'm going to take advantage of what will probably be one of the last "warm enough" days to hit the patch before Halloween. I will post pics.

Tonight is "Science Night" at school. They are going to be doing some really fun science experiments. I think the kids will enjoy it. I know I will enjoy just getting out of the house for the evening!

Until next time. . .

Welcome!

So, after many friends have started their own, I have decided to follow suit and start the Walker family blog - The Walker Family Circus.

This blog will serve as an online journal (or web log - did you know that is where the name "blog" came from? 'web log' run together but I digress). My friend Dawn made a really good point the other day that something like this will be really neat to look back on sometime in the future when our circus is not as crazy - or noisey - as it is today. Kind of like finding a long, lost diary between your matresses when you are moving out.

Anyway, welcome.

L