The Walker's

Where have we been????

2012-01-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

So,it has been a VERY LONG TIME since I last update the blog. Here is what we have been up to this fall and winter:

Grant played soccer at the local YMCA. He absolutely loved it and can't wait to play again this spring. He did very well. The first three games he scored 3 goals each time......of course there are no goalies at YMCA soccer.

This is David's flag football team at their end of season party. There was no coach for the team so at signups David volunteered to do it. It was alot of fun and they did really well!

Tate in action running the ball down the field. He really loved it!

Halloween 2012- we went with our neighbors, the Andresons, to a church carnival. Here is Meg as Daphne, Grant a ninja, Tate, a ghost, Zac, the man in Black, and Ava a witch stopping long enough to pose for a quick picture before playing more games.

Our wonderful friends, the Reaves, came up to visit us in Novemeber. We had a great time with them. Barrett and Tate went to a basketball clinic at our church one day.

And of course, we went to the aquarium and the Tulsa zoo while the dads went to Kansas to hunt.

One night we got a sitter and the adults got to go out to dinner. It was so fun!

Ladies and gentleman: We have a cub scout! He is really enjoying it, it meets each week and he loves getting to know more kids from his school through it.

Before Christmas we went to Rhema Bible College to see their lights. They were great! The boys really loved it, it rivaled trail of lights in Austin....sort of.

Tate at his school Christmas party, we made snowmen out of marshmallows and fruit by the foot.

Christmas in Weatherford with the whole family!

This year we also got to spend Christmas with Nana at her new house in Fort Worth. It was great to have her so close to Weatherford.

David and Lily looking at her presents.

We got free tickets to the Tulsa Oilers hockey game last week and the boys loved it!

Even though its January the weather has been nice. On MLK day I took the boys to Putt Putt for a mini golf game. They really liked it!

First Days of School

2011-10-05T11:20:00.001-07:00

First day of Second grade at Andersen Elementary School.

.....walking to the classroom, he was nervous but pretended to be too cool for mom to take his picture in the hall so this is all I got.

Tate, sitting down and doing his wordsearch at his desk. He had a great first day!

Grant on his first day at Grace Church Preschool.

Grant is really liking his new school. He goes 9:30 -2:30 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. He has made many new friends. His teachers are Ms Joyce and Ms Renee, he likes them alot!

Summer 2011

2011-09-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

Grant "graduated" from the 3 year old class at Oak Hill United Methodist Preschool.

I tagged along with David to Los Angeles for a work trip the first weekend of June.

We had a great time and enjoyed looking at all the cool sites!

We had one last meal with our great friends, the Reaves, at Flores the week that we moved.

The moving truck arrived on June 14th to pack us up and move to Tulsa.

Boxes, boxes, everywhere! The house looked SO different with everything gone.......

The first week we arrived in Tulsa the boys and I got season passes to the Aqarium and the Zoo.

Needless to say we went alot and if you come to visit us, it is likely we will take you!

Over the 4th of July weekend we went to Arkansas because David had heard about the White River in Eureka Springs. We got a fishing guide ( a lady!) and all went for the morning. I didn't think I would like it much but it was so peaceful being in her boat early in the morning and it was quite chilly for the first couple of hours and we all caught alot of fish!

In Eureka Springs there is a train that takes you on a 1 hour ride through the woods and hills of the Ozark Mountains. The boys had never been on a train before so we thought it would be a fun experience. They let us all out half way and told everyone to put a penny on the track and the train would run over it and we could see what it does. Tate thought this was very cool but unfortunately Grant's fell off the track and we couldn't find it. He wasn't happy.

The highlight of our summer was Gulf Shores! We had so much fun with my family and our lifelong friends, The Mendrops. Alyson and I have kids that are roughly the same age and they play so well together, it is always so great to hang out with them. This is Grant and John Curtis probably trying to act out some sort of superhero stunt.

We went to Dallas one weekend and aunt Carol took us to the Lego Discovery Center.The last week of summer Tate went to Mimi and Daddo's church's Music Camp. He had alot of fun and at the end of the week they put on a musical for the parents. It was great!

Tate has been wanting a dog for some time so he finally got one for his birthday. Gracie is an 18 month old English Cocker Spaniel. We love her so much, she is so sweet and was a perfect way to celebrate the end of our Summer!

Send Off parties

2011-07-25T12:04:00.001-07:00

Tate and Grant's friends from church- This is such a great group of kids. Most of this bunch we have know since birth. We will miss them so much!

Some of my beautiful girlfriends from church. We were so lucky to have such great friends at from Westover.

Some of David's friends- Jim, Danny, and Jon.

Brent, Mat, Jim, and Danny

Christy and Angie, loving on sweet Bailey.

Julie, Ashley, David R, Derek, Ryan, and Chris

Tate and his good buddy, Jackson Nettleton. These two have know each other for three years and play so well together.

Tate, with Chance and Lexi. We love these kids! They were great playmates for Tate and Grant! (Chance doesn't usually look this silly, he was making faces for me:) We could always count on them to be around when Tate got bored. They enjoyed riding their bikes and playing in the creek behind our street. Grant loved playing with their little brother, Carson, too.

My awesome neighbors and girlfriends! We loved hanging out together and watching the kids play on most days when the weather was under 100 degrees.

During the months of May and June we had a few different send off parties for out big move to Tulsa. We were so blessed in Austin to have the greatest friends! Our wonderful friends, The Reaves, hosted a care group going away party for us. We have know the Reaves for 12 years! They were some of our first friends we made at church. So many of our memories of Austin will involve them and their precious family. Our care group family continued to grow over those 12 years and we were blessed to meet so many different people from all over the country who chose to move to Austin and start their families. We loved that our kids had a great group of other kids to play with within our caregroup and alot of "second moms and dad" to love on them in the seven years they were there. We know we will probably never find another group like this and we miss and love them all so much!

Another sweet group of friends, our neighbors, also threw us a send off party. I felt so blessed to live on such a great street! Via Grande Dr was a great street to live on! There were alot of kids whom we loved playing with each day. Around 4:00 each day we would sit outside for about an hour and watch the kids play- sometimes with wine! Tate was never bored with Chance around. As soon as he was done with his homework he would ride his bike to his house and they would play and expore until dinner time. I loved that I could let him go out by himself to play if I had other things in the house to do and he would always be safe and have a great time.

A couple of weeks before we left I got to go out with some of my friends from the boys preschool. ( Wish I had a picture of this great group of ladies, too!) I have know most of them for the last six years when Tate started preschool with their kids. We used to go to lunch once a month or so and even when our kids weren't in the same school anymore we could always find a night to go to dinner or a CABI party! I will really miss them and know I will probably never find a group so close at Grant's preschool this year.

We loved Austin. However, we had felt a tug on our hearts for some time that God was calling us to do something different. We will miss that great city and all the fun things it contained but more than that we will miss the friendships we have made there over the last twelve and a half years. Tulsa is a good town and I am sure we will find ways to fit in and make friends but they can't compare with what we had in Austin. We can't wait to visit!

Soccer

2011-05-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Tate played I-9 Soccer this spring and really enjoyed it. He has never played before so we heard that I-9 was a good way to introduce kids to the sport. On the first day of practice the coach let the player who chose a number closest to the one he was thinking of choose the team name. Tate guessed closest and named the team the Bobcats. David and I were relieved because of his affection for deer, nature, and dogs, we weren't sure what he might say. The Bobcats had a 2-6 season. They won the first two games and lost the rest but each player got better and most importantly they had fun while learning the rules of the game.

My Mom by Grant

2011-05-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Grant's school had a Mother's Day brunch at last week to celebrate moms and grandmothers. He didn't want to go and chose to sit like this during the whole program. At least he gave me a sweet card. It said:

My mommy is ? years old.

Her hair is BROWN and her eyes are ?.

My mom likes to relax by WATCH THE NEWS.

She loves to cook EVERYTHING.

Her favorite household chore is EVERYTHING.

Her favorite TV show is THE NEWS.

Mommy always tells me SHE LIKES ME.

When my mom shops, she buys EVERYTHING.

If she could go on a trip, she would go to COLORADO.

I really love it when my mommy GETS Wii GAMES FROM THE REDBOX.

My Mom by Tate

2011-05-09T09:39:00.001-07:00

The following is from Tate's Mother's Day book he made at school for me. See if you notice a theme:

Happy Mother's Day

by Tate Walker

My mother is the most wonderful mom in the world! She is as pretty as DOGS.

She weighs about 54 lbs and is about 4 feet tall. Her favorite food is PASTA. In the good old days when mom was little she used to LIKE TO READ. I think mom looks funny when she is wondering about dogs. I know she is really angry when she SCREAMS. I wish mom would RUN with me every day. I wouldn't trade my mom for A DOG.

My favorite thing about my mom is SHE DOES NOT FREAK OUT IF WE GET A DOG.

If I could give my mother somethings special from me it would be....I WOULD GIVE HER A DOG.

My mother loves me when I ......CLEAN UP.

My mother looks prettiest when.....SHE IS IN THE WOODS. (picture of me and deer on this page)

My mother's favorite thing about me is.....WHEN SHE TICKLES ME.

THE END.

Easter

2011-04-26T11:57:00.001-07:00

We had a great Easter! We normally spend it with family but with David traveling back and forth to Tulsa each week we decided to stay in town and enjoy one last Easter in Austin. We had a few friends over to have lunch, hunt eggs, and throw lots of confetti eggs. It was a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Grant!

2011-03-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today Grant is 4 years old! He is so much fun, our secret nickname for him is "fire and ice" because you never know what you are going to get with him. He can be so well mannered and sweet one minute then immediately turn and be very stubborn and hot tempered. David says its the red in his hair but I don't think that is necessarily true. Some of his favorite things right now are playing games, going fishing with dad, playing "soccerball", and following his brother around. He is really liking Batman, Beyblades, Bakugan and all sorts of computer games. We hope he is our techy, able to figure out any technical, computer, phone problem we might have. Grant enjoys going to school most days and loves his teachers and friends, especially Reid and Nic. He is going to miss them next year. We had a small party for him and a few friends at Chuck E Cheese on Saturday. He had alot of fun with his buddies. Happy Birthday, G-dub, we love you so much!

Wacky Wednesday

2011-03-27T16:05:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Tate's school had "Wacky Wednesday" for all of the first graders. Grant thought this was a great idea and wanted to dress up to go to his school, too.

HOWEVER, he got Nutella on his cape at breakfast so he went as this:

He got a little shy as we were walking in, but thankfully another friend was there who decided to wear his pajamas that day so Grant didn't seem too out of place in a policemans uniform!

Nashville

2011-03-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

Grand Old Opry- We saw Vince Gill and Craig Morgan and Little Jimmy Dickens

On the main street where all of the honky tonks and bars are we got to hear some great live music.

One night we went to the Opryland Hotel. It is fabulous! I haven't been there in 25 years and it had changed quite a bit. At night they had all of the lights dimmed, that's why the pic is so dark.

Main Street where we heard live music. From 10 am on you can go into any of these places and listen to music, and have a margarita....so we heard.

The famous Loveless Cafe. We had an hour and half wait here, breakfast turned into lunch, but it was so worth it. It is delicious!

Science Fair

2011-02-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Last week Tate did his first science fair project. He was really excited! He was told he could do either an experiment or a collection. He chose collection and we were glad he did. With some helpful ideas from our scientist uncle (Matt) and our nature-loving father, he decided to collect some antlers from the deer lease and tell the differences and similarities of antlers and horns. I really thought ours would be the only deer/fishing/nature project up there ( think lots of volcanoes, light bulb and battery projects) but there was another deer project and our friend Colby tested the heaviness of fishing lines. It was really fun to walk through the school and see all of the different projects parents, I mean kids, did.

Christmas

2011-01-15T13:27:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning- two excited little boys!

Our Charlie Brown tree. It looked alot better in the field at the tree farm...guess we should have left it there:). The boys loved it.

A pogo stick! (What were we thinking? That thing is loud, not to mention, a little dangerous!)

This marble maze is so much fun! There are a millions pieces but it is hours of excitement for all of us.

Tate's pogo record so far is 67 jumps in a row. Pretty impressive!

Santa left a bike and scooter for the boys.

Tate really wanted a UT helmet. He got lucky because Nana got him the one with the pretend jersey.

Uncle Dave getting to hang out with Ella. The boys love playing with their cousin!

Nana and Babo on their last Christmas together. Babo was modeling some PJ's we gave him.

We had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve by going to the church where Grant goes to school for their 5:00 service. It was so sweet. They had all of the kids that wanted to participate put on costumes and act out the Christmas story. My kids wouldn't have any of that and just watched as everyone else participated. Grant enjoyed and was a little confused by seeing some of his friends and teachers there. (He doesn't think they have a life outside of MWF school.

Christmas morning we woke up early and opened presents. It was a great time spent with just our little family. I normally make a breakfast casserole and french toast casserole when we are home for Christmas morning but the boys didn't want that this year so we made monkey bread (Andrea's recipe) and it was delicous! After we opened all of the boxes and got all of our toys out it was time to go out to Dripping Springs to have Christmas with David's family. Matt, Emily, Ella, and Lily arrived around lunchtime and we had a great lunch and opened more presents. We stayed there until 4:00 then went on to Weatherford for our third Christmas where we saw Carol, Jimmy, Chloe, mimi and dado. The next day all of mom's family came over, it was so good to see all of them. I was especially thankful that Carol and I got to go visit my grandad in the hospital two days after Christmas because he passed away the very next day. Then Lee went on to heaven 11 days later. We have had two funerals in ten days. We are praying that the rest of the year is much better than these first weeks have been. All in all it was a great Christmas and we look forward to the things 2011 has in store for us.

Babo

2011-01-08T12:05:00.001-08:00

Sweet Babo went to be with Jesus on January 7th. He had fought a five year battle with cancer and never complained. We will miss him so much.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

Each year we love to build a Gingerbread house. This year we wised up and bought the one that was already assembled.

We love to go to Johnson City. Each year we get to see all the millions of lights they have. We also like to see the Living Nativity at the Methodist Church.

This is the only Santa my kids talk to. They know he's not the real one but that he tells Santa what they want. Tate is onto us this year about Santa. He's not quite sure there really is one and is asking a ton of questions. We might have to come clean next year....but not to Grant.

This is the year Grant is not looking at the camera when he smiles. It is kind of annoying, wait until you see the Christmas card.

Mommy's trip to the Lease

2010-11-09T05:34:00.000-08:00

The hunting stand big enough for a family of four.Mommy's little helper in a hunting stand big enough for a family of four.

Passing the time, looking for wildlife. There were only two chairs....and four people.

Waiting for my deer

Tate's deer. Little brother had to get in the picture, too.

The boys talked me into going with them to the hunting lease on Sunday. Since AISD was out of school Monday it was a good time to go. So, we packed up Babo's truck with everything you could possibly need to shoot a deer, sleep in a camper, and entertain a three year old and a thirty three year old mom. Tate was really excited about me coming and wanted me to see everything he loves about this lease. I have actually been there many times but just for the day, I've never spent the night. We got there Sunday afternoon, unpacked our stuff and went straight to a deer blind. For the last almost 15 years David's dream had been for me to shoot a deer. Every year he begs me to go and each year I decline, not wanting to intrude on his fun, outdoorsy weekend.
About 10 minutes after we get situated in the big, low to the ground stand (I'm not climbing a tree!) we see the first doe. Tate gets so excited and wants to shoot it. And he does. I'm thinking,

Wow! That's fast! Maybe we can go home now and not have to stay out here all night." But, no. David says there is still plenty of time for me to get my shot at it. So. We, Wait, and wait, and wait. One hour later we see a group of does coming to the feeder and David tells me this is my chance. Tate is so excited and Grant is playing on the floor with a Star Wars toy, he could really care less (see, not only does he look like me, he acts like me, too.) David shows me how to line up the scope and where to shoot and I do! But then they all run off. David knows I shot her and he and Tate run off to find her. Thanks to time change it is gettting dark even though it is only 5:15. They look and look for my sweet Bambi but just can't find her. The next morning we found her, she had been a delicous dinner for a pack of coyotes. So I don't have any pictures with her but at least I finally fulfilled David's dream and felt the so called adreanline rush everyone talks about. It was fun, not sure if I will do it again but who knows?

All in all we had a good time. It was great to spend some time with all three of my boys!

Clownin' Around

2010-11-02T15:20:00.001-07:00

Happy Clown

Sad Clown

Halloween 2010

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2010-10-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

2010-10-02T04:23:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY CHLOE!!! WE LOVE YOU AND CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR FANCY NANCY BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Two Runaways

2010-09-22T15:35:00.001-07:00

This week we had two incidents with runaways. One didn't come back and one did. Last weekend David decided to take our dog of 12 years, Maggie, hunting in South Texas with him. He rarely takes her as she is deaf and very old and really not a great bird dog. However, he took her this time and when he let her out of the truck she started running and running and never came back. He really thought she would return and there were about thirty hunters on this ranch who he thought would spot her but none did. We will miss her but we hope she finds a nice farmer who will take her in and treat her well. The boys aren't really all that sad, surprisingly. Tate is now in the market for rabbits. We'll see if he gets his wish but for now this family is officially pet free and we are actually enjoying it....for now. I tried to post a picture of Maggie but blogger didn't like my scanned pic that I had. We will miss you Maggie, you were a good dog and we hope you find some other little boys who will ride you like a bull and pull you around the neigborhood for fun.

The second runaway happened Monday evening. Tate was sent to his room for fighting with Grant and when I came upstairs to get him he was packing a (small) bag and said "I''m running away!" I proceeded to tell him it was raining and that we would miss him but if he wanted to go he should go. He didn't care about the rain. He made it to the middle of the culdesac and came back. It was pouring and he was wearing flip flops. I guess he decided he would put up with us.

Grant's first day of Preschool

2010-08-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

Grant started preschool today. He was really excited! He has missed his friends and was happy to go back to the "big room" meaning the 3 year old room. His teachers are Ms Karen and Ms Cindy. And no, they don't wear uniforms, he just insisted on wearing this white shirt with his khacki shorts. As we were about to go into the room he told me "I want to go in by myself!" So he did, and never looked back. Here's hoping to a great preschool year!

We're tolerating First Grade

2010-08-23T17:39:00.001-07:00

As you can see we didn't start out overly excited to be up at 6:30 in the morning.

Feeling a little better about going to first grade.

Walking up to the school with friends. Brother insisted on coming for moral support.

Found some friends from the neighborhood: Jackson, Tad, and Tate.

Made it to the classroom. He did okay until he realized the assignment was to write a sentence on what he did this summer, draw a picture, and put the date on it. We are not big on writing. He really sees no need for it but he told me he did write something...not sure what but that's okay. We didn't have near as many tears this year as last, thankfully. He has four friends in his class and the two girls who sit next to him , Ella and Eleanor, both like to ride horses so he has something in common with them. He says he will go back tomorrow so that is a good step in the right direction to tolerating first grade.

7

2010-08-20T11:45:00.001-07:00

Today is Tate's 7th birthday. It is hard to believe this guy has been around for that long. It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital waiting for him to arrive. In true Tate form he finally made his appearance around 7:40 that night. A LONG day to say the least, but the best day ever. We had a small birthday party last week at Gattitown and that was alot of fun. He is having his first sleep over tonight and is really excited!

Tate is starting 1st grade next week and is somewhat excited. If you ask him he tells you "no" but I know he is ready for a routine and to be back with his friends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! WE LOVE YOU!

7 things about Tate

He loves his brother, they can be the best of friends and the worst enemies all in one day but they are close

His favorite food is pancakes

His favorite sport is baseball

He love to hunt and fish with his dad.

He love everything rodeo...especially bulls!

His favorite movie is Aliens in the Attic.

He got a new skateboard and he is loving trying to ride it.

Kids say the darnest.......

2010-07-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

A conversation we had tonight:
Tate: Mom, is gosh a bad word?
Me: Well, it's not great, maybe you should say Oh my goodnes instead.
Tate: Well, I could say Oh my word or oh my.
Me:Yes, that sounds good.
Tate: Okay....what about Holy Crap?

Corpus Christi

2010-07-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

In the jail cell on the USS Lexington. Tate was a little nervous it might lock on him:)

The USS Lexington. The tour that is supposed to take 4 hours. Julie's tour only took 1 1/2!

The boys in a real Blue Angels training"mock" jet. They thought it was pretty cool.

In front of the Texas State Aquarium. It is a really good aquarium filled with lots of fun shows and exhibits!

At the children's exhibit Tate looked for crabs. There were alot!

My favorite was the dolphin show. The kids really liked watching them, too.

One night we tried fishing off the marina dock. We didn't catch anything but the boys had fun.

On the bay cruise. Tate really enjoyed this. He spotted a dolphin jumping out of the water. He just about fell out of the boat yelling"dolphin! dolphin! dolphin!" until the captain acknowledged him and announced it over the loud speaker. He was really proud.

Grant, on the other hand, really just liked the tub of cotton candy we got at the concession stand on the cruise. He could have cared less about the dolphin.

The one thing Tate really wanted to do was ride the paddle boats. He was happy but poor David's legs nearly fell off having to pedal by himself!

We tagged along with David last week on a work trip to Corpus. He now has two sales guys there he will have to go see every month so we thought why not make it a family vacation? So we did and it was fun. We had no idea we picked such a great week to go. It was the annual FFA convention and every small town from South Texas to northern New Mexico was there. I was yes maam'ed ALOT which is sweet and made me feel rather old. Apparently, they were there for a week and everywhere you looked there were high school kids. They were well behaved from what we saw but it explains why we could not get a decent hotel room in the city. We had to stay at a roach motel the first night ( in one bed) and decided we could NOT do that for another two nights so David hooked us up with the Omni hotel on the water and it was wonderful! The kids loved the indoor and outdoor pool and Tate loved the breakfast buffet. He had never really seen a buffet before (besides Luby's and you don't serve yourself there). He couldn't believe that you could have WHATEVER you wanted! He tried alot of things and I was proud of him. Grant, ate his weight in bacon and raisins. Normally, our good eater, he zeroed in on those items and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is so fun to watch normal things become really cool in the eyes of your kids! We were happy to go to Corpus and have lots of fun, thanks David for letting us tag along!

Lately.....

2010-07-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

Grant walking into his graduation/promotion ceremony at preschool.

Ms. Jennifer's MWF two year old class recieving their diplomas and scrapbooks.

Grant has recently discovered dressing up. Superman is his favorite costume..who knows, we may see it againg at Halloween.

Older brother is too cool for dress up so he dressed down....to his boxer briefs. (and did a little dance)

David took the boys and a couple friends to a Hunting and Fishing Expo a few weeks ago. Grant, being the avid fisherman he is, loved that their was a fishing tank/booth/above ground pool for little kids to catch and release. This is his fish that our friend Danny is holding.

Tate's Kindergarten Graduation and Party

2010-06-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Tate receiving his diploma from Mrs. Haschke.
The whole class

Mommy and Tate at the breakfast afterwards.

The kids were ready to eat!

Tate and his friend Connor W. There were two Connor's this year- M and W. Tate came home the second month of school and wanted to be called "Tate W".

His class got to say the pledge the week of May 17th. Five kids were chosen each day to help lead it at assembly. (William, Christina, Tate, Jonah, and Mary)

The last day of Kindergarten

2010-06-02T05:12:00.001-07:00

The first day of Kindergarten: August 24, 2009

The last day of kindergarten: June 2, 2010

You've come a long way, baby!

Happy Birthday David!

2010-05-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to the best dad, husband, and friend anyone can ask for. We love you!

The Orioles

2010-05-21T05:36:00.000-07:00

Tate finished his second season of Tball last night. He was on the Orioles again, as he was last year. It was so fun to see the difference in last year and this year. He was one of the older ones this year and he was definitely more confident than last season. We had fun watching his games and will look forward to next season- coach pitch!

Track and Field

2010-05-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Action shot of Tate jumping over the cones in a relay. He loved the relays!

Tate and his friend Brock stopped browsing at the concession stand long enough for me to snap this picture.

Tate and Jacob about to play scoop ball. Tate really wanted to hold it like a bat.

Playing "Snake in the Grass", a favorite game of five and six year olds.

The kids loved the parachute!

Even Grant had to get in on some of the fun. He didn't like not getting to play all the games.

Tired, hot,sweaty, but still able to hula-hoop...barely.

Getting big.....

2010-05-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

Grant has been growing and growing, doing all sorts of big boy things this month. He is wearing underwear most days and usually goes potty inside... except when he feels the need to go outside.

He has been in his crib until now. I couldn't resist taking this picture, he looks so sweet and angelic when he is sleeping.

When Mimi and Daddo were here last weekend they bought Grant his big boy bed. He is doing well in it but wakes up every morning at 5:30 and comes in our room. Tate loves it and is jealous that it is bigger than his.

Grant now gets to partake in our nightly bedtime stories and he loves it!

Grant went to the dentist this week for the first time. He did great! They had Diego on the TV so he just stared at that the whole time. He was a good patient!

See, he wouldn't even take his eye off the TV to smile for me!

Again, watching the TV. He kept dodging the hygenist when her arm would get in his way and he couldn't see Diego!

Fun Weekend

2010-04-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday we went to the greenbelt. It was so much fun! Hard to believe we had never done this before!

Grant followed daddy closely, thankfully the trails were easy.

Grant loved that he could throw rocks in the water and no one told him to stop!

The boys thought this cave was so cool. Tate had fun imagining that Indians used to live in it.

Because of the rain, Barton Creek was full and their were small waterfalls all up and down it.

Yes, I was there, too. Some might find that hard to believe but it really was fun!

On Saturday morning we made "resurrection buns". You roll out biscuit dough for the tomb, place a marshmallow in the middle signifying Jesus' body, roll it up, sprinkle with spices (cinnamon and sugar) annoint with oil (melted butter) and bake. When it comes out the marshmallow (Jesus) is gone. It melted/dissolved into the dough.

Tate saying "the marshmallow is gone, he is risen!". (That's what the directions told us to say).

Grant loves to help cook so he really got into rolling out the dough.

Sunday morning we woke up to our easter baskets filled. (Tate figured out the Easter bunny this year so he kept saying "It was you that bought this stuff at Target, right?"

After church we went to Nana and Babo's house for lunch and an egg hunt.

Looking for the eggs. Grant did pretty good this year, he was fast!

Happy Birthday Grant!

2010-03-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

March 28, 2007 Grant David Walker

March 28, 2010: Grant is 3!

Opening presents with his buddies Dane, Taylor, and Owen

Chloe thinks about going down the slide ( of course we had to count to 3)

Grant loved the pinata....we were thankful for big kids like Blake and Caroline to help us out.

Brooklyn saying "cheese" while she eats

Grant and daddy

Grant is listening to his friends singing "Happy Birthday"

On Sunday, Grant turned 3 years old. He has been talking about turning three for a while and was so happy on his birthday to wake up and have birthday pancakes with a candle to blow out- twice! On Monday we kept him home from school to have a small birthday party at the park with his friends. It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed playing and the mommies enjoyed hanging out in the gorgeous weather. Grant was so happy to have his cousin Chloe come down for the festivities. Aunt Carol and Chloe got up early Monday morning to drive to Austin and we were so happy they did! Grant loves playing with and trying to "hold" Chloe and he was definitely happy to see her.

Grant is becoming such a fun little boy who loves his brother and friends so much. He likes to play outside on his scooter and bike, loves to fish with daddy, and really likes playing with his toys. Right now his favorites are GeoTrax and anything Lightning McQueen. He enjoys going to school three days a week and is learning to use his words and not his teeth or hands to get his point across. We love having him in our family, he is such a joy! Happy Birthday big boy, we love you!!

Mutton Bustin'

2010-03-18T18:30:00.001-07:00

Tate has been talking about "Mutton Bustin'" since the rodeo last year and he was so excited to get to do it this year. While they have MB every night at the Austin rodeo they also have a separate event for kids who want to try it in the Youth Arena. We decided to let him do this thinking he might get nervous and back out at the last minute. However, he did not! He was nervous but he got on that sheep and rode and scored a 93! He won for the longest time in his group of 10 kids and was SO happy! He has been talking about it nonstop and looking at his trophy alot. It was so much fun to watch him, we just hope this doesn't mean he wants to pursue a career in PBR (professional bull riding) in the future. Thanks to my parents for coming down in the middle of the week to watch him and to Kim and Raegan and their kids for coming out. Tate loved having his friends there!

SNOW 2010!

2010-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Star of the week

2010-02-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

This week Tate is the Star of the week. He has been so excited and his poster has been ready for about two weeks. He gets to bring in something to share, a book, or snack each day to show the class.

The difference 100 makes

2010-02-04T04:59:00.000-08:00

August 24, 2009- The first day of Kindergarten

February 4, 2010- The 100th day of school

It is so hard to believe that today is Tate's 100th day of school! He has come a LONG way since August. That first couple of weeks was hard (on all of us) but we really seem to have gotten into a routine. He is loving school, his teacher, and his friends. He says PE is his favorite part of school and his favorite friends are Jonah and Nick. He loves buying his lunch at school with pizza being his favorite and buying chocolate milk every day is a definite highlight.. He is learning to count by 5's and 10's to 100 and is reading basic sight words. This is our only year at this school as he will be going back to our neighborhood school next year but it has been a great experience for our family and we will miss it next year. To celebrate the 1ooth day his class his making a "100's snack". I told him each child is bringing in a bag of something like goldfish, M&M's, pretzels, etc. and he was going to count out 10 of each to make 100. His response was"You mean I have to eat other people's snack? Gross!" (He reminds me of his aunt Carol alot sometimes) I assured him that each bag had not been opened and he would take the M&M's or goldfish out himself to put in his bag...he doesn't want anyone touching his food! He was also excited because not only was it the 100th day of school but it was also a field trip day (hence the lovely green shirt with kids on it.) Boy, those teachers are in for it today!

Little Helpers

2010-01-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

I wish I could get their help like this everyday!

RODEO!!!!

2010-01-26T05:47:00.001-08:00

Tate, Chloe, and Grant ready for the rodeo.

Chloe in her cowgirl Pettiskirt. She was so cute!!

Two cowboys.............

Chloe and Daddo looking at some animals.

Grant not looking at the camera but attentively watching the rodeo.

Me and my cousin Stephanie who came with her family to the rodeo.

We let them each ride one ride at the midway and they chose the four wheelers.

Grant take his four wheeling very seriously.........

Tired cowboy going home from a fun day at the rodeo.

This weekend we went with my family to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. The boys love all things cowboys so they were in heaven the whole day! They love walking through the barns to look at all of the animals and they enjoy every event of the rodeo. We were up close to all of the excitement which they thought was great. It was a fun weekend with my family and we love to go to the rodeo each year.

Christmas!

2009-12-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Our cute little snowman sat outside on the bar for most of the day.

Creative aunt Carol gave him mini snickers for eyes and a hotdog for a nose.

Not a great picture, but all three of my boys were sledding down the hill.

David and Grant are so proud of their snowman.

Joseph...aka Tate.

Chloe was Mary and Tate was Joseph. Grant was supposed to be a wiseman but he got stage fright

Tate got a real guitar from Mimi and Daddo. He loves to play guitars with his Daddo!

Chloe doesn't usually wake up early so on Christmas she was quite surprised when we were up at 6:45!

David's Papo came from Denver. Matt, Emily, and Ella came from Ft Worth.

Tate wanted a Wii for Christmas but he is just as happy with "Big Buck Hunter" that Nana and Babbo gave him.

Back at home in Austin checking out what Santa left on December 26th.

Grant opening his presents from mom and dad.

Tate's other present this Christmas.........

................................his second deer this week! He has never killed anything before and he got two deer in one week! He was SOOOOO excited!

For Christmas this year we went to Weatherford. I am so glad we did because it SNOWED all day Thursday! The boys were so happy and shocked to see snow. Weatherford hasn't had a white Christmas since I was in Kindergarten! The kids and the uncles loved playing, sledding, and building two snowmen. We came home on Christmas afternoon because David's grandfather from Denver was in town as well as Uncle Matt, Aunt Emily, and cousin Ella. We enjoyed having them come over on the day after Christmas to have brunch with us after the boys had opened their gifts from us and Santa. It was a great holiday!

December fun

2009-12-21T06:06:00.001-08:00

Tate saw Santa in Johnson City, he finally sat on his lap alone!

This was the only way we could get Grant close to him.

Every year they decorate the PEC building with millions of lights!

Trail of Lights with friends Blake and Barrett.

....at least Brooklyn would smile for the camera.

Getting ready to decorate the gingerbread house after a bath, what was I thinking?

it was starting to lean.......

so we ate it.

Tate got what he wanted from Santa this year.....

he shot his first deer! He was SOOOOO excited!

We have been so busy this month and it has all been a blast! Tate is out of school and loving sleeping late but continues to ask "If I were at school right now, what would I be doing?" I think he might miss it just a little bit. We are heading to Weatherford in two days and will be back on Christmas night to celebrate with David's family. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

The Pilgrims who came to our Thanksgiving (aka Chloe, Grant,& Tate)

Roasting marshmallows around the fire pit

We had a great thanksgiving in Weatherford this year. We went up on Wednesday and came back Saturday. We enjoyed seeing alot of our family and the kids loved playing at Mimi and Dado's house. Creative aunt Carol made pilgrim costumes for Tate, Grant, and Chloe and even paper mached a turkey and pie for her her pilgrim pageant that was held after we ate. David enjoyed going to my dad's ranch to hunt and finally shot a doe! He was thankful for that..... On Thursday night we went over to David's sister, Emily's house to see Ella, Matt, Nana, and Babbo. On Friday we hung around the house and that evening we made smores on my parent's fire pit and sang songs around the campfire, it was truly a Norman Rockwell picture. We are home and ready to start preparing for Christmas!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

Nascar Tate

Brooklyn and Grant

waiting patiently

Did you know Jeff Gordon is friends with Colt McCoy?

Look who we found! Tate's teacher, Mrs. Haschke, lives in the neighborhood.

Halloween was great this year! Tate dressed up as a race car driver and Grant was a builder (however if you asked him he really wanted to be a monster!) Our friends, the Reaves, came over and went with us. Most of the neighbors were out either in their culdesacs or their front yard so it was easy for the kids. Tate and Barrett ran ahead of us to get as much candy as they could and Brooklyn and Grant walked with the parents and enjoyed seeing all of the spooky halloween decorations. It was a fun night and I think the kids really enjoyed it!

Fall Fun

2009-10-21T13:48:00.001-07:00

We went to Marble Falls to the Sweet Berry Farms pumpkin patch this weekend. We had never been and were excited to go. However, when we got there most of Austin and the surrounding towns had made the journey there as well. There were hardly any pumpkins to buy (they were mostly the broken ones with flies swarming around them) but we enjoyed the hay ride and the boys loved the round bales of hay to climb on. It was a fun trip regardless of the crowds and we hope to do it again next year....maybe on a weekday, though.

Tiger Tate

2009-10-21T13:44:00.001-07:00

Tate is loving taking golf lessons from Coach Brandon again this fall. He has been in this class since he was three.

Lubbock

2009-10-13T06:03:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Grant at the pep rally

Tate and Grant in front of the bonfire.

Grant trying on the merchandise at Red Raider Outfitters.

Tyler, Tate, Logan and Grant in Memorial Circle giving the guns up.

Our family in front of Will Rogers who was, uncharacteristically, not wrapped in the traditional red crepe paper.

We went to Lubbock this past weekend with our friends Troy and Tonya Clifton and their boys Tyler and Logan. We had a great time! We left Friday morning so we were able to get their early enough to see the homecoming pep rally and bonfire that night. The boys loved every minute of it even though it was freezing and a little rainy all weekend. Unfortunately, my camera battery was low so I didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped. We beat Kansas state 66-14, so it was definitely worth the cold weather and long drive and we were so happy to show our boys the great city of Lubbock where so many wonderful memories were made.

Seattle

2009-09-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

In front of the Pike Street Market

At the Pike Fish Market...couldn't get a picture of the fish tossing.

Sue with David and Emily

Fox Farms Lavender Farm, where the wedding took place.

Me and my sweet husband.

During the Ceremony. Yes, that is a picture of the Michelin Tire Man. Each section of the table had these pictures that were important to Scott and Shannon (Walker Tire ).

The beautiful bride and groom....check out the red shoes, so cute!

The craziness back in Austin! Poor Chloe, her face says it all!

This past weekend, David and I went to Seattle for his cousin, Scott's wedding. All of the Walker's were there and it was alot of fun! We had never been to that part of the country before and it is so beautiful! We saw Mt Ranier as we flew in and it is HUGE!!! We also enjoyed the downtown area and of course Pike Street Market. That is where they throw the fish, gross, but cool to watch! The wedding on Sunday was at a lavender farm on Vashon Island. It rained and was pretty cool that day but the wedding was great. The boys stayed in Austin and my parents, Aunt Carol, and Chloe came down to babysit. They had tons of fun. They took the kids to Zilker park where my dad and both boys canoed, Cabela's, Waterloo, Austin Scoops, and The Oasis. They really made the most of their Austin weekend! Thanks Mimi, Dado, Carol, and Chloe!

Grant goes to Preschool

2009-09-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Grant started preschool. It is the same school Tate went to for four years and we have always loved it. He was very clingy to me last week at "Meet the Teacher" but went right in yesterday morning without even a goodbye for mom. He saw that all the kids were playing with playdough and got excited and sat right down (we don't do alot of playdough at our house...it's a mess!).He will be going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this year and I think he is going to love it!

On another note, Tate is now doing much better in Kindergarten. It just took him some time to get used to. He has bought his lunch the last three days, gone to a playdate, and says he kind of likes school.

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-25T09:08:00.001-07:00

Tate started kindergarten this week and it was a little difficult. I know it will get better but he was very nervous as we went into the room and basically wouldn't let us leave. We finally convinved him he would be okay and he let us go. Shortly after we got home the school called and wanted us to know that he was doing fine and we had nothing to worry about. I was so relieved! When I picked him up he seemed happy but had told the teacher he would not be returning the next day. He finally told me he had a pretty good time and would go back but only if he could ride the bus and buy his lunch. Well, he won't be riding the bus for a few weeks and he changed his mind about buying lunch but returned today. He cried a little when I left him but I am sure he was fine afterwards. He has a hard time with transitioning from mom to class, he did this in preschool. His teacher was so nice and talked to me alot after school yesterday and said he had fun and participated in everything they did. I know it will just take some time and he will love it...I hope!

The night before.....

2009-08-23T18:13:00.001-07:00

Lunch made- check
Backpack filled- check
Forms filled out- check
Bathed and in bed by 8- check
Kleenex in mommy's purse- check

I think we are ready for tomorrow. He keeps asking me to tell him what it is going to be like and I do my best but the truth is I just don't know. I keep getting a lump in my throat when I think about dropping him off in that room full of strangers but I know God will take care of him. Here's hoping for a great Kindergarten year!

Happy Birthday Tate!

2009-08-20T12:44:00.001-07:00

The birthday cupcakes. Thanks Aunt Carol for making the cute racing flags!

Tate and Grant in a bounce house.

Sliding down the tall slide.

Barrett, Coby, and Tate

Tate and his favorite girl, Paige.

Opening presents!!

Eating pizza with friends

Tate and Brooklyn eating cupcakes

Today is Tate's 6th birthday! I can't believe he is already 6 and starting Kindergarten next week. How time flies! We celebrated his birthday last week with a party at Locomotion Inflatable play. He had a blast with his friends and it was a great end of summer celebration.

37 years!

2009-08-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today my parents celebrate their 37th wedding annivarsary! Happy Annivarsary! We love you!

Colorado

2009-07-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Grant did great on the airplane!!!

The cousins playing in the pool. Hope the neighbors didn't mind my kids showing some skin!

Tate in front of the river in Breckenridge.

Four generations: Papo, Nana, David, Tate

The cousins: AiPei, Ella, Tate, Grant

That's Tate at the top!

Sweet brothers....you can't see it but they were sitting in front of some small fir trees. They were amazed at all of the "Christmas Trees!"

Hiking on the trail

At the top of a mountain

We just got back from Denver CO and we had a great time! We enjoyed hanging out with all of Nana's side of the family. Her dad and three sisters and their kids all live there. On Friday we went to the Denver Zoo. David's uncle volunteers there on Fridays and so we were able to see the show he helps with and take a behind the scenes tour of a bird show. The boys really liked it and we were happy to hear about all of the animals from someone who really seems to know. That night we went to Aunt Judy's house for dinner. The boys liked playing in her baby pool with her little girl Ai Pei. She and Tate are a year apart and they play very well together. My boys looked like little hicks in their diaper and tighty whiteys but we didn't bring their suits with us to her house. On Saturday, David and I took the boys up to Breckenridge. We loved being there! The weather was so nice and the mountains are beautiful. On Sunday we went to the base of a mountain where they have things for kids to do. Tate really wanted to do the rock climbing wall and he did great! It took him no time to get to the top and ring the bell. He and David also rode on the "Alpine Slide". It is this cool slide down the side of a mountain that you ride a scooter down. I really thought he would get scared when he got to the top but he didn't and wanted to ride it again. My favorite part was riding a ski lift up a mountain and exploring all around. It was gorgeous! Tate's favorite part of the whole trip was probably going hiking. We found a few trails that took us over bridges and through the beautiful pine forest and Tate was our leader. He literally wouldn't let anyone get in front of him, I think he would have liked to have camped out there but mommy would never go for that:)

We really had a blast in Colorado. David's parents and sister, bro in law, and our niece, Ella were all there and it was fun being with the entire family.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

2009-07-07T14:18:00.001-07:00

Other ways to stay cool? No Clothes!!

Proud, naked Grant.

Tate with a loud popping firework.

It's hard to see in the daylight but he is holding a sparkler. It just gets dark so late we went ahead and started the festivities early.

Chilling in the pool with Grant, Daddy, and Nana.

The boys and mom in the canoe.

The view from my seat, I liked the way Grant held onto his oar like that the entire time.

Grant is ready to go!

Boys ready to get in the canoe.

We have been trying to find ways to stay cool in these crazy 100+ degree days. On Friday, we took the boys canoeing at Town Lake and then to Barton Springs to swim. The boys LOVE the canoes and even Grant is still and quiet for the whole hour we are out. We had never been to Barton Springs before and have been wanting to experience the year round 68 degree temps that people seem to love. It was very cold but really felt good!

Also, on the 4th of July we went out to David's parents house because his sister, bro in law and our niece, Ella, were all there to celebrate. The boys had fun with the safe fireworks (sparklers, snakes, pop things).

Annivarsary trip to Cabo

2009-06-30T10:48:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful trip to Cabo last week. The weather was perfect, the food was good, and the drinks were fantastic! It was so nice to sit by the pool and relax and be together. We didn't do alot of activities which was fine by me. David and his cousin Scott, who happened to be there the same week we were, went fishing one day and he loved it! He caught a marlin and some mahi mahi that we got to enjoy for dinner that same night. It was delicious! We took a sunset dinner cruise one night that went out around the Lands End arch that divides the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Cortez. That was really fun and beautiful to see. The beach was very pretty with clear water but very very cold (pacific side). We enjoyed walking up and down it and looking at all of the pretty resorts that line the beach.

The boys had a great time in Weatherford thanks to my parents and Carol, Chloe, and Uncle Jimmy. They really didn't seem to miss us at all which was nice. We had a wonderful trip and hope to go back there again...soon!

Tball party

2009-06-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Tate throwing a water balloon at Coach Greg

Grant sitting with the team, he thinks he is one of the big boys!

The Orioles 2009

Finally...the trophy!

Last night we celebrated the end of tball with a party at coach Greg's house. Both boys had a great time and it was nice to hang out with the parents we spent so many evenings with this spring. We are really going to miss this little team. The Orioles had about 7 brand new kids (including Tate) and the coach was brand new to tball but we managed to make it three rounds in the end of year tournament and got 4th place out of about 10 teams in our division! Tate was so excited about the party because he would receive his trophy that he has been waiting for for about five months! Unfortunately, when he was getting out of the car last night he dropped the trophy in the garage and it broke into a couple of pieces but we fixed it this morning with the trusty glue gun.

May

2009-05-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

May has been busy with lots of fun activities. The boys have enjoyed going fishing in the evenings at a pond by our house and they love it. Grant likes it more than anyone and I have even been known to catch a few in this pond, too. Last week Tate graduated from preschool. Poor kids tripped and fell as he ran up to receive his diploma but thankfully it didn't phase him too much. Let's just hope he doesn't do the same thing at his high school graduation. I also got to attend the Mother's day tea at his school and that was really cute. The kids dressed up in aprons and chef hats they had made and sang a few songs. It was sweet and Grant really wished he could be up there with them....next year he will. We have been to many birthday parties, a beautiful wedding, and are beginning to enjoy our new gym's pool alot. We are off to a terriffic summer! Showing off his fish

Grant like to do it "by myself!"

BIG FISH!!!

Tate in the middle on the back row in his chef hat and apron.

Chef Tate

Brothers

My sweet boys

Graduation. Tate in the green stripes, still contemplating the fall.

Tate and Ms Krista

Tate and his buddy Cade.

Barrett, Charlie, and Tate

It's official....

2009-05-05T13:31:00.002-07:00

We are signed up for Kindergarten! How can that be???? Doesn't he look excited?

We went today and filled out a mound of paper work and stood in line for a very long time. The best part was the tour of the school that we go to take. Tate liked the music and PE rooms the best. He asked alot of questions when we went into a real kindergarten room and it brought back so many fun memories of my teaching days. Overall, I think he will enjoy kindergarten, however if you ask him now he says he's not ready to go and wants to stay with mommy forever. Sweet, I know, but really, I think he is ready and I hope it will be a great year!

San Antonio Zoo

2009-04-23T10:33:00.001-07:00

Studying the map. "Where should we go next?"

Still studying the map........

"That's it, I'm going in!"

The little guys liked the prairie dogs.

Looking at the monkeys

"Did you see that?"

Tate and the elephant.

They climb on everything! We couldn't get them to all look at the camera.

On Monday we went with some friends from church to the San Antonio Zoo. It was alot of fun. The weather was perfect and the boys had alot of fun. Grant even managed to stay in his stroller for about half of the time! I just realized that almost all of my pictures are of the kids and not the animals, oh well, they are all alot cuter!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend was alot of fun! David's sister and bro in law and our niece, Ella, were in town from Ft. Worth and we got to hang out with them on Friday night. On Saturday we were determined to get a few pictures in bluebonnets since we haven't really done that since Tate was a baby. We went to the "big ditch" as Tate calls it by Chuy's and Costco and found a few small patches to take pictures in. Grant was not at all interested in the pictures and didn't want to sit down so we got some nice ones of just Tate and a few of me with the boys and David with the boys. And of course, since we were in the Chuy's parking lot we felt obligated to eat lunch there, it was SO good!! On Saturday night David and I went with some friends to see Pat Green at Nutty Brown. It was a great concert and a very late night for us, but I am so glad we did it. We woke up early Sunday morning to rain but were promised by the local weatherman that it would clear up for egg hunting by the afternoon. What do you know? He was right!! The boys had a great time hunting eggs and Nana brought over four dozen confetti eggs for the boys to crack all over the yard. I think Ella was the only one who escaped the confetti in the hair. They had a great time and everyone took long naps afterwards so it was a great day and we had a really fun weekend.

Grant is 2!

2009-03-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

March 28th, 2007

March 28th, 2008

On Saturday Grant turned two years old! It is hard to believe he is 2 even if he has been displaying characteristics of a two year old for quite some time. We had a jungle themed birthday party with a few of his buddies and it was alot of fun. The weather was a little chilly but the kids had fun on the bounce house and trampoline and we enjoyed having friends and family there to celebrate. He had a double ear infection all week so he wasn't his normal self but I think he had fun anyway. Grant is such a fun little boy, he absolutely LOVES his brother and wants to do whatever he does. He seems to be talking alot more than Tate did at this age and will often ask "whatcha doin, mommy?" He has a new found love for scooters and is really good on Tate's old three wheeled one. He's a pretty good eater, too. He really likes vegetables with his favorites being broccoli and squash but doesn't like fruit or bread at all. He will start mothers day out in the fall and I think he will love it. He likes to go with me to take Tate to school and often walks in his classroom and doesn't want to leave. Grant loves his friends and talks about Dane and Brooklyn alot and loves to see his friend Owen at ladies class and on Sunday. My parents and sister and Chloe were in town this weekend for the party and he is definitely Dado's boy (much like Tate was at this age). He loves to be around Dado and he know Dado will let him do pretty much whatever he wants. He also enjoys holding his cousin Chloe. We had to make sure he didn't "love" her too much while she was here.

We love that little boy so much and look forward to watching him grow up! Happy Birthday Grant!

Spring time fun

2009-03-22T13:58:00.001-07:00

Tate helped wash the car.....

for about 3 minutes. Then he got bored.

Grant is excited about all of the vegetables he is planting!

Tate carefully plants the onions and tomatoes

"It needs more dirt, here, let me help!"

Grant and Carson on the little four wheeler.

Look at all of the fish!

We have enjoyed the beautiful weather we have been having around here this week! For Spring Break the boys went to my parents house for about four days and had alot of fun. They got to see their cousin Chloe and aunt Carol and Uncle Jimmy who they love. When they returned we washed my car (which it BADLY needed) and planted a small vegetable garden. David has been wanting to have a garden for a long time so he decided that since we had extra room in our back yard we should plant a few things. I am getting really excited about it and hope to reap a bountiful harvest of onions, tomatoes, squash, peppers, and okra in a couple of months. The boys loved helping plant the vegetables and hope they are equally excited about eating them . On Friday David took the boys to his hunting lease to camp and fish and hike with some of the other families that are on the lease. They had a blast and came back sunburned, dirty, and stinky! I enjoyed a couple of days to myself and it was so nice!

Tball Tate!

2009-03-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

Warming up....

Stretching...............

Tate at the plate

Playing catcher

He got bored and decided to sit down

SLIDING!!!!!

Tate had his first tball game tonight and it was SO much fun!! He was so excited about it. He put his uniform on around 3:30 for his 5:45 game. He did a great job at bat and got to play in the outfield, shortstop, and catcher. He caught two nice groundballs and he got to do his favorite thing of all- SLIDE into homeplate! He had alot of fun and to top it all off he got a ringpop from the concession stand after the game. He was so happy!

Bowling

2009-02-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we went to a birthday party for one of David's coworkers. It was at a bowling ally. We weren't sure about taking the kids but they had a blast! Tate loved bowling and couldn't hardly wait until it was his turn. On both games he came in 3rd place out of four people on his team! Grant really enjoyed the arcade area, he didn't need any money he just pushed buttons and really loved it. It was a great time!

Playing with scissors

2009-02-02T12:44:00.001-08:00

On Saturday night Tate decided he wanted to cut his hair. He says it's because he "wanted to be bald". Before you ask "where were you, Julie" I was tending to Grant and getting ready for a nice dinner out with David. We were just about to leave to take the kids to Nana and Babbo's house when Tate comes upstairs and shows me his work. I screamed and he immediately starting saying "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!!!" We didn't have time to take him to get his head shaved then (and don't own any clippers, except for dog clippers) so we thought his punishment would be that he had to wear his choppy haircut to church and the Superbowl party then we would shave it on Monday. He was fine with that and didn't seem to bothered by it at church or the party. So here he is-BALD! I really don't like it at all, but the good thing is his hair grows really fast!

They finally came off!!

2009-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Tate finally started riding his bike without training wheels this week.He was SO excited! So many of the kids on our street ride without them and he has been wanting to learn for a long time. He and David worked hard on Monday night until it was almost dark and he eventually figured it out. He is really proud of himself and wants to ride all the time!

On another note, he finished his speech therapy sessions today. He was really happy as he does NOT like going each week. He mastered the skills we wanted him to (L,R,and W sounds) His funny aunt Carol told him he should tell the teacher "I Liked it, I Loved it, and I Learned alot!" and emphasize all of the "l" sounds so she sees that he is using what he learned! She's hilarious!

Something's missing........ part 2

2009-01-25T17:46:00.000-08:00

I couldn't believe it, Tate lost his second tooth tonight! It wasn't really all that loose but he has been playing with it all day and after dinner he wanted an apple! After the apple didn't work he just played with it until it popped out! (I think I'm out of dollar bills...do you think he will settle for a rain check?)

Build a Bear

2009-01-19T06:13:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, aunt Carol gave the boys Build a Bear gift cards. They had so much fun choosing their bear, putting the stuffing in, giving it a bath, choosing an outfit, and making birth certificates for them. Tate chose an army outfit for his bear and named him Pat Hamilton, after Daddo (my dad). Grant was attracted to the small basketball hanging off of the the Houston Rocket outfit, so he go that one and Tate said his bear could be named Sam. It was a fun time. Thanks Aunt Carol!

10 Years!

2009-01-02T06:31:00.001-08:00

Today we celebrate our 10th wedding annivarsary! It is so hard to believe we have been married for that long. It really seems like yesterday we were starting our lives together. God had been so good to us. He has blessed us with two wonderful boys, great friends, a good church, a loving family and a great job. I am truly married to my best friend. While we don't have alot of the same hobbies we love being together more than anything. David always makes me smile and finds ways to make me happy. He is so giving and always puts me and the boys ahead of himself. He will go see my girly movies, walk around the mall, or just talk about stuff he knows I enjoy. Tonight we are going to dinner at Eddie V's to celebrate and then we plan on taking an annivarsary trip to Cabo in June. We learned 10 years ago that January is NOT the prefect time to take a beach trip! I love you baby and look forward to at least 50 more years together!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T18:55:00.001-08:00

For New Year's Eve we had our friends from our care group over. We had alot of fun! The kids played with sparklers and safe fireworks, made s'mores, and played outside while the adults ate, drank, and played games and talked. Originally I had said we would celebrate with the east coast at 11pm but most of our friends stayed until midnight and I am so glad they did!

Happy New Year! May you have a wonderful 2009!

Christmas

2009-01-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

Making cookies for Santa

Tate loved adding four to the dough

Playing with new toys

Grant and his new toolbench

The new racetrack was a hit with both boys

Grant figured out how to open presents pretty fast!

Opening their stockings

This year we spent Christmas at home and it was great! The boys made cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and spread reindeer food on the lawn before bed. The next morning we woke up around 7:30 to see what Santa had left. Tate had been asking for an Easy Bake Oven so Santa left that for him. He was so excited! Grant doesn't say much so Santa thought he might like a Clippo table. He really liked it. The big hit was a racecar track I found on sale that both kids really enjoy. I didn't realize just how big it was but they both love it.David's family came over for lunch later in the day and it was good to see all of them. Nana and Babo gave Tate a camo jumpsuit and they gave Grant a toolbench. The next day we went to Weatherford and had Christmas there. The boys both got lots of fun stuff there, too. Tate got some new boots and a camera and Grant got a car launcher and some puzzles. Aunt Carol and Uncle Jimmy got Tate a Build-a-Bear gift card and he is so excited to go use it! I think we will do that next week when the mall crowds have lessened a bit. We came home on Sunday morning because David's parents were on their way to MDAnderson and his grandpa from Colorado was in town. He stayed with us until Monday afternoon and we took him to the airport. It is always so good to see him and he loves to watch the boys play. He is 87 years old but acts like he is 47! Overall, it was a great holiday!

Tate's Christmas program

2008-12-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

Today Tate had his Christmas program at preschool. It was pretty cute and I thought he did a good job. (in past years he has sat down, not sang, picked his nose, or run around the stage)

Something's missing........

2008-12-10T15:44:00.001-08:00

Today Tate lost his first tooth! He has been playing with it (gross, I know) for about four days now and while he was talking to aunt Carol on the phone it fell out and hit his tongue. He pulled it out and started screaming! He was so excited. Tonight he wants to hide the tooth under the doormat outside so the strange fairy doesn't have to come into our house......smart boy.

Let it Snow!!

2008-12-10T15:22:00.001-08:00

We woke up this morning to find snow on the ground. It NEVER snows in Austin! The boys loved playing in it. Tate made snow angels and Grant liked jumping on the trampoline covered in white!

Northpark Trains

2008-12-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

On Thursday David and I drove to Dallas for his company Christmas party. He had a meeting during the afternoon so the boys and I went with Carol to Northpark Center to look at the miniature train exhibit they had. The boys loved it, although Grant thought it was very loud. He kept one hand over his ear most of the time. Carol then took the boys over to Weatherford to stay with my parents for the night. It was so nice to have the night off and the next day was great too. We went to breakfast, the mall, and then saw Four Christmases. I highly recommend the movie for a light holiday flick. Thanks Carol, Mimi, and Daddo! We had alot of fun and were so glad you could watch the boys.

Gingerbread House

2008-12-01T14:45:00.001-08:00

I found a cute Gingerbread house kit at the grocery store the other day and thought "Why not start this tradition? How hard can it be?" Well,not really hard, but the our finished product didn't look exactly like the one on the box. I really think they used two bags of icing and lots more candy than what the kit had but it was a fun family project I hope to start as a tradtion and the boys loved it. Grant ate lots of the candy and Tate kept asking "when are we going to eat this?"

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T18:34:00.001-08:00

CHLOE WAS THERE!!!! (along with Carol and Jimmy)
For Thanksgiving we went out to Whitt, TX to my dad's ranch. They have a "party barn" on it with picnic tables, a barn, a tractor, mule, and lots of cool things to hunt. We decided to be like the early settlers and have an outdoor thanksgiving, ( also, because mom and dad are selling their house and really don't want to mess it up.)

It was alot of fun and the weather was great! We had several aunts, uncles, and cousins to play with and talk to and lots of really great food. David was a hit with his fried turkey and okra and he also managed to throw a few steaks on the grill. It was a real feast and I am so glad we did it! My grandpa brought one of his horses out and the kids had fun riding on it. Grant's favorite thing was definitely the mule. He couldn't stay away from it.

Dad, Papa, Tate, and Grant getting the horse back after he tried to run off

Daddo with his boys

My cousin's son, Jordan, with Tate and Grant

David's fried turkey....yum!

Grant with Mimi

Daddo giving the kids a ride on the mule

Grant preferred riding on the mule or tractor

Thanksgiving feast

2008-11-30T18:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some very LATE pictures of Tate's Thanksgiving feast at school. He participated for the most part and afterwards we ate some yummy food with all of the families in his preschool.

Halloween fun

2008-11-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

On Friday we had our church play group over for some yummy food, games, and cookie decorating. It was alot of fun and most of the kids wore their halloween costumes.

That night the boys got dressed up as a policeman and a Texas Tech Football player. Grant was supposed to be a monkey, thanks to his good buddy Taylor, but threw a fit when it came time to put the costume on. I think it was good luck for him to wear that red and black ( if you happened to see the game on Saturday...sorry horns fans.) Grant really got into the trick or treating, so much so, that he would walk right into people's houses as soon as they opened the door!

He and Tate has so much fun and were very tired after walking so much that night!

Fun Weekend

2008-10-20T12:27:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went to Weatherford to see my family. The boys got to meet their new cousin, Chloe, and I got to love on her alot! On the way we stopped at David's hunting lease in San Saba to fill a few feeders, paint a deer blind and let the boys fish. They had a great time. Grant had never been to the lease before and we decided it will be a while before he goes back. I had not been in almost two years and Tate had so much fun showing me what he and daddy do when they go. I think he realized that I am NOT an outdoorsy person this weekend but thought it was cool that I went. We'll see if I get invited back, I am fine to keep Grant at home for a couple more years.

Me and my little hunter.

My boys

Tate at the Pumpkin patch in Weatherford

Grant loves sitting on pumpkins

Aunt Carol with Chloe, Tate, and Grant

The cousins- her bow was bigger than her head!So cute!!!

The Littlest Cheerleader

2008-10-06T11:14:00.001-07:00

Check out the littlest cheerleader for Texas Tech. Mom and Dad always buy little Tech stuff when they go to Lubbock for a game and I know they had fun last month when they were there because they were able to buy some girl stuff. She is going to her first game in November but Carol couldn't resist putting this on her while they watched TTU beat Kansas State on Saturday at the hospital. SO CUTE!!

CHLOE IS HERE!!!

2008-10-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Chloe Elizabeth arrived on Thursday afternoon! We were so excited! My poor sister had been in the hospital since Wednesday at noon and was ready for this baby to come out! She had been admitted for high blood pressure and they tried to get her to dilate but after 26 hours the doc decided she wouldn't dilate and she was born via cesearean. I know Carol is so happy she is finally here! I was fortunate to go up to Dallas on Wednesday and be there for all of it (not the actual birth although I volunteered to go in and take pictures!) David was great to stay home with the boys and I am glad they got some bonding time together. Here are a few pictures of the two days I was there. She is so beautiful!!! Congratulations Carol and Jimmy! Your life will never be the same!

Tagged!

2008-09-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

1. How many kids do you have? 2

2.What are their ages? Tate is 5 and Grant is 18months

3.What time do you start your day? Grant wakes everyone up at 7 am, we love it because he used to always be 6 or 6:30.

4.What do you eat for breakfast? Tate always has cereal and Grant almost always has eggs of some sort, either boiled or scrambled. I often have a boiled egg and lately an apple...to keep the doctor away!

5.Do your kids watch TV? Uh, yes.....unfortunately we have on demand and that is a dangerous thing. However, lately we have really only watched PBS in the mornings. Tate loves Curious George and Sid the Science Kid. Grant doesn't really like TV. Every now and then he will watch Barney.

6.What are their favorite activities? Lately they have been playing outside on the trampoline alot and Tate is really into games. He got some great games for his birthday that he loves.

7.Do you get a break during the day for some down time? Lately, YES! It is so nice. Grant is finally down to one nap and it usually last around three hours. During this time Tate plays with the neighbor kids or outside. We often play games and if he has been at school or church that morning I don't feel too bad about letting him watch a few shows.

8. How do you end your day? We usually take baths and Grant goes right to bed. Tate gets two books and a bible story at night and is in bed by 8:30. We usually just hang out and watch TV or blog....just kidding.

9. What is your best parenting advice? Laugh.....alot! Cherish each day, they go by really fast!

*****I was supposed to post a picture of me with my kids, but couldn't find one. You all know what we look like.

I TAG:

Tanya W
Dallas
Andrea
Kim
Beth F and H

Who needs Build-A-Bear?

2008-09-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Tate had been in his room for quite a while and when I came upstairs to check on him he had dressed his bear, Brooklyn, (the name itself is for another post) in his shirt, his underwear, and Grant's shorts. Maybe he has a future as a personal stylist. great.....

Trampoline Fun!

2008-09-03T18:37:00.001-07:00

Tate got a trampoline for his birthday from Mimi and Dado. It is so fun to jump on ( I have been on it twice already) but it was also fun for the boys to help us put it up. Actually, the boxes were more fun.

Tate is 5!

2008-08-20T13:26:00.001-07:00

Today is Tate's 5th birthday! I am having a hard time with this birthday because he could officially go to school next week and 5 just seems like such a big kid...I can't be old enough to have a big kid! It is so hard to believe he is already 5 years old. He came down the stairs this morning and said "I'm five, now! I just tried on my baseball glove and it still fits even though my hands are bigger today because I'm five!" He is going with some friends to the Children's museum next week to celebrate his birthday but we had birthday pancakes and went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch today to make it seem special. I love this kid so much! He makes us laugh every day and is turning into such a wonderful little man! Happy Birthday, Tate. We love you!

Door to door sales

2008-08-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Tate has been wanting to have another lemonade stand all summer. Since we live in a culdesac we don't really get alot of traffic in front of our house so David, who loves to encourage the wonderful world of sales, told Tate to go door to door with cups of lemonade and see if anyone would buy them. He was scared to go by himself but David bored him with the story of how he was scared in his first sales job but enjoyed how he learned good people skills and reaped the benefits of a sale so Tate decided he could do it. He went to our neighbors house first with two cups of lemonade and came back with one cup and two quarters. He "forgot" to give them both cups because he was so focused on those shiny quarters in his hot little hand. We watched him then go to the little girl down the street's house. He rang the doorbell, sold the lemonade, and decided to stay and play with her a little while.....I guess he had earned a break.

Proverbs 31 Ministries

2008-08-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

I am like alot of people who would love to do a daily devotional but rarely have alot of time to sit and read something in peace and quiet. I have come across a great website called Proverbs 31 Ministries. It has a section for daily devotions written for women and busy ( I accidentally typed busty, not me!) moms and you can subsrcibe to it for free. Since I seem to find alot of time to be on the computer I thought this was a nice way to get a small dose of peace and knowledge at the same time. Today I read one called "Hold Me" and the woman talked about a family member having a chronic illness and her praying and praying for God to take it away. He didn't take away the disease completely but he let her know that no matter what He was holding her close and would walk with their family every step of the way. This just about brought tears to my eyes as I was thinking about David's dad and all he is going through right now with his cancer. We so often want for God to fix everything but sometimes he just wants us to go through the valley and let us know that he is holding on to us no matter the outcome. It was really what I needed to hear today and I quickly forwarded it to David and hope he will feel the same way I did. Anyway, off my soapbox, here is the link:
www.proverbs31.gospelcom.net/devotion

Quick Trip

2008-08-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday David decided we should go to Sea World for the evening. Tate thought it was a wonderful idea so we decided to leave that afternoon and stay in a hotel Friday night. Before we had kids we used to take spontaneous trips like this alot, going to the coast, San Antonio, Weatherford or anywhere close, on a whim. Now, however, it is completely different. We had so much to pack ( I am an overpacker) for our little weekend getaway that we didn't even get to Sea World until around 7 0'clock that night! We had a plan to see the things we didn't get to see last time and to do it quickly! Tate was such a champ and we got to see two shows and he rode the tea cups. We agreed that the two hours there was really all you needed of Sea World. The boys had the most fun at the hotel. Tate enjoyed bouncing from bed to bed and Grant thought it was so cool to not sleep in a crib and sleep with Tate ( I, however, did not get much sleep because I kept waking up to make sure Grant was still on the bed.) We got up this morning and went to the Alamo. Tate had the same reaction I did: "Where's the Riverwalk and when can we go there?" After walking around the river for a while ( it was SO hot, even at 10am) we checked out and came home. I am bummed because I had a low battery in my camera so no pictures to document our time but a great trip was had by all.....I'm going to take a nap.

Buddies

2008-07-23T13:36:00.001-07:00

Barrett came over today after gymnastics camp (summer camp to you, Derek). These boys always have so much fun playing together and can fight like real brothers. Today at camp they helped each other put on their name tags, Barrett would turn around so Tate could put his on his back and then Tate did the same, it was really cute! It is always fun to listen to them talking about stuff like campouts, friends, and Hannah Montana and they can really cut a rug when you turn on "Dancing Queen"! Tate has even taught Barrett how to talk like a hillbilly and say things like "Let's go to Cooper's and get some Bar B Que!" (sorry kim). I love to hear Barrett call Tate "Tater" and he even told him today that he would miss him when he went to Houston to see his Nana. They will be in the same preschool class next year as we are holding Tate back from Kindergarten for one more year so look out Mrs. Krista, these two will keep you on your toes! They are great friends and I hope they will continue to be for a lifetime.

Family Pictures

2008-07-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

http://cozyimpressionsphotography.com/WalkerFamily/

Our friend Tanya took some family pics of us this weekend. She does a fantastic job and I highly recommend her if you live in the Austin area. Turn your volume up, she sets all of her slideshows to music. Thanks Tanya, you did a great job and we had lots of fun!!

BIG BOY!!

2008-07-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Grant is now 15 months old and he is getting SO BIG!! He is looking more like a kid and not so much like a baby! He is FINALLY starting to sleep all night long. We are all pleased about that. He loves his brother so much and enjoys following him around. His favorite thing to do is go outside and play with the dogs and eat. This kid can eat a ton, actually he often eats more than Tate at most meals! We are so in love with this precious boy!

4th of July

2008-07-07T09:43:00.001-07:00

Last week much of David's family from Denver was in town to visit and celebrate the 4th. His grandma died about a month ago so his sweet grandfather made the trip by himself. He is 87 years old and looks and acts like he's about 40! I hope it was good for him to get away and see his great grandkids. I think he had alot of fun. Also, his aunt, uncle, and their 3 year old little girl they recenly adopted from China, and her two older children came. It was really fun to see them and Tate loved playing with AiPei (pronounced "I PAY") he even said "she's cute!" about 100 times! On the 4th we went out to David's parents to cook out and shoot "Quiet fireworks" at Tate's request. David's sister Emily and Bro in law Matt and their new baby, Ella, also made the trip and was great to love on that sweet baby girl for a while!

The Beach

2008-06-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

This week we travelled to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a family vacation. My parents and their best friends took all of us (my family, my sister and bro in law, and their daughters and families)to the beach and it was so much fun!! Tate especially loved playing with Alyson's little girl, Sophie. They are almost a year apart and only see each other a few times a year but when they get together you would think they played together all the time. Grant also liked the beach and was not afraid to go into the water. He awoke every morning at 5 am and pointed to the beach. Luckily, my sweet dad or David would take him on morning walks down the beach. We just love getting together with the Mendrop family. We have known them for almost 25 years and have shared many vacations and memories with them. It is so great that each time we get together there is always plenty to talk about and alot to laugh about. Thanks Mimi and Daddo for the fun trip, we had a blast!!!!

Recent Pictures

2008-06-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of the boys I took last night while they were playing in a rubbermaid tub. Who knew that could be so much fun....especially when you're in your underwear/diaper! Also, the one of Tate is one he shot of himself. He loves to take pictures!!

Sea World

2008-05-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Sea World. It was alot more fun than I thought it would be. I'm not a big amusement park person but it really was great and both boys loved it. There was so much to see and do and a great waterpark that Tate really enjoyed. We only saw two of the shows, Shamu and a waterskiing stunt show. We hope to go back soon and see the rest. It was a great day!

We're having a girl!!!

2008-05-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, not US, but my sister! I am so excited for them! I actually am the only person in my family to have all boys, both sides have mainly girls with a few boys thrown in for fun. Anyway, I can't wait to buy some pink clothes and bows!!

Hard at Work

2008-05-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Tate really wanted to have a "water stand". He wanted to sell water but I told him no one would buy water. "Okay, then milk!" he said. I told him that was gross and we would not sell milk when it was 84 degrees outside. "Fine, I'll sell lemonade."

He actually made $1.75 and only sold it to 3 people (for .10 each)

Fun at the Farm!

2008-05-06T09:58:00.005-07:00

Last week we went with some of our friends from church to Crowe's Nest Farm. There was alot to see and the kids really enjoyed it. My pictures didn't turn out as well as I hoped but here are a few of the kids.