The Sounds of Silence

Well there was so much going on that I was not willing to post about at the time...but now things have changed. Life was hard for a while when my husband was deployed (for only 4 month) while down in South Texas helping with the after math of Hurricane Ike. I was not about to post that I was currently a single parent and home alone for so long. But rest assured he is home safe now. It has been such a roller coaster this last month. Readjusting to having another adult in the house has been a fun adventure. My husband also got called into the office to be told he had 6 days left at his employment because congress failed to renew his employment...great timing. Thankfully they gave him a one month extension and are now giving him a one year extension. Count your blessings! Normally his boss just filled out the correct paperwork and they renewed him every year, he is still needed and the project he is working on just got extended to 4 years...yet they failed to renew him...and others across the Nation holding the same position. Next year he could reapply for the job...for an additional year but he will have to reapply. And I'm grateful for the benefits that we provide for our veterans but it is highly likely that he could be beat out by a veteran not because they were more qualified or even closely to equally qualifying but because they get more "points" in the grading system and we are not so excited about "hoping" we might keep the job, especially during this economic crunch. We are grateful that we have a year in which to search out and hopefully find another job. We would also like to keep him within the Federal Government but that might not happen. With all the money that the current administration is putting into the public sector you would think they would also address their own employees...but no. In fact, there still are many agencies that have yet to get a new head...including FEMA. And this allows for nothing to be approved for money or policy changing or ...hiring on certain levels so...the budget it due to Congress this summer, there is already a shortage since a big portion has been handed out to the public and no one is around saying where the cuts are going to come from and if they should just add to the deficit or not. Mostly this is all done in November but with the change of hands, well we haven't worked here through a hand change before but this is taking for ever and has crippled the Agency. They also have a hiring freeze...does that make sense to anyone else? They will fill the jobs that have already been advertised for but will just not fill those positions that have not, regardless of what it is. Shouldn't we be providing MORE jobs at a time like this? And is was not too long ago that FEMA got reprimanded by congress because one of the biggest problems during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort was the lack of man power so we have been told we need to create more positions and hire more....there is just a lot I am not understanding right now....too much is not being done soon enough while other things are quickly being taken care of that are questionable. I'm just confused on the whys and whens, much like many others of you out there.

On a side note, the kiddos are growing like crazy and I am really starting to consider home schooling. I have been trying to talk myself out of it for about 1 1/2 years now but I feel like that is what the Lord wants me to do so now I'm trying to suck it up and do it. I want to least until high school, then there is too much curriculum that I don't know well enough to teach someone. But I just found a man, I grew up with his children, started an institute of learning American History and Government based on the founding Fathers....very interesting. It's getting me excited. There is also a very strong home schooling community around here where we live (for that alone I hope we don't have to move with a new job). And I'm going to go interrogate people about what curriculum they choice and why...and way. I hope to post again soon since I have much more exciting news ahead.

TT4N

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Throwing a fit right before Christmas!

Well I had a rough morning today. Usually when that happens my Son is really good about it. He'll cuddle with me in bed and watch TV for a while. If he get's hungry he will grab a box of cereal and a snack cup and have me pour it for him, he's happy to eat it dry. Or he'll get a piece of cheese or an apple, despite my less then over the top mom abilities he is a really good kid (just high energy). This morning I thought he was doing the same for breakfast...I should have realized how long it was taking but sadly I did not. This might have been for the best...my son made a pb&j sandwich by himself. He often helps me make them at lunch but I'd never seen him do all the steps. He got the stp stool out, grabbed a paper towel and put 2 slices of bread on it, grabbed a butter knife and strawberry jelly, and peanut butter. Thankfully we have the squeezable jelly right now. He put the peanut butter and jelly on the bread and put them together. I was sitting (laying really) in bed and he walks in eating a sandwich. I got a bit worried and ran into the kitchen, although the knife and jars were still out, there were no huge globs of jelly or peanut butter. Yeah Kiddo for doing it yourself!

I finally got up and was eating some breakfast when we had a conversation, his imagination really came out. My husband just got home from being deployed for almost 4 months, my kids would always ask where he was and the reply was he was at work...far away. Usually he works so close that he comes home for lunch, he is currently working that close now. But he's off to work before the children are up.

My son asked..."mom where's dada? Dada at work far far away," very dramatically. "Dada is at work party, with a hat. Dada likes party hats."

Me "He's at a party, with party hats?"

Kiddos "yeah, and they have kicking and hitting, and they climb a mountain."

Me "This sounds like a great party with kicking and hitting and hiking."

Him "No hiking mom, hitting and kicking.....then they climb a mountain and the pirates go aarrgh. They find the pirate box...the pirate treasure box full of moneys and they say aargh SUPRISE!!! hahahahaha!"

Funny kid, he keeps me on my toes!

Thanks, Husband of Mine

Ok, I've been wanting to write one of these for a couple month now but with certain events happening as of late...the opportunity has never felt more needed or appropriate. (thank goodness for spellchecker)




1. I am so thankful for a guy who will give me the spelling of a word anytime of day, even when I call him at work just for that.

2. I'm thankful for his patience with me and all my problems.

3. I'm thankful for his willingness to do the right thing regardless of what the "norm" would be.

4. I'm thankful for the loyalty that he has for every person that is dear to his heart (or has been in his past).

5. I'm thankful for his handiness and willingness to work hard around our house.

6. I'm thankful for his peacemaking nature.

7. I'm thankful for his ability to calm almost anyone.

8. ...for his natural ability to soften someone's heart, if even for a moment.

9. ...to know he'll never give up on me.

10. ...for his ability to laugh at my lame jokes.

11. ...for his willingness to come home and cook almost every night.

12. ...for his love of helping and serving others.

13. ...he understands my ability to love many people so deeply.

14. ...for knowing how wonderful he is when I hear others complain about their spouses and know he does so much that many other men don't do.

15. ...for his faithfulness to me and our marriage.

16. ...for his support of me following my heart and dreams.

17. ...for his pushiness that keeps me from loosing myself in motherhood.

18. ...that he can understand my mother (while I can't).

19. ...that he can't lie to me (whew, what a relief).

20. ...he is and always has been a wonderful father.

21. ...for his tender heart.

22. ...for his determination to change for the better, no matter how hard or long for the change to come.

23. ...for his continual mind set that there are many sides to every story.

24. ...for his testimony of how families can be forever and doing all he can to make that happen.

25. ...for his ability to adapt to the people he is around without compromising himself or his values.

26. ...that he lives close to the Spirit.

27. ...for his ability to see what I can become and to explain it to me again and again.

28. ...for his ability to overcome physical obstacles (just called him for that spelling)

well, that's just the tip of the iceberg but my kids are up and my time is over. Glad I remember to update this!

Today was a First

Well my son is not a calm kid, never believed he was. He tries to be very helpful, and often doesn't know his own strength. Today was a first for me.

We were at an indoor playground to avoid the cold and some parents yelled at me. They told me I need to get my son under control and that he was just too rough. Well the first time, I felt bad a little but I saw what happened and he was ok. He was just the only big boy playing on a slide with a bunch of girls....and we all know boys can be a little rougher but I didn't think it was out of hand. The next time I didn't see it happen but a man came and said David pushed a girl down the stairs....opps. David said he was helping her but I still put him in time out (for the second time). The 3rd time I think the parents were out to get him and a really sad thing happened. A bunch of kids were climbing on a structure clearly marked "please don't climb on" in many places. My son was not one of them...A little girl wanted to climb up so she started to climb up the wall to get to the structure. David saw that she was struggling to climb onto something and tried to help her up, not realizing he was pushing her over a wall. Well she fell over (not very far 1 1/2 feet) and went face first onto the tile floor.

I got verbally attacked by 3 sets of parents and what could I do but leave. I said sorry and quickly gathered our things. Thankfully my friend and her kids were there and she totally thought they were out to get my son. I was glad for her emotional support because I'm not sure what I would have done. I'm already an emotional wreck this week....sigh. Well I hope getting this out there helps me to move on....I've got 2 days to do 2 weeks of work. No time for weepy self pity right now!!!

Grumpy Now

Ok, I know I already posted today (with my record, I already posted this month!) but a funny think happened that I just have to share!

Chocolate Milk Mustache Man

My son was needing to go to bed for nap time. He was having a hard time settling down and I finally put him in time out for 3 minutes. I walked into the kitchen and set the time and stood there doing something quietly. My son couldn't see me at the time and after he heard the beeping of the timer being set he waited a moment. Not hearing me and thinking I left the room he says, "OOHHhh MAN! Momma's grumpy now!" I started to giggle so much I had to leave the room. Needless to say I pulled him out of time out early and placed him into bed. After one more song he finally fell asleep (or has been quietly playing in his room for an hour now). So great! My goal is to try to be extra pleasant today.

Happy!

And on a side note... after having had an accident every time yesterday, we have safely and successful make it accident free all morning and afternoon. WOOHOO! (baby steps) And as promised here are some cute pictures from a while back when we were playing with the camera. I asked him to show different emotions. enjoy...

Sad
(don't worry, I don't see it either)

Silly

Surprised!

Angry!
(my favorite because he can't help smiling)

there's a toilet in my Kitchen

Our toilet broke about a year ago and we've been putting off changing it because we tried to fix it....didn't work. The pipe below is broken and ...well there are lots of reasons. My DH (dear husband) was in Austin a week ago and he saw a home depot sale. They were moving locations so everything was 30-75% off. he walked in and got a toilet bowl for $25. Then he came home and we need to go get the tank (ouch! $100) but in the meantime the bowl is sitting in our kitchen until I get the tank and all the hardware and call a plumber to come fix all the problems. DH has tried repeatedly and to save time and a head ache I've finally ok with calling a plumber.

Any way, I have this toilet bowl sitting in my kitchen. We started to move potty training from passive to a little more aggressive Thursday. On the first day we had an accident every time, but the last time I counted as a success in it's own unique fashion. My son was trying to get to the bathroom, realized he wouldn't make it and so he stopped at the next best thing. A toilet.........in the kitchen. thankfully it was only urine. I was laughing so hard when I saw what happened, and of course his aim was awful so it was all over the floor but.... BRAVO sweet heart for using logic and your problem solving skills! (I have to admit it felt like a very "Mr. Bean" moment.)

just because she just can't leave the camera alone here are a couple more pictures of my girl...next time I'll be sure to have more pic's of the boy.

Deceitful Manipulator

This is the face....

so innocent, so pure, so conniving!
(and eating chalk)
This little fairy with her guiltless looks and sweet smiles is plaguing our home!

She smiles at you as she picks up the cat water, carries it over and pours it out onto the carpet....TWICE!

She giggles as you're chasing her with a "mysterious" piece of food she found in some forgotten corner.

She bats her eyes at you as you walk up to her to eating the cat food.

She cries crocodile tears at she sits in time out for 1 min, as if her arm is getting cut off.

She stares you down at she spits out her drink all over you, running away laughing.

She kisses you profusely as you try to sing her to sleep hoping you'll fall to her charms and change your mind about the nap.

She makes you want to hug her and play when she needs that firm hand of discipline to help her become a good citizen and honest person.

She vexes me.....I am greatly vexed.

Silly Olympics of '08

Let me give you an update of our family. At the beginning of August we had a mini GH Walker family reunion. We got together for a day with the exception of my oldest sister and her family and my parents. I really wanted to do an activity that engaged all my family (old and young). So I remembered that at my F Walker reunion (cousins) we had a silly Olympics and I was the only person from the GH Walkers to go attend that so....perfect!

As I was trying to gather the info about what we did I also did research and found more sports that I added to the events moving from 8 events to 15. There were team events and individual ones. Every team had to choose a person to represent their team in the 8 individual the events. Having four people on each of the 4 teams, everyone had to participate in 2 events as well as the 7 team events. Each team had a color assigned to them and had picked a name to represent them.

TEAMS
Psst (red)
Boo (tan)
Murmur (purple)
Champion (blue)

EVENTS
Long Jump (team)- measured one foot of each team member, longest feet won
High Jump (individual)- flat footed jump, highest won
Javelin (individual)- throw a straw
Shot put (individual)- throw a cotton ball
Shooting (individual)- blow the paper off the straw
Pole Vault (team) measured the height of all team members, highest team won
Weight Lifting (individual)- lean on the wall in a sitting position, longest sitter won
As I don't have a picture for this event I had to say...we never told what the event really would be until the participant was chosen and there were 3 big guys and one petite girl chosen to do it....regardless to say the girl CREAMED the men (GO HEIDI!!!)
Fencing (individual)- stand in a position like you're holding a sword, skip to the fence, and back
4x4 relay (rather then 4x400, team)- relay to fill a cup with water by the spoonful
"Bag"miton (team)- run from point a to point b, blow up a paper bag, pop it, and run back


Discus (individual)- throw a paper plate pictured, Tyler throwing

Hammer throw (individual)- throw a stuffed paper bag over your head pictured, Jacob throwing the hammer

Cycling (team)- stand in a line and unroll a toilet paper roll over your heads and in between the feet pictured, Team Champions cycling (Cheryl, Savannah, Cason, and Scott E)

Gymnastics (team)- spell a word using your bodies Pictured, Team Psst Spelling the word TY (Russell holding Tyler for the "t" and Rachel and Heidi make the "y")

Synchronized Swimming (team)- 10 counts of 8, come up with a route to dance to the sound of humpback whales and music pictured, Team champion

pictured Team Psst with all their creative props

Team Boo (Gerald, Jaden, Scott B, and Jacob end their "man" swim with a masculine tribal yell
Team Murmur (Maren, Ryan, Marcie, and Robert....M.R.M.R hence the team name)
Each team did so good on this event. I knew it would be a make it or brake it idea but everyone put their heart into it and the results were spectacular!!!

To tide the little kiddos over while all these events were happening, we put up a pool. Thankful our off spring didn't hurt the other kids (too badly) pictured, Wendy, David, and Zach

We ended the after noon with the closing ceremonies where awards were handed out and homemade root beer and snow cones were enjoyed. I need to say that every team did so well! It was awesome.
Like the names predicted, team Champion ended up with the Gold medal for the day, here they are singing "We are the Champions"

After the Olympics were all said and done we found some babysitters to watch the younger kids and my siblings and in-laws when to the cheese cake factory for some DELICIOUS food.
To end the night we pulled both tables into the family room so we could have two games of Shang-hi going on while we all watched the Beijing Olympics. I'm sorry we didn't get a picture of that because it was quite fun. Over all it was a blast, I think everyone had a good time....at least they told me they did ;^)

Thanks everyone in the Wu family for your cheerful participation and support for a wonderful Olympic Day.