Have you seen Little Cindy-Lou-Who hanging out with a Denver Bronco?

Tonight along with the Relay for Life Race was Zachary's school carnival. We had a fun time and we all got our hair spray painted so we could go to the race with some bright color in our hair. Zachary's reading teacher did all of our hair, and when Isabella's was finished she said look there is "Little Cindy-Lou" from Dr. Seusss. We also thought that it was funny that Zachary chose the Denver Bronco colors for his hair since his Dad is a huge Dallas Cowboy fan!

Memorial Day Weekend

The above sign is accurate! Eating this you are asking for a heart-attack! However, according to the kiddos the food was "yummy!" It was a great diner in Issaquah!


Check out all of these antique cars! I'm in heaven.










We took a break from Graduate School. Work, and School and played hard over the weekend. Since the weather was not that great, we stayed local, and did some fun things in the Seattle area. On Friday night, we went on a hike in Federal Way that is where we had our family picture taken that is posted on the cover page of the blog. Saturday, we did some errands and shopping. Sunday we attended church and did some visiting with friends and we also took a brief hike on The Green River Trail. On Monday, we drove out to Snoqualmie Falls about 15 miles east of our home, and then on the way back the kids got thirsty so we stopped by this awesome 1950's themed diner in Issaquah and the kiddos enjoyed Root-beer. The entire diner was car themed so you can guess who is was in heaven, and he wants to have his upcoming Birthday party there. The owner gave Isabella and I large sun-glasses to wear and Kirk took our picture, which is goofy but fun!

The Walk-A-Thon and BBQ at School

ZACHARY GOT SOAKED! HE TRULY LOVED IT!


Yesterday at Zachary's school they had a family BBQ and a walk-a-thon. We all participated and the weather was sunny and then rainy. Of course when it was Kindergarten's turn to go and walk the track we had a down pour. Zachary stood right between the two tents and got s shower which he LOVED!!!! Needless to say, Zachary got to go home early so he could change clothes.

The Creative Bunk Bed

Check out Zachary and Isabella's new invention! They turned our couch into a bunk- bed. Zachary has been begging for months for a bunk-bed and I'm not a big fan of bunk- beds so as a result the kids decided to take things into their own hands and create their own bunk-bed.

Sun! Finally in Seattle/ Kaboata Gardens

Yesterday Jessica and I went to the Kabota gardens with the little ones. I went a liitle photo crazy because it was so pretty. We actually reached 70 degress!

Finding Inner Strength through Perseverance

Wow! What an incredible and challenging past couple of weeks we have experienced as a family. Two and half weeks ago we all became really sick with a variety of upper respiratory infections, and we all ended up going to our doctors and taking antibiotics to get rid of this terrible stuff. Needless to say, I was not able to attend the gym for ten days, and finally mid-last week I was able to go back to the gym, only to discover that my endurance was poor, and basically the gym equipment was kicking my butt! This was very discouraging because for along time workouts have not been that difficult for me, and I have been preparing for the Relay for Life Race, which is in a couple of weeks. However, after having an internal dialogue with myself and reading the sequel from "Running with Angels" I started to feel better again and started building up my endurance once again. Here are a few of my favorite quotes that I liked from the book. I find this author to be very inspiring and motivational.

1. "While running or exercising I have often reached a point where my body has cried out to simply stop and give up. However, I have told myself don't think, don't stop, run."

2. "Anticipating challenges or temptations, we can prepare to meet them, instead of waiting for the crisis to decide how we will react. There will always be stones, boulders, and at times brick walls to face on our road to well-being. If we are blindsided by some circumstance we haven't foreseen and get knocked down, our challenge is to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and keep going."

3. "So, if we can't avoid trials and disappointments what are we to do? Give up? Offer excuses? Spend our days feeling sorry for ourselves and asking why? Or are we going to move foreward, accepting with patience that which life deals us and making the best of things?"

4. "Inner strength comes when we are willing to persevere. We can pray for increased strength that will come as we demonstrate our willingness to work hard to improve our physical and spiritual health. And it will come. Of that we can be sure!"

I have loved reading these books. The author has such powerful insights and wisdom. This week I'll once again be back at the gym, but this time I will have more patience with myself and continue to build up my strength and endurance.

Happy Grandmother's Day

The group of children who came to sing. The boy in the photo, who is holding Isabella adores her. I'm his Sunday School teacher and he really enjoys my children. As you can see Isabella really likes him too. What a cute moment!


The Weatherly Inn has an antique car inside of the building and of course all of the boys loved it! Ironically Zachary is driving the car in one of the photos. This was a real highlight of the trip!


First of the all The Walker Family would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined us this afternoon at The Weatherly Inn to help us in, honor of Mother's Day, celebrate Grandmother's Day. Our children sang beautifully, and the hand-made cards were beautiful as well. We also appreciated Joyce playing the piano and Meri conducting the music. It was also wonderful to see our friend Shaunna come and visit, and have the opportunity to listen to her sing in the background. She has a very beautiful voice, and I think we would all agree that we miss listening to her sing weekly!

For everyone else here is the story. Back in January, our family, and our friend Joyce were asked to attend the Weatherly Inn every third Sunday of the month. The Weatherly Inn is a facility for people, who are suffering from dementia. Once a month we go to this facility, and share a story, and sing with all of the residents. Since it was Mother's Day this month, Joyce and I thought that it would be awesome to gather all of the children from church and have them make cards, and come and sing Mother's Day songs to all of the people. In order to put on this event, it took many people, and their talents such as singing and playing the piano to accomplish this task; however, after about two weeks of planning and organizing, today we succesfully pulled off the activity, and all of the children were wonderful! It was really neat to watch and listen to all of our children sing. We had a large number of children, who participated and the residents and staff loved it. The children brought many smiles to all of their faces, and it was a wonderful opportunity for them to serve others. Thank you everyone again for your help!

Kindergarten goes to College!!!!!

Zachary had a lot of fun! He wore his University of Washington Jacket


Cute kiddos! It is amazing we did not lose anyone. It was a large group of children.



Today The Kindergarten classes from two schools went to The University of Washington in Tacoma. Luckily for us, it only lightly rained and the kids appeared to have fun. The President at the University spoke to them about the importance of education and had them raise their hands and take an oath. Each child received a University of Washington T-shirt with their anticipated year of Graduation which is 2023. (I will not say how old Kirk and I will be when Zachary graduates, but our age will be up there.) They also got take a tour of the Library, color, and listen to a story about going to college. In Zachary's class, five us parents attended and got assigned a group of students to watch. Right when I walked into the classroom this morning Mrs. Cichy said, "Oh yes my special education teacher is attending the fieldtrip!" Right then and there I knew I was in trouble and I got the opportunity to watch 3 of the runners in the classroom while Mrs. Cichy took the remaining three of the runners. The rest of the parents got the easy going children. My group did pretty well. However, while we were walking through the Library, one of the kids in my group helped himself to a cookie from the desk of one of the University's student's. We got out the door and I looked at the kid and I said, "Why did you take the cookie?" He said, "Because I needed a sugar fix." Needless to say, my group kept me on my toes. Overall, it was a great opportunity for the kids to walk around a University, and we all had an enjoyable experience.

The Season of my Life

My journey to motherhood started back on March 13, 1999, when Kirk proposed to me, and yes we are in the Dallas Cowboy T-shirts! On July 23, 1999, we were married. About two years into our marriage we wanted to have children; however, because of health complications we had a difficult time getting pregnant. Fortunately, in July of 2004, we became proud parents to Zachary, and this is when I entered into the spring of my life. His delivery and our first year was challenging, but he was such and still is a sweet little boy. Zachary is also full of surprises and Kirk and I learned that about him very early when arrived two months early.

On August 13, 2005, we found out that we were expecting again. We were very surprised because it took us so long to get Zachary. However, after the initial shock of having another baby, very shortly after having baby number one, wore off we started to get excited. Sadly, on September 13, 2005, we miscarried and that was a very sad and painful day. However, during that time God placed several people in our pathway both who are members of our church and people, who are not. I remember the meals brought to our home, the hugs, the flowers, the small gifts, the books, and the long conversations with people. The support we received during that time was amazing. There are times when I still feel the loss and the void, and even still get tearful when I'm reminded of that day; however, I take comfort in the knowledge that some day I will understand and know why this happened. Until that day comes, I'm so thankful and blessed to be Zachary's and Isabella's mother.

Finally, Isabella arrived to us April of 2008, my pregnancy with her was challenging and eventful, but when that little girl was placed in my arms I knew at that moment that I would do it all over again. Shortly, after she was born Kirk said, "Heidi can you imagine our family without Isabella?" I said, "no". We knew that this baby girl was meant to come to our family and she completed our family. The other day I read this article out of a newspaper about the seasons of life. Here is an excerpt that I really enjoyed it truly explains the purpose of motherhood. Happy Mother's Day


"I like to think I am in the spring of my life. I'm tending to my garden of children-helping them grow, making sure they have the love and support they need to grow into adults.
This is the time. This is my season.
This is not my season to focus on my career or myself. This is not my season to rest, or even to prepare for motherhood. That has passed.
This is the season to enjoy my children while working hard to raise them well. This is my season to teach them, to love them and to create unbreakable family bonds.
I cherish this springtime of my life. I know it will pass all too quickly and I won't be able to go back to this time and place. It's a moment unique in time.
Even though the work is hard and some days I wonder if I'm even doing anything right, I know this season is critical-albeit fleeting.
And just like that first miraculous daffodil pops open in the springtime, my children will blossom unexpectedly one day.
When that moment comes, I can only hope I've used this season wisely to shower time and love on my little garden."
--Erin Stewart

The Artist

This year through Green River Community College, Zachary's school participated in the Art Docent program. Each classroom had an Art Docent, and I was the lucky parent to be the Art Docent for Kindergarten. At first I was a Little concerned, because I have never really studied Art or Artists; however, since Zachary struggles with fine motor skills I thought that I would be a good example for him, and teach his class Art. We studied and completed a lot of Van Gough's work, which was very interesting. I'm very thankful that our lead Art Docent moms were very creative, and gave me several project ideas. I must also say through this experience I learned to have a deeper appreciation for Art. When I was a Special Education teacher, I was spoiled because I had a para-educator who loved to teach Art, and as a result I gave her the opportunity to teach Art and she did a wonderful job with my students; however, I wished I would have paid attention better, and maybe this would not have been such a challenge for me. Needless to say, I'm happy that I did it because it gave me the opportunity to practice my teaching skills, and I got to spend time with Zachary at school. Enjoy our photos!

Happy Birthday to Heidi and Mommy

Heidi's Birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year so on Saturday we took Heidi up to Seattle walked around down by the water front. We then took the water taxi over to Alki Beach and walked along the beach. The kids discovered a turtle on the beach and wanted to take it home, but Heidi said, "no way!" It was a pretty day on the beach. On our way home, I surprised Heidi and took her to a jewelry store to purchase her a new wedding ring. We then went out to dinner as a family.

On Heidi's actual Birthday, which was Easter this year, we got up opened gifts and Easter Baskets, followed by attending church, and then later in the day going to a friend's house for Easter dinner and birthday cake. It was a nice weekend. Happy 36th Birthday Heidi! Love, Kirk, Zachary, and Isabella

This picture slideshow created with Smilebox

Tip Toeing through the Tulips Seattle Style

On April 21st my friend Jessica and I decided to take a tulip trip. The tulip fields are located about 80 miles North of our homes. We loaded up my car and off we went. Our journey was fun and eventful. We were driving on Interstate 5 listening to ABBA's song "Dancing Queen" when I looked out the window and noticed a mall, and I told Jessica that I was really surprised that they had a mall up in Mount Veron. No more than 30 seconds after I made that comment one of the children got sick and threw up in the car. Lucky for us a mall was close by so we pulled over cleanned up the car and went into the mall to purchase new clothes. After we purchased the clothes, we drove to the tulip fields and enjoyed our time there even though it was cold and a little rainy. Enjoy the photos!

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