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

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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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The Story behind the new Wedding Ring.....

As many of you are aware, this past December I flushed my wedding ring down the toilet. It was not because I was upset with Kirk it happened because I decided to mop my kitchen floor and then dump the water down the toilet. Lesson learned next time I will remove my wedding ring and since I had lost weight my ring was fitting loose so I'll make sure I immediately go in the jewelry store and have the ring adjusted.

Needless to say, that December day was a bad day. I was so sad that I lost my wedding ring because I loved it so much! Kirk and I got married in our last year of school and as a result like many young married couples we did not have a lot of money and my ring was one of our more expensive investments. The ring also symbolized almost 12 years of marriage, and I knew Kirk had to work very hard to get me that ring. Since this happened, I have been looking at rings and concluded that for my second ring I only wanted a simple, but elegant ring. I also chose white gold this time around. So this past Saturday, Kirk surprised me and took me to the jewelry store and bought me a second wedding ring. This ring is simple, but it has a very clear half caret diamond. The best part is later on I can also build onto the ring, but for now I am happy with this ring and it is very beautiful to me.

Meet Roofus

Zachary would like to introduce Roofus. Roofus is a special dog. He works for Dr. Fay, Zachary's Neuropsychologist. He is a mixed golden lab, and he is really good with the kids, who come to Dr. Fay's office. Roofus sits with Zachary during the time Zachary is being tested. Like the kids, Roofus is on a very structured schedule, and he has days off. We have never heard him bark and he is very calm. Roofus also gets invited and attends the kids Birthday parties so guess, who will be attending Zachary's party this year? Kirk and I figure that since Zachary has seen Dr. Fay we have probably purchased a lot of dog food for him. However, Roofus is a great assest to have in a office. As you can see from the photo, Zachary really likes him!

My Pretty Dress

Thanks Jessica for the pretty dress I did not want to take it off today. I love it! I can not wait to go to the tulips with you this Thursday!

Love,

Isabella

Isabella's Birthday

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Isabella had a wonderful celebration. Last Friday we took her down to the zoo and she got to see the baby tigers, which she loves. On Saturday, we went and had her 3 year professional photos taken and we will post them on the blog in about a week. On Sunday, April 10th which was her Birthday we attended church, came home and had dinner, ate some cake, and took a drive up to Alki Beach in Seattle. We were able to get photos of Zachary, but not any photos of Isabella because she fell asleep. However, even though it was cloudy, and we had some rain the city's skyline was beatiful, and we had a great time walking down on the beach. During this past week, I took Isabella in to see Dr. German for her routine check-up and she is in the 60th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight. She is a growing girl!

Isabella is a joy to have in our family. She has a feisty personality, and is very bright. Thanks to her older brother Zachary she is able to count to 20 and knows all of her letters. She also enjoys playing with her Princess dolls, coloring, and playing with her doll houses. This fall she will be attending preschool because she loves to learn. Mrs. Cichy, Zachary's teacher, also allows Isabella to come in her classroom while I'm teaching Art to Zachary's class. Isabella enjoys sitting in Kindergarten and is very well behaved. She also enjoys reading books and will sit and listen to a story for a full 30 minutes. In May, Isabella and I will be taking a Mom and Me ballet class, and I think that will be fun for both of us. Thank you all for the wonderful Birthday wishes and gifts!

Family, Friends, and Fun!

What a fun day! Today we attended an Easter Egg hunt, followed by another small Birthday celebration for Isabella, and now Zachary and Isabella are tucked away into their beds and are sound asleep. This is true BLISS!!!! I'm loving the peace and quiet of tonight!

As I mentioned above, we attended an egg hunt and Zachary and Isabella collected several eggs and received a lot of candy and small prizes. Later on in the day, we met my friend Jessica and her two boys at The Super Mall and took the kids to the Bouncy Place. All of the kids bounced around for about 90 minutes, and then informed us that they were starving so we decided to go out and eat at Los Cabos. Since it was Isabella's birthday last Sunday, we had the waiters come over and sing to her, and of course she loved it. They also had an employee at the restaurant who was very talented and made each of the kids a character balloon, and one of the character's who joined us for dinner was "The Road Runner"! Enjoy the photos.

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A moment of Celebration!

Mrs. Cichy and Zachary

The Blue Ribbon that was given to Zachary

"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about."

Today Zachary received an award at school for being the most "GIVING" student at Covington Elementary. Each month Zachary's school works on a virtue of the month and then at the end of the month the Principal and classroom teachers chose one student, who has best demonstrated and practiced that virtue, and then they present the student with an award in front of the entire school. When they presented the award to Zachary, he said, "I can not believe they chose me." He was so excited and proud. Zachary's Principal then walked over to me and said, "You and Kirk are raising a blue ribbon kid." After the Principal made that comment to me, I started to think about how many people have touched our son's life and have helped him become, who he is today. I thought about Var Jean Balls, who is Zachary's Sunday school teacher and how she faithfully comes to church each week and teaches my son that he is "A Child of God" and his life as well as others has a divine purpose. I then thought about how our small family was asked to serve each month at an assisted living center and how I have watched Zachary give hugs and visit with the older people, who live at that facility this has been a great opportunity for our family to give back to our community. I also thought about Mrs. Cichy and how she consistently encourages Zachary to be the best student that he can possibly be, and then there are Zachary's doctors who formulate a plan and teach Kirk and I how to best parent him. There have been so many people, who have helped and continue to help us raise a "blue ribbon kid." We are so blessed to have each of you in our lives.

On another side note, Zachary has not wanted to ride the bus the entire school year because he has been afraid of bullies. Well this morning, Zachary decided that he wanted to ride the bus to school and this was a huge accomplishment for Zachary! Once Zachary was on the bus, Isabella and I drove to the school and waited in Mrs. Cichy's classroom for Zachary to arrive. Once he arrived in the classroom, he walked over to me and said, "Mom the bus was so much fun and all of the kids were really nice." At that moment I heard so much pride and confidence in Zachary's voice, and for once I heard no fear. Mrs.Cichy then walked over to me and said, "Heidi look at how far Zachary has come you should be very pleased." Kirk and I are very pleased and happy. As Zachary's mother, it has been challenging for me to watch Zachary struggle with anxiety issues and his ADHD. However, having Zachary in my life has taught me so many things. I have learned that I need to be on my knees seeking and asking for Divine guidance and I have received it. I have learned to have empathy for others, who have children who struggle with disabilities, I have learned to be an advocate for my son, and most important Zachary helps me to strive to be the best mother that I can be. Zachary is a gift to our family and we love him dearly even when he can be a "little turkey" at times. Congratulations Zachary! we are so proud of your accomplishments! Love, Dad, Mom, and Isabella

Video of Baby Isabella in honor of her 3rd Birthday!

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Here is video of Isabella after she was born. My friend Jessica created this for me, which was one of my favorite gifts and something that I will always treasure. Isabella and I also love the song "Amazing" that is accompanying the video. Those were perfect lyrics for this event, and in fact I had to go out to itunes to purchase the song so Isabella could listen to it in the car. She tells all of us, "This is my song." Enjoy the video.

Finding the Angel Within

As many of you are aware, I started my weight loss journey about a year and half ago, and it has been one of the most challenging, but rewarding activities that I have ever accomplished. About a month ago, I received an e-mail from a friend inviting me to join her Relay for Life team that will happen the first weekend of June. As I read the information about the race, I thought to myself that I'm going to have to keep myself motivated and focused. However, I'm very excited to participate in the relay!

Ironically, about a week ago I received a phone call from a friend who informed me that she just got back from her doctor and she was informed that she had to lose a lot of weight. She said that she felt scared and was not sure how she was going to go about accomplishing this goal. She asked me if I would be willing to share my story and tips about how I have been accomplishing my goal. I seriously thought about it and agreed; however, I wanted her to know that I believe that weight loss is a personal journey, and that there is no specific way or diet to lose weight. It is all about eating healthy and giving our bodies excercise.

As I reflected about my journey, there is a book that I have read three times during the past year that has kept me motivated. The book is titled "Running with Angels" by Pamela H. Hansen. Like myself the author of this book has experienced loss, grief, and depression in her life. However, after she had miscarried a baby she decided that she needed to embrace life and become physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy so her journey began leading her to accomplishing three marathons. In her book, she uses several quotes and here are a few of my favorites. I sometimes write these quotes down and tape them to my bathroom mirror or take them to the gym with me so I can look at them and read them and recall why I'm choosing to excercise and eat healthy. Here are some of her quotes.

1. "Drawing on our life's experiences helps us have more compassion for others."
2. "Finding time for ourselves does not automatically mean that we are neglecting or taking time away from others."
3. "Smaller, incremental steps will lead you steadily toward your ultimate goal."
4. "Change takes place one step at a time."
5. "Embracing love and support from others will help us in whichever life race we run."
6. "Prepare for Success"

Each day is a challenge for me to eat healthy and go to the gym, but then I think about this statement "There is a high price for heaviness." And that is so true! Sometimes life throws us large curve balls, and as a result for some of us food becomes comforting. I love this quote that Pamela shares in her book which states, "When something is so painful, we are willing to do anything to feel better, even when we know better. Often it takes angelic nurturing from someone in our earthly lives to help us to see the light at the end of the tunnel." I personally have had and currently have several angels in my life. Often times these people do not even realize that they have helped me. For example, the other day I was in the gym having difficulty picking up my pace on the treadmill because I felt tired when one of my gym buddies came over and said, "Wow, Heidi you look healthy and strong." I then thought I am strong and I really want to do that relay in June so it is time to pick up the pace. During that moment, I do not think that person recognized how much I needed to hear that statement, but it truly encouraged me to keep going. Bottom line I believe we all need those earthly angels in our lives and I'm grateful for mine.

I'm also thankful for a wonderful and suppotive husband. He is always encouraging me to be my best, and even when he has a large paper to write and the kids are yelling and carrying on he tells me "Leave go workout. I have it under control." And the best part is he truly means it because he loves to see me happy! He is a good man! If anyone in the Seattle area would like to join our relay team send me an e-mail through facebook or @ 4walkerfamily@gmail.com.

The Day from you know where????

That is correct yesterday was a hellish day for me! We went out to lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory up at Southcenter. We even got to sit in the back of the Trolley. Zachary ordered his lunch and then Isabella wanted Mac and Cheese. They brought out Isabella's Mac and Cheese and she wolfed all down. After she finished eating, I got her out of the high chair and sat her right next to me. Suddenly, the next thing I knew she puked all over herself, me, the table, and the floor. Not to sound gross, but I did not realize how much a small child could puke! Needless to say, puke was all over my shirt, the bottom of my pants, and of course all over Isabella. Thankfully we were right next to Kohls so my family went over and got Isabella and I new clothes while Isabella and I waited up in the ladies room. $30.00 later we had new outfits. We then quickly changed clothes and drove home where we jumped in the shower. Nothing is more disgusting then the sight and smell of puke that was still lingering on our bodies even after we changed our clothes. However, thankfully it only happened once and Isabella did not puke any more. The above photo shows that we were having good times before puke. The true joys of motherhood!!!!

Bouncing off the Walls

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Yesterday Jessica and I took Isabella and her two boys Tommy and Toby to a Bouncy place located in the Super Mall. First off let me tell you that I learned yesterday that I have a fearless daughter. Isabella decided to climb up this adult-size ladder and then proceeded to go down this large slide smiling whole time! Jessica and I observed other older kids having difficulty climbing up this large ladder and going down this large slide, but Isabella, who is almost 3, quickly climbed up the ladder and slid right down and wanted to go back and do it over again. I told Jessica that I think Isabella must have some type of monkey in her. Even the other customers and workers were really surprised that she could do this. Needless to say, Isabella slept 13 hours last night! I think over the weekend we are going to take Zachary.

Zachary's Tooth

Zachary has had a busy week. As many of you know, a couple of weeks ago we were in an accident and as a result of the accident the insurance company had us go out and purchase new car seats. When we were at Toys-R-Us buying new car seats, Zachary lost a tooth there. He was so excited for the tooth fairy to come that night, and thankfully we were at the toy store so we could purchase a small item from the tooth fairy.

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