Life and Death

In the last few weeks, I've experienced deaths and births. Mammaw went to be with Jesus a few weekends ago, and the celebration of her life was wonderful. All of the family got together and shared stories about how she touched each one of us. I was blessed enough to get to speak at the funeral, and I will always consider that a great honor. Sam, my family's golden retriever, went to doggy heaven today. I'm thankful that I got to play with him last weekend, and I'm also glad Emmett got to meet such a great ole' boy. I am sure going to miss seeing him when I pull up the driveway. On a lighter note, I'm celebrating a couple of really important births today! Dad's 59th birthday is today, and I send my love to him! He was able to be sitting with Sam when he passed away this afternoon on the back deck, petting him and telling him what a good dog he was. Next year is a big one, so I'm going to get to planning now! It's also Whit's 3rd birthday today! Fortunately, Jayme and Bret were able to take their girls to Colorado for the week and make tonight's Dora party! I so wish I could be there, but Wes and I are looking forward to visiting over spring break! Last Sunday, lots of our close church friends got to welcome another little one to our group, too! Owen is here, and I am so excited to watch him grow up.
Here are some pictures from the last few weeks around here...
Emmett in his infamous "sit" pose.

8th grade teachers on "What NOT to Wear Day."

Awkward pose

We have fun around here.

Whoopsy Daisy

I think I left my camera cord in Conway. However, I only had about 5 new pictures on it. I guess the busy life I've been leading didn't even allow me time to take pictures these last few weeks! Well, everything is great and finally slowing down a bit. I've ALMOST gotten rid of my sickness, I've graded LOTS of papers, I've planned some lessons, and I've checked some things of my HUGE to-do list. It feels good, I tell ya.
Let's see...where to start...
Wes and I had a fabulous time in Kansas City a few weekends ago celebrating our 3rd anniversary! We ate at Cheesecake Factory twice, the Capital Grill, and California Pizza Kitchen. We shopped all day Saturday and even had time to catch a flick at the Plaza's movie theater. I went in to J.Crew and Anthropologie no less than 3 times each. I don't know what I would do if I had those stores in close proximity to me. Good thing I don't. Wes was a great partner through all of the shopping...maybe that was due in part to my selfish whining on our drive up about how he normally acts when I shop. I know it can't be fun for him, so I really appreciated his "interest" in shopping with me that weekend. :) He is so wonderful.
School has been incredibly busy with something going on after 3:00 almost every day these past few weeks. And then I've just added cheerleading sponsor on top of it?? My plan is to drop all other activities for that one. We shall see. I'll take this time to give a shout out to my amazing co-workers. They really make the day so much fun, and their enthusiasm and support are definitely impressive. I love you guys!
Emmett...I almost forgot! He's doing super well. Last Wednesday was "graduation" from Puppy Preschool. Despite the fact that our little doodle forced our relay team to lose TWICE, he got his rawhide diploma and is doing excellent at home.
I think that's about all I need to share. I'm going to go fix some Asian Sloppy Joe's...my fave! :)

Coming Soon...

A New Post! When my head clears up, when my cough goes away, when parent-teacher conferences are over, when some papers are graded, when some lessons are planned, and when I can sit at the computer for any length of time without getting up to blow my nose...I will write a post. In a nutshell...we celebrated our 3rd anniversary in Kansas City this weekend, and this week is crazy busy. Oh, and I've agreed to be the 8th grade cheer sponsor next year. More later...

Vacancy

Well, it's just Emmett and me. He's at my feet napping while I catch up on some emails, facebook, and blogging. I'm not sure if I like my new background, and I've been trying to change it...but I just can't figure it out right now. Like I said in the title, I have some open beds tonight. Jayme, Molly, and Morgan set out a couple of hours ago to go to Searcy for the weekend. Wes and Bret are back to work. It's definitely quieter, but I now don't have an excuse for being so lazy. Having found out at 11 this morning that school would be out another day tomorrow, I am about to make a to-do list for the next three days. I need to do some school work, clean a little, and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!!! Besides my walks with E.Doodle, I haven't left the house since I came home early from school on Monday. Wes has my car, and his car is a little "under the weather." So, here are a few pics from last night and this morning. I wish I had one of Emmett right now. All tuckered out from so much craziness!Morgan eating her raw veggies for the day...red bell pepper.

Just relaxing and snuggling on the couch after pizza and cookies.

Emmett G. Doodle on Thursday morning walk.

The woods behind our neighborhood.

Across the ravine in our neighborhood.Welcome to the icy street of the Walker B&B.

New Career Path?

Oh, I'm still teaching, but with three (maybe four) snow/ice days in a row, I've had some time to take up a new profession...hotel manager. I like to think of it more as a bed and breakfast. Here in NWA, "the worst ice storm in our history" has hit and MANY of the homes in our area are without power. The number of people without power keeps changing, but it seems as though I know more people without power than with it. Thankfully, our warm and toasty home has stayed just that way. Because of all of this, we have opened up a little bed and breakfast for family. Every bed and couch were occupied last night, and they will be again tonight. I made turkey chili for everyone last night, homeade cookies to munch on, and french toast this morning for breakfast. Wes and Bret are at Wal-Mart right now stocking up on a few more things and getting some frozen pizzas for dinner tonight. Many stories to tell, but I'll just post a few pictures instead. Maybe I'll pick out a few special moments to write and share about when the bed and breakfast settles down in a few days.Tuesday morning...we woke up to a thick sheet of ice covering everything.

We had freezing rain, sleet, and a little snow all day Tuesday....leaving a thicker and whiter covering.

The patio table

Taking Emmett for a walk Wednesday morning...we were the first tracks.

Our sweet bed and breakfast.

He LOVED the walk...and he is very interested in all of this white, cold stuff.

We are having to hold him a bit more than usual due to all of the guests here.

Molly and Jayme snuggled on the couch.

O'Pa and Molly playing Guess Who?

Morgan hiding in the wicker end table.

Molly LOVES her bed here!

I'll make sure to take more pictures of the crew. O'Pa is on his way back to Conway this afternoon, but we may fill his spot pretty soon...

Big and Strong

Emmett is already getting bigger, and we have only had him for a week and a half! He is such a great puppy! He has made his first trip to the vet, and I am so pleased with where he will be going for shots, checkups, and anything else he ever needs. We also have enrolled in Puppy Preschool. I know my mom has to be thinking that I'm crazy. But, Emmett is going to be around lots of kids (hopefully including my own), and I want him to be socialized well.
I knew it would be a big change getting a puppy, but I don't think I expected to be so busy with him. I haven't gotten to the gym since the day we picked Emmett up, I haven't kept the house as picked up as usual, and I haven't had much time to email or blog. I'm hoping I can figure out soon how to add in the gym with this new schedule! Regardless, I love our puppy. Just look at him...
Besides playing with and training Emmett, we have been partying with Molly...celebrating her 5th birthday! Last night was her Hannah Montana birthday party, and it was awesome! Karaoke, concession stand food, presents, fingernail painting, and tattoos. What more could a five year old ask for??

And of course Morgan showed off her moves. Can't let big sister have the whole show!

We chose...

FARGO! Well, we have now named him Emmett Doodle, simply known as Emmett. We are about 90% sure that's the name, but we have several other names we like...and we want to make sure Emmett sticks! My students voted for Paco (go figure), I thought about Diddle (short for Diddle Weege--my brother's nickname for me as a kid), and we have a few others that are backups just in case. We got him last night, and as soon as I saw him, I was in love. He didn't have too much fun in the car on the way home--apparently most puppies throw up in the car, and Emmett sure didn't want to disappoint. Needless to say, we made a stop at a nearby gas station to clean things up a bit. He has a really sweet disposition, and he is sleeping at my feet right now. That's not to say we haven't had "puppy" experiences...whimpering A LOT, a few bathroom whoopsies, and a little chewing. He's pretty good to stop chewing on anything you say not to, so hopefully that will pick up and he will remember to chew on his toys ALONE. He has also been successful at relieving himself outside several times! Ok, enough about our first almost 24 hours together. I guess Emmett will be showing up in a good number of posts from now on! Thanks for the help in choosing our sweet doodle!