Emmett, Newport, Best Friend, and Calligraphy

Emmett: Still growing. 48 pounds. Vet says he could double in size. Wes likes that idea...I'm not so sure. At least he won't look scary big...he will still just look like a big teddy bear.

Newport: Not the place to stage a state competition for Odyssey of the Mind. Elementary to high school teams from all over the state gathered in this not-so-thriving metropolis yesterday to compete. Plus, they don't even have enough hotels for everyone. The lady at the Best Western/Country Haven Inn/America's Best Value Inn & Suites of Searcy overbooked our rooms which sent us in a tailspin trying to find five rooms for my team. They went to Jacksonville, and I stayed with a best friend.

Best Friend: Yep, I got the good end of the deal. Having already planned on staying with Ying at her parents' house, I felt like I needed to stick to my promise. :) I sent the other coach, the team of kids, and some parents to Jacksonville...and I got a wonderful visit with Lauren. It was soooo good, and I am soooo glad she is moving up here!!

Calligraphy: katewalkercalligraphy.blogspot.com is a brand new addition to the blogging world. Check it out if you need anything done that has anything to do with writing pretty.



The team at Newport's U.S. Pizza. I was really excited, but they don't even have Judy's Favorite Light...my all-time favorite pizza.


My business card...thanks to Cat.

Best Spring Break Ever

It's raining, and I am recovering from the 12-hour overnight drive, so I'm just going to post pictures for right now. This was my spring break, and it was the best ever. I was reminded of how much my family means to me, how extremely blessed I am, how much I love them, and how much fun we can all have together.

Out to eat at Beau Jo's in Boulder.

AG enjoying s'mores time on the back deck.

Uncle Wes and Ben roasting marshmallows.

Our mini ski trip to Aspen/Snowmass.Benton and Whit at Steuben's in Denver.

Spring Cleaning

Today I woke up so happy to have been able to sleep in until 8:15...3 hours later than I wake up during the week! One of my many motivations for getting up and going in the mornings is a great new routine I have with Emmett. After I shower and check email, I go in to the kitchen to wake up E-dog. We go outside to the backyard so he can potty, and then as soon as we go back inside, he darts to the front door and sits. I open the front door, and he is on a mission...to get the newspaper from the driveway. With a wagging tail, he grabs it, brings it in and back to the kitchen where I am waiting for my morning read. He drops the paper at my feet, and I give him a rub on the head, a "Good boy!" and a treat. The funny thing is that at other times in the day, he seems to think it's time to get the paper. He either runs to the front door or if let outside the front door, searches for it all along the driveway. What a good pup. By the way, I think he is about 35 pounds now.
Wes and I have been in a cleaning mood today. With the light rain and the spring flowers starting to bloom, we felt like doing some good ole cleaning. We have cleaned the ceiling fans, washed all the sheets in the house in one fail swoop (we do have visitors coming tomorrow!), dusted the entire house, changed the dining table decor, put up old decorations and brought down Easter ones from the attic, and just tidied up a bit all over. All of this spring cleaning talk makes me want to get back to it. So, that's all for now. I just noticed it had been two weeks...so there you have it. Nothing dramatic happening here at the Walker house. Just staying BUSY and getting excited for our spring break trip to Colorado next week!!
Off to vacuum...

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.