Madi's party

Sunday was Madison's birthday party and we almost didn't get to go. Hannah woke up about 8 and by 9:15 she was on the couch telling me she just wanted to take a nap. She napped off and on most of the morning, not really complaining about anything other than being tired. We went out and ran a few errands during one of her not so tired moments. We had to go to Display and Costume to see if we could find a wig for Tom and pink hairspray for Hannah. I could tell that she wasn't feeling well when she asked if she could just sit in the cart. Tom and I had lots of fun in that store and commented a couple of times how it was a shame she was just sitting in the cart. We didn't find a wig for Tom, well I found a wig for him, but he wouldn't wear it. It was perfect, but he had another in mind. We ended up not getting "his" wig because he didn't want to spend $35. I can't blame him for not wanting to spend that much, but come on, there were lots of other, cheaper, wigs there. By the time we got home and had lunch Hannah really wasn't looking well. I told her that she should take a little nap and we'd decide whether or not to go later. After her nap she was doing better, still not 100% but she was better and still no fever so we got her dressed and sprayed her hair and were off. She did not want to miss this party, we'd been talking about it all week and practicing our rock star moves. =) We got to Beck and Rob's aka Club 10 and walked in on the red carpet. We were a little disappointed that the paparazzi weren't there. We were a little early I guess. I mean we made it in without the paparazzi knowing we were there. Ya, that's it. My sister really lucked out on the weather. It was beautiful, the sun was shining and the kids got to play outside and were out there most of the afternoon. After presents and brownies my sister hooked the Wii up and the kids played Disney Sing It. Hannah loved hearing her own voice through the TV and was SO cute singing and swaying. She makes me laugh. The only song she really knew was Best of Both World by Hannah Montana, so she sang that one a couple of times. Tom and I sang a few together, Fabulous and Bet on It from High School Musical 2. Don't worry, we won't be putting out an album anytime soon.

Her new Rock Star smile.Can you see the pink in her hair? It pained me to do that to my baby.Jake, Hannah & Joe (one of their other cousins). I don't think Hannah's buying whatever it is they're talking about. Look at those leg warmers...seriously cute!Sing it!She partied like a Rock Star!

I'm kind of bummed out that I forgot to have someone take a picture of the four of us together. I even straightened my hair AND painted my nails purple. It's probably for the better, we really could have "rock starred" it a bit more.

Dean

It was 5 years ago today that we lost a wonderful man, Tom's dad. We have so many fun memories of him and we can't believe that he's been gone 5 years. Oh how we wish our girls could have met him and seen for themselves what an amazing man he was. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of him and wish he were still here.

Two days before our wedding, September 1999

July 2002

Hood River Oregon, October 2002We miss him so very much!

Bubbles, tiny bubbles...

Last week we were blessed with a beautifully sunny day. The girls and I headed outside to play but quickly realized that it was by no means warm out. I ran back in and bundled a shivering Emerson up. We scootered and rode bikes and then brought out the bubbles. The girls had lots of fun trying to pop the bubbles but they couldn't keep up with the bubble machine. Oh how I love the bubble machine and the genius who invented it. =)

We're headed to Madison's Rock Star birthday party tonight so I'm certain I'll be back with fun pictures from that. Happy Sunday!

Ramblings

Emerson had her 15 month well-baby check up on Monday and that's about the most exciting thing that's happened around here. She had to get 2 shots and boy did she not like that. Poor Hannah stood in the corner hiding her eyes and covering her ears. She hates it when Emerson cries. I had to laugh when Dr. Suzuki came in the room, the first thing out of her mouth was "look at those big feet". I got a good laugh out of that one. Something about my girls and their big feet. I think that must be a Walker thing because my sisters and I certainly do not have big feet. =) Our little peanut weighed in at 21 pounds 1 ounce and is a whopping 31 inches tall. We got the OK for peanut butter and Hannah is very excited to share her PB&J sandwiches with her. Those two crack me up.

We're on the home stretch to the end of tax season and we're ALL excited about that. Hannah keeps singing the "only 3 Saturdays left" song that she's made up. She's a hoot. We'll be making our annual after tax season trip to Spokane on the 16th when he gets off work. Saturday Tom will be playing in a Relay for Life poker tournament at Kenny & Robins house. I've told him he should just make a donation and call it good. He's not a poker player. We're also excited because we'll be having an after Easter, Easter. We haven't spent an Easter in Spokane in 6 years! Oh that last one was a funny Easter. Mark's mom tried to take pictures of us all and oh it was a hoot. If I remember correctly she kept turning the camera around so it was facing her and couldn't figure it out. Oh we got a good laugh at that. I think I'll have to hunt that picture down. Good times, good times. =) Darn...that was before our digital camera. Never mind, I won't be sharing that one. OK, I just took a picture of my scrapbook page that has the picture. And, now I'm sitting here laughing all by myself. Caryl, do you remember this? The expressions on both Jodie and Kellie's faces makes me laugh and you can tell by Lenny's face that he's making a "smart" comment! Oh my...focus Jamie, focus. Needless to say, I'm excited to celebrate a holiday with that side of the family. We'll come home on Monday after Tom does a little work in Spokane. He's got a client over there that he wants to visit. Should be a fun long weekend.

Hannah has spring break next week so the girls and I will try to do a couple of fun things. You have to do something fun on Spring Break, right?!? Maybe the zoo, if the weather holds. Hannah's always excited to go to the zoo. She loves her animals.

Sorry for the rambling post...too much coffee today! Wait...is that possible?

Sunday drive

We took the girls for a drive yesterday. It started out as a quick trip to run a few errands but when the girls fell asleep less than 5 minutes into it we decided to go for a drive. We did the "which way, left or right" thing and ended up, unknowingly, in Duvall. We truly had no idea where we were. We started to get a little nervous when we saw the Entering King County sign. I even called Becky to have her google street names to see if she could figure out where we were. It was a good thing we came upon the Woodinville/Duvall Rd because she wasn't having any luck. She kept getting the message that address does not exist. =) I do have to say that it was a beautiful drive. However, it did have me, more than a couple times, rolling my window down to stop from getting sick. Once we got to Duvall we decided to turn around and head back to Snohomish. Tom had been hungry for pie so we had to go to the Snohomish Pie Company. Tom had a slice of Apple Crumb and Hannah & I had the Marionberry. Emerson was happy to eat off of our plates, but was way more excited about the water cup. =) We decided that we were definitely going to have to go back for soup/sandwiches and then pie. It was one yummy place! After the pie we walked down Main Street and did a little window shopping, running from doorway to doorway to stay dry. I probably should have apologized to the couple eating at one of the restaurants...Hannah walked up to the window and was staring at them. I think she was admiring their waffle fries. She makes us laugh!

On the road...

Still on the road...after a while it all started to look similar.mmmmm...........Awwww...so sweet!It was, by far, one of the best Sunday's I've had in a really long time.

The Jungle

Last night we went to Jungle Playland in Mt. Vernon for Ashlyn and Cole's birthday parties. Fun, Fun, Fun! We didn't see much of Hannah once we got the OK to play. She was off and didn't want to be bothered with anything. Emerson had lots of fun wandering around. She played a bit in the little kid area, visited the different tables to see what kind of goodies were left behind, sat in the ball pit and even went down the slide with me a couple times. It was a fast slide and if you weren't careful you tumbled off at the end, which is tricky when you're holding a baby. =)

Finally...someone who understands me!Yee Haw! Ride 'em Cowgirl!Whoa!That was as far as she'd go before she tried to climb back to the top. The ball pit was lots of fun. It had a tube that you could put the balls into, which shot them into a bin above and once the bin got to a certain level it would dump the balls out. The kids really loved it. I, on the other hand, thought it kind of hurt but it was a fun sight and apparently I'm a weenie.

Belated Birthday Dinner

We finally got to celebrate my mom's birthday on Friday night. Our week was a little busy and Friday was the soonest we could all get together. We went to Red Robin for the festivities and had a nice dinner. One thing I like about that place is that it's always loud so I don't have to worry too much about how loud my girls are. Oh, wait...my girls aren't loud. =)

soooo good....Trying to eat an onion ring. I wouldn't recommend using the pepper at the Everett Red Robin...and what is Albert Einstein doing to my dad??? =)Happy happy birthday, today's your special day...
Hannah was super excited to sing the Happy Birthday song to Nonnie and then we saw the "Bird" and her excitement tripled. Our waitress had to break the news that the Bird was only there for one special table. Apparently there was a child who had just gotten out of Children's Hospital that day, so "Bird" was there for them. We certainly couldn't argue with that! =)

Spokane

I'm happy to report that the girls and I are home safely from our trip. It seems to never be enough time but we take what we can and are happy with every moment. Our flight to Spokane was...OK. Emerson didn't much follow my plan of her sleeping the entire trip, she had other plans, like exploring the airplane and visiting with all the people around us. So it was fun and much like a workout trying to contain her to my lap. She did, however, fall asleep as we were landing. Nice. =) Hannah was cute, as soon as we left Tom she looked at me with big, sad eyes and said that she "missed him SO much already". I told her to turn around and blow him a kiss. She very much loves her Daddy and this was a hard trip for her. She loves flying and her only complaint was that it was too bright. The sun was making it hard for her to watch a show on the iPod. Silly girl.

Friday we did a little shopping and hung out with Nana. Nana bought Hannah a Sharpay (from High School Musical) costume complete with a wig. Talk about making her weekend. She cracks me up when she calls it her cha-cha dress. I have a feeling she'll be wearing that around the house quite a bit.

Saturday we went to Grandma Stinebaugh's 86th birthday. I hadn't yet had the pleasure of meeting her so it was nice to finally do so. What a wonderfully nice lady, so sweet and so welcoming. I'm glad I went because it gave me a chance to spend time with the majority of Tom's family. We aren't always able to see them all so this was a treat.

Saturday night Caryl drove us to the Pohl house. We got to spend the evening with them and Jen made her world famous pizzas. I say world famous because she started making them while they were in Japan. =) They are SO yummy. As I'm typing this I'm getting hungry just thinking of them. Mmmm... Hannah had lots of fun with Grace taking silly pictures on their computer. I felt bad for Hunter...the only boy in the house. I don't think he was to thrilled to have the extra girls in the house without Tom there to help balance it out.

Sunday was a lazy day, but we like those. Aunt Jen was nice and went out and got coffee, donuts and bagels for us to enjoy. We watched HSM 3 and Pretty in Pink while still in our jammies. My kind of day. Caryl came and picked us up around 4 and we headed out to Kenny & Robin's house to see their new puppy, Bella. The cutest poodle I've ever seen. I can't believe I just said that. Emerson didn't much care for Bella unless she was looking at her through the glass door. It was pretty cute, but I think that meeting Bella might have scarred her for life. =)

And just like that it was Monday, our day to go home. Leina brought Jakob over in the morning while she had an appointment in Coeur d' Alene so we got to squeeze in some extra Jakob time. Caryl and I had great intentions of playing cards while we were there and we didn't even get to finish one game. We started it but weren't able to finish it. If I remember correctly I'm pretty sure I was winning. We'll have to finish it when we're there next month, but I'm sure I still only had 15 points. =)

Our flight home was nice. We took off early, Emerson was happy, the plane had 50 people on it, if that, and we had the entire row to ourselves. In fact there wasn't anyone even close to us, we were in the middle of the plane surrounded by rows of empty seats. I kind of felt bad for the folks in first class who paid extra for nothing. =) Too bad for them.

We were all very excited to see Tom standing at the security door. Hannah ran as fast as she could to her Daddy, it was sweet. Emerson, if she hadn't been strapped into the stroller would have done the same, I'm sure. It's nice to be a whole family again even if we still won't be seeing much of Tom until the 16th.

I do have to mention that we missed my mom's birthday on Monday. We LOVE our Nonnie and hope you had a good day. With that said, I also feel the need to mention that I'm not feeling the family love. They all went out to dinner to celebrate, without us!! What's up with that?! If Susan or Becky had been gone or even Caitlin we would have celebrated another day. I see how it is. No love I tell ya, no love! =) OK...I've put my big girl panties on and am dealing with it.