Walker Family

Walker Family

Friday, December 30, 2011

The Crush Journal

I have four children, all of whom I adore. All of you parents out there need to understand one thing though. If you have older children and younger children you already know this. If not, you will know it soon enough. The older kids have a ginormous influence on the younger ones. My younger kids say and do things that my older ones would never have said or done. Now, in all fairness, the things they pick up on aren't always bad, sometimes they're good. Nevertheless, my funny for the week involves Sadie. For Christmas, Santa gave Sadie a princess notebook in her stocking. Upon seeing it, she announced to everyone, "A princess journal! Now I have somewhere to write down all my crushes where Ethan won't see them." My other children would never have known at age 5 what a crush was or been concerned about writing it somewhere. Jared and I were a little surprised by this, but not much more thought was given to it. That is, not until last night. Sadie came in my room and said, "Mom, can I show you my crush journal"? I was intrigued, so of course I said yes. Next, I was given specific instructions concerning the "crush journal". "You can't tell anyone who is in my crush journal, not even daddy. Can you do this?" I decided I was up to the challenge and agreed. Inside the "crush journal" you will find the names of all the boys Sadie has a crush on. It took every ounce of willpower inside of me not to laugh. I held it together and we made it through the list of her most recent loves. She left feeling quite pleased with herself. This morning I was asked if I kept the names a secret, luckily for me I had. I am a firm believer in not having favorites. Parents just shouldn't have them, period, the end. With that said, I will say this. I wish I had enjoyed my other children as much as I have enjoyed Sadie. I think it's because we knew she was our last, or maybe because we know enough now not to panic about every little thing that comes along. Either way, I'm learning to enjoy all the little things about my munchkins that I know someday I will miss. P.S. In case you're wondering, I can't tell you who the crushes are either. A girl's love life is serious business you know.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas 2011

I love everything about Christmas! We spend the entire month of December doing all things Christmas. Last year I found a new way for our family to celebrate the season. We spend seven nights during the month of December learning about the seven main characters in the nativity. We liken the story to ourselves and find something we can learn and apply in our own lives from these great people. It worked so well last year, that I did it again this year. It's officially a Walker family tradition. I love how it keeps us focused on the real reason for the season. Jesus Christ was born and lived a perfect life for us all to follow and to strive to emulate. He died so that we could all live again. What a fantastic message to hold to for the season and always. This year Jared and I decided to do things a little different with our gift giving. Our four little munchkins have been begging to go to Disneyland for quite a long time. After a lengthy discussion, we decided that a trip to Disneyland was a perfect Christmas gift. The catch? While we wish the tree in our backyard was a money tree, it turns out that it isn't. Shocker, I know! If we gave the kids a trip to Disneyland it meant there wouldn't be much more under the tree. I knew they wouldn't be disappointed to go, but we aren't going until the end of January, so there was always the worry that Christmas morning might be a little disappointing. Although I was a little worried, Jared insisted that it would be fine. So, we proceeded with our plan. Christmas morning when the kids opened their gift and realized what it was they erupted! There was screaming and yelling and jumping up and down. They all kept saying, "I can't believe it, I can't believe it!" It turns out Jared was right. (That's right, honey, I said it.) Even the day after, they are still talking about "the greatest Christmas ever." Grandpa and Grandma Allen gave each of the kids their own suitcase for the trip. In typical Sadie fashion, she began packing last night. After all, a girl always needs to be prepared.
I've been thinking about starting a family blog for a long time. After many suggestions from friends and family, I finally decided to go for it.