Monday, September 29, 2008

Bates Motel or Hill Estate????

This weekend we decorated the house for Halloween. The kids had so much fun finding every nook and cranny to stick a fake spider web in. After pulling all of the decorations out of the storage box, we realized that we had many many decorations for our old, very tiny, townhouse. But once they were all set up in our new big house it seemed there was barely enough to cover one shelf. And so we put all of the heads in the hill-walker family together and got our creative juices flowing.Chase pulled out this rubber skeleton and thought of the idea of making a noose to hang it from. Shilo ran upstairs and got a piece of yarn she had crocheted and made a noose. Shilo Took many strategic moments to figure out exactly where to place the green and purple spider webs, while chase took his time placing the fake plastic spiders in a spot where Gracie, the cat, would not attack them.I took the poster paint and had the idea to paint bloody hand prints and keep out signs on the window. I suggested we write something like help me or danger on the kids bedroom windows and was instantly shut down by chase saying you can put that on Shilo's window but my window is fine with nothing. So we stuck with just painting the living room window.Then Brandon was looking at the front of the house and suggested that we have good space now to hang some scary lantern lighting, and I thought that would look cool with a graveyard setting. And so we set off to see what we had to create headstones. We found some old gray plastic lids to some storage bins, that Brandon cut into headstone shapes. Then I took out the poster paint again and painted the words onto them. Chase wanted to for sure have a headstone for Hitler because he was the worst Jew of all. We had to explain to him what Hitler was and how it affected the Jews, he then agreed that made him even scarier and we should have his headstone. And we could not think of another really scary bad person so Shilo thought "some dude lies here" would be just as funny.After it was all said and done I think we all helped to create a pretty freaking scary Hill Estate...Muuahahaha!!!!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

I'm a big kid now

When I grow up I'm gonna be just like my cousin Chase!



All tuckered out after playing with Chase's big boy toys.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Angel, Sweetie, Bug, Little Monkey....

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet...
I just wanted to take a minute and spotlight on my baby girl. She really is a very special person, with a unique personality. She is smart, beautiful, talented, and artistic. Now of course I am a mom who is supposed to say these things no mater what, but as many of you know I am the type of mom who will tell it like it is, and so when I say this you know I really mean it. There are times when I could pack her up and ship her off to a foreign land, that's for sure, but then it seems the very next minute she is drawing an amazing picture, writing a beautiful poem, teasing and playing very well with her little brother, or making a very wise statement. She is growing up way to fast and sometimes I wish I could go back to the days when the Disney princess's and barbie dolls were the most important things in the world. Now with such issues as keeping healthy, choosing the right friends, puberty, and what to wear to the school dance (that's right she goes to dances now) I see her in a whole new light. She will always be my one and only baby girl, but I have realized that she is growing and will someday be someone else's girl, then wife, and then mother. It makes me happy to see what a strong and independent young lady she has become and know through all of the ups and downs to come she will remain strong and live her life to the fullest. I love you very much Shilo Kimberly Walker and want you to know that I will always be here for you no matter what. Oh yeah and before I forget, never, ever, ever forget....

badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger....mushroom, mushroom....snaaake, snaaake


P.S.
Look at Shilo's midterm she is shooting for a 4.0....


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Soccer time again.

As you all know one of my favorite seasons is soccer season. I love the competitiveness, even though they don't keep score. The workouts, even though the kids complain about practices. The games, even though half of the games you watch in the rain or even better the snow. And yes of course the yelling and cheering, this year i promised to keep the yelling and cheering to a positive note. So If any of you would like to join in all of this fun see the schedule below to experience this for yourself.Chase's games - Harry S. Truman Elementary
4639 S. 3200 W.
Shilo's games - Valley Jr. High
4195 S. 3200 W.

9/20 - Chase @ 9, Shilo @ 10:30

9/27 - Chase @ 9, Shilo @ 10:30

10/4 - Chase @ 9, Shilo @ 10:30

10/11 - Chase @ 9, Shilo @ 12

10/18 - Chase no game, Shilo @ 10:30

10/25 - Chase @ 9, Shilo @ 12

11/1 - Chase @ 9, Shilo @ 12

11/8 - Chase @ 9, Shilo no game

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Evanston Cowboy Days 2008


It's labor day weekend, and like usual we wanted to spend the weekend up at the cabin, and go to the rendezvous and rodeo. This is a once a year tradition that the kids have enjoyed for many years now. We arrived at the cabin Friday night around 8 p.m. and Grandpa had a large camp fire all ready waiting for us. As we gathered up all of the kids, Shilo, Chase, Aubrey, and of course Brandon, Grandma was putting together the "smores basket". This of course is a basket filled with Smarshmellows, chocolate, and gram crackers. We all headed down the hill in the dark to settle around the fire and pray that Shilo didn't spill the basket, Chase didn't burn himself, and Aubrey didn't fling the burning ball of marsh mellow at any ones face. It is such good times! "I need chocolate hurry!" yells Chase, running over as his marsh mellows falls off of his stick. "I just ate 4 marsh mellows how many carbs is that?"says Shilo, even though its pitch black and the writing on the bag is the size of a pin head."My tummy hurts!" moans Aubry as she shoves the 18th smore into her face. "Give me a pink one!" mimics Grandpa to tease Grandma because she bought the kids pink and white marsh mellows not thinking you could never tell them apart in the dark. These are the exciting things that take place and cause such chaos, but we will continue to do every year for the rest of our lives.

The next day Chase asks Grandma "What day is it?". "Saturday" replies Grandma, as Chase looks to the ground and moans "Ah man!" Grandma giggles and says "What day would you like it to be Chase?" "Thursday" replies Chase. Well that sure was a weird conversation. What is happening on Thursday that Chase would rather be doing? Oh well, whatever, silly kid. Just then I poke my head over the railing and state "Who's ready for the Rendezvous?" Chase got so excited and jumped up and yelled "Why is today Thursday?" Well, even though it wasn't Thursday we still decided to go to the Rendezvous. After taking hours and hours to get everyone ready and the cars all packed up, with people and all of the stuff the people needed, we headed down the mountain to Ft. Bridger where this fun filled event was going to take place. After a quick turn around, back to the cabin to get the always forgotten diabetes bag, it was back down the mountain to Ft. Bridger. We met Keena and Chandler at the bridge and spent the rest of the day walking through each tent filled with awesome treasures and stuff no ordinary person would need, but would absolutely want to buy. And then Chandler cried a little bit. After rocking, changing, and feeding him he fell fast asleep in the nifty belly contraption that took at least 3 to 4 people to hook up. As Keena would say... It takes one person to have a baby, but a village to raise one! We watched Indians dance, people play strange and exotic instruments, crazy people walk around in costumes, and stood in line for hours to get one morsel of food. But it is worth it every year.

The next day we went to the rodeo in Evanston. If you never thought that city folk couldn't hack the harshness of a rodeo, you better believe that our little family has now been baptized with the worst of conditions, and can truly be called rodeo cowboys. As we entered into the stands the wind started to pick up a little bit but nothing too bad. And just as we all got settled into our seats eating our rodeo dinners, the rain started to pour. And soon turned to hail, and back to rain, and wind. As we hid under the bleachers listening to the thunder and lightning, we patiently waited for the announcer to tell us where to go for Chase's mutin bustin. Of Course he was not first, or second, or even third, mutin bustin was listed as the sixth, yeah that's right, the sixth event. Slowly but surely the people in the stands started to dwindle down to the very few that would stick through anything for a good rodeo. After a few hours of waiting it was finally time to get Chase his number and get in line. As we stood in line the weather got worse and worse, and the mud got higher and higher. A bunch of the kids were crying telling there parents they wanted to go home, but not Chase. No way this kid came all this way to do some mutin bustin and he sure was not gonna leave, hail storm and all, without bustin some muntin. Long story short, with mud caked onto shoes, jackets, and hats, and every single inch of clothing soaked with rain, Chase braved the storm and earned himself 78 big points putting him in second place. Who says you cant be a true cowboy with brand name jeans, a bicycle helmet, a white zip up hoodie, and kedd slip on tennis shoes!