Prima Ballerina

Today was Mia's first day of Ballet class. She was so cute in her little slippers and leotard. When I told the lady at the dance store that we needed a size 7 she thought I was nuts. I don't think she knew they made them that small. But they fit Mia perfectly.

She had a great time dancing around and getting to do fun things like the balance beam, somersaults and just being "girly"

Sleeping Innocence

When these two are asleep it may be the only time they are both innocent

Phrase you won't see on a fortune cookie

Today is my birthday and tomorrow is Trent's so we decided a celebratory dinner was in order. We let Trent pick the restaurant, knowing full well it would be one of our favorites, Cafe East. A local Chinese buffet, that has soft-serve for dessert(real authenic chinese huh?). Now, Mia is well known here. All the waitresses know her by name and try to get her to speak Mandarin with them. They were astonished one day when she said "Ne-how"(hello) back to one of them.(I didn't tell them she learned that from Dora)

Anyway, we have had some trouble in the past with the amount of care they try to give her. The waitresses would come by and clean her tray, feed her bites of food, glare at me when her mouth needed wiping, etc. We almost decided not to go back there because we couldn't have a decent conversation with all of the "chinese ladies" around, but the food was so good that David devised a plan. We would ask for the table all the way in the front right next to the steam tables. That way the managers would see them all "standing around." His plan has worked for quite a while now. Until tonight.....

The waitress was an older Chinese woman and we remember her well. She was the one who almost sent Zane into a panic attack about 2 years ago. We were all sitting around the table and she was asking us why we wanted another baby? why China? etc. Finally she looked at Zane, smiled, pointed to him and said, "Oh! he could marry her(Mia) and you will have One BIG HAPPY FAMILY" Once we resuscitated Zane we explained to her that would not be happening. She looked a little confused and walked away.

Well tonight, we had "BIG happy family" waiting on us again. She looked at Mia and said "She will be beautiful when grows up" I thought it was a very nice compliment until....she said,"When China girls are all scrunched up as baby they are Ugly, but then get big and will be beautiful" "Your girl was Ugly, but it OK now because she getting big and will be beautiful" Well it took all David had to stay seated. Don't worry he defended her honor very nicely. Not quite sure how much of a tip she got but I bet it wasn't much.

** Please, no posses need to be formed, Mia's dad has this under control**

Hmmm.... What should I do today?

Last Saturday David and I left Nana & Paw Paw's to get back for church on Sunday.(He's teaching a Sunday School class now) Well the kids had not quite gotten their visit out and wanted to stay a little longer. This of course didn't bother me and Nana said she wanted to keep them. So for FOUR days we had the house to ourselves. David had to work so I was left to my own daily agendas. All I can say is Wow! was it quiet around here. I purposefully ate on paper plates and got many take out dinners. We caught up on several movies we wanted to see and I thought I would give a little review here in case anyone is interested,(even if you're not, here they are)
The Guardian - Great movie, 2 thumbs up. Kevin Costner played a coast guard rescue diver. He gets injured and is forced to teach cadets at the academy. don't want to ruin any more for you, but it is worth renting.
One afternoon I went to the actual movie theater - After much debate and angst I saw Evan Almighty. Now, I was very concerned that this would be a purely sac religious movie. I had heard though from another Christian friend that it was really funny. So, I read some on-line Christan reviews, and headed for the theater.(fully prepared to walk out) I was pleasantly surprised and in fact a little encouraged at how good this movie was. There was no vulgar language, crude jokes or making fun of God or Noah. In fact the message was very good.

I also rented (do you see a pattern here?) Miss Potter. It is the dramatization of the life and love story of Beatrix Potter. (You know the one that wrote the Peter Rabbit books). I thought it was a good movie, very clean, even little kids could watch and young girls would probably like the almost Cinderella love story.
Now I did do more than watch movies, I shopped for new bedroom furniture, Painted the master bathroom in one day, returned a few purchases, made a few new purchases, washed the car, and enjoyed myself.
**Disclaimer**I in no way mean for this post to conjure feelings of jealousy(for you) or loathing(for me). It is meant only to give a prime example of what type of grandparents we should be. The kind that help out, often. The kind that recognize that a well-rested mother(&father) is so much better than a severely stressed out one. Thanks Mom and Dad, I enjoyed my 4 days immensely.

See you soon.... Not Goodbye

Here's a picture you don't want to see when driving up to a friend's house..... My friend Debbie and her family are moving to College Station.(tomorrow) sniff, sniff... Debbie is one of the first people I met here and we have become really good friends. Our first meeting was at the neighborhood pool the first summer we were here. Our oldest kids both started Kindergarten the same year. I talked her into carpooling and we've been on the road with each other's kids for the last five years. All of the kids love her. In fact, when we first came home with Mia she would rather have Debbie hold her than me. Mrs. Debbie would drive into the driveway Mia & would run out to the car for her to pick her up. We've had a lot of funny and teary-eyed discussions in the front yard. Diet cokes and theological discussions we've had it all. I'm really going to miss Debbie. She has been a true answer to prayer for me. Zane said "Mom, we're going to have to move" I asked why and he said, "Well, we either need to move to Mrs. Gayla, Valarie, or Darla's neighborhood or you'll need to make a new friend" I think he realizes how important a REAL friend is. Thankfully the drive to see each other is only about 2.5 hours.

Here I am with Debbie after a tearful discussion, thankfully the packers had not put away the kleenex yet.

Blast from the past

Mom and I spent last week cleaning out her closets and organizing for a garage sale. A lot of reminisicing as we went made the work more fun. Below are some of the "treasures" we discovered as we went. This was a little gown that I wore growing up.

Kaylee's modeling one of my old "bad"- remember bad meant good back then- shirts. I was cool and probably wore this with cut offs - the real kind- and those sandals with the white leather straps between the toes.

We found a whole collection of shirt tales. Remember these little cartoon animals that solved mysteries every Saturday morning.

Our favorite find of the week was another Sea Wee. We knew of some that we had. The kids still play with them in the tub when we go to Nana's houe. But Mom was digging through a bag of Barbie clothes and discovered the blue and white haired Sea Wee. We were both so excited....It's the small things, really it is.....

Granny made matching robes for my cousin Amy and I. It washed well and Kaylee enjoyed modeling it. OK, Trent enjoyed modeling it too but we won't publish that picture....

I also found a barrette with ribbons on it that hung down about 12" It was made with black and white ribbon and had tri-beads on each end. I wore it in my hair most of the evening. The kids thought I looked "cool" It brought back memories of the skating rink, pickles, and slumber parties. All I needed was my trapper keeper to write down my feelings with a purple pen.

The Beach

Schlitterbahn

We just got back home from a few relaxing days in Galveston. We rented a little cottage a block from the beach. On Tuesday we had a fun day at Schlitterbahn Galveston. This was our first time there and we really enjoyed it. It was a LOT smaller than the water park in New Branufels but it was just as much fun. In fact, I think we rode almost all of the slides and I really felt like we got our money's worth. I don't like feeling like I missed half the attractions when I leave.

A really nice thing about the park was that there were only a few rides that the little kids couldn't do. Most of them said 42" OR accompanied by a parent. So we put a life jacket on Mia and away we went. Mia was a opposed to getting her face wet which is hard to stay away from at a WATER park. But she came along on all the rides with us.....screaming or not. A favorite attraction by 5/6 of us was the lazy river. After about 10 min. David said "there is nothing LAZY about this river" He was right! There were rapids and waves and lots of twists and turns. After the first turn we got separated from David and Mia and it took about 20 min for them to finally float back around to us. We learned quickly to all hold on to each other's tubes.

New Look, Same Old Blog

Some of you knew it was coming. I had to do something to re-vamp the blog, especially when certain other someones go and have their blog professionally done (cough, Davis Family, cough)

As usual, I always try to do it myself and save a little money. So, I spent most of the afternoon trying to get a funky little title on the top of my page. And it still needs some tweaking but I'm pretty proud of it. Let me know what you think, leave me a comment at the bottom of this post, I'm open to suggestions!

Speaking of doing it yourself, one thing I can't do myself is fill a cavity. I went to the dentist today because I had a suspicious looking spot on a molar. Come to find out it's not a cavity but upon X-ray a cavity was spotted elsewhere. Because of some insurance issues I don't have dental insurance any more so filling the one cavity is over $300. Added to today's total of $200. That is one expensive tooth. So, if anyone out there is a dentist and wants to trade some sewing, monogramming or cooking, for the services(heck I'll even throw in babysitting) , Let's Deal!!!!!

Red White Blue and You

We spent a soggy 4th of July by attending the local parade and then having a great BBQ lunch. Lunch was exceptional, Ribs cooked to perfection, brisket seasoned and smoked just right, add some potato salad, cole slaw and sweet tea and you've got the best lunch ever. Thanks Pappa's BBQ, we'll be back again soon.

The kids loved the parade. Trent and Kaylee would compare how many pocketfuls of candy each had collected. At one point Trent turned to Kaylee and said "This is better than........ANYTHING"

Zane rode on the Boy Scout float. The premise of the float was to help cool down the crowd. They asked people if they wanted to be soaked and then sprayed away. The baby pools were there to refill the supersoakers. However, this year most people were already soaked by the constant "drizzly drip" from the sky.

Blueberry Pickin'

We finally got a nice rain-free day to go Blueberry pickin' The kids had a great time competing for the "biggest" blueberry. We picked about 5 pounds. Well, they weighed out about 5 lbs that doesn't count the ones that didn't make it into the bucket. Mia didn't do much picking. It's hard to pick blueberries attached to someone's hip.

Follow along

For those of you who enjoy reading blogs, I have been faithfully reading the Chapman blog and thought some of you might find it enjoyable. It is the blog of Mary Beth Chapman(and her husband Steven) The family is on vacation in Hawaii and then on to China and uttermost parts of the world. You can follow along here:
www.chapmanchannel.typepad.com/asiaandbeyond

now don't go get so engrossed that you forget to follow the Walling family because while we are not Rockstars we too are pretty interesting... You agree right? right?

Would it quit raining already?

This has been the strangest summer ever. Just when you think it's a great day to get in the pool, the sky clouds over and it thunders just enough to have the lifeguards blow their whistle to exit the pool. The kids are going stir-crazy and frankly so am I.
So with ominous skies again overhead today I thought it would be "fun" to go to Chick-fil-a for lunch. I could get a good sandwich and the kids could play a while on the indoor slides. I was quite wrong on the "fun" part. I think everyone burst into tears at least once during the 45 min. dining experience...I was close but held it in for sake of appearances.
All I really wanted was my sandwich. Not only did I choose to do this I had to go and drag Gayla into the pit with me. Although, some part of me knows she wasn't quite as exasperated as I, due to the constant giggles under her breath. You know the kind where it's really not appropriate to laugh but you're just so glad it's happening to someone else and not you. All I can say is thank goodness for friends who don't judge you on one time experiences, they give you an overall rating.
On the way home I began to reflect on possible causes for this type of atypical behavior for my crew. I think it is a compound problem.
#1 the kids,except Trent, have been at Nana and Paw Paw's for a week& are tired
#2 I have only had one child to 'tend to all week and I got a little spoiled. So we are all trying to get back in the right "pecking order" and I am trying my best to end up on top. It's a struggle for all of us.
Now, I am home and everyone is either sleeping or resting.... I will go and eat my sandwich, that's all I really wanted in the first place.

The big surgery

All smiles before the big operation. Trent had his tonsils and adnoids removed on Tuesday.

After surgery...... my poor little man... The only thing he complained about was having this IV in his arm. They started the IV once he was asleep and he woke up with this bandage.

After 10a.m. all the kid channels(actually only one-PBS) went off at the hospital. So dad saved the day by bringing the laptop and Trent played Webkinz with Zane. It really helped to keep him distracted

As my pediatrician once told me, "Diagnosing kids is similar to veterinary work, sometimes you just have to guess" Well looking at this picture leads me to guess that Trent is really beginning to feel better.

Dog(&cat) Days of Summer

Trent tiptoed into the kitchen and whispered,"Mom, come quick and bring the camera"

I'm so proud....he's recognizing picture worthy moments. Before long he'll be blogging as well. I guess he needs to learn how to read and write first.

Mia's 3rd Dora Birthday

Nana worked hard to make Mia this really cute Dora cake. Mammie helped also. It sure was nice to show up on Saturday morning and everything was all ready for Mia's party that evening.

Who wouldn't love playing this game? You can win tons of tickets and Paw Paw feeds the coins in for you.

Mia opens 2 baby dolls from her cousin Jonah.

Mia's present from Nana and Paw Paw got lots of smiles and giggles

Happy 2nd Gotcha Day

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary of Mia's Gotcha Day. What an emotional day it was 2 years ago. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were flying to China. However, Mia has grown and developed so much it feels like she's been with us forever. June 13,2005June 13, 2007

and Happy Birthday to Nana today.... We have the best Nana in the world!

Day 2 of SCW

Here's the crew the Wallingmobile transports to VBS each day. More swimming this afternoon, with a trip to the Vet sandwiched in between.

Day 1 of Super cousins Week

Zane and Nickolas had fun making their Tie Dye T-shirts.

After a great morning of VBS we spent the afternoon at a friend's pool. The kids had a great time doing splash contests, Marco Polo and sneakers.

A night with Steven Curtis Chapman

Last Friday night we had the honor of seeing Steven Curtis Chapman live at an event downtown. It was such an awesome night for us because we were able to take all of the kids. They had never been to any type of concert before. The kids went nuts because the first song he sang was "Live Out Loud" They couldn't believe this was the same song we have listened to over and over again in the car. There was a free concert to support The Source for Women, which is a crisis pregnancy center, and a classmate of Zane's - mother is on the board of directors. Zane was most impressed because we had VIP tickets.
SCC did such a great job. It was just him and his guitar. He played and talked and shared his heart for adoption. Which of course is so close to our hearts. We were even privileged to hear one of his new songs that will be released on his newest album, the song was called "Cinderella" I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. What a great guy, I hope one day I can have just an ounce of his passion for finding homes for orphans.

Sleeping Beauties

Or should I title this picture "Fly Catchers?"

BOGO Cats

So did you ever think the animal shelter would have a Buy One Get One Free Special on Kittens? We took a trip down to our local shelter to check out the kittens. (Our black cat, Molly, was hit by a car 2 months ago. The kids have been wanting another kitten but I was trying to wait until school was out and we would be home for a while.) So today was the day! We found the white and orange kitten first and then Zane really liked the black and white kitten. They both kept meowing hysterically at us. The orange one even tapped Kaylee on the shoulder from inside the cage. We were only going to adopt one but Zane really wanted the one "with the little mustache"

So, after some deliberation, cell phone calls to Dad and promises to help mom we brought home TWO...... Of course the workers are trained well and know just when to throw comments into the conversation like "They really do better in pairs" "The price is the same for 1 or 2" "If you get one now and then try to introduce another kitten later to an adult cat it could be bad"

So here we are home with Izzy and Webster. Izzy is the Black and white female and Webster is the Orange and white male. Both have been respectivley neutered and spayed. David and I had different ideas about the name for the Mustache cat..... I voted for Groucho and David voted for Adolf.

There has been one major advantage, the amount of time spent holding a cat has been increased.

That was THEN this is NOW

It seems like just yesterday this little guys were waddling into our lives and now their almost full grown. (OK so it was almost yesterday) Man do Ducks Grow fast or what?

We took them yesterday to a pond near our house and released them into the wild. They liked swimming in the baby pool so much we knew it was time to let them go. Plus they were beginning to annoy the dog. For the last few weeks the ducks and dog have been loose together in the backyard. Sometimes the ducks would get a little to close to the back door and Rocket would chase them back to their corner of the yard.

The release went well. Except they didn't want to leave us. We rode our bikes to the pond. (David pulled the baby cart with a rubbermaid containing ducks) When it was time to leave they huddled up near the bikes. We had to take them further out and stay for quite a while until they got use to swimming in the pond. They made some new duck friends and they didn't look back.

A cool thing we saw there was a mother duck and her 8 baby ducklings. Then when we walked the ducks farther we spotted another mother duck and 8 more baby ducklings. Apparently it's a family pond.......