Swimming like a fish....

This picture cracks me up!  We had a great time at J.D.'s birthday party at the MU Rec. Center pool today.  Kirk jumped in the water and was ready to swim away in minutes.  He LOVED being in the water, and he wanted me to "let go" of him so he could swim by himself.  I gave him a few mini lessons on paddling his arms and kicking his feet. He did great, and wasn't afraid to jump off he wall or go under the water.  I think he's going to be a great little swimmer!

His new life jacket worked GREAT!  Thank you so much, Meme and Poppy!

Kirk loved the "vortex" pool that moved the water around in a circle.  It was cool, but I got dizzy after a few times around!

Kirk climbed on the stairs and the wall all by himself.

Kirk is showing off his muscles lifting this water weight....haha!

Isn't this cake cute?  I loved it.  I'm so happy we got to spend the day with our friends.  I'm also so glad Kirk loves the water like his Mama.  I can't wait for our trip to the beach and our summer at the pool.  We will enjoy the water together!

High Five For Friday

Okay, so I decided to try and keep up with my "high five for Friday" posts for now, and continue to list the top five things that happened this week.  I had a busy week at school, with our Easter egg hunt, our Art Show, and basically just keeping up with 20 preschoolers all week is a challenge (every week!).  I like reflecting back on all the positive things from the past week, and looking forward to what the next week (and Friday blog post) will bring.

Here are my top 5 things from the week, in no particular order:

1.  Kirk had his best music class yet.  We have been going to music class at MU with Miss Joni Pappas since Kirk was 9 months old.  I enrolled us because I know how important music and movement are to young kids and how it helps to build language, communication, coordination, and cooperation.  Kirk is one of the older kids in his class now, and he follows directions, sings the words to the songs, and does the movements without me prompting him.  He even tells Miss Joni the directions before she says them, like "okay, get up on your feet for some dancing!"  He used to crawl up my leg for me to hold him, and now he marches in front of me.  He is amazing to watch, and I am so thankful that we have been a part of Miss Joni's program for so long....she is wonderful, and puts up with Kirk "helping" her do just about everything each week!

2.  Kirk had his spring pictures taken.  He was a super model, of course, smiling on cue, and posing for every shot.  He is so fun to watch, and I am so thankful that Jeremy has conceded to allow me to drag him to photo sessions every 3 or 4 months!  I'll post pictures soon!

3.  We had our egg hunt at school this week since we are off for spring break next week.  I asked all the families to send in a dozen candy filled eggs (like I do every year).  I usually have a few families send in extra, and that helps to make up for the kiddos I have who don't bring any in (because they can't afford it, or no one at home read their notes....).  Anyway, this year I had the MOST eggs I've ever had as a teacher-516!  Can you believe that 19 kids hunted 516 eggs in a small grassy area outside our school?  It was crazy, and I am so thankful that I have such great families who sent in so much extra.  I only had one kiddo who didn't bring any eggs in, but he left with a backpack full of eggs.  I think most of the eggs went home empty, though....and I cleaned up candy wrappers for about 30 minutes after school.  What a fun day!

4.  In the midst of all our Easter and Art Show madness at school, I had been dealing with all of our Easter things....candy, buckets, eggs, etc., and one of my little guys came up to me and asked if another boy had brought a bucket to hold his eggs to school.  I told him that he hadn't, but that it was okay, I would find something for him to put his eggs in while we hunted.  He looked at me and said, "Mrs. Walker, if he doesn't have a bucket, I can share my bucket with him."  I almost cried.  What a sweet kid, and a kind gesture.  Just when we think there is no more good in the world, a little boy offers to share his bucket.  I'm thankful to his parents for raising such a compassionate kid, and I'm thankful that I have gotten to be his teacher this year.  What a blessing.  I hope he always wants to share his bucket.

5.  Friday is my last day of work for 9 days!  Spring break!  Whoo hoo!  I plan on  hanging out at home with Kirk, catching up on some spring cleaning, and visiting Rachael and her family in Lexington.  I am definitely looking forward to a week off!


I hope you had a great week.  Take some time to reflect on your "high five!"

Spring pictures

Seriously...he's the cutest little boy ever, right?  I snapped this picture right before Kristi started chasing Kirk all over the place to take his spring pictures.  I love this shirt and the dump truck, and we filled it with Easter eggs for the pictures. He posed great, and did almost everything Kristi asked him to do the first time she asked.....haha!  I can't wait to see the pictures, there should be some really great ones.  He loved loading and dumping the eggs.  He even posed with his Easter basket, and his precious stuffed Peter Rabbit.  Check back on my blog for picture previews, Kristi usually sends "sneak peeks" a couple of days after our session!

After our picture session, we went to eat at Bob Evans where 15% of the proceeds tonight went to support "Caden's Crusaders," a group formed by our friends Kerri, Jon, and Caden Ours to support Cystic Fibrosis research.  Caden was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at birth, and we have supported the efforts of this team since his very first National Great Strides Walk in Ritter Park (2010).  We were happy to come out and support this wonderful little guy and his amazing family!  Kirk enjoyed his pancakes and even ate a little bacon.   He loved visiting with his friends Riley, Brady, Kendall, and Caden.  We look forward to walking again this year as part of this HUGE team of supporters!

*For those of you who may be wondering, "Where in the world did Kelly Walker get that super cute shirt for Kirk made?"  the answer is simple.....ESTY!  I shop the site all the time, and my "favorites" list is huge.  I look at everything from homemade dolls to jewelry, and of course clothes for Kirk.  My friend Cortney who has made several things for Kirk before, has a two month old baby boy (and a 2 1/2 year old boy) to keep up with and hasn't been sewing much lately (although she has agreed to make a Thomas the Train shirt for our "Day Out With Thomas" trip in June....thanks Cort!).  The Easter shirt turned out great, and most of the shop owners will do whatever you ask them to do.  I would suggest asking several details about the shirt sizing, because every shop uses different brands of shirts, and of course pay attention to the reviews.  I LOVE (I cannot stress those shouty capital letters enough!) personalized, one-of-a-kind things, and ETSY is just the place to find whatever you need to be an original creation!  Go shopping.......NOW!!!!!

High Five For Friday

The Walkers have had a busy two weeks!  I have a few pictures to post, and I will get those on here later.  I have been following a few other blogs that I found via Pinterest, (I am TOTALLY addicted and I can't wait for my summer vacation to get here so I can make all of the crafts and recipes that I have "pinned!"), and several of them write a post every Friday called "High Five For Friday."  I think this is really cute, and a great way to reflect over the ups and downs of the past week.  I like to focus on the "ups" so I will hopefully be able to give anyone who reads this a positive version of my week.....
So, here's my "High Five For Friday".....the top five things of the past week, not ranked in any order of importance, just however they popped in my head.....

1.  Kirk finally asked to wear underwear.  We have been "potty battling" for a while (I can't call it potty training, because it's basically a battle of wills between Jeremy, Kirk & I) and he actually woke up Sunday and asked to wear underwear.  It of course had nothing to do with any new trains that he was promised for working harder on using the potty (he is obsessed with Thomas the Train!).  Yea Kirk!

2.  In one week's time at work, I "helped" my students paint 20 small pots with chalkboard paint and I hot glued ribbon and raffia ribbons to the tops of them.  We drew, illustrated, and laminated 20 drawings of their mothers, and I sprayed 20 painted rocks with clear sealant, hot glued bezels to the back and strung them for necklaces.  Needless to day, we had Mom's Day this week at school, and I pulled it off.  With some amazingly cute chalkboard painted pots, that of course my kids wrote super cute messages on in chalk for their Mamas.  Who wouldn't fall in love with a pot that said "I love Mom?"  Yea for me, and my awesome school kiddos!

3.  Kirk had an ear infection this week, and was sick (which means I missed a day of work, which makes all my craft activities at school even more impressive!) and pretty pitiful on Tuesday evening/night.  In his fevery sadness, he asked me to "rock me, Mama."  I was so sad that he was sick, but my heart melted to complete mush when my big boy asked me to rock him again, and meant it.  I stared down at his little face and saw my little baby asleep in my arms again.  Gosh, he's growing way too fast.

4.  Morehead State was on spring break this week, so I had no homework for my class.  That was great!

5.  I finished another week of the school year, and summer break is soon approaching.  I only have 12 more days left with my kiddos at school, and my last day of work will be May 9th.  These warm days have made me so excited to see the school year come to an end and start hanging out at home with my boys.  We are also about two months away from our Myrtle Beach vacation!  Bring on summer!

I hope you can take some time to reflect on your "high fives" for the week.  I actually like thinking about the most positive things about the last week.  Just when you think nothing good has happened, a  reflection will make you appreciate the great things in your life.  The weekend is here, and we have a birthday party to attend on Saturday, and Jeremy and I will see the HUNGER GAMES movie on Saturday night!  I am so excited!  On that positive note, "May the odds be EVER in your favor!"  Enjoy the weekend!

A little bit of snow....

We were so happy to wake up Monday morning to snow!  It wasn't a lot of snow, but enough to cover our grass and for Kirk to think it was really fun.  He tromped around the yard, making "paths" in the snow before Gramma and Holden came to play with us.

Gramma Debi "helped" Kirk and Holden make a snowman.  Kirk REALLY liked the snow shovel that Gramma Debi brought over, and he kept saying he was "doing his work" and he was a "very useful shoveler!" (I think he's watching too much Thomas the Train!!).  They had a great time playing together!

The finished snowman, that took almost all the snow in our front yard to make!  They liked him, and they were a little disappointed when he melted about an hour later!  They had fun while it lasted, anyway!

I had a day off school today, partly because of this little snow, but also because a terrible tornado hit the area around Louisa, KY, where I teach amazing kiddos each day.  Several families lost their homes, and many have been affected by the destruction, power loss, and impassable roads.  Please keep the people in this area in your thoughts and prayers as they begin to rebuild their lives.  I know the people of Lawrence County, KY will continue to keep their arms around them and help each other in any way that they can.  I love the culture of this place, and that is why I continue to drive there each school day....to be a part of it.  I have never experienced people who are so kind and caring, and I truly believe that being a part of that is a blessing and my mission.  They will survive, and we will all be reminded of God's love and kindness through helping one another.  I am thankful for the rescue workers, churches, and anyone who extends a hand.  We will all need to help the little ones regain a sense of security and normalcy.  I know I've hugged Kirk and Jeremy a little tighter over these few days and thanked God several times for our safety.  Please keep these folks and everyone touched by this disaster in your thoughts and prayers.

Night time Mash Up

So I decided to video Kirk singing his "friends" to sleep, because it is so cute and I'd caught him doing it a few times.  He usually makes it all the way through one song, but this time he sang just a few verses of the songs I sing to him each night.  It is so precious!  If you listen close, you can tell that he's singing our special version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," and "You are My Sunshine," and "Skinna-marinky-dinky-dink"  to his "snuggly Buzz."  I love singing these songs each night, and I love that Kirk is now singing them to his "friends" and rubbing their backs just like I rub his.  Does it get much sweeter than this?

For anyone interested in our "special" version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (in full length), here it is:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

What a wonderful boy (or girl) you are!

From your head, 

to your toes, (point to head and toes)

Perfect little (point, touch, and say any body part, ex: tummy)

and a button nose!

twinkle, twinkle, little star

What a wonderful boy you are!

I like to point to body parts that he may not know (but does now) like wrist, ankle, hip, thigh, etc.  It's a great way to personalize the song, and learn new body parts at the same time! I also say "I love you" to his body parts and kiss them before bed sometimes.  I just say, "I love your hair!" and kiss it!  I go on and on, kissing him all over.  He loves when I "love" his eyes, neck, and tummy!  Now, Kirk says "I love you" to my parts and kisses them too!  I love having special rituals with my little boy and I could cry a thousand tears thinking that he won't want me to kiss him all over in just a few years.  I plan to savor every moment, and every special kiss with my wonderful boy!