**Pumpkin Carving Walker Style**

Monday night, after Hugh got home and we got finished with dinner and bath, we broke out the pumpkin carving necessities. As soon as we opened the bag, Houston started clapping his hands and grabbing all the pieces. We didn't go traditional style with all the mess, we went kid friendly and easy for daddy. We let Houston choose between each body part-he would name them after us as we poked them in the pumpkin. He was quite satisfied with the end product. And so, a clean tradition is born.

Couldn't resist these cute pumpkin pjs. If you think this is cute, wait until you see him in his costume......

My two favorite Walkers....all the rest of you are pretty special, too.

And, finally, a shout out to all you Twilight fans-vampire tater. Have a good one and be ready for some cute costume pictures!

For Uncle Chad....

because he loves the color orange. And we think he's a pretty neat guy. We love you guys-Chad, Rhonda, Britton, Landon, and Easton. See you soon.

How I spent my weekend......

with a sick baby. From Friday until Monday night, this is pretty much how he looked. We did make it to church and that was our only outing for the weekend. No prayer breakfast, no Grossology, no Halloween party......a weekend with a crying, fussy baby who coughed until he made himself sick. 5 times. The one good thing about it is that it meant extra snuggles, lovin', and hugs. Rhonda, is it just me, or does he remind you of Easton in this top picture? Hopefully, we are on the road to recovery.

Busy Weekend

Wow! It has been a busy week around the Walker household. Hugh's schedule is finally beginning to slow down (thankfully) but he has not had any difficulty staying busy. This past weekend, we had a nice dinner Sunday evening with the McClain family, the Davis family, and Hugh's friend Kerrick Jackson who is a scout with the Washington Nationals. Thank you, Kerrick, for the flowers and yummy dessert. Always love a chance to hang out with friends.

Hugh and Kerrick

Also this weekend, Hugh was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Jacksonville High School. Here he is signing autographs for some kids that were there. He gave an awesome speech and remembered to thank his parents, and mention all his brothers and sisters. While he was talking, Houston was clapping the whole time and yelling "Dada"! I wish I had known Hugh back in his glory days, to be able to see all the amazing things I only get to hear stories about. I'm proud of you! The guy in the background behind Hugh in the blue shirt played 5 years for the Dallas Cowboys! (That one's for you Lewis!)

The Crossroads Fall Festival was also Saturday. (Like I said, we've been busy!) I know many people put in lots of work to make it happen and be so much fun-shout outs to Cristi Hillis and Dana Hewitt for their hard work! The kids had a variety of activities to choose from-pumpkin bowling, face/hair painting, target shooting, bean bag toss, train ride, and treasure hunt. It was a beautiful day-perfect weather to hang out and enjoy friends. I love this picture of Maggie and Houston. I can just her little voice, "I wanna hold him". She has been a Houston fan since the day he was born and she couldn't be sweeter. Love you Mags (as your mom calls you).


Now, the official business to report. I was a chili taster for the cookoff. Interesting for sure-6 different pots of chili, 6 very different tastes. #4-the Gillams, was the victor in the end. My good friend Lesley and I giggled all through it because Steve kept clearing his palate. Lots of fun with great friends! Have a good rest of the week!

Hayless hayride, tagged, and funny story

We had a great idea of having a hayride/cookout today, but it didn't quite go as planned. Dad set out to find hay and after making 5 stops, still came up empty. My nieces, Anna and Katie, were happy to pile blankets in the trailer and go for a ride. When we got back we roasted hot dogs and "marshrellos" as they are lovingly called.

I love this picture of my two nieces-they are the sweetest and growing up way too fast. Anna is in 2nd grade and Katie is in kindergarten. They are both into riding their bikes from their house to nana's house and Katie is ready to get rid of those training wheels!
This is the cutest picture of Barrett. He would have eaten that whole bag of marshmallows if we had let him. He didn't roast them, he just liked eating them off the stick like everybody else.
Katie with a tripledecker.
Anna was the expert marshmallow blower offer when they caught on fire.
Houston got his fair share and loved them. We will never get that boy fumigated from the smell of smoke. He had a blast though.

Now, tagged. Sorry, Holly it took me so long, but here goes. 7 things about me you didn't know:

1. i sang "I'm Too Sexy" standing on a table at a chinese restaurant when i was 17 for $200.00 dollars.

2. i had a bag phone 15 years ago!

3. i ran my mom's car through the end of the carport when i was learning to drive. i was 23. just kidding. all i remember was i crushed my dad's new smoker and my brother was singing "Pour Some Sugar on Me" in the backseat.

4. i have been to England 2 times and on 4 cruises.

5. i was in the homecoming court in 5th grade.

6. when i was little i wanted to swim with dolphins for a living.

7. i threw up pepto bismol out of my nose in 3rd grade.

Now, to a funny story. Sorry this is a long post, but this is great. Mike Archer, our pastor called me one day last week to give me a message that a man named Adam had been trying to reach me. He gave me an 800 number, extension, and reference number. I was really puzzled and had NO idea why this man would be calling Mike to get to me. So, I called Adam. He told me he was a debt collector and that I had an outstanding debt to ASU for $1, 733.00. I told him there must be some mistake-I graduated 10 years ago and had paid off all my loans 6 years ago. He asked if the last four of my social was blah, blah, blah, and I said "no" it was blah, blah, blah. I told him there was another Mist Walker in Little Rock I had been confused with before. He said sorry for bothering me, he had the wrong person. The best part of the story is this: I asked him how he had found me through our preacher. He said he had done a search for me online and I was listed as the women's leader for our church, so he called the pastor to find me. That good ol' Phillip Weese does TOO good with the church website!!

Simply Thankful

Today was a beautiful day and it was even better that we all got to spend it together having fun. Hugh met me at school to pick Houston up and he was excited to see both of us come to get him. We do that as often as we can. We got home and we all stayed outside until we brought his dirty tail in to give him a bath. We played golf, walked in the woods, mowed the grass, read books, picked up sticks and leaves and just enjoyed each other. Here are some of my favorite pictures from today.

Houston in the woods in the backyard. He had a blast acting like a cross between Daniel Boone and Zorro, picking up sticks and swinging them around wildly in the air. Cute stuff.
Houston wore his camo pants and shoes to school today.
Our front porch decked out for fall.
My favorite tree in town I've seen so far just happens to be right across the street. This picture doesn't do it justice-it is beautiful. I leave my kitchen window open so I can take peeks all day long.
Houston and daddy enjoying a good book in the front yard.

Fall is my favorite time of year and these kinds of days make it even better.