My Letter to Faith.

Dear Faith,

September 11, 2001 started out as any other day in the Walton house, but by the day's end everything had changed. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. We were living in Marion, Arkansas. Faith, you were eighteen months old. You and I were home alone that day because Daddy was in Ruston, LA for work. We got up and got dressed. I dropped you off at your daycare, West Memphis Christian School, and I went to work at Artcraft Converters, Inc in Memphis, Tennessee. I was early for once, but there was a stalled truck on the Memphis/Arkansas Bridge so I ended up late again.
I was about to turn off of Crump Avenue onto South Fourth Street when I heard on the radio (KIX 106) that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. I remember thinking "that doesn't sound good." I got to work and turned on my radio there. Details were not clear at the time but soon another plane crashes into the second World Trade Center Tower. I knew then that this was an acto of terrorism. Soon everybody at work had heard the news. The phones were quiet as no one was calling. We turned up radios and listened. Someone found a 5-inch black and white television and we turned it on. We all stood around and watch the horror unfold. Another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Another plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania (why a field? We found out later that there were heroes aboard that kept the hijackers from reaching their final destination)
As we sat there watching the television, a tower collapses, only two hours after the plane had crashed into it. There were still people inside. Minutes later the second tower collapses. So many lives were lost.
Your grandmother called me at work wanting to make sure we were ok. I called your Daddy but it took so long to get through to him. I finally got to hear his voice and know he was ok. I left work that evening and when I picked you up from daycare. I held you close.
On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacked America. They thought they could tear America apart but they did the opposite. The very next day, the red, white and blue of the American flag was flying at half mast but proudly outside of businesses, schools, homes and on cars. The colors were proudly worn by every American. The terrorists brought Americans closer then they ever were.

From Your Loving Mother

M.I.A.

For the one or two readers who might be reading my blog, you might have noticed that I haven't been doing a lot of blogging over the past few months. In fact, the last real thing I blogged about was our trip to Chicago and the first days of school for the kids and that is it.

So what has been going on? Nothing very exciting unfortunately. In October, we had a family vacation in Heber Springs, AR. Then it was Halloween. John Derrick was Batman again and Faith was a Spider Queen. November was the month that John Derrick turned 6 years old. December was a very hectic month that went by in a blur. We had to take John Derrick to the emergency room one night when he has a very swollen lymph node on his neck. It turned out to be strep. He missed two days of school. We had a white Christmas for the first time in 19 years. It was very beautiful. John Derrick got a Nintendo DS from Santa and Faith got a keyboard. January was a snow filled month. There was a snow every week during the month. February just finished. There was snow and stomach bug and Kevin lost his job and got to spend the WHOLE month at home. Faith has a Literacy Night at school and she dressed up as a not-so-curvy Dolly Parton. Now it is the beginning of March. Faith will turn eleven in a week and it will be Spring Break. Hopefully Kevin will begin a new job soon.

That is the last six months in a nutshell. Maybe I will blog a little more now.

Merry Christmas, 2010

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Kindergarten

John Derrick has started Kindergarten!!!!  He is at Coles Ferry Elementary and his teacher is Mrs. Rachel Denton.  I am so happy to have Mrs. Rachel as his teacher.  Mrs. Rachel graduated from Friendship Christian School where I went.  She was in my younger brother's class.  Her mother worships at the Maple Hill Church of Christ with us.  This is the first year that I have known one of my children's teachers.

John Derrick is doing great in school.  He was not too happy to start school.  On the first phase in day that he had, he cried.  He just boo-hooed and I had to leave him there crying.  As a mother's day out teacher, I have often told my parents that their child will be fine if they cry as mom is leaving.  Now I realize that maybe the child will be fine but the parents have the roughest time.  But John Derrick was fine on that first day.  He is still fine and I am seeing that he is really learning a lot of things.  He is making new friends and is telling me everything that he is learning.  It should be a good year for him.

A Daughter, a New Sister and a 5th Grade Student

I am proud to say that my daughter, Faith is also my sister in Christ.  Faith gave her life to God by being baptized on Sunday, August 1, 2010.  Faith has always had a tender heart and she has wanted to be baptized for a while now.  When it was brought up, we (Kevin and I) talked to her seriously to make sure that she understood what it meant to become a Christian.  She was very sincere and we knew that she was ready to take that step.  So during the Sunday night worship, she went forward, confessed that Jesus is the Son of God and her granddaddy baptized her.  It was such a special moment that she was able to share with all of her friends and family.

The day was a good day.  That morning, her cousins, Emilynne and Nathaniel, also gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized.  Faith and I went to the Antioch church of Christ to witness their special time.  Granddaddy also baptized Nathaniel and my brother Marty, their dad, baptized Emilynne.

This morning was Faith's first day of 5th grade.  She started a new school.  She is now going to Castle Heights Upper Elementary.  She has to wear a uniform now and she will be changing classes during the day.  Her best friend, Charrienne is in her class this year.  She was very excited for this morning to come.  I hope she is still happy when I pick her up in a few minutes. 

This is John Derrick this morning, sound asleep.  He starts kindergarten this year.  His first day is this Thursday. 

Chicago

We had our vacation a couple of weeks ago.  We went to Chicago.  This is the fartherest north I have ever been.  Notherners have a funny accent.

We got to do a lot of things.  We went to Navy Pier and rode the giant Ferris wheel.  Both of the kids were a little nervous going up that high but we gave them no choice.  They had fun and the view was awesome.

We tried a Chicago style hot dog.  They are good.  It is beef hot dog with relish, onions, peppers, tomatoes and dill pickle spear.  The kids didn't want to try the hot dog so they ate McDonalds.

We also went to the Willis Tower (aka the Sears Tower)  We went to the 103rd flood and saw the city below us.  They have clear balconies that you can walk out on and see below. 

I thought this was really neat the see.  This is Millennium Park and everyone calls it "The Bean"

This is the kids reflection as they were laying on the ground inside the bean.

We also went to the Legoland Discovery center.  This is every Lego lovers dream  Faith and John Derrick are standing by Darth Vador and R2D2.  They were made out of Legos.  They also a model of Chicago made out of Legos.

One night we went and had Chicago Style deep dish pizza.  I forgot the get a picture of the pizza but it was good.  After we ate, we went to Lake Michigan.  If the air had more of salty smell we would have never known that it was a lake instead of the beach. 

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd aquarium one day also.  The Museum of Science and Industry was huge and even if we were able to spend the whole day there, we would not have seen everything there.  There were planes, cars, trains and even a full size German Uboat.  Kevin found his favorite thing and it was a full scale model of Chicago with trains. 

No trip to Chicago would be complete without seeing the Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field

The Cubs played the Pittsburg Pirates.  Kevin is a huge Cubs fan and Faith went along with Kevin and she is a Cubs fan.  John Derrick use to be a Cubs fan but since his T-ball team was the Pirates, he decided to cheer for the Pirates.  The whole way to Wrigley Field, he kept asking if he was going to sit on the Pirates side.  We really didn't know what to tell him.  When we found our seats, guess what?  There were two Pirates fans sitting right next to him.  Oh by the way, the Pirates beat the Cubs 2 -- 0.  John Derrick was happy.

We also went down Michigan Ave.  We shopped at the Disney store and went into the American Girl store.  Faith and I looked through the whole store and all we bought was some purple glasses for her American Girl doll Emily.

John Derrick can be the little comedian at times.  We walked to Millennium Park.  When we got there we stopped a minute to rest.  John Derrick perched up on the concrete banister and he became a statue of a "gargoyle"  He got several people to stop and look at him and they went away laughing at him.

Chicago was a lot of fun.  We didn't get to see everything that we wanted to see so we will have to save that for another time.

A Story of a T-ball Player

 We finally ventured in to the world of sports in our house.  We haven't done sports at our house yet.  We really don't have an excuse except that it didn't seem all that important (I know kids should play sports so they can learn how to be a team player and be healthy yadda, yadda, yadda). 

So this year, Kevin decided that John Derrick needed to play t-ball.  So we signed him up and it has been whole lot of fun.  John Derrick is playing for the Pirates.  He has been excited ever since he found out what team he plays for.  Above is him saying, "Pirates! Arrrrrg!" with his finger crooked to look like a pirate hook and his eye closed for a pirates eye patch.

The funny thing about John Derrick and T-ball is that he is a VERY laid-backed little boy.  He is ready to go to every practice and every game but when it time to hit the ball he gets up there and hardly swings.  He just manages to get the ball off the T and just past where it is not a foul ball and then he runs hard halfway to the base and then he finds it more exciting to kick up the dust so he starts to shuffle his feet.  When he is in the outfield, he at least doesn't spend the whole time playing in the dust but he is definitely not paying attention.  The most exciting position that he plays is third base.

You know what?  I don't care.  He is having fun and I am having fun watching him.  We try to get him excited and it doesn't do any good but he is one of the younger players on the team and next year we will try again and I bet he will do even better.

GO PIRATES!  ARRRRG!!!!

Our Little Graduate

We have a little graduate at our house now.  John Derrick graduated from preschool last week.  He has attended the Maple Hill Church of Christ Mother's Day Out/Preschool since it started back in 2006.  

The evening started out with the classes getting on stage and singing a few songs.  Poor John Derrick, he gets distracted easily.  He was quit concerned that Grayson wasn't standing exactly where he suppose to during one of the songs.  He spent the better part of this song, trying to get Grayson to move over.  (sigh)

After all the classes finished doing their part (all the classes from the 3 year olds to the 1 year olds).  The 4 year old class got to "graduate".  They got to wear cap and gowns and walk across the stage and receive a "diploma."  Is that not one of the most precious sights ever.

Here is John Derrick with his teacher Mrs. Rhonda.  Mrs. Rhonda was the best teacher.  She is such a sweet and kind and VERY patient teacher.  I am so happy that he had her as a teacher this year.  He has always had great teachers but this year was extra special with Mrs. Rhonda.  In fact, John Derrick told me the other day that he didn't want to go to school next year because he wanted Mrs. Rhonda as a teacher and I should call Mrs. Anita and see if he could come back next year.  

He is growing up too fast.  He started at our Mother's Day Out program in 2006 in Mrs. Penny's one year old class.  He was hardly talking at that time and now he is 5 years old, talking constantly and getting ready to go to kindergarten. 

Rain, Rain Go Away

This is not a lake.  This is a field about 5 miles away from our house.  On May 2-3, 2010, Middle Tennessee got rained upon.  It rained for two days straight.  We had over a foot of rain and that rain had to go somewhere and it was just not quick enough.  Middle Tennessee was hit with the worse flood in at 30 years.  It was bad.  Interstates were flooded and people had to leave their cars in the middle of the road and we watched the television show these cars COMPLETELY underwater.  It rained and rained and rained.  Downtown Nashville was underwater also.  The Cumberland River downtown crested at somewhere around 52 to 53 feet.  The Opryland Hotel had 10 feet of water in the Delta and Cascade conservatory.  The pictures reminded me of the movie Titanic when the ship was sinking.  Opry Mills was island in the middle of the water.  It was unreal to see the flooding.

The square in Lebanon flooded TWICE.  It flooded Saturday night but by Sunday morning the water was gone.  When we got back out to go to church Sunday night, we drove by and it was underwater again.  I actually do remember the last time the Lebanon square had flooded and that was back in 1988.

This is the Town Creek where it runs under West Main Street in Lebanon.  At this time the water was right at street level and it wouldn't be much longer before they were going to have to close off the street because of water.

Here is Maple Hill Road where the water had gone over the road and they had to rope it off.

This is Don Fox Park.  This is the park that we go to to play or walk and meet friends.

I could go on and on with the pictures that I took on Sunday night.  Monday morning we woke up to blue skies with white fluffy clouds and you would had never known what went on that weekend.

April Showers bring May Flowers

Well, actually April hasn't brought many showers so there may not be many May flowers.  Yesterday was a stormy rainy day and we did absolutely nothing except sit and watch TV.  It was nice but by the end of the day, I was tired of doing nothing.  The picture above was the top of the storms that hit last night.  It was a pretty sight to see the sunlight over the top of the clouds.

April has been a busy month.  Faith participated in her second Lads to Leaders/Leaderette Convention at the Opryland Hotel.  We had a lot of fun.  This year we got to stay at the hotel.  Faith participated in puppets, oral Bible reading, Songs of Praise and Bible Bowl.  She did so awesome at the Songs of Praise.  She led a very hard song, Shine, Jesus, Shine but unfortunately didn't get to be a finalist.  The only downside to the weekend was that Kevin threw his back out just a few days before and he hurt every time he moved.  He had pain medicine and muscles relaxers but they put him to sleep so if he wasn't in pain, he was asleep in the hotel room.  I had just had surgery the Friday before.  I was recovered pretty well but I would get tired easy.  So by the end of the weekend I was COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED.  It took a whole week for me to feel like myself again.

John Derrick, the goofy little boy he is, spent the third weekend in a row with his grandmommy and granddaddy.  He was happy to go but I could tell that he really wanted me instead.  Next year, we might let him participate in Lads to Leaders.  Who knows??

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day.  The kids and I spent the afternoon at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's (Kevin stayed home and rested with his bad back).  Marty and Penny were there with their kids and we had a yummy dinner and then the kids had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  My mom thought she was being smart and she had enough eggs to let the kids find the same amount of eggs.  Well, my daddy, Marty and I hid the eggs and of course we couldn't remember we hid them all so there are six or seven eggs still hidden in their backyard.

The kids had fun though and then they got to empty all their candy at the end.

After the cold winter that we had all this warm weather had been so nice.  John Derrick has finally been able to get outside and really ride his "motorcycle"  I actually thought he might get bored riding it around our small backyard but he hasn't.  He just goes in circles and stops to get gas every once in a while.

Faith decided to get in on the fun also.  She figured out how to tie the wagon on the back of the four wheeler and John Derrick loves to pull her around the yard.

Yes, April has been a nice month.  It has been nice weather till now and this week it has been cool and rainy.  Today has been the strangest weather.  One minute it is pouring rain and hailing then the next minute it is sunny.   But, it has still been nice.

Just one more month till school is for the summer and we are going to have a good summer this year!!

Because it is All About Faith!

Faith has been a busy little girl for the past several weeks.  She has been doing some amazing things and I am very proud of how she has done them.

On February 25, Faith participated in the annual Invention Convention held at MTSU.  This is for 4th through 6th grade.  The 4th graders in the EXTEND class at Faith's school were the ones who participated.  She was on a team of four and the they invented a game called 2012.  She was quite proud of what she did.  Unfortunately her team did not win anything but she is already thinking about next year.  Coles Ferry Elementary took 11 teams and 6 of them won a trophy or a ribbon.

On March 4th, Faith was in a school musical called Timeless Television Tunes.  Two of the teachers at Coles Ferry have organized a production that is open to any 2nd through 4th grader that wants to participate.  Faith did the musical in 2nd grade and this year.  They sang television theme songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's.  Faith specifically sang in the songs from Good Times and WKRP.  They did a couple of movie songs and she danced to the Footloose song.

Last, we celebrated Faith's 10th birthday this past weekend.  She turns 10 on March 10, 2010.  I just can't believe she is growing up so fast.  This year we had a Purple Penguin Party.  She loves to play on a Disney website called Club Penguin.  I am not sure of what it is all about but she has fun playing on it.  Her penguin is purple which is her favorite color.  So I made her a purple penguin cake.  She wanted pizza for her party and we just carried on the "P" theme.  We had pizza, popcorn, pasta salad, and Pepsi.  It was a "p-erffic" party.

Looking for Spring

I am frozen solid.  I have been cold for too long.  It has been a cold cold winter so far.

We got a good snow at the end of January.  It snowed all day on a Friday and we got about 3-4 inches.  School was closed for 4 days.  Faith was sick and missed two additional days.  We got to go sledding at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house during this snow.   This was the first time that the kids got to experience a real snow and sledding.  Unfortunately for them, they didn't like the climbing the hill part of sledding and they didn't last as long as I would have liked.  Kevin, my dad and I had a great time sledding down the hill.

It was cold all during the month of February.  We had several more snow days although not enough snow to go sledding but it was too cold to go out and enjoy ourselves.  I have spent every night during the month of February curled up under a blanket too cold to move.  We need spring!!!

The Big Snow of 2010

It was coming.  The weatherman said it would be a big one.  Schools were closed, stores were packed with people getting their bread, milk and eggs.  The Tractor Supply Store ran out of sleds.  We were all prepared to wake up on January 7, 2010 with a foot of snow on the ground.

Well actually he didn't predict a foot of snow.  Just about 1-2 inches.  They did close the schools BEFORE it snowed and people did rush to the store for milk and eggs.  You can't call yourself a Southern unless you panic when snow is predicted.  We woke up on January 7, 2010 with absolutely NO snow on the ground.  It didn't start snowing till about 9:30 that morning and we got about 1 inch of snow.  Just enough snow to make the kids excited enough to want to go out and play in the frigid cold.  We had just enough snow to build a 3 inch pile of snow that we called a snowman.  We were able to throw a few snow balls and make a snow angel in the road. 

So we didn't get the big snow this time but there is still hope for one this year.  The kids are really wanting to go sledding at Granddaddy and Grandmommy's house and maybe we will, maybe we will.

Another New Blog

I have decided to try another blog.  I think three blogs will be enough.  I have really enjoyed blogging and reading the blogs of my friends and family.  This blog, "The Waltons" is for bragging about my kids.  My other blog is A Journey of Hope and Peace is the one that I chronicle my journey with breast cancer.  I hope to end that blog soon as my journey comes to an end and I live cancer free.

My new blog is A Mom's Kitchen.  It will be a recipe blog with tips to plan menus and grocery shopping lists.  I am not that talented in the kitchen.  I will never be a Martha Stewart but I enjoy cooking for my family and I want to share what I do.  So if you are interested, check it out.  You will find simple recipes that I cook for my family.  None of the recipes will be original to me but recipes that my mom made, recipes from magazines and websites and friends.  I will also try to credit the person that I got the recipe from and why this recipes works for my family.

The Widick Family

Christmas Day has traditionally been spent with the Widick side of the family. Growing up, we would go and spend the day at my Grandma and Graddaddy's Widick's house. It was a time that I enjoyed very much because it was a day spent with my cousins and opening presents and eating. We would stay all day and have so much fun. We would play Bingo and win prizes. As the family got bigger, Grandma and Granddaddy's house got smaller and we moved around a bit. We eventually moved to my Aunt Mary Margaret and Uncle Lee's house and when Grandma and Granddaddy moved to Lebanon, we started having it at my Aunt Trisha and Uncle Reeds house.

This year we were at Reed and Trisha's house for Christmas. The whole family was there with the exception of Marty and Penny's family. Penny had just had surgery and there was no way she needed to get out and come into Lebanon when she needed to stay home and rest. We gather together to eat a yummy Christmas lunch of turkey and dressing and all the trimmings. My contribution every year is to bring my Grandmother Smith's macaroni and cheese casserole and I did and every bite was eaten. This year we did a Dirty Santa exchange among the adults and that was a lot of fun. This year, Kevin and I ended up with the "bottle" that has made its way back and forth between families over the year.

Before we ate dinner, we gathered together to bless the food with prayer and my aunt brought up something that I had always know but never thought about. Every person in that house including Marty and Penny are members of the Lord's church. There are 26 members of this family including the children. We all share a common belief and there is no tiptoeing around afraid to offend someone because they believe something different from you. There are 3 ministers of God's Word and there are deacons and an elder. We are all very different from each other but no matter we have the most important thing in common and that is our love for the Lord and his work. This is something that doesn't happen in all families but I am happy that I am part of this family.

Here is my Grandma and Granddaddy Widick. They are both in their eighties. Their health is not the best but they were able to be with us this year.


Here is Grandma and Granddaddy with their children. My dad, Joe Widick, is the oldest. Trisha is the middle child. She is married to Reed Thomas and they have two girls, Laura Beth and Kathryn. Mary Margaret is the youngest. She is married to Lee Whitfield and they have two boys, Drew and Jackson.
Here are the cousins unfortunately without Marty. From oldest to youngest it is me, Laura Beth, Lane, Kathryn, Drew and Jackson. Growing up, me and Lane and Laura Beth and Kathryn were very close. Whenever we were together we played. For the longest time, they lived in Nashville and we were in Lebanon. We only got together about once a month or so at our grandparents' house for Sunday dinner. I have wonderful memories of us playing together in their basement and in their backyard and not to mention the Christmases we spent together. Drew and Jackson came along when we were much older.

Here we are with our spouses. Laura Beth is married to Chad High and they have two children, Lawton and Carolina. Kathryn is married to Andrew Phillips and they have a little boy named Luke. Drew is a freshman in college and Jackson is a freshman in high school.John Derrick and Lawton had a lot of fun playing together once they warmed up to each other.


Faith had her DS with here and that attracted Lawton's attention and he spent some time watching her play her DS while we were doing Dirty Santa.

Here are the three "babies," Josie, Luke and Carolina. They were all born in 2008.

I wish we had gotten a picture of the whole family together because this is a special family.