Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes

This year Faith got to participate in Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes for the first time. I have heard of Lads to Leaders for a long time but I have never had the chance to experience it. I must say it was a great weekend and I am really looking forward to it next year.

This is the first time in about 11 years that Maple Hill has participated in Lads to Leaders so they decided to ease the kids in gradually just so they would know what it was like. Faith particpated in Oral Bible reading, Bible Bowl and Songs of Praise. I could not believe how wonderful a job she did on each event. She read Matthew 5:1-14 in such a clear beautiful voice. I am not sure how well she did at Bible Bowl because I was sitting too far back to see her answers. The Songs of Praise which was a competitive event was amazing. She led "Glorify thy Name". She stood up there and smiled and led that song so perfectly. She unfortunately did not make it as a finalist, but I really think she should have. She was a bit disappointed but there is always next year. Next year we are going to have puppet teams and she is excited about that. Maple Hill was well represented this year and it is just going to get better and the kids get older.

One thing that I think is going to great about Lads to Leaders is the closeness it is going to bring to the kids as they are growing up. This year only 3rd-6th grade participated and there were only about 15 kids. These kids are the future of the Maple Hill youth group and they are getting to share a special time together that they will remember for a long time.
The third grade girls after the Oral Bible reading. Faith, Anna-Cate and Callie

Mrs. Danielle and some of the kids at the Awards Ceremomy.

Surprise, it's a puppy!

Meet the newest addition to the Walton family. This is "Prince Harry the Charming One". He is an 8 week old Yorkie and our new puppy.

Since losing Brutus, I had no interest in getting another dog, but the kids really wanted a puppy to call their own. They had been trying to convince me to get a puppy since last fall. We would talk about it and I kept telling them I just wasn't ready for another dog. Kevin was all for a dog and would have let Santa bring them a puppy. I had to remind him that we would have to housebreak a puppy, and I didn't think standing outside in the dead of winter waiting for the dog to do his business was such a good idea.

We found out that Kevin's sister-in-law's Yorkie was going to have puppies. We gave Marsha a call and we offered to buy one of her puppies. She told us that we could have one. That was such a generous offer because buying a puppy can be expensive. On February 16, Annabelle had 3 little boy puppies and all we had to do was wait till they got old enough to be away from mama.

We had planned on going to get the puppy this weekend. We would have to go to Little Rock to get him. We have so busy on the weekends for the past month, I was not excited to go. Kevin had to go Memphis this week for work and he made time to go to get the puppy on Wednesday, April 1. It wasn't easy to do this because he still had to go other places this week but he did it anyway. He agreed that he didn't want to go anywhere this weekend either. I didn't tell the kids that Daddy was bringing home the puppy. I did let Faith know I had a secret and it about drove her crazy because I wouldn't tell her. Kevin got home about 10:00 on Wednesday night and Faith was still awake in her room so we let come meet Prince Harry. She was so excited.
John Derrick was asleep so we didn't wake him. John Derrick was happy about the puppy the next morning.

Prince Harry is very sweet. He really likes the kids. The kids are quite funny about him. Faith is suppose to take him out when she is at home. She didn't quite understand that she would have to actually take him outside. All we had to do was open the door and let Brutus out. She tried that with Prince Harry and he just sat on the step wondering what to do. I had to tell her exactly what to do and she wasn't too sure about that. She also has to clean up his accidents, and she really thinks that is gross. John Derrick kept carrying his crate around trying to get him to go inside.

So you are probably wondering about his name. Prince Harry the Charming One, what a name for a dog. I wanted him to have a regal type name. I wanted to just call him Prince Charming. Faith thought of the name Harry. I liked that name but I had to add "Prince" to the beginning. Since I figured he would charm himself into out lives, I also added "the Charming One" to the end. John Derrick wanted to call him Batman and Robin, Elmo and Mickey. He would argue with you about his name. So sometimes is might be Prince Harry, Batman and Robin, Elmo, Mickey the Charming one but we'll just call him Prince Harry for short.

The Flu bug hits

It is Spring Break. Two weeks of not getting up and fixing breakfast and lunches and rushing Faith off to school. Two weeks of no homework and spelling tests. Right now it is a beautiful morning and promising to be a nice day. BUT, Faith has the flu (or at least she is getting over it) and we are stuck here at home.

Faith woke up Sunday morning and requested breakfast but didn't eat much. She put on her clothes for church and then came and laid back down on the couch. She told me that she did not feel good. I went and felt her forehead and it was burning up. I took her temperature and it was 101.5. So, she put on her pajamas, took some Tylenol and stayed home from church with her daddy. Monday, Kevin took her to the doctor and found out that she had the flu. She had the flu strain B which the flu shot that John Derrick took was useless against. The doctor told Kevin that we would all probably get it.

We are a fairly healthy family. We get a cold or two a year. Faith has only had strept throat once and several ear infections as a baby. Never enough to have to have tubes or anything. John Derrick has had maybe two ear infections in his 4 years of life. He hardly ever gets sick. NOBODY has ever had the flu at our house till now. I am still hoping that the rest of us will not get it and Faith gets completely over it soon. So if anyone of us was to get sick, lets get sick now and not next week when we are planning on going to the mountains.

My Brave Girl

Faith decided to get her ears pierced for her birthday this year. I was a little surprised that she wanted to because she has a VERY low tolerance for pain. We had talked about it around Christmas and I told her that she needed to wait till her birthday. When it got close to her birthday she told me that it sounded too scary and that she would wait and I was fine with that and nothing more was said. On the day after her birthday, Kevin went and picked her up from school and he was going to take her on a few errands before they came home. He called me and said that Faith wanted to get her ears pierced and he was going to take her. First, I was a little shocked to hear that Faith was ready for her ears being pierced. Second, I told him that she couldn't do it without me. He didn't quite understand why he just couldn't just take her himself. Well, I am her mother and I know a little bit more about jewelry then he does and this was a big step for her and I had to be there.

I had to get ready so Kevin took her to Wal Mart where he needed to get something and stopped in the jewelry department to let Faith find out what they did. They explained everything and then they came and got me and John Derrick and it was off to Wal Mart. I left my camera at home, luckily Kevin had his phone with him. The ladies there were so nice to us. They both stopped what they were doing and gave their complete attention to Faith. There were several customers waiting, but Faith was the only one they were concerned about. Faith picked out her studs and chose her birthstone which is the Aquamarine. She got both ears done at the same time and was very brave and didn't yell or start crying. She did try to jump up but I was holding her hands.

You can't see the earrings in this picture but note the happy face. She was so proud of those earrings. That night when we got to church for Wednesday night services she was showing everybody her earrings. It was so cute. She does look a little bit more grown up but she is still as beautiful as ever.

A House Full of New Stuff

I finally got my Christmas present!! My new table and chairs. I am sooooo happy. My old table was my grandmother's and had to be at least 50 years old. It only had 4 chairs and 2 of the chairs were falling apart. The weaving in the seats was coming undone and there were bigs holes in the seats. John Derrick had to sit in a booster seat so he wouldn't fall through and Faith just had to tough it out. It was quite embarrassing when we had company over.

Kevin and I was able to get a Friday night away from the kids when we got the table and chairs. I had found the table and chairs that I wanted at Ikea in Atlanta. So we dropped the kiddiwinks off at Grandmommy's and Granddaddy's on Friday night, and went off to Atlanta. It was a great weekend. Since we didn't have the kiddies, we waited till we got to Atlanta that night to eat. I used Kevin's TomTom and found out there was a Cheesecake Factory close to our hotel. I had been craving cheesecake for about a week and there was no question about where we were going to eat. It was 8:00 on Friday night when we got there, and I thought there wouldn't be too long of a wait. When we walked in, it was packed. Kevin went up and requested a table for two. The man told him to go and wait for our name to be called. Kevin asked if we needed a pager, but since it was just the two of us, there was no wait. We also got a booth which was really nice. Dinner was delicious and the cheesecake was "to die for." After we ate, we went on to the hotel. Kevin always stays at Holiday Inns when he travels and he has platinum status on his Priority club. He gets upgrades on his rooms when available and tonight was one of those times. We were upgraded to a suite so the room was HUGE with it's own kitchen. Too bad we were only staying for one night.

Saturday morning, we got up and went to Target first and then off to Ikea. If you have never been to an Ikea store, I suggest you go whenever you are near one. It is such a neat store and it is fun to just go and look. Since we don't get to come to Atlanta often without kids, we took advantage of the time and our income tax money and went SHOPPING! We got a table and six chairs, a bookcase for the living room, a bookcase for John Derrick's room, three different wall shelves, and assorted odds and ends for the kitchen. We even came way under budget which just made the weekend even better. You may be wondering how we got all this home. First, all the furniture is put it together yourself so it was all flat and we also borrowed my dad's truck.

It was a wonderful weekend and I hope we can do it again sometime soon. My house is getting full but it is starting to feel real cozy. I love my table and the bookcase in the living room. I'll have to take pictures soon.

I have a 9 year old!!

Exactly 9 years ago today, my life changed completely by the birth of my daughter. I can hardly believe that she is already 9 years old, just one more year before she is in double digits. Faith is the most precious girl, right now she is playing on the computer with John Derrick. He couldn't ask for a better big sister. She has grown up a lot this past year but still she is little girl at heart. Her favorite color is purple, her favorite food is spaghetti (and pizza and "grandmommy's chili"), she loves fairies and Webkinz (she has 12 now). Her best friend is Charrienne and Charrienne is a good choice for a friend. She likes to play on the computer, play Wii and watch Spongebob on TV. Don't worry she is active also. Now that the weather is warm, she and John Derrick like to go out the backyard on play on the swingset and catch bugs. She is in third grade and her teacher is Mrs. Reginia Wright, and she is doing great in school this year. She even won the Cougar Award. She is going to participate in Lads to Leaders and Leaderettes this year. She is going to do scipture reading, Bible bowl and songs of praise and I am very excited for her.

This is Faith's birthday cake that I made for her this year. She wanted a Webkinz birthday party so I made a picture of one of her Webkinz. This is Hoppy the frog (she had to pick out the one with the most colors). We had her birthday party of March 7 and it was just family. It was a beautiful day outside compared to last year when it had snowed the night before. She requested "grandmommy's chili" for her birthday lunch and even though it was warm outside, it tasted good and it is a simple meal to make because it can be cooked in a crock pot.

Lane and Kristen are moving to Houston, TX in a few weeks so Mom and Dad wanted some family pictures taken before they moved away. This is the picture of Faith and John Derrick. I absolutely love it. I haven't had their pictures taken together in a long time so I really appreciate this picture. Aren't they so beautiful.

A New Challenge

Yesterday while I was working at Mother's Day Out, Kevin called me. He sounds a little serious and tells me that he needs to tell me something. My heart starts to beat a little faster and all sorts of things start going through my head. He tells me that Wurzburg is officially going to close the Nashville branch. He knew that this may happen because there had been talk of it at the last meeting, but he didn't know what that would mean to him. He did know that so his job was safe. The higher ups like him and need him. He just didn't know where he was going to work.

A little background on how Kevin came to work for Wurzburg and in Nashville. Wurzburg is a packaging company and is based out of Memphis. There were branch offices in the southeast such as Nashville, Frankfort, Birmingham, and Huntsville to name a few. Technically Kevin works for Artcraft. Artcraft is the labeling division of Wurzburg. At one time, Artcraft was a wholly owned subsidary of Wurzburg, but I am not sure anymore because there have been so many changes over the past few years.

Right before Kevin and I got married, Kevin was working for a landscaper friend of his. He was doing grunt work and the pay wasn't very promising, but it was a job. One day, his sister-in-law was at her work, and they were having copier problems. A copier tech came out to look at the copier. While he was there, he asked if she knew anyone who was good at repairing things because they needed some new techs. Well, Marsha knew that Kevin was good at things like that and got some information about the company and passed it on to Kevin. Kevin pursued the job and was hired on about a month before we got married. That was wonderful blessing for us. Kevin worked for Ikon Office Solutions for about a year. It was a job, and he was good at it. Like most jobs there were some politics involved and he was getting a little discouraged. One day he was sent to Artcraft to fix their copier. While he was there, the Service manager came in and started talking to him. Larry mentioned they were needing a new service tech and told him to give him a call if he was interested. It wasn't long before Kevin was interested and hoping for the best, he quit his job at Ikon hoping that Artcraft would hire him. Thankfully, Artcraft did hire him.

Kevin started out as a service technician at Artcraft in 1997. He had to learn how to repair industrial label printers and label applicators. Kevin a natural at things like that so it didn't take him long. Kevin worked with one other technician named Kim. Larry was the Service Manager and Stuart was a sales manager who was also over the service department. Kevin did his job and even got me a job at Artcraft. I started out as a receptionist and worked my way into Customer Service. He became Label-aire certified and learned a lot about the labeling process.

In 2002, Wurzburg started making changes. One of the things that appealed to Kevin and this job was the branch office in Nashville. He mentioned that he would like to work in Nashville and he was promised that one day he would. As the years went by, we figured it wouldn't happen but it did. Stuart worked it out to have an Artcraft service technician in the Nashville office and hinted around that there might be opportunities to "climb the corporate ladder." In March of that year, we packed up our stuff and brought our daughter to Nashville.

Kevin did the same thing in Nashville as he did in Memphis. Larry no longer worked for Artcraft and Kim was now over Kevin. Kevin does his job well and soon he was getting to know the salesmen in Nashville and would go with them on sales calls. The salesmen would use his knowledge of labeling printing and applicators and he helped sell some equipment. The salesmen knew they could depend on him. As a few years went by, people he worked with left and new people were hired. Kevin's job started to change and his bosses changed and his pay changed. He has had several people over him. Just in the past year and a half, he has had four different bosses. Two of which were fired, and one realized that someone else could be over him and now Stuart is back as his boss and Kevin is pleased with that.

I don't know exactly what Kevin title is now but I do know what he does. He will work with the sales team to sell industial packaging equipment mainly label printers and applicators and a few other things. He travels for his job and he mainly goes around the Southeast United States but he has been to Mexico and California and Chicago. He makes day trips or overnight stays or even week long trips. He might go somewhere every week for a month and then he will be home for a month. He has been travelling for his job since he started so I am use to it. I do miss him when he is gone and I always pray for his safety and God has always brought him home safely.

So now to our new challenge. The Nashville branch office is closing. Wurzburg realized that everything could ship out of Memphis via Averitt truckline and get to the customers the next day. Having so many branch offices was not necessary and to hopefully save money, they are closing several of the branch warehouses. The salesman will continue selling in their territories, using thier homes as base. Even two of the customer service reps will have jobs but just working from home. The higher ups came to Stuart with blueprints of the Memphis office and asked him where he wanted Kevin to be. My biggest fear was about to come true. We were going to have to move back to Memphis. I would move if I had to but I didn't want to. Stuart looked at them and told them that he wanted Kevin to stay in Nashville. He is in a good location and it has been working out for years so why change a good thing. In about 60 to 90 days, Kevin will be working from home. The challenge is that we don't have a big house. We've talked about it and have several ideas. What will probably happen is that our bedroom will contain his office. It isn't ideal but it is the most practical solution right now. We will just have to make a few changes and live with it for a while. Hopefully very soon, maybe we can buy a bigger house with a space to make an office just for him.

In today's economy, I am so thankful that Kevin has a job. It is scary out there right now with people losing jobs and losing their homes and families being torn apart because of financial difficulties. I would have moved to Memphis if they told Kevin that he had to work there. I am so grateful that Stuart knows Kevin and trusts him enough to keep him here. I love living in Lebanon and not because it is where I am from but becuase it is a great place to live. The kids are happy here. Faith loves her school and John Derrick has granddaddy close by. Our church home is wonderful and we have found where we belong. So I am willing to put up with close quarters for a while if it means that we stay here.