New Years Resolutions

I really don't care much for New Years Resolutions. I think that when you make then, you are sure to fail. So I am not make a resolution. I am just making a plan of things that I would like to accomplish over the next year. I figure by blogging them than you guys can help keep me accountable. How do you like that? I just put my success or failure on you. He He He.
Here is a list of my top ten.

1. To turn the TV off more and get in the floor with my kids. Wither reading, coloring, and playing cars. More mommy time for them.

2. To be a much better wife for husband. That includes keeping my mouth shut and giving him the respect that he deserves.

3. Be a better friend. Make myself more available and there with no lazy excuses.

4. READ MY BIBLE. I do do this but not like I should. My goal is to read the whole bible in one year thanks to help from youversion.com

5. Devote myself to volunteering at the church. I do volunteer in the kids but I want to do more micro missions. No more excuses.

6. To take better care of myself. I am not going on a diet! I do not believe in them or the word. Like New Years Resolutions I believe that just the word makes you want to quit. I am however going to be more aware of what I put in my mouth and exercise.

7. To blog more and to take more pictures. I love doing it but always make the excuse that I don't have the time. NO more excuses.

8. To be a better sister. I am only known by my own brothers as the b@#$%. I want to work on my relationship with my bubbies. I don't want that engraved on my tombstone.

9. To not stress. I can not get it all done. There is no way to do it. It is impossible. I need to get that in my head. I need to just take it one thing at a time, one day at a time.

10. To be more spiritual. All things are possible through him that gives us strength. My motto this year is to Let Go and Let God. If I can just learn to turn it all over to him, that he will lead me on the path that I am to go. I think that things will go so much smoother that way cause my way is not working.

There you go. This is just part of my goals this year. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on my progress. I have my girls group every Sunday. It is suppose to be for us to help encourage each other to lose weight. Now you guys know. I will be truthful of my progress. I will even let you know my weight. Yikes, i know! But it will help keep me motivated. I hope anyway. Well now you know mine, Let me know yours!

Happy New Year to Everyone!

Thankful Thursday- Girlfriend Style

After reading the blog of Widney Woman (http://widney.woman.blogspot.com) she challenges you to what you are thankful for. I have really been thinking about what I am most thankful for. Of course there are many things that I am so thankful for. My health, beautiful healthy children, my wonderful and loving husband and this secure life that we have together. The thing that came to mind most of what I am thankful right now in this time has to be my girlfriends. This time of year is very very hard for me. There is so many traditions that I am trying to keep alive so that my children, nieces and nephews remember there grandma and how she did things. She LOVED Christmas and did everything the same way every year.

So you can imagine what a hormonal crazy person I become. I am happy, then sad, then angry, then just numb. My girlfriends are always there. All I do is call and they are there. Sometimes it is just good conversation on the phone and other times it is a margarita night at the local Mexican restaurant. My favorite! ;P They always know the know the right things to say and do. If nothing else the hugs are always there. Girls just understand girls you know. With out them I would be lost. I truly believe that I would have curled up in my bed and never have come out.

I don't want to ignore my sisters either. My sisters-in-law and even my mother-in-law are the best in laws ever. I always hear people talk about their MIL and even SILs and it is not good. I just don't understand because I was truly blessed. We get along so well and talk all the time. We are all supportive of each other and love each other to no ends. I could not have asked for better sisters or a another mother. I knew that when my mother died I would be okay because I still had my Momma Donna. She is one of my best est friends. She is always there when you need her or need someone to talk to. What I love about her first is that she never takes sides and always remains the neutral. BUT at the same time she can still be on your side. That is really hard to do.

I am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful women. It is so funny how God places people in our lives at different times to help us get through what life throws at us. I had only met my girls about 4 weeks before my mom died. I wish they could have met her. They cushioned the blow and where such a comfort......and still are!! Love you all Girls.

Poor Baby

Well, I think that ma and Tim have come to the conclusion that we are going to have to put a helmet with a face shield on it. In a moment of celebration for going poo poo on the potty and getting a piece of candy, he fell and smacked his face on the edge of the stairs. He literally split his lip and knocked two of his teeth to about a 45 degree angle backward. I did not have a car so Tim had to come home from work and take him to the hospital. He then had to have two stitches in his lip and they had to pull one of the teeth. To make him feel better they gave him a Lightning McQueen toothbrush and a temp tattoo. He looks terrible but is acting like nothing happened. Kids bounce back so fast. Poor baby.

A nurse at the hospital makes this little pouches for the teeth. He gets to have a visit from the tooth fairy before Reni does. Is that not the most humongous tooth that you have seen! I can not believe that was in his little mouth.

Halloween '08

This year we attended the second annual hunted house at our friends Brad and Whitney's house. Tim got recruited to help set and scare all the kids as they traveled through the back yard. Tim had a blast. I think he had more fun that all the kids combined. He was also asked to build a box that looked like a cage. He built it so big that it would not fit into our car. We had to strap it to the top of the car. We had to travel with a 4'x4' box down a busy highway during rush hour. Can you imagine the looks we got? It was fun.

While the boys were busy with the hunted house, the girls took all the kids trick or treating. Whitney's neighborhood is perfect. It is real tight so we hit a lot of houses in a short amount of time. It was perfect. By the time the kids were done walking their baskets were full. It was then back to the house for pizza and to watch the movie Nightmare before Christmas.

While Whitney was out getting more candy for the guys and picking up the pizza, I ran the kids about a mile down the road to the Simmons house to visit Aunt Sarah, Uncle Andy, New cousin Wyatt and Grandma and Grandpa Daryl. He took them to a scary house down the road that Reni saw as we were coming in. We then went back to join the crowd and all the fun.

Shortly after 9 we were all exhausted and ready to go home and crash. And that is just what we did!

Whitney's stupid head thingy got in the way of my picture.

Oh yeah. Whitney is puppy sitting for her mom. This is bootsy. He was Peter Pan. So cute!
This is Hadley, Whitney and Brads daughter. She was Wonder Woman.

The Box on top of the car driving down the road.

Reni was Snow White, Triston a cowboy, and Eli was squirt from Nemo

Oh how Time flies

While cleaning out some things, we found my old camera that was lost forever. I looked to see what pictures where on it. It is pictures from Reni's first day at school, the really good snow that we had two years ago. We are sledding at Grandma Donna's, and even some pictures from when Reni was three and I coached her soccer team. I couldn't believe it. There are pictures from when Triston was about a year old. I didn't realize how much Eli looks like him at that age. Wow! How time flies.

First day of Preschool. She had cut her hair the day before. She looks like Peter Pan.

Dress up center





This was Reni's Snowman. Tiim helped her put the face on it. She was so upset that he did not have any ears. Tim told her that it did not need ears, it was just a snowman. He then went to go sled. When I came to join the fun, she pointed out to me that she had made the snowman some ears. She used some twigs and grass that she found. She is just so creative.

Don't he look so much like Eli? Triston is about a year old in this picture.

Reni's first soccer team Lil' Firecrackers

Triston fell asleep with a hot dog in his mouth. Can you say wedding video? You know it.

What an experience

Brand new Baby Wyatt was born on October 27 at 10:28 am. I had to wait till Mom posted the first picture before I did. It was not my plan to be in the room while he was born but Sarah said once I was there that I could stay if I wanted and if they would let me. So of course I made sure to stay out of mind and out of way. I am so glad that I got to be there. It was probably the most amazing thing I have ever been apart of. I have never seen a birth. I have just been the one having the babies. I had no idea all the emotions involved.

Sarah called me about 7:35 on the 26Th. Her water had broke. She was screaming on the phone. I was so excited with her but thought she was pulling a joke on me at first. She was so cute. I was in Owasso at my girls group. It took about 10 minutes of sitting there with my girls before I couldn't stand it any more. I had to go over there. My excuse was that Andy was the last one to paint her toes. You can't go to the hospital with bad toes! When I got there, Andy was bouncing around. Sarah was getting ready to leave. I went to talk to her and asked what she wanted me to help her with. I helped her get her room cleaned up and ready for Baby Wyatt to come home. Long story short, it was about 11:00 and they were headed to the hospital. I was so glad to be there with them during this time to answer all her questions and be supportive. It was cute to watch Andy pace and just be such an excited daddy to be!!



I went home from there and got her some things that I had that she needed. I asked for Momma Donna and Papa Daryl to come and pick me up so that Tim would have a car. I figured we were in for a long night. Boy was I right. Things started a little slow so they started her on patosin to get her contractions to pick up. We called Kelly, the most wonderful doula in the world. She has delivered 5 out of 6 of the Widney grandchildren. Shortly before she got there the contractions were starting to get intense. We spent most of time cracking jokes and enjoying the amazing situation. It was about 5 in the morning when there was no more joking and only concentration.



I just want to mention how amazing of a birth couch Andy was. He almost never left her side. He was always where she could see him. He was so supportive and understanding of what she was going through. He was incredible. Sometimes I would just look at them and start crying because of how beautiful the moment was. It was during this that I realized just how much Andy loves Sarah and that there was nothing that he would not do for her. I have a whole respect for him. I know with no doubt that he will be the most incredible daddy and even more important the most amazing husband to Sarah. Every time Sarah would cry with pain, Andy would cry in pain. He was so in tune with her. That really takes something special. So many marriages don't have that these days. I was so proud of you Andy!!



At about 7 am it got really bad. Wyatt was a little stuck. They were trying to find the Dr to come and help. She was doing one C-section after the other. At this point Sarah was not saying very nice words and Andy was really taking a beating during the contractions. I think I even remember her biting him at one or two points. He took it like a trooper. Never said a word. Good boy!! She might have choked you to death. Soon they were able to hunt down the doctor and she came in and did what doctors do and it was time to push. Everyone took position. I was trying to stay out of the way. Andy's mom was trying to hold one of her feet but Sarah kept getting out of her grip. I snuck up behind her and helped hold her foot without her knowing. Soon you could see his dark black hair. As soon as I said "You can see his hair", Andy abandoned his post and came where I was. I soon hurried back down to hold Sarah's head so that Andy could watch Wyatt come. It was about 5 pushed from there and he was here. He was BEAUTIFUL. He did not come out squished or anything. He was not blue. He was just beautiful. Tons of dark black hair. The room was bawling. Everyone backed up to let Sarah and Andy embrace with their brand new son that they had waited so long to get here. It was magical.



I don't think that anything in life can compare to being there to watch the magic of what God can do. How can you not believe in God when you see just how amazing something like a baby is. How our bodies work? How babies are formed to look just like us, even from birth? Thank you Sarah and Andy for letting me be involved in your moment. It is something I will never forget.



CONGRATS!!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Our friends went out with us last Saturday to help me and Tim celebrate our birthdays. We started out at PF Changs and then went bowling at the Riverlanes Bowling Alley. We laughed so hard and had a great time. I love our friends. They keep us young.

Sam and KellyMomma Donna and Papa DarylPoor Alan. He is not really drunk. But Brad did have to put on a show.

See my little crown in the pic below with the girlsSarah at the bowling alley. She spilled hot chocolate all over Kelly.Oops!

Jason (far left) Alan in the middle and Brad far right

Sam kicked everyones butt at bowling on the girls side

Whitney is going to kill me for posting this picture. It is so Funny!!!!

My gorgeous husband stricking a pose

Brad telling a wopper I am sure.

Thanks guys for coming with us to help us celebrate. It would not have been the same without you. Your friendships mean so much to use. Your family! Love you all.

Walkingstick Family Reunion 08

October 20th was the Walkingstick Family Reunion. It was good to see family that is not around very much. Our kids are really had a lot of fun and so did the big kids playing horse shoes. It was a beautiful day for it. Sunny and just the right temperature.

Boys playing horseshoes

Sarah Jo and baby Wyatt in the tummy

Serenity on the swings. She is so pretty!

Mommy and Triston swinging

Aunt Janet on swings

Gracie playing in the grass

Eli and Gracie. She did not want her foot to touch the ground. It was so funny.

Sarah, Lisa and Melissa

Eli loves to swing. He threw a fit when I took him out.

Eli is 1

Okay no more procrastinating. I will now post the pictures from Eli's birthday party. He actually had two birthday parties because Grandpa and Grandma Donna and Daryl could not be there, nor could Sarah and Andy. So we met with them on Sunday and had lunch to celebrate Donna Momma's birthday and Eli's Birthday. Eli was born on her birthday. He tore into that chocolate cake. We laughed so hard. We had to help Reni and Triston along with their cakes so I was so excited that he just went after it. Momma Donna has the pictures on her iphone and she can figure how to get them off. I will have to post them later.

On Monday the 29th of Sept we just had a small amount of friends and family come to help us celebrate. He did not tear that cake up as good but it was still funny and fun to watch. If was a really good party and I really like that it was so small. We could take the time to enjoy everyone and be involved in all the activities. I still can't believe he is one. It has gone so fast.

I AM an organ donor

I don't know how many die hard ER fans are out there but I have been one for years. I can not believe that this THE final season. I don't know what I am going to do.

The Thursday before last was the first one of the season. If you are a fan, you know what happened. They killed Pratt off. It was probably the hardest episode that I have ever watched on ER because it really hit home for me. I have been threw it. The episode really brought back a lot of feelings and I balded like a baby. It has also been very hard for me to get off my chest. I believe that I was very open with what I was going threw but think that people took my intentions very wrong. So here is the point I want to make.

Pratt, after he was pronounced brain dead, was lead through the hall to have his organs donated. You could tell that every one was having a hard time with it because he still looked alive. His brother on the show even said that he still felt warm. But he had made the decision himself before he died or even knew that he was going to die to be an organ donor. That means that no one can change that after they are gone.

Here is my personal story. First I will give you the down side of it. My mother had had a headache for a couple of days. Finally, not able to take it any more, turned to my step dad in the middle of the night and told him that if he did not call an ambulance quickly, she would not make it. We believe shortly after she arrived at the hospital she had an aneurysm. She started having trouble breathing on her own and was panicking. That is when they started helping her breath and sedated her so she would stop panicking. It was touch and go from this point. They did many test on her, including a CAT scan which confirmed the aneurysm. It had burst in a way to cover all of her brain. A 1 in like 3 million chance that it would burst like that. I stayed with her day and night for 3 days and 2 nights.

I had left the room so that others could go see her since she was in ICU. I was gone for a while. We were waiting for the doctor to come and do the second vitality test to check her brain activity. She had passed the first one. The way they do this is they turn the machine off and see if they try to take a breathe. She took a breath the day before. While we were waiting for the second set of results, I went to see her. I knew as soon as I walked in the room that it was not going to be good. I could feel that she was already gone. I touched her. Nothing. I tried praying for a miracle but nothing. I felt very very crept out. I know that sounds weird but that is how it felt to me. She just wasn't there any more. The doctor finally came and asked for John. They broke the news to him and left it to him to tell the rest of us. It was over.

Then came the time when they would let us know that she was on the donor list. She marked it on her drivers license. I don't think people really understand what that means when you mark that box. It is very real. We did not have an option on this or even a choice. She made that decision and that was that. They were just there to let us know what was going to happen and if we wanted to be involved in the process or not. OF course I wanted to. Me and my brothers. My aunts on the other hand were trying to fight it. Not an option, She checked the box. That was her decision.

I am soooooo glad that she checked that box. I think that if that decision would have been left up to me, I don't think that I could of done it. I honestly think that I would have felt like I killed her. It was so very hard to leave the hospital that night. I felt like I was abandoning her. She was still breathing, so it seemed. She was still pink in color. It still looked like her. It was very hard for my mind to understand that she was gone even though my heart already knew. I felt guilt over this for about a month.

The good side of marking the box on your license. Your family does not have to make that decision. One of the biggest comforts to me about it all is that there is still a little bit of my mother living some where out there. I don't know why but this brings comfort to me. Plus, I know that three lives were saved due to my mothers organs. I feel like they are incredibly blessed to have her in them. They have the touch of God, whether they wanted it or not. I like to sit back and think that they are incredible spirit warriors because they were touched by God through her organs. Silly, I know. I hope that I was able to make my point in all this. Sorry it is so long but I had to get it off my chest. I just hope that I can help others understand so that it is a little less painful for someone else. God Bless!