The "Just For Fun" Concert

My two big girls attend weekly choir practice and once every few months they sing in a concert.  This choir class has been a wonderful experience for my oldest, Emma, as she seems to really enjoy singing. Through this class, Emma has learned new songs, has been taught how to follow directions, and has discovered that singing in a big group can be just as fun as singing solo.  Well, almost just as fun.  Her words, not mine!   Cubby just joined the group four weeks ago.  With the help of her big sis, she learned the songs and hand motions in record time.  

So this choir group held an absolutely fantastic Christmas choir concert.  It was so good, and so moving! All of these little voices with little sweet faces to match made the most beautiful, sweet sound.  The two ladies who teach the group are absolute saints, and amazing teachers as well.  

Anyway, a few nights ago, the girls sang in the "Just for Fun" concert with the choir.  They sang such ear candy as "Lollipop," "Ice Cream," "Catch A Falling Star," and "Ragtime."  This was Emma's second concert with the group, but Cubby's first.  Cubby was so excited to perform with her big sis!

My two sweethearts hammed it up before the show. 

No pre-show jitters here!  Once the sparkle vest showed up, a dazzling smile was the only fitting partner to match.

Let the show begin!

Pom-poms were used for.....

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM! Ra-ra-rah!!!"

Ahh....the joy of singing about ice cream. I almost joined in!

"Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly-lolly-lolly Lollipop!!"  Bu, bum, bum, bum. "Call my baby Lollipop, tell you why. Her kiss is sweeter than an apple pie....."

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away..."

I love their happy little faces in this picture.  Sure, they were happy and proud post-concert, but I have to admit, just before taking this photo, I told them we were going to The Big Swirl (our favorite frozen yogurt place)!

The fam-bamily, minus two little characters.  J.D. and Little G stayed home with our trusty sitter, so that we were able to fully enjoy the concert.  Pure joy!  What a great, fun night we had!  To enjoy some of the concert, listen and watch below!

Catch a Falling Star

Ice Cream

Lollipop

The Walker Quartet Sings the ABCs

The kids love to sing the ABCs.  Sure, it's a baby song, and just about everyone on earth knows it, but I promise that my talented kiddos can add a little flavor to it.  

Here are a couple things to look for as the kids sing.  First, J.D. only really knows the first three letters, so he basically repeats them over and over to the tune of the song.  Then, when he gets lost, he echoes everyone, so he's always a step or two behind the others in the song.  It's hilarious.

Second, Cubby is clearly very proud of her enunciating skills.  Every letter sound is sung with such emphasis, she could teach any child from any country to sing this song!  That's a promise!

Little G is yet another budding singer.  She knows the whole song and sings it very well, and for some reason the full body shot camera pan that includes her footed jammies is totally necessary.  To me, anyway! 

Finally, my oldest and most dramatic child, Emma, starts the song traditionally, and sings the whole way through in a fairly unassuming manner.  However, the ending is all drama.  All Emma.  

And now......Back by popular demand.  The Walker Quartet sings the ABC Song:

I hope you enjoyed it!

The Walker Quartet

So, my kids love to sing.  All the time.  All four enjoy singing, but none more than my oldest, Emma.  

As a tiny two-year-old Emma would mimic the Disney Princess CD that was playing in the car, and has since then taken on a sort of romantic vibrato that can sound pretty incredible.  

Cubby has just begun learning to like singing.  She and Emma sing together a lot, ever since Cubby joined Emma's choir group a month ago.  I think she likes learning the hand motions that go along with the music almost as much as the songs themselves.  

Even though Little G is only two, she already has quite a catalog of songs in her little head that she likes to belt out, usually at bedtime.  The A, B, C Song is a favorite, of course.  And along with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Rock-A-Bye Baby, and Jesus Loves Me, Little G is also learning the girls' songs from choir practice.

J.D. is not really a singer just yet.  His favorite song is "Tractor, Tractor" set to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  It. Is. Hilarious.  Sometimes he throws in some other J.D. hot topics such as, backhoe, bike, or motorcycle, which he pronounces "mow-ka-kow."  And yes, I will post a video of him saying this. So, no, J.D. doesn't really sing, but he loves to play the air guitar.  Whenever the girls start an impromptu sing-a-long, J.D. will automatically start strumming his "guitar" along with their tune.  He dances around a little, too.  

Anyway, the other night at bedtime the four kids lined up in the twins' room to sing a song for me.  The song was Doe a Deer, a Female Deer....you know the tune!  Here goes the Walker Quartet....air guitar and all!  Enjoy!

Valentine's Day - A Weeklong Love Fest!

When one has small children, Valentine's Day explodes from a single day of card giving to a weeklong celebration.    Party attending, cookie decorating, card giving, cupcake eating and sugar high induced tantruming (another made-up verb....sorry!) became our roller coaster ride of Valentine's Day.  

Our celebrating actually began two weeks ago as the girls began making crafts and creating homemade cards. Making homemade cards with the two big girls has to be my favorite part of this holiday.  The girls can spend hours coloring and putting stickers on cards, and then finish them off with a flowery "I love you."  

This year the girls were invited to a Father-Daughter tea party.  The tea party included grandpas as well. So both grandpas cancelled any and all plans in order to be present at this very important occasion.  

It was a parade of pink when the Walker girls showed up.  That's one proud Daddy and an equally proud Grandpa!

Poor little J.D. still in pajamas (as was I) is none too thrilled to be left at home with mom.  I tried explaining how he really wouldn't like the tea party, but that's hard for a two-year-old to understand especially as he watches two of his male heroes driving away.  My mom and I took him to the lineman rodeo down at the arena, and it was there that I earned his confidence that mom can indeed be cool....sort of.  

This has nothing to do with Valentine's Day, so yes, I am just sticking this photo in because it is hilarious!  Gotta love uncles, right?!   This dress-up session made the girls SO happy!!!

Another Valentine's tradition has been born in our house this year.  The four kids jumped aboard Danny's back roller and pretended it was a boat.  They sang "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," throughout the house on their "log boat."   

It is so thrilling to me how many more activities they do as an entire crew of four.  They have only recently learned to really play together.  This was one of those great moments, when as a parent, I could see into the future a hope that my four kids are the type of siblings who are best friends. 

And always the furry dog is along for company.

And finally, the happy couple whisked away in a magical, golden mini-van to enjoy a romantic dinner out on the town!  Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?  He gets more wonderful as the years go by.  Isn't that how it's supposed to be?  I love that my marriage is one of those wonders that can only come from God's blessing.  I love you, honey!

P.S. Hip Hip Hooray for our wonderful babysitter!  

A Disneyland Vacation...Walker Style - Part IV

The latter half of our second day at Disneyland became a challenge between the girls to meet the most Disney characters and obtain their autographs.  It was a tough challenge....but they prevailed! 

We grabbed Minnie right at the entrance.  She was happy and sweet! 

Pluto made the girls' day, with lots of fooling around while signing their books....with a big paw print!!  

We waited for Rapunzel the longest, 20 minutes or so, probably since she is the newest character at Disneyland.  Her hair was draped all over the room, the girls were amazed!

The girls picked out one special keepsake apiece.  Emma picked out this hand-painted parasol in New Orleans.  

Cubby searched and searched...until she decided on a miniature Sleeping Beauty doll with tons of tiny accessories.  She loved it.  By the way, is it wierd that I love this picture?  I guess it reminds me of shopping with my own sister and how much fun we have together.  

Ok, so yes, I shouted, "Strike a pose!" in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.  I had no idea the amount of 'tude I'd get from my two little hams!

This picture makes me smile.  Little Cubby rides the carousel horse, complete with her Ariel costume and tennis shoes.  I love love love four-year-olds.  

The end of day two....marked appropriately with a sleeping princess and her Dumbo elephant prize.

  

We had to venture out of out hotel room for dinner that night, then...

we returned to our room.  The kids donned their princess and Cars jammies, and our little family crashed out!

Well, actually after an exciting day it's tough to get everyone settled down to sleep.  Two hours tough.  Bedtime should have been at 8:00 PM.  Nope.  Try 11:00 PM.  Ouch!  Somehow it didn't really matter. We were all running on adrenaline by then.

The girls woke up bright and early on our third day at the park.  They brushed and braided their long, luxurious locks.  

J.D. and cousin Ellie hung out together in the carriage.  This is always a funny combination of toddlers.  J.D. is the strong silent type, and Ellie is the ultimate girly  girl.  She's probably wondering where "Gigi" (Little G) is at this point.  

Uncle John and Danny were the perfect seats for two antsy toddlers, eager to get into the park!

Somebody loves her daddy!

And somebody is really excited that Disneyland is opening!!!

Cubby loved wearing that long braid. Doesn't she look like a miniature Viking princess?  

We waited in line to meet three princesses, in hopes of meeting Emma's current favorite, Princess Tiana. She wasn't there, but we had the chance to meet three favorites again.  I didn't hear any complaining!

Cinderella.

Sleeping Beauty

Snow White

Then we trekked over to Mark Twain Island on the little raft-like boat.  The twins and Ellie lined up to watch Danny ride over.

The kids, and by "kids" I do include grandpas, had a great time running, climbing and exploring all around the island.  They got tons of energy out!

So much energy  that the twins were unable to smile for the family photo afterward.  Or maybe they were just being difficult.  I am trying to be positive here.

With a herd of tired kids on our hands, it was high time for some lunch!  The boys had their table.

And Grandpa D was in excellent form, mimicking the banjo player, acting like an outlaw complete with bandanna, and yelling "yippee-tay-yay-yo!" every chance he got.  It was classic Grandpa D.  

Bean time.  Oh how they loved the baked beans.  

Ellie loved those beans.  By the end of the meal, she actually had a ring around her face from the edges of the bowl since she was trying so hard to put her face in there to get every last bit out.  Wow.

I love this photo.  It is a great photo of my dad, but I also love how J.D. is holding on tight to Grandpa's thumb.  His face is covered in sunblock, and he looks a little sleepy, but he is so happy to be with Grandpa.  After the Jungle Boat Ride, we headed on back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  See you next time as we wrap up our Walker Disneyland adventure!

A Disneyland Vacation...Walker Style - Part III

Our second day in Anaheim began with a bang!  The kids woke up early, scarfed down their breakfasts, and jumped into the strollers, unfortunately a couple hours before the park opened.  Farmer kids.  What are you going to do?   

You start pushing  them down the sidewalk toward Downtown Disney!  That's what!  I love this picture of the caravan of people and kids that is my family.  

Once in the park, Little G and Ellie worked on getting all strapped in for the wild ride of strollering around Disneyland!  I like that word.  Strollering.  I'm keeping it. 

Our first stop was Disneyland's California Adventure Park.  Viewing Mater, Lightening McQueen, and the shop tools made my little J.D. a very happy boy indeed.  

From Grandma D's expression you might assume this bumper car is really zipping around the old track, right?  Um...no.  Check out Little G.  Yeah, pretty mellow.   But I have to say, despite her apparent joy at riding in this incredibly slow moving car, she also took on some pretty crazy rides when the little kids weren't around!  Tower of Terror, anyone? 

This part of the park was devoted to A Bug's Life.  So the whole area was created to look like we were bugs, and we were seeing the world from a bug's point of view.  Giant leaves covered our heads from the sun, huge pencils jutted out of the ground, and this ride looked like one handcrafted by ants.  We sat in a seat that looked like a take-out box being held in the air by sticks.  The kids dug it.

Then the kids met Chip 'N Dale.  Chippendale?  Say what?  

Safari Mickey was there, too.

We were pleasantly surprised at how much we loved California Adventure Park.  I hadn't heard just great reviews from fellow parents of kids under six, so I hadn't gotten my hopes too high.  We had a fabulous time!  

Riding on the swings was definitely a highlight.

But the best part had to be the princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto.  Oh, how exciting it was to see all the little girls dress up to meet and gather autographs from the princesses.  This is such a great shot of Little G and Ellie.  I love that my daughter is the sporty princess, complete with velcro tennis shoes and socks, while Ellie is completely gorgeous and coordinating.  I mean, Ellie IS Tinkerbell, and Little G IS Snow White's soccer playing little sis.

Meeting Ariel was a thrill, especially for Cubby.  She wore her Ariel dress especially for Ariel to see.  Cubby feels a special bond with Ariel because they both have red hair.

   

Cinderella was a special treat for the girls to meet, too.  Even though Emma appears to be grabbing Cinderella's rear, and prior to this picture, Little G looked up Cinderella's dress to check to see if her shoes were really glass, the gracious princess still signed our autograph books and smiled for the camera.

Then the princess parade continued with Princess Aurora.

Belle

Snow White

Princess Cubby

Princess Emma

Our lunch at Ariel's Grotto was fabulous.  So what's wrong with these guys?  Lighten up a little!  It's a princess lunch, not an episode of the Sopranos!!

Ellie made a new friend with a stuffed Dumbo.  What a sweetheart!!

And then it was family picture time.  I love this shot of my sister's family.  

And there we are!  This was such a fabulous, wonderful morning at California Adventure!  What could possibly top this?  Well, just you wait, this afternoon is pretty exciting.....see you next time for Part IV of the Walker Family Disneyland Vacation!!!