2012

My goal for this year is to update our blog at least 3 times a week.  I am going to try to stick to it but we shall see.

So far 2012 has been uneventful.  As in--we have stayed in our pajamas and done absolutely nothing.  I love days like this.  Just us, hanging out at home being a family and loving every second of it.  Tomorrow we have to get dressed because we do have a few things that need to get done.

David

Dear David,

Happy Birthday buddy!!  As I type this I must say that I am shocked to believe you are 5. In some ways it seems you have been with us forever and in other ways it seems that just yesterday we were meeting you for the first time.  These past 5 years of being your mama have been the best 5 years of my life.  You make me smile every. single. day.
You have changed a lot this past year--you are really growing up.  With all your growing up you are still my little buddy, my dream come true.  You love to cuddle with me and I love it.  You will come up to me and say, "mama, lets cuddle." and then you will tell me you are my snuggle bug.  Can I just say that it melts my heart.  I always tell you that you are my dream come true--and you are-- but I love when you tell me I am your dream come true.  hahaha.
On your 5th birthday I want to recap a little about this year of your life.

• You have a great imagination!  You love to tell us stories and they always have a lot of adventure--usually a bad guy and some karate chopping too.  
• Legos are your thing right now. You will sit for hours--yes, hours and play with your legos.  You make and create all kinds of things.
• Wrestling. wrestling, wrestling--if it moves you want to wrestle it.
• Energy--that is the best explanation for how you operate.
• You are learning to read and doing a great job.  Most times I have to make you sit down to do your school but you do comply.
• Your favorite people to play with are Luke, Richie and Isaiah. On a daily basis you ask to play with one of these 3 boys.
• You love Subway.  This trend has been going on for a while.  Turkey, bacon, avocado with lettuce and olives is usually the request.
• Your favorite breakfast is pancakes and sausage.
• You flew to Michigan twice this year and drove to Las Vegas 3 times.  You are always a great traveler.
• You love to read books-- some afternoons we will sit for over an hour just reading.
• Equally--you love television.  We do not let you sit for endless hours doing that but I am sure you wouldn't object.  Your current favorite--Busytown Mysteries and Cars 2.  I know you would love action shows like Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers but.......lets just say you may try to impersonate those shows a little too much.
• You love music.  Auntie Maryn is trying to teach you a little piano and you are learning great.  You still say you want to play guitar or be a drummer.
• Blue--you love the color blue.  This is a change because you used to be obsessed with the color orange.
• No socks--you hate to wear socks.  Clothes for that matter are always an issue--you don't like pants only shorts and everything makes you "too hot".
• This has marked a transition year out of naps.  You usually do not take a nap but once in a while you will give me a couple hour break.  You are growing up.
• You now make your bed--I usually have to remind you but when I do you get the job done.
• You like your hair spikey.
• You do not like attention being brought to you at all. As a matter of fact, when we were singing you Happy Birthday you were hiding your face and it was only the 5 of us.

There are so many more things that I could mention about you David because you are so special to our family.  You have brought so much joy and happiness to the Robinson home.  On your 5th birthday I want you to realize how much you mean to us and how much more you mean to God.  Continue to learn to love Jesus and follow him with your whole heart.  All of the passion you put into life use that same passion to follow the One who created you.  I know you love God and I pray that the love you are developing will continue growing.  You are a very special boy David and I love you with all my heart!!

Happy Birthday David!

Christmas Eve marked David's 5th birthday--hard to believe that he is 5 already. These past 5 years have gone by all too quickly.  We wanted to make his special day extra special and I think we succeeded.  He woke up to find that we had decorated the whole downstairs--complete with confetti.  He thought it was awesome.  Next, he opened his presents from family.  3 lego sets and a remote control truck--lets just say he was on cloud nine!  The anticipated birthday event was to go to the lego store and pick out any lego set so we waited for Uncle John to get here and then we were off to Arden Mall (on Christmas Eve keep in mind).  He had been talking for weeks that he was going to get the police station so I fully expected that the police station was the lego set he would choose--I was wrong.  We got to the lego store and after a lot of thought and consideration he picked the pirate ship.  I think it will take a month to put that thing together.  :-)  Next on the list--ride the carousel.  After we left the mall David got to pick where he wanted to eat lunch and Chipotle was his choice.  We picked up Chipotle and brought it home to eat.  While Sugar and Elijah napped we worked on the pirate ship--over 2 hours and we are not even close to being done.  After everyone woke up we went to see Grandma Robinson and then David wanted In and Out for dinner.  Truthfully he wanted Red Robin but it was closed so he made a second choice.  All in all I think David felt pretty special on his 5th birthday and we enjoyed spending the day celebrating!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!  

Love, The Robinson Family

I haven't posted in a very long time--mainly because Glenn's camera is too complex for me to figure out how to upload pictures.   I will not claim to be a technically advanced person.
Life has continued to move forward and I continue to enjoy my time with the kiddos.  There are days that I feel like I am living in a funny farm but I would not change it for anything.  I love being part of the funny farm.  :-)

David has been doing great with his preschool.  He isn't eager to do it but once he gets started he does a great job.  He is starting to read short vowel words and I love it!  It is so cool to sit and watch him sound out the word and then look at me so proudly.  David has a tender heart and we are thankful for that.  He loves to make us happy and he helps so much around the house with cleaning up his toys and making his bed.  He continues to crack me up with the funny things he says every. single. day.  I must admit--my favorite thing about D is the way he loves me.  He always tells me how much he loves me and hugs and kisses me more times in a day than I can count.  It just makes me melt.  So thankful I get to be his mama.  I love this boy with all my heart.

Annabelle loves to learn!  She sits down and does her school work without argument--she usually wants to do more than I have planned for her.  She is a great big sister and takes care of Elijah as if he was her baby.  She has a great imagination and I love watching her play.  Her "sister" and "brother" are named Toota and Dawson. These two go with us everywhere.  She also is turning into quite the little cook and loves helping me in the kitchen.  Annabelle loves purses and bags with random toys stuffed into them.  The other day we were at the library and she had a washcloth and computer wires in her purse.  She usually has a washcloth (for her baby), keys, cell phone and chapstick.  She too says funny things each and every day.  I love how she comes up to me randomly and says, "Mama, I love you too."  I love that when she wakes up she grabs her "bapoo" and cuddle sup with me.  I am so thankful she is my daughter--I love this girl with all my heart!
Elijah is my baby and I can not say how thankful I am that he is part of our family.  The boy cracks me up.  He is a year and half thinking he can do what a fie year old can do--and he tries.  He doesn't talk much--although we know he can.  The words he uses most often are mamamamama (90% of the time), Christmas, all done, uh oh, oh no, esau and shoes.  I shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't talk much considering David and Annabelle do everything for him.  He love to sit on my lap or just have me carry him around.  If he could do that all say he would be a happy camper.  When we put him to bed he always blows kisses and then lays down.  When he wakes up he always puts his head on my shoulder and pats my back.  If David or Annabelle want to sit close to me he lets them know that he is part of the family too.  Right now he likes to play with whatever his brother and sister are playing with.  He plays cars, legos, kitchen, pushes the shopping cart.  I love that Elijah is my baby--even though he isn't technically a baby anymore.  I love holding him and rocking him before bed and how he is so excited to see me in the morning. I love this boy with all my heart.

Another Amazing Sunday

Often times I write to remember the amazingly fun things that we did and I forget about the simple days that bring smiles to my face. Today we went to church--the kids were exceptionally well-behaved. While we were singing Annabelle is in the back swaying and clapping (off beat) just praising God. I love watching her do this--it brings a smile to my face every time.

After church we came home and ate lunch. Grandma Robinson and Joseph joined us. I made a family favorite--chicken pot pie with biscuit topping. My kids love this recipe--they actually love the biscuits. We watched videos of daddy during college. He was a funny guy then and he is a funny guy now. That man sure brings a smile to my face.

Everyone took a nap--yay! After dinner we went to Ikea to pick up a rug and then to Big Spoon for fun. Elijah ate all of his ice cream and wanted more. Annabelle, being the caretaker that she is, fed Elijah some of hers. It was cute because she was trying to wipe his face with her spoon. All three kids ran around outside for a while and burned some energy.

When we got home it was time to get ready for bed--we had to run over and say hi to Mr. Doug and Mrs. Joy first. The kids loved her huge pumpkin and seeing Tonka. After everyone was bathed we went "camping". We got a lantern and read our bedtime stories and then pretended to roast hotdogs, hamburger, tortillas, pizza and marshmallows (all food choices were chosen by David). We climbed into our tents and I told the kids another story about the toad who decided to tell the truth. Oh, Annabelle performed a concert for David, myself and the whole neighborhood. :-) She really likes the song Every Move I Make--I think she likes it because of the na, na, na, na, na, na part. We prayed and then said good-night. Another day over too soon.

It is simple days like this when I often look at the kids playing and think to myself how special this time truly is. I love seeing the excitement on their faces when they listen to a story or tell me a story. They are the best gift God has given me. I love every moment that I get to spend with them--even if the moments are a little crazy.

For My Memory

Today as we were riding our bikes to the park David decided to "pop a wheelie." Oh yea, the 4 year old has skill.....NOT. As he "popped a wheelie" he somehow managed to fly over the handlebars and flip the bike. I could not stop and ran over his leg with the bike cart. When I stopped I was expecting to hear screaming. He looked at me--no screams--and said, "next time I pop a wheelie I better wear a helmet." Is this a glimpse into my future?

D: "Mama, I got a cookie."

Me: "That's okay-just stay at the table."

D: "I got 2 more for my lego friends."

Nice try David--One cookie is all you get. I have not reached the point of insanity to believe that a lego can now consume a cookie.

One more funny story from the summer that I do not want to forget. We were in Michigan and had plans to go to the fair. The morning of the fair David wakes me up and asks how I feel. I tell him that I have a headache and am not sure I can go to the fair. He doesn't hesitate--just runs upstairs to Grandma.

D: "Grandma, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that mama has a headache and she can't go to the fair. The good news is you get to take us."

All I hear is laughing so I of course have to go hear what happened.