Best of 2008

We've made music! (that is cousin Joey on Michael's lap.)
We've improved things. (well, Dave's improved things.)
We've loved on cousins.
We've made new traditions.
We've read books.
We've made stuff.

We've been Healthy! (and waited forever to be declared Healthy!)
We've learned!

We've lost teeth.
We've gotten teeth.
We've celebrated Birthdays. (This is a Robinson tradition, we play Heavy Heavy Hangover.)
We've loved on Grandparents.


We've chased lightening bugs.


We've caught lightening bugs!
We've picnicked with loved ones.
We've been Way Cool.
We've slept.
We've seen the Atlantic.
We've been tour guides.
We've Scout Camped.
We've spelled great big words.
We've been smooched and drooled on.
We rejoiced over precious smiles.
We've done mountains of homework.
We voted.
We've had lots of family fun!

We wish you all a Happy New Year!

Thrity Five.

35 Things about Me.

1. I finish books. Even if I don't like it. I have to finish it. Not the same for sewing/craft projects though.
2. I love to dress dolls.
3. I have a thing for matches. Not the fire kind, but the kids co-coordinated clothing kind. It is actually an illness.
4. I love traditions. We have traditions for everything.
   
5. I like guacamole too, but I only found out last year, now I have 34 years worth of guacamole to catch up on.
6. I'd play Christmas music 365 days a year.
7. I adore babies. Adore them. That new baby stage, I think it is heaven.
   
8. I don't do paperwork. It is bad and in 2009 I'm going to get better. Please hold me to this.
9. I dance. All the time. It will be embarrassing for my children someday I'm sure.
10. I wear lip gloss and earrings all the time. Thanks Mom. I look so cute when the mailman comes and I am still in my pj's.
    
11. I cry a lot. A lot. Happy, Sad, you name it, I'll cry with you about it. I'm also a total sympathy crier, I can't be around a crying person without tearing up. (except that crying my kids do when there is nothing to cry about.)
    
12. I like tacky things. I have to resist the urge to decorate my home from the Dollar Tree.
13. I sat for almost 3 hours today on the couch holding a sleeping baby (ok, he isn't really a baby at 14 months and 30something lbs. He is my baby.) I feel NO guilt.
14. Back to that book thing, I read fast. I read Beck's Christmas book today, didn't love it. (I did go through a lot of tissues though.)
    
15. I think I might have more cyber-friends than real life friends. I've been a part of an internet community for over 10 years.
    
16. I have lived in Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Colorado, Delaware (for just a few months) and Maryland. I'd always wanted to live in Utah, Oregon, Colorado and Maryland! Cool. Don't ask where else I want to live, it would depress my Mom, but wouldn't it be cool to live in a foreign country for just a little while?
17. 1/2 way to 35, are you still reading? I love boxed Mac and Cheese. and cake mixes. And I'm fine with cheap chocolate.
    
18. I like painted toe nails, even when it isn't sandal season.
19. I love water. (drinking, I'm not a swimmer though.)
20. I love to take pictures.
    
21. I am a fabulous story teller. (humble too.)
    
22. I watch most movies (even non action flicks) with my eyes covered the whole time. Anticipation kills me.
23. I can't really carry a tune in a bucket. But I love to sing. Loudly.
    
24. I like to wash dishes and fold clothes.
25. I will read a book over and over and over again.
    
26. I like cupcakes!
27. I am the worlds worst cake decorator. I go so far as to dread taking pics of my kids blowing out the candles for fear of the cake being recorder for the kids to tease me about later.
    
28. I love brand new socks and brand new garments.
29. I love the smell of oranges. (Nutmeg and Orange Zest Scentsy!)
    
30. I am a compulsive weather checker.
31. I wear long johns all the time (not as much as Dave though, and only 1 pair at a time, not layers.)(Michael had on 3 layers of lj's 2 pairs of sweat pants, his Christmas pajamas and went to put on new jeans last night. I think that might define laziness in the clothing dept! )
32. I'm also a compulsive Blog-checker. I'm not compulsive about anything else though. Hence, my really messy house.
33. I struggle with routines.
    
34. I have spent the past 12 years serving in one of 2 callings in the church. That is a lot of time in Primary! (counselor or chorister) I really love it though, I like to see my kids in action. Eve is a fireball in church. Who knew?
35. I am loved and very very blessed.
    

Happy Birthday Me! :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve dinner, have you ever seen green cherries? So Festive! They were lime flavored. Interesting! Candle light makes Chinese Sundaes fancy.

I'm going to bed. The kids will probably be awake in 15 minutes. Why on earth am I still up. (Dave is still wrapping. Bless is heart.)

Two Hands.

As of today, Genevieve Noelle needs 2 hands to tell how old she is.

Six.

I can't get through a December 23rd without tearing up. Her birthday is special, her existence is wonderful and a testament to the power of prayers, miracles of modern medicine and Priesthood Blessings. Evie is a precious girl. Thoughtful and kind and keenly aware of others needs. She had a rough start, but wow, she is amazing.

6 Pictures.

Day One. What kind of welcome to the world is this?

Day 2. The world is equally as harsh as day 1. Maybe more so, but she got to hear Michael and Jane sing songs to her.


First Christmas, 2 days old. I love how they propped her wires and tubes up with Reindeer and Santa Beanie Babies and she was "swaddled" without any blankets messing with her.
Four and pretty as Fancy Nancy.
Five, Fresh and glowing.
Six. Smart and Sweet.

(You can tell when we went digital and when we were hooked on film. Ok, I was hooked on film. We are missing a few years there.)

Happy Birthday Sweet Eve,

Santa.

Lily finds Santa everywhere. She saw him in the Food Lion Parking lot last week. She yelled from across the lot "HELLLLOOOOO SANTA!!!!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!" He looked bewildered, then said. "Hi Little Girl" All the while Henry was Ho Ho Hoing.

He was a Harley Santa IYKWIM.

We had an ornament exchange last week. This ornament could not have been more perfect for my Green Loving girl.

And a random thought. The woman in front of me at Target the other day stole a ginormous package of paper towels. They were hiding under her cart. I actually said "Oh, you forgot your paper towels." Because I forget things in the cart all the time and I am so helpful. She said "Thanks!" The cashier said, "Thanks!" to me. Then, she walked out of the store with them still hiding under her coat. The cashier turned to me and said, "Did she leave those there? She didn't pay for them!"

Strange.

Moving on, we visited with THE MAN the other night. I never realized how much pressure there is for kids, they have this chance to tell him what they want ---- and all 4 speaking children froze. Well, Michael came up with something, Jane said "I dunno" and Eve asked for Chapstick.

Lily's was the funniest though. Sometimes I'd just love a peek into her head.


Banana? Done. Easy.

upright.

Henry has been toddling for a while now. Yesterday he decided it was a better mode of transportation. He had been walking from A to B, then dropping and crawling into the next room. Now I look up to see him walking down the hall or coming from the kitchen to the dining room. He can turn directions and round corners.

Sigh.

It is the cutest, deliberate stepping.

sigh.

My baby is growing up.

sigh. I can tell though, by the sound of his plodding whether he is walking or crawling. Don't you love the sound of each of your kids motions. I can tell you who is bouncing through the house based on their footsteps. Jane never walks. Never.

Redneck.

I have this internet friend.... most conversations I start like that don't get very far because people think I am such a freak to have more "fake" friends than real.

However, this woman is a riot. She is dear, thoughtful, creative and funny. She makes amazing things and sells them in her Etsy shop. Her blog today is totally worth checking out. Totally. You will laugh hard, and you all know how I feel about a good laugh. We all need it. NEED.

Go see her, and check out her handmade stuff too. She has talent! (and 2 adorable girls).

Bogus.

When I was little, there was a red light, way up on the mountain side. I was CONVINCED it was Rudolph. Convinced. Because you know, he lived far far away, but the elves watched me, so he couldn't be toooo far.

I think now, it was Bogus Basin ski hill, or some radio tower light.

It was very real to me. I can feel myself, lying in my bed on my daisy sheets and under my baby blue bedspread. I can hear the sounds of The Carpenters Christmas album. I can see the glow of the Life-Size rooftop Santa and sleigh on the Pierce's house behind us. I can smell hot cider and I know that my Mom is sitting at the kitchen table grading papers. I remember the feeling of anticipation, just not being able to contain myself.

I don't know exactly how my children are feeling... but watching them frolic all afternoon. Playing Nutcracker and Rudolph and bouncing off the walls, I am guessing they are getting excited. I love that they are creating memories. Not the same ones I have, of the Pierce's rooftop decorations and Rudolph's nose on Bogus Basin Mountain, but different ones. Who knows. Perhaps they see elves in the woods behind our house. They are falling asleep to tunes from Pandora.com and the tap of keyboard strokes... I hope they grow up with the magic that I felt.

10 more days.

Isn't it joyful?

In honor of December and munching and goodies and all that.

In the past 10 days, Henry has gone from Baby to Boy. He has learned some wonderful new party tricks. (However, Momma hasn't learned any new tricks so you have to tilt your head to the side to watch some of these. Sorry. I'll figure it out eventually.)

Stepping Out.

Stand Up! (none of our other kids learned to do this before they walked. They all would crawl to a chair, stand up, then walk. He is so talented!)

Last of all, and probably the cutest, Henry learned an exciting word! He was sitting on Grandpa Bruce's lap, reading about Santa, Bruce has a Fabulous Santa Laugh. Henry looked at the book, said Hohoho! Then slid down off Grandpa's lap, crawled around the couch and pointed to another Santa! It was SO FUN to watch him make the connection.

Of course, shopping with him is a pure delight now, every blessed Santa or Santa Hat or Red and White item earns a hearty HO HO HO. :) Delightful.

Oh, alright, One more. Because this post is already shameless.



An added thought. Glenda and Marcello lost their precious Amanda to SIDS a year ago yesterday. Amanda was a beautiful chubby angel, just a few days younger than Henry. With each new milestone Henry reaches, my heart aches for them. They have since taken their 2 sons back to Brazil. I wish I could tell Glenda how much, how often I think of them all. And how much their strength and testimonies have taught us.

Random Thoughts.

It is December 5th. DECEMBER FIFTH!!!!!!!!!! AAAAA!

Lily says Flumb instead of thumb. I am going to miss it when she wants me to kiss her thumb.

Michael got a haircut this week. He looks great. Not too short, just right. Kids on the bus said he looked stupid. Why are kids so mean? He started Chess club and lost his first 3 games and was totally thrilled with the experience anyway. I think "kid" might be the definition of resilience. He went off to school today to wear his suit coat as narrator in one play and my apron as Mom in another play. Resilience.

I woke up at 4:00 and couldn't sleep. I need to write a list. I grabbed a pencil and paper on my side table, wrote down "WRITE LIST" then went back to sleep. Tis the season for madly writing lists.

Jane loves accessories. She often has freckles scotch taped to her nose and cheeks. She is funny, she'll wear my prescription glasses for long periods of time, just for looks. The other day I heard her say, "Here Eve, try ON Mom's glasses and look at the Christmas lights, it makes them all blurry." I laughed because I have always said, "When I take my glasses OFF the Christmas lights are pretty and blurry." :)
The end. There will be a very very extremely braggy "My baby is no longer a baby but a brilliant TODDLER" post coming as soon as I can get movies going. Dang he is charming.

A trend.

I blogged at Bossy today. I think I need someone to Boss me into Blogging on my own blog lately.

Tomorrow. I have all manner of blogs to post, thoughts about family and far away-ness. Thanksgiving is still too tender to think about.

Check me out at Bossy. I promise you'll chuckle. :)

Post Turkey Haze.

Or maybe it was the 4 a.m. run to Kohls and K-Mart. Either way, I feel a bit foggy. Here is a photo update of the last few days. I LOVE Thanksgiving. Isn't it wonderful? Today's turkey and cranberry sauce on homemade rolls for lunch was better than the dinner yesterday. It totally hit the spot.

We lucked out with FAMILY to visit us this year. Mom and Bruce arrived Tuesday night (or maybe it was Wednesday morning...) and the Plicka Family was able to spend all day Wednesday with us. The kids adored having COUSINS. I am always amazed and delighted how kids know that cousins are different than just friends. There doesn't seem to be any warm up time-- it is jump right into best friend playing and loving. Poor Ruby and Joey though, Henry is a bit of a bruiser. He doesn't know his own strength! Henry and Joey got along wonderfully! It was fun to see them sit side by side and SHARE toys! Just wait, next time when they are both walking it might be a different story.
Our kids are loving Grammie and Grandpa. Lily has an serious attachment to Grandpa. She has been his shadow! I think we hear at least 20x an hour "I love you Grandpa!" Sweet.

This is part of the reason we ate late. Actually, we planned that, but we really did eat late. I decided to do a "craft" tradition. Who knows if we will keep it up, but it was really fun and turned out really cute. (It is a table cloth.) Henry was a hoot, he really loved me painting his hand, and his little hand print is cute! Guess which one is Lily the Green Lover's?


Making Dinner with someone is so much fun! Eve helped make knot rolls. Yes they are. No their Knot. Yes they are. No, they are Knot Rolls. Yes they are.... it went on and on.
The end.
For today.
Tomorrow you'll see how busy we've been getting December ready to roll!

Oh Deer!

Deer deer everywhere! I think I've seen more deer this fall than ever before. Is this a sign of something to come? Harsh winter? Unusually high snowfall? Early Spring? Who knows, but they seem to be everywhere. Last week we were on our way to the DC temple and saw a ton of deer on the Beltway and just outside the temple! Holy Cow! Deer in DC. It surprised me. 'Them are city deer, their cousins the country deer live out by us.

I posted all about my favorite things on Bossy! today. I know you are all dying to know my favorite things. :)

Turkey.

I found this while looking for FHE ideas about Thanksgiving. It made me laugh, and I am on a "Laughing is Important" kick, so I'm sharing it.

The Pregnant Turkey

Last year at Thanksgiving time, my mom went to my sister's house for the traditional holiday feast. Knowing how gullible my sister is, my mom decided to play a trick. She told my sister that she needed something from the store and asked if my sister wouldn't mind going out to get it. When my sister left the house, my mom took the turkey out of the oven, removed the mixed stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen, and inserted it into the turkey... then re-stuffed the turkey. She then placed the bird(s) back into the oven. When it was time for dinner, my sister pulled the turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing. When her serving spoon hit something, she reached in and pulled out the little bird. With a look of total shock on her face, my mother exclaimed, "Barbara, you've cooked a pregnant bird!" At the reality of this horrifying news, my sister started to cry hysterically. It took the entire family almost two hours to convince her that turkeys lay eggs! Yes, my sister is a BLOND.

Being Bossy Again.

If you want more Monday Melissa, check me out over at Bossy! today.

My Space and My Face

well, my hair. But that wasn't as catchy. I got my haircut. I was so tempted by the cute short, a-line, trendy bob, but went a little bit longer because I still love my messy buns. It feels good to be blond again.


My sister in law Robin keeps finding pictures on her camera her kids have taken.
Very artsy fartsy. She calls them myspace pictures. I found these last night. I think Dave might be setting up a MySpace page. I laughed so hard it woke children up. Every time I see them I laugh. Laughing is so wonderful. Having fun and being silly is so terrific.




I also found a picture of me. Taken from the backside. hmmm.

Tradition gone awry.

My favorite Thanksgiving Tradition. For as many Novembers as I can remember I have put thankful feathers on a turkey. I have loved the depth of gratitude it brings to our family. I love my children being thankful really thinking and for things like Blue Skies, Primary Music, Bus Drivers, binkies, hugs, freedom, Prophets, salt! LOL.

This year though, it isn't going nearly as well as in the past.

Time for Plan B I guess. Maybe we can move the turkey to.... gee, on the ceiling? I dunno, the kid is into everything. Good thing he is so darling and gives such amazing hugs.

The Little Turkey.