The Robinson Family - No Empty Chairs

Christmas Sibling List for 2011

2011-09-21T11:10:00.002-05:00

John gives to Mary

Alison " Sarah

Peter Blais

Lisa Hannah

Becca Rachel

Rachel Alison

Blais James

Sarah John

Trevor Lisa

Hannah Daniel

Daniel Trevor

Mary Peter

James Becca

GIRLS CRUISE PICTURES!! Finally :D

2011-02-27T22:17:00.001-06:00

2010-05-23T18:39:00.003-05:00

Okay so here are some pictures from last summer that I thought everyone would enjoy. I am sorry that I did not post them earlier.

Here we are at a concert up at Usana while Hannah was here for a ballet camp. I believe the coloring was from a slushy :)

The whole family at Tucanos! mmmmm

Taking a break up at Lamb's Canyon

If anyone else has pictures please post!!!!!

Petie's Big Adventure.

2010-05-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

Peter has a new Blog. You can access it at momowagon.blogspot.com.

Florida...

2010-01-13T02:06:00.004-06:00

Here's my pictures... Anyone else?

And the Rains Came Tumbling Down

2009-11-19T14:41:00.003-06:00

The following video is what I encountered at work the past week. I was on the phone (which you can hear me still talking to my client) when all of a sudden there is a HUGE flood above my head. I just got up out of my seat and continued the conversation while everyone else cleared off my desk. This was a video that one of my co-workers took. Do not worry, I have now moved cubicles and am liking the new placement better.

I have learned a valuable lesson from this. Sometimes the "rain" that we see in our lives may turn out to better our situations, no matter how wet we get. :)

Christmas Sibling Gift Exchange

2009-11-03T12:50:00.002-06:00

1. Alison -> James

2. John -> Mary

3. Peter -> Hannah

4. Lisa -> Alison

5. Becca -> Sarah

6. Rachel -> Peter

7. Blais -> Trevor

8. Sarah -> Daniel

9. Trevor -> Rachel

10. Hannah -> Becca

11. Daniel -> Blais

12. Mary -> John

13. James -> Lisa

By: James not Lisa

Writing

2009-11-02T16:43:00.003-06:00

Isaac has a notebook which he enjoys writing in. This is from last night:

He misses H. and M. (Hannah and Mary). He was a little sad (and whiny) and didn't want to go to bed last night.

We love you! We miss you!

Love, the Arizona Robinson's

Just a couple pictures!

2009-10-31T17:02:00.004-05:00

Those who were around... We had a blast!

Becca was kind enough to shore her shower with me after a day in the car, and keep track of these munchkins! Thanks so much!

Seamonkey

2009-10-10T08:50:00.004-05:00

Hey everybody! This is Rachel, not Blais. Blais wanted me to make sure that I put that because otherwise people might get confused... anyway, I keep talking to family and friends from out of town and they all ask me if I have a belly yet, so I am posting proof. Yes there is a belly, no I can't see my feet if i look straight down, and yes I still feel like I have been hit by a truck. It got better for a while, and then I got sick. Nobody should ever have to be pregnant and sick. Back to the belly, on Friday the 16 we are going in for our ultrasound, so the time to place bets on the baby's gender is now!

Star Trek - Robinson Style

2009-08-11T22:31:00.007-05:00

The above pictures are a display of what our family did for fun in Utah. Unfortunately all of us couldn't attend because of the vicious flu that always seems to run through our family when we get together.

We went to a Pleasant Grove Elementary School to attend their Space Camp Simulator. We arrived not really knowing what to expect. All we knew was that 5th graders generally came and that it was also run by students. The took us right into the briefing room and told us of our mission to help this planet that was surrounded by Space Pirates. As you can see we all had uniforms and James was equipped with a stun gun. We all were assigned posts and had assignments.

Pretty simple right? 5th graders do this all the time. Well we had a very stressed and sweaty captain (John) and all of us were completely enthralled in our positions as Chief of Operations, Chief of Communications, and many others.

Our deck was overtaken by the pirates and we almost blew up because of CO2 problems that caused the red lights to flash and a countdown to occur. WOW we were so surprised and as soon as our time was up we all walked out and wanted to do it again. So much in fact that the family looked into extending their trip in order to do another mission.

I'll let you in on a little secret... we watched Star Trek the night before to prepare ourselves and assigned positions the night before as well. haha yes we are crazy but that is why I love it! Try it out sometime and if you do - CALL ME!

Chillin' with the Presidents

2009-06-23T14:38:00.003-05:00

Because the road trip was a GIRLS ONLY adventure, we decided to take a detour and visit Mt.Rushmore. We woke up early, believe it or not, and got there before the rush of visitors.

Top: Squish your head!

2nd: The four of us will be on the Mt.Rushmorette

3rd: Total Fer Cute!

Bottom: Hannah is trying to fit in

Just some pictures :)

2009-05-24T00:50:00.004-05:00

The first three pictures were taken at Jeremiah's preschool graduation on Wednesday. This is Jeremiah and his teacher, Ms Rachel. She's been great for him this year. I've been pleased with the preschool program they have here, but more with how much these adults have loved Jeremiah.

Jeremiah crossing the bridge. :)
In his cute school shirt and graduation cap. :) It was a very cute and sweet program. The children performed a few songs (crazy color creatures, we've got the whole world in our hands), and each crossed the bridge and ran to their teacher for a hug. (There were two classes who had a combined graduation party.)
And this is just my absolute favorite picture of my boys. They are playing a computer game, if that isn't obvious.

Hannah's prom Dress

2009-05-12T08:38:00.001-05:00

How did she handle 10 of these

2009-05-06T15:31:00.002-05:00

After watching this I had to wonder how Mom got to ten. It also brought back some memories of a child saying, "My turn, my turn" over and over again. I am not going to mention who...

Also I remember Peter quoting this quite often, "Elevator go down the hole"

Irate Tenant Stories

2009-04-06T11:58:00.003-05:00

Here are the latest Irate Tenant Stories: Tenant A is upset because she doesn't want to pay her rent because she had to pay her cell phone bill. Tenant B doesn't pay his rent because he got a stomach ailment and felt he shouldn't work his normal schedule - He wants his rent discounted. Tenant C feels that she shouldn't have to pay her rent because she is moving out at the end of the month and needs to come up with a security deposit for the next landlord she is going to drive crazy. The best is Tenant D: he is moving out at the end of the month and is upset because I sent him a cost list of what he will be charged if he doesn't clean. He especially doesn't like the fact that he has to replace the light bulbs that he used up. He wants a phone call and will take me to court if I charge him for his light bulbs. Fun and Games - The life span of being a landlord is max 10 years ( "Can I be full yet?")

Rain Freeze!

2009-03-19T17:19:00.003-05:00

Who knew that freezing rain, being so dangerous, could also be so beautiful ? Mary has been cryogenically frozen in preparation for her voyage home to the third moon of Saturn :) What an interesting pose to choose to stay in for the next 50 years don't you think?

We Miss Grandkids

2009-03-03T14:33:00.003-06:00

We miss sticky fingers, trampoline wars, light saber fights, noisy Sunday dinners.

Final Answer...

2009-02-24T17:31:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much for all of your comments and suggestions. I definitely needed some fresh perspectives on the bigger picture as I have spent too long pouring over the details. After considering the comments, doing some soul searching and going to the temple I have decided to pursue physical therapy! :) YAY! After deciding for certain, dropping my CNA class and looking at PT programs I am more sure that this was the correct choice. I literally could not fall asleep a couple nights in a row because I was so excited about it. Nursing would definitely be a faster and easier road to money and career, but PT just fits me better. So I am choosing the longer, harder route to do something I will love :) There are a few nurses in my singles group and just hearing them talk about their crazy schedules, working twelve hour night shifts on the weekends so they can go to church and switching between evening and day shifts from week to week, makes me breathe a bit easier knowing that will no longer be my lot.
So now that I have a career I just need a job in the meantime. I have an interview tomorrow with a senior home care company, which is the first out of a numerous amount of applications I have submitted for positions which I am overqualified. So pray for me because I am in desperate need of income :) Thanks everyone again.

PS I have started a personal blog, which will document my road to thirty-dom.

forcryingloudout.blogspot.com

-Lisa

Physical Therapy versus Nursing

2009-02-12T13:25:00.002-06:00

So I have been going back and forth for years on this topic and I just can't wholeheartedly commit to one or the other, as most of you know. The main reason being that I have always wanted to be Mom when I grew up. Evidence to support being my "I'm going to be a mom soon" when I was 4 years old, and I talked to Mom about what I wanted to be, which was her, my senior year of high school. As my top career choice is not currently available my next options were PT or Nursing as I would enjoy the direct patient interaction and use of my love of science. The problem is how I fit in being a mom in the future with this...

PT advantages

- Normal workweek M-F 9 to 5. Did I mention I hate working weekends?

- I would be in charge. Having little to no boss, no dealing with administration etc. is a definite plus (right Dad? :)

- I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it! My favorite classes at BYU were directly related (Ortho Impairments and Exercise Prescriptions, Functional Anatomy, Athletic Training etc.) When I think about PT school I get excited about learning more.

-Higher pay. In this economy this is a major benefit. I vow to someday own a fridge with a water/ice dispensor on it :)

-If I have to work 50 more years of my life I would definitely prefer this to nursing.

PT disadvantages

- HUGE FINANCIAL commitment! Three years of gradaute school, most likely out-of-state will add up to quite a bit of debt. Also I may need to retake a few courses to boost up my GPA to be more competitive in my application. My main fear is that being in this kind of debt will make it impossible for me to be at home when I do have kids in order to pay it off, unless I just plan on marrying a wealthy sugar daddy :).

- Less flexibility and job opportunities. I have actually seen a lot of openings for PTs in Rochester and La Crosse, so the job market is out there it just is not as universally in need of PTs as nursing (few occupations are). With nursing you can work one shift a week, or just as needed. Very very flexible here. There are PT positions that will let you go parttime or one shift a week, it would just be rarer than with nursing.

-Competitive programs. I am just worried to commit and then applying and not getting accepted anywhere. Is it worth delaying nursing for a few years in order to try and then not get in?

Nursing advantages

- Easy to schedule around a family.
- I would never get bored as there are always opportunities to learn new things, try different areas of the hospital.
-I eventually could teach and have weekends and summers off, YAY! This would require a masters degree so I would have to get my BSN and then a masters to do it, which would be another financial commitment but I could spread it out over a few years while earning decent pay as a nurse.
- As ridiculous as the RCTC admissions is, if I do the LPN route I will most likely be able to go on the earn my RN by Fall 2011 for around $10,000, which is a pretty good deal. Less debt and faster income.
-I can travel around taking jobs visiting my siblings and their families , which would save me money on cats and cat food. Plus I really don't want that cat-loving virus :)

Nursing Disadvantages

-not as fun as PT
-Weekend shifts required in most places. Seriously this is a big annoyance for me. I like have two days in a row and I need spiritual battery charging on Sunday, not stress.
- Higher stress levels, rushed atmosphere, emergency situations ( I am not perfect while panicking(sp?))

Anyway these are some of my thought processes concerning my employment. With the ecomony its important to get going soon. I have thought about doing nursing and there is the possibility of switching to PT in a few years after I have saved money and made my application more competitive. Whenever I feel like I have commited to one profession, I will suddenly see many more of the benefits for the other profession. It's driving me crazy! :) Any thoughts, comments feel free to share.

Nursing School Vent

2009-02-11T16:49:00.003-06:00

Warning this is a "vent" so the reader can excuse any overly negative tone to this entry. I am a bit frustrated with nursing programs and myself currently so I need to just let it out on the computer screen. The number one topic on my mind at the moment is nursing school as I have spent the last three hours looking at website after website and comparing tuitions and prerequisite requirements, to program length to probability of being accepted etc. Basically I have concluded very little about what the best next step is for me.

This intense internet search resulted from a talk with the nursing advisor at the the tech school I recently applied to. I was excited to learn that my previous certification and six months work experience as a CNA fulfilled the CNA prerequisite as long as I am currently enrolled in order to recertify (its a long story but basically an expired certificate can just retest, or a current out of state CNA can retest but there is no retest available in Minnesota for an expired out of state Certification and the CNA course had to be completed before the application deadline which was last week). Anyway my pleading letter with the appropriate documentation got me past that loophole , but alas to my horror I found out the none of my BYU college courses transferred with the exception of one english class. None of my anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, chemistry, or psychology was accepted! This is a community college not taking university credits. Because I had no credit for the courses which give points on the application there is no possible way I will get in for Fall. I can contest the course credit but who knows how much that will effect. Having a bachelors degree was only worth three points on the application...3 out of a required 67 minimum to be competitive.

I have to complain a little about this point system. GPA is given the most amount of points dropping 5 points for every few tenths of a point drop in GPA. This is okay, I did alright with my GPA score however the prereq score didn't take grade into account. As long as you passed the required class you get points for having completed. Therefore a person who received straight Cs in all of their prereqs gets full points for them, which adds up to a lot of points! Even if all my courses transfer I am still missing two of the prereqs so I miss out on ten points even if I had straight As in the classes I did take. 3 points for my bachelors is not very helpful at all.

The advisor was very helpful in giving me an honest analysis of my situation. Basically I can spend the next two semesters retaking the untransferred courses to get me those points and apply again for Fall of 2010 at which point I will have a chance of getting in or I can apply for the LPN program this fall, which I should get into and then apply for the LPN-RN transition (they leave 10 spots open specifically for the transitioners) in a year. This is not a bad option, it will just take one semester longer and cost me more money, but I have my RN one semester sooner than waiting to apply again to the RN program. There is also the option of looking at accelerated programs again. The RN program I have been talking about is an Associates Degree while the Accelerated programs are for a second BS in nursing. The main problem being they are very competitive and expensive. With the ecomony like it is I predict it is only going to get worse as professionals are changing careers. Depending on the school some are around $30,000+ for one year of intense schooling.

Anyway I just am a little frustrated that my bachelors apparently counts for almost nothing when it comes to employment and nursing school. I applied to work as a cheese processor and was turned down because I am not qualified! What?! The temp agencies in Rochester have nothing available and I don't particularly want to work at the mall as a 25 year old college graduate...LOL. Is that prideful? Probably :) Something will hopefully come up soon. Anyone have any good small business ideas they would be willing to share?

Besides the lack of good news on the nursing front and no job, life in Rochester is good. The Redlins are AMAZING! I have my own room for the second time in my life and it is somewhat organized even :) I have been welcomed as part of the family so I am included in family dinner and Julie and I have watched all of Kingdom Hospital and the first season of Pushing Daisies in between runs to temp agencies and the daily perusal of the classified ads. I have been practicing the piano quite a bit and studying my anatomy books (proving to myself that my college education was not a complete waste :) ). Desi brought over a mattress and box spring last night with a twin sheet set and helped set it up so I could put away the somewhat leaky air-mattress I have been using. So pretty much I am spoiled by everyone :) I just wish some nursing school would join the club!

Distractedness

2009-01-30T00:40:00.002-06:00

Time for a confession. Easier typed than spoken, at least for me.

I had a conference (which I requested, so be extra proud of me...it was hard! I don't like asking for things or suggesting problems or being the center of attention!) with Jeremiah's principal, teacher and IEP team (which consists of his speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist and her assistant, school psychologist, and I only requested to meet with the principal and everyone else was tacked on) to try to get Jeremiah out of "necessary" kindergarten next year. His birthday's 5 days before the cut off, but they won't budge. The district, that is. The deadline's the deadline, unless we completely take him out of the public school system, which, on John's stipend would be ridiculous.

At the conference, Jeremiah's teacher mentioned him being frequently distracted.

This was a couple weeks ago. Yesterday as I was dropping him off at school, she "was wondering if she'd mentioned the possibility of ADD at our meeting, or just that he got distracted," because, if it's okay with me, they'd like to do some testing for ADD as they're getting paperwork ready for next year.

I looked up the DSM criteria for ADD (which is really now only AD/HD, often abbreviated as ADHD), and he would need to fit 6 criterion out of 9, and I feel as though he fits nicel into 5 of them at home. If his teacher adds a couple more from school...There we go. I think the "testing" involved is just the school psychologist going over the criteria with both me and Jeremiah's teacher, seperately, and see where Jeremiah is.

One interesting thing about this is that 3 of the 5 criterion that I feel Jeremiah fits are jsut as easliy described by his autism. So there seems to be a huge overlap to me.

However, I think that if Jeremiah has ADD (AD/HD) on his school records, it might be one more thing that will help to get him the extra helps he needs. I think.

So, when I was writing about what I do with my kids, partly it was because I feel like I need to help fix this. That I need to have structured time with my kids, as a group, where they are expected to sit and listen and hopefully answer some questions, where they play together by taking turns and sharing and not having a tantrum when someone else gets ahead in CandyLand because we ALL recognize that we can play again in a few minutes, where their attention is lengthened, where they follow verbal directions, where they become more independent.

Danielle and Isaac ARE independent. I think most kids are. "No, Danielle do it!" Getting into and buckling herself in her carseat, brishing her teeth, brushing her hair, washing herself in the tub. Isaac doesn't need to verbally express that, he's old enough to grab his toothbrush (well, and tall enough) after we say our family prayer at night. But Jeremiah doesn't naturally do things for himself. He'd prefer for less to have to happen so he can be in his own little world. In December, his teacher asked if I have him dress himself...and I didn't. I mostly did it for him. So, now he dresses himself. I just hadn't thought about it.

I'm not trying to be SuperMom. I'm just trying to make sure I make Jeremiah be involved with us (I've played many games and read many books with him in the room, but really, to Isaac and Danielle). It's not something that comes naturally. So now, we sit on the quilt spread across the floor and have story time and music time (Jeremiah calls it Sound Time). I force him to do things that are Required. Yes, you Have to fold your arms for a prayer. Yes, you Have to sit here dring the story. It CAN'T just be what he wants to do. We do what he likes, too. But he HAS to learn to do what someone else (for example, me...and his teachers) wants him to do.

I don't want him to be medicated, especally at 4, for ADD. I think that's ridiculous. Though having kids teaches me to be more humble than I would have expected--I know I was right before I had kids, and now I'm getting all confused.

Does anyone remember the color green?

2009-01-29T10:31:00.001-06:00

Wish it was Summer!

2009-01-29T10:16:00.003-06:00

Milwaukee Zoo - Fall of 08

I'm tired of mean, biting cold. I'm tired of white, never ending snow. I'm tired of icy roads and tall, tumbled obstinate snowbanks.

Give me instead, polar bears, penguins and flying bats. Give me tigers, elephants and grizzly bears.

Thought I'd give John and Peter a chance to take a breather from their break dancing.

Come on you guys! Put something on the blog!!!!! Love ya. Mom

2008-12-28T16:15:00.003-06:00

John breakdancing WOOT!!!

"Robot and Isaac" by Isaac

2008-12-23T16:05:00.003-06:00

Once upon a time, there was a robot friend. And he'll always always always always stay clear, and he can fly. Isaac will never never break his promise to not be his friend, and he'll play and play and play with him. Until, Robot's mom did do nothing and nothing. She was cooking. After she was cooking, then she asked Robot's dad. Robot's dad said, "can we just go pick up Robot?" Robot's mom said, "Can we always never never never never go pick up Robot?" Robot's dad will repent, but Robot's mom will never repent. Then, Robot flied and flied and flied and flied flied flied flied flied. The question is: Why did Robot fly fly fly?

Isaac has loved telling stories lately. He enjoys dictating them to me and John. Not that everything makes sense on paper, but I think it all works well in his mind. I liked that in the above story, Robot's mom did "nothing," as she was cooking. It was interesting when I read it back to Isaac, and asked him what "she asked Robot's dad." He replied, "Why don't you try to sound it out, Mom?"

We are a Happy Family!

2008-12-15T23:12:00.003-06:00

I randomly came across Wrachie and Blais-y-pooh's wedding photos on a random laptop and I feel that this is a much better family picture as it includes everyone and we all look so stinkin' cute! I wish everyone could be here for Christmas, but with our collection of blogs it's easy for us to be cyber-ly together at least. John and Alison we should webcam or something over the break. C'mon... I know you don't want to miss Blais trying lutefisk for the first time :) Becca and Sarah hurry up and get here already.

Peter's Mexican Vacation

2008-12-13T21:22:00.008-06:00

Oyster Bar in New Orleans

Carnival ship "Inspiration".

Real mexican Tacos.
So Good....

Jason and I with our drinks.

No Comment...

Nacho!!!...

Souveniers.

Mandy and I on a
white sand beach, beautiful day.

Jason and I on said beach.

Ruins at Tulum

Ditto

Taking a real siesta.

stupid hat.

jason, mandy, and I

sunset from the boat

View astern

Jason and Mandy on the boat.

tampa harbor from the boat

Dr. Pepper in the car.

Don't be jealous...

The Final Countdown!

2008-12-12T13:54:00.003-06:00

Only 13 days until Oyster Stew! Mmmmmm....

Crazier still only a week until I am the big 25. Yep, old-hagdom is approaching :) Luckily I will have a few days extra at being 24 because I won't be blowing my candles out until the 22nd or 23rd, tee hee. Becca is there a countdown until Christmas you could put in the sidebar? And also can we switch out that family picture? It brings back embarassing memories of the photo shoot surrounded by people in Sams Club and plus you aren't in it! Also if you want to add to your Christmas list call Mom and Dad today as this is the last shopping night for them before they head off.

2008-12-10T08:32:00.002-06:00

This guy was hiding under the rostrum where the Bishop preaches to the congregation. He is holding a compass and square that shows he is a stone mason. Not too flattering to himself. I just loved all the statues in the churches. Our guides were really good at telling us the personal stories of the common people. Nobody liked the bishops much. That was, to me, a powerful part of our trip. These Catholic Bishops built their gardens and fortresses and luxurious palaces while the common people starved. The churches were always built with "donated" labor. Truly the dark ages were very dark. "I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole" comes from the plague times. Dying people were locked in their houses to keep the infection from spreading. Every home had a hole and grate at the top of the entry door. Their neighbors would hook food and water to the end of a 10 foot pole and push it through the grate to the dying people inside. This way they would not suffer from lack of food and water - the best their friends and family could do. Every town has a plague monument. The plague was always portrayed as an ugly old woman. (Latin word for plague was feminine) 1 in 3 died. Sobering. Oh gosh - what a dismal post. Mom

More trip photos

2008-12-10T08:28:00.001-06:00

Tree Decorating

2008-12-09T16:33:00.004-06:00

It's Christmas time! Here's the latest goings on in Wisconsin. Today was an immense occasion, the first snowday of the year. There is so much snow, it's CRAZY! It definitely looks like Christmas.
Mom looking cute with her new haircut, sewing tutus together for Nutcracker.

Hannah and Mary looking cute. Note the new floor and ladder in the background.

Here is the final product of the tree. I guess I picked it twice unintentionally. It's a beauty!

Yay! We got our tree. Here is a little clip of Mary trying out Mom and Dad's new camera. It's pretty funny, especially Dad and Hannah. Yes, that is Lisa risking life and limb to trim the tree.

Christmas Choir Concert

2008-12-09T14:21:00.009-06:00

Well guys, my hard work on my choir songs was a complete waste of time. :( Because of the weather, there was no way we would survive going down the bluff, so I had to miss the concert. At school (only a few hours before the concert) Mrs. Crandall said that the performance was not going to be cancelled so don't bother calling and asking her if it was. And she told us (at 2:25pm) that she would not take snow as and excuse of not coming because "there is not a speck of snow in the sky" Well, the problem, Mrs. Crandall, is that people asked if it would cancel because we were going to get hit by a snow storm LATER. So unless you could tell the future, there is a very good chance that the concert SHOULD have be cancelled.

Anyway, I started getting ready for the performance at around 4:40 and I didn't have to leave until 6:00, so it took about an hour and 20 min for me to get ready. Hannah curled my hair, put makeup on me and I put my new Christmas dress on. (Mom let me have it early so I could wear it at the concert I didn't even go to) Just when I grabbed my coat we decided it was too dangerous to go down the bluff. So right now I have no idea how she will react. Those who know Mrs. Crandall understand how intimidating she is. I have choir tomorrow so I have no idea what she will say to me. Just so you know mom and dad if she tries interrogation, I'm sending her to you guys. :D

By the way, the pictures I posted are pictures of me and James after we heard about the weather. (We mainly took pictures so that our efforts at looking nice weren't wasted)

Sarahs BLOG!

2008-12-09T10:36:00.002-06:00

Hey Family!

I am too good for this blog and have my own personal one. HE HE. Actually, I made my own blog before we made this one, so sorry about that. BUT if you would like updates on my life please look at my blog too :D The address is...

http://sarah-anne-robinson.blogspot.com/

thanks guys! And I hope you enjoy! :p

Christmas Tree Scavanger Hunt

2008-12-08T10:10:00.002-06:00

Saturday morning we decided to go finally get our tree. So its a little past the traditional post Thanksgiving date, but since Mom and Dad were bashing around Europe, we thought that we would be courteous enough to wait for them...and Dad supplies the financial end of the tree getting. We left the house, braving the single-digit temperature, and drove in blowing snow to po-dunk somewhere up past St. Joseph to a tree farm. Dad got a saw from the farm owners and set out in search of our tree. Marching in line in and out of rows of trees we braved the freezing conditions, briar patches, and the occasional slip up in hopes of finding the perfect Christmas tree. There were few promising trees, most the branches were dying or too sparce, and the trunks were either split into two or they were up against other trees making one side completely bare. We finally had to admit defeat and marched back, treeless, to the van to warm our numb fingers and toes. The girls went to dance and the rest of us went to Nelson's to check out there tree supply. The manager recognized us and brought us out back and within five minutes we had a tree picked out and Daniel was picking it up with the manager's help and was carrying it to the van. Hurray for Nelson's! We decided we liked this tree tradition and every penny of the $100 to get it was well worth it. The tree is beautiful, the perfect height (after cutting off a bit of the top ) and more lush than anything we saw in the tree farm.

Becca do you remember carrying those two trees to our apartments from Smiths? We were crazy :) Photos to hopefully come shortly.

Bobby!!

2008-12-04T21:19:00.004-06:00

Hey guys! Guess what?! We had a new sibling for a day! Two days ago I was given a baby and his name is Bobby! I have a picture of him. Hee hee! For health class I just had the assignment of taking care of the electronic baby!! The grade I got was... 92% Apparently I had a "Head Support Failure" (Hannah has a joke about that) and I forgot to feed the baby one time. But I think Bobby had fun screaming his head off in the middle of the night. What's really funny is that yesterday a boy from my class was assigned the same baby I got. I warned him that Bobby was a cryer and he would mostly cry during the night, but this morning he told me that Bobby only cried twice during the night. How unfair is that! But, I asked him how he did on his grade.... (Hee hee) He had an easier night than I did and he got a C-! I know that it's not that funny, and I felt really bad but... I still think it was funny! (It didn't sound like he cared anyway) Oh! By the way, these are the high tech babies. You have to feed, change, burp and rock them. They even make real baby noises, like when they cry and burp. (they Even breathe while they sleep!) Well, that was my day with my little Bobby! And what's really random and weird is that I would be willing to do it again! Crazy! Bobby did teach me a lot. Well, He's gone now. I had to give him back to Mr. Emmel *sniff. I said goodbye to him for you guys, so don't worry!

2008-12-04T13:33:00.004-06:00

Here we are, Nov 24th in Passau, Germany. We managed to make our connection in Munich while our suitcases didn't. We were able to get them the second day only after our cruise director threatened KLM (NorthWest Airlines equivalent in Europe) and called them incompetent and that they had no reason not to get them to us before we sailed. They made it with a half hour to spare. I sure like American toothpaste better than German toothpaste. We got some fuzzy socks and a T-shirt too. The razor was worthless according to dad. (Klm gave us a goodie bag of toiletries) We were really smart to pack a change of clothes in the carry on (thank-you Grandma and Grandpa Bunker for the good advice). I unfortunately didn't pack my makeup since I didn't want to pull all my liquids out every time we went through security.
Passau was beautiful and cold. They got their first snow the day we arrived. We had a tour of the city and this is one of the monuments we saw. Our ship was really nice. It was only half full which explains why we got an unpaid upgrade to an upper room with big windows. Food was marvelous and lots of it. Dad informed me that I wouldn't have to fix food or do dishes for 10 days at least. More info on trip to come in next installment.

FYI Santa checks this blog for any and all ideas for Christmas Presents. So far only Becca is on Santa's list. Mom

Becca's WISH List

2008-12-03T16:02:00.004-06:00

As I am thinking about what to put on my Christmas List I have realized that I have never made one before. In all those years I have never sat down and made a list. I remember trying one year and figuring out that I had no idea what I wanted. Then once Christmas was over I could think of a million things that I would have wanted.

Maybe that is the "Christmas Spirit" that makes you forget what you want for Christmas until it is too late. :)

Okay here we go!

My parents to take me on one of their cruises (I can dream right?)
Dark green manual mazda protege (c'mon I am just putting Grandma's motto "bid high and sleep in the streets" to practice)
A subscription to the magazine "The Economist" (practical I thought)

A Clear Play DVD player from Deseret Book (it edits movies for you)

A healthy cookbook

A bright color (gold,yellow,orange,red) purse

Movies (Jane Eyre, North and South, Willow, really anything classic)

A fun stylish hat ------->

A paisley pashmina (it is lighter and thinner than a scarf)

Well that is all I can think of right now. Good luck Mom and Dad trying to do everything in two weeks!! It will be a record!

BYU vs Utah game

2008-11-23T16:19:00.009-06:00

The U of U and BYU game was CRAZY! I think Sarah and I agreed that we have never been sworn at or threatened more times in our life than this past Saturday. It was so much fun!

BEFORE------------------------------------------ AFTER

Here is a before picture of Greg and me (sorry Sarah has her before picture on her camera of her and Trevor) and then the after picture! A nice man let us use his yard for our face painting extravaganza. He was very nice even though Sarah dumped a ton of blue face paint on his grass accidentally. She was trying to fix the cap of the face paint then we all started to scream. She didn't realize that she was tipping the bottle over and paint was pouring out. When she heard us all scream she didn't know why we were screaming so she threw the bottle into the leaves. We all had a pretty good laugh about it.

It was so depressing watching BYU throw the game away. Max Hall is an amazing player but something happened yesterday and he just wasn't there. He threw was seemed like multiple balls to a Utah player. They just didn't show up to play. Utah is a good team but they are definitely beatable. The turnovers really hurt us and there was no way we could come back. The traffic wasn't bad and we went to Texas Roadhouse after the game. When we walked in everyone was asking us the score - we couldn't tell if they were trying to mock us or just curious on what it was.

The game was so much fun so thanks again Dad for the tickets. We hope you guys are having a blast in Germany!!

This is a picture of Sarah and Trevor texting during the game. I thought it was hilarious!!!

IT"S OFFICIAL New Moon is to be the New Movie!!

2008-11-22T22:20:00.002-06:00

Summit entertainment just announced today after an amazing 7 million just in the midnight showing that they will be continuing the Twilight Series with the second installment, New Moon!!!! Heehee hopefully they will learn from thier mistakes and actually have "good" effects and stunts in this next one. I am a bit scared though because in the twilight series the first book is really supposed to be the lightest where as the 2nd is the darkest because Edward leaves. Well I guess we'll see in about a year or so : ) Funny enough Mary and I are pretty excited...I can't really tell about Lisa. She'e excited to have Jacob as the love interest!

Twilight Goers

2008-11-21T13:30:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone who went and saw twilight already, you know who you are. Post comments on how you liked the movie compared to the book and if you thought that they did it justice.

Haircuts...you never know.

2008-11-19T09:26:00.002-06:00

After a few months of pestering Mom to go get a haircut at a nice salon, so she could feel pampered and gorgeous before leaving on her cruise, we finally went to Trade Secret. My stylist was amazing and my haircut turned out SO CUTE, but Mom's was a beginner ( we think) and she left with a half-done frustrating cut which Raquelle is going to promptly fix today. So much for making Mom feel gorgeous :( None of our cameras work so pictures will be posted ASAWGAC ( as soon as we get a camera).

Projects Pics and Christmas Movie Ideas

2008-11-17T11:51:00.007-06:00

Yay for eternal construction! HOpefully we will have this house looking good before Christmas otherwise Sarah and Becca you will be helping Mom and I like crazy those last two days before Christmas Eve. The top picture is of one of the secret messages we wrote on the plywood before covering it with the hardwood. Second: An upright picture of the hallway construction (the other wouldn't delete!) The third: Hannah doing her homework and James rocking out on Peter's new toy. Fourth: The start of the floor...the hallway took awhile. Bottom: Daniel pounding the nails out of the door frames. THe red boxes are the boxed of bamboo flooring. THe pile is MUCH smaller now.

This Christmas we are for sure doing a family movie! The hard thing is getting a solid idea, so we can start writing a rough script. So the boys want to do a vampire movie, Daniel agreed but with the stipulation that it has nothing to do with Twilight. The girls want to do a musical, so what if we make a scary vampire movie spoof with occassional breaks into singing? I think Daniel would be okay if we make fun of Twilight :) Wouldn't it be hilarious to have serious drama followed abruptly by breaking into song/dance numbers? One song we came up with was "WHat I've Done...." with some dancing vampires in the background. Anyway share your thoughts ideas etc.

The Joys of Hardwood

2008-11-15T12:24:00.002-06:00

2008-11-15T12:10:00.004-06:00

Fun Friday Festivities with the Fam :)

2008-11-15T10:16:00.004-06:00

Friday started off with a stink...literally. The kids got off the bus and we were outside picking up the soaking wet, freezing cold pile of cardboard, old carpet, 3D puzzle pieces, a demolished entertainment center, and bags of old toys and games. Yep, the best was when I managed to dump freezing water all over my exposed toes (flip-flops, I know not the brightest) while picking up the light bars formerly of the dining room. Hurray, no more pile of garbage at the bottom of the stairs! The dumpster is overflowing and I predict will be many more times before we are done. The front closet was full of treasures like a clear umbrella (Hannah is excited to use it in our dance movie) and a million ping pong balls (why in the world did we have ping pong balls?!?). After a few hours of work the outside looks alright, but the inside is still a disaster area! The kids are very excited to make some in-roads in the department today:) Aren't we Hannah? :)

The following is written by Hannah, not to be confused with the beautifully written prose by Lisa which occurs above. Feel free to read the rest if you must, but I wouldn't recommend it to those who have weak stomachs :) Love you Hannah!

OKay...thanx Lisa? So we left off with Lisa being the CrAzY straw boss she always is when we are shoveling up nasty, soaking, stinking stuff into the dumpster. It just so happened that the reason James and I were being abit slow was because James had a very...very interesting story to tell me. So here goes this is what supposedly happened to James yesterday. James saw...well more like felt a ghost standing next to him in gym class. His Hmong friend, Kong or something like it, said he felt a ghost standing next to him so James, after watching so many of those episodes of The Haunting, simply had to feel it too. So he proceeded to feel the air right next to the floor and said he felt something akin to a tingling sensation that could only be from another world. I being the good sister I am told him that it was probably just the blood circulating into his hand from gravity, but he then he went on. He said it kept following Kong and him. On to the next class room where he not only felt it but it began to do things. After turning his textbook to the assigned page he looks away for a second and his book shuts. He turns it again to the page but again after he looks up, it shuts again. Creepy stuff huh? I think it was just Kong playing with him but I wasnt able to hear the rest of his story because suddenly this horrible voice comes screaming, "HEY WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!!?" "YOU CAN TALK AND WORK AT THE SAME TIME!" True, but its hard to listen to something close to a ghost story when you are shoveling a bunch of sopping moldy puzzle pieces. So James has a ghost following him. We should probably give him a name because its only a matter of time until he finds out James takes the bus home and then its straight into the robinson fun house. So we shall thus foward dub him...Bernie! I'll keep you posted with any further developments : )

This is Lisa again... Mom and Dad went out to dinner much to Daniel's ultimate dismay. We were left behind to eat spaghetti, but made it up with a campout on Mom and Dad's bed watching Goonies on their big screen. Oh the joys! After the movie...and all of the special features including parts of the commentary, we made goofy drawings of eachother (except Hannah who was an ill party pooper who fell asleep). I will try to take pictures of them and post them. Yay Friday!

2008-11-13T10:24:00.003-06:00

Update on flooring: We had a "move the piano" moment yesterday morning. Lisa and I worked for about 2 1/2 hours and got another 5 feet of flooring done. It is slow going and hard work but is looking great. I tried out the piano (temporarily positioned in the middle of the livingroom over new floor). Wow! What a sound! It sounds like a concert hall. Excited to try the harp next. As soon as we find the cord (always looking for that cord) we will input movies and pictures of the new stuff. The rest of the house is a wreck though.

Christmas info: Here is the list of who gives to who (whom?)

James to Blais
Mary to Rachel
Daniel to James
Hannah to Lisa
Sarah to Becca
Rachel to Alison
Becca to Hannah
Blais to John
Lisa to Sarah
Alison to Peter
Peter to Daniel
John to Mary

Our movie code this year is Serenity - and no I won't be divulging who is who on this blog.

Travel info: Peter is curently in Tampa Fla ready to get on his Carnival cruise to Mexico with his buddy Jason and friends. He got the "no alcohol, no late nights, be careful, remember who you are" lecture from his mom. Dad said "have a good time". Mom's job is to worry! Your Dad and I leave a week from tomorrow - the 14th for Germany for our cruise down the Danube. No - we don't need the lecture, except maybe your Dad who likes to push the deadlines and jump on planes and boats at the last minute. I will follow with our itinerary on a later post. Dad gets a lot of credit (as he informed me this morning). He is missing the BYU vs. Utah game and a whole bunch of Jazz games to take me on this cruise.

2008-11-07T14:20:00.003-06:00

I loved the post Mom! Isn't it so much fun? I think it is a great way for all of us to keep in touch with each other and have a little bit of fun!

Well here is my update. These are pictures
of things that I did this past week. Mom, okay so don't freak out I did ride a motorcycle. It was smaller than this one in the picture but it was SO much fun. One of my FHE brothers asked if anyone wanted a ride and of course I piped up right away. We both wore helmets and mine looked like the one in the picture except with red stars and stuff on it. It was pretty scary and we were only going 30-40 miles per hour and went less than a mile but I LOVED IT!

The BYU bell tower is also in here because for FHE my roommate who plays the bells took us up there and I got to play "Sweet Hour of Prayer" on the bells. It was so neat to play them and yes we did have to walk up a spiral staircase all the way to the top. So those were my monumental experiences for the week!

*** to post pictures in the blog just click on the picture symbol next to the spell check button and upload them from there - either from a file or from the internet ***

You won't recognize this house!

2008-11-07T12:07:00.002-06:00

It's official, the house is changing little by little. The hardwood floors are 75% done and they look fabulous. James, Daniel and Blais have discovered the joys of sliding down the length of the hallway in just socks. Dad even admits that the wood feels soft and warm on his feet. Hurray, 2 for 2 on the dining room and the wood floor. James has yet to be convinced that his inability to eat in the living room will be made up by the elegance of the final result. Lisa and I put together the dining room...hurray! It is what we were going for, warm, simple and not too stuffy ( as in hoity toity) for our family. I will try to upload some pics if I can figure out how to do it.

New Robinson Family Blog

2008-10-28T15:05:00.004-05:00

This picture is of 12 chairs - we need more now and it will continue to get bigger but this is the best that I could find. Plus it is in rainbow colors, c'mon. I definitely take dibs on the hot pink hand for my chair. It is even in the perfect spot from me if we go in order from the left. But that also means that Rachel gets purple. Muah ha ha ha

Okay everyone - here is a blog for all of us to keep in touch and to know what is going on in each other's lives. I though that this would be a fun way to do it.

You can add pictures and videos - anything that you want. I am still working on getting it set up so if you have any suggestions please let me know.

I think I am going to put a mario game along the bottom because gaming systems are a big part of the Robinson clan.

Anyway enjoy and have fun!