The End of Indoor

I forgot to mention that last weekend was Claire's last indoor soccer game. Before the game, she told me that she had had fun, but was never going to play again. That decision made, she came out and played the best game EVER! She even...RAN! She has always been a really great "scooter", not putting too much effort into running for fear she might sweat. She really is my mini-me! It was great to see her try so hard out on the court. They got trophies at the end. I don't know that she cared about that, but she loved that they got a snack afterwards! It's all about the social interaction over food that makes it fun!

Today was Kaylyn, Collin and Danny's last indoor game. They had a super tough season. It was great to see just how much the kids improved. Even one of the refs mentioned just how much the team improved over the season. Gary worked really hard to bring the best out of all the kids. At the end, they tied 2 games, but lost the rest. There were some really exciting moments. Kaylyn scored her first and second goals ever this season. Collin and Danny were amazing on defense. They had quite a few saves at the very last second. The games would've been total blowouts without them on defense. Danny had the most amazing goal from a penalty shot at almost half court. He just lofted it and it dropped right in the goal...really one of the prettiest shots ever! Our kids are so lucky that they have a Daddy that takes the time and effort to coach and work with the kids and make them better. I think they had a good time, regardless of the record.

Collin's Creation

The other morning, before school, I came out of the bathroom to hear,

"Momma, Momma, come look, QUICK!"

Morning isn't my best time, and really, when that tone is used, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I came rushing into the kitchen to see a very proud Collin saying,

"This HAS to be a blog moment!"

I am so glad that the kids like the blog, but it really gives us some interesting moments as they do different things trying to be blog worthy.

This is what I found:

He was so proud of himself for stacking my GLASSES in the sink. I managed to not scream, grabbed a quick picture, and asked him to quickly and carefully unstack the glasses. (Pretty good for first thing in the morning.) Isn't it funny the things kids will be so proud of?

Shopping

The other day, Kaylyn asked if I would take her shopping for some "girly" clothes. That day, the heavens opened and I DID hear the angels singing the Hallelujah chorus. She has been really against looking at all "girly" for about a year now. I am so sick of my beautiful firstborn girl choosing to dress like a boy.

Soooooooooo, that is why I struck while the iron was hot and took advantage of this wonderful change of heart.

I was a bad mom, again, and took Kaylyn out of school to go shopping. The kid has straight A's so I refuse to feel guilty about taking a little time off school. (One girlfriend has accused me of making school optional. Well, some days I guess I'm guilty as charged.) We have VERY little one on one time, so this was a special day. Gary has been working crazy hours (he has a new position at work and is still can't leave the responsibilities of the old position behind-Hey, shouldn't he get paid twice?) and our weekends have been nuts. We really haven't had a spare moment, let alone a few hours to get out and go shopping. (Please remember, we live in the middle of nowhere-it's at least an hour of travel time round trip to get to a clothing store!)

We went to Kohl's and bought out the girl's department. Well, not really, but we did buy quite a few really cute outfits for Kaylyn. My goodness, that child is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I would kill for her little figure! (I'll post some pictures tomorrow.) I think she really felt pretty. That was the best part of the day for me-she finally saw herself as the pretty girl she is! She is growing up just way too fast. I can hardly stand it. After that, we had a wonderful lunch and ran to the grocery and Wal-Mart before heading home. Once home, she gave a fashion show for Grammy and the boys and again for Daddy when he got home.

It was a wonderful, much needed connecting day for us. Not to mention, I am now the coolest Momma EVER since I made her day so much more fun than boring old school! (Fear not, the cool Momma glow will fade before all the clothes get worn, I am afraid.)

I've been Had!

Today I got a call from Nathan's nurse telling me that Nate was in her office with a tummy ache. Nathan NEVER goes to the nurse...NEVER. He didn't have a fever, but I thought for sure he had to be REALLY sick-he was in the nurse's office! Really, really sick. Of course, I dropped everything and went to pick him up. When I got there, his cheeks were red. I was, of course, concerned until...

...we get in the car and he reaches for his lunchbox.

He was going to eat the lunch I packed him right there in my car...with a stomach ache!?! Oh no, he was not going to eat that lunch...not in my car! I HATE vomit! I told him he would have to wait for toast at home.

Here is where I started to clue in. His answer was the usual, "But I'm hungry!"

WHAT!?! WHAT!?!

Yes, that's right, I picked Nathan up from school with a very bad case of I'm HUNGRY. Those red cheeks, yeah, they were from his blush knowing he was not really sick, but going home anyway. He came home and wanted to eat everything he could get his hands on. The only things I would allow him were toast, Cheerios, apple juice and a bagel. Of course, he wanted peanut butter sandwich, soda and cheese curls. NOPE!

I've been had. You better believe that he will puke at school before I pick him up again without a fever. What a brat!

Oh, and the punishment? He had to take a nap, help with the laundry, and there will be NO basketball practice for him tonight!

The Blahs

I have the blahs. Don't know why. They came to visit a couple of days ago and don't want to leave. Kids are fine, Gary's fine, everyone's pretty healthy...I'm just blah. I even took yesterday "off". I didn't do much, just read a book, snuggled under the covers and ordered pizza for dinner. Usually that will totally do the trick...I'll usually snap right out of it. Well, not this time. Maybe today will be the non-blah day.

10 Children

We invited a family we have become friends with from church for dinner last night. They have 5 kids too! I was so excited to have a large group to cook for. The kids made their own pizza and I made a "grown up" dinner for the adults. I have to say, it was crazy, loud, crazy, busy, crazy, and a ton of fun! Their kids ages fall around our kids ages and they got along great. There was a huge Nerf gun battle upstairs. All of those guns the boys got for Christmas really came in handy! As a matter of fact, check this out:

That's the light hanging in our stairwell. Weren't they creative? Of course, I now realize how much that the light needed to be cleaned, but that's ok.

I had thought ahead and bought the new High School Musical 3 video just in case we needed some down time. During a truce from the Nerf battle, the kids watched it. See if you can count all 10 kids:

It's kinda like "Where's Waldo". We are so blessed to have met some really great families at this church...our kids are really making some friends there. What a HUGE blessing. We had really missed that this last year. God is so good.

A New Friend

I am a social person. (Yeah, yeah, the understatement of the year. There is a point.) This past year has been a little hard for me because I don't have many friends yet.

Well, that's a changin'.

I have a new friend, Jenny. She is the mom of one of the boys on Nathan's basketball team and she is a friend to the other triplet mom on our street, Denise. She is super cool! Get this, Jenny and her husband are farmers. You know I have 101 questions about that. Not only that, but she dyes her own yarn and sells it. It is amazing stuff! She is a true artist. It was really cool to see the yard that she has turned from fluffy white stuff to beautiful, uniform strands of multicolored skeins of yarn. She even hand paints some! It makes me wish I knew how to knit or crochet. Here is her website: baresheepyarn.com

We went shopping at the Mennonite store the other day and had a blast-literally and figuratively. We ate lunch out, shopped at a bookstore and then...I introduced her. She had never been to Sonic. I HAD to introduce her to Sonic. She loved it of course!

We had a great day. Oh, and guess what...she doesn't like to drive so she doesn't mind my control issues! Are we destined to be great buddies or what!?!

Nate's Special Night

Nathan has really missed his buddies from the old house. There are two special guys that he misses the most, Josh and Daniel. They are the boys that he has been best friends with since preschool. It's been hard to combine schedules to get all the boys together. Well, for Nathan's birthday, he didn't want a party. I suggested that we have Josh and Daniel over to spend the night President's Day weekend. Surly there wouldn't be that much going on that weekend! It worked out and Nathan was beyond excited...and the other boys were too! Here is Josh doing the happy dance when I met his mom to pick him up!

For their safety, and my sanity, I sent the girls over to Grammy's house, so we had a house full of just testosterone (except me, I was allowed to stay and cook for all those empty male tummies!).

This is my son's idea of a perfect gourmet birthday meal. Homemade pizza, white cheese curls, peanut butter filled pretzels, chocolate chip pound cake, grape soda, and root beer. Mmmm, Mmmmm, good! (Tums to be handed out later!) All of this would be followed by popcorn durning the movies! There was a double feature of Transformers followed by Iron Man! I was even allowed to stay and watch with the boys. It was fun!

The boys brought gifts that Nate really liked, but really the best gift for him was spending time with his "best buds". It was really great to see them back together.

I have to say, I am really proud of all of them for including Collin and Danny without complaint. As a matter of fact, several times I tried to give the boys time without Collin and Danny, but they were playing a major game of Nerf gun tag, and wanted the boys to continue participating. It was great that they all played together so well.

As for me, well I spent the two days providing FOOD for those crazy animals called preteen boys. I am convinced that they all have hollow legs! WOW, did they eat! I so enjoyed watching them enjoy what I had prepared. Check out breakfast!

That's eggs, bacon and homemade mini cinnamon rolls (there might have even been a piece of chocolate chip pound cake snuck in there, but I'm not telling). You can bet my boys wish they had that breakfast everyday!

It was a great celebration of my boy's last birthday before teen years. And, yes, I might have had to wipe a small tear away as I realized that.

Finally...

Ok, I am so sorry, I have been remiss in taking the time for downloading pictures and working on my blog. Things can get busy around here, you know. No one has complained anyway.

Last Thursday, the kids and Gary went to the Car Show. We were all supposed to go, but Claire was sick, if you remember. The show couldn't have come at a better time since Gary has been looking at getting a new car soon. His is ok, but getting up in mileage. Here are some pictures.

I'll take the red one, please! That's a great color blue! Kaylyn's favorite is the "Punchbuggie". Doesn't she look cute? She could even choose the color she wanted. I think it's on her wish list for Sweet Sixteen!

It looks like they had a super day. Yay, Daddy, for taking all 4 for a extra special day. You ROCK!!!

A Sucessful Day!

We had another crazy Saturday game schedule today. A 9:30 basketball game, a 10:00 soccer game for Claire and an 11:00 game for Kaylyn, Danny and Collin. Here are some highlights!

On Wednesday, Nathan asked me to stay after basketball practice with him for some extra help. I was a little unsure because, let me be clear, I am not a basketball player...never have been. I have, however, watched basketball for YEARS. So, I agreed as long as he didn't goof off. We worked on free throws, layups-especially from the left side, rebounds and positioning under the basket. We were out there about 45-50 minutes. It was fun for both of us, but I wasn't sure just how much help I was. I did explain that he didn't need to throw the ball at the basket, but rather lightly put it up. I also explained that he needed more arc on his free throws as well as needing to bend his knees.

Well, guess what! It worked!!!!! Nathan scored 9 points today...1 free throw and 6 points from the LEFT side, just like we practiced! He had a bunch of rebounds also. I was thrilled! He is really coming along!

Claire's team won!! She scored, but they didn't count it because the whistle blew just before her shot. She was still excited. I didn't get to see the game, but Gary said she did well! He did mention that she seemed a little sluggish since she had been sick this week, but still gave it her all.

Nathan and I got there in time to see the triplet's game. They were playing a team that beat them something crazy like 16-2 at the beginning of the season. Gary has worked with the kids a lot to help find just the right line up and strategy to make it closer. It's been great!

Kaylyn scored in the first half (only her second goal EVER!) to put us in the lead. She was sooooooo excited! Just before the half, the other team tied it up.

Collin and Danny were in the WHOLE game. Gary just couldn't take them off defense. They are amazing when they play together. They don't even have to verbally communicate! When one moves out the other covers close in and vice-versa. I am always amazed at just how tough they are! The other teams are too!

Collin scored from far out to take the lead in the second half. It was a great goal, and we were really excited. We were hanging with this team! EVERYONE was cheering from both sides, and even people from the game after us started to cheer. The other team tied it up on a great goal, and it ended in a tie. That was fine, we FELT like we had won! Even the ref commented on how much our team had improved. I couldn't have been more proud of the kids or their coach than I was today.

All in all, it was a great sports day. We went out to celebrate with pizza. What more could you ask for?

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope you are having a very happy Valentine's day! Ours started wonderfully a few days early. Gary went all out this year and had flowers delivered on Thursday for both the girls and I. What a surprise! They are beautiful!

This morning, Gary had candy for all us girls waiting at our bedside for when we woke up. He was terrific! We were all really excited to wake up to truffles...the breakfast of the truly decadent.

I had the extra surprise of a pair of earrings that are perfect for Valentine's Day. They are so pretty and delicate. I love them.

Gary is one special Daddy and husband. Maybe I'll keep him another 60 years or so.

Sweet Words

Claire is sick AGAIN today. We were all set to take a family day today. Gary and the kids were home illegally (we are really bad parents!) and were getting ready to go. I realized that Claire was back in bed...my bed. I went to get her up and realized that not only was she back in my bed, asleep, but she was wearing her winter coat under all my covers.

You guessed it...102 fever!

Oh well, Claire and I stayed home. We went to snuggle in my bed around lunch time and she said...

"I love to be home with you Momma. Home sweet Momma home. Thank you for snuggling with me."

Ok, she wins the sweetest girl award today. Anything she wants is hers!

Danny vs. the Bus Driver

Danny sometimes has a hard time with impulse control. That's ok, most boys do. We try to keep it under control, but sometimes, especially when I'm not around, it gets the best of him.

Apparently, today Danny got off the bus and for some unknown reason, decided to throw a stone at the bus as it drove away. Needless to say, the bus driver was pretty upset. I received a call from him as soon as he was done his bus run. I assured him that we would "discuss" matters here at home and understood that he wanted to talk to Danny in the morning. Of course, being the sweet, understanding Momma I am, as soon as I hung up the phone I was screaming for Danny to come here this very minute! The conversation went something like this:

Momma: Dan, the bus driver just called me.
Danny: Why?
Momma: Why don't you tell me why.
Danny: Mummm Ummmm
Momma: Excuse me?!?
Danny: What did he say?
Momma: What do you think he said? He said you threw a rock at his bus!!!
Danny: Oh.
Momma: Oh!?! Oh what?
Danny: Oh.
Momma: Well, DID you hit the bus with a stone?
Danny: No.
Momma: Did you throw a stone at the bus.
Danny: Uh Huh. But I was on our property.
Momma: So what!?! Why would you throw a stone at the bus?
Danny: I don't know.

It went down hill from there. I don't know why he would throw a stone at the bus. More importantly, HE doesn't know why he threw a stone at the bus. For some unknown reason, to him, it matters that he was on our property at the time. I sent him to his room to think about what he did and what he is going to do about it. The following gives a very interesting view into my child's head.

Letter 1
Dear Mr. ~,
I am very sorry I threw a rock at the bus.
Your student,
Daniel

Good, but not enough, so I sent him back.

Letter 2
Dear Mr. ~,
I am sorry that I missed the bus. I will get some more practice to make it through the bus's window!
Your Enemy,
Daniel

Totally unacceptable! Funny, but unacceptable!

Letter 3
Dear Mr. ~,
I am very sorry I threw the rock. I didn't know it was a big deal to you.
Sincerely,
Daniel

Again, funny, but needed work.

Finally, Letter 4
Dear Mr. ~,
I am sorry I threw the rock at the bus. I didn't know it was wrong.
Sincerely,
Daniel
P.S. I won't do it again.

Not great, but I'll take it!

I'll have you know, that even though he wrote his letter, he is still convinced that he did nothing wrong. He thinks that the bus driver was just trying to get him in trouble! I can't make him understand that throwing the rock was a really bad idea, even dangerous. He just doesn't see it!

Good grief, I see nothing but trouble in our future!

First Job

Nathan has his first job. He is helping a neighbor out 2 days a week after school. She has 4 kids and needs someone to come in and be a "Mommy's Helper" about 3 hours a week. You know, light straightening up, vacuuming, occupying the kids, etc. No problem, Nathan's been doing that for me since he was 20 months (well, maybe not the vacuuming, but the rest)! He is perfect for the job...and good at it. Needless to say, he's really excited about earning some money, too.

Yesterday was his first day. He was there for an hour. As he threw himself across my bed when he got home, his comment was...

"I'm so EXHAUSTED!! Boy, kids can really make a mess!"

Hahahahaa, HeeeeeHeeeeHeee!!!!! Really, who knew?

This could be the best thing that has ever happened to him!

Some Days...

...you just feel like this!

That's been me the last several days. Not really sure why, but I have just been in a funk. So, in that spirit, I post the silliest Claire picture. Have a happy day!

Saturdays

Saturdays used to be the most relaxing day of the week. No work, no church...the weekly lazy catch-up day. That was before children!

Now Saturdays consist of basketball games, indoor soccer games and various other activities that can't seem to get done during the week. Don't get me wrong, I love all we do, but sometimes I really miss those do nothing kind of Saturdays!

Could it be...

...just a few years ago? I was looking through a few old pictures and found these. Can you believe it? They don't even look like the same kids!

Fall of 2005

Winter 2009

January Birthdays 2006

January Birthdays 2009

How is it possible that my children have grow up so quickly? I'm all choked up!

Snow Pictures!

The kids had a super time in the snow today. Here's the evidence! Comments are above the pictures. Enjoy!

Here they are with our neighbor's boy. He is so cute and had a great time with the big kids.

Kaylyn's victory!

Danny doing 360's.

Claire on the move.

On your mark, get set, go!

The Boyz

Collin's looking my way

Going down!

What a great day!

Another Unexpected Day Off!

We have another snow day today. We thought that we were done with the precipitation, but last night we had about 2-3 inches of unplanned snow fall. It was a surprise to everyone, especially the weatherman. So, now that kids are out playing. I hope there will be pictures to follow!

Another Birthday Celebration

After the exciting basketball game, we came home to do a quick clean up because we had Gary's parents and sister's family over for yet another birthday celebration. Actually, this was to be THE extended family celebration, but several members of our family couldn't make it. So, that being the case, it ended up being just the Workinger side and Grammy and Grandpa Dud. We had a super time. We don't see the Workingers often enough. Of course, in true Robin style, I forgot to take pictures of people! I have great pictures of the make your own pizzas we made, but FORGOT to take them of the kids MAKING those pizzas. Anyway, the pizzas were a hit. Everyone got to make the pizza just like they wanted. I used parchment paper under the crust and wrote names on the parchment. I was able to then put them, parchment and all in the oven (on a cookie sheet) so that we would know who each pizza belonged to. I can tell you, we will do this again! The kids had a super time playing with Andrew, their cousin (again, forgot to get pictures!). Of course, there was another cake. This time, Claire blew out all the candles. I did make them pose as if they were both blowing them out though. We had yet another very fun day celebrating January birthdays! That's it for this year I hope!

Crazy Game

Saturday, Nathan's team had the best basketball game EVER! It was so exciting, guess who forgot to take pictures? Yep, me! It was too much to think about the camera at this game. Nate's team was down 16-8 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. They lost, with position of the ball 16-15! If they had just another 20 seconds, I feel sure they would've won! Not only that, but who do you think lead the comeback? Yep, Nathan! He had several blocked shots, rebounds and even fast breaks just in the last quarter. He also had his first three point play, the hard way! He made a jumper and the the free throw. It was too exciting for words. The best part was in the car afterwards.

He said, "Momma, that was the best game! It was so fun to play. I did so good, I'm not even embarrassed we lost. I bet we'll win next time."

Now, that attitude does a Momma's heart good.