Let it Snow and snow and snow...

It snowed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and a couple of days thereafter... we wound up with about 10 inches of snow for a beautiful, White Christmas! Since my parents had already made it into town and we had no where to go... it was nice to watch the flakes fall and the drifts build and just relax and enjoy.

The kids ventured out with Troy and Papa for shoveling and sledding and just general fun...



Alex was not a fan. Apparently, when the snow comes to your waist, it's a little hard to move around. He spent quite a bit of time flat on his face in the frozen stuff... and then decided hot chocolate and cookies were more his speed.

It's snowing again this morning, we already have another 2+ inches on top of that initial snow and it's supposed to continue for a day or so. We haven't had this much snow in YEARS!!! But it's nice to have it when the kids are out of of school and we can just relax and enjoy it!!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

Christmas 2009 was just wonderful! We had a lazy holiday at home with my parents in town for several days. We baked cookies for Santa, ate lots of goodies and really enjoyed some quality time off!!!


The kids loved their gifts from Santa and from everyone else.












Just look at the joy in their eyes.....














The best gift for Troy and I was getting to tell them on Christmas morning that they're going to be a big sister and big brother in July!!! I think they were both in shock at first. Thanks Miss Merritt for the special shirts!!!


















Daddy loved his Vikings snuggie, which the kids REAAAALLLY wanted to get for him. I'm so proud of them for keeping it a secret! He was absolutely surprised by that one.
















Ella made this adorable ornament for Mommy and Daddy at preschool. She's been dying for us to open the package under the tree since she brought it home last week!







Thanks to everyone of our friends and family who helped make this Christmas and all of 2009 so special... and Happy 2010 to you all!!!!!!

Christmas photos

The kids took some amazing photos for our Christmas cards this year!








Thanks to a wonderful photographer: (www.heatherlangdonphotography.com)




We spent about an hour and had DOZENS of images to share with family and friends!!!




I kept these a secret as well, since the grandparents didn't see them until Christmas. But the kids really had fun this year shooting at Union Station and it was so much more relaxed than being crammed in a photography studio!!!

Magical Memories... from our FL trip

We had just found out that we were pregnant the week before we left. Luckily, I wasn't too sick yet. We spent a few days with Troy's family at their home and then headed to Orlando for a few days at Disney World. (Thanks Uncle James for those free passes!!!)

Keepin Secrets...

I know, I've been horrible about updating for the last month plus.. but we've been keeping secrets around here, and it's hard not to blow it. Now that the cat is officially out of the bag, we're having a baby!

Baby Robinson #3 is due in July. We found out in early November, but wanted to wait until Christmas to tell the kids and my parents. (who spent Christmas with us) Especially since I'm 40 this go around, we wanted to give ourselves a little pad time for any problems before getting the kids all fired up.

They are very excited. Especially Ella who is full of questions and wants to feel the baby all the time. (No it's not big enough for her to feel yet, but she constantly touches my tummy and talks to her new baby) She wants to know if the baby is wearing clothes, or socks, if it eats bites of my bagel, if it pees and poops in there, you name it... she's asking. She's very inquisitive, and convinced this will be a baby girl. We keep tell her God will decide, but she insists "we already have a boy baby." So we'll see. Alex points at my tummy and laughs about the baby in there, but so far, he doesn't seem too interested.

Troy and I are very excited. We've wanted one more baby, but didn't know if 40 was too old for it to happen, so this is a wonderful answer to our hopes and prayers.

We' have a first ultrasound picture, but it's literally, just a little circle. The heartbeat is strong around 156 and so far everything seems right on track. Much more to come in the months ahead.

Gettin' Fancy!

Ella and I had some quality time yesterday and a great girls' outing!

We went to a book signing for the new Fancy Nancy book, "Splendiferous Christmas." Ella was able to get her copy of the new book, and have it signed by the author and illustrator. She thought it was hilarious when they signed tattoos on the butt of her little fancy Nancy doll.








We went with Ella's friend Reagan, from playgroup and her wonderful mommy Carol. There were so many little girls decked out in their tiaras, boas, and sparkly shoes, Ella fit right in!








We've already read this new edition at least a dozen times. I'm sure there are dozens more to come!

Pre-K pumpkin patch

We made a second trip to the pumpkin patch this year.

Alex and I tagged along with Ella's pre-K class to the KC pumpkin patch in Gardner.


It was a VERY CHILLY day... the high was 42 and the kids were COLD by the end of the morning!!!




But we had a great time!



Ella and her two best buddies Sophia (Steketee) and Macie (Boerigter) were inseparable for the morning. Those girls are TONS of TROUBLE!!! But so cute.

Happy Orange Day

It's one of our favorites...













Ella was decked out...













for her pre-K, Orange Day! (that's Mrs. Dick, her teacher)

The Monster in the Mirror

Ella is a good sleeper. She always has been. This is the kid who slept 12 hours at night and took a 3 hour morning nap until she was ready for preschool. I asked the doctor if I should be concerned and he basically told me to "shut up before another mother heard me!" She wouldn't even sleep in our room as a baby. She switched from the bassinet at 3 weeks!!! Okay, so you get my point, now her latest escapade.

Ella has been showing up in our room the last couple of nights and tonight, I just couldn't get her to settle down and go to bed. Two nights ago, she had a bad dream and insisted that there was a "frog faced monster" in her bedroom mirror. After 4 trips to our bed between 2 and 4 a.m. Troy and I didn't care WHAT she saw in the mirror, we were ready for sleep! We basically brushed it off!

The next day, she still insisted the monster was there, in the mirror, in it's own bedroom, watching her. I offered to take the mirror away, but she likes it, it's like a fairytale mirror, and she has pictures stuck around the edges, so it's part of her room. Finally, we found a compromise. I told her we should draw a really happy picture and put it on the mirror to keep the monster away. We did, she taped it up and last night was fine.

Tonight, we put her to bed and she kept getting up. Troy talked to her, then I heard her up there just quietly sobbing!! I talked her to and finally got her to tell me that she's afraid of the monster in the mirror and it's scaring her every night. OKAY I'M A HORRIBLE PARENT!!!

So I ask if she wants me to take the mirror and she sobs more, "NO I WANT IT BACK TO NORMAL!" So I take the picture off and she sobs more "BUT THE MONSTER IS THERE!" So we walk up to the mirror, I carry her, she points at the mirror to show me what's scaring her, I call Troy we turn lights off and on, looking in the mirror, finding the scary spots, and finally realize it's a picture frame and Tinkerbell figurine on her shelves which are casting the ominous reflections in her mirror!!! I move them, even let her hold Tinkerbell and suddenly the monster is GONE!!!

My girl was smiling again when she went to bed. Troy and I both felt better for having stuck with this until we made it okay for her. She was happy, and safe and comfy in her room again tonight. Thank goodness!

Pumpkin Patch 2009!!!

A brisk Saturday morning was perfect weather for this! I think it was in the upper 40's or lower 50's so the jackets were fine once we got moving, but it was cool and windy out there!





We love this annual tradition! As hard as we tried, we hated that we couldn't coordinate and schedule to go with our friends this year... but the kids still had lots of fun! Papa and Grandma came along and we WORE PAPA OUT!








2 and a half hours later, the kids were exhausted!!!






We brought home 150 lbs of pumpkins! Sounds like a lot, but it was actually 5 large pumpkins, one wheelbarrow FULL for Troy to push onto the scales.








Ella rode a pony (Alex wasn't happy that you have to be 3 or older for this), Alex climbed all over a real firetruck, both kids loved the petting zoo and they were all over and through the pumpkin vines. This is always one of our most fun days of the year!

5 years... and counting!

Troy and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary Friday night. Boy, it's amazing how much we're survived, and accomplished in our short time together!

We met in December 2002, got engaged and bought a house in 2003, married in 2004, had Ella in 2005, (2006 must have been a year off???) then had Alex in 2007!!!! We've lost 3 grandma's, Troy's brother Nick, and seen a good friend go off to war.

Through it all, we've had each other. I can barely remember my life before Troy, and I don't want to imagine a day without him. I love my man! Isn't he handsome in this picture?

Just the two of us....

Alex and I are solo today, for the first time, in a long time!

I've been taking care of another almost 2 year-old boy, Liam for the past several months. They just relocated last week, so Alex and I are on our own for the 3 days when Ella is off to pre-K.

Today, he seems a little lost. It's chilly and windy outside, but he asked for Kung Fu Panda, so we're watching that and getting ready to share some lunch. We've already made a trip to the unemployment office, saw at least a dozen school buses, and 2 trains.

Not a bad first morning, but I hope to spice it up for him! We're gonna try Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead this week, and maybe the park, so he can enjoy the fact that he gets playtime while Ella's at school, with Mommy, all to himself!

Back 2 School

Ella is officially a pre-kindergartener. It's hard for me to believe!


We decided to keep Alex home for one more year. He'll start preschool next fall, when he's 3, just as Ella did. That lets us put in just one kid at a time, which is a huge tuition savings, and gets Mommy some quality time with my boy before he goes off to school next year.





Ella was a little nervous. We have two sets of teachers this year. Her T/Th class in the Rainbow Room was all new kids, except for Ella's best friend Sophia. But the teachers, Mrs. Dick and Mrs. Pantalleria are wonderful and Ella is already hugging them every morning at the door!





Monday is an enrichment class which provides a little extra Language Arts, Math and Science focus. We're paying extra for this, but hope it will help since she's going to be one of the youngest in her kindergarten class. Her August 20th birthday means she only makes the age cut-off by 11 days! She's doing great so far, but does learn some things a few months later than her friends who are almost a year older... so we wanted to give her every advantage we could.




This is Ella's first year to pack her lunch for school and that's been a learning experience for both of us! The school is nut free and dairy free, so no PBJ allowed. Luckily, Ella likes hummus and beans and pasta, so we've been pretty creative in what goes into that Hello Kitty lunchbox.


She's pretty proud of herself so far, and we are too! (These are just a few photos from her meet-the-teacher sessions, and her first week of class.)

Big Boy Bed

It's all he's been saying for 2+ days now.

I found it on Craig's List for a steal, along with a small sweater chest... so Troy schlepped up to Leavenworth this weekend and brought home a new bed for Alex.

We didn't plan to put it together right away, just sometime soon, so we might be able to use the crib for another baby, should we be so lucky.

But as soon as Troy unloaded it and Alex spotted it, he's been in love with his new big boy bed. It made me sad to see him standing up inside the frame of the bed which was turned in its side in our garage. He's still small enough to fit inside one of the drawers! But he is about the same as as Ella when we moved her to the princess bed...

So we bought a mattress, put it together, and Alex collapsed into his
new bed LATE Saturday night.

We picked up the quilt Sunday, not Mommy's first choice (I'm not into themes...) but Daddy and Alex picked it out and it is REALLY growing on me.

It's the perfect for for my little man!

Mermaid Party Fun

Ella's 4th birthday is this week, but we are spending a long weekend at Big Cedar to celebrate her special day, as well as Daddy's 37th... so we scheduled Ella's party a week early this year.


She asked for a mermaid party this year, and our neighborhood seemed a perfect location.

Ella invited her girlfriends from preschool over to swim Saturday morning and they all had a blast. (Sophia, Grace, Hadley & Macie)


I have to admit, mommy LOVED the easy clean-up of being outside on concrete with lots of water, instead of in my dining room.


Ella's friends brought such wonderful gifts, but more than anything, I think she just enjoyed seeing them and spending those 2 hours splashing around!

She wore herself out and kept saying how she "very much liked her birthday!" It's been a long summer and we just haven't seen enough of our preschool friends!









I'm sure she'll let me know what she wants for her 5th birthday anytime now...

Booty shorts

It's not a term I ever expected to use. I didn't even know what they were a few weeks ago. Now I'm the "butt" of several jokes, because my daughter has started wearing "booty shorts." Isn't she the cutest little thing!?

Put a lid on it!

Alex just recently discovered that he owns this orange baseball cap, and he loves it.

He has been wearing almost every day outside, and he even wore it in the pool tonight.





He truly looks like a boy, not a toddler when he puts this on.






He especially likes to wear it when Daddy is wearing a hat too.





And the expressions, like father, like son, are priceless!

Little Ballerina

Who knew a three year-old was listening, following instruction, and learning so much in her weekly preschool combo dance class. She's been taking the ballet/ tap class since last fall and their recital was last month. Ella was so excited, nervous, and adorable!

Grammie and Grandpa Robinson sent her flowers for her bedroom and a beautiful little wrist corsage to wear after her performance.

I went with her to practice. She was nervous, but did really well.

Grandma and Papa came into town for the weekend to see her and she practiced all morning to show them what she'd be doing that night.

She put on her costume, her crown, and the make-up they requested (which made her look way to grown up for Daddy's taste ) and we headed off to the local high school for her big night on stage.

It was AMAZING! I started crying the second she hit the stage. First, they moved her to the center of the group, so I was confused. (Kim later told me they often do that after dress rehearsal to put the stronger dancers in the center, where the other girls will look.)




I was snapping pictures and Troy was videotaping while Alex screamed and cheered "YEEAAAAH ELLA!" (that's her in the middle, strutting her stuff)




She was front and center, doing her pirouette and arabesque, maybe not right on cue, but as far as Mommy and Daddy were concerned, she was perfect!