Month: August 2011

    Another Fun Weekend

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    College is back in session so my parents came for the weekend to bring my 3 youngest siblings out to school. It’s always a blast when they are here. We shopped and visited, ate and played lots of games.

    mom and kelsey working up the chicken and potato dinner

    dad playing solitaire while he waits for some Nertz to start

    The only other picture I have that proves my parents were here is this one when Cali got a hold of the camera again.

    me and my dad 🙂

    look who needed their picture taken!

    Cali looks older every day lately. She no longer wants any help on her prayers and she is always talking like she knows everything. Once we start potty training and put away the sippy cups I’m afraid we’ll have a big girl on our hands.

    AND look who is crawling all over the house….

    of course she heads right for the kitchen every time

    I love this picture cause she knew I had the camera and was smiling big for me

    Rose has a fever today. It looks like she’s trying to get all of her top teeth at once. She got her top left last Sunday and then yesterday and today she is cutting the other middle and left side. It must be hard work cause she is grumpy and tired and burning up. It does make her extra snuggly so I am enjoying our snuggle time. Benji should be home from school any minute. Packer is off at preschool again today. I’ll go pick him up shortly.

    Ready for school on thursday - the preschool boys decided to wear their new jerseys

    And back to that fun weekend… I snapped a shot of our score paper. We played a bit of Rook, Nertz, Hand and Foot, O’shucks and Ticket. We also fit in some Nettesheim time for baby Ellie’s blessing. It was busy and fun and Shannon is staying for the nex 2 weeks so the fun continues.

    the scores

     

    Categories: Robertson

    First Week of School

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    Benji is a first grader and he is loving it! He got his same teacher that he had for kindergarten last year which made the transition easy for him. His first day was a long day he said but it got better each day. My brothers family is staying with us right now so he has been walking (actually running) to and from school with his older cousins Taylee and Kylee. That is probably his favorite part of the day.

    Taylee (5th), Benji (1st), Kylee (3rd)

    I'm home! (2:30pm)

    At the end of the week I asked Benji what is favorite part of school is, here’s his answer: “Recess, actually lunch recess cause it is longer. I like Isaac and funny Isaac. In class I like books and the listening centers. There are 3 cd players you play and follow along with book. I like math cause it has fun tools but we can’t make weapons.” And I had to ask him what he didn’t like: “Hmmm, I’ll say, ummm, is when I have to go home. I like school. I love school! School is soo fun. There is this funny guy I sit by for computers – oh wait computers is my favorite. This guy dances to lunch and I am after him.” and then we got distracted and the conversation ended there.

    Packer's first day of Preschool!

    Packer is going to school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He is excited. He has been wearing his name tag around and loved his magic play dough that he made on the first day. He is in the same class as his cousins Luca and Sam. And Cali had to have her first day of school picture even though she just got to stay home with mom.

    all grown up

    Categories: Benji, Cali, Packer

    Demolition Derby 2011

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    another year, another derby, … did you know that Ben and I have gone to a demolition derby every summer since 2003!! we are true fans of smashing cars … and I finally brought home the trophy for the first time!

    we won! i think Ben was excited to bring the trophy home.

    Two years ago we brought all 3 of our kids and they were not good and the derby went until after 11pm and… so last year we didn’t bring any of our kids and it was a wonderful date night with friends but Benji reminded us constantly how sad he was that he didn’t get to go. SO, this year we just brought the boys. Cali screamed as she realized that the brothers were going without her BUT I never regretted leaving her behind. Packer only lasted for the first 15 minutes then he wanted to be on my lap so now I am making a 6 year old and up rule for all future demolition derby’s 🙂

    Benji chilled by Dad and faithfully made his pics

    Packer was almost to grumpy stage so Ben busted out the Kettle Corn and that kept him occupied for most of the night.

    This year's group: Erika Thal (Sean is behind the camera), Kenzie and Carter Thal, Larry Darbous (his wife and son are somewhere near by, and US.

    The official passing of the trophy from last year's winner 🙂

    Categories: General

    Benji

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    Have you seen Benji lately?, cause I haven’t. If there is a cousin around he disappears, and there have been a lot of cousins around.

    Benji Heaven, nothing better than a sleep over in the toy room.

    Benji is consistent and predictable and just an all around good kid. I am glad he is our oldest child. He is a great example.

    since when do I have a child old enough to just go out in the middle of the lake with his buddies?

    entertaining the younger boy cousins

    exploring with the girl cousins

    taking his turn in the yorb! the littler ones use it like a hamster ball.

    Benji is overcoming a lot of his fears and timidness lately - it's exciting!

    I need to do Benji’s first day of First Grade Post so I think that’ll do it for now… sometimes if you post about one kid you have to post about all 4 of them and now I have done just that. THE END

    Categories: Benji

    Packer

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    Packer is our Mr cuddly and friendly. He has grown out of the baby stage almost completely and really takes care of himself now. I love seeing his new personality.

    I love his personality coming out here.

    Packer starts preschool tomorrow and had his first soccer practice tonight (see he is getting big). He loves to play with Benji and his cousins but if there are too many kids then he will typically do his own thing and find his own entertainment.

    loaner on the waterfall hike

    Packer spent hours up camping making this collection. His excitement over each new leaf/rock/flower/bug was super fun for all of us.

    Enjoying some time at the lake.

    Out on the boat with the cousins

    Categories: Packer

    Cali

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    I did a Rose post so now you get a Cali post 🙂 I love my Cali. She is a handful. Mostly she is stubborn and always has an opinion but she is getting better as she nears the end of the terrible 2’s and we can start to reason with her. I have been told by my parents that she is me, in looks and acts, so I guess she is going to turn out GREAT 🙂

    CA-LI !! not cali-fornia, or cali-co kitten 🙂

    Cali stood outside the back door and cried and would not come in or let anyone else let her in. I had several siblings try to help her but she refused them all and waited for her mom to come down and open the door for her. STUBBORN. Rewind one day – Cali has a very poopy diaper, several siblings offer to change it for her. She refuses all help and waits and waits until her mom comes home and takes care of it. STUBBORN.

    a most recent fit, I think she was upset that "I" was taking a picture of Rose. Not because it was of Rose, because she needed to be the one taking the picture.

    Her redeeming quality is that she is a great helper. If you give her a chore or a task she will jump on it and even fight to be the one to get to do it. I asked her to give Rose her bottle one day and now she HAS to be the one to give Rose her bottle. Cali is my best cleaner and my very best “go getter” (moms with babies need lots of going and getting).

    our little photographer

    Cali currently sleeps on the floor in her brothers room and she loves it there. She is almost a no napper 🙁 I still force her to take them on occasion. She loves to sing – her favorites are Twinkle Twinkle, Child of God, I’m a Little Tea Pot, and Sunbeam. She is always in the mood for a hot dog and drinks more milk than the rest of the house put together. Here are a few more pics from our camping trip and stuff.

    out on the boat with aunt Tracie - Cali is in there somewhere.

    Playing with Ella and Brinlee up camping or are they fighting??

    The green blanket - she takes it everywhere and it is filthy. The sippy is also a must with her.

    Cali loved the slip n slide, as long as she was on mom's lap.

    Categories: Cali

    Rose

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    My baby is growing up fast. Today she has gotten into all kinds of mischief and I am not ready for that. Here is my list of her latest…
    She made her way from the living room over to the stairs and then rolled down 🙁 luckily she had great form and didn’t get hurt but her mother didn’t even think about the possibility of her doing that because it hasn’t been a possibility until now. She has been doing the backwards scoot for a month and this week she has learned to go from sit to crawl position and she turns in the process and can make pretty good ground that way. So she’s still not crawling but can do a few forward crawls.

    here's Rose entertaining her big-little cousins. She interacts a ton now and can be lots of fun.

    At lunch time she reached over and grabbed Packers cup, spilling the milk all over and making Packer cry like it was the end of the world. During the same meal she also managed to steal and eat part of a peanut butter sandwich – that’s on the not for baby list.

    Here she is, after taking the milk, before eating the sandwich - little stinker

    When my mom was here she made fun of me for still wrapping my 10 month old baby when I put her to sleep so… the next week I stopped and… she still sleeps great 🙂 So looks like it was good timing and Rose won’t be so sweaty at night.

    Rose loved playing in and with the tents! hours of entertainment.

    Also when the fam was here Rose got lots of attention. Everyone took turns holding her and loving her. She and I both loved it and I got good at staying out of her sight so that she would stay with the one holding her.

    Shaelyn's turn

    Kylee's turn

    Camden's turn

    Sean's turn (first pic with Rose!)

    Grandma's turn (she took lots of them)

    Brady's turn (even though he seems to be more worried about comparing biceps with John)

    Uncle Joel's turn (her favorite baby sitter)

    Tracie's turn (she's gonna be a good mommy)

    Jana's turn! (don't worry I still got plenty of mommy time)

    That’s all I’m thinking of for now. Rose is awesome and I no longer think of Roseanne Barr when I call her Rosie – (Bonus)

    This is Rose being shy, she will interact with someone and then nestle her face in my shoulder to make sure I am still there.

    Categories: Rose

    Two Cuties

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    I had some down time with just Packer and Cali this afternoon. It was nice to focus on them. We colored, rode bikes, cleaned the toy room, and ate ice cream cones!!

    cute kids

    big smiles

    Categories: Cali, Packer

    Last Week

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    We had another busy week. Monday and Tuesday were recovery days from Robertson Reunion and then I had to hurry and get everything in order for Erica and kids on Wednesday evening. We played hard with the Hancock’s for the rest of the week and weekend. I did not use my camera much so I a hoping that Erica did. Here are the few pictures that I do have to document the week.

    FREE DRINKS - Thursday was free soda at the PG gas station so we ALL took advantage of that.

    Thursday was also Kylee's birthday - 9 years old!

    Ryan's kids were here all week and Erica and kids - All 12 just played GREAT together.

    Packer reminding me why I don't like kids with gum and yes he needs a hair cut.

    the cute little girls playing in the hose!

    The big kids back from their bike ride ready to cool off.

    We spent Thursday at the park and the pond and Saturday at home playing hard. We chased Gentry all over the house while Rose stayed put. Erica, LaNell and I stayed up too late and it was just fun to hang with good friends.

    Monday was another recovery, catch up on tired cranky kids day.

    Taylee did Cali's hair today - Cali was SOO excited to show me.

    These Two are in a love/hate relationship - today they HAD to wear dresses and comb their hair the same!

    Categories: Cali, General, Packer, Robertson

    Camping Pictures

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    Robertson’s have always been campers. It is a lot of work but when you have this many people it gives you lots of room and it is affordable. I love that we can all be in the same general space and enjoy every ones company.

    Categories: Robertson