My Little Worker Bees

Thank goodness they think raking leaves is fun. If only they felt the same about cleaning their rooms.





one last run through the pile...

May 16, 2012.....

....or somewhere around there, we will welcome our newest little Robinson! While initially we were um, "surprised", we are so excited and thankful. As a good friend said, "God and His glorious plans!" He must really think we're doing a decent job to trust us with another child :) We weren't sure how the kids would react to the news, but they are both thrilled to have a baby brother or sister. Eva offered to room with the baby and "take care of it when it cries at night". Dylan touches my tummy every day and says so sweetly "Hi Baby, it's Dylan". He asked a few weeks ago "when can I hold the baby...it taking forever!" I thought Oh, man it's gonna be a long 6 months for him. As for me and Keith, I'm sure time will pass too quickly as it always does. We are just so blessed and can't wait to meet our little one. Thankfully, we chose a house with an 'extra room'!

Happy Halloween!

Both kids woke up this morning with the same comment "I wish today was still Halloween". As you already know, Halloween is one of our favorite holidays! They've been waiting a month to trick-or-treat to the "spooky houses". Somehow Dylan ended up with the most candy. His bucket must've weighed 10 pounds! Once again, Eva says we need bats, spiders and webs for our house next year. She also wants a fog machine.

Here's Jewel from the movie Rio:
(She's already planned her next costume. Since she was two yrs old, Eva has planned her costumes and birthday themes 6 months-year in advance ....and she has never changed her mind!)




Arrrgh...Capt. Jack Sparrow:






All dressed up:




The kids posing with "The King" (my mom)



Pumpkin Parties:



Now, bring on the stuffing and pumpkin pie!

What's new with Eva

Eva started her ballet/tap class this week and was thrilled to have some of her friends from pre-ballet in her class this year. She couldn't wait to use her new tap shoes! Her dance room has no windows to peek, so I have to rely on her showing me what she learned. From what I could hear they were all having a great time.

After almost four weeks of kindergarten, Eva's favorite subjects are recess, lunch, and specials (computer, art, music, PE, spanish). The highlights of her first month have been the fire drill, a bear scavenger hunt, someone bringing their dog to school and buying her lunch this week. As much as she enjoys seeing her friends and going to specials, she looks forward to the weekend to sleep in (until 7:30...yay) and not having homework. As it should be. Isn't kindergarten too early for homework every night? Even if it's writing Aa 10 times? I could go on about my elementary education philosophy, but I won't bore you today.

Here's Miss Eva before heading off to dance class.

After three weeks of Kindergarten....

I have reached the following conclusions:

• My night owl habits must come to an end...no more blogging and photoshopping at 1am.
  
• I am a borderline "helicopter" mom. (for those who may not know...the education/parenting term used to describe parents who "hover" over their children...NOT a good thing. )
• Parents really do trust teachers!! I guess we don't have a choice, but now I understand why the 6th grade parents looked more anxious than the kids.
  
• While Dylan loves having my attention, he misses his big sis and best friend. It's no coincidence that his imaginary pet spider, aptly named "Pider", surfaced on Eva's second day of Kindergarten. Thankfully, Pider wears his seat belt and is very well behaved in public.
  
• It's amazing how many stores are open at 8am. (Having the grocery shopping done by 9am is wonderful!)
• no matter how early I wake up, I will never get everything done.

and lastly

• Kindergarten should be Mon-Thurs 7:50-12:50. I mean do they really need two recesses, lunch, snack, rest time, etc, etc?? (like I said...helicopter mom)

11pm, time to turn in

Back to School

Dylan was sooo ready to head back to Son Shine School. He walked in with the biggest grin, waved to his friends, sat down and started coloring. Such a stark contrast to his first day last year(and many others), when his teacher and I had to literally pry him from my body. We're so proud of him, but I must admit that a small, teeny part of me wishes he had pretended that he will miss me...sniff, sniff. The staff is so AMAZING and nurturing, and super patient. So as I drove away, I knew he was in excellent hands! Here's our little man getting ready for school.

Eva's First Day of Kindergarten

No surprise she had an awesome first day of kindergarten. She was so excited to be at a big school. When I asked her what she thought of kindergarten, her reply was "it's even better than Sonshine School. We get to be at a really big school and have Spanish class and music. I bet tomorrow will be even more fun!" She and her new friend Sierra have already exchanged stories about their vacations and bad dreams. (Eva recently had a nightmare about a Curious George episode where he thought a cow mooing was a ghost. Who woulda thought Curious George would cause a nightmare!?!?) As we were driving to school today, she asked if i could just drop her off and not walk her into the school. I told her that we'll gradually progress to the 'drop off'. So, tomorrow I will escort her to the end of the hall...just in case she needs me. (right) Here's our baby girl getting ready for her first day of Kinder!

Posing in the outfit she picked out from head to toe.




Showing off her giant backpack.

Moving

We're not completely moved yet, but who needs 'stuff' when you have stairs, a few of your favorite games and a pool. At least that's how the kids see it. Never-mind we're sleeping on air mattresses at the "old" house because the downstairs AC in the new house isn't cooling properly...they think all of this is F-U-N. But, it's their excitement that motivates me to keep packing those boxes! We're really so blessed and thankful to have everything work out the way it did. Our house selling so quickly and finding our ideal new home. And all in time to register Eva for kindergarten at the same school that her cousins attend/attended, which happens to also be where I did my student teaching 10 years ago! We kept telling ourselves if our buyers backed out, the new house just wasn't meant to be. Well, I guess it was part of God's plan for us. We're looking forward to watching the kids 'grow up' in the new house and creating lots of fun family memories! I'll be posting pics soon. I can't believe I haven't picked up the camera in weeks! I think I might be having withdrawals. :P

Summer Update

Keith informed me last night as he's watching home movies of our California trip, "you don't blog anymore" (insert Keith/Dylan-esque pouty grin). Aw, honey...I didn't know you enjoyed my blogging so much. :)

So, while the kids are at Silly Scientists' Camp, I shall try to catch up in between packing and cleaning out closets (there is no end to the accumulated "stuff"!) I can't believe we are moving in 3 weeks! The kids are excited to have stairs and a pool, but we're prepared for a few sleepless nights as they adjust to their new rooms.

Besides house hunting, which the kids actually enjoyed, we've kept busy and cool with swimming, VBS, crafts, and trips to Chuck E Cheese and the mall playgrounds. I am sooo ready for fall weather...oh, wait maybe not. I'd like to enjoy our pool before the temps cool down. :)

Here are some pics of the kids playing and watching the final shuttle launch.
Happy Summer!

Dance Recital

Eva's first Ballet Recital!

Preschool Graduation

It's official. Eva is no longer a 'preschooler'. She'll be off to Kindergarten soon...and before we know it, she'll be driving! She's actually excited about spending the summer with me, which could be due to slight anxiety over starting a new school AND having to go 5 days a week. (I think her words were "FIVE days!! Aw, man.") Whatever her reasons for wanting be with mommy 24/7, I'll take it!

All the classes sang two songs they've been practicing. This was Dylan's first time performing for an audience so we weren't sure what to expect. Since he's recently come out of his shell, I didn't think he would freeze up.....but that might've been better than what he did do. As his teachers were arranging the kids on the stage, he exposes his belly with a huge grin. Thankfully, his teacher pulled his shirt back down. Then, he starts pointing and trying to talk to us. Halfway through "Jesus Loves Me", he realizes he should be singing, not trying to carry a conversation with us! Fortunately, we have it all on video to embarrass him someday. :)






okay, the kids said the sun was too bright, but had to post this photo, and point out two things.
1. Dylan's gun and 2. Eva's grad cap that flew off right as I snapped the pic.

Here is Eva helping me with the little grad cap treats for the preschool graduates. They were so easy, fun and yummy!







And here is Dylan sampling the supplies. I guess he's never had a fruit roll-up before. No surprise....he liked it.

California Trip Sneak Peek

I need to sift through 300+ photos, but here are a few of our mega-road trip. We had an AMAZING time, despite the cool front that lingered in SoCal. (one of the sunniest days was at Yosemite!)