Snapshots of our Robey Christmas

Getting ready for the fun time!

Andrew holding the new baby of some friends that got to join us for Christmas dinner. Oh how he loved her!! (Chris is holding Andrew. You just can't see him)

Hannah's set-up of the nativity scene - worshiping Jesus!

Hannah and Andrew watching Jesus' birthday cake bake

Andrew in little boy heaven with new cars and trucks

Hannah loving her new doll - she can't have too many of these

Chris and Luke playing with Luke's new remote control vehicle

We are so thankful for a simple and special Christmas spent together as a family, sharing it with our military family and worshiping together at our church's Christmas Eve service with a reminder to "have no fear".

Thoughts and Prayers

Chris and I loved having a simple Christmas at home and sharing it with friends nearby. I was deeply reminded that this was not the case for all families. I would love to share one of those stories with you and ask you to pray for this family that loves Jesus deeply and is hurting deeply this Christmas season.

Some dear friends of ours have a son-in-law, Eric, that was diagnosed in the middle of the year with stomach cancer. We also know him and his wife as we attended church together while at a shared assignment. Their struggle has hit very close to home since we know them, they're about the same age as us and have a beautiful baby boy born this fall. About a month ago, they discovered more cancer throughout his body and then this past week, he got much worse. His wife, Laura, has been writing beautiful blog entries of their story. I would love to share it with you and their story for two reasons. First, they need prayer on a variety of levels and she offers specific prayer requests. Second, their faith and trust in our ever faithful God has been a challenge and a testimony to me. I pray that it will also touch your hearts.

I would love to leave you with a quote from a book that her mother would read to her as a child and that she shared in her most recent and painful blog entry taken from the book All is Well by Frank Peretti.

"Our lives are like a story. And God is the Grand Storyteller, who knows the happy ending of the story from the very beginning. She told him about the stable in Bethlahem so long ago. There God came to earth as a baby so HE could be part of OUR story. And he came to stay with us until our story is completed His way, in His name, and for His glory."

And that's how come "All is Well."

Let's Not Do That Again - EVER!!

Chris drying out some of our duct work

Actually, a couple of titles came to mind when thinking of what I should title this. The other would have been ... I'm so very thankful. This could have been worse - much worse! Little did we know that our very relaxing and quiet late afternoon would turn into chaos when Chris heard a noise, opened the door to our storage room only to find water standing everywhere and continuing to rain down!!! It's an understatement to say that is not what we really wanted to find.

The culprit was an overflowed toilet where the water continued to run into it. It filled up the floor of our master bath and ran down into the heating duct work streaming into the basement. It pretty much hit part of Chris's tools, our entire box supply and some random items that will dry out. Chris has worked hard to get out most of the water and fans have dried up most of the water rather quickly. He also had to take apart some of duct work to dry it out.

Like I said, there is much to be thankful for. We figure the water had been running 45-60 minutes when we found it. However, it missed about half of Chris's tools, we don't think water got into the furnace and it didn't get into any carpet. If it would have been in another bath, it would have probably done more severe damage to our finished basement area. The other blessing...Chris was home to help and do most of the clean-up. If I would have been home alone, I would have had to have help. Like I said, so much to be thankful for, but I'd really rather not do this again!

The Nutcracker

Heading out to our first ballet

Hannah posing with our friends

I had always heard of The Nutcracker, knew several of the songs from The Nutcracker, but yesterday was the first time that I'd ever seen The Nutcracker in it's entirety. For that matter, it was the first ballet I'd ever been to as well. Hannah and I went out for and afternoon of fun. I had heard this was a good performance and it was even better since we knew a couple of the kids that performed in the opening act (the kids at Clara's party where she receives the nutcracker as a gift). We had a great time!!

Hannah enjoyed going out with just Mommy. She even went and found one of her play necklaces to wear so she could be just like me. She is wearing her Hello Kitty necklace in the pictures, but I don't know if you can see it. We got there a bit early so we toured the building. I think Hannah was fascinated with all the practice rooms and getting to see a harp for the first time (the performance was at a local university). Our seats were perfect, but I don't know if there would have been a bad seat. Hannah really enjoyed the show until intermission. I wasn't sure how she would like it since there is no talking, only music, but she was telling me that she wanted to "stay and see another show". I assured her that we would stay. The second half was a bit of a stretch for her as it was mainly dancing. I enjoyed it, though. A couple of the dancers were from the New York City ballet and they were good. What am I saying, they were all really good. Finally, we got to see the dancers up close at the end and have pictures taken. Hannah was very taken by the fact that our friends were still in costume and looked so much like a princess.

Like I said, we had a really good time. I'd like to do something like that again with her, but we'll have to see where we are and what they have to offer.

Christmas Festivities

I must admit that these lightly iced cookies were the best tasting!!

This was the weekend that we did some pre-Christmas celebrating with some family time. It all started Friday afternoon when I took on the task of making sugar cookies with my audience. I must admit that things went better than expected. After dinner, we headed out to look at some local Christmas light displays. It felt good to get out of the house. The kids enjoyed all the lights as did the parents! Chris and I enjoyed some hot chocolate when we arrived back at home, but the kids were not impressed with the concoction and none of them took more than a very tiny sip. They missed out....

Saturday was cookie decorating day. Thankfully, Chris got to help. That's always good when there are kids, cookies, icing and food coloring involved. We had a good time and we had them decorated in no time. I must admit that I did get a little too much green food coloring. So, I'm going to be careful when eating those cookies - ok, maybe I won't eat them at all - they really do temporarily stain teeth, tongue and lips green!

Taylor U

Many of you know that Chris and I both attended Taylor University in central Indiana. If you've ever been there, you know there isn't much in terms of "big city" things to do within a close proximity to the campus. Going to school in the middle of a cornfield didn't hinder our ability to have tons of fun, though. Many of the activities that campus offered were creative and quickly became campus traditions. I wanted to highlight one that I recently heard about. This one was not in place when I attended because well....ummm...let's just say I graduated a few years ago :) We did have a variation of it, though. We would all get on pjs and head to the dining call around midnight (of course!) and listen to the campus President read the Christmas Story along with a viewing of the How the Grinch Stole Christmas all while partaking in yummy Christmas junk food.

So, it brought back a lot of memories when I recently saw this on a more recent campus tradition and how it was nationally recognized. Enjoy!

Ephesians 6:1 recited by Andrew

Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

We Need a Little Christmas Right This Very Minute

Andrew just wanted to wish you an early "Merry Christmas" this afternoon!

A Classic...

I was able to check out A Charlie Brown Christmas from our church library this week. The kids have especially enjoyed it - Luke in particular. It has been years since I've watched it - probably back to my childhood somewhere. As I was watching it this week, two things struck me. One was how outright they present the true meaning of Christmas. It was refreshingly simple and straightforward yet funny enough to catch the attention of my little ones. Unfortunately, I don't think this would have been the case if it were to be released in today's times. Thankfully, many of us have seen it and it has become somewhat of a tradition to view it each year and to pass on the tradition to others. Secondly, I think I need to make sure my kids see the classics and be aware of the fact. After I showed them the movie, Luke asked to see it again referring to it as "the silly dog". I must admit inside I almost grimaced when I realized he was referring to Snoopy one of the main dog characters as I was growing up. Hmmm...oh well, maybe one day Bob and Larry from VeggieTales will be considered classics and he will have to teach his son what he grew up on.

Thank You!!

We have been greatly blessed with the childcare that our kids receive at church. I could go on and on about how great they are and how much they just truly love our kids. One of the workers even provides treats for us Moms as a thank you for letting her watch our kids!! For that, I'm deeply thankful - beyond words!!

So, when this time of year rolls around, I want to recognize their work and graciousness by saying "thank you". Now, I'm always open to ideas and the simpler the better. I should probably start thinking about this sooner in the season, but generally it's pretty close to Christmas. Thanks to Family Fun magazine (they have tons of ideas), I used this idea this year. It's a Cup Cake. You include dry ingredients to make a cake in a cup. I used Duncan Hines devil's food cake. I was pleasantly surprised that it actually tasted pretty good. Hopefully, everyone else does as well. Here's a link to the idea and instructions in case you're interested. I would also love to hear what some of you out there may be doing for your teachers/caregivers because I will have many more of these to do over the years!

It's a Good Thing...

There are rails on bunk beds!

(Yes, Luke still takes a nap most days. Next year could possibly be interesting when he heads to kindergarten.)

Kids and What They Say

Here a couple of things that have recently made me laugh or made me stop and ponder.

Daddy/Mommy: Hannah did you take a nap?
Hannah: I took a nap with my eyes open.

This morning after I hit a curb, Luke informed me that I needed to go straight more and then turn. When did he get so smart?!

If there is a word or phrase, such as "physician", that Luke doesn't understand, he always asks if it is Spanish?

Date Night

Luminary Path

Dancing Christmas Trees (yes, there were real people in them!)

Trees on the Pond

Self-taken Picture

Chris and I had a few rare moments to ourselves this past weekend. I say rare simply because the Air Force has kept him quite busy lately. Thankfully, we were able to enjoy some time together as a family over Thanksgiving including a visit from Chris's parents.

Since our trio did have Grandparents in town, Chris and I went on a couple of dates. One was simply going out to eat. However, I will take that!! For the other afternoon/evening, we had a lot of fun. We first completed Christmas shopping for our kids. How fun not to have to do it all by myself and to find some fun things at the same time. Of course, we threw in a bit of shopping for ourselves :) We then hit Chipotle for some favorite food. Finally, we went to our local botanical gardens to enjoy luminaries and Christmas lights. Thankfully, it wasn't terribly cold. No wind makes the biggest difference. It was just fun walking around, following the luminaries, watching lights set to music and just enjoying the ambiance.

My Outing

About a week ago, I went shopping for an entire day. Now, I don't mind a little shopping here and there, but this was for one. entire. day!! I went with several ladies from church. We loaded onto a charter bus and headed three hours down the road to bigger and better shopping opportunities (I must admit, I'm quite content with what we have). Honestly, I didn't have any shopping expectations. I went for the fellowship. It was fun, but I ended up being very tired by the time I pulled in the garage at nearly midnight.

Since I was gone all day, Chris had the kids all day. I think this may have been the first time - ever - that he'd had them all day. They had a good time. Who wouldn't have fun when the day starts with breakfast at Krispy Kreme. I don't take them there :) They also did a bit of flower shopping and I came home to this nice surprise above. Flowers from all three. It was fun to find them and see that Luke wrote his own name and Hannah wrote most of hers. Andrew left me a cute scribble note. Chris even finished a minor painting project that we needed to have done. I think the day was a success.

Just as a fun little side note. When they were getting the flowers, Chris said an older gentleman stopped him, admired our little gang and then gave them each a dollar. That was a highlight for the kids and a good lesson in what we should do with money that is given to us.

Chink in My Armor

Luke and his new friend

Giving the horse some TLC with his little sidekick underfoot

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of visiting our dear friends. At that time, they were taking care of a little stray dog - Luke was in love with this little nameless beauty that we affectionately called Rosie during our brief stay. She was so very compliant and patient with him as he picked her up and tried to make her run and play with him. She was loving all the attention.

As many of you know, I have said an emphatic "no" to dogs at this stage in our lives. I don't even want to begin to imagine what that would be like. It would definitely add a new and unfortunately, stressful dimension to moves and travels - not to mention, taking her for walks in the middle of winter with 20-30 mph hour winds with my little trio in tow when Chris is out of town. That is just NOT my idea of fun. Anyway, I must admit seeing my little boy fall in love really did put a chink in my "no" armor. Thankfully, Chris was the voice of reason and reassured me and reminded me as to why we don't have a dog. It is the right decision for our family for now, but it was very fun to see him enjoy and love all the animals!

ps. Please excuse whatever was on our camera lens!

Hannah's Beloved Sidekick

Since Hannah was about 6 months old, this little blue elephant has been her trusty and beloved friend affectionately called her "special baby" and her "sucker baby". At one point it said the children's prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep...". However, after much love and multiple dips in the washing machine, it no longer talks to his caretaker. It's traveled a few thousand miles across the country as we've traversed the country either on vacation or moving. Her very favorite part was sucking on the tag as she fell asleep or now she sucks where the tag used to be.

Well, she is nearly four and much of the time she is only allowed to have him when she is in her bedroom. The two of them are pretty sneaky, though, and he has seen other parts of the house on multiple occasions. I think she is growing out of this stage of her life, though. Recently, in an attempt to make her more independent in using the bathroom on her own, she had to do everything by herself in order to be able to sleep with this beloved creature. However, the last couple of days this plan has backfired on us as she has flat out told me that she didn't want to sleep with him and would I help her go to the bathroom. So...on one hand I'm kind of thankful she's beginning to give him up on her own. Yet, on the other hand, I'd like her to use the bathroom on her own. All that to say, she will quickly grow out of both of these stages and in a blink of an eye she'll be way more independent than I'm ready for her to be. I will keep her precious "special baby" through the coming years to remind me of these special days.

Sweet Thoughts

Today, I had a sweet friend bring me a couple of thoughtful gifts - these cheery gerbera daisies and a very yummy blueberry muffin. Thoughtful and loving friends are such a gift from God!

Pumpkin Carving Time

We got to it a bit later this year than in years past, but last night we had our annual pumpkin carving time. We usually just have one pumpkin to carve, but this year we ended up with one for each of us (thanks to the AFB for a fun time at the pumpkin patch last weekend!) However, the resident pumpkin carver, Chris, was really only up to carving two of the five and I don't blame him. Luke put in an order for a spider carved on his. It closely resembles the wolf spider that is the current resident of his insect holder. Hannah was fine with a happy face and we had to persuade her that the happy face was better and easier than the princesses that Luke announced she could possibly have. Andrew didn't get to pick one this year (this will probably be the last year for that!), but he was quite happy with the spider pumpkin as well.

The evening would not have been complete without roasted pumpkin seeds. I went to the task as soon as the pumpkin seeds were out and finished up shortly before the kids went to bed. However, there were to be no pumpkin seeds. To hurry up the process, I turned the heat up way too high for too long and it resulted in a lot of smoke, the smoke alarm going off (briefly!) and the smell of burnt pumpkin seeds (they smell a lot like burnt popcorn - ugh!) So, no seeds this year, but maybe next....

He's Home!!

Chris made it home today from his sixth deployment!! We were thrilled that everything ran on time and on schedule. He actually made it home earlier in the day than he ever has before. We're now going to enjoy a ton of family time this week!!

ps. Can you tell it was really windy today?!! It doesn't help that there is nothing to stop the wind out on the tarmac. Oh well, Chris is home & that's what's important :)

Happy Halloween...

... a week early!!

Luke the construction worker

Hannah as the pink princess

Andrew the football player (sorry for all you Colts fans out there - this uniform was cheap otherwise it would have been a Colts uniform!)

The trio ready for some trick or treating at Chris's squadron

Hannah's New Look

I've been thinking for a few weeks now of getting Hannah's hair cut. It was getting quite long and it was just harder to take care of and needed brushing a lot to look nice. I asked her about it, but she told me that when she went to school she'd get it cut. However, we talked a bit more about it over the next several days and one day she told me she was ready to get it cut "to her shoulders". After waiting a few days and asking her several times, she agreed that she was still ready.

So, today was the day. She got 8 inches cut off, which she is going to donate. We both love her new look!!

Before

Janelle cutting her hair - "the moment"

Already happy about the shorter length

After

By the way, I wanted it cut, but when it came right down to it, I was rather nervous. I do like it and I guess if she wants it long again, it will grow!

A Sheet of Paper

It is really beyond amazing the creativity of a young child. The last couple of days two year old Andrew has not disappointed us. A sheet of paper folded in half has turned into a computer that he uses to talk to Daddy! He carries it around and opens it up (like a laptop) and says "hi, Daddy" or "talking to Daddy on 'puter". Then, he proceeds to "close it" and say "bye-bye Daddy" or "Daddy had to go". I love it!!

I do find this interesting because we use a desktop computer here at home when we talk to Chris. I guess he remembers what a laptop looks like...

Mum!

I do not have a green thumb nor will I ever have one. Just ask my dear husband who takes pity on my poor plants and waters them!

However, this mum decided to grow and, I must admit it, had nothing to do with me. I bought it on clearance last year so you can imagine how small and scraggly it looked as well as the other two that were not so lucky to make it. To my wonderful surprise, this is the beauty it has blessed us with this year.

Saying Good-bye With Mixed Emotions

Just a sample of the "stuff"
If you see something you want, just let me know :)

I've been working on a big project the last few weeks - sorting through our entire house getting rid of things we don't use and just move from one place to another. I've sorted and made piles of a lot of stuff, but still feel like there is more that could go. However, it's not just leaving. I'm trying to find new owners for some of the stuff - especially all that is baby related. Everything else, I plan on giving to a good cause. We've been given so much. I'd love to do the same for others.

Anyway, it's made me think about some things. It's been rather bittersweet to say good-bye to some items, but it just isn't practical to keep much of what we're getting rid of. Many of the baby items hold sweet, sweet memories as each of my little trio has used them. Others, I remember exactly when they wore a particular outfit and the memories go on. I did keep a few, but the vast majority will go on to new owners and new memories. I keep reminding myself that it is just stuff. It has no eternal value and how often would I really get it out in the future anyway.

I was reminded of this once again this morning as I read to the kids out of Luke's Bible (NIrV). I loved the simple, readable language for a passage that many of us have probably read. It simply said this, "Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has." Luke 12:15. Oh, what a great reminder for me as a little of me wants to hang on, but must say good-bye...What the future and eternity holds is far, far greater!!

20 Years

I know! It's hard to believe and even harder for me to admit! 2010 marks the twenty year mark since I graduated from high school. With the celebration of this anniversary comes the class reunion invitation. I won't be able to make it to my reunion due to schedule conflicts and the fact that I live nowhere near my alma mater, Blackford High School. Despite this, it has made me think through whether I would go if the logistics all fell into place. I have kept in loose contact with just a very few (wish that number was a few more). However, there is something inside me that would really like to go. Then, I have to ask myself "why?" Why do I want to go?

Honestly, it's not a good reason and I can boil it down to one word - pride. Oh, how that hurts to even write that! I used to think it was curiosity over where life had taken my fellow classmates, but with the advent of Facebook, that doesn't play into the picture nearly as much as it used to. Pride is the best descriptor of my motives. Even though this may not be completely evident on the outside, I know that is the motivation on the inside. It makes me sad that I would want to mingle with acquaintances of the past flaunting what I've been given when it has absolutely nothing to do with me. God has deeply and graciously blessed me beyond my wildest imagination. Every blessing that I have is not from any effort on my own, but only by the gift of God's grace.

So, instead, I look forward to a future reunion (Lord willing) where I can go with nothing other than a genuine love from God for the people I become reacquainted with. That's all I want minus the ugly motive of pride. Thankfully, I have a few years to pray and work on this and look forward to seeing everyone at a future time.

Perfect Day for a Pumpkin Patch Visit

The sign where the traditional picture must be taken (I don't know what we'll do when we move)

Dad and Mom posing with the little trio

Andrew making the ducks race

Hannah on the bouncy pillow. She had a hard time standing in the middle. She just kept bouncing.

Luke actually posing

Today we made our annual outing to a local pumpkin patch. What a beautiful morning to go! We had a great time of visiting favorite attractions such as the barrel train, "corn" box (instead of sand), corn maze, duck races and the giant slide. A new attraction and definitely a new favorite was and bouncy pillow. Luke and Hannah played on that for quite a while. Andrew was not a fan, but I don't think the other two would have been at that age either. Luke and Hannah also tried something new - a small zip line. They did it and said it was fun, but didn't seem too impressed - maybe next year! The grand finale was of course the wagon ride back to the pumpkin patch to pick out this year's perfect pumpkin. We found a good one, but I think the wagon ride was definitely the best part for at least Luke and Andrew. As for me, I loved it all. It was fun being out with my little ones doing something that they love and having my parents join us this year.

Rainbow Promise

I love rainbows! Tonight, God didn't disappoint with this beautiful reminder of His promise!