Nine!!

 

 Luke Christopher - 9 years old!

Luke celebrated his ninth birthday today...actually, all weekend!  We've had a busy weekend of celebrating at home and then we hit the road to my sisters house to spend the rest of the weekend with my sister and her family.  It was great to see both of my nephews win their football games and then have their help in celebrating Luke's big day. 

We are so very thankful for Luke.  He has been a joy to have in our home.  He's our hand-on, orange-loving, quiet leader, Lego-lovin', reader boy...young man.  It's so exciting to see where God will have him go in the years to come and as I learn to let go.  Here's to a wonderful year left in the single digits!

 So excited about the gifts....

 Yeah, yeah, yeah for cousins to help celebrate!

A Decade Ago....

Chris and I embarked on a new adventure...The United States Air Force.  The story actually starts long before this weekend.  He had told me that he would like to pursue the Air Force when we were dating.  My thought at the time was that I was not going to marry him if that's what he wanted to do.  Now, I can say that I'm so glad God changed my heart and had other plans for me.  Fast forward a couple of years and Chris went for his private pilots license and then we prayed and waited and prayed and waited and waited some more for word as to whether he'd been selected to serve as an Air Force officer with a pilot's slot.  After months of waiting and praying, we had the answer.  He was accepted with a pilot's slot!  God had brought me a long way because that night I told him that I couldn't see us doing anything else.  The didn't end the waiting and praying, though.  He now had to go through a series of medical exams and word when our actual adventure would start.  All of that commenced this weekend ten years ago.  For the first, but certainly not the last time in our marriage, Chris would leave and I would stay in Indiana.  This time was for three months of officer training in Montgomery, Alabama.  Thankfully, I was able to see him twice during those three months.  Finally, just before Christmas, Chris was commissioned as a United States Air Force officer.  It would still be months before he pinned on his pilot's wings.  However, we were ready for our first assignment together beginning the following month in Enid, Oklahoma.

Never, never, never would I have dreamed of what we've done and the relationships we've had and the lessons God has taught us these ten years in the military.  I have experienced genuine community and love from those that my path would have never otherwise crossed.  It's not always been easy.  We've experienced endless deployments and TDYs (temporary duty assignments) that made one grow weary, losses that we should have shared together and missed family time.  However, God has been ever faithful providing family that isn't our blood family and teaching us to trust Him every step of the journey.  That I would not trade and for that I am thankful!

In the car ready to leave for Alabama and the Air Force- the adventure begins!

 If Chris didn't have anything else to do, he was to be studying/memorizing whatever was in this book.  This is when first arrived.

 Ready to go

 Doing what he does best...being techy and keeping info organized!

 Most motivated of the week at OTS (Officer Training School)

 His officer commissioning - He made it!

 Final swearing in

This picture was actually taken a few years later, but to me, it is a culmination of a dream, hard work and why we started the whole thing to begin with.  Chris is doing what he loves - flying!  

This is one of my very favorite pictures of Chris.

Project Update

A few days ago, I posted that I had started on a yard project.  Moving a lot of rocks from this corner "rock garden".  It was more of a mess than a garden, though.  Anyway, I don't know how many pounds of rocks I've moved in the last week to ten days.  It was a lot of work, but time actually went quickly when I was working.  I did have a bit of help.  The kids carried rocks for me one day for a bit and one of my neighbors came over and helped pick up a few while we chatted.  Speaking of neighbors, working in your yard for hours on end is a wonderful way to meet more neighbors and get to know them better.  Now, I can move on to other areas of our landscaping that desperately need help.  Some of the hours I spent picking up rocks were used to think up grandiose plans for the rest of the yard.  As for the former rock mess, I just have to wait and water to see if that grass seed will grow.... (the guy at our local DIY store said that it could grow on concrete - we shall see!)

And that Makes Three

Andrew was thrilled this morning to join the ranks of his slightly older brother and sister.  He has now lost a tooth just like them.  It had been loose for several days and I thought it was the result of hitting his mouth during flag football practice.  However, that was not the case.  He actually had a tooth coming in behind the baby one.  I could tell when he sat down to breakfast this morning that it had moved and would most likely need to come out before heading to school.  I tried to not make a big deal of it and encouraged him to pull it.  He wasn't gone long when he came back saying, "my tooth came out" with a slight tinge of surprise.  Glad that one is out and rather painless.  Now for who knows how many more teeth we still need to lose for the Robey trio.  We're just getting a good start!

Up and Away

For some reason since I was a child, hot air balloons have fascinated me.  It all started in third grade when I did a report on them. Then, when I was in jr. high, I had the privilege of having a ride in one!  Then, over the years, it's been fun to spy them, chase them, and help put them away.  A few years ago, we even got to attend the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico - something I've always wanted to do.  All that to say, when I heard they were having a small festival in the area, we made plans to attend.  I loved it.  There were a couple of things that didn't go as "planned", but it all worked out.  I was hoping that we would get to walk among the balloons as they prepared to take off.  However, it was rather breezy so for safety, they didn't allow the public to do that.  Instead, we had to wait, wait and wait!  That was a bit of a challenge, but we made it through.  Also due to the wind, not as many went up as they previously planned.  They said, they had 70 balloons, but I'm guessing only 10-15 actually went up.  It was still fun and I'm glad we did it.  I think I'll plan better next year and make sure I look at the winds.  I've been told there are a couple of other nearby communities that host hot air balloons so we'll look forward to attending those next fall.  If nothing else, it makes me want to go back to Albuquerque...

Apple Picking

 Loaded tree!

For years, I've wanted to take the kids to pick apples, but we've never lived anywhere where that was a possibility.  However, that all changed with our last move and it was definitely on our fall to-do list.  However, it's been hot and then we got busy and time to go was getting limited.  We just had not made it yet.  So when I saw they were running half off their you pick apples this week, I knew I had to make it fit.  We could have gone Saturday or Sunday afternoon with everyone else in the county or we could go this afternoon after school.  That's what we did.  The kids were excited to head out as soon as I picked them up.  They were picking golden delicious (Luke's favorite!) and jonathan apples.  The trees were loaded!  I don't know that I've ever seen apple trees with that much fruit and it was large and beautiful.  I think that's why they had a discount this week.  Plus, they told us we could sample them if we'd like.  I had never pulled an apple from a tree and eaten it and I must say that it was the best apple that I've ever had.  Needless to say, it didn't take us long to fill our bags and head back home.  We'd definitely like to go again - next year.  Until then, we'll have to wait for the pumpkins.

55 Degrees

I know the weather isn't that interesting to most, but for this science mind, I find it interesting.  Plus, after countless weeks of sun, wind and 100 degrees, the weather proves to be much more interesting here.  For example, last week at this time I think the heat index was well over 100.  The next day, I was in jeans and a jacket for flag football.  This week hasn't been so drastic, but this morning was one of the cooler mornings - low to mid 50s.  The kids had jeans, long sleeves and a jacket for school and some of their comments cracked me up.

• Andrew couldn't understand why he needed a jacket (the sun wasn't even shining so it was cool)
• Luke had his coat zipped to his chin
• Hannah's was the most insightful with the fact she thought it felt like it did when it snowed in Altus, Oklahoma.  I assured her it would not snow and Luke gave her the scientific reasons behind that.

So, tomorrow morning when we're headed to flag football the temps are to be in the mid 40s.  I wonder what they'll think of that!

By the way, I do not remember the last time I wore jeans and a jacket on September 12.  We've had several years of still wearing shorts this time of year.  It certainly didn't take many years of me living in the south for my blood to run thin!

A Few Thoughts on 9/11

I can, as I'm sure all of you can, tell me exactly what you were doing and where you were when you found out that the United States had been attacked on our own soil thirteen years ago.  What a day that was followed by days of stunned people and a stunned nation.  I was no different.  It troubled me deeply that my safe, secure world had just been attacked.  Granted, I lived and worked nowhere near where the attacks actually occurred, but my safe, nice, neat world had just been invaded. 

I also remember the following week at church, it was packed and the message was regarding where was God during all of this.  I also remember that it didn't take many weeks for church attendance to return to normal levels. - maybe even within a month.  Why was this the case?  I heard countless people call people to "pray".  I heard countless times "God bless America".  Then, it ran cold and people returned to normal life.  In those immediate moments after the attack, I think that's all people had to hold onto.  However, I would challenge us and myself to hold onto God all the time and not just when our world is turned upside down by the events of the world.  After those first few days, plans were made to retaliate.  So instead of relying on God, people turned to the tangible of retaliation. 

I recently finished reading The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn.  If you have a chance, pick it up and give it a read.  It is quite thought provoking.  Also, if you don't know Bible history, I would encourage you to read parts of the Old Testament in the Bible that give you the history of the Jewish people.  The later will grant you a beautiful picture of Who our God really is, that He does love us and that it is tough love so He will discipline.  I think it gives a better understanding of some of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001.

In conclusion, when you see all the sentiments to "Remember", please use this as a reminder of God's love for us, His mercy and grace, His faithfulness and that He is still active and alive, watching and working in our world today no matter the events of this world.  It's not too late.  There is always hope!

New Project (To Me)

When we moved to our new home this summer, we knew landscaping was going to be a huge project.  It was really out of control.  Mom and Dad were quite the troopers cutting much of the way over grown stuff back when we moved in (the house had been empty nearly a year).  The part near our house is better, but still in need of a lot of attention.  We also have this patch of rocks near the street that also needs attention.  When we met our next door neighbor, that was one of the first things that she mentioned that they had been taking care of the weeds there (I'm pretty sure that was a hint!)  Anyway, we cut things off.  Luke and his cousins tackled it and took care of a couple of roots.  Finally, Chris sprayed it with round-up not long ago.  So, now we have this pile of rocks.  All of that to say, my fall project is to move this pile and get rid of the roots - not sure how I'm going to do the later - and then plant grass seed.  Today, I got started.  You have to start somewhere.  This is as far as I got.  Bless Luke's heart, he also gets out there and shovels a few rocks for me occasionally.  Here he is this afternoon - making sure the work area is safe from Hannah's scooter riding! 

Flag Football Season Has Commenced

Our fall season of flag football commenced today and was my trio excited!  However, before heading out the door, they each had to pose for their preseason pictures.  Afterwards, we headed out for our first of eight consecutive weekends we'll spend at the football fields (actually, we'll miss one, but I digress....)   They are playing with Upwards, which is a Christian sports program run through area churches.  It's usually found in larger metropolitan areas so this is our first chance at it.  We had other options, but I'm glad we picked this one.  We don't want sports to be a huge consumer of our family time, but our kids enjoy it and this seems to be a good fit.  It requires one hour of practice and one hour of game each week, which I find very doable.  The coaches have really worked with the kids.  Plus, they spend time during practice and at games going over character, sportsmanship and spiritual aspects.  They like it and after the first practice, Luke was asking to do more of their programs throughout the year.  Today, was quite different from other sports the kids have participated in and I must say, I enjoyed it.  I enjoyed the fact that they introduced each player by name before each game with the NFL theme song playing as accompaniment, that at least one coach (for Luke) or two coaches (for Andrew) were on the field during the game to help the kids, and that they prayed before the game with a short devotional at halftime and character was recognized for each player after the game.
 

Luke is playing for the "Packers", which is one of the 2nd/3rd grade teams.  We kind of had to talk him into flag football rather than soccer and I think he's glad we did.  The kids play all positions during the game, but Luke really like playing quarterback and receiver in today's game.  He even caught one of the few passes that were made (the passes that were made were not usually caught!)  Unfortunately, he didn't go far when another player ran into him.

 Andrew is playing for the "Buccaneers", one of the K/1st grade teams.  He still is a soccer lover, but can often be found playing catch with Daddy so it didn't take much for him to agree to play flag football.  Today, he learned that you are not allowed to dive for another player's flag.  He bonked heads and was told by the ref not to do that.  By far, though, the highlight of his game and of his day was catching a pass (I think it was the only one caught during his game) and then running the length of most of the field for a touchdown.  He was a happy camper!

Hannah is cheering on the "Elite" squad, which really means she's with the older girls.  Most of the girls are her age with a few representatives of the older grades.  I think she'll enjoy it more once they learn more cheers.  Her favorite thing to take away from the game today was when they got to go out on the field at halftime and do a cheer for all.  She did a great job and has come along was from the child that told me a couple of weeks ago that she didn't want to go in front of people.  As a side note, I never thought I would ever let Hannah be a cheerleader and she even seemed surprised when I suggested it.  She was concerned about the clothing (Yes!  please, always keep that attitude!).  We talked about it, though, and that this is an exception and I told her I would watch out for something like that, but that I didn't think it would be a problem.  I'm going to digress even more...that megaphone works really well!

 Andrew's team praying before the game

 Andrew as quarterback

 Hannah's halftime cheer

 Luke as quarterback

A Luke (white #6) play

An Andrew (white #9) play...

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

The trio taking on the golf course!

 Well, it didn't actually start out dark and stormy, but the end of the evening can well be summed up with those words.  We were invited to spend the evening along with several other military families to hang out at a local fun park for the evening.  Events included dinner, door prizes, miniature golf, batting cages and go carts.  We had fun - filled up on food, won a few prizes and then hit the course - miniature golf course that is.  A few years ago, I took Luke mini golfing, but I guess the other two had never gone.  I must say this was a lesson in patience for this Momma!  I had to remind myself to relax and have fun, but I must admit that having them hit the ball nearly five times at each hole was a challenge at times for me.  We did have fun, though and the kids loved it until.....

You guessed it, the storms moved in.  I had briefed the kids on the fact that this may happen and that when it was time to go, we would need to leave then.  There would be no waiting.  Anyway, it started to rain a bit and we left the golf course.  On the way out, we saw the go karts and the rain had seemed to lessen up a bit so I gave them approval to jump in line.  We waited for what seemed quite awhile and Hannah and Andrew got to drive.  Luke was just heading to his car when the big splats before the torrential rain began to fall and they closed the course.  This was followed by our mad dash to the van in rain, wind and unfortunately, lightening.  Needless to say, I had one very disappointed little boy that didn't get to drive his go kart and a car full of kids quite concerned about the storm we were in the middle of.  You see, we moved from tornado country where every thunderstorm got extra special attention.  When these storms were called for, we didn't usually venture out.  So, this is one of the few storms they've actually ever been out in.  After calming ourselves and praying, we drove out into the storm and rain and lightening it did indeed do.  We made it home safely with a tale to tell.  I think that outing is one they soon won't forget!

Hannah (white car) and Andrew (red car) speeding around the track

Just a little video of my little drivers...

Family Day Out

 This past long weekend, we headed out to spend the day in town.  This time our agenda included the local science museum and a local favorite restaurant.  We started the day at the science museum taking in an IMAX movie on lemurs.  Chris really enjoys IMAX and I've been with him several times, but evidently, it's been awhile since we've been.  I'm not even sure we've ever taken the kids.  So their reaction was one for the books.  It was all Andrew could do to climb the steps to our seats and walk down the aisle.  Once seated he still wasn't sure.  He watched a large part of the movie holding onto Chris because the moving sensation somewhat freaked him out.  He handled it like a champ and there was never a tear, but it was very evident that he wasn't sure about the entire thing.

Then, it was onto the museum.  We have a few science lovers in the family.  How could we not when both parents hold degrees in science related fields?!  It was kind of a busy day since it was a holiday and we were getting hungry so we didn't spend tons of time here.  We will definitely be back to take on more of the museum.

 This museum has a walk way over the interstate.  As you walk along, they have radar guns that you check the speed of those passing underneath as well as glass windows on the floor to watch passing vehicles.  I must say, it's a strange feeling walking on one of those!

 They also have an elaborate ball moving machine covering much of the entry.  Here, Hannah and Andrew are the power to get the balls rolling - with a little help from Daddy!

This is always a favorite project when we're at the museum.  It is required that it takes three people to get the task accomplished - 2 adults to hold each side and at least one child (3 will also work!) to hand you the appropriate pieces.  I think the best part for the kids was when passing patrons cheered when it stood on its own!

Afterwards, we headed just down the road through a rather old and very nice neighborhood to a local eatery specializing in soft drinks that they bottle on site.  They have a variety of flavors, but their specialty is root beer.  It was a fun and novel place to check out.  As for a favorite....I think I will stick with their root beer and cream soda.  If I ever go back, though, I feel like it might be a necessity to try out one of their root beer floats.  It looked quite tasty!

A token picture of Chris and me taken by Luke

Catching Up...

 A little of climbing the walls

 A lot of playing (not necessarily baseball...lot of room for improvement, but you never know how good you'll get when your coach is Daddy and your Momma is the photographer!)

It's been awhile since I've posted.  I thought of a few posts that I may still share, but for the few weeks, I haven't written much because I haven't really been in the writing mood - that's what happens when your forte is not writing and we've just been content spending time together as a family.  We mostly hung out at home,  worked on making our house to make it feel like home and settled into the school routine.  We had a good time, but I'm looking forward to catching you up with a few things in some new posts soon to come.

Daddy and the trio