Colorado Thanksgiving Day 1

This year, my in laws decided to treat the family to a destination Thanksgiving! They rented a beautiful home in Frisco, CO (near Breckenridge) for the week. The kids missed school on Tuesday, and we spent the day traveling to Frisco. We enjoyed eating dinner and catching up with moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Outside our front door.

The next morning, Matthew, Thomas, and Connor (Bryon's 13 year old cousin) headed to the Breckenridge slopes for snowboarding school, while the rest of us stayed behind and went sledding.

Mary Beth had a BALL!!

No one enjoys snow angels like our Mary Beth!

Not to brag, but Mary Beth and I won the "longest sled run award". We were so proud!

We sledded right behind the small church in Frisco. It was so beautiful and private. This was one of our favorite places to go on our trip!



The weather was perfect. Although it was in the 30s, it was so dry that I was very comfortable in just a long sleeved shirt!

After a fun day of sledding, we drove into Breckenridge to get the boys. Mary Beth enjoyed riding the gondola with Big Mack.

The boys had a blast. Matthew and Connor ended up being moved to a more advanced class and were Class 3 snowboarders by the end of their first day. Thomas did great, too, although I have never seen him so tired. 7 hours of snowboarding can wear a fella out! He couldn't even remove his own helmet and boots, he was so tired!

These three had such a fun vacation together! Matthew considers Connor his other brother!

Awesome birthday weekend!

I'm sitting here on Sunday night reflecting on an exciting two days! It's always fun to have a birthday on a Friday night to celebrate on the actual birthdate. Matthew had invited 11 of his friends to spend the night that evening to kick off the fun. As it turns out, our high school's football team was playing in a play off game about 1 1/2 hours away on Matthew's actual birthday. After some thought, we decided to take the whole crew to the game!

After loading the boys up with pizza and cookie cake, Bryon and I took two cars full of very loud and very fun 12 year olds to the game. While driving up to the game, the boys were prank calling girls and texting. Utterly hilarious to be a witness to. As it turns out, 6 6th grade girls that they are friends with pulled up next to us on the highway, and the boys and girls were lighting up each other's cell phones. Not quite the Bob the Builder birthday parties of old! ;)

The boys were fabulous at the game. This crew is very athletic and go to most of the Midway games and enjoyed the excitement. Our team won handily, and we drove home near midnight. Did I mention these boys were loud and love to have fun? Hmmmm.....Let's just say that the party never ended, and I finally had to go in at 3:30 in the morning to rub Matthew's back and talk in a soothing voice to get them quiet!

The next morning, it was donuts, orange juice, and goodbyes. I love this group of boys and am so glad that Matthew had such a fun time!








Despite my lack of sleep the night before, it was time to make our Robinson family Thanksgiving meal. Since my family scatters to the four winds during Thanksgiving, it has become a tradition to celebrate Thanksgiving and Matthew's birthday together. Michael, Jilinda, and kids were here, and joined Lauren, Josh, the boys, and Mom ad Dad. We had such a wonderful family meal together. Can't you tell by our Thanksgiving pictures? I mean picture? Yeah, sort of dropped the ball on picture taking. Rest assured, it was great, and Matthew, Thomas, and Bryon quickly left for another fun birthday treat...
The president of Bryon's firm has taken an active interest in our children's lives. When he heard it was Matthew's birthday, he gave Matthew a ticket to go on the field before the game. He got really close (as close as his body guard will allow) to John Elway, who was scouting Robert Griffin for the Denver Broncos. Matthew was on Cloud 9! Many of the Baylor vs. OU games have occurred on Matthew's birthday weekend. He even had his 7th birthday party at the BU/OU game 5 years ago. Of course, since we had never ever beaten OU, the results are always a bit disappointing.....
UNTIL THIS WEEKEND!!! In the biggest Baylor upset in over 25 years, #22 Baylor knocked off #5 Oklahoma in one of the most exciting games I have ever seen. Of course, I didn't go to the game knowing how tired I would be from the weekend. I figured I would go to bed early, but I was glued to the tv the entire night! Baylor won in the last 8 seconds of the game. Unbelievable. We stayed up until 1am watching all the coverage. What a great memory for all my boys!
After the game, the fans rushed the field. The players were so kind to the boys and thanked them for cheering so loudly. What a fabulous end to a memorable birthday weekend.

We love Robert Griffin!

It seems so fitting that my college football fanatic son would have a birthday on perhaps the craziest college football weekend in years! We were so disappointed two weeks ago when Alabama lost to #1 LSU in overtime. Many scenerios started popping up that would determine if Bama would get a shot at the National Championship. For us to even have a shot, OSU, OU, Stanford, Oregon, and Boise State would have to lose. That seemed a tall order for that all to occur. Well every one of those teams fell within a week of each other! And how much fun it was to see so many Bama fans cheering for Baylor to help keep their NC hopes alive! Of course, we still have to beat Auburn next weekend, which is always a toss up! Yikes!

Matthew version 12.0

When Matthew was at preschool at Montessori, they had a sweet birthday ceremony where Matthew held a small globe and slowly walked around a replica of the sun for each year of his life. Well, now it seems that as of Friday, our boy will have travelled around the sun 12 times! Matthew continues to be such a blessing to us all. His personality hasn't changed much since we discovered how feisty and energetic our son was (say around 6 months of age?), so I will try to find 12 unexpected things to say about Matthew.

1. He chose choir this year for his elective. This made his singing mama very proud! What makes Matthew the most proud, is that his teacher says he has the lowest voice in the class. Yes, Matthew loves his low voice and he has asked me how low his voice will get once he hits puberty! It will be interesting for sure!

2. He has a real gift for public speaking. Since his last birthday, he has been praying and doing announcements in front of the whole church. When he is speaking, his voice is very clear-no mumbling- and he makes very good eye contact. In fact, the elderly small group that meets at our church has asked Matthew to preach to them sometime in the next few months. He can hardly wait!

3. Matthew is by far the most demanding of my time of the three kids. Everyday after school, he asks me to go into another room to hang out with him. He loves our one on one time (so do I!) and pours over the details of his day with me. He is such a fun kid to talk to, and I feel very connected to him. In fact, as big and cool as he is, he still holds my hand in public and loves to put his arms on my shoulder when we are walking together.

4. He started asking this summer if he could drive my car in parking lots or back the car out of our garage. I have let him a few times, and can't believe what a smooth "driver" he is! The count down is on...3 years until his driver's permit! Help!

5. Matthew has a girlfriend. She is a precious girl in his class. I love the innocence of 6th grade crushes. Their relationship mainly consists of texting...

"Hey"

"Hey"

What's up?"

"Nothin"

"Hey"

"What R U doing?"

"Nothing"

Yep! That's about the extent of it!

6. Matthew played football for the first time this year. His coaches, no matter what the sport, seem to love to move him around to different positions. Where Thomas mainly stayed at center this year, Matthew was kicker, punter, line backer, tight end, corner, and safety. He seems to pick up things easily, whether it be football, deep sea fishing, or sailing.

7. Matthew loves to dance. He was invited to his first girl/boy party a few weeks ago, and there was a dance off between the boys and girls. He spends time on YouTube trying to perfect his dance moves. His current favorite is dancing to Party Rock Anthem. Music is a huge part of Matthew's life. While his interest in piano is waning, he seems to know every song on the radio.

8. Matthew is taking 5 honors classes this year. He seems to thrive in English and Social Studies and continues to make 98-99-100s in these classes. Though he is doing well in math, this is the first year and first class that he has ever had to study for!

9. It's hard to explain, but Matthew has a huge energy field around him. You never have to wonder if Matthew is in a room/car/house/etc. He is loud and very active! Matthew has quite a zest for living that reminds me so much of his Daddy. I have been known to covet his energy level. Imagine what I could do if my motor didn't quit 16 hours each day! Yes, it's rare to see Matthew asleep before 10, though he gets up at 6am for school, and he is never tired. He will be very glad he has that gift in college!

10. Matthew is a living heater. We always know which room of the house Matthew has just walked out of, as the fan is going at full blast. He loves keeping the windows open in the winter time, and rarely can be forced to wear anything but shorts to school, even when it gets chilly.

11. Matthew has the reputation among his friends and their parents as being hilarious. This doesn't surprise me, since Matthew has always kept me in stitches. He has a dry, sarcastic, quick wit that I'm quite proud of. :)

12. Matthew has many leadership qualities, and is an alpha male among many alpha males in his class. Each year, the teachers are astounded by the shear number of smart, outspoken, athletic, competitive boys in their class. Recently, a sweet boy in 6th grade was having some trouble with some of Matthew's friends being unkind to him. He confided in Matthew how much this hurt him and could Matthew help bring a stop to the bullying. Matthew did his best to help the situation and told this sweet boy that he would like to be better friends with him. I talked with the boy's mother that night, and she let me know that Matthew had made a huge impact on her son and he helped make a difficult situation so much better. All this happened without my knowledge, and I was so proud that Matthew did the right thing though no one was looking.

Well, that's our Matthew in a nutshell! Starting next year, we will have a teenager in the house for more than a decade! Yikes! Gonna savor every minute of this year!

My Brick Wall

I didn't take many pictures of Thomas playing soccer this year, but wanted to post about my Brick Wall. Thomas plays on a soccer team, the Strikers, that has played together since kindergarten. It is by far our favorite team that any of the kids have played on. They rarely lose and are the sweetest kids.

Now for a little about Thomas's athletic gifts. My precious 120 pound 4th grader is not fast, but what he lacks in quick footedness, he makes up for in strength and protective instincts. In fact, every time I watch The Blindside, I think of Thomas! Big Mike's body frame described in the beginning of the movie fits my Thomas perfectly.

Thomas has played goalie for many years on the team. He has had many good saves over the years, but my favorite game that he ever played happened two weeks ago. We were playing a very good team and were down 2-0 in the first half. Thomas plays goalie in the second half. Eventually, our offense scored 3 goals, the third being in the last few minutes of the game. Since the other team was down by a goal, they started shooting at the goal over and over and nothing got by Thomas. In the last minute of the game, the other team's best shooter kicked a beautiful kick headed into the top corner of the goal. Thomas jumped into the air and blocked the shot! I wish I could describe the sound of that ball hitting Thomas's body. It was quite loud! Nothing got by "the Brick Wall" that day. We were so proud! We over heard the other team's coaches ask one of our parents in a very thick Spanish accent, "Where did that goalie come from?"

Yes, Thomas had a great season and even scored a goal when the coaches put him in at forward for a game. We are so proud of our little Striker!

Trunk or Treat 2011

One of our favorite holiday traditions is the annual Trunk or Treat at our church. As much as we love trick or treating in our neighborhood, it is so much fun to see all the little kids we love so much gathered at our church. In addition to our members, several agencies in the area send abused and neglected children to our trunk or treat to give the children some happiness.

I included the next picture so you can see what we are dealing with during family pictures. Thomas has now surpassed Matthew in weight, and it's only a matter of time before he surpasses him in height. Matthew wants to prolong this day by quickly jumping up on tip toes before each picture. Thomas gets completely out of sorts by this and tries to do the same thing. It doesn't help that Thomas is barefoot (Fred Flintstone style) and Matthew is wearing tennis shoes. Oh, the joys of family pics!
We saw the Fred Flintstone outfit and felt is was a perfect fit for our Thomas. Thomas, who is all about feeling loosey goosey, said he is going to be Fred Flintstone again next year, since it was the most comfortable outfit he had ever been in!


And here is our little Cherry Blossom Princess. (Daddy didn't like her saying she was a geisha girl!) Mary Beth, our candy fanatic, looks forward to Halloween more than most holidays, as she gets to slap on tons of makeup and eat sweets. What a day!

Here are 5/7ths of the Robinson grandkids!
Matthew gave me fair warning last year that he would not be dressing up for Halloween any longer. He threw on a wig for pics before we left, but it wasn't happening for Trunk or Treat. ***sigh***
40 years ago on this day, my parents met in a dorm kitchen in Newport Rhode Island. It's been a fun ride!
Sweet Jamesy as Captain America!

Mary Beth loved passing out candy after she had made the rounds.
Of course, the annual picture with her bestie, Whitney.

The extra point wonder! ;)

After every touchdown in Pee Wee football, the standard next play is a two point conversion. In fact, I have never seen a field goal kicked all season long. A few weeks ago, Matthew's coaches started talking to him about field goals. Matthew has a very strong leg, and he was up for the challenge!

At the end of the season, the kids get the treat of playing at Floyd Casey stadium, where the Baylor Bears play. Matthew was in awe of being on, what he referred to as "hallowed ground". Thomas was a little less impressed. Sure enough, after Matthew's team scored a touch down, Matthew got his first opportunity to kick the extra point.....and he made it! We were so proud! He has loved every minute of season, and has played as many positions as you can think of, but he always did the kick offs. Here is a picture of a kick off.....
Such a fun season!

Bye Bye, Princess Tooth!

What is a princess tooth, you ask?

Years ago, our little baby girl was developing beautifully and right on schedule, until her second tooth came in. It was larger than the other one with a few bumps on top. After consulting with her dentist, we discovered that Mary Beth had a fused tooth. Instead of four baby teeth on the bottom, she had three, with the fused tooth being the largest of the three. I was so worried that her smile would be affected, but after the bumps wore down a bit and her other teeth came in, we hardly noticed it.

Each time we went to the dentist, we talked about her fused tooth. About the time that she was really in to Disney princesses, she started asking why we talked about that tooth so much. Somehow, it became known as the "princess tooth". Only princesses had special teeth like that! Hence, the princess tooth.

You can sort of see it in this picture (one of my all time favorites of these two!)....

Well, this year, the princess tooth started getting loose. The tooth underneath it ended up coming in behind the loose tooth, and Matthew did the honors of pulling the tooth for us on Wednesday night. Yes, this is the kind of mouth that mades orthodontists smile!!
Interestingly enough, the Tooth Fairy loves teeth, but none as much as princess teeth....

She loves princess teeth so much that she makes a rare exception to giving money for teeth. She actually gives Princess Barbie dolls. Who knew?
Certainly not this little sleeping beauty.
We were awakened by the sound of a squealing little girl on Thursday morning! What a treat!

Funny Thomas story related to this....Years ago, our dentist told me that the only fused teeth he had ever seen were Mary Beth and another girl who went to our church. Our dentist made the comment that there must be something in the water at our church. A few months later, we parked at church right by a taped off hole with a pipe exposed. Thomas asked what was going on. I told him I thought they were fixing the water lines. He thought for a minute, then said, "Oh, so there won't be anymore princess teeth?" Mr. Literal!!