Blogger Loser

I know I have been a Blogger Loser Lately. I have been a bit busy obviously with all the events I posted below. You will probably have to click on the older posts link at the bottom as there were a lot of posts today!!! I had a free day before Greg leaves (in a few hours) for some more travel so I thought I would catch up really quick!! Hope you enjoy the photos.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was great!! I was pretty sure it would be a little difficult being away from my extended family as we usually are together for Mother's Day. I started the weekend going to Christopher's School where the kindergarten class had a cute little program for all the moms and they had fruit and muffins for breakfast. The kids went shopping with Greg for a mother's day gift for me. I was pretty sure that no matter what they got me I would love it. After all, it is the thought that counts. Well, my family came through for me once again. I got the new flat iron I need/wanted. They even got it for me in my favorite lime green!! And as if all the heartfelt cards and poems weren't enough, they came through with yes none other than the world famous SNUGGIE!!

That's right folks as you can see in the photo below, I can talk on the phone, use my laptop, drink a tasty beverage, and so much more all while staying Toasty Warm!!
The socks were my own touch!! I am sure that as funny as the children thought it would be to get this great gift for me, they will one day regret it when I wear it to cheer them on from the sidelines of their event all their friends are attending!!
I had a great Mother's day and am so blessed to have such great kids and a great husband. I love them all so much.

A Walk in The Woods

So no matter how hard I try to hate this place, Greg manages to pull out something like this. The kids wanted to take a walk. Well, we have no sidewalks where we live, but, Greg has found several places we can go and walk on some trails. This one is right down from our house about half a mile.Maddie was sure she was a big girl and wanted to walk insead of take the stroller. That and Greg was sure we wouldn't be able to push the stroller on the terrain.
Maddie did great walking the whole way. Tim on the other hand didn't make it very far before he conned Taylor out of a piggy back ride.

The scenery out there is really beautiful. It goes right along the river and it is so quiet and peaceful out there (of course until I brought my little wildlife out there)!

The walking went good for Maddie right up until she thought she could run with the big kids on the gravel. She fell and cut her hand . She did really good though. It was really dirty and I thought I better clean it out with some peroxide. I was not sure that would go so well and tried to be quick about it. Well, as it turns out, Madelynne loves to have that poured on her open wounds!!! She kept holding her hand out and trying to pour more out onto her little sore. Greg was pretty impressed. Of course it also made him feel like a wimp since that is about his least favorite thing to have done to him.

Bike Rally

On Saturday our ward primary had the Bike Rally. This was an exciting event for our kids (only the boys went as they are the only primary age children right now) In preparation for this, Chris had his training wheels taken off. I was quite nervous about this as he only had one day to learn to ride without his training wheels before the rally. I took off his wheels and stood at the end of the driveway with him. (Our very long driveway!) As soon as he started to pedal I let him go and off he went. I was amazed at how quickly he picked it up. The rally also helped Zack to work on his turning!! Since our driveway is straight, it doesn't allow for much of that. He did really well in the big open parking lot at the church. I just thought this photo of Tim sitting on the curb with his bike on its side was so cute. He wasn't sad he said to me he just didn't want to waste any of his energy before the parade.

Zack and Chris getting ready for the big bike parade with their license plates they made.

Spring Break

So, since driving from Rochester to Omaha at the end of March and back at the start of April with two kids wasn't challenging enough, I took the leap and decided to see how it would go with 5 kids by myself!! And as if we weren't a traveling zoo on our own, while in Omaha we decided to take in the zoo!! It is always a crowd pleaser!The zoo going gang!
I am not sure who is (trying) to lead who here. I personally have my money on Maddie!

Thanks cousin Ashley for making sure Tim has a "bug's eye view"!

The desert dome! Why does that water only inches from all the people looking straight up with no regard for where they are going. This whole thing spells disaster. Of course I am so concerned that I took a photo!!

The Egg Hunt

We waited until after church for our egg hunt. The kids loved having the great big yard to hunt for eggs in!! Of course Maddie realized right away there was candy in the eggs and she was checking each egg as she found it before she put it in her bucket.
Tim couldn't figure out why his bucket was always empty. He was having a balancing problem!

Zack of course was sure speed was the key to getting the best eggs.

Off they went!

Easter Morning

So of course we had to take a family photo on Easter morning. This is of course on a self timer!! And of course it is like the 9th attempt. First I tried. Running in heels on gravel is a bad idea. Then Greg tried it a few times. Of course on the 9the try we realized it would probably be a better plan to move the family closer to the camera instead of making Greg run faster!! We have some great shots of the family and Greg's leg or arm!! Nonetheless, it was a beautiful morning for an Easter photo.

Dying Easter Eggs

So my favorite part of Easter is dying the eggs. Not really it is really messy and the worst part is with 5 kids, we have like 5 dozen hard boiled eggs no one in the house other than myself eats. You can only eat so many egg salad sandwiches. Several kids ago, eggs were like 88 cents a dozen so it was really no big deal to throw the eggs away but now at almost $2 a dozen it is a little more painful. I am grateful my husband waited until I was out of town and when I got home, they were no longer there!! Of cours throwing them away also brings on the sadness from the children since they look at it as throwing away little pieces of their special artwork!! Anyway, on to the actual event.

This was the first year Maddie dyed eggs. She learned the hard way that you can't just drop the egg into the cup! It WILL splash up and dye your face green!!
Zack and Chris were very excited about drawing on the eggs with their clear crayon and watching the magic as they took the eggs out of the dye.

Zack did not like me bothering him when he was working on his masterpiece. It is always funny how they don't grasp the concept of leaving the egg alone to get the color they want. They constantly check it.

Taylor took the longest making each one of her eggs a mini masterpiece. I am just grateful she is still okay taking part in this little "tradition" and it has not hit the list of things that are just not cool to do with your family. Which is getting quite lengthy in her last pre-teen year!

The end result!! (times 10!!)

My Baby Brynna!

This is the day Tori and Shawn brought Brynna home from the hospital. Everyone was so excited to see her.Madelynne quickly declared that this is "My Brynna!" she did not take too well to anyone holding her when Maddie was around.

She looks like a little baby doll to me!

Welcome Brynna!

Okay so I am a little behind on some of my blogging. At the end of March when I was in Omaha, we welcomed little Brynna into the family (chaos!). Of course we did it in true Robbins fashion with Trish, Alycia, and Myself (in our matching monogrammed scrubs) joining Tori and Shawn at the hospital to make it an entertaining experience for all. Including the hospital staff. Tori did great (considering the no pain factor!!) We are so happy to have little Brynna in our family! Congratulations Tori and Shawn.