Breakaway

Hannah's first week of camp (a.k.a. vacation bible school or Breakaway) is now over.

It was fun but exhausting for our whole family.  

Matt led the drama team.  Peter hung out in the nursery and I helped some with the encouragement team.

I'm pretty sure Hannah had a great time even though when you ask her what she did she says, "I don't 'member".

Here are some pictures from one of her teachers:

messy hands mean lots of fun art projects

her cousin Reagan was her best pal throughout the whole week

having fun takes a lot of focus

painting mischief with Reagan

my little girl

Yesterday I found Hannah asleep in the hallway after she informed that she was not tired and was not going to take a nap.


Today I dropped her off at church for her first day ever of camp!

Now I'm on my way to pick her up and hear all about it!

how to date your wife

sometimes as a wife and mom it is hard for me to feel treated or really taken out on a date in the same way as before we were married or had kids.
but Matt hit the ball out of the park last night for our anniversary.

so here is Matt's model (as told by Joy) for how to date your wife!

1. surprise her by coming home from work early and bringing a dozen red roses

2. make her some delicious chocolate covered strawberries as both an appetizer and dessert!

3. entertain the kids while she spends lots of time getting dressed

4. find a great babysitter to watch the kiddos

5. take her to a delicious restaurant that serves her favorite indulgences
(in this case a sourdough cheese loaf from the Rio City Cafe)

6. make sure the said restaurant has an awesome view

7. engage her in delightful conversation 
(because women like that)

8. pay the bill (even though you share all your money anyways)

9. walk off dinner until the sun sets

10. return home to quiet house where the kids are sleeping, the dishes are washed and nothing is left to do but rest!

It's sure to be wonderful!

snack time

First successful snack time in the backyard!

...went slightly awry when Peter started ignoring his snack bowl and 

reaching for Hannah's!

I began hearing shouts of "no, buddy, that's mine".  

And when I suggested she eat at a different table in the backyard she replied, "He will find me!" :)

Peter wasn't the least bit bothered by any of it! And delighted in standing up.

Even Toby came to join in the snack fun!

9 years

9 years ago today
I married my best friend.
I could not have imagined then how much more I would love him.
but i do.
he is now more than a best friend - he is my partner in life, my husband, a GREAT father and the person I laugh with the most.


Happy Anniversary Matty!

me birfday!

Today is my birthday!  

(Matt and I like to quote a small British boy that we visited with once who went around saying "it's me birfday today".)

Per my request we had a quiet day that involved no work for mommy.  

A good friend watched Hannah & Peter so Matt & I could go read for an hour at Starbucks and enjoy some delicious iced coffee drinks.
We picked up the kiddos headed to a delicious Indian buffet lunch at Punjabi Dhaba in Dixon (if you are ever craving Indian food and are on Hwy 80 - I highly recommend stopping at this place.)  We did a little shopping at the outlets for me and then home for rest time. 
Some of my nieces and a nephew (along with my sister-in-law) came by for a surprise visit to sing "Happy Birthday" and deliver banana butterscotch muffins - yum! 
Then we loaded the kids in the bike trailer and rode to downtown Davis for some salads from Plutos (we were still a bit full from lunch). 
And finally, the kids came running out of Gap with a present for mommy - an awesome dress that I might have had a hand in picking out!

Yea for family!

Happy Birthday and Good Night!

today

How we started the day:

a little too much sisterly love

How we finished the day:

playing sleepy time on her picnic table

um, yes, i have a climber

and in the middle we had breakfast with our dear friends Holly & Ryan who are back for a little while from their exotic travels all over the world!  and dinner with Erica - a beloved college student, babysitter and Toby-sitter!

siblings

One of the things I was most excited about when I got pregnant with Peter was the relationship that Hannah would have with her brother.  

 She has doted on him from day two 

(day one she wanted us to put him "way" (away) in the bassinet at the hospital). 

He is finally able to return the love.  The last few weeks he has delighted in walking up to Hannah and giving her a hug.  Today he intently walked up to her and held her hand.

baby brother hugs

I am enjoying the sibling love!

burgers

It is now that time of the year again.

All the Robbins (yes, there are now 18 of us) - get together and have a Burger Cook-off to celebrate the 4th of July and further illustrate our love of competition.

Lots of planning, 

preparation,

and grilling went into it.

To make the grilling portion more fair this year we had two gas grills and one charcoal grill all going at the same time to accommodate the 27 burgers 

and 12 sliders.

The burgers were "plated" (a term referring to assembling the grilled patty with all it's delicious accouterments and sandwiching it inside some sort of bun/roll), 

secured with toothpicks and cut into quarters.

Then carefully laid out on each place mat.

Our tasting palate.

Let the tasting and judging commence.

We carefully savored a bite of each burger quarter on our place mats and then wrote comments and assigned a 1-5 score.  (Personally, I think I made the right move this year by not entering a burger - I helped my oldest niece with her sliders and then reaped the benefits of everyone else's hard work.)

Okay, maybe we stuffed our faces a little bit.

And the results are in....

Tim's "Jalapeno Popper Burger" won first place!  

We finished the night with some sparklers

and fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!