pie

beauty found in delicious (mini) pies made by a dear friend.

A friend loves at all times.  Proverbs 17:17

fancier

Matt and I love good food.

In fact, we love cooking good food together.

But one of the things about having small kids is that we rarely get a chance to cook good food together AND have friends over for a fancier kind of meal.

Tonight we got our chance!

A couple that we have known for the past 4 years is getting ready to head to Africa and they bid on Matt's ability as a chef at a fundraiser in the Spring. 
What better way to put their winnings to use?  Have us host a  fancy salmon dinner with a bunch of couples from our old small group and tell us about their coming adventures!
(If you want to read more about their adventures check out their blog:  http://tommynmandi.blogspot.com/)

So here is the plate we served:



Mesquite Salmon, chard risotto, Balsamic grilled asparagus, heirloom tomatoes....

It was pretty darn tastey!

 

And a chocolate crazy cake to top it off and celebrate Tommy's birthday!

It was a great night.

And I don't mind a bit that my fingers are pruney from dishwashing or
my feet ridiculously swollen from standing. 

It was sweet time with dear friends!

p.s. did I mention that we did this with 8 kids under the age of 6 running around?  It was fun chaos!!!

adventures at the lake

Our first big family trip of the summer took us to Donner Lake.

This time the snow was melted and we were looking forward to a break from the hot weather, lots of family time



 and fishing.

Peter picked out his own fishing pole and had his first experience putting it in the water,

it only lasted about 2 minutes and then he was off to mess with Hannah's pole.

Which, of course, earned a big "NO" reaction from her 

(a much more patient, serious fisherwoman).

life on the dock

 

Our third day there Matt reeled in a Mackinaw Trout

 

 His biggest catch to date - 18.5 inches long and 2 1/2 lbs

 

 

(just for scale - no we definitely did not eat it like this)

Four days into our trip our friends' the Seitz's came up and joined us.

The kids had a blast playing in the cold water,

 watching the Canadian geese swim past them

 A "cheese" smile for the camera.

Roasting marshmallows for S'mores was of course a highlight

This was Joshie's first s'more

I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it!

As did the rest of the little people.

When two families are sharing one cabin and this sweet little face wakes up super early,
 it means a 6:30am coffee date with mommy.

Wild Cherries Coffeehouse in Truckee has great coffee 

and absolutely delicious blueberry scones!

The weather unfortunately turned extremely cold and we exchanged beach life for throwing rocks in the lake.

Peter was pretty excited about it!

 Our friends' went home and we entertained ourselves with Toby's tricks:

Jumping over both kids

and going through a Hannah-Peter tunnel

With the sun out again we were off to explore Stampede Lake - a lake you have to 

off road 1/2 mile to reach

more rocks

splash!

 And yes, I was on this vacation (not just behind the camera)

and I joined in on the rock throwing fun

and if you're wondering about the bump on the front of me - 

yes, next year on our Donner Lake vacation there will be three little Robbins' kids holding on to me!

(I'm pregnant)

dancing tutus

There is something special in the combination of tulle and ribbon that form a tutu 
to inspire dancing in children.


Oh yes, dancing, laughing

and fancy moves

There are no rules with tutus!

 you can add a second one to your head

it is not limited to one gender
(sorry Matt)

the moves just seem to come

and come

and come

Until everyone crashes into a heap of tutus

and we all fall down.

Now time to rest!

I've got to love my dancing tutus!  And thanks to our friend Karis for adding to the fun!

school days

Hannah loves school.

I realize I haven't said very much about her school experience. So here is a taste of it

This morning she woke me up incredibly excited because today was "Green Eggs and Ham" day at school.  It is currently her favorite book and she really wanted to bring it with her to school.

The Cat in the Hat met her at the gate into the school yard. They had green eggs and ham for snack (which ironically, she didn't even taste).  And of course, read the book.

Peter assisted Hannah in carrying her book home

Hannah also loves the days where I come to school with her.  Last Thursday was Pajama Day and since it was my workday,  I got roped into also wearing my pajamas to school.  While I felt a bit silly on the way there, Hannah assured me "It's okay mommy." 

I think the funniest part of the school day is "snack bar" where they can come stand around a short island and eat handfuls of cheerios to get them through circle time and onto the official snack time.  I'm pretty sure Hannah never passes up an opportunity for snack bar.

Here's a picture of the inside of the classroom.  

(Although it doesn't usually look this crowded - this was our special Thanksgiving Feast with friends and family.)

Hannah sits at the green table for snack time and I can generally count on hearing what they've eaten for snack everyday.

Outside she loves riding the double tree swing or the horses or bikes with her friends.

And friends are definitely the best part of the school experience.  Every night she prays and thanks God for Stephanie and Saillee (two of her buddies).

I can't believe it's time to register her for next year.

(By the way can you see how much she's grown up?  The pictures at the top of the post are from today and the ones at the bottom are from the Fall.)