Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A White Christmas!

Sam's favorite gift . . . a zoo-ball! It is a little animal that rolls into a ball and pops open when it comes in contact with metal.

Santa brought Kenzie and Motor Scooter! It is very stylish and fun to ride-on around the house!

Santa brought Whitney a Fur real pet kitty! She adores this kitty--it purrs, meows, walks, and kneads it's paws. She takes it everywhere with her . . . meals and bed time too!


Santa brought Dallas this ball giraffe toy! It lights up and plays music! Everyone has had fun playing with this toy!

Dallas's First Christmas!

Yummy Christmas Dinner!

Ham, Rolls, Homemade Mac n' Cheese, Green beans, and Red & Green Jello Par fa's


We tried to make everything Red/Green and festive!


As I mentioned, in my Christmas Eve post, we got to have Christmas all by ourselves this year. The kids got us up at 7, not too early. We told them not to wake us up any earlier . . . we were up pretty late ;) Ha! Then we saw what Santa brought us all and looked in our stockings! Then we had a great breakfast of frenchtoast rolls and sausage. Then we opened all our gifts to each other. The rest of the day was spent playing with our new toys, sleeping, watching a new movie, and playing a few games together! It was fun and cozy. The girls kept saying, "This is the best Christmas Ever!" I think it was because it was so low stress. We enjoyed just being together. Sometimes our family gets too busy . . . there is always somewhere to go and something to do! It was a wonderful change of pace to simply be at home. Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!

A White Family Christmas Eve

Dallas LOVES anything silky or soft. He will immediately put his face on it and suck his thumb. He is definitely a Robison- tactile. My new Christmas Eve P.J.'s are silky and he loves them.

The boys in their new P.J.'s

The girls. We may need to work on our modeling poses . . . kinda strange!


Dallas's FIRST Christmas Eve!

O.K. it is a long story, but we made sugar cookies and somehow Scott ended up sitting on a Christmas tree one! It made a perfect mark on his jeans and sweatshirt! We laughed and laughed!

The girls and I making sugar cookies that afternoon!

They each got to roll out and cut their own cookies!



They loved it! Just like eatable play dough.

Whitney.


The stockings were hung by the Chimney with care . . .

Dallas stayed happy with his 7-up bottle.
We had the BEST Christmas and Christmas Eve!!!! This was our first Christmas all on our own! And I have to say, " I LOVED it!" Nothing against our families, it was just nice to stay home and do our own thing. We have 4 kids, 3 of them are grown-up enough to know what Christmas is all about, we don't really have any of our own traditions because every year we go over to our parent's houses. We got to plan all our own food and activities together as a family. And we just relaxed together and didn't go anywhere.
Scotty worked a half day on Christmas Eve, so that morning the kids and I cleaned our whole house! Then when Scott got home we all cooked and baked in the kitchen. The girls and I made sugar cookies, now I normally don't like making sugar cookies---they are messy and take a ton of time and I am not really that good at it---- but that is what the girls wanted to make. I gave them each a 1/3 of the dough and let them roll it out and cut out all their own cookies. It was a blast for them! Like eatable play dough! Then we decorated them. Scott made his famous chex-mix and we were set! We had a yummy dinner of lasagna, bread and salad. Then we opened our Christmas Eve gifts--of pajama's and then we snuggled up and read the Christmas Story, sang hymns, and watched Luke 2. After that we had hot chocolate and sugar cookies and watched a movie called, "The Ultimate Gift." Then we put everyone to bed and waited for Santa to come . . . Santa had to have a Pepsi and a Mt. Dew, but "He" got it done and it was so much fun! :)

Bows, Flowers, and Ribbons








One afternoon Whitney dazzled us all with her beautiful hair-do! I love it when the girls dress up and play with their hair!

Sammy B-Ball



Samantha played B-Ball again this winter. Her 2 best friends (Mariah and Alivia) were on the team with her. This was her second year playing and she has improved so much! She made a basket nearly every game! I am so proud of her and all that she is learning and doing.

Thanksgiving at Nana & Pa's

Pa on dish duty!

Nana in the kitchen.

Scotty, Sam, and Dallas

Uncle Nick and Aunt Becca (trying to get out of the picture)


Ha. Got her this time. Love ya, Sis! :)


Uncle Dan and Aunt Macie
(Macie is about 7 months Pregnant!---Yeah a Robison Cousin FINALLY)

Great G-Pa and G-Ma Robison with all our kiddos!

Great G-pa Butler with all our kiddos!


Dallas- Happiest with a Sprite Bottle.


This year we ate Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom & Dad's it was really great! Grandpa Butler and Grandma & Grandpa Robison all got to come for dinner as well. Becca and Nick came up and Dan and Macie were there too! We had lots of yummy food and a fun time together. That is what makes a Holiday so special is being with people that you love.

Elmer Fudd . . .




Pa went to Cabella's and got this little "hunting hat" for Dallas! We thought he looked super cute in it, like Elmer Fudd. The hat says, "I hunt for hugs!" That's the kind of hunting I like. :)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

White's Halloween 2010

The whole gang!

Samantha--- A ghost! BOOOOOO!

McKenzie-- A Viking! --- I think she saw, "How to Train your Dragon" one too many times and just really wanted to be a Viking? Go figure. :)

Whitney-- A Pumpkin Princess!--- We are not sure what that is or where she came up with the idea, but that is what she wanted to be. She had a very clear vision in mind of what her costume would look like . . . and this is as close as we could come to it and she ended up being very pleased with the out come! That is Whit for ya!

Dallas-- A Football Player! --- Simple. Easy. A Boy. :)

This year we had a great Halloween! We kept things simple (for once . . . we are ALWAYS trying to pack too much in . . .) that Saturday we went to Sammy's B-Ball game at 9:00 a.m. where she made 6 baskets!! Totally rippin' it up yeah!! Go Sam! Then we worked at home, the kids and I did chores inside and Scott worked outside. Then we went Trick-or-treating to our family close by, came home and ate dinner and drank hot chocolate while watching a spooky movie together! It was relaxing and fun. We turned off the porch light . . . so we had zero trick-or-treaters at our house . . . that was kind-of nice, just to keep things quiet. :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Journaling . . .

Having found myself with a few extra moments this morning (WHAT? EXTRA TIME?----Quick scrub the bathrooms, sweep the floor, dust the front room . . . .right. That is how I always feel. Something can ALWAYS be done.) But not right now. Wanting to write about all that is going on in our lives right now. Hum. Starting with me. I am learning to value my talents. Talent. Yes. Something I was not always sure I possessed, maybe it was because I was too busy admiring or envying other peoples' talents, that I failed to recognize or appreciate my own. Do you have to turn 30 before you feel like you can give yourself a pat on the back? Or was I just too distracted by everything else-- a self centered teen (who isn't?) and then having 4 babies in my 20's (who has TIME to remember who they really are among all the diapers and laundry?) The past few months I have been teaching TaVaCi and gymnastics and I find myself quite enjoying TEACHING. Being able to work and interact with these young children- my students- and see them grow and develop. And see myself grow in confidence in my own ability. Feeling good about me because I taught someone something . . . I am using my talents and getting to earn a little extra money for our family. I like it! I am having fun! Yes, all this makes us a very busy family, but Scott has been here for our kids while I am gone. They LOVE spending more time with Scott and I think he is seeing that being "the mom" is not very easy. He works really hard to take good care of our 4 kids. I am grateful for his efforts and how this has allowed me to reach outside of the laundry and dirty diapers and develop a part of me that I really enjoy! Being a teacher. :)



Scott is, of course, still busy being a Chiropractor. This past football season, he was the team trainer at Madison and he in now gearing up for Basketball. He will be the assistant J.V. boys b-ball coach again this year; along with being their team trainer. He is also hunting for Elk and Deer right now . . . no luck yet . . . Hopefully something soon! He actually got a good size deer last year and we ate it all. Yea us. I was a little leery about eating a deer . . . not having grown-up eating "big game" meat, but it was actually pretty good and the kids liked it! Most of the time I just didn't say anything, everyone ate dinner and assumed that they were just eating beef, even Scott. :) I was the only one who knew what was actually in it.

Samantha is now 9 and in 3rd grade. She LOVES her teacher and is learning cursive writing and her times tables. Sam has been taking piano lessons for the past year and I am so amazed at how well she can play in such a short time. She has really excelled at piano. I am encouraging her to stick with it because I think she may have found a real talent. She has also started basketball, this is her 2nd year playing. She has 2 close friends on her team and she is having tons of fun. She definitely has the "height" to play basketball. I can already see how far she has come in just one year.

McKenzie is now 7 and in first grade. She had a bit of a rough start to first grade and was really STRESSED out by being at school all day. She was having lots of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. I met with her teacher and we are all working to help her and she is doing SO much better. She is still learning to read . . . and can read lots of words, but I am still waiting for it to really CLICK for her . . . just not quite there yet, but close. She is in her 2nd year of DANCE! Dance class has been so good for Kenzie, it has boosted her confidence and her self-esteem. She is a natural. She has great rhythm and can just move to the music. She is very flexible. She is a darling little dancer---she pulls really cute "dance faces" and everything. Love it.

Whitney is now 4 and is FINALLY in pre-school. The interesting thing about Whitney is that she has really enjoyed being "the baby" of the family for the past 3 1/2 years. She can do lots of things herself----- eating, dressing, bathroom duties, brushing teeth, turning on lights etc. . . She just doesn't WANT to do them for herself. She has been throwing LOTS of tantrums lately. At four years old this is kind-of crazy . . . we sailed through the "terrible twos" only to find ourselves at "flipped-out four." Whitney has always been very opinionated. She knows what she wants and is stubborn to get it. This has made for lots of "head-butting." She is just having a hard time letting go of being "the baby", she wants me to rock her and carry her to bed. Which is actually really sweet . . . but . . . . We are really trying to help her GROW-UP and take responsibility for herself. Oh Whit. She still loves to tease us and make us laugh. She has also started dance lessons this year, she likes it,but I am not sure if she is as taken with dance and Kenzie is. We will see. We are committed for this year.

Dallas is now 8 1/2 months old. He is rolling (front to back and front again) and rotating on his tummy and can now get all the way across the room. He sits up pretty well on his own--still will face plant every now and then. He just cut his 2nd tooth this month (bottom rt.) He EATS so much! I can hardly keep him full! We are almost finished nursing. I think he will be all the way weaned by the end of this week. He is also SOOOO heavy to lift. I swear his bones are made of lead. When our girls were his size they did not weigh so much, they were never this heavy to lift. He continues to be a mild, sweet, easy going little guy. He is calm and happy to play on the floor most of the day. He does love to jump in his chair that hangs from the doorway! He is the perfect caboose to our family. :)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Our Boise State fan!





This past weekend we (Me, Scott, and Dallas) went to Boise for Scott's Chriopractic Seminar. I spent the day Shopping, with Dallas (who was an angel for me). And Scott spent it in lecture . . . not very fun. But then that night we got pizza and salad and ate it at Uncle Damon's house and watched the Boise State game. It was fun and relaxing! We bought Dallas a little Kellen Moore jersey, Go #11! :)

Sam turns 9!

Sam's bowling celebration!

Sam and her friend!

Sisters.


This year we went pretty simple for Sammy's b-day, because last year--she got so CELEBRATED it was a little much. We went bowling and had pizza, as a family and she got to invited one friend (Alivia). Then when we got home we made home made milkshakes. Happy 9, Sam! You are wonderful! We love you! :)