Sad Day

So one of my favorites got voted off American Idol... sad day. I like this girl. Eventhough she wasn't the best, she was definitely my favorite girl, and now the only one left is Syesha, yuck... she irritates me. Well, way to go Brooke, top 5 is nothing to be ashamed of!

Reflections on a weekend of Diving...

We spent the weekend diving at blue lake outside of Wendover (and shockingly there's enough water out there to dive in) with my father-in-law and Craig's cousin Jake. There were so many random observations that I decided to do one big super blog to sum them all up, so h ere goes:

1. If your children ride with Grandma and Grandpa expect over-indulgence. They will be sticking things up their noses, and downing bags of fruit snacks by the box, and LOVING every minute of it. So will you, by the way because you will have peace and quite. That's the first time I've napped in the car, in I don't even know how long.

2. Easy-ups are just about the best invention in the world. You can pop them up just about anywhere in literally 30 seconds, and you've got your own little shelter, thanks for bringing it Randy...total lifesaver.

4. Just in case anyone was wondering what the MOST uncomfortable thing in the world is... let me fill you in. Wetsuits are retched! They are so tight that you literally have to jump up and down to pull them up and when you finally do manage to get them on, it feels like they are sucking the life right out of you. Sure you're warm IN the water, but as soon as you get out, you're freezing again, and they are harder to get off when they are wet, Yuck. Not to mention the fact that they cling to every single inch of your body and enunciate every curve, so they pretty much make everyone look disgusting.

5. Also, I never realize exactly how miniature I am until I see myself in a picture and I am like 2 heads shorter than everyone else. :-(

6. There's no one who can say it better than Randy: "when I first glanced at the picture of the 4 of us decked out in dive gear standing in the middle of the desert, I thought we looked like a bunch of extras from Galaxy Quest, the cheesy Tim Allen movie. " Sad, but true.

7. I'm smiling in this picture, but what I really feel like doing, is scream bloody murder, run around in a circle flailing my arms, and rip my wet suit right off. Self control is very important in diving.

8. This is pretty much what the kids did the whole time with Grandma. Oh, and next time I'll bring an extra outfit for Ethan, who pooped all over his clothes and left Grandma with a yucky mess, and no spare outfit... oops!

9. Don't leave your brand new, very expensive mask out where your 2 year old can reach it... this is what happens.

10. Bring sun block next time... poor Hannah and Carter had quite the rosy cheeks.

11.Only Grandy and Grandma Shannon could get all three of them sitting still and looking at the camera AT THE SAME TIME! I thought this was just too cute.

All in all, it was a crazy, busy and awesome day. We were all so tired afterward, but we had a blast!

Awfuls

There's one thing that Craig and I pretty much never agree on: how much to cook things. He prefers food under-cooked and all nasty and doughy, where-as I, on the other hand like things like cookies, and muffins to be a nice golden brown, or as he claims burnt to a crisp. So last night I was totally a slacker and didn't think about dinner until it was almost six, so I pulled out the old breakfast for dinner, which is very quick, and makes EVERYONE happy. I made waffles, and as we were sitting down Craig was complaining that I had burnt every single waffle and didn't leave any doughy for him...whatever! So, anyways about ten minutes later Hannah finishes eating her food, looks up at Craig and says, "Daddy, can I have more awfuls?" We totally started cracking up, and Craig looks at me and says, "How true that is..."

hiccups

So this morning I'm sitting on the floor in my room getting Ethan dressed and Hannah is sitting next to me for like five minutes with hiccups. All the sudden she looks at me and says, "Mommy, I don't want hiccups in my froat." Priceless.

1988

Sorry to blog again so soon, but I just have one other thing to write about. So we certified in Scuba diving a little over a week ago and today we got our sweet PADI open water diver cards in the mail. Unfortunately when I pulled mine out to look at it, my birthday read 01/06 1988. My birthday is 01/06/1983... What the heck!?! Did that last 5 years not count or something? I earned those! So I guess I'm 20 again...

Chip of the old Block

I'm pretty much fanatic about chocolate milk, it's so much better than plain white, and apparently Carter feels the same way. So tonight at dinner I was having my usual glass. We were eating a little later than normal, so we were watching American Idol while we ate. I came back in the kitchen on the commercial break, and my glass had very conveniently been moved right in front of Carter's place (how mysterious) and there was a bunch spilled on the table. So I said to him, "Carter, did you steal my chocolate milk and spill it?" To which he replies: "I po` it!" (that's "I pour it" for those of you who don't talk baby) He was totally trying to pour it into his cup... how could I refuse him after that? But, unfortunately it looks as though the little stealth has got a career as a pick-pocket ahead of him :-(

Ironman

So anyone who knows Craig, knows that he is possibly the most outdoorsy person in the world. Okay, that might be overshooting it a bit, but I think that other than me and the kids, doing something active outside might be his one true love. He loves backpacking, climbing, skiing, snowshoeing, repelling, camping, (most recently) diving, and I could go on and on and on... So of course he was totally on Cloud 9 on his backpacking trip with the Young Men this weekend, despite the fact that there were a few little hick-ups, it was bloody hot, and they had to pack in all of their water (they were backpacking in the desert). So, they took the Young Men down to southern Utah where they did a 9 mile loop through two different slot canyons called Little Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon. A slot canyon is a very narrow canyon, (just in case any of you are like me and don't know what the heck that is), at some points it was so narrow that they had to remove their backpacks to fit through, but he said it kept them nice and cool in the shade, and you find some wicked cool rock formations. Unfortunately, about 3 1/2 miles were spent NOT in those canyons, basically out in the wide open desert, and that's when it got HOT.

So here's my little brag session about what a stud my hubby is. During this part of the hike, they got on the wrong trail, because the trails are a little trippy during certain parts of the hike and the GPS wasn't functioning quite right. So after about a mile they realized that they might be going the wrong direction and the boys were starting to get really hot and tired. So Craig had them all sit down and rest, he dropped his pack and literally ran 2 miles ahead on the trail to figure out where they were, and how to get where they needed to go. It turned out that they were on the wrong path and he ended up finding another trail that got them back where they needed to be, but I'm sorry he is made of IRON! I mean how many people can hike 5 miles with a 50 pound pack on their back and limited water, in the desert, and then drop the pack and run 2 miles straight, and still finish the hike with everyone else? My mom is always saying that Craig is a man's man... um yes, I believe so... sorry I'll stop raving about him, but seriously... he's a stud.

Anyways, overall the trip was a total success, and our young men totally rocked it despite the heat, and weight! Craig, of course was totally stoked when he got home, and really charged up about their BIG backpacking trip they're planning this summer, I can't wait to hear what he does on that one...

Girl's Night

So I'm kind of pouting today, because Craig went out of town until tomorrow afternoon. He's the Young Men's president in our ward and he and the other leaders took the boys on an overnight backpacking trip, so I'm trying to be good about it. I just hate being away from him, it's so yucky. However, it's not all bad because my mom, and sisters are coming down tonight for a girls night. We're going to do all sorts of girly things like manicures and pedicures, and watch chick flicks, it should be quite the estrogen filled evening, so I'm pretty excited, I don't get to hang with my sisters nearly enough. Tomorrow, we're having a little Modbe bathing suit party at my house in the morning and that should be fun, Oh and here's my little plug for that. If you're like me and have ALWAYS had bathing suit issues, I seriously suggest trying one of these, they are amazing. They are so cute, they have a fit for pretty much any body type, and they are MODEST, which, as we all know is pretty much impossible to find now days. So there you go, check out the website: modbeclothing.com. Anyways, Craig should be home tomorrow afternoon, so I guess I'll surivive. But still, I miss my honey.

Hannah's First Bike

My oldest is riding a bike. When did this happen? I swear 3 months ago she was a baby, and now she's running around playing dress up, and barbies, and RIDING HER BIKE!!! Someone gave us an old hand-me-down bike and she loved riding it, so on Monday for family night, we went down to town and bought her the cutest little pink, purple, and blue bike, with a matching pink and blue helmet (that's for you Papa). It's so mini I can't get over it, but it fits Hannah so perfect, and she is SOOOO excited about it. You should have seen how cute it was to have Craig running behind her and helping her figure out how to peddle. My little princess is growing up too fast. :-)

Certified

It's official... As of Saturday, we are officially PADI certified open water SCUBA DIVERS!!! It's been an almost 3 month process, but we are finally done and all set for Cancun! We started at the end of January, with our Discover dive. In March we took our first 3 classes and did our first 2 open water dives, and then last weekend we finished up our last 2 classes and our last 2 open waters up at the Crater in Heber. The Crater is a pretty bizarre place, and I've never really seen anything like it. It's basically this huge cave that sticks up out of the ground and is full of water that just comes up out of the ground. The best part is that the water is a delicious 93 degrees, although that also means it's too warm for anything to survive, so there's not much to look at, but it's better than Bear lake in the winter, right? Anyway they've basically drilled out the side of it, so nuts like us can strap on a tank of air and dive down 40 feet. There's not much to it other than that, but we had a blast anyway. It's just fun to learn a new skill, even if the only things to look at where pvc pipes (hung down as depth markers), a huge wagon wheel (don't ask me why), and some plastic aligators and turtles... oh well, at least they tried. So I guess we're scuba divers now.

good people

Just in case anyone was wondering, there really are good people left in this world. Today, we woke up from our Sunday nap and Carter kept saying that he wanted to see a horsey. So we jumped in the car and drove just outside our neighborhood where there's a bunch of people with a little land and horses. We drove past a few houses with horses and then stopped at this one because these two guys had a few horses out and saddled and they were working with them so we thought it would be fun to put the kids in the back of the car and let them watch out the back window. So Carter keeps yelling "hi horsey! come here horsey!" over and over, and the guy came over. So Craig says, "don't mind us, he's just a little obsessed with horses so we told him we'd come show him one." So the guy asks if the kids want to come pet them, and then after they pet them he asks if they want to go for a little ride. So he put Carter up on the horse, and walked him around in a circle a couple times, and then he put Hannah up on and did the same. The kids were literally elated. And I couldn't believe how kind this guy was. He didn't even know us from Adam, this goofy little family who stops on the side of the road just so our kids could see some horses, he could have just ignored us, and yet he took the time to come over and show them to us and then let our kids go for a little ride. It took him maybe 5 minutes, but it seriously made their week. There really are good people out there.

Munchkin Voices

Now that Carter is finally really talking, I must admit I spend most of the day laughing at what one or the other of them is saying. For some reason everything is funnier when it's coming out of a three year old with a munchkin voice. For instance, every time I tell Carter to/not to do something he answers me by saying "alright," in kind of a defeatist tone. I don't know why but this is so funny coming out of a 2 1/2 year old. As for Hannah, she little miss mommy lately, and likes to mimic everything I say. So lately, when Hannah gets in trouble, after time-out I take her aside and have her sit on my lap and we talk about what she did wrong. So today, Carter fell down when he was climbing something (of course) and Hannah walks over, sits down next to him and says, "Come here, Carter, come sit on my lap, let's have a talk." I was laughing so hard. I can tell I'm going to have fun with her... So anyway, today I was sitting there listening to their little munchkin voices as they were playing and thinking about how much I'm going to miss those sounds when they get bigger. I'll miss there funny little phrases and especially what they sound like. So often I can't wait for them to get a little bigger, so they will be less work, or stress, or I won't have to wipe bums and noses ALL THE TIME but I'm guessing that will happen fast enough. My mom says she's always homesick for her babies, even though we haven't been babies for 23 years. I think as a mother you never completely get over this stage, and for some reason I like that.

Our house continued: the kids rooms

So here's more from our house, this is Hannah's room, and sorry again for the dark picture, our camera is a piece of junk. Her room is done in alot of muted greens, and tans. The quilt on her bed is my pride and joy, because I sewed it myself, and I quilted it by hand. Yikes, that took me about 65 hours, (I'm not exaggerating.) We call it her tinkerbell room because it's green even though there's not one picture of tinkerbell in it. I love Hannah's room, it's just a pretty little girls room. :-)

This is the kids bathroom, I absolutely love black french toile, so I did their bathroom in this pattern.

And finally... THE BOYS ROOM! Their room is red white and blue, with WW2 Bi-planes. I love biplanes in little boy rooms, I think they are so much fun and so I couldn't resist. We even hung biplanes from the ceiling which they both love to look at. We also did paneled beadboard in their room, which was a beast. But I love the way it turned out.

We really love our little house and and are so grateful to live in it. Right now we've got 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, hopefully we'll get our basement finished soon and then we'll add a second family room, another bedroom, and a third bath. So that's it, I hope you enjoyed!

Our House

A few weeks ago Lauren Giles asked me to do kind of a blog tour of our house with pictures. So here goes: (I apologize in advance for the dark pictures, I stink at taking "room" pictures, and also if this bores anyone.)This is the front, and yes we do have a garage, but it's in the back. I thought this was cool when we moved in, but I wouldn't recommend it now, it's kind of a pain.
This is our family room, I did a venetian plaster finish on one wall, which was SO fun to do and almost impossible to mess up, which is good for me. This is the breakfast nook in our tiny kitchen. We've got antiqued beadboard and the walls are painted a barn red, and tan with a black curtain. I love my kitchen I think it's my favorite room in our house.

This is our bedroom, it's got red again, and the walls are tan, it's probably my least favorite room of our house, I can never quite get it the way I want it, it's always a work in progress. Oh, and our bathroom.

Matt on a Motorcycle?

So there's about only two things that motivate Matt to do something out of his comfort zone, (which, any of you who know Matt, know that he seriously does the same thing everyday, and hates trying something new) and those are: Craig, and Indiana Jones. All we had to do growing up was relate something to Indiana Jones and Matt would do it... So tonight when my parents were visiting Craig asked Matt if he wanted to go for a ride on his new bike and Matt sort of reluctantly said okay, as long as he could wear a helmet. So they went for a ride around the block a few times and when they got back Craig told Matt that he was just like Indiana Jones now, boy that's all it took. So Craig takes me for a ride around the neighborhood and when we get back, Matt asks Craig if he can go again! What!?! Okay, so he takes him again and when they get back my dad goes to help him off and asks if he's ready to get down, and Matt goes "Um, I think I want to go again." Okay, did heck freeze over? Anyway, when they finally got back from their 3rd ride Matt gets off and tells my dad that he wants to get a motorcycle. So my dad says "You want me to buy you a motorcycle?" To which Matt replies: "Pleeeaaaase!" Wow, who knew...

Little Bruiser

Carter has got to be about the toughest little boy I know. In his 2 1/2 years of life he has blackened both eyes, his forehead, and given himself several bloody noses. And in each instance he cries for maybe 30 seconds and then is off to find more trouble. Today, he got another one. My mom and dad came down to watch conference with us and have dinner and I guess he was just so excited that he was running around the family room like a banchy and smack, he hit his nose right on the coffee table! Yeeeouuuch! So then it started bleeding like a war wound, and for some reason when the Robinson men get a bloody nose it lasts for like 3 hours, so anyway, an hour later we're playing outside and his nose is STILL bleeding! Every time it clotted he'd start running around and it would start bleeding again. Nice. I swear, I'm obsessed with this kid, he cracks me up. So later we're sitting at the table eating dinner with my parents and Carter's little eyes kept getting heavier and heavier, then all the sudden we look over and he's gone. We look under the table and there he is fast asleep on the bench. The funniest part came 20 minutes later when all the sudden out of nowhere, Carter's head just pops up and without a word or a look at the rest of us he just picks up his roll and starts eating again. We could not stop laughing for like 5 minutes and the whole time Carter's just eating his roll totally unaware that anyone is looking at him, then all the sudden he looks up at us and goes, "More Roll?" That's my boy...

70 Minute wait

So apparently we are not the only people who think that the Olive Garden is the best restaurant on the planet, or at least in the top ten. We went there last night with our dinner group, and had a blast. But, when we got there (we had a group of 12) we asked them how long the wait would be, and they said 50-60 minutes. All right, I guess it's worth the wait. (Oh, and they DON'T take reservations or call aheads... what's up with that?) So anyway, 70 minutes later we were STILL waiting for our table, luckily they brought out some free appetizers for the 400 people standing in the waiting area, but still 70 MINUTES! When we finally did sit down the service was fast and the food rocked! You gotta love bottomless salad and bread sticks. Mostly it was fun to get together with friends and stuff my face. We've been doing our dinner group for a couple years now, and 5 of us have had babies since we started. It's pretty fun to watch each other get bigger and bigger, have our babies, and then get smaller and smaller. With all these Mormon women someone is always pregnant. It's nice to get together with friends who are in the same situation as us. But maybe next time we'll pick a restaurant that takes reservations.

photo tag

This is a tag about favorites to be answered only with pictures.

Color:

Holiday:Animal: Food:
Vacation Spot:

Worst Habit: you're right Cia, it is the Grandma Dot in us.
Job: Dessert/Treat:
Hobby:

Me:
I tag: Maran (sorry), Stace, Lauren, Rachel, Tracy, and Tashi.