Life is full of fun!

This past couple of weeks have been crazy but fun. We have been winding down school and baseball.

Last week I sold concessions at Andrew's end-of-the-year dance. Andrew and his friend Jack ate and ate pizza! This is the only picture I could get of them at the dance because it wasn't cool to take pictures where the dance was happening. I've gotta keep my "coolness."

This weekend we got soaked from rain but had a great time watching Christopher's team go undefeated and win a Super Series Championship! Go Heat!!!

How many dads does it take to coach a pitching machine team? These dads are all great and put a lot of time and energy in for these boys.

Now this makes me laugh!!!! Christopher can be so much fun. He loves this costume. He has his 3rd grade End-of-Year Party today. The theme is 1960s. "Peace Out Dude!" is what I heard all night and all morning.

Kevin's fun will begin tonight. He is a kitten in his school program tonight and will have his end-of-year party tomorrow complete with waterslides and snow cones!

We are In The Zone with fun in the Robinson house!!! Here we come SUMMER! :-)

Rain Rain Go Away!!!!

Rain Rain Go Away!!!! Our baseball schedule has been so crazy with all the rainouts this season. April showers bring May flowers. What do May storms bring?

Christopher has a baseball tournament this weekend. We played one game (won 15 - 3)and then it poured. They got the field fixed and we watched a game that was an hour late from the rain delay. Then it was our turn to play again and it stormed. We all hid in the bathrooms for awhile and then made a mad dash to our car. We were SOAKED! So now we get to play our makeup game at 8am tomorrow. Then we will play our other games. CRAZY!!!!!

While we waited for the game before us to finish, I found our boys all together watching the other game - 8 & 9 year olds all sitting without an adult telling them to. Great bunch of boys and fun to be with. Here is a picture I quickly snapped with my phone to document the moment - I have never seen the whole team sitting still before :-)

This team is IN THE ZONE!

Christopher and a Snake!

I just had to post this picture. Christopher is at a friend's birthday party at a pet store. I have to laugh because I had a friend growing up that had snakes like this in her house. We would play with them all the time. My parents couldn't believe I would let a snake wrap around me. Now as an adult I wouldn't let a snake crawl on me for anything! Now here my son is loving the snake just as I did at that age.

Christopher at Jack Rogers' birthday party - We will miss you and your family when you move :(
Glad we have Facebook to keep up with you all!


Here is a group of boys that are fun to be around. These were Jack's guest at his party.

Meaningful Monday - That Stuff On Our Plate

That Stuff On Our Plate

by Julia Bettencourt

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen,

I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Have you ever uttered that phrase, "I've got too much stuff on my plate!"? What we mean is that our lives have become too busy. Isn't it funny that we teach our children not to take too much food other than what they will eat and not put too much "stuff" on their plates. Yet, here many of us are as adults with way too much stuff on our own plates. We've allowed ourselves to be involved with so many things that it has the potential to hinder our well-being.

Personally, I enjoy being busy. I can't stand laziness but sometimes we can become so busy that life seems to consume us. I don't think Christ intended us to live that way. When we do get in that busy, busy mode of running, running, and running, we tend to let those nutritional things that should be on our plate slide off the side, like our prayer and bible study. Sometimes if we do keep those things on our plate, we tend to treat them like salt and pepper and only flavor our lives with them and not really have a full course meal of the things that can give us protein and help us survive.

Sometimes our family time slides off the side of our plate like runny gravy. It just starts dripping off and we barely even notice how far away from those around us we've become. When we're in that busy mode we tend to push aside those things that should be important. We don't mean too. We just start playing with our fork and it just happens.

I think it is a challenge to make ourselves have a balanced plate as a Christian, but I do think it is something we should strive for. It may be we need to just write out our schedule and see what we're actually spending time on. It may be we need to choose what are priorities and what are not. I'm sure for everybody there's a different way to go about it but the need to keep Christ at the center of our lives is the key.

There are some things that I like to check up on once in awhile just to be sure I'm on track.

Relationships - How is my relationship with my husband, children, friends, and especially with the Lord?
Time - Where am I spending my time?
Activities - What all am I involved in? Is there too much?
Priorities - What are my priorities?

Do I keep the important things where they should be? Don't you just love that "Be still" part of Psalm 46:10? Wow! That requires slowing down, doesn't it? Look at the benefits. "Be still and know that I am God". Taking a much-needed break to reflect on God and His greatness, His love, His power will help us know Him. Even in the midst of all that is going on around us we need to take that time to spend time with the Lord.

So, what's on your plate?

What's on Pam's Plate: As school nears the end and summer time begins, life brings on many schedules: school schedules, sports schedules, cleaning house schedules (pretty random in my house though), church activity schedules and work schedules. The list could continue but that seems to be a pretty full plate already. I liked this devotional because it is a busy time of year in our house. We have had two spring birthdays in our house, Easter, lots of baseball games and lots of school work and activities. It really made me think when I read this. Do I salt and pepper my life with God's word? I teach Sunday School, attend church and I pray all the time - everywhere. But how much do I pick up my bible and read God's word. Daniel and I decided to read the bible in a year. How is that working for us you ask? We are a little off schedule but trying to catch up - just kind of been playing with the food on this plate. Love this devotional because it is a reminder of what my plate should be filled with and what we should salt and pepper it with. As I posted earlier, our family had to make a tough decision on leaving year-round competitive swimming. A full plate for our family weighed in on this decision. Our family time was interrupted and the boys were exhausted from their school and sports schedules. After making this decision we have been able to have dinner together more often, have family game nights and do "boys time" devotionals at night, along with having "playtime" with their friends. Sometimes unscheduled fun is hard to fit in the boys lives but it has been available lately with the lightened schedule. I am sure we will have to evaluate our schedules again and again as they change. But I pray that my family can be still and know God! but also be active in the activities they love - A Balanced and Nutritional Plate :-)

Today's Prayer: I pray that we may be still and listen for You. We can not hear You until we stop and listen. I pray that we look at our plates and see what our main course is and are they balanced and nutritional. I pray that we look at our plates and find ways to make them balanced and nutritional. As we are reminded, sometimes our family time slides off the side of our plate. I pray that families begin spending quality time together and with You. Trying to juggle the children, housework, schoolwork, our jobs, friends and family is difficult. We sometimes get lost in the hustle and bustle of it all. Please let us find You in our busy lives. As school comes to an end, we have many activities that will consume our plates. Lord, I pray for each one of us that You give us strength and wisdom to conquer each activity and project. I pray that we praise You for the glory of all that is accomplished. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Fun Weekend of Familly Fun and Baseball :-)

This weekend consisted of traveling to Texas for baseball games. Andrew's travel team played two games in Pittsburg, TX on Saturday and two games in Longview, TX on Sunday. We won 3 out of 4 games. We have so much family fun traveling and fun with friends at these games. Here are a few pictures of our fun weekend. I took these pictures with my phone so I could post them to Facebook while we were traveling.

The Robinson boys being goofy. We stopped to get gas and I looked back and Christopher was sporting the batting helmet and Kevin had on Daniel's hat. This is when I love having a camera on my phone :) I love these three boys!!!! They make my life a whole lot of fun.
After the last game today, we all went to eat Mexican food. Well, I survived the Taco Bell lunch stop and Whataburger "between games stop." I didn't eat Taco Bell and I had a salad at Whataburger. It really wasn't too difficult to bypass the fast food from these places. But oh my, the Mexican Restaurant Stop did me in. OK I have to confess I had flour tortillas that were on the table with the chips. So I am starting over with my 35 days of cellular detox :( I started this healthy journey on Friday and started traveling back and forth to Texas on Saturday and Sunday. So I started the healthy eating with some big temptations to overcome at the beginning. Come Monday, I will be home and it will be a little easier to be healthy. I did great until the Mexican food was in front of me. Never thought it would be easy so I am not going to get down on myself and will move on to a new day with a new beginning.

Here is Andrew's 12 year old travel team eating and eating! We left our mark at this restaurant. You definitely knew a bunch of 12 year olds, a 9 yr. old, 10 yr. old and 3 yr. old were there. Lots of honey and butter left behind for clean up :( But they had a great time and so did the adults. :)

Becoming Healthy

When I was a senior in high school I found out I was allergic to penicillin and ceclor. This changed my life. I never wanted to go through an allergic reaction like that again. I am very sensitive to medicine and really do not like putting it in my body. About seven years ago, there were some stresses in my life (trying to sell a house and build a house with 2 young children was one of them) and I developed acid reflux disease. It then developed into esophagitis. I was put on several medicines that had bad side effects that outweighed the benefits. We finally found one that I could take but again I did not like the fact that I was going to be on this medicine for an extended period. I went to the health food store and began researching an alternative to the medicine. I found a natural cure for acid reflux - concentrated orange peel. I began taking the orange peel every other day with my medicine on the alternate days until all the orange peel was gone. By the end I had no more reflux and have not taken medicine since. I then became a believer in natural remedies.

Sitting at a baseball game I was complaining about my aches and pains - I have had scoliosis since high school and have also struggled with sciatica nerve problems since college. I have always just dealt with the pain and have found that walking and weight training helps. It helps to keep my muscles loose and build strong muscles to support my bones and joints. Since I had my third child my weight is still a little up and my muscles are not as strong. I have been walking and working out but I wanted to do more. After speaking with this mom I learned about a new book, Breakthrough by Suzanne Somers. Suzanne Somers beat breast cancer without chemotherapy. I have not read the book yet - the bookstores are out because it is so popular. Well my baseball mom friend gave me a synopsis of the book and I have begun my cellular detox. The cellular detox consists of eating gluten free, dairy free and sugar free for 35 days. This is not a convenient way to eat for a mom of three boys always on the go. The baseball team stopped at McDonalds yesterday while we were in Texas and I watched them eat. I really didn't have a problem watching except the fact that my husband and children were filling themselves with that junk. I had packed my "healthy food" and ate on it at the ballgames. I do miss my sugar but I know that it will get better over a few days when the cravings go away. I am attempting to do this for 35 days and then I will see about trying to continue living this way and incorporating some of it into my family's diet. I am trying not to think of eating this way forever because I will get overwhelmed. It really is not convenient to eat "healthy." However, I am hoping that it becomes a habit and that I do not want to go back. I will try to post my journey to healthy eating for a longer, healthier life!

I have also become a little lactose intolerant the older I get. I can tolerate it sometimes but other times it is not my friend. So I have been drinking soy milk. Well I found out that soy milk increases estrogen which can in turn cause cancer. This hit home because six years ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer that was caused by hormone supplements. So soy milk is out of my diet and I have replaced it with rice milk. Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well with my success with orange peel for acid reflux, I have become a believer and I want to know that what is going in my body is healthy and will not break my body down.

Suzanne Somers has a blog that gives information on healthy living.

Here is a video from Suzanne Somers you might enjoy. I am only concentrating on the cellular detox not all the supplements. There in no menopause in my life right now - thank goodness :)

Andrew's School Spring Events and Projects

Spring has been extremely busy in the Robinson house. With Andrew and Christopher's birthdays two weeks apart, lots and lots of baseball, golf, work and just life in general, we have been staying on the go. You can only imagine what my house has looked like. I have had to let go of neatness in order to enjoy my children and their activities. Letting go of a neat and clean house where I can light a candle and not be afraid something might blow into the flames is hard for me to let go of. I can't stand for my house to be messy - but it usually is and it keeps me stressed. So I have been working on this weakness of mine and enjoyed my spring full of activities. Here are a few of Andrew's events I have not yet posted.

6th Grade Renaissance Faire

All year the 6th grade has been studying about Ancient Civilization in their Social Studies class and which has also been integrated in the Science and Reading classes. This was the celebration for their studies. The costumes were also for a grade. Andrew is dressed as a Monk. They had several events they could participate in from that time period. There are not many events to attend in middle school so I was happy I could be there and that Andrew wanted me there. I have been working the concessions at his dances but I do not have any pictures to show because that would be embarrassing for mom to take pictures at the dance. I might have to sneak one in at the last dance. Be looking for that pic :)

This is a picture of Andrew as a monk. He is with his good friends that he also goes to church with: Jack Baldwin and Andrew Harp

Andrew playing tug-a-war

Middle School Golf Team

Andrew loves to play golf about as much as he loves to play baseball. I have really enjoyed watching him develop his golf game. He practiced three days a week and played in tournaments once a week. The season is over and now we are concentrating on the baseball swing.

Building a Catapult

Science Project

Andrew had a science project to complete - building a catapult that would shoot a marshmallow a certain distance. Andrew was familiar with the catapult from Cub Scouts in elementary school and built a design. However, this particular design did not shoot the marshmallow very far and there is a contest involved with this project. Back to the drawing board for Andrew. He came up with another design that made the arm stop and shoot the marshmallow farther. This was a crazy project for us. We were pushing the deadline for turning it in. The night before it was due we had several baseball games and didn't get home until 10pm. Well we needed to finish the test rounds for shooting the marshmallow so after we got home we were outside in the dark shooting marshmallows. Kevin had the best time retrieving and eating :-) Nothing like trying to be quiet outside around 10:30pm shooting marshmallows in your front yard. We actually had a great time as a family shooting, measuring the distance and eating marshmallows in the dark of night! I wish I had a picture of the night time event but I wasn't thinking pictures at that moment.

We have been busy with Andrew this spring but it has also been a joy to be a part of it all! The big change in Andrew's springtime schedule is no swim practices or meets. We (Andrew, Daniel and me) had to make a tough decision this spring. With his golf and baseball schedules (not to mention piano lessons once a week and church on Wednesday) we had to make a choice on after school activities. Andrew had already made his 12 year old state time as an 11 year old so that was hard to give up. However, his swim practices were from 7 - 8:30pm (plus travel time there and back) four to five days a week. This was taking a toll on him and us as a family. We were not able to eat dinner together, spend time together as a family at night, pushing deadlines for homework assignments and bed after 9pm each night. Andrew has been swimming for years and his level of competition required more time than his scheduled allowed. So the hard decision was made after the Louisiana State Swim Meet. We have been able to spend time together and he has had time to play with neighborhood friends. This spring has been IN THE ZONE for Andrew!

3rd Grade Manners Lunch

Today, I went with Christopher to eat with his 3rd grade class. They had a Manners Lunch at the Petroleum Club downtown. They have been studying manners in class and this was their chance to show what they have learned. They did great and knew what each utinsel was used for, no elbows on the table, napkin in your lap and what the sorbet was for. I think us parents needed a refresher course :) We had a great time and it was fun to see the children dressed in their best and really trying to behave. We started out with the salad and then the sorbet to clean our pallet before our main course. It took a little longer than expected for the main course to be served but the children continued to remember their manners. . . I was a little worried that we might not survive a meal without colors and paper but we held up fine.

This was an IN THE ZONE lunch with Christopher and his 3rd grade classmates :-) Christopher and Bronson using their manners while waiting for the main course.

Yummy food!
Christopher and Mrs. Hobson getting ready to leave . . . Hunter found a great photo opportunity and joined in the picture! We love our 3rd grade friends :-)

Field Day

On May 1st Christopher had his third grade field day. Christopher loves this day :) They won 3 blue ribbons (1st), 2 red ribbons (2nd) and 1 white ribbon (3rd). There was lots of cheering and wiping sweat off our faces. It was a very hot and humid day! But usually we have rain drizzling on us so I will not complain about hot and humid. To begin the field day festivities the Cub Scouts lead the school in the flag ceremony.

Christopher carried the Cub Scout flag and Daniel conducted the ceremony and lead the pledge for the school. Not many have seen Daniel in his Cub Scout shirt so I had to post this picture. Check out CubMaster Daniel :)

Christopher Robinson, Bronson Brown and Christopher Ferrier leading the flag ceremony. Go Cub Scouts!

The sprinkler race was Christopher's favorite. Thank goodness it was the last one because he was soaked. . . but cooled off :) He is In The Zone with coolness while I was Zoned Out with sweat running down my face.

Christopher and Hank having a little field day fun!

Christopher's 9th Birthday Party

Christopher's 9th Birthday Party was today and we are all tired and sunburned . . . and now we have the summer fever:) We had a blast at Christopher's party - good friends, cake, snow cones, popcorn, sunshine, outdoors, games and waterslides! We are blessed with great friends to help us celebrate his birthday! Thanks to all :)



Here is a video of Christopher's 9th Birthday Party.

Andrew's Birthday Party

On April 26, 2009, Andrew had his 12th birthday party at OFF Limits Paintball. He had a great time with his friends. They spent hours in the woods and in the fields shooting at each other.

They split into two teams of five. You have the red team and yellow team. Andrew was on the red team. However, the yellow team seemed to have a better strategy and captured the flag a lot more.

This is a picture showing what a paintball can do to your skin. Andrew counted about nine shots that showed up on his body the next day.

It was a special birthday party that Andrew will always remember. I will always remember this birthday too - can't believe he is 12 and about to finish his first year in middle school. He has a great group of Christian friends that he has a great time with. He goes to church and school with many of his close friends. I am having fun watching Andrew grow up! He's a good kid - I am proud of him :)

Baseball Tournaments - 2 Teams, 2 Tournaments, 2 Ball Parks, 2 Championships

My external hard drive crashed last weekend and I just got the data off of it today. So I am about to be able to catch up on blogging! :-)

Last weekend was crazy!!! We had lots of baseball. Andrew and Christopher's travel baseball teams had tournaments in town. However, they were at two different ball parks. Thank goodness for grandparents. We took turns watching the boys. They both played at 12pm and 3pm on Sat. On Sunday, they both played a game and then their championship game. Yeh! Two Championships!!! Andrew missed his championship game because we had planned his 12 year old birthday party before the tournaments were planned. Here are a few pictures from Christopher's game that one of the moms shared with me. Thanks Lara! I had to miss Christopher's championship game because I was at Andrew's birthday party. I DO NOT like missing games but when I have to I know I have lots of great baseball moms yelling for my boys. We spend a lot of time together and become a family. Here are a few of the great moms that watched over my Christopher when I couldn't be there.

The boys are lined up and receiving their championship awards. Go HEAT!

Daniel is not in the championship picture because he was at Andrew's party too! Christopher was a trooper (wasn't happy that he had to miss Andrew's party) and stayed to help his team to victory! :)