Don't Carpe Diem

I read this on Facebook the other day and found it again and thought I would share it here.  I love it!

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/

Lucy's Sunday Bag Book

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Shutterfly offers exclusive photobook layouts so you can make your book just the way you want.

I made this cute book from Shutterfly.com to put in Lucy's church bag.  Her birthday is coming up and this will be a fun little birthday gift from her Mommy & Daddy that she can cherish for years to come. :)

Plus they had a coupon for today.

Hey- just being honest!

Happy February!

Stationery card

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2012 Goals and 2011 Review

Good morning folks!
I've got so much to do today and a will to do it all, but I'm not sure if I have enough time in the day!  I want to get my Christmas decorations put away, set my goals, organize for the upcoming year, clean along the way, do laundry, and clean up my office.  Lucy is asleep at the moment, so I'm going to be productive.

Last night for FHE we went over goals and such for the new year and this is what everyone said.  I would encourage you to do this too.  Here is the link: http://thirtyhandmadedays.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/new-years-kids-printable1.jpg

(We filled out Lucy's as a family)
A Little About Me
Name: Lucy
Age: Almost 2
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: yogurt
Favorite Activity: playing outside
Favorite Book: Blues Clues


Highlights from 2011
Greatest lesson learned: No biting!
Hardest thing of the year: Sitting still in sacrament meeting
Favorite memory: going to the Mayborn Museum in Waco
What I loved most about 2011: More time with family, learning lots of things


Looking forward to 2012
Want to learn: to talk!
Want to get better at: not making a mess
Biggest goal: sitting still


A Little About Me
Name: Sydnee
Age: 5
Favorite Color: yellow
Favorite Food: cake
Favorite Activity: playing games
Favorite Book: Mermaid Dora


Highlights from 2011
Greatest lesson learned: (no answer)
Hardest thing of the year: Learning to write
Favorite memory: Dewberry Farms
What I loved most about 2011: Playing outside


Looking forward to 2012
Want to learn: to ride my bike
Want to get better at: Mario Cart
Biggest goal: To be with my family forever (awww)


A Little About Me
Name: Ava
Age: 6
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Food: mash potatoes (spelled: mash patto)
Favorite Activity: Legos Star Wards Wii
Favorite Book: Wayside Stories


Highlights from 2011
Greatest lesson learned: (no answer)
Hardest thing of the year: Biking
Favorite memory: Having play dates with Preston & Riley (awww)
What I loved most about 2011: is being together


Looking forward to 2012
Want to learn: how to drive a car (hahaha)
Want to get better at: ice skating
Biggest goal: To be a great ice skater (who knew?)


A Little About Me
Name: Lindsey
Age: 33
Favorite Color: Midnight Blue
Favorite Food: Surf N Turf
Favorite Activity: Date night with Todd
Favorite Book: Harry Potter series


Highlights from 2011
Greatest lesson learned: Trusting in the Lord & His timing
Hardest thing of the year: Wait
Favorite memory: FHE at the Houston temple right after our move here.
What I loved most about 2011: Seeing how the Lord took care of us despite our CRAZY year!


Looking forward to 2012
Want to learn: to be a better scripture-reader
Want to get better at: finding peace in my life
Biggest goal: to make a better me & improve the lives of my family along the way.



A Little About Me
Name: Todd
Age: 34
Favorite Color: blue
Favorite Food: pizza
Favorite Activity: anything with my family
Favorite Book: Inheritance Cycle


Highlights from 2011
Greatest lesson learned: Make every moment count
Hardest thing of the year: Unemployment
Favorite memory: Lindsey's face when she won a prize from "The Claw"
What I loved most about 2011: Love and support from family and friends


Looking forward to 2012
Want to learn: play guitar
Want to get better at: playing the piano and writing
Biggest goal: regular deposits in retirement and savings accounts

2012- We're ready!  Let's go!

Our 2011 Christmas Letter or the World's Longest blog post

Have you ever played that game "I Have Never..."?  Basically someone stands in the center of a circle and says something they have never done.  I always used, "I have never broken a bone."  If you have broken a bone, it is your job to switch seats and if you are caught seat-less, you are the next to go.  It's a nice way to get to know people.  This year for our Christmas letter, we're going to play that game a bit because we experienced a LOT of things we never thought we would.  We could also dub this the year of costumes, it seems we dressed up more than usual this year.

January-
The biggest news for January was that my sister Heather moved her family to Australia to finish her Ph.D in marketing and tourism.  I never thought they would leave Texas, or Texas A&M.  It's been an adjustment having them so far away, but Skype, texting, and regular phone calls help.
I also ran an event at Ava's school promoting reading and family-time.  Of course, it was a costume event and Todd, Lucy, and I went as The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Ava & Sydnee went as a mouse and a cookie in "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie".

February- 
The biggest events for February were Ava turning 6 and Lucy turning 1.  Ava had a huge princess party and Lucy had a family-party with a Hungry Caterpillar theme.  Since we celebrate birthdays with parties with friends every other year, Ava was very excited to invite everyone she knew and their brother.  Where does she get that from?  Of course, we all dressed up again...(Todd-pirate, Lindsey-fairy God mother, Ava & Sydnee- princesses, Lucy-gnome).  The best part of her party was that she decided to have her guests donate to the Ronald McDonald house instead of bringing her gifts.  It was a wonderful experience for all of us and I have never been so proud of her.

Fun window decorations

Todd as the handsome pirate

Lucy & Ava at Lucy's caterpillar party

March- 
Todd and I began the process of building a house.  This is something Todd has never wanted to do, but since I would be doing most of the work and was willing, he said OK.  We were very grateful to the friendly people at Community Bank & Trust of Waco (specifically Ben Lacy, VP) for all of their kindness in working with us.  We chose Warren Johnson as our home builder and I began the arduous task of finding a floor-plan I liked.  Surprisingly, we did not dress up this month, weird.  I know.

April- 
This was an especially fun month as we celebrated Todd's birthday and welcomed a new nephew into the family.  For Todd's birthday I decided it would be fun to invite friends over for a Murder Mystery party and since this was for Todd, I wanted to pick a theme that fit his personality...so I chose a super hero theme.  It was hilariously fun and our friends were AMAZING sports.  Anticipating the costumes was half the fun.  Most of the people there probably thought they would never see Todd dressed as a super-hero rapper, and that they never wanted to see me dress with underwear outside my clothing again. Super fun memories from this night. Entire Facebook album here.

Jester, Blue Blaze, Pogo Girl

Mighty Mouse, Nerdon

Isn't he precious? This is Scott & Katie's little boy.

May- 
In May we said goodbye to Spring Valley and our beloved Mr. Forbis- Ava had "graduated" from kindergarten.  I never thought I would be so emotional during a school program.  Turns out I should have known better!

Todd and I also celebrated our 10 year anniversary and instead of going to New York like originally planned, we decided to be more practical and buy a vacuum. :)  We did do a really neat gift, though.  We allowed ourselves to spend $10,000 in pretend money, an amount we would never spend on ourselves in real life.  That post is here and here. It was a lot of fun.
Todd also dressed up as Steven Tyler for a youth activity.  Yes, he is wearing my mother's shirt, thanks for asking. :)

June- 
Sydnee turned 5.  Where did the time go?  We invited family and a few friends over for a "tea party"...which, of course, was a dress-up event!

Lovin'  the 'stache from my brother Jacob

A lovely cake by Aunt Melanie, of course

June was also a big game changer of a month.Wednesday the 8th we signed our names on the dotted line for the beginning of construction on the house and shelled out a lot of dough.  On Thursday, unexpectedly, Todd lost his job.  The rest of the month is kind of a blur.  We certainly never saw this coming.

July-
July brought the hottest summer Texas had experienced in a while.  It was also a month of tense soul-searching for Todd and me.  Todd worked very hard each and every day to find new employment.  This was a month of a lot of waiting without any resolution- all the while we continued to build a house we were almost certain we would never live in.  However, this month wasn't a complete bummer. We prepared for school to return, played with lots of friends, spent time at our local YMCA, and played lots of games.  It was a fun month for the most part, despite the stress that was also felt, but we tried to make the most of it and to never forget who was in charge.

Ava and Sydnee went on a vacation with Todd's parents to the Robinson family reunion.

Lots of interviews, and the car a/c went out too!  When it rains, it pours! 

Tons of milestones for Lucy

Trips to the Children's Museum at Baylor...where does she get these expressions?

We also had a moment of fame when we went to the final Harry Potter movie, dressed up of course.  I am not joking when I say that hundreds of people took our pictures.  My brother had built stilts to be as tall as the half-giant character, Hagrid, so naturally, we got a lot of attention.

Jacob as Hagrid, Anne as Luna Lovegood, Todd as Lucius Malfoy and me as Bellatrix Lestrange

...And just when you thought we had dressed up enough, there was Cow Appreciation day.

Pictured with our friend Jared

August- 
Despite the high temperatures, August will go down as a month of answered prayers.  Todd was hired on at Cameron International...in Houston.  Our biggest prayer was that we would be settled by the time school started, and through a TON of blessings- we were able to find a rental house, have our Waco house packed up and moved, and get registered for a new school all within 2 weeks.  Miracles, I tell you.  We have never felt so loved by the Lord.

This was also an epic month because with some extra funds from the moving package, we were able to fly my sister and her son home from Australia to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday. Heather and I didn't tell anyone we had done this, we just worked in secret and lied a lot, but the video below shows how well it went. It was a priceless & unexpected gift, which I will never forget.

September- 
September brought a lot of unpacking and going through boxes and trying to get back to "normal". We have tried to enjoy our new surroundings by visiting a lot of places Houston has to offer.  And despite the fact that Todd and I never wanted to live in Houston, we are loving it.

October-
The best part of October was Halloween, where for the first time we all went as a combined theme from Alice inWonderland, and it was awesome.  Our new friends are beginning to think we have a whole wing of our house dedicated to costumes.  I was also able to make it up to Waco to make some decisions on the house and attend the annual Witch's Ball with my sister Leah.

I also hosted my first party here in Waco.  It was a Favorite Things Party, and it was sooooo much fun.  We are grateful to have friends no matter where we live.

Todd- The Mad Hatter, Lindsey- The White Rabbit, Ava- The Queen of Hearts, Sydnee- Alice, of course, and Lucy- the Cheshire Cat

November-
This year we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Houston with Todd's family.  Scott & Katie live only 30 minutes away and that has been one of our biggest blessings of moving here.  We have never lived close to family- once we left Aggieland- and we are loving every minute of it!

December-
Brings birthdays (mine, Jacob's, my Mom's, my father-in-law's, my niece's, my brother-in-law's) and Christmas.  Sydnee and Ava both have had a wonderful school year and have really terrific teachers.  Ava is a full-blown reader and Sydnee is trying her hardest to keep up!  They are loving their new home.

We hosted our Blackhurst Christmas last Sunday and are looking forward to hosting a Kennedy Christmas on Christmas Eve and morning.  We've never hosted both families for Christmas, but we have really enjoyed all of the prep work going into the planning.  We love to host parties!

Are you still here?  Wow, I feel the love.

Through the twists and turns this year has taken, and there were plenty I left out, we have NEVER been any closer as a family.  We have NEVER been so provided for and NEVER felt the love & prayers from our friends and family as much as we have this year.  We are truly blessed.  Todd is loving his job with Cameron.  We are loving our new ward family where we are serving in Young Men (Todd is 1st counselor over the teachers) and Primary (Lindsey is Primary Chorister-yeah!!)

We are happy, never saw that coming, did you? (Of course you did!)

Our house in Waco is complete and we are awaiting some final paper work and such before our relocation company takes over that part of our worries.  It has been a journey of a year, but we are walking away stronger, hopefully a little smarter, and way WAY more grateful.

To all our friends and family- may your Christmas be wonderfully memorable as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, reflect on the lives we are living, and count each and every blessing.

All of my love,
Lindsey (and my sweet family- Todd, Ava, Sydnee, & Lucy)

To the lovers of Christmas Morning pancakes

For the last several years instead of the traditional treats on a plate, we have handed out Christmas Morning Pancakes.  I still have every intention of passing them out this year, but since I am not in Waco any longer, I thought I would share my recipe so my Waco friends can enjoy them...because we aint deliverin' there!

The recipe is super simple.You just take 1 cup krusteaz pancake mix and 1/2 cup of spice cake mix or pumpkin cake mix and 2 Tbs. of sugar. Mix it all together.  I think the best advice for serving is to add water until it is the desired consistency.  If you are giving them out as gifts, we usually add some sort of something like an oven mitt, spatula, or put it in a nice container.  

I originally got the idea from this post on splitcoaststampers.com: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/426253?perpage=48&thumbsonly=0&thumbcheck=

You can see one variation that was given to teachers last year on my blog: http://stampwithlinz.blogspot.com/2011/01/homemade-hot-chocolatein-style.html

So wherever you are- as long as you're not in the same town as we are- enjoy passing them out!  They make great gifts!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Coming to a mailbox near you soon...

Photo Card

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An October Update (from the Robinson Family Newsletter)

Howdy Family & Friends!

What a memorable summer we had this year! This past spring we began looking around for a slightly larger house to accommodate our little growing family. We looked at several homes we liked, but could not seem to find the one that felt right, so we decided to build. We (meaning Lindsey) put in many, many hours researching floor plans and designs until she decided to come up with her own, which seemed perfect for us. Some friends recommended a builder, we found a fantastic loan officer, and signed a contract making a hefty down payment. The next day, for reasons still not clear to us, the plant manager took Todd aside and "asked" him to collect his personal items and leave because he no longer worked for Mars.

To have paid out the bulk of our savings and then have our income cut off scared us. It was especially heart-breaking to see Ava and Sydnee crying over our situation. Although our summer plans changed, we tried hard to keep life normal for them and treated Daddy staying at home as a blessing. And with the love and support we received from you and other loved ones, our scant "rainy day fund" seemed to always have just enough to get us through each week of the three months of unemployment.

Thank you to everyone that passed on Todd's resume and networked on his behalf. Scott takes the grand prize, though, for helping Todd get a job with Cameron International as an industrial engineer. Cameron services all the oil and gas companies and has seen such a big increase in business as a result of the oil spill in the gulf, the company needs to build a new facility to handle all the work, and Todd will manage the project. He is very excited because he says every engineer dreams of building a new plant. We moved to Houston in August, where we thought we would never live, and are happy to be so close to Scott, Katie and Cash.

Todd relied heavily on his counselors until the end of September when he was released as bishop of the Waco 2nd ward. He now serves as an advisor to the teachers quorum and 1st counselor in the young men's presidency. The last time he had this calling, he only served for 3 or 4 months, so he looks forward to getting to spend more time with the youth.

Lindsey worked very hard with the Primary in Waco as their Music leader. We were disappointed to miss the Primary Program, especially during our new ward's program, but Lindsey had a chance to return to Waco for a weekend visit and got to see her kiddos' performance.

Ava (6) started first grade this year and did so well at a new school in a new city making new friends. She has discovered a love for reading and insists on reading every night to the family before going to bed (taking Daddy's job!). She also recently received a visit from the tooth fairy after pulling out a tooth herself.

Sydnee (5) began kindergarten at the same school as Ava. Like her big sister, she looked forward to making new friends. We went to a local restaurant for her grade's Spirit Night and as we walked to towards our table, children continued yelling out Sydnee's name and running over to say "hi" several times while we ate. She must be our little rock star.

Lucy (20 month) continues to be simply happy. She loves her time with Mommy. They have their daily routine which includes taking walks through the neighborhood, dancing to Backyardigans, and playing in the yard. And she sticks to that schedule. On weekends, she will grab Daddy's pants and pull him over to the backdoor and tell him to take her outside. After several months of using Baby Signs, she is starting to verbalize more. She loves to say "bah bye," "hi," "Ahya (Ava)," "Eewee (Sydnee)," "Mama," "Dada," "Gramma," "Papa (Pop Pop)," and "Happy Halloween."
We love you and look forward to reading the goings-on of everyone without a Facebook page!
Todd, Lindsey, Ava, Sydnee and Lucy