Creating and Building Fun!

One of the homeschoolers in our area announced a week or so ago that Lowes facilitates a program for kids every other Saturday. The children build exciting and fun creations that they have prepacked and also have directions to follow. They provide all the necessary tools and support help needed to complete the project.

So guess where we proceeded to this morning! Yes, you guessed it, Lowes! We arrived right on time and journeyed our way through the store before we found the area they had set up for us to build our designs. Sarah, Zech, and Isabella were handed aprons, goggles, hammers, and a prepackaged bundle of our project. They set about to work and all of them were fairly stubborn when it came time for help. So I stepped back and allowed them to work on their projects. They made Tabletop Tetherballs. Very cute and very inventive and they finished the instructions and stood back to observe their design. They DID it! All by themselves and that created a proud moment for them. All of them remarked on how they had fun with their creation and build toy! We will repeat this opportunity again!

What's up?

I know most of you are asking, "What is up with the Roberson Family?" Okay, not really, but your checking the blog anyway to see anything new. This week and next week are actually down weeks for us. I am still in the planning mode of school. Looking through each subject thoroughly and seeing what plans I need to make for books to be checked out, for copies to be made, or for any unusual school supplies to purchase (science does require some unusual supplies). I'm also gearing up for the first week and what we will start to accomplish. I start early in August almost always so that we can get a jump on things before the rush of all the extracurricular activities start and also so we can begin slowly!

Although I'm still planning, I've still gotten a chance to spend time playing with the kids, cooking yummy breakfasts (I baked homemade bisquits this morning), read a book and started on another one (its the new sisterchick's book, "Ooh, la, la!"), and more things that are relaxing. I had a friend of mine join me yesterday for some yummy ice cream sundae's! Both our mothers went to be with Jesus within a month of each other and we encourage one another along this new journey God has us on. The kids are waking up late still and generally enjoying their day kicking back, playing video games, legos (they are creating something BIG!), and board games. The kids had and are having some activities like birthday parties, swim parties, movie parties, and sleep overs! They are all catching up on some missed reading this summer and other crafts and such we just haven't gotten to.

So with all that being said, we are just hanging out and enjoying one another as a family. Mike is still in the thrawls of his disertation and has learned lately that he is farther along than he thought he was and was encouraged by that fact. He is still working hard shepherding God's people at our church. God is working in our lives too and continues to show us wonderful answers to our prayers and reminding us to yield more and more to Him in the process. I read in my bible study last week and I'll leave you with this scripture to meditate on. "He must increase, and I must decrease." John 3:30

Contentment

We all struggle with this word, Contentment! And yet the bible in Phil 4:11 tells us that Paul had learned to be content in whatever state he was in. He was shipwrecked, beaten almost to death (many times), imprisoned, hungry, rejected, snakebitten, and so much more. Yet he was able to say, "I'm content." Amazing! My children and I had a bible discussion yesterday on this word. You see after many days of being at Grandma's (thank you Grandma!) and Aunts and Uncles (thanks to you too!) my kids come home to a house without a Wii, Xbox, pool, and cousins and many of the things that kept them occupied for the last several weeks. And the saying that is going on around the house is, "I'm bored!" "I miss my cousins." "I miss Grandma." and so on. I understand this and can sympathize with them. It is hard to go from vacation mode to being at home and having to clean our rooms or not getting special treatment or not being entertained but having to use their own God given imaginations! However it is necessary and so we discussed how to be content and what should we be content with.

Even as an adults we struggle with being content. Contentment in our everyday lives, in our salaries, in our gifts we've been given, and yes even in our walk with God. We struggle with never seemingly having enough. I never seem to have the right outfit or my hair doesn't look right that day. I always seem to find new recipes because I'm tired of the old. And so on and so on and so on. I should be content with all that God has given me but I don't seem to be. When I'm hungry I complain, when I'm feeling fat I still complain. I've never been imprisoned, beaten (although my brother hit me plenty as I was growing up), shipwrecked, or a lot of things Paul went through. However maybe that's the key. You see he said he LEARNED how to be content. That means that there were times in his life when he wasn't. At this point in my life I feel it to be a lifelong lesson that I'll keep learning.

One place I hope I never have contentment and that is my walk with the Lord. I hope I always want more. More knowledge, more wisdom, and more time spending talking with Him, walking with Him, and enduring with Him! I want to always want more of Him. In John's gospel, chapter 3, John the Baptist clearly defines this by saying, "He must increase and I must decrease!"

So my lesson on contentment, did it work you ask? Yes and No. It is a learning process and we are all in my household learning to be content in whatever state we are in. (Yes that even means if we live in a different area of the state of Texas than our family.) Is it a hard lesson? One of the hardest, but as He increases in my life, contentment is one of the best lessons to be learned!

The Noise is Back!

and yes, it sounds good! Thursday night around 5:40 or so in the evening my stepfather with all three kids in tow pulled into our driveway! Nine days away from my kids truly made me appreciate them so much more. I hugged and kissed all three of them until they were saying, "Okay mom, you can let me go now." We unpacked quickly and heard many tales of garage sale shopping and saw their treasures, and the stories of playing with the cousins, grandma, and Papa taking the door off its hinges because he locked himself out of the house. We talked with them and hugged them some more.

Since Thursday we've played, talked, tickled, wrestled, giggled, hugged, and kissed them all three. Papa was here yesterday and took them to the movies last night while Mike and I had a church dinner to attend and a hospital visit to make. He left this morning to go and do some fishing with my Uncle Johnny. He was grinning from ear to ear because he not only got to play and have some time with his grandkids but he was going fishing which he loves to do.

This morning as I was having my quiet time I heard all kinds of noises. Grunts, giggles, warnings, thuds, yelling, laughing, and more were heard down the hall from two of my children. I didn't mind a bit. Usually I like to have a "quiet time", however I just thanked my God for giving me these three amazing children. Yes, sometime today I'm sure someone will get in trouble, and sometime tomorrow I'll probably fuss at one of them, and sometime next week I'll wonder were they ever gone for nine days, but for now I'm enjoying them back and enjoying the noise that comes along with these three children God has allowed me to raise, nurture, and bring up in His training!

Plans, Plans, and more Plans!

Most of you who know me know that I'm a big planner. I plan lots of things. I plan chores for my kids and zone areas for them to work on. I plan two weeks ahead of time for menu's and do my grocery shopping with my planned layout of Walmart for every ailse. I plan everything in my little black book that keeps getting fatter and harder to stuff all my planning into.

That being said, guess what I've been doing since I have no kids! Yes, you guessed it, planning! What you ask am I planning? What am I organizing? I'm planning my 2008/2009 school year! I know all of you are excited now! I got it all down on paper and then I typed it up (still a little incomplete but getting there) and now I'm hopefully going to finish it today! I was amazed at all what I want to do with the kids this year. The subjects are Math, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary, History, Science, Writing, Latin, Typing, Geography, Bible, and Reading! This is just their core subjects. We are also adventuring into or starting again the Robotics Team, Volleyball, flag football, Basketball, Enrichment, Piano, and PE! The planning of each subject takes time as to what you are doing in each one. Some I use curriculum for (these are easy to plan because they usually have it laid out for you already) and some just come from ideas from other moms or other websites (this is a little more difficult but fun!).

I love planning and getting it all on paper so that I can step back and look at all the thoughts that whirl around in my head all year! My children and their education are so important to me and I really enjoy planning it all. However where I struggle the most is getting it all done and keeping the "fun" in school. Mike looked it over yesterday and then looked at me and said, "Wow, this is a really busy year!" I wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Most importantly though, that while I'm planning I'm asking the Lord to truly direct His paths in our lives. I can plan everything, but unless they are His plans, they are truly useless. The Lord helps me to organize, plan, and to accomplish His tasks before us! He will lead and hopefully we will follow! So for the 2008/2009 school year, I have a plan and hopefully, at the end it will be finished!

New definition of QUIET!

Many of you know by now that it has been 5 days back from vacation with no children. Technically you could say I'm still on vacation. Mike went to work on that Thursday and I was in the house all alone. I amazed myself thinking I need to turn on the television or something because it was so quiet. Although I didn't, I turned to my computer and got a lot of planning done for next years school year. My goal is to have my plans in writing, my calendar set, and my first month of plans typed out. I'm also trying to purchase most of our homeschooling books for the 2008/2009 school year. We always try and start out the first week in August with a couple of subjects and adding a few each week until we are on full swing with school by the first week in September.

I am getting quite a bit of accomplishments done without the kids here, it is just quiet beyond all my comprehension around here. Now anyone who knows me knows I like quiet. We've gone to a new definition of quiet. Quiet is good when you've had your fill of noise (people, TV, kids, etc) and you just sit back and enjoy it. However, I've had 5 days of quiet. Even though Mike has been here, we both don't make enough noise to replace the absolutely resonating sound we get when our kids are here. Nobody giggling, crying, screaming, talking, laughing, asking questions, or anything. Just me typing on my keyboard and with my hearing as bad as it is, I can't even hear that. I'm ready for the noise again, for the voices behind the noise, and for the beautiful faces of my children. It takes them being gone for a while for me to realize how deeply I love them and desire them to be around all the time.

My new definition of quiet is that I like it in episodes but not in a series! I like little doses and not the whole kit and kaboodle! But I'm going to enjoy the next three days and try and listen to the still small voice of the Lord and try and remember all this quiet when there comes a very noisy day and all I want is quiet around me!

More Space Center Houston Pics

Space Center Houston

One of the sight seeing activities that we explored during our recent vacation was Space Center Houston! I lived in the Houston area for more than half my life and I never was able to go and visit this attraction. My children had also asked many times to go and see this place, so we finally did. Grandma, Mike, and I bravely tackled six children down to the south Houston area and arrived at our destination without anyone saying, "Houston, we have a problem." Two of the the cousins were not able to go with us because of camps they were attending.

We were amazed at all the activities that were available. I didn't think though that all the activities were necesarily space oriented. They loved the middle section which was all kinds of ropes courses, trapeze swings, bungee jumping, etc. This is the section they wanted to spend most of their time on and so did all the other kids who attended this day and the lines were way long. The first stop was a playstation but the three older ones were too tall for this feature and I broke off with them to go behind it and explore. Amazingly so, they were the three that were able to get their picture shot with the Storm Trooper (they had a Star Wars exhibit there) as they were at the right place at the right time. We made it all the way through the exploration and over to the middle area and that is where we exited to go eat lunch. After lunch we took a tram that took us over to Johnson Space Center. We listened to a prerecorded explanation of the buildings and different space accomplishments and such as we rode the tram. Our group was able to sit in on Mission Control as they were in a "mock" setting of the shuttle to go off and training the men and women who are in there. It was humbling to see these men and women who truly have dedicated their lives to make space travel happen.

The coolest sight by far was the Saturn V rocket. They have it displayed in a building easily two football fields in length and I can't describe how high, but other than walking space for us, the rocket took up almost all the area in that building. The pictures don't do it justice. It's huge!!! We took in a couple of more sights to see, raided the souveneir shop and started home through Houston traffic at 4:30 pm. Yes, we made it home in a little over an hour and we were amazed, tired, worn out, and yet we had a memory now of space travel and the men and women who attempt to make it all happen.

Cousin Pics

Playing with Lincoln Logs to playing board games to playing Xbox and computer games. They played piano, guitar, singing lessons, animals, with each other and without each other, jumped on the trampoline, and so much more.

Back from vacation but still on vacation!

I know you are all scratching your heads about now to the title! Mike and I made it home from vacation yesterday! We both agreed that we had a great, relaxing, and refreshing time. Something that doesn't always happen when we go see family. There is nothing wrong with our families (well from a reasonable view of us), but sometimes there are too many of them to visit and squeezing all that family into one week can leave you exhausted and ready to come home and relax here. But that was not the case this last week.

The cousins: There are 8 cousins on the Roberson side of the family and they absolutely love playing with each other. It started out with them spending the night at Uncle Dennis's, then Uncle Evan's, one night at each others homes (saturday and they needed their rest for church on Sunday) and then they stayed the night at Grandma's. They went swimming about five different times during those four days and one of those swim times was four hours long. They played hard, giggled, did skits for us, danced, laughed, chased each other, dunked each other, taunted the adults, played board games, piano recitals, guitar lessons, and so much more. After a little while though they start to act like siblings and the tempers flare and they fight just a little. Mostly though they get along marvelously! They are loud and when they are quiet you need to go find them to see what they are up to!

The brothers: Evan, Mike, and Dennis are brothers. I've heard many stories about the growing up years, but these guys truly care for one another and are thankful for one another. They still think each of them is big enough to take the other one and sometimes during these get togethers they try. They tease and poke at each other, but the conversations this time around was more about the topic of "Wow, we are sure feeling old about now." They discuss all things and truly love each other and help each other.

The families: I have my stepfather and my brother with his wife in the area. I also have my father and my stepmother in the area (they were away on vacation). I also have a cousin and her husband and three children. Mike has his parents and both brothers in the area. I was able to see all of my family and Mike's family on this trip with the exception of my father and stepmother who are taking a very long vacation but they are sure having fun! Lots and Lots of family.

The vacation: We had a great time, slept in late, ate to our fill, and laughed and (I even cried some when someone asked me about my mom), played games, and of course the big event, blessed by seeing the nephews baptized!

However the vacation isn't entirely over just yet. You see we were able to leave our three precious children with Grandma for a few more days. They love to spend time with their cousins and usually never get to for an extended period of time. So off we left yesterday with no children in tow. I have to say I thought I would enjoy it more, but I already miss them (I know weird huh?). Don't get me wrong, I'll get tons done without them underfoot, but I love them dearly and it is really quiet in this house. I've got mountains of things to do and on that note, I'm off to do them. So I'll try to enjoy my quiet house and getting stuff accomplished around here. I know the children are truly enjoying their time with their cousins and grandparents. I'll post more pictures when I can. The one posted is of the Roberson clan after going out to eat Sunday afternoon! (Evan, Mike's older brother, isn't in the picture).

Vacation! Yahoo!

We are headed out tomorrow to go on vacation to see family. It doesn't always feel like vacation when we do this because there is so much family to see in a general area. We've been there many times before and it is where we both grew up. This time though I made it a point to at least go and see a few things while we are there! It is a vacation in the fact that I'm not constantly cleaning up my house, cooking dinners, and doing laundry. But I do clean up, cook some, and laundry has to be done somewhere in that (a mothers job never stops even on vacation!). We are looking forward to the two pools that were installed by Mike's younger brother and my older brother. The view of these two uncles from my kids perspective have heightened due to the fact they each have a pool now. We are looking forward to seeing family that we haven't seen in a while also. The cousins will be reunited and scream and hug and play and generally have a great time. There will be sleep overs, pizza, golf, swimming, and most importantly grandparents. Grandma Roberson's house will be a frenzy of activity.

Not our only reason, but most importantly, Mike will also have the opportunity to baptize his two nephews who recently accepted Christ into their heart. They both wanted Uncle Mike to do this. He was so honored that they asked him and very excited to be able to baptize them both.

The only thing I'm not excited about is the absence of a very important person who won't be there this time. My mom! I've been back once after the funeral but it was a week after her death and it was all too new. Now that time has passed I realize that this trip back is different. Different because she and I used to have such a good time together at the malls, the outlets, the resteraunts and having fun with her grandchildren. Different because going back to her house she won't be there. I miss her so very much! However, beyond a shadow of a doubt, she is where the Lord Jesus wants her to be and that is with Him! It is much better place than where we are all still! I don't wish her back but her memory invades my thoughts as I travel back to my home and I know it will get easier but it is still so hard some days. Please pray for me this next week.

I hope all of you will have a great 4th of July celebrating our nations freedom! I'll post some but not everyday! Love you all!