Up and Decorated!

We put up and decorated the tree as a family a few nights ago. It's always an interesting experience when you try to decorate with four small kids! But we only have one broken Christmas ornament so far and one child with a bandage on his finger! Even for all the challenges of decorating, I wouldn't trade these memories for the world. The delight on their faces, the excitement in their voices, and the enthusiasm in their expressions are all memories that I hold dear to my heart. It would be a lot easier and simpler if I decorated it myself, but I'll have time to do all that in 20 years, for now I'll just put up with the smudged ornaments, the branch that has about 10 ornaments hanging on it, and the tree that is losing it's needles all over my floor. I'm thankful for each my children and the delight they bring to my heart. I am so blessed by each one of them and love them each for their individuality.

Excitement abounds!

Travis needed lots of Mom time

All decorated...next activity....bedtime!

Robertson Tree Cutting Excursion!

We completed one of our Christmas traditions this past weekend. As a family, we took a trip to the Heritage Christmas Tree Farm, and we cut down our tree. The weather was quite nasty, with a chilly wind, rainy and overcast, but we had three very excited children who were eager to go...so off we went! My parents, and sister, Jen, came along too so it was an extended family excursion. The boys had a great time and paid no mind to the rain, but they did enjoy stomping in the puddles and getting thoroughly wet. All in all...it was a great time!

Chandler holding Travis!

Wyatt and daddy

Chandler was pulling Travis but after less than 50 yards, he declared that "Travis is too fat!"

So, Papa carried Travis!

All the tree cutters!

Aunt Jen and Wyatt on the hike back to the car



Robertson family

Thanksgiving Day Festivities!

,We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day! We spent time with family and friends, enjoyed delicious food, laughed a lot, and...we ran in a 5K!  This was my first 5K race since my college days, and I was very excited. Roger decided that he was going to do it as well, but when I asked him what we were going to do with the kids, he responded, "We will just have them come along!". Roger knew that I really wanted to run it, so he said the kids could stay with him and walk/run with him. Travis and Wyatt sat in the double stroller and by the time the race was done, Chandler was sitting on the handle bars and Garett was hanging off the back...tuckered out! We had a wonderful time. The kids did great for how long it was and it really did create a memory for all of us. We are looking forward to the next one.

Our family-before the race!

Jared and Beka Longsine...two of our friends who also came and did the race.

Tanya, Beka, and myself after the run

Running in this 5K reminded me again of how much I have to be thankful for...good health, eyes to see, ears to hear, a wonderful husband, 4 great kids, extended family and friends, and most importantly...the confidence that Jesus Christ loves me and I am His child! I am blessed beyond measure!

Our Family-after the race-still smiling!

Raising "Thankful" hearts

          I could say that my children are those children that always say, "please and thank you", have wonderful manners, and are always thankful. Truth is though....it's a work in progress! I enjoy having the kids make "Thank-you" cards for their teachers, bus drivers, and others in their lives. I made apple pies for each of Garett's teachers, and a slice of pie of the bus drivers and school doorman. The highlight of making it all, was the delight on Garett's face as he got to deliver his "thank-you" gift. The boys sat at the table this morning making cards, scribbling, and making a mess in general, but the thought of thankfulness was there!

Garett working on his "thank-you" cards

Unsure of what he is supposed to be doing, but having a great time!

         

Chandler-hard at work

I know that it is easy for us all to get caught up in the "getting" of Christmas, but it is especially easy for young, impressionable children! My desire is to teach my children that "...It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35b) It is much easier for me to tell my children to "be thankful" when they are whining or not being thankful, and while they do need correction, I have to ask myself, "Am I displaying a thankful spirit?" Not always! I have SO much to be thankful for, but I too, can get caught up in an ungrateful heart attitude. I have found that when I am feeling discouraged or down, there are undoubtedly others around me that feel that way too. That's when I try to make an effort to bake a treat, send a card, drop off a coffee, say a kind word or an encouraging smile.  When my children ask, "Why are we doing this?" I can respond honestly that the greatest blessing is in the giving! Thanksgiving is a great time of year to really hone in on teaching thankfulness, but it's truly an attitude that must be displayed on a daily basis in my life...what a challenge!

Saturday Shopping Trip...Savings!

       Today I shopped in town at the grocery store that allows for doubling coupons. This was a special day since I was able to double 10 coupons instead of the normal 5. I also only had 2 children with me, which always makes things a little easier, and they did great! No whining, or complaining about the wait, just pleasantly playing with each other. I did have to tell Chandler to please be careful with Travis' head as God only gave Travis one! Here's a picture of of grocery shopping excursion:

Grocery shopping on 11/19/11

We bought:
4 boxes of Wheat Thins
4 boxes assorted Keebler Crackers
2 boxes pop crisps
10 cans of assorted Campbell's soup
5 pkg. (8 oz. each) of cheese
2 Sara Lee coffee cakes
2 International Delight Coffee creamer
2 bottles of Welch's sparkling grape juice
4 pkg. of Luden's cough drops
2 containers of Minute Maid Orange Juice
4 cans of Swanson chicken broth
2 pkgs of Capri Sun lemonade
1 Huvula French Onion Dip
1 box cake mix
1 container of frosting
1 Mott's apple juice
1 Cranberry naturals juice
1 pkg Ore Ida Hashbrowns
1 pkg Baker's Chocolate
and
we have one free coupon for milk
Total Spent: $18.23!!!
and total saved: $124. 56

I had a great time today spending time with my little ones and saving money. All praise to God! 

Laughter...and why I need lots of it!

Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..."

      Anyone who lives with little ones or has spent any time around them, quickly realizes that children are easily entertained...not always with good things, but they do entertain themselves! In my experiences with my children, I have found that a light hearted spirit goes a long ways in helping the attitude and spirit of my heart and my home.
      It's not always easy to be pleasant when your child wets the bed for the 3rd night in a row, or a child decided it would be a good idea to dump the baking soda unto the floor to drive tractors through, or finding the tube of toothpaste squeezed out in a puddle on the floor, or trying to get something done in the house around pretend forts and boats and lots of other paraphernalia! But, when I realize that these moments will only last a short time, it is a lot easier to deal with the situations with grace and patience. Do I? Not nearly as often as I should or would like to. Often my response is short on grace and long on impatience! I realize that I am a work in progress just like my children, but they are looking to mom and dad to help them grow-that is a HUGE responsibility!
     One thing that I've really tried to work on in recent days and months, is to learn to laugh easily. I love to laugh, and I've found that when I can laugh at myself and with my children, our time is much more pleasant.  Often something I find annoying or just plain dumb, my children think is hilarious. It would be easy for me to become impatient or short with them, but I'm working on taking a few moments to ask myself....Is this hurting someone or something? Is it affecting their manners or character negatively? If the answer to those two questions is no...then I'm learning to either ignore it or join in laughing with them. The second response is always greeted with enthusiasm from children!
    I've included a few stories from our children that have brought us moments of laughter and fun memories. I hope they bring a smile to your face as well. And today, remember to laugh!

The bakers

Almost walking!

November 10th, 2011
I told the children that we needed to put gas in the car. Chandler asked "Why?". "Well, if we don't put gas in the car than it will not go," I replied. That seemed to answer his question. Then on the way to take Garett to school, the speed limit goes from 55 mph to 35mph to 25 mph. As I entered the 35mph zone and slowed down, Chandler looked a little puzzled. Then when we slowed down some more, Chandler shouted, "MOM! We have to put gas in the car!", "Why?" I asked.  Chandler replied, "Because it's starting to slow down and it's going to stop if we don't find a gas station!".  Apparently, in his mind, the car was slowing down because we were running out of gas!


May 26, 2011
So...I was planting the garden with Garett and Chandler's "help" this morning. We planted the broccoli and were getting ready to plant the beans. The veggies were in flats in the front of the garage and I told Chandler it was time to plant the beans. He enthusiastically replied, "I can get 'em", and tears off for the house. He comes back with the can of black beans that I had sitting on the counter for lunch. I had to explain that we weren't planting the beans in the can already! Such fun memories!

March 4, 2010
Upon hearing the sound of scissors snipping, I raced into the kitchen. Garett was sitting on the floor with scissors, cutting up a paper. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Mom, I need a coupon," was Garett's reply. "A coupon for what?", I asked. "I need a coupon for a tractor," said Garett.
I think he realizes that we use lots of coupons! The other day I told him that we couldn't buy something b/c we didn't have a coupon. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that we can't make our own! :)

December 23, 2010
Chandler made the comment today that I was a girl. I replied that I was a girl and he was a boy. He looked puzzled for a moment and then told me, "No, I not, mom...I Chandler!" :)

February 10, 2011
While out running errands, Garett happened to notice the caution: deer sign beside the road. Then he proceeded to ask me, "Mom, why is there a stop sign for the deer? :)

February 17, 2010
 Someone recently gave us some whole milk. Garett knows that milk comes from cows and he likes cows and milk. However, yesterday I also bought some milk from Piggly Wiggly. Since it is the store brand, it has a picture of a pig on the front. Last night, Roger asked Garett if he wanted some milk. Garett said yes, but he wanted the "cow milk". Roger told him that they were both cow milk-meaning the whole milk and the store kind. Garett replied, "No, that pig milk!" as he pointed to the milk from Piggly Wiggly with the pig on it. So, thus far Garett will not drink the "pig milk"! :) So funny!

Feb. 13th, 2010
This morning I put my yogurt on the table. While I left it there to get something for Garett, Chandler gathered up all the rose petals that had fallen off the roses that Roger had given me and stuffed them in my yogurt! He stirred it all up and was enjoying it immensely when I returned! Yum?

My Saturday Savings

    When we were first married, I used coupons sporadically at best, but then again, I didn't really need to coupon. And I was completely unaware of all the money I could have been saving! My mom had couponed all my growing up years, and always shopped bargains and thrift stores, but I didn't really see a whole lot of savings in my minds eye, so I just chose not to do it when we were married. HOWEVER, after having several little ones in a short amount of time, I knew we needed to do something! Through a friend, I learned the basics of couponing and started out slowly.
    Our nearest grocery store is very expensive, so I usually shop in the same town where we go to church. On Wednesdays, they offer double coupon day. The rules are pretty strict, you can only double five coupons of $1.00 or less, you have to have $25.00 worth of groceries before coupons, they don't accept any Internet by one get one free coupons, and a few others. But, every once in a while, they'll offer a double double daze in which you can double 10 coupons in one order. Those days are my favorite! This past Saturday was one such day, and my husband kept the kids in the car while I ran in to shop. (I have discovered that it pays to be VERY organized!). I did two transactions and spent about $13.00 and have a coupon for $5.00 off my next order. I realize that to many of you this may not be an interesting post, but I get excited over saving money, so I decided to share! I'd encourage anyone to at least give coupons a try. It really is amazing how much money can be saved. Contrary to popular belief, not all coupons are for junk!

My Saturday Savings
2 pkgs. Ziploc baggies
2 Windex cleaners
2 pledge cleaners
1 Scrubbing bubbles cleaner
2 pkg of children's vitamins
2 pkgs of cheese
1 pkg of cough drops
3 bottles of POM juice
1 gallon of milk
2 pkgs of batteries
1 carton of eggs
1 bottle of Bayer aspirin
2 bottles of Gold Peak tea
and
1 container of Philly cooking creme

The littlest Robertson

     Travis turned a year in August, but has yet to officially start walking-I know he's a late one! Recently, he took his first wobbly steps and I was reminded again of how quickly he's growing. He has been such a joy in recent days as he is becoming more independent but still loves mama to pick him up! He loves to make his brothers laugh and has become quite the ham at entertainment.
     I truly consider it a God-given privilege to be a mom, even though at times I can't wait until bedtime. Each of my children provides new challenges every day, and I am amazed daily at how their brains work (or in my minds eye...fail to work!) Garett was telling me the other day about how much he liked flying. He told me that he wanted to a be a pilot when he grew up. I replied, "Oh, be a missionary pilot?". To which he responded, "Yes, and tell the people about Jesus. Either that or I want to be a pirate!". How on earth do those even go together? They are like complete opposites...and I strongly encouraged him not to become a pirate!

Entertaining his brothers!

Enjoying Mom's coffee treat

    I am truly blessed and pray that my children can see Christ reflected in me. I know that they don't in every circumstance, but I desire God to work in their lives so that they can be used for His honor and glory.

Robertson Family Traditions and Ideas for the Christmas Season

      Yesterday, I went to a ladies mentorship meeting offered through our church. Affectionately known as the GO (Goodies and Oldies!) group, we get together once a month and eat, play games or do a craft project and then have a devotional/discussion group on topics that pertain to our lives. Whether it's matters of children, marriage, struggles in our Christian walk, or anything else, we are able to get input from older women who have already walked where we've walked. I enjoy it immensely!
        Last night, we brought ideas of Christmas traditions or ideas. I didn't spend a whole lot of time on my list (as my time is limited!) but I'm posting the traditions and ideas that I came up with. I hope to follow up on my list during December and let you know what ideas we did and pictures of our events. I love the Christmas season, and truly desire to know God better and that through myself and my husband, our children would see Christ's love. I'm sure that some of the ideas will be a complete flop and some will be wonderful, but I invite you to come along on our journey through the Christmas season-AFTER we celebrate THANKSGIVING!

1) We always go get a Christmas tree as a family a few days after Thanksgiving. We go to a Christmas tree farm near Mt. Morris. They have a sledding hill, and if we have snow, we spend some time sledding, then take pictures, cut down a tree, and go home to enjoy chaos with four little kids all wanting to help decorate the tree.

2)A few days before Christmas, we put everyone in pj’s and give a snack for in the car and spend time driving around listening to Christmas carols and looking at lights.

3) We usually make Christmas treats for our neighbors and some elderly folks and spend an afternoon or morning delivering treats and spreading Christmas cheer (or chaos!)

4) I wrap and decorate a shoebox and then put a hole in the top. After the Christmas tree is up, it’s the first gift under the tree. The next few weeks the children collect coins and put them in the box as a special offering for Jesus.

5) My husband and I try to get away the week before Christmas for a lunch date just to share our joys of what we are looking forward to on Christmas and to spend time with each other. My husband knows that I love the anticipation of Christmas and every year I love all the gifts wrapped, the tree decorated, Christmas music, etc., and then when’s it all over, I feel a little down. I love ANTICIPATION!

6) One of my goals, this year is to go to the library…before December 1st and pick out Christmas stories to read to the children. One every day from December 1st to December 25th.

7) Another of my goals for this year…is to do a twist on the twelve days of Christmas song. I don’t think I’ll be able to manage 12 days in a row…but I’d like to plan 12 different days in December where we  either do an activity as a family, or we do something for someone else. (I.e. sledding as a family or bringing coffee to a friend or something like that)

8) For Christmas gifts….I collect all year long! I start right after Christmas when things start to go on sale and buy for the next Christmas. I have several totes that I keep gifts in and then around November 1st, I haul it out, see what I have, if I need to do anymore shopping and make a list! I’ve found that I can give much better gifts for the same price just by shopping all year round. I also follow moneysaving mom.com and hip2save.com for bargains.

9) For our Christmas cards, I wait until I see a sale, usually on-line and then buy them. Usually they are bought well before Thanksgiving. The cards we are giving out this year came from cardstore.com. They had a sale of 80% off plus free shipping and I was about to get $148.00 worth of cards for $21.00- shipped to me! This year it was cheaper for me to buy an actual photo card and write a short note inside each one, but last year the best deal was to write and print my own letter and then make photo prints for .04 each.

Blessings on each of your Christmas season as we prepare, anticipate and celebrate our Saviour's birth! Glory to God!

Our Christmas photo for 2010

I'm thankful for "snow"?

Not my idea of a good day to run errands with small children!

Lately, I've found myself being thankful for the everyday things in life, but I have a hard time being thankful for the "inconveniences" in life as I see them. I know that God allows everything for a purpose and that nothing catches Him by surprise, but when things don't go as smoothly as I'd like or how I think they should go, I catch myself being ungrateful!
       Wednesdays are always busy for me as we have church in the evening. The church we attend is 26 miles, one way from our house, so if I'm going into town, I try to do multiple errands. It makes for a long day with four small boys, and they are very thankful to get out of the car at church and see daddy! Usually, we go grocery shopping, Target, Walgreen's, Wal-mart, and either Fleet Farm or Menard's.
          Yesterday morning, however, when we left the house to take Garett to school it was sleeting-just plain nasty outside. As the morning wore on, it turned to snow, but it was the wet sloppy kind of snow, not the fluffy, powdery kind! I debated about whether or not to run my errands, and was trying not to gripe about the weather as my children were ecstatic that it was SNOWING! So, when Garett came home from school, I was still trying to decide. The children were begging to go outside, and I decided to let them...knowing full well that it would take them longer to get dressed than they would be outside, they would come back in soaked and cold and then want to do it all over again in an hour!
         Nevertheless, I got out all the snow stuff, found mittens, pants, and hats for everyone and set them outside. For the record, Chandler was outside all of 4 minutes before he had to come in to "go potty"! But they enjoyed playing in the slop...oh, I mean, snow.  As I watched them from the window, holding Travis, I was reminded of how good God is to each of us. I didn't want the snow as I saw it as an inconvenience, but the children were utterly delighted with playing outside, wallowing in it and enjoying every minute. After about 25 minutes, they all came in soaked, of course. Wyatt was howling as he had lost a mitten and his hand was red from the cold. I got everyone out of their outerwear and sat them at the table for lunch. Guess what each child thanked God for at lunchtime? You guessed it...the snow.

     Regardless of how I thought the snow was a nuisance to my day, God had created it and it was for His glory. And as I reflect back on the day, I can honestly say I am "thankful" for the snow.

I'm thankful for haircuts!

Before Haircuts!

Clipper time!

Travis thought the clippers were really neat!

     

The finished product on three of the four heads!

  Our boys have been in dire need of haircuts for a few weeks now, and one night after supper we decided to tackle it. As a general rule, the boys are all more than willing to get a haircut, but the attention span is short and the time with the clippers is limited, so I never really know what the boys hair will end up looking like! Roger is usually the one to clip the boys hair, as he's had lots of practice and can do it fairly
quickly. I'm thankful for a husband who is willing to cut hair, and four heads of hair at that! And, I must say...I think they all look much better.

Garett's turn!

Chandler watching closely

Wyatt wasn't bothered by the clippers at all!

He had a hard time sitting, "Mom, it's really itchy!"

I'm thankful for "plumbers"!

       Many of my friends are writing beautiful posts about what they are thankful for or how God has blessed them. I enjoy reading so many of their thoughts and descriptions of what they are thankful for in their lives. I, too, have much to be thankful for in my life, although at times, I look at the mess around me and think, "Whose house is this?"!

My sweet tornado!

         This past week, I had one of those days. I was rushed in the morning and didn't take time to read my Bible and enjoy a quiet moment before the kids woke up and the morning started off harried to say the least! Thankfully, my dad was able to take Garett to school as he would have been late for sure. I got busy dressing children, changing diapers, emptying the dishwasher, etc. I heard the toliet snap up in our bathroom, and asked, "What are you doing?". "Going potty," was the reply from Chandler. Ok, he knows how to use the potty...so, no problem. However, a few minutes later, he came through with the toliet plunger from the other bathroom.  "What are you doing?" I asked again. "Nothing," he replied. Now, I should have immediately stopped what I was doing and followed him, but I haven't learned yet, so I waited a few minutes and kept busy with my task at hand. Then, I heard water! "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"  "Mom, the toliet is plugged," Chandler told me. No kidding! He had 1/2 a roll of toliet paper stuck in the toliet and had apparently used BOTH ends of the plunger to try to "unstuck" it as he called it. While I wasn't happy about the mess, he did realize he had made a mess, and tried to help clean it up. 

         You may ask...now what's there to be thankful for in this? Well, for one, the toliet didn't overflow onto the floor. Secondly, he did try to fix his own mess. And thirdly, he told me he was sorry and helped clean it up. The third is the one I'm the most thankful for because we have been working with Chandler for some time now to not be so destructive. He is like a tornado and a hurricane rolled into one! He can make a mess faster than anyone I know, but when he told me he was sorry and that he would help clean it up....for me, that is much to be thankful for from this little 3yr old boy!

These are the moments I will remember all my days!

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2

This post is really just the writings of a mom of preschoolers. I've been struggling with feelings of being overwhelmed and just plan discouragement. However, I know that when I look beyond myself and my challenges of the days, Christ is all I need. I look at my children with dismay at all that they need to learn...to listen, to obey at the first command, to be honest, to be kind, to have sweet words, etc.
           This past week, I read a book by Rachel Jankovic called "Loving the Little Years". I enjoyed it so much that I am reading it again already! It was the best book I've read in a while and met me on a level I could relate to with my children. In her book, she offers many challenges her readers one of which is to look at their children as individuals not as a group. It is especially easy for me to look at my children as a group simply because there are so many of them close together!                  
              It's easy for me to get discouraged and think that I'm not seeing any progress, but progress is there....it's just that as soon as one child learns to something right, the next one in line picks up the bad habit! For example, Garett has learned to stay in his seat until the car has parked and to not unbuckle his seat belt, etc. but Chandler has recently moved up into a booster seat and now we are facing challenges with helping him learn the same things. Or Chandler knows to write only on paper, but Wyatt has a desire to write on anything but paper! Or I'm in the kitchen baking and one child wants to help and suddenly I'm surrounded by three little people all wanting to help! "Can I put that in?" "Mom, I was here first!",  "Chandler has the eggs, Mom!", and so on. I have to remind myself that it's not that they are overwhelming as an individual, but when there are three of them, soon to be four, it can seem to be a little much. And sometimes, I have to put the brakes on the whole train of  little ones and just say, "Mom doesn't have a job for you today, and I need to get this done quickly." But I want those words to be far less frequent than "Okay, you can help me today". When they get to "help", their faces little up, the noise level increases, and chaos is on the verge of commencing, but these are the moments that I will treasure all my days....I just have to remind myself of that now!
          My challenge to myself has been to work at giving them each one job to help include all of them and to see them each as an individual child who has a unique personality. It's not their fault that there are so many of them close together! So, I must deal with it in a Christ-like manner and work constantly at letting them see Christ in me, whether it's through my actions, my tone of voice, my response to them, the time I spend with them, and my character.