Memorial Day Robert's Style

Lately we just can't tear ourselves away from our house. It's just so convenient and comfortable. I love being able to watch the kids from the Kitchen while they enjoy the outdoors. We even found ourselves enjoying the Memorial Holiday by mowing the lawn and watering it. Ok, I know it doesn't sound like that much fun, but the kids certainly made the best of it!! Isn't this what you were doing at 8 am on a holiday??

A special treat to have Daddy with us.

The kids are still getting used to him being gone 8-5 and not popping in during the day like being in school allotted.

Ben gets his daily shower!

Big Sister Sydney is always a great helper.

Sydney gets her turn to take control of the hose.

Although I don't think Ben is willing to share!

Emma and her contagious smiles!

She had spent most of the weekend with a high fever laying on the couch.

But we were happy to see she was feeling better by not passing on a chance to put on the swimsuit and get wet!


"I've got a loaded gun and I'm not scared to use it!"

I couldn't pass up the chance put this picture in. Boys are so funny!

A Blunt Wake-up Call

Over the past 5 1/2 years of being a mom I have become a little jaded to the constant needs and wants of my kids. I've learned to tune out many of the unnecessary whines and complaints. ( I really don't know have Jon & Kate Plus 8 do it!) If you are around me you might hear me say something like:

"You'll be fine", "It's not bleeding", "Get up, it's just a little scratch", etc...

Sometimes I'm surprised at how little reaction I have to the kids when they fall or are only slightly drowning in the pool. Surprisingly Ben has taught himself not cry so much when such things happen, and he can even twist and turn to help himself stay afloat in the pool. I'm pretty proud at what a strong kid he's become.

But then I do have my moments of weakness. At lunch I noticed Sydney struggling to open a chip bag, so I offered "hey do you want help with that?" Her response was:

"No, 5 year olds can learn to do it themselves."

Ooops. I guess she's not 4, 3, 2, or 1 anymore.

Ben's New Obsession

Ben is obsessed. And not just the normal kid obsession. He loves it so much he wants to do it 24-7. He can't let anyone else have a turn and it's driving me bonkers. Ok, maybe it is like a typical 18month old. But this boy is crazy in love with vacuuming!

Does he have great form?

When ever I'm vacuuming he's always right there beside me, helping.

Personally I wish it really did pick up something. My house would be much cleaner!

Look how thorough he is! Even in all of those hard to reach places!

I taught him well.

Ben can even multi-task.

Vacuum and participate in "whack-a-mole"!

His talents are endless!

Although I would like to say that this toy has been "LOVED" so much by Ben, it's currently in 2 pieces in a closet. Much to his dismay! Deep down...I'm a little grateful!

Internet Coupon Codes

I stumbled across this great web page. It has thousands of coupon codes for reduced shipping prices, etc. This is a huge find for me since lately the cost of gas and dragging 3 kids with me justifies the use of internet shopping more and more!
Click here.

Deep Thoughts by Sydney

Today Sydney decided to start brainstorming ideas for Father's Day gifts. (I think Larry's been doing some subliminal messages during the Mother's Day shopping spree.) Here are some of her ideas...a riding lawn mower, a car, his own computer, his own bedroom with his own bed (hear, hear...the study is available), and a book about basketball. She cracks me up! Although these are all very creative ideas, and Larry would absolutely love to have most of them...I think she's aiming a little too high. Sorry honey, no new car for you this year!

The Harbors

After seeing many fabulous pictures and hearing about how great this hidden Dallas hide-away was, I couldn't wait to take the family there. Thanks to our dear friends and neighbors The Simons we navigated our way there and found some breath taking views of the Dallas Skyline.

Chad and Larry graciously walked the kids down to the waters edge to spare the Prego moms the work. As you can see, Ben is trying his hardest to get into the water. Crazy Kid.

This is a picture of Lake Ray Hubbard.
Upon arriving our kids noticed a great little spot to cool off with sprinklers spraying many over-joyed youngsters!

But to their disappointment it turned off just as we arrived. So to keep them occupied we decided to go get some dinner to past the time. And thus once again, after arriving to the sprinkler destination again...the water turned off. A total bummer! Thankfully we came to find out it turned back on every 30 minutes and decided to wait it out enjoying the scenery.

Sydney, Emma and Cameryn let loose!

Ben kept his distance for the most part. Only letting the over-spray get him wet!

You'd think I dressed them the same all the time. And forced them to wear pioneer dresses. I promise you all this, I have never told them to match or even asked them to wear dresses. This is all their doing! I usually have to make rules about certain weather days are for shorts or pants! I think these girls were more a few 100 years too late!

Cameryn fits right in the Roberts' Clan!

The Mole

One of the only reality TV shows that I have loved is finally coming back..."THE MOLE". I felt kind of bitter about the writer's strike a few months back and have been un-enthused about any of the shows that are on. But honey, I'm back!! For those who don't know about this show...here's a brief synopsis...It's all about "one who will sabotage everything". 12 people will play to earn money for the pot at the end of the game. They will be given challenges on each episode and take a test to guess who they think is the mole! Remember June 2nd ABC, 9pm (central time)!!

Happy Mother's Day

This past Mother's Day was probably one of my best! Larry encouraged me to purchase pictures taken from my favorite photographer in Dallas. I have long coveted her work and was pleased to find a spring discount that allotted me the opportunity to have my kids photographed by her. I planned on maybe purchasing 1 photo to commemorate the experience, but was very pleased at Larry's offer to make it not only my Mother's Day gift but also our mom's. Here is one that the photographer happened to place on her blog for a "Mother" theme. I was proud to be apart of it!

The week before the holiday Larry and I spent many moments reminding the girls of the up coming holiday and what it meant. And even though I'm sure Larry had already spent WAY more then he had planned, he still stole the girls away one evening to pick out some cards and a small gift for me. Although I think their favorite part was getting the chance to wrap it all up! Probably an experience Larry would rather forget! ;)

I'm glad to say that most of the weekend I received many "I Love You's", some great hand drawn pictures and hugs. I was especially shocked when Emma wrote out her own name on a card signed for her grandma's. I don't even really remember teaching how!

And lastly on Mother's Day morning, against all odds, Larry corralled the children and successfully put together a great breakfast, including: pancakes, hash browns, eggs, bacon and an orange julius all before we had to head out the door for church by 845am! Thankfully Sydney was a little more than excited about the holiday and came in our room at 615am for our morning wake up call!!

Thanks Honey and kids for making me a happy mom!

One Step At A Time

Last night I realized that Ben was definitely getting older. Probably old enough to start weaning from the bottle. Especially since moving him away from "baby" items before then new addition comes would help make the transition smoother. Although I do dread taking such items as bottles, pacifiers, and even the crib away. It's just another reminder that my baby isn't much of a baby anymore.

For the last few weeks I have been giving Ben a sippy cup with his meals and then soon used it as his morning milk cup instead of the bottle. Now I'm movin' in for the kill and using it as the "cup of choice" before naps and bedtime...the last thing to implement. The plus side, he drink his milk 10x's faster with a sippy and the down side, he's not as drowsy when I leave him. It may take a few nights to remind him to lay down and go to sleep, but it will be worth it in the end...right?

Next step...the pacifier. He doesn't really even use it. We just plug him up with it after he's done drinking his milk for bed. He even chucks it back in his crib when it's time to get up. I doubt this will be much of a challenge, but we'll leave that one for a few weeks from now when he's used to the lack of the B-O-T-T-L-E.

Need A Baby Shower Gift?

For all of those prego's out there...this great company called "The Peanut Shell" is having a Mother's day sale on their slings, wraps and nursing covers. Just enter "MOTHERSDAY" (in caps) for the promotional code and get 40% off until May 12th! Click here for the web-page.

You'd Be A Redneck If...

(note: pictures are from over 50 feet away, there is some slight nudity and parents discretion is advised)

During last weekends trip to the Lake...we were lucky enough to have some very entertaining neighbors set up camp across from us. Things were kind of quiet the first day, but got extremely interesting as the weekend progressed.

On Saturday we were surprised to find, who we will call "Mr. Big" sport the saggy jeans and his farmers tan with the lack of shirt for most of the day. (gosh, you'd think it was above 90 degrees!) All afternoon Mr. Big spent 95% of it slamming back the beer and the other 5% zonked out. I personally witnessed many stumbling attempts at walking around the campsite. Which personally made me smile!!

(some body needs a bra!)

Now as Mr. Big relaxed and fuzzed out any brain functioning, his fellow camper who we will call "String Bean" worked and worked. He was dead set on having some ribs for dinner. He crawled up and down the side of the hill searching for fallen limbs to start his camp fire (which is illegal). Then he stripped the ribs, seasoned them and cooked them. At some point during this strenuous and tedious job String Bean was fed up with no help or even coherent conversation coming from his friend Mr. Big and even tried removing the dirty t-shirt that was covering his eyes for another drunken stupor.

After the naked twins licked their fingers clean of all the rib droppings they threw their ribs in the bushes behind them and sauntered over to the water spiket to clean up. This gave me my favorite picture of the day. The infamous "plumbers crack". This eye catching scene happened more then I'd like to admit. I even thought about shielding my children's eyes from such a deep crevice...

Please note: Mr Big did try to cover his lovely man boobs with his, I'm sure, very clean t-shirt. Obviously it wasn't long enough to hide the "Grand Canyon".

I personally would like to thank my fellow campers String Bean and Mr. Big for supply us with loads of photographic opportunities and side busting laughs as we discreetly watch their weekend unravel. The icing on the cake was that evening when their friends arrived and the Park Ranger drove by and noticed a 6ft long branch that they had dragged to their fire pit to supply them with wood for a night full of drunken conversation. The friends were thus kicked out of the park for the night and relieving us of a sleepless night. Although I still went to bed smiling...no FOX or CBS could come up with such great evening of entertainment! Thanks boys!

Lake Whitney

This past weekend our family braved the rugged Texas terrain and went camping at Lake Whitney State Park. We were happy to be able to meet up with my sister, Kim's family from San Antonio. At first we thought our plans might be plagued with thunderstorms as predicted by the "weatherman", but we found ourselves out of harms way for most of the weekend. This being our first trip to this part of Texas we were happy to find big trees, loads of green grass and wonderful temps considering we were embarking upon the summer season. To make our trip more enjoyable then past years attempts at camping, we purchased a large tent that would suit our growing families needs (especially since camping while prego is twice as hard). We loved being able to give Ben his own space for the huge port-a-crib and one for the girls to crash in. Oh and I highly suggest purchasing each of your kids their own flashlight, it made all the difference at bedtime!

At first we thought ourselves extremely wise beyond our years for placing our tents under the protection of these shade trees...you know...just in case it rained. But little did we know that many different species of spiders (large and small) also found this a very cozy spot. Eventually at the end of the weekend all of the arachnids found the layer in between our rain cover and the roof of our tent (which is only a screen) a lovely place to hide. This was extremely disturbing to me! Most of the time you had to smash a few just to get in and out of the tent. Totally gross! We found a few trying to travel with us on the way home...in the car!! But props go to my brother-in-law, Ray who came in such a close encounter as by having a spider dangle from the tip of his nose! Does the FBI train you for that too?

The lake was nice and cold. But offered more then enough fun for the kids.

They really enjoyed splashing around, searching for shells, and tubing. But the best part was the fishing!

Ray brought a couple of fishing rods and offered his expertise to the kids. Even supplying them with a small rod for each to take turns on. We were very surprised when he caught one!

My nephew, Grant, did a great job and totally takes after his Dad. I love how this picture turned out. It really displays the enormity of the lake. And with the boat in the background...well it's just...classic!

As usual, Emma-pie finds the most joy at immersing herself in the fridged water. Her pleasure is just plastered across her face.

Ben tried his best to free his arms from our grasp. You can just see him thinking to himself..."Gosh, people, just let me go. I can walk around just fine on moss covered rocks!" I never get tired of that stern, determined brow that covers his face when ever a challenge displays itself.

I know that this is far from my best view...pregnancy always seems to help "BOTH" sides of me to expand. But I enjoy the rare chances I get at a hug from one of my kids, especially when it gets captured on film!

Thanks to the boys for picking up some random toys at the local dollar store to keep the kids entertained. The waterspout had never been so used until those water-guns came around!

Look a "supergirl" with her super gun!

I think we could all use a few more lessons from Grant on how to fly a kite. That boy could keep his kite up in some crazy winds! Doesn't Ben look soo tiny next to Larry? If only the ugly trash can wasn't in the background!

There was also the highly desired pogo stick, our ode to the 50's. Sydney spent about 1/2 her time trying to master this tricky device! I think she needs about 20 more pounds on her before she'll find success.

Emma even tried her skills at it. I think she's a little frustrated with it!? Heee! (please note I chose to capture the photo before rescuing her)

Kim the "bookworm"!

I do have to admit that I spent 80% of my time practicing my "pyrotechnics" in the fire pit. I blame my brothers for the inherited urge to always have a fire brewing in the empty metal canister. Unfortunately I think I sparked the desire in most of the kids. They all seemed to want to have a chance to find their own "poking stick" to disturb the fire with. I'd apologize, but at least their learning in a controlled environment, right?

Even Ben had to have a shot at the fire pit. But no worries, there was no live flames inside!

It's just NOT CAMPING unless you're eating S'mores!

All in all the weekend was fun. Although I am looking forward to a few years from now when the kids are a bit more self-sufficient. It would make it more of a vacation for Larry and I. But I wouldn't pass up on the chance on teaching them at a young age the joys of the outdoors. Hopefully on the next trips we'll be able to convince more of our siblings and their families to join us, especially Grandma and Grandpa!

I do have to admit that we did have a rather wet ending to the weekend. At around midnight on Saturday night, a storm blew in. We would occasionally wake up to loud cracks of thunder, deeply hoping that the storm would soon pass. At around 4am, Larry found a few puddles in the tent from the flapping rain cover allowing the pouring rain to filter in. Then at 5am, Ben couldn't ignore the loud sounds any longer and decided to join in. I found that most of his side of the tent felt like walking on a waterbed. Gallons of water had found their way in between our tarp and the underneath of the tent. It was then I gave up the hopes of a dry packing session and started loading up the troops. To the Mauk's surprise they had a mouse/rat/squrrel run out from under their tent during their tent take down. Poor Larry and Ray did most of the heavy packing while being soaked through. I highly do NOT recommend trying to pack a family of 5's camping gear and all, into a 1997 Buick Regal. It was hard enough doing it in the sun, let alone the rain!

What an ending!?!