Hilarious Highlights

The holidays always provide funny moments to capture on film.
These are just a few of the memorable ones.

Ben was so surprised of the sounds that came from his"hip-hop low rider"
he put his fingers in his ears.

Once again, Grandma was totally shocked.
She mentioned a day previous that she was starting to collect nut crackers.
Little did she know that we had a "Texas" nutcracker all wrapped up for her.

Here is Emma opening a gift that Sydney picked out especially for her.
Not only do I LOVE that Sydney is waiting in the background,
anticipating her sisters reaction
BUT...

I LOVE that Emma dove into her sister right away to give her a big squeeze of thanks.

Need I say any thing?

I'm shocked that this car is still running.
Ben pushed, shoved and rammed that car into EVERYTHING.

OK, he's had this bike for like 1 hour and he's already trying to do tricks.
What a BOY!!!

Did Santa Come?

Larry and I were very surprised to find that we woke up before the kids did.

We even took the time to shower before the chaos started.

Here are the impatient kids, dying to run down stairs...

Anticipation!

We were proud to see how well the girls waited and watched each other open their gifts.
Ben on the other hand...well...no matter how much explaining and distracting we still couldn't convince him that every present wasn't his!!

"PONIES!"

Ben certainly didn't need ANY help!

Sydney's teacher suggested that this game would help develop her pencil-holding skills.

Ben was SUPER excited to see that his sisters picked out a Diego for him!

Who doesn't love a new dress?

This robe is the softest thing ever.

Ben+Ball=Good Times

A scale for me.
(it's time to lose those baby pounds)

The girls decked out Larry with work socks, a warm hat and gloves.

Sydney loved how great her new baby smelled. And even looked a lot like baby Keira.

TWIN-ers

I'm trying my best to make Larry preppy.
Step 1: sweater vest

And lastly Santa hid Ben's BIG present in the closet!!
A new BIKE!!!

Midnight Madness

The kids were MORE than happy to be able to open 1 present from Grandma and 1 present from Mom & Dad on Christmas Eve.

A fairy Barbie for Sydney.

A teddy bear with clothes for Ben.

And a Bella Dance a-Rella for Emma.


We love to give the kids new pj's on Christmas Eve so that we all look Fancy!

Dora pj's for Emma.

Tinkerbell for Sydney.

Superman for Ben.

I think he's ready for flying lessons with that cape!

And Keira got pretty pink pj's but was unable to offer us a fashion show since she was already down for the night.

I am also proud to say that we were able to surprise Grandma Ria with a new pair of pj's, so that she could join in on the tradition.

(now off to bed... mom & dad have work to do)

Putting Christ Back In Christmas

With the thoughts of presents spilling down a chimney with a jolly Santa Claus filling our children's heads we opted to take an evening to teach the kids more about Christ's birth.
So we called our friends that were staying in town for Christmas Eve and invited them over for a little production.

I found a great recipe for some hot punch and treated us all to it AND the traditional hot chocolate with all the fixing's. Plus some snowy, white, powdered donuts!

And we can't forget it was Keira Jane's first Christmas celebration!

We were also blessed to have Larry's mom, Grandma Ria, join us for a few weeks.

With the parents all comfy on the couch and cameras turned on...

Larry created a brief program with songs and scriptures.

I loved how intently the children listened.
(for about 30 seconds)
Cameron sported some great angel wings.

They were all tuned in to the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Sydney the angel with arms spread wide.
(she likes to get the FULL effect)

Emma the angel arrived on horseback.
(I promise...this is all straight from the scriptures)

And we couldn't have picked a better Mary.
Emmah just glowed with humility, peace and grace.
(this girl has some great acting skills)

Ben took on many rolls.
(being our ONLY boy)
He was the Shepherd and Joseph.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Our Year By Numbers…

1152…times Ben has said the word “BALL”

858…daily dilemmas that cause Rachel to wonder what she was thinking having 4 kids under the age of 5

500…diapers we have changed

417…times Emma has practiced writing her name on her original works of art

354…minutes Rachel has sat on a piano bench playing for the Primary at Church

246…times Sydney asked when her first day of school was

170...blogs Rachel has written about the family

102…games of hide and go seek Larry has played with the kids

98…green stars Sydney has received for being such a wonderful student in her Kindergarten Class

77…mutual activities Larry has attended as the new Young Men President at Church

63…crazy jumps Ben performed into the pool without any help

49…super smooth dance moves Ben shows off

25…minutes outside of Dallas we moved in January to our first home

16…fairy books Sydney has read with Mom

15…times a day Emma checks for the mail

14…pounds Keira was at 9 weeks old

10…interviews Larry went through to get the job he wanted as a Public Defender for Dallas County

9…weeks old Keira surprised us all by sleeping from 7 to 7

8…rooms we have painted from head to toe, to put our stamp on our new place

7…seconds Sydney and Emma can swim underwater without any help

6…times Larry did repair work for a leak in our ceiling

5…times Rachel yelled for an Epidural when going through labor at the Birthing Center

4…the number of Twilight books Rachel has read

3…weeks early Keira joined our family on October 2^nd.weighing 8lb 2oz & 20 inch

2…pushes it took to get Keira out in a tub full of water while Larry got to catch her

And FINALLY,

1…Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world, who’s birth we celebrate this Christmas.

With Love, The Roberts Family

Larry, Rachel, Sydney (6), Emma (4), Ben (almost 2) & Keira

Our Conversation...

As I called from the bathroom to Sydney...
Me: "Sydney, can you please get me some toilet paper?"
S: "Ooooo....kay!" (she begrudgingly walked to the closet to retrieve it.)
Me: "Thanks. You should be a toilet paper delivery person when you grow up!"
S: "No!"
Me: "Why?"
S: "Because it's too easy!"
Me: "Well, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
S: "A mom!"
Me: "Why?"
S: "So I can boss people around."

Delicious Desserts

To spread the Christmas cheer

and to remind our neighbors that we love them.
I always take part in the mega-mormon-tradition
of delivering plates of goodies.
This year my friend Natalie and I made white chocolate cover pretzels,
cookies, etc...
I couldn't help but lick my fingers.
They were yum-o and super easy.

The best part of the cooking party was enjoying it with our friends.at the top: Jordyn, Cameryn, Keira and Emma

Color Coordinate

Didn't you LOVE it when you're parents dressed you up like your siblings?

And made you all matchy-match?
Well I hated it, and now I must inflict the same pain on my own children.

What goes around...comes around!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
from the Roberts!

Dear Santa,

I was all set to write a blog to Santa.
Telling him of all the things on my list.

like this...

this...

this...

and finally this.

But then it struck me.
I'm a religious person.
Shouldn't I be talking to someone else about these?
Although I KNOW that praying to God for material items is NOT the way to get into heaven.

But then I'm struck with inspiration again.
(or maybe the Holy Ghost is working overtime)
What about the Lord's time?
I'm sure he knows the student loans are KILLING us.
And that without those looming over our heads we could afford a car large enough for our growing family.
He also gave me a wonderful community with sidewalks and great friends that all support me in a more active lifestyle.
And parents that offered up a rebuilt computer that could hold the over-abundance of pictures I create.

In the Lords time.
Things ARE changing.
Just never as fast as I want them.

I'm sure there are things slowly happening around me that can help take care of all these needs.
For example, Larry had his first official trial as Public Defender.
And WON!
This will establish him as a the BEST attorney the PD's office has ever seen. And then he will eventually be promoted and create more income for us.
The Lord has even kept our vehicles up and running.
Even with both being over 120,000 miles they keep going and going and going...
He has also given all of us health as we slipped by this past year with no health insurance.
And he gave us a new, strong, healthy daughter.
That wasn't supposed to be.
Because technically without my thyroid medication I'm not supposed to be able to hold on to babies.
But I did!

I think from now on I'll change who I send MY Christmas letters to.
And instead of wants, they'll be filled with "thank you's".

Sydney's Cooking Party

With MUCH anticipation Sydney invited her friends to her COOKING PARTY!!!

Sydney shows-off the required attire...
a decorated chef's hat and an apron
(hand made by ME)

Emma was also VERY excited to be a part of the festivities.
And chose to dress up just like her older sis.

The kids were impressed with our BALLOON ceiling.

Larry took on the "dirty deed" of teaching the kids how to roll out their dough and make their own pizza's.

The hardest part was convincing the kids that it was OK to not have a perfectly round pizza.

Thankfully Ben was content to roll his dough for a good 30 mins.

After they ate, we brought out the paints and each kid decorated their own rolling pins.

Then we let each kid decorate their own "cupcake cones".

Guess who's "6"?

I think Sydney asked me 15 times... "when are we opening presents?"

And finally it was pinata time...
(I enjoyed not having a bat being swung around as a liability, but the 2nd string that was pulled emptied the whole pinata...NOT very productive)

After all was said and done, we were pooped, the house was a wreck but Sydney did say that this was the BEST DAY EVER!
(mission accomplished)