Primary Music 2012

For many years now I have been involved with Primary at church, which means hanging out with the kids ages 18mon-12yrs old.  And since I am the only one in the Presidency slight musical I am also in charge of the decisions for the music we sing in Primary.  Each year we are given an assigned new topic from the General Primary Presidency.  This coming year 2012, the topic is CHOOSE THE RIGHT and we were assigned a few months of songs to sing and then given the chance to pick songs that we think would go with the topics.  Here are the songs we are doing...

As A Child Of God  (theme song for the year)

Choose The Right
Stand For Right
Jesus Once Was A Little Child
When I Am Baptized
Nephi's Courage
The Wise Man & The Foolish Man  (we are specifically giving this song to the youngest kids for them to sing)
Build An Ark (this song was found by my Chorister, it was printed in the Friend Magazine last year, has such a great message and a wonderful little melody)
I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus

Party Accessories

This winter season I am crafting up a storm.  And if you have seen my house during Christmas time, you would be asking WHY because I have a ton of decorations.  But this year it's not for me, it's for our church Christmas Party.
The women I work with at church in Primary were asked to put on the traditional dinner and program.  And you know me, I like to craft and tell people what to do, so it's a great fit for me!
This year we are sticking to everything red & white for the decorations.  I found a great blog on how to make this easy-peasy trees with poster board and scrap fabric sewed into ruffles.  It was really fun to make and I love the results.
And if you can keep a secret and promise not to tell anyone who goes to my ward at church...shshshshs...the red fabric is made from my pj bottoms!!  They became so thin in the butt that I have sewed them shut 4 times.  I finally gave up and donated them to my fabric bin.  The ribbon is also the drawstrings from those pants.
Go figure!!
I made these trees specifically for the dessert table.  We can't have a white table cloth with desserts just sitting there all plain looking.  We needed height and color.  I think these trees will be perfect.

With The Mauks

 My sister Kim and her family,

came to Texas to visit for

Thanksgiving weekend.

We haven't seen these loved cousins

in way too long.

We used to spend all the holidays together,

but it's been almost a year since we've

seen each other when they ditched us for 

New Mexico.

My kids could hardly contain themselves

with the anticipation of

seeing them!

We met up at the Dallas Zoo.

(right to left: Dan, Kim, Keira, Ray, Eliza, Rachel,

Ben, Grant, Emma, Larry, Sarah & Sydney) 

The girls riding the elephant statue.

The boys riding the elephants, too.

Grant is the closest thing Ben

will ever have to an older brother.

He loves him soooo much!!

They had a new little machine in one

of the display houses.

A wind room that makes it feel

like you are in a tornado.

It started off with low winds

and slowly grew faster and faster.

Here they are laughing like crazy with winds

at 68.8 mph.

T

 Then in got all the way up to 80mph.

They had a blast.

But Eliza didn't like the knots it put

into her hair.

We were able to spend more time

with our cousins by having lunch

at In & Out,

going to a park

and then stopping for donuts

before we said goodbye.

Gobble 'til You Wobble

HAPPY THANKSGIVING,

Love, The Roberts

Blue Cheese Ball

 Time to crank things up a notch

and go a little loco.

A tradition from the Gurvine's

is to have my mom's blue cheese ball

as an appetizer with every holiday.

And it is so delicious.

But this time Larry suggested we add

another secret ingredient.

Since we have 40lbs of bacon

in our freezer from our favorite

meat supplier, he mentioned how good

it would taste in our favorite chip & dip.

So here is the recipe.

 1 container 5oz of blue cheese

2 blocks of softened cream cheese

4 strips of cooked bacon, diced tiny

1T mayo

dash of Worcester sauce

dash of garlic salt

Crushed Nuts (walnuts or almonds will work)

Add everything into a bowl,

except...

the nuts.

You take the crushed nuts,

put them on a plate.

stir and stir and stir the other ingredients

until it's really really combined.

Then with clean hands,

shape it into a ball,

and roll it around the nuts for a coating.

Place on clean plate, cover with saran wrap

and put in fridge until hard.

Serve with Wheat Thins.

(you can thank me later)

Holiday Past-times

We like to make our holiday break

all about doing things together.

(as long as Dan is napping)

And my helpers were in 

FULL FORCE!!

We spent our thanksgiving break

baking and crafting.

Two of the best stirrers in Texas.

These girls were shocked at how

yummy we could make plain pecans taste.

So delicious, they fought over who got

to lick the spoon. 

And after one bite they were addicted.

I think they single-handedly finished

the bag we brought home after

Thanksgiving dinner was over.

Candied Pecans

I have been trying to bake things other then

cookies lately.

My friends got me hooked on a very simple

white bread recipe that makes 3 loafs.

I used it to make rolls for Thanksgiving dinner,

and used 1/2 to whip up some cinnamon rolls

for breakfast the next morning.

 And after the little ones where in bed,

I let Sydney & Emma make 

Christmas ornaments with me.

(idea was taken from another fellow blogger)

 First we each painted a square of wood.

Then we painted the girls fingers and palm.

And placed it on the square.

 Then we decorated them.

The girls were shocked I let them paint

their hands, but in reality I couldn't

have made the craft without their little

hands.

Dan Can Play The Wii... kind of

There are many ways to keeping harmony in the home.

One way is to give young kids something they want,

without really giving it them.

For example...

Dan wants to play the Wii.

He is too young to play the Wii.

Try explaining that to a 1 year old.

Impossible.

So we let him old a numchuck

and tell him to play.

While someone else in the family

is actually playing.

He loves it.

It makes him happy.

And it makes the rest of us laugh.

Here is a video of Keira playing

sword fighting on Wii Resorts,

which she loves and is really good at.

All she does is shake the remote like

a hyper 3yr old and she wins.

A lot!

Speed Demon

 What's that Emma?

You want me to get my camera

so you can show me something 

really super duper cool?

You on your bike?

Ok.

I guess that's cool.

That's not it?

Is it you wearing pants

instead of skirt?

Because that is...

rare.

That's not it?

Oh, it's you riding your bike

with no help

and no training wheels!!

Go Emma!!

 From the looks of it,

she might be almost grown out of this bike.

Dang it, kids!
Stop growing.

I can't keep up!

 We are so proud of you big girl.

Now if only our street was a little less busy,

she would be out there until sunset.

Cheap Is My Middle Name

I cut my own hair today.

With 2 mirrors, 2 sets of scissors and a comb.

Daring?  Yes, but completely worth the cost.

My hair is thick.  And it tends to grow faster and thicker in the back of my head, more toward the base at my neck.  Beauticians have told me it's because there is more blood flow there.  Either way, it makes for some whacked out hair especially when I straighten it.

So I pulled up most of my hair into clips and ponytails and worked on the back.  Using thinning shears and a trash can to catch what I cut, I snipped and then dragged the scissors down my hair to push the clipped hairs into the trash can.  Then slowly let down more and more hair, thinning them as I went.  And then stopped 1/2 way up.  Just to make sure there were top hairs to cover any mistakes I might have made.

And I love it.  I still have my length, but a whole lot less weight!

Bruiser

 Now that Dan is not only mobile,

but discovered he can climb,

he has covered himself in countless

BRUISES.

And I thought it would be great to

show off how many he has on 

his face.

So I sat him on the couch for a quick photo.

It turned into a 15 minute wrestle.

First I tried bribing. 

Which only resulted in pictures

of Dan eating a graham cracker.

Or pictures of Dan twisting to get away

with a graham cracker in his hand.

And pictures of him sticking his feet up

in the air trying to kick the camera

out of my hands. 

Or pictures of him refusing to sit up and

flashing his extremely full diaper.

Now if I was trying to change that diaper,

there is no way he would lay down

so obediently.

Lastly a photo of Dan running away from me.

Thankfully 1 photo out of 50 came out.

Here are the scraps, bruises and bumps

that are covering our energetic little

1 year old!

Killer Kickers

While at their first indoor soccer practice,

Emma's (and Larry's) team

received their trophy's for

the fall outdoor season.

The parents and kids agreed the girls needed

to keep their skills up during the winter break

and hope that playing indoor soccer

will help!

Good luck girls!!

Ben's Last Soccer Game

One very chilly morning,

with a bright sun and strong winds...

...wasn't enough to stop this boy

from being happy to play his favorite sport.

Although he did take a time out to cuddle

with his sister to warm up in a blanket hug.

Keira and Dan braved the morning

huddled in their double stroller.

Water Break!

Ben wanted to keep his ears warm,

so he insisted on keeping his hood up.

Even though he resembled a hooligan.

Kick it Benners!!

Ben goes for the goal!

Charging through the pile of boys

to find the ball.

Daddy helps him up.

Can't stop this boy from scoring!

Some happy Jaguars with their trophy's,

but sad because it was their last game of the season.

Emma's Thanksgiving Program

Emma was very excited about her 

1st grade program this year.

Days previously we picked out her required brown

attire to wear and talked about how

to put her hair in braids like the Indians.

Here she is placed close by her BFF, Madison.

Although I do feel a little sorry for the poor

boy placed between them.

These 2 girls are very over exuberant in their

hand movements for the songs

and tower over him being the tallest

girls in the grade.

The first song they used sign language for most of it!!

Song #1:  Thankful For The USA

Song #2:  Turkey Turkey Go Away

Song #3:  Turkey Tango

.

Song 4:  Turkey Boogie

Song 5

Emma plays!!

We are so proud of her.

It must be those piano lessons!

With her friend Madison, too.

(who also takes lessons)

Totally Terrific Turkey's

Hugs and Kisses!

Wonderful job girls!