Looking Back on Our Trip

Right after we moved into our new house, we left for a two week family vacation. Bad timing, but what a wonderful trip we had. We went to visit Bill's family for the first half of the trip where we spent our days playing catch up, enjoying a little fishing, and doing some fun crafts with our cousins. Amy was sick for several days, which wasn't fun. But we all had a good time and enjoyed being with Bill's family.

On the second half of our trip we met up with my parents and my brother and his family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee where we rented a chalet up in the mountains. We had an incredible view from a large deck that provided the most relaxing mornings and amazing sunsets. This chalet had six bedrooms and four full baths - it was huge! Of course, the kids still bunked together much of the time. Afterall, that's more fun, anyway. Bill, my brother Jason and my dad went on a day hike on the first day there while we girls and the kiddos hung out in the chalet. No complaints here! The second day, however, was our day to explore... the Gatlinburg shops! Our final couple of days in Gatlinburg were spent hiking the mountain trails and playing in the river. It was truly a fantastic experience - one I hope to repeat in the future!

The slideshow below captures both parts of our trip. Enjoy!

Correction to My Playlist

I'm sure no one really cares, but just to give credit where credit is due, In My Dreams is an REO Speedwagon song, not Air Supply. Someone obviously doesn't know their bands!

Too Much TV

That is what we have been watching lately. It doesn't help that we've been battling a stomach bug, but I'd say the biggest culprit for our frequent TV viewing is DirecTV. We have lived without cable for 6 years and have managed just fine. I always felt like the educational shows on PBS were good enough for my children, and I had too much to do to be spending time watching television anyway. Besides, cable is expensive... until we moved. Then we got a deal too good to pass up. So now we have satellite TV. This means the kids have Noggin, and I have HGTV. And we watch entirely too much of it. But these are educational channels so it's okay, right?

My Musical Blog

I have loved visiting some of my friends' blogs and listening to their musical playlists, that I finally decided to make one, too. After too much time perusing the selections and several computer viruses later (thank goodness for Norton Anti-Virus!), I had created my own playlist. I was having way too much fun pulling up old songs from the past. Of course, I'm still trying to decide on/find the perfect song for my blog to open with, but until I do, I like the upbeat "Dive" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Happy listening - I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do!

Amy's Day Out

Today Amy had a special day out with my nephew Cody. He goes off to college in a couple of weeks and wants to spend some time with my kiddos before he does. Isn't that the sweetest thing? Today was Amy's day, and he took her to Build-A-Bear, lunch at a country club, and finally the park. As you can see in the picture, Amy chose a PINK bear with a PINK ballerina outfit. Can you guess her favorite color?




I am just amazed that Cody took his day off work, as well as his own money, to spend the day with my little girl. What a special memory he has given her! And what a special young man he is. Thank you, Cody!!!

One Word

This is another MeMe that I felt compelled to do since Celeste basically "tagged" me to do it a couple of weeks ago. Thanks a lot, Cel! LOL

Here it goes!

1. Where is your cell phone? Cody
2. Your significant other? Bill
3. Your hair? Messy
4. Your mother? Mom
5. Your father? Dad
6. Your favorite thing? Peace
7. Your dream last night? Uncertain
8. Your favorite drink? Iced-Tea
9. Your dream/goal? Contentment
10. The room you’re in? Study
11. Your church? Baptist
12. Your fear? Roaches
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Patient
16. Muffins? Pumpkin
17. One of your wish list items? This Moment
18. Where you grew up? TX
19. The last thing you did? Ate
20. What are you wearing? Shorts
21. Your TV? HGTV
22. Your pets? Shelby
23. Your computer? Slow
24. Your life? Hectic
25. Your mood? Anxious
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? Minivan
28. Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
29. Favorite store? Lowe's
30. Your summer? Quick
31. Like(love) someone? Yes
32. Your favorite color? All
33. Last time you laughed? Recently
34. Last time you cried? Days
35. Who will re post this? Unsure

Mosaic MeMe

I saw this on Celeste's blog and it was just too fun to pass up. Sometimes it was a bit of a challenge to find a suitable picture on the first page of photos, though!

Here's how to play:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

4. Save image to hard drive and post to blogger.

5. Copy HTML code for flickr photo credits and paste into blogger at the bottom of the post.

1. What is your first name? Robin

2. What is your favorite food? Mexican food

3. What high school did you go to? Clear Lake High School

4. What is your favorite color? all colors

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Michael Biehn

6. Favorite drink? latte

7. Dream vacation? Ireland

8. Favorite dessert? brownie a la mode

9. What you want to be when you grow up? happy

10. What do you love most in life? God and family

11. One Word to describe you? Blessed

12. One hobby of yours? Quilting

1. Robin 1, 2. Delicious Mexican food in Flagstaff Arizona, 3. DSC_0143, 4. All The Colors, 5. Metal... GEAR?, 6. Vanilla Hazelnut Latte, 7. REAL... "REAL ESTATE" (IRELAND), 8. Brownie a la mode, 9. happy happy..., 10. God is love!, 11. Each day is a blessing, 12. Katrina Quilt Square 'flowers'