Life With the Robertsons!

Wow! What a busy couple of weeks the Robertson family has had. It seems that we have gone from one thing to another without much time in between. We have relied on our weekends to get caught up with each other. I think the little girls went almost a full 48 hours without seeing Lauren this week. Seminary gets her out of the house before they wake up and soccer and youth night keep her out past their bedtime.

Because we weren't busy enough, I signed Ashtyn up for girl scouts. She is in a group with a lot of her little friends and they only meet once a month. Monday they took a tour of the fire department. She had a great time meeting up with her friends, but the most exciting part came when they got a call while we were checking out the fire trucks. It was fun to see them jump into action. I can't wait for cookie sales!


Mackenzie had her last cross country meet this week. She ran the mile and a half in 12:39, which qualified her for her school's varsity team for the county meet this week. She was in the top 5 runners for her school, but has decided to run in the JV meet in hopes of placing. She was also excited about earning a spot on the student council.

The elementary school hosted its annual fall festival Friday evening. We have had so much rain this week, that I was sure it would be cancelled. The rain held off and we were able to enjoy it for a couple of hours before the clouds rolled in. It's always a fun event. There were inflatables, and a train ride. The girls got their faces and fingernails painted, chatted with friends, and played all kinds of games with fun little prizes. Kenzie did the cake walk until she won and brought home a yummy dessert.

Lauren had a couple of high school soccer games this week and did really well. She has earned a spot in the starting lineup. I didn't see the game Friday, but their team won 3-1 and she had 2 assists. This video is of her with the corner kick and her best friend scoring the goal. She's been working on her crosses and had several good ones during the game, or so I hear.



Last night was the highlight of the week! We had tickets to the Predators game. Ashtyn and Sierra have never been to a hockey game and it was a really fun family night. We all had a good time, even though the Preds lost. Sierra kept yelling "Go! You can do it! You can do it all by yourself!" We had popcorn and cotton candy, great seats, and even got our faces on the jumbo tron. I don't think the little ones will let us go without them anymore! I thought it might be too loud and long for the little ones, but they hung in there well after their bedtime and screamed and cheered with the best of them.

And to top it all off, I have been working this week at one of the elementary schools as a substitute teacher. I worked in a 4th grade class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I was a little bit nervous at first, but it all went relatively well and I really enjoyed it. The days went by so fast and the kids (for the most part) were good. I'm actually hoping to pick up a day or two again this week. I have decided that with all we have going on, 3 days is too much. I was exhausted by the end of the day Friday, but it's good to have something to do while all of the kids are at school...at least for a couple of days!

The girls have so much going on right now. It's all good stuff, but it certainly keeps me busy. With each one at a different school and their sporting events, I spend a lot of time in the car after the 3:00 hour. It was so nice to have a couple of extra days last weekend. We spent some time doing some yard work and cleaning out the garage on Saturday. On Monday we took the girls to the zoo. We had heard that there were new baby leopards, but couldn't find them and it was so crowded. Sierra and Ashtyn love to feed the lorakeets, and that exhibit was closed. We spent most of our time playing on the playground and left when it got too busy.

Mackenzie decided to run cross country for her middle school. She has done a good job and improved on her time each week.

And soccer season has officially started! Lauren isn't able to play in the rec league because she is on the high school team. She will spend the season reffing and making money for a new ipod. Mackenzie, Ashtyn, and Sierra are all playing and Mark is coaching Mackenzie and Sierra. Here are some pictures from the first day of games. I am pretty excited about our teams' colors for this year! Mackenzie's team won't start playing until the 26th.

Ashtyn's team has a few really good players, and Ash is improving too. She has a lot of friends from school on her team and it's a really fun group of girls and parents.

Sierra was the real surprise of the day. She had an early morning game and I didn't think she would play. There was an issue with the uniform....she didn't want to wear it! She cried for a good long time about it and is so stubborn, but finally decided to give it a try. She did really well (for a 4-year-old) and had a good time.
Yesterday we had our primary program. It was Mackenzie's last, and I think she is really ready to move on. Just a couple of months to go! They did their parts really well and sang all of the songs. From what I hear, Sierra was quite entertaining down in front! I was sitting with my class behind her and missed it!

Ballet Class

Today was the first day of Sierra's new ballet class. She has been excited for days and talked of little else....until she found out the leotard would be black, without a skirt. That brought on some major tears which were remedied as soon as she saw her friend, McKinli.

Getting ready to stretch.

And this is how she looked when the class was over. She obviously stayed busy and active and her teacher said she had a great time. Sierra loves music and singing and dancing, so I'm sure this will be the highlight of each week.

Lauren had her first High School soccer game last night. Her team is green and that's her with the shot on goal. Darn goalie got her hand on it!

New Room

When we moved into our home 7 years ago we decorated the older girls' bedroom the same way it had been in the old house. That's what they wanted and it was really cute. The walls were yellow with a pink stripe about halfway up. On the upper half we stamped pretty little flowers and butterflies. Since then, Lauren has moved downstairs and taken over the guest room and we added a sweet little daybed to Mackenzie's room. That's been a little too "sweet" for Mackenzie, especially as she has gotten older, and I have been promising to redo her room for a couple of years now. I finally tackled this project over the last couple of weeks and she now has a room that she loves.

Those of you who know Mackenzie know that she has a bit of a wild side to her. She's spunky and fun and loves animals. This fits her personality perfectly!

I'm glad to be finished with the painting...Mark is just wondering why every room has to have some pink!

Back to School!

Thursday I sent my kids back to school. Lauren is at the high school this year and wasn't the least bit nervous about the first day. Her bus came at 6:30 and she was ready. She is happy with all of her teachers and should have a busy year. Tomorrow morning marks the beginning of early morning seminary. She's not very excited about that, and neither am I! Let's hope she can still be ready to go on time for a 6:00 a.m. class! Mackenzie is a 6th grader and new to the Middle School. She was excited too, but also a little nervous. She has to get used to having a locker and manuevering through the hallways in the 5 minutes between class. She didn't get any of the teachers that Lauren had, although they all seemed nice when we met them. She is excited about band and wants to play the flute or clarinet. She was a little bummed that none of her friends were in her classes, but she makes friends easily.
Ashtyn was very excited to go to first grade. We found out who her teacher was and who was in her class earlier in the week and she was very disappointed that all of her close friends were in a different class together. She has already made new friends and sees the others on the playground. We have had her teacher before, so I know that she will learn a lot this year.

Sierra has been ready to go back to school since the day we got out for summer vacation! She loves Miss Cara and her friends! She just went to her class for an hour on Thursday, and when we left there were tears in her eyes. She wasn't ready to go! Friday she returned for the whole 3 hours and didn't even kiss me goodbye. Just jumped out of the van and was gone. When I picked her up later she was in tears again! No problem adjusting to school for her. She is extremely social and kept asking when it would be time to go and pick up her sisters.

And I enjoyed 3 hours of peace and quiet on Friday morning. Heavenly!

Farewell to Summer Vacation!

I always get a little wishy washy about the end of summer. I absolutely love summer and having the girls home. We have a very busy life and the slower days are a welcomed time to rejuvenate and spend some time together. By the end of summer I am ususally ready for them to go back, and they are too. We're ready for the routine and the girls miss their friends. They're bored despite all of my attemps to entertain them. And then after a few days of school I miss summer's slower pace and I miss my girls. This is the time that I always start to feel a little guilty about the times I didn't take them to the pool because I was tired of it, or yelled because I lost my patience. I rarely regret that my house was always a disaster (even though that frustrates me), or that we grilled burgers and hot dogs too much.

This week I have spent time getting the girls situated for school. We've been to open houses and orientations. We've met teachers and practiced opening lockers. They have their "first day of school" outfits picked out and their supplies are ready to go. This year my 4 girls are at 4 different schools, which is a little overwhelming to me. Lauren is a freshman, Mackenzie is starting at the Middle School, Ashtyn is in 1st grade, and Sierra is at a separate elementary school for her last preschool year. They are all excited for tomorrow and ready to go.

We took a little "end of the summer" trip last weekend and went to Six Flags. We had such a great time! The weather was perfect, the crowds were low, and we played until they closed.

We always love the water park after some time in the sun. The older girls run off to the big water slides and water coaster, and the little girls hang out in the little kid area. They had a great time on the "kid sized" water slides and play area. They have become such good friends this summer!

Ashtyn rode her first "big" ride too. She has always loved the little roller coaster, but the pirate ship was a big hit this time. Sierra wanted to give it a try too, but she wasn't tall enough.

Despite what the pictures may show, Lauren and Mackenzie did go on this trip with us. They were off by themselves most of the time riding the big roller coasters. I don't think they ever had to wait in line and they were good sports and spent some time with their little sisters too.

Fundraising Time!

If you order from Pizza Hut, this is a great deal! Lauren's soccer team is selling cards with 12 coupons for a free medium 1 topping pizza with purchase of any large. The cards are $10 and don't expire until June 30, 2010. It will pay for itself with just one use and you'll be supporting a great cause. And they are not just good here around town. You can check here to see if they are accepted at a Pizza Hut near you.