Last day of January!

Tomorrow is the first day of February and today it's 59 degrees out! Would have been a great day to go to the zoo, but I'm staying away from Indy until after the Super Bowl :)

This morning the kids and I spent some time at the library. Warrick got 4 books and 2 movies. He got The Great Mouse Detective, which of course we had to watch the minute we got home and Bambi, which we will watch on Friday for our family pizza and movie night :)

I reserved a book online and when I picked it up, I was surprised that it was 550 pages! But when I got home, I realized it was giant print. I can't help but feel like there is some sweet 95 year old granny who is upset that I took the only giant print book in the library :) haha!

Here's Warrick working on his letters for the day, he's pretty much a genius :)

This afternoon we walked/strolled/triked to the playground. Warrick had a blast!

Tynnley trying to stay warm... the wind chill made it seem pretty chilly!

Tonight for dinner I made penne with chicken thighs from the pioneer women. It was really good and very inexpensive! I got 4 chicken thighs at kroger for $1.77, a box of penne for $.50, and sauce for $1. I already had onion, garlic, and olive oil. So I spent around $3 on dinner (I only used 1/2 a box of pasta). How great is that!? This frugal mama was ecstatic. Thanks for the recipe Shawna!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/10/penne-with-chicken-thighs/

That's all for now :)

The contents of my closet...

For many years, one of my resolutions was "to be more organized". It only took me 7 years to realize I don't have an organizational bone in my body! Every year I would take everything out of our bedroom closet, sit back, look at it all and get overwhelmed. The contents of our closet would lay on the floor for a week or two every January and then one day I would throw it all back in and give up. So this year I only set goals that I knew I would follow. Although in the back of my head, I still think about organizing the closet. But given my past, Matt cringes every time he hears me say the word "organize".

Here are my resolutions for 2012:

1) Read the Bible in a year.

Update: I've been reading on youversion.com. I am happy to report that

as of today, I'm 7% of the way through the Bible! :)

2) Read 24 books this year.

Update: I have read 4 books this month! I have read Heaven is For Real,

The Wedding, Inconceivable, and Misconception. All were great books!

(I couldn't resist & my blog wouldn't be complete without a picture of one of my kids!)

3) Deposit money into the kids savings accounts monthly.

Update: We deposited money in Warrick's savings account, since he got

money for his birthday. I have yet to deposit any into Tynnley's account,

but I still have a couple of days :)

4) Give 20% to the church.

Update: we were successful in January! :) Matt was asked to 3 paid

speaking engagements (2 at a church and 1 at a youth retreat). I don't

believe is a coincidence. God is faithful!

One of Matt's goals for this year, was to only watch an hour of TV per day (or less). So obviously, our whole family has been doing this as well and it's been going great! I have so much more time to read and get other things done at night after the kids go to bed. But I've quickly realized that the 1 hr rule doesn't apply to any kind of sporting event :)

I hope you are being successful in your New Years Resolution and that the contents of your closet is in better shape than mine!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Monday!

Happy MLK day! Hope it was restful and family-filled :)

Today we went to Conner Prairie. Conner Prairie is an interactive history park which recreates life in Indiana in the 19th century. It was really neat! This was the first time I had been... and Matt hadn't been since he was young on field trips.

The weather was between 45 and 47 while we were there, which was great for mid-January, especially since a lot of Conner Prairie is outdoors.

This is Matt, Warrick, and Tynnley by a covered wagon.

This is Matt and Warrick in front of the "hot air-daboon" which Warrick calls it :) Every time we drive by, he asks if we can see it. So he was excited to finally see it up close.

Warrick checking out the pigs. When we told him that bacon and sausage come from pigs, he said "you've got to be kidding me."

Taking a break in the wheelbarrow :)

Warrick in the Golden Eagle Inn. The "innkeeper" said you could rent a bed for the night for 12 cents. Many people could fit a family of 5 on this bed and the mattress was made out of straw... sounds inviting, doesn't it?

A cute sheep that I couldn't help but take a picture of

Then we played with some covered-wagon toys :)

Then it was naptime... which is obvious by the picture here. So we headed home.

When we got home, Matt left to get some work done. The kids were asleep and I read my youversion for the day and started a book I just bought on half.com called "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks. A friend Tamera told me it was a good read, so I'm trusting her :)

Then I put dinner in the crockpot... what did people do before the crockpot was invented???

I found a recipe on pinterest that my family enjoys.... it's chicken, black beans, rotel, corn, and cream cheese in the crockpot and served with chips or rice. It tastes great, is somewhat healthy (minus the chips and cream cheese), easy, and cheap. What more could you ask for :)

Then I did a TON of laundry... I've been very neglectful lately. I can't wait until Tynnley's past the "poop up the back" frequently stage. I should buy stock in shout!

I think that's all for now.

Hope everyone had a great MLK Day.

I Remember...

This past saturday, Warrick turned 3 years old!

I remember being pregnant with him, I was so excited. I would spend every night after work in his room folding clothes, organizing diapers, really any excuse just to be near his things. I was completely obsessed.

I remember each Monday night, making Matt read "Your Pregnancy Week by Week." I was in awe of the intricate details God put into His creation.

I remember the first time I looked at him I thought he was perfect, even with the bruised face and smashed nose.

I remember thinking I'm going to live every day loving like Jesus and emulating the Father so that our son will be the greatest man of God of his generation.

I can't wait to remember all the other amazing things God has in store for our little... err, BIG boy! I love you Warrick :)

A day in the life

Before we had children, I didn't understand what a stay-at-home mom did all day long. I assumed it had something to do with wearing pj's, watching Oprah, and eating bon-bon's. Boy was I wrong!

A blogger that I follow posts a monthly "a day in the life" blog that I always find fun and interesting to read. She blogs about what her and her children do all day, hour by hour. She does this because she has many out-of-town relatives who enjoy feeling a part of her everyday life and also as a journal for herself to look back on when her children are older.

So I thought it would be fun to do my own "day in the life" today. My life is entirely less interesting than Jennie's, but I think it will be fun none the less! But don't worry... this will not involve Oprah or bon-bons. I can't make any promises about the pj's though.

Hope you enjoy...

Matt left at 6am and headed to Castleton.

At 6:30am, Warrick woke me up saying he was "sooooo hungy".

I'm a big pinterest fan and I've gotten some good recipes from the site. I recently saw pancake-covered bacon that I knew would be a hit in our house. So I made it for Warrick. (Don't worry... none of my new years resolutions had to do with watching what I eat) haha.

It doesn't look pretty, but it tasted good :)

After breakfast, Tynnley woke up. I got ready while Warrick watched cartoons and played cars. Then we read a book about Jonah and the whale, colored a picture of a whale, and talked about the letter "W". Tynnley enjoyed watching.

At 9am I started getting the kids ready and we left for the library at 9:30. We try to go once a week to storytime at 10. This is Tynnley all ready for the library. She's such a slobbery girl!

When we got to the library, there was no storytime, they took the week off. But we found some good books and a couple dvd's to borrow. This is Warrick and I reading a pirate book at the library :)

We got home around 11:30am and played a game of operation then ate lunch.

At 12:30 I started reading to Warrick before naptime and finally by 1:15 both kids were sound alseep :) Glorious naptime!!!

During naptime, I put dinner in the crockpot... I doubled the recipe and froze the rest. This is a BBQ chicken recipe I found on pinterest. I like it because it has a TON of veggies in it. (We needed to make up for the bacon pancakes.) haha.

Then I read my Bible reading on youversion.com. The reading plan I chose is called "Come Drink Live 365". I like this plan because you read from the OT and NT each day and also because it's a 6 day a week plan, so you can slack off one day and not be way behind.

Then I picked up the house and read a couple chapters in Pride and Prejudice.

This is what I made for dinner... this is before it was cooked. It looked much better after being cooked :)

The kids both woke up around 3. Tynnley enjoyed some "tummy time" on her new activity mat. Warrick wanted to read the books he got at the library... about 10 times!!!

At 4:45, I started making the rice to go with dinner and clearing off the table.

Matt came home at 5:15 and we ate. Warrick has become a big helper lately. He loves to set the table every night for dinner... it's really cute. Tonight his robot assisted him.

After dinner we went to our House Party (aka small group). Tonight we studied Acts 12. By the time we got home... we were sleepy!!! The kids both fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Tomorrow, Tynnley has her 4 month check up. I'm excited to see how much she's grown, but not so excited about shots.

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed my "day in the life" :)

Happy Stinkin' New Year

If you know Warrick, he loves the word 'stink'. In fact, if he tells you that you stink, it's actually a compliment. So, when he woke up yesterday I said "Happy New Year" and explained that it was the first day of 2012. His response was "Happy Stinkin' New Year!"

As long as I can remember, every New Years Day, my mom would make pork and sauerkraut for good luck in the new year. We didn't actually believe this food brought good luck, but it was a fun family tradition.

We rang the new year in with some wonderful SCC folks and spent the day relaxing at home and eating "lucky pork". We went to bed around 11pm and an hour later I heard an awful noise and Matt jump out of bed. Warrick had gotten sick.

My husband is awesome for many reasons, but last night it was because he stayed by Warrick's bedside until 7am. Assisting through 13 vomits :(

I was racking my brain... no else was sick. Did he catch the flu? Was it something he ate? Surely it wasn't the good luck pork, that would just be too ironic!

And now, everyone is asleep and the house is quiet. I think the worst is over. I didn't think 2012 would start with lysol, sprite, puke buckets, and lots of laundry. But we have been waiting for 2012 for our whole lives and we won't let a little illness keep us down!

So, from the Robinson clan.... Happy Stinkin' New Year! :)