3.24.2011

Embrace the Camera Thursday

Linking up today to Emily's blog!! 

It's THURSDAY, you know what that means....
"embrace the camera"!
Get out your cameras and get in front of them.
your kids want pictures of you in them.
so, do them a favor and say CHEESE!!

Click here to see how I got this idea from this inspiring blog:


Last Friday Joe and I went to a PACERS vs BULLS game.
It was awesome!  I grew up a die-hard BULLS fan...Jordan era, and never got the chance of seeing a game in person.  So this was amazing.  He got the tickets thru work and we even got a private suite for us & his co-workers!  We felt famous, ha ha!  So much fun!! 

3.21.2011

Andrea Boes 5k/10k Run/Walk

Well I did it, and I'm not dead HAHA!  I survived my first 5k!  I cannot begin to describe the endorphins that run through your body when you accomplish something like this.  The entire race environment is amazing!  I love it!!  I want MORE of it!!
Here are some pictures from the race:

 Hunter and I before the race
 Hunter and her best friend Ashley
 Getting ready at the start
 Walking to the start
 Hunter crossing the finish line, so proud of her!!  Time of 0:36:08 
Me crossing the finish line:  Time of 0:38:01
 Kayla & Jenn two co-workers and great friends with me and Hunter

Here are some things I found online and also learned from my first 5k:

1. Don’t be nervous.  Remember it is first and for most for a GOOD CAUSE.  Remember the reason behind the race and forget all the selfish thoughts that cross your mind.  Most likely all the other women are thinking the same thing you are so get over "what you look like" and "what the woman next to you looks like"!!

2. Pace yourself.  Everyone starts out very fast, don't worry about getting to the front, just lightly jog until you get out on your own! 

3. There is no shame in walking. Some people run; some people walk. Others do a little of both. Even the fastest runners pulled over to the sidewalk to take walking breaks along the way, and I was one of them!  I even walked the first hill we got too...the cool air got to me and I  couldn't catch my breath, but I got back into it on the next straight-away!

4. Enjoy the moment. The whole experience was unlike anything else. Along the way, you hear the collective pounding of sneakers on the pavement all around you. People sit in their front yards and gather on the sidewalks just to cheer on complete strangers. When you look around, you see people who are all there for one common goal. I listened to some rockin’ songs on my iPod (without which I might have lost motivation when it got really tough). And when you see the finish line approaching, no matter how tired you feel, somehow you dig down deep and give it everything you’ve got left. It's the most fun you'll ever have running.

5. Keep moving. Don’t stop moving just because you cross the finish line. Keep walking for several minutes to cool down, and visit the water station to get hydrated. Stay on your feet as much as possible—this will help you avoid cramps and post-workout soreness. Spend several minutes stretching, too, focusing on the calves, quads and hips, which are likely to be sore in the coming days.

6. Be proud. I never thought that a 5K was really a big deal—I mean, it’s no marathon, right? But it was a challenge and I was glad that I had pushed myself to the end!

7. You CAN do it. I saw children under 10, seniors over 60, pregnant women, dads pushing strollers, tall, short—every size, shape and age imaginable. Everyone was there and they all did it! Don’t let the fear of coming in last deter you—it’s still better than all the people who never try.

8. Try again. I am 100% motivated to try again! I want to get a better time and I want to run the whole course without taking a break. These goals are enough to inspire me to finally take up a regular running program (never saw that one coming!). In fact, there’s another race in a month that I think I might try!!

3.18.2011

Happy St. Patty's Day

Alli Jo was ready to go this morning for her St. Patty's day party at school!!  She wasn't quite sure about a "holiday" that you pinch people.  She asked me about a million questions, just to make sure she heard me right HA HA She made sure she wore a GREEN night gown to bed the night before so she could wake up with green on =)  Too cute! 

3.15.2011

Stella Alyse - 14months

Hard to believe I bought these shoes last year at a yard sale, thinking how BIG they were and now they fit Stells :(  She is growing up soooo much!!  I just lub her so much, yes I said "lub" hee hee!



Here are few pics of the Diva from my iPhone:
Copied this from my girl Courtney...
Right now Stella.....
Loves: dancing, screaming, bananas, climbing in chairs or anything she can, our cats (kitty she calls them),
her baby who she calls "stella"
Learning: says the following words......daddy, momma, mamaw, Ner (Hunter), sis, kitty, no, yuck, see (she points to everything while saying this), pap, and many more! 

Life: eats whatever everyone else is eating even if she just ate.  Takes 2 naps a day.  Still taking her meds for the absence seizures.  Doing ok with them, but still has an occasional seizure, dr. said that is "normal". 

Body: wears 12mos clothes, size 4 diapers, size 2-3 shoes

3.11.2011

No joke, my kids are fighting over DOING chores!!

So the other day I decided it's time for my kids to REALLY do chores!! I am so fed up with Joe and I doing everything around the house! So I was looking online for chore charts to print off, but nothing was what I wanted and it just seemed to hard! I went to my blog and started reading my favs that I follow, and clicked on eighteen25's post. Could be fate because what are the odds I was looking for it the SAME day she posted!! Crazy!! And it's EXACTLY what I was looking for!!

So no joke, my kids are fighting over DOING the chores!!  
Check out my job chart.
in fact their mission is to...
 provide parents a website to help teach children the value of a dollar, how to work and be responsible, in a fun and positive way.

here is what you do:


create a page for your family




click on assign jobs
(once you are in that window, you are able to select child, chore, reward, day, am/pm.)
i love that you can set up each child's account with chores that are specific to their age and abilities.
  

once you are all set up you're ready to roll.

head on over to the website and browse a minute. 


take a look at the option of setting specific rewards.
vacations
a new toy/video game
they can shop on amazon...Hunter chose her big prize Going to a concert! 


they also have the option of  setting their money aside for savings
or
they can share with charities...
how cool is that?


oh... and when they finish their chores, you will be notified...
by text or email!!
(no, i'm not joking...cool, right?)

3.09.2011

Just keep swimmin.....


I was trying to help Alli learn to go under the water w/out being afraid, so I filled up our master tub and let the girls play in their swim suits =)  So much fun as you can see!!  By the way this was taken with my new iPhone...what was I thinking, should have got me one years ago! ha ha

3.08.2011

Dance 2011

This will be Hunter's 6th year in dance! WOW when did my baby girl grow up??? I went for the first time (this year) last night to watch Hunter's dance. She practices at home, but I like to be surprised at recital...and I must admit when all the girls are together it's awesome! She has come so far!  She also does a tap song and this year a hip-hop song (extra class she is taking).

Here she is with one of their songs...she has the dark green pants on. 




This was Alli's first year in dance!  She LOVES it!  She cannot wait till Monday's because she has class!! 

Here is one of her songs (she is in the turquoise shirt in back) .

3.05.2011

Aniston Sneak Peek

Had such a fun session with Miss Aniston this morning!  Such a sweetheart!!  So tiny and petite, just like Stella...it's not often Stella sees another baby her size and Aniston is even smaller =)  So darn cute!! 



3.04.2011

Back Yo Files up Peeps!

You often hear of the horror stories of losing ALL the pictures on your computer.  And before I worked in IT I had no idea how to prevent that.  Most people when uploading their files, save them straight to the computer hard drive.  Either on their "c" drive under my photos or whatever it's named on your computer.  Well what happens is that internal hard drive fails...this could be just a random day or it could take a lightning strike...anything really.  Well anything and everything you have saved is gone :(  My suggestion is to take it into a computer repair business first see if they can recover anything.  Worse case scenario is all is gone :(  We've had customers have their entire "lives" on their computer!!  I just wanna cry with them!

Here is how you can PREVENT that from ever happening....

Get an external hard drive.  Above is the picture of the one I bought HERE. I got this just a few months back and it was $90 then, so price has significantly come down.  This is seriously the easiest thing to use.  It comes with a USB cable and you plug it right into the USB port just like a little thumb drive, but this stores TONS of data!  Now these can fail too, just the same as an internal.....so I would suggest if you're a photographer, to have (2) or more of them and to back up on cds and dvds as well!  There are also many online sites that sell storage. 

My work flow goes something like this:

*upload photos to computer
*create a folder on my desktop (right click, create new)
*copy and paste all files into new folder
*burn new folder to CD or DVD depending on file size
*copy and paste new folder to external hard drive
*start editing

Now I have 4 copies of those files (memory card, computer, CD, and external hard drive). Don't be lazy, if it would kill you to lose these pictures, then BACK THEM UP! Make it part of your routine!

3.02.2011

Just another day......

in the Robinson house =)


Alli Jo driving Stella crazy
 Stella throwing one of her MANY fits

 Again with a fit :(  LOL

Alli Jo will kill me one day for posting this.  But she has picked up a nasty habit of  picking her nose, gross!!  So I just so happened to catch her in the act.  I told her if I caught her again I would take the picture to her preschool class (OUCH MOM).  Yeah I'm mean, but I want her to quit, so I gotta do what I gotta do HA HA!
 Once I caught her
 It didn't seem so funny when I said I was going to show her classmates
 But my sweet baby can't stay mad at me long, I told her, "DO NOT LAUGH!"
 Such a sweetie pie!!!