South Florida Regionals

Lol, I just realized I forgot to post that WE
WON!!! Not just in the winning alliance competing with WHamO, but also the Chairman's Award, the highest honor given at the regionals. Also, one of our students won the Dean's Award. It was a very exciting event, one that sends us to World's in St Louis, to compete against all the winning teams from the regional events.

Happy 16th birthday!

Happy birthday Garry! Can't believe you are 16. Glad though, cause now you can drive the kids to their events and I can stay home and eat my bonbons:) Love you!

Oink, oink, BOOM!

Sports are not Garry's style. When he was six, he told me "mom, do you know in football you fall down and get hurt?!". Since then, we have tried many sports, and he humors me by finishing the season, but has no desire to continue on. And aside from music lessons we haven't found anything that he really enjoys as an activity with other teens. Well, eureka! Or should I say...oink, oink, BOOM?
Our new obsession comes in the shape of a cute little pig flying thru the air on a rocket. The pig, Wilbur, is the mascot of a robot building club called Exploding Bacon. Participants of this don't just build a random robot, but a Frisbee flying robot to compete against other bots in a game played across the world. And this past weekend, we got to see the fruition of 63 teams from across the world in action at the Orlando First Robotics Competition (FRC). We proudly wore our pig ears, chanted the Wilbur's theme cheer (see above) and little pigs even painted their hair in club colors. Needless to say, we (big and little pigs alike) are hooked on this awesome event. So much so, that you will probably be seeing a lot of it over the next few years. And although Shelby isn't quite old enough yet, she has already counting down the days until she can compete.
If you get a moment, check out this event at FIRST. We have not only been wowed by the event itself, but also by the fantastic group of teens and mentors (college FIRST Alumni, parents and industry professionals) that worked together daily for six weeks; designing, prototyping and programming bot and the family friendly atmosphere that became our second home. So until next time, take it from me, PIGS DO FLY! We have seen it:)


Like our group and watch some of the matches from the Regional at : Facebook - Exploding Bacon 1902

Little pigs!

While we didn't win this time, we did win the Creativity Award  by Xerox!

At the beginning of our adventure...prototyping

Ready to cheer

Grandma and Papa joined us -Grandma and Grandpa Robinson did too...I  missed pic:(

Taking a break!

Shamelessly promoting! Exploding Bacon team 1902

WHam-O (we're on the blue side in the center) taking the court

WHam-O up close...

After we lost our last match...we lost something else as well!

Misbehavin' Washer

Our washer has a feature that allows one to set a timer to start the load at a later date. It has a digital face which counts down the hours and minutes. We use this feature often, setting it before going to bed for early morning use.
Last night Bryce had a boo-boo so I sent him into the laundry room to get a band-aid. Band-aids are easily accessible for the kids in an over the door shoe storage holder on the inside of the laundry room door. Apparently he noticed the timer counting down. I heard beeping coming from that direction, which indicated the washer cycle being turned off.  He comes out saying in a very serious voice, "Mom, the washer was up to something, so I stopped it!".

It's a Valentines party!

Some of the kids (and mine!) favorite friends are a little farther away these days. That means that we don't see them as often anymore. Until the end of last year we met up weekly for the kid's recorder class, but since Garry has been involved with 4-H robotics and we are currently driving back and forth 20 miles each way 6 days a week, it was decided that recorder class would have to be retired for now.

So when a request went out for a Valentine's party at the park, of course all agreed. And a Valentines party is nothing without a favor to share, right?

 Shelby has an obsession. I can't say anything. She got it from me, although I'm not as so obsessed these days. She loves to craft! And you can see it if you go to her bedroom. That is, if you can get into her room. She (this she got from her Oma) keeps everything! Every little craft or paper project. Cardboard horse barns, drawings and jewelry can be found if you dig. If she thinks she can make something out of it, or has already made something out of it, it gets squirreled away in her room. Family Fun magazines, of which she has dozens, add to the chaos. So when I mentioned that we needed a Valentines project, out came the magazines! Thankfully she located one for herself and Aidan simple and inexpensive projects. We found something for Bryce via The good 'ole internet. It's a good thing they were simple too, cause several we completed in the car ON THE WAY to the party. By the time we pulled up, all crafts were completed and ready to share. Happy early Valentine's day! 

Aidan's super hero sucker

Bad picture: Shelby's other favor was a ring made out of pipe cleaner with a Hershey's kiss jewel!

Bryce's "Mario lips"

One of Shelby's Valentine gifts: a mouse puppet!

On the way to the party, I'm sadly informed by Shelby that her mice have no tails. Thankfully I start projects and never finish them. There was that crochet needle and ball of yarn that finally got some use!

Being the great moms that we are, we let all the kids eat all they wanted...

Happy Valentine's Day 2013!

Out of the mouth of a little...

As we sat down to play a game, Aidan's sweet little voice informs me: "mom, you can play first since you're so bad at this game!" Apparently he was right. Out of four possible positions, I placed 4th!

And the winner is!

Thanks Garry!

 I look back on many of the posts, and my eldest is the kid who doesn't get talked about much. That's because he DOES wear his underwear, doesn't hang from the rope pulling out his teeth, and has NEVER stripped down to the birthday suit and thrown his and siblings clothes over into the neighbor's yard.
So this post is entirely devoted to you, Garry!
Yesterday evening I came down with a nasty flu bug. I spent most of the evening in bed, and when I got up this morning, I felt a little bit better but as the day went on it got worse again. Well, in typical me style, the kids projects for the fair have NOT been completed yet. The deadline to finish them is....tomorrow.  I'm only taking partial blame here-some of the stuff for the projects have been here, but no one has been working on them. The other, well, I needed to go to the store for missing pieces and parts to finish. So, early this afternoon, we loaded all up in the car to run our errands.Thank goodness Garry can drive! The only thing better would have been if he didn't need me in the passenger seat, but I'll take what I can get! Feeling crummy and probably not looking much better, I gave Garry my list and sent him in. He completed each task and stayed under the limit cash wise on what I gave him! When we got home, I crawled out into the back yard to imitate an alligator; soaking up the last of the sun in hopes to keep from freezing. He kept an eye out on the little ones and even made spaghetti from scratch. I would have taken a picture of his wonderful meal, but there wasn't any left! So, thanks son...I appreciate all you do for me around here. You are a such a great help around here, not just today, but every day. I love you!

As for the the fair projects, I wish I could say they are completed and ready to go....but what fun would that be!?!?!?