In lieu of Christmas cards...

For those of you who have been waiting breathlessly for this (hi Mom!), here is the long-awaited, illness-delayed Robinson 2012 Christmas Video!

Thanks for watching!  Now go take a nap on the couch.  (I know I want to.)  

6 months old

Say what?!

Come on in, pull up a chair.

Because we spent our Thanksgiving holiday on our own this year (No extended family, no friends, sorry guys!), we recorded our "feast" to share with all of you.  Oh, and we told the kids to get dressed in fancy clothes, and that is what they came up with.

Don't worry, we sped it up and added a catchy tune.


So here it is, Robinson Thanksgiving 2012.

Or, An Attempt At a Nice Dinner With Four Kids Under 6.

Did you catch the post-pie-plate licking?  Or L1 clapping during the prayer?  Or H1's sunglasses?

Thanks to Kelly for the inspiration.

One month of M1

As of yesterday, M1 has been here for one month. 

She is fitting in seamlessly as the adored younger sister of a boisterous set of older siblings.
It won't last forever, and I sense an intense H1/M1 rivalry on the horizon. 
But when L1 repeats several times a day how cute she is, and wonders if he can hold her, and H1 kisses her forehead repeatedly, and W1 gazes at her and plays with her toes, I have hope for the future.

Because we are meant for her, and she is meant for us.

The hospital visit

The evening after M1 was born, my parents brought the kids to the hospital to meet her.  

They spent 5 minutes in wonderment over their new baby sister, and the next 25 finding ways to make trouble.  

A fairly constant theme around here, I must say.

#4

She broke all the Robinson records: latest, heaviest, fastest.

7lb 8oz 5:29am

An evening outing fueled by slurpees.

A warm evening.  

Free slurpee night at 7-11.  

Highland park to catch the tail end of the lilac blooms.

Silly children. (I blame the slurpees.)

Did I mention that my mom is here?  She's here to play the wait-for-this-baby-to-be-born game with us.  We are so lucky she's here!  If she wasn't, this waiting would be so much more stressful, and a lot less fun.

A weeknight with the Redwings

While I enjoyed a girl's night out (a pregnancy celebration), R1 braved the local ballpark with the kids. 

Generous friends gave us their box seat tickets, so the kids got to enjoy their first baseball game in style. 

They had a fabulous time eating junk food, meeting the team mascot, and staying up way past their bedtimes.

Hair by L1

One Sunday, noonish, in May I walked up the stairs to find a trail of hair leading me down the hallway.  3-inch-blonde-locks.  I followed the trail to my bedroom and found L1 happily cutting H1's hair in the middle of my bed.

I didn't get an action photo because L1, immediately guilt-ridden, ran out of the room.  H1 was just upset that they got caught and didn't want to have to stop. 

Luckily, the hair left on H1's head was about chin length, and easy to cut into a cute bob.  Which was good, because all this went down about an hour before church.

So, we repaired the damage, repeated the mantra "haircuts are only done by mom or dad", and every one lived happily ever after.

A good read.

W1 has been working hard in kindergarten this year.  He really enjoys most of what they do: math, music, gym, crafts, puzzles.  But he does not enjoy practicing reading and writing. 

So, the other night at bedtime, when he sat down with a book and wanted to read it by himself, R1 and I just looked at each other with raised eyebrows and tried not to make too much of a fuss.

Granted, he chose a book that he has mostly memorized, but we are declaring it the first book he has independently read.  Let's hope this trend continues until he can't bear to be without a book in arm's reach.

Spring break 2012

During spring break this year there was a last minute trip to the DC area.  Of the find-out-R1-needs-to-go-for-school-and-leave-three-hours-later sort of last minute. 

 

The first two days were spent with R1 working and the kids and I occupying ourselves with nature hikes, air and space museums, IKEA and random trying-not-to-get-lost wanderings in the car desperately searching for a playground.  All of which I took a total of 2 pictures.  Who is the photographer in the family?

When R1 was done with the pesky work stuff, we went to downtown DC and hit our favorites:  the Air and Space museum and the American History museum.  Followed by some random running up and down the gravel pathways and admiring of the Capitol and Washington Monument at dusk.  And capped by getting a little bit lost trying to find our way out of that darn place.

 

It was fun to escape for a few days, swim in the hotel pool, eat $7 hot dogs, and try out every single couch at IKEA.  Just maybe a little more notice next time, huh?

Easter happened

This Easter there was:

An Easter egg hunt with friends.

Egg dyeing.

A treasure hunt in true Larson tradition.

 And cute semi-well-behaved kids.

 

March was...

Cold.

And warm.

But isn't that how it always is?

St. Patrick's Day

This year we went downtown to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade.  It was hot, crowded, and a sea of green.  The sound of bagpipes, however, made it worth it.

The parade ran into H1's naptime.  That, and the chocolate peanut butter cup that melted in her hand made her a little upset.  See the necklace she is wearing?  The Geico gecko was handing those out.  To this day, if you ask H1 where she got her necklace, she'll tell you she got it from the monster.

Later that day, we celebrated with friends and a corned beef and cabbage dinner.  Delicious!

this past weekend

I bought a houseplant. It's your normal, nothing-too-exciting ficus. But I feel like I just made a huge commitment. Someone has to remember to water this thing. Feed it every once in a while. And make sure it gets enough but not too much sun.



It sits right there on the bookshelf next to the TV. I like that spot. When (if) I have a chance to sit down on the couch, I can choose to stare at the greenery or whatever British period drama I can find on netflix.

Perhaps I should just look at it as practice for this baby that will be born in a couple months. Someone will have to remember to water, feed and sun her, too.

H1 and her grandpa

While visiting my parents in California at Christmas, H1 became a barnacle attached to my dad's leg. She followed him everywhere and I think they both loved it.


Now, if we mention the word California, she will pat her chest and say, "My grandpa!". And if R1 or I are sitting at the computer, she will demand to see pictures of grandpa and grandma and California. And by demand I mean DEMAND.


Or, she will say something about swimming in the pool, another California favorite.