Ghosts & Jack-o-lanterns!!!

Last week we were all nestled in our home when the doorbell rang and Luke ran to the door. I was in the garage and didn't hear the doorbell, but when I got inside Luke was yelling about us getting a treat. Once I went to investigate I found out that our house had been hit by a ghost..... The Phantom Ghost. This is a fun surprise gift that is left on someone's door without them knowing who left it! You are suppose to copy the letter that comes w/ the treat, gather a bag of treats, and make a little sign with a ghost on it. Then put them all in a little treat bag or basket and leave them on someone's front steps - you cannot let them see you! Of course I love this type of stuff, so I had to post it. The best part was the next night when we "ghosted" 2 neighbors home. It was so much fun!!

Ever since we got our pumpkins, the kids have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to carve them. So for our Family Home Evening activity this past Monday night, we made our Jack-o-lanterns. At first Luke was hesitant about sticking his hand inside the pumpkin. Of course Carman was not and did not waste any time getting her seeds out. Eventually Luke warmed up to the idea and joined in the festivities. We had a great time!!!

Carman taking her turn at the pumpkin guts!!

Luke going for it! (I love Carman's expression in the background)

The finished products. Mine is the "R" pumpkin for Robinsons and the kids picked the kitten design. Aren't the the 2 cutest pumpkins you have ever seen? (and I am not talking about the round orange things)

What's Happening with the Robinsons!!!

October has turned out to be a very busy month for us. We got Luke's group picture taken for soccer. He had another game today and he played his good buddy David's team. Luke scored 3 goals today, which was critical b/c grandma and poppop came to Luke's game and Poppop LOVES Krispy Kreme doughnuts!!(our tradition of getting doughnuts for every goal scored)

Carman has also been very lucky this past week. Her grandma got her a new table for her room. That she loves to have "Hot Chocolate parties" w/ her babies. Memaw also made her some new window treatments for her room. I love them both. Thanks Grandma and Memaw!

This past Friday we met Luke's class at the pumpkin patch. They had so much fun picking out their perfect pumpkin. After that we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

Tonight we had a Harvest Ho'Down at church and it was so much fun. We had a Chili and Dessert contest. I didn't win anything, but wasn't expecting to either. The best part was that we were taught some basic square dancing moves. It was a lot of fun. Luke even got into it and asked me as soon as we got home to do it again. Sweet Carman even gives it a valiant try as well. So it has been a good and busy October so far!!!

Potty Training!

This is a new record for me: 3 posts in 1 day. I had to post this picture of Carman. This picture pretty much sums up how potty training is going. After a few days of this, I put the potty up for awhile. We will revisit this another time.

Ode to Christian!

This past Wednesday, October 1st was Christian's 32nd birthday. We celebrated by having family and friends over for cake and ice cream. I want him to know how very thankful I am to have such an amazing husband and friend. He does so much for me and our family and he continues to put a smile on my face after 7 years. I hope he knows how very much I love him. Below are some pictures from his party:

Luke and Carman waiting on the front porch for our guests!

2 of my favorite people in the entire world.

Allie, Jack, Luke and Carman (not pictured: Josh, Phoebe & Nikki)

Christian opening some presents and cards!

Goal!!!

This is Luke's 3rd season playing soccer and he loves it! He has made so much progress and I am very proud of him. The first season was ... of course, comical!! All the kids thought the ball was "their ball" and Luke threw several fits on the field. The second season, Luke finally started to grasp the concept behind soccer. The third season, he enjoys playing and is really good. Last game, his prediction was that he was going to score 10 goals. He actually made it half way there. He scored 5 goals. Our tradition is to go to Krispy Kreme after each game and he can get the same amount of doughnuts as the number of goals he scores. He loves this tradition and does not let us forget it. He is going to empty our wallets and expand our bellies, though! Here is a picture of him about to score a goal at his last game.

Obama's Clock

I got the following email the other day and I thought it was so funny. Enjoy!


A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, 'What are all those clocks?' St. Peter answered, 'Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands on your clock will move. 'Oh,' said the man, 'whose clock is that? ''That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie.' 'Incredible,' said the man. 'And whose clock is that one?' St. Peter responded, 'That's Abraham Lincoln's=2 0clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life.'Where's Senator Obama's clock?' asked the man. 'Obama's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan.


Let me add that I think just about every politician out there has told more than his/her fair share of lies, but since this joke highlighted Obama I loved it!!!

We are the Pirates of ECU, hey!!

I love love love my Pirates. I am so freakin' proud of them tonight. Today they beat down the #8 team West Virginia at Dowdy Ficklen Stadium. It was an awesome game. The crowd filled with fellow ECU fans didn't stop cheering the entire game. The pirates totally dominated the Mountaineers. If you are at all interested in how good the Pirates played, visit any sports website, b/c I don't mean to brag, but we are the "talk of the town"!! Below are some pictures from the game.

One more thing before I end this post, we had a social at the house on Labor Day for the Elders Quorum group at our house. Below is a picture that the kids paused for 1 second to let me take.

Our 4 year old aspiring artist and The Trip to Charlotte

I had to post the latest adventure with my 4 year old little boy! Last Sunday I went like any other Sunday to pick Luke up from his Sunbeam class but this time it was a bit different. When I picked him up I instantly noticed that he didn't look the same as he did when I dropped him off. During his time in Sunbeams that day he had managed to color his face and arms and managed to completely miss his clothing (thank goodness). At first I was shocked and then mad and later when I got home I had to keep turning my head to laugh so that he couldn't see me. He never gave me a good reason as to why he wanted to color himself. I thought it was a boy thing but Camille in his class did it as well. But trust me, she didn't color half as much as Luke. Maybe he is an aspiring artist! Oh by the way, immediately following church that day was my Grandma Phoebe's 94th birthday party. So I had to bring him home and put him in the tub. The water turned blue once he got in.

This past weekend we travelled to Charlotte to see the ECU vs. Virginia Tech game in the Bank of America Stadium. We decided to bring Luke and Carman stayed with Joy for the weekend. We left Friday afternoon and as soon as we hit the road the fun began. The entire ride up to Charlotte we were joined by several Pirate fans flying their flags. That night we went to eat at TGIFriday's and noticed that Lowe's Motor Speedway was not even a mile from the restaurant. Since Luke is a huge racecar lover (thanks to the movie "Cars", trust me, we don't watch Nascar or anything), we decided to take him by the track. It was dark and we couldn't get in and we couldn't really see anything. He was disappointed but we promised him that if he behaved at the game that we would bring him back by the track. So we went to our hotel and after letting Luke swim in the pool we finally went to sleep. Since Luke stayed up way past his bedtime, we assumed that he would sleep in the following morning. WRONG. He was up at his normal 7:00. We got ready and left for the game. Once we parked our car, we saw nothing but Pirate and Hookie fans. It was great! The stadium was huge. The first half of the game I had to get past the heat. The second half, I didn't even think about it. The game was sooooo good. I am sure that you know by now that we won! Now, I cannot wait until this Saturday for the West Virginia game. I hope it doesn't get rained out. Go Pirates!!!

Notice Luke's face. He was not as excited as we were. Despite his tiredness and desire to go to the racetrack, he was really good.

So, after we witnessed the Pirate victory, we took Luke by the Lowe's Motor Speedway. Please notice the difference in his expression in this picture from the one above. He was in heaven at the racetrack.

I cannot leave out my precious Carman in this post. I constantly thought of her as we were away but knew she was in the best of hands. I don't know what we would do without Aunt Joy. Below is a picture of Carman helping Grandma Phoebe blow out her birthday candles.

Summer was way too short!

I cannot believe that summer is already over. This summer has gone by way too quickly. Tomorrow is my first day of class at ECU. Of course I will simply hand out the syllabus and do some introductions and let them go, but it still requires me to go into work. :( Since I have not posted in a while, I wanted to note a few of the things that we have been up to these days. First and foremost, we moved into our new home. Yippy! We are loving it and feel so blessed to have it. We are pretty much settled in. I don't think I will ever have everything completely done though. Luke loves his new bunk beds, the new Wii Fit and all the new hiding places. Carman transitioned nicely into her big girl bed. Whenever someone comes over she wants to show it to them. She loves her bed, my big tub, and also the new hiding places. I have to say my favorite things are the space, my big shower, the back yard, my kitchen, oh let me stop.... I love it all! Christian cannot get over having a sodded yard. He is in landscapers heaven! Other than adjusting to our new surroundings we have been going to the pool. Where Luke can now swim without his life jacket in the deep water. It was amazing how all it took for him to do it was to see Phoebe do it. Carman tries her best to keep up w/ the big kids in the pool. We also went to a Kinston Indians game and at the bottom of the 2nd inning Carman said "I go home now!". Oh well. We also went this past weekend to Morehead City b/c Uncle Mickey, Daniel and Lisa were in town. We all enjoyed going out on the boat on Saturday. My motto is "There is nothing better than being on a boat with the ones you love!!" Christian was just called as the Elders Quorom president at church so he has been rather busy these days plus travelling with work and he starts back w/ graduate school classes this week. But, he still finds time to play with his new toys: Macbook (I hate it, b/c I don't know how to work it), ITouch, etc. Boys and their toys!! Hopefully I will get better about posting more. Below are some recent pictures.

Can you say.. "Priss Pot!"

My boys!

I love the expression on Carman's face. I see it often. Whenever I ask her something, she loves to make the "what you talkin bout" face!

And Luke loves to make this face whenever I ask to take his picture. Silly boy!

I miss the beach already!!

We have been at the beach the past 3 weeks and I miss it! I would love to live there all summer! We spent a week at Emerald Isle at my mom's beach place and had a lot of fun. We built sand castles, went to the aquarium, played putt putt (or as Luke called it "duck duck", go figure), the water slide, we went tubing, man it was like paradise! Then following week was the 4th of July ( the holiday where the entire world celebrates my mother's birthday)! So we went back to the beach for the 4th. This trip involved my family, my mom, Joy's family, John's family, my aunts and Jill's family. It is always fun to get my kids together with their cousins. They love each other so much! My mom really enjoyed us being with her as well.

We close on our new house on July 25th. We are getting so excited. Below are alot of pictures of different stuff.

Luke and Carman buried in the sand with their friend from the beach.

Luke learned to swim without his jacket while we were on vacation.

Carman loved tubing. She cried when we took her off. Btw- those are not her feet, they are mine.

Christian and I went on a date night while Alan and Sharon watched the kids for us. This is us at the Beaufort waterfront.

Our family on Carrot Island after tubing. It was super windy that day!

This is a picture taken from my foyer looking into the family room.

One side of my kitchen. I love the window at the sink b/c I can look out into the backyard.

The sodded fenced in backyard helped to seal the deal for us.

That's enough for tonight. I will post more later.

3856 Forsyth Park Court

I have to get use to that new address...... b/c we are not homeless anymore!!!!!!!! Our offer was accepted on the house we wanted. I am so excited. We are on vacation right now but I was so excited about the house that I had to post. Below is a picture of the house. I will have more details later. For now, I need to enjoy my time at the beach.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Much like everyone, we have been extremely busy these days! First of all, we sold and moved out of our first home. It was a very bittersweet experience. We made so many good memories in 505 Huff Drive. We made lifelong friends with our neighbors: Dora, Gary, Don, Sue, Frank, Kathy, etc. We are now living at 4305 Wildwood with the best landlord: Pat Carman; aka Memaw. It has been great! Mom said "If you cook, I will do laundry." I was like "Heck yeah!" Poor thing, she hasn't eaten alot of my cooking. She might want to switch soon.

The weekend after we moved in with mom, we went to Tweetsie to see the "real" Thomas the Tank Engine. Alan and Sharon went with us and we had a great time. Luke did not understand why Thomas was pulling a green train and not Annie and Clarabell. They also saw Sir Topham Hat. Then the kids really enjoyed swimming in the pool at the hotel. I am not sure who enjoyed the trip more, the kids or the grandparents. Here are a few pictures of the trip.

Above, is a picture of Luke and Carman at the hotel.

Above is our family with a "Really Useful Engine"

Who is the happiest in this picture???

Above is our family with Sir Topham Hat!

Luke keeps asking to go back and see Thomas, the real Thomas. So I guess this will become an annual thing for us. Believe it or not... Carman loved it just as much as Luke!

I also had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in my girlfriend's wedding this past weekend. Ashley Gibson(now Cuesta) is one of my best friends since kindergarten. She was a beautiful bride and had a beautiful wedding. Her wedding was in Wilmington, NC and Alan and Sharon watched Luke and Carman for us so that we could attend. It was such a nice getaway for us. We stayed in the historic downtown area and it was absolutely my "cup of tea". I loved it! I didn't get many pictures, but here is one of us at the bridesmaids luncheon.

We ate so much good food this weekend, that I feel like I could go a week without food and be just fine. The best part was being able to catch up with my girls. Below is a picture of us at the spa where we got our hair done for the wedding.

I cannot forget to mention my husband, since this past weekend was Father's Day. We left Wilmington on Saturday night and travelled to Morhead for Father's Day on Sunday, plus we needed to pick up our kids. As fun as it was to get away, I cannot stay away from my kids too long. I get seperation anxiety. So we tried to let Christian know how much we love him. Because of the fact that I was blessed to have such a perfect daddy, I always knew that I would have high expectations for my husband to live up to. I am soooo very thankful that Christian is not only my husband and best friend but he is honestly the best father! That makes me love him even more. I love you babe!

Contract Pending

I have not posted for a while because we got a contract on our house last Monday. So I have been busy dealing with inspections, appraisals, packing, etc. I am glad that others are updating their blogs b/c on my breaks, I really enjoy reading them. We are suppose to close on May 28th and move the weekend before that on the 24th. So after all of this is over I will have a little more time to update. Hope everyone is well!

Strawberry Fields Forever!!!

This past Friday we joined the play group from church on a trip to the Strawberry Field. I was so excited because I inherited my Grandma Phoebe's love for the most fabulous fruit in the world.... strawberries. Heather Moss arranged the whole day and it was so much fun. Our group gathered and started with a tour of the animals. We saw chickens, goats (some w/ child), roosters, a peacock and bunnies (Luke's favorite). After that, we all got on a covered wagon and went for a ride around the cow pastures. We got within a few feet of the cows. After the ride, came the best part.... picking strawberries. Our picking went as follows: I was picking beautiful red strawberries and putting them in my basket, Luke was picking strawberries and putting them in his basket and then dumping them in my basket (he was a big helper) and Carman was picking strawberries and squeezing them in her hands and then trying to eat some of the mess in her hand. It was a lot of fun!

I also had to mention Luke's last soccer game. He did such a good job! He scored 4 out of the 6 goals that his team scored. He was on Fire!! (good thing, he plays for Team Fire)

This weekend was so busy because on Friday night, I had a much needed girl's night to the movies with Allison, Courtney, Jenny and Leah (we later saw Joy and Nikki). We went to see "Baby Mama". Very funny! Then on Saturday morning, we had Luke's soccer game. After that I rushed home to get food ready for Allison's baby shower. Then rushed to help set up for the shower. It went really well. The food was yummers! Kim Bloomfield did an AMAZING job on the cake. She put Your Perfect Cake to shame. I think Allison and Tommy got a lot of nice stuff for their twins that are on the way. I hate that I don't have any pictures to post but it was very nice!!! Then this weekend we have Ashley's wedding shower at Brook Valley. That should be fun too! Busy, busy, busy, but I wouldn't haven't any other way. Except maybe 1 weekend w/ nothing to do!

I almost forgot... the other day when Christian and I were cleaning the strawberries that we picked at the Strawberry field, Christian said "JoAnna, come and look at Carman". When I turned around I saw Carman talking to her baby and changing her diaper. It was such a sweet moment. She is such a mother wannabe! I love her to pieces!