10 Feet of Trouble

Sourwood Festival 2011

2011-10-20T09:51:00.000-04:00

This might be the only way I can get Savannah to wash clothes.

She was the only one of my kids with long enough legs to pedal this

bike. She said it was very hard.

The kids enjoying the sno cones from the Kiwani's.

If you are ever in Black Mountain during the month of August,

this is the festival to attend.

So many great booths to enjoy.

I love it!

Savannah's 1st Salon Hair Cut

2011-10-20T09:40:00.000-04:00

Before school started back up, Savannah decided she wanted

short hair. She was quite adventurous in her choosing of hair styles.

She went for something dramatically different and layered, so I could not do it for her.

We had to get a professional to do it and Savannah had fun.

Ta da. These pictures don't do it justice.

It really is a cute hair style for her.

Tennessee Adventures with the Hurts

2011-10-18T08:44:00.000-04:00

This summer, Ethan was able to go to Denzil's for 2 weeks.

Of course he had a blast, and came back a new boy.

He learned to ride a bike, and came home darker if that s at all

possible.

To drop Ethan off, we met Jason & Sheba , in Knoxville.

Sheba's GPS found this neat park in rather a shady area of Knoxville.

Emalene is a good model, always willing to pose when I say smile.

Here is my little Ruby in deep concentration.

Ethan did not even look back when he left me.

Gator with the big boys.

Emalene in her favorite color, and Ruby in hers.

How cute are they?

A group shot at the drop off.

These monkey bars, kept the kids entertained for a while.

Each one tried to make it across.

Not sure any succeeded.

Here is Gator trying to reach.

Finally he found a sucker.

Look at him hang by himself.

Denzil looks very unsure about this.

We thought we could get a group shot, but the

wheel kept spinning and little arms got tired.

The two amigos.

A group shot at the pickup.

This shot was taken at a farmers market in Knoxville.

I think it is where the rich people tail gate.

It was like no other out door market I have been to.

On our way home, we stopped at the flea market in pigeon forge.

These little slider squirrels? were quite popular.

Until next summer....

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-10-18T07:08:00.000-04:00

Last spring, I became a little experimental with some

of our families favorite recipes. My kids love

home made chicken noodle soup. I thought, why

not make home made chicken pot pie.

Thank you Throw Down with Bobby Flay for the idea.

So I boil my chicken and veggies in chicken broth on low for a few hours.

I then shred the chicken and add cream of chicken soup to thicken.

I buy one box of puff pastry sheets, not the shells.

Make sure they are defrosted and roll out on floured surface.

I then line my sprayed baking dish with one sheet of pastry.

Load it up with my chicken and veggies and thickened broth.

This is shown in the first picture.

Then you lay the second sheet on top. Poke a few holes

and dab with butter.

Bake at about 425 for 30 minutes or until dough is golden.

Allow to sit about 15 minutes so your chicken broth layer can

thicken.

Then enjoy.

Savannah & I made this one as

a personal progress goal.

Accident Prone Xander

2011-10-17T10:11:00.000-04:00

This summer, we had the annual Christmas in July.

A sister in our branch puts this on, complete with a Charlie

Brown Christmas tree.

It is quite a treat for the kids.

This year, she chose a city park with paved paths

for the kids to bike and ride scooters....

Well, wouldn't you know one of my kids

would flip over his scooter and land teeth first

on the pavement.

Of course when kids were coming to get us, we were told he hurt his

leg, he hurt his arm, he hurt his hand, but never any mention about broken teeth.

Passed the blood and shock, Xander survived and had

to wait all weekend to see the dentist.

He was proud of his new gap tooth smile.

This is him with numb lips.

New partial crowns. Lucky for him, they were quite inexpensive.

You can't even tell he had an accident.

Girls Camp

2011-10-17T09:48:00.000-04:00

This year, Savannah got to attend her very first girls camp.

Here she is with Morgan, another first timer.

Not sure how Savannah would have done without Sister Skroski.

She showed Savannah the ropes and really took care of her

in my absence.

Savannah all excited to leave.

I can only guess what these last few pictures are.

Savannah had a great time and Larry was

there as a priesthood chaperone so she was not completely

alone.

This summer was a summer of firsts for my girl.

She had her first girls camp, her first youth Temple

trip and her first talk in sacrament.

Wow!

Outer Banks 2011

2011-07-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

It was not difficult getting the kids up

Saturday morning to head to the beach.

We left early enough to be on the road

when the sun rose.

My poor picture does not do it justice.

It was a beautiful reddish orange and the sky

was pink all around.

The kids were so loud and excited!

Larry liked taking the kids out first thing in the morning and

again in the early evening, late afternoon hours

when the sun was at it's weakest.

Because of this, we happened to be out during high tide.

Xander and his boogie board got slammed into the beach sand.

Ruby goofing around. It has been

2 years since we had a beach vacation.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Savannah having fun flying a kite.

We had a special treat this vacation, we got to see some

old college friends for half the week and Uncle Ben &

Aunt Trisha for the other half.

Ethan posing with a boogie board.

Little Larry trying to stay warm.

At Kitty Hawk with our friends kids. Ruby & Savannah both had a new playmate as well as Ethan. Larry & Xander always have each other.

The sun was extremely bright, but it was actually

a very mild day.

Eating at 5 guys with 8 kids was a new experience.

Ak sitting next to Ruby ate nearly an entire cheeseburger.

I hope Ruby was watching. She is such a fickle eater.

The kids all took turns burying each other in the sand. Ethan had so much fun. He said the sand was nice and warm like a blanket.

I am guessing I had more pictures of these two little

girls than any. They were just so darn cute together.

On flag day, which was also Ann's birthday,

we ate at Dirty Dick's. Finally some yummy seafood.

My boys having fun.

We stopped at this candy store that said it was premiered on the Food Network. Their fudge was not that spectacular, but the kids liked this silly figure.

It is so great that my kids have an Uncle Ben in their life.
He is just as wild and crazy as they are.

Here we are at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

I could not resist taking a picture of this quilt in the

museum.

While Patricia & I were waiting on the boys,

we noticed a sun bow.

It was really neat to see one if there is such a thing.

It is neat watching the museum workers clean off items found from various local ship wrecks.

Larry & Ethan wanted a picture of this bell. Not sure why?

A close up of the sun bow.

So there is suppose to be some humor in this picture
at Jason's expense. The caption is supposed to be, "The son they always wanted...."

Uncle Ben and Aunt Trisha at Hatteras Light House.

It was so much fun having them with us.

At the lighthouse grounds, we listened to

this park ranger talk about pirates. My kids were the only ones to volunteer for his

presentation. It was a lot of fun and

actually very informative.

My beautiful girls.

Another angle of Aunt Trisha & Uncle Ben

at the light house.

My kids posing at the sign.

As Larry says... "True Wuv...."

The shark tooth brigade.

Larry Denzil planted shark teeth along the

beach for all to find.

Lynette you would have loved it.

Ruby found this crab headed right towards us.

The boys were so mad because they were digging the beach all up looking for crabs. All Ruby had to do was sit and wait.

Larry Denzil captured it thinking I would cook the poor thing.

I don't think so. I love eating them, but I am not one for killing, cooking, and cleaning the poor thing.

We let it go.

So little Larry was the only child to figure out his

daddy had planted the shark teeth. He even told his dear

dad, "hey, you put that there because I just looked

in that spot." Anyways, he found a fully intact

sea horse. I promise we did not plant this. He found it

amongst all the sea weed on the beach right next to where

I was sitting.

The kids all excited about their new Hermit crabs.

This has become a tradition of ours.

We had one little souvenir crab survive nearly 3 years

in our care.

Uncle Ben & Patricia enjoying the waves...

In my usual spot. I finished 2 books while at the beach.

Now that was a relaxing vacation.

Little Larry spent a lot of time hunting for crabs

and other beach critters.

So here is my biggest kid of all.

He thoroughly enjoyed the rough seas.

Such a drama king!

Until next year I suppose, I will just have to watch

Nights in Rodanthe to see my beach again.

We took a picture of the house on our way off the island.

In the 8 years since we have first started coming to

the Outer Banks, they have moved this house from its previous location.

Sorry for such a long post. I had over a thousand pictures and

had a hard time deciding which ones to leave out.

Happy Summer Everyone!

Savannah's 5th Grade Graduation

2011-07-12T16:38:00.000-04:00

Can you believe Savannah has graduated Elementary school!?

I cannot believe my baby is growing up so quickly.

We brought the wrong lense, but there is Savannah's class on

stage. Savannah is that 2nd one from the right.

It was ridiculously crowded in this tiny gymnasium.

Some kids had their ENTIRE families show up

to a 5th grade graduation.

It was literally standing room only.

Ethan got bored & fell asleep.

Daddy and his girls.

The last time Savannah will be at this school. Sigh....

Our crazy family.

He was just so comfortable and peaceful.

Happy graduation everyone.

Let the summer begin!

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

2011-07-12T16:25:00.000-04:00

This year, the kids and I took the time to make

Teacher Appreciation gifts. I got this idea

off one of the blogs I follow.

I had each kid write a sincere letter to their

teacher and what made the school year wonderful.

I then took mentos and glued a hershey kiss

to the bottom. Rolled the two along with the

hand written letter in yellow cardstock with aluminum

foil and red cardstock to look like a pencil.

What do you think?

The kids delivered them to their teachers on the

last day of school. When you have 4 kids with 2 or more

teachers a piece, inexpensive gifts are the way to go.

Ethan was trying to show me how it looks like a pencil.

Thank you to all the wonderful teachers my kids had this

school year. It was a successful year and that could not have

happened without you.

Thank you Mrs Howie, Mr Higgins, Mr Griffin, & Mrs Helms.

Caps For Sale 2011

2011-07-12T16:10:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Snyder's 1st grade music class had their

yearly production of Caps For Sale.

This was my 2nd time seeing this so I really

did not want to go again, but Ethan was so

excited about his class performance.

Ruby & I surprised Ethan by showing up, but the real surprise was on me.

Ethan was the star of the show.

Here is his 1st grade class acting like monkeys.

Ethan is an angry monkey I suppose....

Ruby had so much fun visiting Ethan at school, that she decided

to pretend she was a school kid.

She found her back pack and all her coloring books and

packed them all up to share with me.

Just 1 more year my little girl.

Stay tuned for videos from Ethan's

Caps For Sale.

Happy Birthday Ethan Dear.

2011-07-12T13:10:00.000-04:00

Happy 7th Birthday Ethan.

His birthday hit a very busy wednesday.

We started out the day with doughnuts.

Ethan was so surprised!

While the kids were at school, Ruby & I decorated

the table with a pirate theme. This seems to be

a popular theme for the Roberts boys.

Ruby got all the juice pouches ready.

She was so excited for everyone to come home.

My version of the family Fun magazine

pirate hat. It was very simple to make. Unfortunately, by party time,

it had collapsed.

Ethan getting ready to make his wish, or to pray....

I am not sure which?

Gift time. Ruby is always there to give

her assistance.

Ethan has wanted Nerf guns for 2 birthdays and Christmases

now. I guess 7 is his Lucky number.

Ahoy Matey....

Ethan told me this year, he did not need

cake or ice cream. He would be thrilled with

a pinata. Thanks Jennifer Jenkins. You have

created pinata monsters in my kids.

Look at that face. He means business.

Sweet little Savannah took one hit, and the pinata

busted open. I did not get a picture of that

because it turned into a chaotic

free for all.

Happy Birthday Ethan....

Ruby's Photo Shoot Fun

2011-06-21T09:03:00.001-04:00


Ruby wanted a picture with this picket fence.

A last minute addition, but my favorite by far.

A typical Ruby stance.

This is my dress from when I was Ruby's age.

Sorry for the Ruby overload. It just occurred to me

that I could take her to Sears and have her pictures done

like the kids have their school pictures done.

We used to do Savannah's pictures all the time

and then boys came along and life happened.

Now it is Ruby's turn.

The Navy dress just above was chosen by

Ruby. The longer navy dress with the wide

eyelet trim was mine from when I was little.

I have a beautiful picture of Savannah wearing the same

dress. Thank you Mommy for keeping it so

new looking after alllllllll these years.

A Short Visit From Elizabeth

2011-06-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

Back in May, the kids had a treat.

Elizabeth came for a visit.

Oh yeah, Kelli & John came too.

But it was Elizabeth who was the star in

my kids eyes.

They love little toddlers.

First Swim of the Summer Season

2011-06-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

After the kids LEAF performance,

they were able to go for a swim

at Lake Eden.

This is a beautiful Summer Camp favorite

for rich locals. Zip lines, paddle boats, canoes....

have fun Roberts kids because this is your only brief taste

at summer camp. Ha ha ha.

This lake was perfect for the little kids because it

was not deep at all. My big kids went all the way to the roped off areas

and were still standing shoulders above the water.

The big excitement, which I do not have a picture of

was of a snake in the water. I was too busy trying to locate all of my kiddos and

make sure none of them were close to this snake.

The snake was about a foot from Ethan without him realizing.

Yuk! Finally a couple dads were able to scoot it out of the

swim area.

Happy Summer everyone!

LEAF Festival

2011-06-21T07:23:00.001-04:00

In May, we had our first experience at the

LEAF festival. It is held about a mile from our house.

And in the 5 years we have lived here, we can hear the music

loud and clear. We never went because of the high ticket price,

but this year we got free tickets because of having two performers.

Savannah playing her fiddle.

Savannah and her partner getting ready to dance.

Larry with his banjo.

It was an interesting Festival to say the least.

Lots of shiny, happy people.

We had fun. Lost Ruby for a very frantic 15 minutes,

but in the end, we walked away having a wonderful experience.

No Cavities = a Trip to Chuck E Cheese

2011-06-21T05:37:00.004-04:00

Every year, we promise our kids a trip to Chuck E Cheese,
if they can ALL come back with no cavities.
We have never had much luck with this till this year.
All 5 kids walked away with sparkling white
teeth & no cavities.
Woo hoo!

So off to Chuck E Cheese we went.
For some reason I only have pictures of these two,
but everyone was there.
We make our kids pair up
and we keep an eye on them as they run
around and play.

Larry got these two boys addicted to some shooting game.
My sweet little Ethan was very concerned about all the shooting.

Not Xander though. He did not take his eyes
off the screen.

I had a cute animated video of the two, but for some reason I cannot
download it to blogger at this time.

Who knows? Maybe in the fall we will
be fortunate enough to have another trip to
Chuck E Cheese.

Back to Savannah's birthday

2011-06-21T05:02:00.004-04:00

Check out the beautiful cake that only a non
baking dad can do. We celebrated her birthday
4 days late because Larry was out of town. Then I
sprained my ankle so Larry had to do the baking.

No worries though. Savannah is not a high
maintenance child like her brother Xander when it comes
to birthdays.

On Thursday, I took the girls to Cheddar's to celebrate.
Savannah actually wanted to go to Ruby Tuesdays because of the name,
but the nearest one
to us is nearly 40 minutes away.
Can you believe the plate in front of her is from the kids
menu? I told the waitress it was Savannah's birthday
and she hooked us up with all kinds of yumminess.

Savannah opening some gifts.
Ruby is just so thrilled that her big sister is
happy.

Yes, I am a bad mom. I did not have enough
paper to cover this box.
No big deal though. Savannah thought it was a trick.

Look at her excitement.

I love this picture because she realizes it was
not a tease. She actually got what she wanted.

I am not sure why Ruby is excited since she
has no clue what a cricut is.
But her cute little reaction is priceless.

Thanks to a really good sale at Hallmark
scrapbook store online, I was able to get Savannah
a Cricut personal. She fell in love with
Aunt Trisha's years ago, but I always felt she was too young.

Happy Birthday Savannah dear.
Scrap to your little hearts content.

Taking a Hike

2011-05-07T08:46:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I took four of the kids on a little trail behind the
primary school while we were waiting on Larry to return from
a field trip.
It has been 2 weeks since I clumsily got tangled in a suit hanger
and sprained my ankle. So I thought I would try walking
on a small scale.

It was a beautiful little trail (.48 miles) that followed
this little creek. This was the same creek
Ethan's class celebrated Columbus Day in with
a regatta.
My boys couldn't help but throw sticks in and race it down the creek.

My beautiful girls. I love moments like this.
Yes, Savannah is wearing PJs. Her class had pajama
day yesterday.

This was a panoramic app I was playing with.
I am still learning.

1, 2, 3, BLASTOFF!

2011-05-06T11:54:00.005-04:00

Every year, the 3rd grade builds rockets and shoots them off.
Xander was just sooooo excited about his rocket, Ruby & I had
to go and watch.
Little did I know it was a long and dangerous affair.

Patiently waiting in line after an hour of watching others.

Disregard the mohawk.
Xander is in a phase and loves gelling up his
hair in different ways.

They set the rockets up in pairs.

Then they show the kids how to blast off.
Many of the other classes came out to the field
to watch during class.

1, 2, 3, Blast Off.... Was the chant heard repeatedly all morning.
It was a wonderful experience watching these kids learn
physics at its best and get excited about it.

This is Xander's rocket having lift off. His made it about 10 feet up
before it fell. A few shot straight up and spit out their little
parachutes on their way back down. Many others
shot sideways, backwards, towards the guys shooting them.
Ruby & I stood behind home plate with the sky high fence.
Wouldn't you know it, a rocket just missed Ruby by mere inches on its landing.

Happy Birthday Savannah Dear

2011-04-20T15:43:00.002-04:00

With Larry out of town this week, and wednesday nights

being extremely busy for the kids, Savannah's birthday won't be celebrated

till the weekend. But that does not stop me from getting

pictures of my girl on her actual birthday.

She has endured many trials in her young life, but that

has not stopped her from growing into a

beautiful young lady.

Savannah Yuki, I am so blessed to be able to call you

my daughter. Happy Birthday.

I Love to See the Temple

2011-04-18T20:46:00.004-04:00

On April 14th, we took the kids to Atlanta,

to see the Temple where Larry & I were married.

It was such a wonderful treat to be able to

walk through the Temple before its

rededication.

What a difference nearly 15 years of marriage can make.

What Can You Do With A Blue Marker?

2011-04-18T20:14:00.001-04:00

Apparently Ruby can color her lips perfectly with a blue

marker. This is why I love color wonder!

Thankfully it was not a sharpie and it came off

quite easily.

Oops.

2011-04-18T19:46:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, Ethan lost a tooth.

He was eating a chocolate bar and before he knew it, his

tooth was literally hanging in his mouth.

Ethan is a skiddish kid and usually leaves

loose teeth in till they fall out on their own.

Larry Denzil told him that if he pulled it out

at Grandma's house, the tooth fairy would award him with $2.

Ethan walked off and a minute later, came back

with his tooth in hand.

Not so bad huh? Well, sunday morning, as we are eating

breakfast, Larry Denzil puts a tooth in my hand

and tells me to do something with this.

Ethan was sitting next to me and I exclaimed gross.

Ethan saw the tooth, put 2 & 2 together and figured

out what was going on. He was a very good sport about it all.

After all, he did just get $2.

Happy Birthday to a Fabulous Husband

2011-04-17T21:02:00.002-04:00

Thursday was Larry's & my dad's birthday.

What fun it was for the kids when they realized it

was my dad's and their dad's birthday.

Happy Birthday to my very best friend in the world.

Easter Buckets

2011-04-17T20:29:00.004-04:00

5 years of blogging and you would think, I know how to upload

my pictures. Sorry guys, but this post is backwards.

Here is Ruby with her cousin Cole enjoying their

Easter buckets.

My little Ruby, funny face and all.

Xander, extremely happy with his load.

My little Ethan.

Little, Little Larry, the best big brother

a sister could ask for.

Beautiful Savannah.

Not nearly grown up to not enjoy an

Easter bucket.

Cousin Cole, unsure of a very loud

Priest house.

Loving the vinyl.

My $.77 find at AC Moore.

Great use out of my Cricut and Gypsy

for this wonderful and fun project.

Happy Easter Everyone!