Schoool's Outtt for.... CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait to blog about all of the fun things I have been doing the last couple weeks! I will finally have time.

Oh...and....What is your favorite Christmas song?

Mine is... Oh Holy Night...

and listening to Celine Dion sing it is absolute heaven! I listened to it on the way to teach today and couldn't help but cry. When the gift buying and party throwing begin to take over the holidays, it helps remind me about the true meaning of CHRISTmas.

A Grateful Heart

On this day before Thanksgiving, I feel compelled to catch up on my blogging by listing the things I am so very grateful for:

1. My Savior....without Him I would for certain be lost
2. My Family and Upbringing....wonderful people who helped shape me into the woman I have become
3. Heaven....where my Grandpa Perry is watching over me
4. Mr. Robinson....so lucky to experience life and grow old with him
5. Music....my emotional outlet & it gives me something fun to dance to ;)
6. Miss Betsy and Miss Khloe....I love black and white...and have the most precious dogs to prove it
7. My Job...happy to inspire 3rd grade minds and be inspired by my fellow teachers
8. My Nest aka My House....blessed to have a beautiful and warm place to lay my head each night
9. My Children...they're not here or even on their way yet, but I dream of wearing their little names on a necklace around my neck each day...close to my heart...I can't wait to meet them
10. My Favorite Pastimes....reading blogs, crafting, learning to decorate, lounging
11. My Legs....bigger than I want, but healthy enough to carry me through this journey called life
12. Chandeliers...silly I know...but it just makes me so happy to look at them

I have realized that sometimes when you feel like concentrating on the negative, it's so much more fulfilling to turn each negative into a positive and thank God for giving you opportunities to grow!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

A Very "Surprising" Birthday Party

For those of you who don't already know, my Grandma's name is Beulah but we've always called her Boo. Well, Boo turned 76 on September 6th. Because she was coming in town the following weekend, I thought it would be fun to throw her a small surprise birthday party. The day of the surprise soon arrived. The plan was for all of the girls (April, Mom, Aunt Rita, Boo and me) to go shopping at the outlets and then come back to my apartment for the celebration. Meanwhile, Adam was going to have everything all set up and decorated by the time we got there. Then we were supposed to all walk into our apartment and sing Happy Birthday and eat cake. That was the PLAN! Now, let me tell you what ACTUALLY happened. Boo rode with me up to the outlets, and my mom, sister and aunt all rode together. Towards the end of shopping time, my mom and Boo decided to walk down to some other stores. Because I am slightly OCD and wanted to make sure everything was set up for the party (no offense Adam), I thought this was the perfect time to escape. I told April and my Aunt Rita that I was going to get a head start and I would see them back at the apartment. Just as I am pulling into my apartment complex, I get a phone call from April. She is just having a normal conversation with me but then right before we hang up tells me that my mom wants me to ask Boo why her cell phone isn't on because she has been trying to call her. WAIT...WHAT?!?! Boo was supposed to be riding back with them! No, no April explains to me, apparently Boo told my mom that she was going to find me in the parking lot to ride back with since she rode with me there. At this point, I tell April that she better turn around and go get the birthday girl, because she IS NOT with me. At the same time I realize that Boo's phone is not turned on...GREAT! This should be fun! So....about 30 minutes pass when we get a call from the front gate....they're here...birthday girl in tow. Adam and I rush to light all 76 candles that we put on Boo's birthday cake, so we can surprise her right when she walks in. I figured after getting left at the outlet mall, that she would need an extra special surprise. So here we are holding her cake, literally about to burn the apartment down with all the candles, and the door opens to everyone walking in....EXCEPT BOO! As I am asking where she is, they start looking all around the apartment and saying, "Okay Kristin...haha...You got us...We knew you were joking on the phone earlier...Now where is she?" Because I know she is not there and that I am NOT playing a joke on anybody, I quickly blow out all of the candles. At this point, I am a big ball of emotions. How could they have thought she was with me? April and my aunt SAW me get into my car and drive off! Did I really just have to blow out all 76 candles on my Grandma's cake? How could they leave a 76 year old lady in the dark, at the outlet mall, with a dead cell phone? UGH! At this point I am seriously yelling at April to go get back in the car and GET BOO! After April and my Aunt Rita leave to go pick her up once again, I throw myself onto my couch on the verge of busting out into tears. About 5 minutes pass when all of a sudden the door opens and Boo is with my sister and aunt. Still determined to surprise Boo with her lit birthday cake, I jump up and re-light all of the candles. As I am turning the corner, I hear Boo complaining about how mad she was to have to get a taxi back to my apartment. I want to make everything okay, so I immediately start making everybody sing "Happy Birthday," and have Boo blow out her candles. She was shocked and very excited to have a birthday party! As it turns out, she wasn't the only one surprised that night.....I was officially punk'd by my family. Boo had been with them the whole time! They were scheming all evening about how to pull that prank off, and as much as I hate to admit it, they got me! We all laughed about it and ended up having a great birthday celebration for Boo. Now I just have to think of something amazing to get even with! Any ideas??

Birthday Cake with 76 Candles

The cake after the candles were removed

The Pranksters!

76!

The Birthday Queen! Love my Boo!

Ohhh...We're Half Way There!

Amazing what a difference 6 weeks can make. Here are some of the latest pictures of our new home. We are still on schedule to close in October. What a wonderful birthday present that will be!

Front of the House

Betsy checking out her new yard!

Kitchen

Family Room

Master Bedroom

The sitting room in the master

Slacking On The Blog!

It's been so long since I blogged last, that I don't even know where to start. Let me do a quick rewind of my life the past 6 weeks. My mom came in town to visit for about a week in mid-July. When it was time for her to go home, I flew back to Utah with her to help her clean out the basement and have a garage sale. It was a successful trip for 2 reasons...a.) We got my parents house almost all ready to put on the market so they can move back to GA...Yayy!!... and b.) My parents let me keep the proceeds from the garage sale to help with our closing costs in October. I flew back to Georgia about 5 days before I was supposed to go back to work. However, just a day or so before then, I found out that my county was being furloughed for 3 days. 3 days = $635 less than what I signed my contract for! Booo! It really irked me and honestly still does, but I promised myself I wouldn't go on and on about it. I'm just thankful to have a job! After my 3 involuntary days off, I was left with only 2 days to get my classroom all set up and get ready for the first week of school. Technically, I had to get everything set up in just 1 day because the kids came for "Sneak Peek" the second day I was back. Everything from that point, right up until this past weekend is kind of a blur. I haven't been that busy since before my wedding, and it was a hard adjustment. School officially started the following Monday, and I have been adjusting to my "back to work schedule" ever since. Whew! It’s been crazy…but sometimes crazy is good…right?!?!

A Place to Call Our Own...A New Home

Yay! Yay! Yay! It's official!! Adam and I are building our first home!!!! We feel so blessed!!!! The neighborhood is called Fieldstone. It's located in Cumming, Ga (about 15 minutes north of Alpharetta). We seriously could not be more EXCITED!!!! Ever since we signed the papers last week, we have been planning out how we want to decorate and landscape etc. It will obviously take us a long while to complete all the projects we want to do, but that's what makes it fun. We can't wait to grow into this house and make it our own for years to come. It should be move in ready by October. I will keep you updated with pictures throughout the entire process!! Yayy!!!!!!

"A house is made with walls and beams.

A home is made with love and dreams."

Standing by our sold sign :)

Front view of our lot...Adam playing in the dirt

Left side view

Right side view

LIONS & Tigers & Bears...Oh My!

I did it....I finally gave in to Adam pleads and let Betsy get the "Lion Cut." This is the cut that the Pomeranian breed is known for. I was so fearful of what she would look like after viewing some awful pictures of other dogs who had it done, but none-the-less I went through with it. I gave Adam very strict instructions to give the groomer when he dropped her off, to help ensure that it wouldn't look like a botched haircut. I was truly scared to go pick her up, but given the nature of the cut, I think they did a pretty good job. If anything, it made me realize how tiny she really is. It will be very interesting to see how it looks as it grows back but for now it's kinda cute. Adam says this will be her summer cut from now on. I'm not so sure about that!

My Little Lion

Love that tail...so cute!

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

About two weeks ago my sweet little 4 year old nephew, Tysen went down the kiddy water slide on his belly....not such a great idea! He ended up knocking his mouth on the edge of the slide, shoving his two front teeth up into his gums. My sister April and her husband Joe rushed him to the ER, but were told they would have to take him to a children's oral surgeon. This is the part where I come in. The following Monday, Joe had an important meeting at work that he couldn't miss, so I went with April to the children's dentist. I wasn't allowed back in the room when they were taking x-rays etc, but April came out and told me the verdict. The teeth would have to be cut out of his gums. Poor thing! After waiting for about 20 minutes, April came back out and asked me to come into the room with her. All I can say is she must have been very convincing with the nurses because they were adamant when they said I would not be allowed in the room. When I walked in to the little room where Ty was, it became very clear why they let me back there. They needed my help. During the 20 minutes when I was in the waiting room, they gave him shots to numb his gums. This made Ty (the kid who usually LOVES visits to the dentist/doctor) very upset. The shots couldn't have felt that great, given that the area was already tender. If only he knew how bad it was about to get. After giving him the maximum amount of numbing shots, Tysen could still feel some pain. The dentist told April that because of how the teeth were shoved in his gums, it would be very difficult to get the entire area numb. This meant, that they would have to cut the teeth out with the possibility of him feeling some of the pain. My heart literally sank not only for Ty, but also for April. I saw the heartache in her eyes and wanted to ball my eyes out but knew I had to be strong for her. Needless to say, the next 20 minutes were terrible. Tysen was hysterical and it took a male nurse, April and me to hold him down while the dentist pulled the teeth and stitched him up. I felt so bad for my little Ty Bear but tried so hard to comfort him and April. Now...here comes the icing on the cake.... I am not good with needles, knives, sharp objects etc. I can handle blood...but actually seeing something cutting the skin....not so much. In the beginning, I did not watch them pull the teeth, per April's orders. However, after about 15 minutes, I wanted Tysen to see my face and that I was right there with him so I tried to make eye contact with him. I did make eye contact, but I also saw the dentist hooking the needle through his gums, while stitching him up. All of a sudden I was hot and very light headed. I literally started praying quietly out loud that I would not pass out. Haha! I'm so serious! I just needed to get through the last 2 or 3 minutes until the dentist was finished. I managed to make it, but as soon as it was done I had to immediately get water and get OUT of that room. And as I was walking down the main hallway, I knew I had to lay down right that second, or I would for sure pass out. I frantically crawled on a bench and laid there for about 10 minutes or so until I could lift my head again. I can only imagine what I must have looked like! Pathetic! Not long after I ate a granola bar, I was back to normal. At that point Tysen was checked out and ready to go home. He was a champ! April sat in the back with him and I drove home. The poor baby cried until he said how tired he was and fell asleep. He slept for the rest of the afternoon and after waking up and getting a shake, he said he felt fine. It's amazing how resilient kids are! Now the only question is....does April get him fake teeth until his big teeth come in, or does he just walk around as little toothless Ty? I'll keep you updated! :)

After the slide mishap...before the surgery

Ty sleeping on the couch...after the surgery

House Hunt

If all goes as planned, Adam and I will hopefully be in a position to purchase a home by the end of this year. :) We are working really hard to be able to close by November 30th so we can get the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers who purchase in 2008. Truth be told, I am kind of superstitious talking about this because of my tendency to be more of a pessimist than an optimist. I think it's just my way of protecting myself. But...I'm just SOOO EXCITED and can't resist sharing. Okay now for the good part....we spent all day yesterday driving around looking at houses in the Alpharetta/Cumming area. Although we found a lot of houses that we liked, none of them were really WOWING us. We want a growing neighborhood with an active community...lots of kids and families, a pool with a separate section for the kiddies, tennis courts, etc. Many houses that we found were nice, but none of them really had the type of amenities we like. I don't mean to sound nit picky, but this is a house that we want to be in for a long time and raise our kids in, so all of these things are very important to us. Just when we were about to call it a day....we found our dream area. As much as I want to go into extreme detail right now, I am still super paranoid. Let's just say we are seriously looking into it and praying it all works out for us to close on a beautiful home by the end of this year. I'll keep you posted as we embark upon this journey. Wish us luck!!

Meet the Robinsons

You all will have to bear with me as I try to figure out all this blogging stuff. I think it is the absolute cutest way to share your life with family and friends. It's like online scrapbooking! I say that as if you guys haven't already figured that out but it really is. I quit scrapbooking because it was way to expensive to do it the way I wanted to, and I quite honestly couldn't ever find the right amount of time to devote to it. I have a feeling once I totally figure out how to work everything on here, that it will be much quicker and even cuter! Yayy!! I'm so excited! Now I just need some cute little kiddies to include....I guess Betsy (our dog) and my adorable nephews will have to do for now, since I don't have any children of my own...yet! :) I've included a few wedding snapshots below! We've already been married for almost 8 weeks! Wow! I LOVE MARRIED LIFE AND I LOVE MY HANDSOME HUSBAND more than anything in the world! I'm so happy we are officially a family! ~Mrs. Robinson

Best day of my life...April 18, 2009!

About to go to the church

Our first dance as husband and wife

Cutting the beautiful cake...he was nice..no smashing! :)

Garter toss...Another One Bites the Dust

Granny Panties! Haha...the prank my aunt and uncle put him up to! Hilarious!