Back to School

I have been a blogging slacker, but Momma has been busy prepping the kids to start school and I have been working like a busy bee with my dear co-teachers prepping our preschool rooms.

Somehow our precious baby girl has turned into a first grader!  She is a blessed girl because she got Mrs. Hubble for a teacher.  Mrs. Hubble also taught our boys, and she was the special teacher whom David had when he was diagnosed.  She is a rockstar veteran teacher.  

Before school started we got four inches cut off of her curls.  A little trim and some aragon oil has made a huge difference in the tangles.  

The day before school started we had lunch with the Pughs and these cuties had such fun together.  Even though they are in different schools they will still see each other at church on Wednesdays and ballet.  

Our 8th, 5th and 1st grader.  My how fast time is flying.  David has Ms. Roark whom Kyle also had and she is a wonderful teacher!  We are so very excited.  Kyle has a great team of teachers at the middle school and amazingly as an 8th grader he has the opportunity to take three high school level courses.  

We are now a bus riding family!!  We have never done it before but it has been such a blessing!!  The kids love it and they can actually get home quicker on the bus than I can get them in the parent pickup line.  Kyle walked them to the bus with me the first day and they had to do their secret handshake.  

So thankful they have each other to ride together and that our bus has only elementary kids on it.  

First grade is a magical year full of many first.  Last week this little love also started taking piano lessons.  Be still my heart....I can totally see her and David playing the piano and singing worship songs one day.  

Mike is the bike riding teacher in this family.  I typically run along behind taking pictures and screaming "great job" like a lunatic!  Ha!  

This time of year is always a little emotional as we watch our babies head back to school for another year.  It shocks me how fast the time is flying by and the years are certainly short when parenting.  The days are often long, but the years are so very short.  Every year I pray that our kiddos will let their light shine at school.  

God has reminded me lately that I need to be studying His word.  I spent some time recently in a Lifeway christian store and came out with this bible study workbook to do on my own.  I have spent my entire adulthood learning and playing catchup in my bible knowledge.  

This bible study has been so good here on my own that I know it would be even more wonderful to do as a group.  This is way out of my comfort zone, but I am leading this bible study at FUMC starting Sept 13th.  Everyone is welcome!!  Just let me know you are coming so I can order you a workbook.  They are $15 and you can pay the first night.  

Summer 2015 highlights

The backpacks are all packed, teachers have been met, supplies have been bought which means that it is time to head back to school!  Before I send off our 8th grader, 5th grader, and 1st graders, I want to remember back on the highlights of Summer of 2015. 

These highlights are in no particular order, but one of our favorite vacations ever was our cruise to the Bahamas.  What a blessed and relaxing trip on the seas we had.  The food, company, and much needed relaxation made this a trip to remember. 

After a wonderful Challenger season, I was blessed to receive the Little League Challenger award with my good buddy Mickey who also received the Challenger courage award.  

we spent several afternoons on the lake enjoying the boat and this summer it was fun to see all three of our kids on the tube.  We missed the lake house this summer, but we did have some boat time.

The Georgia mission trip..... I have no words to express what an amazing opportunity it was to go and serve God with my oldest.  That sweet communty in Georgia captured all of our hearts.  

Our mission team was amazing and to hear them come back to church and talk about how that trip touched them was a beautiful moment.  It never gets old to see teenagers in the pulpit talking about how  God changed their heart.  

We went on the cruise for David's birthday and for sweet Hope we went to Yogi Bear camping for her 6th birthday.  

We spent many many afternoons at the pool letting this little fish practice swimming and  perfect her dive.  

One night David and I loaded up some girls from the mission trip and went to see Tobymac in Kingsport.  What a fun and beautiful night praising God.  These girls are amazing and I had the best week chaperoning them in Georgia.  I love my little Georgia pookies. Our nightly bible study was precious to me.  

One weekend we took a random trip to  Richmond and came home through UNC and Duke.  It was a fun and spontaneous trip just the five of us.  

Both of the boys attended basketball camp at VT.  Kyle attended camp for a week while staying with GG and Pops and David attended Buzz's Bunch.  

During the week of VBS at church I helped with the youth which was such a blessing for me.  We did a community mission project each night with a devotion to go along with it.  It was such a pleasure to spend a week with the youth.  

Hope and Sydney at VBS!  These two have fun wherever they are.  

Another amazing highlight of the summer was the Gilmore reunion in Virginia Beach last week.  We had such a fun and amazing time together.  We made lots of  memories and Kyle went on his first ever deep sea fishing trip and caught a dolphin fish.  

Despite all the traveling, all the fun, and all memories, nothing comes close to the best news we received last week at UVA.  David had a wonderful checkup and is now considered to be three years cancer-free! To God be the Glory great things he has done. Amen. 

Gilmore Reunion 2K15

Last week we attended the amazing Gilmore Reunion in Virginia Beach.  Sadly in January my grandmother passed away.  She and my grandfather had three children including my dad, Guy (aka Pops), Charlotte, and Gary.  

All the three siblings stayed together for the few days surrounding my grandmother's funeral.  We realized during that time that it was very sad that it took a funeral for all of us to get together and we decided back in January to have a Gilmore reunion this summer.  

Gary and his wife Garnet, offered their beautiful home in VA Beach for the reunion and so we all loaded up and headed to the beach for a few days.  Sadly Mike's schedule did not allow him to go.  

I will admit that I am a wee bit of a diva and detest driving. Once GG downsized her suitcase we all fit in their car and off we went to spend a few days with our Gilmore relatives. 

Dad and his baby brother, Gary.  Each of the Gilmore children are five years apart with my aunt Charlotte being the middle child.  My Dad looks unhappy in this picture but he was not:) 

Hope had a blast with Maizy and her sister Ava.  Garnet is truly the best hostess I have ever been around and she planned such an amazing reunion.  Each day there was a smoothie of the day which Hope enjoyed! 

Cornhole is very competive in this family.  The only sad thing about the reunion was knowing that Memaw was not there to share in our fun.  She would have loved to have sat around and watching her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren having a blast together.  

Because everyone lived so far apart from each other, this family has not been very close in the past.  We typically saw each other at Christmas and that was about it. One night we gathered for prayer before dinner and Pops prayed such a beautiful prayer over our family.  Memaw and Papaw were in all of our hearts during our time together and in his prayer, Pops thanked them for their sacrifices and because of Jesus we know that they are in heaven together.  

Gary and Garnet have a pool at their house and that pool was rocking with kids and adults having a great time.  Here is DAvid showing off his cannon ball skills! 

Garnet is an amazing hostess and one night she laid out a fondue table!  It was so yummy and gorgeous!  

She even planned fun activities for the kids including glow stick fun.  

One of the joys for the men and Kyle was to head out on Gary's boat to go deep sea fishing.  Kyle had never been so one night of the reunion the men headed to Gary's boat at bedtime and slept on the boat so they could leave at 5 a.m. to catch some fish.  They had a wonderful day and I think everyone caught a fish!  Here is Kyle with his dolphin fish that he caught.  We brought it home and have already sampled a filet-yummy!! 

The last night of the Reunion Gary and Garnet hosted us at their country club for supper.  We ate outside on the lawn next to the water.  It was kids night at the club and staff had games for them to play after they had eaten.  The food and setting were wonderful and we even got to snap a few pictures of our crew.  

All the Gilmore kids at the reunion!! 

Gary, Charlotte, and Guy Gilmore.  Thank you Gary and Garnet for hosting us all at your beautiful home. Thank you for providing us a place to connect and make beautful memories together.  Thank you Adam for letting us, the Robinsons, take over your room!  Thank you Memaw and Pawpaw for raising these three children and giving them steadfast love during their lives.  Lastly, thank you to Jesus for providing Memaw with her "bonus year" of life that God used to bring us all together and reminding us all of the importance of family.  

Three Years...❤️

On our way home from the amazing Gilmore reunion 2015 we had

To stop at UVA for David's quarterly visit. 

First stop was an ultrasound to check all of his organs. He loved that so much and the tech that performed it said he was her most chatty patient all day! 

He was having so much fun that he even took a mid-ultrasound selfie! 

X-ray was up next and he rocked it! 

After his tests were done it was time to visit clinic. It got serious quickly when it was time to Draw labs. With his pops help it was not too traumatic. 

Hope even got in on the action and got to shake up his blood. 

Pops helped him wrap his wound:) the amazing news is that everything was wonderful and that he is now three years cancer- free!! To God be the glory and it was a wonderful ending to the week. The reunion deserves its own blog post another day but today, dear prayer warriors and friends, let's give praise to the The Ultimate Physician. ❤️

Buzz's Bunch 2015

Our alarm clocks went off at 6:30 this morning, but none of us complained-we were headed to Buzz's Bunch in Blacksburg!  This is the second year that we have attended Coach Buzz Williams' basketball camp for special needs children at VT.  

Dave was so excited to see his friend, "Sef Alwen" (Seth Allen)  and Seth was a greeter so his face was the first we saw when we pulled up.  This was their sweet little reunion.  

Walking into Buzz's Bunch for the second year in a row felt very differently than last year.  We knew what to expect and it was like a reunion of friends.  Dave spotted Coach Buzz immediately and shouted "hey Buzz" and Coach Buzz remembered David by name.  He is the real deal if you have not already gotten that memo:)  

It was another great crowd this year, but with so many current players, so many Buzz's Bunch alumni, and coaching staff it felt very personal and intimate.  There were three Buzz's Bunch alumni who are currently playing professionally overseas who helped with the camp today.  Our Dave had to have full gear on including his shooting sleeve and headband!  

As Buzz was gathering all the campers in the middle, I looked over and David had cozied right up to Buzz and I captured this sweet picture.  Buzz has a heart for special needs children and puts on this whole day for these kids.  Again, just know this guy is the real deal,  He is not doing this to show off for the media, he is here to bless these kids.  

This year, Caroline got to attend Buzz's Bunch as well!  She is Kyle's age (13) and I think she thought some of the players were really cute:) 

It blessed Mike and I to watch David at this camp.  This is a real hoops camp to teach these kids basketball skills and to have fun.  Davd (who is usually such a goof ball) gave it his all and tried so very hard.  Here he is doing a footwork drill with the strength and conditioning coach.  

David was a little sad and pouty that his group leader was not "Sef Alwen" until it was announced that Devin Wilson would lead David's group.  David recovered very quickly from his broken heart and was attached to Devin's hip.  At one of the stations, the group went to watch highlight film from last year and Devin was featured a lot.  He is a great ball player and guy:) 

David hanging from the rim at the dunking station!  

Once again Coach Buzz had the players surround the campers and lay hands on them to pray.   He then proceeded to thank our amazing God for these kids and the lessons they teach us all every single day.  He thanked God for us, the parents, and of course he made my eyes mist.  

Waiting in line for yummy Outback steaks and chicken (yes, steaks for everyone) David had to get some selfies in with Devin and Seth.  David is the selfie king! 

There were two cheerleaders at the camp and by lunchtime, David had them carrying his plate of food for him.  :) 

As we were finishing lunch, Dave said "Hey Buzz, lets take a selfie" and sure enough they did:) 

Seth and Dave selfie:) 

After lunch the players and Buzz lined up to sign autographs.  David waited patiently for all the players to sign his shirt, and he was excited that Justin Bibbbs signed it because he thinks he shoots like him! HA!

Thank you Coach Buzz and your staff for another wonderful camp for these amazing kids.  You took the time to connect with them and inspire them.  Thank you also for the memories and the yummy lunch.  Coach Buzz, you are a hero and you are leading your players to greatness both on and off the court.  The Robinson family will be cheering you on this season and we will be back again next year.