Robin Bobin Beautiful and Lovely

So yesterday was a big day! Robin wrote her first article as a reporter for the Daily Universe, which is the campus newspaper for BYU. She reported on a fireside at BYU Sunday Evening. You can read it here. It might not be the most exciting subject but it is well written and we are so proud of her!

As it was also the eve of her 21st birthday, I couldn't help thinking about all that she has accomplished. I smiled as I thought about those moments of learning and growth that sometimes only I was privy to.

Did you know that Robin taught herself how to read?

She was a little over 3 and 1/2 and she was sitting in the living room in our little apartment near Ft. Benning. She was coloring in a coloring book that Grandma Stanley had given her with ABC's and pictures that went with each letter. I was in the kitchen making dinner and I heard her say, "Ball, ba-ba-ba ball. Mom, does ball start with B?" I stopped what I was doing and I excitedly answered, "Yes!" Taking advantage of the moment we sat down and I showed her how the letters stood for sounds. I couldn't wait to tell her dad and call the grandparents! I don't think any of them were as excited as I thought they should be but I knew it was red letter day.

After that she figured most of it out by herself. Once in while she would be stuck and ask me something like, "What does thumb start with?"

About six months later we had moved to Ft. Hood. We drove past a "LOVES" gas station. I heard her say, "Love-s loves!" Again, "Yes! that says Loves!" She was reading words!

When she started kindergarten, I was concerned that she would be bored as she was already reading short chapter books. Her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Davis called all the parents the day or two before school started to talk with them and take care of any concerns the parents or teach might have about the kids. I told her what I worried about. She said kindly, "Well, sometimes we think they are reading but they have just memorized their favorite books." I answered that Robin read verses from the scriptures before bed. She laughed and said, "That's reading!" Robin was well taken care of and wasn't bored for even one minute during her time in Mrs. Davis' class.

I could go on and on but I won't, at least not right now.

We are so proud of you Robin and the woman you are becoming. This is an exciting year as you begin your work as journalism major and car owner. I know you will continue to blow my mind with how brilliant you are and give me many more opportunities to brag about you. I love you my girl and I'm so glad you born! xoxo

An Open Letter to Robin Emily on the Anniversary of Her Birth

Dear Robin,

I remember the day you were born very clearly. I was 7 days overdue and I was really, REALLY tired of being pregnant. Bona fide contractions finally started and I had labored at home all night. The next morning I was exhausted but excited because the contractions were getting closer together. The Dr. said we could head to the hospital. Yea!! When we got there the contractions completely stopped! Nooooooooo!! They gave me a little medicine that got the contractions going again and at about 6:45pm you were born! Hooray!!

If you want the gory details, I'll share those with you later.

The Dr. handed you to a nurse who was holding an open blanket and she took you and laid you on my chest and then covered you. At first you were really mad, (probably because they wouldn't let push the snooze button again). You were crying and complaining but as soon as you were cuddled up you were quiet. You had two little sores on the top of your head from the monitors. They had been worried about your heart rate and oxygen levels.

I looked at you so little and pink and I thought . . . well, I thought, "When are they going to take this baby so I can sleep?"

I was really disappointed at my reaction to this extremely significant moment in my life. I was suddenly a mother! Where was that deep love women talked about? Where was that moment of connection they described? Where was the excitement?

A week or so later, you and I were still getting to know each other and I was holding you, looking at you. We were sitting in the pink, wing-back chair and I saw a little spider crawling on the blanket you were swaddled in. I was appalled! I was furious! I couldn't believe something so ugly and repulsive would dare to come near you!

I took that spider and squished it between my fingers. I squished it with malice in my heart. I hoped it felt pain and I hoped that any other spiders in the house would see this public squishing as a warning not to touch my baby! I'm not exaggerating.

Now you know how I feel about spiders but that was nothing, NOTHING compared to what I was just beginning to feel for my little Robin. Oh! How I loved you! How I adored you! Even then, feeling that depth of love and protectiveness, I had no idea that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

So here we are 20 years later and you have far surpassed any expectations or dreams I had for you. You are wise and funny and beautiful and have one of the keenest minds in I know. You astound me at every turn!

I'm SO THANKFUL that I've had a front row seat for these last 20 years of your life and hope you'll keep that seat reserved for me for the next 20 years and more.

I love you to the sky my girl!

XOXOXO,

Mom

P.S. I am also thankful that you are old enough to kill spiders by yourself.

The Rodgers Family Poet Laureate

Robin entered a poetry contest at BYU and she won!

The theme or prompt was "The education of the whole soul".

By Study and By Faith
By Robin Rodgers

The beauty in nature,
The vibrant hues of the seasons
And of vegetation,
The breathless sight of the sky
Whether cloudless and bright
Or monstrous and stormy
Or black and filled with stars,
The majesty of mountains
And sloping fields alike,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is an artist.

The perfection of our planet,
The balance of the seasons,
The way rain, sun, and plants
Work together to create life,
The strength of our bodies
And their ability to fight illness
And extract nutrition from food
And pump blood
And breathe,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is a scientist.

The thought behind His plan,
The possibility for men and God
To interact,
The necessity for opposition in all things,
The ability for temporal
And spiritual things to coexist,
His gospel and the logic
That makes eternal laws work,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is a Philosopher.

The patterns of the past,
The instruction given
From ancient records
Whether scriptural or not
And the way they apply so easily
To the present and future,
His personal delight in records kept
And genealogy studied,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is a great historian.

And if God once was as I am
And I may become as He is,
Should I not be vigilant in
Becoming all of these things?

So I will rise from the dust
And will now and forever
Strive for a higher education
Of the whole world,
Of my whole mind,
Of my whole soul.

Rise and Shout and cry a lot . . .

Rachel and Robin on the Y

I had so much fun taking Robin to Utah. Not only was our time well used, it was just fun to have Robin to myself for a few days before we said goodbye.

The highlights:

Sunday dinner at the Strong's, so much fun!
Meeting Grandpa Rich
Lying on the soft grass at the park and in Provo canyon
Hiking the Y with Megan and the boys
Being recruited by Sara for the Bennett for senate BBQ
Seeing Shannon's kitchen almost done in real life not just the blogosphere
Spending the day with Salem and Megan and the boys
Eating fruit and veggies from the Fawsen's garden
Visiting with Tanya Loosle, one of the most extraordinary women I've ever known
and Aunt Rachel showing us the entrance to the secret tunnels under the Y campus

Wow! it was hard to leave Robin, but I was so thankful that I was leaving her in place where she would be looked after. (Thank you McEvoys.)

She will check into the dorms tomorrow morning . . . so exciting!!

"Bye mom!"

So we had moved to Virginia in April of 1996. That May a couple of weeks before school got out, I took Robin to get her all sign up for Kindergarten the next fall. It had already been a very tough year and it was with a heavy heart that I was signing my girl up to leave me.

Robin and Paul played next to me in the office as I filled out the stack of papers they gave me.

The principal came in and introduced herself to me. She explained that when ever they had a new student come in, they assigned another student, a 6th grader, to take them around and show them the school. I smiled and said, "That sounds very nice but I don't know if she is ready." The principal smiled back knowingly and nodded at Robin. I turned around to see Robin at the door of the office, "Bye mom!" she said unafraid and confident, as she followed the 6th grade girl she had been assigned to, out the door.

She was ready even if I was not.

An hour or so later, we were walking to the car. Buses were pulling away loaded with hot tired kids on their way home. Pauly wanted to watch them so we stopped. As I watched I felt terrified; I thought, "Maybe this isn't good. What if someone is mean to her? What if she hears bad words? What if her teacher doesn't appreciate how wonderful she is?" I was so sad and scared and sorrowful.

I stood there a minute paralyzed, when all of a sudden I was enveloped in the most beautiful feeling of love and peace and then my heart was spoken to. I was told a lot of things in that moment but mostly, "Everything is going to be fine Rachel, you don't need to worry." And I knew . . . I knew this was just the beginning of a most wonderful adventure for our girl.

I also knew people were going to be mean to her sometimes but mostly she would have lots of friends from all over. And she was definitely going to hear words I didn't want her to hear but mostly she was going to hear new ideas that would open her mind and she would get to see the world through eyes, other than her parents'. She would also most likely have a few teachers who didn't love her and appreciate her like I did but mostly she would have teachers who saw her potential, would feed her curiosity and help her to become even better than I could have imagined.

All of these things, the good and the bad, were all going work together to create this incredible Robin! She was going to learn so much! She was going to see so much! She was going to be in her element and she was going to love it! I left the school feeling so calm and happy for her . . . for me . . . and for the future.

. . . I still followed her bus all the way to the school the first day.

Her bags are packed, she's ready to go . . .

What an exciting time!! We just bought Robin's plane ticket to Utah!! I am so thrilled for her and this next big step but at the same time I'm feeling a little bit panicked. Will she have everything she needs? Have I prepared her well enough? What else can I do to help her make a successful transition?

Wow! it is going to be hard to say goodbye to her!

To keep a scene like the one below from happening at DFW, I bought a ticket for myself as well.

I am going to stay for a week or so to help her get set up and maybe take Robin to some of our favorite spots in SLC. I hope we will get to see some of you while I'm there.

Long Weekend Update

We had such a fun weekend! Grandma Gloria flew out, arriving on Thursday evening, just as I finished getting the fake house ready. It was fun to hear all about her engagement and plans for the future. Thanks to my most excellent interrogating techniques, I was able to get lots of details and I have to say, John sounds wonderful. We can't wait to get to know him.

Friday was the last day of school. The three youngest were the only ones who had to attend. After breakfast, the adults and Robin and Paul went to a very long award ceremony at the middle school cheering for Dan when his name was called a couple of times.

Pauly texted me, “I love award ceremonies and I love the BCS.”

After the ceremony we checked Dan out, went and picked up the girls and drove straight to the movie theater to see the first showing of UP. What a fun way to celebrate the last day of school!

*QUICK MOVIE REVIEW: Of course we loved it! How could any movie featuring a zillion balloons ever go really wrong? It was very tender and heartbreaking and happy and if you haven’t seen it, go and see it.

Graduation was that night. Grandma Gloria and I made Robin a lei, which has become a family tradition.

I

Sara took some left over flowers and made an anklet.

The ceremony was held in the stadium and it was a quick, 1 hour and 10 minutes (shorter than the award ceremony earlier in the day). It was packed and I was glad we were there early.

The music started and the graduates marched down the track on each side of the field. About half way down the track the two lines turned and walked toward each other onto the field. They matched up in the middle by twos and walked to their seats.

Robin looked great, confident and beautiful. She he met up with her counterpart from the other side of the field and began to walk to her seat. As she did, she turned around and said something to someone behind her. Her blond hair flipped back and her robes and cords moved gracefully, she had a big happy smile on her face and . . . in that moment . . . that snapshot of time . . . she took my breath away. Where did this exceptional,. lovely, self-assured, young woman come from?

Sigh!

(you know how I love to sigh)

A couple of speeches, a Star Trek reference (just for Robin) and 223 names later, Robin was a graduate of Lindale His School.

She went to a Grad Night party at her friend’s house with all her friends and about 3:30am came back to our house with 4 or 5 girls to watch movies finish out the night.

Saturday we just relaxed and visited and that evening we had an open house in Robin's honor, for friends and neighbors. The menu was simple: cake, cheese and crackers, and lemonade from scratch.

Grandma Gloria stayed long enough to go to church with us on Sunday, to see Dan pass the sacrament for the first time and to hear her son give a really great 5^th Sunday lesson. After church we delivered her safely to the airport.

Such a lovely, busy, satisfying weekend.

Bidding A Fond Farewell to Robin's Wisdom Teeth

This is how Robin felt when we came home this morning.

Gams

So Saturday was coronation at Lindale High School. This is an elegant, traditional night when the queen and other royalty are announced.

Some things you need to know about coronation:
~a girl is nominated by each club or team
~the girl needs an escort from that club or team
~the girl needs a fancy dress
~the escort needs to match the girl's fancy dress
~each girl is announced, she does this awesome curtsy when, if done correctly will end with the girl sitting on the floor (no lie), the escort bows and presents her with a red rose
~if you are not nominated for queen, you are a duchess
~it is a very big deal

Some things you should know about Robin's duchesshood:
~she was the Young Democrats Club duchess
~Pauly was her escort
~they called her Rachel during her introduction
~Robin did an abbreviated curtsy
~they were not supposed to do the little thing at the end, in fact all the kids were threatened with detention if anyone did anything off script
~they did not get detention
~Robin has really great legs, maybe a little too great
~Paul was gorgeous and the perfect escort
~Robin was both beautiful and lovely

For more pictures of the big night, see Robin's blog.

Poetry and Pinewood

Dan's pinewood derby was Friday evening. He got 3rd in the best of show category (don't they look thrilled?). The first pic is what his car looked like when it was 1oz. The second is what the bottom looked like when it was 5oz, the top was covered with coins as well, they were out of weights. Dan was happy. I didn't realize this was our last pinewood derby until Gabby mentioned this was Ralph's, in her blog a week or so ago. I'm a little sad.

Robin made it to the district speech tournament and she won 2nd place for her poetry reading this weekend!! She is going on to regionals in two weeks, if she makes it into the top 3 there, she will go to state! It was a two day tournament and she came home so happy but exhausted Saturday night. (I took this yesterday after church when she finally got a chance to relax.)

1st and 2nd Dates

Paul and Becca

Paul went on his first date last night. Her name is Becca. They met on the pioneer trek last summer, she lives about 2 hours south of us but is in our stake. They doubled with Robin and Zack (just a friend). Robin said, "I think she is the nicest person I've ever met."

They had great time.

Zack showing off the tattoo he won.

Obama is my homeboy . . .

Paul brought these T-shirts home and they were waiting for the kids when they got up yesterday. They couldn't change into them fast enough. Although they had a fun day at school with lots of comments and disscusion, there were many who didn't hide their contempt or their angry opinions. Pauly was sent to the principal's office, by one of his teachers, to make sure his shirt was appropriate for school but he also got a " 'sup" from the big black guys who usually ignore him.

They came home happy.

I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could. . .

Robin wrote this a couple of weeks ago in English. I really liked it. I know it isn't very big but I hope you can read it.

Happy Birthday Robin Bobin!

"Oh to be the mother of a daughter! Let all womanhood rejoice with me!"

Elisabeth Cady Stanton in a letter to Susan B. Anthony after the birth of her daughter.

Little Paul ran over my house.

Did you know Paul and Robin both have their driver's permits? Well, they do, so over the past few months we have had more than one harrowing experience in our cars. The highlights?? My car was scratched up and my front axle was broken in half (thank heaven for warranties) and Robin and her dad were almost decapitated when Robin jumped a curb and hit a huge chain draped across a parking lot entrance.

Then last night Pauly pulled the truck into the garage and didn't stop until he had put a big hole in the wall. We ran out to see what he had done and stopped him because he didn't know he had even touched the wall and was about to keep going. He said, "I thought I still had two more feet." He would have ended up in our dining room. The two Paul's spent their last day of Christmas break patching the wall.

Robin's and Paul's lists

Robin’s Thankful List of Amazing Thankfulness and Thankyish Thanks (thank you)

1) Family
2) Friends
3) The gospel
4) Jesus Christ
5) Rock and Roll
6) The opportunities that I have, thanks to the sacrifice of my ancestors
7) My awesome parents who have raised me and my siblings to be just as awesome
8) That my dad was able to resign from the military before I graduated from high school
9) That because he got out I got to learn how to SURF.
10) And I’m especially thankful for perfectly timed swells in Galveston


Paul’s List of Thankful Thanking of Thanktastic Proportions (better than robin’s)

1) My Family
2) Jesus Christ
3) Friends
4) Music
5) My parents and everything they have given me
6) Waves
7) My awesome Piano skills
8) Football
9) My (long) hair
10) Not lima beans

Robin’s *thanks* List *thankful* Part *i-am-more-thankful-than-paul* 2

1) Paul is unoriginal
2) I am awesome

Bonfire

Robin and Paul hosted a party last night.

Here are a few pics from the festivities. It was a fun night.

Foreign exchange students trying to figure out why anyone would eat s'mores.

Paul is DJ

YMCA

Winding Down

Robin

These are the tee shirts they sold as a fund raiser for the drama dept.

Robin has had quite a week. Friday, she was featured in an article in the school paper about new kids at Lindale High School. I will send the link when they get the latest issue up online. Saturday, was her second speech tournament this year and she placed 5th. Monday she found out that a play she wrote, was one of 3 selected to be preformed by the drama classes. She will direct it. And Monday night she was asked to be a shift manager at Doc's pizza.


The girl's on fire!

I'm so glad she has finally found a place here and is feeling more at home. I don't feel like I can get settled until everyone else is, so now I can relax. (Heavy Sigh)

Say Cheese

Paul has decided that he doesn't like the way he looks in pictures so now, this is the face he pulls when someone sticks a camera in his face.