Life Science Lesson

This happened a few weeks ago.. but I forgot that I had the picture on my camera until this morning. LOL

While the kids were playing in the pool I thought I would pull a few "weeds" To my surprise... the weeds were Acorn seedlings!!!!!!!!!

I showed them to Bunny. We talked about them how plants grow. I showed her how the "baby tree" was growing out of the little acorn. :o)

One is still covered in dirt.. the other was rinsed in the pool so we could see the roots better. :o)

Muffin Tin Monday - Bug's First MTM! YAY.

Once again it is time for Muffin Tin Monday. YAY!! Bunny and I took a trip to Sam's last night.. so we had PLENTY of fruit!

Bunny had : Strawberries, carrots and celery (with Ranch), green grapes, blueberries, hard boiled egg, and some apples slices. She didn't finish it.. but asked for more carrots about 10 min later. That's my Bunny!! LOL

Drum roll Please... BUG HAD HIS FIRST MTM TODAY!! I am so proud. It survived not getting worn as a hat! YAY! LOL

He had apple cubes, carrot and celery with a little ranch (he was not impressed), grapes, blueberries, PB&J, and strawberries.

Silly Girl!!!

This may be my favorite pic of the summer.

We have not had AC for over a week. The kids have been as nakie as I would allow. Much to Bug's dismay.. He was still required to wear a diaper. - One day last week I noticed that it was really quiet. I went into the playroom and this is what I found. What was my first reaction? "Awwwww!' Second reaction? Must. Find. CAMERA!! :o)

Check out what other Mommies are doing on MUFFIN TIN MONDAY!!!

Hey Ya'll :o)

Ok. I know, I know.. I've been a BAD blogger! Now that everything is looking up from our recent drama... No AC for over a week. (Don't ask. Long story. LOL) It's been so hard to care about our little blog when it's to hot to do anything but sit, watch movies and sweat! Thank goodness we had our little pool to dunk the littles in. :o)
One of my favorite blogs had a FANTASTIC give-away! (Well... several actually LOL) I can't pick one from the heard.. however, if you held a gun to my head, I might pick the I know-Rhino give-away. Then again.. I might might pick $90 CSN GC give-away or The Sock Fairy book/CD give-away or even the Le Baby Hair Gel give-away.
You never know.. you (or I) could be the one chosen at random for these items.
I am doing the happy dance because I know that tomorrow is MONDAY!!! ( I even busted out the sprinkler and cabbage patch for this happy dance! )How many people can say they have a reason to get excited for Mondays? Not the ones who have found Muffin Tin Monday.. that's for sho! :o)
To the new followers (and old) I promise to try to better now that our zoo is starting to find it's groove again :o)
HUGS & LOVE!!!

Words to live by: SMILE!!! It makes people wonder what you're up to! ~ My Nana wrote this on a post-it note and sent it to me during class my freshman year of High school. ( I still have the Post-it :o)

MTM - Toy Story / Birthday

In the spirit of continues celebration... We had a Toy Story breakfast. I had planned an AWOL MTM at the park.. but silly me didn't check weatherbug.com first. I had everything packed in the cooler so we could just grab and go when we woke and took Daddy to work. Step outside... RAIN! Blah. Ok.. no problem. We will just have a livingroom picnic when we get home :o)

Bunny had Strawberries, frozen Go-Gurt, grapes, peaches, and some Toy Story candy for later.

Logan isn't big on MTM yet.. If I fixed him one, her would just dump it on his head.. but he LOVES his Super Why.. so he and Super Why had grapes, strawberries, and grahm crackers.

Our Bunny turned THREE on the 24th.. but since I have been so very sick, we had her birthday party this past Saturday. She had a fantastic birthday and was surrounded by many of her favorite people.

Bunny.. Err Cinderella enjoying a cupcake for breakfast yesterday. :o)

Highway 21 Drive In

A friend inspired me to see if we had a local Drive In. (Thank You Bailey) She posted pictures of a trip that they made to one.. and I couldn't resist. To my surprise there was one in Beaufort, SC. It is a little bit a trek of about an hour for us.. but I can assure that will not keep up from going back.

The following is a review of the HWY 21 Drive In.. but also for the drive in experience all together.

A view from the "Cheap Seats"

My Nana has requested that I no longer use the word cheap to describe myself, so as a painfully frugal Mommy.. I was thrilled to find that is was FAR more affordable for a family to go to the Drive In.

The Prices were as follows:

$6 - adults

$2 - Children (5-12)

Free - Children 4 and under

Our Drive In has double features.. so you can see 2 movies. Yeah.. We were a little late getting home (2am) but it was a fair price to pay for quality entertainment and experience.

We got there early enough, found a parking spot, and we to hit up the concession stands. The owners and operators have to share the majority of ticket sales with the studios, so they depend on their concession sales to keep their doors open. Having said that... their prices were completely reasonable. They had everything from buckets of popcorn and sodas to funnel cakes to meals. We didn't have one we ate just before we went.. but I was told by several other patrons that the burgers were AWESOME. I guess I will have to see for myself next time. All in the name of honest reviews. :o)

The Haves

They had a playground for toddlers...

and popcorn...

a sand box...

and popcorn...

a 2 playgrounds for big kids in front of the main screen...

and did I mention that they had popcorn?

(The Bug was very impressed with it)

and balls and toys in "Toddler Town"...

and Yummmmmy. Skittles!! A rainbow of flavors....

and plenty of room for a family to stretch out, loosen the collar a bit and have some fun....

(Guess who came with us to see Toy Story3? )

a ceiling of stars, cool night breeze, and the feeling of community.

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Bunny was so excited!!! She met some new friends. They ran and played in front of screen #2 before the movie started.

Bug mostly hung out with us and watched the big kids play.

The HAVE Nots:

Inflated prices, or being trapped in close quarters with a bunch of strangers who don't understand the concept of personal space.

In closing.. We had a huge helping of family fun. We saw 2 movies that we both wanted to see, we talked to other people around us who not only go to the Drive In often, but many of them expressed how sad they would be if they didn't have one to go to.

I can say with great certainty that we will be going back! I look forward to it and urge you all to see if you have one in your area.

Muffin Tin Monday

We did our Patriotic Tin yesterday and it is in the previous post.

Today's "tin" was inspired by our super fun morning at the park :o)

PB&J Fish, cheese Whales, applesauce with raisin happy face, and frozen Go-Gurt I think there's something fishy about this lunch... :o)


We got to watch this friend catch fish. Bunny clapped and yelled "GOOD JOB BIRD!!!"

I swear... we should have named this child Constant Motion Robbins!!!

We went to the park today and met some new friends. This guy was crossing the road as we were leaving. I couldn't resist taking a picture

Happy 4th of JULY!!!

We are enjoying the amazing day with a tin..
Strawberries, Mini-Marshmallows, Blue Frozen Go-Gurt, and PB&J stars.
Thank You to our men an women in service who help secure our freedoms
that we all to often take for granted. Today is more than BBQ's and Fireworks.
To my friends... BE SAFE & WELL!!!
Check out what other Moms are doing for Muffin Tin Monday.

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HAHAHAHAHA!!! My Bunny just brought me her tin and asked for ice-cream.

Bunny:"I can have some ice-cream, Mommy. It's right there in the freezer. "

Me: "What kind do you want?"

Bunny: " Red. White. and Bwue"

Me: "We don't have any blue ice-cream Honey."

Bunny: "We can pwetend brown can be bwue"

Me: "Ummmm Sure." LOL

Silly Days...

Bunny is such a sweet little girl..

My sweet little Bug! He's 13 months now!

They WERE hugging. LOL
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Lunch from today.. ham and cheese star sammies, grapes and watermelon, pickle, and frozen Go-Gurt. I used some picks that I had left over from a baby shower for the sammies, and a umbrella left over from the same shower. (When I was preg with Bunny! LOL) The star we a wink and a nudge to Evangeline and the umbrella was suppose to be a parasol. (We were watching Princess and The Frog. :o)P Rather pink and princess(y) don't you think?

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This was a meal from the other night. Jon's Hamburger Rotini Casserole, baby pickles, strawberries, and apple sauce.
These pictures are brought to you by the word NANA.
I have managed to loose my camera and my Mom has loaned me hers until I find it. :o)

Monday Meals

If I've said it once I will say it a million times. "Muffin Tin Monday can become a way of life." This is not such a bad thing. That a wonderful, creative reason to look forward to "The Mondays"

My Mom came to visit this weekend. With our 40% Micheal's coupons.. we headed out to add to the MTM collection.We both had a coupon so one of us got the blue stars, and the other got the green flowers. Walmart had the football tins on clearance fro $4.50!! YAY! I thought they were so

cute but only bought one for Bug. THEN I thought I better have two, so my Mom got the other one.

THANK YOU MOM!!!!!!!!

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I'm not feeling very inspired today...

Dinosaur chicken nuggets w/ BBQ sauce, applesauce, and chips w/ queso
Strawberries, grapes, watermelon, and green eggs w/ham.

Yep.. She's mine!

We have a rule at our house that that you don't have to take a nap, but you do have to have "quiet time". During that time Bug takes his nap and Bunny and I cuddle, have one on one time, do arts and crafts...

Today I felt like crud and used my quiet time to close my eyes for 10 min. When I woke up I noticed that it was very quiet in the house. (Not usually a good sign.. right?) When I dosed off Bunny was watching Word World.. when I woke up she was, well.... reminding me that she is definitely MINE! LOL

She was quietly sitting with her "Bruce" / "Sharwk" and looking at a book of whales and sharks. Me: Hi Bunny. What are you doing? Bunny: Nofing. I just wooking at my sharks. Me: What kind of sharks did you find? Bunny: I found a Wemon Sharwk." *Points at a picture of a lemon shark.* Me: Awesome. Do you need anything? Bunny: Nope. I good. (HAHA! Yep.. she's mine. LMAO)

A few minutes later: Bunny: Mommy, Can I watch sharwks? Me: I don't know if they are on, Baby. *scan through to National Geographic Channel* sure enough Expedition Great White is on. (How does she know this? LOL) Me: Ok. Here are your sharks. Bunny: Thank You Mommy! *big smile* Can I have some popcorn?

(I had a video but couldn't get it to load.)

***NOTE- I drifted off on the other side of the couch. I never left the room that she was in. JIC anyone thought I would leave her to have full roam of the house. LOL ***

Muffin Tin Monday ~ It's WHAT time?!?!?!

I have been running around like a chicken today. Since BOTH of my beautiful children took a nap today, I lost all sense of time! LOL It suddenly dawned on me that Bug was getting super crabby and following more than normal. I look at the clock.. WHAT THE...

"How did it get to be so late? I'm so sorry! Who wants dinner?"

Wait! What's today? MONDAY!!! WooHoo!! I got this! Not only will I be saving Bunny and Bug from starvation, but her salvation will be served in a yellow muffin tin! LOL

Frozen Go-Gurt (extra bonus points for this), Apple/Cinnamon Nutri-Grain bar, red grapes filled to the brim, and a hot dog with mustard.

Hip Hip Hooray.. The Super Daddy saves the day...

We enjoy several PBS shows. Bunny LOVES her Dinosaur Train and Bug LOVES his Super Why!

I never even knew that they had toys for Super Why, so you can imagine my surprise when Jon called me on his lunch break to tell me that he had found a talking Super Why. Bug has never gotten attached to a toy, so I wanted to see his reaction before we got it. He smiled from ear to ear and started rocking back and forth.

Hmmm I think we have a winner.

After we got home and got him out of the package, Bug carried him everywhere! It was so sweet. He would smile so big every time Super why said something or played the theme song.

As you can tell.. Jon made an AWESOME find today!!! Good Job Daddy!!

School Supplies?

I recently made a list of things that I would want to have on hand for "school". I can always plan everything a few days in advance, but when you only have one car... it makes it hard to do last minute activities. I had to sit back and laugh at some of the things that ended up on our school supply list. Most of them were inspired by the blogs that I follow.
I never thought that I would want to keep cornstarch, food coloring, cookie cutters, buttons, and food flavoring on hand.
Do you have things in your craft or school box that you think look a little lost?

TRZ is on FaceBook

I have created a FaceBook page for The Robbins Zoo.

Just another way to kep up with my FB and Blogging peeps. :o)

Please feel free to look me up.. I hope you "like" my new page. LOL

Preschool @ HOME?!?!

My hubby and I have been talking/learning about, researching, and considering home school.
I had no idea that this would be such a hot topic with parents! It has driven a wedge between me and other Moms who I thought would never judge me. Esp for something like this.

As soon as I mentioned that we were looking into it I got sea of funny looks and silence followed by.. "WHAT!?!? Why would you want to do that?" This surprised me. I, myself, would never judge them for their choice of education. I never said anything as I sat and listened to them complain about their kids teachers, the cost of pre-school, the time they have to spend in carpool... I listened because I am a friend. But I felt attacked because I have considered something different. It hurt my feelings (A LOT), but I try to not let it get me down.

I had the same reaction from some family members. Since then, most of them have commented on how much research I have been doing. I find that pretty funny. This is such a huge undertaking! I would never just jump into this with out doing my homework first.

Luckily I also have some other friends who are not judging me. They offer support. What I need most. To those of you.. THANK YOU!! You have no idea how much it means to me!

IF we decide to home school. We want to use a secular curriculum. Do you have any idea how hard that is to find? Oh My GOSH!! That may be my biggest challenge. Though we still have a while before we really need to get to far into that. We can cross that bridge when we get to it. :o)

Now. Bunny is almost 3. While we have been doing projects, learning, and exploring over the past 2 1/2 years, it's almost time to amp up our "school". I am currently making a list of what I want to have on hand. Who knew food coloring would be on my school supply list! LOL

Thank You for reading. Please comment if you have a suggestion for our craft box, item for our list, or a blog to follow, or just want to offer support. Any and ALL support is welcome! LOL . (I don't know what I would do without my blogger friends. You ladies have some awesome ideas!)