Pictures of Matt and I

My Matt

Shortly after my divorce was final, God brought the most amazing man into my life, Matthew Stoltz. I was very reluctant at first to even go out to dinner with him (which he was so patient about), then let alone enter into a *gulp* relationship with him (yet again patient Matt), but I am sooooo thankful that I came to my senses and did so.

We got engaged last weekend, and we are planning a wedding for October 10, 2010. Yes, that quickly! And, no, I am not pregnant (you will find that I am brutally honest, especially in my blog). That has been somewhat of an implied question by some people. My brother and sister in law are getting transferred (military) and 2 of Matt's groomsman are leaving on deployments, and we want them to be there. SO, October 10th it is!!!!

The past year that I have had with Matt has been amazing to say the least. He is the most encouraging, patient, loving, kind and sweet man in the world. He takes such wonderful care of me, Drew, Peyton and Zion. And yes, even though none of the three boys are his, and one isn't even mine biological, that doesn't matter to him, never has. I warned him up front, when he first asked me out, that I had kids, and he didn't run! That was my first sign that I needed to get to know this man a little better.

Matt is in the military. One of the fine individuals who have chosen to spend their life serving our country. His enlisted in the Navy, but as a recon corpsman he spends most of his time on the Marine Corp side. He is very good at what he does and has so many things that he can do in the military to further his goal of eventually being on the Hostage and Rescue Team with the FBI. He is the baby of three children, he has 2 big sisters, Nikki and Amanda. He has three nephews, Logan, Rayden and Cade. He was born in raised in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana). His Mom and Dad are amazing! So, once we get hitched, his parents will have 5 grandsons!!!! That's a lot of boys. Maybe, just maybe, we will have a little girl down the road. Or, it will just be another son and I will have even more boys in my household. :)

All the boys love him and dote over him, as do I. It takes an amazing man to love and want to be with a woman that has 2 and a half kids. But that's my Matt, amazing.

Recent Pictures of the boys

These amazing pictures were taken by Melanie Wasko

Debating and Finally Deciding

So many of my dear friends have been asking me "what the heck is going on with you" and "why do I never hear from you." Yah, I get those comments quite a bit. So, I decided that it may be tine to TRY to update my blog a little more often.

For those of you that don't know, or have heard, but had questions. My divorce with Alan was final in August of 2009. I don't want to go in to all the details behind the divorce, but lets just say that it was Biblical and necessary. My life has changed quite a bit since then.

Drew, who is now 14, was my step-son, though he was "my son" and I never even thought about the "step" part of it all. Well, needless to say, I don't have Drew all the time anymore. Me and the boys still see him about every other weekend or so, but it's not, nor will it ever be, like it was. That's by far the saddest part of my divorce with Alan, losing Drew. The good news? Drew is still the amazing boy that you all remember. Such a great, sweet kid and getting ready to start his freshman year of high school. :)

I moved into my own little rental house in January of this year, I was able to stay in the house that Alan and I had due to him working overseas. Also in January I started a pre-law program at Regent University. Loving it!!! Hard work needless to say, but I am enjoying what I am studying and learning. I am on scholarship through Regent, and then the Pell grant and VTAG grant pay the rest of my tuition. Praise the Lord!!! I couldn't do it without that.

Peyton and Zion are doing so well. They are 7 and a half and 6 and a half. They are both playing tackle football now (I'll post some pictures soon) and doing very well. Peyton is starting 2nd grade and Zion is starting 1st grade. I know we all say and hear it often, but they are really growing up waaaayyyy too fast.

I work part-time for an attorney in Greenbrier. I work only while the boys are in school (or during the summer, the half day summer camp at the YMCA). I am so thankful that I am able to be home with them and not have to put them in daycare. All my classes right now are online, so I get my work done typically after they go to bed or on the weekends.

There is so much more to update everyone on, the biggest being Matthew Stoltz, but I will try to get to everything over the next few days. I did fall of the radar for a while. Though I am not guilty for my divorce, and I know that I did everything I could do and was supposed to do, I was embarrassed for a while and not sure how to deal with telling people (and there were sooooo many people to tell). Since we kept our separation quiet, this info came as quite a shock to people.

I kept the name of my blog, because I still feel it's appropriate to my life. :) I will be deleting some of the posts that don't have to do with just my kidos. So, I guess you could say I am somewhat starting from scratch.

Well, it's Friday, the weekend is almost here. So enjoy it!!!! :)

P and Z's Big Day!!!

Peyton turned 6 on January 11th, and Zion turns 5 on February 11th. So, instead of two separate birthday parties this year, we decided to combine them. This past Saturday the 31st we had their party at the Cinema Cafe movie theatre. They invited all their classmates, kids on their basketball team (that Alan coaches) and of course family and friends. S0, 50 people later, and a packed movie theatre we all gathered to watch Madagascar 2 and celebrate their big days. Now, here is the bad news. I FORGOT MY CAMERA! So, as soon as Grandpa (my Dad) emails me pics, I will get them posted.

The day was great! Everyone had a great time. We asked that people not bring gifts for the boys, but that they bring a toy for the Hope Haven Children's Home. Peyton and Zion are so excited to be able to help deliver them. I am so proud of my boys. They are very blessed to have so much, and I am so grateful that they "get" that there are others out there that don't have much at all.

Parenting is harder than I could have ever have imagined, and I respect my parent's now more than ever. The one thing that I want my boys to be along with being Godly men, is unselfish. I want them to think of others before they think of themselves. Now that's not easy to teach at all, I guess that little sin nature doesn't help. I think they are off to a good start. When they get older and they can read these blogs that I have written, I want them to know how proud I am of them for sacrificing their birthday gifts for others.

Busy Weeks

It's funny to me. I often find myself saying, "when ___ is done, things will slow down." Recently it was, "when the holidays are over, things will slow down." It never happens. Why haven't I learned this yet? I guess that life with Alan, three boys and a business will never be slow. It's not that I want it so slow that's it's boring, because then I get lazy, really lazy. I always get the most done when I have the most to do. I just wouldn't mind a little extra time to keep up with my blog, maybe do some scrapbooking, spend more time with my girl friends, talk to my family on the phone more, play more games with my kids, read more books, etc. Now, as I read back on those things, I am reminded of how selfish I am. Boy there are a lot of self-pleasing thigs on that list. The season of life that I am in now just doesn't allow that much time (if any at all) for those type of things. 10 years from now, when my boys don't need me as much, and the business doesn't need me, I'll be complaining that I have too much time on my hands. Typical woman huh? :-> What I am going to work on this year is being happy with my life as it is. Trials, struggles, joys, sorrows, everything. This is were I am right now, and there will be time for "other stuff" later. Right???

I left for the beautiful Wintergreen Resort last Sunday the 25th to help with the 32nd Annual Special Olympics Ski Championships. What an experience! This was my second time attending the event. Last year I went as an appearance for my title (Mrs. Virginia). Then to my surprise this past summer I received an email from someone on the management committee asking me if I wanted to be on the management committee for the Special Olympics Ski Championships. So after talking to Alan (since I am already very busy with other non-profits), we decided that I would go for it. Drew will be joining me next year, and he is very excited about it. I almost had him come with me this year, but I knew that I needed to be 100% involved in learning what my job aspects would be, and not to have to worry about my 12 year old. I think I may bring Peyton and Zion with me in 2011. My boys have so much that they can learn from these amazing athletes. I have so much to learn from them..... Being surrounded by such wonderful kids and young adults with so many "disabilities" has taught be how many more "abilities" they have than I do. First off, they are so happy! Happy in life, happy to be an athlete, happy to ski, etc. I can't help but smile all the time that I am around them. Secondly, they cheer each other on. Now don't get me wrong, they are competitive to say the least! But they are so happy for their fellow athlete with what they accomplish. Next up, the Special Olympic Summer games in Richmond!!!!

Recent Photos

Boy it's Been a While!

Wow, it's been almost 2 years since I last posted on my blog. Life in the Robinson house has been an adventure! It would be too much to catch everyone up on the last 2 years, so it's best for me to just try to start from now, January 17th, 2009.

Peyton just turned 6. I can't believe this. I remember bringing him home from the hospital 3 days after he was born, and it really just doesn't seem like 6 years ago. He is our most active child, he NEVER tires. What I would give to be able to bottle his energy and use it for myself. His is in kindergarten, and doing well. His is more mathematically inclined, doesn't really want to learn to read, but we are getting there. He loves sports, plays everything. Playing basketball right now, on the same team with Zion. Alan coaches their team, in fact, he has coached all of them since they started playing sports at 3 years old. Every team, every sport, sometimes 2 sports at the same time. They love having him coach, and he loves all these little boys that he gets to coach. It's so wonderful to watch. Peyton is head-strong, determined, passionate and full of life. I should repeat, he is very head strong, wonder where he got that from, hmmmmm, maybe both his parents! :->

Drew is 12 and a half and in 7th grade. Yes, that is middle school! Yikes! He is a good student, all A's and B's. Getting very handsome and making me very nervous. I tease all the boys that they can't date till they have their undergrad and grad degrees, a good job, and money in the bank. Then I say: "why do you need money in the bank," and they all say back "because women are expensive." That's for sure!!!! Anyway, Drew likes to play basketball and recently has gotten into reading more (which I love, since I pre-read most of his books and it gives me an excuse to read and not feel too guilty). He is a very good kid, laid back, easy going, and a very good big brother.

Then there is itty-bit, our little Zion. He still never stops smiling. Our own little sunshine. He will be 5 on Feb 11th. He is in pre-school at the same place Peyton goes to kindergarten. He too is involved in lots of sports, and loves them. He played flag football this last Fall with Peyton and really enjoyed it, he's very quick on his feet. Zion is always happy and cheerful, but doesn't take any crap from his big brothers.

Alan is very busy. We still own the Town Planner in Hampton Roads, business has been hard these past 18 months. Sales are down, and people don't pay us what they owe us very well at all. But we are still hanging in. I try to help him with the admin (or anything else I can do from home) as much as possible. Other than work, coaching the kids sport teams, and golfing, there isn't much time for much else.

As for me, these three boys keep me hopping. I love it though. They add so much joy to our lives. I coach a local swim team, work with Alan on our business, serve on 3 non-profit boards, volunteer in the kids schools, try to keep up the house, and all the other fun stuff that comes with being a wife and mom. I love staying busy though, I always get more done when I have more to do.

Well, that's a pretty quick update on the Robinson's. Thanks for all the Christmas letters and updates! We miss all our friends in far away states. I will try to be more faithful at updating our blog. I enjoy reading everyone else's.

Zion's 3rd Birthday

Hello! We are again back in time, this time back to February 11th, 2007. My little Zion Isaiah's 3rd birthday. I tell you what, time flies! I say it's time for another baby, but God got some work to do on Alan with that one. :-> Anyway, here are some pics of Zion's day:

Note what he is using to try to bust that thing open. Yep, the Robinson house of men have caught the golf fever. All four of my guys have their own set of golf clubs (Alan may have two or three).

2 of the Boucher boys (Elias and Rylan) and Peyton and Zion.

Getting to the goodies!

Quick, get in there!

Ahhhhh...the reward!

Here we are, Zion Isaiah Robinson. February 11, 2004, 7 pounds, 13 ounces, 20 inches long. He is definitely "A beautiful reflection of God's grace." My little guy never stops smiling.

Peyton's 4th Birthday

Wow, it's been a while. I just spent the last 2 hours reading my friends blogs and trying to catch up with them, and now I figure I can take some time to catch you all up on the Robinson's. It's actually April 28th, but I am going to go back in time a few months to Peyton's 4th birthday. What a day! We invited quite a few friends of his from school and church, so I had a house full. It was a great day though! I can't believe that my little guy is 4! Here are some pictures of his cake (I can't seem to find where I put the pictures from his actual day):

Here is my little guy: Peyton Alexander Robinson, January 11, 2003, 8 pounds, 11 ounce, 22 inches long.

Birth announcement compliments of:

Bethan Baird Photography

Drew's 10th Birthday Party