everything rachael

It Happens

2009-10-18T20:32:00.004-05:00

Back in September my friend AP and I went to a concert in Ames. We really just wanted to see Matt Nathanson and he was opening for Sugarland. Neither of us were Sugarland fans or even really knew more than one or two of their songs. But we were willing to suffer through Sugarland just to see Matt.
Well Matt was great! And then there was some country guy whose name escapes me completely. The only thing I remember about him is that he had nice arms. And then Sugarland took the stage. What a great show!! And now, months later I've finally gotten around to downloading some of the songs we heard that night. I'm totally hooked on their stuff. You'll notice I didn't even bother to get my camera out during their part of the show. Shame on me!

In the infamous words of Jennifer Nettles....

Ain't no thyme or reason
No complicated meaning
Ain't no need to over think it
Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it
We try so hard to understand it
Irrefutable, indisputable
The fact is, psssh, it happens

September Camping

2009-10-12T21:16:00.003-05:00

oh i'm so far behind in blogging... so much to say so little time! We had the pleasure of camping with the whole gang in September again. This time Jason (a.k.a. my #1 blog fan) came prepared. With his portable 27 inch TV, Xbox 360 and a box full of games. I don't know if we can really call this "roughing it"?

Denise did not partake in the gaming.

They were getting too much glare so we had to create make-shift "walls". Here you can see Dan kicking all three of their butts at Halo!

We were finally able to get the Iowa game on our little TV. I think we've decided to upgrade the camper tv next season!

Say a prayer today

2009-10-07T10:01:00.001-05:00

My friend Kim's little girl Song is having open heart surgery at the University of Iowa hospitals this morning. Please say a little prayer for Song and her family and her doctors.

Random Photos

2009-09-29T22:48:00.004-05:00

Just a few random shots i came across tonight....

Here's something i didn't notice until just now. Notice how relaxed my children are and how obviously up tight i am. Can you see it? Keep in mind this was the week I spent in Duluth when my dad had triple bypass.

Godspeed Sully boy...

2009-09-13T20:16:00.002-05:00

We lost our Sully boy this evening.... it's unbelievable to me that I'm going through this today. Our best guess is that he had an allergic reaction to something. Some of you will remember earlier this spring when he had the large mass on his shoulder while we were camping. That came up within about 20 minutes. We are guessing that something similar happened this evening except that this time the mass was in his throat. We are all heartbroken here. absolute disbelief....

First Day of School

2009-08-30T20:19:00.004-05:00

Oh my babies are back to school!!!! Dan started 6th grade and Wav started 4th grade on the 19th. I'm not sure I'm ready for 6th grade. It's been a week and a half now and I'm hearing a lot about girls and showering after gym class. No, not those things together, but those seem to be the most interesting things, individually, of course, at this point. Wav went in and tested on the Harry Potter book she read over the summer and has kick started her AR points!!! Oh yeah I'm hearing more about boys from her than I would care to also! Why can't they just stay little?

Well I'm back to work tomorrow. I've only been off a week and a day but it feels like forever. I was really worried I wouldn't be ready to go back, especially after the past couple days. But today I felt good for the most part so I think i'm ready. I hope I can remember what to do when I get there, lol! I feel like such a ding-a-ling lately. I'm hoping that will pass and soon!

camping July 25th

2009-08-25T13:26:00.008-05:00

We had a great camping weekend on the 14th up at Prairie Bridges in Ackley. The weather was beautiful and so unlike a normal Iowa weekend in August! The kids of course didn't think twice about jumping in the pond to swim, YUCK! I wish every weekend could be like this!

Two little girls

2009-08-12T21:44:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday I got to spend some time with two very adorable little girls! Check out a few of their photos at Robinett Photos

my pack

2009-08-02T10:16:00.004-05:00

I can't say enough about this fabulous weather that we are experiencing here in Iowa. Essentially no humidity, mild temps & sunny skies! I spent about 30 minutes outside with the dogs this morning just enjoying it!

A day in Robinett history: August 1, 2003

2009-08-01T12:52:00.003-05:00

My baby was getting ready to start Kindergarten in 2003 at Immanuel Lutheran, he was all of five. We were trying on school clothes here.

Wav was three years old here. She had just that morning given herself a hair cut. Check out that snotty nose!! This photos reminded me of Courtney Love!!!

Not blogging

2009-07-31T06:50:00.002-05:00

Yeah yeah yeah i know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I have not been blogging lately. Mostly because a) I've not been home. No I've not been out doing wickedly fun things. And b) I spend all of my time at work. And if I've learned anything from Heather Armstrong, one of Forbes most influential women in media, it's that you don't blog about work.
And I know you don't want to hear about work and I know when i walk out of there i'd rather not talk about work. I'd like to keep the precious two and half hours a day i have away from there all to myself.....

Never fear, I will be back before you know it. In the meantime i highly recommend reading this post. I laughed out loud and even shed a tear

http://www.dooce.com/2009/07/27/labor-story-part-two

Triple bypass

2009-07-08T23:11:00.004-05:00

My quick three day trip north has been extended. Dad had triple bypass surgery on Tuesday at St. Mary's in Duluth. He is not recovering quite as quickly as we may have hoped but he is improving. They stopped the sedation late this evening and we were able to communicate a little with him. He is still on the ventilator but they are hoping to take that out tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern. We truly appreciate it!

I was able to take an hour or so each of the past two evenings to get out and shoot a few photos. Duluth is such a photogenic town! I'll apologize now for the color, I'm working on Tom's laptop (thank you honey!) and the monitor is not quite what I'm used to (I'm so spoiled at home!) so I can't really tell but I think it's off a little.

4th of July weekend

2009-07-05T18:25:00.009-05:00

Oh what a relaxing weekend we had! We left for Clayton Hills Campground early Thursday afternoon. We camped next to the Droste's and their family this weekend. We had such a great time, really doing nothing! A lot of sitting around relaxing, reading books, the kids watched some movies, we drove into McGregor and Prairie a couple times, it was just nice! The folks came up on the 4th and had lunch and dinner with us. That evening we enjoyed the campgrounds fire works display. It was even better that we were able to watched them from our lawn chairs by our camp fire.
We are already looking forward to doing it again next year!

Wav & I downtown McGregor.

Dan, Wav & Sadie at Pike's Peak State Park.

I do not think Sadie appreciated the little hat we bought her.

I really enjoyed the quiet time, sitting out under the awning, basking in the glow of our awning lights.

Today

2009-06-23T19:02:00.003-05:00

I'm a follower...sometimes. Thanks Cathy & Ali!

TODAY
June 23st, 2009

Outside my window... The black clouds are rolling in on 60 mph winds.

I am thinking... how much I love my little Sadie-muffin who is curled up beside me on the couch.

I am thankful for... health insurance.

From the kitchen... i can still smell the chicken la-las we had for dinner.

I am wearing... Tom's old red t-shirt and blue shorts (i came in soaking wet from the monsoon outside and changed into the first thing that was close).

I am creating... a video from the wedding photos i shot on saturday and post processing the engagement photos i took sunday.

I am going...to do very little the rest of the evening.

I am reading... a Lisa Gardner book on my kindle. for the life of me i can't remember the name.

I am hoping... that i can get back and forth from my car to my desk successfully tomorrow.

I am hearing... Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. I love Netflix!

Around the house... there are lots of things that need to be done yet here i sit....

One of my favorite things... my canon of course!

A few plans for the rest of the week... Clean up the house and yard to get ready for the wedding on Saturday. Take Waverly to the orthodontist as she has lost so many teeth recently that her retainer no longer fits. Go see my dear friend Lisa Saturday morning so that she can work her magic.

Camping weekend

2009-06-15T18:59:00.002-05:00

It was a rather short camping weekend for the kids & I. We drove up to Wapsipinicon State Park after work on Friday. It rained and rained and rained all the way up there. And it continued to rain until about 7am on Saturday morning. Thankfully though it stopped and stayed rather cool all day Saturday. We had a great time with some of the folks from Tom's work. This is my new friend Elaine.

and her dog Sunny.

and my kids still glued to the video games even out in the great outdoors.

unphotographable

2009-06-10T13:14:00.002-05:00

This is a photo I did not take. Of a woman driving into the parking lot of a psychiatrist office. Her car windows were rolled down and she was talking, out loud, to herself, rehearsing the spiel she was going to give to the doctor to convince him she wasn’t crazy.

Digital Scrapbooking

2009-06-02T22:10:00.002-05:00

I'm really enjoying digital scrapbooking. I've gotten to a point where I can create my own templates too! It's just so easy and I don't have a lot of free time these days (ok that's like the understatement of the year) so if it can be done quickly then I can do it!

Side note

2009-05-31T21:55:00.003-05:00

On a side note, obviously we did not leave Stella a full bowl of cat food this weekend. She made her demands known.

Pine Lake Weekend

2009-05-31T21:27:00.004-05:00

I love just hanging out in my camper, I'm really kind of an inside girl anyway! And luckily all three of my dogs love taking naps!

We had kind of an eventful weekend! Sully sprouted a huge bump on his shoulder Friday afternoon. We ended up driving him into the vet at 7:30am Saturday morning (thanks doc!) for a shot and meds. If it doesn't go down by mid week he'll have to have it removed in the office. No one is really sure even what it is but it doesn't bother him at all thankfully.

The kids each crashed on their bikes this weekend and walked away with some good road rash. Our camping neighbors lost their two year old son about 7:30pm on Saturday night so we all helped them search the camp ground. He was found about 15 minutes later, way down by the spill way, fishing all by himself. We were all relieve.

Sunday morning Brian was running his mouth (which is not unusual) about being able to out run Sha (who had a pretty sucessful track season this year). I made him put is money where his mouth is and race her (short distance mind you). We were cracking up as he "warmed up" by jumping straight up and down and stetching. And I'll be damed if he didn't win the race! He is way faster than I gave him credit for!!!! I think my mom captured it on video so I may get that posted yet!

The weather was absolutly perfect all weekend and we all had a great time! But how is it a weekend of doing very little can be so exhausting? I came home, quickly unloaded the camper and took a shower and could not help but lay down for an hour or two...

Sadie-licious

2009-05-28T23:01:00.004-05:00

Who said I wasn't a small dog person?? Did I say that? Nah!!! Isn't she just the cutest! And she cuddles up to me every night and snores her little soft snores. I just love her to pieces!

Here she is trying chew off Sully's ear. He is such a good boy. So very tolerant.

It's hard to see where one dog ends and the next begins. Just a pile of black and white!!!
She fights just as hard as they do, she turns into "Sadie-vicious"

Isn't it nice of Sully to share his bone? Well rather to give up his bone!

She even beats up on Stella.

Last weekend sessions

2009-05-24T23:20:00.003-05:00

I had a busy weekend last week! Saturday was cold but sunny (I was praying for overcast all weekend, lol). I met Jill & her family in Waterloo and we braved the wind and cool temps. Then Sunday Henry & his parents came to see me in Reinbeck (I did finally get my overcast day!) and we walked around town and got some cute photos. You can see some more of these session on my photoblog

Happy Anniversary

2009-05-21T07:08:00.001-05:00

15 years ago today we were getting married.... Happy Anniversary honey!

Our favorite Song!

2009-05-20T22:13:00.006-05:00

It was cold. It was windy. But the sun was shining and hundreds of us were out for a great cause!! It was fun to catch up with Kim and her family as we walked, it had been way too long since we'd been together. She and Mike should be very proud of their beautiful family!

Click here to Visit Song's page to read her story and make a donation.

Dan walked with us too but he couldn't keep us with Wav & I!!
Check out her new glasses. Aren't they very waverly?

Denise and her mom came out to walk with us. The boys road along in their big stroller too!

someone is missing from this picture?

The newest edition

2009-05-10T21:42:00.003-05:00

Someone recently asked me if I had trouble with impulse control?
Nah.... not me!

Isn't she adorable!! She is a french bulldog mix. You should see her in her cute little sweaters!!

I got them all to sit still for just one moment. Sully doesn't really like Sadie to touch him. He's a little scared of her.

It's kind of like I can't image Dan without Wav. I can't image Sully without Sarah.

Pine Lake Weekend

2009-05-03T21:26:00.005-05:00

May 1st was the official kick off to the 2009 camping season. Pine Lake was far from full but there were still a lot of people there. The weather could not have been more beautiful! The kids rode their bikes all around the park, we walked the dogs (and by we I mean the kids and Tom), we ate good food and enjoyed a little family time. Mom & Kevin were camping for the first time this weekend in their new trailer, everything went very smoothly & Mom is already planning her next camping weekend!!! Bea & Gene dusted off the RV and were setting up next to us just before breakfast on Saturday morning. As always I was sad to have to come home Sunday afternoon and can't wait until we can go again!!

What do you think??? Ghetto fabulous!!! I had to have my lights!
I hadn't had my 70-300mm out in so long I had forgotten what a nice lens it is.....
We got to see the migrating Pelicans. They were so beautiful. I guess last year there were around 300 of them on the lake. It was a sight to watch them take off from the water.
Sully in his customary position.