Play Therapy

I understand why therapists use play therapy to work with children- watching them play can be an insightful lookinto their   life experiences and thought processes. Over this Christmas break, Max and Maggie have been playing a game they made up called "City of Today" where they use chocolate gold coins to buy and sell goods and services from each other. I remember playing something very similar with my brothers when we were children. 

In the game, max owns a little shop called "Max's 1 to 5 Sale" and a movie theater and Maggie owns a broadway theater (no surprise) and a vet clinic. I overheard max say this as they were hashing out the pricing at the vet clinic:

"How much it costs depends on how serious the sickness is. Cancer costs 5, a serious seizure costs 4, a not-so-serious seizure costs 3, and other stuff like colds cost 2."

Interesting insight into medical conditions that he has personally encountered that made an impact on him. Also interesting that Xander's terrifying-but-harmless febrile seizure happened exactly one year ago today. 

It all reminds me that raising children is a scary, thrilling, humorous,  intriguing, humbling, joyful experience every day. 

Branson Birthday Bash!

This year we decided to do a little something different to celebrate our family's fall birthdays. In lieu of presents and parties, we took the kids on a 3-day trip to Branson over Labor Day to visit the Grand Country Inn hotel, water park and resort. We squeezed a LOT of fun birthday family fun into three days: swimming, mini-golf, pizza, bumper cars, outlet mall shopping, Branson variety show, arcade, fudge and more! We found the great 3-day vacation resort package deal on groupon that had so many fun options included that we didn't even have time to get it all in! We could have seen another show and played another round of mini-golf... but these old parents were worn out from all the fun. :-) We had a total blast!

Here are my favorite moments from our trip:

On our second night, I put the littles to bed at their regular bedtime and Lucas took Max and Maggie to use their arcade cards and ride the bumper cars. Max had SO much fun that when he returned to the hotel room to get ready for bed, he whispered to me in all seriousness: "Mom, I'm afraid I'm getting a little spoiled." It was precious. 

One of the things we got to do in our package was see the Branson show Amazing Pets. Maggie was completely engrossed and delighted the entire time. I mean, with tiny poodles wearing leotards and tutus and dancing and spinning  on hind legs to the nutcracker, what's not to love?!

Xander is such a little water monkey. He LOVED the indoor and outdoor water park. When we were back in the hotel room, he would go find our water park entrance bracelets, take them to lucas and say, "Wa-wa", "Wa-wa" incessantly! He wanted to get back to that water!

Amelia did well on the trip in spite of her recently cranky ways. :-) we only had a couple times she got really upset, but the rest of the time she did great and put up with a lot of craziness for a 3-month old! My favorite moment was when she *immediately* fell fast asleep in my arms when I dipped her toes in the warm water of the hot tub. She LOVED that warm water!

We made some great family memories this weekend. So glad we came!

Insights from Maggie

Maggie: Mom, did you know that 'Narnia' is a movie that can teach kids stuff? Aslan represents God, The White Witch represents Satan, and Edmund represents that we will never be perfect. 

Practice for the future

Maggie: Max, do I look cute?

Max: Maggie, I don't like these types of questions. 

Instant Roebuck Family Classic!

Happy birthday, America!

Ten Years Later

June 28, 2003: Ten years ago tonight I was taking my father's arm so he could escort me down the aisle to my groom. While we were waiting for our cue, my Dad turned to me and said, "You don't have to, you know. It's not too late to change your mind... if you're not sure."  I was sure. 

Ten years, four kids, three states and eight moves later, I'm still sure. Sure that God orchestrated a lot of details to bring us together. Sure that there is no other person who would be as good a match for me as Lucas Roebuck is. SURE that I got the better end of the deal when I married him, and sure that he is a better man than I even knew when I agreed to be his wife. Sure that I would love nothing more than to add 40 or 50 more anniversaries to our first decade together.

 I love you, Lucas! Happy 10th anniversary!

Amelia's Bathtime

Washing up:

Drying off:

All clean and ready to sleep!

Amelia's first day in church

Feeling very blessed and thankful today- it was so special to introduce our daughter to her church family this morning!

Max's Hero

Celebrating!

We are so blessed with wonderful, generous friends at our church! Several dear friends hosted a beautiful baby shower for the ladies at church this week to help celebrate our new baby girl. I dropped the ball and didn't get many pictures- I really wish I would have gotten one with the wonderful hostesses. Thank you, Laura, Allison, Chris, Meagan, Karen and Nancy for planning such a special evening!

Snowy May

Arkansas had its first snowfall in May in recorded state history this week. 2 inchess of the cold white stuff on the ground when we woke up on May 3!

The kids enjoyed a little time playing in the snow before a nice end-of-the-year May school day!

Maximus was baptized on Easter Sunday morning, March 31, 2013. He was ready, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Easter! Lucas had the privilege of baptizing him. Check out the photos and video below and celebrate with Maximus!

Back in the Saddle

Okay, for all of you who report that you've been missing the blog updates (Hi, Grandma!), I'm back in the saddle in the blog world. I'll try to do better at keeping some updated photos and stories here for those who like to check it!