3~2~1~ LEGO!!!

First Lego League ROBOTICS!!
This was a long day, so I will warn you now . . . this is a long post!

We had a great time at our "First Lego League Robotics Tournament" this weekend.

For the past 6 months, Kaylee and her "All Girls" team from school have been

learning programming, building and teamwork to prepare for this competition!

It's an all day event for our Central Valley kids. Ages 9~15 years old.

There were 85 teams and Robot Sisterhood came in 21st!

This is where they all come together and show what they have learned and what they are able to do with the Lego Robots that they have built and programmed!

It's so encouraging to see these kids in a positive and up-beat environment. The speeches they received from the leaders of the league, reinforced all the positive things we are trying to instill in our children today.

At the awards ceremony at the end of the day were more praise and encouragement!

EVERYONE is a WINNER whether you walk out with a trophy or not!

Here are some pictures from Saturday. Exciting, fun day!

This was the start of the day . . . EARLY!! Even for our Kay Kay!

A quick breakfast, coffee and out the door!

Our fearless leaders!!

Barb and Greg ~ Greg's 5th year coaching!

You can't really read it, too far. In the opening ceremony, they had a banner hanging up that had a list of the "Core Values" that should be followed during the tournament.

They went over each one.

This gentleman with "Elvis hair", is Retro Bill! He was the MC for the entire day and evening. He was wild, bringing lots of excitement to the kids and encouragement. He gave a great speech at the closing ceremony to the kids regarding peer pressure and drugs. Great for our kids to hear!

The girls coach, Greg, works for Lyle's Engineering. Great company and a sponsor as well! They have a neat story behind their business, great ministry!

And . . . He's with the girls again! After round 2, his stress was finally gone!!

There were 8 girls on the team ~ Here they are doing a presentation in front of the judges for their research project they did on public transportation. They did awesome!!

Here they are getting ready for their 1st round with Amy! (Their Robot)

They practiced on a board like this at the coaches home for months before the tournament.

READY . . . Go! Here, Amy was programed to go around on the board to the

red car on the ramp and trigger it to come down the ramp.

Looking at this picture, it worked, the red car is down. Yay!! For the 2nd run,

Amy also went around the board to the black and yellow circle and stopped, which was another successful run! (she is on the otherside of the bridge) Great job programming girls!!

Here was a paper that one of the girls on the team had to write for a "Crash Test Figure".

(A Dummy) . . . his name was Shiney Object.

It was nominated for an award but did not win.

BUT . . . they DID WIN the trophy for the "Judges award"! Very cool!

They were so very excited.

They were also nominated for the "Teamwork" award!

They did an awesome job and worked very hard!

Each student in the tournament received a Lego Robotics Medal!
Here is Kaylee, proud to wear it!

Proud of all the girls. . . and yes, Kay Kay, mom & dad would be happy to do it again!

Thanks Greg and Barb!!

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE AND SHARING SOME OF OUR FALL . . .

Christmas is here at the Robles home!

We chose to go with a new artificial tree this year and love it!

The past couple of years has been fresh for Kay Kay, but we were all happy for the change back.

No watering, no dead pine needles, no worries for fire . . . just beauty!

I love Christmas trees . . . I have very fond memories from my childhood. My mom knew how to decorate a beautiful tree, still does. She made decorating fun for each Christmas.

My mom and aunt use to decorate them for department stores when I was young. They had a fun time and loved talking about their experiences each year.

We'll, I will continue with some Christmas posts in the weeks to come and also be catching up in the next week on the busy but fun fall we had!

Here is Me, Mom and My Sister for our fall Cambria trip we took in October.

(more on that later.)

Kay Kay ~ Auntie T ~ Saira

At the Avila Barn, Avila Ca.

And also more to come on our visit from my Sister-in-law and her new baby girl, Samantha!!

We had a great visit and so sweet Sammie is!!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and a fresh new start to the Christmas Season!

Share the Love of Jesus everyone!!

Blessings,

Kim

FALL AND THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!

Fall is officially here! Well . . . it was OFFICIAL in September but for our valley

it just hit this past week with the great weather we've been having!

Snow has already fallen in our mountains and the rain is here!

I say bring it ON to this draught land!

I hope the rain falls by the buckets this year. We haven't had a substantial

amount in probably 10 years!

We'll, school and life have been VERY BUSY . . . but we managed to get a trip in to the

Monterey Bay Aquarium. Kaylee's birthday present from Grandma.

Dan took the day off and we had a great time!

The weather was PERFECT! The water, GORGEOUS!

Happy Fall Everyone!!

Finally, its my turn to talk! I have been sooooooooooo busy lately with piano, robotics, science class and soccer. Not metion a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

It was so much fun! Here are some pics from the trip.

Hope you like them!

Love from Kay Kay;)

This was probably my favorite exhibit. I know my mom loved it!

That's my trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Are you ready . . . Are you READY . . . FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Welcome to one of my most favorite times of the season . . . FOOTBALL SEASON!!

Thanks to my Dad . . . and my brother Jeff . . . I came to love this game by no choice of my own!

When there is only one T.V. in the home and it seems to be stuck on ONE channel all
afternoon . . . well, you learn to love football.

So every season, from my freshman year in high school till now, (give or take a few seasons) I continued to enjoy football and found my own team to follow. Yes, I love watching the SAN DIEGO CHARGERS!! GO CHARGERS!! This is your year!

Now, for those of you who don't care for San Diego, please take a look at the last few seasons and the great run that they've had. Not too bad . . . and hoping for another good year, maybe to the Superbowl! :)

I love the game and I love my family who seems to support me when my team is at their best or not so best.

From my husband and daughter who put up with the sudden bursts of screams whenever a touch down is made . . . to a call from one of my family members saying "we'll their looking good today!" Sometimes, not good, but that's OK too. It's a joy for me!

I probably just lost all my girlfriends who think I turned in my princess sneaker's for a man's football jacket and cleats!! Don't worry, I'm all girl . . . just lovin me a football game!

This is my Official NFL Jacket my family bought for me about 14 years ago and I do wear it proudly, not as often as I should but I still LOVE IT! It's hot to wear in the valley!

I get to harass my brother with it, he's a Ram's fan :0 And my dad is a 49er's fan :0

This is me trying to do a tough growl! LOL (45 year old woman trying to act tough!!??)

Look at me laughing ;) . . . oh my!!

I have to say I do love their logo!

Fun Times!

OK . . . this is as normal as I get!

So does anybody here like (love) football? If you so, what is your favorite team?

Or do you despise it? Share with me!

But do remember . . . Jesus is the only true thing to get excited over!

Love Him, Know Him, Live for Him!

Blessings, Kim

P.S. Kaylee will be back over the weekend to add her part for this post. She is having fun at

an overnight campout at our church!

A Healthy Challenge!

Just a quick note to those of you up for a fun challenge!

If you'd like to jump over to my friend Robynn's blog, you'll find a

boat load of healthy info. And also some...other information! She's a fun gal!

http://robynnsravings.blogspot.com/2009/08/30-day-throw-down.html

Back In The Swing...With A Little View Of Our Summer ~

I know, I know, I start a blog and then I STOP! What's with that?

We'll, a little sleep deprivation, family time, VBS, Robotics Class, church camp, some study time, and of course we can't leave out the dreaded Kidney Stone episode to top off the summer!

Not much of a rested summer that I was hoping for!

Anyway, Kay Kay and Mom are back! And happy that those few who do read, asked!
We started school yesterday! Yay! I was hoping to start last week but a couple of set backs, one being, Kaylee and I had colds the past couple of weeks. It's nice to be back on a schedule.

Just a couple of pics from me and a few more from Kay Kay below. She celebrated her birthday on July 29th, she is the big 11 now! Yikes!

Our Kay Kay is 11 NOW!

Family B-Day Time

Our Cool 11 Year Old!

I'm currently taking a class that has required a lot of reading. When I have the time, I love to read! Reading is one of the special bonds between me and Kay Kay, we LOVE reading together. Although, she devours books like I devour chocolate these days, so our reading together has slowed some.

You may have heard of the book I'm reading right now, "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg. It's about spiritual disciplines.

One part in the book he talks about "Pseudo-Transformation". It's just a little something I thought was worth sharing. I certainly felt the tug in my heart and believe that God would love to see this action in more Christian's today.

Quote:

"The great danger that arises when we don't experience authentic transformation is that we will settle for what might be called pseudo-transformation. We know that as Christians we are called to "come out and be separate," that our faith and spiritual commitment should make us different somehow. But if we are not marked by greater and greater amounts of love and joy, we will inevitably look for substitute ways of distinguishing ourselves from those who are not Christians. This deep pattern is almost inescapable for religious people: If we do not become changed from the inside-out - if we don't morph - we will be tempted to find external methods to satisfy our need to feel that we're different from those outside the faith. If we cannot be transformed, we will settle for being informed or conformed."

Definition of "Pseudo"
Not actually but having the appearance of; pretend; false or spurious; sham; counterfeit.

He goes on through the book and talks about abundant LOVE and JOY!

He shares, "God is the happiest being in the universe. Joy is his eternal destiny."

So, as Christian's . . . why are we not so happy, full of joy, more loving, less critical, less judgemental? We are not TRANSFORMED people! Yes . . . he also iterates that "Joy is hard to do sometimes. We must make a conscious effort to practice joy. God's intent was that his creation would mirror his joy."

As Christian's, we are called by God to be joyful and loving, especially towards one another. Especially, towards those who have not yet made a commitment to Jesus!

Today. . . are you joyful? Are you mirroring God's joy? His love?

If you are, spread it like a wildfire and help those who have not yet made a choice to become a

Christian, have a reason to want to. If you struggle with joy . . . well it's time for some practice.

Let's MORPH!

Hope you have a joyous day!

Blessings, Kim

Hey! Kay Kay is back! I can't believe school has finally begun! After a long (excuse me, but did I say long? I really meant short!) summer, I realized that shoving a bunch of things in really is possible!

I think that my birthday party was one of the most fun things this summer

I had a slumber party and we ate pizza and Tie-dyed T-shirts. Then, we built our own ice cream sundaes and played on the Wii. We had so much fun that night snuggling in our sleeping bags and eating popcorn while watching Bolt. Here are some fun pics from that night:

Beautiful Birthday Dinner

Hurry up and spin the spinner already!

Us girls being silly

So many colors!

Me, Sage, and Saira ready to watch fireworks

I caught these when my dad took me fishing

The Big One that almost got away!

With love,

Kaylee