Bionic Baby

All Staley babies must learn bionic baby. Jack is giving his lessons a half effort.

So Julia Thinks She Can Dance

Julia is the shorter girl in the back row with the white dress.

Sock Hop

Here's a few pictures from the ward sock hop.

I think the girls and John wish they lived in the 1950's!


Rachel, Simone, Brooklyn and Drew performed Lollypop. They even did an encore performance!


Jack was slightly impressed by the musical numbers.

Okay ... YUMMM!

I guess I'm a true Robison ... I have made a lot of food posts lately. Jeane brought over a fancy pancake puff pan and we made these the other day. I know some of my siblings will disapprove (well one in particular) but we dipped them in melted butter and then in powdered sugar when we ate them. Heavenly!

Classic Pancake Puff Recipe
2 egg whites
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp melted butter
2 cups buttermilk
melted butter for frying
Beat egg whites until stiff. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, sugar, melted butter and buttermilk at one time. Mix until smooth. Gently fold in egg whites last. Put a little melted butter in each well and fill 3/4 full with batter. Turn as it cooks until golden brown and cooked through.

Remembering Barbara

Happy Memorial Day! We made our trip over to Grandma Barbara's grave today. I often think about her watching down and getting a kick out of the girls. I even think she likes Jack (she was generally not fond of little boys).

Have you ever wondered why you can't marry your brother?

Grace: I can't decide who I am going to marry so I will probably just marry Jack.

Tessa: GRACE!!! You CAN'T marry your brother! IT'S AGAINST THE LAW!!! People CANNOT marry their brothers because they would fight too much!!!

Mother's Day Dinner

Yummy! I am late in posting this but John made chicken tikka masala with roasted asparagus and basmati rice and homemade naan on the grill. I love mother's day!

jack jack attack

Jack is growing up and changing so quickly! Overnight he went from being my sweet cuddle baby who loved to be rocked with his binky to a wild man. He totally gave up the pacifier and is never content to just sit with me. He doesn't crawl yet - thank goodness! - but he gets into everything just by scooting and rolling. Yesterday he ended up underneath my nightstand playing with the electrical cords. Before that he got himself under a chair in the living room and was kicking the bottom of the seat trying to make it tip over. The other day I saw him with something black in his mouth. I came running over and it was a knob from the cabinet which he had somehow unscrewed and put in his mouth. I feel like I can't take my eyes off him for a second! He used to be so easy to rock to sleep whenever he was tired. Now there is no way he would let anyone rock him. The upside to this is that when he finally settles in and goes to sleep he is out for the night. Yesterday he slept in until 9am and today I had to wake him up to get Tessa to preschool. He is such a funny kid. He loves people to laugh at him. He has silly tricks like growling or shaking his head and when a stranger looks at him, he will do whatever it takes to make them laugh. I am having such a great time with my baby boy but he does wear me out! Let's hope he is very late learning to walk!

A Teaching Moment?

Tessa and I were chatting in the car this morning and she was very concerned about how she would find someone to marry. She said, "How did you find daddy to marry? Did you just see him one day and think - I want that one?". I saw an teaching opportunity and went on and on about how, when she is older, she will meet lots of guys and they will take her on dates and she needs to choose one that is kind and would make a good daddy etc etc. She seemed to be taking it all in until she suddenly just burst out laughing and asked, "wouldn't it be funny if a boy had a bow in his hair?". So random. I don't think she was listening to me at all.

Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo Karenin!

We enjoyed a wonderful fiesta dinner tonight

in honor of my dear sister-in-law.

Happy Birthday Grace!

May 4th was Grace's big 7th Birthday and we celebrated with a fun party at the house with her friends and a nice evening with her family. We had a pinata, games and very messy cupcakes. I think everyone had a good time. Jack was the only party pooper.

sleepy head