Another win

Hey it's me, Keion. The Jaguar Basketball team is now 3-2. We have just won our first home game against Post Oak. The final score was 57-44. Our next game is against Battlefield.

Another Good Day on the Court

The middle school team won again!!! They are 2 -2. They could easily be 4-0, but we won't go there. The team is really coming together. Keith is doing a great job as coach. Keion isn't getting a ton of minutes but he makes an impact everytime he is in. He is consistently rebounding and playing tough, aggressive defense. One more game before Christmas break. It will be the first home game.

We Won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keith and the boys won their first game of the season. It seemed like everything clicked and the boys did everything that Keith had been coaching them to do. The team they beat was last years championship team and was undefeated all last year and so far this year. Our team won 54 to 35. It was a beautiful game to watch. We are hoping to get some more wins this upcoming week.

Another rough day on the court

Keith and Keion had their second middle school basketball game. It was another rough one, in that the team lost by a few points to a team that they could have beaten. Unfortunately, the top scorer for the team was not available for the game. We are confident that Keith and the boys will get their first win soon.

First TMS b-ball game

Well, we had our first basketball game at the middle school with Keith coaching and Keion on the team. Unfortunately, it ended in a loss in overtime. The boys led basically the entire game until the end and lost 42-40. We are all hoping for a win next time.

We're back!

Hey it's me, Keion. I just wanted to give you an update on what has been going on. Football season is officially over. Kendrick's team had an excellent season and went 6-2. Kendrick did a great job and won the Most Improved Player award. As for me, we had a perfect season, 0-6. [Which means 0 wins and 6 losses :)] Well, I'm putting that all behind and moving on to play basketball. Kendrick will be starting soon too.

Kendrick's birthday

We celebrated Kendrick's 8th birthday on Wed. He was able to pick out which restaurant he wanted to have his dinner at, and surprising picked Carlos O'Kelley's Mexican Restaurant. I think he only picked it for the tortilla chips, especially since he ordered a burger. He wanted us to make sure that we got the staff to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. The picture shows him wearing a sombrero while he is serenaded.

Keion makes the football team

We are so happy for Keion! He made the football team for his middle school. We are most proud of him, because after not making it last year he didn't give up but rather made it a goal and worked hard for months toward meeting that goal. This summer he ran, he bought and read a book about how to play FB, he lifted weights, he stretched, he watched video clips on the internet for pointers, and went to camp all in order to reach his goal. So, you can imagine how proud we are of him. Now we are praying that he has a fun and injury free season.

Above is a picture of Keion in this Thornburg Middle uniform. Although, his number may change.

UNC Football meet and greet

Well, as you can see the boys had a great time at the UNC football meet and greet. They got to throw the ball around on the UNC football field, meet the players, get autographs, and eat free food. The weather held out just long enough for them to get enough autographs to satisfy them. The players were very nice and accomodating. The stadium seemed so big from the field. It was interesting, Keion wanted to go see the wide receivers and Kendrick the running backs.

This was our first trip back to North Carolina since we moved 5yrs ago. It was amazing to see all the construction happening on campus. The area where we lived has been changed too. They put a huge shopping mall complex there, so it is now the hub of Durham. I also got to see some of my former co-workers from UNC. We had a great trip all around.

First Day of School

The boys made it through the first day of school despite their fatigue. We went to NC over the weekend, so they were quite tired Monday morning for school. We really like Kendrick's teacher this year. She has lots of experience and is an expert on technology. So far, Keion has only been to half his classes but says he really likes his teachers. We are thinking it is going to be a great year for both the boys. Hopefully they will catch up on their sleep at some point.

Football, sports, and other news

Hey, it's me, Keion. For the last few weeks, we've been on the go. Kendrick is playing football four days a week. He doesn't know what position he's playing yet but he's getting his jersey on Wednesday. His number's 38. Kendrick and I've been having swim lessons for the last month or so. I've been told I've improved a lot in my backstroke and freestyle. I have one more lesson and Kendrick has two. There are exactly two weeks until school starts again. I'm pretty much ready to go back. Gotta go, I've been selected to draw a picture for a magazine cover. -Keion :)

Robinson Family Cookout

We went down to Smithfield on Saturday for a cookout for Papa Joe's side of the family. We saw many of Keith's relatives that we hadn't seen in years. The food was delicious! We still never found out the secret ingredient in the brown beans though. Keith and the boys had on their Dallas Cowboy's gear. They received a lot of comments. Apparently everyone on that side of the family is a Steeler's fan. It was good seeing everyone.

Sports, sports, sports all around

Last week was a busy sports week for us, especially for Kendrick. He started football practice last week. His team practices 5 days per week. That is more than the middle school. In addition to football he had his last basketball and last baseball games. He says he never wants to play baseball again, too slow. He could play basketball year round though he says.

Keion had his last basketball game for the summer league last week. He is really starting to become more aggressive during the games. He is looking forward to football camp the first week of August. Keion also had a comedy camp this week. They learned how to do improv and comedic acting. He liked the camp and learned a lot.

Keith took both the boys to WWE wrestling in Richmond on Tues. Kendrick came back saying, "now that I saw it live, I know that it is real". He is going to "real" wrestling camp this week. He may be in for a rude awakening when he finds out there is no chair throwing, slapping, pulling hair, or 2 against 1.

Keith started working from home full time. He is enjoying not having to commute up to Alexandria daily. It allows him so much more flexibility. The boys enjoy being able to see him during the day and he makes them more elaborate breakfasts and lunches than I do. So, they like that too.

Monster Game

If they gave out game balls in Keion's summer basketball league, he definitely would have deserved one last night. He had a "monster game". He had 14 points (of the 25 his team scored), about 20 rebounds, and 2 steals. He has really been self motivated to exercise and work on his athletics this summer. His dedication is really showing.

Busy in VA

Sorry that it has been a long time since our last post. The summer has found us quite busy. The boys have been involved in summer camps as well as sports. Keion is taking the "Hollywood Experience" camp- part 1 and 2. He is learning how to use the green screen to input background and special effects into a film. Kendrick is doing a basketball camp put on by one of the local high schools. Both boys are playing in a summer basketball league and Kendrick is also playing baseball. They are also both taking swim leasons. I have been pleased that Keion still knows the different strokes, I mainly wanted to make sure he was comfortable in the deep water. Kendrick is doing well getting the different strokes down.

Keion celebrated his 13th birthday last week. It is hard to believe he is a teenager! At least he doesn't act like one most of the time.

Happy Belated Birthday Keith!!!!!!

We were on our first day of the cruise as Keith celebrated his 40th birthday!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to Keith (Daddy). Here are the waiters singing Happy Birthday to him on the ship.

Start of Summer

Well summer is off to a great start. We just returned from our cruise to Bermuda. Thank you to Mama Lucy and Papa Joe for taking all of us. We had a wonderful time. The boys got over their apprehension of the boat very quickly. I am sure we all gained 5 pounds with all the wonderful food they have available 24 hours a day on the ship. The boys are ready to start planning the next cruise!

Spring Orchestra Concert

Hey, it's me, Keion. After spending long classes and after-school rehearsels, we finally had our Spring Orchestra Concert on May 28th. The concert went very well and we used "Electric" instruments for a song [Smoke On The Water]. Mr. Tower, our school principal, also had a guitar solo. This was our last concert for the year, so thanks for everyone who came out! -Keion

Here is a picture of me, Kendrick, and Desiree after the concert

Half Marathon

I finished the Marine Corps Half Marathon this morning. This was my second year running it. Unfortunately, most of the race took place in the rain. I finished in about 2 hours, 22 mins. Which was about 10 minutes faster than my time last year. Here is a picture of me after the race.

Kendrick's school had it's Cinco de Mayo celebration today. Too bad it was the 6th of May not the 5th. The kids didn't seem to notice though, they had a great time. Keion also had a party in his Spanish class today for Cinco de Mayo.

Kendrick participated in his first race on Sunday. It was the Great Train Race and is a mile long race in downtown Fredericksburg. He finished the mile in 8 mins 49 seconds. He says he is going to train for it next year, so he can come in first. Mr. Competitive!

National Junior Honor Society Induction

Keion was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last night. In order to be accepted the kids had to have at least a 3.6 GPA, demonstrate good character, and write an essay. We are very proud of him for achieving this honor. Only about 30 kids were inducted with him this year.

Catching up

It has been a busy couple of weeks. I felt I could finally take a breath this week. We are all doing well. The boys are getting that end of the school year itch. The middle school girl's track team is doing well. We are 2-0 in our meets. Keith is hoping to be able to transplant into his garden soon.

All smiles

Well, today was the day I always knew would come. I always knew that my children would have to have braces. This was based on how bad my teeth were before I had them. Keion got his top braces on this morning. I would say he is not thrilled, but hopefully will appreciate our efforts in the future when he is giving interviews about his latest movie and has a winning smile. He did get a nice surprise this week. Keith and I surprised him with a cell phone. He can no longer say he is the only 7th grader without one.

Report Card Time

Today was report card day. Keion did very well. He received all A's with the exception of Spanish in which he received a B. He missed straight A's by 2 points. He also found out today that he was accepted into the National Junior Honor Society. His induction ceremony will be Thurs. April 30th at 7 pm at the school.

Kendrick did well on his report card as well. He is still on the E, S, T scale. He is doing well in reading and spelling. He has really developed a love for reading. His teacher says he has some difficulty with some math skills initially,but works hard and quickly picks them up,

We are very proud of the boys.

Keion went to get his spacers today in preparation for his braces. He will get the braces on next Thurs. I don't think he is looking forward to it.

Middle School Girls

I have volunteered to help the track coach out this year. I will mostly be working with the girl's team a couple days a week. I have been promised an eye opening look into the world of Middle School girls. Having 2 boys that should be interesting. I was pretty reserved in middle school.
Some of these girls you would never look at or listen to, and think they were in middle school. Typically everyone makes the team, but they had so many girls go out for the team this year that there are going to be cuts. I will keep you updated on their progress. -Darilyn

Superior Orchestra and Art Show

Keion's middle school had their district Orchestra Festival (competition) yesterday. They played outstanding and got a top rating of Superior. The school's band and chorus had also received ratings of Superior at their district festivals. Thus for the first time the school had all of its Performing Arts groups rate Superior. This means the school has earned the distinction of being named a Blue Ribbon school. Keion had given his orchestra classmates a pep talk in the days before the competition telling them they needed to get a Superior rating so that the school could get the blue ribbon honor for the first time ever, and they did it.

The boys had artwork entered in a Childrens' Art Show this week. They did not place but it was a good experience. They got Honorable Mention ribbons. Mr. Competitive Kendrick did not want to leave the show without his ribbon. The boys had wanted to stop art classes, but after seeing the other art and not placing. Kendrick announced that he wants to continue so that he can come in first place next year. Here is the boys with their artwork. The SpongeBob and Popeye drawings are Kendrick's, and the Joker and drawing of the man are Keion's.

I am a little behind in my updates this week, so please see below for another post.

Girls day out

I got to hang out with my 'sisters' last weekend. We had a great time, as always. I see Joan and Ayonda frequently, but I hadn't seen Traci in almost 2 years. I don't think I had seen Carol for about 8 years. We all agreed that there is really no need to go that long without seeing each other. Although we e-mail regularly, there is nothing like getting together. Here we are Joan, Traci, Ayonda, myself, and Carol.

April Fool's Joke gone wrong

Keion decided to play an April Fool's joke and told one of his friends that we were moving and that April 1st was his last day of school. Well the friend caught onto to the April 1st part and realized that Keion was kidding and that it was an April Fool's joke. Well, apparently one of Keion's teacher's overheard the moving April 1st part, but not the it is a joke part. She went down to guidance and told them that Keion was leaving the school and that next week was his last week. I know a lot of the staff and had just been at the school 2 days before and hadn't said anything about moving, so they became confused. This led to me getting a phone call from the guidance office asking me what was going on. I wasn't home so they left a message asking me to call back right away. This led to Keion then being called down to the office to find out what was going on. Which led to him having to explain it was all a joke. He was then told to call me and explain himself. I didn't get any of these messages or phone calls due to being at work all day. When I got home Keion, who is always upstairs when I arrive, met me downstairs at the door ready to explain himself. I told him that is what happens sometimes when you try to play a joke. I guess we won't have to worry about him trying to play a joke next week when it is actually April Fool's Day.

Our Little Leprechaun

Kendrick's 3rd favorite day of the year (behind Christmas and his birthday) is Leprechaun Day as he calls it. We all call it St. Patrick's Day. Kendrick had his outfit picked out for weeks. He also asked me daily to make sure he had Lucky Charms cereal to eat for breakfast on Leprechaun Day. Apparently, at his school there is a leprechaun that comes out of hiding every March 17th and wrecks havoc in the Kindergarten through 2nd grade wing. Kendrick says he hasn't seen the Leprechaun in the years that he has been at Lee Hill, but he know he is there because of all the mess he has caused. Here is Kendrick in his 'Leprechaun Day' outfit.

Climb High, Jack!

Hey it's me, Keion. I'm really excited[and kind of nervous] about our Dram Club play, Climb High Jack! The performance is in three days and we still haven't got through the whole play down yet! I think we'll be ready though because we're making good progress. We're going to go to Riverview on Thursday March 19 at about 1:30, and should be back by 2:00-2:15. Then at 7:00[along with the Night of the Arts] we're going to perform again for the parents in the forum. This will be our only performance, so make sure you come and see it! -Keion

Here is the picture of Keion receiving his positive referral award. I guess it helps to know the principal, as he sent me the picture.

Busy week

It seems every week is busy, but this has been a particulary busy one. Keion continues to reherse for the school play scheduled for next Thurs. He is very excited about his performance. Keion received a positive referral from his English teacher for being a consistently good student. He was very happy to receive it.

Kendrick received an art award this week from his school's art teacher for being a good artist. Both the boys will have drawings entered in the Fredericksburg Art Show which is coming up in a couple of weeks.

They are forcasting snow for tonight. Both the boys are hoping that will occur. I personally am snowed out!

Finally back to school

The boys finally returned back to school after having 3 days off due to the snow. Despite having 6 inches of snow, it was pretty easy to get around after the first day. We actually had a plow come down our street twice on Monday. Above are some pics of the snow. Although the snow was pretty and a fun, unexpected surprise we are all looking forward to warmer weather.

End of B-ball season, student of the week, Happy Birthday Desi!

Both of the boys saw their basketball seasons come to an end this weekend. They will each be writing a post about their season in the near future. They both played very well this year.

Kendrick was awarded the "Student of the Week" for his class. The award "recognizes students for their great accomplishments at school." He was very proud to receive it.

Last, but certainly not least, Happy Birthday to our favorite niece and cousin Desiree. We hope you have a wonderful birthday!

A trip to the theatre

We surprised the boys with a trip to the Empire Theatre in Richmond on Sunday afternoon. We saw an adaptation of one of Keion's favorite book series "Wayside School". It was put on by Theatre IV which does plays for children. Keion has read all three books in the series and Kendrick has read the first book. They thoroughly enjoyed the play. We stayed after so Keion could get autographs from all the actors. You can tell acting and directing, whether it be with people or drawings (animation) is Keion's calling. He has recently decided that Jim Carey is his favorite actor. He has a collection of all his movies. Above is a picture of the boys outside the Empire Theatre in Richmond.

Game balls

The boys both got Game Balls today for their play in their games. Keion received his for outstanding play on defense. This is the 4th Game ball he has received this year for defense. He has been playing much more aggressively. He even dribbled the ball up the court a few times. Unfortuately, though his team lost by 2 points at the end. They have lost 4 or 5 games by 1 or 2 points. Despite the losses the boys continue to try their best.

Kendrick got his game ball for his hustle. He was on the floor at least 4 times scrapping for the ball. His team (with Keith as coach) won a come from behind victory making the go ahead basket during the last minute of the game. Keith is focusing on fundamentals of not traveling, good passes, and tough defense. He feels these good fundamentals will help carry them through their future years of playing basketball.

All Around Asia

Kendrick was in a performance last night of All Around Asia at his elementary school. They sang songs and did various dances from Asian countries. Kendrick got to be the front of the dragon during the Chinese Dragon dance. I was only able to get a couple of good pics as most of them turned out too dark. The teachers and music teacher seemed very relieved that the play turned out so well, as the kids had missed several practices due to bad weather. The kids did a wonderful job!

Play and B-ball update

Due to many practices having to be cancelled due to snow and other reasons, Keion's play has been postponed from next week. They have been able to have some really good practices this week and he is enjoying his role as "the Giant". They have not announced the new date for the performance, but I will let you know as soon as we hear something.

Kendrick's concert is still set for next Tuesday evening at 7pm. They are doing songs from Asia.

Keion's team had another rough game tonight. They were playing the reigning champions and although his team played hard the other team was very good. The caliber of play among the teams has really been high this year.

Gotta go, I hear Duke is being beat by Clemson. Gotta watch that! Go Heels!

Rough day on the courts

Both of the boys had basketball games today, and they were pretty rough. Keion played first and his team lost in overtime by a few points. They had the talent to beat the other team, but they just couldn't execute on offense consistently. It seems that his team has been on the wrong side of many closely contested games this season.

Kendrick played second and his team who had played exceptionally well in winning their first 2 games got blown away. They did not score until well into the 3rd quarter. Keith, who is the team coach, felt like the loss might be good for the team as it showed him some things they need to work on and build upon. He was also impressed with how the kids didn't give up even though they were down by a considerable amount.

We are hoping for better luck and results this upcoming week. We will keep you posted.

Our house is divided over who we are rooting for in the Superbowl. As avid Cowboys' fans we don't want the Steelers to get more SuperBowl wins than the Cowboys. However, we like the coach and a lot of the players on the Steelers. Hopefully it will be a good game tomorrow and not a blowout either way.

Back to School

As everyone was getting ready for their day this morning, it dawned on me that this was the first day the boys have had school all week. They had a teacher workday Monday, 2 snow days Tues and Wed, and then the one hour delay today. Boy have they had it made. They won't know what to do if they actually have to go to school everyday next week. ~ Darilyn

A couple of more pics

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the meterologists got it right this time. We finally got some beautiful snow. Keith was scheduled to work from home today, the boys were out of school, and Darilyn decided after going out at 7:30 am and seeing how crazy people were driving that seeing patients would not be in the plans for the day. Kendrick especially had fun. He learned how to make a tight snowball. Keion helped Keith with shoveling the driveway and sidewalk. Darilyn only could stand a few minutes outside before her fingers were frozen (poor circulation). We are guessing we have about 2 inches on the ground as of 12:15 pm and it is still snowing at a pretty good rate.

The boys update

The boys wanted to update everyone on their activities. Keion is a lead role as the "Giant" in the Thornburg play "Climb High Jack". He is playing basketball again this season with Parks and Rec and continues to work on his skills. He is playing cello for his middle school orchestra and they will begin touring the local elementary schools.

Kendrick scored a basket during his basketball game yesterday and played excellent defense grabbing many loose balls and creating turnovers. He is working on his ballhandling and dribbling with his left hand. He will be performing in a school play in Feb. about the Chinese New Year.

It's a new year and a new thing for the Robinson family. We have created a blog. We hope this will let us share with you all the exciting things going on in our family.