All grown up!

You may think I'm posting about Anna Elise going to kindergarten - but that is still a week and half away! (school doesn't start until September 8th, I know, CRAZY). This is about my other grown up daughter, Lilah. She thinks she is suddenly 2 now.
She wouldn't eat her cereal this morning. I mixed it all up for her and then unthinkingly started to give her the bowl. When I quickly pulled it back realizing who it was and that I needed to feed her she cried - that 'hurt feelings' kind of cry - so sad! About halfway through she refused to eat anymore. When I wasn't looking she snagged the spoon, used it to get the bowl and began 'feeding herself'. She thought it was great fun and wouldn't let mommy help anymore!




She has also started that fake laugh and cheesy fake smile. If someone else is laughing she assumes it's at her and she laughs too. She also cheeses it up big time for any reason.
She is into everything. I was spoiled with Madeline, she is pretty laid back and content, but Lilah is a go getter. As in she goes and gets everything out of my cupboards, takes my laundry out of the baskets and off the couch, and anything else she can take out!
Earlier today Madeline turned the sit 'n' spin on (it plays music) stood on it and danced. She left and I turned around to see Lilah standing on the sit 'n' spin waving her hands in the air, bouncing to the music and smiling gleefully. She thinks she is big and I am in big trouble!

The Tale of Two Pools

In June the kids begged me for a pool. So I gave in and bought them this cheap $8 pool.

It's about 12 inches high and maybe 5 feet across. Despite the size and quality the kids
were ecstatic! The swam in it every day. Earlier this week they emptied their pool and
moved it because it was green. I went out with Tilex and rags to clean it up before we refilled
it and realized that it had holes all over the bottom of it. It would not be holding much water.
I realize summer is winding down, but it's still hot here and I still need an outdoor diversion
for my children! So we went pool hunting. Not many stores have any pools to sell right now -
it's too late in the summer. We finally found some at K-Mart and they were 50% off. We came
home with a 2.5 foot deep pool, 10 feet across with a filter for only $50. It's a durable pool and
the kids LOVE it. I had to move our garden (not fun!) before I could prep the site. Luckily
Mike was around when it was time to actually set it up. We hope to get a good 3-4 weeks of
swimming out of it before putting it away to save for next summer. A good deal on something
you are looking for anyway is even better! We do make Madeline wear a life jacket even though
the water is only up to her chest, she doesn't mind and I feel better!

Here She Comes!

Lilah is walking more and more. She is actually starting to initiate it herself. She will soon be running around the house! She can already stand up in the middle of the room on her own, so when she does start walking all the time she will be ready to go! Here is a short video clip or her walking and Mike bribing her to stand up by herself!

Happy Anniversary (a little late)

Mike and I had our 8 year anniversary on August 10th. Every year we take an over night trip (without any kids!) to celebrate. We were a little bit late this year. We left the kids with Aunt Rachel and took off Friday just after noon. We drove up to DC and had massages. Mike's only requirement is that he get his yearly massage! They felt great! We drove to the temple to walk around and take pictures and relax. Then we went into downtown DC for dinner at one of Mike's favorite restaurants - it's too bad (or maybe it's a good thing?) that they don't have a Bucca di Beppo in Richmond! We drove a half hour north to our hotel and undid our very relaxing afternoon by sleeping on a sack of rocks! OK - it wasn't really a sack of rocks, but you could've fooled me. I thought Hyatt's were decent hotels... We got up and drove to Gettysburg. The farmland in that part of Maryland is beautiful! It just felt so peaceful. We had borrowed a CD from my mom and so we did an auto tour of Gettysburg and had a great time. It was fascinating to drive everywhere and see everything and to hear the dialog and descriptions. We even did a little hike to the top of the Big Round Top. We grabbed lunch at Roy Rogers on the way out - just for fun because Mike ate there when he was little - and headed home. We made it home just in time to have dinner with the kids. They didn't seem to miss us too much, but I'm sure Rachel was glad to go home. It's so nice to have her close and we appreciate her help!

Mike and I had a great time. It's sad that we have to wait a whole year to go do it again!

In honor of our anniversary I've been thinking about everything we've done since getting married. It's not just about the numbers, but here are some fun numbers (8 of them!) -

we've had 4 kids in 5 years!

we've moved 6 times in just over 5 years

we've purchased 5 homes and sold 1

we own 3 businesses

we've driven across the country 1 time and flown across the country 12 times

we've purchased 4 vehicles together and sold 3 of them

we've had 5 different jobs between the two of us

we've been in 4 different wards or branches

A cool flower at the temple (Mike took lots of flower pictures and I was very patient!)

A picture of part of the temple in the reflection pool by the visitor's center (that is why it's upside down)

A cool veiw of the temple - it's such a grand and imposing structure!

Orignal cannon from the war - the barrell alone weighed 1100 pounds

A couple of Yankees at the train station being confronted by a confederate (now we know why the Yankees won - they had cell phones!)

cool reinactment - they shot their vintage guns and the smoke billowed up

Russell Reunion Pictures

I'm finally posting our Russell family pictures. I've had them for a while but have been slow

to post. It's hard to just pick a few, I know I've posted too many. They aren't in any particular order.

First Steps

I unfortunately have no pictures or video (yet) to document this momentous occasion! Lilah took her first steps this week. I'm not surprised that she is walking - she has been so eager to move and go since she was born (talk about wiggly!) that I knew she would be walking early. However I didn't expect it to happen when she was only 9 months old! All three of my other kids walked right at age 1 - so this is really early for us! She only takes 2-3 steps between Mike and I and I don't see her running all over the house for a while yet, but I know it's coming...

Happy Birthday Mike!

It was Mike's birthday on Thursday. I had to work all day and he had an estimate that night so we didn't celebrate it. We told the kids his birthday was on Saturday. I got a babysitter and planned a fun night for Mike. It didn't exactly go as planned but it was still fun. We went out to dinner to one of Mike's favorite restaurants. They had a summer special and we could almost afford to go. We counted it as our anniversary dinner as well (which is tomorrow). After dinner we met Mike's brother Sean, Rachel and Morgan and our friends Dave and Rachel at a Putt-Putt place and did a round of mini-golf. After some of us came back to the house for German Chocolate cupcakes with homemade frosting and ice cream. It was a good evening.
I gave Mike a gift card to a sporting goods store - he is going to buy a holster or cleaning kit or both or whatever else you need to buy to take care of a gun. I'm not sure if he has decided how to spend his other birthday money. He said it was a good birthday.
I'm very thankful for Mike and the efforts he makes to provide for our family, the amazing dad that he is and the time he spends with the kids and all the support that he gives me in whatever I am dealing with. I love him very much and I'm thankful that the Lord knows better then we do what is best for us! I think back to the events in my life that led me to the Tri-Cities almost 9 years ago and it was definitely the spirit that got me to where I needed to be so I could meet Mike!

We're Back!

We are back from our two week trip to Washington state! We had a great time. I think the more times we fly the better the kids are. It wasn't without incident, but we rarely have a day that is. Even with poopy panties, a crying baby, a crazy 4 year old who wouldn't stay with us in the airports, dropped food, and all that, we also had a big girl who sat by a stranger and across the aisle from her mom, a friendly 2 year old who said "Hi, my name is Madeline" to every passenger we passed while bording the plane, a loving brother who held his baby sister, and compliments from strangers on our family. One of the best parts is we went the whole trip without anyone getting sick! The kids all had fevers before we left and now we all have colds, but we were healthy while traveling and having fun!

We started our trip with Mike's family. Almost everyone was there. We had a blast. We spent a day on the river Wakeboarding and tubing, we went to parks, swam in Uncle Matt's and Aunt Sarah's pool (which we will miss when they move), had some fun family pictures (which I will post when I get them), watched Devyn get baptized, celebrated Mike's parent's 40th wedding anniversary with a yummy dinner with just the adults (thanks for babysitting Morgan and thanks for dinner Kendall). We had a great time. We weren't real good about taking pictures while we were there, but I've posted a few. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and meeting their brand new cousin Aubrey (who was also blessed while we were there).

We then headed out to my parent's house. We were able to see 4 of my 6 siblings - so not bad. We had a really good time there as well. We were able to make it to the river twice - I went skiing and had a lot of fun. We coaxed (forced) the kids back onto the tube and Mike even went wakeboarding. The kids jumped on the trampoline, played with cousins, went 'slip n sliding', had water balloon fights, played with Tate (their cousin's dog whom Lilah loved and chased all over the house and Madeline hid from), made masks, watched another new cousin, Tanner, recieve his blessing, made a lot of yummy food, and much more. We really didn't do any better with the camera there.

We had a great time and I wasn't ready to come back to the stresses of real life. We aren't going back at Christmas, it's just too much (money, time, work, ect) to make the trip twice a year. We are sad that we won't be there again until next summer - but we are excited at the prospect of my mom and Mike's mom possibly coming out this way this fall... The kids talk about their family all the time and miss everyone already.

I wanted to thank everyone (not in any particular order)
Thanks Dan and Raeleen for sharing Devyn's baptism with us, it was very special
Thanks Jenny for being such a fun aunt to the kids and giving us a break
Thanks Matt for helping Mike exercise his second amendment and improve his aim
Thanks Sara for coming over to see us even though little Aubrey was only a few days old
Thanks Morgan for saving our kids when they fell off the tube!
Thanks Michael for sharing Stephanie with us at a time when you needed her (I'm sure you passed)
Thanks Betsy for that really good lunch you made for all us after the blessing and for letting Madeline borrow some of Ella's clothes!
Thanks Trina for driving so far to see us and for bringing Tate - Lilah LOVED him
Thanks Nancy for laughing at Mike's jokes while we watched TV... it was amazing to be apart of Dance History with you (it still moves Mike to tears)
Thanks especially to our Moms and Dads for being such generous hosts and for all the work it took to have all of us there.
Thanks Pops for taking the kids on a Jeep ride even though Calvin was afraid of the badgers.
Thanks Grandpa for all the great Super Peach Delights.
Thanks Grammy for playing Hello Kitty bingo with the kids - they loved it!
Thanks Grandma for filling up water ballons for the kids (even though I kept getting you wet while trying to tie them) the water ballon fight was hilarious - especially when Grandpa got wet.


Anna Elise slidng (her cousins in the background)


Calvin doing a 'real slide'



Here is Madeline 'sliding'

Lilah getting warmed up for family pictures - she is so cute!

Riding the 4-wheeler at Grandpa's

I'm a little rusty, but I absolutely love it and isn't the River beautiful?

Tubing with Uncle Matt, the kids LOVED it =-)

Falling off the tube with cousins' Morgan and Faith (my kids SCREAMED, Calvin wouldn't let go, we dragged him in while Madeline tried to drown Morgan)

In the hot tub with Grammy

Anna Elise playing with Grammy's dress up clothes.

Maddie Lines

Madeline is talking more then ever here are just a few things she has said this week:

Talking to the lady behind her on the airplane: "I really like your earrings" (what 2 year old says that?)

M: "Calvin did you eat my quesadilla? "

Calvin: Yes.

M: "How dare you do that to me!"

While shopping in Costco...

M: "I have a booger"

Mom: Madeline don't ....

M: "I ate my booger."

Mom: Madeline why did you do that?

M: " I do that all the time Mommy"

I gave her a mom look.

M: "Mommy you are so silly".

M: "I get a purple one because I'm little"

Mom: You get a purple one because you're little?

M: "Yes, I'm little because I'm not big, so I get a purple one"