Help!

I know it's only been a few days - but I need help with another girl name.  Mike and I can't seem to agree on anything.  I need a feminine girl name that 'goes' with my other girls.  It can't be on the top 10 list (or even the top 20).  Things I'd prefer (but aren't deal breakers)  I'd rather not have the name start with the same letter as my other girls (so everyone has unique initials) and I'd really like to use Allen as a middle name (even though Mike says no) so it needs to kind of 'go' with Allen.

We have Anna Elise, Madeline, and Lilah - so any ideas on names that would 'go' with these and fit my criteria?
Things I've come up with that Mike says no -
Natalie
Hallie (like Halle Berry, not Haley)
Lenora

Names Mike likes that I said no -
Denver
Jaqueline

Name on our list that neither one of us loves that could work (maybe one of these will grow on me)
Elenora or Elinore
Hadley
Evelyn

So PLEASE give me suggestions.  I've looked at tons of websites and I can't find anything I love that Mike likes that fit my criteria.  Also, please don't be offended if I listed a name as a 'no' that you like or have used - it's more about it being the 'right' name, not that it isn't a good name...

We are having...

ANOTHER GIRL!  Honestly I am very excited and so is Madeline.  Everyone else is just going to have to get over it.  Mike just muttered 'another wedding' and 'how often are they wrong?'.  Anna Elise was quickly distracted with talk of redecorating and rearranging rooms.  Calvin is basically a happy boy so he will be ok.  I do feel a bit sorry for him, but reminded him that being the only boy does have it's advantages. 
It seems a bit anticlimatic to announce another of the same, particularly for the Russells who only have 1 grandson (Calvin).  However, we are rooting for either Sean and Rachel or Matt and Sarah to have a boy to help continue on the Russell name!
We had two solid choices for boys names - we aren't really happy with any of our girls choices.  So the search for a girl name continues...
On another note, when I got home from my appointments I found that Calvin had been playing hair dresser and had seriously tangled a comb in Anna's hair, to the point where we thought we might have to give her a cute little bob.  She was not happy.  Mike told Calvin that if Anna Elise had to have her hair cut he was also getting a hair cut - like Daddy's.  Luckily for everyone - Mike and I both worked on it for about 30 minutes and we were eventually able to get the comb out of her hair.   Mike said that Calvin was obviously not going to be a hair dresser when he grows up!

Merry Christmas!

For the past two weeks we've been...

• looking at Christmas lights (lots of times)
• doing Christmas service
• Sledding (and getting our car stuck on a slick hill, ever see a pregnant lady pushing a car up a slick hill with her face splattered with mud from the bald tires?)
• getting new tires for the car
• attending our ward Dinner Theater Christmas party
• hosting a Christmas Eve party
• getting a wall upstairs so that we have a door to our bedroom now
• had two snow storms - one of which canceled school for two days and the other canceled church
• Christmas shopping
• sat in front of the fire with hot cocoa
• read Christmas stories
• went to the Train & Toy show
• eating the gingerbread house
  

Yesterday we had a great Christmas.  The kids were all happy, excited for their gifts, pleasant to each other, and there was minimal fighting and crying.  We had a fire going all day, yummy food, and a great time  - for a whole day life seemed so good!  Yes, reality hits soon after, but we really enjoyed our day!  I am grateful for a savior who makes those 'Christmas' type days a possibility for every day!

FYI - my ultrasound appointment is on Wednesday, Dec. 29th - so check back for an announcement!

Sledding!  No - Madeline is not wearing pants and yes she did go down the hill that way.  It's a long story and I blame her dad and pregnancy!

Riding the train at the Train & Toy show

Hot Cocoa in front of the fire

Part of our crazy nativity on Christmas Eve

 

The girls in their new hats that grandma made them

Calvin shooting hoops with his Christmas present

Calvin after a sled run

Christmas Morning pictures:

 Lilah's present is bigger than she is!

 Madeline with her fairies

 Calvin's dartboard

Anna Elise got dress up make-up, everyone has had and given multiple 'make overs'

Our Last Minute Jaunt To D.C.

On Saturday we decided to take a quick trip to Washington D.C.  I had hoped to go during the week right before Christmas but Mike's work schedule seems to be filling up fast (yeah) so we decided to go while we could.  We spent more time driving there and back then we spent there - but that's how it goes!  We left after lunch and drove to the temple to drop me off.  Mike took the kids to a nearby playground and they had a great time despite the colder weather.  Here they are on their motorcycle with a double side car!

After I was done they came back and we wandered around the visitor's center.  We saw some beautifully decorated trees and nativities from all over the world.  Then we headed outside to see a life sized nativity and to look at all the great lights! 

 

 

We then found a local pizza place for some dinner.  While waiting for the pizza Calvin started making faces at Lilah so she made a face right back.  Once Mike got his phone out to take pictures all the kids wanted a picture of their funny faces and I promised them that I would post them!

 

 

(I don't think Madeline knows how to make a funny face)

12 Days of Service

Last year our family did the 12 Days of Service and several of you expressed some interest.  So this year, I thought I would share it with you early so if you wanted to participate as well you had a reminder and some ideas!  These services are catered to our family and our children's ages so you would need to adapt them for your own family and needs.
If you want to end on Christmas Eve you would need to start on Monday!  If you want to finish it on Christmas Day then wait until Tuesday.  We don't 'pick' them randomly, some take a little bit of time and I have to plan them based on our schedule - but if you are flexible then picking them out of a jar would be part of the fun!


Here the list:

make and deliver goody plates
make and  mail cards
make someone else's bed
you pick something nice
let someone else go first
do an extra chore for mom
say something nice about everyone in the family
pick out one toy to give away
clean up your room without whining
take canned goods to the food bank
participate in a community project
give a present to Jesus

One of THOSE Weekends

I'm so glad the weekend is over.  It was one of those weekends that you will look back at and laugh about, several YEARS down the road.   It started Friday just past noon.  I was just finishing up the last batch of sugar cookies.  I had dough waiting for Anna and Calvin to play with when they got home and one more pan to bake.  I hadn't fed the little girls lunch yet.  The school called to say Calvin had fallen down at recess, he was ok, but I needed to come get him.  I thought that meant come get him and take him home.  So the girls put their shoes on (but no socks and for such a quick trip I didn't force it).  I left my house slippers on and we jumped in the car.  We got to the school to find Calvin with a pencil sized hole in his head.  It was small but very deep.  The nurse said stitches and I agreed.  So we checked Anna Elise out of school, got in the car and headed to Patient First.  I called a couple of my friends who lived out that direction and found someone at home who was able to watch my very hungry and ill dressed children.  I ran Calvin to Patient First and $25 and an hour later was told that they wouldn't stitch such a deep cut - take him to the ER.  We drove to the ER and checked in there and waited and waited.  I called to check on the girls to find that Lilah hadn't napped and had been crying the whole time.  That was not like her!  We finally got to see the Dr.  It took all of 10 minutes to check him, give him a couple of shots, hold him down and stitch him up. Calvin walked out with 4 stitches and a large blue popsicle.  We got distracted on the 5 minute drive to get the girls and it turned into a 20 minute drive, but oh well.  We finally made it home in time to frantically frost the cookies, eat a light dinner, and get a sick Lilah and a sick Daddy settled and the rest of us loaded up into the car (I also had a minute to put on real shoes!).  We took off for our Primary Party.  We had a great time!

On Saturday I was so behind since I didn't get much of anything done on Friday.  When I tried to catch up on dishes after lunch I discovered a clogged kitchen sink.  Mike tried for hours to fix it, he discovered it was in the main pipe because the bathroom sink made the kitchen pipes drip...So by late afternoon I had dirty dishes and the contents of my 'under the sink cabinet' strewn about my kitchen, not to mention bowls of dirty water, tools, and plumbing stuff all over.  The bathroom was torn apart as well since we had tried to get to the problem from that direction too.  At almost 6pm a plumber finally showed up.  At that point I knew making dinner was out so I did a hamburger run.  By 7:30 the plumber was gone and our clog was too - but my house was a wreck and I was still very behind.  I cleaned everything up and in my hurry grabbed all the bath tub toys and threw them in the dishwasher (they were a casualty of the mess in the bathroom).

On Sunday we woke up to another sick child (Madeline) and Mike was getting worse.  I also discovered that I had put a few non-dishwasher safe bath toys in the dishwasher (along with the safe ones).  My dishwasher was not happy.  It was a mess.  The mess was all over the top rack, dripped onto the bottom rack and settling on the bottom of my dishwasher.  Most of the dishes went back into the sink as I cleaned out my dishwasher!  Not fun!  However, I did get it cleaned out and it is functioning again!

I was relieved to find that we had no major problems today!  Mike is still very sick and his throat hurts so bad he has quit speaking, but he did go see a Dr and we do know that it isn't Strep.  We hope he gets well soon!  the little girls are both feeling better and no one else has gotten sick.  Here's to a very quiet and uneventful week!

 Calvin's Stitches

A sick Lilah and Daddy resting