Russells

Donuts!

2012-02-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

Anna Elise and Dad stopped and bought donuts on their way home from the basketball game last night. We had them for breakfast this morning. Celeste is taking more interest in our food - she really wanted some of those pretty sprinkles!

she did get a hold of the napkin and pulled the donuts off the table

Lilah's way of eating donuts

The girls are wearing their valentine hair bows from Aunt Trina

The Spiders

2012-02-11T21:38:00.001-05:00

Anna Elise did really well on her 2nd grade Benchmark tests. She was invited to attend a basketball game at the University of Richmond to be honored. The Spiders played the Colonials from George Washington College. Unfortunately they didn't win, they lost by 1 point. It was an exciting game, Mike enjoyed it. Anna Elise enjoyed going out on the floor at halftime to get her certificate and pencil - she also loved watching the cheerleaders. The kids at home had fun with some treats at home with mom.

She is the short one in the middle. 2nd and 5th graders take the benchmark test, and she is with several fifth graders - she looks so little!

Video Night

2012-02-10T21:26:00.000-05:00

Friday night is video night. We always eat some kind of pizza for dinner and then it's our YouTube video night. Everyone gets one or two 'picks' on YouTube. It started out as an educational activity and now it's just fun. We see a lot of the same videos over and over and occasionally find some new ones. One of our favorites is OK Go. They have some really fun music videos. If you haven't seen any of their videos I'd recommend these: This Too Shall Pass and Here it Goes Again. There are many more. The newest one we have found will 'blow your mind' (according to Mike). I was so impressed! I had to admit to him - it did 'blow my mind'. What do you think? Needing Getting.

There are all 'in the zone'

Cleaning House

2012-02-07T21:20:00.003-05:00

This morning I took the three little girls over to our vacant rental house and did some cleaning. Cleaning other people's dirt is really gross. I was able to work on it for a couple of hours. It's not easy vacuuming and mopping with a little 'helper' clinging to your pants!
Afterwards we snapped a picture of the exterior - we needed one for our ad on craigslist.

If you know of anyone thats looking send them our way! We really need to get some tenants ASAP!

A Picture on Some Days

2012-02-06T21:09:00.006-05:00

So, I've decided to do a picture-on-some-days. I'll take a post a picture on some days - hopefully most days - but not everyday. So here is Monday's picture. We had a family home evening on having a good attitude. After our lesson we had everyone commit to one thing they would work on doing happily that week. I just have to share everyone's answers:
Anna Elise - getting up in the morning
Calvin - doing my homework
Madeline - unloading the dishwasher (instead of attitude, she said gratitude, it was cute)
Lilah - a cartwheel (she has never tried a cartwheel before)
For both Anna Elise and Calvin those were HUGE commitments and they both did a really good job. I have no idea what Lilah was talking about - she did have a good attitude this past week, but never actually attempted a cartwheel.

Afterwards we sang "If You're Happy and You Know It". We do every week. Each kid gets to pick out a verse. Here they are jumping and shouting "Hurray". It's a lot of fun!

Yes or No?

2012-02-05T19:40:00.000-05:00

Should I keep taking a picture a day? I'm not sure. I really enjoyed doing it and it wasn't that hard. However, I feel like it's a lot. It's just a lot of information about us out there. Almost overkill. I'm not sure why I feel like that, because I don't think Stephanie's is overkill or too much information. So I wasn't sure if I'd keep doing it or not, but was leaning toward continuing for atleast another month. Then this last week was just crazy and hard and I really didn't want to take pictures and it became a burden. So I didn't take very many in February (I think I took one). So now I'm thinking that I won't keep doing it. We'll see if I decide I want to take pictures this coming week.
OK - posts without pictures are boring - so here is a portrait of all the kids:

Anne took the kids to JCPenny to get their pictures taken while we were in Cancun. (Yeah, I know, AMAZING babysitter)

Don't Forget to Iron Your Nighty!

2012-01-31T21:36:00.000-05:00

It was bath night tonight. As I finished getting Celeste dressed I realized Lilah was still not dressed! I went to find out why and found her ironing her nightgown with her toy iron. She is using my laptop as her ironing board. What a little homemaker!

Books!

2012-01-30T21:39:00.001-05:00

Today the kids had the day off from school. So after running some errands we went to the library and checked out some new books! The kids love books!

Feeling Yucky!

2012-01-29T21:36:00.001-05:00

Not a fun day. We didn't make it to church - nobody felt great, but Mike, Celeste and I felt yucky! Here are a few things we used today - the rest was scattered around the house!

Good Eater

2012-01-28T21:54:00.000-05:00

Lilah has always been a good eater. She loves taco salad. Well, she loves a lot of things, but especially taco salad. I thought this was a big plate of food for a three year old, but she finished it!

Beautiful Weather

2012-01-27T21:55:00.013-05:00

We've been having beautiful weather these last few days, up in the 60's. The kids want to change into shorts and t-shirts and play outside in the afternoons. Celeste went out with Mike to enjoy the late afternoon weather today.

Neck Kink?

2012-01-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

I checked on the kids and found Madeline sleeping like this....

...should I move her?

Playing Ball

2012-01-25T20:45:00.006-05:00

Celeste was rolling this tennis ball to her Dad. Mike is sure it's on purpose, but I'm not sure...

You can see a video of it here

Picnic

2012-01-24T20:34:00.001-05:00

The little girls had a picnic in the playroom with plastic food and play dishes today.
Madeline wore Calvin's new sombrero while she ate!

Sippy Cups

2012-01-23T12:58:00.000-05:00

Celeste is growing up too fast! While I was gone she decided she loved food. So instead of coaxing every bite in, now I just shovel it in! She will even eat peas and beans now! We've also started her on a sippy cup - she doesn't seem to mind them. She continues to eat crackers and cheerios (her second tooth came in while we were gone too). We are adjusting her schedule so she eats when we do and I think she enjoys that too!

I had to include this picture, it's too cute of a smile!

When the Parents are Away, the Children Will Play

2012-01-22T15:21:00.000-05:00

Or "Ode to Anne". While we were gone, my kids had a great time playing with Anne and Russell. I've known Anne for 10 years now - we met at work. Anne is now working on her PhD and has a research stipend so she has a lot of control over her schedule. Early last summer I was at work excitedly telling her about our possible trip to Cancun when she VOLUNTEERED to watch my 5 children for a week! Anne is a special person. She is loved by all who know her and she makes everyone feel like they are her best friend. She has been preparing to watch my kids for months and asked more questions then I could come up with answers for. It went so smoothly and the kids were so well taken care of and had so much fun that I don't think they even missed us! Even Celeste liked her and Celeste doesn't like anybody (seriously, she cries when I leave her with anyone).
They made gumdrops, candy necklaces, cookies and books. They went rock climbing, painted, had their pictures taken and played! They and my house were in better shape when I came home then when I left! Seriously amazing! I can't thank her enough! No - none of you can have her!

These are books the kids made for me- one page for everyday we were gone.

Goodbye Cancun

2012-01-21T14:45:00.014-05:00

We spent the morning on the beach and then headed for home.

I'm so glad we were forced into taking such a long and nice vacation. I am too cheap to plan such a nice and relaxing vacation. So thanks NHance for picking out such a nice resort, making it all inclusive and making us come out here (now if only they would pay for it, too). I think I'll be ready to do this again in another 5 years!

I didn't take a picture today - so I stole this one off the internet - our beautiful resort!

One quick note, the difference between landing in Cancun and going through their customs and landing in Atlanta and going through our customs was night and day - the Mexicans are so friendly, helpful, and cheerful. The Americans working in Atlanta were rude, bored, and yelled. I was embarrassed by the difference and hopefully I can be a helpful and kind American.

Winding Down

2012-01-20T14:40:00.003-05:00

It's our last full day in Cancun. We started it off by walking to a nearby Mayan ruin. It's very small. According to Trip Advisor our hotel is at kilometer 16.5 and El Rey is at 17. We figured a .5 kilometer walk would be good. It turns out that our hotel is at kilometer 15.5 and El Rey is at 18 - so it was a 2.5 kilometer walk, a big difference, especially since it was a hot morning! We finally made it and toured around for a while. Not like the big ruins at Tulum, but much closer and much less expensive and still fun to see. We then caught a bus and went downtown to do some souvenir shopping for our kids. We came back for lunch, another skype session and more beach time. A fun, but low key day.

A few of the iguanas at the El Rey ruins, they were all over the place.

Me on top of the temple ruins.

A small piece of the flea market in downtown Cancun

Adventure!

2012-01-19T14:26:00.032-05:00

We were up early and off on an adventure today! There are so many things to do here in Cancun and a lot of things to do an hour or two away. With so much to do it's hard to choose - but we decided on XPlor. It's an adventure park. They will come get you and take you home for $70. To save some money, get more of the local flavor, and to have more control of our day we decided to take care of our own transportation. We caught a bus into downtown Cancun to the colectivo stand. A colectivo is basically a minivan that runs between Cancun and some of the other towns on the Yucatan Peninsula. It's used by the locals a lot, but there were a few other tourists. We caught our first Colectivo to Playa del Carmen, then we had to get out and get into a different one that headed to Tulum, just a bit outside of Playa we jumped off at XPlor. We had a blast! The main attraction were their zip lines. They were 2 courses of them, each had 7 lines. The first one had a lot of water, in fact for one of the segments it was a long winding water slide. Several of the other lines went over water, through waterfalls and landed in water. So much fun! The other set were much higher and longer and Mike and I were able to go tethered together. Great views from up there! I think we traveled almost 3 miles by zipline. After that we swam in a river that went through a cave, they call them cenotes - there are stalagmites and stalactites everywhere - thousands of them. We ended in a huge circular pool of water, the sides were about 100 feet tall and had water rushing down them - like being surrounded by a water fall. So amazing. I'm not sure how much of it was man-made, but I think most of it was natural. We also went on a 'jungle adventure' we drove lawn mower type tractor vehicles through the jungle and into caves. That part was a bit cheesy - but we had a good time. We then went back out to the highway and when we saw a colectivo heading toward Playa del Carman we waved our arms - if they have room, they flash their lights and stop (although their definition of 'room' is different then mine). We made it back to Playa and then took our final colectivo back to Cancun. We did some window shopping downtown before hopping on our bus back to our resort. It was an exhausting but exciting adventure! We ended with a yummy Mexican dinner that Mike photographed.

On our way into XPlor, we wore these attractive orange helmets and our bathing suits all day

Part of the caves

One of the water falls, you can see the ziplines running through it.

We didn't get many pictures, everything involved water so our camera stayed in our locker most of the day.

Mike's dinner at Kuh-Nah

a roll with butter that was seasoned with corn fungus and wrapped in a banana leaf

compliments of the chef, a cheese empanada made from blue corn

tortilla soup

skirt steak with beans and guacamole served with rice

cocoa bean flan

NHance

2012-01-18T21:49:00.004-05:00

NHance is the name of the franchise that Mike owns. We've been talking about Brand recognition - people don't really know what NHance is or what we do - so this is my efforts on behalf of Nhance! We are a wood renewal process - an alternative to sanding your wood floors or refacing your wood cabinets - we do sandless refinishing. We have franchises all over the country - you can see if you have an Nhance in your area by going to www.Nhance.com. We talked about this just this morning at one of the classes I attended. We were done at 3pm so we hit the beach! It was so nice to actually go play in the ocean! It was warm, I wasn't tethered to the beach by a new baby or toddler nor did I resemble a beached whale - it was so much fun! Later this evening we had an awards banquet.

Now we are done working!

Mike always wants to be buried in the sand and drink a virgin Pina Colada!

My view

NHance banquet

Relaxation

2012-01-17T22:04:00.001-05:00

Today we only had meetings until noon! I skipped one of them to sit on my balcony and read my book. After lunch we skyped with the kids (so fun!) and then headed to the Yhi Spa here at the Gran Melia Resort. So nice. We were able to use the hydro therapy before our appointments - so we swam in a pool with all kinds of seats, jets, and spouts to massage. We also had access to a steam room, sauna, experience shower, and rain shower (that just means cold). Then we had our ichthyotherapy - we stuck our feet into a tank of small toothless fish that ate the dead skin off of our feet. Mike was so relaxed he dozed off, not so much for me. It was interesting - my feet were very soft and smooth when we got done! The short massages we got afterwards were very soothing. We ended the evening with a fiesta, complete with a Mexican dance show.
Not high quality pictures today - sorry.

A shot of our Skype session

A tank of the flesh eating fish!

Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings

2012-01-17T10:59:00.000-05:00

We had meetings all day today. Lots of the wives are out on the beach, but I went to all the meetings with Mike, and I'm glad I did. It's been great for me to get to know people, get all this great information and get new ideas for our business. When I get bored, I just flip open the laptop and blog =).
The resort is so nice. We don't usually stay in nice hotels, so the little things impress us. Like the maids coming in and cleaning up our room and the HUGE shower head in the ceiling of our shower (it's bigger then my head and almost drowned me).
We ate in a really nice restaurant here at the resort - probably the nicest one I've been in and probably one of the best meals I've eaten. They had a dress code and no kids allowed. In heaven!
After dinner we walked on the beach.

This was a jumbled mess when I left - they hung my bag up on a hook and did this!

Breath-takingly Beautiful!

2012-01-15T11:59:00.000-05:00

You know those pictures of white sand and aqua water? They don't truly capture the beauty of a tropical beach! The sound of the waves, the lush green plants, the soft white sand, the amazing water...
We spent today traveling to CANCUN, wandering around our gorgeous resort, and taking care of reservations for dinner and fun while we are here. That evening we had a reception for Mike's convention.

view from our room

lobby

Mike in his 'tourist' shirt

beautiful ocean

Packing

2012-01-14T14:53:00.001-05:00

Mike and I are leaving early tomorrow morning - we'll be gone for a week. I think I'll be excited and relaxed once I get there - but right now I'm too stressed about getting everything done, and packed, and cleaned and explained and ready. I've never been gone from my kids for this long before. The few times I've been gone longer then 1 night, they've been with their dad. I know they'll be ok - I have an amazing babysitter for them =).

Mike has to go to a 3 day convention for his work and so I'm going with him. We are going to stay a few extra days to celebrate our 10th Aniversary. It was 10 years in August and we put our annual over-night trip on hold until now, so we could do a 'big' trip. I don't know if I'll be posting next week - but I will be taking lots of pictures!

Beyblades

2012-01-13T14:28:00.007-05:00

If you don't know what Beyblades are, you're not alone - I don't really know what they are either. I know that little boys like them and they spin like tops. Today Calvin came home from school very excited - during 'Fun Friday' centers at school one of his friends had shown him how to make Beyblades out of Legos. Soon he had about a dozen Lego Beyblades laying around the living room. He loves them! They actually spin - I'm impressed!

Lefty Lilah Writes Her Name

2012-01-12T22:02:00.003-05:00

Lilah has learned to write her name! I'm pretty slow teaching her things - I just sat her down today, wrote her name and told her to try and copy it - she did great! She does have the easiest name to write of any of my kids - lucky girl! We have also confirmed something that we've suspected for a long time - she is a lefty! She has always eaten with her left hand, but today I noticed she writes with her left hand and Mike told me she kicks with her left foot!

Kiddie Kollege

2012-01-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

Madeline started Kiddie Kollege today. It's a preschool program run by the county Parks and Rec. It's 6 weeks long and she goes 2 days a week for 2.5 hours. Madeline was so excited to go! She was ready and waiting an hour before we needed to leave. She practically ran into the room and didn't look back. Lilah saw the fun classroom and wanted to stay, she cried all the way out to the car and half way home. After about an hour of playing uninhibited with Madeline's new birthday toys Lilah was done, she wanted Madeline back! There is a larger gap between Lilah and Celeste then between any of my other kids and Celeste is still pretty little, so Lilah is going to have to learn to play by herself! We went to pick Madeline up and she told me "I love my school!" She can't wait to go back and do it all again!

Here she is riding her new unicorn - that was her unusually-shaped gift.

Happy Happy Birthday Madeline Dear

2012-01-10T23:07:00.000-05:00

Madeline turned 5 today! We started the day with a dozen donuts from the local doughnut shop for her birthday breakfast! She spent the morning checking on mommies progress on her barbie cake! For dinner we had her choice of hot dogs and cheese puffs and finished with Barbie cake and ice cream. After dinner she was able to open her presents. We had some special guests, our friends Anne and Russell came for dinner and presents. Madeline had a good day and is excited to play with her toys tomorrow (Lilah is excited to play with Madeline's toys tomorrow as well!)

Eating her breakfast

Her purple Barbie cake

One of her presents from Mom and Dad (Mike wrapped it). Any guesses as to what it could be? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Celeste getting in on the fun

Great Deal

2012-01-09T22:27:00.001-05:00

Today's picture is of my CVS trip. I've been couponing for about 2 years now and I'm hooked. I wouldn't say I'm 'hard core' or 'extreme', but I do love a good deal! I bought these 10 items for under $10! The best part of this deal is that I needed everything I bought - I've gone beyond buying things just because they are cheap or even free and love to score a good deal on things I need!

New Skirt

2012-01-08T21:08:00.000-05:00

As promised, a better picture of my skirt. Today at church I got a calling! I'm so excited - I get to be a Relief Society teacher~it's my dream job. I've had it in several wards and I've always enjoyed it! I've really enjoyed the break that the bishopric gave me - but it feels good to have somehting to do again! I'm just glad that I get to keep going to Relief Society, I love it!

The necklace I'm wearing was a birthday gift from my mom - she crocheted it (yes it's made out of wire).

Tooth!

2012-01-07T20:49:00.000-05:00

Celeste has her first tooth. It showed up about a week ago, but is just now big enough to see. Well, I can see it, it's on her right hand side, it can be hard to distinquish from all the drool!

Little Artist

2012-01-06T20:22:00.019-05:00

Anna Elise loves her art class. In fact her art teacher, Mrs. Grantham, calls her 'little Grantham'. She is her teacher's little helper and sometimes get special attention for it. She created this picture with glue, tissue paper and a little bit of paint.

Nice Thing for Today

2012-01-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

Most nights at dinner we go around the table and ask everyone 3 questions. The third question we ask is 'what did you do that was nice today?' or 'what was your nice thing?' Madeline has found her 'nice thing', she makes Mom and Dad's bed. She makes it several times a week and I love it! I think she does a pretty good job. Thank you Madeline!

So Sad!

2012-01-04T21:25:00.001-05:00

Celeste got her ears pierced today. She is older then any of my other girls when they got theirs pierced. She was so sad when she got the first one done. I expected the second one to make her mad, but it didn't, she just got sadder. It was the saddest cry you've ever heard. She gave the lady such a wounded look. So sad. But she looks so cute in her pink daisy rhinestone earrings! I'm glad it's out of the way - it's not my favorite things to go do. She cheered up before we'd left the store and doesn't seem bothered by them at all!

Shopping!

2012-01-03T20:52:00.004-05:00

For Christmas Mike gave me some gift cards. I did some shopping. I took this (really bad) picture of a skirt that I tried on and texted it to Mike to see what he thought. It was a thumbs up! I'll have to get a better picture of it on Sunday!

Climbing the Stairs

2012-01-02T20:49:00.008-05:00

Celeste has decided she likes climbing the stairs and makes a bee line for them. She is a really good climber. She isn't so good at staying focused and constantly turns around to see what's behind her - which isn't good for her safety. We are working on a solution to keep her off of them. The door at the bottom takes her about 2 seconds to open, so we are working on a way to lock the door, that is easy for the other kids to access.

A Picture A Day

2012-01-01T20:34:00.010-05:00

One of my little sisters, Stephanie, has inspired me. She did a picture a day for an entire year. She took a pciture (or more) every day. She would post them about once a week. I loved reading her blog, getting a glimpse of her daily life and seeing all of her sons new tricks. She is going to start another year and this time try to actually post them daily. I've been wanting to try this for a long time but I've been scared too. I don't like to start things I don't finish and this is a big thing to start. SO, I'm starting 'A Picture A Day' with some caveats - I'm only committing to taking a picture each day - no promises on how often I will post them. I am also only committing to this for the month of January. I know I can finish this goal. If it goes well and I enjoy it and it doesn't make my life any crazier then it already is, I'll commit to more, maybe. So, here is January 1st, 2012's picture. I didin't take it. It was Sunday. Lilah was sick. I took the kids to church (minus Lilah and Celeste) while Mike stayed home. While we were gone Lilah got to 'draw' on Mike's phone (it's a cool coloring game). When we got home Anna Elise wanted to 'play' with a phone so she used her turn to take pictures. So the picture is courtesy Anna Elise.

Side note: our kids have been sick 3 times in less then a month, the stomach bug, pink eye, and now this cold/flu thing that 3 of them have had so far!

Another side note: I'm dating the posts the day the picture was taken. I've also re-dated several of my previous posts to make room in January.

TOYS!

2011-12-31T20:23:00.001-05:00

At the end of this year we bought a vending business. It's actually a 'rewards system'. Pediatrician and dental offices and a couple of schools use our vending treasure towers as a reward for good patients and students. They give the child a token and the child uses the token to get one of eight toy choices from the machine. We buy the toys, service the machines, and take care of the tokens. We have spent a lot of time sorting and capsulating the toys and just trying to figure out what we have, what we need, and how we want to do this. It's been a little bit challenging but a lot of fun! I think it has been and will continue to be a great opportunity for our children to work and eventually make money. As is, it's a nice little side business, but we are excited to grow, place a few more machines and make it sustainable for our us and our kids.
The kids help us count out tokens and get them stacked and ready to be rolled, sort already capsulated toys and capuslate toys as well. They enjoy it. They get paid in toys and quarters! I am so tired of finding toys around the house! Celeste loves playing with the capulated toys. She just can't get enough of them. I finally just put her in a bin of them and let her have at it. She was in heaven!

Some of the thousands of toys that we have!

Calvin trying out one of the toy options. Two stick on mustaches, one is upside down to be the beard.

To see Celeste playing in the toys (and to hear Lilah singing) go to the YouTube video here

Christmas!

2011-12-27T14:13:00.000-05:00

On Christmas Eve we had our annual party. We were able to have some friends come and enjoyed our evening. We had some good food, and good conversation, and the kids had a great time playing. We ended the evening with a reading and acting out of the nativity. The kids did great! When the party came to an end the kids were quick to bed and fell right to sleep. We were pleasantly surprised that they slept in. We were able to look in our stockings and open 1 present before getting ready for church. It was so nice to go to church on Christmas. It makes organizing the day harder, but where else would you rather celebrate the birth of the savior? We had a very talented family provide the music for the meeting. My highlight of the day was singing Christmas carols with a large congregation and being accompanied by a piano, organ, and violin with beautiful arrangements. It was amazing! It really brought the spirit. After a long meeting, our traditional Christmas breakfast (for lunch) the kids were FINALLY able to open prsents. It was a fun afternoon of surpises, presents, and playing. I love Christmas!

Madeline as Mary and Calvin as Joseph

Alexandra, the Angel

Lilah, our Shephard with a dirty face!

Anna Elise as the Wise 'wo'Man

There they are!

Christmas morning Mike took more video then pictures. That evening we tried to get a picture of the kids in their new pajamas with their new pet pillows. Lilah was being a real goof ball, here are about half the pictures we took, trying to get a good one. Madeline was haming it up too.

Celeste dressed in Madeline's new wings and wand.

Lights, Lights & More Lights

2011-12-26T22:09:00.001-05:00

The week before Christmas we were able to go see lots of different Christmas lights! We did the usual neighborhood tours and saw all the crazy blow ups and lights in people's yards - those are all always interesting to see. I'm always amazed at how much stuff people can fit in their yards!

For the first time we went to the light show at the botanical gardens. We had almost free tickets and it was a beautitful display and the kids had a fun time. There were water displays, tunnels to walk through, glitter lights, lazer lights, a light maze and some pretty displays.

This is the light maze and that blur on the right hand side is Calvin running through it!

We also took our annual trip to Washington DC. This year we added a stop at Mt. Vernon (thank you Groupon). Anna Elise and Calvin have both learned about George Washington and his home so they enjoyed it. The younger girls had a harder time. Lilah was not having a good day and was determined that no one else would either - but we were able to see a lot of fun things, included the camel that was there for the Christmas season. I would like to go back when the kids are older.

The kids in front of George Washington's mansion. We were able to go up to the third floor, which is usually closed. It was a very nice tour.

We then dropped Mike off at the temple and found a park to play at. Lilah spent a lot of the time in the car, screaming. We then headed back to the temple and met Mike at the Visitor's Center. We looked at all the festive Christmas trees, the nativities from around the world and the out door nativity and lights. We always enjoy going! We ended the night with dinner and a long drive home!

There were lots of cool nativities - this beaded one from South Africa was a lot of fun. Madeline really liked the flamingo!

Anna Elise and Calvin sharing Mike's coat.

In front of the Christus.

Celeste was there, we just never bothered getting her into any of the pictures.

It was a long day and Madeline needed a 'ride' for a little while.

Celeste - 7 Months and Counting

2011-12-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

Celeste has decided to climb! Luckily, she hasn't figured out how to get up the stairs yet, but she pulls herself up to or on top of everything else. Just yesterday we found her standing up in bed. She figured out how to get down by herself today, which is good, maybe she'll have fewer falls and bonks!

She loves to climb over the first piece and then walk around in there, it drives me crazy because it's not a good place to fall.

She has also figured out how to do the 'real' crawl, but it's usually if she is on carpet. When she is on the hardwood floors, she still prefers her hybrid crawl/scoot/slide.

She is doing much better with her solids - she eats them regularly with a spoon now - once we figured it out it was applesauce that didn't agree with her, it's been much better.

Unfortunately, she is the fifth (and hopefully final) casualty of pink eye. It's so sad to look at her! She doesn't listen when I tell her not to rub her eyes so they are very red and swollen, but I hope they won't bother her so much tomorrow after the antibiotic drops have had time to help her.

Christmas Happenings

2011-12-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas time! Our Christmas acitivites are in full force. A couple weeks ago we built a gingerbread house for FHE. That isn't Mike's favorite activity, so while I glued things with the kids Mike gave us a lesson on the wise man and the foolish man and what makes a strong foundation.

We also went to the ward Christmas party last week. For the first time in a long time, everyone sat on Santa's lap and nobody cried or screamed. Lilah was a bit hesitant, but did great. Celeste was entranced. We had a yummy dinner and a short program. It was very nice.

I was able to go to the Relief Society party just last night and had a great time.

We've been making lots of yummy christmas treats and still have a list of more to make!

Unfortunately a stomach bug and now some pink eye has slowed us down, but anything we can't do this week we will just cram into next week!

Yesterday we started our tradition of 12 days of Christmas with a scripture, a story, a song and a service.

I love this time of year for the magic it brings and the opportunities that come to remember our Savior and to serve others.

Gratitude

2011-12-14T11:43:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life is hard. Everything seems to go wrong (for years at a time, sometimes). I gave a talk at church on Sunday on gratitude, here is a quote from Elder Holland that I used "No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." So instead of whining I'm going to take Vaughn Worthen's suggestion and make a gratitude catalogue. It's a complete listing of EVERYTHING you are grateful for, big and small. I thought I'd share a small portion of mine here. These are things that I am particularly grateful for this week.

novels
my friends at church, even though they aren't my age, they like me and they care about me
being able to work from home
internet
pureed bananas
Yatzee Jr.
prayer
perscription eye drops for pink eye
chocolate
heat
camera
Christmas presents (I can not wait for my kids to open their presents - it's killng me)
Betsy helping me out (even if it took a couple trys =) )
Christmas music
my husband
General Conference talks
the ugly police
Anne
hope
family
fuzzy house slippers
ibuprophen
the new hair gel I'm using (I love it and it was free)
my bed
Celeste getting herself stuck while trying to climb ridiculous things (it's really funny)
little arms that give big hugs
my savior
...

Shiner

2011-12-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

Calvin bumped heads with a girl in his class during gym class on Friday. Unfortunately is was his cheek bone, right under his eye that got hit by her forehead. He was ok, just an interesting color! He hasn't really enjoyed all the attention he is getting from this!

I took this picture on Friday evening, it was worse on Saturday and Sunday, right under his eye, on his right side, it's looks like he put on some thick purple eyeliner. I think it might look a little bit better today.

It was this time last year (the first Friday in December) that he had an accident at school and we ended up in the ER! So it could've been worse. What will he do next December?

We could be in Trouble!

2011-11-27T20:25:00.000-05:00

Although Celeste can't technically crawl yet (she is so close, but still drops down on her stomach and scoots after starting to crawl) she certainly gets around the house just fine. She is exploring every room, getting into things, she loves to look at the Christmas tree, and is now venturing towards the stairs.

I figure I have about a week before she figures out how to get up on that first stair and then we WILL be in trouble!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T20:16:00.000-05:00

We did Thanksgiving with just our family this year. It is a great time for us to just spend time as a family. We were busier then we expected this year. On Wednesday we went to a movie and out to dinner. It's become a tradition and there are always great movies to see this time of year. We saw Arthur Christmas and it was so cute. It was also great that when we asked Anna Elise and Calvin about the movie that they 'got' the message and understood the point to the movie.
On Thursday we watched part of the parade on TV and then Mike and I got busy in the kitchen. The only problem with doing Thanksgiving by ourselves is that I have to cook EVERYTHING! I made the pumpkin pie and rolls on Wednesday morning so that just left the Turkey breast (yes we cheat), stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, jello, and cranberry sauce for Thursday. Later that afternoon we all went to the park so the kids could ride their bikes and enjoy the beautiful weather.
On Friday we were able to go see an IMAX movie about building the railway across Canada and see the model train exhibits at the Science Museum (membership has it's *free* benefits)! I also did some Black Friday shopping - going to CVS at midnight on Wednesday night (well Thursday morning) and to Target at midnight on Friday morning. We also hit several other sales and did some online shopping. The kids were able to get presents for each other and it feels good to be done with my Christmas shopping!
On Saturday we decorated for Christmas. The kids don't think they can wait another 4 weeks for Christmas to come!

While eating Thanksgiving dinner we went around the table twice and said what we are thankful for. Here is what everyone said:
Anna Elise - farmers
Calvin - Thanksgiving (so we can eat this food!)
Madeline - watching the parade
Lilah - Mom & Dad, no wait, Anna Elise getting baptized
Mom - Daddy, Anna Elise, Calvin, Madeline, Lilah, and Celeste
(Anna Elise asked: Aren't you thankful for yourself? I said: I'll let someone else be thankful for me)
Dad - Momma
Anna - wheat because I like bread
Calvin - our house
Madeline - Celeste
Lilah - Celeste too! and for myself
Mom - for Jesus
Dad - that momma is thankful for Jesus

We are Thankful for our health, our home, our family, and our Savior!

This and That

2011-11-22T11:18:00.001-05:00

Anna Elise goes to Activity Girls now and she loves it! It's only every other week so the second time she was suppose to go - we forgot! She was crushed! They made lip gloss and she was so sad to miss it. Her awesome leader gave me the recipes and leftovers and we had a lip gloss party at our house with my girls. We didn't go get the special containers to keep it in, but the girls had fun doing it. I think I've found my craft for next summer at my mom's house (so somebody please remind me of this next summer when I'm trying to find something to do!)

While the girls were making lip gloss, Mike took Calvin to get a much needed hair cut. He looks so cute with fresh cut hair!

Madeline kneading her raspberry lipgloss

Anna Elise's vanilla lipgloss

This little cutie is now in a real crib. She has napped in her crib from the begining, but usually sleeps upstairs in my room in her pack n play. It took three nights, but last night she slept downstairs in her crib all night for the first time! Anna Elise is excited to have her in her room now. I'm excited to put the pack n play away!

This is the man that Madeline made the other day. I though it was so cute! I'm not sure why he is standing in front of the door, but he gave me a good laugh!

Anna Elise's Baptism

2011-11-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

Anna Elise turned 8 in October. We waited to have her baptism in November so that her grandparents could come participate. It was a very special day. Her Dad was able to baptize her with her grandpa and my Uncle Jim as witnesses. She was then confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and given the gift of the Holy Ghost, with the bishop, her grandpa, my Uncle Jim and our old home teachers Brother McIntosh and Brother Bjorn standing in the circle. Her grandma and Calvin gave talks and her two primary teachers said the prayers. There were a lot of friends and ward members that assisted and came to show their support. Anna's Grammy wasn't there but she passed down Anna Elise's baptism dress from her older cousin and gave her new shoes and a pretty hair bow. Anna Elise felt special and I felt loved and supported! Thank you everyone! We are so proud of Anna Elise's decision to be baptized and of the other good choices she makes.

Grandma & Grandpa

2011-11-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

Grandma & Grandpa Allen came for a visit this past weekend. We were so excited to see them! They came on Friday night just in time to say Hi to the kids before bedtime. On Saturday we went to the Science Museum and watched an IMAX film on the Hubble Telescope (very cool) went to McDonalds, and played outside. Madeline learned to ride Anna Elise's bike with out training wheels, which meant that Madeline's bike (with training wheels) was available for Lilah to ride. We had some very happy, fast wheeling girls this weekend. On Sunday we went to stake conference and then had Anna Elise's baptism. My Uncle Jim and two of my cousins, Merry Brooke and Tara were able to come down to visit my parents and be there for the baptism. On Monday morning my parents had to leave and we had to return to real life. It was so fun to have them here, even though it was only a couple of days. We LOVE family to visit and welcome anyone and everyone!

Grandpa throwing the football with Calvin.

Grandma feeding Celeste.

Grandpa helping Madeline ride her bike.

Lilah riding her new bike. Notice her new haircut? Madeline gave it to her. So much for growing out her bangs!

Half Way There!

2011-11-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

Our little Celeste is half way to 1! She was six months old last week. I can't believe how fast they grow up, the more I have the quicker they grow! She is movin' right along. When she started scooting at 4 months she was too small to really pick anything up off the floor, now she is finally figuring out how to pick up small objects and get them into her mouth! We are trying to keep the floor cleaner! She gets up on her hands and knees, but then drops and scoots. She follows the kids around and scoots into the kitchen looking for mom. She can also sit up for a while, but prefers to be moving.
We tried to banish her from the kitchen table, but it made dinner miserable for everyone, so she is now back on the table in her bumbo for dinner but with her tray on (since she can get out of the bumbo) and a carrot stick to keep her happy. She still steals silverware and knocks over milk, but she is happy! She loves attention and action. She is very curious and watches everything. We are working on solids, she sometimes eat applesauce, cereal, and sweet potatoes, but she does not eat peas!

Halloween

2011-11-01T23:06:00.001-04:00

On Friday we had the ward Fall Festival. We had a chili cook off and Trunk or Treating. We all had a good time. On Saturday we were unable to go to the pumpkin patch because it rained all day and was very cold. On Monday Mike took the older 4 out trick or treating in the neighborhood. It started raining about 15 minutes after they left, but they braved the weather and got their loot! Cleaning up soaking wet costumes is not fun, but I'm glad they had a good time.

Madeline as a 'sock hopper'

Calvin as a skeleton. He had a cool mask he wore on Monday - but there were no masks allowed at the ward party so he settle for some face paint.

Anna Elise as a witch (she just lost a tooth, it goes perfect with the costume)

Lilah as a princess (she smiles like that now when you take her picture)

Our adorable little pea pod Celeste.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-30T23:05:00.003-04:00

We carved our pumpkin (yes, just one) today. The kids were so excited! Mike was in charge and after carving the top and cleaning the pumpkin out he mysteriously disappeared while I took some pictures.

He came back from his work van with his work bag and decided to carve the pumpkin his way, with power tools! Anna Elise took this video.

Madeline's Church Purse (again)

2011-10-30T21:40:00.003-04:00

Madeline is our little pack rat. She just needs anything and everything. If you can't find something, just ask her. She usually admits to taking/having it and knows exactly where it is (except for my dryer balls that somebody took over a month ago and haven't shown up yet). She has little boxes, purses, pouches, pockets, etc everywhere that are full of her treasures. Today she snuck one of her 'purses' into the car while loading up for church. I found it when she unsuccessfully tried to sneak it into sacrament meeting. She had packed her little pink Dr. kit with some treasures that she evidently needed at church today. I did a post on this a while back and it's interesting to see how she is evolving! We found her Dad's tape measure for work, our cordless home phone (for some reason it said 'out of range'), a Dr. tool, a marker (Lilah's marker that she just got for her birthday that they have both been using for makeup) and a mirror (for the marker makeup, of course). Not pictured is the 'already been chewed' gum she had...we are working on that!

Time Out for ME!

2011-10-24T23:15:00.001-04:00

This past weekend Time Out for Women was here in Richmond! I was so excited to go. I carpooled with a group of women from our ward and we had a great time! We went on Friday night and listened to Jenny Oaks Baker play her violin and got to listen to her 3 very talented (and adorable) daughters as well since she lives in VA! We had two great speakers too. On Saturday we listened to Jericho Road as well as several phenomenal speakers. I laughed and cried and felt so uplifted and motivated to be a better person. I love going and I am already looking forward to going again when they come back to Richmond in 2 years!

It was so good to spend some time with some of the women in my ward. I feel closer to them and am feeling more at home in this ward.

When I got home on Saturday afternoon I was greeted by a clean living room (having even one room in my house clean is a huge accomplishment), five happy children and beautiful flowers!

Thank you TOFW for coming to Richmond! Thank you Sherry, Dee, Joann, Beverly, Beverly, Tericia, and Samara for letting me hang out with you! Thank you Mike for holding down the fort and for the beautiful flowers!

I told Mike I needed pictures so I could blog about it. I am soooo not a photogenic person. I am just not. I never have been. I've accepted it. So Mike took a bazillion pictures and two were acceptable!

My flowers!

Best picture we could get of me - cute bag this year!

Right after I got home.

The mess Mike made while getting some work done! (but was cleaned up when I got home)

The ladies I went with

Happy Happy Birthday Lilah Dear!

2011-10-16T22:35:00.001-04:00

On Friday our Lovely Lilah turned 3! We started the day off with toaster strudel for breakfast. A huge treat at our house! It just happened to be our turn to host playgroup that week so we had cupcakes to celebrate. After Mike came home that evening she opened her presents and just had to put on her new dress from Grandma. We made individual pizzas for dinner and then had cupcakes and ice cream after we sang and she blew out her candles! She had a good day! She is growing up so fast. Although she still has an occasional outburst of growling and scratching, for the most part she seems to be turning back into the lovely little girl we knew before she turned two!

The birthday girl and her presents

Her new dress (despite her best efforts Madeline has not been able to con Lilah into giving her the dress or even letting her try it on, and she has tried!)

Licking her ring off (her cupcakes had rings on top)

Allen Family Pictures

2011-10-16T21:56:00.002-04:00

Here are the Allen family pictures that we took at my sister Nancy's wedding in August.

My sister Nancy and her new husband Marshall in front of the Columbia River Temple

My 5 sisters and my brother. I just want to thank my sisters for NOT telling me my hair was sticking out! Thanks a lot - sheesh!

The entire Allen clan

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids - yes that was the best picture we could get!

That's us!

It's Great to Be 8!

2011-10-10T20:43:00.000-04:00

Anna Elise turned 8 today! At our house when you turn 8 you get a friend birthday party. Anna Elise was so excited to invite a few friends over and have her birthday party on her birthday! It's Columbus Day and so we had school off (thank you Columbus!) She was up early to open presents, but had to wait for her Dad to come home. Who knew that 9am was so far away! She opened her family birthday presents and then she and the girls ran upstairs to watch her new Barbie movie! I got to work making her fancy Barbie cake. I don't do cakes. My half-hearted efforts usually look, well, half-hearted. This year I decided that I needed to step up and be 'the mom' and make Anna Elise a fancy cake. It turned out ok. The girls all loved it. I think I'll be able to practice a lot over the next 10 years - Celeste is going to have some awesome Barbie cakes when she gets a little older!
After lunch Anna Elise's friends came over and they played inside and out and had fun together while Mike took the 'little kids' to the park. When Calvin, Madeline, and Lilah came back they got to participate in opening the friend presents, eating cake and ice cream, going on a treasure hunt for the goody bags and playing some more. For dinner Anna Elise picked McDonalds and I was happy to not cook after a long day. Anna Elise was very pleased with everything and had a great day! She is excited to be 8 and to get baptized in November.

Mike was the camera man, so we only have 2 to share:

opening her new boots from Mom and Dad

Anna Elise with her 'fancy' Barbie cake

Picky Eater

2011-10-05T13:32:00.005-04:00

Celeste at just 5 months old seems to have very particular tastes:

Does not like rice cereal

Chowing down on the Salt & Vinegar Pringles

(she isn't asleep, her eyes are just closed)

Maybe if I added salt and vinegar instead of milk to her cereal she would eat it...

Disclaimer: I didn't feed my baby Pringles. While at the beach she scooted over to the can, rolled it around until the few left at the bottom fell out and then went to town on them. She was not happy when I took them away!

Russell Family Pictures

2011-10-01T19:55:00.002-04:00

Here are the Russell family pictures we took while in Washington in August.

This is most of the Russells. Mike's oldest brother, Sean, his wife Rachel and their girls, Morgan, Virginia, and Margaret weren't able to come.

All the grandkids with Pops and Grammy. Lilah was in a really good mood that morning =)

The original Russells

Daddy and his girls!

Dancing Queens (and King)

2011-09-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

On Sunday afternoon the girls decided to put on a dance recital. They talked their dad into applying their make-up, got dressed up, and Anna Elise organized it. They had a great show! The sound on the video is really shrill and tinny (sorry) and sorry for all the background clutter, but that is how my house looks! (again, I think it's too big for blogger, so here is the YouTube link.)

Dancing Queens

Calvin decided to get in on the action and did some 'break dancing'. He had a good time doing it. Mike told him he looked like a dying cricket, Calvin thought that was cool. At least he didn't wear his underwear on the outside this time!

The Dancing King

Wiggle Worm

2011-09-26T17:05:00.002-04:00

Celeste is a wiggly little baby. From the time she was just a couple of weeks old she was moving all over her bed. She has finally figured out how to roll from back to front - so now that she can roll both directions she can get where she wants. She uses her knees and feet and squirms her way around the room. She is also reaching for and grabbing onto everything. I can't hold her and eat or do something else at the same time because she grabs everything and sticks it in her mouth. She still takes her pacifier but has her hands and fingers in her mouth as well. She loves her burp cloths and blankets, she grabs them, yells, and then buries her face in them. She really likes her walker and is getting better at getting around in it. She likes to get rides from Calvin too - he pushes her around the dining room table - it's their race track. He probably takes her a bit faster then she likes, but she doesn't complain. Here she is scooting around in her walker.

(I couldn't get the video to load, I've been trying all day! So I loaded it up to YouTube and here is the link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySZGTbDx2HU

Nicknames

2011-09-16T14:31:00.000-04:00

Nicknames seem to be a big deal at our house. They are constantly changing and I find it so endearing when my little ones have a preference. So here is what we sometimes call the kids!

Anna Elise - she gets called Anna at school and by anyone that doesn't really know her, like the Dr. At home Madeline calls her Ant Elise, she thinks that's how it should be said. Her dad calls her cupcake.

Calvin - he gets called Calvin at school. His uncle Sean used to call him bulldozer, and his Dad calls him hotdog. At the dinner table he is known as Badger 5, it's the brand of our garbage disposal - Calvin will eat anything! When he was little Mike called him 'nana man, because he could eat big bites of bananas without chewing - he could down a whole banana in less then a minute and he loved them.

Madeline - she has the most nicknames of anyone and is constantly giving herself new ones. Her official nickname is 'mato. It comes from sad tomato because when she cries she has huge tears that run down her face and it's the saddest thing you've ever seen. She used to go by either bozo or goofball, whichever one you called her, she was the other one. At one point she insisted that everyone call her Merva, that came from her aunt Jenny and aunt Raeleen I think. I call her Maddy Paddy and I can get away with it, but she doesn't love that one. She has at times called herself sparkle, cinnamon girl, and Cheeze It (like the cracker). She is occasionally called Maddie - but that isn't a nickname we use very often. She is definitely the silliest little mato we have!

Lilah - she is the one that cracks me up right now! Her official nickname is Lilah Bean. It was shortened to just bean and is sometimes lengthened to bean bean. It got to the point that she thought her name was bean. She and I had many conversations explaining that her name was Lilah Claire Russell and that for fun we call her Lilah Bean or just bean. So to differentiate from the nickname Lilah bean and her real name Lilah - we called her Lilah Claire. So now, she insists on not just Lilah, but Lilah Claire and then several variations of her name. She came up with pickle. Sometimes she is Lilah Claire Pickle Russell (she introduced herself that way to a stranger today), Lilah Claire Bean Bean, and other variations using those nicknames. It's always fun to see what name she goes by on any particular day.

Celeste - she doesn't have an official nickname yet. We are working on it. Since all the kids have food nicknames, we know it's got to be a food - we just aren't sure which one yet. Some options we've tried out (mostly it's the kids that come up with them) are Cheerio, strawberry, tator tot, fish stick, and many others that I can't remember. Mike came up with Heavenly Hash - it's an ice cream flavor and Celeste means heavenly. Anna Elise discovered that there is a My Little Pony princess named Celestia so she calls her Princess Celestia. Calvin came up with Celesty, which I am NOT a fan of. Lilah calls her Celesty Pooh. We'll see what sticks.

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-09T15:39:00.000-04:00

The much anticipated first day of school finally arrived. I think I like starting after Labor Day!

Calvin is in first grade this year and has the same teacher that Anna Elise had. He really likes her and is doing well so far! He LOVES to tease and is always trying to trick mom or dad. He came home yesterday and said his name was moved to yellow (not good) because Ms Young had to say his name several times, I opened my mouth to find out exactly what had been going on at school and he quickly pulled out his paper to show me it was really green (he must've seen by the look on my face that it wasn't going to be good). He laughed and laughed, he certainly tricked mommy.

Anna Elise is in second grade this year. When we met her teacher at the Open House last week and neither one of us were real impressed. Is that awful to admit? I told her to keep an open mind and see how the first week goes. She actually seems to be doing ok and likes her teacher and is enjoying school. I am not really thrilled with what Anna Elise has been telling me. I'm hoping that her teacher gets more organized and that things start going better or I might have to be 'that' mom and get Anna Elise moved to a class room that I think is more suited for us both! We'll see how next week goes - let's hope it gets better!

Yes it was raining, it dumped rain for three days and was kind of miserable! They are running for the bus!

Nancy & Marshall

2011-09-09T15:26:00.001-04:00

Madeline: I drew a picture of Nancy and Marshall in my new notebook because I love them and I miss them!

In case you were wondering, Nancy is on your right and Marshall is on your left. Nancy doesn't have a beard, that's her neck.

Lilah then insisted on having her picture taken with her drawings. I'm not sure what they are.

Celeste at 4 Months

2011-09-09T15:16:00.000-04:00

Celeste turned 4 months a week ago. I'm late posting because it has taken me a week to get a video of her laughing! Celeste is pretty quiet but when she does decide to talk and laugh it's worth waiting for! She doesn't seem to laugh at the same thing twice, so finding things to make her laugh and having a camera nearby can be tricky! She is a lot of fun and is growing up to fast. She can roll from her stomach to her back, she laughs and talks, and she really likes to stand up when you hold her. Her Dad got her walker out this past weekend and she likes to stand in it and even accidently scoots herself around the living room. The kids LOVE to watch her roll around. She likes to sit in her bumbo on the table during dinner and watch everyone talk and eat. We love her!

In her 'stroller roller' as her dad calls it

Madeline and Lilah making her laugh (I'm holding Celeste and the camera so it's not a great video)

Kennewick

2011-08-28T16:49:00.000-04:00

The second week of our trip 'home' was spent in Kennewick with the Russells. We had a great time there as well!

The kids had a great time playing with more cousins! They went swimming, played at several parks, watched movies, played dress up, went for jeep rides, ate ice cream, and spent a lot of time playing outside.

Celeste was so good for the trip. She adjusted to the time change quicker then anyone else, slept better then usual, had lots of people who wanted to hold her, and was usually pretty happy. She seems to be growing out of her evening fussiness and I'm not sad to see the colic stage go!

I was able to go to 'The Help' with my mother- and sister-in-laws. We all loved it! I did a lot of talking and eating! Mike and I were able to get an afternoon almost to ourselves - we ran errands and went to lunch with Celeste. We also had Russell family pictures which I am so excited to see! I'll share them as soon as I get them!

Nobody was very excited to leave, especially Anna Elise, she wanted just one more week at each Grandma's house. It was sad to see her reluctance to leave her family. I feel grateful to have married into such a great family. We had some special moments with Mike's family and every time we visit I feel closer to them.

Our 3 flights and 4 airports home were fairly uneventful. The 5:30am flight was painful to get up for. On our second flight we heard about the earthquake near Richmond and although the headlines said there was no damage, I was a bit anxious to get home and make sure we didn't have any cracks in the walls or pictures on the floor. We were again so glad that our flights were over, but coming back here is never quite as exciting as getting there! Someday we will be closer!

More details and pictures below:

Calvin getting his toe super glued by Pops. He cut his toe pretty good and then later sliced his other foot - typical Calvin!

Calvin on the swing zip line

Mike watching the kids at a wading pool

Pop's holding Celeste

Celeste waiting for the family pictures

Madeline drying off at the pool

Lilah hangin' in the pool

Cousin Aubrey drying off, waiting to get her 'full' diaper changed after swimming

Taking family pictures

Mattawa

2011-08-27T17:41:00.000-04:00

We took our annual trip 'home' earlier in August. It didn't start off well, while trying to prepare to take 5 kids on a trip across the country that included 3 flights between 4 airports and an hour ride in the car, I had a filling break which lead to an unexpected trip to the dentist, an emergency at work which required hours I didn't have and a trip to the office on the day we were suppose to leave, and a very grouchy, tired, throwing up Lilah the morning of our trip. At one point while we rushed me home from the office so we could finish packing and eat lunch before our flight, I was listening to Lilah throw up in her bowl in the back of the car and nearly called the whole thing off! Luckily we packed (we only forgot a couple of things), got to the airport on time, Mike gave Lilah a blessing and her stomach and disposition got much better and it turned out to be an ok trip! Lilah only threw up once on our flight. Luckily she was sitting on my lap so I got to stink too! I was so glad to see my Dad at the airport and get everyone and everything loaded into the suburban for the last leg of our journey to Mattawa. Even at 12:30 am (that would be 3:30 am my time) I was glad to be home. My youngest sister Nancy and her fiance Marshall (whom I hadn't met before) were waiting up for us. It was good to be there.

We had a blast amidst the stressful preparations for Nancy's wedding. The kids played with their cousins, went swimming and boating, hit a pinata, blew GIANT bubbles, saw petrified wood, made balloon flip flops, launched rocket balloons, rode on the 4 wheeler and motorcycle, jumped on the trampoline (at 5:30 in the morning our first morning there), painted t-shirts, and had our annual water balloon fight.

All 6 of my siblings were at home and it was so good to see them! I got to go to the temple with Nancy, go waterskiing and crash (it really hurt), talk and talk and talk with everyone, be at Nancy and Marshall's sealing, help clean up the reception and have a good time!

Going home can sometimes be hard emotionally. It's so nostalgic for me, more so because my parents have lived in the same house since I was born! It always makes me wish I lived closer, could see my family more often, and pushes me to want to be a better person. I look up to my siblings and their families so much! I had a great time in Mattawa and it was hard to pack up and leave - but it was also exciting to be going to the Russell's!

More details and a lots of pictures below (although they are out of order):

Jumping on the trampoline

All the Allen cousins in their 'tie-dyed' shirts

Madeline taking a swing at the pinata

Anna Elise after she got doused during the water balloon fight

My girls outside the temple at Nancy's wedding in their matching dresses

Calvin and his cousin Parker chillin' with their punch at the reception

Watching the yellow rocket balloon

Anna Elise making a HUGE bubble

Anna, Lilah, and Calvin getting ready to tube

Even Lilah could make HUGE bubbles all by herself. I am excited to try this at home

Anna Elise knee-boarding for the first time!

Madeline taking her turn knee-boarding (Calvin tried too, but isn't on film)

A video of Nancy and Marshall at the temple right after being married!

Click here to see our water balloon fight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTO6tIeF8Y8

3 Months Old

2011-08-03T19:02:00.001-04:00

Celeste was 3 months old yesterday. We went to the doctor and she weighed 13 pounds! She is a big girl! Celeste has a mild case of acid reflux. We are trying to feed her smaller amounts, but more often - so far that has just made her hungry. Our next option is to try adding cereal to her bottles or trying an expensive specialty formula. If she gets worse then we'll look at medication. Despite her problems eating she is usually happy. She likes to smile and talk and loves the kids. She likes to be where everyone else is. She still sleeps great at night and she still doesn't nap well, but is getting to be more independent. Despite our efforts to help her use a pacifier she has her fingers and fist in her mouth every chance she can get! We'll see who wins this one...

I crept into Celeste's room to get a 'sleeping baby' picture and this is what I found: that's how she typically naps - awake!

I moved her out to the couch for a photo session

and she didn't really like having her picture taken

turns out she really was tired and really did need a nap!

Sock Puppets

2011-08-03T18:32:00.000-04:00

The kids have been waiting all summer for this project. It took us a couple of days to finish them, but here are our sock puppets, complete with yarn hair, googly eyes, felt mouths and clothes! The kids had a fun time making them. I have to say that they required more adult help then I realized, but we had fun working on them. Lilah won't wear hers for a picture. She is not the most cooperative child right now.

Busy!

2011-07-18T16:09:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I posted. We are still here - life has just been really busy lately. No current pictures. We've been too busy to take any! What we've been up to:
Mom - working, doing a couple of consulting jobs on the side, taking kids to the Dr, taking care of the pool, being a mom (holding Celeste, feeding Celeste, making meals, cleaning the house, doing the laundry) dealing with the IRS (they think we turned our taxes in late, but we didn't, it will just take some time for them to figure that out), making a couple of blog books (huge pain in the neck!) trying to get caught up with the business' books, helping Mike start yet another business.
Dad - Taking care of our rentals, his two business', starting another business, church meetings, taking care of the kids one day a week while Mom goes into work.
Anna Elise - swimming, reading, decorating the wall in her room with flowers, helping with Celeste
Calvin - swimming, playing cars, making tents, chasing the wild rabbit in our yard, whining
Madeline - swimming, playing dress up, being cute
Lilah - standing in the pool without getting her face wet, playing puppy, biting and scratching, sitting in time out
Celeste - eating, sleeping, smiling and cooing, getting more independent

I've been spending countless hours going through pictures and reliving memories as I've created blog books from 2008 and 2009. I just had to post some oldies but goodies (from 2005)!

Anna Elise

Calvin

Ready, Set, READ!

2011-07-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

We read a lot of books at our house. When Anna Elise started 1st grade she got to stay up a half hour later. We decided to use that half hour to read! She got the Little House on the Prairie series for her birthday and she and I read those books every night. At first I read to her, then more recently she has read a little and now she can read whole chapters. We have just 1 more book until we finish the series. When the kids got out of school we went to the library and signed up for the summer reading program. Anna Elise checked out a 'Ramona Quimby' book by Beverly Clearly. Today she finished reading her first chapter book completely on her own. She loves reading and I love seeing her read
Calvin is starting 1st grade in the fall and he is so excited about staying up late to read with mom. We are trying to find a good series of books to read together. I am thinking of Beverly Cleary's 'Mouse and the Motorcycle' books to start with. Any other suggestions?

Smiles!

2011-06-24T09:14:00.000-04:00

Celeste is almost 8 weeks old now. She is smiling and cooing. She seems to be much more aware of the kids and loves to watch them play. They like to get right in her face when they talk to her and she cringes when they get too close, but she lets them hold her and loves to watch them.
She sleeps really well at night. She eats at 9:30 and then sleeps until 6 and goes right back down until about 9:30. Then she is up for the day! She does not nap well and she likes to be held which means I don't get a lot done during the day! She seems to be very social and likes to be talked to - I'm hoping as she gets bigger the kids will entertain her and she will be ok in her seat or on the floor occasionally . We all love her and really enjoy having her in our home!
Everyone asks me who she likes like and I'm not sure. When I look at her now I see Allen in the top half of her face and then the Russell on the bottom. She just looks like one of us!

Here she is smiling and cooing.

We are working on getting a new camera with video built in - so stay tuned for some videos, hopefully soon!

PARTY!

2011-06-24T09:13:00.000-04:00

We had a Summer Party for the kids. We weren't able to have it on the 21st, the first day of summer, but we still had a lot of fun doing it on the 22nd! We made pudding pops, made a huge beach picture, and then enjoyed our party favors - they wrote in their new notepads, used their new silly straws, blew bubbles, and ate some treats! We are really enjoying our summer!

Making pudding pops with chocolate pudding and Oreos!

Our beach picture

Showing off their favorite party favor

Yesterday I found Madeline using her notepad to draw faces of everyone in our immediate family and Grandma and Aunt Jenny as well (I guess you'll have to come visit if you want your face included)

A close up - each one looked a little bit different and she knew which one was which!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

2011-06-20T21:37:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's Day! The primary children sang several Father's Day songs in sacrament meeting today. They sang I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home, My Daddy is My Favorite Pal, and Families Can Be Together Forever. We were practicing in the car on the way to church. We couldn't remember the words to the second song and I'd even drawn a blank on the tune. I told the kids to think really hard and help mommy remember. Madeline said ' Jesus is my pal and he is going to help me remember the words, so I'm just waiting with my eyes closed!'. We did finally remember the words and practiced (much to Anna Elise's dismay, she didn't think Daddy should hear the songs before they were performed). Lilah even went up with the kids and sang too. They all did a great job! They all know they have a great dad!

Summer Break!

2011-06-20T21:23:00.001-04:00

The kids last day of school was on Friday. They came home before lunch so excited to start their summer break. Anna Elise told me it's actually Spring break, summer doesn't start until June 21st. We started summer break off with a trip to the Science Museum. The kids LOVED it! I was a bit nervous about taking all 5 to a large public place by myself - but we did fine. We got an annual membership (half off through Groupon - love it!). The kids didn't want to leave and can't wait to go back! I've been a little bit worried about having the kids start summer break the same week I have to go back to work, only 7 weeks after having Celeste, but I think we'll be ok. I've come up with a routine that we are going to try, a list of fun

activities and ideas, and some new chores for the kids - we are ready for summer!

The kids favorite thing at the Science Museum were these over-sized foam 'tinker toys'

Calvin built a car

I'm not sure what Madeline was building

Anna Elise built stairs

Lilah built this track and walked up and down it over and over

Chincoteague Island

2011-06-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

On Friday Mike called me up and said that he was going to be done early and we should go on a trip to Chincoteague Island! Since the next several Saturdays were busy and we wanted to do this trip before July when it gets crowded we decided to do it! I drove home (yes, I was at Target, my new addiction, I have thought of one good reason to go back to work, other then to pay my mortgage and buy food, I won't be able to go to Target every day!) Anyway, I drove home, fed the little girls, packed up the car and we were ready. We met the kids at the bus stop and took off for the Eastern Shore. To get to the Eastern Shore (a string of islands on the north east coast of VA) you have to go across a 13 mile bridge (with two tunnels). It's just a series of islands with small towns and is somewhat isolated. It's beautiful and very easy paced. We got to Chincotgeague Island later then we intended - but still had to swim in the hotel pool - that's the kids favorite part of any vacation! We went to bed (but not to sleep, does anyone have kids who sleep in hotels?) Celeste surprised us by sleeping until 6:30 (that is 8 and half hours!). In the morning we took a walk on the pier, checking out crabs, oysters, and birds. Then we had breakfast and took off for our boat ride. We rode on a pontoon boat around Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. We saw the wild ponies (some had just had babies earlier that week), where the saltwater cowboys heard the ponies, where they swim from one island to the other for Pony Penning day, clam farms, lots of wildlife, the light house and other landmarks. The kids all got a turn driving the boat with Captain J! Then we were off to a cool playground to get some wiggles out, had lunch and hit the beach. The beach was beautiful! It's on Assateague Island which is a nature preserve, so no buildings, just beautiful natural beaches. They had outhouses, changing places, showers, lifeguards, etc so we had what we needed, but could enjoy the beach without all the merchandising and build up that we see at Virginia Beach. After the beach we got some homemade ice cream and headed home. It was a quick trip but so much fun! We want to go again and see what else they have to offer. If you have never heard of the famous Chincoteague wild ponies go here to learn more about them.

The wild Chincoteague ponies - you can see a foal and a Stallion running off his competition.

Lilah taking her turn driving (wearing Calvin's hat)

On the boat using the binoculars

All the kids buried in the sand - Calvin was buried on his stomach!

Homie, Sweet Homie

2011-06-05T22:01:00.000-04:00

Our kids are crazy. Anna Elise and Calvin both happened to select the same fake gold $ necklace from their school prize cart. They figured it out when they got home and showed each other what they got from the cart. They thought it was pretty funny...and we thought it was hilarious that they would both pick the same cheap necklace. A day or so later we caught both Calvin and Lilah wandering around the house with their "business" hats in various irregular positions. We wonder where they are getting these ideas already...

Clavin and Anna Elise sporting their "bling."

Calvin with his brim "flipped up."

Lilah with the classic backwards cap.

Memorial Day Week!

2011-06-05T21:30:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Memorial Day all week! Mike's sister, Jenny, came to visit and we had a great time! On Monday we grilled hamburgers and wanted to celebrate with a cook-out, but ate our food inside since 90 degrees was a little too warm for us. On Tuesday we all went to the beach! The day after a holiday is the perfect time to go - there weren't too many people there. The kids had a great time playing in the waves with Aunt Jenny and Dad while Celeste and I hung out under the beach umbrella. Even Lilah, who hates water, got in and had fun. On our way home we drove through Mike and Jenny's old neighborhood and they relived 'the good ole' days'. We stopped for pizza (of course) for dinner and made it home just in time for bed. The rest of the week Jenny spent a lot of time reading books, playing games, swimming, etc with the kids and helped me out a lot. She watched the kids (yes all five, during dinner/bed time) while Mike and I went out for a quick date. Mike was able to be home a little bit more and we really enjoyed having her! Come again soon Jenny!

Madeline

Jenny building sand castles with the kids

Lilah buried in the sand

Anna Elise - she spent the whole time in the water

Aunt Jenny, Mike and the 4 kids

Celeste chilling under the umbrella

Lilah burying her dad

Celeste's Blessing Day

2011-05-30T09:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we blessed Celeste. Mike's sister, Jenny, is here visiting for a week so we took advantage of having some family here and blessed her. Mike gave her a beautiful blessing (as usual) and she was really good. She slept most of church, but was awake during the blessing. She didn't make a peep, but was bright eyed and alert when Mike held her up.
Nobody was very interested in pictures after church, but Jenny helped us take a few.
Celeste still sleeps really well at night, but not as good during the day. She has decided that she really likes to be held, which I love to do, but can't all the time. She went to the Dr and weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces (that was Calvin's BIRTH weight). She is filling out nicely. She still has her cold and we are hoping it goes away in the next day or two, if it doesn't we are going back to the Dr for blood work and possibly an antibiotic.

This is a hat that a friend gave me at church yesterday - isn't it so cute? (Thanks Sister Jensen)

Celeste at 3 Weeks

2011-05-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

Celeste will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. I have been meaning to get pictures of her for a week now. I need to do better. I wanted to get a picture of her in her new Sunday dress and hair bow today - but I didn't, so pictures in an old sleep sack will have to do. She is growing so fast! Her cheeks are just getting chubbier and the rest of her is filling out too. She has had a cold for 2 weeks now and I think it's finally starting to get better. We are both tired of saline drops and the aspirator! Despite her cold she is sleeping and eating well. She has shown a bit more personality, but is still a very easy going little baby!
She is very loved (read mauled) by all her siblings. Anna Elise keeps telling me she wishes Celeste was her baby, Calvin just wants to hug her and lay on her and be too close all the time, Madeline would really like this baby to DO something she has all kinds of questions about what Celeste can do and when she'll be able to do more and Lilah is the self appointed errand girl for Celeste, she won't allow anyone else to fetch diapers or other baby things or do anything for this baby, just her! I'm so glad the kids are enjoying her! I'm enjoying being at home - I love maternity leave and the opportunity to just be at home and take care of my family for a little while.

Celeste 1 Week

2011-05-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

As in true Russell tradition her dad got Celeste a "0" birthday cake. She obviously enjoyed it =). We sang and enjoyed cake while Celeste slept.

On Monday Celeste turned 1 week. She is still a quiet and peaceful baby - she doesn't cry very much, is pretty easy going and doesn't complain too much. She still has her days and nights confused, but we are working on it. She is a good eater, still doesn't spit up, and is easy to burp. Despite her round face and chubby cheeks she is skinny everywhere else. She has plenty of space to fill out! She is a delight to have in our home!

She is obviously a Russell girl, already sucking her thumb! We are going to try to divert her to a pacifier, but we'll see what she decides!

Celeste Esther Russell

2011-05-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

We finally picked out a name. It's never been such a hard process before! I know they don't really flow - but those are the two names we came up with. If you want a long, boring story ask one of us sometime about why we picked them!

I am so excited that she is finally here. So far she is a very quiet and content baby - she doesn't cry. I'm sure she will figure it out, but for now she is so peaceful! She also hasn't spit up yet - I'm sure that will come too.
I don't know who she looks like. I see Russell when I look at her, but with a round face.

Here are some better pictures of her, after she has been 'detailed' (as Mike puts it). It's so frustrating to take pictures of newborns - they are so much cuter in person!

Thank you for all the well wishes and support!
(blogger flipped these sideways for me, wasn't that nice? I can't fix them so turn your head sideways to look at them)

Baby Russell #5 (Still Unnamed)

2011-05-02T17:04:00.001-04:00

Better pictures will be posted after she gets back from the detail shop. 4:32 PM 20 inches 8lbs 1 oz Apgars 9 & 9 Very quiet disposition so far.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Happy 6th Birthday Calvin!

2011-04-30T21:46:00.000-04:00

Calvin turned 6 on Tuesday! We opened his presents and we had cake on Monday night. Then on Tuesday for his birthday we went out to dinner and he went to the store to spend his birthday money from Grammy. He bought a gun, of course. Calvin keeps us on our toes! He is taller and bigger then his older sister. He eats more then I do, but I think it all goes to making him taller! He enjoys school but doesn't particularly like homework. He does well with math and is reading quite well despite his inability to sit still long enough to practice very much! He doesn't stop moving unless he is asleep. He falls asleep very quickly - if we can get him to stop moving!

Easter

2011-04-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Our Easter celebrations started on Saturday morning. We had a ward pancake breakfast at the church (at 8am!) and then an egg hunt. The kids had a great time and had too much candy to eat! That afternoon they got their Easter present, instead of baskets we got them a movie and they had fun watching it. On Sunday we went to church - the girls all got Easter hats. I even had a 'new' Easter dress (thanks for letting me borrow it Rachel). That afternoon we hid a few of our own eggs and let the kids hunt for them. We color code the eggs so each one gets a certain color, each of the kids had an empty egg to represent the empty tomb - they didn't seem real impressed =). We had a yummy dinner that ended with Strawberry Creampuff Pie! I am thankful for the opportunity to teach the kids more about the atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ and for the freedom to worship him.

Calvin didn't want to pose by himself, he insisted on Anna Elise being in his picture.

The three girls

Spring Break

2011-04-24T20:40:00.001-04:00

For Spring Break this year I decided that we would be better off at home - so we crammed our vacation in one big stay-cation day! We got up and had donuts for breakfast, packed our lunch and headed for the zoo. We decided to stay local and went to the Richmond zoo instead of driving all the way to D.C. The kids had a great time!

Waiting in line to get in.

Lilah kept trying to sneak bites of the animal food. I finally told her to just eat one - she took one taste and then left them alone the rest of the trip..

Calvin feeding a parakeet

Anna Elise feeding a parakeet.

Lilah feeding a camel

Madeline feeding a camel.

Madeline and Lilah got to ride the carousel with mom. Anna and Calvin got to go on the sky ride with Dad - since Dad had the camera we don't have pictures of their ride!

We were worn out and as soon as we got into the car Calvin and Lilah were out! We took our time driving to the movie theater so they could get a little nap. After filling mom's purse with treats we saw Rio and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Calvin just laughed out loud at the whole thing.

We headed back to our side of town and decided to stop by the house for just a minute. Mike went in to grab what he needed and while he was inside a huge branch broke off of our neighbors tree and brought the power line that connected to our house down to the ground. The line came off of our house, but stayed connected and we still had power - which meant the line was live. We wouldn't let the kids out of the car.
We called the power company and then headed off to dinner. After dinner we got ice cream cones and went home. The kids sat on the porch eating ice cream while we watched the 'worker men' start fixing our power line. We never lost power which was a relief to me - the last thing a very pregnant woman wants on an almost 90 degree day is too lose her A/C!

That's how to enjoy an ice cream cone!

Wacky Hair Day

2011-04-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

This week at school they have a different theme each day. On Monday Anna Elise and Calvin went as twins, on Tuesday they got to wear their slippers, and on Wednesday it was wacky hair day.

Yes, Anna Elise is frumping and glaring - she wasn't happy that morning. She is my 7 year old teenager!

The Little Girls!

2011-04-05T22:08:00.001-04:00

Madeline and Lilah are my little girls. They protest that title very loudly. Madeline is only to be called pretty. Lilah prefers tiny to little, but they are my little girls. After combing their hair one morning they insisted on photographs. They hammed it up and we had a good time with the camera. Here are just a few.

Daddy's On TV!

2011-04-05T21:51:00.000-04:00

NHance, Mike's franchise, has produced a TV commercial. For each franchisee, they added their own part to the end of the commercial. Mike got his copy in the mail today. He played it for the kids and they were VERY impressed! It's not actually playing anywhere right now. It most likely won't make it on TV (don't tell the kids). Mike plans to get it up on our website and business blog. I'm going to post it here for your enjoyment =)!

(Disclaimer: Not the most flattering depiction of Mike, he is much better looking in person!)

Summer Already?

2011-03-22T20:24:00.002-04:00

No, not really, but when our weather warms up to anything above 50 the kids ask constantly for 2 things: to eat dinner outside and to do something 'watery'. They ask every day, many times a day. We have occasional days in the 50's as early as February, so you can imagine how tired I get of hearing these questions! On Friday it hit 80 (no that isn't usual nor did it stay for longer then a day). My rule is the same as the one I remember growing up, no swimming until it's 80 degrees! Random side note, I remember when I was young we wanted to go swimming so bad and it wasn't warm enough. We found the end of my Dad's electronic temperature gage and 'warmed it up' ourselves. We still didn't get to go swimming even though it said 80!
Anyway, since it was 80, the kids got their swim suits on and the hose out and after lots of screaming and crying decided that maybe the river water coming out of the hose was a bit chilly even if it was warm outside. Another load of laundry for 10 minutes of 'fun'!
Today was really nice weather, in the 60's, perfect to be outside. While I napped Mike took the kids to the store to buy all the fixin's for an outside dinner. It was really nice. The kids enjoyed their popsicles after dinner while we had FHE (a day late) outside. What a lovely evening!

Freddy

2011-03-20T21:41:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago when Madeline and went outside to get the kids from the bus a bird flew off the porch. Madeline said "Oh look there is Freddy, he is my pet bird and I named him Freddy". I told her that was great. When we came back with the kids she told them all about Freddy and Anna Elise told her to make sure Freddy didn't poop on us! Days later Madeline and I were looking out the back window and she got very excited - there were several birds hopping along eating seeds on the grass, "Look Mom, there is Freddy, he is the bird in the middle hopping on the grass!". The next week we were just pulling out in the car when a bird flew by, "Look Mom there is Freddy, he wants to come too!". This morning as we left for church the discussion turned to Freddy again. He seemed to be following us as he was seen in every yard we passed! Calvin and Anna Elise got in the discussion. They finally convinced Madeline that it was actually two birds, so now we have Freddy and Steven. There was lots of discussion on gender. Madeline calls the birds 'he' and they have boy names but for some reason she thought they were girls. She was a bit upset. For a while one of the birds was Jessica. We'll see what she says the next time we see a bird outside!
(Does she remind you of one of my 'little' sisters?)

The beat of our own drums!

2011-03-06T20:59:00.000-05:00

We've been doing some painting at home and at one of our rentals. Mike cleaned out all the paint buckets from our shed and on Saturday they were all sitting on our front lawn. Calvin discovered when he hit them with a stick they all made a different sound. This is what evolved.

Notice Calvin's hip move while he beats on Lilah's bucket =)

Sleeping Lilah

2011-03-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

I know, lots of Lilah posts, but that is who takes most of my time and energy lately. I hope to get her under control before the baby comes - but I have a feeling that will make her worse! Her newest tactic is not taking a nap. On days when I don't feel like dealing with getting her down (because I can, it's just a lot of work) or if we are busy and we don't bother to fit in this is what happens.

(if you can't tell she is sound a sleep in all three pictures)

I think it's so funny that she always tells me she is not tired but she so obviously is! She is almost two and half and probably is growing out of her nap - she sleeps better at night when she doesn't take one, but she obviously isn't completely done with them yet!

The rest of us are doing well. Mike is very busy with his business which I tell myself over and over is a good thing. The kids are doing well and enjoying warmer weather and playing outside. As for me - I'm working on not complaining and just telling people I am 'fine' when they ask. So I don't have much to say other then I'm 'fine' =). Which really I am, there isn't anything that anybody can do to help - I just have to get through 2 more months and I can do that (right?)

Whimsical Maddie

2011-03-06T20:19:00.048-05:00

All of my girls love to dress up, but none are quite as determined or creative as Madeline. She, like a typical girl her age, wears dress ups all day. I've quit fighting her and simple tell her to put pants on with whatever she has on so we can go out. Here she is with a new leotard from Grammy, her jeans I made her put on, a necklace, and her homemade headband. We were on our way to a BBQ. She was so proud of her headband that she made all by herself. You can't see most of them, but she clipped our hairbows and flowers all the way around the headband (most of them are on the bottom). She has worn it everywhere for days, but I wouldn't let her wear it to church.

Here she is with another leotard, her black pants that she always pulls up to make into 'shorts', her hat and a purse she stole from Lilah.

The other day she was wearing her watch as an anklet, she wears skirts as hats, blankets as dresses, and will wear anyone's shoes!

Lilah Bean

2011-02-13T21:08:00.012-05:00

Lilah Bean was such a sweet and happy little baby and toddler. Very content, fun, opinionated, but easy to sway. Then one day she woke up and she was our 'Terrible Two Lilah Monster'. She says a loud and emphatic NO to everything. She gives everyone dirty looks, hits a lot and makes a growling noise if she is irritated or upset. My other kids have all gone through this phase, but I don't think that we've ever had such a drastic change so quickly! She is just not very pleasant to be around most of the time. I don't know if or when we'll get the old Lilah back. We are working on dealing with the new Lilah. I have found she is not as stubborn as she may appear to be - her moods can be short lived, she goes to time out pretty good, and she can be persuaded to cooperate. Everything now takes twice as long, but we are making progress. We do occasionally catch glimpses of the old Lilah - like the other day when the new phone books came. Lilah LOVES books, really, she carries stacks of them around the house begging anyone to read to her, takes them to bed, in the car, she loves them. So when the phone books came she was so excited. She piled all three of them on her lap and happily searched through them. After dinner when everyone was sitting at the table doing homework she brought her phone books over to read. Funny kid.

In case you were wondering, Lilah's nickname, Lilah Bean, is from Lima Bean. All the kids have food nicknames from their dad. Anna is Cupcake, Calvin is Hot Dog (although his dad has been calling him Badger 5 lately, it's a brand of garbage disposal, because that kid doesn't stop eating) and Madeline is 'mato as in tomato.

As Requested!

2011-02-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

Here is the requested picture of Madeline - I didn't include it originally because it's not a good picture and you can't really see the outfit - next time she wears it I'll get a better picture.

I also included this picture from today. Madeline's new thing is her hair. She has a pink dress up skirt on her head for the back of her 'hair' and then the skirt/wrap thing that my mom brought her back from Israel as her pony tails in the front. She keeps it all in place with her lovely pink hat. She even had me put rubber bands in to make those blue ponytails legit!

Did you know...

2011-01-30T21:11:00.001-05:00

...that when Lilah runs with her arms folded she falls down? At church we try to get the kids to walk with their arms folded. She usually gets one out of 2 and always falls down!

...that Madeline got a new outfit from Grammy for her birthday? It's totally Madeline, leopard print skirt with a bow (which she tries to sneak on during the week as play clothes) a black shirt and a brown velvet vest (that I do let her wear during the week). She got to wear it to church today with a fancy new hairbow from her aunt Trina and she thought she was hot stuff!

...that Calvin loves to tease? He told his dad there was a man in the bushes when his football rolled in there and he had to go get it. He said it was a sniper.
.
..that Anna Elise got TWO Pizza Hut 'Book-it's' this month? So we just had to try their new Dipping Strips for only $12. It fed our family and everyone LOVED them.

...that Sally is now 26 weeks along, just starting the third trimester? I'm feeling pretty good with the exception of my hips - they hurt, a lot. This new little nameless girl seems to be very active and kicks and moves, but usually when it's quiet. The kids always want to feel her kick but she seems to sleep when they are around. She's practicing for when she gets here =).

...that Mike watched three car wrecks on his way to pick up cabinets on Friday? We were glad when he got home save and sound!

Single Mom

2011-01-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

This past week Mike went to his yearly NHance Convention. He leaves for work at least once and sometimes twice a year. He's been doing it for 4 years now and I can't say I ever get 'used' to it or like it. I can say that the kids were remarkably well behaved this time. Anna Elise was especially helpful. Maybe it's because I've never been this long without an infant and usually have one when he goes, but the work seemed light and the time passed quickly. I had some help from friends and other then being extremely lonely at night (and unable to sleep) it was ok. Mike had a good time. He flew to UT for the Convention. They always treat him well, he was able to learn some great new things, was introduced to some new products, and participated in some fun activities while there, including a USU basketball game with their famous student cheering section. The only picture for this post was taken by a fellow franchisee and emailed to Mike. I had to laugh at the picture - this is Mike if he ever has to sit and listen to anything for more then 30 minutes (yes, that includes sacrament meeting and well, any meeting). He swears it's the only time he fell asleep.

Some fun things we did while Daddy was gone:

had school off on Monday, so we slept in, did lots of playing, and ALL went grocery shopping
had 2 hour delay on Tuesday, so mom felt 2 hours behind all day!
went thrift store shopping with a friend on Wednesday, it was 50% off and I think I'm hooked, we got CUTE shoes for Lilah and for the new baby for only $1.50 each! I bought 'skinny' clothes for me too.
had dinner with some friends on Thursday and went to bed way too late!
went shopping at the outlet mall and got to see 'mouse in the clock' at the Yankee Candle Store with friends

I'm very thankful for Mike and that he is usually around and helps out so much at home, with both of us working and both of us taking care of our growing family it takes a lot of coordination and I'm grateful to have him!

Lovely Lilah

2011-01-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

Our lovely Lilah was not quite so lovely this week. She is really regressing with her potty training to the point where I'm ready to put her back in diapers (but I won't). She won't stay in bed at night (she tries to climb in bed with everyone else) and today she redecorated her room and gave herself a make over during nap time. Calvin came and told me she had found a red marker and drawn on everything. Luckily it was one Anna Elise's old school markers and although it's not technically washable - it kind of washed off. She drew all over her wall, window frame, sill, blinds not to mention the window. She drew on stuffed animals, books, and all over herself. She had marker on her face, hands, and stomach. Later when we were getting her ready for bed we found drawing down her back - at that point I clued in that she'd had some help! Calvin had apparently found her and then joined in and then told me about it. We think he drew on her back and helped her with her stomach and she did the rest - but you never know. It was exasperating when I thought Lilah did it, it's less cute when your 5 year old helped!

Lilah has learned to open her bedroom door this week so nap time is even less fun for mom now. She has decided to undress at night, and is throwing real temper tantrums now. We sure love the two's! It's a good thing she is so cute!

Happy Birthday Madeline

2011-01-09T20:54:00.000-05:00

Madeline turns 4 tomorrow! We celebrated today with donuts for breakfast, cake for dinner, and presents in between! In usual Madeline fashion she didn't care what day we celebrated. She had a pink cake - not just pink frosting, but pink cake - we bought a strawberry cake mix and she loved it!
She loved being sung too at primary today and she is excited to be closer to 5 (so she can ride the bus).