the us in russ

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Seven year old sweetness!

Lila turned seven on November 27th. SEVEN!! I can hardly believe it. I distinctly remember the days when I wondered if I would have a babe of my own and now I wonder how that squishy, sweet, baby of mine turned into my little friend.

Her cake request… “Can you make a Seven??”

Yesterday I was talking to her and I paused for a second to look into those beautiful big eyes of hers. I was struck with how many days go by when I fail to actually look into her eyes or snuggle her in my arms.

At that moment I stopped and asked her if she knew how much I wanted her. How much I had dreamed and prayed and wanted HER! She lit up as we talked and I made a mental note to remind each of those babies of mine how much I want them in my life.

I was looking through the pictures on my phone recently and noticed a trend. I have several spontaneous moments of Lila taking care of Alex. I find this especially funny because he has recently taken to dragging her around and calling her “Mommy”. She grins and loves every second of it. (It reminds me of my relationship with my baby brother and makes me miss him!)

Sweet. That is my Lila.

She is always ready to help, frequently without being asked. She begs to fold laundry and then asks if she can put all 10 loads of it away. She is loving and kind to her brothers and sister. Frequently one of them will demand a chair or a book or whatever the moment holds and without fail, Lila will give up whatever she has to make them happy.

The other day I was feeling sick with a bad headache. I picked up the kids from school and was so nauseous that I went straight to my bed. As I lay there I was overwhelmed with what I heard going on downstairs. In a perfect (and humbling) imitation of me, she said “ok. If you want a snack raise your hand…” and she proceeded to fix 4 little snacks, play games with the kids and quietly entertain them for hours while I rested. She even got them all cereal for dinner (which, to be honest is about all I regularly pull off for dinner!) I felt so blessed and so lucky to have such a sweet girl who could take care of things when I couldn't.

Sure love that girl of mine. I am proud of the little lady she is growing up to be. Happy (super late) birthday Lila Bean. I hope life gives you everything you wish for!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

This dinner gives me the creeps…

I recently had a friend mention to me that I have neglected to post the pictures from our creepy Halloween dinner. Soooo… just in case you need some ideas for an awesome Valentines day, here you go!

This year we branched out and invited a few friends over. It made the night a lot more fun and we will definitely do it again next year!

Lila and Abby cut out and penned the labels. I love them (labels and girls).

Mummies

Worms (this is still my Halloween favorite! Click here for the recipe)

Skeleton’s Teeth (white corn)

Mummy Mush (mashed potatoes) and Monster Hands.

Yes. Monster hands. They were incredible… really, really incredible! Like… so incredibly real that I almost couldn’t eat it. Almost! (Click here for the recipe)

Slug Salad (the “slugs” were mushrooms. You’ll have to message me for this recipe. It’s my mom’s famous, DELICIOUS, spinach salad!)

Dracula’s Ribs (recipe here)

Devil’s Eyes

Dragon Hearts

Band Aids (seriously, these were soooo creepy! The idea came from here)

Ghost Poop (this is was a FAVORITE of the little ones at our little dinner party)

Troll Eyes (go here to see what they should really look like)

Ghost Brains

with Spider Blood and Vampire Blood, as toppings for our Ghost Brains

Not pictured was our “Spider Cider” and our Frozen hand (can’t remember the clever name for that one and I borrowed the picture from here)

For last years party pictures go here

Monday, December 19, 2011

Brothers In Arms

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.

~Marc Brown

Most of these pictures are moments I just happened to catch with my cell phone.

I love their relationship. Alex does everything Zack does, loves the things Zack loves, Alex says what Zack says (Zack has even taught him how to talk like Yoda).

And Zack is incredibly sweet and patient with Alex and loves him right back.

I sure love these two little men of mine and I hope they are always best friends!

A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams

~unknown

A brother is a friend provided by nature.

~Legouve Pere

There is a destiny that makes us brothers,

no one goes his way alone;

all that we send into the lives of others,

comes back into our own.

~Edwin Markham

“There’s no other love like the love for a brother.

There’s no other love like the love from a brother.”

~Astrid Alauda

All for one and one for all.

My brother and my friend.

What fun we have. The time we share.

Brothers 'til the end.

~Unknown

Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving Curse?

Three years ago I missed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with this master chef because Zack had a fever and was sick.

Last year on the day before Thanksgiving I dislocated my kneecap (and then Alex had his second hernia surgery).

Exactly two years ago today I posted about Johnny’s most recent back episode flare up. For some strange reason, we felt like THIS was our year to have a nice happy, healthy, peaceful Thanksgiving!

But man, we should have learned our lesson…

This morning Johnny moved wrong and ended up in intense pain on the floor. I knew immediately by the tone of his yell what had happened.

We initially thought it wasn’t too bad so we made an appointment with a doctor and called my friend Heather to watch the kids. (oh Heather… thank you, thank you…)

As I tried to get Johnny up to go, I quickly realized that our plan wasn’t going to work and I needed to call 911.