It Ain't Christmas 'til Somebody Cries

Crying Over Curls

Zack needed a haircut.


It's been a few months now that we've been talking about it but I just wasn't ready to cut those soft curls off...


...until today.


Johnny was an expert barber. We were worried Zack might freak out a little bit but he did AWESOME! The only person who cried was... you guessed it, ME!!

When those long curls started falling into my lap I just couldn't help it. Then when my baby boy turned around and looked at me he just looked like such a little boy...


And, he got a real kick out of Johnny vacuuming the hair off of him!

No Explanation Needed

A Christmas Story

Most of the time we wonder if our kids are listening to us at all. We used to feel fairly certain that even if they listened they didn't actually remember anything. That was until Lila proved us wrong many times. Lila got "Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree" as a present on her birthday. So we have been reading with our other Christmas stories to get her excited for Christmas. Apparently she memorized the whole thing already! (make sure to turn your volume up, she is talking kind of quietly).


Video: Lila Reciting Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

Thug Life

Johnny: "Lila, what happened to your arms?"
Lila: "I got tattoos!"


Johnny: "What do your tattoos say? Do they say 'Thug Life'?"
Lila: "No! not 'Thug Life', they say 'Bug's Life'!"


There you have it. That is the real message all those Disney movies are instilling in our kids. Lila has been great about only writing on paper we have given to her and nothing else. This was her adventure into getting some 'ink' on herself. Mostly we are curious how she learned about tattoos.

Irresistible

I was posting pictures recently and randomly came across this picture. I just couldn't resist sharing it with you. This is Lila at almost a year. Hilarious!!

The impossible...

My mom left this afternoon. She's been here for a week and it was so incredible to have her here! We've been working hard to get my house clean and organized and after she left this afternoon I finished up a few things that needed to be done. I know this is kind of a lame post, but if you know me (and have ever seen my messy house) you'll understand how HUGE this is for me...

So, I am proud to report that with the help of "Grandma Jannie" every single piece of laundry in my house is clean right now (and folded and put away!!) except for one lone orange shirt and a few rags. It's quite the miracle really.

There's a problem though when all my laundry is done... I don't have anywhere to put it! The drawers are busting open and we've run out of hangers...

Man, it feels good Thanks Grandma Jannie. We miss you already!!

p.s. I took pictures of my empty laundry baskets but decided not to totally bore you to death!! And more on our fun with Grandma coming soon. I have to keep the house clean so I don't have much time to blog! :)

Lazy people...

My mom always told me that "Lazy people always work the hardest." Turns out she was right.

Lila was at a birthday party this afternoon and since my mom is visiting (more on that later) and was here to take care of the babies, I thought, "I'll finish painting the kids bedroom door" (which I started painting 2 months ago...)

Anyway, I got out my little bucket of paint and started painting. Let's just say that I didn't make all of the necessary preparations. I ended up spilling my bucket of paint all over the floor, a crib, my favorite pair of jeans, my favorite tennis shoes, the bookshelf (and a few books), the fan, a slipper, and more... ughhh...


I mean seriously, what was I thinking??

"Lazy people ALWAYS work the hardest." Story of my life!

p.s. the worst part is, I didn't even finish painting the door.

Oh, the weather outside is FRIGHTFUL!

When animals attack...

Johnny: "Wow, Lila, what happened?"
Lila: "I got cut and so I needed these Band-aids"
Johnny: "Wow! You got cut down your whole leg??"
Lila: "Yeah, a lion bit my leg..."


Watch out for all those Lions on the prowl in "Belmont, Chussennetts"


P.S. Santa's bringing Lila a tape dispenser in her stocking this year.
Do you think she'll like it??

Happy Birthday Babies

A giggle, a smile, a kiss on the cheek.
Sneaking into your room for one last bedtime peek.

Wiping your tears as I cuddle you tight.
Hoping my kisses make everything right.

With twice the tickles and twice the laughs,
We have two times the messes and two times the baths.

Though only two babies are running around,
We've quadrupled the love and we've tripled the sound.

We've got arms full and hearts full and joy overflowing.
With amazement we watch how you're learning and growing.

Each day brings new bruises, new bumps with each fall,
But we cherish these moments with you while you're small.

Though we're busy and crazy and sometimes feel stressed,
We also feel lucky, loved, and quite blessed.

We've had double the joy, double fun from the start...
Because two little babies have stolen our hearts.

-Emily Russ-
12.04.07

Happy First Birthday Abby & Zack!!

Russ Family Factory

The Play-Doh "Russ Family Factory" pictures are here!! Since all of the regular Play-Doh workers were on vacation this week we had to recruit 12 little workers to help us make some dough for Lila's birthday.

The front door welcomed our friends with a "Welcome New Workers sign." As we waited for everyone to arrive we had a new worker orientation and let the kids color pictures that said "I love working at the Play-Doh Russ Family Factory". I let each "worker" pick their colored hat & wrote their name on it.

Then I asked, "Who wants to help make some play-doh??" The answer was obvious!!


When almost everyone was here we started the "Production Line". Each worker got to pick their "flavor" and color. (Kool-aid packets). Then they got to dump and mix, stir & smoosh their own batch of dough.


After that they had to do a little "Research & Development".

Here is a picture of Lila and Annabelle hard at work...

Then we moved on to some serious job tasks. "Product Testing" required them to see how well their Play-Doh rolled (bowling).

Here's Carter going for the strike...

Then they moved on to "Packaging" where they tried to get the dough into containers.

(We didn't get a good action shot of this, but these were the "packages" they were aiming for.)

After all that work, we thought they deserved a little "dough-nut" break. (I think the Zoo Pals disposable sippy cups might have been the biggest hit of the party!!)

Johnny and I dressed in uniforms of red & yellow & I made a cute sign to hang.

Here's almost all the kids (or at least a part of them...)

As they left each worker was given the dough they had made and a "rolling pin" in a bag with this label on it. Attached to the bag were a few cookie cutters.

(Though, if you attended the party the recipe that I originally printed
had too much water, so use this recipe instead!! oops!)

And even though it didn't actually make it to the party (I ran out of time) here is the birthday cake. (The frosting was supposed to be a bright Play-Doh color but I grabbed the wrong thing of food coloring and didn't feel like fixing it... oh well!!)


Lila thought the rolling pin tasted yummy! (cookie dough!)


It ended up being a great party. Thanks to all 12 of Lila's friends who came to help celebrate with us!! (and to my friends who stayed to help!!)

Also, I have to admit (Rindi's comments are right) that a lot of the ideas for this party were Johnny's!! What a great dad!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Lila Bean!!

Blogged Down

Sorry for the blogging drought the last few weeks. It's been hectic around here and we got a little "blogged down." Fortunately times like this give us lots of material to blog about. Here's a taste of what's to come.

We had a little Play-Doh party for Lila's 3rd birthday.
These were the invitation that Johnny and I made.

(Click on the images to get a better view)

Even Abby got in on the preparations. Here she is helping to sand the "rolling pins"
(thanks to our friend Matt Romney for the carpentry work!!)

A Table For "Two"

Tonight we made an emergency diaper run to Target (what a great family night activity). On the way Lila requested that we get hot dogs in the Target "restaurant". Since there is a Friendly's in the parking lot of Target and I hate hot dogs, we opted to go there and have dinner and ice cream. Shortly after we sat down, this couple was seated next to us. They have 2 year old twins and a 6 month old baby. Sorry about the blurry cell phone shots, but I had to document this and it was all that I had available.


We smiled and chatted a little about how funny it was to run into another family with twins. Then a few minutes later this family with a toddler and twin babies was seated. While walking in they noticed the previously family with twins and started to talk to them, then they pointed over at us. We all laughed at the odd coincidence.


Then a little bit later this family walked in with another set of twins!

Four families with young twins and another child all seated together at the same time. What are the chances of that? After seeing the shocked look on peoples faces all the time when they find out we have 3 kids under 3, it is nice to know we aren't alone in our madness. Maybe our crazy life just isn't so crazy after all.

"Blood On Your Face"

Yep, they are both up and walking these days (for the last month or so). The taller they are and the faster they are moving the harder they fall. Zack drew first blood, I think. This picture is from a run in with one of his toys. He also bloodied his nose on the vacuum cleaner (we decided to give first aid that time rather than take pictures).


Here we caught Abby in free fall.

We figure we should show some evidence that they can actually walk without falling.


I pulled the title for the post from the second verse of "We Will Rock You". I thought it fit nicely. Emily recommended that I go with that "I get knocked down, but I get up again" song. I concede that it might fit a little better, but I find that song a little too annoying.