Mr. Peastache

Mr. Peastache and VamPEAer came over to dinner a few nights ago. I think we'll invite them back again soon.

If you were turning one year old...

If you were turning one year old...


and they put a box in front of you and told you to tear it apart...


you'd open it up and say "WOW!!"


and then your BIG BROTHER would push you around and around and around on your new ride and even be your stop sign...


but your BIG SISTER might be a little sad when she can't play with your toys...


and while you were playing with your new stuff your MOM would whip out this little beauty...


and you'd be super grateful...


and it would be really yummy...


and you would think it was pretty much the best birthday you'd ever had...


and it would be, if YOU were turning one year old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alex-the-Zander!!

Gracamole

The kids aren't fans of "gracamole". I'll spare you their descriptions of what they think it actually is (or looks like).

I, on the other hand, really love the stuff. Love it on my sandwiches, quesadillas, chips... you get the idea. However, I find it annoying that I end up throwing most of it away before I can use it.

One day, it occurred to me that if I could freeze my chopped up celery and peppers, I could freeze my guacamole too. I'm sure someone else has thought of this, but just in case YOU (my 5 loyal readers and guac eaters) haven't thought of it... I decided to pass my genius along...


After the guacamole is made (or bought) I separate it into portion sized baggies and then freeze it.

When I want a fancy sandwich, I just pull out a baggie and stick it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes and voila... guacamole that isn't nasty brown. Not only do I have guacamole whenever I want it, I don't end up wasting a whole batch.

Now I just need to get Heidi to give me her recipe and I'll be good to go...

Clownin' Around

THESE KIDS

ARE
ALWAYS

GOOD

FOR

A

LAUGH!!

Little Boy

When does your baby turn into a little boy?


When you cut his hair for the first time!

and in case you were looking for a comparison shot... here's Zack after his first haircut. Zacky was a few months older than Alex is here and his hair was longer but they both had those curls in the back. So sad to see my babies growing up!!!

My Hands Are FULL

At least once a day (usually more like five times a day) strangers politely make this comment to me, "WOW, you've sure got your hands full!"

I usually smile (through gritted teeth) and say, "Yep. I do!"

Occasionally people ask me this one. "Wow, are they all yours??"

Next time someone asks me that I'm going to respond by saying "No, actually I just borrow random LITTLE kids to take to the store with me because I think it's FUN!!!"

Except that occasionally it really is fun. Or at least parts of it are fun. Like this trip to Costco.


I wish I could have videoed people's reactions to the kids laying under the cart. We were turning heads and gettin' whispered comments... kind of reminded me of this post.

And this picture reminded me of another cell phone Costco picture... (what would I do without that cell phone camera?? I just don't know!!)

and I thought my hands were full back then....

K is for Kindergarten

Yep. It's official. Lila is in Kindergarten and to say that she loves it is an understatement. We dropped her off on the first day and she went right in and never looked back.


Abby, however, was really sad to see her go.

I mean, really, really sad!!


Lila is doing great. She only "got" to go to school on Tuesday and Wednesday last week because of Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah. She was mad. She'd even like to go to school on the weekend if they'd let her.


Apparently her teacher is super fun (and skinnier than me... thanks, Lila) and she's even made a few friends. They have gym (where she recently learned the art of Freeze Tag) and art class where she got to meet a real artist (and she told this "real" artist "I'm going to be an artist too when I grow up!!").

(Notice the girl in the drawing has glasses on. Awesome!!!)

The teacher's aid has informed Lila that since she can tie her shoes, she may have to help tie all the other kids shoes when they need it. You can imagine that Lila is THRILLED by this prospect!!

The second day of school she brought brochures home for a FUNdraiser (Yipee!!) because her school needs money so they can "do stuff". When I asked her what kind of stuff she said "like gym... and music class... She's been trying to sell me stuff ever since because she sure loves those classes.

And it is "all day" kindergarten. A few months ago we were talking about this and she told me she doesn't want to go to all day kindergarten because then she will never see us. She'll just "come home when it's dark." Whoops!! I quickly clarified what "all day" meant in kindergarten terms.


Other than that (oh... and a little snafoo on the first day of school where she had to sit in the nurses office FOR AN HOUR because her medical form wasn't filled out correctly...) she's having a blast. Actually, she said she was glad that her form wasn't filled out right because she liked drawing in the nurses office. She's such a little optimist!! We're so proud!!

Way to go big Kindergartener Lila.

And, just in case you were wondering. We miss her. Things aren't quite the same around here without her.

Bubbles...

Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere
On our noses, in our hair


From our toes to fingertips
On our ears, our hands, our lips


Head to toes and toes to crown
Wash those dirty bubbles down!


silly poem by Emily Russ

Dear McDonalds

Dear McDonalds,

Our mommy told us we needed to tell you thanks for letting us borrow LOTS of your old boxes.


We really appreciated it. They worked great as moving boxes, but we really liked them best as climbing blocks...

forts...

family portraits...

time out chairs...

treasure boxes...

hideouts...

chairs...

and a dance floor!!

We've even contemplated using your boxes as a dining room table because we have so many of them that our kitchen table and chairs didn't fit in the moving truck and got left behind.

It was slightly embarrassing for our mommy to get caught INSIDE the dumpster hunting for boxes, but you know what they say, "desperate times call for desperate measures."

No offense, but we hope that next time we move someone else will provide the boxes... and the packers... and the big strong men to carry all our stuff. Our mommy is tired of being all of those things. We're a little tired of it too.


Don't worry though. We'll still visit you lots, just hopefully not your dumpster next time!

Sincerely,
Alex
and The Russ Kids

p.s. We're sorry that every time we drive by a McDonalds we scream "look an eating place... it's Chick-fil-A!!!" Take it as a compliment because we LOVE Chick-fil-A. LOTS!!


mommy's note: the first pictures are of Alex from MARCH. He could barely sit up. Now it is SEPTEMBER and he is walking. He's been surrounded by boxes for most of his life, poor kid!!