the us in russ

Backwards Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 03:16:00 +0000

Lila turned EIGHT a few months ago and so we decided to have a

CRAZY EIGHT

Backwards Birthday Party!

Lila has always had a great imagination and this birthday party was PERFECT for her!! Everything was backwards. I made up a silly little poem to put on the invitation so all the girls came dressed crazy. It was hilarious and they had a GREAT time. (Click on the image to see it bigger)

Even Johnny and I got in on the backwards dressing.

(Note that Johnny is asleep DURING the party here...)

When the girls got there we welcomed them by saying "goodbye" and when they left we said "hello". We gave them their "you're welcome" gifts when they got their and said "Birthday Happy!" to THEM!! The gifts were a 3 pack of cards with "CRAZY EIGHTS" on the top, wrapped up because WE were giving the present to THEM. We attached a candy necklace that looked like an 8 when we tied it on and the tag was written from the bottom up.

We had them decorate name tags with their names backwards and we were supposed to call each other our backwards names the whole time. I was horrible at it and several of the girls were really good at it and called me out on my mistakes every time I messed up. They got a kick out of that!

They colored on the tablecloths (instead of on paper) and they decorated their name tags while we waited for everyone to get there.

We also took a picture of each of the guests with Lila "upside down" of course. We used these as our "You're Welcome" cards and sent them to the girls.

Then we did the party in backwards order. We opened gifts FIRST followed by cake and ice cream. The cupcakes were in ice cream cones and the ice cream was in cupcake liners with the candle in the ice cream.

Instead of sitting AT the table to eat they sat UNDER the table.

notice all their crazy clothes!!

Then we sang "You to Birthday Happy..." (all the words were printed out so they could sing it backwards and they enjoyed it so much they begged to sing it twice!)

As our "Party Birthday" games we played "Pin the Donkey on the Tail",

"Goose, Goose, DUCK!!"

and "Backwards Charades" (One person had their word stuck to their back and everyone else acted it out while THEY had to guess.) It was so funny!

We had a little dance party and listened to the Backwards Birthday Party song (until it made me want to swear!!) and then we dance to the Freeze dance song except they danced when it said "Freeze" and froze when the song was playing!

I also read them a story called "Otto grows down" about a little boy who makes a wish on his birthday and then instead of growing older he gets younger. It's pretty funny.

It was a great party. SO much fun for all the girls and pretty easy for me.
The best part is that our CRAZY Lila had a CRAZY good time!!

Belated

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 01:57:00 +0000

Happy slightly belated Father's Day to the best dad ever (that's Johnny!) Even though I took all these cute pictures and never did anything with them, we still think you're great...

Maybe next year we'll think about actually coming through with a real gift before New Years!

Lil' Pumpkins

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 13:40:00 +0000

(For some reason the little song "Peter Peter pumpkin eater" keeps coming to mind here... strange, I know!)

Happy Fall Everyone! Hope yours is as beautiful as ours is!

3 year old Under Construction

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 02:42:00 +0000

The little guy around our house had a big birthday recently. We celebrated CONSTRUCTION style and it was awesome.

When they arrived the kids entered our HARD HAT AREA and got to decorate a construction hat.

They deposited their gifts

Then they had a few choices for activities. They could hang out in the construction zone where there was DEMOLITION IN PROGRESS.

or work on BLUEPRINTS (from Alex Architecture)

And one of the huge hits was HAMMER TIME. (I couldn't resist) The kids really loved that one.

After they played for a little while we moved on to BARRICADE BOWLING where they used a wrecking ball. (Those "wrecking" balls were the take home gift with a label that said "Thanks for coming! We had a ball.")

And they took a turn with the WRECKING BALL

They also got to have a turn to WATCH FOR FALLING ROCKS

which also doubled as our photo booth. (Zack's face cracks me up every time I look at this picture!)

Just a few of our friends. (I'm going to send these pictures out with the thank you cards)

Then we blew out candles and ate some crazy food!

It was a great party and I think everyone had fun.

I know this little guy sure did!!

Happy Birthday big man. Sure love you! Can't believe you are three!!

Qui-Gon do

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:45:00 +0000

I'm pretty sure "Qui-Gon do" (read: kwhy gone doe) is where Qui-Gon jin does taekwondo.

Now Zack does too!
(or "Jack" if you speak with a Korean accent like his teacher!)

please don't tell him the real pronounciation, because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hearing him say
"Qui-Gon do" almost as much as I love watching him do it.
"Yes sir."

and then there was one...

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:53:00 +0000

Three years ago when I had four kids ages four and under, I could barely imagine the day when those little ones would go off to school. Even with all the chaos that has been my life, I've had mixed feelings about sending my babies to school because (most of the time) I really like having them home with me. They play well together (most of the time) and they're starting to be really helpful around the house. They are funny, and cute, and we're sort of getting to a really good place in life. But alas, since I have no aspirations for home school (I'm even struggling that I committed to do "JOY" school once a week) I had to send them off to school.

Our van (along with my good camera) has been in the shop for over a week so for several days we got to walk to school (uphill both ways!)

If you take out the extra stress of trying to get them out the door 15 mintues faster and the incredible out-of-shapeness of their mother, it was a pleasant little walk to and from school (uphill both ways!) The kids even found time to stop and smell the "roses" on the way.

Abby and Zack LOVE Kindergarten. Abby had a little panic moment when I tried to leave her the first time but by the time I talked to Zack's teacher and then peeked in her room, she was making friends and happy. That night as I was putting her to bed she told me that she decided she would show up with a smile and be the teacher's helper! She totally has.

For the most part, Zack's been a champ. However, he seems a little confused about why all the teachers keep calling him Zachary.

I just can't believe they're really in school. As we walked away I felt that lump in my throat. I know it's cliche, but they really, really do grow up so fast!

Lila is thrilled to be in second grade (even if she doesn't look "thrilled" in this picture!!) This is the first time she has stayed at a school (we moved after preschool and kindergarten) so she feels right at home. We walked into her class and her best little friend Mia came running up and gave her a huge hug. She is excited they are in the same class and she thinks it's incredibly cool that her teacher is on maternity leave.

We're also trying to get back into the habit of homework. Lucky for me she enjoys it. I'm kind of jealous though. I wish someone would tell me I had to read for 25 minutes everyday!

(disclaimer because I know someone will call me out on it... I actually DO indulge my love of reading almost every day!)

And these shoes were made for walking (uphill both ways!)

After we dropped the kids off Alex was walking with his shoulders hunched over and a sad, sad look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he mumbled "I'm just sad." Poor baby, he's stuck with just me! He wanted me to carry him and I tried to piggy-back him because that's how I had been carrying him to and from school (uphill BOTH ways) but he wanted me to snuggle him instead. When we got home he just held his lunchbag and sat on the front steps with his sad, sad, face (until we picked them up, of course.)

So far he still pulls that sweet, pitiful, incredibly adorable, sad, pouty face every morning when we drop them off.

And then there was one.

Looks like it's just you and me now, kiddo. What do you think of that?

in comparison

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Our family has done lots of travelling this summer. Johnny travels every week for his job and the kids and I just travel for fun. Looking at things comparatively though, I'm not sure who's job looks more "fun" to me!

Johnny's "baggage" ready to go:

My "baggage" ready to go:

Johnny's seatmates:

My seatmates:

Johnny's legroom:

My legroom:

What Johnny finds in his seat:

(noise cancelling headphones. Once he got a full set of pajamas and slippers.

I would have liked to see a picture of all the first class passengers in their matching jammies!)

What I find in my seat:

(translation: "Dear Mommy, I hope you have a great fight.

Thanks for taking us on vacation. Love, Lila")

Where Johnny sleeps when he travels:

Where we sleep when we travel:

The bathroom accomodations for Johnny:

(yes, that was really his bathroom!!)

The bathroom accomodations for us:

Where things could get sweaty for Johnny:

(uhm. yes. That is a sauna. In his ROOM. Too bad he was too busy to ever take advantage of it!)

Where things could get sweaty for me:

(Each kid had to navigate their own *cute* suitcase on the escalator. Several times.

I caught a stranger taking a picture of us once because we were such a sight!

I thought about giving her a dirty look but just smiled sweetly at her instead.)

Overall, I think I just might have the better end of the deal! maybe.

Hurry home (again) daddy. We miss you!

*these are actually pictures of when Johnny gets upgraded to fancy stuff,
it's not quite how he usually travels, but still...

Sick of sick.

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:09:00 +0000

Yesterday Alex had an earache,

Zack had a headache, and fever,

Lila had a sore throat,

and Abby was puking.

So lovely.

In describing his earache, Alex said "mommy, a bug flew in my ear and is stinging me." And he later told Lila that "my cough scratched my ear and hurted it. uh huh. it did." I had a little flash back to when Zack's ear drum popped...

Turns out that in addition to Alex's ear infection and Zack's sinus infection, all four of them have strep throat.

We ended up at the doctor's office twice and the pharmacy multiple times. But most of the last few days have been spent like this...

In looking back through the pictures from my phone I realized we've been sick a lot lately. My favorite was the "vampire flu" which lasted for almost 3 weeks and had everyone puking for days (but mostly only at night!)

Abby was sick for 17 days.

So I guess it could be worse (again) right!

I think it is safe to say that we are sick of being sick!!

That STINKS!

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 03:25:00 +0000

You know how when you get home from traveling it is nice to be in your own home and your own bed... this week when we got back from Florida I wanted to turn around and go right back...

The day I left for Florida there was a huge thunderstorm and (unbeknownst to us) our little old fridge (and FREEZER) did not survive the storm. TWO WEEKS. That is how long our fridge and freezer sat rotting in our house.

It was awesome.

After about 30 seconds in the house I knew we were spending the night at a hotel and I considered that it might be easier to burn the house down (ok, not really) rather than get the smell out of everything (pillows, couches, rugs, clothes, mattresses, my hair...)

So we extended our vacation one more night and the kids and I spent most of the day hanging out in the hotel.

We ordered room service and I busted out a random stash of clearance Legos from my suitcase to keep us busy. I even got a little nap while they all watched TV.

When Johnny got back we headed to Walmart to stock up in order to face the STINK at home.

In case you were wondering it was the most horrible thing I can ever imagine smelling in my entire life. Ever.

We managed to move the fridge outside to the porch before opening the doors. I'll spare you the gruesome details of the task (think lots of maggots on my kitchen floor), but with our rubber gloves, my improvised "ninja" mask, and lots and lots of cleaners we managed to clear out the nastiness without puking. Just barely, though. We're tough like that!

To be honest it could have been LOTS, LOTS worse. It still smells a little strange downstairs, but every single inch of my kitchen and dining room has been scrubbed spotless. Guess now we know that it takes a disaster for something like that to happen! :)

Now I'll never, ever go on vacation again without worrying about what I'll find waiting for me at home.

And next time you see us, pretend like you don't notice if we smell just a little bit funny!

Two

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 02:26:00 +0000

"Two are better than one... for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

When you wish...

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:48:00 +0000

When you wish upon a star

makes no difference who you are

anything your heart desires

will come to you.

Florida Vacation

February 2012

A break in Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Forgive my lack of posting. My Kindle and I have been spending lots of time together!!

February is always the dreaded month of New England winter for me. It is generally really dismal and nasty up here. I always tell Johnny that if he ever wants me to move to Florida he should ask me in February. So this year (long before we knew that there would be absolutely NO snow at all) we planned a little family road trip to Florida during the kid's winter break.

Yep. ROAD trip.

And it was awesome. Apparently not awesome enough that I took any pictures of the "road trip" part of the vacation, but so awesome that I have considered making the trip again this summer by myself.

Florida in February is like a little taste of Heaven. We go to the beach every year in Florida but this trip was dedicated to the touristy stuff and it was so much fun!!

The weather was perfect and the kids are all old enough to really enjoy the rides. Alex still talks about how he got to ride on a "hippogriff" (and it has been 4 months!!)

We went to Universal Studios and got to hang out in Suess-land and see Hogwarts and Hogsmede. Johnny has been telling the kids Harry Potter stories as bedtime tales for months now and they LOVE everything Harry Potter. Even Alex runs around the house yelling "stupify" and "reducto".

We even got to meet up with Uncle Brandon and (offical last weekend) Auntie Alex for some lunch and butterbeer in the 3 broomsticks! Apparently I was too focused on butterbeer to think to take a picture of Brandon and Alex. Frozen butterbeer = dreamy!!

Even a little (or a lot) of rain didn't slow us down (well, most of us!!)

Air boatin’

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:49:00 +0000

We recently went to Florida for February break and Uncle Bo was kind enough to take the kids out on his airboat to see some gators. Gotta make sure we keep these kids of ours “uncitified”!

They saw all kinds of wildlife… deer, wild hogs, cranes and more.

Zack was out looking for gators…

…they found a few little ones.

…and a few big ones!

Right before this last picture was taken Zack was holding a gator that started squirming so he dropped it. Johnny was holding a 3rd gator for Abby but once she saw that Zack’s was wiggling and trying to escape she didn’t want anything to do with holding one of her own. Johnny finally talked her into holding their tails. Maybe next year?

*no animals (or children) were harmed in the making of this post!

Birthday Balloons

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:15:00 +0000

Abby and Zack turned FIVE in December. We celebrated in style with a classic birthday BALLOON party.

I wrote the party invitation info on inflated balloons and then let all the air out, tied it to some cardstock and stuck it in the envelopes. It was totally cute but a few of the parents told me that kids opened the invite, played with the balloon and rubbed the marker off so they didn’t know when the party was. I think if I were to do it again this way I would include a real printed paper with the info as a supplement. Still, it was cute… apparently that is the most important thing to me!

Abby and Zack wrote thank you tags for the party favors. I got the printable from my friend Darleen’s blog here. Her little boy was at the party (and she made the robot shirt Zack is wearing below as a party favor for one of her incredible parties!! Click here to see the most hilarious picture of Lila at one of those parties. She is the one with cucumbers on her eyes!)

The tags hung on the balloons that we gave out as party favors. I tied the balloons onto little animals that had their arms wrapped around a ring “POP”. I also sent the kids home with a big punch balloon that we used as part of the decorations in the basement.

You can see the favors in the background below. I decided not to do cupcakes or cake and ice cream but did balloon shaped sugar cookies instead. I used Twizzler pull and peels as the balloon strings. It was a good move and the kids all loved them!

Abby and Zack’s cakes were just little round cakes with a bunch of pull and peels as the strings.

Our decorations were just tons and tons and tons of balloons everywhere.

A little bit of birthday, a little bit of Christmas…

When the kids showed up they got to pick out a balloon hat from the pile I had made. I became a balloon tying expert and it is actually kind of addictive. We had balloons all over the place and I loved how the strings from the helium balloons hung down in the rooms and looked so festive.

This was upstairs in the dining room. You can see a few of the girls with their hats…

…and the basement where most of the action took place.

We played lots of games with the balloons. My favorite was the “freeze dancing” with balloons tied on their hands and feet. I attached rubber bands to lots of different sized balloons. They were all over the floor in the basement as decorations when the kids showed up which added to the excitement. Then I let them pick as many as they wanted to wear for the dancing. The freeze dance song is one of Abby and Zack’s favorites so it was perfect for the party. The song pauses and tells the kids to freeze… it was awesome with all their balloon limbs flying and the kids LOVED it so much they begged for an encore. It was pretty hilarious to watch too!

A new birthday tradition we started was putting a dollar in balloons and hanging them in their doorways. One balloon for each year old they are. (They are only five… the balloons in the middle were just leftover decorations from the party).

And every year since we’ve had Lila we have had balloons on the floor in the kids rooms when they wake up on their birthday. Johnny’s family used to sneak in and toilet paper your room on your birthday but the balloons are a little easier. Especially if you have a bazillion balloons in your house leftover from a birthday party!

I know it is totally cliché to say this, but I really cannot believe they are five. It seems like only a few days ago that they looked like this… (and there were lots of times I never thought I would say this, but oh how I miss those two sweet little babies!!)

(Abby on left, Zack on the right)

Happy (sort of late) birthday to my babies,

because you’ll ALWAYS be my babies!

Seven year old sweetness!

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:33:00 +0000

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!!

This dinner gives me the creeps…

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:38:00 +0000

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

Brothers In Arms

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:35:00 +0000

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

Thanksgiving Curse?

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:09:00 +0000

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.

Five firemen had to haul him down the stairs strapped to a chair. I’ve never seen him in so much pain and it was heartbreaking!

In the ER they pumped him full of drugs and sent us home.

Wednesday he gets to see the spine specialist and we hope that it will be a quick recovery. Hope!

Happy Thanksgiving Folks!!

“When 900 years old you reach…

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:59:00 +0000

…look as good, you will not!” -Yoda

Happy Halloween!
Love,
Luke & Leia Skywalker, (the twins)
Queen Amidala, (their mother)
and Yoda

Sleepy Babe

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:10:00 +0000

Alex just turned two but don't be fooled by his sweet little face. The boy thinks he is four. (Though if you ask HIM, he says he's THE baby!!)

He has recently decided that he is too big to take naps. Not officially, of course, but by staging a (sort of cute) protest of singing and playing in his crib at nap time.

The result is that this little boy of mine is sleepy. Almost all the time. (And, by golly, I sure know how he feels!!)

But when he falls asleep in the car, I get to carry him into the house and snuggle my cheeks against his cheeks and (reluctantly) tuck him into his bed.

Oh, how I love this little man of mine. I wish I could just freeze time for a little while...

Kids Say The Darndest Things 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny Russ) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:53:00 +0000

One of my favorite things that we do around here at the Russ house is the quote board where we write down the funny things the kids say. We are a little behind in getting last year's posted, but it is still great.

To read the quotes you can zoom in and out on the image below. Just click the image (not the little box in the corner) with your mouse or roll your scroll wheel, or you can use the buttons at the bottom. To see different parts, you can just drag around with the little hand, or you can drag the blue box around in the upper left corner.

Don't forget to leave us a comment and tell us what your favorites are!

In case you wanted to check out our past funniness... 2007, 2008, 2009

Also, Johnny wanted to send a shout out to Casey for hooking us up with a hosting space!

Home Maker

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:51:00 +0000

At the beginning of the new school year I had to fill out a lot of forms to get the kids enrolled in their new schools. We moved (again) recently and as I have been trying to get settled (again) I keep thinking about something I filled out on all those forms. There is a spot where you are required to fill in your profession…

As I filled out those forms with the word “homemaker” I was struck with the meaning of those words and I haven’t been able to get them out of my head in the months that have followed. I am a home maker. I make this home. Whatever I want it to be, that is what I make of it.

I thought of the book by Jane Clayson Johnson titled “I am a mother.” It is one of my VERY favorite books and I find her so inspiring (you should read it and reread it and give it away as gifts!!). One of the stories she tells is about being at a dinner party shortly after she had become a mother. Everyone was introducing themselves and time after time as the women stood up to introduce themselves they made excuses or seemed embarrassed and said things similar to “I don’t have a real job, I’m just a mother.” Jane talks about how she was so proud and happy to be a mother that she wanted to stand up and shout “I AM a mother”. She was previously a co-host on the CBS Early show (among many other things) but being a mother is her greatest accomplishment. It is an incredibly powerful book and her message has really stuck with me.

I am a mother and I am a homemaker.

As I have been setting up house in this new place I have been thinking about this responsibility and this “job” of mine. It is such an encompassing responsibility. It is so much more than just cleaning the house (though cleaning the house is a HUGE part of it). The furniture is where I put it and the pictures on the walls are where I hung them.

My home is literally what I make it.

I am the example that they follow. I am the one they look to when they are scared and sad. The food I make is the stuff that helps their little bodies to grow. The songs I sing help them fall asleep at night and the words they hear echoing through their little ears as they go to school or drift off to sleep are going to be mine…

No pressure… no big deal…

We have a picture frame I bought before I had kids. I am sure I was thinking of my own mom when I bought it but now it has a picture of me and Lila in it. The words say “Our house is warm inside, because you've made it so. Everything says love to me, no matter where I go.”

I want that warmth in my home. That is the kind of home I want to make.

Zack just came in and said “Mommy, I need you…” There is no sweeter sound to me, no “job” I’d rather have than this.

Guess I better get back to “work!”

Hauntings Past

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 03:20:00 +0000

On November 1st Zack started planning his Halloween costume for the next year. He’s gone through lots of choices. Avatar, Ninja, Cowboy… who knows what he will come up with. As it is looming closer he is really getting excited and as we have been talking about it, I realized I never posted pictures of last year’s spooky fun. So… in case you need some super awesome costume inspiration, I give you…

Halloween Russ Style 2010

All Abby wanted to be was a butterfly. Lucky for her (or for me, really) Lila’s costume from a few years ago fit perfectly!!

Lila decided she wanted to be a princess. (She is wearing the tiara I wore for my wedding)

Here she is in her school parade with her Connecticut best friend “The Tooth Fairy” Daniella. (Don’t worry Kay… you’re still the Boston best friend!!)

Alex the Lion showed up as well. He perfected his ROAR when his trainer tried to make him wear his mane.

As soon as Zack saw this “SQUAT” team costume he was IN LOVE.

And you can’t be on the SQUAT team without a criminals to bring in.

Just be careful not to let your man get away!!

Johnny’s sporting a REAL prison jumpsuit. His tattoo sleeves are incredibly real looking and he loves them. He wore this outfit to our church Halloween party (where no one knew us yet) and I think people thought that he really had tattoos all over his arms. One of our new friends was so impressed with them that he went to the party store THAT NIGHT and got himself some tattoo arms. They are awesome!

Happy Halloween Everyone!! (just a weeeee bit late!!)

How to Rodeo.

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:56:00 +0000

A few months ago we were talking about cowboys and I told Zack I knew lots of REAL cowboys in Utah. His response was classic.

“WHAT. IN. THE. HECK? Cowboys still exist? I thought they were extinct!!”

So, to prove they were real, we decided to take the kids to a real live Pioneer Day Rodeo.

When attending a rodeo there are a few things you need to remember.

Most important, you need to have a hat. If you can’t wear your great grandpa Barrett’s authentic cowboy hat (like Grandpa Otis is) and if your mom searches every store around and can’t find a cowboy hat for you (that doesn’t cost a bazillion dollars)… you’ll have to wear your Boston/MIT digs.

Either way, when they ride by with the stars and stripes… don’t forget to put it over your heart!! (Which will be bursting with pride at this great nation we live in!!)

And definitely don’t forget your BOOTS!! Pink boots are best,

but brown are good too…

“Slip Slops” (what Alex calls his flip flops) however are NOT good. They will fall underneath the bleachers and then Grandpa will have to go rescue them for you!

You’ll also want something soft to sit on… especially if that something is your grandma!

And don’t forget to watch the actual rodeo. It will have you laughing and screaming and cheering harder than you have in years. Seriously SO much fun!! Even the baby brother will say “WOW” when the bucking broncos come out, and then he will sit mesmerized by the whole thing!

(see Zack… REAL cowboys DO exist!!)

But whatever you do, DON’T forget your SMILE!! (Even if it is missing a few teeth!!)

No matter what happens, we’re sure you will LOVE the Rodeo. (Almost as much as this little guy loves his big sister!!)

Taking the Mountains for Granite...

noreply@blogger.com (Em Russ) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 04:19:00 +0000

When we were in Utah this summer the kids were understandably impressed with the mountains. One day as we were driving around we started to head home and Abby started crying because she hadn’t got to touch the mountain. I realized then, that they thought the mountains were like a building. You drive up to the edge of it and it just goes straight up in the sky like a skyscraper.
So Grandpa was kind enough to take the kids up and explore the mountains. We drove around and found a little river to let the kids play in.

It was cold. SOOOO cold. I think the kids were surprised because they are used to water feeling like the warm summer Atlantic ocean in Florida, not like freezing melted snow.

Don’t worry… they got over it quickly!

We even let them bring home a smooth river ROCK as a souvenir. They were totally stoked. Seriously.

And before it was all done they even got to touch that mountain…

You can be sure that it did NOT disappoint!!