Russell Family Adventures

cool kid awards

2010-04-15T18:20:00.001-07:00

At Abby's school, they pass out "cool kid awards," when someone does something recognizable. Then once a month they have an all school assembly, they put all the awards in a cooler and pick one name out. This month, Abby's name got picked. She was SO excited!! They announced her name in front of the whole school, and everyone clapped for her. The person whose name gets drawn gets to sit in the special colts chair for that month. As you can tell in the picture, she is very proud!

Easter

2010-04-04T16:38:00.001-07:00

Here are our Easter pictures this year. It was so nice out we got some good shots outside in the sun. We went to church, then over to Ryan's parents house for dinner and an egg hunt. The girls get so excited over collecting eggs, they ask to do it again and again. (which of course Nana obliges to). The rest of the day was spent sitting in the sun and playing with the girls.

Spring Break pictures

2010-04-04T16:25:00.001-07:00

For spring break this year we just hung around Indy. I had to work my 2 days and Ryan just needed a break to relax around the house. We had a bunch of stuff planned, but didn't end up doing any of it because it was so insanely nice here. We were outside the entire break. It felt so nice to soak up some Vitamin D!! The girls had a great week playing together and got to have a slumber party at Nana's house. Abby got to go to another one with her cousin over at grandma's house. She has declared that this was the best spring break ever! Do you think she will always be this easy to please? (doubtful :)) Here are some pictures of the week.

Pigtails!!

2010-04-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Finally after 3 years...I can get Claire's hair into pigtails!!

Snow

2010-02-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

The girls have had so much fun this winter playing outside in the snow. Claire will actually stay outside for more than 2 minutes, which is a major accomplishment. I have tried to keep Ryan away from shoveling the driveway, since he has mono. But, he insists on doing it, which usually results in a long nap afterward. Maybe it is time to invest in a snow blower!! I have to say I really enjoyed all of this snow, but I am now officially OVER winter! I went to Target and saw all of the cute clothes for spring and summer and that ended my enjoyment of the cold. Come on Spring!!

Whoopie cushion

2010-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Claire: (with utmost passion and sincerity) "Mom, I just LOVE the sound of a whoopie cushion!!"

First loose tooth

2010-02-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

Abby lost her first tooth last week, and is so proud!! She was brave and let Ryan pull it out. Of course she had to run into school the next day and tell her teacher and the entire class! She was lucky because the tooth fairy brought her a five dollar bill (because it was her first tooth). She has five more teeth that are loose.

Gymnastics

2010-02-03T17:24:00.001-08:00

Claire started taking a gymnastics class at the place where we go to open gym. She loves it and talks about it all the time so of course her sister got jealous. Abby decided that she wanted to quit girl scouts and do gymnastics instead. They happened to have two classes at the same time, one for 5's and one for 3's. The girls ask everyday if it is gymnastics day. They are so cute. We may not be ready for the 2012 Olympics, but they have a good time.

Birthdays

2010-01-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Friday was Claire's 3rd birthday...crazy!! I can no longer say she is a baby! We went to Gymnastics unlimited's open gym and out to McDonald's for lunch with some friends. My camera's battery was dead so I didn't get any pictures, but Clarie had a blast! We had her party on Saturday, which was Ryan's 30th birthday. Claire loves anything Dr. Seuss, I think she has Green Hams and Eggs (as she likes to call it) memorized we have read it so many times. So that was the theme for her party. She was so excited when she woke up on Saturday to Dr. Seuss decorations everywhere!

Here she is on Saturday it her new tutu from her friend Carter.

The Cat in the Hat cake. It took 4 bottles of red food coloring to get the icing that red.

She had a hard time getting the candles blown out. It was so funny!

Poor Ryan spent his 30th birthday celebrating Claire's . I don't think he minded much! He still got to go out that night for his birthday.

Claire and her best bud Carmen.

Claire is OBSESSED with Alvin and the Chipmunks still. We got her the soundtrack to the second one and the girls were dancing to all the single ladies. We got video of it that I (meaning Ryan) is going to put on...hilarious!!

Here is Claire on her actual birthday wearing her new Dr. Seuss pajamas. I told her to hold up how many fingers she was.

2010-01-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

We had a much needed 2 weeks to relax and enjoy each other. The beginning of December up until Christmas break is always insane with all of Ryan's school activities. This year we had Abby's school activities added to the mix and we were all burnt out. I took the two weeks of work. We went to several movies, went out to eat, and enjoyed all of the fun stuff their is to do in Indy around Christmas time, but mainly just hung out. I got tons of pictures from break and just couldn't resist posting a bunch...

Here are several from decorating cookies with my mom, the girls, and my nieces. The girls love to bake and decorate and they were troopers and helped with the billions of cookies we made that day.

Olivia, Carmen, Claire, and Abby so proud of all their decorating.

Ryan was just so excited to help (this was the only 5 seconds he was in the room)!

Here are the girls before Christmas Eve service at out church.

The whole fam before church.

It did not take long to get through all of the presents!

Both girls were so excited they could barely stand it. I don't think I have ever seen Abby so excited in her life. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her when she peeked over the banister and saw all the presents!

The girls both wanted babies for Christmas. Claire got one that is sick, and Abby got one that pees. They love to play with their babies. I think this was their favorite gift! The girls are at such fun ages, and they made Christmas so fun this year! We opened all of our presents, left the mess at home and went over to Ryan's parents for the afternoon. After their house, we went to Leslie's and opened gifts at her house.

Later on during the week, it snowed (or was it before Christmas, I can't remember) The girls had a blast playing in it. It was SO cold out and Claire did not last that long. Abby was a trooper and I had to make her come in.

Christmas Tree

2009-12-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that it is time to decorate the tree! It feels like yesterday that we were at the pool! The girls love decorating the tree, and it is always a huge deal in our house! They love hearing the stories of some of our old ornaments for the millionth time. I think everyone in our house is already sick of hearing me play Christmas music. The tree topper always starts a huge fight, so Claire got to put it on and Abby got to straighten it. (I don't think they will always be this easy to appease!"

Human Totem Pole

2009-12-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

My sis-in-law and her family came up from Atlanta for Thanksgiving again this year. The kids always have a fun week, with plenty of craziness! Here are some pics of Sarah being a human totem pole. As you can see in the pictures, it was hilarious! I don't think she could mover her head for a couple of days!

Halloween!

2009-11-02T10:13:00.001-08:00

This year both girls wanted to go as Disney characters. Claire chose Tinker Bell, which fits her perfectly because she looks like a little Tinker Bell.

Poor Abby had spiked a temp of 103 the night before and had thrown up all night. I took her to the doctor that morning and she has the flu (H1N1) and an ear infection, which the doctor said is very odd! This is the first time she has ever had the flu and WOW was she sick. She was so sick she could have cared less that she was missing Halloween. She did feel better enough that evening to sit on the couch and watch the kids get candy. The picture below is kind of deceiving because she does not look that sick...believe me, she was! We promised her we would take her out next weekend in her costume to do something fun.

Claire and her buddy Gilbert.

She totally got into trick or treating this year!! After every house she would run back to us and say "I got ANOTHER piece of candy!" That girl loves herself some candy!

It got a little chilly as the night went on, but she lasted the entire 2 hours with only one small pit stop to go to the bathroom and get bundled up more. She filled both her bucket and Abby's!

pumpkins and plays

2009-11-02T07:59:00.001-08:00

I posted this one just cuz it is cute. Claire had said something crazy (shocking) that made Abby crack up!

Abby's class did the five little pumpkins play on Friday. Abby was the third pumpkin: "but we don't care!" She did awesome. My shy little Abby was not shy as all, and said her line very well. I couldn't get the video camera to work to get video of it :(. It is hard to believe that this is just hours before she got stricken with H1N1!

Here are some pictures from carving pumpkins. Here is Abby all into it. She decided not to carve hers she just drew all over it with marker.

And of course, Claire freaked out and wouldn't put her hands inside the pumpkin!

Big Girl Bed

2009-10-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

I put it off as long as I possibly could... but the poor girl could barely move in her crib. So, over Ryan's fall break we decided to put Claire in her big girl bed. I had been dreading this day for a while now. Partially because it makes me sad to think of her no longer as a "baby," and the other part is, I love being able to contain her in her crib :). We took Abby out of her crib much to early and regretted it for a long time. I swore that Claire would have to be able to consistently flip herself out of it before I changed beds. She actually has done better than what I thought she would, and hasn't figured out that she could climb out of bed if she wanted to. She still sits up in the bed and yells for me at the top of her lungs just like she did when she was in her crib.
She is so proud of her new room and wants to play in it all the time.

updates

2009-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

To say that things have been crazy here in our household would be an enormous understatement. As many of you know, Ryan's principal unexpectedly "left" (um yeah, that is all I am going to say about that!) So Ryan is now the new principal of Heather Hills! He has been putting in LONG hours, trying to get acclimated to the new job. He could use a lot of prayers right now! I am trying to be as supportive as I can possibly be, I am getting a taste of what single parenthood is like. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks, things will get back into a normal routine.

There have been some other major decisions/steps made in our family that started right before he got the new job. We like to clump all major life decisions right together so we can make them as stressful as possible :). Stay tuned for a major announcement when things are a little further along. (no, I am not pregnant!)

Here are some pictures from this weekend at Anderson orchard. Our weekends have become even more precious to us these last couple of weeks. We try to make them as fun as possible for the girls!

Rainy Day

2009-08-23T16:39:00.001-07:00

The Fair

2009-08-23T16:36:00.001-07:00

Seriously?!?

2009-08-13T06:01:00.001-07:00

Seriously....Can we say lazy?!?

Kindergarten!

2009-08-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

Abby had her first day of kindergarten on Monday!! I kept waiting for her to get nervous, but she was nothing but excited! I think it helped that Ryan goes to school everyday, and we go and visit him there alot. She picked out a new outfit for the first day, and of course a new backpack and lunch bag! I have been much more emotional about her leaving than she is (which is a good thing)! Claire surprised me when she started crying when we walked Abby in. I think this is going to be as big of an adjusment for Claire as it is for Abby.

While Abby was in school, Claire and I went to the zoo for the morning. I spent the entire day looking at the clock, thinking about what she was doing right then.

Here is Abby after school. We went to Steak n Shake to get milkshakes in celebration of the first day. She said she had a good day and her favorite part of the day was library (imagine that). It is going to take some time getting used to a day with just Claire. I am loving the fact that I get a 2 hour break while Claire takes a nap (we'll see how long that lasts!)

End of Summer!

2009-08-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

We have had a crazy last month of summer vacation. We went down to Atlanta to visit Ryan's sister and her family. It is a 8+ hour car ride and we were very nervous about the girls...but they did much better than expected. We had a great trip and the girls had a blast playing with their cousins. The best part of the trip was going to six flags! We got flash passes and got to skip the 2 hour line and hop right on the ride. "It was the best amusement park day ever in my life!!" according to Ryan.

When we got back we celebrated my 30th birthday with a surprise trip to Chicago. I am in love with Chicago and could not think of a better way to celebrate my birthday! We saw Blue Man Group-they were awesome! Of course, when we got back we all ended up with the flu, which took us about a week to recover from :(. I was bummed I was sick and had to cancel the fun day my 3 oldest (time wise, not age) BFF's had planned for me. We will make it up soon though.

Ryan is back to work now, which always comes with mixed emotions for me. I am always ready for the house to get back into its normal routine. It always takes me a couple of weeks to get used to having the girls all by myself again. Although this school year will be so different because Abby is now a big kindergartner :(.

New Bathroom

2009-07-13T14:00:00.001-07:00

I decided that the girls were too old for yellow ducks, so we redid their bathroom. The nice thing about having two girls is that you can go 100% girly! Since my Dad is in Mongolia and my mom was in Ohio, I did the painting myself (It was the first thing I had painted myself and probably the last) I had a hard time finding pictures to match, so I had them each paint their own onto canvas (total price $15 for paint and everything). They had fun doing them and are very proud that their artwork is hanging in their bathroom. Next project....the kitchen!

Abby's birthday and the 4th

2009-07-11T09:36:00.001-07:00

Abby decided that instead of a big party this year, she wanted to have her cousin come over and spend the night. We went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Then we went to Great Times and had fettuccine for lunch. That evening we had family over for pizza and cake. Olivia spent the night that night and the next day Abby wanted to go to the pool. Here is Abby with her Barbie cake (cuz every girls needs a Barbie cake). Ryan baked the cake (he is a self proclaimed master baker) and I constructed and decorated it.

We went up to my sister's house for the 4th. We set off some fireworks of our own then we were able to see the Geist fireworks from their front porch. It was the perfect place to watch them since it was pouring!

Abby's 5th Birthday!

2009-07-01T20:38:00.001-07:00

My Abigail turns 5 years old today! We are so proud of her and love her so much! She is such a lovable, easy going child. Here are some things about her...
~Her favorite colors are purple and orange(she despises any "boring"color) ~She has always been obsessed with shoes and clothes ~She loves board games ~She is shy ~She acts so much like Ryan that it is scary! ~She is a rule follower, and gets mad when someone else does not follow "the rules" ~She loves to cook with me and helps me everyday ~She loves to play dress up ~Her favorite movie right now is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ~She has not slept through the night in 5 years ~She loves anything to do with technology ~She has an unbelievable memory ~Her favorite book is pinkalicious ~Her favorite thing to do with Claire is play "house" ~She is a daddy's girl to the core ~ She loves vegetables ~Her favorite food is fettachini alfredo~ Her little sister can make her laugh like noone else can ~She is SO sensitive. But the thing that I love most about Abby is that she has the biggest heart of anyone I know!!

1st Birthday
2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

Camping

2009-06-30T18:31:00.001-07:00

We went down to Brown County to spend a couple of days camping. If was our first camping trip since Claire was born, and we were not sure how well the girls would do. They ended up doing awesome! They loved it. We took our bikes and went on a long bike ride. We decided to take the road that led to a lake. Little did we know that the road to get their was very steep. Their was a sign that warned that bikers should get off their bikes before going down this hill. I about had a heart attack watching Ryan flying down these hills with the girls in tow! I do not know what we were thinking because we then had to climb back up these hills to get back. I really did not think I was going to be able to make it. It took us an hour just to climb the road back up to the park. Poor Ryan had to pull an extra 80 pounds behind him. Of course the favorite part of the trip was the campfire. We had fun, but are all exhausted!

Bathroom break

2009-06-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

I swear I did not set this up! I walked around the corner to go into the office and saw this. I mean seriously, I have a couple of 80 year old women. They weren't even talking to each other, just quietly reading their newspapers, pooping. So funny!

King's Island

2009-06-10T09:59:00.001-07:00

Tuesday we decided to go to King's Island for the day. We had a blast! I have to say that we all had tons more fun there than at Disney World (at only a fraction of the price!) The weather was gorgeous and there were hardly any people at the park. We spent most of the morning at the Nickelodeon part. Both Claire and Abby were tall enough to go on most of the rides. Since there were no lines the girls were able to go on the rides as many times as they wanted. They were the only ones on some of the rides. The afternoon we went to the water park. Both Claire and Abby were obsessed with the water slides and went on as many as they could. Abby was bummed because she was not tall enough to go on the big water slides. I left my camera in the bag for the water park, so no pictures from that. I forgot my memory card for my camera, so we had to buy a disposable one. The quality of the pictures posted are not the greatest.

Both girls were SO excited to see Dora they could barely contain themselves. Abby was too shy to get her picture taken, but I had to pry Claire away.

The swiper ride was Claire's favorite. She rode it a million times and everytime she rode it, was just as excited as the first time.

Here is a picture of one of the roller coasters Abby went on. That girl had absolutely no fear and LOVED them! I think she would have gone on the big ones if she would have been tall enough.

Here are the girls at the end of the day...still smiling.

Let summer begin!!

2009-06-06T14:39:00.001-07:00

Both Ryan and Abby have been out of school for a couple of weeks, and we have been busy enjoying the warm weather. It has been so nice to sleep in with nowhere to be! Since Abby will be in full day kindergarten in the fall, I am trying to enjoy this summer before she leaves me :(. I have decided to drop down to one day a week at work and I am VERY excited about it!!! We have gotten a couple of projects out of the way. Ryan did a major overhaul of the garage, which took him 3 days. We also changed the color of our shutters and front door. Here is the finished product. I wish I had a before to show you because I cannot believe how different the entire house looks!!

But the majority of our summer will be spent doing this....

And some of this...

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T17:04:00.001-07:00

We went up to the lake for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was actually perfect (7 times out of 10 it is raining when we go up). We all had a great time playing outside: on the boat, hiking, and playing in the water. The girls are old enough now that they have a blast! I think they asked to go out on the boat at least 100 times a day! Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Abby all geared up to go on the boat

Claire would not go in the water, so she hung out with Leslie and I on the shore.

The girls LOVE the boat!

Claire once again hanging out on the yard drinking her milk.

Claire and Carmen being silly.

Abby and Olivia getting ready to roast some marshmallows.

Preschool Graduate!

2009-05-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was Abby's last day of preschool. She is officially a big kindergartner! They had a cute presentation with lots of songs. We are ready to be able to sleep in and not have to get ready for anything (Other than the pool of course!)

Brave Abby

2009-05-06T05:38:00.000-07:00

Abby has always told me she was going to wait until she was 10 to get her ears pierced. This weekend Abby and I were at the mall and she declared "I want to get my ears pierced today!" So I told her we would go into the store and check it out. We got in there and she climbed right up into the chair and told me she was sure. Abby is such a worrier, I figured I would just go with it so she wouldn't worry about it for days. They wouldn't do both ears at the same time (which annoyed my). After the first one, she looked up at me trying to be brave(there was a huge crowd watching), but started sobbing! We almost couldn't do the other one. She took one look at her ears in the mirrow and got a huge smile on her face. First, of course, we had to call her cousin Olivia to tell her. Since then she has had to wear her hair back everyday so she can show everyone she runs into.

The Mini

2009-05-06T05:33:00.001-07:00

After months of late night runs and long weekend runs the, Ryan completed the mini! We are so proud of him! His final time 2:19. The girls thought is was so cool that he was running in a race and Abby kept telling him "Dad, I think you are going to win the race!"

Growing up

2009-04-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is hard to realize how fast the girls are growing up. Looking back at older pictures of the girls or seeing Claire wear one of Abby's old outfits usually reminds me. But for some reason I can not get over how big Claire seems to have gotten over the winter. Stepping back and looking at the scene in the picture above made my jaw drop. I cannot believe that Claire is now big enough to ride Abby's old bike! Wow! They look so grown up riding down the side walk together. I am really looking forward to this summer and all of the things we are going to be able to do now that they are both getting so big!!

Easter

2009-04-12T16:28:00.001-07:00

The girls loved decorating Easter eggs this year! This was the first time that Claire could really do it by herself. She cracked half of the eggs by dropping them in to the dye. That was OK because she ate all of the ones she cracked. Abby on the other hand took her time in making sure they were perfect.

Below is a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses before we went to church. They had just gotten their Easter baskets and were very excited. Along with candy, Claire got the Alvin and the Chipmunks CD(which we have already listened to 1 billion times!) and Abby got a new game. I really wanted them to match this year, but Abby refused :(...so I had to settle for them both having polka dots on their dresses.

After church we went to my sister's house with the rest of the fam. I couldn't resist taking the picture of Carmen and Claire. They both ate so much candy their stomachs hurt!

Gotta love the cousin pictures! When the girls are older, they are not going to have trouble finding pictures of themselves with their cousins!!

After lunch, we had an Easter egg hunt. As you can tell by the bags, Carmen kicked some butt!! That girl literally ran as fast as she could to get a lot of the eggs. Poor Claire couldn't keep up.

The newest Russell

2009-03-28T15:01:00.001-07:00

Abby has been asking for a cat for years...so we finally gave in and got a little 8 week old kitten. The girls named him Gilbert. He weighs 2 pounds and is a ball of energy. The girls have not left him alone since we brought him home. Abby carries him around like he is a doll. Claire has not quite gotten the hang of how to hold him yet. I looked over and she had him around the neck carrying him around. It will be a miracle if the cat lives through Claire's toddler years. Ryan caught them swinging Gilbert through the air, Claire holding it's feet and Abby holding the arms, saying "1,2,3" and tossing him on the couch. He seems to be the perfect cat for us because he takes it all in stride and lets them do what they want. Notice that we got a boy cat, this was purposeful...Ryan refused to allow another girl in the house :). We did "lose" him for a couple of hours this afternoon. We eventually found him wrapped up in a blanket under the end table. He got smart and hid from the girls so he could get some peace and quiet!

The big 3-0!

2009-03-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

This week is Christie's 30th birthday, so Manley had a surprise birthday party for her in Ft. Wayne. On the drive up to Ft. Wayne, I was trying to remember how long I have been friends with her. I met Christie in Mrs. Lyon's class in 5th grade. It makes me feel really, really old to think about the fact that I have been friends with her for 20 years!! I hardly have any memories from Mrs. Lyons's class on that Christie was not in. She's my girl and I love her to death!
Happy Birthday Christie!!

Cabin Fever

2009-03-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

We have been getting a major case of cabin fever at our house. Warm weather cannot come fast enough! Lately we have been doing everything we can to get out of the house. Here are some of our recent outings...

The children't museum

Play time at the gym.

The park with Lainey.

Snuggle time in Abby's bed.

Oh dear!

2009-02-25T18:29:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning today and the girls were in Abby's room playing. I overheard this conversation...

Claire: "Look Abby I have two doobies."

Abby: "Huh?"

Claire (Screaming): "I HAVE DOOBIES."

Abby: "What are doobies?"

Claire: "Right here (Claire points to her two ribs sticking out)"

Abby: "You mean boobies. Those are not boobies, those are your ribs. You don't have boobies, I have boobies." (Abby pulls up her shirt and points to "her boobs")

Claire (Angry): "No I have boobies"

And this argument goes on and on until they hear me laughing, I then told them that neither of them have boobs yet. And while this conversation is going on, all I can think of is poor Ryan, he is in for it!!!

Best buds

2009-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

I walked into the living room and found the girls like this. How sweet is that ?!?! You can't tell in this picture, but Claire is playing with Abby's hair. I am planning on bringing this out when they are older and fighting non stop. Have I ever mentioned how glad I am to have two girls?!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T18:37:00.001-08:00

It has become a tradition for the play group to get together at Chuck E. Cheese for a Valentine's party. My girls are totally in love with it and Claire talks about it all of the time. She frequently asks if Chuckie can come over for dinner. I repeatedly tell her no, that is very scary. They have a blast playing and passing out Valentine's cards.

Here are Abby, Keagan, and Cassie riding on the jet ski together.

We could not get all of the kids to stop what they were doing and pose, but here are the few that we corralled.

I have become a huge fan of Valentine's day, and I love to plan a bunch of fun stuff for us to do. The girls and I had made Ryan his favorite peanut butter cookies the day before. They were very excited to give them to him! I took some other pictures but realized later in the day that my card was not in the camera, so they are lost somewhere in space. We started the day eating heart shaped pancakes, then I had the girls go on a scavenger hunt to find their present. Abby thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Who would have thought a box of candy could make them so happy? Later that day, we took them to Great Times. They had fun playing in the ball pit, until I got pelted in the head and had to kick some older boy's butts.

After Great Times, we went to Pizza Hut for dinner. Yum, Yum!!
We rented Madagascar for the girls and ate ice cream sundaes. Here are the girls right before they crashed from a busy, fun day.
Today Abby and Claire went over to my mom's house for a Valentine party with her other cousins. They love playing with their cousins more than anything. Shortly after I took Abby over, she asked me when I was going to leave so they could start to have fun. I took the hint and went out to meet Meg at Starbucks for the afternoon.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2009-01-23T08:01:00.001-08:00

I found this baby picture of Ryan and couldn't resist posting it. How cute was he??? I am not sure how old he was in it, but I think Claire kind of looks like him! Happy 29th birthday Ryan!! We love you!

Happy Birthday Claire!

2009-01-22T12:02:00.001-08:00

Abby and Claire the day she was born.

Claire at 6 weeks.

Claire at 1 year.

Our Claire Bear turns 2 today. It is hard to imagine life without Claire and it seems like she has been around longer than 2 years. It is funny because Abby now has hardly any memory without her being in it. Claire was a very difficult baby and infant. It seems like it has been a long road with her to get to where we are now. But, she brings so much joy into our lives!! I thought I would give you some little known facts about her...
~Claire talks from sun up to sun down (and sometimes in her sleep)~ She loves music and I couldn't even count the number of songs she knows.~Her favorite food is spaghetti.~Her favorite movie is Alvin and the Chipmunks.~ She is strong willed.~She can count to 17.~ She can frequently be found telling Abby what to do.~ She does not have a shy bone in her body. ~She loves to play with play dough.~ She can converse with you like an adult.~She knows most of her shapes. ~She loves her grandparents! ~She told Abby yesterday that she was being rude. ~She loves puzzles ~She is learning her colors. ~She sleeps with her lamb (snuggles) EVERY night. ~She is a sugar addict.~ She usually sleeps 15 hours a day. ~She makes me laugh all day, every day! ~ She frequently throws tantrums to get what she wants. ~ She is lost without her sissy. ~ I often wonder what crazy thing she will say or do next. ~ She loves to snuggle with her mommy!

Florida

2009-01-19T15:58:00.001-08:00

The girls and I spent last week in Sarasota Florida with my Dad and Grandma. Ryan could not take the week off work, so it was just us girls. I was a little nervous about taking them all by myself, mainly because my children do not sleep well anywhere but their own bed. But temperatures in the 70's outweighed my fears. The flight is only 2 hours and they did very well (with the help of a dvd player). The weather was georgous all week except a couple of days was mid 60's. We took advantage of it and were outside the entire week. We went to the beach everyday and in spite of cold water temps, Abby jumped right in. Claire was content as usual to sit on the beach and play in the sand. Abby really got into collecting shells and we ended up with bags full (most stayed in Florida) We also went to an aquarium. They rescue injured sea animals and bring them back to make them better then release them. It was very cool and Claire and Abby still talk about it constantly. By far, the biggest hit was the gigantic sea turtles. It was so nice to simply be outside walking and get my daily dose of vitamin D!! Hopefully this will make the winter seem a little more tolerable and faster. Poor Ryan got a little stir crazy being by himself all week. Luckily he had work to keep him out of trouble. Don't worry, in spite of his boredom, you will not see any crazy videos pop up on the blog!

Winter fun!

2009-01-19T15:47:00.001-08:00

At the first sight of snowfall this year, I promised Abby we could go outside and play in it. She was DYING to go outside and play. I bundled the girls up in their snowsuits and off we went. Here is Abby making a snow angel.

Claire was not into it as much as Abby was. She was having fun for about 15 minutes and then stood in the garage and cried the rest of the time.

This picture of Claire cracks me up. Her snow suit was absolutely hilarious. The picture does not fully do it justice. She looked like a sumo wrestler.

Ryan's revised post...

2008-12-31T13:46:00.000-08:00

OK... I get it... Most people (even Erica) don't want to be associated with me if I kept my original post active. I going to keep to the video's of my children. I know that they are much more endearing...

I am going to stick to videos.

1. Claire being silly at the dinner table.

2. Abby and Claire singing Happy Birthday to their Aunt Sarah.

3. Abby singing Tutti Ta Ta Song (Claire trying to help...)

Until next time...

Ryan

2008-12-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Sad, I know, but Ryan and I got a good laugh at this video. Claire definitely holds her own with Abby. If Abby comes anywhere near her and she doesn't want her to, she screams at the top of her lungs until Abby goes away. If Abby does not go away she then resorts to violence and will hit, bite or throw things. Whatever it takes to get what she wants. I get glimpses of what the fighting will probably be like in a couple of years. What you can't see in the video is Claire looking at me with a puzzled look and saying "what happened?" That is our Claire Bear!!!

The cousins

2008-11-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

We had a crazy week at our house. Ryan's sister and her family came up for the week from Atlanta. They have two kids Erin 8 and Joel 5. We don't get to see them that much so we love it when they come to stay. All four kids had a blast playing with each other for the week. The house was LOUD and hectic. Here is a picture of the kids watching wall-e. I think they watched it 3 times that week.

Of course they had lots of time to play the Wii. (Ryan didn't mind having other kids to play with him for hours on end.)

Ryan brought home a BIG surprise for the kids over Thanksgiving weekend. 9 baby chicks. The kids freaked out when they saw them and were so excited to play with them. We did have some casualties and now we are down to 3. I think these three are going to make it and they are pecking away at the box as I type this post. I don't think they had a chance after the kids handled them. They were dropped, flipped, and probably scared to death!!

I love this picture of Erin and Claire! As you can see by Claire's face we had just eaten ice cream sundaes.

The whole week, Abby followed Erin around. Abby did EVERYTHING just like her. Erin was a good sport and let her tag along and copy her every move.

The older kids got to make gingerbread houses with Nana. Claire hung around just in case there were any "loose" pieces. I still frequently find her chewing on candy she has picked off of the house.

We went the the children's museum one day and the kids had a blast. Here is joel sticking his head out of the submarine. I don't think he paused for more than 2 seconds the entire day.

They got out a parachute for the kids to play with. I think this was my fav part!!

For Thanksgiving my side of the family and Ryan's fam went over to my sister's house to eat. Here is my poor mom in the kitchen all by herself. The rest of the family is off playing.

Here we are making our "Black Friday" plans. Vicki, Sarah, and I went shopping for 10 hours on Friday. It was insane, but has become our little tradition. The guys took all of the kids to chuckie cheese.

I found Carmen sneaking this cookie and thought it was too cute!

Potty Training

2008-11-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

I was really hesitant to start potty training Claire. I thought the few times she went were flukes and I was going to wait until after her 2nd birthday. But, she asked to go on the potty 6 times this week. So we are all about potty training in the Russell house. We went and picked out some "big girl" underware while Abby was at school. She picked Dora which is funny because she doesn't even watch Dora. But I guess she wants to be like her big sister who chose the same underware when she was two. We then went to Dunkin Donuts for a special "big girl underware breakfast." So today was the day when we went diaperless. I think a vast majority of my day was sitting on a stool in the bathroom. I was very surprised at how well she did. She went 7 times on the potty with only one accident. The thought of no more diapers makes me giddy!!!!

big girl potty

2008-11-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Claire went to the bathroom on the big girl potty again!! Go Claire!

tick o teat

2008-11-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have been pumping the girls up for Halloween for weeks. I don't think that Claire really understood what it was about, but learned to say "Tick o Teat!" Abby was so excited that she could hardly stand it. Abby had decided last year that she wanted to be a black cat and stuck to it. I decided to make Claire a sheep. I glued over 600 cotton balls onto her shirt. Here is a picture at the end of the evening.

Abby loved her costume and crawled around like a cat meowing all night. Abby was really into it this year. Her and Erika literally ran from house to house and we could hardly keep up with her. It is so fun to see your kids so excited to do something. Especially because we were never allowed to trick or treat growing up...(long story)!

For Clarie's costume, I glued over 600 cotton balls onto her shirt. I was so hype because I thought she was going to look so cute in her little hat with ears on them. The time came to put on her costume and she freaked out and screamed bloody murder!!! It took us forever to try and negotiate with her, then we realized she is 21 months and we just forced it on. I know we are mean parents, but I spent a lot of time with the glue gun and have the burns to prove it. Here she is in her hysteria!

Finally, after we put it on, she looked down and said excitedly "Sheep, Sheep!!!" I am literally sweating at this point and the night had not yet begun. In the wrestling match to get it on we tore some of the cotton balls off, but I was glad we got it on her! If you walk around our neighborhood, you will see a trail of cotton balls...it was hilarious!! Next came time to put on the hat...not going to happen. I really hope 30 years from now she is not sitting on her therapist's couch telling her the horrible stories of the things her mom put her through, like stuffing her into a sheep's costume while she was wailing!! I decided not to push the hat!! But, I did display it proudly on the handle of the stroller for all to see! When she went up to the first house and got her candy, she looked held it up "CANDY!!!" It had finally clicked. She was so excited each time she would get a piece and would hold it up triumphetaly. She could not believe that everyone was giving her candy! We will look back at the pictures of Claire from this Halloween and talk about the infamous "sheep costume" that caused so much drama and laugh!!!!

These are our next door neighbors all posing, looking cute!

Here is the fam at the end of the night, tired and ready to go eat our candy!

Jennifer's shower

2008-10-28T09:10:00.001-07:00

This weekend we threw a baby shower for Jennifer. I have been friends with her since elementary school. It is so hard to believe that we are old enough to have children. I have so many memories with her in them... swimming in her pool, volleyball, slumber parties, riding around in her Saab, more volleyball. I can remember all of the fun we had like it was yesterday. OK, enough reminiscing, I am going to make myself cry. It was so good to spend time with my girls! We don't get to do it enough! I miss you guys!

Abby decided she wanted to go with me to the "big girl party" She helped with the presents and games. I think she was dissapointed in the games because she thought they were going to games like bowling and candy land.

Here is the cake that Christie and I made. Well, Christie deserves most of the credit. I was there mainly for moral support and to decorate it. Good job Christie! Maybe we should go into buisness.

Here is Jennifer in all of her glory. Only 1 1/2 months left!

And the winner is....

2008-10-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry Ryan, not you :)! We carved pumpkins this weekend for Halloween. Abby dug right in and got dirty, but Claire was a bit hesitant (imagine that!) Ryan was trying to be really creative this year and he created...well, I am not sure what he created. The girls decided his was scary and they liked theirs better.

Yeah Claire!

2008-10-22T08:21:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that Claire asked to go pee-pee in the potty today. Yeah Claire! She thought I was crazy with all the screaming and clapping. I am very excited and even though she is only 20 months, I hope this continues. I love the thought of no more diapers!!

Waterman's field trip

2008-10-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Today Abby's class had a field trip to Waterman's farm. They get to take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin. Then they played on all of the fun stuff they have there. We jumped on a bouncy house and went through a corn maze. Below is a picture of Mrs. Flora's class. The middle picture is Abby on the hay ride, and the last one is Abby with her buddy Emily.

Hay Ride

2008-10-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

Fall is always a crazy time in our house. It is by far my favorite season and I love all of the fun "fall activities" there are to do. I always feel the need to spend as much time as I can outside. I have this feeling of impending doom of winter arriving. It will not be that far from now that we are cooped up inside counting down the days until spring. Here are some pictures of a bonfire/hayride that we went to last weekend at southeastway park. One of the girls in our playgroup has one every year. It is always fun to get together with everyone. The kids had a blast and did not want to go home. It was a very late night but worth it. Lainey got hay in her eye and her eye was enormous so she was taken to immediate care to get it flushed out, poor Lainey!

The not so great bike ride

2008-09-28T17:07:00.001-07:00

This weekend was a gorgeous weekend so we decided to take a bike ride on the Monon Trail. We loaded up the bikes and the girl's trailer and headed off (10:00am). Ryan got directions from his blackberry and it took us the most ridiculous way right through the ghetto. We finally got there at 10:45. I have to admit I was at this point annoyed. Another 30 minutues passed as we hooked up the girls to the bike and wondered around trying to figure out where to get onto the Monon. We finally figured it out and were making our way down the busy street when Ryan's peddle fell off. So we pull over into a parking lot and spend another 15 minutes trying to fix it only to figure out it is not fixable and we have to go home. I now am beyond annoyed and may have thrown out something about Ryan being thrown into the White River. We finally make it back to Broadripple park and decide to go ahead and eat our picnic lunch and let the girls play on the park. Abby wondered why we chose to drive so far to get to a park when there was one so close to our house. Excellent question Abby!! I am wondering why there are so many people dressed in unusual outfits at the park. As we venture further we discover that it is Indy's pagen pride day. Great!! Ryan asks if I want to check it out. He obviously did not know what it was and after googling it he changes his mind. The girls ended up having fun at the park and it was beautiful out so it was not totally wasted, but seriously, next time we will stick to riding around the neighborhood!!

Ryan's a celebrity

2008-09-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Ryan that was in the Indianapolis Star this week. It is not the best picture but we are proud of him so I thought I would post it. He is at school serving kids Qdoba for an awards program. Any request for autographs should be emailed to him :)!

Claire LOVES chocolate

2008-09-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went over to my mom's house to celebrate my sister's birthday. We ate chocolate cake then we all went outside to play. After a few minutes, we realized that Claire had gone back inside. Ryan went in to find her and she had climbed on top of the table and was digging into the chocolate cake. She was absolutely covered in cake. He did not have the camera on him so he could not take a picture, but how funny!! Here is a picture of all 5 cousins playing in a tub of sand.

Apple Orchard

2008-09-21T18:00:00.001-07:00

We took the girls to Anderson Apple Orchard this weekend to pick some apples. This is the first time we have ever actually picked our own apples. The girls had a good time and were amazed at how many apples there were. It is always so funny when they get to see food from where it actually comes from. Doesn't all produce come from Meijers? I think we will save the origin of meat for another day!! :) After picking apples we got a treat from the store there. They have the best apple dumplings and caramel apples ever. We got so many apples I am not sure what to do with them. So if anyone wants any apples, come on over!

Cute Pictures

2008-09-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures from the week...

The first one is of Abby playing in the rain. After a couple of minutes, she was literally rolling in the puddles. She was absolutely soaking, but she had fun! Claire and I were under the front porch. We are wimps and did not want to get wet.

Claire does not like to get her hands dirty, so this is how she eats corn. Hey, I don't mind, it is less mess for me to clean up!!

Abby got this outfit from our neighbor. She will not take it off and I am sure there are many more pictures to come in it!!!

The girls love to help me cook. They pull up a chair every night when I cook dinner. In this one we were making animal pretzels. Ours did not come out looking much like pretzels more like blobs of dough.

Sick Girls

2008-09-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Abby spiked a temp of 102 at her Nana's house. Then when she got home she threw up and didn't quite make it to the bathroom. She threw up all over the carpet and the wall. Conveniently, I was at work and it was cleaned up by the time I got home. (I love when it works out that way!) This morning she woke up complaining of a sore throat and Claire woke up with a temperature. This is the first time Claire has ever been sick. Ryan took the morning off to take them to the doctor. (yes, it is very impressive that he took two sick girls to the doctor by himself...good job Ryan!) It ended up being a virus that usually lasts 10 days. Oh the fun of going back to school. I should use the day to catch up on laundry but there is something about sick kids that makes you lazy. So the day is going to be filled with movies and naps (for me too!) Pray that the girls recover quickly!

While Ryan was at the doctor, I went to my follow up appointment for my foot. It still is infected so I get another round of anibiotics and a follow up next week. I am still grounded from running. It feels much better and it does not hurt to walk on it anymore. It just looks nasty still. I think I will consult another doctor at work tomorrow.

Just a little side note: Claire randomly counted to ten yesterday. I have no idea where she learned to count. I don't frequently walk around the house counting to ten! Maybe Abby taught her when I wasn't paying attention. Since we all made such a big deal out of it, she thinks she is the coolest thing ever and counts nonstop. We are going to get it on video tape when she is feeling better and we will post it.

Girls, Girls, Girls

2008-09-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend was spent watching my two nieces. My sister moved into her insanely nice house this weekend and so the girls all stayed here. They were actually good and all got along very well. Olivia is 4 and Carmen is 20 months, so obviously they make good playmates for Abby and Claire. My dad and grandma also stayed at my house all weekend so they could help paint and move. I tried to keep them busy with lots of fun activities. But, I have to say I am worn out. Ryan and I have decided that we do not want 4 kids! Whew, it is alot of work!!

I could not get them to go to sleep last night. They giggled in their beds for hours. One would do something as simple as yawn and it would send them into a fit of laughter. They woke me up at 6:15 this morning ready to go play. They talked Ryan into pitching the tent in the front yard to eat their breakfast in.

The picture below is Erika, Abby, and Olivia playing in the water.

It is rare that I can get them to stand still long enough to get all of them in one picture. But how adorable is it. They are so lucky that they have cousins the same age to play with. Holidays in our family are crazy(My brother has a girl that is almost 3).

The girls wanted to dress up in their princess costumes and go get some movies. They thought it was the coolest thing ever to wear this out. They danced and giggled the whole time. They did manage to pick out some movies. One of course was the Hannah Montana concert.

Infected Foot

2008-08-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, today I am supposed to be at work. Instead, I am at home on the couch watching TV. I got a preatty bad blister a couple of weeks ago and it turned into a big old infection. I went to the doctor yesterday in fear that they would admit me for IV antibiotics. Instead she told me I was not supposed to walk on it, no working, soak it 4 times a day, and come back in a week for a follow up appointment. The part that made me the maddest is no running for at least one week :(. I have to say that there is no way I could run, I can barely put pressure on it and am resorting to crawling to get anywhere. My ankle looks like a large brick, red and swollen. It throbs like crazy and I have pain shooting up my calf. I think I am going to give Ryan a heart attack by the end of this ordeal. He woke me up a thousand times last night asking me if I was ok. The moral of the story... take care of your blisters! Given my occupation, you would think I would do a better job at it. Oh well, lesson learned!

First Day of School

2008-08-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today was Abby's first day of Pre-K. She is going to Gray Rd. Christian School again and will go every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She was a little nervous at first, but after meeting her teacher on Friday, she felt a little better. Most of the kids in her class are the same that were in it last year. We went out yesterday and got her a new back to school outfit, bracelet, and even underwear. Aunt Sarah painted her toes and fingernails. Drop off on the first day is hilarious! You would think it was their wedding day. Cameras are flashing everywhere, there are lots of tears and hugs! The entire morning Claire said "Abby, Abby, Abby?" She did not understand why she was not here to play with her. She was very excited when we picked her up. Abby came home full of tales from the day. I swear she grew up 10 years in one day. (just like Noah on young and the restless who came back from summer camp all grown up :)) We miss her but I really enjoy the morning with just Claire!

Here she is sporting her new Hello Kitty backpack (wet hair and all). The picture below is her buddy Lainey. Lainey and Abby have been in a playgroup together since before they were one. Don't they look like little teenagers?

French Lick

2008-08-14T17:39:00.001-07:00

Sunday was our 6th anniversary, so we decided to go down to French Lick for the weekend. We had a great weekend! It was so nice to get away without any kids and have some uninterrupted adult conversation. We stopped at the Edinburgh outlet malls on the way down, it was about 2 hours from there. When we got there we took a little tour of the hotel. The 2 hotels are amazing! We worked out in the gym then went to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. It is funny how hard it is to just sit somewhere without the girls. But, after my pina colada , I was chilled enough to lay there for hours. After the pool, we went to the steak house for dinner then hit the casino. Neither of us had ever been gambling and were excited to give it a try. It was a fun, but I have to say, 2 people that are as cheap as we are were not meant to be gamblers. My first shot at the slot machines I won 10 dollars and I was ready to call it a night. I mean seriously, that is two caramel macchiatos at starbucks. I forced myself to continue on and it was all down hill from there. I lost everything I had brought. (a whole $30). The picture below was taken at the casino. As soon as Ryan took it we were swarmed by three workers who almost took it away. I am not really sure what kind of "casino secrets" we could have taken with us, but whatever. Don't I look like a great slot machine player. I could turn it into an Olympic sport!

Abigail the photographer

2008-08-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

When I uploaded all of the pictures today, I noticed some random ones. Upon further investigation, I figured out that Abby had snuck my camera and took some pictures. I got a kick out of what she chose to take and thought I would share them with you. I think maybe we are going to have a career change, no more beautician (notice the VERY short bangs that she decided to cut herself).

Rainy day fun

2008-08-05T17:34:00.001-07:00

Today it poured all day. I LOVE the rain! It gives us a good excuse to stay home all day and play inside. We played with every single toy in the whole house, played with play dough, painted, ect,. The girls love to make a fort under the dining room table. We pile blankets on top and turn off the lights (extravagant I know). We told stories and read books. It all ended when Abby banged her head on the table. The girls are at such a fun age! It is so nice to be able to do activities with both of them together. What a great day!!

The Children's Museum

2008-08-05T17:26:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the Children's museum last week. The girls had a good time. Ryan's teacher's gave us a pass and we use it all of the time. It is fun to go there on a day that the girls are bored and go to playscapes. It is an area for younger kids with lots of stuff to play with. The girls would play in there all day. Claire is especially interested in the sand table. She loves to scoop and dump. I wonder what that could translate into for a career?

Retraction

2008-08-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ryan came home from work on Friday and the house was a disaster, I mean crazy messy! He was very annoyed and after a discussion about it, he informed me that he was annoyed because of the last sentence of my post "it couldn't last forever." In the post, I stated that now that he went back to school, my house could go back to being clean. Yes Ryan, I was wrong, I am apologetic :)!

Funny story

2008-07-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Claire had her 18 month check up today with Dr. G. He was doing the normal checking when Claire farted REALLY loud. She started laughing and said "farted." Dr. G. looked at me and said "what did she say?" I just shook my head and told him what she said. Then of course Abby started giggling. He must think we are crazy!!

It couldn't last forever!

2008-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

I know...He has to go back to work sometime. So Monday, my days of sleeping in, shopping by myself, movies, late nights etc... are now over until next summer vacation. We had an awesome summer with him home! This summer we decided that we were not going to do any thing but have fun. I am not sure we were even home more than to eat and sleep. The girls are really going to have a hard time adjusting to him being gone. They loved having his undivided attention for 2 months. Claire walked into our room this morning and was looking all around for him with her hands up in the air saying, "dada, dada, dada." When I told her he was at work, she looked at me like I was crazy. The good part about Ryan being back at school is my house can now return to its normal state of cleanliness.

My 29th Birthday!

2008-07-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my 29th birthday. Man, I feel old! Ryan and I went out on Saturday night to celebrate. We went to Maggiano's. Neither of us had ever been and we loved it. I ordered a chocolate martini and got carded. Of course I did not have my ID on me and he was seriously going to deny me. Luckily Ryan remembered that he had one of my ID's back from our bar days. So all was good and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Then we went to the fashion mall. It is my favorite mall because I love to go to all of the home stores there. Ryan grudgingly agreed, since he has no veto power on my birthday. Sunday, my family all got together at my mom's. We ate spaghetti and then had ice cream cake. (Yes I am very predictable). Ryan went a little overboard on presents this year(I am not complaining). I got a pass to the YMCA, an ipod, juicy perfume, and the best gift of all....a carpet steam cleaner. I am in love with it and it might just be my favorite thing to do!! So if anyone randomly stops by some afternoon, they will probably find me steam cleaning something! If anyone has some dirty carpet just give me a call!! :)

Slip n' Slide

2008-07-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Abby got a slip n' slide for her birthday, which we all have had a blast on! It took Abby a couple of times to get the concept, but in no time, she was zooming down and flying off. Abby and Erika (the next door neighbor), spend hours racing down it. Claire walked on it once, slipped and fell, and that was the end of her slip n' slide days. She prefers to run around the yard naked. I remember playing with them when I was little and thought I would give it a shot. I think Ryan had more fun laughing at me than anyone playing in the water. The face I was making in the picture is not because I was scared, but because the water was COLD!! I mean ice cold. It was still fun! After changing out of our icy clothes, we all had strawberry sundae's. Yum, Yum!!

Ryan Contributes to the Family Blog

2008-07-24T06:15:00.001-07:00

This is one of our families classic videos. This was recorded last summer but every time Abby and Claire watch it they still get a kick out of it.

4th of July

2008-07-18T18:30:00.001-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We were having some internet/phone issues. (don't ask Ryan about it). But, it is finally working now. For the 4th of July we went over to my friend Kelly and Kerrie's house. They live downtown and have a perfect view of the fireworks. Unfortunately, the girls do not stay up that late so we came home and set off tons of fireworks with the neighbors. Abby, as you can tell from the picture, absolutely loved them. She thought they were the coolest things she had ever seen. Claire on the other hand had a meltdown. She was terrified and screamed the whole time:) The top picute of the girls cracks me up! Claire's face is too funny. She was not having and smiling Kodak moments!

Grandpa's lake

2008-07-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

We went up to lake James for the week. The girls love going up there. The highlight is always the boat rides. Claire had an absolute blast: she screamed and laughed the whole time. The faster the better. We took a pit stop out in the middle of one of the basins and brave daddy and abby jumped in for a swim. The water was ice cold and I stayed in the boat! I prefer 87 degree ocean water. Of course, we all love spending time with my grandma. She just eats it up when they will sit on her lap.

Abby's party

2008-07-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

For Abby's party, we invited lots of friends over and rented a bouncy house for the day. The kids had a blast (and so did some adults!) Abby had a princess theme and received lots of fun presents. We all had a fun day!

She's 4!!!!!

2008-07-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

Abby turned four on the second of July. It is so hard to believe that she is already that old. It sounds so cliche, but time really does fly!! It seems like yesterday that I was in labor for 24 horrific hours and pushed for 3! She is such a blessing and I cannot remember life before her!

My Little Fish

2008-06-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

The girls absolutely love the water, so when we were not at the beach we went to the pool in my grandma's addition. Abby spent her time jumping in the water, while Claire just floated around. I was on a lounge chair soaking up the rays!!

We Love the Beach!!

2008-06-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

Fun At The Beach

2008-06-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

We Headed to the beach for a day in the sun. We usually go to Lido Beach because it is a walk away from St. Armand's circle. Those who know me know how much I love going to St. Armands!! We all had a blast! I am not sure who had more fun playing in the water: Abby or Ryan! Abby played in the waves for hours! She asked is she could stay until bedtime. (It was only 9:00am) She got knocked under the water a couple of times, but bounced right back up and was ready to play some more. Claire was content playing with me in the sand. We scooped up the sand and put it in a bucket over and over again. I love the beach and can not think of a better way to spend the day!! Of course, after swimming, we headed to Kilwins for ice cream. I don't think you can get better ice cream anywhere in the world.

Disney World - Where dreams come true - At least thats what they claim

2008-06-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

We were going to Sarasota for our annual Florida vacation and thought that it would be a good time to take the girls to Disney. I was really pumped up to go to Disney. Erica and I have both been as children, but taking your own children to Disney was one of those things that I really looked froward to. We go to Sarasota ofter because we have a free place to stay there (Erica's grandmothers). We checked into the hotel the night before we were going to go to the park. We ended up going to "Downtown Disney" this night. Basically it is a big Disney store where you can buy anything and everything Disney. We ate dinner there and walked around for awhile. The picture of the girls eating the lolli pops was taken right before we left

We caught the first shuttle to the Magic Kingdom first thing the next morning. I will say that the Magical Kingdom is a very beautiful place. We walked around looking for something to do. I decided to take everyone in the first thing I saw. It was the Monsters Inc Laugh Factory. This was not a smart age appropriate choice for the girls. We left the show early. Claire was extremely cranky that morning. She did not sleep well the night before. Abby and I got on the Splashing Safari. It was the log ride. I was surprised she liked it. I had not idea how she would take the 55ft drop. She wanted to go it again. Abby started collecting some pictures of characters. We then stopped in from the Cinderella's Castle to watch the character show. We discovered that Abby is absolutely terrified of Captain Hook. She screamed, cried, shook, and trembled with fear. We almost had to leave the park. She kept asking if Captain Hook was gone. We told her he was and we both kept an eye out to make sure we did not cross paths with him again. We ate lunch (3 orders of chicken nuggets and fries - $40) and then found some more younger kid friendly places to visit in the park. Abby and I rode some rides. The rest of the afternoon was spent touring the park, seeing other characters (nice ones), rides (check out the teacup video, and a much needed ice cream break. Erica says this is too long, so I will leave the rest up to her.

Russell Family Adventures

2008-06-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

So I guess we are going to try to keep everyone up to date with a blog. It was hard enough to come up with a name. This whole blog thing is Erica's idea. I find it funny that I am the one writing the first post. This is a trial run. We hope to have pictures and videos of the girls on the blog. We also hope to update it weekly to let everyone know whats going on. We shall see. :)