Ramblings.

I know, I know. It's WAY early for a blog. I'm a once a month blogger! When I look back at my past, in 2005, I was a once a DAY blogger. I remember being offended when I didn't get a chance to blog that day! What the HECK was wrong with me? Actually nothing...I just didn't have the life that God intended for me quite yet. Well, I have it now and BOY HAVE THINGS CHANGED! Tonight, I sit at home with my three precious kiddos while Daddy is at work. The oldest is playing his guitar and thinking up fabulous new songs for all the girls who may or may not want to be his girlfriend. Never mind that we've discussed so many times the vapidness of high school girls. This is one lesson best learned through experience. The middle is coughing quietly in his bed. He has the horrid "summer cold" which he got from a friend who spent the night. I love having a house where his friends can spend the night. The youngest is going back and forth between staring in awe at her guitar playing brother and trying to steal all the remote controls. Earlier today, the oldest two were caught up in some sort of laughing/giggle fest. I know it started during a game of Tiger Woods golf on the Wii, but I have NO idea how. Olivia started laughing AT them while she was sitting in her high chair, consuming more food than I thought she was capable of. She's already eaten a handful of cheerios, two pieces of turkey, a baby bell cheese, 1/2 an orange, and still grunts for food. We are in TROUBLE. Having the boys for the entire month has been SO MUCH FUN. They have been such a big help to me. I don't think I've had to empty the dishwasher in quite awhile. They keep their room picked up (mostly!) and will clean their bathroom when asked. Both help Jason with the yard work. They rush to their sister's side when she's hurt and will carry her happily around the store. **Just had to give the starving girl more food. She's now polished off a banana.** This week should be a fun one! My grandma and aunt are coming over on Monday night for dinner. On Thursday, we're going to Hawaiian Falls water park! I haven't been to an actual water park since I was 16. That's....a lot of years. Olivia starts at a new babysitter this week, too. We did NOT want to leave her old babysitter, but they had some family issues that made them unable to care for her anymore. Our new one has two little girls. She lives about 15 min from us, so hopefully that will cut down on my travel time on work days. We are loving our house. Love, love, love. So much room, so little being squished. Of course, there's more cleaning, more upkeep...but these are things we are gladly tackling. MUCH better than the old nasty apartment! I am so thankful for my family!

Space enough for all

I think I've started this particular blog post about four times. It's not that I don't have anything to say, I've actually got LOTS to say. I've chosen however to let things distract me. Good things. My family, our house, our life. It is always a good reminder of what is truly important to me. In 50 years, it won't matter that I didn't blog from May to July...not one little bit. What WILL matter is whether or not I spent time with my kids and husband. That kind of neglect is not okay in any way, shape, or form. But, lucky for all of you off in blog reading land, I actually do have a few spare minutes in which I am not busy. It's rare, so enjoy! The Russell family is loving LIFE! We are happily moved in to our house and be thankful for it every single day. We are not sitting on top of each other, yet we are still together. It took about a week for us to get to 97% unpacked. I say 97% because I still have boxes in my side of the closet and garage to dig through. I think this comes from spending so much of my life living in apartments, always having stuff in storage. I am a pack rat by nature, but not because I'm just gross. I'm not a hoarder. I'm a SAVER. I'm very sentimental about pretty much anything that is connected with a memory. I've got cards saved from birthdays long ago. I've got programs from plays. Pictures galore. All of these things just need to be collated and put in one or two boxes, but that takes a day to get done. At this point, I'd rather be spending my time playing with the kids than collating old memories. It will get done, especially because I'm not fond of the box pile in the closet and my husband really REALLY would like his garage space back! Besides unpacking, we've been doing the fun summer stuff! We've been to the movies twice (which Olivia decided to squawk through!), played at the pool, and hung out with family. My sister and her daughter were in Texas for a week or so at the beginning of June and they came and stayed with us for two days. We had about 10 people in the house for dinner one night and it wasn't even crowded! What a complete change! We also celebrated Jacob's 16th birthday in June! YAY! Jacob wanted to do a movie for his birthday (quite a change from his brother who wanted to go shoot guns!), so we went and had a fun 3D movie experience. It is always SO funny because they love the 3D movies and think they are just the newest thing EVER! Of course, we thought the same thing when we were little...and the technology is even older than I am! My best 3D memory is watching Captain EO at Disney World when I was about 9. I remember trying to touch all the things that flew out at the screen. I think it's hilarious that that Michael Jackson movie has now come BACK to Disney in Florida and is now, once again, a permanent attraction. I look back at Jacob since I'e known him. He's such a good kid, most of the time. :) He loves his brother and sister FIERCELY. The other day, Olivia took a flying leap into the coffee table and he rushed to her side and picked her up before I even had a chance to move to get her. He is very thoughtful and is such a help to me. He will probably start driving practice with Jason next week. YIKES! He is blessed to have a father who has taught people to drive and driven professionally all of his adult life, so Jacob will be very well prepared. Olivia is WAY too grown up. She's 10 months old now, and never ceases to amaze me with what she can do. She's coasting on furniture, talking up a storm, and basically just making our lives a joy. She went from rolling to crawling to cruising on furniture in a little less than a week. She cut 4 teeth (all in a row on the top!) in 10 days and eats like a horse. She'll scream at you if her food is not delivered to her in a quick enough fashion. Because of circumstances out of our control, we're having to find another babysitter for her. We have LOVED the one she has now, but life changes and God will ALWAYS protect us. Our current prayer is to find that person that will be the best fit for our family! I'm still in shock that her birthday is next month. Where has my year gone? My brother and his wife welcomed their first child last month! Joshua was 5 weeks early, but is a fighter! God's timing is always best! He is currently still in the NICU, so we haven't been able to meet him yet (NICU's always have really strict rules about kiddo visitors), but we do have lots of pictures! I'm SO excited to meet him! Right now, he's just continuing to learn how to eat well and get BIG! YAY! We're going to go meet him next week. I would LOVE if he was home by that time, but even if he isn't, we're still ready to meet that sweet boy! Please keep him in your prayers, as well as for Michael and Jen. It's hard to have to leave your child every night and not be able to take him home with you! The boys are staying with us for this month and it has been SO much fun! Olivia LOVES her bubbas and has started leaving her piles of toys and books in the attempt to find them so she can play next to them. They are both so good with her. Yesterday, Andrew sat by the baby monitor and listened for her to wake up while Jason and Jacob did yard work. He called me at work while he was doing it and said, "I keep waiting to go get her if she needs me!" Precious. This year, for July 4th, we asked the boys what they wanted to do. We could either go watch fireworks or go shoot them off. I'll give you 2 seconds to determine what the 10 and 16 year old boys chose! :) We bought fireworks and headed over to Jason's dad's house, who has the grill along with the back yard! We made steaks (delish!) and anxiously awaited the darkness! Jacob, Andrew, Jason's dad, and I climbed up 20 feet onto the roof of the shop so we could see the show that Jason was creating! Olivia did surprisingly well during the show and actually clapped and giggled! I think she would have been more freaked out, but she's recently learned to clap her hands when people clap with her, so that was a nice distraction! Thanks for keeping up with us. I do better on Facebook than I do on here, but sometimes a status update just isn't enough, you know? We are blessed.