When animals attack...

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


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


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

Happy Birthday Babies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Emily Russ-
12.04.07

Happy First Birthday Abby & Zack!!

Russ Family Factory

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

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

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


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


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

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

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

Here's Carter going for the strike...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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

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

Happy 3rd Birthday Lila Bean!!

Blogged Down

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

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

(Click on the images to get a better view)

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

A Table For "Two"

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


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


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

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

"Blood On Your Face"

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


Here we caught Abby in free fall.

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


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

My Sweet Johnny

Johnny and I went on our first date 10 years ago today. We went to a BYU Preference (aka girl's choice) dance and the rest is... history.


He's still my best friend and asking him to that dance 10 years ago was one of the best things I've ever done. He even brought me a dozen red roses this morning! At the risk of being a little too gushy and in honor of our 10 years together, I thought I would post 10 of my favorite things about my sweet Johnny. (In no particular order...)

1. I love watching Johnny play with our kids. He's such a great dad and loves to wrestle and tickle and tease. They all love him (Zack even prefers Johnny consistently over me...). I wish every kid in the world was as lucky as my 3.


2. I love that Johnny is incredibly patient with my weaknesses (most of the time!) :) And my quirks (like putting at least one ! behind every sentence!!!) Sometimes my shortcomings are glaringly obvious, (like the permanent pile of clean laundry that's been on our couch so long that Lila has taken to calling it the "laundry mountain"!) Other times they are things that only he knows about... either way, he is often much sweeter to me than I deserve! (See, I told you I use exclamation points too much!!)

Johnny & Lila

3. I LOVE his laugh. It's more of a giggle really.


4. I love his family. I couldn't have asked to marry into a better bunch of nuts! They all have their moments and a few issues here and there, but their house is definitely "a place to be loved" and I sure do love them like they were my own!


5. I love talking and laughing with Johnny. Some of you wonder why I always go to bed at 3am. It's because I can't stop talking to him. Mostly we laugh about how hilarious Lila is, but even 10 years later, we still love to talk about our views of the world and random life.


6. I love the collective results of our creative vision. Most of the fun and cute things I do he has a hand in. Most guys don't care what their wives do, but my guy does. This blog is a great example. Most of my friends have blogs that they post on for their families. My blog is really a family blog. He posts as much (if not more) than me! All of the crafts and projects I do, he gives me help and great ideas on. (Just wait until you see what we've got cookin' for Lila's birthday party!!) Everything I do is better because he's a part of it!

7. I love being a parent with him. (I know, I already said I love watching him play with the kids, but this is different, I promise! Read on...) Johnny really is the best dad I know. Some (ok, maybe a lot) of his ideas are slightly strange or a little bit gross, but they always turn out to be great moments! He is calm and steady and helps me to be the same. His discipline methods are amazing and he really knows what's important in life. I am definitely a better mom because of him!


8. My Johnny is oh so very smart! I know I'm bragging, but here in the land of Harvard and MIT it's easy to forget that going to these great schools is a huge accomplishment (for the record, he only goes to MIT). He graduated from BYU with a 4.0 in arguably one of the very hardest majors they have and received 2 (yes, TWO) prestigious fellowships. The thing I love about his smartness though, is that you're often surprised by it if you don't know him well. He's easy to talk to and down to earth. Not to mention funny... but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

(it's a wig... a good wig!)

9. Johnny is funny. It was one of the first things I fell in love with about him. The night we met (thanks Rindi!) we stood on the porch outside of Wells Hall and talked and talked. He told the most amazing stories about wrestling alligators and hanging out with his brothers. I was smitten by his GIGANTIC (seriously... GIGANTIC! someday I'll post a picture) muscles and Florida lifeguard tan, but it was his personality that one my heart over. He often says these days that I don't think he's funny anymore because I don't laugh at his jokes like I used to. So this is to set the record straight Johnny Russ. I love it that you are funny!

10. I love how much he loves me. Sometimes I do stupid things (ok, a lot of times.) And especially these days with 3 little ones clambering for my attention all the time, I'm not the girl I used to be. But he still loves me, messy house, no make up, ponytail, and all.


I love you Johnny Russ! Thanks for a great 10 years!