Happy 2009

I'm contemplating a New Years resolution post, to come or not to come possibly tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this video recap of 2008. Let's hope for a better 2009.



By the way, if you are as confused as I was over the Rick Astley video mid-way through the clip, check out Rickrolling on Wikipedia. I'd never heard of it; guess I've been living under a rock this past year.

About the hearse . . .

Sorry, I forgot to reveal the answer to my trivia picture.

The answer to "Why do we have a hearse in our driveway" is . . .

. . . because our good friend, the local funeral director, couldn't get it in and out of his steep driveway during our winter snow storms. So we told him he could park it at our house.

Sorry. It's not a very exciting answer (not nearly as exciting as the idea of me finally snapping and knocking someone off). But still it was kind of cool having a hearse parked in the driveway for a week.

And it made a great shield for snowball fights!

More Adana . . .

I really do love my other kids and think they are equally cute and photogenic. But Adana just constantly provides us with one-liners and photo opportunities. Here are a few of her latest:

I'm sure you're all amply familiar by now with Adana's favorite hiding place under my computer desk. This is where I found her the other day, with a tin full of fudge. When I took it away from her, she jumped up, put her hands on her hips, and shouted, "Mom! I NEED chocolate in my mouth!"

Oh yes. The classic "Kid Wearing Goggles" picture. In the summer, it's swimming goggles. In the winter, ski goggles. Either way, I think it's pretty darn cute.

A few days ago, Adana was walking around the house singing, "My favorite color is orange. My favorite color is orange." I was busy (first mistake), so I just enjoyed the sweet song. Besides, I figured that she couldn't be getting into much trouble because I could hear her (and when she's doing something naughty, she's always silent about it). It wasn't until about 15 minutes later that I realized the bag of Doritos that I was going to serve with our taco salad was missing . . . She had left her "Favorite Color Orange" prints all over the house.

Snowpocalypse!

I stole the blog title from a local newsman whom I enjoy reading. He has a great way of describing things. And Snowpocalypse is precisely what it felt like this weekend.

I haven't heard any official totals on how much snow we received, but I know it is well over a foot - probably closer to two. It just kept falling and falling and falling . . . for over 24 hours straight. If you live in Utah or Colorado, where this sort of thing is common, then you probably can't appreciate how shocking (and exciting!) it is for us.

Here are a few more pictures, because you can never have too many snow pictures. Right? :-)

This was our backyard on Saturday morning, after our 1st (typical) snow storm. We thought this was a lot of snow. But it had only just begun.

Here is our backyard on Monday morning, after the weekend dump. Check out the difference on the bench and Adana's marigold planter.

My 4 little snow devils angels.

I love this shot of Adana in her snowsuit. She categorically refuses to wear her mittens (please note them lying in the snow next to her). She prefers to scream, "My hands are cold!" as all the neighbors scowl at me for not putting mittens on my poor child. I can't win.

Our snowman. Don't you think he kind of looks like Frank Castanza?

Church was cancelled on Sunday, so we took a family outting to the high school for some sledding. It has a great hill, which ends in the gym parking lot. The sled barrels down the hill and blasts across the parking lot. "But," your probably thinking, "don't most parking lots have cement blocks so that cars don't drive onto the grass." Yes, they do. Just ask my sore butt. You can see Jared bounce over one toward the end of his run. When I went down, my slightly greater weight caused me to not just lightly bounce over the bump. I whammed my tailbone full-force into the cement and probably cracked it (the cement) in half. I have to stand as I type this; I don't think I'll be sitting for a few days.

Take your best guess . . .

Yes, that's our house. And yes, that's a hearse in the driveway. Why???

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I was awakened at 5:30a.m. by my phone ringing. It was the Bainbridge Island School District, informing me that school was cancelled today due to snow. I peered out my bedroom window and saw the faintest skiff of white.

"Humph," I thought. "These people just don't know how to deal with a little snow."

Still, it was a nice excuse to sleep in. And when I finally dragged my lazy butt out of bed at 8:00a.m., I found the snow coming down pretty hard and already covering all the grass, cars and street. It didn't stop snowing until this afternoon. So I guess the School District got it right this time.

We had a blast sledding and tromping through the powdery snow. One of the dads on the street brought out his dirt bike and pulled the kids around the cul-de-sac. Good times!

Happy 3rd Birthday Adana!

Yesterday (Dec. 16th) was Adana's 3rd birthday. (It was supposed to be NOV. 27, but I'm trying to get over the grudge that I hold against her for being born 3 WEEKS LATE.)

As per Russell family tradition, she awoke to a fully decorated house. It looked like some freaky spider had spun orange & pink streamer-webs all over the place. She was thrilled! The other kids enjoyed their roles of fawning over the birthday girl all day, and she loved being spoiled by them.

She had a great time opening her presents and played with them all day. She had to immediately put on her new Princess panties (from Micah), watch Tinkerbell (from Gma) and play with her My Little Pony (from Jared) and Dora Phone (that also hooks up to the TV as a mini-video game).

After lunch, a package came from Gma Russell with some adorable new clothes, which she promptly changed into.

We went to lunch at McD's with one of her little friends. While we were there, she kept grabbing her ear and saying it hurt. I just assumed that she'd bumped it, since she was under-the-table-climbing-on-chairs-running-around-back-under-the-table not really sitting still. But when I tried to put her down for a nap later that afternoon, she cried because her ear was really hurting her. So I took her in to see Dr. Walters. Sure enough, we have our 1st ear infection. Yes, I've had 4 kids and this is our 1st ear infection. Leave it to Adana. We're doing the "watch & see if it goes away" plan, because I don't like medicating unless it's unavoidable. I gave her some Motrin and she slept great all night.

When Nathan got home from work, we sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out her candles. She loves that song and had been practicing singing it for weeks.

She had asked for cupcakes with ORANGE frosting (her favorite color). Then she decided that she wanted a cake frosted in ORANGE, PURPLE & GREEN. (Maybe we've been reading a bit too much Dr. Suess lately.)

All in all, despite an ear infection and bone-chilling cold, it was a good birthday. And I suppose I can no longer blame her outrageous behavior on the "Terrible Twos." Besides, aren't kids supposed to mellow out when they're 3??

So much for Divine Inspiration, OCD or Paranoid Mom

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of life with Adana , she does this:

I think she was trying to copy Emma's penguin art project that we did this afternoon:

All I want for Christmas is a NANNY.

**UPDATE: I just walked into the bathroom. Black, finger-streaked walls. Black glop all over the white pedestal sink. Black smears on the white hand towel. (What in the heck am I doing with so much white in this house???) At least she was trying to hide the evidence clean up after herself.

No, I didn't take pictures. No pictures of my now-speckled carpet & chair. No pictures of painted Adana (who I promptly sent to bed after the little "art" incident).

2 Plays & a Whole Lotta Food

**Note: Yes, I own a camera. Yes, I know how to use it. No, I never remember to bring it anywhere. It's just who I am. Love me despite my faults.

This is just going to be a re-cap of the last few days. It's December, and my calendar is full to bursting. Busy, but in a good way.

Thursday 12/4: We kicked off the Christmas season by going to see the Nutcracker. Nathan was one of the sponsors of our local ballet studio's annual performance, so we got free tickets. We took Emma last year and really enjoyed it. But this year . . . well, let's just say that they performed the Nutcracker, with a twist. Think familiar Nutcracker music, but with a funky techno beat; a break-dancing soldier doll; a male Mother Ginger with a scruffy beard; a seductive dance by "Sweet Tart." One thing I can say for the show - my boys thought it was great! :-)

Friday 12/5: I spent the morning taking Emma over to Seattle to see a Hand Specialist. Dr. Joneschild was wonderful and put Emma at ease. Fortunately, she determined that Emma's finger only has a slight fracture, no tendon damage. Phew! Friday evening, Nathan & I went back to Seattle with some friends. We walked around downtown. There was a Figgy Pudding Caroling Contest going on, with groups of carolers lining the streets. Then we took the monorail to the Seattle Center and ate dinner at the Melting Pot. YUM! We were back home by midnight, where we found all the kids tucked away in bed and the house cleaned up. Jared is a great babysitter! (Except for letting Micah watch the last 10 minutes of Haunted Houses on the Travel Channel. He had nightmares for days after that.)

Saturday 12/6: Saturday morning, I took the girls to see the Muppet Christmas Carol. It was a free showing at the movie theater, sponsored by Toys For Tots. We brought some toys to donate and enjoyed the show. Then I rushed Jared to his indoor soccer game. He loves indoor soccer - the fast pace, the play-it-off-the-wall-then-wham-it-in-the-goal thrill. Nathan spent the whole day getting ready for our annual Itsenaisyys Paiva dinner (Finnish Independence Day). As usual, we had a ton of yummy food. I look forward to this meal more than any other all year. We invited three families to join us, including two honest-to-goodness Finns.

Sunday 12/7: We debated inviting people over to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with us. But in the end, we opted for a quiet evening alone. Nathan made snickerdoodles and we all enjoyed the beautiful Christmas messages. (Well, we tried to enjoy it, in between Adana peeing on the floor and Emma spilling her soda.) :-)

Monday 12/8: Monday evening, we were invited over to make gingerbread houses with some friends. We all had a great time and the kids made some incredible structures. They were swimming in gummie bears and hot tamales and sour Skiddles . . . all "glued" together with some incredible gingerbread cement. That stuff is stronger than super glue.

Tuesday 12/9: Micah, Adana & I went over to Seattle to see The Wizard of Oz at the Seattle Children's Theater. It was very well done - amazing set, great acting. I was a bit apprehensive about sitting with The Living Cyclone for two hours in a theater, but thanks to the full bag of treats that I brought she did pretty well.

Divine Inspiration, OCD or Paranoid Mom

I get my OCD tendencies from my dad. I'm constantly tidying. I can't stand to have pictures hanging crooked on the wall. I love lists, straight lines, closed cupboard doors, a well-made bed, and an organized refrigerator. I've even been known to alphabetize my spice rack (until Nathan decides to cook and messes the whole thing up. Grrr...)

So this morning, while I was passing through the laundry room, I paused to make sure that all the spouts on my spray cleaning bottles were twisted to "OFF." Even as I was doing it, I was mentally mocking myself for being soooo Type A. I mean, the bottles are up on a shelf, inside a cleaning basket, and totally out of reach of little hands.

Still, I'm OCD enough to know that I have to follow through when I get these urges, or else the thought of spouts in the "ON" position would torment me the rest of the day.

A few hours later, I was working in the kitchen when I had that horrible, nagging feeling . . . the house was too quiet. WHERE was Adana? And WHAT was she doing?

I finally found her in the laundry room. She was holding a bottle of Clorox bleach, desperately trying to spray it ALL OVER MY LAUNDRY. But not a drop got out, because the spout was turned to "OFF!"

Disaster averted. Thank the Lord (And my Dad's genes. And 2+ years of experience living with this pint-sized tornado.)

Beware of the Doghouse

Nathan is a great gift-giver, so I don't anticipate ever needing to send him to the doghouse. Unless, of course, a guy can be sent to the doghouse for buying his wife a really nice gift, EVEN THOUGH WE AGREED NOT TO BUY EACH OTHER ANYTHING THIS YEAR.

Deep breath.

Hopefully, after watching this video, he won't want to risk it.

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=5e32d548

(Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to embed this one.)

Thankful Lists 2008

One of our family traditions is to make Thankful Lists each November. Starting on November 1st, the kids list one thing each day that they are thankful for. We end on Thanksgiving Day.

They are also not allowed to ask for/beg for/mention anything that they want for Christmas during this time. The idea is that, for the month of November, we just focus on what we have been blessed with. Here are their Thankful Lists for this year:

JARED
1. Health
2. Soccer
3. Physical abilities
4. Muscles (noticing a trend? He's a bit of a soccer fanatic.)
5. Food
6. Wolves
7. Two Fat Guys (It's a pizza parlor in Utah.)
8. God (I teased him that HE came after Two Fat Guys.)
9. Priesthood
10. Jesus
11. Scouts
12. The sun (We'd had quite a long stretch of cloudy days.)
13. Non-contract school days (Basically, a day off school.)
14. Girls (Oh yeah, we're to that age . . .)
15. Honey Graham Oh's (His all-time favorite cereal)
16. Holidays
17. Money
18. Family
19. Parents
20. My body
21. Music
22. Wii
23. My motorscooter
24. Refrigeration (This came the day that our fridge broke.)
25. Warmth
26. My iPod
27. Grandparents

MICAH
1. Hockey
2. Phantom (his kitten)
3. Food
4. Ocean (see blog title)
5. Electronics
6. Animals
7. Music
8. The gospel
9. Scouts
10. Cats
11. Candy
12. Sports
13. Money
14. Girls (Sigh.)
15. Coltrane (BFF #1)
16. John (BFF #2)
17. Books
18. My parents (He put this a day before Jared, so we like him better.) :-)
19. Hot cocoa (He drinks at least 3 cups a day.)
20. Me being funny (He prides himself on being a "class clown.")
21. Blessings
22. Mork & Mindy (I got this on Netflix. I forgot how stupid it was.)
23. Church
24. Clothes
25. My iPod
26. My new basketball
27. Thanksgiving

EMMA
1. Food
2. Mom & Dad (Oh yeah! She's the favorite.)
3. Family
4. Clothes
5. Heavenly Father
6. The Bible
7. Scriptures (Wow, she's sure got better priorities than her big brothers.)
8. Toys
9. Games
10. Friends
11. Body
12. The sky
13. Animals
14. Fin (her goldfish)
15. Shelby (our dog)
16. Numbers
17. Phantom (kitten)
18. Things to cook with
19. A mom & dad that can cook (too many nights of left-overs, I think)
20. Milk
21. Sports
22. Stars
23. Blankets
24. An oven (so long as there's a mom & dad who can cook, and things to cook with)
25. Plants
26. Flowers
27. Eyes

ADANA (100% in her own words)
1. Chocolate (Actually, she said "Chocolate" everyday when we asked her what she was thankful for. It's in her genes.)
2. Strawberries (especially if they're dipped in chocolate)
3. Toys
4. Princesses
5. Chicken
6. Water
7. My potty
8. My scarf
9. Abi's & Micah's balls (This one sort of caught us off guard, until we figured out that she meant their soccer balls.
10. Mommy (No prompting there, I promise!) :-)
11. Lollipops (I'm just shocked that I ranked before lollipops.)
12. Pizza
13. Ice cream cones
14. My present (She is obsessed with the idea of getting presents.)
15. Babies
16. Maren (her good friend who moved last month)
17. Dora
18. Abi (aka Jared)
19. Phantom (I don't know why everyone is so thankful for that crazy kitten)
20. Juggleball (her name for her favorite little bouncy ball)
21. Cereal for breakfast
22. Computers (strange, considering she isn't allowed near ours.)
23. Zebras
24. Hippos
25. Penguins
26. Shelby
27. Octopuses (that really is the correct plural form)