TGIF: It's Friday the 13th!!

Whew, I'd never thought I'd be so happy to say TGIF. That is until I realized that it was Friday the 13th! The horror!! I have managed to not turn on the TV tonight as I'm certain that the movie channels will be bombarded with all things Jason, Freddy and Michael Meyers. Oh and did I mention that we are having a severe thunderstorm here? Don't most scary books start off with a "dark and stormy night?"

All that aside, I must say that we Russell's have had such a busy week and I'm so happy that it's over. Lily had VBS every morning so I got to have a lot of dates with Sophie. Most of those dates were trips to Target and the grocery store, but hey... I wanted to take advantage of only toting around one child instead of two. I may have spent more money having a Starbucks every morning this week than I have had in 2 months. 

Lily had a great time at VBS and I'm so happy that she was so receptive to doing something like this every morning this week. The overall theme was how amazing Jesus' power is and they set it up with a science theme. Lily, being my science-minded child, was so excited to do arts and crafts and "science projects." I think that my favorite story Lily told me was about how Jesus could walk on water. She told me the whole story they learned in bible class and then said, "Elephants can't walk on water, Mom. Only Jesus." She said it during bath and again when she brushed her teeth. It made me laugh because here I was racking my brain about why she would keep saying that "Elephants can't walk on water." Then today I saw the little experiment they did about "What Floats, What Doesn't Float" and there it was... A little plastic elephant laying at the bottom of the fish tank. Yep, Lily really meant it when she said that elephants can't walk on water!

By the end of this week, we were all really tired of being so busy. It sort of felt like a vision of things to come. Pretty soon Lily will be going to school everyday and then it will be Sophie starting a 2 day program the year after that. Then what am I to do? I have so many grandiose ideas of what I would do with my time without the kids, but it also makes me a bit sad that they are growing up so fast. It seems like yesterday that we were stressing out about what a late walker Sophie was and now here she is running and climbing and jumping so high her feet never leave the ground! I'm not saying that I'm getting baby fever or anything like that. It's times like these when life moves at an accelerated pace that I have to stop and be thankful for what I have and really appreciate the life we live. We have 2 wonderful, healthy, high maintenance girls and I wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world!

MaryKay: What Would I Do Without You?

A Couple of S3 Mafia Wives: Kacee, MaryKay and Natalie

Dear MaryKay (aka my "cruise wife"), 

You are such a wonderful and inspiring person. A good shoulder to cry on and never too tired for a glass of wine after dinner while the kids run around your house like wild Lost Boys from Peter Pan. I will always think of you when reorganizing toys and my kids will forever love your chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter balls. Thanks for being such a great friend (does this make me look fat... or pregnant?), neighbor (can I borrow your shop vac?), Bunko player (do we have at least 12 players?), Zumba partner (shake it, Beyonce), severe weather worried friend (get into your tornado shelter!!!) and sounding board at 8am every morning. 

Happy Birthday!

Elena

June Has Come To Blow Us Away!

One year ago when we first moved to Oklahoma, I knew that we were going to be landlocked right smack in the middle of Tornado Alley. We've had a few scares, but all in all it hasn't been too bad. Except for that fact that I have had THE worst allergies EVER. The wind here in OK is incredible! There's nothing like coughing up a storm and blowing my nose every hour, not to mention people thinking that I have a cold and wanting to stay 500 feet away from me. Oh well, I'll get over it!

We have been enjoying the first weeks of Summer outside, in the sprinklers and chalk drawing on the patio. We have yet to make it to the swimming pool, but I am hesitant since Sophie managed to get a heat rash all over her body and a little sunburn on her nose. She was in good spirits through it all.

Summer has just started and it's already June. We've already had to say good bye to our friends, the Bleichers and soon it will be the Scotts. We will be having some new "S3 Mafia" friends join us soon so hopefully they will start to fill the void. My friend Kacee is so good when it comes to "good byes" and she has kept me thinking about the way in which we say our "good byes." I noticed that when Lily went to say good bye to her friend Allison, she was very nonchalant about it. As if she thought that she would see her friend at play group the following Monday. I had to explain to her on the ride home that Allison will be moving very far away and that it might be more than 2 years before we see them again. And then I thought about the way in which I said my good byes to my friends that have left and I realized that I am too non-emotional when it comes to saying farewell to friends. I hate saying good bye to friends, but I know that it has to be done every so often in the lifestyle we lead and the last thing I want to leave my friends with is the impression that our friendship wasn't worth much. 

So I've added "Making a Conscious Emotional Effort" to my mental list of things to do... So to all of our friends that we have left or have left us, please know that the Russell Family loves you and aside from the e-mailing and the blogging and the phone calls, we miss you dearly!

PS: Sophie is ready to go to Disney World! Vacation countdown will be starting soon! Oh and so will be my 30th birthday and our 5 year Anniversary! Whoa, time flies...