John in 90!

Ben and I have started reading through the Gospel of John. We broke it up into three sections (21chapters/3months) 7 chapters per month. So for the first month we're reading chapters 1-7 daily, 8-14 in the second month and 15-21 for month three! It does take a good amount of time each night especially with the interruptions the kids bring! We're going to try to make 9-10pm 'our time' alone together to read! We generally put the kids to bed around 8:30 so in theory this should work!! ;-) Now we are 10days into it and each time I read it I try to select a verse(s) to meditate on during the day. I usually just pick a portion that jumps out at me.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth." John 1:14

I have read this verse countless times before and yet it still amazes me that the living God would come down from heaven and 'dwell among us'. As I meditate upon this verse it causes me to be evermore thankful and humbled that God loves us so much that He came down to us that we might 'behold His glory'!

~What are you reading now? Have you been encouraged/enlightened/convicted by the Word of God today?

Nail Trouble

Well as some of you may know Jake isn't the most courteous of little boys! He often gets into his siblings things and messes them up or destroys them altogether! Well the kids kept shutting the doors on him to keep him out. After this happened 4 or 5 times, we made the rule "no shutting doors, they must all be open all the time". A few weeks later I noticed Jakey's little thumb started turning all the colors of the rainbow! It took a few weeks for it to start to seperate from his thumb. At first only the top half fell off and I clipped it. I thought that was it but then a few weeks after that the whole nail started coming off!!...

Look close if you must!!!

Wordless Wednesdays

A Chocolate Dip!

This morning we had a fieldtrip at Krispy Kreme! Though not the most educational fieldtrip we've ever had it was definitely a yummy one!

Above are the kids sporting the Krispy Kreme hats, three of them upside down!!!

Here is Gabe patiently waiting to dip his donut and he didn't even want to eat it! He doesn't like the chocolate so she said he could dip one and sprinkle it but then just eat a plain one! He was thrilled!!

Braden too was excited! You could see the mmmmmmm in his eyes!!


Ethan on the other hand didn't want sprinkles (which is sooo not like him) and didn't want to dip one anyway as Gabe had. He was content with his plain donut!! Sometimes he's so shy and other times so wild! We're working on finding his 'middle of the road' temperament!!!


While Braden, Gabe and Ethan were dipping donuts Jake and Madi were out with my wonderful friend Mrs. Hill! This is a before pic of Jake.... My camera battery died so I couldn't get an after-shot with donut gooo all over him!


Madi was just looking on waiting for her donut! After her donut she then proceeded to eat my bagel, of which she ate the cream cheese off the top and left the rest on the table!!

We had a great time, and give a big THANK YOU to the Krispy Kreme for allowing our homeschool group fill up their place!!

Our Garden!

We are attempting to start a garden this year. The kids have been asking me for years as they have helped grandma in her garden and always enjoy it. The little indoor pots aren't enough for them anymore. Truthfully it was Ben who initiated it this year and last Sunday he carved out a place for it in the corner of the yard. He boarded off the area and put a wire fence around it. The kids were enjoying helping til the ground. Grandma gave us some onions (yellow, white, red) so we planted those. We have quite a variety of things to plant. We're going to get some tomato and green pepper plants to plant when we get back from UT. We did plant seeds which are on the counter and Ben will plant those when we're gone. We wonder which ones grow yummier veggies... plants/seeds!! My guess is plants! Our major challenge is to make the garden 'Jakeproof"

As you can see it didn't stay 'Jakeproof' very long. After a few tries of getting the shovel over the tie he was in. And if we had already planted our veggies he surely would have dug them up!! Gotta love that smile though!! Well we do at least!!

Wordless Wednesdays

Well I've decided to jump on with the 'Wordless Wednesdays'. Why you ask? Well simply because there is always something silly/different/strange/hilarious/shocking/predictable going on in the Russell home, and even though most need words, they are much more interesting without!

A Wonderful Day With Daddy!

Friday morning Ben called at 9am and said he can't work at his job today because there were space issues for equipment with another part of the project so he was going to be off and wanted to spend a day at the zoo! This RARELY happens.... I can't remember the last time we've had a day out to the zoo with the whole family so this was a real treat! After Gabe's appt. we were headed to the zoo, lunches packed, diaper bag stuffed, and kids accounted for(we have to do this alot!!).

Madi my 'Mini Me'

Just hangin' out in the jungle!

My future's so bright I gotta wear shades! Gabe & Braden

Here's me playing with my camera settings!! So fun!!

The gang! Jakey's sleeping in the stroller!

The kids were chomping at the bit to hop in this hippo's mouth!!!

The Petting Zoo!

I have a video of Jake "petting" the goats and I'll try to plug it in soon! It was so cute, Jake kept calling the goats, "bopes"!!

Watch out goats here comes Jakey!

Jake started hitting and kicking the goat.

Here he is asking for forgiveness with a hug and some food! Those poor goats, they must put up with a lot there at the petting zoo!

Too precious!


I know at first glance this looks a bit strange but this one little metal handle brought great delight to Madi's face. When she opened the stall door she gasped and exclaimed(with a huge smile on her face) "It doesn't flush by itself... You don't have to stay in here with me!!" She REALLY dislikes automatic flushing toilets!! So of course being the scrapbooker I am I just had to get a pic of her flushing it herself. Oh the joy found in the little things in life!!

Very cool cats!


Another one of God's amazing creations we saw today!

Jakey loves his daddy!

Here Jakey's hugging a bobcat!
He's such an animal lover!

Ethan, Braden, Jake enjoying the zoo

Our day at the zoo is reaching it's end and now the race to the exit gate is on!!!

Up the hill we go!! I'm lagging a bit, but only to capture the photo ;-)

Now we're off to the Royals opening game!!!

AAhhhh! Right off the bat we're taking in the treats of the ball game! (Pun intended!!)

Jake is quickly turning into quite the little Royals fan!


Here are a couple of cuties in the stands covered in powdered sugar from some yummy little donuts!!


Oh and the cheese... there was a pretzel that went with it but Jake could care less at this moment!


Say "Cheeeeeeeeese"!!!


Madi and Jake are helping out by taking it upon themselves to clean the stadium seats! Way to take initiative you two!!


Now Madi thinks Jake needs a little cleaning himself! Again...'Mini Me'

When it was all said and done we had a wonderful day! And have many memories to cherish!