Trick or Treat!!

The Pirates

The Princess

& Jessie (from Toy Story)

The RussellSprouts being attacked by two spiders!

Gpa and the kids!

"Aunt Gay" from Grandfather's Creation... She is Marvelous!

Athan "The Cat's paws where sooo soft, but his Belly was REALLY soft!"

Some of our Bingo Buddies!!

Athan and Hannah!

The Booty

This was our first official year of "Trick or Treating". We had a blast! We took our pirates, Jessie, and Princess to Va Ave where the town merchants where dressed in costumes with candy in hand. We had a GREAT time and it was really nice to be a part of the festivities of our town. It is a special night as the nursing home also hosted a time of "Trick or Treating" it was fun for the kids to see their Bingo buddies!!

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A summer to Remeber Part 2!!

So as we began August... something AMAZING happened... We had nothing to do for TWO WEEKS! We so enjoyed all the fun of summer but having a break, being able to get the house in order... let the kids run around (in the house b/c it was too hot outside)... and enjoy the last two weeks of life as we had known it for eight years! We took a day trip to NC to visit with Nanny, Pop and Grandma Crissman! The kids LOVE seeing them! What a blessing from the Lord that they have seen, known and make memories with their GREAT-Grandparents. They are a treasure to us and we can only pray that we will grow in wisdom of our Lord as they have done and live lives that reflect that same love for Him!

Ryan started a new job as the upper school Bible teacher at Cross Road Christian School on August 16th... and so began our Russell Sprout Academy! Caedmon began 2nd grade, Justin & Athan kindergarten, and Holland Pre-school... Since Daddie was not at home during the day we turned his office into our school room... it is pretty awesome if I do say so myself!

The Russell's for the first time have a daily schedule not just for the kids but the grown ups as well! Working from home has MANY advantages and we have been so blessed to be able to share life with each other and raise the kids in the true spirit of team work... but now Ryan leaves every morning at 6:30, I get some quiet time before the kids wake up... then chores and school! It is VERY different but God has prepared us and Ryan LOVES his new job... getting to do what he loves most... TEACH! And as an added blessing He is still staff at Water's Edge and gets to spend time with those students as well!! The kids and I have fallen into a GREAT routine and are really enjoying our school year as well! I have been told by a FEW people that I am a hard teacher... so maybe I will lighten up :)

Bobby and Allison Maxwell (high school and college friends) came up for Labor Day weekend... we had a BLAST! Their daughter Peyton was just a little overwhelmed with all the Russell's running around... but she fit right in climbing trees, playing Barbies and watching movies!! Monday, the grown ups took naps and watched Hoarders... OH MY WORD!! is all I can say...

We spent time with Aunt Tina by the pool and Athan taught herself to swim without swimmies!! She is AWESOME!

September has gotten off to a GREAT start! We spent time with Grandaddy, GoGo, Uncle Brad, Aunt Jo, Chesed and Charisa!! Pizza Hut is AWESOME!

Oma and Opa sent goodies in the mail to the kids... tracers and stickers they were so excited! Oma put an extra one in Athan's card for me... the kids response... YOUR MOM didn't send you a card like us!! Regardless, I love my bear tracer and we have been good and shared them! Thank you MOM... I MISS YOU!

Ryan and I got a babysitter for today and spent the day in Raleigh... we bought a bed... We looked at a few stores and then found a GREAT deal at "The Room Store" salesman Jeff brought the deal to our attention.... before the purchase we wanted to look at one more place... as we walked out I looked to Ryan and said "we need to buy that bed and bless Jeff and his family." After looking at the other store, we knew this bed was for us! So we went back and started making our purchase... Jeff then informed us that his wife was due any day (made me think of Lisa and Margaret!) with their first child... a daughter! What an exciting time for them!

Muffins have become a new passion for me... I normally bake as therapy... but muffins, they are my passion! After a taste test (thanks Agogo!) I started adding more filling (chocolate chips, blueberries etc.) and they ROCK! REALLY ROCK!

We had a wonderful time with Aunt Tina and Uncle Ed on Friday... catching up and gaining new insight about teaching my kids! THANK YOU TINA... you should call me after every meeting you have so I can glean from your wisdom!! Again, another blessing from the Lord!!

Please pray for us as we will go to court on October 20th to get our final order of custody for Justin!

Athan is saving money for her future husband... she wants to buy him a truck... however, when she told him his response was that they were going to need a stroller for the 100 children!!

Caedmon got Baptized on August 24th! What a surprise... What a SAVIOR! Thank you all for the heritage of faith that has been laid down and a Savior who is transforming his life everyday!!

Justin has LOVED school and is doing so well! He decided the other day that he wanted to be a "cooker" at one of the windmill restaurants in Holland!

Holland... oh my... Holland! She has decided that she doesn't want to grow up... REFUSES to grow up because then she will not be able to have "meme" (her blanket) and "Mommie will not be able to hold me."

We are looking forward to Fall!!

We are thankful that life has settled... that yet again and as always God has provided for us. We are thankful for the blessings of family and look forward to spending as much time as we can with those who mean so much to us!

A Summer to Remember!

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WOW! To look back on these pictures and remember the amazing summer the Russell's had has been fun. Realizing that I am a bit behind on my blogging I will try and highlight the summer o' fun for you guys!

June... does anyone remember June... OH MY!
Justin and Athan were taking a break on the laundry one afternoon to enjoy a good book... I can't complain about that!!

Athan in a grand act of heroism allowed me to pull her first tooth... this was a BIG deal, because ever since Caedmon lost his first tooth a few years ago... everyone else WANTS to have a loose tooth. Athan smiled for a week after she lost it... proud that now she entered into the ranks of toothless wonder! Lucky for them all I LOVE to pull teeth... and at this moment Athan has a top and bottom tooth that are loose and Justin's top two are getting ready to fall out! Needless to say we are SOOOOOOOOOO excited!

Going back to July...

We celebrated the 4th by going to our town's parade, which was really nice. Balloons, candy, and what better way to top of the afternoon than with ice cream for lunch! YUMMY! As the holiday weekend continued on the brad russell's stopped by, the herman russell's swing in, and the tina lyon's roared into town. We enjoyed the long holiday weekend and celebrated Herman, Brad and Caedmon's bday's with GREAT food and two cookie cakes! It was wonderful having everyone over! The Russell's make for a pretty intimidating crew, though we are a bit girl heavy, if war every broke out Holland and Charisa would lead us to victory NOTHING can stop them!!
We thought that we would end the night with a bang... so Ryan headed out and purchased fireworks and sparklers! Uncle Brad took the job of explaining the rules of sparkler fun by reminding the kids not to stick them in their eyes, ears or noses... We were, in this time, able to capture a rare moment... while helping Holland out of the top bunk Brad was actually able to hold Holland and get a smile from her... Good thing we have a fast shooting camera :)

Here is our coming home from Holland story (as explained in an email to Myrna)... I hope you enjoy!
Well, our hotel stay was really nice... we put the kids to bed... took showers and got everything ready for the next day... our phone rang at 4 am... and as I went to answer the phone I tripped and fell over a stool and our luggage (it was really funny at the moment) however, I had a bump and bruise on my hip! So, we got up and met our driver at 5... we checked everything in made it through customs scans etc... only to find that our flight had been delayed an hour and half!! So we went to McD's for breakfast... and waited and waited and waited... FINALLY we got on the plane and took off around 10:00! While we were in the air someone got really sick and they where asking for a doctor... the kids did well... wiggled a lot but enjoyed being awake for the trip. The flight felt very long...Holland was sleeping on me and I had a fever... THEN... when we were suppose to get our lunch... they announced that they couldn't feed us because the sick person was where the food was and they couldn't not serve it. Really, typing it sounds worse than it was... but we were hungry... THEN as we prepared for landing they asked that everyone stay seated because medical personnel had to come on board to get the man off the plane. Again, if I was the one sick I would want to be taken care of too... So, as we were finally able to get off the plane, they gave us all $50.00 vouchers for another flight... OH YEAH... EVERYONE on the plane missed their connecting flight! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So, we got our bags, went through customs and stood in the Delta line for a while... when we got to the counter we asked if they could schedule us on a flight straight to Richmond VA instead of Baltimore; foregoing the train ride home, and they did! Only it was leaving in 40 minutes and was on the other side of the airport! So, off we went... took our shoes off, got scanned, and then we "ran" okay... fast walked with four kids! Down the escalator, through Terminal A, and then underground we went... walking at least a mile... then up the escalator... Ryan turns to me saying "Take the debit card and just grab some burgers and drinks for the flight" Well, everyone had the same idea and there was NO way we were going to get food... so we kept running to the terminal... to find that our flight had been delayed one hour! So, we took a deep breathe and praised God that we were going to be able to sit and eat and we did!! It really was a miracle that we were all able to be on the same flight... six seats next to each other on a FULL flight! This flight has a single isle with one seat at the window and two seats on the other side... so the kids sat on the two seat side and Ryan and I sat on the single seat side and we SLEPT! We are in the air and the kids are strapped in with no where to go... It was the best sleep! When we landed in Richmond, Ryan's brother was there to greet us with our van and we got home about 4 hours ahead of schedule!

Okay there is more to tell... but that at least gets us to August!

A few more pics

There is more to these pictures!

Okay... so for the first time in a few days I have time to write some things!

First, I praise God for amazing children... they have been a witness and marvelous the whole time. This trip has allowed me to become a creative mom... as we sit and wait for the meals to be served and the looks from the kids when they don't know what they are eating... nevertheless they have been wonderful and really gotten their appetites. Holland especially has eaten just about everything served to her and Athan has been more than willing to try everything on my plate! So, they are amazing and beginning tomorrow everything for the next three days will be for them.

So this bog too will be about them...

Holland... has grown up so much! She wanted to WALK all by herself in the airports, she loved watching the "brothers Jones" aka the Jonas Brothers on the plane. She loves telling people Dank ya well... (thank you) she loves the food and our Dutch van.

Athan... has, as mentioned before enjoyed trying the different foods. She loves the window that rolls down on her side in our dutch van... She REALLY LOVES seeing Mega Mindy things in the store and insists that we need to buy a dress up outfit so everyone at home can know about Mega Mindy!!

Justin... has decided that he wants to live here :) He is not afraid to talk to anyone and everyone hear is AMAZED that he has only been a "russell" for two months. He too has been a plate cleaner. We found out today that he is deathly afraid of spiders and everyone in Ouderkerk knows it as his screams echoed through the small village!! Windmills are his new favorite!

Caedmon... oh my... what a man! He is really the only one who understands that we are in another place with different words. Tonight he commented " Clarksville is easy... this is really hard." :( BUT... he has proven to be the big brother and gently guides the others. EVERYONE is impressed with him. The boat rides yesterday were one of his favorite things! He too loved the windmill and enjoyed his first real swim across the pool today with his dad!

I must say, that with all the changes the Russell's have undergone the past few months... I am PROUD of my children. I praise God for that... those you who read the blog know some of the frustrations we have been through and anyone who has children know that you feel like you work so hard and they don't listen or care... but they have proven me wrong and I a deeply grateful to God for his mercy and his sanctifying work he is doing in their lives!

So, as I sit here in the cool dusk sky at 10:35 at night I am grateful beyond words for this opportunity and for my children.

Highlights from the first few days...

Highlights so Far:

-Train ride to Baltimore
-The kids first flights (the slept well on the 2nd flight)
-A great wedding celebration (with child-care the whole time!)
-Getting to go into a working windmill (you know, one of the ones from the 1800's that they still use to actually mill corn into cornmeal...they are a little tough to climb into, especially with a 3 year old in your arms!)
-GREAT food (and trying some new things...like pureed duck liver and a goose salad sort of thing)
-Bacon wrapped filet!
-Kids making ice cream sundaes in the kitchen of a very nice restaurant with the chef
-Everyone is sleeping BEAUTIFULLY. The kids are sleeping until we have to wake them up around 9 AM
-Watching the kids play with and find a way to communicate with Emma, Daan, Stein and Tim...all of whom only speak Dutch

Looking forward to:
-Boat ride to Rotterdam for lunch
-Heading back to Rotterdam to watch the game tonight (Holland vs. Spain) with Jeroen and Hilda
-Heading to Renkum to spend a few days with Onno and Myrna and their kids
-Air-conditioning when we get home!

just a few pics from the first couple of days

T4G 2010!!

Imagine this... two brothers and their amazingly talented and beautiful wives... traveling hundreds of miles to sit and listen. It is pretty weird, I will admit... however the experience is life changing.

In April, Ryan, Brad, Jo and Myself along with Leonard met in Appomattox and set our sights on Kentucky for Together 4 the Gospel 2010. We were privaledged to sit under Mark Dever, John MacArthur, John Piper, CJ Mahaney, Al Molher, and Duncan Ligon. I am forgetting some and they were wonderful. But anyway, at the sessions we got a stack of books written by the speaker and a few of their favorites... FREE... we EACH came home with over 20 books. Our heads ached at the end of each day... okay well, MY HEAD ached at the end of each day...I didn't know that my brain could go so deep...I realized by the second sentence of the conference that I hadn't thought many deep thoughts about God in my life... but how grateful I am that some others have. What a blessing to my spirit. Their words of biblical wisdom still rings in my ears months later.

Before the conference began The Russell clan headed to the Creation Museum. Again another headache! But a blessed pain. The truth that pours forth about our Creator God and His care and precision of creation was AMAZING... it is a trip that EVERY believing family needs to take.

But perhaps there was something more... something more beautiful, more meaningful, more powerful than anything one of these men of God could communicate, more than a dinosaur could reveal. There was time... time to see with our eyes how God has taken four lives and turned them UPSIDE DOWN for His glory. There were words... holy words that were spoken by us all that healed wounds and drew us closer to each other and and our Savior. What a blessed time we had with not just our physical brother and sisters but our everlasting family that God has made for His glory! Thank you Brad and Jo for a GREAT week in the city. I love you both more than my words can express.

We hope you enjoy the pictures... if you will notice we all look glazed over... it is because as mentioned above we were thinking deep thoughts and really were overwhelmed with information!