Where did the time go?

I know my posts are very few and far between. I can't believe 2008 has come to an end! December has been a very busy month for our family, especially now that I am working I can't seem to find the time to do much of anything these days! We hope you all are doing well and are ready for the Christmas holiday. We think of you often!

Here are just a few of the December highlights!

We are so proud of our Maddie. She earned three awards at the Trimester Awards Assembly. She earned the Principal's award for "Responsibility," the Special Distinction award for having more than 75% Outstanding's on her report card, and perfect attendance award. We are so proud of how well she is doing in school. She enjoys going to school and when you ask her what she likes best about school she will tell you "playing with my friends" (not a surprise) and "writing." She has extremely nice printing and loves sounding out and writing words. I am so impressed with her "ear spelling." She even loves playing school at home and believe it or not loves being the teacher! Just like her Mama! She's even said she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

What's December without a trip to Disneyland? And boy it sure felt like winter that day! At least for us Californian's, 55 degrees is cold! The girls had a wonderful time riding the rides and watching the Christmas parade. We love this time of year anyway and going to Disneyland makes it that much more magical and special. The decorations are beautiful and for 10 minutes watching the snow on Main Street in the chilly weather made it feel like it was the real thing!

My Mom took the girls to the gym I work out at for a visit with Santa at the child care. Izzy has been talking for weeks about taking a picture with Santa and has been so excited but when the time came, I'm not so sure she really wanted to go through with it.

Doesn't look like she's ready to see Santa.

Ok, now I'm happy and ready to visit Santa!

Baby K was NOT happy and Izzy wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry!

On Sunday, the Hyatt put on a Children's Christmas party for all its employees. The girls enjoy going every year. There are many activities for the kids including cookie decorating, a few crafts, "Lucky the clown," a visit with Santa, and a buffet lunch that included mini corn dogs, chicken fingers, and mini pizzas...yummy! Maddie and Izzy got snow flakes painted on their cheeks. Here are our girls in their matching outfits.

Merry Christmas!

Halloween Fun

Can't believe Halloween has already come and gone and that it is the first day of November! It was a fun-filled day beginning with Madeline's Halloween parade at school. It was so cute to see all the kids in costume and it reminded me of the parades that were held at the school I taught at. After running some errands we went back to her school for a cookie decorating party. Talk about a sugar high!
Halloween night was a busy one. Our friends/neighbors and their two kids came over as did Monica, Beto, Gabi and Anthony, Marisa and Bryan and my Mom. We had Tacos for dinner (followed by some homemade Halloween cupcakes) and enjoyed trick or treating. Izzy had so much fun! She loved going door to door in her costume and really felt like a big girl. It's hard to believe she's almost 3! Kathryn was sound asleep in her stroller and Madeline hung with the big kids! We even managed to head over to a party around the corner and were home by 10pm!
I have so many wonderful Halloween memories as a kid. It's so surreal that I'm now doing this with my kids!

Kathryn is such a ham! She loves smiling for the camera!

Our 3 girls as Cinderella, Minnie Mouse and Belle! I think it's going to be awhile before we are completely done with Disney Princesses!

20 Years?

It's hard to believe that Lee has been out of High School for 20 years already! We attended his reunion up at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay in Oxnard. We had a great time hanging out with our close friends that we hadn't seen in a couple of years as well as seeing/meeting many people that Lee was friends with in High School. I even ran into someone I went to HS with! It was a fun night and our first night away from all 3 girls! Mom was nice enough to stay with them overnight so we could have a much needed night to ourselves.
Here's a picture of us all dressed up for the occasion!

We survived! Or should I say I survived!

Well, the first day of kindergarten went off without a hitch! I made sure Maddie's lunch was all packed the night before so that we would be all ready to head out to school in the morning. She did awesome! She felt like such a big girl going to a big school with her brand new back pack! She just waved "bye bye Mommy and Daddy" and off she went! No tears at all! Although I can't say the same for myself! Now that I'm on the other end of it I can now understand how all those parents felt dropping their kids off for the first time....it's not easy! Fortunately my mom met me for breakfast to comfort me. =)

Madeline had a "fabulous" first day of school (in her words). She even got to pick something out of the treasure chest because she didn't call out and raised her hand when she had something to say. I'm so proud! Let's hope she keeps it up. I also recognized a few kids from the gym I go to so it was really nice to see some familiar faces in her class. I think this is going to be a great year for her!

Showing off her "Camp Rock" backpack!

Simi Elementary School...the oldest school in Simi Valley

Daddy and his princess

Mommy and her little girl

Maddie and her sisters

Lining up to go to the classroom

Ready for class work

My baby is off to Kindergarten!

It was a bit of a rough day today attending Maddie's Kindergarten orientation and finding out we did not get the teacher we requested. Fortunately all has been worked out...we still didn't get the requested teacher but at least we are out of the class we did not want to be in. So tomorrow is the BIG day and hopefully the rest of the year will be a positive one! I'll update the blog with First day of school pictures and let you know how it went. Hopefully there won't be too many tears shed (by me!).

I can't even get over the fact that summer is almost over! We've had so much fun! Between swimming lessons, vacation bible school, playdates and sleepovers with cousins and friends, and trips to San Diego and Palm Springs, we've been quite busy! As much fun as we've had, Madeline is so excited to start kindergarten which is just 12 short days away! We've already purchased her "Camp Rock" backpack and lunch box and brand new shoes! Hopefully I'll get the hang of this blog so I can update everyone regularly.

Kathryn is just a little cutie! She's almost 7 months and is now sitting up and gets up on all four's and rocks back and forth. It won't be long till she starts crawling! I just can't believe it! Seems like she was just born yesterday!

Isabella is our little ham. She loves posing for pictures and is into everything. She has been so successful with the potty training and is just about done! Alot has happened over the summer and we are just so proud of our girls!

Two of our beauties at the San Diego Wild Animal Park

Happy 4th of July!

A couple of milestones

We can hardly believe how fast our girls are growing up! Just the other day I sat with Madeline to teach her how to tie a shoe. After 4 or 5 times showing her she did it perfectly. She is now tying her very own shoes! She is so proud of herself. Looks like her summer homework before starting kindergarten is completed!
From our oldest to our youngest....Kathryn is now rolling over from her back to her tummy and she's not even 5 months old yet! Where is the time going? We are trying to treasure and enjoy every single moment. Just the other day I video taped her cooing for a good 10 minutes! I am amazed every day by these three little miracles!

Welcome to our blog

Hi everyone!
Welcome to our blog! A friend of mine has been doing this for the past year or so and I thought I might go ahead and give this a try. Since we don't talk to you all on a regular basis this is a great way to check in and see what the Russell family is up to. That's assuming that I update this blog on a regular basis! Hope you enjoy it!