Spring has sprung at the Russell house!

It has been far too long since I did a post with any pictures, so this one is chock full!  We recently purchased a much smaller digital camera that I can keep in my purse, so I'm getting more shots of the everyday things that happen around here.  These first two shots are from a few Fridays ago.  The Shane's Rib Shack by our house does an Arts and Crafts table on Friday nights.  We didn't know this, but we went out for supper and stumbled across this gem.  Jason and I got to eat our dinner while the kids got their faces painted and painted with watercolors.  Then they came to the table and ate and we left.  It was fantastic!!  Harper was very serious about getting her face painted, as you can see.  It was a pink butterfly.  Apparently, they don't really use paint intended for faces as we lived with that butterfly (and it's faint outline) for several days!  But fun was had and Mom and Dad enjoyed a meal, so totally worth it.

Garrett choose a baseball theme for his face.  He wouldn't let us touch his face all night and was so sad when it was all mostly on his pillow the next morning.  The good thing was that we had the Eso (Jason's company) Spring Fling the next day and he was able to get his face painted like a pirate, so the grief was short-lived.

Speaking of the Spring Fling...


Seriously, there aren't many things on this Earth that are more cute than these pig tails, right?  I figure I have at most two more years to get away with this, so I'm doing it as often as she'll let me!  They had one of those inflatable obstacle courses set up at the deal and it was WAY too advanced for Harper, but Garrett was in there, so there was no stopping lil sis.  Garrett was only able to get through thanks to the kindness of a 9 year old girl who gave him a boost to get up the first wall.  We were very happy when the jumpy house designed for kids their age showed up.

As you can see, pig tails were the theme of the event!  Despite being on bedrest, the Hansons made an appearance and Harper and Abby were happy to spend the time together.  I can definitely see the bond developing between them and it is so precious.  When we pull into their neighborhood Harper says "Abby house" long before we are in sight of their house.  She also says "Hi Abby" when we drive past Abby's school every morning on the way to work.  I've mentioned that she's gifted, right?
But they look like trouble, don't they??

Have I mentioned that Jason is going to Poland in a couple weeks to play soccer for his company in the company's world cup?  Do you need a minute to re-read that sentence?  You weren't wrong.  I said Jason (my husband-the father of these precious babies-the grown-up version of this little man to the left) is going to Poland to play SOCCER, or excuse me, football.  With Europeans.  Can you say lambs to the slaughter?
Anyway, the Spring Fling was a great excuse to give the team some experience in a game situation before they go to Poland to get creamed by play against Europeans. Stopped chuckling yet?
They did also set up a few "games" for the kids, so Garrett got to play.  He was so excited.  Isn't he adorable??

Lastly, the Sunday before Easter Jason and I had the opportunity to volunteer in Harper's Waumba Land class.  It was so much fun and gave me a huge appreciation for the workers who do that every Sunday.  They run a very tight ship in there and those kids are totally trained.  Snack time was definitely the highlight of the morning.  We laughed almost the entire time at Harper and Abby who played together more than we expected.  I snapped this shot of them snacking under the table in between services.
So cute.

I hope you've enjoyed these updated picutures of the kiddos.  I've heard people say that at this stage of children's lives, the days are long, but the weeks fly by.  We are certainly living with that reality right now.  I can't believe that we're almost to May.  Didn't we just have Christmas?  We'll be planning Harper's 2nd birthday before I know it!  I plan to post pictures from the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt later in the week.