The Russell's Daily Blessings

Touch and Brush!!

Earlier this year when the “Touch and Brush” commercials were bombarding the airwaves, Hayden kept begging us to order one of these newfangled gadgets. We giggled and “brushed” it off.

So you can only imagine what I was thinking when I saw that they actually had them in the stores this Christmas season. An awesome GAG STOCKING STUFFER GIFT for Hayden!!!!!!!

Hayden was so happy to get this little gadget…he loved his gag gift… very fun.

But, the noteworthy  bonus to this all is that Hayden and Gillian have been brushing their teeth without me having to ask them!!

Who woulda thought?

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief…and unspeakable love.” ~ Washington Irving.

OH WHAT FUN!

I remember as a little girl, I always wanted a window seat in my room.  Unfortunately, in my childhood bedroom that was never possible.  But, when Gilli got into reading and she expressed that same desire, I went to town with the idea and decided that this would be a great idea for a Christmas present.

I, of course, gathered a few of my favorite elves to help me out with this project. My sweet parents got the colorful rug for her reading area. My sister got the beautiful chandelier and Kip and I got the window seat. The day after Christmas we put it all together. The transformation is amazing. It is now a perfect spot for a young girl to sit and read. Gillian LOVES it and the best part is that she will always remember the love that was poured into this gift.

The same night she asked her brother if he wanted to hang out with her and read and he did (WOW!!) They both read until they fell asleep, Hayden on her new rug and Gillian on her bench. What a precious sight.

At one point I went upstairs to get something and I heard Gillian ask Hayden, “What does S-T-R-A-W spell?” He told her, she replied with a simple “thanks” and continued with her reading.  So precious.

Mission accomplished!!  Thanks Mom, Dad, Nicole and Kip for your help in making this vision come to life.

 

Been thinking about mom a lot today. The thoughts are all so overwhelming. I mostly keep it together, but sometimes it hits me.

Trust in HIM, Kimberly

Life is precious.

My Mom is precious, lovely, sweet, kind, giving, talented, genuine.

My babies love their grammy so much. They are hurting and are being too brave about it.

Will my Christmas cards go out this year?

Really? My poor mom has to spend another Christmas in the hospital? She did 43 years ago as well ~ when I was born.

I have been touched by the people who have reached out to my family and I. Simple acts of praying with and for me, watching my children while I travel to Denver. Hugs, meals. God is good!

My husband is THE BEST, so thoughtful, loving and giving. I do not deserve him.

…..is my mommy back.

Christmas is nearly a week away, goodness gracious. I had visions of being on top of everything, apparently God had a different plan. Even though my cards are not addressed and ready to go, and my shopping is barely started and we are behind on our advent reading, I do feel that I have been given the greatest Christmas gift and birthday gift ever.

In the nightmare we entered on Sunday, God has never left our side. In fact, I believe He was really watching out for mom in so many ways.

Typically my mom walks the dog, alone. On Sunday, she had my sister and my two precious children. Although a horrible thing for them to witness, they were able to get help for my mom, they are God’s angels in my eyes.

Had mom not had this fall, perhaps we would have never found out about the aneurisms in mom’s brain. If this fall and bleeding didn’t take her life, these surely would have. I give all praise and glory to God for the “heads up”.

It is a true blessing that perhaps my mom will be home for Christmas, even though the road ahead is not going to be an easy one, it will be nice to have mom home. These few days without her home have been so lonely and awful.

I pray that God’s will is for our family to be together for many, many more Christmas’s to come.

Please, make sure your family knows how special they are to you.

Merry Christmas to you and your families.

Proverbs 31:

Verse 10: Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies.

Verse 28: Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her.

Dear Lord,

Please watch over my mom, bless her, heal her, strengthen her.  Lord, I praise you for so many blessings you gave us today.  You were clearly present every moment of today.  As I sit here, unable to do much else, I only desire to talk with you.  You know clearly that I just want to beg you to allow us more time with this precious lady.  Allow me a chance to be a better daughter, allow my children a chance to have more time with their grammie.

Please Father, hear our prayer.  Comfort my children who clearly are not dealing with this very well.   Lord, I pray that they will lean on you and find comfort in you.  That they will be able to get the images of this time out of their precious mind.

Be with my dad that he can rest in you and find peace and comfort in you, Father.

Draw my sister near you as well…Sustain us all Lord.  May all we do be glorifying to you.  You deserve all of our honor, glory and praises.

I pray all of this in the name of Thy Holy Son, Jesus Christ.

I’ll start by saying that I never thought I would get so far behind on my blogging.  I admire my friends who are able to keep their blogs current in the midst of life ‘happening.’  I want to be better at it….oh does that sounds like a resolution?  Can’t have those until after Christmas!!!

Holiday Recap!  Let’s see if my memory can go back to October and November. This is why I blog in the first place so I can remember all of the precious moments in our lives.

Halloween:

This year Gillian dressed as a Black Cat — tail, ears, whiskers and nose.  I could have just eaten her up. She was so cute!   Hayden was the handsome Indiana Jones — homemade costume thrown together at the last minute but looked like we put a lot of thought into it.  He even sported a five-o’clock shadow.   This year the kids just went around our neighborhood with their friends and came home.  Weather-wise, it was a mild Halloween compared to years past.  I have to say that I think the kids (including the big kid – dad) have just as much fun carving pumpkins.  One night while I was out, they carved three masterpieces (my opinion of course).  Gillian’s was a chihuahua and Hayden (who did two) carved Apple’s Logo and one with the traditional pumpkin face.

Thanksgiving:

Keeping with tradition, we had Thanksgiving Day dinner at our home. Both sets of parents and my sister join us in a feast.  It is such a nice tradition that our family looks forward to; a blessing indeed.  I think it rates among our families favorite holidays.  The kids look forward to their grandparents and aunt’s visiting.  This year both kids took responsibility for a few of our treasured traditions.  We have for the past 9-10  years made a “Thanksgiving CD” for our guests.  This year, Hayden took on that task and created it for our family.  It was a nice compilation of years past.  One of my favorite things to do is “set the stage”  ~ The Table.  Gillian added her special touches to our table this year and it turned out so lovely.  She has an eye for such things.  What a precious thing to see our children take ownership in our traditions.  We missed Aunt Frances this year, who was not up for traveling, we hope that she will join us again next  year.