More of Katherine’s photoshoot.

This is just a little sampling of some events from the past week on the Russell side of the family.  This week I will be updating with all the news and pictures since last Saturday, beginning with the camping trip for Lindsay’s birthday (and a birthday post for Lindsay, and for Ted – who had a birthday this week as well – would also be nice!).  Now that the summer is winding down and work starts up again, things will probably get back to routine around here.  There’s been a lot of running around the last few weeks, days spent with friends and family in summer’s prime, making lots of memories to share!  However, it has left little opportunity for sharing – until now!

To tide you over, until I can get recaps of our recent happenings, here are the photos from the shoot with Katherine.  I made the dress for her and we decided to use Bruce’s property (our family friend) as the backdrop – I think it was a wise decision.

All of these thumbnails are clickable so that you can see the larger images.  Coming this week: 1.) Camping Trip, 2.) Ted’s Birthday Party and 3.) My Visit to Carol’s House.

Last month, me, Lindsay, mom, Pam, Katherine, Ami and friends Donna, Paula and Elaine got together for our semi-annual Ladies’ Tea.  The theme this time around was Alice in Wonderland, so we all attended the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, in costume.  Katherine portrayed Alice, Pam the Mad Hatter, I the White Queen, Lindsay the Queen of Hearts, Mom the March Hare, Ami the White Rabbit, Paula the Cheshire Cat, Donna the Caterpillar, and Elaine the Dormouse.   Pam and Katherine did an excellent job of creating a Alice atmosphere, complete with ‘Eat Me’ and ‘Drink Me’ signs, a string of flamingo lights, and little placecards with quotes from appropriate characters.

As is the custom, we all prepared a gift basket to share in our gift basket lottery.  The theme was to comprise a basket full of items from your favorite fantasy story (or, at the very least, the fantasy story you could think of the most items for!).  I did the Twilight saga (which Pam received), Katherine did Roald Dahl’s Matilda (which I received), Mom did Where the Wild Things Are (Donna received), Pam did Mary Poppins (Elaine got it), Elaine did Wicked (Ami received it), Paula did The Princess Bride (Katherine got it), Ami did Practical Magic (which went home with Lindsay), Donna did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which Mom received), and Lindsay did the Once and Future King (Paula got it).  (I’m fairly certain that’s the correct order!)

Enjoy some pictures from the day.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.  (More in an upcoming post!)

Yes, I know Memorial Day weekend was LAST weekend, but as usual, life has taken over and prevented a lot of time to sit at the computer and make sure everything is updated for everyone.  Last weekend, mom, Pam, Katherine and I, along with Katherine’s boyfriend Rob, headed to the Hitchcock House to spend time with Grandma and Ted.  The weekend was a pleasant one, with a brief bit of shopping and a lot – and I mean A LOT – of eating!  There was barbecue galore, some at the inn and some at Grandma’s friend’s Mona’s house the following evening.  We ended the weekend with a rousing round of the story game, including an entertaining short story about an octopus who ended up as an extra on Golden Girls.  Hopefully Grandma has kept the story papers so that I can post one of the stories in the near future.

As with any upstate trip, this one also included a photoshoot with Katherine and, this time around, Rob.  We had fun finding hats and props for them to use.

Here are some highlights from the weekend (there aren’t really enough photos to warrant a new album in the photo gallery so enjoy these here!):

Last night the family gathered to hear Katherine and Joe play in their very first sibling recital, showing off their impressive talents in violin and piano, respectively.  The evening was spent pleasantly listening to the music of Bach, Chopin and Brahms.

I headed into the archives for this one – Joe and Katherine about fifteen years ago!  This is to commemorate their first dual recital this coming Tuesday!

Katherine and her violin.

Celebrate with Katherine today as she turns 19!