Free Bracelet

I'm taking a break from all the vacation fun to bring you news of this very important contest!

My friend Carrie makes beautiful jewelry and she's looking to give some of it away. You read that right. GIVEAWAY. As in free!

All you have to do is to look at her etsy shop and then leave a message on her blog.

So first, go to her store at http://www.carriegrab419.etsy.com/ and look at the jewelry. Pick out your favorite item, which will be tough because everything is so nice. My personal favorite is the chocolate chunk trust in your dreams bracelet:

Then travel over to Carrie's blog, http://www.hammijammijewelry.blogspot.com/ and leave her a comment telling her your favorite piece of jewelry AND your email address. At the end of the month, Carrie will randomly select someone to win a bracelet.

How easy is that?

And how COOL is that?

So... why are you still reading this? Get over to http://www.carriegrab419.etsy.com/ and then to http://www.hammijammijewelry.blogspot.com/ and try and win something!!

Good luck!!

K-Camp!

Our school district does this really cool thing called Kindergarten Camp to get the children ready for the big day when they start school. They get to play and meet the teachers and do crafts, and no one EVER mentions that their lives will be completely RULED by school for (at least) the next 12 years. :) I'll let Hannah and Lizzie tell you what it's like:

Girls of Summer

Things have been pretty busy around here for the past week or so. Grandma and Grandpa visited last week (which meant much house cleaning prior to their visit) and then Uncle Dude visited on Sunday (we didn't clean the house for him) and then Aunt Louise and Uncle Mike (and their dog Dixie) visited on Monday (again, more house cleaning). It was fun seeing all these people and I didn't even mind cleaning the house. I know. It surprised me, too.

In between all the visiting we managed to get to a few outings and start kindergarten camp. I'll let the girls tell you about K-camp later, but here are some pictures from some of what we did.

Hannah went for her first trip on the bike path in Pottstown. Lizzie has gone before with Rob, but Hannah didn't go because of the training wheels on her bike. Rob decided to see if she could keep up with the training wheels, or if she'd want to take the trainers off. Here they are getting started:

And here is Rob trying to teach Hannah to ride without training wheels. She looks like she's having fun, but this lasted all of about 20 seconds. Then she was done:

So here she is tossing rocks into the Schuylkill River, where she spent the rest of the bike-riding time (with me). She DID have a good time doing this. She said that maybe someday she'll ride without training wheels but for now it's "too boring."

Here we are at Terry's pool. Hannah and Lizzie both have their own personal diving board styles, don't you think? Lizzie prefers the element of surprise...

Hannah, on the other hand, just prefers to jump as nuttily as she can:Hannah practicing her kicking:Lizzie paddling around without her swimmies on!

Blogger bummer

Blogger didn't like me for awhile. I have no idea why. There was something about not being able to find cookies, so I'm assuming it has to do with the new diet I've been on. :)

Anyway, I'm back now, and I think I have solved the problem. In fact, I have solved several computer issues over the past week. How cool am I? I managed to reinstall Microsoft Office on my new laptop, even though I couldn't find my product key. Product keys, in case you care, which I know you don't but I'm going to tell you anyway, are stored on your computer somewhere, but they are cleverly disguised as something else. I managed to find a program that would search my old computer and find the product code, which I could then use on my new laptop.

Please hold your applause until the end. There is more.

I also managed to uninstall Norton security and install the (free for me) McAfee.

Then I dealt successfully with the Blogger glitch.

Seriously, I am thinking of switching careers to computer whiz.

However, my computer expertise is not what this is about. It IS about windows, but not about Windows.

Hannah and Lizzie decided to clean the deck last week because, as Lizzie so appropriately described it: "It looks like a bird poop museum."

So here they are cleaning the windows. (I believe they are available for hire, if you, too, have a bird poop museum on your deck.)

Then I decided to give them a manicure to thank them for cleaning the deck.

As you can see, these are really bad manicures. Their nails are very tiny and my eyes are very old. But, luckily, 5 year olds don't really know what a good manicure looks like, so they were thrilled.

Mish Mash

It's been a while since I've let you all know about the craziness that is my life this summer. So now I'll let you know. Rest assured the boring writing parts will be interspersed with the cute picture parts. Here's one to get you started:
Better days: I want you all to know that my bad day did not continue past the car smashing, sandwich burning, sick child issues. I did miss the fancy French restaurant, but I got to watch about four kid movies instead. Good times. Lizzie's fever spiked in the early evening, so I was glad I stayed home. The next day, however, when I was grocery shopping, I heard the thunder and rain start outside and KNEW (you know, in the way I know things) that we were going to lose power and I needed to speed shop. As luck would have it (and I was much luckier on that day) I managed to get out of the check out line JUST as the power went out. The poor guy in line behind me might still be there for all I know. However, the storm was so bad that I had to stand in the vestibule for a good 15 minutes until it was safe for me to dash to my car, pushing a metal cart, holding a metal cane, running through an inch of rushing water under my feet. I knew my luck had changed for the better when I didn't die in the parking lot.

Time for a cute picture. This is Hannah and Lizzie on the new train ride at the Cape May County Zoo. Aunt Linda and Grandma Connie (who took this picture) took the girls to the zoo so Rob and I could have lunch together, when we were on vacation at the shore:
O Pioneer: I discovered this past Sunday that I would make a lousy pioneer woman. While that might not come as a surprise to anyone who knows of my pathological love of air conditioning, it turns out that I am also a deep lover of electricity, even the electricity in my oven, which I otherwise hate because it's not a gas oven.

This past Sunday we lost our power for more than 12 hours. I did my best to channel my inner Laura Ingalls Wilder and pretty much only came up with the plan that Pa should get out his fiddle and keep us occupied until the storm cleared and we could go back to picking vegetables from the garden. We don't have either a fiddle OR a garden, so instead I went to get a massage. Trust me, if Laura could have wangled a massage back there in the Little House, she'd have done the exact same thing.

Perhaps I was feeling a little guilty about leaving my powerless family, but when I returned I let Hannah and Lizzie watch Barbie Mariposa on the last of my laptop battery, effectively assuring that I would not be able to pass the dark, silence of the late evening playing solitaire or laptop pinball.

When the power finally came back on at midnight or so, I ended up sleeping in the nook because Lizzie (who had thought earlier that it was too dark to sleep in her own bed and wanted to sleep in my room, even though I wasn't there and it seemed just as dark to me) had taken over the entire bed and refused to move.

The nook (also our guest room) needs a clock. I know this now because I depended on my extremely (usually) dependable husband to wake me up at 7:45 when he left for work, to give me enough time to get the girls ready for their dental check-up. However, on THIS morning, because the power outage had interfered with his laundry cleaning he left for work at 8:10, causing me to have to rush everyone, including me, from sound sleep to the dentist chair in less than 20 minutes. We were late and Hannah was dressed like a homeless person (paisley pants that are way too short for her and a tie-dyed tee shirt) but we got there at 8:40 giving the most wonderful impression, I'm sure.

So now here's a picture. I didn't take this one either as I didn't go to the 4H Fair. Instead I was interviewing the lead singers from Maroon 5 and Counting Crows (they're bands, Aunt Brenda!) while everyone else was sweltering in the animal-scented heat that is always the 4H Fair. I love my job. Oh, and Rob, I cropped out the high white athletic socks you were wearing at the Fair. You're welcome:

A post to sink your teeth into: Once we were at the dentist things started to settle down. Hannah was in the chair getting her teeth cleaned about 10 minutes later. She has 20 teeth. And 27 cavities. :( She did great with the x-rays though (which is why we went to a children's dentist instead of our family dentist) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience (because she didn't have to pay for it.) Then Lizzie refused to wear the funky sunglasses they give to the kids to protect their eyes from flying tarter so we had to spend a good five minutes trying to talk her into it until I finally came up with the brilliant idea to wrap Dubba (her blanket) around her eyes. It worked for the cleaning, however the dentist told me that in 30 years he'd never seen anything like it. If nothing else, we Rasmussens are trend setters. When we got home and I asked Lizzie why she was so afraid to wear the sunglasses she said, "I wasn't afraid Mommy, they were just REALLY UGLY."

Lizzie has about 27 cavities, too, but hers weren't as deep as Hannah's. To be honest, the dentist was giving me a little attitude about the bad oral hygiene of my children, to which I simply replied (no not really, but I thought it!) ca ching, ca ching, ca ching. Seriously I'd think the dentist would be thrilled that his wife can now purchase that mink coat thanks to the bad brushing habits of my 5 year olds. Hannah had her first appointment for work on Wednesday and she loved every minute of it. They give the kids nitrous oxide to relax them, but apparently there is no such provision for the parent who has to sit there holding the other 5 year old on her lap while she complains that "Hannah looks like a big pig!"

I have dentist issues myself. And when I go to the dentist I pretend that I'm somewhere else (usually giving an interview to Oprah, if you must know) and hope that the time goes by quickly. Here, though, I had to pay attention to what was happening in case Hannah got scared. Which of course she didn't because she is the tough cookie of the bunch of us. She didn't even mind that when you are laying in the dentist chair, the wall hanging directly in your line of vision is a shadow box with a HUGE HAIRY TARANTULA in it. Tina, I know you're reading this and you'd have needed a valium to complete any dental work at all. As it was, I don't even mind spiders, but I found the thing sort of frightening. Especially when Hannah kept pointing it out. Over and over again.

Okay, now that you've put up with my stories, I'll give you TWO pictures of the girls. They are pictures taken during one of our photographer sessions (where I play the photographer and they play models):

One of those days

One of those days ... we've all had them. You know, the kind of day when you put salt in your coffee instead of sugar, or you drip jelly down your last clean shirt?

Well, today I am having one of those days. And, since I rarely have them, I'm having about 47 all in one.

So far today:

I smashed not one but TWO of our cars in the driveway. I did this because I was being nice and going out to get Rob's suit from the dry cleaners and ice cream for Shelby who was babysitting tonight when we were going to Le Bec Fin, a fancy French restaurant in Philadelphia where Hannah and Lizzie thought we were going to eat snakes (no way) or snails (possibly). Rob parked his car in a different place in the driveway which I saw before I got in my car, but then promptly forgot until I heard the crunch of metal (or plastic or whatever his car is made from). His car got the worst of it, but my bumper got a bit crinkled too. I was going, MAYBE 5 miles per hour, which shows you what American cars are made of.

THEN, I got to the dry cleaners and they told me they don't take credit cards for sales under $20. I've been getting things cleaned there for many years and this is the first I've heard of it. So I had to dig through my pocketbook to find my checkbook while a line formed behind me.

THEN, I'm on my way home from Kolb's dairy (where the organic 2 percent milk is still only $3.73 a gallon if you are reading this and live nearby) and I take a wrong turn on Ellis Woods Road. Granted, I was coming home a new way, but still, I DO know my way around here (except obviously NOT today).

THEN, I get home and Lizzie comes up from the basement and tells me that she has a headache which never bodes well for her, so I take her temperature and it's 101 degrees. Then Rob told me she'd been complaining of a sore throat this morning, too.

THEN Hannah asks me to make her a grilled cheese sandwich, which I end up having to do three times because I burned one side while I was searching for the mayonnaise in my refrigerator and the second side (which I'd switched over and just added another piece of bread to) when I was rejoicing FINDING the mayo, which, it turned out, was right there on the bottom shelf in front of the milk.

THEN I have to call my mother in law and tell her that because of the feverish child with the sore throat and crankies and the distance between Le Bec Fin and my house (it took my sister 2 hours to get home from Philly on a Thursday night this week!) I just didn't feel comfortable leaving my drama queen home with a babysitter, even if it was the most beloved cousin Shelby.

My mother-in-law gave me the best piece of advice I'd heard in a long time when I told her all the exploits of my day (and it was only noon!) and she said, "Tracy, I wouldn't even go out to the mailbox today!"

So that's why I have TWO blog posts up today. I'm staying put (and waiting for the insurance adjuster to call...)

I hope YOU all are having a better day.

Kiddie Kamera

I found an old digital camera when I was decluttering the nook (my private enclave on the second floor of our house) and I gave it to Hannah and Lizzie to take pictures about their world. Here's what they came up with...I'm sure my art therapist friend and photographer Bethany will have something to say about some of these rather odd photo choices...

Hannah's pictures:

Lizzie and Daddy:

Lizzie and Daddy being silly:A dog that Lizzie made out of scraps of construction paper and staples:This is a picture of a poster that hangs in Rob's office of his favorite car the Cord (if anyone wants to buy him one for Christmas)Your guess is as good as mine on this one. She said she was looking for a picture of the rain, which you can sort of see on the window.

And now for Lizzie's pictures:

Hannah being silly:

The inside of our garbage can (I have no idea why she found this fascinating, but then again, I am not five years old!)Me, brushing my teeth before a meeting:This is a partial picture of my bathing suit, which was drying in the bathroom:This is a picture of the TV, playing a ProActive television commercial:

I have to advocate giving your children a digital camera to take pictures of their world. It's eye-opening (and really, sort of weird.)