Oh, baby!!

Isn't this just the cutest baby?? She's the daughter of our good friends Kim and Mike (the girls were flower girls in their wedding) and we got to meet her this weekend. Did I mention that she's just the cutest baby?

Here, Vivie practices wrapping her daddy around her little finger with just a glance:

And here's everyone smiling for the camera:

The visit to see the new baby (and, oh yeah, Kim and Mike) was the start of a great weekend where the weather wasn't exactly warm, but it was bearable outside. Hannah even decided that it was sunny enough to wear her shades while she was reading.
Lizzie had fun outside, too, although she wasn't reading, so she didn't need sunglasses. And besides, Hannah wasn't sharing them.

Rob inaugurated the grilling season this past weekend, too, although with cold cold cold (did I mention that this is the longest winter ever in the history of my life?) weather we had all week so far, who knows when we'll grill again.

And finally, although it might be 40 degrees and raining outside as I write this, spring IS blooming indoors at our home:

Please Pray for Stellan

I don't read a lot of blogs with regularity, but I do often check in at My Charming Kids to see how things are going for MckMama's large family with many small children. Jennifer's (MckMama's) son Stellan was supposed to die before he was born because of a heart defect and yet he miraculously was healed and was born full-term and healthy.

Now, four months later, he is having heart trouble again, and I'm asking you to pray for him and his family. If you click on his sweet picture above you'll be taken to the blog and can read updates, but really you don't need to know the details to pray for this baby.

Thanks ... Oh, and I'll be posting a much happier blog a little later today -- took many pictures of our busy weekend.

Round up

Two very important things happened this past weekend. First, my husband turned 45 years old. This is momentous for many reasons not the least of which is that he's only 5 years younger than me for the next six months or so.

Here's the gang celebrating. I had lots of time to take this picture as the Rasmussen gang spent a so much time trying to figure out what to order for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that Rob was in danger of turning 46 by the time choices were made:

This picture is especially good of my brother in law, the famous Uncle Dude. Let's get a closer look at him:

Seriously, don't you think he should use this picture on his Match.com profile? Of course he'd have to HAVE one first. Same goes for Aunt Linda. I'd post a bigger picture of her, too, except that she hates any and all pictures of her.

Okay, enough of the match-making. Here's the other extraordinary thing that happened this past weekend:

I turned this:

Into this...I took a sewing class when I was in the eighth grade and was so scarred by the experience that I've rarely sewn anything more than a straight line. In that class we had to make a pajama bag that had a zipper in it. By the time I was done ripping out seams and putting the zipper in about 14 times, my pajama bag was about the size of a dessert plate and fit NO pajamas in it.

This apron did not have zippers, but it did have seams that had to curve and I had to sew pockets into it, and hems and rick-rack and buttons. AND I had to use TWO different patterns to make the sashes and pockets. Here's Hannah modeling the rear view.And Lizzie with the front view:

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

45 Great Things About Our Daddy to Celebrate His Birthday!

By Hannah and Lizzie

1) He likes to play cards

2) He's funny

3) He's silly
4) And he's nice
5) And funny

6) He knows how to swim

7) And he's nice,

8) nice,

9) nice,

10) nice.

11) When the lights went out he lit the lantern in the house so we wouldn't be scared

12) He plays library when Lizzie won't

13) He painted our swingset

14) He lets us sit in his office when he staples his paperwork

15) He takes us to the park but not when it's cold outside

16) He plays in the pool in the summer

17) He will sit in the hammock and listen to the radio with Hannah

18) He looks at the stars and lightning bugs with us

19) He flushes stinkbugs down the toilet when Lizzie is scared

20) We go on cruises with him.

21) He buys us donuts when mommy doesn't have money

22) We go to Tanna's and eat there with him.

23) We eat the chocolate croissants with him

24) And sometimes we get hot chocolate too, but mostly he says no

25) A long time ago we looked at the fountains and the bear in the park.

26) He taught us to ride a bike

27) We picked corn together once

28) He lets us help him dig in the snow with shovels

29) He sings to us at night

30) He plays Cats with us

31) He is silly.

32) He is really really really nice

33) He took us to the 4-H Fair and let us ride the horsies

34) He loves us.

35) LOVES

36) LOVES

37) LOVES us

38) He picks us up from dance class and buys us Happy Meals

39) Sometimes he'll stop the car so we can moo at the cows

40) He helps us with our homework

41) He is handsome

42) We go to the Poconos and have fun at Piggys

43) On Sunday mornings he makes bacon and eggs and toast

44) We went in a boat and Lizzie fell overboard and Daddy (and Uncle Dude) saved her

45) He is our very special daddy, and that's all.

Tracy versus Robert

In case you hadn't noticed Rob and I have a very different approach to the world. And just about everything else. This is best illustrated by the following occurrence today, at Dunkin' Donuts.

We did our usual Sunday afternoon cruise around the back roads of Chester and Lancaster counties and eventually ended up at Dunkin' Donuts -- which is pretty much how we bribe decent behavior from Hannah and Liz. This time we decided to go inside because Hannah wanted a pink frosted donut and they don't always have those at 3 p.m. and then it takes her about 15 minutes to come up with donut choice number 2.

As luck would have it, they had donuts that each girl wanted, so we very happily placed our order and Hannah and Lizzie were being their usual charming selves, spelling out the names of donuts and flirting with the girl behind the counter and finding a table all by themselves. We got our order (no I did not have a donut) and sat at a table.

Since there was no one in the place and Hannah and Lizzie are very cute, the counter woman came out to chat and clean tables. That's when she said to Rob and I, "Are these your grandchildren?"

Tracy's answer, smiling guiltily: They aren't our grandchildren. They are our children. We waited a long time for them, so we were older. I know we look old, but they are our children. We might be old enough to be their grandparents, but we are their parents.

Rob's answer, not even making eye contact: No.

So there you have it. :0

OLD FARTS:

All is Well

*** Warning: Some Grossness Follows ... Some might find it too gross to read. No one should read after a meal ***

Whew ... we've had a couple of rough days around here, but all is well now. As you have probably read, Lizzie had a stomach bug on Saturday. So, after being up with her all Saturday night and waiting for her to feel better on Sunday, I started feeling a little queasy myself on Sunday night. By midnight I was in full tummy bug mode, and by 2:30 a.m. Rob was in the same boat. At 4:30 a.m. Rob was in one bathroom, and I was in the other one upstairs and there's a knock on the door:

"Mommy?" It was Elizabeth
"I'm okay, Lizzie," I say in that chirpy I'm not really all right voice.
"I have to go to the baffroom."
"Can you go downstairs, honey, Mommy's sick."
"Well ... it's dark down there. Can you come with me?
I WANTED to say turn on the light and go. But instead -- being a mom -- I took a break from vomiting ... quickly cleaned the bathroom, cracked the window, let her into the bathroom, ran downstairs to the powder room and continued my illness there.

Seriously, it's moments like this when you know you're a mom. And when you're glad that your new house has THREE bathrooms!

Luckily we're all pretty much on the road to recovery. Rob went back to work, the girls went to school and I had a sweet potato for dinner, so it looks like the worst is all behind us!! And you should all be happy that I did not take any pictures of the past 48 hours!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi everyone -- I hope you're enjoying the day with your loved ones. We had a good morning and went to our favorite coffee shop where we had hot chocolate, brownies, scones and coffee (I just had the coffee). I should have known things were going to go downhill when Lizzie pushed her brownie away and said she DIDN'T LIKE CHOCOLATE. Yesterday, she ate about a pound of it, so I should have known something was up.

Then we got back in the car and she said her tummy hurt.

By the time we got home she was in full-blown stomach bug mode. I have to say though, that if you're child is going to vomit all over your house, it's not a bad idea to feed them hot chocolate ahead of time. It really wasn't that bad.

This was Lizzie's first stomach bug ever, so she's a little confused why she feels bad and wants to know why she's not better already (it's been about two hours). So, right now she is laying on a chair watching cartoons and whimpering in the Nancy Kerrigan fashion (WHY ME???)

Hopefully she'll feel better by tomorrow. And hopefully Hannah won't get it. And MOST hopefully I won't get it....

So I was unable to take faces of happy children on Valentine's Day. Luckily we went to a favorite park last weekend when the weather was in the low 50s and I took lots of pictures. Here they are:

For those who live in the area, this park is in New Holland. It's got lots of structures for the kids to run around on, and some nice pieces of equipment. There's a bathroom there, and there's also a pool, although we've never done the pool part. Here's Lizzie in the rocket.

Oh yeah, HUSBANDS like to run around the structures too. Here Rob is in the castle structure. Which looks a lot like the rocket structure, but it's not.

Hannah in the rocket. When we first started going to this park just about a year ago they didn't reach the windows. They have grown about 2 feet this year, I think. (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating...)

Tire swing! This is a total favorite, especially when they can get adults to push them on it. Usually they meet other kids at the park and go on the swing with them, so that their strong (and younger than us) parents can push them on the tire swing. You can't see it too well, but just below the tire swing is a pool of water. That's not a feature of the park, but the remnants of the snow that melted all of a sudden when the temp went from the teens to the 50s. Both girls stepped in it, fell in it and otherwise muddied themselves in this pool and all the mud in the park.

Do not adjust your computer screens ... this is just Lizzie going so high on the swing that she almost flipped over backwards.Here's one of many slides in the park. Lizzie loves slides......but Hannah is positively ELECTRIFIED by them. Have a happy Valentine's Day everyone!!