Simple Woman's Daybook

For December 19


Outside my window... we're having a blizzard. Right now we've got only about 4 inches, but we're supposed to get a foot or more by tomorrow morning. I love the snow since I have a husband who plows the driveway!

I am thinking... how much the snow makes me think of Christmas and how lucky I am to be safe and warm. One year, when I was working in Boston, I wrote a story about a homeless shelter that was closing and this would be the last Christmas for the residents, and just as I was driving there it started to snow and snow and snow (as it often does in Boston). It really hit home that without the shelter all those people would be out in the snow, freezing. I led with that, and (I'm sure completely and totally because of my story ....) the shelter remained open.

I am thankful ... that I am losing weight again. Had the family in for our Christmas celebration last weekend and managed to lose 1.5 pounds at my Tuesday weigh-in. Yay for me and the stress I was under. I really think that anxiety is the best metabolism booster out there!

From the kitchen... not much going on cooking-wise, but Rob and the girls are playing a board game and no one is crying (well, Rob is whimpering, but I've learned to ignore that!) Later, Rob is making nachos for dinner (I'll have something else) and the girls and I are going to decorate some gingerbread people.

I am wearing... pink slipper socks, grey sweatpants, pink shirt and black quilted jacket -- nice and cozy.

I am creating... so many different things. It's Christmas time, so I'm working on our annual Holiday Haiku, which I should finish up and get in the mail. I'm also doing a lot of writing and putting together my annual Year in Review photo book for the girls birthparents.

I am going ... to take pictures of the girls sledding later on. We have a couple of small hills that are pretty good for 7 year olds to sled on. But again, I remember when I was a kid there was a huge hill way behind our house (on the Boniellos property, maybe?) and we'd tobaggan down it and it would take FOREVER to walk back up again. When you're 12 it's a lot of fun, but I suspect it would NOT be fun now.

I am reading... "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Just started and already love it!

I am hoping... to take a nap this afternoon. Nothing like taking a nap on a snowy afternoon the week before Christmas.

I am praying ... for my friends (and frankly everyone in this situation) who will have a sad Christmas because of the economy or family troubles or tragedies. Hannah and Lizzie and I have been donating toys and other things to families that we know, but prayers help, too, I think.

I am hearing... The girls playing the game while Rob is the ref. The snowfall is getting heavier and the wind is picking up, so I am beginning to hear the blizzard, too.

Around the house... Rob and the girls did some cleaning this morning, so things are looking good. We're all decorated for Christmas and we've got lights up and stockings hung and (for once) Santa brought our tree and decorated it early, so that's looking pretty good, too. I bought a new couch for the living room which makes that room nice and cozy and a great place to sit and watch the snowfall.

One of my favorite things... I have discovered this week that one of my favorite things is (are) my sister in law Ann's chocolate covered marshmallows. I asked her to leave the leftovers from last weekend's party so that I could share them with my Brownie troop on Tuesday. Well, they didn't make it anywhere NEAR Tuesday. They are low in points and a perfect snack for the mid afternoon (mid morning, late night ... well, you get the idea!!) They're yummy. I try to dip stuff in chocolate, but it just never tastes the same.

A few plans for the week ahead... Well, it's Christmas on Friday, so you can imagine that the week ahead is pretty busy. We're supposed to go to Rob's extended family's Christmas party tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure we won't be going to Jersey, thanks to the snow. Then I'm also pretty sure that on Monday the girls will have a two hour delay, which is actually okay because our cable isn't working right so the cable guy is coming Monday morning. Then on Tuesday I've got to finish wrapping and last minute shopping (stocking stuffers) so that on Wednesday I can shop for our Christmas dinner (prime rib is the star of the show) and then help out in Lizzie's classroom for their afternoon Holiday party. I have to make four dozen cookies for Hannah's party at the same time. Then the girls' winter break starts on Thursday and we're going to try and get to the evening Mass before going to Terry's for Christmas Eve Dinner, followed by driving around and looking at Christmas lights. Then it's home to put the Zhu Zhu village together (after girls are sleeping) and to put the American Girl Beds together too. Then somewhere in there is sleep and then getting up to celebrate Christmas. YAY!!! On Saturday and Sunday we're expecting Grandma, Uncle Dude, Aunt Linda and Aunt Tina. So it will be busy, but a lot of fun! Hope your week and holiday are great, too.

Here is a two pictures I am sharing ... In the fall we were invited to my friend Deb's church Harvest Dance and I never blogged about it (intended to ... just got too busy in November!) Anyway, Hannah LOVED every minute of it, made friends with a couple of older girls in the youth group and was just thrilled to be out on the dance floor. Lizzie spent most of the time out in the hallway with Rob, where the two of them avoided the dance floor. The evening was saved for Lizzie when she won the afghan she's wrapped up in in the second photo. So, ultimately, a good time was had by all!

Christmas Concert

Hannah and Lizzie's Christmas concert was this morning. A cute time was had by all! Here's a few of the songs for you to watch while I finish (start) my Christmas cards!!

Family Christmas 2009

The Christmas Season is in full swing at the Rasmussen house. This past weekend we hosted my(Tracy's) family for our annual Christmas party and (I'm pretty sure) a good time was had by all. I know that a good time was had by ME, so that's the most important thing, right?

Anyway, the entire dinner was almost ruined by my refrigerator in the garage which apparently thought it was a freezer and never did defrost my turkey. Unfortunately I didn't discover this until Friday night at around 11:30, so Rob actually drove first to Morgantown to see if the Walmart had any turkeys and then (when all THOSE turkeys were frozen, too) drove all the way in the OTHER direction to the other side of the universe to find a 24-hour Giant store that did have a lovely turkey for me to cook. YAY!! (It was good, too!)

While he was out shopping, I was setting the table. Here's the adult table:

And here's the kids' table. The kids' table had Hannah, Lizzie, Tommy, Brenna, Tracy, T.A. and one adult: Ann. :) The next morning both girls were up EARLY and anxiously awaiting our guests. Hannah was particularly excited and sat in the living room looking out the window for a good hour even though I told her no one was going to be here before 10:30 or so. But she did look pretty while waiting, didn't she? (The flower was her idea): I didn't take a whole lot of pictures before dinner because I was cooking, but I DID get a picture of Grandma making gravy. Let me tell you the entire party was very THANKFUL that I made her do this, because I make terrible watery gravy and my mother does not. Also, Tally (who held this party for about 20 years before she moved to South Carolina and forced the others of us to take over...) told me LATER that I was supposed to have my mom peel the potatoes. So I guess I've begun a NEW tradition:

The girls' iCarly remote was a big hit with Brenna. One of the buttons makes a Boo-ing noise and she hit it whenever anything displeased her:

Tommy and Lizzie sharing a moment, and quite possibly a stomach bug. Lizzie got sick later that afternoon :(

Shelby proudly displays the colored pencils she got in her Christmas cracker (that's where all the crowns come from by the way ... it's another holiday tradition that we wear the crowns for the rest of the afternoon). Casey on the other hand is wondering what the heck was in his Christmas cracker...
Tommy is holding up someone in the family for more presents, with the water pistol he got:

We were all happy to see Shelby, by the way. She came up from North Carolina for the weekend and had to return on Monday to take her last final for the semester.
Rob and Mark checking out their crackers. Mark got a mini-phone book which I'm sure will come in very handy in his retirement, and I have no idea what Rob got. I got a shoe horn, by the way. And T.A. got a pair of tweezers so we did get some VERY useful gifts:
We always celebrate my dad's birthday. He was 79 or 59 this year, depending on whom you asked:

And, of course there's always a sing-along or music or some sort of game going on. In this case Tally is teaching Tommy to play the piano. This is a very Garrity event, since Tally doesn't know how to play the piano, but still thinks she can teach someone else to play. And, she can...

She had Lizzie playing "Chopsticks" like a pro by the end of the party:
Lizzie takes a bow while Aunt Tina - who did NOT learn to play "Chopsticks" watches:Terry played the one song she knows ... some sort of Native American cover:

Small children looking cute: More cuteness. As I scrolled through the pictures I took, I noticed that Tommy did not like looking at me. Ever.

Tina got a defective crown. Or else her head is really, really, really big:

Time to go. Brenna says goodbye:

Ann, Tina and Tommy say goodbye (I shot this through the wreath on the front door):

But before we go, let's take a look at the whole gang (except me, since I didn't have my tripod for a timed picture and didn't want to be in the picture anyway, but will probably photoshop myself in at some point since my mother told me too...):

Thanks to my family for making the weekend so much fun, and I am sorry about the ice storm and traffic you all had to endure on the way home.

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth...

Or... alternatively entitled, why Rob is such a great Dad but not so great a Plumber.

Let's start with Hannah. This is how Hannah looked at about 10 a.m. when her second front tooth finally fell out. We'd been wiggling it for about three weeks, but Hannah refused to let me pull it. This morning she wiggled it enough and became the the poster child for the song, "All I Want for Christmas... is My Two Front Teeth..."

Oh, what a happy day this would have been, if the story had ended there. But it does not end there. At roughly 4 p.m. Hannah, who had been wearing her tooth around her neck in this little tooth-shaped locket, decided that the tooth smelled bad and that she should wash it. As with most things involving Hannah, she didn't tell me she was going to do this. Until the inevitable happened. "MOMMY MOMMY MY TOOTH WENT DOWN THE DRAIN." Here is the offending drain:

I inspected the situation and decided that the Tooth Fairy would have to get the tooth out tonight when she stopped by and we should write her a note and just leave the tooth where it was. Hannah decided that I should take the sink apart and find her tooth. We were at an impasse until her hero, AKA the Tooth Plumber AKA Dad came home from the library and said he would, indeed take the drain apart and rescue the tooth that could well have long since been in the septic tank. (!)

Here is Hannah waiting outside the bathroom door while the Tooth Plumber worked. Yes that's a pink Christmas tree next her her...

While we're waiting to see if the TP can get the tooth, let's take a closer look at this tree. I bought it this year to hang my Lenox gingerbread ornaments on. The pink really sets off the pastels in the ornaments. It's not like I WANTED a pink Christmas tree ... it was just what was warranted by the people at Lenox who chose to decorate the ornaments in pastels....After about 20 minutes, Rob emerged victorious. YAY he had rescued the tooth and had Hannah's undying admiration (which he already had!) and she was thrilled beyond words and decided that she couldn't part with her tooth after all and the tooth fairy should not bother stopping by. So, all was well with the world!

Except it wasn't... in his plumbing work to get the tooth, the Tooth Plumber broke one of the pipes (it's the one he's holding in the picture above). Which needs to be replaced before the sink can be used again. I was going to suggest that the tooth fairy leave him a new pipe in exchange for Hannah's tooth -- I'm helpful that way -- but he was still holding a wrench when I thought of it.And, of course while this was happening inside, THIS was happening outside, making a trip to Lowe's to replace the pipe all the more difficult.

Peace -- if not the pipe -- has been restored. At least until someone runs the water in the sink and the front hall is flooded. But really, what at the chances THAT would happen?

:)

Birthday girls

Hannah and Elizabeth turned 7 last weekend during a weekend-long extravaganza of gifts and cake and lots of delighted screaming.
It all began a year ago when I swore that we were done with birthday parties ... until Hannah and Lizzie asked if they could have JUST ONE MORE. So I did because I am an overly indulgent parent AND I like dolls. And this year's theme was 'bring your favorite doll.' So it was all good.
Lizzie received her new favorite doll the evening before. This is Lizzie meeting Chrissa, her American Girl doll for the first time. She was BEYOND excited because about 15 minutes earlier I had SWORN to her that she wasn't getting this doll for her birthday. Actress that I am, she believed me and was shocked when she opened her gift.Hannah's American Girl doll (whose name this week is Sarah -- a huge step forward because nearly every stuffed animal and doll and fish she has ever owned has been named Hannah...) watched as she opened her gift, the American Girl pet Coconut, complete with his own bath stuff.

Here they all are. The big difference between the dolls is that Lizzie actually plays with hers. Hannah just likes to stare at hers and say, "Isn't she beautiful, Mommy?" Or yell at me because she's convinced that I've played with Sarah while she's been at school because there are two or three hairs out of place. Hannah's more inclined to play now that Lizzie is, but she's still very worried about the state of the doll's hair and clothing.The next day was the girls' actual birthday and birthday party. We invited all the girls in both their classes and just about everyone came. It had the potential to be VERY LOUD but I had come up with the brilliant idea that we'd all watch one of the American Girl movies for 90 minutes of the 2.5 hour party.

Except of course, the girls weren't much interested in the movie. THEY were interested in running around the house, playing tag, screaming, riding the ride-on horse, screaming, eating pizza, screaming and then screaming some more. Here most of them are with their dolls, watching the movie for the 3.75 minutes that they were all sitting there:

Luckily I am flexible, so the movie went off, we had our annual treasure hunt and then everyone headed outside to play. Let me tell you, God was on my side as the temps were in the upper 60s that day which is quite unusual for November. In fact when I checked out my blog last year it snowed the day before the girls' birthday.

This year the girls were separated at school, so I separated their cakes, too, and we had TWO rounds of Happy Birthday. Here's Rob lighting the candles on Hannah's butterfly cake, which is actually a dozen cupcakes that are all frosted together:Hannah getting ready to blow out her candles.

Here is Lizzie blowing out the candles on her cake:

Close-up of Lizzie's cake where you can see the cupcakes. They sell these at my local supermarket and I think they're better than a big cake because each kid gets their own cupcake and you don't have to worry about slicing a cake.

There was much more partying to be done as we celebrated some more on Thanksgiving Day at Grandma Connie's, but I'll post those pictures as part of my blog on our Thanksgiving weekend which, if you're lucky (or not?!) I'll post before Christmas.

Lucky 7

Lizzie, sliding into her future with a smile:

Hannah learning to drive, now that she's seven:

This is last year's birthday post (somewhat updated!), which still sums up how I feel about the birth of my children:

Today Hannah and Elizabeth are 7 years old.

I wasn't there when they were born, but they are as much a part of me as if I had given birth to them and it is more often than not that I actually forget that I didn't. It is, as the girls' birthmom told me once, that she gave them life so that I could give them a life.
And what fun we've had for the past seven years (our Family Day is at the end of January.)
Hannah and Lizzie's journey began seven years ago, born 8 weeks early and weighing four (Hannah) and 3.75 lbs (Lizzie.) They spent the first month of their life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, coming home just in time for Christmas, 2002. I have pictures of them from those first few weeks of life looking small and vulnerable and somewhat like very old men with wrinkled skin and wizened faces.
And even though I wasn't there to rub their tiny backs or offer them a bottle or a snuggle, I admire the courage they had to live and to fight, despite setbacks and problems. Back then Lizzie was diagnosed with cystic encephalomalacia (don't bother looking it up - it's pretty scary and now she's fine) and they thought her hip might have been dislocated during delivery. Hannah did better, but she was still on oxygen for those first few days.
It was their birthparents -- not me -- who snuggled them and fed them and prayed that they'd come home healthy and whole.
I'm grateful that I know that; that they were so well loved in those early days of their lives when they were undoubtedly scared and hurting and new to this world. It's one of the beautiful things about an open adoption.
So today, when they turn seven as the exuberant, curious, spirited duo that they are, I honor their birthparents who loved them into this world and then loved them enough to place them for adoption when they believed they could no longer parent them -- and who continue to love them today.
And Happy Birthday to my beautiful, spirited, funny, smart, drama queeny and sometimes deaf-to-my-requests-t0-clean-up-their-playroom daughters who believe in Daddy's love and Mommy's care and that Santa is going to bring them zhu zhu pets and that the world was created just for them.

May you always feel the love that brought you into this world, as well as the love from Daddy and me, which surrounds you and guides you every day.

Busy

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here ... so busy that I didn't even realize that it's been TWO WEEKS since I blogged. I have actually had to purchase a special wipe-off board just to keep my daily schedule straight. I'm not complaining since the busy-ness includes a new writing project that I've taken on -- but it's seriously cut into my blogging and bejeweled blitzing time.

Another of the reasons I've been so busy is because Rob was away last weekend which meant that I didn't have any time to sit around doing nothing while he's taking the girls for coffee or to the Lowe's. He and his siblings and mom went out to Long Island to see where they spent their formative years. One of the stops though was where I spent MY formative years. Tally, Terry and I (and my parents) lived in this house from 1959 (well Terry didn't live in it until 1960) until we moved to Illinois in 1961. The only memory I have of this house is that there was a fire nearby one day and that I think I remember hearing about it while sitting on on the swingset. I have no idea if we even had a swingset, but I do remember a lot of talk about a fire. Neither of my parents remember much about it either. So here's the house. As you see, Rob didn't get a shot of the plaque that I'm SURE was placed there in honor of my sleeping there as a child...:The girls and I spent much of last weekend tossing out old toys, and trying to find something in good enough shape for a toy swap that my Moms Club had last week. We found a few things that were in good enough shape to swap, but most of the stuff, including much of what you see in the picture below (snapped during a playdate with their pal Georgia!) was tossed. We kept cousin Shelby's dance outfits though because they are still in great shape and fit beautifully and look so darn cute on them, and neither girl could part with shoes (I have no idea where that comes from...) but we also found some dress up stuff to donate (including the hat, below.) In exchange I got some great Barbie accessories and some puzzles that will be in their stockings this Christmas. I got involved in a challenge project over at the Pioneer Woman and had to make a photo book with the them FACES. Culling my thousands of photographs I managed to fill the book. Here's one of my favorites. Obviously I had fun in photoshop making their faces green, too:

I didn't win (didn't expect, too -- more than 900 people entered books) but I did manage to create a book that I liked AND wrote a poem to go with it, so it's all good!)

I've been doing a lot more writing lately, which is good, and I got an urban rebounder (it's a trampoline that you can run and jump on, that has a stabilization bar so I don't fall off) so I can exercise two times a day, in between writing and taking Hannah and Lizzie hither and yon.

Oh, and speaking of them, Hannah is READING. Hallelujah. And she LOVES it. DOUBLE HALLELUJAH!! I knew once she made the connection she'd be a good reader, since she pretends to read books all the time, but I'm very proud that this has turned out to be true.

Finally, here's my most recent favorite picture of the girls. I took it in the spring (when their hair was still long) and thought I might add it to our Christmas cards, but decided to use a different picture, so I'm posting it now for you all to see.