Happy Noon Year!

from the girls and some of their friends...

Christmas weekend

This is the last of three Christmas posts (don't y'all feel like you were actually HERE with us???)

Make sure to read the two posts below this for the FULL Rasmussen Family Christmas Event. I thought I'd begin this blog with a clip of Rob's favorite gift:

The day after Christmas, the OTHER Rasmussens joined us for a do-over of our Holiday Feast. I made enough for about 40 people, so we just put it all out again for everyone to enjoy. The only difference was that I decided not to heat the prime rib again. So here is Rob explaining that each person could microwave their own meat, but that you couldn't use the good china to do it. So, instead, we put a delightful Santa plate on each plate for microwaving. After several questions from the family (very funny, but would lose something in the translation, so suffice it to say that the meat heating instructions were under fire) it was determined that no one, in fact, wanted to heat their prime rib. But, seriously, look at the attention that Rob commands when he's making an announcement: After dinner Lizzie played the piano again. This was a little more nerve-wracking because the Rasmussens actually KNOW how to play the piano. Lizzie did great, though, showing off her incredible ability on the recently learned "Chopsticks."

Uncle Dude taught Lizzie how to play checkers. She's actually pretty good now, although she mostly has to play with Hannah........who is always much more interested in pretty things than, well, just about anything. Here she's showing me how pretty the checkers are. When they were playing together the following day I heard Lizzie say at least 17 times, YOU CAN'T MOVE THAT WAY UNTIL I QUEEN YOU. I think it's actually KINGING, but they were playing with Princess checkers, so maybe Uncle Dude changed the rules.

Here's Lizzie with a whipped cream mustache. I'm happy to say that all of the very fattening pies and cakes are now OUT OF THE HOUSE:

Here I am with Hannah, just to prove that I was in attendance at this party, too, and that my hair looked a lot better than it did on Christmas.Here are the Rasmussens, mostly sitting on my new couch. I love this family and am so happy they were able to make the trip to spend part of Christmas weekend with us. Even if it meant I had to gain 1.5 lbs from eating prime rib two days in a row!!

Christmas Day

This is the second of three (count 'em THREE) Christmas posts, because THAT'S just how busy we've been. Be sure to scroll down to look at the previous one and come back for the next one (because can you EVER get enough Christmas with the Rasmussens??)

First, here's just a little snippet of our not-too-early Christmas morning:

That got us started off right, with lots of squealing and craziness that lasted throughout the day. The zhu zhu pets were a HUGE hit and I'm happy to say that I did not spend an arm and a leg on them ... although I probably would have because they wanted them that much! They are basically mechanical hamsters that run around and make funny noises. Lizzie got Mr. Squiggles and Hannah got Pipsqueak. Only she almost DIDN'T get her zhu zhu because, just like real hamsters, Pipsqueak escaped. You see Mrs. Santa was busy putting the finishing touches on the gift display when to my wondering eyes did DISAPPEAR was Pipsqueak. I had forgotten to turn the zhu zhus off (because they were having so much fun running around their habitat) and somehow Pipsqueak got out through one of the doors and started scooting all over the living room. I couldn't not find him ANYWHERE. I was having flashbacks to my youth when hamsters always mysteriously disappeared in our home (we did have several cats, but I'm not going to think about that now...) Eventually, after much searching and calling (note: zhu zhus can't hear) I did find Pipsqueak jammed up against one of my couches.
Our dear friend Aunt B joined us for dinner and took some time to give both girls a makeover, with a makeup kit given to Hannah by Grandma Connie. Suffice it to say that most of the makeup is used up, but the makeovers were fun.

Here's Hannah, also sporting a pair of earrings that Aunt B made for her:This is where I spent most of the morning. In this picture I am making mashed potatoes while wearing a very unflattering hairstyle and sweater:Of course on Christmas with the Rasmussens, it's all about the prime rib. Which, thankfully, came out perfectly (although I cannot say the same for my gravy). Here's Rob carving:And here's just about everyone getting ready to dig in:

Dinner was roast beef, mashed potatoes, turnips, corn casserole (delicious and made by Aunt B), glop (it's the green bean casserole recipe made with canned asparagus), sweet potato crunch, creamed onions and dinner rolls. Pumpkin pie and French Silk Pie were the desserts. Here's Lizzie digging into the French Silk Pie:

However, my FAVORITE (and there were many from which to choose) part of the day came before dinner when we were all chatting the living room and Rob yells, "WHAT'S THAT GIANT DOG DOING ON THE FRONT PORCH???"

I looked over my shoulder, out the bay windows and saw this:

Now, does that look like a dog to you??? I tell you, Rob spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME growing up at the shore. Anyway, this baby deer (still had some spots on his neck) hung out and ate the bushes right outside our window for a long time, no doubt lured by the reindeer food put out by the girls the night before.

Oh, and as a ADDED bonus, while we were watching the deer eat, he also pooped. Right there in the front yard. That was Hannah and Lizzie's favorite part of Christmas. Seriously, they are still talking about it!!

Christmas Eve!

Let's actually begin with Christmas Eve Eve, shall we? That was the day I volunteered in Lizzie's classroom for her Christmas party. It seemed like a really good idea when I was asked to help out (sometime in early December) but then on the actual day of the party, things just seemed a whole lot more hectic. However, it was something of a Christmas miracle that Lizzie was HAPPY to see me in her classroom. Usually she just ignores me. Or tries to ignore me, which as most of you who know me know, is really futile. Anyway, here she is flashing me a smile before chowing down on her fruit kebab. It's when I see things like this that I feel guilty because all I had to do was show up for an hour and pass out place mats while some other mom spent actual time threading strawberries and gumdrops onto a stick. THAT'S impressive.Lizzie's good time was enhanced because she gets to sit next to her best friend, Keira. I love Keira, too, and don't think it's a coincidence that Keira is actually a lot like Hannah (in the Crazy-Energetic department!) I did take a moment to peak in on Hannah's classroom and found her dancing with HER best friend who is (again, not surprisingly) a lot like Lizzie -- quiet, sweet, etc. They had a great time dancing up a storm at their party:

Although as you can see, Hannah does NOT need a partner to dance up a storm... :)Then, before I knew it, it was Christmas Eve and we were headed to Terry and Ray's house for our annual pizza extravaganza. First, I took the girls to church where we managed to get a seat. I have discovered that you can actually get there pretty close to the start of Mass and still get a seat -- if you sit in the first couple of rows. Since Rob always has us sit up front, I'm used to it, so we got a seat (up front) with no problem. I was not as successful in the parking lot, though, so I had to call Terry and tell her we'd be a bit late because I was unstrategically parked for a quick getaway. Rob went to Midnight Mass. I have no idea where he sat. Here are the girls chillin' with Shelby and her iPhone:

And here's everyone checking out Terry and Ray's Christmas Tree: After we left their house we took a quick trip around town looking at people's Christmas lights. The girls BOTH wanted to get home and go to bed though, since they knew Santa wasn't going to come until they were sound asleep. The really really good news is that they were both sound asleep about 5 minutes after they lay down. This is really really good news because I had MUCH wrapping and building to do. I constructed two American Girl Doll beds and an entire zhu zhu pet village. Plus wrapped everything I hadn't yet wrapped, which was just about everything! Oh, but before they went to bed, we made sure to toss out some food for the reindeer:

Visions of sugarplums dancing in her head?

I'll post about our Christmas Day, next. Stay tuned!!

Ginger peachy

First, some business: Happy birthday to this guy who may or may not be 79 years old today. In fact, he may be 59. Or 63. I've never quite understood the math.
We called and sang his answering machine Happy Birthday, but wanted to put it on the blog, too, just in case.
Happy Birthday Dad!!

And also, I need to announce that we are flabbergasted very proud that THIS little girl was named the French Creek Citizen of the Month for her class. The award is given to the child who shows kindness and compassion to his or her fellow students. And who always tries to be helpful. And who, occasionally I guess, gets in a lot of trouble for annoying her fellow students by laughing uproariously or bursting into song or quoting iCarly episodes...

Whatever the reason, we're very proud of our Hannah Banana. So, what did YOU do this weekend? This is Lizzie getting caught in the act of snooping around the Christmas gifts that I left temptingly under the tree.Earlier in the day we had decided to pass some of the time by making gingerbread men lollipops. It was a Wilton kit that I picked up on sale at my home-away-from-home, Michaels. Lizzie was completely into it and worked very hard on each of her five pops to make them look different.Hannah, on the other hand, just threw a bunch of sprinkles onto the frosting and called it a day. She was done in about 5 minutes, while Lizzie worked for a good half hour. They both had a great time, though!

Here are some of Lizzie's creations:

Here are all the finished pops. Hannah's are the more minimalist creations on the right: They both were MOST interested in eating them, though, so this was there reaction when I told them they had to wait for snack time later in the afternoon:

But then I told them I was just kidding and could eat one (or two) right away. It was a fun project and, once again, reminded me how different they are and how much I enjoy doing crafts and cooking projects with them. I do have to say that I thought the finished product tasted pretty terrible -- but I guess it's different when you're seven!

Oh, and in case you didn't know, Hannah and Liz would like to remind you that TOMORROW IS CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

SN09!!

We supposedly had a blizzard here yesterday. I don't exactly think it was a blizzard, but we did end up with about a foot of snow. This is what it looked like on Saturday night:

This was the front yard after about 12 hours of snow ... I love the way the candles are burning (thanks to electricity, which we did NOT lose -- yay!) as it makes the house look so cozy.

The next morning (Sunday) it was all over except for the snow-blowing. That's Rob behind that plume of snow. One of the smartest things we did was to purchase the snow blower from the guy who sold us this house. We don't need it that often, but when we do it's very helpful (although I wouldn't be shoveling anyway, so I guess I should say ROB doesn't need it that often...)

The next day Hannah and Liz went out to play. Lizzie discovered on Saturday that she doesn't much LIKE the cold so she was only outside for about 10 minutes, allowing me to snap ONE photo of her outside. Here it is ... love the hat, don't you? Then she became INDOOR girl, watching the snow from the warmth of our living room:
She poked her head out the front door once in a while just to yell something to Hannah who was having a BLAST in the snow:
Here are some pictures of Hannah having fun in the snow ... she NEVER complained about the cold or being too wet from the snow or anything:
She just loved being outside and getting rosy cheeks:Running around the yard, up and down the hills...By the stream...

And occasionally checking in with her sister:

And here are just some scenic shots from our yard. First is our house in snow:Close-up of my welcome sign:

Swing set in snow ... Lizzie said it looked like the swings were holding sausages!

Check back tomorrow as we spent Saturday afternoon decorating gingerbread men/pops and I've got some pictures of that, too. Aren't I spoiling you all the week before Christmas??