Family Day

Do you remember what you were doing on January 29, 2003? I do. I was driving down to Delaware in a sleety, slushy snowstorm to begin my new life as Mommy to Hannah and Elizabeth. Rob had some banking to take care of, so I drove down by myself because I didn't want to be late for what was going to be the most important day of my life.

Here I am at Adoptions from the Heart, holding Hannah. Clearly I was in such a rush I had no time to do anything with my hair... Do I look scared? Well, I was. And some days I still am. Being a Mom has changed my life in ways that I expected: lack of sleep, lots of laughs, lots of yelling, and, did I mention lack of sleep? But it also changed in ways that I never could have imagined. I've had to answer questions I'd never even thought to ask in my lifetime (do bugs mind when we squish them?) and I've had to heal hurts that broke my heart, too (Charlie says I'm weird, am I?)

I've called poison control (twice in one day) and sat at my child's side in the ER while doctors tried to clear her lungs of infection. I've held a hand as a leg cast was applied. I've danced the snoopy dance when a penny was pooped out just days before surgery was scheduled to remove it. I've taken punches and bites and kicks from angry little girls who really really really wanted to jump on the furniture, spin around in the dryer, eat three bags of potato chips or go get the mail stark naked. I've kissed boo-boos and removed splinters and coaxed a tick out of a belly button. I've been puked on, cried on, peed on and pooped on.

And I've also been loved and loved more unconditionally than I thought possible. In the span of 24 hours I went from being a peace-loving-let's-talk-it-out pacifist to someone who now would carry and use a gun to protect my family, if I wasn't worried that I'd shoot myself. I know my children's shortcomings but they are instantly forgiven. I revel in my daughters successes and weep at their struggles. I worry for them, about them and because of them. I want to fix the world for them and make them want to grow into people who will actually be able to fix it.

I'm almost a morning person.

I only barely remember what the 44 years before being a Mom were like. I'm sure there were good times. I'm sure there was love lost and gained, dinners out, evenings in, parties and food and conversations that did not include the words poop, Elmo or because-I-said-so.

But now I can't imagine a life without these Mom experiences. Being a Mom has forced me to live outside myself, and, you know, I kind of like the scenery out here.

And it all started seven years ago with these two little bundles (Hannah on the left). This picture was taken on our first day as a family. We were in a hotel room in Delaware and I just put them together on a boppy and stared at them until they woke up. They were then, and continue to be, the most beautiful thing on the landscape of my life.
And here they are six months later, just before their "Welcome to the Family" party, that we celebrated right after they were baptized:

And this past summer at the Jersey Shore, obeying me without argument ... ...when I told them not to get their clothes wet in the ocean.
I love my family. :)

Simple Woman's Daybook

For January 21

Outside my window... it's deceptively sunny and I can hear birds singing and it really looks and sounds like spring. Luckily I know from going to the bus stop this morning that it is NOT spring so I will still wear my winter jacket and gloves when I go out this afternoon.

I am thinking... about all the Girl Scout cookies in my dining room and that I am NOT going to eat them. Not even the lemonades which are brutally delicious. Please buy them so I won't be tempted.

I am thankful ... for the outpouring of help to the people of Haiti. I've got two blogger friends who both adopted from Haiti and I've been supporting their charities long before the earthquake hit and I continue to do so. Haiti was the poorest country in this part of the world before the earthquake and, as I'm sure you all know, the devastation was beyond comprehension. Please don't forget the people of Haiti in your prayers and in your giving even after the story has fallen from the front pages. Here are two charities that are helping. The first is http://www.heartlineministries.org/ and that's the group I've been helping to support. I've also supported http://www.islandimpact.net/ which was founded by a friend of my sister Terry. Both are in need of your prayers.

From the kitchen... leftover spaghetti for lunch and some weight watchers brownies for a snack. The brownies are made from brownie mix and Fiber One cereal and are pretty tasty if you don't expect them to actually taste like a brownie!

I am wearing... green shirt with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania logo (did I mention we're selling girl scout cookies??) black leggings and brown socks that don't match the outfit, but are WARM!

I am creating... I just wrote a story about the country singer Trace Adkins (real name is Tracy) and am doing some web content writing in a few minutes. Earlier this month I completed our Year in Review photo book that I send to the girls' birthfamily. I keep a copy for us, too, as it really is a nice way to remember the year.

I am going ... to have coffee with my friend Amy in about an hour. YAY!!! I love my friend Amy and I love her house, too. She's got a huge wood stove that provides warmth that is only matched by her warm personality and THE BEST COFFEE I've ever had. I cherish these coffee dates with Amy (and there's usually a few other friends there, too) and only wish we had more time to spend together. I really hate it when work and child-rearing interferes with your social life, don't you???

I am reading... "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Just started it and it's already very good. I'm thinking of suggesting it for my book club's April selection. I also got a subscription to Weight Watchers magazine that I am really enjoying. For those of you who don't know, you can get very inexpensive subscriptions on ebay. I got three years of Weight Watchers for under $10.

I am hoping... that Hannah's benchmark testing goes well. She's doing really really well with her reading, but we're still (all) struggling with math. Which I think is overrated anyway. Let the calculators worry about the math, I say.

I am praying ... for the people of Haiti, of course. And for the friends in my own circle who are struggling with their personal demons. God is holding you all close, as am I.

I am hearing... Bruce Springsteen singing "The Rising" on my iTunes (set on the computer.) Love BRUUUUUUUCE.

Around the house... well I could lie and say things are just peachy but that would be, well, a LIE. I've got to get on a better cleaning routine. Before you all suggest the Fly Lady, I TRIED her, but began to refer to her as the Fly Nazi because of all those bossy emails. Oh, I did buy a rug for the living room, so if you visit be sure to take a look at it. I've still got to get a table for that room and then (I think, but maybe not) it will be done.

One of my favorite things... is going to church. I know. I'm surprised, too. But I really love the quiet, the contemplation, the feelings of nostalgia that I have from my youth at church with my family, and the fact that all four of us are there together. And no one is hitting anyone (usually.)

A few plans for the week ahead... Coffee with Amy, dance class, lots of work, lots of interviews, CCD, Brownies on Saturday (special meeting at my house), a cruise out to the Dunkin' Donuts on Sunday -- in other words, the usual!

A picture I am sharing ... the girls and I are working on their cooking skills. Here's a picture of them with eggs that they cracked and scrambled. (I'm still having blogger picture issues, but hopefully this will come out fine!)


You can see other daybooks at www.thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

This and That

Ooops ... I wrote this blog and then left it to edit a couple of photos and then never got back here to post it. So, imagine yourself being whisked back to January 14...

I've been too cold to blog. Seriously. Did Global Warming take a vacation or something???

So, since it's been so long since I've updated you, this is going to be a round-up post about all the fascinating things that happen here at The Raz Report.

* Hannah has almost entirely memorized the Our Father. She says: Our Father who aren't in heaven, hello be my name... but you know, I kind of like that version better...

* Lizzie was working on her homework the other day and I was helping her. She was beginning a new sentence and I told her to write a capital I and she said, "Mom, I've been writing sentences for a long time..."

* It's Girl Scout Cookie Time. We were all at the Cookie Rally last week and had a great time. Each troop was supposed to do something with either cookies or the frog theme, Leap to Lead. So I made each girl this pin:

The pins are frog faces that are wearing mortar boards onto which I wrote "Brownies are SMART cookies" and each frog is eating a chocolate chip cookie (which the girl scouts don't sell by the way -- I don't want to get your hopes up!) The girls had a great time at the rally and so far, at least around here, the sales are going well. I already need to replenish my stash of Thanks A Lots...

* I've saved the best for last. Lizzie FINALLY LOST A TOOTH!! Can I get an AMEN?? She was (she told me and I believed her) the last kid in the whole school including the kindergarteners, to lose a tooth:

Sorry for the bloody chin ... I'm must keeping it real! :) Actually the tooth was very wiggly but didn't want to come out so Lizzie had me yank it out -- THAT'S how anxious she was to have the tooth out. Now she's got two others to wiggle, so she'll be caught up to Hannah (who has lost four and has three already grown back in) in no time.

I'll post more in a couple of days. I have pictures from a friend's birthday party that are adorable, but blogger is not letting me post pictures without a huge problem today so I'm going to give it a Time Out and come back later when it's in a better mood.

2009 in Review

Ten Things I Learned in 2009:

2009 was a good year around here, even with some of the ups and downs. Here's a list of some of the things I learned.

1) Gallbladders are not really necessary. Nor do they weigh anything. I was happy to learn the first; not so much the second.

2) The second row of church is really the first row of church because no one sits in the front row at 8 a.m. Mass.

3) Parenting twins does not get easier. It changes. But it never gets easier.

4) Parenting in general does not get easier. It changes. But it never gets easier.

5) Getting your children to read means that you can no longer spell secrets to your spouse at the dinner table.

6) 7 a.m. is really a whole lot earlier than 8 a.m. And more annoying.

7) When you have a cane, even old people offer to take your cart back up to the store. Sometimes they even wait while you unload your groceries.

8) Being able to swim in water that is not over your head, is not the same as being able to swim in water that IS over your head.

9) My children think I sit around and watch iCarly when they are not home. They are wrong. I watch soap operas.

10) I am not smarter than a fifth grader. Or, it would seem, a first grader. Especially first grade math.

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!!