Christmas Day

We got to spend a quiet Christmas Eve at home with Aunt Holly and the kids opened up their stockings and then Christmas morning they opened their gifts from us. We had a great breakfast and then spent the day until 3 playing with all the new toys!! Grandma Leasure got the kids a "50's Diner" which turned out to be the hit of the day. It came with lots of fun features and Aunt Cathi sent an apron and lots of fun food. At 3 the family all came over for soup and sandwiches and the kids opened more gifts. What a crazy, fun loud day. My children are very blessed and we are so thankful for the family that we have to celebrate with. Here are pictures of the two days. Enjoy!!

A quieter birthday for brother...

With all of the princess party excitement at our house this year, it would seem that our little boy turning one was overshadowed. Not true!! We did celebrate his birthday today. We were just a little less over-the top about it :)! A little cupcake, a toy to open and he was more than happy with his birthday celebration today. And his momma is caught up in one of those bittersweet moments of remembering --my sweet 8lb boy, born after 30 hours of labor is now over 22 lbs and walking all over the house!! How short a year is! I just know that I will blink and he will be off to school. All the more reason to enjoy each moment of him--sloppy kisses and sweet hugs, mischievious little grins and sturdy little legs. He is a blessing to be sure. We couldn't be more thankful for him. A shout out to our favorite aunt Cathi who gave up month of her life last year to come help us wait for his birth ( and a huge thanks to grandma who watched her kids) and who now fittingly shares his birthday. Happy Birthday Aunt Cathi!!! And Happy Birthday sweet Rylan James!! Love-- your mom.

PRINCESS PARTY

Morgan Paige had her very first big-girl birthday party yesterday. Six of her friends came over to celebrate with her and my, what a pink princess day it was! We started out by having the girls hunt through the house for all of their princess accessories (necklaces, rings and crowns). Once in the proper princess attire, we had them play some games and color some princess pictures. Next we had them decorate their own cupcakes with sprinkles, decorating gel, and princess toppers. Then we lit the candles and let Morgan blow them out while we sang to her. The gift-opening was hilarious with all six girls "helping" Morgan open everything. She got a remote controlled pony, a "MyLittle Pet Shop" house, a mermaid Barbie, a princess computer, a princess memory-game and a cool princess art set with big-girl scissors (note to self: remove the scissors!). That was all in addition to the huge package that her grandma got her which included a beautiful green dress and a doll. Whew! So our little four-year-old princess had a wonderfully blessed but exhausting day.

This is Aunt Holly confiscating the blog for a moment. I was also invited to the party and have to say that it was the prettiest, pink princess party on the planet! I have never seen so much pink in all my life. Morgan Paige is one loved little girl! She had 6 friends, 2 Aunt Hollys and mom and dad in attendance. Oh, and two little princes. It was a great party!

p.s. For those of you who's children returned home with face paint, my apologies. (Note: "1/2 cup of salt, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and a loofah! Scrub, scrub, scrub!")

p.s.s Purple is still the best color! :)

K.I.S.S.

The holidays are almost here and I have to say that my anxiety level doubles just thinking about it all--shopping for gifts and cooking and cleaning and hosting and rehearsing and wrapping and baking and the list goes on and on. Today, I was watching Morgan playing with her $4 container of beads and some free carpet samples from Menards and it occurred to me that the solution for my anxiety was to approach this holiday season like she approaches playing--simply. I remember my dad telling me about the KISS principle a long time ago (Keep It Simple Stupid!) and I am going to try to make that my mantra for the next few months. It doesn't have to be expensive or fancy or complicated to be enjoyable. Couldn't I stand to spend a little less and scurry around a little less this season? Yes I could! Wouldn't I have more time to focus on the true meaning of it all? Yes I would! So this year I will strive to be simpler and calmer and more thoughtful in all of the chaos. I will post this as a reminder to myself to do just that!!

Discoveries

This week we got to go to the Discovery Center in Rockford with Morgan's two friends--Laynee and Lainy. It was such a fun place for kids. The girls spent the most time in the pretend house and grocery store but they had lots of other displays that we visited also. Note to Shea and Tenley and Devan--next time you come, we will go there!!!!

Small Boy Walking....

Wanna see Rylan's newest trick? Yep, walking like a big boy. He walks half of the time and crawls the rest. Where does the time go?? This time last year we were just anticipating his arrival and now he walks around on his own two feet.....Sorry the video isn't super great quality, I have been trying to get the perfect footage of him taking steps but I finally gave up and just settled for this. You will still get the picture....Enjoy!!

I know, I know....

Okay--sorry that it has been so long between posts. Some of you are complaining loudly about the lack of pictures and updates. What can I say? Moving with two small children and still carrying on with all the normal busyness has left me little time to post. But, I promise to put up some video of the baby walking and Halloween costumes, etc etc as soon as I can.

New House

We are in the process of moving this week so here is some video of the new place. We cannot wait to get some color on the walls but we are thankful that the house is in such good shape after being vacant for a while.

Happy Birthday Tenley!!!

Morgan is wishing our favorite five-year-old girl a very happy birthday!!!!

Bye for now Grandma..

My grandmother, Ruby Jewel Russell died on Saturday after a long struggle with health issues. My children will not have memories of her so I will dedicate this post to her and share a few of the memories I have of her.
--She had a really funny laugh. My mom has the same laugh. I have a very vivid memory of the two of them getting tickled about something and laughing so hard they cried and couldn't breathe.
--My grandma got up every morning between 4 and 5, read her bible and prayed. Her family was always assured of her prayers for them.
--She was a die-hard coffee drinker. Her house was always full of the smell of fresh-bewed coffee.
--She used this lotion called Rose-milk lotion. Not even sure you can still buy it but I remember the smell of it pretty vividly.
--She took a lot of pride in being a wife. Every day, no matter how bad she felt, she got up, got dressed and did her hair and makeup. She believed that part of being a good wife was making yourself look nice for your husband.
--She embroidered beautiful dish towels and linens. I still have some of the tea towels and pillow cases that she gave me for my wedding.
---She always hugged and kissed us when we would leave from visiting her and we always stood in a circle and held hands and prayed for safe travel before we left her house.
---She loved her church, loved to go to tent meetings that they held every year. Assembly of s God folks know how to do some serious church. We are talking all day services people!!
---She was ill a lot during her lifetime, had lots of surgeries and lots of hospital stays but she used those times to tell the nurses and doctors about her faith in God.
Those are just a few memories that I have of her. She was a God-fearing woman that lived a life worth remembering. I am thankful for her legacy of faith. To my grandpa who lost his sweetheart, my mom and uncle who lost their mama, my cousins who lost their grandma--I pray for us all in our sorrow but we have heaven to look forward to where she is happy and whole and praising God!! Until then...

Happy Birthday Aunt Sheri

Dear Aunt Sheri--we love you and miss you. Hope your birthday was great!

Weekend Away

My sister Holly invited me to come to Aurora and do a five mile walk for women's health that her company (Delnor) sponsors. So Saturday I packed up the kids and drove down to spend the night with her. We took the kids to a park and had a picnic when we got there that night and then had a "sleepover" as Morgan calls it. Sunday morning we left at 8 and drove to the park. The walk started at 8:30 and we made the mistake of starting at the back of the crowd. We were thinking that we would be slow with the stroller but actually we ended up passing people constantly. Morgan had a rough start and did not want to sit in the stroller so I ended up carrying her for a little ways before I convinced her to sit in the stroller and watch her princess movie on the DVD player. The baby did fine, went to sleep about mile 2 and slept the rest of the way. We finished in about an hour and a half and then went back to Holly's for lunch and then we took the kids swimming at a really cool indoor place near Holly's. I am posting some video of both kids so you can see them in action. What a fun but tiring day!!

Go Cubbies...

Morgan was old enough to start with the Awana program at church so she is now the cutest "cubbie" around! It is a great program that helps kids learn about God in a variety of ways. Every week they memorize verses, play games, have story and craft time and every few weeks they earn badges. The material that they send home for parents is awesome!! It helps us to reinforce at home all that they are learning each week. We have really had great conversations with Morgan about where God lives, all that He has created, etc.. A truly great program!

BUSY DAYS AHEAD...

We made an offer on a house last week and we got the word today that it has been accepted so it looks like the Rasmussens are moving! Yay...and then not so yay as we look around at all of the work to be done to list this house and pack everything up!! My brain is spinning! And of course, life goes on. Kids still need to be able to play and make a mess, meals still have to be made, all the normal has to continue on. Anyone reading this need a 3 + bedroom two story house? Its been a great house for us. We have done lots of work to it and we have made lots of great memories here. The baby will of course adjust fine to new surroundings. Morgan, however, will be a tougher sell. She is pretty sure that she likes her life just fine the way it is thank-you-very-much!! Promises of a fun new room. etc are not working so we have some challenges ahead to convince her that this is a good thing. Can't say I blame her. Change is hard, even good change!! That's is all for now. We will post pictures of the new place soon!!

Running with the pack....

Last year for Christmas, Aunt Holly bought baby Ry a special jersey. A lot can happen in a year and though we know that the story has changed ,we put this on Rylan to honor all those die-hard fans out there that choose to remember the Packers the way they were!!! :) Here is to number 4!!!!

Road Trip..

it has taken me this long to unpack and to find the camera after our first road trip last weekend. Yep, you heard right, the Rasmussens actually went somewhere..all of us....together!! We left friday night and headed to Hudson WI to see some good friends that used to live here in Beloit. They showed us an awesome time and we are looking forward to going back sometime to see and do more up there. It is beautiful up there, so many hills and green trees. Our frinds live right next to Willow State Park where we captured some pictures of a really impressive waterfall.

We also went to a great beach, the outdoor theater where we saw Wall-E and just hung out with our friends. Morgan loved the fact that there was a bunny and a kitty and TWO doggies to play with . She carried the bunny around non-stop until we had to intervene and give the poor thing a break. All in all the kids did great, though Rylan had a hard time in the car. We are hoping to make another trip by Christmas to go to the Mall of America. Thanks Stack and Lori and Lacey and Lilly for such a great time!!

Kids at the park

It was a great day yesterday to be a kid at the park! The weather was perfect for being outside so we took advantage of it and went to our favorite park. Morgan and Lainy played on the playground and threw rocks in the creek before we had a picnic. We are all too aware that these perfect summer days are coming to an end so we are trying to enjoy them.

Sister baby..

I had an interesting conversation with Morgan today that went something like this:
M: Mom, I want a sister baby.
Me: What do you mean, honey?
M: A sister baby! I want a sister baby.
Me: (still slow and not getting it) What do you mean, the cartoon about the baby?
M: (clearly aggravated at my lack of understanding) No, mom, you know, a sister baby!!!
Me: Oh,.. you mean like a baby sister...uhhhh well, God gave you a baby brother instead.
M: (looking at Ry with clear disdain) But I don't want him!

Had to laugh at that one. She was clearly disgusted with my answer that she probably was not going to get a "sister baby" no matter how many times she asked me "but please mama"!. Got to love the mind of a three-year-old! Got to be honest with myself too, as I realize that lately I have been less than thrilled with what God has given me and looking to get something else that seems better....so please forgive me Lord and ignore my "But God please"..I will be happy with exactly what I have.

What a week...

The kids have had a tough week and a half with illness and being away from home as I have had to work at the shop all week. Rylan got a fever last Thursday and ran it until Tuesday of this week...no other symptoms, just fever and obvious misery. I know that his front teeth are coming in so I am assuming it is related to that. Poor thing...and poor mama who has been up every night with him for so many nights in a row!! This week our office manager is on vacation which means I am at work all week. Thank goodness for help from my sister and a really good friend and grandma!! No daycare for these babies!! We are looking forward to the weekend. I will try to post pictures from the week when I can get my house and life back in order. Hats off to women everywhere who work full-time outside of the home...do not know how you all do it!!!!

Sandy Boy...

The kids have spent a lot of time this summer out in the sandbox. Morgan loves to construct and Rylan loves to destruct :)! Here is a shot of him playing in the sandbox and no your eyes are not deceiving you, the sand really is purple!!

Did you notice...

Sorry, I have just noticed that the 's' on my keyboard is not working well, hence the typos in the above posts...I will try to be a better proofreader!

Grandma came to see us..

My mom came from Colorado in July and stayed for a few weeks. The kid really enjoyed seeing her and we sure do miss her now that she is back home. Here is a video of the kids playing with "Granny" .

We Mis You Aunt Sheri...

We are sending out a "hello" to Aunt Sheri (seen here with Aunt Holly) all the way over in Mozambique.. we love you and miss you lots!