Halloween Preview

She finally picked a costume! Madison will be trick-or-treating as Jasmine from the Disney movie Aladin. Here she is trying it on.



McKenzie is going as a fairy, compliments of Auntie Julie's birthday box of dress up clothes.

Kim isn't a big fan of Halloween and I will be out of town for the big event, so HUGE thank yous to Sarah for agreeing to take Maddie, McKenzie, and Emery trick-or-treating while Kim and Stacey hand out candy.

I will be with my clients, who are the members of MCC of the Rockies in Denver, aboard the Carnival Celebration sailing from Jacksonville, Fl. I am so excited that Mom is coming with me on this cruise and we will be dressing up as a Nun (Mom) and the Pope (me). If you had seen the costume for the devil I considered wearing for just a brief moment, you'll undertsand why I went with the Pope!

Good Bye Mt Sinai

Friday marked Maddie and McKenzie's last day at Mt. Sinai Christian Academy. I was sad. I still am. McKenzie has only been there since April, but this is the only child care facility Maddie knows. I thought she would be sad to leave her friends, but she seems unaffected thus far. Kim and I have been very emotional about the change to the new school. We feel so much a part of the Mt. Sinai family and I will NEVER forget the ladies who helped us be better mothers to Maddie and McKenzie. I know there are exciting times ahead for our family, but for now, we pay tribute to the school we've loved for four years. And we will certainly never forget the Mt. Sinai cheer!

Sly and the Family Stone

Kim went to work for Emerson Academy in September. The child development center is owned by our very good friends, Sarah and Stacey. Their daughter, Emery, is Maddie's best friend. Making this change in career has been such a blessing to Kim. She is a different person! She enjoys the peolpe she works with every day, she comes home tired and accommplished, and she has fun. It has been wonderful! The school officially opens on 10/15 and Kim is excited. The school will cater to special needs children since both Sarah and Stacey have a background in special education.

The school itself is incredibly unique. There are animals out back, including 2 goats (1 is pregnant with twins), 2 bunnies, and 3 miniature horses. Until today, there was also a miniature donkey named Sylvester. Kim fell in love with Sylvester. And Sylvester fell in love with Kim. In many cultures, they would be considered married.

Sylvester, however, seems to like only Kim. He has twice attacked the goats with fairly serious results. Sarah and Stacey decided he was too agressive and sold him to a sweet family out in the country. We went by the school this morning to say good-bye. Here are the first and last looks at Kim's donkey - Sylvester.

We're Moving on Up!

We are so excited to share the news with our peeps! We are buying a new house in Round Rock! Kim bought the house we live in now in December 1999. I moved in a few months later. It was the perfect house for 2 people and 2 dogs. We began to outgrow the house when Baby #1 came along with all of her baby stuff. Now that we have Baby #2, we are on top of each other!

The new house is in a golf course community. We stumbled upon the spec house (Ryland Homes) by accident. The house is less than 1/4 of a mile from Emerson Academy, where Kim is now working and the girls will be attending in 2 weeks. The house is on a cul-de-sac with great neighbors. There are several children on the block and many non-white faces. The house is more than double our square footage and we can hardly wait to move in! Of course, we have to sell the home we're in first. Keep your fingers crossed!

We can't wait for all of you to come for a visit. There is plenty of room now! The new address will be 107 Hal Sutton Cove. Though I'm not crazy about the street name (golfer), I love nearly everything about the house. Everyone will have their own room, including Nanny when she comes for visits. I have a beautiful office and the girls have a game room/play room like nothing I have ever seen. Kim has the kitchen of her dreams and we are both drooling over the amount of storage in the house (we have none where we are!). If all goes well, we will move in next month. I promise to take more pictures. For now, here is the outside of the house.



FYI - We had our current home painted in August. For nearly 8 years, I have lived in a brown house. Now it is green. We're meeting with the paint people about changing the brown door and shutters to rust.

The M & M Comedy Hour

I love my children so much. They continue to crack me up daily. Here are some of the funnier moments:

We went to dinner with some friends the other night. They have a very precocious four year old, Emery, who is my daughter’s best friend. We are eating Chinese food around a large round table. Emery’s mother, Sarah, is pregnant so there has been a lot of talk about babies and where babies come from. Without any warning, Madison asks the question not yet asked, “How did that baby get in Ms. Sarah’s tummy?” The table goes silent. This is it. This is the moment we’ve been practicing for. It’s the sex talk for a four year old in a Chinese restaurant with a lot of people close by. Before I could think what to say, Emery says, “That is an excellent question Madison!” She actually folds her hands in front of her face and continues, “You see, there is a sperm and an egg. The two come together and do this dance and then the baby is made. You have to have an egg and you have to have a sperm. You can’t just have an egg or just have a sperm. And that is how a baby is made inside Mommy’s tummy.”

Total and complete silence prevails.

Madison rolls this explanation around in her brain a minute, while she chews on some cantaloupe.

“No, that’s not how it works” she says.

“Yes, it is” says Emery.

“No, it really isn’t. You see if the mommy swallows a black watermelon seed, she has a black baby and if she swallows a white watermelon seed, she gets a white baby. You see to get to your tummy, you go through the mouth.”

The total and complete silence is now broken by the hysterical laughter of the older couple at the next table. Fortunately, we began breathing again at this exact moment.

Check, please!

McKenzie Turns 2

Yesterday was a wonderful day! My new baby turned 2! I have always been one to celebrate birthdays and to make a big deal about the day anyone was born. Of course, I have no way of knowing what McKenzie's first birthday was like and I never will. I don't know if there was a cake or a party or a celebration of any kind. So I felt a little pressure (from myself) to make this one great because the Lord knows how much I love this baby!

We reserved the pavillion at a neighborhood pool for the party. McKenzie loves to swim and this is the place where she has the most fun. She hasn't made many friends in the four months since she arrived, so we invited Maddie's friends and some family friends to help with the celebration. We asked our friends not to bring any gifts since our family has been so blessed with toys and clothes. We just wanted them to have fun with us! The one exception to this rule were the grandparents. So, we opened presents on Saturday morning with just the four of us. Nanny and Pa (my parents) sent McKenzie an aquadoodle, which was the hit of the day. (I highly recommend this gift for any two year old or four year old). Grandma Rasmus (Kim's mom) gave McKenzie a Little People house complete with a doorbell and toilet. The girls have had a ball playing with the little people in this kid-friendly, plastic encased doll house.

Here are Maddie and Mama playing with McKenzie's aquadoodle.



After opening presents, I took Madison to dance class and McKenzie accompanied Kim to Wal-Mart to pick up the cake. It was only a few days ago that McKenzie began expressing a real interest in Elmo, so we found this cake design at Wal-Mart that is actually 24 cupcakes placed together to make Elmo's head. It was so cute! After dance and some lunch, we took a super quick nap and then it was off to the pool. McKenzie went down for her nap with no problem, but Maddie has trouble really committing to the nap.



The pool party was fun, that is for sure. It was incredibly hot and we were fortunate that Tropical Depression Erin passed over the night before, so we were left with merely humidity and not down pours. A kind, or perhaps forgetful, soul left 4 giant, inflatable sharks at the pool for our kids to enjoy. They were a huge hit!



The Elmo cake was fun, though neither of us really thought through the red icing. The red icing made EVERYTHING red, including teeth, tongues, fingers, my shirt, etc. I was concerned at first about the mess, but then I thought, what the hell. You only turn two once! So we let her lose! For any of those reading this blog who haven't had the opportunity to meet McKenzie, you must know her love of food. She needs to experience her food - the smell, the taste, and more often than not the feel. It was a riot!



It was a great day and Madison cried when her friends had to leave. Many of these children have been together in day care since they were a year old. Now, they are starting to go their separate wasy. It was great to be together again and I asked the children to perform their school song. We call it a Mt. Sinai Christian Academy Reunion!

Put the Lime in the Coconut

Did you know Maddie loves to eat limes? Yep. Lemons too. I don't know why, but she loves them! She always has. As a matter of fact, every kid we've ever had loved the lemon from my tea. Kim was cooking dinner the other night and needed to squeeze the juice of several limes into the dish. Maddie was more than happy to polish off the rest. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't even put them down to go to the bathroom!

Barbie Jeep

Kim and I have been wanting to get a riding toy for the girls for a while now. So, yesterday Kim finds an ad from a local family needing to sell a Barbie Jeep since their kids have outgrown it. Off Kim goes to get the Jeep and she stayed outside with Maddie until it was dark last night, teaching her how to drive. Maybe you can understand now what I mean when I say Maddie loves McKenzie so much it hurts sometimes!

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The Wonder Twins

Yes, here they are - Madison and McKenzie - the Wonder Twins! We are waiting for them to activate any time now. Perhaps they will each take the form of something quiet. Probably not. Our family is remembering the Terrible Twos as McKenzie perfects her use of the word No. The last few days have been rather challenging, but that will change in an hour or two. I just told Mom how much I love my babies. She said, "Now Amy you were just complaining about fighting and temper tantrums yesterday." Welcome to Parenthood! My feelings change on the dime!

Seafood Dinner

My favorite part of going to any beach is to find a great place to eat seafood. On the first night of the mini vacation, we went to a place that was advertised on the highway. While I enjoyed my meal, Kim did not, so we won't go back. The highlight of the evening was definitely watching Maddie discover the lobster tank. She eventually caught onto our watching her, but it's still funny. Enjoy!

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Weekend in Galveston

Finally, the clouds parted and the sun came out for about an hour. Given how long it takes to load the car with beach gear, we decided to get in the pool. Maddie took swim lessons last summer and loves the water. Kim worked on diving this particular weekend. Kim is so good with kids in the water. It is in these situations that I get to know who her dad was, who passed away before I came along. She is so patient and gentle. McKenzie is a true water baby. She loves putting her face in the water. She holds her breath beautifully and submerges her entire head. It's amazing! McKenzie began copying the diving lessons and did her own thing off the step into the pool. Very funny!

Moody Gardens

Well, it's raining again. It has been raining for weeks. We took the girls to Galveston on July 5 to have a mini vacation. I had to be there for business, so the family came with me. We had hoped the rain would stop long enough to play on the beach, but it didn't. Instead, we spent a day at Moody Gardens. I don't know the complete story behind Mooday Gardens, but I can tell you it is huge. Within a huge pyramid, there was a rain forest. In another pyramid, an enormous aquarium. Through the end of August, there is a dinasour exhibit. Since Maddie loves dinasours, we spent a log of time there too. It was a fun day and we plan to go back.

My favorite part of the day was the aquarium. We had the chance to watch the seals being fed. They are hysterical! We sat there for the longest time watching them play and swim and be silly. Maddie loved the pinguens, which are all the rage right now. Kim's favorite part were the sea horses. And McKenzie loved it all.

Lazy Days of Summer

While this may be true for the girls, it has not proven true for the moms. Kim is working non-stop with the activities being held on the UT campus for the summer. She comes home hot and tired every night. I am working harder than I ever knew was possible. My self image has always included words like lazy and not so smart. Well, I have busted through the self image because I am working my butt off! The lesson for the month is self care, which neither one of us picked up along the way.

As for my darling divas, they are fantastic! The summer has been remarkably mild with an unusual number of thunderstorms that leave us sticky and everything else green. Kim let the girls play in the sprinkler the other night to cool off. Maddie loves the sprinkler, but it seemed to be McKenzie's first experience. Maddie, of course, showed her the ropes.

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We're headed to the Luling Watermelon Thump tomorrow. Kim and I have always wanted to go and have never made the drive. So now we're going. Of course, watermelon IS Maddie's favorite food. Remember the summer when she ate so much that her pee-pee turned pink? I am anticipating an awesome nap out of both of them! We are suppose to have a playdate with 2 of her best buddies from school in the afternoon. We'll see if they're up to it. McKenzie is playing well with friends. Maddie is getting used to not being the center of attention, which isn't easy. Kim and I are making efforts to spend one on one time with her. I tell myself all families go through this, right? Here are some other snap shots of my babies.

Presenting McKenzie Kathryn Rasmus-Ford

We are so excited to announce that Shawna is going to be a permanent member of our family! We received the call last week that she is eligible for adoption and we are completely in love with her, so the next step is to begin the adoption proceedings. Granted, her social worker is 3 weeks behind returning our calls, so I don't anticipate any of this will happen immediately.

Despite Maddie's pleas to re-name the baby Coconut Tree, Kim and I have chosen the name McKenzie Kathryn. We both like the name McKenzie and Kathryn is to honor my Aunt Kathy, who you all know I lost 3 years ago. Her given name was Mary Kathryn and I still miss her every day. It is still unbelievable to me that she won't know my children. She can never be forgotten now and that is why I love this name so much.

Of course, changing the name of a toddler isn't easy. The books we read suggest calling her Shawna McKenzie for a while before completely dropping the Shawna. That is the plan for now, and to keep Maddie from teaching her how to say Coconut Tree. This situation completely reminds me of my friend Mollie James (now Vickery) who once took over her little brother's room when he lost a hand in spades.

McKenzie is too young to know what is going on. She will be 2 in August. She is just happy and loves to be loved. Here she is dancing in the kitchen the other night.

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We will keep you posted on the progress of the legal proceedings. In the meantime, we'll be loving her like crazy!

She Smiles!

Shawna is having a great time in her new home. She continues to be joyful and happy. Maddie has finally shown her how to "work" the camera. Here are the results of Maddie's tireless efforts




Our home has definitely been in turmoil as we adjust to someone new. We bought bunk beds last weekend and they broke. No kidding, they broke. Of course, we were trying to save money and bought them at Big Lots. Kim and I took them back and bought new ones at a furniture store. In the meantime, Maddie is sleeping on a mattress on the floor in an empty room. There are doll babies in the bathtub and toys everywhere as we await the arrival of the bunk beds. I have stayed surprisingly calm during the transition. Normally, I would be nuts!

Maddie woke up slowly this morning. I was trying to get her dressed for school when she walked away from me. I asked where she was going. She said, "Crazy, wanna come?" This is a DIRECT quote from Kim and we both cracked up. She is hysterical! It made me want to sing the song from Nanny Golden and Mom "I'm going crazy, don't you wanna come along I'm going crazy just singing this song!"