Not fair.

"Tomorrow Dad will take you to the BYU football practice. Won't that be fun?"

Nate's eyes lit up and his mouth formed an awestruck o. "I pway football with Dad?"

"No," I explained, "you get to watch the football players play."

His eyebrows immediately crinkled into a frown as he informed me, "I not want to watch football. I want to pway with Dad."

"It's not on TV. You have to drive there and sit on the chairs and watch." (Anyone guess the mistake in that sentence? Here it is...)

His face lit up again. "I dwive there?"

"Well, Dad will drive you there."

"I dwive. I'm a good helper. I dwive fast wike this"--he demonstrated with his hands at about 9 and 3--"Wike a wace car."

"Mmmm...I think we'll wait until you're a little older first."

Nate's race car hands dropped in exasperation. "Awwww! Why I have to be a wittle kid?"

New York, New York

So I'm off in a few days to visit my sister in New York City. I have been there before and done the usual tourist stuff: climbed the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, seen Les Miserables on Broadway, visited the UN. I have a short list of things to do, but I want suggestions of must-see and must-eat locations.

Here's my ambitious plan:

--Metropolitan Museum of Art

--get cheap, last-minute tickets to "Wicked"

--some historic home (ideas?)

--eat real Italian food

--order an excellent sandwich at a non-chain delicatessen

--eat authentic New York pizza

--visit Purl Soho

--see the WTC site/memorial

--see the Manhattan Temple

--visit a local bookstore

--bring something home...but what? I'm not a name-brand gal, not the tourist t-shirt type.

You see, I learned last year on my trip to D.C. that I can go to an astonishing number of places when I have no kids with me. Ideally, I would love to have about half of the kids along so I can share the world with them; since that's not possible in this case, I'll just efficiently jet around and take pictures for them. And bring them a book...I always bring a book.

Now, friends and family, bring on the suggestions. Also pray the plane doesn't crash, because I always worry about that. Of course.

Winter Highlights

Quick, before it's officially spring, here's a summary of what our family has been up to this winter. (Alternate title: I'm Not So Good at Keeping Up the Blog)

Jamie Beth's review for her dance class. She's looking forward to the fancy spring recital in May, when she will wear a costume.

Christmas Eve bowling is a family tradition.

I beat Matt for the first time! That is to say, he was too tired to play at all.

Christmas nativity program with cousins. (Note the shepherd with the handcuffs.) This was just the beginning of a first-time-ever huge family sleepover at Matt's parents' home--16 adults and 20 grandchildren all crammed in together. Eighteen-year-old sister Cassie has lamented for years that she's never had all her siblings sleeping in the same house for Christmas Eve. So, she worked for months to get everyone's commitment, then she made bedroom arrangements, seating arrangements, and even slept at the foot of the stairs to prevent little ones from pre-empting the party.

Christmas morning was so fun. Our kids were excited and surprised enough to satisfy me and Matt. Santa brought each one a book, an outfit, an activity/game, and something they really wanted: Matthew--an iPod Touch (his first technology gift!), Jamie Beth--a dollhouse that Santa spent hours putting together, Dallin--a remote control truck, and Nate--a mini-trampoline. Later, they also opened gifts from me and Matt, Papa and Nana, and cousins.

Some of the chaos. I couldn't even fit it all into one picture.

Very happy boy. Using the rationale that "Santa always brings me one thing off my list", he put only two things on his list.

Posing at home in front of our own tree.


Jamie Beth's 7th birthday in January. She is worried that Nate will steal her privilege. Luckily Matt whisked him out of the way.

Content with her gifts as she answers one of many birthday calls.

All she really wanted was pierced ears.

A week or so later, Jamie Beth celebrated her birthday with an "elegant lunch--please wear your favorite fancy outfit." The activities included dancing...

...decorating the table...

...eating a dainty lunch...

...and making bead jewelry.

As part of a fifth-grade program, Matthew had to create a display and a report on a state. We both learned a lot as we both slaved over the project. Honestly, though, he did at least 90% of the work.

The end of January brought our annual cabin retreat...four days with, again, the whole big family. Plenty of eating, sleeping, and chatting; lots of movies and food; and of course skiing/snowboarding.

Jamie Beth absolutely loves skiing--with an instructor. This was her third year.

Hitting the target age of five meant that Dallin was enrolled in lessons for the very first time. He now claims to have loved it, though every time I passed him that day, he collapsed on the ground and said he was too cold. Despite this, his instructor said Dallin did a great job for a first-timer. That is the exact reason I pay for lessons instead of teaching the kids myself--they perform for others, while they complain for me.
*Matthew snowboarded again this year, but since he takes off far before I get to the lift, I have no pictures of him. Rest assured, he is practically pro. I know, because he told me.

Back at the cabin, Dallin hardly ever let go of the laser tag gun. The game was a constant throughout the weekend. For an even better representation of Dallin's love of the game (along with his twin-cousin), you have to see this photo my sister-in-law took.

Occasionally, the five little tykes (all born within one year) stopped moving and settled down to a movie.

And, they were bathed and pampered by their older cousins...

Now that I've gotten this far, I wish I had more pictures of the cabin...of some adults, for instance. (Eden, that's your job, and then I'll just link.) And then, I'm realizing that Winter Highlights ought to include February. Hmmmm, maybe in another month I'll get to that.

I want this. Someone tell me a.) how to make it, or b.) when it goes on clearance.

A day in the life of Nate's mother.

A couple of days ago I spent at least an hour re-organizing "retired" children's clothing that had been dumped by the boxful all over Nate's bedroom--by one Nate, during one naptime. Jamie Beth, my mini-organizer, sorted baby girl clothes from baby boy clothes, while I simultaneously grouped clothing by age, made a giveaway pile, and pulled out shirts that would fit Dallin next month. The house was surprisingly quiet as we worked: Matthew finished with chores and reading, Dallin working his way through his own chore list, Matt cleaning out the garage, Nate wandering to and fro and stopping to try the potty every 20 minutes (a timer was set just for him). Progress, I thought, actual progress on a big project. I was completely wrapped up in my task.

Cue the foreboding music.

"Oh no! Oh no!" Matt's voice called out from the living room. "Cissy...oh NO!"

I leapt over the piles around me and ran. Yes--leapt and ran, because only one thing in our house elicits such distressed exclamations: Nate. It took just a second to see the problem, and without going into too much detail, I'll tell you it involved Nate's inability to get to that potty. And it wasn't a wet problem.

Matt pointed to a spot on the floor. "It looks like he started there, then moved there," he pointed to another spot, "then he wiped it there, there, and put that baseball bat in it, there. "

My reaction was not calm, sweet, or instructive. I may have talked sternly and somewhat loudly to Nate, telling him (not quite yelling, but obviously upset), "Yuck! That's yucky! Why did you take off your underwear? When you feel p*** coming out, you run to the potty! The potty! Yuck! Aggghh!" He, half-naked and apparently with no olfactory senses, just looked at me and helpfully pointed out all the places I would need to scrub.

Whenever I clean up a bloody nose, a wet spot on the carpet, or midnight vomit, I think to myself, "It could be worse. At least it's not p***. It could always be worse." Well, now those thoughts immediately started to come again, but then swerved right smack into reality: "It could be worse--no, no, it can't! This is the worst that it could be! Ack!" I scrubbed and gagged and scrubbed and told still-half-naked Nate to "Stay right there, stay right there on the hard wood, and don't touch anything!" (I was thinking only in exclamation marks for a while.)

So there's the story of my day-to-day life: I clean up one of Nate's messes while he is making an infinitely worse one. And, I handle all of it with less than motherly grace. Good thing he's otherwise charming and sparkly--and resilient, I hope.

Honestly, that child better turn out to be brilliant.

The thoughts that roll around in his head.

The Cast:
Dallin, as usual
Cissy, the mean mom
Matt, the dad with a big laugh

The Setting:
Dallin has been playing on the Wii at Nana's house for days and days. He's beginning to think that every day should be a Christmas vacation. He is grumpy because Cissy has told him that this particular day was not a video game day, so, no, there would be no Wii.

Dallin: [stomping and pouting as grumpily as possible] Hmmph. That's not fair. When I'm bigger, I'm not getting married!

[Later that day, Cissy relates the above exclamation to Matt.]

Matt: [obviously perplexed] Married? What does that have to do with a Wii?
Cissy: [understanding of all things Dallin] Of course, you see, if he doesn't get married, he won't have a mom around to tell him he can't play the Wii.
Matt: [holding back a laugh, turns to Dallin] Is that why you don't want to get married?
Dallin: [proudly, stubbornly] Yup.

[Laughter abounds. Curtain falls.]

And to all a good night.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas day, a perfect ending to a season of gratitude and a year of blessings.

And just what were some of those blessings, the highlights from the past twelve months? Here are a few we came up with for our annual newsletter...

Rasmussen Family Favorites 2009

Nate (almost 3): Talking, asking questions, singing, and generally using his voice in many (loud) ways; mastering nearly every child-proof restraint in our home and car; managing to combine charm and mischief in an irresistible, exasperating way.

Dallin (5): Learning and loving to read; participating in his first sports class; creating Lego creations for hours on end; playing with a new best friend who moved in across the street; filling our lives with funny sayings.

Jamie Beth (7 in just two weeks): Starting 1^st grade with a fantastic teacher; discovering that she loves washing dishes and organizing anything; continuing dance classes; figuring out how to ride a bike without training wheels.

Matthew (10 1/2): Improving snowboarding skills; entering 5^th grade; playing football, and enjoying alternating between quarterback and receiver; going to BYU games with his dad; reading nearly as many books as his mom.

Cissy: Traveling, traveling, traveling...to the Grand Canyon for spring break, to Washington D.C. (by myself!) for sister's dissertation, to San Diego for family reunion, to Idaho to visit brother's family, to Alabama (driving) for sister's wedding; making time to go to more lectures, museum exhibits, and other cultural events; reading some really great books.

Matt: All the trips, especially the Grand Canyon; but since that's essentially copying Cissy's answer, he adds: playing in a golf tournament with his dad; improving his snowboarding skills; being Matthew's basketball coach last winter.

Our Christmas season favorites include: seeing “A Christmas Carol” at the local (live) theater; attending a beautiful Christmas concert at church; reading all our Christmas books again and again; playing carols all day long; and spending Christmas Eve night at Papa & Nana's with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins (36 total--what a party!)

We wish you a peaceful, joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!