Happy Seven Years

Zoie turned 7 last weekend. We had such a fun weekend celebrating.On Friday, I took cupcakes into her 1st grade class and read them "Where the Wild Things Are". Chase came with me and was a fan favorite with the 1st grade crowd. He was seriously almost mauled by his adoring fans in Ms. Dwyer's class. After school, my Mom took her shopping.On Saturday, I took Zoie and and two friends on a girls' day. We hit McDonalds and then headed downtown to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. The girls were so fun. There was much giggling and singing and dancing. I have never seen Zoie so happy.

On Sunday, we had her 3rd and final party with my mom and sister. She was spoiled beyond belief. I am so grateful to have a daughter-- particularly one who is so smart and helpful. Love you Zo Zo!

One Happy Husband

I officially have the happiest husband in the world.

Around Christmas, we decided to sell our huge Tahoe and get a smaller SUV. Somehow, Lance finagled a deal with a guy and we ended up not only selling our Tahoe for full price- but also acquiring a motorcycle.

Lance drove a motorcycle when I first met him, but hasn't had one since. I am not a paranoid, bossy wife who is opposed to motorcycles. We just don't believe in financing stuff if we don't absolutely HAVE to (like a house). So the bike never seemed practical... until now.The guy is in heaven. When he's not riding it, he's working on it. When he's not working on it, he's online tracking down motorcycle parts. He's already done quite a bit to it.Its been almost 2 months and he's still like a giddy little boy with a new toy. Last week, I looked out the window and saw him on his motorcycle (on the street) racing Tobin who was on his little bike with training wheels (on the sidewalk).As a side note: I miss the Tahoe-- it was such a great ride. However, I do not miss the 12-14 mpg I was getting with it around town.
Our new ride we have affectionately dubbed "Liz" after Tina Fey's character in 30 Rock. That's right-- Liz LEMON. Truth be told, my new car is not a lemon. We bought it knowing it had a sensor problem-- it just took us longer to solve the problem than we thought (in the meantime, the name Liz stuck). She's been awesome ever since. I LOVED the price, and I am LOVING the 23 mpg that Liz provides!While I'm on the subject of Rasmussen vehicles-- I have neglected to introduce "Clive"-- whom we purchased last year: Clive is Lance's work truck. Yep, luckiest husband ever.

Apropos of Nothing

The best part of Christmas 2011 was having the whole Slovacek gang together-- for what was probably the last time for a while.
My dad moved to Utah last month and my mom will be joining him out there in April. Matthew is back at BYU-Idaho and Steven is back in New York.
So, as of this spring-- it will just be us Rasmussens... and Aunt Heidi.
Here is a great picture of all the Slovacek/Rasmussen "men" over Christmas:
And here is a great picture of all the Rasmussen/Slovacek girls from last year:
Also-- apropos of nothing-- here is a picture of Lance and I from our camp trip. I just found it and liked it.

Resolutions

I love making resolutions... LOVE IT! I am a list maker, so it comes naturally. I generally have my resolutions written down, categorized, and prioritized by Christmas. I don't this year. I have a whole bunch of great goals swimming around in my head. I just haven't taken the time to organize them. Here are a few reasons why:

1. School. I am working toward my Master's in Education. Last term was easy-- like, ridiculously easy. I just chalked it up to my innate intelligence. So, I decided to double my class schedule this term, you know, since I'm so freaking smart. It. Is. So. Hard. I guess my first class was just an easy class. Turns out-- I'm not that smart after all. School is taking up A LOT of my time.

2. Insanity. We just started Insanity. It promises crazy results. I'll keep you posted. Workouts are 6 days a week (like P90x).
3. Dance Central. We got the kids a Kinect for Christmas. So... what? Am I NOT supposed to use it while they are in school? Am I expected to to NOT spend hours learning the awesome dance routine to Salt N Pepa's "Push It"? Come on-- be realistic. So, clearly-- I am way to busy to set meaningful goals for myself. Please be understanding.

Me and Kate

Over the past year, I have heard great things about Kate Middleton. I agree that she is beautiful-- in an approachable, girl-next-door kind of way (which is the best kind of beautiful!). I agree that she has great poise and style. It seems like she handles her new position as the Duchess of Cambridge with ease, and is great with all the media attention.
But more so than any of the aforementioned reasons, I like Kate because she is one of "us". And by "us", I mean women with no upper lip.

I never noticed this trait (and I have spent a LOT of time in front of the mirror over the past 30 years) until last year. I uploaded a photo to do one of those online makeovers. When I went to (virtually) apply the lip liner, I thought, "That's odd. In this picture, I have no upper lip." I started searching for another picture to use and began to realize that I, in all actuality, had no upper lip. It was a life-altering epiphany. Allow me to demonstrate:

Normal looking picture:
Now focus on this area. Notice anything missing? (Mind you, this is with lip liner and lipstick)
No. I am never going to inject my lips with any kind of substance. Those women all look as though they were in a bar fight. I have made peace with my lack of lip. I mean, if Kate Middleton can pull it off, then I'm in good company.

New Year's Camping Trip

Nothing like ringing in the new year on the beach.


(In reality, 2012 was rung in at our campsite with cheering and Martinelli toasting... while a nearby camper-- a Dan Fogelberg wannabe-- serenaded the entire campground til dawn with his hoarse voice and basic guitar skills).Nevertheless, it was such a fun night!

We got to hang out with the Porters, ate the world's best cheeseburgers and smore's made in waffle cones (to die for!) We hung out at the beach and the pier. The next day, we explored the old fort and canons in the park. Tobin learned to climb trees and Chase got to run around as much as he wanted.

Bad to The Bone

Look what Santa brought this year...
Which has led to this:

Zoie, who has not been on a bike since she was 3, has mastered the art of the bicycle. I had purchased training wheels just in case, but she never needed them. She was a natural after a 5 minute lesson. She can be seen zipping all around the neighborhood each afternoon.
Tobin enjoys trash talking about how he can run everyone over and race anyone... all the while he is ever so slowly pedaling on his training wheels (with perfect posture, mind you) back and forth the length of our yard-- while sporting a goofy helmet that he insists on wearing.

Chase cannot yet reach the pedals on his trike. It doesn't seem to slow him down at all.

But they are not the only ones who got bikes on Christmas Day... (more on that later)

Homemade... kind of

The Slovaceks started a tradition when I was about 14 years old. On Thanksgiving, we draw names of family members that we have to make a homemade Christmas present for. On Christmas Eve, we exchange our homemade gifts. It is, by far, the absolute best part of Christmas for me.

Funny thing is, (until Lance joined our family and set the curve)-- our gifts were sometimes pretty crappy. The ones that aren't, are usually not very homemade. (like framing a picture-- which I utilize often as a "homemade gift").

One time, Mom sewed fur onto a pillowcase for Steven and ironed on some wording, "Steven's pillow"-- except, she ironed it backwards. So, Steven had a pillowcase that scratched his face and got fur in his mouth that said, "wollip s'nevetS".

Another time, Heidi sewed me some great pajama bottoms, but only used a basting stitch. They fell apart after one wearing.

Another year, I photo-shopped Matthew's head onto a picture of a snowboarder and framed it. Dumb.

Anyway, I could go on and on about our horrible gifts. But even with the occasional terrible gift, I love our tradition. Love it.

This year, we all did pretty well. Here is a picture of the whole family with our homemade loot. I love these people! In case you're interested:
I made Steven a wordle of words describing him and had it put on canvas.
Steven downloaded the top 50 alternative albums of 2011 and put it on a jump drive for Lance.
Lance gave my Dad a leather bound edition of Sherlock Holmes that he hollowed out and made a safe out of.
My Dad made me a (super comfy) Tampa Bay Lightning snuggie.
Heidi put my Mom's favorite scripture on a canvas in raised lettering.
My Mom got Matthew's Xbox kinect-ready and made him a customized t-shirt.
Matthew sewed Heidi some skirts and scarfs.

I Made This...

I am neither creative nor crafty, but I am definitely determined. I saw something like this at a friend's house and decided that I needed my own "last name art". When I looked online to order one (which is much more my speed), I didn't want to shell out the $200. So I obsessed about it for a while and found some instructions online to help me out.

Like most things I create, you can't look at it too closely. But it looks great in our front entryway-- at a swift glance... from a great distance.