A storm is brewing...

Tonight, I came home from work and Tab was going off to work, during our exchange, I noticed Matthew and Emily both furiously looking for paper, markers and tape... focused on other things, I didn't give much interest to this beyond reminding them not to leave the markers where Ainsley can get them.

Later as things were calming down and the kids were watching TV, I went down the hall to use the rest room and saw their "projects" adorning the doors to their respective rooms:


Upon closer inspection I saw this on Emily's door:

So Emily has clearly got her "shot across the bow" in and singled out Matthew. To his credit Matthew more or less went "all-in" (or maybe "all-out") on the girls:


For those of you who cannot read Kindergarten "phonetic" spelling, the sign states: "No girls, only boys, girls stink". Now he has done this knowing that Ainsley sleeps in his room, but I think the real message was for Emily and possible Mom who constantly goes in to tell Matthew to pick up his Legos.

The message here is Dad is the only one, by decree, allowed in all rooms of the house (although in another sign he states "No DAD")... we'll see how long this lasts. Dad might have to just start working longer hours... at least until we run out of tape.

Big sister...

This was an interesting scenario for me to watch develop... the other night Emily decided to get out one of the LeapPad books and start reading it. Ainsley saw that Emily was quite immersed and decided to become interested too...

Rather than run over, attempt to take the LeapPad away from Emily, Ainsley decided to get her own.

This is completely abnormal for Ainsley, usually when someone has something she wants she first tries to take it, then becomes enraged and yells "MINE!", then has a complete meltdown about it.

Anyway what was really sweet (aside from no meltdown) was that after studying Emily for a minute, Ainsley took the LeapPad she had out and moved about 5 feet away to use it...


Then as she settled in to start the book, she kept taking quick glances back at Emily, then look at what she was doing, to make sure she was doing it like her big sister. This ended with her too laying down on her front, bending her knees and putting her feet in the air (which I didn't manage to capture)...

A closer look, with one foot in the air:

Christmas...Belated

Ainsley snitching bites of Santa's cookies

"Santa" built a huge wall of boxes to keep the kiddies from peaking at 4:00 am. It worked, they actually went back to bed until 7 or 8 o'clock. Thanks Santa!

Woo Hoo!! Hannah Montana bed!

The first of several additions to Matthew's extensive lego collection this day

Miss you Grandpa-pa and Gramma Sue!!

Thanks Uncle Geoff, they pounded this bar of chocolate down in under 3 days...

Cute pictures

Ainsley is developing an aversion to clothing...

Except when it comes to wearing mom's favorite shirt

What a cute boy...all the girls on Valentines day were so happy to get a valentine from Matthew.

Emi being...Emi. No wonder Ainsley looks at posters of Hannah Montana and says "EMI!!"

Splish splash...

Ainsely eating the bubbles in her bathwater last night. Look at those amazing eyes!

As you can see Ainsley has a drinking problem...this is the only time we give her a cup. We keep the toilet seat down at all times as she is fascinated with the "wa-wa" inside.


Ainsley loves her baths! All we have to do is say is the word "bath" she runs down the hall signing the word bath all the way...

Quotable quotes...

Scene... on the way back from a church meeting, whole family is in the car. Dad is driving, Mom is next to him, kids in the back:

Matthew: "Mom, are you kind of like the co-pilot?"
Mom: "Well... uh... kinda..."
Dad: "Actually, she's the NAG-a-vator"
Mom: "Yeah, I'm the nagavator"

Dad starts to laugh quietly

Mom: "Wait a minute... no the navigator! You butt head!"
Dad: "OW!" Feeling the newly forming bruise on his arm, while still laughing.

Kids being silly...

Ainsley not only likes her clothes but almost anyone's that she can get her hands on. Some of her favorites include Mom's warm fuzzy socks that look more like leggings on her. Taking these (or anything else) away from her prematurely will provoke a verbal assault of "MINE!!!" followed soon after by reprimands of "NO!" and "STOP!" crescendo-ing into and emotional collapse onto the floor.

While Matthew looks to become violently sick or about to join some legion of undead zombies... he is actually showing off his "air-guitar" skills. Whats missing in this picture are the holes in the knees of his pants (any pair for that matter) due to numerous "power-slides" while playing.

Using her "drama-queen" skills to their maximum potential, Emily poses for the camera whilst donning her precious "Hanna Montana" blanket. In terms of its importance and preciousness, this blanket is a close second to the Shroud of Turin. As for the drama skills, we've learned that there is a fine line between Shakespearean and ham....

Despite the glowing smile... Tab can often be found sitting on the floor attempting to catch her breath... as for why she is out of breath, look at the three captions above and in your mind imagine them happening all at the same time around her.

Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen visit

We think Ainsley wouldn't take off these glasses just to irritate her cousin McKinna.
Ainsley was especially cuddly with pa-pa when he visited last weekend

Our First Post

Hey everyone! I finally caved after months of pressure and created a blog. I can't promise it will be as up to date as other people's I have seen, but I will try.

Here is a picture of our vacation this summer in Canada. I will post more recent photos when I learn how to download them from our camera to the computer...

Thanks Tiff for showing me how to create a blog...