RAIN!

It has been pouring! We are so excited to have the rain for a bit since we have not been around much in the way of storms the past 6 years in California. The girls are enjoying the playtime inside with special activities and outside with new adventures in puddles and mud!
Yesterday was the most rain yet...until today, I guess...but I have pictures from yesterday. :) Here you can see them geared up and heading out to enjoy a gentle shower and inspect some puddles. They were on the hunt for worms. Once the first worm was discovered I was SHOCKED at the way things played out. Teagan yelled "mine, mine, mine" and picked the squirmy, slimy, new thing up! She quickly decided it was not that appealing but my clean little one loved the mud - so funny! Brynnlee was more than happy to have Teagan claim the worm as she had no interest in actually touching it.
Brynnlee showed off her moves to Teagan as she splashed and splashed in a muddy puddle near the mailbox. Teagan caught the brunt of the splashing - but loved every second of it. Another shocker for me. She usually doesn't like mess. (disclaimer: unless she is rubbing food in her own hair, something I still don't comprehend!)
It was a great time and was followed by leaving the girls' wet clothes at the door, taking a warm bath and then enjoying some warm peppermint tea. (with honey...per Brynnlee)
I hope you are all surviving the storms if you are in the surrounding states and that the rain helps our newly seeded lawn sprout!
xoxo, Jennie

heading out through the garage

RAIN! (or something that sounded
like rain)

awesome

even better :)

thank goodness Teagan is on the cusp

of moving up a shoe size...bc these

shoes bit the dust yesterday....

inspecting

finally found a worm

it's slimy! that is so funny!

once warm and clean inside we put on a

show ; )

hanging out with Daddy

reading books with Daddy


watching a game ; )

Daddy's yard shoes....maybe

she is calling someone from

contaminated waste to come get them?

Eric started his new job last week. Before he went back to work we hung out a lot as a family and here are a few pictures of regular life around the house with the girls. ; )

B turns THREE!

getting down to business :)

hugging Teagan to thank her for

her gift

the cake table - a Belle cake just

for B and a pink princess cake

to share with the family

kept her eyes on Belle

three!?! wow....

delicious! (thank you Shopper's

Food Warehouse...)

With both sets of grandparents at her party, Brynnlee had a GRAND time (hehe) celebrating turning 3. While this brings a little heartache to Mommy and Daddy (3 already!?!) we were thrilled to fulfill her wishes (a Belle cake, hot dogs, a rocking chair, and a Tiana doll from her sister) and make her day special. She is so dear and very grateful. Only must have thanked us a million times for her birthday and presents etc. Guess it makes up for all the times she pretends I'm not telling her to eat her dinner or clean up her mess. ; )

The next day (her real birthday) we made mini cupcakes for her to take to school and share with her class. This made her VERY happy. I will attempt to attach those pictures too. Attempt is the key word... you know I am blog challenged.

Love to all,

Jennie

mixing

being rewarded for their hard work :)

Too cool for school : )

Special pancake breakfast


So excited!


Posing with Teagan

Putting Teagan in a choke hold....jeepers....

please note that I said HUG your sister, not

CHOKE her....

At school and looking for her designated hook

with her classroom assistant teacher

Ms. Michelle

Hanging up her tote bag

The school has everyone bring the same tote

bag that they provide so they can send artwork

and notes home to parents and we can send

in thing with the kids.

In the classroom. She told me "I'm FINE

Momma!!!"

The outside of the school on my way in to pick

her up.

She survived the first day and we went

to get chicken nuggets for lunch. She didn't stop

talking about school until she fell asleep tonight.

(and I hope that kid is finally asleep b/c

she has come down the stairs for a million

convoluted reasons tonight....)

:)

My dad has been telling Brynnlee that certain things are "too cool for school" - for those of you that find this phrase confusing... I interpret it to simply mean something is REALLY cool. Well, Brynnlee has tried the phrase on for size and has come up with "too drool for school" and "too pool for school". I find the latter interesting b/c she calls the pool the "cool"....so I guess it makes sense to use them interchangeably.

Anyway....moving on....B went to school ALONE today! No mommies, no daddies and as she pointed out to me a number of times "NO BABIES!". :)

I will attach a few pictures. I am getting glowing reports from the flag being waved by a fellow classmate while they put their hands on their hearts to the awesome playground they got to play on. When she is really excited about what she is telling us she waves her arms around like we are behind glass and she is trying to get the point across, "THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!". Her eyebrows are raised and she appears to be about to yell but in her excitement she actually whispers the important information. Imagine her saying (in a normal voice and tone) "Today for snack we had (and now switch to an excited whisper) GOLDFISH CRACKERS!" We love every second of her relaying her experiences.

Well, enough of my chatter. Here are some pictures.

Hope all are well,

Jennie

xoxo

Brynnlee and Teagan go to Washington...and so do Mommy and Daddy and Abe :)

Lacking in necessary computer skills...it appears....the text to this post is all below the pictures and the pictures are not in chronological order. Ah....computers... and I just don't care! ;)

Well, it was around the last time I posted on the blog that I also logged off Facebook for "good" and basically fell off the face of the Earth for 9 months while we planned and executed our cross country move. : )

We have arrived. And boy have we! A few short weeks ago we moved into our new digs near Quantico and are quickly settling in. The girls had a fun summer spending time with friends their own age and friends a few generations removed. Our dear family at Christ the King church in Fallbrook spoiled us rotten with their help and love this summer as they assisted us in embarking on this ever-so exciting time of change.

Well, as the dust settles I look around and see a lot more house to clean, two kids who are growing faster than I can keep up, and nearly a million (ok, not a million) pictures that have not been downloaded from the camera nor shared with friends and family. I didn't think this was a big deal until I received a stern talking to from a few friends at an event in DC yesterday. Well, you talked, I listened and here we go. : )

Today was Brynnlee's first day at school! It was orientation so Mommy and Daddy were allowed to attend - while Teagan enjoyed some alone time with Nana at home. HOW LUCKY are we to have family close enough to babysit and play with the girls whenever possible!? I feel immensely blessed!

While I have worried myself sick over Brynnlee's acting out this Summer - I found peace in a sea of three year olds this morning! They are all crazy! Brynnlee is totally normal! And in fact, she was the most together 3 year old I watched this morning!!! Granted...I might be a little biased, but I am quite hard on her - so you can imagine I was watching carefully! :) She asked other children if she could "please use (fill in toy of choice)" and when they walked away or said "NO!" she looked at me with raised eyebrows as if to ask "what NOW, Mom?!" I assured her that she was doing the right thing and they would come around at some point. She smiled each time and moved on to something else - keeping an eye on said item until it was set down. I couldn't be more proud! She was so sweet! When asked if she liked her teacher she responded "NO, she was really really bad.....hahahahahaha" and laughed herself silly like she had made a fabulous joke. :)

It appears that Teagan and Nana had a great time together b/c when we arrived home Nana had gotten her to sleep - so she must have been worn out! (maybe both worn out) :)

Teagan's vocabulary has been slowly growing to include favorite phrases like "giddy up" "me up" when she wants to be picked up and various food items she likes to yell for..."geen beans", "bewwies" etc....imagine her disappointed little face the other day when she put tomato in her mouth only to realize it was NOT watermelon! Sweet baby....she is so loving and cuddles more than any child I have met. She kisses a lot and likes to rub my back or run her fingers through my hair when I hold her. She is a dear little thing. ;)

I will try and upload a few current pictures and promise - PROMISE - to do better with this blog!

Our love to all,

Jennie and my posse ;)

ps

Next week we get a visit from Papa and Grammy (Eric's folks) and together we will celebrate B's THIRD birthday with Nana and Grandpa, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Quinn, Quinn's mom and baby John Clarke! We are so very lucky!

Nash Raasch Bash 2009, Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

So, I thought I was being really smart about how I uploaded these pictures... and then I did them in reverse order of how they really should be! Well.... here is a smattering of pictures from our trip to Hawaii for Thanksgiving. We cannot thank Mom and Dad enough for taking us on such a fabulous trip for a family reunion of sorts. Can you believe that this is the FIRST holiday we have ALL had together? Not even counting the kids... just Mom, Dad, Charlie, Quinn and me and Eric! It is mind boggling... but it finally happened and we were thrilled to all be together. The coming year should be a little better... at least for a few months. In the Fall we should all be in the same state - for a few months before Charlie and Quinn move to Georgia for Charlie to attend an Army school for which he was selected.
Anyway, it was a great trip (thanks Mom and Dad!) and we had lots of yummy meals together and time on the beach. While Hawaii is not the same with two babies... it was still wonderful!!!! We loved every second of the trip.
Hope you enjoy the pictures... and keep in mind they are uploaded backwards... so maybe start at the bottom of the ones in this post. : ) You know I always mess something up.... haha.
xoxo, Jennie



The whole crew - Mom, Dad, Teagan, Jennie,
Brynnlee, Eric, Quinn and Charlie

Teagan chillin' on Waikiki

the "kids" (photo credit to Nana for this shot)

Teagan taking a snooze in her beach tent

Brynnlee on one of her many trips

back and forth from the water to our

spot on the beach

the four Raasch's at the North Shore

had to share - Charlie looked so cute

"wearing" Teagan : )

Nana and Teagan in Duke's

Nana and Grandpa at Duke's

sunset at Duke's

Brynnlee on stage at the luau at the Hale Koa

Grandpa and Teagan watching the luau

"dancin' girls"

Charlie and Quinn

Nana and Grandpa

Brynnlee literally DID NOT come up

for air once we handed her this (virgin)

Pina Colada

man climbing a tree at the luau

a beautiful little Hawaiian girl making

Brynnlee a flower bracelet

the fam waiting to get in the luau

On the beach

the first night everyone was together - hooray!

Brynnlee ready to head to the pool

Nana, Grandpa and the girls on

our first night

beautiful sunset the first night on the island