I tried this last year and got a few surprising responses, so the girls and I thought we would try again. Who are you and why are you reading this? Simple.... With the handy-dandy map thingie on the right side of the blog we see new cities springing up periodically and we love to watch it. I'm sure many of you are hemi parents - great - that's why we actually started this, so we could chronicle what is was like to have a hemi kid. Except after awhile the other kids wanted to share what they were doing, and really our life became about more than recovering from that surgery. Once we found our new normal our world did not revolve around Blondie's former illness. By the way, I'm hoping Brian takes pics tonight of Blondie's two new braces and I'll put something up on the Rasmussen's blog soon about her new muscle/tendon issues.
So if you feel like it - click on the little comment link on the bottom and leave us a message.
Thursday found us going in different directions (sort of a theme at this house). Big Al had a concert of all the bands at her middle school, and Brian and my mom went to go see her. It was the 6th grade, then the 7th, then the 8th grade bands, the orchestra, and then the chorus --- they were gone for awhile. Big Al is the kid on the far left...
Meanwhile, T-Rex had a chorus presentation of the Nutcracker Suite. In the first part of the play she was a soldier, and then she and her friend switched the lead role halfway through the play and she did a tremendous job. T-Rex tends to be an introvert, so I was quite surprised that she tried out for this part. Sorry for the blurry pics.
A few weeks ago Big Al tried out for District Honor Band, and was CERTAIN that she bombed. She was wrong. Apparently she was one of just a few 7th graders who made it. So Friday she was shuttled over to a high school, spent a day and a half with new music, and Saturday afternoon gave a concert. She got to do a steel pan drum piece that she really enjoyed. She's thinking about trying out for the school's steel pan club next year.
Big Al had one last soccer tournament this past weekend in Atlanta, so she and I drove down this past Friday to participate. We stayed in a really great hotel, with families and players that are just SO MUCH fun. The only down side to the weekend was the threat of snow. By Friday evening we knew that the snow would miss us, but we southerners STILL don't like cold..... and it was past cold and into freezing. Big Al had two games at 9:30 (on Sat. and Sun) and then a game at 3:30 on Saturday. Temperatures ranged between 29 and 47 degrees depending on the time of day, but the wind was what made us miserable.
The first game the girls won 5-0, and the second game (Big Al scored) was also 5-0. So that meant we had to (I mean got to) stay for the championship game at 3:00 on Sunday -- which also meant we got to drive home in the dark... but we had fun. Between the two games Big Al and I went Christmas shopping at the American Girl store, and had a ball, but the other people shopping there were CRAZY.
Sunday the girls shivered their way to another victory, 3-0 and we all spent the wait time at the hotel, and then at the mall. While at the mall some of the girls posed for the picture with Santa, and just generally goofed off.
At 3:00 we were ready to play again, and those of us watching saw a spectacular game. No one scored on either team.... they were so evenly matched, but it was great fun to watch the girls try to put something together. In the end all positions played so hard that it was tied 0-0. So we had to go to the shootout. Each team lined up on the field, and 6 were chosen to shoot one-on-one with the opposing goalie, and the team with the most goals at the end would win.... it was tough to watch. The girls who missed beat themselves up, the goalies were tough on themselves.... one Dad filmed this video... Big Al's team is wearing the blue shirts.
So in the end, the girls left as champions, and all was well.... for us at least. About halfway home we finally warmed up.
Aaron is a young man from our city that had a stroke as 4 year old. He is now trying to earn a place on the American paralympic cycling team. We here at the Dawson household are cheering for him. Here is someone with left side weakness (sound familiar) who is doing something amazing, and once again reminding me as a mom to push my child, and then get out of her way. Way to go Aaron.
And then there are still a bunch of puzzles Cheesie and I need to put together...
Brian has his Christmas village set up
