The Rasmussen Family

August 2, 2010
I am just opening up this blog. It will probably only be interesting, years from now, to my children and grandchildren, and grandchildren. I will try to post things we have done, weekly, and post pictures, so we have a Book about our Life.
Today started off drizzly. The weatherman says it will warm up to the 80's by the end of the week, but we'll see how it goes. The last few days, have been a blur of my going from one place to another, dropping off papers to the school, to a doctor, picking up meds, doing some school shopping, buying a few groceries, almost running out of gas because I forgot to get some yesterday, noticing the homeless on the corner. My kids were pretty impressed with one person who had quite a wad of money in their hands. I don't think they realized it was probably mostly one dollar bills.
Fred Miller stopped by to give me a couple of 2 X 6's, for me to use to put in one of those pull down ladders. I bought one, at Goodwill, to put in the garage to easily get to a storage area. I love organization, but hate getting organized. I wish it would just happen. Fred, then looked at our trailer, full of black plastic bags of trash, and asked if I wanted him to do a garbage run. Of course I did. He took a couple of the boys, who love going to the dump, and throwing things as far as they can, or aiming at something that might break. I guess that's better then throwing things at the neighbors house.
Oh yes, I also dropped off one kid to soccer practice, another to football practice. I didn't clean the house, and neither did the kids. Oh well, there is tomorrow. Sophia fixed a wonderful dinner, but it was a tad too hot. I took a tiny bite of the chicken, and ran to the sink for a sip of water. Jessica loved it, but she loves any super hot meals.
I am worried as to what we will do about painting the exterior of our home. It is peeling, but most of the cedar siding is fine. The problem is that there is lead in the oldest coat of paint. The rules are super difficult and expensive for contractors to follow. We could get a super good paint, one that would last for life...but...it would cost over $35,000.00!!! We just had a new roof put on, and new, energy efficient windows put up, and they look great.

We use descriptions everyday, but I hate describing people according to what they can or cannot do, by what color their skin is, whether they are lower or upper income, etc. etc. etc. But, sometimes we need those descriptiongs in order to help the police catch the bad guy, or to get needed school services for a child. So, here is a bit more about our family:

I have two birth children, and 29 chosen by God (adopted). They came home to us at different ages, and were born in several US states, Viet Nam, Korea, the Phillipines, Brazil, and India. Each one has taught me so much about family and love. Some have "disabilities," whick, to me, means they have "different abilities," but they do have abilities. Some of the "labels" that society has stamped onto my children are: Down's Syndrome, blindness, RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder), Cerebral Palsy, Amniotic Band Syndrome, Tuberous Sclerosis, Pre-natal drug affects, Emotional Disorders of one type or another, missing finger/toes, cleft palate, brain tumor, and I'm sure there are others, but those words do not describe my children to me. Those types of words are just ways that society attaches words to explain "what" my children are, to keep my children separate from themselves. To me, they are my children.