hello again.

Well its been such a long time since I've blogged. I've missed it. I really need to simplify my life and cut out some activities. Ive been feeling overwhelmed with alot of things and its time I start prioritizing and organizing any getting control of my chaotic life. I started attending the lds addiction recovery family support group meetings. And I am learning alot. The first step is honesty. I thought for sure that it would be the easiest, its not. The more I look and learn and study the more I learn about myself. I'm realizing that this program is not just a program for the addict but it's a program for everyone. Its scary and emotional but I also look forward to the meeting every week. Its kind of like a mini testimony meeting and I get a mid week spiritual pick me up. I gain new insights from people who are in similar situations. Its true that there are strength in numbers.
On a different note... My little Gage who is in kindergarten has core cards every month with different things that he needs to know. This month it was senses and special comparison and phone number. The mid month progress report said he needed help with his phone number which I knew. So we've been practing a little. Today after school I get this brilliant idea to write each number on a separate paper. Then I thought that we could turn over 1 number at a time until they were all turned upside down and maybe by repeating the number over 13 times he'd have it memorized. Well Coleton was sitting next to me and he asked why I was ripping little pieces of paper. I told him and he grabbed the paper and wrote the numbers lined them up and helped Gage. It was awesome. Remington came in and got on board and was cheering Gage on. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when they do stuff like that. By the end of our little "game" Gage seemed to have the phone number down.
Well I've rambled enough for now. Hopefully next time won't be so long between posts. Here's to hoping the rain/cold stays away for Remington's first playoff flag football game.

Field Trip

Its so much fun to see my kids learning and growing! Coleton had a field trip today at school. They went up the canyon and got to explore. They got in the water and learned a few things about science and nature.
He was so excited to go. Last night he set his alarm clock so that it would wake him up so he would be to school on time. He was so worried about being late and the bus leaving without him. I told him as long as he caught his regular bus that he would be to school on time. This morning I didn't have to ask him at all to get up and ready. He did it all himself. I'm thinking field trips everyday would be fantastic.
I am so grateful that we live in a area where they can go and learn and have these experiences.
Tomorrow is Gage's turn for a field trip!

Barn Visit

Every day when I pick up Coleton from school we pass this little barn. There are sheep and chickens and I'm pretty sure I've seen a pig or two. Today I happened to see a few lambs. I asked Gage if he saw them and he said no. I told him I'd point them out on the way home. We picked up Coleton and headed home. On our way past the barn I stopped in the middle of the road where they could see the lambs. The farmer was there and invited us in. He was the nicest man and let the boys pet the sheep and even hold one. Then he showed them the chickens and let them pet one. They all had names and he knew them all. He was talking to them and asking questions and invited us back any time. i wish I had had my camera to take a few pictures. It was a fun impromptu visit!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

This year is turning out to be a interesting and memorable one! LOTS of (possible) changes. I can't talk about some of them yet but one big announcement...I am headed back to school. I applied to BYU-Idaho for an on-line program to get my bachelors degree. I was accepted and am now in the process of applying for financial aid and getting my life in order. How did this come around you may ask. Well my youngest is going to be starting Kindergarten in the fall and I kept thinking how nice it would be to have a couple of hours all to myself. VERY selfish thinking I know. I kept asking myself what I was going to do. I could maybe work more hours (not a very appealing thought) I could maybe keep the house clean for longer than 10 seconds. I could volunteer at the kids school. I could do more indexing. All very good and worthwhile things. Then the thought hit me go back to school. I immediately went no way I am 36 years old. Too old to be going back to school. The thought kept coming back I prayed and got my answer. So, here I am on my way to a bachelors degree in Marriage and Family Studies. I am so excited and nervous at the same time. I don't start until winter semester. Which will be fantastic! There is more going on in the Rasmussen household so stay tuned. I promise to be better about blogging!

power of example

I was so fortunate to grow up in a home with 2 amazing examples. My mom and dad!! They both showed me how to be a good person, how to serve, how to have faith, and so many other things. I recently received some news about a childhood friend. She lived a few houses from us when we lived in Idaho. Her family was part of the Jehovah witnesses. My family never treated her different and she was one of my best friends. She would always rather play at my house then hers although we did spend plenty of time at her house. Anyway, I lost touch with her after we moved and haven't talked to her in years. However I just learned that she is getting baptized a member of my church. She asked my uncle to baptize her because of my dad and how much she looked up to him. I'm so excited for her and this step she is taking!!
My dad has shown what a impact he has left on so many people. I see examples frequently. Even in my own life. My little gage has been sick and running a fever for almost 5 days. I took him to the Dr to be told that it is just a virus. Its very frustrating to be doing everything you can but still have a sick child. Everyone else who had the same thing got better so much faster. I knew he needed a blessing so I called our old home teacher and he came and gave gage a blessing. Almost immediately he started to perk up. I KNOW that the power of the priesthood is real! I KNOW that miracles happen. I know that I can call on a worthy priesthood holder and my child can get feeling better. I have this knowledge because of the examples of my parents. I am so blessed to be their daughter!

Girls Night

I got a text from a friend yesterday inviting me to a girls night at her house that night. Fun I told her! So, after a soccer game, dinner, & bed time routine (which seemed to take forever) I headed up the street to her house. There were 10 ladies there and snacks to boot. We played some games and ate and visited and had a great time! It was so fun and I'm so glad she thought to invite me.
I can't tell you how much I LOVE my neighborhood. I love the people here and the feeling of the area! I love to look out my window and see the mountains change every season. I know that this is where we are supposed to be.
A big Thanks to my friend and the other ladies that were there to laugh with, relax and escape reality for a couple of hours! I can't wait for another get together!

to pin or not to pin

Pinterest just may be my down fall! I spend more time there than anywhere else. I find the most amazing things of all sorts.
One thing is HOMEMADE CLEANERS!! I tried DIY laundry soap and am really liking it! I also tried DIY laundry softener. I'm not completely sold but it isn't bad. I think I am going to buy a container of purex or downy crystals and add it to my homemade soap for the added clean and softener. Yep that idea came from pinterest too. I also discovered that my liquid fabric dispenser comes apart for cleaning. Who knew? Pinterest did! So I cleaned my washing machine. It wasn't hard and now it looks brand new.
Don't get me started on all the recipes on Pinterest. HOLY COW!!! I could try something new everyday for every meal for 5 years and probably never get through them all. This week for dinner I tried 2 news recipes. One was a pork roast that had Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, rosemary and thyme. It was delicious!! I also tried a zucchini tot. Not such a hit but it could be because i put them on the grill to cook and not in the oven because I didn't want to heat up the house. I'll try it again when the weather cools and I can get an even cooking temperature.
Oh Pinterest I waste a good part of my day with you and I need to cut down on our time together. You are addicting but I am glad you are there as my go to advice/info/idea place!!

Gage

Ryan let Gage take a nap today at 6:30pm. Yes I was at the grocery store. He has been up late tonight. I've been playing games with him. Its kind of nice to have some alone time with him. He picks the games and then helps me clean them up when we're done. Until our last game when his dad offered him a wrestling match. He looked at me and said... "mom you can clean up my mess". That kid is hilarious he cracks me up.

LAUNDRY

I've been pondering on the making of my own soap for a long time. It is frustrating to me the cost of detergent. and how fast we go through it. The thing that has held me back is that I really didn't want to put forth the effort. I know totally lazy of me. Finally after talking to a few different friends I decided to try it. I got on Pinterest and found a bunch of different recipes. They are are pretty similar. There were 2 that were fairly easy so I decided to give it a try. One is a liquid and one is a powder. I was figuring out the cost of it, and the liquid and I'm not kidding, cost .16 cents for a gallon!! I'm not sure how well it will clean but there is a load of towels in the washer right now. The powdered one I did cost $13.42 for a bucket, and since you only use 2-3 TBSP it should last for awhile. I also made my own fabric softener which cost me a whole $1.32 for 88 oz. Like I said its in the washer. I'll have to let you know how it works. The biggest thing that I am worried about is the smell. I like good smelling clothes. I think I can live with clean however.

Swim lessons

I gave birth to fish not humans! Enough said!

The boys LOVED swim lessons.

Our only problem was that Gage had a girl teacher and the other two had boy teachers.

At the end of the 2 weeks the kids got to jump off the diving board and go down the slide.

They all passed their levels and get to move onto the next level next year.

Gage's birthday part 2

We had Gage's family party up in Highland. We started off at the splash pad there. It was SUPER fun!! I only got one picture while we were there. Sad!!

 Hello Adam you little cutie!! here he is sporting my sunglasses!

 We then went to my mom's house and had dinner and presents. Evelyn and Coleton really wanted to help him!

 Opa and Oma got him a surprise

 A BIKE!!!! Thanks Opa and Oma!!

He insisted on a pink cake. Its drives Ryan crazy that he wants that!

We had a great time and it was fun to be with cousins and aunts and uncles!

I love my kids birthdays!!!

GAGE is 4!!!

Gage's birthday happened to be the same day as our appointment at Primary Children's for Coleton So we split his birthday up over a week. We did family stuff on his birthday and then about a week later we did a family party. He didn't get much a few toys and a hair cut and then we were going to take him to the splash pad but when we got there it was turned off so the boys just played on the playground. When we got home from the park we put candles in cupcakes that him and Ryan's mom decorated while we were at the orthopedist and sang happy birthday to him.

Gage is such a happy little boy. He is almost always awake before 7am and is such a easy going boy. He is more shy than his brothers. He loves to be outside whenever he gets a chance and is a mommas boy. He loves to play with his friends and swim. He likes to eat "chicken" (he calls any meat chicken)We are so glad he is part of our family!

snow canyon Pioneer Rock

So up the road a little from our first hike was Pioneer rock. This was so cool! The pioneers who settled southern Utah stopped along the way and wrote their names in axle grease on the rocks and you can still see their names on the rock. It was quite a climb I'm not really sure how they got up there! The boys did and it mad EVERYONE nervous watching them!!!

 Cute little Adam taking a rest on a rock in the shade!

I tried to zoom as close as my camera would get to get the names as clear as I could.

See the little specs that are my children!

 .

We were all about done after these little hikes. It was a hot day!

We'll have to go back in the fall and explore the canyon a little bit more!

Snow Canyon- Jennie's canyon

We went on a mini vacation to St George at the beginning of June. While we were there we headed out to snow canyon and did some hiking. Really I wouldn't even consider this hiking. We kept things easy because my Brother and his wife had a infant and my mom had a bum hip. We did 2 little hikes. both were under half a mile.

 Jennie's canyon is a slot canyon. this is my first slot canyon hike. It was awesome!

It is all so pretty in its own way! The boys loved finding little holes to crawl in and hide!

Preschool Graduation

Coleton was so excited for graduation. This just means that he is that much closer to starting Kindergarten!! The day of graduation he asked if Remington could come so we checked Remington out of school for the program. Sad news... my camera died right at the beginning and I got very few pictures. This is a no picture post.
The kids performed LOTS of songs that they had been working on. They were so cute! I've been trying to get a video uploaded but it isn't cooperating. I'll try again later.
At the end they gave each child a little diploma and gift bag. All the kids in his class were going on to Kindergarten so it was a little emotional for the teachers. Coleton had a great year he started to sight read and write his name. It was a good preview to how real school will be. Good job Coleton we are so proud of you!

Dino field trip

Alrighty who's ready for some happy fun posts? Any that I have done recently have been kill-joys! So here are some pictures and catch ups of what has been going on..

 Coleton's preschool went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Pointe. It was so fun and the boys loved it! We first started off with a 3D movie about Dinos!!

 After the movie we ate lunch and then we went into the science part of the museum. The boys, and most of his class were boys, got to play and experiment with theories of how the world works. They had a great time.

 Soon it was time to move through the rest of the exhibits. They saw bones and skeletons and learned how the paleontologists put together fossils and how they excavate them. They also got to play in water and sand and use plastic trees and Dinos to create their very own Dino world.

 Finally they got to take off their shoes and socks and dig! There were brushes and fossils that they could cover and uncover and see what was there!

They had do much fun! It was nice to be able to go with them too. Coleton's preschool has been great to let Gage go on any of the field trips that they had. We were gone all day but it was great!