Happy Birthday Daddy!

On Dec 8th Brad turned 31!
The boys sang Happy Birthday to him then cheered for him :)

The boys wouldn't let daddy blow out his own candles so we had to keep relighting them to let the birthday man have a chance at his own wish!!

Grandpa Dan and his helper

I love that my boys get to grow up knowing about and experiencing the farm!

Snow Day!!!!

~The snow has begun and the boys are loving it~

You can see the snow in the air, it was coming down pretty hard
Oh, and that's Brad's new-gently used run around in pick-upMaking snow angels and yes those are pumpkins
The snow came not too many days after Thanksgiving

Even in a snow storm they can be sweet to each other!

Camera

I got a really GREAT deal on a new camera from my sister and have been practicing with it. These pics are a little fuzzy but no fear, the photography gets better as I post more photos!!

One red head in a red barn
Two red heads in a red barn

One cute little girl in a red barn

This is Mia our niece~Brad's brother's little girl

Preschool

During preschool Grady's teacher was talking to the kids about how the T and the H when standing next to each other, they stick out their tongues when being said. Like in Thursday and throw. She had the kids practicing TH words telling them the letters were naughty and that's why they stick their tongues out. Grady couldn't wrap his little mind around it and needed to justify it and said 'He knew why the T and H were naughty, it's because they must be a bunch of females!" No idea where that answer came from but he had all adults in the room laughing out loud!

Grady is a kid who totally gets adult humor. He's very smart whited and acts much older than his age. It's hard for some people to believe he's only 4 years old, makes me proud in most situations!

Big Boy Bed

We moved Bryce to a big boy bed last Sunday night. I thought it would be stressful for all of us so I have been dragging my feet. Boy was I wrong! He slept in it with no problem at all not waking up once during the night. We are almost a week in and he still is sleeping in it like he's been doing it all his life. Its cute because in the mornings when he was in his crib he would yell out "mama, get me" and had to wait for me to come upstairs to get him out. Now he is in his bed and can clearly get out himself but will still sit in his bed and call out to me to 'come get him' every morning! I love it! We put a bed rail on the side of his bed and perhaps he thinks that 'keeps him in' like the side of the crib. Either way, I'm just glad it works and the transition was so smooth! Yay to big boy beds and 2 big boys in our house :) I love being their mama!!

Potty Training

We are trying very hard to teach Bryce to go pee pee in the potty but he is just not having it. Regardless we put our best foot forward and try each night before bath and bed. Last night I had him on the potty trying to convince him to push in many different ways to make it happen. He usually will look at me and make a "pssss" noise with his mouth and say "all done" though nothing happens...So while we were in the process I said 'push Brycie like this" and I grunted and closed my eyes to emphasize it a bit more. When I opened my eyes to see if he was doing it he was grabbing his private part, stretching it out making a 'hisssss' noise and said "look mommy, snake!" I couldn't help but laugh! Our potty session for the evening had come to an end!

The Check

I walked out of the bathroom the other day to have Bryce immediately meet me. He goosed me asking "mommy, you poopy" I about fell over I was laughing so hard! I looked down at him and again he goosed me asking the same question with a very serious look on his face! I think I check his little diaper butt a bit too often :)

I love family get-togethers

These are some of the boys' cousins from Brad's mom's side of the family. We got together for supper last month for a few birthdays and we found ONE moment where they were sitting still! From left: Jordan, Janessa, Grady, Kaelyn, Ali and Bryce. They get along Very, Very well :)

Date Night

The best date any mom can ask for :)

The other night just Bryce and I went to town and he kept telling me 'eat' I said what do you want to eat and he said 'chicken nugget mama' When we got to Wendy's I got a high chair he told me 'no, mama big boy' I asked him again and again he told me 'no, mama big boy li Gady' So cute! He is such a big boy and sat so still and perfect, what a proud mama I am!

~Leaves~

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day for being November! I swept up, raked up, and gathered up a big ol pile of leaves and without word both boys ran to it and jumped in!! Now that's good old fun to me. Their giggles and screams of joy could be heard from miles around I'm sure!

My pictures don't do the pile justice I only captured about a fourth of the pile

Halloween 2011

Motocross Driver and A Chicken
Have to have a holiday pic with my boys!

My friend Cassie to my right and her kids Caydence (little red riding hood) and Knox (the monkey) and my friend Jamie with her son Jack as the pirate. Cassie, the kids, and myself hit Hazard every Halloween before heading to another town and this year Jamie and Jack joined us. It makes for a great time and wonderful memories

I LOVE this pic

Bryce rode this almost the entire time we were out.
I just wanted to be able to say, its not every day you
see a chicken driving a 4-wheeler :)
So sweet

Macy joined our group for a pic at the Larsen's!

Bryce's 4-wheeler died, he didn't want to walk so he hopped on
with Jack!

Bryce LOVED the chicken outfit. He is really into saying 'eggs', 'chicken', 'bock-bock' and so on whenever he sees a carton of eggs, chickens, pictures of these things just about any time. When I brought the costume home he right away said 'oh my bock-bock' So flipping CUTE! Grady loved the motocross outfit so he too could ride the 4-wheeler around 'like those guys on tv' he said!!

Look ma, No training wheels!!!

My new bloggie

Got a bloggie for my birthday and am just now getting around to exploring it some more and posting a few pics I took the night I got it! The night I turned 29... I know, I know I'm not that old but its the last year of my 20's and that's depressing to me. Check out the boys and the video! Nice little present from my one and only! Love my hubby to death! Can't forget about the cooler of ice cold bud lights that he also got me, yum!!

Can't get him off this thing :)And can't get him off this thing :)

Love that my boys LOVE being outside! So healthy, fun and realaxing most of the time

Us

I have been horrible at blogging the last few months for many, many reasons but who's counting.

Grady Lee
-Is in preschool every afternoon and rides the bus home by himself (to grandma Phyllis' house)
-Knows all of the letters in the alphabet and the sounds they make
-Has been 'getting it' from his brother lately I told him pay backs would come some day ;)

Bryce Wendell
-Is 37 lbs of love and sweetness!
-He is putting together 4 and 5 word sentences most of the time his favorites include 'dada at work, dada loader at work, dada pick up at work, dada sleeping'...see a pattern anyone!!!
-He is in to picking on his brother 24/7 whether it be sitting next to, kicking, slapping or hugging

Brad has recently bought an older little S10 pick up or something close to that for the purpose of driving back and forth to job sites and not use his bigger, diesel guzzling pick up! So yet again another investment made by the Rasmussen's, hope it pans out!

I recently got my student loans wrote off by the government, whoot, whoot!!!! I signed myself up for back surgery Dec 20th which won't be fun but am looking forward to being pain free and yes, this is the only option. I explored them all and saw a hand full of doctors to make sure. Oh ya, and I turned 29 this month...

Love to you all and I'll try to be better about blogging this coming month!

Grady's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Footie Pajama's

A few weeks back it got very cold one night so we busted out the footie pj's! Aunt Deb and Uncle Steve got Bryce a new pair for his birthday and Grady found some to fit himself! They hung out in them for quite awhile but before bed they both told me they were too hot! My warm blooded boys can't handle all that fleece I guess!!

I know they are going to LOVE this picture when they see it in about 12 years

Bryce's 2nd Birthday

The Birthday Boy!!

He got just a little messy after eating his piece of cake :)

Mom and Dad with the Birthday Boy

We got him his own four wheeler!!

It says the battery charge lasts for 3 hours but it was still going strong
when we approached the 3 hour mark! He LOVES it and drives very,
very well for a 2 year old. The perfect gift for our little man!
Grandpa Greg entertaining the little ones while the big ones got to
take a turn on the four wheeler
Kenna and Brycie, pretty darn cute to see them riding around!

Recent News

I have been quite the slacker in posting lately and I apologize. Our lives are SO VERY crazy at the beginning of the school year and I coaching golf. By the time I get home every night supper is over and bed time is fast approaching. One of my golfer's made it to State so we will be experiencing that this coming Monday and Tuesday!!! What a wonderful early birthday present :)

Bryce is talking in 3 to 4 word sentences all the time. He is a little sponge and repeats Everything he hears! Right now he's big into saying "dada at work" or "dada pick up gone" I heart his little voice and how lovable he is. He is my true snuggler and lays on me every night before our bedtime routine begins. Love it!!!

Grady...Grady has so many one liners I can't begin to write about them all. He is a kid that is SO with it and knows absolutely everything that's going on around him. The saying 'too smart for their own good' definitely applies to this kid. A few weeks back when Brad was gone hunting he told me he was the Man of The House while dad was gone and that he had to take care of all of us! He was very proud of this and made sure we were taken care of indeed and each night before bed he asked if I could sleep with him so he could protect me easier! My charmer!!

I wish I was better about writing down the things my kids say but then again I think, I'm the only one that's going to read them and enjoy them so is it worth the effort?? This is a battle I have with myself every time they say some of those one liners and believe me I'd have a novel by this time if I wrote them all down. And there's only been 4 precious years. I'll have hundreds of books by the time they leave our house! And with that I'll end with one of Grady's recent lines...

G-mom, I want to live with you for forever
Me-Well, I hope you do
G-But you know I have to go to college and you will miss me while I'm gone
Me-Yes, Grady I will miss you a lot when you go to college
G-don't worry mom after college I'll come back and marry you just like dad gave you a ring and married you
Me-Well, Grady I'm already married to your daddy so I can't marry you
G-He can live with us too mom it's ok!!!

The Elk

This bull scores at a 320 which is an average bull in New Mexico

but a bigger bull for Nebraska. It will be in the Pope and Young

book which honors good hunters in the state!!

Brad and his hunting partner Dick

Mule and horse back ride on their way out. It took 5 hours
to cut up the Elk then they had to pack it up to ride back to camp.
Not looking forward to the Elk burger but everyone tells me its
good eating and tastes a lot like hamburger. I'll try it once :)

New Mexico

Brad went to New Mexico Elk hunting this past week. He was gone for a little over a week and got one! He had a blast and wants to go back again sooner than he had promised! While in New Mexico they had to use pack mules and ride in on horses where they hunted because anything with wheels or a motor was not allowed where they were. He said it was a very back woods experience but that's what he likes so he was in Heaven!! About a week before he left he would ride his horse Cisco to get his legs and body in to shape for the long horse rides to come. The boys of course wanted to ride along and Cisco is a very good horse so why not!!