Some Where Over the Rainbow

    Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow Skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true

Some day I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where troubles melt like lemondrops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I? Some day I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where troubles melt like lemondrops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly Beyond the rainbow Why, oh why can't I?

Happy 5th Birthday Kate!

On July 25th, Kate turned 5 years old.  Kate has sure grown up to be a beautiful, smart, talented little girl.  She had a wonderful time celebrating her Birthday this year. Kate is really into all thing Horses, so naturally we had a horse themed party.  We first went up to Jerry's family to celebrate the first part of her Birthday.  We all went to Jungle Jim's, the Kids and I had a blast.  I am so glad Jerry's family had the idea of going to this place, it was so much fun.  The best part was it was all inside where it was nice and cool.  It's a bunch of little kid rides all together in one place.  Kate loved riding all the rides with her cousins, especially Kiya.  The two are the same age, only about 20 days apart.  Caleb loved riding all the rides with Papa, he was so excited to ride the rides, he loved the little train the best.  Jane, well as usual hung out with mom, not quite big enough to do anything yet.  After Jungle Jim's we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house for pizza, cake and presents.  Oh side note, before the party Caleb thought it would be nice to take the horses of the cake and play with them, and have a little taste test.  Let's just say I was just a little furious with him.  I ended up putting all the candles in the missing frosting area.  Oh well things happen I guess.  Later on when we had Kate's other cake, Poppy his other Grandpa was teasing Caleb,  pretending to try and eat the cake and Caleb yells...NO NO POPPY, I guess he realized what he had done wrong earlier and was trying to stop Poppy from getting into the same kind of trouble.
Kate had a great time opening all the wonderful presents up at Jerry's parents home, she loved the attention so much she started opening her presents so slow. So then Papa told her that he would give her a dollar to rip open the presents as fast as she could.  She is a smart girl and took him up on his offer.  Then the present opening resumes at normal speed after that.  Thank you Papa, we would have been there all day.

Kate loves Cards

Kate carries this everywhere with her, she loves it!

Kate's Birthday Cake, tried to cover up Caleb's taste testing, so unsuccessful!

On Sunday we celebrated the second part of Kate's birthday with my side of the family.  I unfortunately came down with the stomach flu the day before so we weren't able to do the activity part until Monday, and my family had to help me get the Cake and decorations up, so frustrating.  I got this same thing the day of Jane's baby blessing, I don't mind taking my turn being sick I just wish it wouldn't be around a special occasion for me.  I am glad is only lasted a day and then it was over,  I caught it from Kate she had it a few days before me.  I am glad my family helped me out.  I was just sad I wasn't able to do more, it is one of my favorite times to reminisce about my children and think of the last year and how they have grown.  This year all I could think of was trying to feel better.  The cake turned out to look great but not taste so great. I guess we got a little spoiled growing up with my mom's frosting recipe, so when we used the can frosting from the store it just wasn't that big of a hit.  We thought brown fur, chocolate frosting, it looked good, just to rich to eat.  It was fun trying to make a horse Cake, we just took the Dog cake my mom would make for us as kids and just revamped it to look like a horse.  We had everyone come over, Aunts, Uncles and Kate's one Cousin so far, Julia!  (One little boy on the way, finally some more boys!) Everyone got a cowboy hat and party blower.  She had a huge sparkler candle in the shape of a 5 on her Cake, she kept trying to blow it out, too funny.  Kate had a blast opening all her presents.  She especially loved opening her Leapster from her Dad and Mom, that was her big presents this year.  She was so excited and thankful for everything she received, right down to each card she opened.  After the presents we went outside to enjoy the hot fresh air, nice huh.  The kids played with all of Kate's new toys while the adults played a crazy game of bacci ball.  It was a great day.  On Monday we went to Kate's favorite restaurant IHOP, yep that's right International House of Pancakes, she loves to eat there and asked to go all the time.  Then we went to see Toy Story 3 again, with her brother, cousin Julia and Grandma.  Everything was fantastic.  I am so excited for this little girl, 5 is great number, We love you Kate Lynne Rasmussen and we wish you a very Happy Birthday we love you Mom, Dad, Caleb, and Jane!    

Kate's reaction to her cake

Giddy up Cowgirls!!

Julia

Kate loving her Jessie Doll

I just love that smile

Kate and her Leapster Her big gift this year!

Eating at IHOP

Sweet Jane at IHOP

Wizard of Oz

On July 16th, Kate and I went to go see the Wizard of Oz at the local Alpine community theater. It was fantastic. We also had the chance to go with my two sisters and my niece Julia. It was so nice to be able to take Kate to see this play. We just happen to have ruby red slippers and a like colored blue dress so we decided together it would be fun to dress up like Dorthy and go to the Play. I took some picture outside before the show. Kate has never been to a play before, she kept thinking we were going see it on the movie screen and well lets just say I had to let her see for herself for her to understand. We got great seats, we ended up taking Kate's booster seat from the car which made it easier to see over the adults heads. Kate has only seen the movie at home maybe once or twice. She continually leaned over and said mommy the scare crow needs a brain etc. telling me what was going to come next. She was so into watching the play, her eyes never looked away from that stage once, until it was intermission time. Usually it hard to get her to want to sit still and watch something, I wasn't sure how this whole play atmosphere was going to go. Kate did great she loved it, see was even singing along to all of the songs. The best part for her was being able to pet Toto the dog and meet all the characters in the play afterward. It seem like she had this magical wonder in her eyes, she was so excited to meet all the characters, excepted the wicked wick. Kate said I don't like the bad wick. I told her no one likes her it's fine. I hadn't been to a play in a while myself, I miss going to see plays, I really enjoy going to these kinds of events. I don't get the opportunity to go much with little ones around and other reasons too. It was great to go and enjoy some one on one with my oldest. I miss those days sometimes. After we met the characters and got in the car, Kate asked me where is Kansas, is is far, and can we go visit Dorthy there someday. She couldn't stop talking about Dorthy and all the Characters and what they all needed. Heart, Brain, Courage, a Home, you know. Kate is still watching Oz during quiet time each day, it's been a couple of weeks now. Good Times, and Great Memories. I need to do this more often, it was a great time had by all.

Caleb being Silly!

Caleb I have to say is so funny and does the cutest things, I can't help but just sit back and watch him. He always has a way of making me laugh and putting a smile on every ones faces. He has this contagious laugh and adorable smile I just can't get enough of. These picture I am posting are some of the funny things I have captured him doing lately, anything from trying on mommy's glasses to insisting he wears Kate's dress up skirt when he plays with his dump truck. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words so I just stop typing and let you in on the joy this little boy brings to our lives. Never a dull moment ever. Come what may and Love it!