FOUR

We have a four year old in these parts! Asher the Kid had a birthday on the 20th. He was so excited about the big day, and because he has yet to fully grasp the concept of dates and time, asked for incessant updates as to its arrival. We almost made a paper chain (which, pathetically, would have made me feel a little more like the hands-on, crafty mom I wish I was), but he caught on to the calendar numbers before we had to dig out the glue. Phew.                    

I felt a tinge of sadness as we tucked him in the night before - the last time we'd see our boy as a three-year-old. But there were only smiles the next day. Since his birthday happened to fall on MLK Day, Daddy was able to spend it all with us, and Nina and Poppy as well! Cha-ching! We figure between weekends, possible snow days and MLK Day, Asher will be off school on his birthday roughly 38% of the time. Not bad for January! ...but his pinata dreams may never be fulfilled, poor chap.

Now, because we are equal parts loving parents and poor white trash, we decided to take our son to Chuck E. Cheese's this year instead of throwing him a party. He'd never been and we had a coupon.

Have you ever been to a Chuck E. Cheeses on a national holiday during a polar vortex? MADNESS. It's the Mecca of long lines, germs and noise. Formerly stir-crazy kids yelling and darting all over, arcade games going off at various registers, a visual assault of bright color at every turn....Asher's paradise.  

We arrived before noon, ate surprisingly good pizza and blew through 40 tokens. Andrew hit a big 150 ticket bonus on the gator smash and tried not to act exited....a couple of Asher's sweet friends came, who mostly got lost in the mayhem. The above picture was taken around 2:30 when the lunch crowd had died down...but trust me, the place was wild. 

So we also spent a lot of time in the much safer, quieter little kids area.

 Preston loved this slide!

  

 I mean, really loved this slide. 

Just kidding. This is of course baby sign language for "Why do you have me in this hellish indoor carnival when it's my naptime?"

 His standard pose of the day.

Does anyone else have vivid memories of being slightly traumatized by the elaborate animatronic shows at Chuck E. Cheese's in the early 90's? I was happy to see they'd scaled back to just one character. Still freaky.

Am I sounding negative about this whole thing? Because it was actually really fun! And Asher loved it so much, which is what really counts. There is nothing quite like watching your child experience things for the first time.

After Chuck's came cake and ice cream. Ash man requested a strawberry cake this year, and we added cream cheese icing to make it extra good. 

 "FOUR!" And yes, that's Preston in the background eating a spoon full of frosting.

 So thankful for the beautiful relationship Asher has with his grandparents. They are such wonderful people.

Asher, our beautiful first born baby who is growing up before our eyes....you are such a good, funny, smart, sweet, special boy. You bless our lives in so many ways, and teach us something each day. We want to be the kind of parents you deserve. Which is a pretty tall order. Wishing you a year full of growth, discovery, laughter and joy. Mommy and Daddy love you so!

Dropping the Ball on Winter Break

Ryan Seacrest may be the new host of the annual ball drop, but I like to think of myself as the better ball dropper. This blog, for instance - neglected for over a month. Fail. I'd like to take a moment to dedicate this dropped ball to Dick Clark. We miss you, Dick. Ryan Seacrest is the worst.

Anyway, after a long lapse, I am tempted to do a big recap, but those can be a punishment to read, and an even bigger punishment to write. And in spite of the fact Andrew bought me a really nice camera for my birthday last year, my photography continues to consist mainly of blurry cell phone pics. So I don't have professional grade photos to tell the wonderful tale of our Christmas. We're a sad lot. 

Here are some high points of our last few weeks:

- Wild Lights at the zoo during a fluke 50 degree day nestled between highs in the 20s.

- Starting the 25 Days of Christ tradition. Every night, we read a story from Jesus' life, watched a video and Asher picked a new ornament out of the bag to hang on the tree. It really helped keep our focus on the Savior, and drew us together as a family.

- Our "Christmas" here at home with the boys. It was pretty modest, but the kids had so much fun. We just played with toys in our jammies and ate Trader Joe's almond croissants. Recommend!

- Visit to Louisville - we were able to see my little sister Amy, and are THRILLED to hear of her upcoming move back to Kentucky! Sisters gotta be close!

- Will and Abby (Andrew's little sister) got engaged!! Excited for their Derby Day wedding.

- Visit to Central City. This was a big one...we stayed a whopping 9 days and had all the fun we dream of having year round. Andrew is quoted as saying if he didn't have children, he'd spend more time.....playing games (everyone has a different nirvana - my husband's just happens to look like Settlers of Catan. He was also in marching band, but I'm not saying there's any pattern). We definitely played games. We saw extended family. We watched the kiddos play. We ate like we had the metabolism of tweens and washed it down with hot chocolate. We had so much fun together, we started making plans to all move to a "family estate" together...compound style, like weird fringe folk. I guess when you really truly love people, you want to share a septic tank.

And we really truly love these people.

- Return visit to Louisville. This time around, we were able to see Hannah and Spencer, fresh from the Canadian wild. We played some really fun games together, and ate a LOT of take out.

 My favorite part of the trip was bundling up and laying out in the snow (with electric blankets) to watch a big meteor shower together. We just talked, laughed, and listened to Dad tell old stories between shooting stars.

- Unexpected snow days.  We arrived Sunday night, just ahead of the polar vortex...because of dangerously cold temperatures, Andrew's class and clinic were cancelled (the first time since we've been here) both Monday and Tuesday. This was especially nice for us, since Andrew was going to be in Dallas Wednesday through Sunday, and we were dreading the separation. 

We hardcore blitzed the house and I went a full day without brushing my hair. Everything felt so clean and organized...every piece of laundry washed, folded and put away. That never happens.  Taking inventory of all the new things we'd acquired over Christmas made us feel so deeply grateful for the great generosity of our families. It is funny, because we are so dirt stinkin' poor...we have less than nothing. And yet, somehow, we have absolutely everything. As we stood there together and thought about our warm home filled with two healthy boys, all the necessities of life, comfortable furniture, books, toys, games...a profound sense of abundance and gratitude washed over us. 

So thankful to be living our lives together and sharing this sweet little world we've helped create.