TTT: Season 3, Episode 51

1. The countdown is on, people! It's Christmas-mania around here and we're loving it. If I remember correctly, last year, the boys seemed to be in to shenanigans of one kind or another every second of the day by the five-days-until-Christmas point. This year has been much better. Our little project to learn the fruits of the spirit and refrain from extra indulgences has been fairly successful. My two big boys can name all nine fruits (with a little help), including one you may have never heard of: "joyness." It's my favorite fruit around this time of the year, as the boys are definitely full of it! They are oh, so in to every aspect of the season and can't wait for Christmas morning. Neither can I! And I'm so excited for family to arrive too. The first guests will be here on Saturday (Abby and Andy and Dave...staying at my parents) and then Mike and Casey and Pat will arrive on Monday. We will be hosting Mike's family at our house and can't wait for them to arrive. There's all kinds of fun planned over the next few weeks. We are so blessed to have family to share this season with!

2. Kolbe's play on Tuesday was just precious. Of course, four and five-year-olds doing a nativity play is nothing more than organized chaos, but adorable nonetheless. And yes, I totally turned in to a stage mom in the audience, making silly faces at Kolbe in hopes of forcing a smile and singing along to the songs with him in hopes that he'd sing a little louder. He was certainly audible at several points and just as cute as can be. He made an adorable wise man!

3. Save a few blankets that I have to assemble tomorrow, I'm finally done with all of my pre-Christmas orders and even all of the handmade gifts I plan to give. Yay! At points this week I was definitely at my breaking point, mostly because I knew I had taken on more than I should have, but alas, just as always, everything is finished in time. And heck, I've even got all of the presents wrapped to boot! Now if only the groceries would go buy themselves, the goodies would bake themselves, and the house would clean itself....

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope your weekend and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are warm, joyful, merry and full of the love of Christ as we celebrate Love coming in to our world!

My little train conductor.

Three brothers watching Frosty together...well actually, two...Grant lasted roughly twelve seconds before scampering off. He'll only stop to look at the TV if there's some form of music playing. 

Mark and I got to go to his group's Christmas party on Sunday night. His nickname at work is "Moose"...there's already another Mark in the group. The doc who was hosting the party had this moose on the wall so Mark had to have his picture taken with it.

Lots of orders ready to be packaged and shipped.

And local ones ready to be delivered!

Two brothers playing hide-and-go-seek. The best of friends.

Sir Grant wants to show his support of the Red Raider's new coach, Kliff Kingsbury!

Every year my Grandma Hefferly sends us a box of goodies before Christmas. Bless her little heart, I fear it costs her more to ship it than to actually buy the items, but I always look SO forward to receiving it. It's so sweet and completely from the kindness of her heart.  

Turning in to a big boy...baseball hat, red truck, big gulp and all!

The ever clever Kolbe. 

TTT: Season 3, Episode 50

1. Christmas is just twelve days away. Twelve! Right about now I'm at that point where my to-do-before-Christmas list is so long that I'm thinking that curling up in a ball in a dark corner of my closet seems like a better idea.  I do realize that it all will get done, one way or another. Right now it's just feeling a little daunting! Fun though. Fun, but daunting. I love this time of year. And all of the many, many things that there are to do regardless of if they make me feel stressed out or not. The presents to wrap, parties to attend, Christmas plays to beam over (Kolbe's first!)...it's all just so much fun. Sure, a long list of orders to fill by this time next week hangs over my head, but it's just part of the gig for this time of year. And less than two weeks from now I'll have absolutely nothing to do other than relax and enjoy my family. Can't wait!

2. Our party that we hosted on Saturday was so. much. FUN! We had a house full of kids. And I mean full. Luckily, the weather was still very warm so they got to play outside quite a bit and honestly, didn't cause much damage to the game room upstairs. It was no more messy after everyone left than it is on a normal day. And having time for the husbands to get together with us was a lot of fun too. We wives get so used to our usual chit-chat so it's always enjoyable to get to know the other side of their families. I'm so blessed to be a part of such a great group of ladies that have the same beliefs and priorities as me. They've all been so kind and welcoming...and the boys most definitely love all the kids that come with mom's book group too!

3. Time for randomness!
- Is there any way I can ask for a vocabulary for Grant for Christmas? He is so right on the edge of putting it all together and it's driving both of us crazy! He does have a few words that I'm able to decipher. But for the most part he just uses various pitches of screaming. By the time Mark gets home I'm often to the point of just needing at least ten minutes to not be in his presence. I love that baby dearly, but man, it would sure be nice for the screaming to cease!

- The carpet in our family room grosses me out. It's obviously original to the house which was built in 2003...so almost ten years old. We're the third family to live here, all with kids. Grant's year long spit-up fest just added to its beauty. And it's to the point where getting it cleaned works for a week or so but the pad is stained so they all just come right back. But what's the point in changing the flooring while the kids are still this age!?! Ugh. *Dreaming of pretty hardwoods*

- What am I most looking forward to in the week to come? Kolbe's Christmas play at pre-school! He's one of the wise men...the red one, so I'm told...and he's so excited. Almost as excited as me!

- This is probably the cutest thing ever:

Just a small portion of the collection of kiddies we had at our house on Saturday night. 

After the party, Kolbe was exhausted! Since he doesn't nap anymore, he's used to going to bed fairly early. For the first time in a looooong time, he fell asleep on Mama's lap. Man, I cherish moments like this!

Poor Sir. This is what he gets for playing outside in December.  A forehead full of mosquito bites and his usual crazy reaction. In December! Grrr.

Oh yay! It finally cooled off! Now I can wear my jacket and perhaps play outside without getting eaten alive.

TTT: Season 3, Episode 49

1. I'm sitting here with a warm mug of hot chocolate typing away while my oh-so-pretty Christmas tree glows beside me. This is truly my favorite time of the year! Sure, the summer is fun, but the Advent and Christmas seasons are just magical. I love everything about the celebration of the birth of Christ. It's so much like waiting for the arrival of one of my own babies...the anticipation, preparation, excitement....just minus the non-stop contractions and high blood pressure. And the joy twinkling in the faces of each of my kiddos is so tangible that it makes me giddy with the same feelings too. Today we celebrated the feast day of Saint Nicholas. Both of the older boys can readily tell you the story of the real Saint Nicholas; we've read their little books about him many times. And last night they put their shoes by their door in hopes that much like the saint did for many, many of the faithful hundreds of years ago, a gift might appear in their shoes as well. Many of you may have seen on my Facebook today that sadly, Kolbe's shoes ended up lacking a gift this morning due to several days of sassing Mama without end. Poor kiddo just can't seem to get past the fact that he's not the one in charge. But alas, today was already much better and he's working hard because Saint Nick promised in his note to Kolbe that as soon as he could tell that Kolbe respected his Mama, the little gift that was intended for his shoes would be there. Poor guy....despite the excitement of the season, sometimes you just gotta learn the hard way!

2. Speaking of Christmas, we finally finished all of our decorations! We decided last year that we were going to try to do the outside of the house this year with lights. Last year we did our yard but balked on doing the roof. This year we were determined to start early so that we wouldn't be tempted to give it the oh-if-we-put-them-up-now-they-won't-be-up-very-long-at-all-so-let's-just-wait-till-next year. And may I just say that I'm certain that my house loves the Advent/Christmas season best of all too. It's definitely when she's her prettiest, homey-est, warmest, and of course, most magical. And one great thing about being Catholic, Christmas Day is actually just the start of the Christmas season! So our decorations get to stay up extra long. :)

3. Tomorrow night we are hosting a Christmas party for my Bible study group. (I call it Bible study...we actually just pray a decade of the rosary together and attempt to discuss a book we're reading through constant interruptions from the bajillion kids we have when combined together and our chatty tangents we tend to get off on all the time.) Mark and I got to talking and I think this is actually the first shindig we've hosted here. Ever. Sure, I've hosted the group at our house from several of our regular Monday morning meetings and I've had family over plenty, but this is our first evening "party," so to say. Seems so strange considering that it seemed like we had them all the time at our little house in Lubbock. Guess it's time for us to get on the social scene in TW. I mean, not the real social scene...Lord knows we would appear as mere paupers among many...okay, most...of The Woodlands elite. But that's the best thing about my Bible Study group: between the six families that will be here, there will be twenty kids present. There's certainly no false pretenses. Barf stained carpets, crayon streaks on the wall...it's all good. Love these girls and their kiddos. They've definitely been a blessing in my life since moving here and I'm looking forward to our little get together tomorrow night.

You know, someone has to play Mama to the world's most beautiful babe...guess I'll claim it for now! (I mean, really...sometimes I look at this little face and wonder if he's really mine!!!) 

As much as I love my rocking chairs, man, they get dirty and moldy from this Houston humidity! I finally gave them a good scrub down this week. (the front one is done, the back one isn't.) Surprisingly, it comes off quite easily. 

These two turkeys were supposed to be sleeping. I went to check on them and instead they were in bed together giggling and just being buds. Precious friends.

Mark...making me nervous at the top of our house.

Hard at work.

Love my mantle this year! 

And my tree too! Though my skirt underneath still isn't finished...

And don't forget the stockings too.

And The Asmussen Abode in all it's glory!

Happy Advent and Christmas to you all!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 47 and 48

1. Tis true. I skipped and entire week of Three Thought Thursday. (gasp.) Granted, last Thursday was Thanksgiving. And we were in Lubbock. I'll be real honest...I wasn't really concerned much with busting out the computer to do a blog post while we were there. I was too busy chatting with family and packing on a few pounds to take home with me. So what would I have written about if I had done last week's post? I'm not even sure. I have a hard enough time thinking back over one week, let alone, two. It most likely would have involved getting lots of last minute orders sent out, trying to pack for our trip, road trips with sixteen (now seventeen) month olds, etc. Oh, there was a trip to see the last Twilight movie somewhere in there too. And with my dear, devoted hubby! I mean, really...how many gals can say that their husband agreed to go see a Twilight movie just his wife wouldn't have to go alone? He's the best. So yeah, two weeks ago was a large conglomeration of real life. Now on to our trip!

2. Thanksgiving 2012 was wonderful! We had a great time in Lubbock. It's always nice to go back; something about driving past those feed-lots on the outskirts of town just says "home." Not the curled-up-with-a-book-under-a-blanket-by-the-fireplace kind of home. Just the yep-this-is-west-Texas-and-that-scent-smells-familiar kind of home. As always, Miss Lora was such a wonderful host. The last time we went to Lubbock, Grant was just six months old so I was still getting up quite a bit throughout the night and honestly sleeping less than I did at home. But this time around, with Grant at sixteen months and sleeping like a champ, going to Lubbock finally felt like a little bit of a vacation for me. Miss Lora makes visits to her house so enjoyable with lots of food, comfort and care, and football watching. That is, football watching curled up under a blanket by the fireplace. 'Cause in Lubbock you can actually use your fireplace unlike Houston where it's almost always never necessary. The boys spent hours running around with the soccer ball in G-ma's backyard. The also spent a fun-filled night going on the Polar Express train ride with G-ma and Papa Jeep. Throughout the four days that we were there, we had plenty of time to catch up with all of Mark's cousins and aunts and uncles, as well as our good friends, Ben and Erin. Plus, we got to spend a morning with just our little family running around on campus--a place we've missed seeing so much. Sure, the eighteen plus hours spent in the car are pretty miserable, but they're well worth it. (And a special thanks to Brian and Cristi for letting us late-night crash at their house on the way there and back!)

3. But back to reality. Ugh. The week after a road trip is never fun. The boys have done just fine and fallen right back in to sync with normal life. It's me who is feeling a little out of control. And I'm most at fault. Because as soon as we got home and half the neighbors on our street already had their Christmas lights up, I immediately got the itch to kick in to full-on Christmas extravaganza mode. The tree is up, the mantle is decorated, all the knick-knacks are on display. And outside, the front door is done but we still have all the lights to go. In the meantime, they're spread out all over our entry way and dining room in various piles of what-goes-where. And upstairs, there are still piles of clothes that never quite made it through the bi-annual transfer of wardrobes. That's what gives me anxiety. Sure, most of my life is organized chaos, but all of this would be disorganized chaos. Can't we just arrive home from our trip and walk in to the pages of a magazine? On a positive note, the boys have been just over the moon excited with all of the Christmas decor making it's grand appearance. And they've been more than happy to take in a viewing or two of their favorite Christmas cartoons so that I can get things done. Now back to decking the halls...hopefully by this time next week the hot mess will be a done deal!

Hittin' the road with this handsome fella! (I guess he's saving that little piece of popcorn for later.)

New Spidey slippers from G-ma

Watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with G-ma on Aunt Cristi's iPad 

Does this not look exactly like Rudy!?! It's Mark.

We LOVED getting to see Uncle Dave!!! In fact, he came over to Miss Lora's three different times to spend time with us. And just as always, the boys took advantage of every single minute. Dave is a little kid magnet. They love him. 

Dada and his three babes.

G-ma and the boys headed to the Polar Express!

Papa Jeep is ready to go too!

Playing soccer in the backyard with Uncle Dave...one happy baby!

Somehow Dave managed to get them to take this adorable picture...they definitely would not have been this compliant if I was the photographer.

While we were on campus we took a bunch of pictures of our little family. Many of them turned out great! I love this one with my babies.

And this of Rudy and Mark is just precious.

TTT: Season 3, Episode 46

1. It's been a good week around The Asmussen Abode. We kicked off a new "project" of sorts this week and it has been going really well! It's kind of hard to define the project...mission, experiment, lesson, overhaul...all of those things somewhat suffice to say. Basically, over the past few weeks...especially with all of the Christmas toys and ads out... I've noticed my kids have majorly bad cases of the "I wants" and "I'm the boss." Of course, when you get everything you want, you naturally think that you are the boss, so these two go hand in hand. I, however, have been feeling more of the I'm-not-going-to-raise-a-bunch-of-spoiled-kiddos and it's-seriously-time-for-a-"stuff"-purge-around-here. Thus, Mark and I decided it was time to go a little drastic and start a new, six-week family mission. This past Tuesday marked six weeks until Christmas. So we explained to the boys that over the six weeks, we were going to refrain from "extras" or "treats." No slurpies or pretzels at Target, no Sonic runs, no sneaking in a Hot Wheels at the grocery store. No getting to share a soda at Pinkie and Pa's house. You get the idea. Instead, we are giving those things up as we prepare for Christmas, the birth of our Lord. Furthermore, we've made it a mission to learn the Fruits of the Spirit (on a kiddie level, of course) and how they apply to our words, actions, thoughts, tone of voice, etc. They have caught on very quickly. "Kolbe, that wasn't very kind." "Mom, Rudy is not using self control! He just took Grant's toy!" (Ha!) Really, I just figure that this is the simplest way for the boys to connect the outcome of their actions with the motive of their actions. Why are they doing what they're doing? Is it something God led them to or not? You might be rolling your eyes and thinking this is way too deep for a couple of pups, but really, they're smarter than you think. They certainly still act impulsively and it's a constant process but it has been very cool to see them really start to think about motives and consider God in their actions. And let me just tell you, it's been as much of a challenge for me as it has for them! The last little element of our mission has to do with discipline, generosity, and the mandatory before Christmas purge. ('Cause when new stuff comes in, old stuff needs to go.) When poor choices are made (no, not every single time...) they have to go select one toy that they no longer use or want. Then, just before Christmas, they will all be bundled up to leave for Saint Nicholas so he can take them to other boys and girls. It's a win-win; they learn the fruits of the spirit, they learn how to apply them to their behavior, we purge toys in the process, and nothing new comes in until Christmas!!!

The boys and Dada helped me make a Fruits of the Spirit board so we can all have them memorized by Christmas!

2. It's been a long time coming, but I think we have finally turned the corner with the weather here. As in, the kids can play outside without fear of a heat stroke. And I can go outside and watch them without needing to shower immediately after. We've had about a week now of temps in the seventies and it has been so nice! The boys have spent hours out back exploring, digging, climbing, wrestling...boy stuff. And it's actually given me some time to do some much needed cleaning up while I can watch them from the porch or out of our many windows. And let's not forget the best part: by bedtime they are completely exhausted! That being said, the one total downside has to be the bi-annual switching over of wardrobes. Here, once the fall finally arrives, you do have to switch over to pants for bottoms, but then the tops are still a mix of short sleeves, long sleeves, and the occasional sweatshirt. Going through all of their clothes and deciding what needs to be stored, what needs to be donated, what needs to be replaced is one of my most loathed of all mother chores. But I have to give a huge shout out to my massive storage closet upstairs. It sure is nice to walk in, select a tub, pull out the bags and get to storing. Or pulling "new" items for Grant. And I'll also give a good horray to the fact that Kolbe and Rudy are the same size. In everything. Three drawers: pajamas/undies, pants, tops. Covers them both. And at the rate he's going, Grant may be caught up before long too!

3. Kolbe had his last soccer game this past weekend. What a fun, fun season! When we started out, we were really debating back and forth on whether we should even do it or not. After all, he was only four. And I can't stand investing money in something that's a total flop. Would he even be interested? Needless to say, it was one of the best moves we made. Not only did he absolutely love it, but we all loved watching and taking part too. Plus, it gave us an opportunity to meet other families, gave us something to look forward to each Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon, and burned a lot of the endless supply of energy these boys have. And though I try not to be competitive while he's at such a young age, it's safe to say that Kolb is quite the little soccer player. I'll totally admit that I had to beam a little bit when a parent from another team came over to tell us how good Kolbe was at one of his last games. That's muh boy! He says that for now he's happy that the season is over, but that he's already looking forward to playing again next year.

This was actually from very early in season but was one of the best videos we got of Kolbe playing.

Pa entertaining Grant

Of all our babies, Rudy is the cuddliest. He just curled right up with Pinkie and took a nap after the soccer game.

Two brothers hugging.

I know this is horribly blurry, but this pic is SO my life. Beautiful chaos!

Ready for a Grantness overload!?!...

Getting soooo big, but still a blankie boy.

Totally thrilled that Kolbe let him sit in the driver's seat...even though his foot can't reach the pedal.

Showing off his new Chuck Taylors! (we had to get some shoes with ties...he's in the phase where if you leave him alone with velcro shoes on, they're coming off instantly.)

TTT: Season 3, Episode 45

1. Better late than never! It's been a busy, busy week. And I have to admit, a bit of a bummer. You win some and lose some and this week was a loss on several levels! For one, the "open house" last Friday was just what I thought it was going to be just even less successful than imagined. Apparently in years past, it was held in the afternoon hours on a Saturday. You know, when ladies have time to sneak away for a bit and shop. Other than Friday nights being super busy for most people, it was also the night of The Woodlands vs. College Park: the ultimate high school football rivalry in these parts. (the two local high schools) I've always known this was a huge game...heck, Mark took the boys to it last year! But since Mark was on-call and not planning to go to the game, I didn't know it was the night of the open house. I'm going to estimate that maybe fifteen people came through, most of them being close friends or family members of someone else selling at the open house. (There were seven of us.) Everyone was interested in popping in for a few snacks and a glass of wine but no shopping. And by no shopping, I mean no shopping. I left with every single item I arrived with. I know my friend who invited me to sell felt horrible and it certainly was not her fault. The redeeming factor is that everything I had there to sell is completely sell-able in my online shop. In fact, eight of the items have already gone out this week, which has made for a much lighter workload for me and several are planned for Christmas gifts. So I guess the open house wasn't totally a bummer...I'll consider it getting ahead for the busy holiday season that looms!

2. The second "bummer" is a whole conglomeration of issues. Mainly revolving a big little fella commonly referred to around here as "Sir." That would be Sir Grantness. (He picked up the "Sir" during the Olympics when it was decided that he should be a royal.) Ooooooohhhh Sir. Let me just start by saying that the whole "extra hour of sleep" that's celebrated nation wide when "fall back" occurs is an event only celebrated by people without children. Or people with teenagers. Not people with one-year-olds. Kolbe and Rudy used to get up around seven-ish, I'd get breakfast ready, and then go get Grant. So now, it's Kolbe and Rudy getting up around six-ish with the same routine. "So put them to bed a little later so they'll sleep a littler later," you're thinking. It doesn't work that way, my friends. If you put them to bed later, they still wake up at the same time. You could put them to bed at midnight and they'd still wake up at the same time. Their bodies just know. But the problem with Grant revolves around the naps. He just recently...about a month or so ago...officially gave up his morning nap. But since he's been waking up at six instead of seven, he's completely exhausted and ready to crash by ten. Instead of making it to the afternoon nap he's been taking around noon. (Yes, he gets sleepy by eleven but we do lunch and stretch it to noon.) Anyhow, I don't want to go back to two naps because it makes things really "off" for everyone else but man, he's just miserable in the mornings! And adding to his misery are the four teeth that have decided to come in at the same time. Two bottom molars that have broken through and two eye teeth that are in the process. When he's on Motrin or Tylenol, he's his normal happy self. But as soon as it wears off, Lord, help us all! I feel so sorry for him because it looks so painful and miserable, but I hate the idea of keeping him on medicine non-stop too. And other "remedies" have done nothing. Poor little fella. I've decided his fictional counterpart is Animal from The Muppets. But back to the sleep issues. The smart person would just go to bed earlier so that getting up earlier wouldn't be so bad. And I have done that a few nights. But then others I've stayed up until midnight...such as the night of the election...just to encounter another bummer. I could write a whole post about that one. And probably should. But there's so much to digest about that and so many different thoughts I've had about it that it's all just jumbled thoughts in my head right now. There were so many elements that went in to this election. And I can honestly see why certain people and groups feel and believe the way they do about certain issues. The same way I feel so strongly about certain issues too. It's what makes America America. But overall, especially when it comes to the economy and the overwhelming dependence on government that has developed in our nation, it's just hard for me to see how the majority of American voters can think that the best path for our nation is to continue down the same road we are on. I've always been so proud to be an American. And I still am. I love and respect the rights and freedoms we have here and I just hope and pray that my children...and all children...will have the same. I love all of my Republican friends, Democratic friends and everyone in between, and my prayer now is just that we can start to bridge the massive gap between the two parties and start to truly do what's best for our nation. Okay, getting long winded and totally not on the same topic that I started out on. Stopping. At least for now. *Must figure out way to process and publish deeper thoughts instead of just weekly ramblings.*

3. I have to end the week on a positive note. Today was my Kolbe's fifth birthday. Five. Five. How can it be that five years have passed since I first lay eyes on that precious boy? It's amazing the boy he has turned into in just five short years and even more amazing how he's changed me. I love being Kolbe's mom. He's so smart and so talented. A typical oldest child. Every bit as bull-headed as his mother; evidence that God most definitely has a sense of humor. I love this little guy oh so much. That little face and precious smile never hesitate to make my heart skip a beat. God loves me enough to let me be Kolbe's mama. May I always cherish it as much as I do today.

Happy Birthday, my Kolbe!!!

What's a birthday without a cherry donut!?! (he insisted on wearing his hat from pre-school on Thursday to the donut shop this morning)

Enjoying the sunshine! (it's still shorts and t-shirts weather here...)

Cutest little spider man ever!

My three little monkeys! Keeping Dada busy while Mama was at the open house.

Grant goes so hard that when he crashes, it's over!

Last night we went to a pizza place with Kolbe's soccer team for an end of the season party. They all got their medals! This is Kolbe with his coach, Miss Erica, who is a local high school senior who was kind enough to couch the kiddos as volunteer work.

Mark's grandpa, "Grandpa Selso" is a phenomenal artist! He sends us cards for every single holiday. And not just one....one for each kid! The boys love getting his cards and Kolbe is determined to be able to draw like Grandpa Selso some day. And that would be quite the achievement!