TTT: Season 4, Episode 4

1. I need a blogger tutor. I've spent the past hour trying to figure out how to properly upload videos to the blog. It took me for.ev.er to "properly" load two videos to last week's post...only to find out that they only played when viewed from an actual computer. They don't play when viewed from a phone or ipad. Ugh. I need it to be super simple when it comes to blogging, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. It seemed to work just fine when I uploaded videos from my PC once upon a time but since switching to a Mac, I've had major issues each time. Anyone out there have any tips for loading videos to blog posts? Pretty please!?! 'Cause every time I take a video on my phone Mark always follows it up with "You've got to put that on the blog so we can watch it years from now." And yes, we do go back and watch the other videos. They're priceless!

2. The weather has been gorgeous here over the past week so we've spent the majority of our time outdoors. Going on walks, trips to parks, time at the skate bowl, these guys love being outside. I'm typically more of an indoors person, but with temps in the seventies, even I  can't wait to get outside each day! The boys are so in love with their scooters and are becoming really confident while riding them. So confident that it makes me nervous most of the time! I can see them starring in the X Games or something years from now and asking for pictures and videos from when they first began. We certainly have our share of those! I love seeing them take such an interest in both the outdoors and sports. We are definitely loving life right now!

3. Tantrums, Treasures, and Tidbits
- My brother Dave is here! Our whole family loves Dave, especially the little boys. We can't wait to spent time with him while he's here.
- I got to be the "guest reader" for Kolbe's pre-school class today. Uncle Dave came with me and Kolbe was SO surprised. It was precious! And it was also lots of fun to see Kolbe with his classmates. Their age is just too cute.
- I'm trying to re-arrange our laundry room/ the garage entry. Let's just say that our laundry room is a totally impossible space. You have to pass through it when coming in from the garage which is how we normally enter and, with the washer and dryer in place, we've got roughly two feet by four feet to maneuver. I have no room to complain, but yeesh, I've got to get this tiny space to function better!
- Our healthier eating bit has been going well! Mark and I were so proud as we watched our boys eat lettuce wraps the other night. With no complaining!
- It seems like Mark has been on call a ton lately. He only picked up one extra weekend of call, but that has essentially made it every other weekend since right after Christmas. Again, I have no room for complaints, but I guess I have gotten spoiled with him being off a little more!
- I don't say it nearly enough, but let me just tell you: I love my life!


I guess we'll try this video thing again....

The boys riding in "the bowl" in our neighborhood. A few weeks ago I wouldn't let them go anywhere near it! Now we're there every.single.day.

Showing off their necessary skills...'cause when they're at the bowl with just Mama, it's pretty hard for me to fish them out!

So. This happened this weekend. On Saturday night, Mark took the big boys to the monster truck show in Houston. (I know.) I'm sure if I had been in attendance, I would have an entire paragraph to write on this. Gladly, I was not. But the boys sure had a blast!

Instead, my dad watched Grantness so my mom and I could go grab dinner together! Girls night!

Luckily, this babe sleeps just as hard as he plays. 

Kolbe and Rudy want bunk beds so bad! So they decided to "make their own" in the backyard. 

This has been our life this week! Soooo nice!

Oh, and this too, of course.

With a little bit of this thrown in for the youngest since he hasn't quite gotten down the scooter yet. ;)

TTT: Season 4, Episode 3

1. Mid-January is the perfect time of the year to have not much to report. 'Cause really, November and December have way, way, way more than their fair share. So I'm happy to say that life is plain, uneventful...normal. Work, pre-school, playing, laundry, library, Bible study, cooking, dishes. Regular life. And it's grand. We did finally have a real winter spell this week. Can I report on that? Like highs in the thirties instead of sixties. It lasted about two and a half days and was back to in-the-sixties today. I've got to give it to Houston though; it knows how to the thirties. With no wind, thirty-eight is somewhat tolerable. Believe me; I spent a good chunk of time watching boys ride scooters in it.

A family trip to Home Depot never disappoints!

2. I've yet to compile my goals list for 2013. In my head I have (in a British accent, no less!), I've just yet to write it out. Something about putting it down on paper makes it so final. Like if I write it down, there's no turning back...so do I really want to do it? But one goal that I can report on that I'm already putting in to action is an overall healthier diet for our family. And really, I won't get much more detailed than "healthier." I'm not one to buy in to lots of diet fads, trendy eating habits, etc. God has greatly blessed me with a family that isn't allergic to anything at all so no mandatory health requirements either... which I am so thankful for! It seems that now-a-days practically everyone I know has at least one kid who can't eat this or is allergic to that. I suppose if I was given that lot, I'd learn how to deal with it, but praise the Lord, we all love food and can eat it all! That's a good thing, but can be bad, too. As in, yes, I do have a few pounds hanging around from Christmas that I'd like to shed. And Grantness has a big round belly he's been working on, too. (Just kidding, of course!) But like I said, it's not a diet I'm after...just a general stronger effort on my part to eat healthier meals. Don't get me wrong, we don't sit here pounding Big Macs or eating fast food daily. I have always made an effort to feed my kids meats, fruits, vegetables, etc. I've just always leaned more toward easy and familiar, and my childhood eating consisted largely of chicken nuggets, spaghetti, fish sticks, mac-n-cheese, PBJs, tacos, etc. (No offense, Mom! They were all delicious and hey, all five of your kids are fairly skinny! Ha!)  I'm also blessed in that my kids (other than Grant) are usually willing to try anything. Yes, anything! So why not try new things? Why not be more willing to swing by the grocery store for more fresh produce even though I just went a few days ago? Why not be excited about the healthy meals instead of the more "comforting" ones? There's no need to be extreme with us...I'm fairly certain that children who have extreme diets are bound to go buckwild once they get into college and discover Whataburger. I'd much rather try to teach our kids the joy of eating and eating well with an all things in moderation approach so that they can enjoy food the right way in years to come.

3. Tantrums, Treasures, and Tidbits

Only treasures to report this week. In the form of videos and photos. I love these boys!

Kolbe working on his QB skills with Dada!

Grant is convince that he's the same size as the big boys. So when he's sees them riding their scooters down the driveway, he's convinced he should be able to do it, too. So he just improvises with his little car. Crazy fella!

These boys LOVE their scooters. (And yes, I know they should have their helmets on. We were being rebellious.) Kolbe certainly has the speed, but Rudy is so, so graceful. Both of them are already attempting to do "tricks" on them...maybe we should invest in knee pads and elbow pads, too. I just love my little Rudy's voice and face in this one. I wish he could stay like this forever.

My least favorite part of winter. Ugh!
Fingers: Raynauds overload (zero circulation). Skin: 85 years old. Knuckles: Lost Cause

When it's too cold to go out, we burn energy in other ways.

This guy.
And the part that's not caught in pictures is where I took him out, stood him on the counter while Dada wiped water from the floor. Stripped the wet clothes, pulled off the five pound diaper and he immediately started peeing on us both. Thanks son, thanks.

TTT: Season 4, Episode 2

1. You would think that with the amount of time we spent stuck in doors this week, I'd have my blog post up on time. Unfortunately, when you have three littles, there are just nights where bed time and "me" time don't run as smoothly as you'd hope for them to run and you're left with "eh, it'll have to wait till tomorrow." And now it's tomorrow and I'm barely squeaking by yet again! But this time for good reason; we spent the evening at my parents' celebrating my dad's birthday. He has been sick with the flu for a while so we haven't seen them for a few weeks which is rare considering we live relatively close. It's always fun to celebrate with them though, and I feel so blessed that I live close by and can watch my parents "grow up." :) The boys certainly love their Pa and had a blast helping him open his gifts and blow out his candles. Though I've got some work on my hands...they don't quite appreciate the German  chocolate cake the way Pa and I do!

Happy Birthday, Pa!

The older two were excited that they each had a candle to blow out (Pa didn't want to participate since he's still getting over the flu!). Grant had this concerned look on his face throughout the whole spectacle. 

2. As I mentioned, we were stuck inside quite a bit this week. Not the way you want to spend those first weeks getting back to normal life after Christmas. It has rained and rained and rained some more. And there's rain ahead for the weekend too. As I told Mark, if we were roughly thirty degrees cooler, we'd be snowed in. Instead, it looks like spring is here already. The grass is getting greener and greener. (It stays green year round here...never goes brown. Just various shades of green.) So "stir crazy" would be a good term to describe our moods lately. Every time the rain stops we sneak outside to ride scooters for a while, and then head back in and watch the rain from the windows or attempt to do one our jillion other indoor activities. But there are only so many times you can color a picture, play with play doh, play a board game, build a tower, etc. And the kids don't understand why I don't want to "take them somewhere" while it's raining. Ever tried to get four people under an umbrella during a torrential downfall? So today we took a much needed trip to the library and then ran around down by the waterway. Weather permitting, maybe we'll finally get out in the yard and take down our Christmas lights this weekend!

See what I mean!?!

But I must admit, I love listening to rain through an opened window. They do too!

3. As I mentioned last week, I'm planning to do a few changes on the blog this year. One thing is the addition of a little "section" within my usual post. In the past, I've always just called it randomness. Throughout the week, there are always little this-and-thats that happen that leave me thinking Oh, that would be great to put on the blog! But then it's not quite detailed enough to write a whole paragraph on.  Just something funny one of the kids says, something annoying that nearly makes me pull my hair out, something exciting that I'm dying to divulge, a recipe I just have to share. So maybe not every week, but some/most, I'm going to do a little section called "Tantrums, Treasures, and Tidbits." A little TTT on TTT. .....I know..... I'm killing you.  So for example:
Tantrums: My dear sweet "baby" is obsessed with markers. I made an adorable changing pad cover for a customer that I decided to set up and photograph for my site. Then I made the mistake of leaving it out. Grant decorated it for me. Luckily it was with a washable marker and came right out. He also took a sharpie to widow sill but somehow didn't have a single mark on himself.
Treasures: Downton Abbey is back! One episode in and I'm already loving it. I wish I was British and from the 20s. And after watching an episode, I think in a British accent for at least twenty-four hours.
Tidbits: Though it took him a long time to figure it out, Grant has now mastered "Mama." Even the various tones and inflections! Mama. MAma. Mama-mama-mama-mama-mama! MAMA!!!

Sir Pugs and friends

Making pizza on our new pizza stone that G-ma got me for Christmas!

Little boy boots are the cutest. Again, thanks G-ma!

Trouble. (He's fascinated with trying to figure out what the street drain is.)

The boys love making homemade popsicles. These were vanilla yogurt and grape juice and though the combo seems odd, they were surprisingly yummy!

One of the best parts of rainy weather/humidity? Curly baby hair. It's much lighter in color, but definitely Mark's curls. Sooooo cute. 

TTT: Season 4, Episode 1

Happy New Year, Friends and Family! And happy beginning to Season FOUR of Three Thought Thursday! I can't believe this begins the fourth year of weekly journaling. Wow! And that there are actually people still reading...double wow!

Sure, it's not my standard "three thoughts" but I thought I'd kick the year off with what lots of people love the most: pictures. The past two weeks have been so full of action, excitement, love, and laughs that instead of pouring over them in fluffy words, I figured I'd just share the pictures...of course, with my captions thrown in as commentary. Be prepared...this is way, way, WAY overboard!!!

Pretty blurry but fun nonetheless...we love Christmas!

Football drills! (aka: energy burner)

My dad trying to catch a bird in his house. Yeah, that happened.

Seeing Christmas lights in luxury!

As always, Rudy loves babies and spent a good chunk of time playing with adorable little Will. 

Chaos, anyone?

John trying out the big kid bike with Uncle Mark! I love that face!

Christmas Eve morning!

Showing off my pretty watch that all of my guys gave me.

Kolbe drew this family portrait, wrapped it himself, and gifted it to us. Love.

My favorite guys in the world.

After trying out some Razor scooters that belong to their friends, the boys decided they really wanted one too.  Luckily, Papa Jeep sent a Target gift card so Mama and Dada were able to go grab the last two at Target on the 23rd...thanks Papa Jeep!

Out riding scooters in the cold with my love on  Christmas Eve morning!

This guy is already a pro.

Rudy is pretty great at the scooter as well, for a three year old, but he's also content to play with his super heroes too.

Park time!

I die. I mean, really. Cutest little kid pic ever.

Jack Pat! This guy (and his fam) stayed at our house for four nights and we had so much fun with him.

Poor Kennedy...her lip was cracked and kept bleeding. She's our sweet little vampire look-alike!

Baby Will...soooo sweet and the most content baby ever.

This is what happens on the way to 8pm mass when little boys have had a very exciting day.

Uncle Pat made it to town!

Family picture after mass.

Christmas Morning at Pinkie and Pa's.

Goooooo Tech!!!

Mark drew Pat's name and insisted on getting him a fully loaded beer holster for all of his Air Force functions as one of several gifts.  Sooooooo Pat. 

I love this picture. Rudy was over-the-moon excited about finally getting his long pined after Hulk man. He was ecstatic!!!

Cousins!!!!

The kid table for Christmas dinner. 

Wrestlemania!!! 

Mr. Jackson (aka Jack Pat) 

Mr. John Boy (aka Juan Diego...this are Mark's nick names)

We hosted a game night at our house that was full of Christmas themed Minute to Win It games. So much fun!!!

I didn't get the best pictures because I was busy setting up/"running" the games, but Andy and Pat were great at playing tennis with the packaging bow and paper plates! 

And both Casey and Pat had fantastic methods for getting legos out of the tissue boxes strapped to their backs.

Uncle P and Rudy

Uncle Brian and Aunt Cristi made plans to come down for New Years and when G-ma discovered that well priced flights were still available, she decided to come too! So we had a few days to ring in the new year Asmussen-style.

G-ma gave the boys their own instruments...New Orleans, here we come!

And even Ellie the Dog paid us a visit...she was decked out in her sweet Texas Tech dog jersey that we got her for Christmas.

Opening gifts with G-ma.

We also did a family photo shoot in my parents back yard that went really well. I'll post those later though. In the mean time, Happy New Year to you all! And thanks for keeping up with our family!