The Asmussen Family: TTT: Season 4, Episode 7

1. Happy St. Valentine's Day to all you love bugs out there! Valentine's Day was actually pretty fun for us this year. Since Kolbe goes to his pre-school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it was quite exciting that he was going to have school on the actual "holiday." He spent a good bit of time yesterday writing out all of his valentines for his friends. And then last night my brother Dave came over to watch the boys for a bit so Mark and I could go get a bowl of my favorite tomato basil soup at Le Madeleine. Not a major Valentine's date, but hey, even an hour to get away with my love is nice! And he got me a cute little pair of red Toms, too. Something I hadn't asked for that he saw and just decided to get me. Those make the best gifts. And yes, they are, in fact, comfy! Today, while Kolbe was at school, Rudy, Grant and I had fun making chocolate dipped strawberries for the family. After picking Kolbe up from school, we stopped by Sonic happy hour to get slushies with the Valentine's money G-ma sent the boys. Gotta love a sweet treat in the afternoon, though it nearly killed me not to get a Coke. More on that in a minute. After Sonic we dropped some of our strawberries by my parents' house and then went home ate the rest ourselves. It was a fun day with my boys. And when I asked Kolbe who his valentine was (hoping he'd say me), he answered with "my whole family...because that's who I love." Good answer, son.

2. But back to the Coke. I'll try to only address this once. 'Cause really, giving something up for Lent is no good if you're just going to sit and belly-ache about it. It's a positive, not a negative! So here we go-- For those of you who really, really know me well, you know that this is huge: I finally gave up Coke for Lent. And maybe-hopefully-hypothetically for good. But don't hold me to it. (the "for good" part, that is) I think every year when I pray and decide what kind of sacrifice I should make to draw myself closer to Christ in the forty days before Easter, my beloved Coke always jumps immediately to the forefront of my mind. But in the years past, there was always some sort of reason that I shouldn't give it up. And all of them closely related to the caffeine aspect of the drink. But this year I realized that all my thinking on that subject was really just a cop-out. I drink Coke because I love the way it tastes. It's comforting. When I'm stressed or feel like I'm going crazy, it's my go-to indulgence. But really it does nothing good for me at all. And really, I'd hope that I'm at least mentally above the irrational thoughts that I have to have it. (Though I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to talk myself down from the ledge a few times in the past two days.) Again, y'all know I love my Coke. Love. Love. LOVE. But if it does nothing for me other than satisfy my taste buds, it really has no business having such a power in my mind. And the Lord knows that my giving it up for Lent has definitely had me calling out his name way more than usual in the past two days! Though it honestly hasn't been too bad. Just breaking a bad habit and turning more to God during stress than a sweet drink. Still...pray for me, people!

3. As I mentioned last week, my sweet boy Reagan Mark turned four this week. Four. Four. If any one of the boys has grown up too fast, I think it might be him. Just fifteen months behind Kolbe, he has seemed to just acclimate himself to achieving at the same time as his big brother. Like already learning to read while Kolbe learns. Riding a bike at age three. Sure, he does seem to copy Kolbe quite a bit, but on the other hand, he's so uniquely himself. Creative, imaginative, sensitive, compassionate...a dreamer. He seems to carry all of the "right brained" traits of both Mark and me. And his Mama's left-handedness too. Rudy melts my heart. He could stay four forever.