Friday, June 28, 2013

Three Thought Thursday- 6/27/13


- Another few weeks of full-swing-summer around here. Life and laughter of all kinds. And I can already tell this is going to go down as my favorite summer of all times. It's. just. fun! We've had a few "issues" going on within our family and extended family that have got me making a concerted effort to look around each day and simply be thankful. The life I have is extraordinary. Sure, it's full of it's own unique hiccups, but even those add to the character of our stories. Have you every noticed that in fairy tales, the "happily ever after" ends right when "normal life" starts? Certainly we're not expected to believe that Cinderella runs off with her new husband and never has another bump in the road ever, ever again. That's how I feel: Living the fairy tale but in normal life. Despite it's regular chaos, daily hardships, and even the heavier, thick crosses, it's so, so beautiful. I have a amazing husband. Three beautiful children. A wonderful home. Family on both sides that loves us dearly. And a God who is never failing. I've just been feeling that no matter what comes our way, there's a mighty, mighty fortress covering us in love. I'm blessed.

- But enough of the mushy stuff.
You're wondering what we've been up to, right!?
Well, lots. Two birthdays, a baby shower, and don't forget Father's Day! Throw in the pool, a trip the movies, picnics in the park, extended family in town...like I said...Best. Summer. Ever. On Monday my "baby" celebrated his second birthday and the following day I celebrated the second anniversary of my twenty-ninth birthday. (wink, wink!) And a few days prior I had a blast serving as one of the hostesses for my sweet cousin Audry's baby shower. Once upon a time it seemed like I was hosting a shower every month or so...but it's been a long time and it was so fun to get back in on the baby pampering action. Especially since she's having a girl! Lots and lots of family came in for the shower so not only did I get to have fun doing the girly stuff, but Mark and the kiddos got the have fun hanging out with everyone else too. I think our boys won everyone over pretty quickly. ;) And despite the fact that Mark was on call for Father's Day, the boys and I put together a fun day for him. It's never hard to come up with reasons to celebrate Dada. His love for us keeps our family alive! So two more weeks of summer in the books. With a trip to Brenham, TX for 4th of July on the horizon, let the good times continue!

To surprise Mark for Father's Day, on Saturday while he was rounding at the hospitals, the boys and I hung roughly 150 pictures around our entire family room of just Dada and the boys. In 5.5 years of being the World's Best Dada, it's easy to come up with that many!  
He was so surprised and love walking around his "gallery" and reliving the moments as a daddy.
Shower Fun! Me, Mom, Audry, and Kristen...the hostesses with the mama-to-be!
A fun shot of all the Gaschen cousins at the shower!
Gaschen sisters at the concert in the park...minus Aunt Mimi. :(
Gaschen family fun...taking over Willie's Icehouse!
Birthday, birthday!
Blowing out the candles.
Getting ready to ride his new strider bike with his new helmet...just like big brothers'! 
The bike ridin' crew!
Yum, yum German Chocolate Cake that Mark ordered for me. My fave!
What two-year-old doesn't love a giant ball for his birthday?!
Ruffians.
Mark's grandfather, Grandpa Selso is the best.little.artist.EVER! He sends us cards with his original artwork for every birthday, holiday, and special occasion. They are a true treasure to us and we keep every single one!
And while we're on the topic of artwork, I nearly died laughing when Kolbe gave me this gem as a birthday present. He did a fantastic job of coloring me "a princess picture since you're a girl," but he failed to realize that Ariel's tail goes up to her waist, not her ankles. So I'm rockin' a pin-up-style Ariel on my fridge right now. He couldn't figure out why I thought it was so funny. So innocent!
- So I mentioned that my "baby" turned two. It's true. He did. And I'm feeling oh-so-bittersweet about it. Two years? Life is happening at just a crazy pace. Because he was born here. In The Woodlands. While we were living in this house. And really, it seems like we just left Lubbock. But I guess the thing that makes Grant's passage from baby to kiddo a bit more sigh-inducing is that he's the baby. There's no little brother or sister to fill the baby shoes. No bun in the oven to look forward to the baby days with. Lord willing, there will be some day, but for now I feel myself coming to peace with having three little boys instead of two boys and a toddler. Closing the baby chapter (hopefully not forever) isn't a horrible thing. It's simply time for me to love being the mom of the three best little boys in the world. And this Grant fella? Boy, is he something else! I always found it so amazing that Kolbe and Rudy were so close in age yet so, so different in other areas. And to think I have a third that's just as different from the other two! Grant is a total spit-fire, action-packed, chaos-iducing wildman. He can win you over in no time at all because he's learned the fine art of using his baby blues and winsome smile. (We don't call him "Smiley" for nothing!) Temperamental as all get out, he goes from complete meltdown to full-on laugher without hesitation. And certainly unique to The Asmussen Bunch, Grant is in the 80th percentile for weight and 95th for height. Along with the blue eyes, he managed to grab the Hefferly height too. So we'll be taking bets on at what Grant will pass up Mom and Dad,  'cause we know it's coming!  Lastly, let me just tell you, I love this little boy. He makes me melt every single day...and want to pull my hair out, too! The perfect combination.

Birthday Morning!
#3 turns 2 with his 1st year collage in the background...he really lost that baby look this year!
And just because.....
Uncle Brian and Aunt Cristi sent Grant the ultimate backyard pool for his birthday and these kiddos had a blast swimming in it! (We won't talk about how long it took to inflate everything...) But look at that stink face!
An inflatable pool with a slide? Heck, yeah!
Two brothers, too sweet.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Three Thought Thursday- 6/13/12

1. When speaking of being a stay-at-home mom, I often say, "The days are long, but the years are short." But with the transition from spring to summer, it has felt more like "The days are short, and the weeks are shorter!" Several Thursdays have passed since my last update. I find it hard to fathom that I've actually skipped posts in the past because I "had nothing to write about." Hardly the case these days. Life has been happening at rapid pace. That awesome kind of free-spirited life where every day is something new, something fun--adventures at every turn. Summer is just so. much. fun! We've already bounced around town to all of the local pools, been to splash pads, skate parks, sprinklers, soccer, concerts you name it. (And my kids are already tanner than I ever dreamed of being. Ever. Lucky ducks, they all have their daddy's gorgeous skin.) I've missed the feeling for the past many years, but the feeling that every child, adolescent and young adult has is back: I love summer!

2. The boys and I have also embarked on a bit of an educational summer venture: learning to read. For Rudy, it mainly focusing on the early learning process...sounding out words, learning variations of sounds, etc. For Kolbe, he can already do all of that, so we're shooting for the real deal: fluent reading.  And we've got quite the sizable carrot dangled in front of the horse. These boys have been begging for skateboards for months and months. (I know. Skateboards. I'm already getting the heeby-jeebies just thinking about the potential injuries!) So I've committed to them that if they focus on our "smart work" every morning with no complaining, at the end of the summer we'll go pick out new skateboards. (and knee pads, and elbow pads, and full body pads...just kidding on that last one. Kind of.) We're about three weeks in so far and they're doing great! I think all they really need is some structure and encouragement to keep up the pace. Give me a couple more months and hopefully I'll be posting videos of two little readers. (and hopefully not two little readers covered in scrapes, bruises, and full body casts...)

3. A few nights ago I had an unexpectedly fun evening. One of those where I'm anticipating a burden and it turns in to a blessing. I got a text around 7:30 from a neighbor saying several of the ladies on the street were going to sit out and enjoy a glass of wine around 8:00. I avoided it, knowing I still had lots of work to finish up and going to socialize would throw everything off. But around 9:00 I decided to "just go say hi" and ended up staying for two hours. (and getting totally devoured by mosquitoes, but that's another story.) The three other ladies and I sat beneath the glow of our street light, sharing stories, laughing, empathizing, and just enjoying the adult company. The thing I keep reflecting on is how different each of us are. At 30, I am the baby. The baby with lots of little babies. And then there's another who is fairly newly married in her late thirties, raising two pre-teen step daughters and her nearly one-year-old while working full time at a nearby hospital. And another who is in her early forties, with three kiddos somewhat older than ours, working on her masters as well as working part time. And another in her early fifties. Single and an empty-nester as of a few weeks ago. Probably wondering "what's next?" All of us at different places in life. With different priorities, different struggles, different beliefs, different personalities (for sure!).... different questions for God.  But all of us moms. And all it takes is that one inexplicable link that can take a group of "unlikely-to-be-friends" and create something unique, enjoyable, and fun. Who knows how often we'll get to have our little "hen meetings" but I'm glad God gave me a little slap in the rear. A little "wake up...it's not about spending all of your time with people who are just like you. In fact, it's the opposite." He gives me blessings when I least expect them.


So you want some evidence that our summer has been rocking so far?....


Every now and then you gotta put the scooter down for a sec so you can get a few soccer shots in.
Meanwhile, little brother gets a chance to run off with big brother's scooter!
I can't even handle this picture. Just please get off my computer screen and get onto my wall!!!
Ok, this one too. Don't these just scream SUMMER! 
The indication that the Asmussens are nearby.
One of the best parts of the past few weeks...Papa Jeep came to visit!!! We haven't seen Papa Jeep since last Thanksgiving so it was wonderful to have him down for a visit. We had lots of fun, stayed busy non-stop, and even got to squeeze in a little early birthday/ Father's Day celebration for him.
Hanging out at the waterway before the Houston Symphony performed. 
Trying to grow up too fast.
Nothing like a perfect night, a great sunset, and a big quilt to sprawl out on.
Happy (early!) Birthday, Papa Jeep! These grand babies sure do love you! 
Chillin' at the pool.
We took Papa Jeep to the skate park so he could see the boys ride a bit and this beautiful ray of light seemed to follow Kolbe around the bowl. It was so beautiful and I love that I was able to capture it on camera.
Though we're at the pool in this picture, it overlooks the boys' favorite fishing spot, so during safety breaks they sat and watched all the turtles swim up in hopes of a little snack. Summer fun at a beautiful setting!