On the advent of my first babe starting kindergarten

It's been a while since I did a non-Three Thought Thursday blog post. Tonight I had plans of finishing up some laundry, starting the dishwasher, maybe responding to an email or two. Typical things. But since it's not a typical night, I felt myself more drawn to sit down and write a bit.

My little boy starts kindergarten tomorrow.

A special day, no doubt. And a special little boy. I find my heart filled with a sense of completion and a sense of beginning all at once. What a remarkable five (nearly six!) years it has been with my Kolbe. I'm so proud that we've made it this point! Mark and I certainly don't profess to being perfect parents; we're nothing of the sort. But we're here. We made it. We have a smart, funny, happy, charming little boy who is so, so excited to take on the world.

I've shared my journey through motherhood on this blog since Kolbe was about eight-months-old. You've seen the ups and downs, our joys and sorrows. And every single second has been worth it.

I love being Kolbe's mama.

There's nothing in the world quite like it and I'm bless that God has chosen Mark and me to be his guides on the journey. And to be honest, I can't wait for the new journey ahead. This is one extraordinary kiddo we've got on our hands!

And I'm so, so glad that I still get to be Kolbe's mama. Still get to be the one he trusts, the one he looks to for advice, the one to teach him morals, to show him how to love others and to love God. To teach him how to clean toilets, make spaghetti, write a good paper, or ask a girl to dance. Till the day I leave this earth, and hopefully even beyond, I will always be Kolbe's mama.

It's the best feeling.

For several years leading up to this point, Mark and I wrestled back and forth with what path we should take when it came to the education of our children. From the beginning, we've been firm believers that parents are responsible for the education of their children. And for a long time, I struggled with what that meant for us. Public school? Catholic school? Home school? Could it be possible for my kids to be academically educated in one arena and morally/spiritually educated in another? Time will certainly tell, but for now, Mark and I both have deep faith that we've done our best in bringing Kolbe to this point and we're certainly not going to stop now. We send him off to school with great excitement and confidence that he can and will be the salt among his peers. And it's our job to continue to cultivate that in him (and our other boys too) at home. Best of all, we're surrounded by so many friends and family members...those who send their kids to public school, those who choose Catholic school, those who homeschool...all who have been nothing but supportive and encouraging in our process of reaching this point. We're so blessed to not be alone in this crazy ride called parenthood!

So with a joy, excitement, and great confidence I will load a little thirty-eight pound boy into the car tomorrow morning. Beaming with pride, I'll take his hand and walk to his classroom with him. We'll smile and our hearts will know just how deeply we love each other.

And my little boy will take flight.

The little boy who made me a mama

Life couldn't be better :)

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 32

1. We had our first bout with summer sickness this week. Everybody gets a little sick at least once each summer, right? Like a little summer cold. No? Well for us it was a fun little baby virus called Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. It typically only afflicts littles aged six months to four years, and wouldn't you know it, all three of mine fit in to that category and all three picked it up. Grant was the first and the worst. You know this fella is sick when he actually sits with me and lets me cuddle him. When he's well, our cuddles last no more than five seconds. He woke on Friday morning with an obvious fever and nothing more. Poor guy, you could just tell he couldn't get comfortable. I went ahead and got him a doctor's appointment since it was Friday and I didn't want to get stuck on the weekend with an ER trip if things got worse. And sure enough, by the time we went to his appointment, he had a noticeable rash all over his feet, legs, hands, and even a little around his neck. The doctor swabbed him for strep but when it came back negative and his ears also looked fine, he checked his throat (which wasn't hard at all as Grant was wailing in sheer terror over the fact that I laid him down on the exam table) and he confirmed that is throat looked just like the rash he had elsewhere. By Saturday Reagan was also running a fever, though no rash. The two of them were finally cleared up by Monday and I assumed that Kolbe had dodged the bullet. But on Tuesday he too had a fever that just lasted one day. Now we are all finally cleared and healthy. And after a week and a half absence, we made it to the pool today! Call me selfish, but a summer illness that mama doesn't have to worry about getting isn't too bad after all!

2. As I've mentioned many times before, my shop has taken off this year in a way that I never could have anticipated. And due to it's growing success, it has really left me with very limited time to do projects for our home. We moved in last May, just weeks before Grant was born, and over the past fourteen months, I've spent the majority of my time caring for a new baby, taming wild animals raising two young boys, and managing my growing shop. Needless to say, though I look around my home day after day thinking of all the things I'd like to do to improve it's 'homey-ness," nearly all of it has gone un-done. Partially due to money, but largely due to time. (Not every home improvement project has to break the bank!) In fact, several of the projects I've been planning have already been bought and paid for...just remain incomplete in the form of cans of paint, piles of fabric, etc. I've already picked the colors, bought the supplies, and yet it sits undone as I certainly can't do it while the kids are awake and free time during the day is all spent filling orders from my shop. So I've decided that it's time for a little break. My little helper, Angelina, will be going back to school in two more weeks, so I'm going to utilize her help for the time being and then shut down shop for a week to tackle some projects. Hopefully by next week I'll have a clear outline of all I want to conquer, but for now, I'm just looking forward to actually doing some of the projects I've had planned for quite some time.

3. A few more days and the summer Olympics will be over. And, thankfully, I'll be able to return to my normal bed time! One of my favorite things that I've loved noticing in our boys as they've watched the games is their observations of the athletes. While they do take note of certain features such as long hair, baldness, tattoos, etc, they have yet to ever point out the color of someone's skin as his/her outstanding feature. For example, Rudy tells me the other night, "Hey Mama, that guy with the brown head is real bald." (referring to Usain Bolt...so obviously he's aware that Bolt is Black, but finds his baldness more notable.) And then from Kolbe: "She has a long pony tail like yours." (referring to Allyson Felix) My parents raised me well. They raised me to never ever even notice or consider a difference is a person based on their skin color. We lived in Germany, San Antonio, TX, Columbus, MS...plenty of places where we were exposed to people of different races. None, of course, can quite compare with our time in Mississippi. I remember walking in to a Burger King on our very first trip from Lubbock to Columbus and suddenly becoming very aware that the people in my family of seven were the only white people in the entire building. I told my mom "Mom, we're the only white people in here." And she replied with, "That's okay. That's just how it is in Mississippi." And that's just how it was. I quickly learned that not everyone was raised the way I was. In fact, most weren't. They were raised from very early on to notice a difference. To assume a difference in color meant a difference in quality. Lord, I am so thankful that I was raised to know better. To know more. To respect life in all shapes, sizes, stages, and shades. To know that people are people and my opinion of them should be based on their actions and words alone. And oh, I pray that my babies will feel the same way. So far, it makes me so happy to see that they quickly point out the fact that someone's accent sounds funny instead of the fact that his eyes aren't shaped the same as theirs. I'm certain that in time they will be exposed to opinions from others that don't matter, but I just hope that we will have raised them well enough to recognize the ones that do.

Snuggling with my sick guy...at least he still knows what "Say cheese!" means.

We had a nice rain shower on Sunday afternoon and once the thunder and lightening passed, we took the opportunity to play in the summer rain. The boys had a blast!

My handsome crew

Does this say 'summer fun' or what!?! Grant loved making mud pies!

Listening to thunder on the front porch...I can't believe my baby is almost five.

Even Grant has gotten in to the Olympics!

Working on their synchronized diving routine

My future Michael Phelps!

Kolbe, my little artist, loves working on pictures during his daily quiet time. After finishing a picture this week, he showed me where he had written "Pa" at the time, as Pa (my dad) was to be the lucky recipient. I told him we could hold on to it until the next time we saw Pa but he told me that he wanted to mail it to him instead. Thus begain our first lesson in envelope addressing. He was so proud of his first piece of out-going mail! I think I better stop by the post office and pick up some more stamps...he's ready to send Kolbe-grams to everyone!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 22

1. I've made it a bit of a bad habit to come sliding in to home plate just as the ball reaches the catcher's mitt these past few weeks. In other words, I've known what I've wanted to write about in my weekly blog post, chatted it out in my mind, and just haven't had the time to sit down and type it all out until it's nearly no longer Thursday. And here I am again this week. But here, nonetheless. Anyhow, I really did want to wait until tonight to write this week because I was anticipating the arrival of my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece. They're only in town tonight and tomorrow, but since they live in Mountain Home, Idaho, we pretty much never get to see them so it's a real treat. We had a lot of fun with them tonight over sandwiches at Potbelly and then strolling around The Woodlands Market Street. Man, I wish they lived closer! The boys were having a ball with Jackson (who is every bit as tall as Rudy and is more than a full year younger!) and all of us were oodling over Miss Kennedy...our only girl! I'm pretty sure that I'm somewhat of a grandma even though I'm still in the baby phase of parenting. I love loving on my niece and nephews and don't feel the least bit bothered when they are out of line or disruptive or doing any sort of "wrong." There's just something about being able to love on a little one without having to parent or feel responsible for their behavior. Does that sound ridiculous!?! Who cares if it does. I spend nearly all day, every day doing the full deal with my three little monkeys. It's a joy just to get to do the fun part with the other little ones. And I guess it isn't so bad having to see their mom and dad either!

2. Wow! I had lots of positive comments, emails, and texts about the "money jars" that I wrote about last week. Wish I could take all the credit, but as I mentioned, it was just an idea from my own childhood that I've tweaked to be age appropriate for our guys. We're still going strong after two full weeks and the boys seem to have really bought into it.  I will mention a couple of things....for one, I think the money jar is great for kids roughly three and older. They have to understand what money is and why one would want it. The boys have really just started to catch on to the fact that in order for us to take something home from the store, we have to give the store money in exchange. It's been a hoot to explain debit and credit cards too! I'm pretty sure Kolbe's mind was blown when I told him that we give our money to the bank and then the bank gives it to the store. Craziness, I tell you. But back to the money jars. Another thing that we're trying to build on with it as both a discipline process as well as a life lesson-type thing is the whole payout process. It doesn't mean anything to them unless they see actual results. So determining some finite amount is important. And I think there are lots of ways to go with it. For example, once you reach fifty coins, you get to go pick out a prize at the store. Or more direct: fifty coins equals $5. Earn fifty coins, get a $5 payout, and head to the store. Having an at-home store would work too. Like trade in twenty coins to stay up and extra twenty minutes with Mom and Dad. We've also started working on "Well, you'll have to save some of your coins to get a little birthday present for Grant." Or "Don't forget...we're going to set aside a few coins each to put in the offering at mass on Sunday." Like I said, there's lots and lots of ways to go with this whole idea that can grow and develop as the kids get older. And thanks so much for y'all's encouragement! I'd love to hear about it if any of you give it a try or have success stories.

3. Three Thought Thursday's Three Random Tidbits:
- I had that dental work done that I mentioned last week. Brutal. Someone forgot to remind me that fillings involve shots in the gums. And spending hours with those massive brackets that hold your jaw open. I immediately went to the store and stocked up on a plethora of dental products. Never. Again.
- Kolbe: Mom, guys are supposed to have hairy arms, not girls.
  Me: Yep.
  Kolbe: So why are your arms so hairy?
  Me: I don't know. I guess that's just the way God made me.
  Kolbe: You should cut that all off so you don't look like a guy.
  Me: Well maybe I should but then it would just grow back.
  Kolbe: Well you could shave it when you take a shower like your legs.
  Me: But I don't even like having to shave my legs.
  Kolbe: Yeah, but you have to. Or people will think it's gross. So you should shave your arms too. 'Cause they'll also think that's gross.
  Me: Thanks, son. Leave me alone. (Thanks for the self esteem booster!)
- The countdown is on. We've down to not months, but days until my baby is one. Am I the only one that feels sick in the stomach over this? My parents gave me a Mother's Day card that said something like "the days are long but the years are so short." That couldn't be more true. I really was pregnant with Grant last week, watched him roll over for the first time on Monday, and cheered as he learned how to clap yesterday. It went by way too fast and I'm kind of feeling like I just wish it would stop and replay over and over. He has been the best little baby.

After early baths one night, Mark took the boys out to hit practice golf balls. They love it.

It's hard to tell but he's balancing on a narrow little slanted ledge. He's getting pretty brave, this one.

11 months

Kolbe and Jackson...I think Kolbe was teaching Jackson a few of his shenanigans!

Market Street has live music on Thursday nights in the summer...I wish we could have stayed to listen to this band longer! Yes, that guy in the middle is playing a set of spoons on his washboard. Reminded me SO much of my years in Mississippi!

Jackson loves Pa! He kept asking for a kiss across the table at Potbelly. So cute!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 9

1. Mark started his new job this morning! As with all new things, there's always a certain level of anticipation anxiety, but this time there's been quite a bit of excitement, too. As I mentioned a while back, this new job seems that it will be a much better fit for Mark and for our family. His last day with the old job was on Friday which meant we had five whole days with Dada! We did get some relaxing in, but also stayed busy getting lots done around the house. (finally got the deck refinished! Yay!) We took a trip downtown to the Houston Children's Museum and the boys even got to go fishing with Dada and Pa and I managed to get my hair trimmed. Oh, and I think Mark and I rented and watched four different movies. Thank goodness for the Redbox right around the corner! Back to the real world now. I guess that's not so much of a bad thing though. You know how I love a routine! But man, it sure was nice to have my partner in crime for a few extra days!

2. We've all heard of the terrible/trying twos/threes. Is there such thing as the defiant fours? I feel like that's what we've hit with Kolbe. No kidding, in a span of one week we had three major public meltdowns with him. (in public is the only place these things happen, don't you know) It always happens when things aren't going his way, he's not getting to do what he wants to do, or we say we need to leave and he doesn't want to leave yet. We're not talking pouting and putting up a protest. We're talking full out wailing, kicking, screaming, heck, the one he threw on Sunday after mass resulted in barfing all over the inside of the van because he had gotten so worked up. I certainly didn't plan on spending my Sunday afternoon shampooing van carpeting. Why is it so hard to get the point across that, while the world does spin on an axis, he is not that axis!?! As much as we'd like to think that the boys will just figure out obvious things on their own, the truth is that the majority of the time we have to teach them how to handle and deal with certain things in life. I mean, if he's going to be in a big family he really can't think that the focus is on him all the time! Anyway, I know it's something that we're going to have to continue to work on until the point is made clear. Kolbe is definitely a strong-willed, bull-headed little guy some times. (I have no idea where he gets that from!) We just have to channel that into positive things! The barfing meltdown happened at a little bagel shop near our house, so we tried something new this time and decided that if he can't eat with our family in public, he can't eat with our family at home either. He had to spend dinner time sitting separate from the rest of us. It was so sad! But I know that it drove the point home for him. The other part of his punishment was having to write sentences. This is the first time we've done this with him as well, but I remember it working well for me as a child, and since he's so much like me and I'm trying to get him to work on his writing skills anyway, we gave it a shot. The joys of parenting continue! Results below:

3. As I mentioned up in numero uno, we finally visited the Houston Children's Museum this week, thanks to a Groupon I purchased a while back. (yes, almost everything we do outside of the home is either free or Groupon/LivingSocial related.) I can now totally see why it's the number one children's museum in the country! Wow! I think Mark and I were just as impressed with some of the exhibits as the boys were. There was so much to do and all of it was hands on and very educational. Even little Grant had a blast. Some of the exhibits were right at their age level, while others will be more interesting the older they get. Of course, there were several different schools of children there on field trips so we had to navigate the place so as not to get stuck at one exhibit with eight-nine other kiddos, but otherwise, it was so fascinating and fun. Mark and I loved getting to watch the wheels in boys' minds turn and turn. A trip like this is one of those things that we realize we'd never be able to do if we didn't live near a big city. While we still love slightly smaller scale living, this is definitely one of the perks. We will surely be going back...as soon as there's another Groupon, of course!

This guy is now 8 months old! And here he is in all his baby goodness showing off his first and only tooth that he got on Valentine's Day!

Ok, let's be realistic. He's not always a lump of baby goodness. Sometimes he does look like this. God forbid I not let him roll over on the changing table and try to pull himself up on the blinds!

Kolbe and Rudy are becoming quite the fishermen.

At the museum's fitness exhibit they have a massive 3 story climbing apparatus...the boys loved it!

And of course the kiddie sized store was a huge hit with the boys. They loved working the register with Dada!

Learning how to play Go Fish...we're not quite coordinated enough yet to keep our cards hidden so it makes for a very obvious game. :)

My guys. I'm the most blessed lady in the world!