100th Day fun!

Friday was a HUGE day for us. First Luke had his 100th Day of School party. He had a blast!!! He had been talking about this party for a week.

They had basketball, balloon popping, fishing, a cake walk, putting green, bowling, a general store and even a cafe!

I love Mr. Cutrell's reaction to Luke's balloon pop!

Mrs. Collier takes Luke's order and Mrs. Templeton joins him for a snack!

Mrs. Martin helped Luke catch a BIG one!

As for me, I had the very important job of helping run the general store. Thankfully, my workmates were just as into showing off our wares and I was.

It was deemed THE BEST day by this little fellow.

One High; One Low

I have been so blessed to be surrounded my entire life as a mom by some amazing parents. Many offered excellent advice to me whenever I shared a struggle.

Some offered the advice without me asking....but I can forgive. ;)

Sadly, I have NO idea which amazing mother this idea came from, but I love it.

If you have boys or kids like mine, it's is like pulling teeth trying to get any information about their day out of them! I am KNOW this one word answers are going to turn into grunts soon.

Me: Hey guys! How was your day?
Them: fine
Me: Whaddya do?
Them: Stuff
Me: Who'd you play with?
Them: people
Me: Anything great happen?
Them: no
Me: Anything bad happen?
Them: no
Me: Are we done here?
Them: yeah
Me: Awesome. Good talk.

So we have started telling our High/Low. I did this when I first heard about it, but the kiddos (especially Luke) were a little too young to understand or even recall his day. So I waited and kept trying again when the mood struck.

Finally, this month it worked!!

Each night at dinner or in the car on the way home (if we aren't going to eat together that night) we talk about our one high and one low of the day. The entire family gets into it!! Each person has to pick one great amazing thing that happened to them that day and one not so great thing that happened to them that day. I like starting with the low and ending on the high, but since the game is called High/Low, the kids always start with the high.

I LOVE what it does for us as a family! It gets us talking!! Not that either one of these children has a problem talking (they.don't.stop.), but I get a little insight into their day! And what's even better is they talk to each other about their day at the dinner table!

I've been a BIG proponent of no screens at the dinner table since the kids knew what screens were, but we fell into this lull at dinner. John and I had just hurried home from work, bags were unpacked, lunches unloaded and remade, dinner started, homework cried over, dinner put on the table. To be honest...I WAS DONE talking. But this little tradition we've started got me back on track.

We started it just in the car on the way home from school. Luke got so excited to participate, he would make sure it was the first thing we did. His highs usually revolved around recess and aftercare. One day he told me his low was his group didn't follow directions. Because of that, they all had to go back to the table. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, I dove straight into some empathy training on how that made him feel, how he thought the rest of the group felt, but more importantly, how that made his teacher feel.
He felt safe talking to be about this mistake because he knew he wasn't in trouble. He was sharing about his day!!

And something else....it shows the kids that mommy and daddy's days aren't perfect either. Sometimes we have really great things happen, but other times, we have to overcome a mistake, disappointment, or just a generally yucky day. These things...these lows (and highs) will continue. It's how we deal with them that makes all the difference in the world.

I hope we can continue this little routine for years to come. I am sure there are going to be many nights that the kids don't want to tell me their high or their low, but they will always know I am here to listen, no matter what.

SNOW DAY!

We had an unexpected snow day! I mean, it was predicted by the weathermen, but for some reason, it was down played a little bit. No snow-maggedon. No weather lasagna.

But my kids heard the word snow and went into full force into prep mode. Bread and milk?? No no no...Wine store??? Nope, that's how momma preps for a snow day. These boys went into full school children snow day prep.

For those of you who live where snow is actually a thing that comes each winter, you might not be familiar with what us southerners need to do for it to actually snow. Like white flakes falling from the sky and accumulating on the ground kind of snow. But have NO fear, the Asbell brothers are here to educate you.

There are many variations of this procedure going around, so find the one that works for your region. For the Mid-South, you will need your pajamas, ice cubes, a toilet, and a metal spoon.

Pjs go on inside out, ice cubes get flushed down the toilet, and spoons are placed under your pillow, all right before bedtime. Don't question the process, people. Trust the process.

And as I always do, I posted this whole thing on social media. My friends who don't live here thought it was hysterical that this was really a thing!

But then, the comments section got even more interesting. There were debates about how many ice cubes and wooden spoons vs metal spoons. I mean...we are serious about our snow people!!

My friend who works at a local news station saw the OVER SIXTY comments and decided this needed to discussed. So, with my permission, he put it on the news' website and social thread. When I showed the boys, you would have thought it was Christmas all over again. I was just glad my toilet was clean, because when you live with THREE boys, you just never know.

Say what you will about us crazy southerners, but we git 'er dunnnnn! It worked! We woke up to bright beautiful SNOW!!!

I told the boys that they could look outside and check for snow when they woke up, but NOT to wake me up to tell me if it snowed. They didn't wake me up, but decided to get fully dressed and go outside. So after I had checked my email and texts and got confirmation we were out, I crawled back into my warm bed. That lasted about 1.5 minutes. So up and at 'em we went.

We had a great snowball fight with friends.

We made snow angels.

We rode on the sled I bought in Oct because I was convinced it would snow this year.

And NO snow day would be complete without some baking!! I don't know why I feel compelled to bake every snow day, but I do! Whether it's snowcream or cookies, I just have to make some sweets! But I LOVE how my boys want to bake with me. (Notice every ingredient is generic except the chocolate chips. I know what's important.)

Or maybe they just want to lick the spoon and mixer....hmmmm. Either way, I'll take it.

It was a great day that ended in a great way! John and I got to see Jason Isbell and his wife Amanda Shires in concert at GPAC. Such a good concert!

A perfect day in every way!

Knit1Get1

Happy New Year!!!

For those who know me or follow my blog at all, you know I love New Year's Resolutions. You can read about that here, and here, and here, and here. OH, and here. :)

So here it is!! I present you Knit1Get1!!

I started arm knitting last year in late January just as a hobby. I knitted for a couple months straight. I knitted scarves for my friends. I knitted scarves for teachers' presents. I knitted a scarf for my mom. A scarf for me. I knitted because it made me happy. But one girl can only own and gift so many scarves.

After a while, spring came, the temps started to rise and there wasn't a need for scarves anymore. But....but...I kept 'hearing' this nagging voice in my head about knitting and how this could be so much more.

See, I am really good about listening when God sends me a no. Really good. I've heard 'no' to many things this year and surprisingly, it's easy to be obedient to that no. I know God has my best interest in heart and if he says NO, there is something better.  It's the 'yeses' that give me trouble. 

But, I have had this nagging little voice in my head to do more with this. It nagged and nagged and nagged. When I prayed about other things, I heard definite NOS, but still this little whispering yes in the background. 

And I will admit it. I was scared of that small whispering yes. 

Why were my nos so loud and clear, but this yes just kept whispering? 

After talking with John, I gathered some really good friends for coffee one morning to hash out my idea. I knew I was going to do it, but I just needed practice explaining what this YES was. As usual, my super supportive crew gave me lots of encouragement, some boundaries to set up, and even were some of my first customers.

What is Knit1Get1??

For every hand crafted, arm knitted scarf I sell, I donate one to a Memphis shelter. I've chosen, Moriah House, Dorothy Day House, and the Single Women's Lodge. When someone buys a scarf, they are buying enough yarn for me to knit two! So I knit one for a shelter and you get one for yourself.

What this is NOT: 

This is not a side business for me. I don't have time for a side business. As a full time working mom with 2 very active boys, so this must be a hobby. Knit1Get1 is just a place where I can post inventory and sell scarves! I also hope to post pictures of the women from the shelters (with their permission of course) wearing their new warm scarves that YOU provided for them!

Here's to a year of listening to a yes as much as a no!