Easter Weekend

We had a big Easter weekend! Even though we were still in the middle of trying to get the house packed up, we paused to spend some quality time with the family.

I didn't pump up the Easter bunny as much as I did Santa. Santa and I were BFF the month of December. I used and abused that fictional character as much as I could. Easter snuck up on me this year, so I didn't really take the Easter bunny to its full potential this year. Either way, both boys woke up to baskets this year. I don't go too overboard with any gift giving, but I like the guys to have a little happy.

Luke wasn't too into the baskets or egg hunting, so Evan got to reap the rewards of finding all the eggs.  I might have reused the eggs he got from his Easter Egg hunt in PK...but you can't prove it. Hey, it's recycling at its best!

John played at the Methodist church that morning. I forgot to get the boys Easter clothes (wasn't God soooo smart not to give me girls??) so I found something clean, threw it on, and out we went. Again, Luke wasn't feeling the nursery that day, so I spent most of the service walking around outside on the playground with him.

 

After church we went straight over to Grandmom's house for Easter dinner, more loot, and more egg hunts! Grandmom's house always has delicious food, fun loot, and exciting egg hunts. :)

 

Fun times with the bubble gun

We knew a nap was in order after all that excitement from the day, but the boys were promised MORE family time once they woke up. We went to see Gran and Jed for Easter dinner. Amazing how we could find room for just a little bit more yummy food.

Next year, we will have been in our house for a full year. I will be much more prepared and be able to do those special Easter things with the kids! This year they had a blast because it was all about family. These are the people who love my kids the most. We were surrounded by love, which makes my heart happy.

Lilly P. Asbell

Lilly died Wednesday night at home in the loving arms of John and me.

Lilly is the kind of dog that not everyone loves. Heck most people found her annoying, loud, and just down right obnoxious. Her breath was atrocious. She growled at you if you looked at her the wrong way. She would lick your toes without asking first. But, she was my dog. And I am all she had.

I will spare you the details of her death because that is not what I would like for anyone to remember of her. Instead I would like to share what she brought me in her 11 years.

Lilly was born January 2001. I adopted her in March of 2001. She was just a little bitty ball of fur when I adopted her. I had no business adopting an animal. I lived in an apartment with a friend who didn't even really want a dog. Our apartment was on the third floor. Do you know how impossible it is to house train a dog living on the 3rd floor and working full time? If I total up the amount of money I have spent on wee wee pad alone, I can tell you it is impossible! I digress. I adopted Lilly because I didn't have enough cash to go to grad school. My plan was to start grad school in June 2001. That would have given me an entire year off school with the hopes I would be able to save and pay for my graduate school 100% in full without a loan. When registration came I was short on cash. So to make myself feel better I went and bought a dog. I remember picking her out instantaneously. When I brought John and my roommate back to see her, I remember John saying, "Her? Are you sure?" Even though she was waaay to expensive (please adopt from a shelter - do not do what I did!) I signed some forms, agreed to pay for her over 3 months and took her to her new apartment.

That girl was stubborn. She hated being alone in the apartment all day, so she chewed the walls. She did not like being in a crate, so she peed in the crate and then rolled in it. She didn't like to walk on a leash for more than 15 minutes so she would lay down in the road and flip over on her back. When a new person arrived at the house, she would bark incessantly until they came over to say hi. I thought I had finally met my match. God surely didn't give me a stubborn dog to teach me a lesson, did He?

God certainly didn't bless us with easy animals. Lilly got crabbier in her old age. After Evan was born, she became snippy if she was handled wrong. She never bit me, but nipped at me. For that reason we liked to keep Evan and her separated until he was old enough to know how to treat animals. Evan liked Lilly. The weren't pals like you see in the dog food commercials or even what I see with some of my friend's kids and their dogs, but he did like her. He would sit on the floor near her, scoot very slowly over to her and softly pet her with both of his hands. And his eyes never left her. He was always concerned with how she felt about it. If she got up and moved, he never followed. He let her go. If she did stay and let him pet her he would look at me with a huge smile and say "Look mommy, she likes me!" or "She's so soft." He was more patient than I was at times with her. I could have (should have) learned a lesson for him.
Luke loved to watch her. He wasn't too interested in petting her, but he always knew where she was. He would intentionally get a cracker in his hand so Lilly would be guaranteed to follow him around in case he dropped it. As soon as that one was eaten, he would get more ammo just to have her attention.

She taught Evan to be gentle and patient. She taught me to be more tolerant. Even at her worst, she was making me a better person. Lilly, I hope your 11 years with me were good ones. I know I wasn't always the most patient dog owner, but you were mine. I always new you were meant for me.  My prayer is you are able to rest in peace over that rainbow bridge.

Lilly P. Asbell

January 2001-May 2012

Maundy Thursday

As mentioned before, April was a blur. I hate that I didn't blog in the moment, but any moment I had free was spent either packing, with my boys or catching up on much needed rest.

Being part of The Stirring at Hope Pres means that Easter always starts with Maundy Thursday. When I was a member of the Lutheran church, we celebrated Holy Week all week long. Lent service Wednesday, Maundy Thursday service, Good Friday service and Easter morning service. While in transition of church homes, I realized how much I missed the Holy Week services. Easter is a wonderful holiday, but not one of my favorite. I could never really put my finger on why it wasn't. I feel like it should have been. We are celebrating the resurrection my savior and there is some of the best candy available on Easter as well!! Halloween candy has got NOTHING on Easter candy! I think it boiled down to how much I needed those Holy Week services. It wasn't until they were gone that I realized it was an important part of Easter to me. That is why I was so happy when The Stirring started offering a Maundy Thursday service. Those first 7 years we were just faithful attendees. Now that John and I are both on the leadership team and John plays in the band, we are able to get our hands dirty!

This year's service was centered around the theme Common. The cross is just two pieces of common wood. Communion is just common food; bread and wine. Jesus used these common items to perform His uncommon work.  The Stirring stage is always a site to behold, but when it comes to our special services, people are always amazed. This year a hard working, dedicated crew blinged up the stage with hundreds of lights. The stage had a very steampunk feel (no, I am not cool enough to know what that is. I had to look it up the night we decorated.)
Sadly, this year I had to miss the service. I was a part of the planning and set up, so I had seen the music and lighting for the evening, but missed out on Eli's sermon. Sweet Evan had his second fever (of his whole life!) and some tummy issues, so we had to stay home. But here are some shots of the service.

The uber talented Stirring Band

Easter Eggs

April has been a crazy month. Between the move, Easter, a 4 year old birthday party, 2 presentations at conferences, a PK program, I am surprised I came out the other side. So I plan to play catch up this week.

This was the first year Evan showed any interest in dying Easter eggs. I have always loved dying Easter eggs. I am pretty sure I dyed eggs up until my adult years. I have been looking forward to the age where Evan would really find enjoyment in this activity. At Target he helped me pick out the dye kit. He, of course, went with the Monster theme kit.

He naturally did not realize we couldn't go straight home and dye eggs. The art of this taking all day was lost. He is an instant gratification kind of kid. So, as any good mom would do, I bribed him with nap time. If he took a good nap, we would dye eggs when he woke up, which would also give mommy the chance to hard boil the eggs. And did you know there are about 15 million ways to hard boil an egg? Really. In the end, I did what I always do and called my mom. So thankful she is always there for me.

Nap time and hard boiling were a huge success and so Evan and I started dying eggs as soon as he woke up.

I loved the colors of these eggs. They turned out so vibrant. I read (research way too long) on the internet to add vinegar to make the colors brighter. We also play a game while each of the eggs were soaking which helped the eggs stay in the colors longer.

Remember the instant gratification comment? Well Evan wanted to decorate them right after they were dyed. Being a lesson in patience, I dutifully explained that good things come to those who wait and we would have to wait to make them monsters until the next day. But "eggie monsters" they became.

One of the many many many things I love about Evan is his creativity. The whole time we were making the eggs into monsters he was making up their names, their super powers, where they lived and what they did to help people an keeel the bad guys. I am proud of his creativity. It is a trait I do NOT possess. I hope to nurture, encourage and grow his creative mind. This time, I did it with eggie monsters. 

Showering Baby L

Angela and Terry are some of our best friends. I have known Terry since high school and Angela since the first day she met Terry. Thank goodness, Terry didn't scare her away! They are expecting their first baby in just a few short weeks. So of course, the Lunch Ladies had to spoil sweet baby girl Lawson in the only way we know how - food and fellowship!

The Lunch Ladies: Angela, Alison, Becca, Jennie, Lindsey, Susan and I, met back in 2008 when John and I were attending a baptist church in town. All these ladies and their husbands were a part of a bible study that met weekly. I bonded very quickly with all these ladies. Several of us have gone our own way as far as churches, but we will get together often to chat and eat and chat. :) In the 4 months after Luke was born, we named ourselves Lunch Ladies. Angela had just finished law school and was job hunting. Alison was subbing but not working full time. Jennie was on bed rest, and I was on maternity leave. We met almost weekly, mainly on Tuesday so Lindsey could join, (and Becca and Susan joined us when their work schedule allowed) to eat lunch and catch up on life. Our lunches would easily last 2-3 and sometimes 4 hours. Since then we have been able to celebrate the births of 3 little lunch buddies and two celebrate 2 new houses. (We'll be adding one more of those celebrations next month!!) But on April 24, we were there to celebrate a very special baby girl!

We put a world of hurt on some food thanks for Pinterest!

 We ooohed and awwwed over some sweet baby gifts.

Susan made a VERY unique and special diaper motorcycle! Look how cute this turned out!!

And of course we talked...and talked....and talked..

I can't wait to meet back with all these girls in the beginning of May when we welcome Baby Lawson into the world!

Spring Break Part 3 - The Wedding

John and Amanda at Jason and Melissa's wedding in Houston TX - 3.17.12

The last third of my Spring Break was spent in Houston, TX celebrating the marriage of my brother-in-law, Jason to his bride Melissa.  We left the boys in the very capable and energetic hands of Miss Emily. Emily was one of Luke's very talented teachers at Little Georgie's before she got herself a Kindergarten position in a SCS school. We still like to snag her for weekend babysitting jobs!

The boys were going all day every day while we were gone! I am not sure who wore who out!

The boys were treated to a class at The Little Gym. Evan thrived...Luke shied...

Zoo Day!

Parks, picnics, peek-a-boo, and bathtime!

While in TX, John and I got to meet new members of our extended family and spend some time with extended family members we haven't seen in years.

Thursday night we ate at Ninfa's. Ninfa's story is pretty spectacular. She started cooking to support her children after her husband died (or left...that part is a little fuzzy). She served her famous fajitas out of her house that eventually became the first restaurant. 

Friday and Saturday were spent hanging out with family, relaxing jogs on the trails of downtown Houston, getting a manicure, and more eating!

Jason and Melissa got married at a gorgeous Catholic church downtown. I was honored to be able to read a scripture at their wedding. I hope I was able put the scripture into their marriage ceremony in a meaningful way. 

The church was just amazing and the wedding party looked beautiful standing in front of the alter.

Of course, when anything is hosted by Jason and Melissa there is always a good party! We had fun eating, drinking, and hanging out with (old and new) family and (old and new) friends!

The wedding Saturday was just beautiful. I don't have many pictures since I was too busy having a great time! Also, I only had my cell phone, so the night pictures didn't turn out too well. Melissa looked beautiful in her amazing dress and Jason looked very handsome in his tux. Everyone enjoyed the meaningful ceremony and danced the night away at the reception. But most importantly, I was extremely honored and grateful I was able to celebrate the marriage of two people I love dearly. 

Jason and Melissa Asbell

March 17, 2012

Seashells NOT by the seashore

This was started on Monday evening...finished on Friday.

Today was a day of first. I am used to sweet Becky (one of Evan's teachers) coming to the door to see me for some reason or another. I'm even used to her starting the conversation with "Evan is okay, but...", but I never expected the next words out of her to be what they were. "Evan has a seashell stuck in his nose."

Wait, what?

While my hands are covering my agape mouth she proceeds to tell me that it will be fine, but they are trying to extract it as we speak. Having experienced trying to extract a splitter from under his fingernail while at school, I knew this wasn't going to be pretty. I was right. I grabbed my phone, called John and ran down to the PK room. Ree (evan's other teacher) was walking around the room hand in hand with Evan as he was bouncing up and down and trying to blow the seashell out of his nose. When he saw me he excitedly said "I have a seashell for YOU, Mommy!!" So Ree and I continue to try to get him to blow out the shell. We finally resort to restraining him and trying to reach it tweezers. He wasn't having any of that. By the time we were done he was sweating, I was swearing, and nothing had been accomplished. I called the doctors office and after agreeing to see me immediately, Evan and I raced over to see Dr. Davis.

Dr Davis took a quick look, refunded me my money, and sent me to an ENT. Once I heard ENT (and an even larger copay) I became a little crazy. The final straw where I knew I was going too far, was when I squeezed one side of his nose, covered his mouth with mine, and blew. He was so shocked that he didn't even have time to cry. I think I'll include that on my mom of the year application.

We headed down to Southaven to see Dr. Cannin. His office was amazing. The staff at the desk were warm and welcoming. His waiting room was warm and bright and very homey. We were escorted back to the exam room which was covered in beautiful murals and no exam table. There was a huge bucket of dinos that Evan played the entire time. We sat in that room for close to an hour. Evan proclaimed he wanted to stay and play forever. Under my breath I said it felt like we had been there forever. Now mind you we have now spent almost 2.5 hours together dealing with this shell. I have asked him over and over in a different way each time why in the world he put a shell in his nose. I still don't have that answer.

I explained that a doctor that knows all about noses was going to check out his shell. All if the sudden Evan hears this deep voice singing a song all about him coming from behind the door. He looks at me with his eyes as big as saucers, runs to the door, opens it, takes one look at the doctor in his flannel shirt and casual pants and slams the door in his face while belly laughing. The doctor laughs right along with him. Evan decides this guy might be okay. Once inside Dr. C puts E at ease. He lets him load the device that he uses to look in his nose and ears. He talks to him about his prized shell and even high fives him for getting it up so far to which I quickly said "um, please don't condone this behavior!" Dr. C explains he can get it in office but he'll have to restrain him. He wasn't going to traumatize him but he'll probably make him upset. Since the doc was so jokey and fun Evan followed him right into the room with the real exam table, let the dr lay him down, and papoose him. They wrapped him in a blanket and Velcroed a heavy material around him. He was great until he realized he couldn't move. The smile that reaches his eyes faded and I could see the anxiety mounting. Two nurses held his head so he couldn't move. He found me with his eyes at the end of the table and start crying out my name. I couldn't help it. I started to cry. To see my child bound to where he couldn't move and wanting me to help him knowing I couldn't just tore me up. Thank heavens, that part only lasted about 3 seconds. As soon as I put my head down on his knees (so he wouldn't see me cry) he jerked his knees up while crying out very loudly. Since I got kneed in the forhead I had to pick up my head as well. Once I looked up I noticed they were already unwrapping him. Dr. C was able to pop the seashell right out of his nose using long skinny forceps. He loaded it in a treasure chest and sent us on our way. Even through all that the first thing he said was, "Can I have my spiderman sticker??" Priorities.

So 2 doctors, 3 hours, and $50 later, I was able to receive the prized treasure my son wanted to give me. 

Since then I have heard everyone's 'something stuff in the nose or ears' story. I like hearing them. It makes me feel normal. So, do you have one??