And so it begins

There is no such thing as one birthday celebration in this family. You have to have your family birthday, then your school birthday and then your friend birthday...Kids these days, they got it figured out. ;)

We started Evan's birthday festivities this weekend with family. He is have a very hard time deciding what to do as far as a friend birthday. (wants a sleepover, but momma isn't letting him invite the 15 people on his list. He can't narrow it down to 4.) So we started with family.

Opening presents is the best! I love his excitement!

 

 

Luke got in on the "opening presents" gig too!


Nobody, I mean NOBODY can resist a Muddy's cupcake!


This was after the chocolate cupcake was smeared all over Luke's shirt....boys...


The evening ended with a couple friendly rounds of cornhole. We are adults so I can guarantee there was no smack talking or distraction methods or gloating going on at all. I will say Jed might retire his beanbag after 4 straight perfect hole in ones during the last game. Annnd, I might add that the Asbell women right now hold some major bragging rights.....until the next game.


 

And NO party would be complete without the birthday boy getting a surprise attack of goofy string straight to the face. Look at Nonna's face - the pure concentration of not missing her mark. Hoping that payback won't be too bad for you Nonna.


It was a great night...a great way to start the birthday festivities for a great little man! Happy early birthday E! I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds!

More Easter Happiness

The Asbells on Easter Morning!

Maundy Thursday has been one of my favorite services at Hope for years, and this year was no exception. At The Stirring, we were concluding the sermon from Christmas, Cradle to the Cross.

Without Easter, there would be no Christmas...

The three ladies who were pregnant at Christmas and sang around the manager, are now mommies who sang around the manager. The song was so incredible sweet and was a great reminder, as a mother, to consider what Mary felt as she saw her son and her Father on the cross. Of all people, I don't know how she could bear it. I feel that's mother's love. I know how she wanted to trade places with Him. I have see my son suffer, in the most trivial of ways, and want to take it all away. It was just such a humbling service that John and I are so proud to be a part of.

As I mentioned, we had some sickness invade our house over the holiday weekend. We were able to pull it together long enough for some Easter Bunny egg hunts and lunch at Grandmom's.
For Easter Brunch I was motivated by my dear friend and fellow PK mom, Brandy, to make this bunny cake I had seen floating around. It's made with two 9inch round cake pans. One is the face and the second is cut to make 2 ears and a bow tie.

The finished project is CuuuuuUUttEE!

The Easter Bunny was so very thoughtful to think of John and me on Easter morning. After hiding 40 eggs and leaving the boys a basket, he left this note upstairs on a baby gate blocking the stairs. They boys did great following his directions, which let mommy and daddy get some great Easter pictures!!

 

Easter at Grandmom's is always exciting! There plenty of food, tons of eggs to find and happiness galore! Oh, and she has some strong connection with the Easter Bunny. He leaves a basket for the boys at her house too!! #spoiledrotten

 

 
 

Holy Week Part 1 - Easter Egg Hunts!

Holy Week is one of the most loved weeks as a Christian. Easter Egg Hunts at school, the last supper at Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, which my son thinks should be renamed Bad Friday since that was the day Christ was killed, and Easter Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. The day that Christians count as one of the best days of the year!

So why is it I always gets sick during this week??? #memphiscrud

Despite that, we pushed through to have a great week.

The boys had their annual Easter Egg hunt at school. This was very special because the first graders, Evan's grade, got to hide PK's, Luke's grade, egg. They were then matched up with a buddy and sent a searchin. Evan, Luke and Darrell made a great team.

 

This is Jane. I want Jane and Luke to get married. I love Jane and I love Luke and Jane. GAH! Right before I snapped this photo, I said, "Luke...do you love Jane??" That smile says it all!

Evan had a hunt too. This is his last hunt at SG. Sadness!! He hunted with his fifth grade buddy Maddox. He loves doing stuff with his buddy! His buddy is so good to him too. Evan was running full speed across the playground and lost his shoe. Did that stop him? Heavens no! His buddy, picked up his shoe for him and kept on running!

It's a ZOO up in here!

First grade at St. George's has two major productions. One is the joint Christmas program. Second is the Animal Play. The students complete an entire animal unit in the second trimester that culminates into a play. Evan got to be a bat this year! The only bad news that came with this was the bat costume was the ONLY costume that the teachers could not locate. All forty other costumes were located, but somehow the bat went missing. A friend and fellow teacher said, "Oh, but you're creative."

Ummmmm...no I am not.

What I do have working for me is the power of social media. Now, I can't say I am on Facebook daily. I used to be, but I kind of got tired of it. As a sleepy, working mother of 2, I really needed the storage in my brain to be used for remember to pack lunches rather than funny viral videos. (confession - I watched, sent, and laughed at the "snow day 3- frozen - I'm gonna kill Olaf- video". Another example of social media at it's finest.)

But don't get me wrong. I don't think Facebook is bad or evil. I don't dislike Facebook. I am a fan and true believer in the power of social media. It's some of the users that get me. (another confession - I need to use the 'unfollow' feature more often.)

At 6:16 I posted on Facebook asking if anyone had a bat costume. In less than 10 minutes I had secured a bat costume for my child. It was hand delivered to my house an hour later. I mean.....wow. And public and HUGE thank you to Sheri for letting us use her bat costume!!

Everyone did SO great and delivered their lines with ease. The songs were adorable and their energy was contagious. I am so proud of all the little animals in the St. George's Zoo!