Jolly Ole St. Nicholas

We went to visit Santa!

There was quite a wait and it was super cold outside, so we made the most of it by playing word games, taking selfies and posing with reindeer. 

While we were standing in line Luke asked me to lean down so he could whisper something in my ear. He said, 'I know that is the real Santa. I know that because he has on those little glasses."

There were several babies in front of us in line, so Santa didn't have much to do but sit, hold a baby, and smile. I think he was glad to see these two for a little interaction. 

I am not sure who had more fun, Santa or the boys!! My kiddos know they are only allowed to ask for 3 presents from Santa. Both boys counted off their presents with their fingers. For some reason, Santa thought was hysterical and challenged them to list their presents without using their hands. Luke couldn't do it!! He comes by it honestly. 

They even did some silly face pictures where Santa gave the kid bunny ears. He was a jolly ole St. Nick!

My favorite part was when Santa asked them if they had been good. Crickets. You could hear a pin drop. The glanced my way with their eyebrows raised. I said, "Well, at least they are honest!!" That got a couple chuckles out the bearded fellow. 

In the end, Santa negotiated that five cookies be left for him on Christmas Eve. We won't forget his reindeer either!! Carrots and reindeer food on the lawn!

Amanda and her Alligator

St. George's has a Book Character Parade every year during Book Week. First through third graders get to dress up as their favorite character from a book.

Last year was Evan's last year to dress up and we went all out. I actually bought clothes and made stuff for his costume. That, I tell you, is a rarity in this house. 

Luke was in SK at the time and realized he had a year until his first parade. This child decided right then and there he wanted to go as the Alligator from Amanda and her Alligator. And guess who he wanted to be Amanda....yup. Me.

This went on for a year. ONE YEAR. Every time we read that book, he would mention it. "I get to be the Alligator and you're Amanda!" Yes, honey. I'll go as Amanda.

You see, working at the school in which my children attend gives me several perks. I get to also dress up as a book character. I've gone as Purplicious, the Mouse in When You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the Alligator in Peter Pan.....oh wait.

YES!! I already had an alligator head! Score.

I ended up buying him green clothes to complete the outfit. We even rehearsed what he 'might' say. I was asked to take pictures of the characters as they came out of the chapel. When I saw Luke's class walk toward the stage, I handed my camera phone to a friend and ran up to the stage. When I whispered to Luke, "You ready? You still going to say your line?" He simply put one finger to his lips and said SHHHH!

Okay.

They say, "Luke Asbell as the Alligator in Amanda and her Alligator" and he rapidly walks across the stage. I am left standing 1/4 of the way across. I walk back and whisper "and Mrs. Asbell as Amanda" to the student who is looking at me completely confused.  Luke gets to center stage and says, "I put on my thinking cap!" and skips down the stairs. By the time he's halfway down I get to the center. Now all eyes in the chapel are on me. Just standing there. Dressed as Amanda.

I laugh and say, "I'm Amanda." 

No one got it. 

This kid better be glad he is cute.

Merry Christmas from The Asbells

 Merry Christmas from The Asbells!

I need to admit something. 

I LOVE everything about the Christmas card process. I know, I know...it's horribly stressful, but I love it. 

I love thinking about their outfits. I love deciding the location. I love taking hundreds of pictures. I love trying to choose just one. I love designing the cards. I love tweaking my spreadsheet of addresses. I love printing the labels. I love stuffing the envelopes. I love love love seeing all the Christmas cards stacked in the mailbox waiting to go to friends and family.

Every Christmas card we have gotten since 2011

Now....I need to admit something.

Just because I LOVE all this, doesn't mean I don't totally and completely freak out during every step of this process. 

This year, I tried to have family pictures taken on TWO different occasions. We haven't had family pictures since Luke was two. #firstworldproblems It wasn't in the cards for us, yet again. With that knowledge I let my own personal deadline creep up on me. When I realized it was now or never, I went into complete freak out mode. Oh my gosh. They don't have anything nice to wear. We don't have anywhere to go. Luke's hair is too shaggy. I need to take these pictures in the 1 hour we actually have not scheduled this weekend.

Enter John, the one who handles my Christmas card freak out every. single. year. Together we got Luke's outfit together. He was the one who single-handedly put Evan's outfit together. He was the one who suggested our house for the picture. 

Evan was in a pretty foul mood. Luke just didn't' want to get dressed. John suggested a 'compromise' to Luke, we weren't even going to leave our house! I dealt with Evan. After he got dressed I asked him what was wrong. He said, "I am dressed like I have the most important job interview of my life" while rolling his eyes. I died laughing which made him laugh as well which cheered us both up.

I got some really good pictures of the boys. Evan is amazingly photogenic like his father. Luke is just cute with his missing front two teeth. 

Then the boys wanted to turn the camera on us. Now, let me just say, I had just gotten home from Hot Yoga, it was freezing outside, and we were SORELY not prepared to have our picture taken. But this is real life. We had so many belly laughs while they were shooting.

I think this is my favorite. No make up, athleisure, messy bun, and pure 100% love. More importantly, my boys captured this for us. 

MERRY EVERYTHING from us!

Though we wobble to and fro

The SK/1st Christmas program got a little revamp this year! Mrs. Broadway plus the teachers and some little Christmas angels (I'm looking at you Allison, Tracy, and Jessica) guided the kids to put on this magnificent play called Simple Gifts.

I was amazed what the kids got out of this play. Since I am blessed to work where my child goes, I got to hear all the chatter about the play from the kids. They didn't just memorize lines, choreography, blocking, and song, they truly understood the story they were acting out. The animals were able to provide simple gifts to baby Jesus. The cows gave their manager, the sheeps gave their wool, the donkey gave his back, the camels gave the wise men a safe passage.

Luke played the all important part of a camel who carried the wisemen to see Jesus. Though they wobbled to and fro, they would never forget which way to go. No way! No way!

Of course, Luke had an entire row for a cheering section. Again, I don't know if my kids understand how blessed they are to have family so close.

Here's to your simple gifts this season!

A different kind of Thanksgiving

This year we had a different kind of Thanksgiving. Normally our house is bustling with people, activity, busyness, and a lot of wine (that didn't really change...)

This year the rest of the Asbells went to Orlando. David and his 4 siblings haven't all been together in five years, so they decided to spend Thanksgiving together. We decided to stay close to home this year instead of traveling to Florida.

It really was just what we needed. After one of the busiest fall seasons ever, if not the entire year, our family needed these five days to slow down and go unscheduled.

It allowed me to focus on the 'right now' rather than the 'what next'. 

We started the long break by celebrating this man right here! Doesn't 81 look great on him! Jed is such a huge part of our family and we always enjoy celebrating him on his birthday!

We, and by we I mean me, signed up to pet sit the guinea pigs from the JK classroom at Memphis. The boys have been asking for guinea pigs for a couple years. I decided this might be a good test run. What I didn't think would happen was they would grow on me. There really were the sweetest little pigs. I don't think I am ready to pooper scoop every other day just yet. Plus cleaning out their cage is a little labor-intensive, so pet sitting was perfect for us.

John said since we weren't having house guests, I had to find another way to fill up our house.

I didn't take a lot of pictures on Thanksgiving. To be real and honest, it was because I let the boys chose their own clothes. Both were in activewear, and I was pouty about it. I told them, you don't even have to wear a collared shirt, but in the end, the fight wasn't worth it. 

John and I started in activewear as well to get 3 miles in before the turkey!

And this tells you a little bit about my oldest, Evan. He saw I was pouting and upset, so he goes upstairs to change. Sigh...this boy is going to make a fabulous husband someday. After seeing this and feeling guilty, I said, "OH E, you didn't have to change. I am sorry I was pouting about your clothes." He said, "Mom, I just want to make you happy."

We had a great dinner with too much good food, great wine, and tons of laughter (mostly at Pawpaw Charlie's sunken cake). I even succeeded to eat my first gluten-free Thanksgiving. Man did I miss the dressing though.

Thanksgiving weekend also means we get to decorate for Christmas!! The boys love this as much as I do, but I seem to do most of the work. Their favorite part is putting ornaments on the tree. 

My type A personality had to take a deep breath because every ornament was at 4 feet, the height of my children. After showing the kids how to step back and find all the holes, they really made the tree beautiful. 

On Saturday Luke was invited by Colleen to join her on the double decker bus! The Collierville Double Decker bus traveled from the mall to the town square in honor of small business Saturday. 

This year was exactly the type of Thanksgiving we needed. I got to slow down and focus on the three people who mean the most to me.