Poppy Marie Asbell

We got a dog!!

I have been thinking about getting a dog for a couple months. We were dog parents for 12 and 13 years to Lilly and Simon. Now, if you knew us back then, you know our experience with dogs hasn't been an easy one, so we were more than hesitant to do this again.

However, I was seeing an increased need to get the boys a dog. The responsibility, empathy, and compassion it teaches children are just second to none. I was particularly worried because of the amount of time the dog would be home alone. I just kept saying, "It's not fair to the dog." We leave the house at 7am and don't arrive home until after 5pm on most days. That's a lot to ask of a dog. 

The tug was growing more and more in my heart to get our family a dog. I had a couple particular restrictions though. The dog had to be small. The amount of energy a large dog needs to expound every day was not suitable for our schedule. And the dog had to be hypoallergenic. John and I are severely allergic to dogs that shed. So I started my research after a friend telling me more about her maltipoo. After some internet digging, I became instantly a fan of Morkies. A Morkie is half Maltese and half Yorkie. Or as I like to say, 'a really expensive mutt'. 

We found 'Muffin' online. I promise you...I SWEAR to you, as soon as the three of us saw 'Muffin' we knew she was ours. Now you notice...I said three of us. There was one Asbell who was not quite on board with this addition to our family. I had some work to do.

I spent a couple weeks talking up the idea of a dog to John. He was slow to warm up. I was very confident in my ability to persuade him. So confident that I reach out to inquire more about 'Muffin'. When John finally came around to the idea, I worked fast. I talked to the owner and asked her to 'hold' her for us.

The boys had no clue if or when we were getting a dog, but they knew Muffin would be the one. They knew I had some work to do before John would agree to the idea. They were so confident in my abilities as well, that we went ahead and renamed 'Muffin'. 

We were listening to City of Ember on audiobook. The youngest child is named Poppy. She is the youngest in the family and everyone wants to take good care of her. We thought this would be the best name for our newest member of the family.

There was a small hitch in my plan. See, when I talked to the owner about holding Poppy for me, she took her off the website. Little did I know, the boys had been looking at Poppy online every day. When she disappeared, they were devastated. I knew I had to move to hyperdrive.

I scheduled with the owner to pick Poppy up on Friday in Nashville. I knew I could get there and back while the kids were at camp. The moment I saw that 2.5 pounds of fluff, I fell instantly in love. 

We hurried back to Collierville. She slept most of the way home. The poor girl had gotten car sick on the way to Nashville, so she needed to rest. I had not heard her make a sound, so I was convinced I was going to pull off a great surprise for the boys.

Click here for the Poppy reveal!

I dropped Poppy off in her crate and raced back to get Evan and Luke. When we arrived home, I learned our sweet girl had a voice. She started barking as soon as we got home. I immediately started recording to catch the boys' reactions. Their pure unbridled joy was one of the greatest things for me as a mom. 

We spent those first weeks loving on Poppy as much as we could. We played, napped, hugged, became a big happy family.

Poppy is literally the best dog ever. We are her people and she is ours. 

5th Grade Crossing

Each year St. George's has a 5th graduation of sorts called Crossing. It signifies that our elementary school students are 'crossing over' to Middle School. I've gone through 12 Crossings and each one has been super special. This one though....this one was the best of them all.

Evan and the kids he has been with for almost 8 years hold such a special place in my heart.

Evan had some expert help getting ready.

A broken arm wasn't stopping us from looking our best.

Evan was awarded the Linda Harless Service Over Self Award. This award truly describes my sweet boy. He truly puts others first and wants the best for his community. This was made even sweeter because it was presented to him by his former 1st grade teacher, Susie Field. I was crying too hard to get a good picture.

Presenting the Linda Harless Service Over Self Award is Susie Field.

The recipient of the Linda Harless Service Over Self Award can be found most mornings reading to our youngest Early Childhood students as part of his Citizenship Council duties. One Early Childhood teacher remarked that her students eagerly await his arrival each morning because he allows himself to be hugged by every student. Every year, his teachers have recognized his servant’s heart in the actions towards his classmates and the adults in his life. Kind, caring, energetic, empathetic, and selfless were words teachers used when asked to describe this recipient. Noticing a need comes naturally to him. A fourth grade teacher recalled how he helped a new student run the bases in a kickball game last year because the game was an unfamiliar one.

Frequently encouraging those around him, he worked with his small group in the Cave to conquer the obstacles while verbally and physically supporting his team’s efforts. He always puts God first, others second, and himself last.

For his continual service to others, it is our pleasure to present this year’s Linda Harless Service Over Self Award to……….. Evan Asbell.

This one was captured by Nonna afterward.

Later that night, it was time to PARTY! There are some terrific moms who planned a great Crossing party at Ridgeway. Kids from both the Germantown and Memphis campus came together to celebrate their elementary school careers! We started off with a slideshow full of great memories over the last 8 years. 

Then there was dancing and so much silliness! The kids had a blast!

The entire day was the perfect way to end an amazing elementary school experience. Onward to middle school!

Our First Broken Bone

May tried to break me...LITERALLY!

Evan broke his arm in a freak accident at soccer practice on May 15th. John was in NYC, so I was juggling the two kids activities. I had literally just dropped Evan off and I came home to help Luke with some homework. A call came through my watch but I ignored it because 1. I was in the bathroom and 2. I didn't recognize the number. 

When I got done I noticed they left me a voicemail. It went something like this. "Hey, Amanda. This is Coach. Evan injured his wrist and it looks like he might have even broken it. We are going to take him to the hospital so just let me know if you have a preference which one." 

😲

So I (of course) immediately call him back and say bring him to me. He said, I really think he needs to go straight to the ER. I argued and said, I want to see him first. You see, Evan is our 'excitable one'. This is the description my dad used to use to describe me. I used to not understand why because wasn't everyone excitable. Well, now I get it. I thought maybe his wrist was just sprained and we could rub some dirt on it. Well, when the coach got to my house, I took one look and it was definitely broken. His arm made an 'S" shape. It was disgusting. 

I went into total go-mom mode. Thank God for amazing neighbors who are friends and Gran. I basically threw my youngest son into my neighbor's house while shouting "Evan broke his wrist...I'm going to the hospital." She didn't ask any questions...took Luke without thought. I called mom on the way and she said, "I'm on my way." 

It was so bad that when got to the ER we were basically ushered straight back. We had nurses and doctors in our room within minutes. The doctor (Dr. Campfield - I won't ever forget his name), took one look and said, "You have definitely broken both bones. We are going to get you something for the pain right away."

After some morphine, he was feeling a little better. It was very difficult on everyone before that morphine kicked in. 

Apparently, the coach (that called) was kicking the ball for Evan to block. Evan was playing keeper. The ball hit him at just the right speed in just the right spot to break two bones. His tibia fractured (greenstick fracture) and his ulna had a buckle fracture. The tibia was literally in a V shape. 

They reduced it (which I learned meant the forced it back in place) and put him in a big ole honkin' cast. He was pretty high on ketamine, so he picked pink for the outer wrap. Lol. He's always liked pink, but the next day he said, "That must have been some good morphine for me to pick this color." 

The nurses warned me kids coming off ketamine could be really emotional. I had experienced Evan coming off some strong drugs in September when he got his teeth pulled. That experience did make him emotional. He cried and cried over wanting Zaxby's. This time he was NOT sad. He was happy and TALKATIVE. He literally did not stop talking for 45 minutes. There were so. many. words. Toward the end of the night, nurses were coming by just to hear what he had to say. 

We got home around midnight (again, thank God for Gran). By this point, he had started feeling bad. He mumbled something to my mom and crashed in my bed. I was thankful he wanted to sleep with me because I really wanted to keep on eye on him. 

The cast has been challenging more for me than him. He's taking it like a trooper. He's had cast after cast after cast. I never knew there could be so many casts! Because of his break, he has to keep the casts above the elbow, but thankfully each one has gotten a little shorter. We are PRAYING the cast comes off July 1 so he can be free from it when we go to the beach!

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was very special. There is a super sweet Mother's Day Chapel every year at St. George's. The music teacher had to be out, so I volunteered to help the kiddos with the music. In SK, on Monday's Day, the student sing a very sweet and emotional song called "Spend some time with me, please". It goes like this.

Spend some time with me please every day.

Hold on to each moment while you may

Make sure you know, that my love for you grows

I am so happy God gave me to you.

I can see all the things that you do

And I want to grow up just like you

Childhood won't last cause we grow up so fast

I am so happy God gave me to you.

Needless to say, we have kleenex stationed all around the chapel. But then, the students sing this again in 5th grade. That's when the real tears come. These babies are leaving us for Middle School!

The fifth graders then present their moms with an amazing homemade gift they created in art. 

It was a very sweet chapel that I will always cherish!!  The rest of the weekend we were able to celebrate with the other moms in our life! 

Tacos are ruined

So Houston knows nothing about BBQ, but man, did they ruin tacos for me. I swear I can never eat another taco again unless I am in Houston.

We enjoyed some amazing food while visiting Houston. We also went to a couple great breweries! I love supporting local, and their local beer is gooooood!

The breweries are very family friendly! The kiddos liked each place we went too. Win, win!

And visiting these places with cousins always makes things better.

We ended our trip with some great memories, a sad goodbye, and a promise to see ya soon.

Take me out to the balllll game

Game Day!

We headed over to Minute Maid Park for an Astro's game. John had been to an MLB game, but for the boys and me, it was our first one. We are used to our sweet Redbird's team and Autozone Park. I have to admit, when we first walked in I was so overwhelmed with the number of people and the huge crowd while trying to find our seat. Once we got there, I kinda just wanted to stay there the rest of the game. To be honest, we were always in the middle of a row, which made getting out very difficult.

Once I got settled we all really enjoyed the game. Junk food consumed, loud cheering and singing commenced and a W on Saturday for the Astros!