Asher Man

Asher man. He is so dang cute and dramatic. Countless times I heard, "That's not fair" and "You broke my love forever and the store in my head is sold out of love forever" this morning. Little things set him off--like not getting what he wants when he wants, that old chestnut. Yet, he is such a delightful and irresistible little guy. I just want to scrunch him into a little ball and carry him around with me everywhere--my pocket sized little man. He's my most affectionate child and I live for his sweet kisses and tender declarations of love. 

I had my first ever parent teacher conference this week. Ms. Amy had glowing things to say about Asher. She said that in class he is happy, outgoing and curious. His girlfriend, Ayah, is the bossy pants of the class and parades him around and I guess he just rolls with it, even letting her dress him up on occasion. When Asher gets tired he grabs a blanket and rests on one of the kid sized club chairs and when this happens, Ayah makes sure that the class hushes up so he can rest quietly. I laugh every time I think of this happening.

Honestly, I was surprised but delighted to learn that he shares well (only snatching things from Soren) and cleans up well too. Interesting! He is doing well academically, I laugh typing that because come one, it's preschool, but it's important because he knows everything he needs in preparation for kindergarten.

Ms. Amy said she loves having him in her class and only regrets that he didn't start preschool years ago. Preschool has been a great experience for our family and Asher.

Illness Induced Crafty Craft Fest

I have a history of ignoring Asher's sick signs (the worst was when we dragged him to the White House Easter Egg Roll when he had a massive fever and double ear infection, sorry little man!) and Saturday I did it again. He seemed only a little more whiney than usual and since he is already prone to naps, when he fell asleep I thought nothing of it. I schlepped him to my friend Jill's house where he proceeded to spew bright blueberry vomit all over her couch, carpet, walls, and bathroom. Oh the horror! I felt so sorry that we soiled Jill's house and I was sorry for sick little Asher man. He looked so pitiful in the bathroom stripped down to his undies. He's such a slight little guy and I know he was embarrassed and worried about what would happen next. Jill graciously found gender neutral clothes for Asher and covered her big, cozy chair with a blanket so he could rest. She and Drew were really kind and made Asher and myself not feel like total jerks for what happened.

We stayed home from church just to make sure he didn't spread anything to the ward. He seemed much better and was back to his creative, affectionate little self. I used that extra time at home to work on Valentine's. I had fun combining my love of washi tape with geometric gems to create Valentines that will likely not be popular among 3, 4, and 5 year olds but it's cool, I think they are cute.

Stink Eye

Maeve has been perfecting her various looks of disdain. Missing are photos of her striking a kid 'n play folded arm pose complete with look of annoyance. Maeve has always had an abundance of personality and said personality is maturing in a myriad of ways both fun and unbelievable. She has picked up a number of unfortunate habits from her brothers, including prolonged grunts of frustration, declarations of 'oh brother' and sadly, from me, 'oh my gosh.' Maeve is becoming increasingly popular among her brothers because she is so stinking hilarious.

Maeve and Gig Sled for the First Time

The kids looked so cute puffed up in their snow gear. Maeve was super happy to shovel and it was great to see Gig play in the snow for the first time in her life! She and Maeve also went sledding for the first time ever. 

There is nothing like snow to make the world a little more charming, beautiful and exciting. Also, terrifying. Whilst driving the kids to preschool and not one minute from our driveway, the Subaru slid out of control and I nearly side swiped an entire row of parked cars. Suddenly every horrific driving moment of my past in Utah flashed before my eyes. I applied the breaks and the parking break and was able to control the car. I paused for a few minutes to simply catch my breath and gather up the courage to move forward. Fortunately, we had no problem afterwards but it was frightening. 

The boys said they wanted the sun to go away and the snow to never stop falling. I said that would be great but only if daddy were with us. Asher said, "I wish daddy would come home because I don't want him to miss out on the snow." He's so sweet.

More snow is on the forecast and I hope we can wake up once again to a delightfully clean and inviting winter world.

It's the Day of the Snow Y'all!!

Asher and Soren have been praying nightly for 'lots and lots of snow.' Happily, their prayers were answered this morning when we woke up to a few inches of snow. Asher shrieked when he saw the snow and Soren said, "The weather didn't lie to us this time!" We've been disappointed more than once. 

Maeve jumped up and down when she saw the snow and finally, finally, we could rip the tags off of the snow bibs that had been sitting sadly in the closet for two years. 

Holiday Outside

Before we had kids, Jamie and I would always head to the countryside for a hike on MLK day. It was always super cold but exhilarating. This year I want to resurrect that tradition but fit it to my status as a single parent with kids moving at three very different paces. Huntley Meadows just made sense.

Moments after I took this photo a bearded man passed us. Maeve exclaimed LOUDLY, "Look! Santa! That man has a beard. Ho ho ho!! Merry Christmas!" Oh Maeve. I love how Christmas lives in your heart always.

Soren was pretty excited to play on this broken down tree.

Lil miss was pretty proud to be standing on the same tree with her brother.

As soon as she saw this sign, Maeve leaned against it, propped up her foot, looked into the distance and started murmuring sweet nothings. Girl knows how to have a good time.

She made up a song on the trail, "I love mommy. She is my brother." Huh?

 This photo highlights the beauty of the setting sun and how it seemed to torch the tree line with fire and light.

The setting sun and water reminded me of Glacier Bay Alaska. I loved recalling those memories.

We had fun searching for animals. We saw only birds and one dead turtle. 

I really loved this day and the time I had with my kids.