christmas 2013

This should probably have been 3-4 posts, but lucky you gets to read it all in one. :-)

Since we were traveling to spend the holiday with Drew's family we had an early Christmas with my parents.  Asher and Hadley both got completely spoiled!

(and yes, that's the porch door open - it was 70 that day, weird)

Asher may have gone a little nuts over his new Buzz!  The next day we were riding in the car for approximately forever and I kept hearing Ash and Buzz having conversations in the backseat.  Buzz would say "Are you ready for ADVENTURE?!" and A would reply "I'm ready Buzz!"  Love him and love this age.  :-)

Drew and I exchanged gifts as well.  I got a new light for my craft room!  Woot!!  And Drew got this.

You're welcome world.

The next day we headed north.  Drew's family have a big Christmas Eve dinner and I'm so glad we were able to be there.  Asher and Hadley had fun playing with their (many) second cousins!

Santa made a special appearance - Ash couldn't believe when his name was called!  ha ha - bless him.

Hadley was a little more skeptical and did her best to expose the impostor that she believe this Santa to be.  Luckily SC passed her test in the end.

It was a late night for the kids so they both crashed when we got home.  The next morning Asher was pretty excited and overwhelmed by all the presents under the tree!  Hadley was just excited by all the wrapping paper to eat.  We were up a little before everyone else so A started with his stocking while the aunts and uncles got around.

This gift helped hurry them along.  :-)

Christmas is so fun with little ones!  I don't think I opened a single gift until we were a couple hours into the morning and I didn't miss it one bit.  Just soaking in their JOY was enough for me!

As the giddiness wore on Ash did a lot of this…

and Hadley did a lot of this…

I tried to get a picture with them, but they were too busy.

Then Drew tried to get a picture with them and, shocker, they were too busy.  ha!

How cute is sweet Brynn?  So happy we got to visit with her a little too.  For as much as Asher tolerates Hadley he seems to truly adore Brynn.  Maybe it's because she doesn't live with us??  Silly boy.

We kept the Buzz Lightyear fun train a-rollin' with a costume for Asher.  He (predictably) loved it!  Daddy of the year flew him all around the house - to infinity…and beyond!

This was such a wonderful Christmas and we loved being able to celebrate with our families.

We hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!

turning four: the party

While everyone is recovering from Christmas I want to finish celebrating Asher's birthday!  The past 2 years we've had small, family-only parties for Asher's birthday so this year we wanted to celebrate with all of his friends.  He goes to preschool 3 days a week so he has a whole classroom full of friends who were excited to party with us!

Since A's birthday is in December it's always a challenge to think of an indoor option that will keep energized little ones busy and having fun.  Asher l-o-v-e-s to bounce and jump so going to Bounce U seemed like an obvious choice.  It. was. fantastic!!!

Every kid told us how much fun they had and Ash was thrilled.  I loved that this particular bounce place kept the room private for only our party.  I was worried that we'd get overrun with other, bigger kids so this was the perfect solution.

With Christmas being so close it was also a big relief for me to have to do virtually nothing.  They provided the cake, balloons, pizza, and helpers to coordinate it all.  All I did was make the favors and bring a few party blowers and themed napkins for the kids.  Win!

Hadley even had a fun time.  ha!  She and my Dad gave us all a thrill when they came down the giant slide.  H is such a thrill seeker - she loved it!

Asher is totally into Buzz Lightyear right now so I ordered a Toy Story cake for him.  Days after the party he would ask me for "Buzz and Woody cake" for dessert.  :-)

After everyone left and we were gathering the gifts to take home Asher smiled huge and said "that sure was a lot of friends!  That sure was a lot of fun!"  Drew and I were both so happy to do this for him and were thrilled that he had a good time.

Happy, happy birthday Asher!  We love you!

To year 4…and BEYOND!

christmas card 2013

I promise to come back and finish Asher's birthday posts soon, but for now….

Merry Christmas from us!

his fourth birthday day

Lucky Asher got a birthday weekend!  His actual birthday was Friday (the 13th, but it was an awesome day, no worries) and his birthday party was on Sunday.  On Friday morning he had school and, of course, was sleeping in.  He only sleeps late on days when we need to be somewhere.  I was picking up doughnuts for him to take to school so we had to leave a little early to boot.  I tried to wake him up a couple times by turning on the lights and pulling his blankets back.  His response:

I don't want to get up.  Go away please mommy.

I'm pretty sure he turned 14, not 4.  At least he said please?  ha!

After I finally convinced him that good things were waiting downstairs…look what the birthday elves prepared for him!…he finally hopped to.

The first person he found was Daddy who was home this morning after being gone for work all week.  That in itself was a fun birthday surprise!

After some breakfast he got dressed and we headed to DD for some Munchkins and chocolate milk for the birthday boy and his friends at school.  While Ash was at school Hadley and I ran around like fools trying to get more Christmas stuff off our list and finish up getting the party supplies.

That night we celebrated with pancakes for dinner - Asher's favorite!  He got a birthday crown at school and proudly wore it all day.  :-)

There were oh-so-many presents.  This 4 year old is an aces present opener now.

And there was a cookie cake.  And candles.  And a round of "Happy Birthday" of course.

Daddy wins the prize for more awesome gift given.  He's clearly a 4 year old boy at heart - how awesome is this?  But it's so totally not something that would have caught my eye to buy in 100 years.  That's why we're a great team!

I see myself spending the rest of my life collecting these balls from under all the furniture, but that's ok. :-)

Happy, happy 4th birthday Asher!  We love you!