Asher turns 7

Today my sweet little Asher turned 7. 
He is getting so big.
He was a real trooper today.  We have been on vacation for the last week and drove home today.  What should have been a 5 hour car trip, ended up being a 9 hour drive because of traffic.  We stopped for dinner and then got home around 7 p.m.  That means he waited all day for presents because we were planning on being home early so I didn't bring them.
  We did finally make it home and he was thrilled to open presents and play...all night (He is still awake putting lego sets together with Micah as I type this and it is 11:56pm!  We promised him he could stay up as late as he wanted...I never thought he'd last this long!). 
Tonight he kept saying, "This is the best birthday ever!" I'm sure glad he thought so because I don't think I'd feel that way if I spent all day in a car!  We are celebrating it with friends tomorrow, so that was the only thing that made me feel better about the whole day!  He is such a sweet boy.

7 Things about Asher that I LOVE!

1.  He is the biggest tease, with the biggest heart.
2.  He adores, ADORES his baby brother (I heard him telling Jude today, "I love you so much.  You don't know, but I love you more than anyone else loves their baby." 
3.  His dimples.
4. He is all boy.  Rough and tumble, dirt and mud. 
5. He loves to play---anything.  He is our little soccer star.  One of the things I love is the faces he makes, especially on the soccer field after scoring-it's priceless!
6.  He has a caring heart.  He feels sad when he knows others are sad.  He has a very caring and sensitive side.  He is a big helper too.
7.  He is a momma's boy...and I love it! He loves to have me come to school for lunch, to help in his class, or wherever. 

We love you so much, Asher.  You are such a special part of our family!  Happy Birthday.
(He just came over and curled up on the couch...I think he's already asleep).

You've got a friend

These two...

 crack me up. 

I never know if they are gonna come downstairs as Jesse/Buzz (and yes, I do know that the Jesse costume is about 3 sizes too small-that makes it even better), Ron/Hermione, Elizabeth Swan/Jack Sparrow, etc.

 They have always been close. 

 Asher is her protector and Olivia is his partner in crime.  

 

I overheard a conversation between the two the other day.

Asher:  Olivia, who is your best friend?

Olivia:  Isabel.  Or maybe Clara, or Lizzy.

Asher:  Now ask me who my best friend is.

Olivia: Asher, who's your best friend?

Asher:  You.  

Yep.  

That pretty much sums it up.  

Olivia then went on to say that he was her best friend too.

I hope they will always be best friends.

(After all, isn't that why we have more than one kid?!!!)

Another season...

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Both the boys played another season of soccer.  Micah moved up in age brackets, now play in the under 11 group.  It was a lot more challenging and so much fun to watch!  He has been really practicing his footwork and it paid off.  He was the high scorer for his team and was in charge of taking all corner and penalty shots.  It has been fun to see him excel and grow over the last few years.  He's a great forward!

Asher's team was undefeated and blew out all their opponents.  He has surprised me. He's so fast, he steals the ball and dribbles down the field, and takes great shots.  It's so different from his first year when he would just stand on the field.  It's cute to see his reaction after he scores.  He had an awesome coach again this year (Dudi), and I'll miss watching all my guys on the soccer field!

Way to go Cobras and Dragons!

fun run 2010

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Well, we survived another year of the Fun Run.

This was Asher's first year and he did so good! He ran the whole mile and finished in great time!  He really enjoyed it and even asked me to run with him next year.  I should probably start training now so I can keep up with him!  It was so much fun to see him out there running.

The following day was Micah's run.  It was exciting, yet heart wrenching to watch Micah get 5th place...for the 4th year in a row!  He was so bummed, but he had a great attitude (the top 4 get ribbons).  Something has to be done.  Really, getting 5th all 4 years!!!! I think he did so awesome, but the poor kid is so set on getting one of those ribbons.  He was disappointed at first, but then he looked at me and said, "There's always next year."  

'Til then... 

These are the moments

Asher (while snuggling in bed with me and playing with my hair): Do you know who I love?

Mom: Who?

Asher: Liv and Micah.

Mom: Me too.

Asher: Do you know who I really, really, really, really, really love?

Mom: Who?

Asher: You and Dad.

Mom: (Heart melting for that sweet little boy)

Asher: Mom, would you rather have an alligator or an elephant fall on you?

Mom: ... ?

And so goes the conversations with a 5 year old.

One down

He was a trooper.

This tooth has been loose for a while, but eating an apple today was the final straw.

One little tug and out it came.

Since this is the first tooth he has lost, we explained the whole "tooth fairy" bit.

In true Asher form he asked if the tooth fairy could leave a toy instead of money.

Luckily, the Tooth fairy happened to have one on hand.

What a cutie.

Mom always said not to play with sticks...

Asher learned the hard way.

He was playing at a neighbors house when I heard the screaming. Here comes Asher around the corner to show me this. ..

I guess he was laying with his stomach on the swing and also had a stick in his hand, the stick hit the ground and jammed into his leg and the tip broke off. It didn't look TOO bad, but he wouldn't let me get near it and when he finally did let me try, it was actually wedged pretty tight. I made three good pulls without getting it out, and then I started getting a little queasy.
So, naturally I called a friend to come help pull it out.
What good friends we have.
Of course Asher didn't make a peep when Arron got over to help (thanks!). He must have been all cried out.

I might add that Micah was a very good brother. He wouldn't even go back over to his friends house because he didn't want to leave Asher while he was hurt.

The good news is, Asher hasn't really picked up a stick since then.
See, Moms do know what they are talking about.

Happy Easter!

Asher's Favorite Day

St. Patrick's Day is Asher's favorite day...

because of green.

It's his favorite color.

And if you know Asher, you know he wears something green EVERY day.

So a day dedicated to green was thrilling to him.

We started the day off with green shamrock pancakes and green milk.

And we all were sportin' our green attire.

I made Liv a green bandana dress and the boys some Sham-ROCK shirts.

Liv and I also painted our nails green, which is a big deal-she usually will only wear pink polish.

Asher has worn his shirt for the last 5 days...

I'm glad he likes it.

Even Micah liked his shirt.

We had green food for dinner and some gold (rolos) for dessert.

It's always fun to have a reason to do something different, although eating green food (i.e, milk) is a little unnerving to me.

And although Asher was hoping that the sky would be green on St. Patrick's Day, we jammed as much other "green" into the day as possible!

Dear Uncle James...

Somehow you have achieved the impossible-you have won over Asher within a couple of days. He usually takes time to warm up to people, but in the short visit you had, you did it.

Over the past week these are some of the comments I have heard him make, "I miss Uncle James, he's really fun. I like when he tickles us." Another time he was talking with Liv and said, "I really love Uncle James, don't you Liv?" To which she replied, "No, I love Luke." ( Luke her cousin, not Skywalker. Both would probably be true, but in this case, she was talking about her cousin.)

We are so glad that you guys got to come and visit with us!

The hokey pokey's got it wrong...

Today was such a fun day.

It reminded me that sometimes being non-productive is the best kind of day.

We started the day by meeting some friends at an inflatable jump place. The kids had so much fun.

Then we headed to Sonic for some lunch and topped it off with some soft serve ice cream cones.

My favorite part of the day was watching Olivia as she wiped off Asher's ice cream mustache after almost every bite he took- Never mind her covered face/clothes/hands (oh, how I wish I had pictures).

We played, we sat outside, and we just had fun together.

That is what it's all about.

Birthday boy

This week was Ash's 4th birthday. He is getting so big!

He was really excited about the batman towel he got from Grandma marcia and Grandpa dan.
He had some friends over for cake and ice cream. Of course they played the whole time and I had to remind them to come and eat the cake and ice cream (a sign of a successful party). It was a lot of fun!
Asher wanted two cakes, scooby doo, and ninja turtles. After making them, I started to clean up the kitchen and noticed I had placed them right where the dishwasher was heating the dishes. *Note to self-don't do that! The frosting all melted, it still tasted good though!
What a cute birthday boy. He is such a swee t little guy and such a big helper. Liv and I are gonna be so sad when he goes to school next year! We love our Asher!

A lullaby

After finishing bedtime stories I asked Asher what song he wanted me to sing to him. Without any hesitation he replied, "Livin' on a Prayer."

What do you say to that? I think he's had too much Rock Band.

And no, I didn't sing it.

Soccer wrap-up

We just finished another busy season of soccer. It was Asher's first year playing. He started the season so well! He scored a few goals and seemed to really enjoy it. Then about 1/2 way through the season, he refused to go on the field-maybe it was the jersey color :) (he wasn't thrilled with the purple panthers uniform). If we could persuade him to go out, then he would just stand there while everyone else ran around.

It was kind of painful. I don't know what changed, but I'm relieved the season for him is over. Maybe we will wait a little while longer to put him in anything else. He sure was cute when he did play though!

Micah has gotten so good at soccer. This year he was on the under 9 team-the Storm- and they played full field. His games were really fun to watch and he plays his position so well!
We are proud of both our little soccer guys!

A born speaker

Last Sunday Asher gave his first primary talk. It went something like this...

Asher: In the scriptures...I don't want to do this.

Me (whispering in his ear): Heavenly Father blesses righteous families.

Asher: I don't want to do this.

Once Asher has made up his mind, there is no changing it.

I proceeded to give my three year old's talk, speaking slowly so that at any point he could pipe right in-no such luck.

He did make a smashing come back at the end though.

Me: "In the name of...(I was interrupted at this point)"

Asher: (saying loudly in the microphone) FINE, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I wonder if that counts as my talk for the year?