Merry Christmas from Our Family

The time leading up to Christmas was nothing short of chaos for our little family. Between Scout orders, prepping to be out of town, and getting everything ready for Christmas itself, I was averaging less sleep than I needed for survival. Luckily, we all survived, and it was such a great time with family. 

After a particularly trying week, we found ourselves outside of Franklin's at 9:15 Saturday morning in Austin. Franklin's has some pretty famous BBQ, and we have been wanting to try it for awhile. With us finally getting some time in Austin, we decided that it was our perfect shot. 

This was the line at 9:15. It continued to steadily grow until after we were even in the restaurant, which was at 12:45. You see, Franklin's doesn't open their doors until 11am. They sell the BBQ until it's gone. They are sold out by 2pm, and the only reason it takes that long is because there's only one line. If they opened a second line, those guys would go home earlier. 

Cullen was a great sport about the whole thing. Especially considering the fact that he refused to eat the BBQ once we got it. We waited in the shade, in the cold for three and a half hours, and I would do it again tomorrow.

I'm lucky to have a husband and a brother who are both incredibly talented with BBQ. The brisket and turkey at Franklin's kind of put their work to shame. I don't even like brisket, but I love the brisket at Franklin's. I'm also in love with the vinegar-based sauce that I put on everything. Luckily, I love the ribs and pulled pork that I get at home best. You want proof of how much we loved the BBQ?

Before:

After:

And an after lunch nap in the car for Cullen. 

James' parents rented a really neat house for us on Lake Travis so the seven of us could stay together in Austin for Christmas. It was nice to wake up and see the water outside our windows, spend time together as a family, and enjoy some down time. 

Cullen had such a great time hanging out with his Uncle Will. They shared a love of bananas and airplanes during this precious moment on the deck one morning. 

During one of Cullen's bouts of amazing patience, he sat at a sports bar with all of us while James and Wiley watched the Texans game. His only request? Big bacon. Done. 

We were also lucky to get to visit some good friends from our time in Round Rock. Jason and Stephanie have two little boys now. Parker is just a few months older than Cullen, and little Callan is just a month old. It was so sweet to hold such a new baby, and I loved watching Parker and Cullen play. If we lived closer, I am sure those boys would be the best of friends. 

Christmas Eve dinner was at Roaring Forks. It was nice to catch up with extended family, and Cullen was a mostly well-behaved three year old. For the first time in a long time, we also remembered to take a family photo of the three of us. 

After dinner, we drove home to Katy, so that Cullen could wake up to Santa at our house on Christmas morning. Cullen had a great time opening gifts, and he was blessed with plenty of new things. He is such a thankful little boy, and it was nice to have extra time with him over the past week to soak up extra hugs and cuddle time.  

This picture doesn't really do justice to the amount of tape James used to wrap my Christmas gifts. What is hilarious is that I started wrapping gifts more than a month before Christmas, but I still had a few to finish up maybe a week prior. As prepared as I am, I found it odd that I completely ran out of tape. Sorry to those of you who received gifts taped up with packing tape. It just isn't something I wouldn't normally notice. On Christmas morning, I finally figured out that I ran out of tape after James wrapped my gifts. No peeking!

Now that the bustle of the holiday season is winding down, we are focusing more on family time and relaxation. James' mom is in Texas waiting for the arrival of Corie's little girl, so she is staying with us for a bit. Cullen is loving having Grandma Lynn around!

xoxo ashley

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Santa is coming. Did you know that he's coming? Despite my best laid plans, Christmas is entirely sneaking up on me. I blame Hobby Lobby for putting up Christmas decor in July and lulling me into a false sense of security. I also blame those three days leading up to Christmas with nothing in them except for family time and travel plans. Somehow, I thought that I could actually do things during that time. Oops. I know it will all get done, but I'm suffering some sleepless nights until then.

On a positive note, Scout is positively booming with business. I have gotten to be a part of so many Christmas parties and family gatherings, and it is such a blessing!

What about these precious little cupcakes doesn't make you happy?

A little happy Christmas note regarding Amazon: I shop on Amazon a whole lot. A ridiculous whole lot. Why go to a store when it can be on my doorstep in 48 hours at a lower price? Imagine my disappointment when a package delivered by UPS went missing, only to be discovered ripped open and discarded the next morning. Some less-than-nice individual stole a car charger for a LeapPad off my porch. I decided to check in with Amazon in case they had a program in place for this sort of thing, and they just mailed me a new one. No questions asked. It was just done. Just a little extra love from a company who clearly hasn't forgotten customer service.

On Saturday morning, we headed out as a family to get my roots done, finish up some Christmas shopping, and eat lunch with my parents and grandmother. Among a million other activities, we managed to get everything done.

After three years, I finally got a picture of Cullen with Omi. Right before this picture, an entire glass of ice water got dumped onto Cullen, so he had to change out of his super cute rugby tee into this also-cute-but-terribly fitting tee. Alas.

Clearly, I wasn't too bothered by the over-sized shirt, because I didn't make him change before dinner with friends. Cullen is such a great little guy, and I love that our friends are sweet enough to let him tag along for our dinners.  

When did this kid get so big?

And, of course, a couple of cute Cullen-isms to hold you over until our next post:

We don't have a fireplace. A while back, James and I discussed what we would tell Cullen when he asked how Santa got in. We never arrived at a real answer. Cullen pointed out the no fireplace bit over the weekend. While I was sweating and coming up with lies ideas for how Santa comes in, he asked me if Santa just used a key. And there it was. Santa uses the spare key if you don't have a chimney.

Yesterday morning, Cullen and I saw a Life Flight helicopter on our way into town. I explained to Cullen that the helicopter was giving a ride to someone who was sick and that we should pray for the sick person, their family, and the doctors treating that person. Cullen's response? "Mommy, airplanes go in the sky with the helicopters. When they run into each other, they go BOOM!" We'll works on prayers again another day.

Have a beautiful and Merry Christmas, y'all! Until next time!

xoxo ashley

Christmas Magic

Christmas is a magical time of year. It's an amazing time when we're reminded of Santa, Jesus, love, and absolute magic. I have always loved Christmas. Always. Always. Always. There's just something about the way people make an extra effort to make things prettier, nicer, and more positive.

Being a parent makes Christmas even more magical. As we struggle to teach the fine balance between Jesus and Santa, giving and receiving, and always remembering to give back, I see a new light in my son's eyes. A light that tells me that he knows this time is special. A light that tells me that he's beginning to get it.

We recently introduced Cullen to The Polar Express. He is in love with this story in both movie and book form. And who wouldn't be? I remember being in awe of the movie years ago when James and I saw it at an iMax theatre. I love seeing that same feeling in Cullen when he watches in the comfort of our living room.

I want Cullen to know that Jesus is the real celebration behind Christmas, but I also want him to know that the Santa part is important, too. I feel like there is a very important part of childhood that comes from believing in things. Sometimes you can't touch them or see them, but we believe just the same. I want to believe. I want Cullen to believe.

In the spirit of Christmas, we adopted Otis, we put up two trees, we started doing an advent calendar, and Cullen and I talk every day on the drive home about the upcoming celebration for Jesus' birthday. Maybe this won't be the year that he completely gets it, but I can't force him. I'm just going to keep talking about it, and, one day, it will be a conversation we can share together.

xoxo ashley

Date Night

 James and I don't do date nights very often. Our date nights are usually movies on the couch after Cullen is in bed. More often than not, our "date nights" are really just family nights. With both of us working full time plus running an extra business in the evenings, we just don't get to see enough of our little guy.

With all of that said, we rarely go out to dinner for a date. It's expensive and mostly wasteful to me. But on this occasion, we had a gift card. A gift card from an old boss that was about to go out of date. So we had dinner at Sullivan's. It was a great night for us, and Cullen had the best time with Peggy and Andy.

He got to eat Easy Mac in a high chair while watching some quality television.

And he wore himself out enough for a nap on the way home.

Dinner without Cullen may not be high on our priority list, but it's still good to know that he doesn't miss us much when we're gone.

xoxo ashley

But Why?

Cullen recently entered a new phase in his life. At this point, we're still finding it pretty funny, so I'm hoping we can keep our sense of humor about it. Cullen wants to know how things work and why. So anytime we say anything, Cullen asks, "But why?"

I'm trying to give the answers as best I can, because he's trying to learn. I want to be the one to teach him. And along the way, he's teaching me patience.

xoxo ashley

Our Christmas Reminder

Christmas is a busy time of year. Even for the most organized person, there will be too much to do with too little time. Christmas time is just one of those things. It is also one of the easiest times to talk to your child about God. To remind them of their blessings.

This year we started what I hope will be a tradition for our family. We "adopted" a little boy for Christmas. A little boy who is Cullen's age. Then we took Cullen to Target and had a talk with Cullen about Otis. We talked about how Santa can bring some things for Otis, but his Mommy and Daddy can't bring him anything else.

Quick side note: We celebrate Jesus AND Santa in our house. Santa is fun, and magical, but there's a bigger reason for our Christmas season. I'll be covering this in another post.

Anyhow, we thought it would be a good opportunity for Cullen to help us pick out gifts for Otis, help get them ready to be delivered, and remember that you don't have to have a lot to help a little.

The funny thing is that I wanted to get some responsible items with the toys. I picked out a couple of pairs of pajamas, a couple of outfits, and a hooded towel. Cullen picked out almost every toy in Target.

Once we had everything together, we realized that we had literally spent double the recommended amount, even counting for the Black Friday pricing we got on most of the items we picked. Just for our budget to work, I knew that we had to put a couple of items back, so we let Cullen pick.

James picked him up, leaned him over the basket, and asked, "Cullen, what doesn't Otis want?" Without hesitation, Cullen replied, "Otis doesn't want a towel." Done. After I stopped laughing, I put the towel back and decided to get everything else for Otis anyway. If that is the only place in my Christmas budget that I go over, I'd say it's still a successful season. 

We're hoping to talk about Otis again on Christmas morning. And next year, we'll find another Otis to help. Because Christmas isn't just about us.

xoxo ashley

Pride

I know that being proud isn't something we should boast about. I know that pride is one of the seven deadly sins. I try to keep from being intensely prideful in the things I do, but it is so hard to not be proud of the people I love. That's why something my husband told me just makes my heart burst with happiness.

The holidays have been a crazy, busy time for Scout, and I have been surviving on less and less sleep. I don't mind doing it, because I know that I'm working hard for what I want and teaching my son the value of hard work. I know that this hard work will pay off.

Sometimes the payout is monetary, and sometimes it is just a feeling. After baking just shy of 200 cupcakes last night, my husband told me, "I'm so proud of what you've done with Scout."

I couldn't have done it all without him, and, for that man, I am so thankful. And when he says he's proud of me, it makes me think that pride isn't so bad every once in a while.

xoxo ashley