The Armstrong 5

Today was good. We opened our stockings last night and each boy got to open their "large" gift. Cole got a Rody - which is like an industrial, blow-up horse for bouncing and riding... tho, he wasn't so impressed. It takes a bit more balance than he's apparently got at this point :( My bad! Asher got a really nice tricycle! He's struggling a little with steering and pedaling at the same time, but I'm sure he'll have it down in no time.

Early this morning, Nate, Mary and Analeigh came over (mom and dad came upstairs) and the gift exchange started. The Brewers came around 9am and then the other Armstrongs (Matt, Shaana and Grace) came shortly after that. Nate and Mary had another family get-together so they had to leave early, but the rest of us finished up all the gift stuff and enjoyed many traditional Armstrong Christmas day foods - including Cinnamon Rolls and Valley of the Son soup - yum!

I do love Christmas. And I don't want to sound negative. I can't help but think about all the tradition we participate in without knowing the reasons behind it. I know that Jesus wasn't actually born on (or even really close to) Christmas day. And most Christmas traditions have been altered from pagan holidays - I think the worst of all this is when the Pope made Christmas Day an official holiday, encouraging "pagans" to become Christians and convincing them that they could still participate in all their pagan traditions, only as worshiping Christ, instead of worshiping the gods of agriculture and fertility... kinda twisted, not exactly a solid way to "convince" people to serve the Lord - "here, you don't have to give up your super fun holiday to follow Christ, just alter it!". Anyway, I've just been giving all of this some thought. I don't have any solid conclusions. I don't know that I am going to go all puritan and get rid of our fake Christmas tree, but it certainly feels wrong to tell people that Jesus is the reason for this season... because this season was made up for other reasons than Him. Jesus is the ONLY reason for Joy, and that's what we remember at this time. But as for all the other random traditions - gift giving, caroling, stockings, tree - well, I'm just not sure of it's place.

This year, we did spoil the boys a bit more than we were comfortable with - it's too easy to do! It was the first year we actually had some extra money to kinda go crazy with. But in America, people look down on you if you don't give gifts to your kids, like you're depriving them! Let me tell you folks, there is a huge WORLD of deprived children, and if my boys didn't get one single gift, they would still not be anywhere near that class of deprived children. I don't want my kids to think that Christmas is about getting gifts. I also don't want them to be deceived of it's origins. Is there a way to have compromise in this without violating my conscience? Good question! Guess we'll see next year ;)

Hope you all had a happy holidays and that ultimately, Jesus reminded you of His incredible, intense, all-giving love for you!

Oh man, Asher says a LOT of funny things these days! Here are some phrases and conversations that have been going on lately.

"What did you say?" - about 1/2 of the time I am talking to anyone, this pops out of his mouth.


After getting in our bed at 7am, he says "Had a good sleep." Then, he rests for 15-20 minutes, rolls over to papa and says "Can I hold papa's iPhone please?"


Lately, Asher talks most rapidly while going potty - just sentence after sentence... it's super funny and super cute...here's a short snip-it from this afternoon:

mom - "Did you have fun with papa and Brendan?"

Asher - "Went bowling! Papa had a green ball. Brendan had an orange ball. They throw them. I picked one up, it was REALLY HEAVY."


He sings: "Ring round rosy, pocket posy, Ashers, Ashers, all fall down!"


While running out of his room naked from the waist down, Mark asks "Asher, what are you doing?"

Asher - "Changing my pants. They're too short. I get new ones out."


Lately, we've been working on some pronunciation, not because I'm crazy about everything being perfect, we just tried it a little and found that Ash could actually say things better with a teensy bit of repetition... so, this conversation started.

Asher, repeating - "scary, scared" (both with the correct S-C combo instead of the usual "gary" or "gared" version of the words.)

Papa - "Asher, that's so good, you're getting really good at saying those words."

Asher - "I been workin' on my L's. Really good job?!"


Asher (in a very high voice) to Cole when Cole was crying in his high chair: "It's okay Coley. You're fine. Stop crying, you'll be alright."


This afternoon, Asher headed downstairs with Grandma A. for a bit. He looks at the Christmas tree and says "Hey, there's another red present by the Christmas tree!" And he was right! That kid has a crazy memory for stuff... just like mama :)


Asher to Cole tonight at Thai Country while looking at the fish, with a super high voice, while touching Cole on the shoulder and with a very high-pitched emphasis on the word little - "See Coley, that's a big fish and that's a little fish. And see the elephant. It's so cool!"


And lastly, we've also been working on manners, mainly, learning how to politely ask for things. So now, anytime we say "How do you ask nicely?" he replies, "Can you... " it can be something he wants, something he wants you do get or do... it almost always starts with "Can you" even when it should be "can I" and it is ALWAYS said in a super high pitched voice! Hilarious!


Being around Asher every day is such a joy! Especially now that he's gotten back into the habit of staying in his bed all night... I thought I was going to go crazy if I had to take him to bed at 12 am, 2am, and 4am for many more nights. Lately, he is observing EVERYTHING we see and telling us all about it. He asks about opening our Christmas presents almost every day and LOVES to see Snowman anywhere - yards, pictures, clothing... you name it! So friends take note, if you want Asher to say hi to you (he's incredibly shy) just wear some type of piece of clothing with a snowman or some other type of adorable thing! It works like a charm!

Oh, and something totally random... if you want to get a great tricep workout, try using a paper-cutter (the home scrapbooking kind, not the big lever kind) to cut out 3 different pieces of paper for 150 invitations. I haven't done all the math yet, but it's anywhere from 5-7 slices for every 2 pieces of paper, and there is a total of 450 pieces of paper... my triceps are going to HURT tomorrow. All for my baby sister Tracy. Love in action, baby! ;)

I usually love bedtime. And I never used to understand why Mark hated it. He used to say "It feels like admitting defeat... that there's nothing else you can do today." Lately I have really been struggling with this. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day for me, for many reasons. Not just laundry that needs to be folded, dishes that need to be done, emails that need to be sent... there are just TONS of other things I want to do! Lately, I've been attempting to understand more about the idea of "God's Will." I read a great book twice recently, called "Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung. It's all about the problem many of us "young adults" have with Godly decision making. I highly recommend it.

Basically, I'm seeing that God's Will is for me to know Him, thus, acting more like Christ and accomplishing His purposes wherever I am. I've been going back and forth with decisions regarding where I will end up in about 5 years... major things like kids, career, where to live... then I end up struggling with regret, self-doubt, questioning everything I do... but this book is offering me some clarity and God is definitely shaping me. It's hard for me to say that I want something but then admit that I must not want it enough to sacrifice what is required. How do I live with that? Is it honorable to have chosen other things? What if I could have made more impact? Been more "known" and thus, more people knowing more about God? What should I pursue now? Then, mostly, I almost become paralyzed thinking about making sure I do the most absolute, bestest thing I could do for God.

But now, I'm seeing (and I hope to truly believe) that God wants me to know Him to the greatest degree possible - which is wild, because He can make all things possible. Sorry, but I'm hashing this out here to help it sink into my heart. I realize, that when I know God deeply, it changes my desires, my feelings, my reactions to the people I love, my ability to take criticism, my heart for my friends and family... get what I'm saying? When I am growing closer to God, it won't matter what exactly I am doing. He'll work that out. I can make choices, go places, do things fully trusting that if I'm growing in the Lord, He will use me to the degree that I truly know Him... so this whole idea of having "maximum impact" for the kingdom is not how I envision it. No matter what I'm doing, if knowing God is center, He will be using me to have the biggest impact possible... and likely, that impact might not have been greater or lesser depending on my "career." I know that God already knows where I'll be and who I'll meet, and I'm trusting that He is prepping and using me every day to have the greatest impact I am allowing Him to have.

Still, when bedtime rolls around, I wish I had an extra hour or two to meditate on Him, read His word and what other people have to say about it... maybe tho, I'll just start doing that, trusting that God will rejuvenate me despite the loss of sleep... God can do anything right?

Yep, many of you have heard, Tracy got engaged! So crazy! Her fiance (also Mark) is such a sweet guy, and you can tell he loves her so much!!

So, Tracy and I will be doing lots of wedding planning in the next few months. Their wedding date is March 12th, 2011. They figure (and I agree) to just get it done with and not wait around, tempting each other... makes lots of sense and definitely a wise choice.

On Sunday I did their engagement photos and they turned out spectacular! So happy that it went well - I've been a bit out of practice. Enjoy!!