Blog

My friend Jill likes my blog! Hooray! Now I have to tell you all 5 things I love. So, here are five things I love...not the five things I love the most in the world, but some random thoughts from my brain! In no particular order:

1). My DISHWASHER. We could have moved into a cardboard box as long as it had a dishwasher and I would have been happy!

2). Getting posts on my blog. Yep...I am a blog addict. I get sad when no one posts on my blog. I thought people read it....hum.

3). Reese's Peanut Butter Cups & Doritios. Yes this only counts as one. I believe every girl can solve any problem with these two things.

4). Getting real mail. Not junk mail or bills. I mean opening the mailbox and finding a REAL letter, or package...it makes my day!

5). My family. They rock...no further explanation needed!

Now I tag...
Kayla

Tiff

Steph (all 3 of you can do it)

Anne

Rachel

Because I love your blogs!

December Happenings

I've been meaning to make a few posts but haven't had the time recently. I'm just going to throw down some pictures and quick blurbs before they get really outdated.

Dec 1 - Mommy made some fun Christmas crafts with the kids.

Hailey is always trying to steal the spotlight.

Dec 6 - The kids had a lot of fun at the Community Christmas Party.

Who wants to pet a Reindeer when you can hold a squirly rabbit?

Dec 6 - Um.... maybe next year?

Dec 10 - OK, this was cool. How many people can say they've made a snowman IN Houston?

Dec 11 - Hailey finally has some girly pink clothes. Thanks Brie-Brie!

Dec 13 - This is what happens when Mommy goes running 18 miles and puts

Daddy in charge of bathing the kids. Oh well, I've never heard the kids

complain that there are too many bubbles!

December 10th

Are you kidding me? There is no way it is already December 10th. Where has all the time gone? A few things I've been thinking about...

1). I have to mail out my Christmas cards in the next few days. Be sure to email me your address if you want one. (alisha.ashton (at) gmail.com) no spaces...just didn't want it to show up as a link! Be sure to put christmas cards in the subject line.

2). There is no way I only have 21 days left until the marathon. What in the world was I thinking? I am not nearly as prepared as I should be right now. It may take me ten hours to finish. Any friends willing to come and scrape me off the road cause I'm sure when I'm done (if I finish) I'll drop and melt into the road right there!

3). Um...really should probably finish up the Christmas shopping, only a few things left I need to get. Does anyone else ever have trouble shopping for their spouse?

4). My kids are growing like weeds. Seriously, when did my kids get so big. I am missing out on so many moments with them...I wish I could freeze time and enjoy every second!

5). Haileys next surgery has been scheduled for Jan. 22nd. I'm sure we will post more information and updates later.

6). What is the deal with this weather? Yesterday I dropped Carson off at preschool and it was 75, yes at 9 a.m. Today it's 34.....burrrrrrr....Danielle how do you survive this, I'm afraid we might get frostbite!

Alright...we'll I guess that was more than a few thoughts!

A Dash of this, a Pinch of that...

So the manly men of the household put on girly aprons and made cookies yesterday... there, I admitted it. I feel much better now. At least Alisha can't use the pictures as blackmail now!

While Mommy was out running a ridiculous number of miles (16 to be exact) we got bored and hungry... thus the logical reason for the cooking activity.

Mr. Carson is obviously pretty proud of the results.
The recipe makes about twice this much... I think the rest magically vanished somewhere between "Pour 2 cups sugar into an empty bowl" and "spread the icing on the cookies".

Believe it or not they were actually edible. Just ask the C-Man... he's up to 7 now!


We even made Mommy her very own cookie. Figured after all that running we could guilt her into eating at least one.

Reason # 378 & 379

Today on why Alisha can't stand Walmart.....

#378 - The checker won't stop talking to you and is scaring your kids. Sure she is trying really, really hard to be nice but come on. There is a reason you chose the EXPRESS LANE and she is taking FOREVER. On top of having to comment on every item after she rings it up, she then bags it and walks around her counter over to the cart and puts the bag in...I can do that you know...I have arms. Let's move! All the while scaring the begeebers out of your children. Look lady, if the children cry when you talk to them and hug their mother in horror....stop it! Don't say...oh come on now I'm a nice Grandma, and try to touch them. OVER, and OVER, and OVER AGAIN! It's not rocket science lady! UGH!

#379 - They print out your Christmas Mailing photos and cropped off the far left side. Rather than reading Peace. Love. Joy. your Christmas card now says eace. Love. Joy. $13 bucks down the drain. However, you know you don't want to send it in again, and get it reprinted because you have 800 million other things to do before tonight at 5 p.m. when your hubby gets home from work. Guess we will just mail out the stupid cropped walmart stinks cards.

Happy Turkey Day!

We busted out an old video from a couple years ago and had a good laugh. Thought we'd share!

Girls Night Out!

Hooray for Girls Night Out. Thank you SO MUCH to Jamie for the awesome planning. We got together for a little food, games, and then went to the Twilight Movie on opening night! Thanks everyone for such a fun night!

Jamie went all out....candles in apples, twilight jeopardy game...way to go!

Yummy, Yummy food table...everything of course was the vampire theme!

All the girls. Back left to right: Erin, Kimberly, Carrie, Shanta, Racheal, Kathy. Front left to right: Alisha, Cami, Amy, Stephanie, Jamie. (Eva met us at the theather!)

In the car on the way to Twilight. Me, Racheal, Jamie.

Waiting anxiously for the show to begin.

Panera & Park

Now that's a good combination! I decided to spread out my remaining vacation and just take a day each week until the end of the year hanging out with my little buddies. Today I went with Carson on his Preschool field trip to Panera Bread. He was a little more shy than I'm used to seeing around the house, but dug right in when it came time to ice his Cinnamon Roll.

I think because I'm "the dad", the other Preschool moms and teachers think I'm mentally handicapped ;-) They used their 3-year-old verbage when communicating with me as if I had no clue what I was doing. I know they were trying to be helpful, though, so no offense taken... sometimes I act like a 3-year-old so I probably deserve it!

After dropping Carson back off at preschool and eating lunch with my girls (mmm...Panera Bread - sorry for making your mouth water Danielle), I sent Alisha off for some time to herself. She went to find herself some new running shoes since she burned holes in her old ones... MAN, is she smokin' HOT...er, uh... fast.

With mom gone, Hailey and I snuck off to the park. Here are some cute pictures of my little pumpkin.

I never knew a leaf and a bunch of holes could be so entertaining

"Not so tough from way down there, are you daddy?"

"This looks like a good place to stop and rest"

Where is Carson when you need a boost?



"Can somebody fix my headwrap so I don't look like an elf?"




"Ah ha! You won't get away this time Mr. Ant"

"Higher, higher!"

"He he he... Carson would be so mad if he could see me right now"

Everything is a stroller to this chic.

I have a feeling Santa Clause did a great job picking out her present this year ;-)

We eventually got too hot and had to head home for a nap (again, sorry Danielle - it is probably somewhere around 80 below zero where you are and here I am talking about it getting too warm in November).

We ended with a little Dinner & Movie Night with some good friends (Thanks Erin & Jason) to top off a great day... what more could a guy ask for?

OBSESSION

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what you'd call it. I've held out for a long time not getting sucked into the Twlight Series...well I am now totally addicted! Bridger brought me the first book on Thursday night. Hailey had been through her surgery that morning, and there had been a lot of holding and rocking her while she was asleep...not much I could do but read. Um...I am now in the third book...yes that's right...I started the first one on Thursday night. I probably won't get through the 3rd and 4th ones as quickly as I got through the first two though. Hailey is almost back to normal... so I don't have as much down time. Please, please, please tell me I'm not the only who got sucked into this addiction!

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Night and Day

If it isn't obvious by this photo, Hailey is feeling much better today... almost TOO much better. She now thinks that she can twirl and run down the sidewalk as if nothing ever happened. However, the combination of Tylenol, not much sleep, and possibly the slight shift in center of balance due to the headwrap have got this chica tipsy! I don't know how many close calls we've had today, but I'm surprised we haven't headed back to the hospital. At least she's feeling better!

Hailey enjoying her Cinderella Bear (Richie & Brianna) & Giant Animal Book ( G&G Ashton)

Hailey Update

Our little pumpkin is doing fine and finally getting some rest from her long day. Overall, we were at the hospital for about 6 hours. I think she could tell something was up and stayed close all morning, but had a lot of fun with the toys and puzzles in the various waiting rooms.

The surgery took about an hour and a half. Her doctor was pleased with how well it went and how much of the nevus she was able to remove. She's confident that she can get the remaining section in one more surgery and even reduce the scar size in the process.

Hailey relaxing on her froggy care package from Ember, Briana & Joe

She's having a rough time keeping anything down, but that's to be expected. She finally fell asleep for more than 10 minutes and has been asleep now for almost an hour ... also the record for the longest span without emptying her stomach contents :-)

Hopefully this lasts a while!

We only have to keep the head wrap on for another 36 hours! I think all of the nice care packages with books and games will come in handy to distract her from yanking it off tomorrow. THANK YOU for all of the prayers and support!

The big day...

The big day is tomorrow. Hailey's surgery is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. We will be leaving around 6:45 for the hospital. Thank you so much to all of our family and friends who have stopped by, called, and mailed letters to let us know you were thinking of our family. We will try to keep you updated later tomorrow. We had family photos taken last Thursday before Hailey's hair (well what little she has) goes bye bye. The photos were taken by http://www.kelseycallphotography.com/ . Here are a few of my favorites...

Thanks Kelsey!

THE AMAZING RACE!!!

No I am not talking about the T.V. Show....I'm talking about the RAGNAR TEXAS RELAY. OH YEAH! Thanks so much to my hubby who took the day off work so I could go run with my Chicks! Our team name was CTR-Chicks that Run. It was SO FUN! The race was Oct. 24-25th. It started in San Antonio and ended in Austin. 180.2 miles. There are 6-7 different ragnar relays throughout the US and it was worth every penny. I never thought I could accomplish anything like this. I was on a team of 12 girls, and each girl ran 3 legs. My legs were 4.9 miles, 5.0 miles, 2.8 miles...unfortunately I had some NASTY HILLS! But hey, it just made the experience even better. Okay, I could go on and on but I know all you want is to see some pictures. There were about 8 million to choose from...but here are some good ones (i.e. proof I was really there!)

PRE-PARTY CELEBRATION!

This is what our vans looked like.

Getting ready for my third leg.

Our van. Van#2

Waiting at the last major exchange.

We are so tired....

Man, we are good looking chicks! (me, natalie, stephanie, kellie)

Steph and me in front of our van.

Water, water, I NEED WATER! (This is during my first leg.)

Yes, I was smiling!

Wow...look how fast I'm hauling...haha...just kidding, I'm no PACE MAKER!

YAH...let's just not talk about this photo!

Um...or this one. (I did not puke though!)
Passing of the slap bracelet baton!

PHEW...I am tired!

The chicks with their 1st place baton!

Oh it was so much fun! I didn't get any shots of me on my second leg. Probably because it was around 3 in the morning. It was my best leg by far (funny because it was my longest one too!)

Now if you want to see the totally awesome video that Heika made...go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4rIL17RvQ