New Look

What do you think of my new look? I'm very excited about it. I've been having so much fun with this blog. I still love scrapbooking, but haven't found a lot for time for that hobby lately. I love to write and share pictures with family and friends, so blogging has been a great creative outlet for me; and, so far it's been completely free (you know I love that!). The design I had before was okay, but it was done with one of Blogger's provided templates, so there are countless other blogs out there with a similar design. Therefore, I decided to make a very small investment in this new hobby and get a custom design. It was done by Jenny at http://pinkarmchairdesigns.com and I think she did a fabulous job. Thanks Jenny!

The Passing of "Tiger"

One of Kenna's hermit crabs died this week. She asked if we could bury him, so we decided on a spot in our backyard under the deck, so that it wouldn't get dug up. She planned a funeral for him, put him in an Altoids box and made a nice grave marker. One of her homework assignments this week was to write a poem, so she wrote it about Tiger and read it at the little service that we had this evening. I was surprised at the depth of her emotion over losing Tiger (many tears have been shed in the last couple of days), because she really has not taken a lot of interest in her hemit crabs lately, often forgetting to give them water for several days - perhaps this contributed to Tiger's demise. Maybe there's a life lesson in that; if we take the things and people in our life for granted and do not spend time caring for them, we may find that we lose them.

So, here's the poem that Kenna wrote in honor of Tiger:

Tiger was my favorite pet,

He died Memorial Day.

He lived two years inside my house,

I loved him as a friend.

Now his shell sits in a box.

Memorial Day at the Lake

With the kids off school yesterday and Robert taking the day off work, we decided to head up to Ray Roberts Lake for a couple of hours. Of course, a lot of other people had the same idea and it was pretty crowded, but that didn't slow the kids down any. They had a great time playing in the water! Robert and I both got in for a short while - but that water sure was cold!

It's not about me

Life has slowed down some around the Pierce household this week, for which I am grateful. I've been fighting a cold, so I've been happy to not have so much running around to do. This slower week has left me without "activities" to blog about, so I thought I'd share something God is teaching me. I've started reading through Ephesians. Some of my favorite verses of scripture come from Ephesians, but I have to admit that I don't know if I've ever read the book through. Anyway, the first 14 verses contain some pretty deep theology about predestination that I don't even begin to understand - although I will say I believe firmly in man's free will and believe we are all given the choice to be one of God's chosen, through faith in Christ. When I read the verses this morning, what struck me was not the choosing of believers, but the reason for the choosing. The scripture tells us that as Christians we are chosen:

"in accordance with His pleasure and will" (vs. 5)
"to the praise of His glorious grace" (vs. 6)
"according to His good pleasure" (vs. 9)
"for the praise of His glory" (vs. 12)
"to the praise of His glory" (vs. 14)

Apparently, it's not about me - it's all about God and His glory and pleasure. I'm afraid I spend way too much time focused on myself and my own pleasure and contentment. So, my prayer is that, through an awareness of and gratefulness for His blessings, by loving and finding joy in those He has placed in my life, and through acts of service to others, my life will in some way be pleasing to Him - because that's who it's all about!

This is not your mother's field day

I remember Field Day when I was a kid...it was all about races and ribbons. The 50 meter dash, the 100 meter relay, the three-legged race - and oh! those coveted blue ribbons you won if you tried your best and managed to come in first place! Well, field day has changed some over the years - at least the way they do it at our kids' school. The kids are divided into two groups (K,1st & 2nd grade in one group; 3rd, 4th, and 5th in another). In the morning one group goes with their class through a variety of stations with silly games and races; they sort of compete against classmates, but there really are no winners (and also no losers). The other group spends the morning in the "Fun Zone"; that includes the playground, some bounce houses, sno cones, popcorn, face painting, a few games and general bedlam as they move about these activities on their own. They all take a lunch break and then the two groups switch in the afternoon. It's all about having fun, which is a definitely good thing...but I have to admit, I miss those ribbons!

Here are a some pictures of our kids enjoying the wacky games and relays:

Cullen at the Spongebob Squarepants relay:

Kenna at the Shoe Kick:

Cullen carrying a rubber chicken in the Chopstick relay:

Even Camden got to participate. Here he's doing the Pig Pull (yes, that's a rubber pig in the saucer!):

At least they had one classic, the three-legged race:

All for One, One for All

Last night Cullen performed in the First Grade play at his school. They presented a cute play called "Three of a Kind." There were all sorts of three's in the play - the three bears, the three blind mice, the three pigs, the three wise men, etc. Three students from each class were selected to have speaking parts and Cullen was chosen to play one of the Three Musketeers along with two of his classmates.

Cullen usually fits the middle child stereotype - pretty quiet, a little shy sometimes, happy to be in the background. So, playing a part like this was a big deal - and he did a fabulous job! We are very proud of him. Here's a video clip of the Three Musketeers' feature song:

The "Golden Year" Approaches

I took Camden to "Kindergarten Round-up" this morning to get him registered for Kindergarten. Can't believe my baby will be off to school next fall! I've had so many people ask me what I'm going to do with all the kids in school next year. Camden likes to respond based on what he's heard me say many times: "It's her one golden year!" I jokingly call it that because it will be the only year all three of the kids will be at the same school. The following year Kenna will go to middle school (yikes!) and I know our schedules will get even crazier. So, what am I going to do with my "one golden year"? - ENJOY IT! I do plan to continue in my "very part", part-time job (about 10 hours or less a week) and I'm sure I'll do a lot of volunteering at the school. I also anticipate spending more time with a ministry that we're already involved in through our church - we'll just see where the Lord leads on that.


So, here are a couple of pictures of my "baby" at the school where he'll spend his days next year:

"Reading" a book they gave us to take home.

Looking down the kindergarten hallway.

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to start this post by honoring two very special women in our lives, my mom and my mother-in-law. God has blessed me with both of them.

My mom has always been there for me and we are so much alike in many ways - we just seemed to "get" each other. She welcomed Robert into our family from the beginning of our relationship and she is a wonderful grandmother, always willing to watch the kids if I need her to, and often asking to see them if it's been too long. Thanks, Mom, for all you are and for all you do!

Sharon is the best mother-in-law I could have ever hoped for. First, she raised an amazing son, for which I will alway be grateful. She has always treated me like one of her own and made me feel loved. She will always take the kids for a weekend when Robert and I need a little time to ourselves. And she pretty much keeps my kids in clothes - and cute ones at that! Thank you, Sharon, for everything!

Mother's Day is supposed to be all about moms, but I also need to brag on my husband. He has proven again this past week what a wonderful person, husband, and father he is. He was under a tremendous amount of stress with work this week. He has been working on a particular project for almost a year and a half; challenges and issues have continued to come up that have prolonged the project. He needed to complete the project this week, or there were going to be some serious consequences involving potential legal action from the client. In addition to this work stress, his father, Joe, had surgery in Texarkana on Monday to remove a cancerous tumor from his lung, as well as a portion of his lung. His recovery has not gone as well as expected and he needed someone with him around the clock. Because of his work situation, Robert was unable to be there. Robert's younger sister and Joe's siblings took turns staying with him (a big thank you to them for being there!). Robert worked extrememly hard and finished up his project on Thursday night (hallelujah and praise God!) and left Friday morning to help out with caring for his dad.

After spending a mostly sleepless night in the hospital, he came home Saturday afternoon and almost immediately began preparing for Mother's Day. He made a marinade for the wonderful pork roast that we had for lunch today and made lemon-molasses bread that he served me in bed this morning, cut into heart shapes. When he finished those preparations, he took time to play a Pokemon game with Cullen that we had given him for his birthday. Robert's dad is doing better today and even asked that no one stay with him tonight. Depending on how that goes, Robert will either go back tomorrow or sometime later in the week. I have just been amazed with my husband this week and how he has continually put others' needs before his own. We've had a wonderful day today relaxing and spending time together.

Robert took this picture of me and the kids this morning before church. See that beautiful family portrait in the background? That's my Mother's Day present - I love it! The kids also gave me some very special handmade gifts that I will treasure. I have been blessed beyond anything I deserve and am grateful that I get to be the mother in this wonderful family!

Cullen's Party

We celebrated Cullen's birthday today with a Pokemon themed party at Lunar Mini Golf. It's really dark inside, with black lights and lots of glow in the dark stuff. It's really cool, but makes picture taking a challenge - either everything is lit up because of the flash, or you capture the glow-in-the-dark effects with no flash, but things are a little blurry. I think the blurry pictures better capture the essence of the experience, so that's what I'm choosing to post. Luckily we took a picture of the cake at home last night, because you could barely see it at the party!

Still Smiling at Seven

Today is Cullen's birthday. Can he really be seven years old already? It seems like it wasn't that long ago that he surprised us with his first real smile at only three and a half weeks old:




Throughout his seven years he has continued to make others smile just by flashing his own beautiful grin. He has developed many wonderful qualities; he's smart, conscientious, makes friends easily, and he still seems to always have a smile ready to share.


Today was full of small celebrations, so we got to see many of those precious smiles:

Breakfast in bed:

Cookies at school:

Quesadillas for dinner:




This one shows his more serious side as he considered his birthday wish.

Happy Birthday to my Smiling Seven Year Old!

Head 'em Up and Move 'em Out

Kenna's class had a field trip yesterday to the Fort Worth Stockyards. They learned about the cattle drives of the late 1800's and about how "Cowtown" got its nickname. They even got to see some cattle being driven down the main street.

I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to do things like this with my kids. I have to say, this "stay-at-home" mom gig doesn't seem to include very much actual staying at home - but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Singing His Praises

The kids participated Sunday night in their spring choir performance at our church.

Camden's choir performed a mini musical called "God's Love Bugs." He was a lightning bug; there were also ladybugs and bumblebees. Most of the time he stood there with his hands in his pockets trying to avoid the wings of the fidgeting boys next to him, but we did catch him doing these motions to a song about the lightning bugs "flickering".

Kenna and Cullen's choirs combined to present the musical "Holy Moses" about the life of Moses.


Cullen was in the back row on the opposite side of the stage from our seats, so we didn't get a great picture of him.

Kenna sang in a trio, as well as doing a few other small parts like playing the princess' maiden in a pantomime during a song about Moses being pulled out of the water and being the "10" in a song about the ten commandments. She really enjoyed the performance; she's been performing in choir programs at our church since she was 3, but this is the first time I remember her being really excited about it - maybe we have a future star on our hands!

Make-up Day at the Lake

Since our camping trip this weekend got cut short (see previous post), we decided to head up to Lake Ray Roberts for a couple of hours today, as a sort of make-up day. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time.

Great Expectations

The problem with having great expectations for an event, is that it often leads to disappointment. That was the case for me this weekend. We've all been looking forward to a camping trip that we've had planned for several weeks. In fact, we opted out of several other activities that conflicted, so that we could meet up this weekend with two other families at a campground on Lake Grapevine. One of the couples recently purchased a boat, so we were anticipating a weekend of relaxing with friends, boating on the lake, and lots of good camping food. Once we got through the chore of setting up camp yesterday afternoon, we had a great evening with beautiful weather, fellowship with friends, and s'mores around the campfire.




All that fun changed a few hours after we went to bed, when the wind started blowing - to the tune of 30 - 40 miles an hour! We woke up to the sound of our tent being beaten by the wind; Kenna thought it was thunder, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, just the wind. We were seriously afraid our tent was going to come down around us. One of the families even opted to sleep the rest of the night in their car. Thankfully, both the families we were with are blessed with a great sense of humor and we had a good time laughing this morning as we shivered around a fire, trying to stay warm. Since none of us had slept much and it was still too windy to go on the boat, we decided to pack up and head home today. Things just weren't turning out the way we had planned. So, what's a girl to do with the disappointment of a weekend gone wrong? I'm choosing to focus on the positive - we made it through the night safely, we had some good laughs with good friends, and we have a great story to tell around the campfire for years to come - "Remember that time we camped with the 40 mph winds..."

She means business!

Today Kenna participated in "Business Day" at school. Each six weeks the fourth graders create businesses and make products relating to something they have been studying. They purchase each other’s products using “Scholar Dollars” that they earn through school attendance, good behavior, and classroom jobs. The theme this time around was "weather and the effects of weather." She chose to make rainbow hair barrettes and rainbow necklaces.

Animals, Art, and New Shoes!

Today was a big day at Camden's pre-school. They enjoyed a petting zoo, a picnic, a bounce house, and an art show.

The petting zoo came to their school with goats, bunnies, and pigs.



This is my first attempt at posting a video. I hope you enjoy seeing our artist showing off his art piece "Breaking Apart Rainbow."




I had to include a picture of Camden's new shoes since the fact that we got them is such a big deal. Camden is very sensitive to the way that clothing feels. Tags, waistbands, seams - you name it and it has the potential to irritate him. He is especially affected in the area of footwear. So, finding this pair of shoes that he liked and didn't break the bank was nothing short of a miracle in my book. And they light up, too - life is good!