Thankful Thursday

"...that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." Psalm 30:12

I am thankful...

...that the kids went back to school today after two days off for bad weather.

...that Camden is still sleeping in his bed. After months of sleeping on the floor, he seems to have settled back into sleeping in his bed.

...that my mom is okay. She was rear ended this morning and her car looks pretty bad, but she's doing okay. You can read about it on her blog by clicking here.

...that I have a date with my husband tonight. I better go get ready!

Ice Day, Take 2

The kids were home from school again today because of "inclement weather." Today it was actually with good reason, as there was plenty of ice on the roads this morning. About 9:00 last night Robert and I were watching t.v. when Camden came out of his room to let us know that it was "raining ice." Apparently the ice hitting his window was keeping him awake.
According to the Weather Channel it was 18 degrees here this morning, with a wind chill of 8 - that's pretty cold for this neck of the woods! Here are a couple of pics of the ice in our backyard:



In this next one you can see the 1/2 inch or so of accumulated ice on the patio table:


We spent another day inside, but I didn't get cabin fever as bad as I did yesterday. It was actually a pretty productive day. We cleaned out Camden's room and Kenna's closet (still haven't found Cullen's Nintendo), I got some work done, and Kenna made a good bit of progress on her science fair project display. Even with all that productivity, I'll be glad to get things back to "normal" tomorrow!

Ice Day?

Today the kids were off school for an "ice day". The only thing is, there wasn't any ice! The roads were fine this morning, but because an ice storm was expected to hit midday, most of the school districts in our area cancelled school. It's 7:30p.m. now, and the ice storm still hasn't hit. There has been a lot of drizzly precipitation today, and the temps will be well below freezing tonight, so I'm guessing school will be cancelled again tomorrow because of icy roads. It's kind of a bummer, because it means we'll have to give up our four day weekend at Easter, to make up these two days. And it's not even like missing school for snow, when the kids can get out and play - we've been stuck in the house all day. One day inside with three kids, and I'm already getting cabin fever!

Cullen has misplaced his Nintendo DS that he got for Christmas. Mom and Dad are not happy about this since we know that Santa paid over $100 for that thing! Cullen dumped out his toy basket this morning to look for it (it wasn't there), and all three kids spent the morning playing in his room, making the mess even worse. Cullen and I spent the afternoon cleaning up and cleaning out. We ended up with a box of things to give away and a full trash bag - but no Nintendo. Here are "before" and "after" pictures of his room:

I guess if we end up home again tomorrow, we'll tackle Kenna and Camden's rooms - who knows what we might unearth!

Cookies, cookies everywhere

Recently, Kenna has been working on her science fair project, which involves experimenting with sugar cookies.

So, we've had A LOT of sugar cookies around our house - some better than others.

On Saturday, we used some of the leftover dough from the "control" batch and made some Valentine's cookies.

Lessons from the Bible...and The Jungle Book

I'm currently participating in a Bible study on the life of Moses. This past week we studied the book of Leviticus. I use the term "studied" loosely when referring to myself; due to some things going on and a general lack of discipline on my part, I didn't complete much of my lesson. But, I did attend the lecture and group discussion on Wednesday. The book of Leviticus is full of details about the sacrificial system and rules for daily living for the Israelites. Kind of tough stuff to digest, but what I learned was that the main theme of the book is "Be holy, because I am Holy." So, even if we don't need to practice the specific things outlined in Leviticus, as Christians we are stilled called to be holy, or set apart, because God is holy.

While I believe the main avenue God uses to talk to His people is the Bible, I know He can, and believe He often does, talk to us in many other ways, including through secular things. As I was reading over my Bible study notes, some lyrics from a song from The Jungle Book came to me:

"You see it's true-oo-oo, I wanna be like you-oo-oo,
I want to walk like you, talk like you too-oo."

Isn't that the goal of the Christian life - to walk and talk more like Christ; to be holy, because He is holy?

A Picture's Worth...

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, but I have to think these are going to be worth a whole lot more when Camden's a teenager and I threaten to show them to his girlfriend!

And another one's gone...

Career Day

Last Thursday was Career Day at the kids' school.

Kenna, the photographer.

Camden, the scientist.

Thankful Thursday

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1


1. I am thankful that I survived my second root canal appointment yesterday. Apparently, my roots are really long, so the periodontist had to do more drilling yesterday. Which means I have to go back to see him one more time to finish the two root canals, before I visit my general dentist for my crowns. As my good friend pointed out, I'll deserve a crown after all this! I really am grateful for good dental care and that I'm half way through with this process!

2. I am thankful for my mom, who came yesterday and drove me to and from my appointment. Because of my intense anxiety over dental work, I opted to take the sedative the periodontist prescribed, which left me unable to drive (or string together a coherent sentence for that matter).

3. I am thankful for that sedative! I remain blissfully ignorant of much of that appointment.

4. I am thankful for my husband. I was pretty much worthless yesterday evening and he took care of everything with homework and dinner and getting the kids to choir practice. I felt much better early today, and pushed myself too much, leaving me worthless again this afternoon. Thankfully, Robert is working from home this week, so he came to my rescue again and picked the kids up from school and took care of homework again today.

5. I am thankful for good friends. I have a friend who is going through a really tough time and watching some of our mutual friends pull together and give generously of their time to help her out has really been a blessing to me.

What are you thankful for?

Our Basketball Star

Cullen is playing Upward Basketball (a Christian program) this season, and had his first game on Saturday. At the beginning of each game, the boys names are called and they get to run through the cheering, pom pom waving cheerleaders.

Cullen did well for his first game and got the ball a few times.

Here he's passing to another player, and I'm pretty sure it was a successful pass, although you can't see his teammate in the picture:

Robert and I have very little athletic ability, so it's always a little nerve racking for me to watch one of our kids attempt a new sport, but I was very proud of how Cullen played. At the end of each game, the coaches award each player a star; the stars are different colors to represent different accomplishments such as best defense, or best sportsmanship. At this game Cullen was awarded the white star for most Christ-like.

Some Random Things About Camden

Camden always manages to keep life interesting around the Pierce household. For months now he's been sleeping on the floor in the doorway to his room, with his head out in the hallway. He says he's afraid of monsters under the bed. About a week ago, he woke up scared and wanted to sleep in our bed. Robert said that he could, but as a consequence he would have to sleep in his own bed for the next three nights - no sleeping on the floor. The first night he cried like we had locked him in a cage and just about broke my heart, but he finally fell asleep and made it through the night. The next two nights went much better, but he was keeping close count as to when his "sentence" would be up. But, miraculously, on the fourth night he chose to sleep on his bed. Yea! He's been sleeping there for about a week now, although we did have a relapse last night and he slept on the floor; I'm hopeful that he'll be back in his bed tonight. I just love sleeping kiddo shots:

A few days ago, I was going to the store and Camden requested a couple of things. I didn't write them down, so I forgot them. When I returned home without the items, he was disappointed and Robert suggested he write them on my list for next time. Camden painstakingly wrote out a list for me, but then I didn't think much more about it. That is until I went to bed that night and found the list stuck to my bedside lamp:

Camden loves to create little scenes or sculptures with his toys. I found this one after his bath a couple of nights ago. That diamond sticking out of the guy's head sure looks painful to me:

This week we tried a new Cheerios snack mix and Camden couldn't resist making a man out of it:

I just love that kid!

Cullen is "Just Ducky"!

Cullen received the "Just Ducky" award for the third six weeks. Here's what his teacher said about him:

"Cullen Pierce is 'Just Ducky' because he is a true friend. He goes out of his way to help his friends, or cheer them up when they're having a bad day. He is always smiling, and he shares his joy with everyone around him. Thanks, Cullen!"

Way to go, Cullen! Keep smiling!

Thankful Thursday

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful." Colossians 3:15

Well, I haven't done a "Thankful Thursday" post in awhile; but it certainly isn't because of a lack of things to be thankful for. God continues to bless us abundantly!

1. I am thankful for a wonderful holiday season filled with good times spent with family and friends.

2. I am thankful for routine, glorious routine. As great as the holiday break was, I'm glad to be getting things back to "normal".

3. I am thankful for good report cards. The kids finished up their third six weeks before the break, and brought home report cards yesterday - they all did great!

4. I am thankful for my new washer and dryer. We'd had our old set for 16 years and have had them repaired a few times in the last couple of years. When the washer started acting up before Christmas, we decided it was time to stop pouring money into them, and just get new ones. We found a great washer and dryer in the "scratch and dent" section at Lowe's, at a great price. It was still more money than we wanted to spend at the moment, but I'm just telling myself we're doing our part to keep the economy going!

5. I am thankful for God's provision. This is a scary time to be self-employed, but Robert continues to have work to do, and even has two new clients.

Praise God for His many blessings!

Favorite Photos

I mentioned in my last post that I had some old slides put on CD for my mom's birthday. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Jennifer, Mom, and Amy

I think Kenna looked a lot like her Aunt Jennifer at that age.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's 65th birthday. You look great, Mom; I can only hope I age so well!



On Saturday, Dad took us all out to dinner to celebrate. After dinner we went back to their house for cake and ice cream.

For her gift, I had some of Mom and Dad's old slides put on CD and printed. We all had fun looking at the pictures of Jennifer and I as little ones and a much younger Mom and Dad!

I also gave Mom an empty scrapbook album; I had great hopes of getting the photos in the album before her birthday, but it just didn't happen. The kids start back to school tomorrow (yea!), so I guess I'll focus some of my "free time" on that project.

Happy New Year!

We had fun last night at our neighbors' house celebrating the end of 2008, although we made it back home well before midnight.

The kids had a pizza picnic:

And they enjoyed chocolate fondue:

Today we visited Robert's Aunt Isy and saw three of his cousins - Stephen (Isy's son), Karen (with her two boys, who live close by), and Angie (who was visiting from California with her husband, Mark, and his parents).

In other news - I've been squirreled! I was taking ornaments off our tree this morning when I heard a loud ka-thunk. I thought a heavy ornament had fallen, but when I searched under the tree, I found this:

I made this piece as an art project in middle school. It's supposed to be a cat, but everyone seems to think it looks more like a squirrel, so that's what we call it. Anyway, it gets passed between my mom, my sister and I, mysteriously appearing after sometimes months of hiding. I guess it's been hanging out in my tree since Christmas Eve. I wonder where it will show up next?