Santa and the elves...

Happy December! Can you believe only 22 days until Christmas (make that 21 by the time you read this)!? We put our Christmas tree up over the weekend, Nate has been stringing lights all over the house, we've got our Advent calender displayed to help us count down to Christmas... the Pierce family is getting in the holiday spirit!


On Saturday I took the kids to see Santa at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately we missed him by about 10 minutes! Jacob was a bit disappointed... when I suggested we go see Grandma Pierce since she was working, he said "I don't wanna see Grandma, I wanna see Santa!" Well, we tried again the next day after church, and had much better luck. We crammed all the kids around Santa because they wanted to be in the picture together. (Doesn't Santa look like he's about 12 years old in this picture? LOL)

Check out this link to see the kids doing a little Christmas jig. It might take a minute to load, but it is pretty darn cute! https://tdsmail.tds.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.elfyourself.com%252F%253Fid%253D1122790056

****edited to add: the above link is no longer active, the elf yourself website is down until next holiday season ****
*
Before I forget to mention it... Abby and Noah are in the Christmas program at our church on Sunday, December 16 at 6:00 p.m. They have been working very hard to memorize their songs and learn the motions. I think it will be a great program! You are all more than welcome to come, we'd love to have you!

Bye for now~
Deb

Nothing new

Hey there, everyone! Once again, a few weeks have slipped by without a post from me. I haven't had any new pictures to share, and not much to say either. I'm not one of those people who have the gift of storytelling that keeps people coming back for more. (Of course, that never was my intention when I started this blog for family and friends. I intend to rely solely on adorable pictures of my kids...)

I have run across several blogs in my internet travels with extremely talented writers who make me laugh out loud, and keep me checking in for the next post. One such blog is The Geswein family by Kimberly Geswein. She and her husband and two daughters moved to China several months ago. Her husband is a teacher, and he teaches in an international school there. Kimberly writes about their adjustment to Chinese culture, and it is truly fascinating! If you are looking for an interesting read, check it out.

Since I have nothing new to share, I thought I'd post some pictures that were taken this summer, that I never managed to post before. One day in August, Steve took Nate, Noah and cousin Shane fishing while I took Abby, Jacob and cousin Haley to the park.

Nate with his catch of the day

Noah showing off his catch with a little help from Dad

Abby took a quick break for a picture

Isn't this a great shot? - Jacob loves going to the park!

I have lots to do this week in preparation for Thanksgiving. Wow, it has really snuck up on me this year! I hope each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

XOXOXO

Deb

Halloween Happenings

The kids love Halloween, and they couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating! We decided to go to Camp Geneva this year... they were having trick-or-treating at all the cabins, and games inside the dining hall. I thought it sounded like a great idea, since we wouldn't have to deal with traffic, and I could be sure the people were trustworthy. The kids had a great time there, but we had hit all the cabins and done all the games in under a half hour... and they just weren't ready for the fun to be over! Next stop - the subdivision near our house. And that's where we found the traffic and the mobs of people! We trekked through the neighborhood for another half hour, then headed home to take an inventory of our treats.

The motley crew

King Nate enjoyed his brief reign. I got this costume the day before Halloween for 70% off. Yeah, baby! He originally wanted to be a mummy, but we were worried that his costume would fall apart too quickly, so we went with the king costume instead.

Here's Noah giving me his meanest pirate scowl. (Actually, he was upset because his hat kept blowing off in the wind. LOL) Steve and Noah looked up pirate phrases on the internet, so instead of saying "trick-or-treat", Noah said "Avast, me hardy... give me all your booty!" The camp counselors got a kick out of it, he got lots of laughs.

Abby was a Fab 50's waitress. She looked so adorable! This is the only costume I made this year, and of course I waited until the last minute to finish it. She is supposed to be wearing saddle shoes, but I didn't find any white canvas shoes in time. She was perfectly happy wearing her crocs, thank goodness.

And here is Jacob as Spiderman. I was lucky to get this photo with his mask on, because he didn't really like to wear it. Apparently, that was a pretty popular costume this year. There were 3 spidermen in Jacob's preschool class on Tuesday.

Pint-sized Super Heroes! I got a picture of Jacob and Ian (one of my daycare kids) together, before Ian left for the day. Aren't they cute?

This is our niece Chloe. She just moved to Holland recently; she is in the same grade as Nate. Chloe went trick or treating with us, but when she showed up at our house, she wasn't wearing a costume. The kids talked her into wearing one of our old costumes, pinned onto her sweatshirt. She was a good sport!
********

Well, that's all for now... Happy November, everyone!

Mom's Overture by Anita Renfroe

This one is hilarious, if you've seen it already, it's worth another look...

Packed full of all the standard time-tested Mom-isms, with some new modern day phrases added!

Exciting news!

I have some very exciting news for you, but no pictures!! (You'll thank me for that later... LOL)

Jacob can go pee standing up! He no longer needs to use his potty seat that fits on top of the big potty. Yes, I can imagine that you are all just thrilled for us! Each time he does this amazing feat, he runs to me with such pride and says, "Mom, I just went pee in the potty standing up, and I didn't pee all over the place!" And believe me, Mom couldn't be happier.

And maybe just one of these days, Jacob will be able to accomplish this feat without stripping from head to toe. But hey, baby steps you know...!!

Post Family Farm

Ever since I accompanied Nate's kindergarten class on a field trip to Post Family Farm back in 2001, our family has made a point to visit each fall. We look forward to our trip with great anticipation. The farm has so many fun activities to offer. The kids love taking a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin, trying to find our way through the corn maze, playing in the hay maze, and feeding the farm animals. During the Saturday Fall Festivals, they can also ride a pony, play games, and do arts and crafts projects. But for Steve and I, the highlight of the trip has got to be the homemade pumpkin donuts! They are absolutely out of this world! Just to give you an idea of how much we love them.... we bought 3 dozen when we visited this weekend. :) (Now remember, we only get them once a year... and we did give half a dozen to Tammy.)

This baby goat was only 12 days old! He was such a precious, chipper little fella... he was running all over the place, kicking up his heels!

Jake loves the cool horse tire swings!

Jake's pick of the patch

Enjoying the ride

A bunch of nuts!

Here is Noah displaying his usual exuberance, and Abby is showing off her new, toothless smile!

Just havin' a good time!

Taking a ride on the pumpkin train...

I love this picture! What a nice smile from my usually taciturn pre-teen...

Playing in the hay bales

Way up high, as big as the sky!

Abby had fun crawling through the tunnels in the hay maze.

***

We had a great time at the farm, and we look forward to going back next year! Although I may have to take a trip over there by myself before then, because the kids devoured my donuts while I was at an event at church on Saturday morning. (Seriously, all 3 dozen donuts were gone by the next morning.) Grrrr!!! Sometimes those kids are like a pack of wild animals! Maybe the Post family needs a few extra farmhands at the farm... that might teach them to shape up! Oh, well... I didn't need those donuts anyway... *sigh*

***

Bye for now!

Fall Fun

Tammy and Brian invited us all to their hayride on October 13. Before the hayride, most of the kids and several adults rolled up their sleeves and carved some pumpkins. It was an ooey, gooey, slimey, fun mess! You can see the kids' amazing handiwork below...

*

We had a great time on the hayride too. By that time, it was pretty dark though, so I didn't get any good pictures. There were a lot of people, so we all squeezed onto the trailer, and went for a looooong hayride. We even had to stop for a potty break halfway through. (That was for the boys, the girls just toughed it out, LOL) It was a beautiful night with a clear sky full of stars. We all enjoyed the doughnut holes and cider too. I've gotta say, it was the best hayride I've ever been on! Thanks for inviting us, Tam!

*

When we got back to the house, Brian started a big bonfire. We warmed up by the fire for a while, then we headed home to get the kids in bed.

Pumpkin

We bought a fat orange pumpkin

The plumpest sort they sell.

We neatly scooped the inside out

And only left the shell.

We carved a funny funny-face

Of silly shape and size,

A pointy nose, a jagged mouth

And two enormous eyes.

We set it in a window

And we put a candle in,

Then lit it up for all to see

Our jack-o'lantern grin.

~unknown

The Birthday Bunch

Yes, they are all growing up! October 7 was a beautiful day to celebrate the birthdays of Abby, Noah, and Nicole. The temperature was in the upper 80's that day, hard to believe at this time of year in Michigan!

Noah and Abby turned 7 on October 5, and Nicole turned 8 on October 7. For the sake of simplicity, Tammy and I decided to have a pizza party for the kids. And to go along with the theme, I made a pizza cake.

Nicole, smiling for the camera... isn't she such a cutie?

Abby, looking so grown up...

Noah, full of excitement...

So we had a great day ~ it was a wonderful party! Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate!

Fire Prevention Week

I headed to Kollen Park on October 6 with Noah, Abby and Jacob to enjoy the events that took place there after the Firetruck parade. The activities were a kick-off for Fire Prevention Week. The kids got to see some firetrucks up close, spray a firehose, watch a helicopter take off, and talk to Sparky the firefighter dog. We saw Smokey the Bear too. Here are a few of the pictures I took that day....

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

My Grandpa Gene turned 83 on September 30. We had a birthday party for him at Aunt Peg's church. I was asked to make the cake for him, and Peg suggested a fish cake since Grandpa has always loved fishing. Here are Grandpa and I posing with the cake. Didn't it turn out cute? Hee hee hee....




So what do you get for an 83 year old man who has everything? Well according to Aunt Kate, a couple boxes of enemas are the present of choice. You know it's a cure-all, right? LOL (Nevermind, long story...)



Just for the record, my Grandpa Gene is the greatest! I have so many wonderful memories of growing up with him. I always enjoyed spending time with him. I used to help him make homemade bread on Saturday mornings, and sometimes we also made eggrolls and wontons. Yummy! And there were many Sunday afternoon dinners where my mom, my sister and I were treated to his delicious Savory Beef. Funny how so many of those memories revolve around food...

Now that I am grown, and I have my own family, I don't see Grandpa nearly as often. But I still cherish every visit. Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

One more thing...

Nate has a blog now, so I thought I'd share the link with you...

http://nate-update-nate-update.blogspot.com/

It is his online journal, so he can share pictures and things that interest him.

Check it out!

My husband, the goofball...

We have a new youth pastor at our church, and it did not take him long at all to figure out that Steve was the guy to call if he needed someone to be silly or goofy. The Senior High youth group was having a human scavenger hunt at Rivertown Crossings Mall a few weeks ago, so Pastor Matt was looking for people to dress up in disguises and walk around the mall. Steve's own youth group had done this years ago, so he had lots of ideas to draw on. This is what he ended up doing:

He borrowed a wheelchair from church, got a bunch of gauze from his mom and wrapped himself up, and for the final touch - he added his C-pap on top of that! (He said most people don't know what a C-pap actually is.... it's the machine that people with sleep apnea wear when they are sleeping.)

Me being the wet blanket that I usually am... my first thought was... How likely is it that some guy in a wheelchair covered in gauze and wearing a C-pap would actually be dropped off at the food court in a huge mall to read a book by himself... but whatever! ; )

The youth had a great time, and just as Steve hoped, they were extremely hesitant to approach him for fear that he wasn't actually part of the group. He could hear kids whispering in the distance.... "You go ask him... No, YOU go ask him". But in the end, all the groups got him!

The best part is when another guy from our church who was wearing a Nascar outfit and a mullet wig was pushing Steve to the food court. They took the elevator, of course... and while they were waiting, another guy says "You guys must be part of an experiment or something". LOL!

Have a great weekend!
Deb

Where did I leave off?

Oh, boy... I haven't posted in so long, I don't know where to begin! I have tons of pictures I want to post, so I'll try to get some of them on here soon.

It has been a busy month, and it's certainly not going to slow down anytime soon, with the holidays quickly approaching. I have to say, I am personally enjoying the cooler weather that has finally arrived. I love breaking out my jeans and sweatshirts, they are so cozy!

The tooth fairy has made four visits to the Pierce household in the past week and a half. One for Noah, one for Abby, and two separate times for Nate! Yeah, he thinks that if the tooth fairy still comes for Noah and Abby, then I better cough up some money for him too!

Here's a funny story: All 6 of us were in the car the other day, when 2 police cars raced past us at high speed with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Steve and I were surprised because we don't see that often. We were wondering to ourselves what may have happened to warrant such an urgent response... perhaps an armed robbery, bank robbery, etc. Noah pipes up from the backseat, " Maybe they're hungry, and they REALLY want some doughnuts!" Oh my goodness, we laughed so hard!

TGIF!
Deb

Mark your calendars...

Just a quick note that we will be having a combined birthday party for Noah, Abby and Nicole on Sunday, October 7 at 1:00p.m. It will be held at our church - Parkside Bible Church, 14461 James Street. Hope to see you there!

Fun at the pumpkin patch

It was a beautiful day for a field trip today. I went with Jacob's preschool class on a trip to the pumpkin patch this morning. We had a great time!

Jacob is excited about the "hay"ride!

Everyone got to pick two gourds and one pumpkin.

Jacob and his friends by the tractor

Have a great day ~ enjoy the gorgeous fall weather!

First Day of School

Hello There! You probably thought I fell off the face of the earth, but I have just been getting back into the groove of the school routine. The first day of school was on September 4 for all my kids. It was a big day, and they were pretty excited!

Nate started 6th grade at Harbor Lights Middle School. He was a little nervous about finding his way around such a big school, but he did great! The teachers were very helpful. He has six teachers now, so that is a big change for him. He started band as well, he is playing the trumpet.


Abby is in 2nd grade at Eagle Crest. Her teacher is Mrs. Whalen.

Noah is in Mrs. Jonker's 2nd grade class at Eagle Crest.

Jacob started preschool at Cherry Lane. He goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. His teacher is Mrs. Brigham. He absolutely loves school, I think he wishes he could go every day! (*On a side note, Jacob's beloved monkey backpack didn't make it to school with him the first day, because Mom forgot to look for it when I was getting clothes and stuff together. Oops! But we found it the next day, and it has gone to school with him ever since...)

I am still doing daycare Monday-Wednesday, so that means I have time by myself only on Thursday morning when Jacob is at school. Two and a half hours all to myself! The first week, I went to the library all alone. It was so quiet and peaceful, I really enjoyed it! The time goes by so fast, though... LOL!

Well, that's all for now...
XOXOXO
Deb