PEARCE FAMILY

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-18T21:30:00.001-07:00

Before we leave Texas, we offer one big Merry Christmas to y'all. No Christmas card this year...hopefully a Valentines Day card; something complete with the new address. So have a Merry Christmas and and Happy New Year! Especially to our Texas friends who are so hard to leave!

Last Day at Kuehnle/ Christmas Parties

2011-12-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Elsa's 2nd Grade Class

Elsa and her buddy Jordan, this kid made her laugh and got her in trouble all year. Not that she minded one bit!

John and his little baseball friend Carter.

The girls above and below both requested pictures with John on his last day.

Elsa with her teachers Ms. Kelly and Ms. Olivier

John and his sweet teacher Ms. Johnson

Elsa and Bailey

Elsa's 2nd Grade Class

John's classroom

John's Kindergarten Class

Hugs all around

John got to pick from the treasure box since it was his last day. He chose a baseball.

Ionce, Elsa and Lydia

We couldn't quite hold the tears back as we walked out of the school. I had their withdrawal papers in hand. Is this real?

Another Last

2011-12-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

Another thing on my top-5 things I will miss about Houston, is the kids riding their bikes to and from school every day. It has saved my life this year and is one of my favorite sights. Oh I will miss it. They can do it year round here.

This is the view from the rocking chair in my bedroom where I always sit with Charlie. Hard to believe it is mid-December when you are looking at a ripening orange and fall leaves. This view makes my top-ten list.

Discovering Press-On Nails

2011-12-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

So I was braiding Elsa's hair one night and the boys were suspiciously quiet upstairs. There is always a reason for that. They found some press-on nails in a bathroom drawer and were busy putting their "claws" on. Never mind the baby blue with white flower stencil...

House Hunting

2011-12-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

You'd think that 2 days wouldn't quite be enough time to figure out where to buy a house and settle your family, but we are getting pretty good at throwing darts. It worked for us in Houston and we are hoping for the same luck in Va.

We took Charlie and stayed with Emmy for a couple of days while we did a lot of looking. It was pretty depressing for the most part...such a different market there. But after 3 weeks of "the Beast" (James still wasn't better) and a whole lot of stress, it was pretty relaxing to be at Emmys and only have one child to take care of for a few days. Em watched him while we looked at houses.

After a week of thinking and waiting we are under contract on a home in Oakton (in the Vienna/Fairfax area). It is certainly a different sort of place than we are currently living, but we think we will like it. It will be country living to be sure. Hope you will come see us! We're just 15 minutes from the metro. That is if all goes well with the inspection...

Let the Lasts Begin

2011-12-16T15:39:00.001-07:00

Saying goodbye to "Sister Potter" next door was one of the hardest things we will do in leaving here. It took some convincing to get Hugh into the picture, but we did it. We are just kind of pretending we will be back living next door to her in a few weeks. Hugh has gone over there twice since she left to see if she is home. He doesn't believe me.

Had our last day of tennis with Mr. Gene this week. As usual on holidays he had all sorts of trinkets and gifts for the kids. It was ideal weather...as you can see the kids are in shorts and is is the 3rd week of December!

Tennis makes the list of top ten, maybe even top 5 things we will miss about Houston.

James has come a long way in the scouting world since we got here. He completed the Wood Badge outdoor experience and is working his ticket. Who ever would have guessed?? The 2 three-day camps were one more thing to squeeze in in this whole transition. We are glad he did it though!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

I had already committed to doing the Breakfast with Santa for our neighborhood again so on went the show. It was SO much easier this year. I had some really good friends who did the lion share of the work. The night before I marveled at how little stress I was feeling. It all went off as smoothly as could be. Santa was on time this year and had his lap filled for a full 2 hours. The camel was perfect, the weather was good. We ran out of food again but had time to go pick up some more Kolaches and donuts. It was decorated much better than last year thanks to Jen and Josette and it was a great chance for us to have some closure with our neighborhood friends.

John walks in with Santa after arriving on his Fire Engine.

Full House!

Elsa and John on the camel.

Elsa and her First Grade teacher Mrs. Lewis. Both of Elsa's teachers have lived in our neighborhood which is very fun.

Moving On...

2011-12-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

I notice that my last post was at Halloween. Well, it was that very day that we first heard we would probably be moving to Fairfax, Va in a matter of weeks! 2 weeks later it was confirmed and we've been pretty well consumed with selling a house, buying a house, paperwork, saying goodbyes, canceling things, and the millions of things that go into a 6 week move. It is hard on the kids to leave. We have so many good things here. But we are excited to live in Virginia too. Very bittersweet. We have made some really good friends here. I'm not going to go into too much of that right now. We have our blinders on.

They started packing up the house today...I am spoiled I know. So I will catch up on a little blogging:

I planted my winter garden before I had any idea we would be moving. Broccoli, Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, Lettuce & Nasturiums. The Basil went bananas this summer. I loved it! Oh well, someone else will have to enjoy the fruits...

Have you ever heard of Thanksgiving caroling? Neither had I until the Mahanas came to our door! Albequeque Turkey, The Pilgrim Song, and other classics that we adopted into our family this year. Oh we will miss them!!

Thanksgiving dinner! I am glad I got to cook two Thanksgiving dinners during this little window where I actually had 2 ovens!

The Irizarrys, Diane, Peter & Sophia, drove down from Dallas and spent Thanksgiving weekend with us. It was so fun to have family here. We were all (all but me that is) out with a major sickness we just refer to as "The Beast". Three full weeks of colds, ear aches, and even 3 cases of pneumonia. James was hit the hardest. Anyway, they were brave to come. Another reason blogging hasn't been happening.

Charlie is up in his saucer now and so happy. He has finally figured out how to put weight on his legs because of it. He is also grabbing at toys now. It is getting very fun!

Elsa on the little window ledge in my room. The kids love this spot. So do I.

Even though we are moving and won't be here for Christmas we decided we were going to be here enough of the month to make it worth trimming the tree. We were all but dead the night we did it...still trying to get healthy...but we are so glad we did! We have a new tradition of ordering Chinese food and it is a hit.

Charlie started holding his head up like this a couple of months ago.

Such a cute boy.

Elsa and Sister Johnson at her last Piano Recital. She played a Suzuki song and 2 Christmas duets. Sister Johnson gave Elsa the perfect start on piano. We are so grateful we found her. We will miss her so much!

John dressed Charlie up in these glasses before school one morning.

James took the 3 kids camping the first week in November with some other Dads and kids in the ward. It was freezing that night and John was coughing all night (the beginnings of "the Beast") but they really had a great time.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T08:33:00.000-06:00

They don't get to wear their costumes to school here, so they at least had to sport some cool shirts.

Before Trick or Treating. The weather was gorgeous, 65 degrees or so!

Charlie the Friendly Ghost

Meg March (from Little Women...she's been reading this mini series)

Superman! He actually wore the costume this year!

Davy Crockett

The Loot

We had a Ward Party/Trunk or Treat a few days before, here are those photos:

Hughie didn't want to be Superman at the last moment, but a "Spaceman".

The Best Kind of Sneetch on the Beach

2011-10-17T15:48:00.000-06:00

The kids took their entry in to school today for the storybook pumpkin contest. It's our very own Star-Belly Sneetch. People go all out for this. Ours was a respectable entry.

It was a "misty moisty" morning and our Sneetch and Hughie rode in the double jogger while Charlie was in the Baby Bjorn. Kids on bikes. Worked pretty well!

Tour of Texas Days 3 & 4

2011-10-17T13:44:00.000-06:00

On Friday we drove from Dallas to San Antonio via Waco and Austin. We feel like we have our bearings a little better now that we have glimpsed most of the major cities in Texas.

My brother John was in San Antonio for a conference, so we met up with him for the evening. I only get to see John about ever year and a half so it was very fun to have some time with him.

If you ever go to San Antonio you have to eat at Mi Tierra at El Mercado, the larges Mexican market in the States. The food is as good as Mexican gets. Plus, can you bee the decorations?? These guys came and played a song for us (La Cucaracha at John's request) and then charged us $5. Sheesh. Made the kids happy though. James' face pretty much shows how he feels about it as he is fishing for his wallet.

Charlie on the hotel bed.

On Saturday morning we hit the Alamo. I made the mistake of taking the kids to the IMAX movie about it. I had forgotten that EVERYONE at the Alamo died and of course they were all the "good guys." This isn't a reality in John and Elsa's world and they were shattered. John left in tears. I tried to explain that it was because of the Alamo that the Texans eventually defeated the Mexicans but it is a little to abstract for them. Every time the Mexican General was on the screen John or Hugh would say loudly, "Are those the bad guys?"...I am not sure it is PC to call Mexicans the "bad guys."

John didn't even want to go to the Alamo after that, but after playing on the cannons for a minute he was pretty much over it.

He even wanted to get in his costume for a few pictures. He got so many comments and compliments from people he didn't want to take it off, even though it was pretty warm. This is priceless to have a picture of our own Davy Crockett in front of the REAL Alamo. (Everything but the boots and gun)

We had bagels for lunch at some tables on the Riverwalk and Uncle John met us there to spend a little more time.

Charlie is almost 4 months old. He is such a smiley kid and is talking so much. He is really becoming a person for us! Man, was this baby glad to get home and get a real nap!

After we got home I ran out for some groceries. When getting back in the car it started to shake and jiggle and I knew all was not well. It is currently in the shop for a very expensive repair. Thank Heaven it didn't happen an hour earlier when we had 4 kids in the car! Tender mercies...

Tour of Texas Day 2

2011-10-16T20:50:00.000-06:00

We had heard there was a Legoland in Dallas and we wanted to check it out. It isn't exactly a Legoland, but a Legoland Discovery Center. It is in a mall and is not very big, but we still spent 6 hours there and it was just perfect for our kids. It was practically empty and there was never a wait for the 2 rides, a laser shooting ride and a Merlin flying ride.

The mini Lego Dallas was very cool. The lights went up and down for Day and night. We spent quite a bit of time looking at all of the detail.

They had buckets of legos where you could build your own car and race it on the ramp. John spent a whole lot of time doing this. These cars were made by James and I and I have to say...mine won every time :) I am still turning the pinewood derby over to him though...

There were 3 short 4-D movies. The kids had never been to a 3-D movie so the first one was really fun. We got wind, water and even snow in each of them. Very fun!

Hugh was content the whole time too. This was a Duplo area where you could build a building and then press a button to make the ground shake like an earthquake. Pretty cool.

Elsa with on of the rides behind her. She rode them again and again, very pleased that she was tall enough to go ride them on her own as much as she wanted.

A rare family photo with the "Texas Star' behind us. Dallas is a pretty cool looking city. I was really impressed..not just with the Lego city.

We had to drive by the "grassy knoll" down the street where JFK was killed. Not much fanfare around there. It was so interesting to see that significant piece of history.

We had dinner with Diane and Peter (and Sofia) in their 23rd floor downtown apartment. It was so great to see them and where they live, as well as eat a really good home cooked, non-restaurant, meal! We are so glad to have a couple of family members in Texas! As you can see, Hugh was in a really good mood by this point. :)

Tour of Texas Day 1

2011-10-16T20:29:00.000-06:00

We just got back from a 3-day trip we dubbed our "Tour of Texas." Since we were going to be in Dallas right during the Texas State fair, we had to go do that. It was a state fair....but huge on a scale I can hardly describe. And lots more fried food. Here are some of the highlights.

We went to part of a bird show, but it was pretty hot and there weren't many seats in the shade so we ducked out early. In the background is the Texas Star, and ridiculously huge Ferris Wheel that lights up at night.

The kids were dying to play some games on the Midway. They cost an arm and a leg so we each let them choose two...then we had to deal with the prizes. This pink ball that Elsa got when she picked a lucky duck was one of the better ones. John got a blow up sword on that game where you try to hit the scale with a giant hammer and ring the bell. He actually did it once!

They each got to pick a couple of rides too. The roller coaster turned out to be much scarier than they expected, but these kiddie rides were perfect!

We had more than one meltdown after waking up early and being in the car for 4 hours that day. Hugh had a meltdown and grabbed on to this garbage can. We had given up on cleanliness at this point.

The Cirque-de-Shanghai. How do they do it?

If you can read this, it is worth it. The fried food was quite fascinating. There are dozens and dozens of booths selling everything from fried coke to fried ding dongs, to fried snickers to to fried butter! The list goes on and on. (The prices on there are tickets, not dollars...lest you be too appalled...it was still appalling, but not that bad.)

James got the fried salsa. An award winner this year. And I will say it was really good. It was a crushed up ball of tortilla chips or something in a lot of salsa and fried with a cheese sauce on top. Way exceeded expectations. James had a really hard time choosing between the fried salsa and the fried Coke. Salsa won. One of these days he will have to try the coke...just to see how on earth they present it if nothing else.

I went for the Bananarito. Another award winner. It was so good I woke up thinking about it the next morning. Seriously. It was a banana in a cinnamon-sugar tortilla, deep-fried then drizzled in honey and cinnamon, then whipped cream and chocolate sauce...with a cherry. Yet again, exceeded expectations. The kids loved it too. Charlie, incidentally, was a such a good sport during all of the sticky, muggy, noisy, chaotic afternoon and evening. He hardly made a peep. If he had, we probably wouldn't have heard him.

This is Big Tex, the poster boy of the Texas State Fair. He's on all of the cups etc.

After showering and bathing the kids fell fast asleep sideways in the double hotel bed.

Happy Birthday Anna!!

2011-10-05T14:44:00.001-06:00

T-Ball

2011-09-28T11:55:00.001-06:00

I have always been a little terrified of team sports...somehow the prospect of spending every Saturday for the next 20 years at various little league games sounds terrible. But I have THREE boys now and and I am starting to catch the vision. How do you deny a boy who begs his dad to play ball with him in the backyard? The kid is just dying to hit things. He grins from ear to ear when he is playing this game. And those little 5-year-old boys are so darn cute out there...especially #6!

John had, had a grand total of one practice before this first game and her really didn't understand the game very well, but he picked up on it. By the second game he learned to watch his coaches rather than try to steal a base each time. He also learned you have to throw it to first base instead of try to run it yourself when you are the pitcher!

The best part of the whole game was giving high fives to the other team afterward. I honestly have no idea who won the game. John couldn't wipe the grin off his face during this part.

Hugh, the aspiring T-ball player.

3 months old

2011-09-28T10:49:00.000-06:00

Wow, past the 3 month mark already! I have not done a good job of getting professional pictures of my babies...poor Hugh and Charlie will only have these kinds of shots to look back on. I wish any photo could capture their cuteness and softness and fatness and all-around goodness.

After a rather high-maintenance first two months, this third one has been good. He is sleeping really well (9 hours last night) and really likes naps. He giggles and kicks under his mobile for good long stretches and is starting to smile a lot and even giggle at night after the others go to bed and things quiet down. These milestones are so fun! But the thing I love the most is his fatness. I call him "Chunk"...cause that's what he is.

Tea Party

2011-09-26T14:20:00.000-06:00

Grandma Ginny was in town last weekend and it was so much fun. Well, it was slightly tainted by the stomach flu taking us down one by one...but we were still so glad she was here. John was sick one day and stayed home from school so of course Elsa wanted to as well...(didn't know she would miss two of her own days that week.) We made the most of it had had a mini tea party. Cute little mini s'mores and chocolate covered doughnuts, strawberry smoothies and lemon "tea" of course. Oh...and hats. Have to have hats!

So I have this great camera but I can't seem to make the pictures turn out well yet...

Charlie's Baby Blessing

2011-09-04T22:31:00.000-06:00

We blessed Charlie today. So strange not to do it with all sorts of family around. We are so glad that Chris and Brit are in Houston now and drove the 45 minutes to come to the blessing. It was nice to have some family there. His blessing was a little overshadowed by the announcement at the beginning of the meeting that our ward is going to split next week. Charlie was a perfect baby today in every way. Even slept for 8 hours straight last night. He knew it was his special day.

Rare windy day in Houston...bringing us temperatures in the 50s tonight! Hallelujah!

Can you see the red hair?

Fun Run

2011-09-04T22:25:00.000-06:00

Our neighborhood had a little Family Fun Run yesterday. We were out the door at 7am to be a part of it. A6 and under short track, a 1 mile and and a 5K. I wasn't sure I could even run a mile so Elsa and I did that.

John swept away the competition in his race...all 2 of them. First place was still sweet for him. He is a fast kid. He ran the track at least 3 times before the race even started. Then he ran the mile with us! Tough kid.

Elsa had never run this far before so I was proud to see her run the mile! Her legs ware cramping but she still finished ahead of the kid in bare feet.

The best part was that John took 2nd place in the mile, I took 3rd and Elsa took 4th. Aren't we amazing? (I won't mention the fact that only 5 people ran this race...) But hey, we got $30 in fast food gift certificates between us. Well worth the early morning. Next time we will probably have more competition so we'll take what we can get.

Hughie

2011-09-04T22:20:00.000-06:00

This is "Strong Strength Superman"

We got the bad news this week that the tooth Hughie fell on a couple of months ago is indeed dead. We are trying to get some good pictures of his baby teeth before it turns black and falls out but he isn't making it easy. It is one of his top front teeth. Big bummer. I hope to get just one good baby smile on camera.

Hair cut time. Hughie has James' hair, wavy and course. I debate whether or not to cut it but it is pretty much down in his eyes and I can't trim it every two weeks, so we go short and let it grow out.

This was the first haircut where he really sat still and let me use the clippers. So thankful for Superman cartoons. "Faster than a speeding bullet!" Hughie totally bought into it.

This is a window into Hughie's head. Most of it makes no sense and just contradicts itself, but this is just how he talks these days:

“I don’t wanna make breakfast if you gimme lunch. If you not gonna make me lunch I gonna punch you.”

“WooHoo, I’m not all naked! I’m not in my birthday swimsuit!”

“It didn’t went poof!” (when we found some missing item.)

“I’m not gonna come if you let me bring de Lego.”

“They fit! But…they doesn’t fit. But… I like them.”

To James: “You are a villan! (pronounced Viw-len) – I am shooting fish at you.”

Came down in sobbing first thing one morning,

“Johnny calling me nicknames!”

“What did he call you?”

“Chicken”

“When I am in here then you can love me. But when I am out of here then you can’t love me.”

“Remember when I wore my Strong Strength Superman one?” He calls his muscle Superman Suit and action figure his “Strong, Strength, Superman!” with a little pause between each word.

“Datman” (for Batman)

When we ask him when something happened he always says, “Thursday”.

(Holding a baseball mitt) “John said this is a baseball net so I need to play basketball.”

“I like bad guys. Bad guys is good guys.”

10 Weeks Old

2011-09-01T16:27:00.000-06:00

Charlie is 10 weeks old now and growing like a weed...or a turnip. He's our biggest baby yet as he hovers in the 75th percentile! (15th for height...yikes!) Never thought we would have a baby in the 75% of anything (when it comes to size).

Mostly he is sweet and adorable. But he certainly has his issues in the night time. Out like a light by 10pm and no stopping him, but anytime after 3am (and sometimes earlier) is fair game for much difficulty. We are so, so tired. He has surprised us a few times and gone a good 8 hours though, such as last night, which gives us some hope. But he eats and eats and grows and grows. People say fat babies are the best sleepers, I disagree. Their poor little bodies are working to hard to get good sleep.

When we put the big kids to bed we have a really happy little bath time. He is starting to kick and splash and really enjoy it. It's nice to have a quiet moment just with him.

He has naturally curly ears.

Look at this chubby leg.

I am trying to get his red hair on camera but it never works very well. Mostly just shows up in the sunlight and it is just to darn hot here to bother with that right now. You can kind of see it here. He has quite the receding hairline.

The picture above and below were taken within moments of each other. Go figure.

We can't help but sing "Rubber Ducky" to him..."Little fella who's cute and yellow and chubby!"

Cute Feet

2011-09-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

My sister refers to them as Barney Rubble feet and I think that is the best description yet. They are more square than rectangle and have you ever seen such short toes? (This is why Charlie's long toes seems so shocking to us.) I just love, love Hughie's feet. They are on the verge of becoming big boy feet and are already losing some of their chubby blockiness. I had to to take a picture while I could.

First Day of School

2011-08-31T21:06:00.000-06:00

Bittersweet to send these two off to school together. Sending two is easier than sending one. I love to watch them go off together. John is handling all-day Kindergarten better than I would have thought. It is a long day...but it hasn't been such a bad thing for me to pay some attention to Hughie again and have a few moments to catch my breath.

The look on John's face pretty much sums up his feelings...are all boys this easy to read?

This is my favorite scene in the world. Watching these two go down the path together.

In the background is the footbridge they cross every day and the school.

As luck would have it not only is John in Riley's class, but he is at the same table! (She's the little blonde from his Preschool class who has declared her love for him. She is darling.) His teacher Miss Johnson is just what I was hoping for for him.

Elsa nervously found her desk that first morning. Her teacher said she was pretty quiet the first few days. But I think she will find her place. How on earth is she in second grade??

Losing a Tooth

2011-08-31T21:01:00.000-06:00

John seems to be losing his teeth awfully young. Thanks to some rough housing at Grandma's house his 2nd bottom tooth got a little help. It was quite loose for about a week, then one night at dinner...

It's not very often you get those moments on video. I love the look of shock on his face when it actually came out!

Experiments and Crafts

2011-08-31T21:00:00.000-06:00

After doing salt dough with Aunt Heidi John begged me all the week before school to do a craft or an experiment. Neither are my forte. Well...we combined the two and I felt like mother of the year. We made ourselves a nifty little paper mache volcano. It was very fun for a few moments. Now it is sitting in the laundry room and I keep thinking we need to give it a few more runs before disposing of it. Somehow we haven't gotten around to it. Well, it was fun while it lasted!

Sweet sleeping boys. Considering we aren't sleeping much at night, it wasn't too surprising to find these two asleep together on Saturday afternoon.

Elsa and her duet partner Isabelle at the Elsa's piano recital. Elsa played "When the Saints Go Marching In" with Isabelle and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game with" me. It was a fun recital.

Trip to Utah - Week 3

2011-08-24T13:45:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of other things we did and people we saw that I don't have pictures of, but this gives at least an idea of one of the best vacations we've ever had. Who can beat a whole 3 weeks of vacation? That is one of the benefits of living away...we would never get to take a 3 week vacation if we still lived in Utah. It will be complete when we can do it next year with James!

Night Swimming with Cousins

Charlie and Mary's baby, Elizabeth.

John and Charlie. Can you tell yet in these pictures how much he's grown? Every day we would look at him and think he was bigger!

I was brave and took all 4 kids on a hike in Millcreek Canyon. They were troopers, walking the whole way with John up in front as usual. Elsa took charge of Hughie and we were so glad to be in the mountains.

After the hike we treated ourselves to Sno Shack, our old favorite. Our kids call snow cones, "Snow Shacks." They were as good as they ever were!

Aunt Heidi made salt dough with the kids and they were in heaven. John has been begging me ever since them to do "a craft". Not one of my strengths.

Hughie by the pool.

Grandma and Charlie.

Laura, Anna, Elsa and Hannah. Heaven!

Little Harold and Hugh looking for the barking dog over the fence. How funny is it to have these two little old men, Harold and Hugh?

ONe last hurrah with Hannah and Heidi. There just wasn't enough playtime!

Hugh with Sarah and Thomas Jenson. We loved living with the Jensons for a week. My boys adore their big boys.

Grandpa Hugh and Hugh at Ruthie's pool.

This photo just captures my Dad so well. He reads by the window for the light.

I was so glad to cross paths with Katie for a few hours and Emmy for a few days. I wish I lived near my sisters.

Happy dinners out on the patio.

Elsa and Aunt Emmy

Grandma and Charlie

Hugh insisted that the scrape on his face needed a bandaid. I tell you this kid NEVER gives in until he gets his way. NEVER!

Hugh fell asleep on the plane before it even took off at 8:30am. He slept for half the flight. The kids were marvelous on the plan, thank Heaven! I am so grateful for non-stop flights!

As Wonderful as Utah was, it was so good to get back home with Daddy again. He had a nice peaceful house for a few weeks, but we quickly changed that...no more loneliness around here! (Or quiet or cleanliness for that matter!)

Trip to Utah - Week 2

2011-08-24T13:24:00.000-06:00

Thank heaven for so much time with cousins!

Grandma Ginny meeting Charlie for the first time. She had just stepped off the plane from Australia!

We had quite a few happy nights at Reservoir Park

Grandma Sue reading Little House to the kids.

Grandpa Hugh in his breakfast spot, and both sleeping.

Helping Grandma Ginny in her garden

Gorgeous Evening at Temple Square

Pool Party with P5 friends. Honestly, I love these people so much!

Hugh and Thomas became buddies.

John and William became buddies

They were having the time of their lives!

Elsa was so glad to be back with Hannah

West family breakfast in the canyon, such a happy tradition! We all have such good memories of it from when we were kids ourselves so we all go out of our way to come with our own kids.

John and Tommy Nelson

Elsa, Katie and Anna Nelson

With David, George and Lucy...they got filthy climbing up this hill!

I wanted to do a whole post just with pictures of my kids sleeping. We never got to bed before 10 once so when a chance for sleep came they took it. Even if it was all in one bed.

Mother/Daughter Pedicure. One of the advantages of having only one girl :)

Playing with the Rays again! John and Lily in the car.

Elsa and Mia, such good friends.

I'll just say it. It stunk to say goodbye to the Rays this time. Very strange to get back to Texas without them.

Trip to Utah - Week 1

2011-08-24T13:01:00.000-06:00

I prefer blog posts that are concise and only have a few pictures per post, but I don't intend to make 20 posts right now so I am going to group this trip into weeks. What a ride! It is something to travel with 4 little ones, one of which is just 4 weeks old. I couldn't have done it if I wasn't staying with parents. Thank heaven they let us come and make their lives crazy for a while. We all really needed this trip and it was worth all of the lack of sleep! What a place Salt Lake City is. I couldn't take my eyes off the mountains and I would sneak outside most nights after getting everyone down to bed (ridiculously late I might add) and listen to the crickets and feel the cool air. Bliss.

Elsa making Hollyhock dolls

John sleeping during the Pioneer Day fireworks I dragged the kids to at 10pm.

John and SuperCharlie. Watch how this kid grows of the next few week! (Charlie, I mean)

Swimming again with Mia, this time in Utah!

Hugh, Lily and Piper in the baby, baby pool.

Lunch in Angie's Beautiful backyard with Holly too. We all have babies 6 months and under!

THe highlight of the lunch at Angie's was watching this helicopter transport a port-o-john over the mountains!

Charlie at 5 weeks old...like I said, watch this kid grow...fast!

Hike to Ensign Peak. I love this valley!

VIsit to Grandpa Jim's grave. Such a lovely spot.

Pool Party with the Pearce Cousins! Playing cards in the middle of the main hallway.

Still teeny...

John "flying" up the wall at the Binghams.

Reunited with Hannah! They didn't miss a beat.

Typical Hughie

Had a great afternoon and Evening at this cabin in Weber Canyon with good friends from our old ward. I can't even begin to say how much I love and like these people.

Heidi Cook and John at the pond.

A rare shot of all 6 of us!

Have you ever heard of Pickleball?

Sunday Dinner at the Lowes. No family will be there for Charlie's baby blessing, so we just had my Dad give him a Grandfather's blessing. We are so glad to have that.

Elsa, Caroline and Ben

Steve throwing John and making my kids utterly happy as always.

Grandma Sue and Charlie

Super Boys

2011-07-21T10:17:00.001-06:00

Charlie has officially joined the club!

Bible Camp Kids

2011-07-21T10:11:00.002-06:00

As I sit here blogging, the kids are singing their praises at VBS (Vacation Bible School). They love it! It is one of the things I really love about living in Texas. It is totally cool to go to Bible Camp. This year the theme is "God is Wild About Us". We were in the car this week and out of nowhere Hugh announces, "God knows my name." The kids were playing some game this week involving all sorts of "Hallelujas" (or Halle-you-ya's) and singing a song called "I am Not Forgotten". Hughie also likes to say, "God loves me!" (A little variation on the "Jesus Christ love me" that he came home from nursery repeating. ) All I can say is, Amen!

P.S. John is holding his shirt like this in order to make it look less like a dress...ironic.

P.P.S. Elsa is in to sleeping with her hair in braids lately. It makes for a very cool 1980s look.

Charlie Update

2011-07-21T10:04:00.001-06:00

It is about time I post a few pictures of Charlie's first month. Just this week we noticed how much he has grown. His little arms, legs and face have already filled out. That newborn phase is so fleeting. I have to admit though, I breathe a sigh of relief with every passing week. Things just get much more manageable, and he becomes more and more of a person. Oh, and just for the record, we haven't gotten any more of those 10 hour nights. He has done a pretty consistent 6-8 since then though so no complaints :).

So fair! Where did he come from?

He has such long toes and we already miss the wrinkled knee skin.

I'm not into logos usually, but I love this pacifier...too true.

Charlie & Grandma Sue

He has a dimple!

First Family Picture (not so easy with 4 kids we found)

The 4th of July

2011-07-16T12:07:00.000-06:00

It was strange not to be "home" for the 4th of July, but the neighborhood made it a holiday for us. They had hamburger, hot dogs and big blow up slides at the pool for lunch and a parade in the evening followed by diving for quarters at the pool. There was supposed to be a big fireworks display right in the middle of our neighborhood but it was canceled due to the drought here. It is funny to look around...things seem awfully green to me, but it is a drought for Houston. Doesn't happen much here. We were sad not to have our own personal fireworks display. Maybe next year.

The best part was spending a bunch of time with the Rays who moved last week. The girls decorated bikes with my kids and we ate a quick dinner from Popeyes in our chaotic post-baby house. The weather couldn't have been more perfect at the pool that evening. Really quiet pleasant for Houston. One reason I loved the night so much is that Mom stayed home with Charlie and it all felt so easy to be out.

Waiting for the Fire Engines and motorized parade to come by...the bike parade started right in front of our house!

Hugh was spooked by the fire engine sirens and when I tried to get him to get on his scooter and join the parade, this was his response. Not a chance. There were CARS in the street and I wanted him to go out there??!! It went against everything he had ever been taught.

So, Hugh and James left about 5 minutes after the parade went by and there were NO CARS to be seen anywhere in the street. Oh, how I wish we had sidewalks!

John was the funny one. I know there are a lot of kids that think parades are really races, and John was one of those. He made sure to be out front before it started and the sweat was pouring down his face as kids would try to get ahead of him. When he was able to go he took off fast winding around a tandem bicycle and others who had gotten ahead. In his fever to get in front (but the parade started at MY HOUSE so Elsa and I should be FIRST!) he lost his balance and went tumbling over. He wouldn't let James dust him off though, he was off. Once they got to the pool at the end of the parade he let the drama out for his skinned knee. The fire trucks let loose all of their water on the kids though. Very fun.

The kids are lining up here for diving for quarters. There were more kids this year and less quarters people said so the competition was intense. John worked his tail off and only got 3 quarters, someone swiped two from under him and it crushed him. Elsa found 8. Too bad something so fun has to turn into such a disappointment. This competitive gene in him is really taking me by surprise. Sweet sister Elsa did offer to share her quarters with him so it all ended up okay.

I can't look at this picture too much or I will cry...we miss the Rays so much already and it's only been a week!

Hair: it's in the genes

2011-07-04T10:29:00.004-06:00

We haven't spent a good deal of time trying to figure out "who he looks like," knowing that he probably looks like some combination of my family and Anna's family.

I've never been very good at saying that a baby has his grandma's eyes or his great-aunt's bottom lip. That being said, there's no question that Charlie doesn't look like the other 3 did in their first few days of life...

He Has Eyes!

2011-06-30T14:06:00.000-06:00

I just have to document that this little man does have eyes. Not easy to capture on camera. The light goes on when I focus and he shuts them right up. You practically have to turn off all of the lights to get him to open his eyes. He is doing it a little more each day though. The verdict is still out on the color.

10 Hours!!!

2011-06-30T13:01:00.000-06:00

I am not sure if I should admit this, nor am I sure how I feel about it, but I have been home from the hospital for 5 nights now and have only gotten up in the night with Charlie once. Yes, Once. I got up with him the first night once. Nights 2 and 3 James got up and fed him. Night 4 he slept...9 hours...yes, 9 hours. I didn't sleep as well as he did though. We put him to bed at about 10:30 and I woke him up to feed him at 7:30 so we could get to a doctor's appointment. My, my. I figured it was some kind of fluke.

Now for the drum roll. What did he do last night? 10. Yes, 10 solid hours. 10:30 to 8:30 this morning when I yet again woke him up. What is going on? I is like I won the lottery but I don't really know how I feel about it. It is great not to get out of bed but do you think he is okay? He seems fine. He grunts and makes noises throughout the night so we know he is alive. I don't know how long it will last, but both James and I are unspeakably grateful for a few good nights of sleep!

This is his happy sleeping spot. We love the "easy baby" that Grandpa Hugh made.

I love to unwrap them first thing in the morning and watch them stretch and grunt.

In case you need a little dose of a newborn waking up...

Catching Up

2011-06-30T12:57:00.000-06:00

I need to catch up on a few things from the week before Charlie was born...namely Hugh's 3rd Birthday. Poor boys...they are going to have to share some of the spotlight every year.

Opening his morning present. A Superman lunchbox with a Superman water bottle and yet another pair of Superman Jammies. Need I mention that this was to be a Superman Birthday? Over and over Hugh has been saying "Mine Superman Birthday gonna be June Twentiess!"

The Superfamily.

Hughie making his very own Poey (John's favorite teddy bear) at Build-a-Bear.

We took a ride on the Carousel in The Woodlands Mall.

Ate Dinner at Chik-Fil-A. Grandma Sue came into town that afternoon.

A Superman birthday cake with Superman cupcakes.

3 years Old!

Watermelons from our garden. They have seeds but were very sweet.

I took my kids and the Rays rollerskating about a week before Charlie was born. Quite a feat to have all of these little kids on a rollerskating rink by myself and 9 months pregnant. I'm not sure what I was thinking. No, I didn't rent skates myself. They were actually very darling and managed on their own amazingly well...Hughie stayed on the carpet with me. But he LOVED having those "Skapes" on.

The last swim team practice that I got to go to. John, Hugh and Addison back in their little hideout during Elsa's practice time.

John, and his girlfriends, Alexa and Lily. One of these days we will have play dates with boys... Good thing the kid has brothers.

Elsa was the hit of the party with Grandma Sue's iPad.

The last swim meet. The kids both tore it up. What an exciting year for them to learn so much in such a short amount of time!

I almost cried when we left thinking what a relief it was to get through those 6-hour Saturday meets in that 100 degree humid weather. Despite that pain, it was so sad to see it end.

Snuggle Muffin

2011-06-30T10:32:00.000-06:00

I love these two pictures. He has had such a hard time opening his eyes. We don't get to see them very much. But oh the sleeping is sweet!

5 Days Old

2011-06-30T10:30:00.000-06:00

Hugh has done remarkably well with Charlie. In fact, he has been the most cheerful of my kids to this point. He still has little conversations with himself such as, "I have BIG hands. The baby has little teeny hands." "I am a BIG boy." Right on to, "I am a baby. I have a binky like the baby." etc. He's a little confused, but mostly embracing the big brother role. Big surprise to me. We'll see how he does when Grandma leaves and all his needs aren't being met quite so promptly.

5 Days old.

The blonde peach fuzz really shows up in the light. I'll have to post something with all 4 of the kids at this age to show just how different he is in coloring.

Skinny little legs.

Hugh got this fancy-delux-top-of-the-line swingset for his birthday. We hope it lasts us a little while. At least it is something for the kids in the backyard!

Most Improved

2011-06-30T10:24:00.000-06:00

I was able to sneak out of the house on Sunday night to go to the swim team awards ceremony. Thanks to Grandma being here to stay home with Charles and Hughie who had fallen asleep at 6:30pm.

I was so glad I was there. Both Elsa and John won the "Most Improved" medal for their age groups. Quite an honor. John started out the season 10 weeks ago not being able to even doggy paddle halfway across the pool. Since then he learned both backstroke and freestyle and not only can make it across the pool without touching the lane line, but he got fast enough to make the A-team relay by the end! The other 3 boys (on the relay) are 2 years older than him. The kid took about 10 seconds off his freestyle time each week. Amazing! Makes a Mamma proud.

Elsa started out 10 weeks ago not knowing a single stroke and ended up swimming all 4 strokes in a meet without being disqualified. She also saw some big leaps in time and was swimming with girls who have been doing this for 3 or 4 years. Again, a very proud Mamma. It was fun to see their hard work recognized like that.

Meanwhile, Superman's Still Dancin'

2011-06-25T07:04:00.000-06:00

More pictures

2011-06-24T20:20:00.004-06:00

Haphazard posts until Anna can get back on the blogging horse....

Click on any of the pictures to see a bigger version.

Elsa and Sleeping Charlie

2011-06-24T18:18:00.001-06:00

Testing upload of videos....

Charles West Pearce

2011-06-24T16:45:00.002-06:00

Attempting a blog post from my iPhone. I'll try to get a few pictures up here, but the text will be scant as long as I'm forced to peck away on this device...

Charlie was born at 7:28 AM on June 22, weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz. Unlike the other three, this kid has very light colored hair.

Anna and Charlie are both doing well and will be coming home tomorrow (Saturday).

The last couple of weeks

2011-06-12T18:06:00.000-06:00

It is officially summer here, in every sense of the word. The temperature has hovered around 100 degrees and plenty humid for the past couple of weeks. Quiet a treat to have a record warm spring at 9 months pregnant :) The kids are as brown as they usually are at the end of August.

Elsa earned all A's all year...she is very proud of her awards. The medal is for reading 5 nights a week for 5 months straight. She was a happy girl at the first grade awards assembly. We are proud of her too.

One of my last days with John to myself. He had a little laryngitis that day and didn't talk much. It was so quiet and peaceful around here. He begged me to read The Hardy Boys to him and just sat patiently waiting for me while I tried to get "just a few more things done". By the time I got the chicken salad made for dinner he was out cold on the couch with the book, blanket and Poey in hand. I was broken hearted to miss my little time with him. Darn those "to-do's". He really needed the sleep though and so did I. So while Hughie napped we did too and I set my alarm in time to read to him before we had to pick up Elsa from school. He was so sweet that day. It will be hard to send him off to all day kindergarten next year.

This is Hughie's last morning in his crib. Every time I take a child from their crib I mourn and mourn until the day happens. THey are always so happy in their and could probably stay there until they are 5 without a complaint. But it had to happen. Even thought I dread the change, 3 out my my 3 kids have made the transition with no trouble. He even naps just fine in the toddler bed...still waits for me to come get him and still sings himself to sleep. I am glad not to lose that. He doesn't' sleep in until 9 anymore though...that is what I am giving up I guess.

Oh this darn binky. It is the last one and it is cracked but he is ridiculously attached to it. I can't get rid of it right before the baby comes. He is already having major jealousy issues. Someday...

Elsa and John have shared a room for over 5 years now. They have depended on each other. This was a necessary change too. Elsa needed her own space and Hugh needed a bed. This is their last night in their room together. So many good memories. Elsa came back one night this week for a "sleepover" though so all is not lost.

I miss this scene every night. But surprisingly, I still love my kids just as much after they go to sleep no matter what bed they are in.

Elsa and John after a majorly successful swim meet for them. No DQ's, lots of improved times and we even beat the opposing team...the dreaded Stingrays! Other than the dreadful heat it was a marvelous Saturday. GO Dolphins!

10 Days and counting...what on earth could this next little Pearce look like?

John's Preschool Graduation

2011-05-29T18:58:00.000-06:00

I've said this before, but Wildewood Baptist Preschool as been one of my favorite things about moving to Texas. This cute little class of 8 kids (5 of which are LDS) along with their two teachers made for a very happy place for John. They really know how to graduate them too. It was a darling full program along with a slideshow the recapped the whole year.

Miss Joyce

Miss Sharon

This is a little video for the Grandparents to get a flavor of it. Is it a problem that I love all of the little gospel songs they do? John's speaking line was, "We LOVE chapel songs." If you can't understand the words to the songs tell me and I'll fill you in. Too cute. Now, singing on pitch was not one of the virtues of this class, but they get points for enthusiasm. John could come home and sing them all the right way. There was one other girl in the class but she was too shy to get up on stage.

Upstairs waiting for us at the reception were our little graduates along with an array of take-home surprises including a full scrapbook of their entire year. I tell you, it is darling. There was also a Blue Bear (the 4-year old classes) Cookbook. Here are John's recipes:

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Put a lot of chocolate chips in.

You put a whole stick of butter in.

Put a lot of dough in. You blend it up. Stir it.

Cook it in the Microwave 14 seconds.

Take it out of the oven.

Pancakes:

Put 1/2 stick of butter.

You pour it on a pan.

Then you take it off of it.

Then you wait until it's cooled off.

That's all I can think of.

John with Miss Joyce

John with Miss Sharon

Super James

2011-05-29T18:17:00.000-06:00

I came across this picture in James' scrapbook this week as I was looking for things to hang on my walls...thanks to Ginny's help I am finally getting to a bunch of things I have meant to have framed. It was fun to see where my boys get it.

2nd Swim Meet

2011-05-29T18:15:00.000-06:00

These kids have made lots of progress in their first month of swimming. They have improved their times drastically. They have each gotten first place in their heat...but no placing ribbons yet. Only one DQ. Elsa has moved on to racing butterfly and John will now jump right in the pool. They are getting a lot faster. It makes for a hot and grueling 5 or 6 hours on Saturday mornings, but it has certainly been fun.

Elsa practices in the same lane as Jessica, this nice little friend. They do plenty of goofing off, but they know how to race when the time comes.

John standing ready for the beep. He wouldn't get in the pool for his relay because at the last second he decided he needed his swim shirt. Sheesh! What a panic for a mother. I ended up pushing him in...for the sake of little Daniel standing in ready position at the other end of the pool. We had his swim shirt securely on for his 25 meter freestyle and he got in with no trouble.

Elsa surprised my by diving off of the block for the first time. Way to overcome your fears!

This is a much happier shot after their first races than at the previous meet...you remember the sad exhausted faces of the last one?

Elsa and Mia with their tatooed legs...someone brought a bunch of sharpies and the kids went a little wild writing all over themselves. Elsa's friend wrote 'Dalphin's" all over her. A shame it wasn't spelled right...

Here is John ready for backstroke. Note the swimshirt is on again...

John and Lily with their push pops from the snack bar. Oh how we are going to miss the Rays when they move next month!

Elsa and Jessica on the ready bench. Elsa won this heat in backstroke. I think she was 15th out of 24 in all but it was still fun to watch her come in first in the heat.

Visit from Grandma

2011-05-29T17:50:00.000-06:00

We had a very fun visit from Grandma Ginny a couple of weeks ago. It was too short, but we loved every minute. She brought Uno and the kids have been playing it ever since...as addictive as video games. We went to Pappasitos for dinner on Saturday and got the cool balloons shown above. A very talented balloon lady comes around to the tables. Hugh has an airplane, Elsa has a heart/flower and John has a T-Rex to match his shirt. It is a chain restaurant, but still one of the best here we think. Very, very good food.

Thanks for visiting us Grandma! You couldn't have hit the weather any better. It has been HOT and HUMID ever since. The heat index was 103* yesterday, and it's still May!!

Kindermusik

2011-05-29T17:45:00.001-06:00

Hugh and I had a good year of Kindermusik. "Kinder-yugit Song" as hugh calls it. I have never been able to do Our TIme because I have always had another baby by now. It was fun to do a whole year with Hugh.

They were supposed to be making music with the sticks, but Hugh liked to get a whole bunch of them and try to stand on them.

The story was probably his favorite part of the class. His style was to not do much during class but come home and sing all of the songs by heart from start to finish.

Getting a stamp from Miss Wendy.

It was our last day of Kindermusik and so we stopped by Lowe's on the way home and bought a baby pool. Hugh loves to be in the pool, but he has to just watch John and Elsa swim every day. He spend several very happy afternoons in this pool. I am really going to miss my time alone with him...I won't ever have that on a regular basis again. He's a good companion.

Mothers Day

2011-05-29T17:28:00.000-06:00

I am sure they love me, well, I think, but it wasn't easy to get them to pose for a picture on Mothers Day...

This was by far the best we got. I did a pretty good job of hiding my growing self...I am intentionally leaving out as many pregnant shots as possible...one of the perks of living on the other side of the country from most of my family and friends :)

James made a marvelous dinner, a roast and mashed potatoes. I made key lime pie but Hugh just wanted to eat the whipped cream straight from the bowl.

The First Swim Meet

2011-05-08T16:11:00.001-06:00

It was just a practice meet but it was an experience we won't soon forget. What hype and excitement! The kids were full of anxiety.

They were very brave to get in a cold pool at 7:30am for warm-ups.

This is where they waited for their race.

John and Elsa swam freestyle in back to back races in lanes right next to each other. John had just barely qualified the day before to even be in the meet. They stuck him in one of the deep lanes and at the last second he froze and refused to get in. We were all surprised. All eyes were on him for a good 5 minutes. But he did it in the end. This clip is a little long, but I had to include it for the grandparents...it shows so much...what a trooper. Clearly he doesn't want to do it but he does it anyway. I'm so proud of him! Elsa did her races like a champ too.

I had to bribe John with a candy bar from the snack bar, but it worked...barely. What a great team to let him do it even though the clocks had stopped and the other boys had long since raced and gotten out of the pool. It was a victory that will help him a lot this season. Today he told me he won't be scared the next time...you see, he wants there to be a next time now. Now he knows he can swim in the deep end too.

This is John heading back for his towel after the long haul. He wasn't quite happy about it all yet.

Still wasn't so sure about things.

It all came a little more easily to Elsa who has a 2 year advantage. This swim team thing is so great for them. They aren't always excited to go and it is a little scary at times, but I think they mostly like it. They certainly feel some pride at being an SCO Dolphin! It is pretty fun for me to go sit by the pool and watch them swim for an hour and a half every day too. So many nice mothers to hang out with. We are trying to savor this phase of our youngest being almost 3. Next year Hugh can give it a try.

John's First Tooth

2011-05-06T08:03:00.000-06:00

John lost his first tooth on Wednesday! I sure wasn't ready for it. For a while now he and Elsa have been talking about how his tooth is loose, but I still thought it would be months. I wiggled it on Tuesday and it was much looser than I thought. He wouldn't eat that night or the next morning and I wondered if he was getting sick (Elsa had Strep Throat earlier this week). By lunchtime it was hanging by a thread and before we knew it, it came right out on it's own. Too fast! I didn't even get a good picture of his cute baby teeth before. I was hoping I would have at least until Kindergarten before he started to lose his teeth.

Aside from the motherly regrets, he is VERY excited about it. We picked some big kids up from school that day with Elsa and they were all asking how old he is and thinking he was pretty cool to lose his first tooth at 5. The tooth fairy brought him a silver dollar and he got an "I lost my tooth" badge at school. So life is pretty good for this little 5-year-old.

Grandpa Jim's Birthday

2011-05-06T07:53:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Grandpa Jim's Birthday on Monday. It coincided very nicely with Family Night.

We had spaghetti with plain tomato sauce...well, James at the plain tomato sauce. The rest of us had Prego. We also had corn on the cob and salad with poppyseed dressing.

For dessert we had Sprite and Snickers while we watched some of the video from his retirement party a few years ago. Hugh had all sorts of fun dancing to his banjo music. Oh how we wish we could have celebrated with a Razzleberry pie in person!

Easter

2011-05-01T18:37:00.000-06:00

A few Easter Pics:

We tried to make homemade ice cream with my fresh-picked strawberries. The motor on our trusty White Mountain ice cream freezer finally died about 10 minutes into it. It has been testy for a while, but I think we are at the end unless anyone knows how to fix those... It is sad, this maker has seen lots of good batches of ice cream. Why can't these things be more durable? Well, my James (whom I think is brilliant)) improvised and got a couple of his tools out to hand churn it. It took about two hours and he did most of the work, but we did end up with some good strawberry ice cream. I thought it was awfully patient of him. Maybe he was making up for being gone for two days in Los Angeles at a Paul Simon Concert with his sister Amy...

We dyed Easter Eggs on Saturday as well. I never do enough eggs. I wish we could eat 3 dozen because we surely want to color that many.

Their Easter finery. Hugh wasn't in the mood for posing after church.

The hunt. These eggs sweat here so you have to be pretty careful of the color picking them up.

John

2011-05-01T18:28:00.001-06:00

This sign has been taped to our construction paper drawer for a while and I finally stopped to read it. It says, "No entering. Ask John to enter." I love finding these things around. Sure enough Elsa came in to get some paper one day and John saw and was appalled that she would just take paper without asking him. Can't she read?!

It just dawned on us that with John being 5 and with almost 3 boys in our family, we have to figure out the sports thing. They just need to get out and run around and hit things. I bought a plastic bat and ball and James and John, as well as Elsa and Hugh, have been having some fun in the backyard lately. John is getting the most out of it though. Maybe in the fall I will be brave enough to enter the consuming world of team sports...maybe.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-17T20:42:00.001-06:00

I committed to this last October so I had to see it through. Somehow I ended up as the single member of the "Children's committee" in our neighborhood. They would have taken any warm body. I did the Breakfast with Santa and now the Easter Egg Hunt. The truth is that most of it is fun to do and I really like the people I meet through it...so many helpful nice people. But it is a relief to have it behind me.

The weather was ideal. Starting at about 60 degrees and ending at about 70. It was a cool and dry day in contrast to the warmer weather we have had lately. Blue sky, just gorgeous. We had donuts and Gatorade and a few activities.

I have never used a megaphone before. It was handy, though when getting 75 or so kids to enter the hunt in segments by group. We had about 1500 filled eggs. There was plenty for all.

When I first tried to make the megaphone work it seemed to hardly be getting any sound. Well, John came up and suggested I try talking through the other side of the microphone. Brilliant! My 5-year old saved the day!

Here are some of the older kids ready to go.

The Easter Bunny was one of our favorite babysitters. That is why my kids had no qualms sitting on "his" lap.

The company that brought the face painting and balloon twisting was a little short handed much to my chagrin. So I recruited a couple of face painters and helped with the balloon twisting myself. You never know when those odd 12-year-old hobbies will come in handy.

We had these little miniature pony and carriage rides. They were very cute.

And then a petting zoo with a few cute little animals. I was happy to see my kids actually get in the pen with them.

Thanks to James who puts up with me doing these things and some really helpful neighbors it all turned out beautifully...and I am ready to retire!

Strawberries and Rain

2011-04-17T20:31:00.000-06:00

It has been an intensely dry year here in Houston. I can practically count on one hand the times it has rained since the summer. Not typical. We got lucky though on Tuesday. It was a cool overcast morning and I took the boys out for a walk because they hate going to the gym with me. We were about a half a mile away from home when it started to mist and sprinkle. I didn't really think it would turn in to anything. But when we had just passed the half-way point it really started to rain. There was no shelter, no place to go but through the water and home. We were soaked to the bone. John was lucky enough to ride ahead and miss the worst of the deluge but Hughie and I were sunk, quite literally. I got home to find John warming himself on the driveway. Hugh wasn't wild about it but I though it was rather fun.

It is strawberry season here and we went picking twice this week. It is addicting and very difficult to know when to stop. Just one more. I made a bunch of strawberry jam, strawberry shortcake, strawberry milkshakes (all sounds healthy doesn't it?) and then I froze some and we ate a whole lot as fresh as could be. Oh, and strawberries and cream for breakfast which Elsa particularly loves.

Isn't this just a bowl full of heaven?

Allergies

2011-04-03T17:45:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you just need to post a few...especially when we are stuck indoors because Houston Allergies are threatening to take years off all of our lives!

Superman lives on! Hugh discovered Elsa's old Snow White cape and has hardly taken it off since. He loves that it is reversible, and he looks behind him to see if it is flowing in the wind.

Elsa's school family fun night. Complete with colored hair, face paints & hula hoops. (Yes, Hugh is wearing the same outfit, but it's a different day.)

San Antonio

2011-03-31T14:50:00.000-06:00

James and I were able to get away for a night to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary in San Antonio. What a luxury! My neighbor Cheryl watched the kids for us. What a saint! (She is even more of a sait because Hugh woke up with a raging case of pink-eye the day before we left and she had to do eye drops 3 times a day. Yikes!) James took Friday off and we left first thing in the morning. It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive.

We stayed right in the Riverwalk area so spent both days on foot. One of our first stops was to the Alamo. It was really quite a hot day so we felt like summer tourists. It is an interesting piece of history. The whole southeast portion of the US owes a lot to this little war with Mexico. We mostly went here for John. We bought him a Davy Crocket hat and he was thrilled. We will most certainly have to take him here one of these days...not in the summer.

The Riverwalk is really an enchanting sort of place. Trees, water, etc. We took a little boat tour along it and walked around the shops and restaurants. We ate at Saltgrass Steakhouse which is just a chain restaurant but honestly the food was top notch. We ate out on the patio just above crowd level...actually you can see it in this photo above, it is just across the river to the right. We watched the evening turn to night and all the lights come on etc. The whole place came alive. It was actually really crowded with the Final Four games in town. Lots of fun.

On Saturday we went to Market Square, or El Mercado. This is the largest Mexican Market outside of Mexico. It was great fun. All the crazy Mexican stuff you could ever hope to find. We picked up a few fun souvenirs.

We ate lunch at this great (and very popular) Mexican place called Mi Tierra. They opened their doors in the 1940s and haven't closed since...literally...they are open 24 hours. It was a big party inside. We ate out on the patio and again, the food was out of this world. We really did well with our meals this trip...and that is a big part of a vacation for us.

The highways are lined with blue bonnets right now. They are just amazing! We had them on almost the whole stretch between Houston and San Antonio, but some pockets were out of this world!

Not sure how long it will be before we get away on our own again. We really, really enjoyed these couple of days together. 9 years! My a lot happens in 9 years. Even though the pictures don't show it, I WAS on this trip...but none of the pictures of me passed my inspection, this pregnancy hasn't been to kind to me :)

Sprinklers

2011-03-31T14:14:00.000-06:00

Things really warmed up over spring break. We had to get out the swimsuits and have a sprinkler party. The Rays have a swimming pool so the girls hadn't ever run in the sprinklers before. They had a great time. I mean it when I say it has felt like June around here.

Elsa is practicing her baby skills with Piper, Mia's little sister. (Elsa had gotten her first haircut in over 6 months that morning...cute isn't it?) We just got some very sad news...the Rays are moving back to Utah. First the Potters, our next door neighbors and pseudo-grandma, and now the Rays. Yikes! We are all still a little in shock and feeling rather abandoned...just trying not to think about it too much. How would we have survived this first year without them??

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-31T14:08:00.000-06:00

Does the milk turn green at your house on St. Patrick's day? It does here and it is just crazy to watch. Elsa wrote a note to our Leprachaun and asked him if he would turn her penny into gold. Well, he wouldn't share his gold but he did let her keep the penny...and he wrote her back promising not to cause any real mischief around the house. He left it at the green milk I guess. We came up with our own green eggs.

James worked from home half-day and so had a little time after lunch to help John work on riding his bike without the training wheels. He prefers to ride on the grass over pavement...but we are working on it. I tried to help him for about 2 seconds and realized that was never going to work. This one is going to be up to James. I have a feeling similar dynamics will be at play when our kids turn 16... Thank heaven for one patient parent.

With the half-day James took off we got a babysitter and the two of us went to the Rodeo. It was intensely crowded, I was so glad I took the kids the week before! The food was the highlight this time. James got a wurst-kabob (very good!) and I got a buffalo burger.

James couldn't resist trying the fried Snickers. I admit, I was disappointed. Just a bunch of runny chocolate in the middle of mediocre breading. Oh well, it was all about experience and we just had to try it!

Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory

2011-03-31T13:56:00.001-06:00

Over Spring Break I took the kids to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory (about an hour away) for a tour. My friend Larissa and her daughter, Elsa's friend Marina, came along. Blue Bell Ice cream is extremely popular around here. They sell as much ice cream in just the South as Dreyers and Breyers do nationwide. It is always fun to see how these things are produced.

We all got a scoop of free ice cream at the end. John got rainbow sherbet, Hugh got mint chocolate chip (he wanted "green") Elsa got the only kind of ice cream she will eat...dutch chocolate, and I tried the mud pie.

We were hoping to catch some blue bonnets on the drive but only found this one little patch. This is blue bonnet time of year around here. They line all of the highways and are stunning. It is illegal to pick one...a huge fine. So we just took some pictures.

The First Bite

2011-03-20T20:51:00.000-06:00

Well, Elsa wins the prize for first Fire Ant bite in the family. She saw one on her thumb on the way two school. It pinched and she shook it off. A couple of days later it looked like this...

8 days later we can still see the spot. It took 7 months for us to experience a fire ant bite. Our conclusion is that it isn't such a big deal as long as we can avoid the mounds...

A Thing of Beauty

2011-03-20T20:36:00.001-06:00

A week ago...or was it two? Anyway, James had spent all morning delivering mulch with the scouts. He shocked me by keeping up the momentum and hauling in our dirt for our garden box that he built last October! I didn't waste much time to get my vegetables in. It is planting season here...it is pretty much like May in Utah. I was positively giddy choosing my plants and it got even better when I planted them in that loose rich soil perfectly primed. I do hope I get something from them. It is no small task to keep birds, fungus and bugs away here. Luckily the box is smack dab outside my bedroom window so it is the first thing I see every morning when I wake up. It's been two years since I was able to plant a garden.

We have a bunch of tomatoes (which I have been warned are tricky here), bell peppers, cucumbers, watermelon, basil, cilantro & chives...oh and my orange tree has blossoms right now. When I walk outside I think I must really be in Hawaii.

This is my little garden out back. I planted all of these snap dragons along with a few other flowers last fall. They were pretty much dormant all winter which was disappointing to me. They stayed green, but had no blooms. Well, I got my payoff this spring! It is a heavenly sight out my back window. I have never had flowers grow so big and lush before.

Since I planted a little over a week ago my vegetables are already growing. This is so exciting!

Mary, Nate & The Rodeo

2011-03-20T20:15:00.000-06:00

Last week Mary and Nate came to stay with us from New Orleans to escape Mardi Gras. They live pretty close to downtown. We were more than happy to oblige! We had a rainy and sick day their first day here but we hit the Houston Rodeo the next day. James couldn't find a substitute for YM so he couldn't make it. We had a really great time though. I never could have done it without Mary and Nate. I did feel like I was the blind leading the blind though. It was no small task to navigate downtown, find parking, shuttle in, etc. That place is huge and there is so much to do.

They have two spectacular petting zoos and all sorts of interesting animals such as llamas, donkeys and these wallabies. True to form, my kids weren't so keen on it...they don't like getting so close to animals. They never have. When I came down with James a week later...I saw where they get it :)

They had some very cool carnival rides. They cost an arm and a leg each though so we only did a couple. Hugh and John loved the mini dumbo ride...Hugh wasn't quite tall enough but they let him on with John anyway...I am so glad they weren't sticklers.

Mary and Hugh on the Carousel. This is my kids' kind of ride.

To my surprise Elsa really wanted to ride this one. She got on with John but he chickened out after I paid for him, so Nate rode in his place. I think that was a much better option for Elsa anyway.

They had a butterfly pavilion full of Giant Owl and Morpho butterflies. There were Luna Moths and some others too, but not too many. We had fun going around and picking them up. It was fun to see Morpho's in action since Elsa has always seen our Morpho on the wall that James caught in Mexico.

Elsa played this carnival game and one two prizes!

The kids got to climb on and explore real tractors.

Mary and Nate were so great with my kids.

Both of our cameras were had blinking red batteries and mine totally died so we missed a lot. But there were pig races and mutton bustin (which is a sport where kids can pay to ride on the back of a big sheep and whoever makes it the farthest wins...quite a spectacle!) There were 14 brand new baby pigs and chicks hatching from their shells and bunnies, and Elsie the Borden cow. There were Longhorns and panning for gold and I don't even know where to end. It was very fun...not to mention the array of Texas food. It was a carnival, rodeo and State Fair all rolled into one. Next year we need to hit the actual rodeo.

Mary and I are just two months apart in our due dates. It was fun to get to hang out together. I don't get to see her enough.

Baby Cow

2011-03-20T20:01:00.000-06:00

I was making dinner one night and my next door neighbor Cheryl knocked at the door. She said she had just driven by the cow pasture and had seen a brand new baby cow. She wanted to grab the kids to go show them. I had to get dinner on in order to get to everything else that night so I sent the camera with Elsa and asked her to take pictures for me.

Then she took the kids to her see her friend's horses.

I just found out a couple of weeks ago that Cheryl and her family are moving back to Utah. I have cried more than a little over it. Do you see why? We have been so lucky to have them next door for a year. First the Cooks, then the Potters...I can't decide if I want to pray for another great next-door neighbor or not...I don't think I can stand to lose another!

Cowboy Day

2011-03-20T19:55:00.000-06:00

John had cowboy day at school a couple of weeks ago. They made trail mix and did barrel racing on the playground and all sorts of rodeo-themed fun. It is Rodeo season here in Houston and it's influence is everywhere.

He makes a pretty cute cowboy doesn't he? Elsa's new cowboy boots are already coming in handy. It tough to compete with all of the authentic cowboy costumes around here but we do our best.

Cute Things

2011-03-20T19:51:00.000-06:00

I love finding things like this around. Elsa had, had enough of her drinking cup getting swept away into the dishwasher...

I apologize right here and now for the barrage of forthcoming blog posts...they tend to come in waves.

Seven

2011-03-02T18:25:00.001-07:00

Ah, seven. Birthdays tend to last several days around here. When you have a leap year birthday I do think it is justified though. There needs to be some way to make up for the fact that you birthday never really comes!

We didn't do a birthday party, but Mia came over for a "late night" w/ PJs. We ate hot dogs outside...honestly, it is like May or June around here. We painted nails and the girls looks through their baby books together. They planned this night out themselves. We watched "Heidi" with Shirley Temple but Mia got bored pretty fast, we actually didn't even finish it. (It was reminiscent of my Marx Brothers birthday). I guess old movies are just an acquired taste.

We did decorate, to make it seem a little like a party, using the decorations from Elsa's fairy tea party last year.

Mia gave her a little birdhouse painting kit. She really wanted to paint them that night with Elsa, but there were only two and John wanted to do it to...Elsa judiciously decided to set them aside for that night. Very diplomatic.

We had the Rays over on Sunday as well since Jason was out of town. We had Elsa's birthday dinner then. Ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, and broccoli Grandma Sue style. I added some rolls and fruit. We also had brownies for dessert. Elsa is grimacing at the wax melting on her brownies here.

Elsa wanted a monkey cake this year. I found a very cute Martha Stewart one but of course the cake fell into about 18 pieces when I tried to get it out of the bowl I cooked it in. It was 3pm and I didn't have time to make another one...so I improvised. I have to say I was pretty pleased with the result and Elsa liked it better than the one I intended to make. It tasted good too :)

The big birthday activity was bowling this year. We went up to this place called Main Event in The Woodlands. It is a no-smoking place and very high tech so it was fun. We didn't anticipate disco bowling starting at 5pm on a Monday, but we went with it.

James won and Elsa came in second fair and square. We really had a great time. Hugh was especially enamored with the bowling shoes that were several sizes too big.

At Elsa's request we picked up McDonalds on the way home.

Elsa got this little ladybug purse from Grandma Ginny with some State Quarters to put in her State Quarter collection.

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Hugh sent this darling little smocked dress. Why is it so very hard to find smocked dresses these days?

I have to mention that Elsa is a girl that would pass the marshmallow test with flying colors. I told her she could open a present in the morning, and she was very anxious to dig into those presents, but she wanted to wait for Daddy to get home to do them all. Such discipline! Other presents included a bedside table and lamp (I have been dying to do this for her for several years) a little puppet theater and some sock puppets, a book called "Goops and How to Be Them" (a very cute manners book...anyone heard of it?) but the most exciting thing of all were the Squinkies...the latest 7-year-old fad.

We invited the Potters over for cake and ice cream. They are the pseudo-grandparents. Cheryl and Josh came and it made it feel more like a party. They brought a jewelry-making kit, so nice. We admired the presents, ate some cake and called it a very successful birthday weekend!

Camping in Texas

2011-03-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was our ward campout. I really never thought camping would happen for us in Texas...what with all of the bugs and critters out to kill you...not to mention the lack of mountains and general heat. But everyone assured us that it was lovely to camp in February. So we went for it...well, James, Elsa & John did anyway.

There was the small matter of not owning a tent or mattress pads...we used to borrow those from James' parents. It hardly seems worth buying a tent for one possible camping outing a year. The Rays couldn't come and were nice enough to lend us theirs.

It was at this state park which is basically woods, trails and a lake, about an hour north of here. Although there weren't any mountains it was really, really refreshing to be out in nature. It's something we don't get much of here. We got there after dark but James and the kids successfully set up the tent.

It felt great to sit by a fire and roast marshmallows, etc. Human beings need that I think. It was chilly but not freezing. Just perfect. Plus, it was really fun to be with the ward in that kind of casual setting. There are so many great families. I left with Hugh and another family in the ward at 10pm. It was a little traumatic for Elsa. But they made it quite well through the night.

I wish I could (or would) have been there when they woke up to see what the world looks like in the daytime. The stars the night before were wonderful. They were right by the lake and spent the morning playing with the other kids and canoeing. They had a really great time...and no bug bites! John claims he saw an armadillo... why not?

A Few Snippets

2011-02-25T11:28:00.002-07:00

Go figure. Apparently February is the month where it is pleasant to eat outside here. I am still a little thrown by the weather. This week we have been sleeping on top of our sheets, the birds are chirping like it is June and we are trying to use all of our will power to keep the AC off. Then I look at the calendar and it still says February! It either feels like June in Utah or July in Newport Beach. I do kind of feel like I am on vacation.

This is Elsa calling Mia to tell her we are having another boy. It was a very cute conversation.

John slipped in the shower this week and hit his head. He and Elsa get a little out of control and now maybe they will finally believe us when we tell them it is dangerous. Since bandaids don't work through the hair and it was quite a cut, we had to come up with this little head wrap. Thankfully we don't seem to need stitches...at least we don't need to worry about scarring.

It was "Go Texan" day at Kuehnle yesterday. The Rodeo starts this weekend and it is a really big deal around here. We can't wait. Elsa got these cowboy boots as an early birthday present. It was tough not to get the really cute pink ones, but with 3 boys after her...I had to go with brown. more bang for the buck. These are pretty cute though.

Elsa's school had a Mardi Gras Fun Run this morning. It is a stunningly gorgeous day. They got a beaded necklace for every lap they ran.

John couldn't help himself, he took off running with the group. I can't wait to watch him running around next year as an official participant. Notice the flip flops? Did I mention it is FEBRUARY?!

Elsa and Mia after the run. Mia is a real competitor and probably doubled Elsa's laps. Elsa wasn't so focused, but enjoyed it enough.

This is Elsa's PE teacher, Mr. Erbie (not sure of the spelling). He is really great with the kids. He wears a different pair of crazy shorts every day. Pink polka dots, etc. It is his trademark. He had a great Mardi Gras pair on today.

Look at this smile, it is really something. Elsa lost yet another tooth. They just keep coming...that is after 3 weeks of hanging by a thread until something as simple as opening her mouth will make it fall out, such as the tooth below. She is ravenous to eat a ham sandwich and other such foods again after weeks of near fasting.

It's a Boy!

2011-02-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

It looks like the Pearce mold has won. All of my siblings have exactly two girls, and on the Pearce side no one has 2 of each gender...It looks like Elsa and I are going to have to stick together. Wish us luck coming up with a name! (And advanced apologies to the family member who's name is destined to be duplicated by us :)) With both James and his Dad being the only boys in their families, we are happy to be doing our part to carry on the Pearce name!

Elsa and John were able to come to the ultrasound appointment with us. It was fun to have them there even though they were both fully expecting a girl. They are handling it very well...especially Elsa. Although interestingly enough I think John was maybe the most stunned. I am listening to John right now flying his space ships around the house making shooting sounds and gearing up for a whole lot more of it :)

The best news of all though is that they moved my due date up to June 29th. I love it when it crosses into another month! It is such a great mental trick!

Valentines

2011-02-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hughie was so cute in his little red tie at church on Sunday. There is some room to grow too. My niece-in-law Stephani makes these very cute ties: http://www.etsy.com/shop/babybystevie/sold

My boys having a little Valentines picnic lunch out back. You can't see the heart shaped sandwiches and Jell-o Jigglers in this picture but it captures John whispering some sort of mischief into Hughie's ear.

Elsa's class had a Valentines Party and I went to volunteer. There aren't a lot of opportunities here to get in your child's classroom...especially when you have younger kids with you. I had to take advantage of this one since I wasn't feeling so hot during the "Holiday" party.

Handsome, handsome boy...it's okay for a mother to gloat every once in a while, right?

We had quite the fancy Valentines dinner...if I do say so myself. It kind of evolved throughout the day. It may be a little dorky to take pictures of our meal, but I am proud of this one. Here we sit arrayed with much welcomed Valentines from Grandma's, Aunt Emmy, and a few friends.

Rib-eye steak, berry and spinach salad, twice baked potatoes...and I couldn't resist the $5 Lobster at Kroger. It didn't have much meat on it but it was fun to have a little homemade "surf and turf". I always want to order those dishes at restaurants but they are so darn pricey...

...bruchetta, Julia's style. I have loved this appetizer ever since I first had it.

For dessert, a fruit pizza. I should probably call it a fruit tart to make it sound more fancy, but it had a sugar cookie crust...I think I need to call it a fruit pizza. Pretty though.

If you don't have snow...

2011-02-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

You can still go sledding. All you need is a darling next door neighbor to leave a giant Icee raft on your front porch :)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-02-08T16:16:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma Ginny! We love you and wish we were with you on your birthday. Hughie was having a bit of a tantrum because he wanted John's scooter, but "Flat" Laura Olsen joined us for our song...

Fireman Hughie

2011-02-06T18:08:00.001-07:00

There is something about Hugh and these goggles...he doesn't think they are on right unless they are pulling his eyes down. He is also rather attached to his "ga-love". He is more than happy to smile for the camera even when John is attacking him like a dog. Typical scene around here lately.

Happy Birthday James!

2011-02-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

It was a birthday full of great surprises, the best being our "snow/ice" day where we basically all had to stay home all day. James just worked at home. Who doesn't like to work in their slippers?

The best present of all was Elsa and John learning how to do the dishes. We have been practicing for a week or two when Daddy isn't around. Elsa washes and John loads (thank you Sundbergs for the inspiration!) James generally does the dishes and really doesn't relish the task...so it was a really great gift from John and Elsa.

James is grinning because he is holding a copy of Paul Simon's African Graceland concert in his hands.
This was our birthday evening entertainment.

mmm...lava cakes! See the cool colored flames? Our new favorite birthday candles.

Happy birthday to our wonderful Daddy! We hope that wish comes true!

Snow Day?

2011-02-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

So this is what a snow day looks like in Houston...

Yes, school was cancelled on Thursday afternoon and this view above is what we woke up to on Friday morning. Does it look like school ought to be cancelled to you? Not that any of us were complaining. We slept in. It happened to be James' birthday...and he couldn't go to work. In all fairness to the judgement of the school district there were a lot of icy roads and accidents we heard...just not in our neighborhood. James wouldn't have made it to work in the morning anyway.

I had never seen this before. Look how cool this bush in front of our house looks with each leaf coated in ice!

We pulled off the leaves and the pealed the leaf from the ice to reveal a perfect imprint! I think every piece of greenery in our yard had an ice cover. I guess it is the humidity. We were supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow actually...a BIG DEAL around here...but it missed us.

So instead of school and work, James had a very nice birthday working from home and we had the Ray girls over to play. It was a much needed change of pace for all of us!

Incidentally, we woke up to no running water on Wednesday this week...our main water pipe to the house froze. Yikes! James was out there with my hair dryer at 6am and got it flowing again. Thank heaven no broken pipes. Now we know you are supposed to leave a faucet or two dripping when the temperature gets that cold. The water pipes are above ground here. The things you learn.

Chinese New Year

2011-02-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

Somewhere along the line the Pearces started celebrating Chinese New Year. Who doesn't need an excuse to make some Chinese food? We have kept the tradition up and this year was by far the best meal we pulled off. We just served the basics, ham fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, & beef with vegetables...along with a good 'ol frozen egg roll that wasn't half bad. Luckily I found the Botan Rice Candy at the last minute. Happy year of the rabbit!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2011-01-28T19:06:00.001-07:00

Since we can't be there in person...

We love you!

The Marx Brothers

2011-01-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

It was for either my 12th or 13th birthday that I invited a bunch of my new friends in Ohio over for my birthday party. I had been more or less obsessed with the Marx Brothers for a few years and I was just sure that they would think they were as funny as I did. Well, it was a big teenage flop. In fact, it crushed me when the whole room was bored stiff. Since then I have been a little more careful who I introduce my Marx Brothers to. Thank heaven James passed the test years ago.

Last week my next door neighbor sent me a little Marx Brothers video clip...not knowing I was a big fan. I showed the clip of Harpo and Chico playing a piano duet to my kids and they loved it! They really liked saying the names, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo too. I figured it was about time I could risk introducing them to my children. What was the verdict? Drumroll...

They loved it! Groucho talks pretty fast and much of that humor was over their heads, but Hughie pointed to the TV and said, "Groucho, funny." And of course they love Harpo and Chico. They were mesmerized, not bored. They are actually watching "A Night at The Opera" as we speak. For those of you who know...we are at the scene where they are all in the tiny room on the ship with the huge trunk ordering room service..."and two hard boiled eggs."

I am one proud Mommy!

John's 5th Birthday

2011-01-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

John turned 5 this weekend. It is hard to let go of my 4-year-old John. This morning he said, "I think I like being 5." I think just feels bigger. I think I will like the 5-year-old John too.

We took a pirate ship cake to preschool on Thursday and he celebrated there. He had a hard time grasping the idea that we weren't doing a birthday party this year. That is why we made a full cake to take to preschool...it was a good compromise.

The weather on his birthday was heavenly! Who ever thought that you could go miniature golfing...OUTSIDE...for a January birthday?!! It was almost 70 degrees out. We went to this little park called Mountasia where we could golf, ride go karts and do some games. He really wanted to go to ChuckeCheese too so this had a little of everything.

For the most part the kids ran wild over the course whacking and stopping the ball all over. This shows one of the few controlled swings John had.

Most were more like this one above. Towards the end Elsa was kind of getting the hang of it. Hugh just followed us around in his Superman jammie shirt with his ball and club.

A lot of the games we played broke on us in one way or another, but they were very generous with us making up our tokens and lost tickets. The kids liked picking prizes at the end. They were generous there too...since it was John's birthday.

I think James liked some of these games more than John...

We ended with the Go Carts. Hugh wasn't big enough to ride and I wasn't supposed to ride in my condition so James took Elsa and John. He was more than a little excited to do the course again. I think he had twice as much fun as Elsa and John...especially since he was the fastest on the course both rounds :).

John finally got his own bike. We are excited to get the training wheels off soon. We've got to get him ready to ride to Kindergarten next year.

We introduced the kids to Star Wars that night while eating pizza. Elsa got into it a little more than John and thankfully neither were scared by it.

John wanted a football cake. It had a layer of mint frosting in it and was delish.

I think this was about as good as a birthday can get!

The Drive Home

2011-01-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is Hugh after finally arriving at our hotel in Albuquerque after 15 hours in the car. This was after getting pulled over for speeding and me being WAY out of my seatbelt just outside of Price (the nice officer let us off), driving on snow packed roads most of the way going about 30 mph under the speed limit and driving through the New Mexican Indian reservation casinos late at night on icy roads in below zero temperatures. And the Burger King we finally stopped at had a broken furnace! The kids played in the play area for a few minutes with their winter coats on. There was ice on the inside of the car windows. It was one cold drive! But I have to say the stars were the most stunning I have ever seen...there are some benefits to being out in the middle of nowhere. Hugh really hated his car seat by the end of the day. His eyes were open here but I think he shows how we all felt. Just make it end now!!

This is John and Elsa in the morning. They didn't budge as James and I showered and packed around 6am. John is fully dressed because he threw up all over his bedding and everything in the middle of the night. Elsa never woke up. James and I (both with Ambien in our systems) vaguely remember calling the front desk for new bedding and getting John and the sheets changed. Hey, at least we didn't need to get him dressed in the morning.

Our trusty little car was quite a sight after Saturday's drive.

James insisted on stopping at a cotton field when we got to Texas. As much as I love the snow and mountains, I have to admit there was some relief as we entered clear roads and 40 degree temperatures. Anyway, back to the cotton. I don't know about you, but we had never in our lives seen a cotton plant. These cotton fields were pretty fascinating. The harvest was past but there was still a little bit of cotton to look at and collect. It is a really amazing plant. I really didn't want to stop the car but I am so glad that James insisted. We have a few specimens at our house if anyone is interested...

We also got to see some oil well fields. This isn't a great picture because I took it while the car was moving, but you can see all of the wells dotting the field out there. Another interesting piece of Americana.