The Pierce Family Blog

My little explorer...

It's been such a nice lazy Saturday so far!  I'm not feeling a bit guilty not getting anything done around the house because I can just do it next week!!!  I'll be here anyway!  I have to work Monday then I'm officially unemployed!  Yeah!

Luke's taking a nap and Caroline have been just hanging out together, she's in the computer room with me now, she's not quite crawling but she seems to be getting wherever she wants by falling over, scooching, rolling there...it's funny to watch!  She's been running fever the last 24 hours, I think maybe her ears are bothering her...we'll just have to see how this pans out.  I can tell she's not feeling 100% but she's still got her sweet little personality... that is if everything is going her way of course!  She's just into everything, so much more than Luke ever was.  Eugene and I were talking the other night about how we're really going to have to baby proof the house much more than we did with Luke.  Caroline loves to be in her walker too, which I know is not really "recommended" but we watch her really well, her favorite thing to do is try and knock the trash can over!  We have to move it out of the kitchen every time she's in the walker!

This morning we all had a breakfast picnic in the den.  Luke loves to eat on the floor, he gets the biggest kick out of it!  I figured since the carpet needed vacuuming might as well go ahead!  After that we all just sat around the den together.  Eugene was studying to get his CDL license (to drive the church bus), Luke and Caroline were playing and I clipped coupons!  It's so nice to just sit and be without the TV on!  After that the kids and I ran to CVS to stock up on medicine for Caroline and a quick trip to Publix then back home. 

When Luke gets up we're going to head to Mimi and Pop Pop's to swim and eat supper.  My mom's making fried pork chops so I had to make mashed potatoes this afternoon to go with them, I just can't eat fried pork chops without them.....it's kind of nostalgic for me, when I was little I loved loved the movie Savannah Smiles!  In the movie Bootsy makes Savannah pork chops and mashed potatoes which she says is her favorite!  I also made this for Eugene, he loves to retrieve any of my cooking/food magazines from the mailbox first then quickly tabs what he wants me to make! 

Well, I better get going, Caroline is started to get bored!  Have a great rest of the weekend!

Thursday Night

Tonight we had a special treat around our house!  Me and the kids got to babysit little Ethan!  Ethan is the 6 1/2 month old little boy of my friend Aileen!  It was really alot of fun.  Eugene was playing Ultimate Frisbee tonight so it was just me and the three of them, but everything went just fine.  I think Caroline enjoyed having someone around the house she was bigger than!  She kept trying to grab at him and take his pacey.  At one point he was laying on his back on a blanket and she was trying to belly flop on him, it looked like some sort of wrestling move.  Luke was very sweet and kept bringing him toys to play with.  Luke even got his magnifying glass out to "check him out" and get a good look at him.  Here's a picture I took of Caroline and Ethan playing on the blanket.

Well I better run, still have some things to get done tonight....I haven't even unloaded my car from the day!  I just keep thinking next week I'll have time to finally catch up on everything!!! 

Memorial Day Fun!

We had a great time down at "the coast" this past Sunday and Monday.  We went to church Sunday, then rushed home to get changed and throw our stuff in the car and head down.  Eugene and I were both loading the car, throwing stuff in....it wasn't until halfway to Tallahassee we realized we forgot Luke's overnight bag!  It was nicely zipped sitting next to his bed!  We reasoned that since he had one change of clothes and he already had his swimsuit on we'd be okay!  Sunday afternoon we took all the kids on a boat ride, this was the first time they all really enjoyed it!  We were a little afraid that Luke would resist and not want to go, when we were all loading up he actually turned around and headed back toward the car and said "No, I'm not going to go on the boat"....but peer pressure can be a wonderful thing sometimes, once he saw his "girl" cousins getting in with no problem, I think he realized he needed to man up and get in!  Here are a few pics of our boat ride to the beach!

Luke and Claire being too cute!



Caroline's first ride!  She loved the wind in her hair!



We beached the boat at the tip of Alligator Point and we all enjoyed the beach for awhile.  Aunt Jenn found a star fish, here's a picture of Luke holding it!



We ate watermelon and boiled peanuts and just hung out for awhile!  Caroline stayed under the umbrella most of the time but she got a kick out of watching everyone and she unloaded the beach bag a couple a dozen times!

 

Of course Pop Pop can not be near water without having his fishing pole in hand....Luke loves to fish too,  Pop Pop's been letting Luke fish in his pool for awhile!  He was excited to fish "for real" this time!  And man...Pop Pop you sure don't look 60 in this picture!



Sunday night we all got cleaned up and went out to eat, then Monday the guys got up early to go fishing and the women and children went to the beach again!  We got back home Monday afternoon.  We really enjoyed our little mini trip, the kids were great!  We made it with no sunburns as well.  Luke's so fair skinned!  Grace, Claire and even Caroline all tan real easy, but Luke just turns red, then back to white!  I kept 50 SPF on him and he was fine.  I missed one little spot on his cheek that's a little red still but other than that he's back to white!

Caroline

Okay....I figured out how to upload videos a little faster....this one is of Caroline the other night after supper.  She had just said Dada!  First words?  Maybe?  I don't really consider it a first word until it's directed at someone or something or used in a sentence.....but Dada may potentially be Caroline's first word.  Luke's first word was uh-oh.....and knowing him it fits him well! 

There's a little side story happening in the background of this video if you listen to Luke....I mean David, as he likes to be called!

Caroline from Mindy Pierce on Vimeo.

video

I absolutely love my little flip camera, it's the perfect solution for us since we are so terrible about pulling the video camera out.  I just toss the flip in my purse and have it ready anytime I want it!  Here's a little clip from today, I have a few more I want to share but it's taking forever to upload and I'm about ready to head to bed!

This clip is Luke today on the slip and slide of course.....he was really trying to get the hang of it....

Untitled from Mindy Pierce on Vimeo.

Fun Saturday!

Yeah, it's the weekend!  And only one more week of work!!!  We've already been having a fun weekend around here and we still have two more days to go!  Last night I was so ready to eat some yummy fresh food!  We've had a busy week...Eugene's had Ultimate Frisbee, I had GNO (girls night out) Thursday night (tons of fun ladies!)....anyway, we'd eaten out a bunch and we ready to enjoy some food at home.  I stopped by Publix with the kids to get some groceries and we headed home.  Eugene grilled pork chops for supper and we had some fresh fruit and veggies on the side.  It's kind of fun to switch to summer eating, lots of grilling and easy sides!  This morning we got up and had Cinnamon toast, which is a staple in our house, plus it's a great way to use up left over bread from the week.  After breakfast we all picked up and cleaned the house some then we headed outside to enjoy the day!  Uncle Bub bought Luke a slip and slide!  Luke had a blast on it.  At first he was a little leery....but he caught on fast.  Caroline sat in the little pool on the end of it and got the biggest kick out of watching Luke!  We've spent the rest of the day hanging out, and we also ran a few errands....had to hit CVS again of course!  I think my new addiction to CVS has gone to Luke's head as well.  He is always asking to go to CBS!  I tell him, Luke it's V, V, not B....he says, no mommy it's cBs!  Well, I better get up and finishing getting things ready for tomorrow, we're going down to the coast to enjoy the boat and beach a little, this will be Caroline's first trip to the beach!  Very exciting!  Have a great memorial day! 

Playing catch up....again!

So since I haven't posted in a few days you've probably gathered that the house is still not under control but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!  We had a really fun weekend!  It started with Eugene surprising me and coming home a little earlier than I expected!  I talked to him mid morning Friday and he said he'd probably be leaving Tennesse mid day....but that little sneak he was already close to Atlanta!  Around 3 pm Friday he called me and told me he was taking me to dinner and to just come straight home.  He'd talked to my mom and arranged for her to keep the kids so we could go!  When I walked in the door he had a little present waiting for me!  One of these! 


It's a little video recorder, very easy to use!  I saw it on Rachel Ray a few weeks ago when I was home sick with one of the kids and told Eugene about it!  

For dinner we went to Mom and Dad's, then we picked the kids up!  The rest of the weekend is kind of a blur now!  It's so hard to remember that far back already!

I'll post some video's soon!

It's Friday!!!

Yeah for Friday!!!!  I know....I've been a bad blogger.....I really don't even have a good excuses this time as to why the bad blogging....oh well! 

This week has been kind of a blur, Eugene's been out of town, my allergies have been all whacked out, Caroline has had ear infections, and Luke's decided to start peeing in his pants again!  Nice week huh?

No really.....things are good, really great actually, just another week in the life of our family!  Eugene will be home tonight and all will be well again!  We don't have any big plans for the weekend....some cleaning, yard work, a birthday party to go to, and my grandparents are in town!....oops!  That's starting to sound like alot!

Just to keep you updated.....last Thursday night we celebrated Eugene's birthday!  We grilled hamburgers, my mom made Eugene a chocolate cake...it was alot of fun!  Luke, Caroline and my parents went in on a gift this year....I know kind of random but I knew Eugene would love to have Guitar Hero and I just couldn't justify spending so much money on him so my mom split the cost with me!  Eugene was surprised and liked it very much!  Now I just can't get "Hit me with your best shot" out of my head! 

Last Saturday me, Eugene and the kids drove to Dothan for Eugene to play in a little Ultimate Frisbee tournament!  Eugene's family met us in Dothan too!  Here are some pictures from the day....

This picture is Eugene's team...not sure what you call this, if it was Football it would be the kick off....maybe the throw off?

Here's one of Eugene trying to steal the Frisbee from a girl!

The kids had fun just being outside....here's one of Caroline...she doesn't look very happy....I guess if she could have talked she would have said "Mom, put that camera down and get me some meds, my ears are killing me!"....I didn't know at the time, sorry Caroline!

And we can't forget silly Luke!  He picked out his first baseball cap Friday night at Wal-mart, he wanted Spiderman.....we're not sure how he even knows who Spiderman is!  But that's the one he wanted so we got it for him....he's very proud of it!

After the tournament we all went to Sam's then to TGIFriday's to eat supper and celebrate Eugene's birthday again!   It was a late night but alot of Fun.  Sunday we celebrated Mom's Day, we had everyone to our house for pot roast! 

So there's a little weekend/week wrap up for you!  I'm hoping to get the little computer/sitting room off of our bedroom cleaned and decluttered well this weekend, that's where my computer is.....I'm seeing a parallel....when this room is nice and tiddy I blog more, when it's in disarray I avoid getting on the computer......interesting.  Actually, now that I think of it, when our house is a mess I blog less....hey that rhymes!  And I guess I just let the cat out of the bag that our house is in total disarray!  Better get to cleaning!

I guess if I blog tomorrow you'll know that I accomplished cleaning the house, if I don't blog you'll know the mess has gone to my head and blocked my blog-chi!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EUGENE!!!!

Today is Eugene's 27th birthday!  Tonight at midnight I gave him his gift, without realizing we've started making it a tradition to give our gifts to each other at midnight the day of our birthday.  This year I got Eugene a new bible.  He's been wanting a new one, so I got him a nice brown leather one with his name engraved on it.  He gave me a bible as a wedding gift, he wrote a sweet note in the front of it and whenever I'm feeling sentimental...I'll read it, it just makes me smile.  I've used that bible as my main bible since we got married.  I wanted to give him a nice bible as well and write a note to him in it.  He was surprised and really liked it! 

Well, I'm off to bed....I am not really tired but I guess I need to try and lay down.  Lately I've been in a stage of staying up extremely late....on one hand it's nice because I get alot done around the house, but on the other hand it kicks my butt at 5:45 am!  I think my problem today is that I drank 3 Dr. Peppers since around lunch when most days I don't even have caffeine!  Luckily Caroline has already been up once tonight so maybe she'll sleep until 6.  The little booger is 9 months old and still not sleeping through the night! 

Tuesday

It's 10:50 pm and I have yet to see my husband today!  He got tied up at work, then headed straight to his deacon's meeting.....the meeting has been over for awhile, but he called and said he was going to run by "the fields" for a few.  That's been over an hour ago.....oh well!  It's his birthday week so he can just knock himself out and get home whenever he wants.  The kids have been sleeping away since a little after 8!  I've had full reign on the TV tonight, and have used folding laundry as a good excuse to sit in front of it!  I enjoyed watching a little Good Eats....learned how to make a perfect cheesecake.  Then I watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay and have decided I've got to go to San Antonio and eat some puffy tacos!  They looked so yummy! 

All evening Luke has insisted I call him David.  That kid is obsessed with David and Goliath.  Tonight he told me the Philistines were in the living room!  When I was getting him ready for bed he finally said, Mommy, I'm Luke now.  Thank goodness!  He still wanted to sleep with his sling shot (which is really a plastic fishing pole) so I let him, I need to sneak in there and move it so he doesn't roll over on it. 

Well....I guess I need to start getting things ready for tomorrow, wash bottles, pack bags....the usual.  Oh, and we were featured in the paper today!  Well...not us specifically but our neighborhood.  Several cars and homes were broken in over the weekend, including Eugene's truck.  They didn't take anything, just moved some stuff around and left the door open, we were very happy they didn't break any windows or do any damage.  It's funny to me how the article focused in on "a fake $10 bill" that was stollen from a car....what was that about???? why did someone have a fake bill in their car?  Oh well, at least it's a local story, I can't stand it when I pick up the paper and it's a bunch of Associated Press stories....I read the T'ville Times for local news....I can get my national news from national papers!  Okay....I'm digressing...can you tell I have alot of time on my hands tonight!