Trick or Treat!

Star Wars dude and Little Witch

Little Witch hammin' it up!

Ok, I'm a little behind on my posts, but who could resist pics of Halloween cuties like these? Zach and Linds were so excited for Halloween and talked for weeks of all their costume possibilities. Lindsey was tickled when her best "big" friend, Brielle Merkley, let her borrow her witch costume, and Zach was thrilled to get this snazzy Storm Trooper costume for his birthday.

Of course the big boys had their own unique ideas for Halloween: Alec went as the Candy Man (he decorated boxes with construction paper to look like his favorite Halloween candy, and wore them on his arms and legs, and belly!); Scott went as Road Kill (he taped bloody looking bandages to his body and put a tire track across his chest); and Bryson went as an obnoxious teenager (fortunately that didn't take much preparation!). We all had tons of fun, and of course filled our bags and bellies with tons of candy. YUM!

Adventures with Gran and Gramps

Granny and Grandpa!

We were thrilled this month to have my parents drop in for a visit. They are foreign missionaries for the International Mission Board and are currently living in St Vincent, a Caribbean island just off the coast of Venezuela. This makes for lots of amazing adventures, but makes family get-together's a bit challenge! We look forward every year to their visit, and so much love spending time together and just hanging out. The boys love birding and archery with Grandpa. Grandpa is an amazing story teller too! We all love listening to stories from his childhood and the intriguing and exciting stories from his imagination. Granny is the master of activities and always brings some kind of new craft for the kids to enjoy. She loves to sew and she and Lindsey enjoyed making beautiful clothes for all her dollies. Of course we enjoyed lots of shopping, caught up on some of this years best movies, and enjoyed the wonderful local restaurants in Cache Valley. We couldn't resist a fun trip down to Salt Lake, visiting with family and enjoying an afternoon at the Hogle Zoo. What fun! Bill and I even snuck away for a little get away! Yeah!

We loved every moment we had them and were sad to see them go. The perfect visit! Love you Granny and Grandpa! Thank you for all the wonderful memories!

Brace Face II

Oh my! It's happened again! Another Pierce kid has fallen victim to the Orthodontist! Ouch! Scott too has been a super trooper with his newly acquired metal mouth. He has been very patient with mom constantly nagging about brushing and flossing and his new limited treat menu. Bryson is happy to have a comrade, and quite pleased to have some one to share the brunt of the onlsaught of new nick names and jokes. The only one who hasn't done quite so well is or bank account...although he never seems to be too happy with us. Having 5 kids does make for a painful bank statement! Ouch!

22 months and counting, Scottie-bug!

Jack-o-lanterns!

Pumpkins

There are times when the fact that you have a big family really hits home. Like laundry and folding socks, cleaning up after breakfast, and packing for a trip. Who would have thought that a trip to Macey's to pick up some pumpkins would drive that obvious fact home again! The kids all had a splendid time climbing the pumpkin pile in search of the perfect pumpkin. We each found our desired jack-o-lantern-to-be, and headed inside to the check outs. Now pushing a basket through the grocery store is like second nature to mom. Something we can do on auto pilot, even with our eyes closed. But not today! Holy smokes there were a lot of pumpkins in the basket! If we didn't live in Utah, I may have even been a bit embarrassed! And boy was it heavy! So heavy, I had to give Bill the wheel.
Well, $20 and 120lbs of pumpkins later we arrived home to enjoy our jack-o-lantern carve-a-rama. This is such fun now that the big boys can carve their own pumpkins. I love watching their creative process and love their end masterpieces. Each one was uniquely their own. We ooo'd and ahhh'd and laughed while our ideas took shape. We munched on pumpkin spice donuts and sipped hot apple cider. What fun! This is one of our most favorite family nights of the year. Who knew squash carving could be such a fun and binding memory?

Rock and Roll

Ah Zach! He's at it again! My daily chuckle was delivered this morning while I was brushing Lindey's hair, getting her ready for our day. Lindsey sits on the sink while I brush and blow dry, and Zach continually tries to climb up too, despite my constant redirecting. While he very busily tried to climb this morning, this was our conversation:

Zach: "I love my cousins. Little Joe......Andwew (actually spelled ANDREW, but Zach pronounces his R's as W's. We practice, but all it comes out as is "rrr-wabit! rrr-wainbow! rrr-wain storm!" See! I'm already laughing!)......and Baby Bun (this too is actually BEN but we're working on those short E sounds too!). They are so FUN! They WOK!"

Lindsey: "They WOK Mom!"

Mom: (trying to focus on gettin Lindsey's hair just right, despite all the wiggling).....
"Yup we can all walk. And run and hop."

Zach: (looking at me like I've lost my marbles) "Not wok mom, WOK!"

Mom: "Ok, .....walk??"

Zach: "No Mom. WOK! Like WOK and Roll! Our cousins totally WOK!"

Lindsey: (very seriously) "They WOK mom."

Mom: giggle giggle

Rock on little man, rock on!

Brace Face

Being the oldest is so awesome! Especially when you are the first kid in the fam to fall victim to the Orthodontist!
Bryson has been such a trooper this first week as an official metal mouth. Not only has he endured the discomfort of having braces, he has been a real sport with the onslaught of new nick names:)
Only 15 more months buddy!! You can do it!

Cutting it TOO Close!

(Alec and Bryson morning of report due date. Alec with Bobcat Report. Bryson with thumb drive holding precious saved report, ready for printer with printing capabilities!)

4th grade is sooo much fun!! Especially animal reports! Alec successfully completed his first research project earlier this month, but not with out our usual Pierce calamities! Keeping with tradition, Alec procrastinated the majority of his project until the night before its due date. And, as usual, we paid a high price for that procrastination! After a massive printer malfunction (resulting in the printer being crushed into tiny pieces, yikes!), Bryson stepped in to save the day, printing the paper at a neighbor's house 15 minutes before we left for school the next morning. After a flurry of flying construction paper and glue, this was the end product. Whew! The best part came the following week at parent-teacher-conferences, when Alec's teacher praised Alec's report. She was impressed with his effort and the apparent time and preparation that went into his project. Needless to say, Bill and I found this HILARIOUS, and giggled through the rest of the conference. Now Alec's poor teacher has hard proof that we really are a bunch of crazies! Being a parent is such fun!!

Little Lovies

Don't you just want to eat them up? These are the moments we mothers live for. Sweet, tender moments when all is right in the world. I almost didn't want to take the picture in fear it would break the spell.

With our busy life it can be hard to enjoy the quiet moments of life, and I am grateful for such sweet kids who help remind me what's most important. To slow down and enjoy each moment of our day. To look for beauty in the little things. To give a little love, and enjoy a little snuggle.

Love you Zach and Linds, thank you for helping me remember what life's all about!

Angels Among Us

My heart is very full of gratitude this week for the amazing people that bless my life! There are so many of you that come to mind, but one in particular that I will single out today. I had planned a sabotaged picture taking on Sunday of this particular friend on my door step doing what she does best: making people feel special. We had a tip earlier in the day that she may be stopping by to share with us Bill's most favorite treat, Oatmeal Cake, a treat she makes so amazingly tasty it makes your head swim. But alas, she was doing what she does best, again, and devoting her time and talents to others. So although she didn't have a chance to have her picture taken, treat in hand, the treats never the less found their way to our desirous bellies.

Emily Merkley has become a much cherished friend to our family. She and Chris are some of the most talented, thoughtful, and fun people we know. They have wound their way into our hearts and lives with countless acts of kindness and friendship. From helping frame our basement, to blog tutoring, recipe sharing, and, most notably, enduring 2 years of carpool with our crazy boys, they have done it all! We share a great love of cheese with Chis and Emily, and are forever in debt for the amazing meals they have shared with us.

So, Emily, I have taken the quote on your blog to heart. "Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone". Thank you for your friendship and your countless acts of kindness. Thank you for sharing your talents with those around you (especially your fabulous cooking!). Thank you for enduring 2 years of picking our boys up from school, and always showing them patience and kindness. Thank you for your great example of service and love. And thank you for blessing our lives with yours. You're the best there is!

BFF

We might have left New York, but New York keeps finding it's way back into our lives! We were thrilled last week to have our dear friends Eric, Jen and Addison Truscott drop in for a visit. Former Rochesterians themselves (they recently moved to southern Cal), we had a most wonderful evening together catching up and talking about the "good ole days". Jen and Eric have always held a very special place in our family's hearts. They, along with the Grimshaw's and Hancey's, became our surrogate family when we moved so far away from home. They are the very best kind of friends to have, close at heart no matter time or distance!

Cowboy Up!

Howdy Y'all! As many of you know, Zach LOVES to be a cowboy. And who could resist getting a pic of this fabulous ensemble? From his shorts (his wranglers were in the wash!) to the stripy socks and Merrel mocs (his cowboy boots are too small, yikes!), this is one stylin' dude!
YeeHaw Cowboy!

AAK!

Ok, maybe it's not the end of the world, but for every mother of an only daughter, a daughter with four big brothers, it's pretty darn close! To my utter horror Lindsey has decided that she wants to be a barber. Not a stylist, but a barber. While I was busily cutting the boys hair Monday night, she decided that she too wanted to be in on the fun. The most horrific part was the discovery of her previous days ponytail floating in the bath water on Tuesday morning. AAK! Can you say bawling mom in the bathroom? Zach kept trying to explain that "hair grows mom." But I was inconsolable. So, my beautiful little girl, whose hair was just starting to look cute and girly, has buzz-cut short hair from her left temple down to her ear. Sniff, sniff. Hair does grow back, right?

Boys Backpacking Trip Photos

Boys Backpacking Trip

Holy smokes! Not only a post, but a post with a slide show! Hold on to your seats folks, I'm hooked!

This hike was one of the highlights of our summer. The big boys (Bill, Bryson, Scott and Alec) and Papa (Bill's dad), had quite an adventure last month hiking the Ruby Crest Trail; a 42 mile hike in the Ruby Mountains near Elko, Nevada. Bill and Papa spent most of the summer planning and preparing for this monumental trek and they pulled it off with out a hitch! Typically a four day hike, they accomplished it in just three days, enduring a 20 mile day on their last day. The boys had an amazing experience, here's what they had to say about it:

Bryson: "It was hard and long. The ground was hard, the trial was hard, the food was hard. But it was so cool! I love pain!"

Scott: "It was hard but really cool. Powerbars stink, but Cliff bars rule! Blueberry is the best! Bryson cried."

Bryson: "I did not cry. I whimpered. I love pain."

Alec: "It was hard but really fun. When can we get some more beef jerky?"

Mom: "What was your favorite part?"

Boys: "Eating 5 pizzas when we got back to Pa's!"

Mom: "Would you do it again?"

Boys (with much enthusiasm): "OH YEAH!"

600 Years!

Can you say cheese? This sweet boy always has a way of making me smile. And the blue on his teeth? Not a lack of dental hygiene, but a delicious blue raspberry sucker. But this little blue-toothed cutie is posted here not for his sucker loving ability but for the wonderfully fun conversations he engages me in daily. Here's the one he enlightened me with just before I grabbed the camera:

Zach: "Mom, can we paint today?"

Mom (busily doing our morning clean up, picture broom in hand, cereal stuck to the bottom of my feet...) : "Painting is fun, maybe we can paint after morning clean up."

Zach: "But we haven't painted in 600 years!"

Mom: "Wow. That's amazing!"

Zach: "That's not amazing mom, that's SAD!"

Mom: (Laughing so hard my eyes are watering.)

Zach: "Crying won't work this time mom."

Mom: (Has it ever? More giggles.)

Thanks Zach!xoxoxoxoxo

First Day of School

Yes, it's that time of year again! Back to school, back to books, back to teachers dirty looks...wasn't that how that silly rhyme went? The boys headed back to school last month on August 20. The transition went smoothly, almost too smoothly, until Bill and I realized that we have been doing this for 9 years now! Old farts, eh? Well, with two kids in middle school and a soon-to-be teenager under our roof, we so feel like old farts!

Of course the kids look most forward to the first day of school because of our traditional back to school dinner out. A pretty hard bill to swallow these days now that Bryson and Scott refuse to order off the kiddie menu. What happened to chicken fingers and fries, and character cups with chocolate milk? Now its appetizers and 1/2 lb burgers, Dr Pepper, and "whats on the dessert menu?" Don't think so pal. Besides, who needs dessert when mom spent all afternoon making this nifty pencil cake? Of course it was a big hit, and a wonderful way to end our first day back to the ole ball and chain of school. The boys love their school and insisted on putting "TECS" in chocolate chips to make it complete. YUM! A perfect ending to a great day.

Blogger Beginner...

Yipee! I've finally done it! With some trial and error (why do I have to be such a slow learner?) and a lot of encouragement from good friends, our first post has finally made it to our family blog. Getting personal with our computer always requires a bit of courage on my part. I have a pretty low computer self esteem, what with a computer jock for a hubby and myself barely being able to use Word (let alone Excel or PowerPoint!) and the fact that I need a refresher course every time the camera card needs uploading, this family blog is a huge accomplishment for me! And I am so excited! If you haven't already figured this out by my punctuation, this is a high close to bargain shopping. So...all you bloggers, I need all the help you can send my way! I've got to figure out what happened to my spiffy background (it disappeared! AHK!), how to get our pics in our posts, and how to get all that cool family info listed. It's good thing Bill and the big boys are gone all week, I need all the time I can muster! What an adventure!