Swimming Lessons, Take 2

Pierce and Henry started semi-private swimming lessons at the Y this week! Us moms were worried because in the past they have both been pretty scared of the water, but have a super sweet teacher and did just what she asked!

Surprisingly, Pierce voluntered to go first and put his face in the water a lot. I'll be interested to see how excited he stays about his lessons when she demands more!

We rewarded them with a little free swim time with life jackets on, this was by far their favorite thing about their first lesson!

Baseball!

On Sunday afternoon, the boys headed to Birmingham Southern to watch our friend, Brandon, play. Baseball is M's favorite sport and loves any excuse to go to a game!

However, Pierce took a little more time to make up his mind to go but reported back to me that it was super fun! He even took his glove incase a ball came his way and got thirsty enough to try a sprite while he was there. If you know my child, you know he must have been desperate!!

Out of the Bubble!

Our new gym has a pool and Pierce has kept his eye on it all winter wanting to know when we could swim. Last week, they took the bubble off of the pool and we treated ourselves to our first official pool visit Sunday afternoon!

Ironically, since they took the bubble off the weather has been cooler. I do think that they have kept the pool heated some but I'm not sure that the splash pad was. Pierce loved it all! He especially loved "swimming" with the vest on. I enjoyed sitting on the side and throwing toys in while he swam for them and played with some other kids. I'm not sure how happy he will be when swimming lessons start next week and he isn't allowed to wear the vest though!!

Happy Birthday, Izzy!

On Saturday, Pierce helped his classmate, Izzy, celebrate her 4th birthday. It was a princess themed party, which the boys were not happy about when they saw two real princess! However, they enjoyed lots of snacks, running, sliding, face painting, and cake! How cute is the birthday girl?!?!

Pierce thought it was fun to see so many friends outside of school and loved helping Izzy celebrate her big day!!

Easter 2012

We had another blessed Easter this year, despite the fact that we weren't able to see either of our families. The day started early, around 6:00, as Pierce came into our room excited to see what the Easter Bunny had brought! The EB knew we were desperate for some warm weather pj's (hence the t-shirt my child is wearing!) since he brought multiple pairs. Along with candy, sidewalk chalk, books, and a few small toys.  Pierce insisted on putting on his muscle shirt pj's and showing us his super big muscles!!

My favorite part of the day was probably heading to church, along with the annual tradition of putting a flower on the cross.  As fun as the Easter Bunny tradition is, we talked more this year about the true meaning of Easter and why we celebrate it.  Not only at Easter, but now throughout the year, Pierce make so many references to the Bible and church.  I'm glad to know that some of it is starting to sink in.

This Easter was also a milestone for no more peter-pan collars, smocking, and more big boy clothes!  I mean, he's almost 4 and 1/2 years old...I've got to suck it up that my baby is growing up.  It just makes me sad!!

Our friends, The Baker's, came over to have Easter lunch with us.  It was lots of fun!  The kids were very good and thought they were big eating in the kitchen by themselves.  Kathryn and her mommy made a yummy bunny shaped cake, and we had a final egg hunt for the kids.  Kathryn found the golden egg!!

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him  shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

Eggs-tra Fun!

I realized that I forgot to post about two other fun things before Easter. One was the 3rd annual egg hunt at Kate and Ward's House! Kate and Pierce have been in the same class since babies and she and her big brother host a fun egg hunt for friends each year. The most fun part is that all of the eggs are stuffed!

It was an afternoon full of egg hunting fun, snacks, playing with friends, and trying out the tree swing!  Pierce only lasted about a half a push and about fell off, but other friends loved it and had the balancing down pat!

I also forgot about seeing the Easter Bunny!  We were at the mall recently and Pierce spotted the EB while we went to get lunch.  He BEGGED to go to see him and did not forget upon our departure that he had not seen him.  I promised him we could since he was very good during our 2 hour visit to run errands (and I thought he might forget).  Surprisingly, there was not a line at all...after I paid, I understood why!  Wow.  Pierce jumped right in his lap, talked to him for a while, and went back to say hi again before we left!

Ready for the Bunny!

Basket out...check, bunny food out...check! Pierce made sure everything was covered before going to bed last night to get ready for the Easter Bunny to come visit. This included carrots, milk, and even part of a nutty buddy bar! He thought the EB would like chocolate, I think he was right!!

Missions!

During Mission Friends last week at church,Pierce's class talked about Annie Armstrong and made this offering bank. He hit several people up in the hall that night to give him money and has been scouring the house for coins this week so he would have some money to turn in.

Last night, he said he needed to go see the neighbors and ask Mrs. Terri for some money. We headed over and here is what he said, "Do you have some money for Annie Armstrong?" Mrs. Terri and her husband are both in ministry so I knew they would understand and wouldn't think it was a strange request. She excitingly grabbed her wallet and dumped out tons of coins. His face lit up as they sat on the floor and put them in. Today, he found a quarter at home and said, "I need to take this to Mrs. Terri so she will have some money!"  What a sweet boy, he thought she gave us everything she had since she gave us all her coins!

Working the Race!

Yesterday was the annual High Country 5K Race (I think the 10th year). M was in charge of setting up all of the volunteers/sentrys around the course. I volunteered again this year to help since I can't run and my little helper assisted. Nothing like a chocolate pop-tart for breakfast to get your day started off right while we waited for the race to start!

While at our post, we saw about 5 cops on motorcycles, which Pierce thought was super cool. Especially, when they stopped to talk to him! He stood with me on the street, held the sign the entire time, told the runners which way to go on our corner, and cheered for them. His favorite runners were at the very end of the race when buddies, Maury, Carter, and Mr. Owen, ran from their post (one down) to ours to meet us!

Church Egg Hunt

Last Sunday was our annual church egg hunt! The weather could not have been more fantastic, fun included hunting eggs, riding the train, getting balloon animals made (or in our case a sword), yummy snacks, face painting & tattoos (which Pierce was not interested in).

These little angels are precious, not the best picture but they are adorable.

Apparently, we should have worked on our egg hunting skills instead of heading out cold turkey.  I think Pierce only picked up two eggs, he would find one and open it, talk about it for a while, then decide to look for another one.  Luckily, his friend, Sarah Elizabeth, shared a few of hers!

These three boys have gone to church together since they were born.  The train wasn't super busy so they rode it multiple times together and discussed who knows what while they were on it!

Happy 4th Birthday, Carter!!!

Pierce helped his best buddy, Carter, celebrate his 4th birthday last weekend at his sports themed party! It was a cute party with lots of running around involved, great for boys!!  There were lots of fun games attempted, but with short attention spans, only a few were somewhat successful.

I forgot to change the lens out on my camera and only got a few of the kids for the group shot...oops! 
As always, the cupcakes were a hit.  Pierce said, "Mom, I've got icing up my nose", and he was right.  I think that was a first!

Happy Birthday, Carter!!! I can't believe you are four years old now. Thanks for letting us celebrate your big day with you!

"Get My Fitness On"

We had our first "Mommy & Me" fitness class last week! It was lots of fun and actually a good workout for me. Pierce kept telling me he was going to "get his fitness on"!

I was a little sad that the kids were not as involved on this one. I heard that in the past, the kids actually did most of the workout that the moms did. They had extra helpers this time so the kids played lots of games, along with lots of running. Maybe next time they will workout more, I'm pretty sure my stomach will be sore from laughing if so!