Life Is What Happens When You're Busy Making Other Plans

I wish I could say that I've been busy changing the world and curing cancer over the last couple of months, but I can't.  I've just been busy with life.... and I have neglected my blog.  Sorry Terri!  Blogging, I have decided, is a lot like dieting.  Sometimes, you just have to face the music, get on the scale and start from where you are.  So with that in mind, here is the overview of what we have been up to for the last little while.

William.... the littlest Pierce.  He is getting so big.  He turned one in January and in all honesty, this is where I got hung up.  Somehow, all of the pictures of his first birthday got moved to some weirdo directory on my computer.  Anyway, he is such a cutie pie.  We had a farm themed birthday party for the little guy and did "breakfast for dinner" for all of our family.

Here's a view of the awesome cupcakes that we made for the party.  They looked a lot awesomer online, but you know, I'm not exactly world renowned for my baking skills.

Or my cake decorating skills.  Obviously, the black icing got a little carried away 

and this little pig has a runny snout.  Oh well, it tasted fine.

Here are all of the Homer cousins posing with the cake!

Here's a great picture of my little man with my mom.  

He is such a happy baby and he LOVES both his grandmas soooo much.

Like the haircut?  Yeah, me neither.  This little bounder cut his own hair literally 10 minutes before I was taking him for his 1-year-old pictures.  He was in the bathtub, grabbed my razor, and took out a patch of hair two inches up his forehead.  Unfortunately, this was the best fix we could manage.  Luckily, as I write this, it has almost grown back.  Ugghhhh.  I wish I could post the pictures that we took, but unfortunately, those are the ones that are giving me fits.  They're on my Facebook page so that's just going to have to be good enough for now.

Will is now walking, if not running, nearly everywhere he goes.  When he's out the door, he makes a beeline for the street, which is going to make for a hard summer.  Recently, he has begun to take notice of the TV.  While TV is a battle I am constantly fighting with my older kids, I am thrilled that Will likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse enough to clap and sing along, and most importantly, let me have 20 minutes to take a shower or load the dishwasher without "help."

Bottom line with this boy is that he's wonderful.  I am so happy he is in our family.

Jack, or Jacko as he likes to be called.  This boy is still doing his best to trudge through kindergarten.  He's really looking forward to first grade because he gets THREE recesses and gets to have lunch at school.  Jack has become hooked on video games this winter, so it's so nice that the weather here is finally starting to get nice and we can spend some time outside.  Jack is so excited to be able to ride his bike to school again and play on the swingset outside.

Jack also had a birthday in January.  I wish I had a better picture, but Jack's birthday fell on Day 2 of my pre-op surgery liquid diet, so needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled to be taking pictures of birthday cake.  We also had a friend party for Jack this year that was dinosaur themed and a good time was had by all.  I was so busy trying to keep 12 6-year-olds entertained that I neglected to get any pictures, but we played games, decorated cookies, ate dinner and watched a movie.  The kids were running carefree through the house when their parents came to pick them up, so I guess it can be considered a success.

Sweet Little Allie -- I'm telling you, this kid is awesome.  She has finally started to make the connection between success in school and finishing her homework.  I am so proud of her that for the last several weeks, we have received an "Allie has no missing work" email instead of the horrendously long lists we were receiving at the first of the year.  Allie made it through the science fair and her project on photosynthesis.  She has read two really big books so far this year; The Invention of Hugo Cabret and the first Harry Potter book.  Her anxiety is getting better, her wit is razor sharp and we are even hopeful that she may start to grow soon.... she is feeling a little left out by her sisters recent growth spurt.  Allie is LOVING sewing and made her Easter dress this year.  She is also really enjoying starting to cook more. She is always eager to help and is still so great with Will that it just makes my heart sing.

Erin.  Where has the time gone?  I have less than a month until this little girl turns 12.  She is growing up so fast.  As mentioned, she has grown almost  a foot since school started.  Her feet are nearly as big as mine and when we went looking for Easter shoes last week, the best pair we could find were 3-inch heels.  Yikes!  In January, Erin got braces.  She was so excited and she has actually done really well to take care of her teeth.

Erin has finished registering for Junior High next year and is very excited to be able to take French and Honors Science.  She is looking forward to new friends and is excited to have a social life.  She has started wanting to "hang out" with her friends and wants to know if I'll "drop them off" at a movie or the mall, or whatever.  Shocking to me, she has decided to run for 7th grade class officer.  I think she would be great, but I am so nervous for her.

Erin is also busy with her sewing.  She made her Easter dress this year (which I will post about next in the Easter edition of the blog) and she also made her dress for the 6th grade Valentine dance.  This kid is awesome.

She has also been working hard in school and trying her best.  I am happy to report that her essay for the 6th grade DARE program is one of three finalists.... way to go Erin.

Bek.... well, obviously, life has been different for me over the course of the last couple of months.  I will also be posting today on my diet progress; so tune in later if you're interested in that.

After the end of last year that was decidedly "no bueno," things have really started to look up.  I have begun to quilt more, and although I have a long way to go before I would consider myself a "real quilter," it has given me something new to focus my energy on.

I've got a couple more in the works and hope to have pictures of those soon.

In February, we celebrated Valentine's Day with our 2nd Annual Pierce Family Valentine Dinner.  It was soup.... because I was still on liquids, but it made the day awesome.  The kids got their new Valentine jammies, aren't they cute?

And the girls got Valentine's flowers from Grandpa.  What a guy!

It was so much fun to celebrate with the ones I love this year for Valentine's Day.

The last month or so has also had lots of opportunities for fun times with friends.  I went to the Opening Night Gala of the new City Creek Center and shopped until I dropped.  I went to H & M for the first time, bought stuff at Sephora and reveled in the fact that Salt Lake City again has a Disney store.  It was a fun night with my friends Amy & Michelle.  

Another fun thing in March was the midnight showing of the Hunger Games.  I loved the book series, so I was thrilled to be able to see it with friends on the night it came out.  However, I have to say that returning home at 3 am really made me feel my age.  I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon.

I am really enjoying the nicer weather and have been working in the yard like a mad woman.  Our backyard is barely recognizable compared to what it was a year ago.  In a few weeks when the garden is planted an our water feature is in, watch for a blog update.

Matt, the MAN!  He has been spending more time at home lately and I am LOVING it!  I really do like the fact that he gets to travel for his job, but I have loved having him home hanging out with us.  He is working hard and has finished more things off the "honey-do" list in the last week than he has in the last year.  He is training for his first full marathon on May 19th, and is spending his Saturdays on long runs between here and Farmington Canyon.  We have fired up the grill a time or two already this year and Matt has been hard at work with me in the yard.  I am so grateful to have a man like him who pays attention to the details of our lives.... I am much more of a broad stroke kind of girl.  He is always trying to make life better for all of us.

We have been dating.... doing some really fun stuff.  We have been reading books together, attending concerts, going out to dinner, exercising together and doing family history.  I know, we sound like we're 70, but it has really been fun to make time to do things together this year.  We are planning some fun vacations for the summer and I'm sure that it'll be an adventure.

Well that, as they say, is the rest of the story.  I'm sure there are things that I have forgotten and will be reminded of as the day goes on, but life is good.  We are busy trying to figure out our new normal with four kids, a mom that needs to pay attention to herself and a dad that travels.  Not to mention the chickens and the dog.  We love our families and love the time we get to spend with them.  We are loving springtime in Utah and looking forward to being outdoors more and making the most of this life that is ours!