A few of my favorite things - May

Seeing as how it's June...it's past time for my favorite things of May.  May was a little bit of a blur.  Lots of lasts and lots of new beginnings.  As much as I'd love to keep my kids little, it really is a joy seeing who they are becoming.  Even after almost 15 years, I'm still discovering things about my kids.  And if I slow down and pay attention, I might even discover a few new things about myself....and I'm not even talking about bulges, wrinkles or my vision.  So, with no further ado, here are my top five things from May. 

#5 - Mother's Day (and my new garden)
The best thing about Mother's Day?  Being a mom!  I so love being a mom, it's really all I ever wanted to be!  So celebrating being a mom is a treat.  My family took me to Charleston's for lunch, which is always a favorite.  And as I mentioned in an earlier post, we put in a raised bed vegetable garden.  Having a garden takes me back to my dad (even though it's no Father's Day).  My dad is an old farm kid.  You can take the kid off the farm, but can never take the farm out of the kid.  And all my life my dad has been growing vegetables in a big garden each year.  I honestly didn't really appreciate it as a kid.  But I do remember helping Dad water and pull weeds.  He is always at his most peaceful when he's digging in the dirt.  And now my kids are enjoying watching our first garden grow.  Clara just loves to go to Grandpa's and explore the garden with my dad.  I love that!!!  Those days of roaming around my grandparents farm when I was a kid are some of my favorite memories.  So now we have a garden....and even chickens next door.  The chicken story is for another day. 

#4 - Painting my art out

I've always said, I'm creative, but not artistic.  In the back of my brain, I think a little artistic bent might have been squelched as a kid.  I do vaguely remember sitting and sketching in a sketch pad when I was in middle school.  But that might just have been a brooding teenager thing.  ANYWAY...I digress.  So, my friend Kristen invited me to go to Paint Your Art Out for a girl's night out of painting.  We all painted a poppy, and I have to admit, I really enjoyed it!  It was so fun!  Of course, spending time with friends, sipping a glass of wine and laughing a lot certainly made it even more fun.  But the whole being artistic thing (which is certainly up for debate) was a nice departure from my normal life.

#3 - Clara's dance recital
My mom put my brother and I in dance class one year.  We were probably 4 and 5.  I was a scrawny little girlie girl and my brother was 200% boy.  So, the pictures of us in our dance costumes, with our cat ears and tails.....it makes me laugh out loud even now!  In fact, now I'm going to have to go find that picture and get Joe to scan it in for me because it is hilarious!!!  And my brother's not on the computer, so he can't kill me for posting it.  Again, I digress!  So, my baby girl is taking ballet.  And she LOVES it, LOVES it, LOVES it.  She is a child who takes direction well and loves to learn, so she really does what the teacher asks her to do.  So when the teacher obviously told the kids to "smile, smile, smile while you're on stage" she took that literally.  During her dance Harrison leaned over and said "her face is going to hurt from that huge smile".  I admit, I thought she might be a little timid on stage, she's fairly quiet at school.  But....she LOVES the stage!  Go figure!  After the recital I said "Clara, I think you kind of like being on stage" and she said "Like it?  I love it!" 

#2 - 8th Grade Dance
As the 8th graders prepared to graduate, they had their big dance at the school.  I went to chaperone.  I have to admit, it was really fun.  Not only watching the kids, but watching the principals and some of the teachers have a great time with the kids.  And watching 13 and 14 year olds at a dance....well, there's lot of things to make you smile (and a couple things that scare the foo out of you).  I was standing by a table that had several boys standing or sitting around it.  All of a sudden the music turned slow and a 6-foot boy comes running (literally) across the room frantically shouting "Sit down! Sit down!  It's a slow dance!  Everyone sit down!"  I was laughing so hard I almost cried.  The girls all looked so grown up and beautiful, and the boys cleaned up pretty good too.  And what dance would be complete without several 8th graders sucking helium out of the balloons at the end and entertaining themselves with their helium voices.  Some things never change!  After the dance, about fifty kids went to Hideaway Pizza for dinner and dessert.  It was fun watching from the room next door as they toasted themselves with their Dr. Peppers and enjoyed their friendships.  This is such a great class of kids!

                              Yep....they are headed to high school....class of 2015!

                                                   Harrison & Rhett.....nice! 

                                                      Our little ballerina!

                                      Me and my boy, before the 8th grade dance.

                                       Mason and Harrison....two peas in a pod! 

                                           Harrison and his date to the dance. 

                Just some of the 50 kids who went to Hideaway after the dance. 

                         Braden and Harrison heading off to the last day of 8th grade. 

              Harrison and Lawson....if they look like they could get in trouble...well, maybe!

                                  Mrs. Graham loved Harrison this year!!! 

                                                 Post graduation party time! 

                                     Officially parents of a freshman and kindergartener! 

#1 - Graduation Days
Clara graduated from Sonshine School.  It's an end of an era, no more Mother's Day Out for the Pierce family.  She was so cute in her graduation cap and gown.  It's a little sad to say good-bye to this season.  But it is so fun watching who she is becoming as she grows. 

Then it happened....Harrison graduated from 8th grade.  I'm not sure how that happened!  Three years ago he turned 12 and started 6th grade.  He wasn't even 5 feet tall.  He had a little boy voice.  He was a boy!!!  Now...he's 5'10", he has a "manly" voice, armpit hair, a size 12 shoe, and he's becoming a young man.  Three years people, just three years!  Where does the time go? He got dressed for graduation, putting on a tie and the whole works.  Then his buddy Braden came by to walk to school with him (which they have done everyday for the last 3 years....waaaaah!  That's over too!).  And I stood there taking a picture of these two who have been friends since they were babies.  Literally!  Julie and I met when we were pregnant.  They started spending the night together when they were still in diapers.  And I started thinking about all the friends Harrison has from school.  What a blessing!  Honestly, he has such great friends, both boys and girls.  Thanks to Harrison's school friends I have made my very dearest friends in the whole world.  Merlene and I met when we became homeroom moms together in first grade.  Christine and I met because Lawson and Harrison became buddies at school in 1st grade.  Robin and I met in 2nd grade, when Rhett and Harrison were in class together.  Christi and I met when the boys were in mother's day out when they were 4.  Kristen and I met when we were pregnant and Harrison and Jenna hung out when they were babies.  Hmmmm....I'm kind of wondering if I'd have any friends at all if I didn't have kids.  Weird!  Anyway...I'm thankful that Harrison has such great friends and I'm doubly blessed by the friendships with their moms.  And now we are all headed to high school together!  Watch out world, here they come!  And you never know, Harrison might just make the Craig's List.  (Hee!  Hee!  That's one of my favorite Harrison stories.  One night he told us he didn't know if he would be able to make national merit scholar, but he was pretty sure he could make the Craig's List.  We laughed so hard!)

Mother's Day 2011

This week, Clara will "graduate" from Sonshine School.  When the kids graduate each one of them sings a verse to the song "when I grow up, I want to be, I want to be a ...."  Clara's teacher is so patient, because each week most of the kids change what they want to be when they grow up.  But her teacher tells me that everytime, no fail, Clara sings "I want to be a mommy".  It is so sweet, she honestly dreams of that, talks about it, never talks about being a nurse or a teacher or a ballerina....always a mommy. 

This past weekend was Mother's Day and I was thinking about Clara's song.  I realized, that being a mommy was really all I dreamed about when I was growing up too.  I just wanted to be a mommy.  I figured I'd go to college and become a teacher, because that's what my mom had done.  But I never dreamed of teaching a class, I didn't play school, and I certainly never thought about being a nurse.  I dreamed of being a mommy.  Well, I also dreamed of having long hair...but that's another story.
 
I still remember when Harrison was born.  It was like there was no one else in the room except Joe, Harrison and I.  I could not hold that sweet baby close enough.  I could look into his little eyes for hours.  I remember my mom telling me we would spoil him, he didn't need to be held so much.  It was everything I dreamed it would be and a million times more!  And although I'd been a Christian for many years when Harrison was born, I don't think I really got how God loves me until I held Harrison.  I never really got how He would love me no matter what I did, no matter how I looked, no matter where I went.  I became a mommy, and God's love became so real to me. 

Ten years later, we flew to China to adopt our baby girl.  I was adopted as a newborn.  Adoption seemed natural to me. Yet, I'll be honest, the enemy kept telling me I could not possibly love this child like I loved Harrison.  I had a little fear hidden in my heart as we waited for our sweet girl.  More times than I can remember, I had to remind myself to "take every thought captive" and tell the enemy to "get behind me, in Jesus name!"  Then it happened.  The woman in the Civil Affairs office said "Xin Xiao Huan?"  We came forward and they handed us our Clara.  She was a chubby ball of love!  She didn't cry.  She didn't whimper.  She didn't make a sound.  She intently checked us all out.  We were in love.  She was ours.  Again....the enemy didn't win!  I loved her like crazy!  I remember when we got off the plane in Oklahoma and all our friends were there.  Several of my friends just started crying and said "it is so amazing to see how she obviously loves you and knows you are her mommy".

                             My big old boy working hard on the new garden.

                               Our little helper, always glad to help!

                                  My Mother's Day garden with my favorite kids! 

                         My mom with Harrison & Clara on our last Christmas together. 

                                     Joe's mom with Harrison when he was a baby. 

This Mother's Day weekend, I was working with my little family as we put in a raised vegetable garden in our backyard.  My baby boy is 5'10" and working beside his dad hammering and shoveling.  And my baby girl, is playing in the dirt, always ready to help.  When I say to Clara "stop growing so fast, I want you to stay little" she always answers (very sadly) "I don't want to grow up, I'm trying to stay little for you Mommy".  On Sunday, we let four balloons go...two red, one gold lame, and one pink.  The gold lame is for my mom (who loved anything flashy) and the pink is for Joe's mom (who was very feminine).  And then Clara and I each let a red one go in honor of our birth moms, said a little prayer for them and thanked God for the blessings they are in our lives.  I love being a mommy!

                              Our Mother's Day balloon tradition.

Good-bye preschool!

Not sure how it happened so fast, but my baby girl has graduated from preschool!  No more Sonshine School for Clara.  It's a little sad!  Honestly, she was just a baby a minute ago.  Seems like just the other day we were wishing she would talk.  Now we can't seem to get a moment of silence.  Just a minute ago she was a chubby little ball of giggles, now she's a big girl (still full of giggles).  Five years ago right now, we hadn't even seen her little face.  We were on the edge of our seat each day, hoping for news of our girl in China.  Apparently, we blinked and now she will be going to kindergarten in the fall. 

Clara has absolutely LOVED her Sonshine School class this year.  She went Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after her public pre-k class.  The bonus, she got to ride a bus from one school to the other.  You know she's all about transportation!  At Sonshine School she was in the World Explorers class and each week they learned about a different country.  It is so fun to hear her talk about things she learned.  One day I had the news on and they showed Vietnam and Clara said "Vietnam, we visited there one day in Sonshine School."  She has visited places like "Bazil" and "The Nedderlands" this year.  It is always humorous to hear what she remembers about each country.  What a blessing Miss Kari (her Sonshine School teacher) was for Clara this year!  At Sonshine School graduation the kids got to dress up as whatever they want to be when they grow up....Clara wants to be a mommy.  (I love that!) 

                                   Our little ballerina before her recital!

                   Harrison was afriad her face was going to be sore from smiling so much!

                                     Miss L.E., Clara's precious ballet teacher!

                                Miss Kari, Clara's wonderful Sonshine School teacher!

                                 "When I grow up, I want to be a mommy!"

                                         The big preschool graduate! 
At least once or twice a week Harrison says "I cannot even imagine how boring we were before Clara".  Hmmmm!  Not sure how to take that!  But it is true, she is hilarious and lights up our days!  She is her own little person.  She is always cutting and coloring...there are a million little pieces of paper (each one colored individually) all over the kitchen floor.  She loves to fix her hair.  You just never know what she'll come up with next.  Maybe one pony tail, maybe five.  Possibly a collection of clips or bows throughout her hair.  She LOVES to be a helper.  Honestly, she is always willing to help with anything.  She's a girlie girl, but she can hang with the boys (which is her brother's dream girl).  When she plays basketball with her friend Stone, Clara is the dribbler and Stone is the shooter.  Clara never shoots, Stone never dribbles.  It's hilarious!  She loves to keep track of the rules....and she loves to tell on her brother if he breaks them.  You know when she's done something she's not supposed to, because she comes to you with both hands strategically placed over her behind.  She loves to be funny and the ultimate compliment from Clara is if she tells you you are funny.  Her latest thing that just cracks her up, is snorting.  She thinks it's so funny, she'll just break out a big old snort anywhere to get a laugh.  Harrison finds this a bit annoying.  I have to admit, I find it pretty hysterical.  This pretty little girlie girl with a big giant sized snort.  What a goofball!  I love her more than all the numbers!!!

                                      Clara and her Buddy at graduation!

Somewhere...

Somewhere in China, there is a woman I have never met who is dear to my heart.  In my mind, she is young and beautiful.  A part of her heart lives with me each day.  She is a woman who chose life.  In a country that demands that women make hard choices concerning their children....she chose life.  In October 2004 Harrison started asking for a baby sister.  In December 2004, we knew God was telling us to adopt.  Sometime in December 2004 our Clara was conceived somewhere in China.  We had no idea.  We prayed for her, named her Clara, and dreamed of her for months and months and months.  And in July 2006, when we finally saw her picture and knew who she was.  We realized that we had begun praying for her in December 2004...about the time she was conceived. 

As I lay in Clara's bed, saying night-night prayers with her tonight, I couldn't help thinking of that woman in China and saying an extra prayer for her.  Oh how I pray that she knows Jesus.  I pray that she has peace.  I pray that God gives her a knowing in her heart that her baby girl is loved.  That her sweet, chubby baby girl is the delight of someone's heart.  That her baby's smile lights up a room.  That her belly laugh is the sweetest sound in all the earth.  That she has a brother who says (on a regular basis) "can you even imagine our life without her?"  That she has a daddy who is wrapped around her little finger.  And a mommy whose heart sings every time she holds her girl.  Lord...please...give that woman's heart an extra hug, let her know what a blessing she has been to us. 

A Few of My Favorite Things - April

Time flies by and I don't get much time to just sit and write (or think for that matter).  But April was a fun month, full of wonderful things.  So, I thought I'd just compile my top five "favorite things" list for the month of April. 

#5 - Old Friends, new beginnings
As I wrote earlier, on April 2nd my sweet friend Mary got married.  It was one of my favorite days of the month...and of our long friendship.  There is nothing like rejoicing with friends in the blessings God has given them.  Last night we got to go spend a couple of hours and catch up on her first month of marriage.  God is good!

#4 - First paycheck
Watching your "baby" grow up comes with lots of joy, and a touch of sadness.  This month, Harrison got his first real job.  He will be mowing the entrance yard for our neighborhood this year.  He left one Saturday afternoon, pushing the mower down the street to get to the entrance.  He came back,hot and sweaty, but with a sense of accomplishment knowing he had done the job himself.  A few days ago we got to deposit that first paycheck into his savings account.  I'm really proud of him for working hard and saving that money, knowing he'll be driving in 15 months.  WHAT?  Driving?  In 15 months???  Excuse me while I go cry!!!

#3 - Royal Wedding Fun
I've admitted before, I love weddings.  And I was pretty darn excited to see the Royal Wedding.  And now that we're not Amish anymore (we actually have cable and a DVR) I didn't have to get up at 3:30a.m. to watch it.  We recorded it and invited our friends Lauren and Jenny over to watch.  We set a pretty little brunch table for the girls.  We borrowed some fabulous hats from a friend.  And we had ourselves a Royal Wedding watch party.  William and Kate did not disappoint.  It was beautiful.  Kate was beautiful and her dress was fabulous!  Clara and Lauren had quite a time dressing up and having brunch.  Watch out for these two friends, they are QUITE a pair!  : )

                                           Perfect Royal Wedding day attire!

                                     Lauren and Clara enjoying their Royal brunch!

                                Lady Jenny and Lady Lauren of Edmondtown. 

                                     Lady Clara and Lady Joy of Edmondtown.

                                  The future princesses of Edmondtown.

                                       Lady  Giggles and Duchess Silly Pants! 

#2 - Easter
I love Easter.  Twenty-nine years ago on Easter I became a Christian.  I was down in the Wichita Moutains with a bunch of jocks from OSU to see the Easter pageant.  One of the stars of the basketball team at OSU led me to the Lord.  It was the middle of the night, tons of people were camping out, hanging out, waiting for the outdoor play that started at sunrise.  I remember watching and listening to this group of athletes, they were on fire for God.  And I realized that I had always gone to church, but I did not have what they had.  So, right then and there, a big old basketball player knelt down with me and prayed.  It was the single greatest choice I ever made in my life. 

                                              I love them more than all the numbers!

                                      Indoor egg hunting this year....cold and rainy! 

                                                           The Easter booty! 

                                                      Ahhhhh....14....gotta love it! 


#1 - Watching my boy run!
And my #1 favorite thing in April was....(drumroll please)...watching my boy run!  My big old hairy-legged boy has got some wheels.  Boys always keep a running tab on who is the fastest.  All through grade school I heard about it.  I would hear "Bradley is the fastest, then Micah, then Lawson..."  Apparently they  raced at recess and those first children scorekeepers (aka Harrison) kept a running scorecard.  It would change from time to time.  But I always had a good idea who was fastest according to Harrison.  And honestly, all those boys...still on the fast list.  This spring...Harrison got to add his name to the list.  Actually, he had a great couple of cross country seasons.  But this spring in track he really rocked.  And last Saturday, I got to see him win the conference championship in the mile and get second in the 800meter.  It has been so fun seeing him work hard, think through the race mentally, and cross that finish line.  The kids he runs with are a great bunch of kids too, so that makes it even better.

                                                      And they're off! 

                                           One lap down, three to go. 

                                                Focused on the goal!

                                                  Heading to the finish line!

                                               Gold medal!  Great job Harrison!

I love weddings!

Okay...I admit it...I love weddings!  I have loved them since I was a little girl.  I was that little girl that followed the bride around at weddings.  I stared at her beautiful dress, her veil, the extra special hairdo.  I couldn't wait to see the cake, taste the mints (always made by the church ladies where I came from), and get a plate full of mixed nuts (because we never had those at home...I don't know why).  I never much liked punch, still don't.  But was always curious what color it would be.  For nearly 30 years I dreamed of wearing one of those "blusher veils" that is over your face until your beloved lifts it off to see his bride.  I laid that dream down when I saw someone catch theirs on fire while lighting the unity candle....no blusher veil for me after that. 

I dreamed of the day I would be married.  What I would wear.  What my bridesmaids would wear.  The music.  The flowers.  The groom (of course).  I hoped he would look as handsome as my dad had looked in his white dinner jacket at my parents wedding.  In fact, I dreamed of my groom and his groomsmen wearing those classic white dinner jackets too.  And....I planned what months were options for me to get married....based on the humidity level that would ruin my hairdo!  Like August...totally out!  Too hot, too humid, really bad hair month.  July, out for the same reasons.  Always loved April.  But April showers would bring bad hair days, so no April wedding for me.  In fact, when Joe and I got engaged, he actually suggested that we hurry and plan a wedding in August (before school started).  Silly boy!  He doesn't have bad hair days, how would he know?!  December is a much safer hair month.  Even snow makes for better hair days than rain does.  December it was! 

Next week is "The Royal Wedding".  Prince William marries Kate.  I admit, I'm a little giddy.  Honestly, it has been written in my teal "mom agenda" since the date was announced.  Go ahead, laugh!  I know you are!  I'll admit, I'm thinking of inviting a couple of my fellow nerdball friends over for tea and scones to watch the big event.  If you're a mocker, you will not be invited!  Just sayin!  I am aware that the cost of the event is ridiculous....that you could feed a small starving nation with the money...I get it!  And should they have opted to donate the money spent on this event to charity instead of all the pomp and circumstance, I would have totally applauded them and been delighted.  But since they didn't, I'm gonna watch.  And I'm going to enjoy it!

I dare say, it won't be nearly as special as the wedding I attended a few weeks ago.  My sweet friend Mary married her prince!  Mary is 10 years older than me.  She and I became roommates about 27 years ago.  We became friends about 26 years ago.  : )  We have walked through a lot together over the years.  When I walked in to see Mary before the wedding, I started crying.  There has never been a more beautiful bride!  I'm not kidding, she was spectacular!  It was the sweetest blessing to see my dear friend, who has raised her two wonderful kids alone, walk down the aisle to meet the man God had surprised her with.  She wasn't looking.  She wasn't even dreaming she would get married.  And God just surprised her at the sweetest time.  It was one of my all-time favorite weddings, because God was so evident in bringing she and Tom together.   I'll have to admit I hate these darn almost 50 year old hormones that make me cry more now...but I still love weddings!

                           My beautiful friend Mary and her Prince Charming, Tom

                                     It made my heart happy to see Mary so happy!

                                   The beautiful bride and her beautiful daughter. 

                                                 So fun to celebrate this time together!!!

Latest Claraisms

When we were waiting to adopt Clara we thought of her all the time.  But I have to say, we never in a million years imagined that she would be so hilarious!  The child is funny!  She makes us smile and laugh all the time.  Harrison was a funny kid too.  He had a great sense of timing and once he got you laughing, he'd do just about anything to keep you laughing.  Harrison is the first child in just about every possible way.  He is cerebral, thinks things through, is cautious, yet funny and enjoys trying new things (with caution of course).  Now, having a little leftie, artistic, creative thinker is a whole new game!  After a week together on spring break I think Joe has a whole new appreciation for my skills at deciphering her Claraisms.  Here are just a few of her latest Claraisms.   - Our last night in Florida Joe ran and got us dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  Clara asked, "where is this food from?"  So I told her, "Daddy got it at Ruby Tuesdays."  So she asks, "do they have art there?"  Looking confused, I ask, "art?  It's a restaurant."  Matter of factly, she says, "I know, do they have art at Ruby Tuesdays?"  So, Joe jumps in here, "Clara, Ruby Tuesdays is a restaurant where I got this food."  Clara, "so, did they have art there?"  Again, I tell her, "Honey, it's a restaurant, they don't have art there."  And she kindly informs me "well, at Freddie's in Edmond sometime they have art."  And that's the end of the conversation (in her mind).  Honestly, by this point Joe is scratching his head and looking at me like "do we need to get her tested?"  Then it hits me....at Freddie's (in Edmond) they do art on Tuesdays....once we went to Freddie's on a Tuesday night and they were doing little art projects.  Get it...Ruby Tuesdays...art at Freddie's on Tuesdays...both have food AND art.  Really, I don't know why I didn't get that on the first go around!   - The other night Clara told me, "I loved dancing with Chick and Dale at Disney World.  I love Chick and Dale...and the other one...I think his name is Pippa."  Really?  Pippa?  And honestly, I don't think there is another one....just "Chick" and Dale.   - Going to the drop off line at school the other day she told me, "if it's a green flag, we are outside.  If it's a red flag, we are inside.  You fink about that...in your mind...if you don't mind."  I don't mind.  I'll fink about it.   - An oldie, but a goodie....last summer we were swimming with some friends, both their little girls are Chinese also.  All of a sudden Clara announces loudly "Hola!  We're Chinese!"  I think one lady in the pool blew water out her nose she was laughing so hard.   - Yesterday in the car Clara told Harrison, "you are making me so frustrating".  Ahhhh, I understand that one!  What a blessing this little bundle of sunshine is!