Solar Eclipse

Aaron really wanted to take the kids out of school to see the Solar Eclipse on Monday but I never got any glasses for anyone. Then we got an email from Camilla's teacher saying that a mom in their class had gotten several extra pairs and so he went and surprised the kids and pulled them out of class to go and watch the eclipse. The kids were pretty excited about it and I am so glad they had this fun memory. 

They both told me it was really fun to watch. In Texas we only got about 70% coverage. 

They had plenty of friends out watching them. Thank goodness for the good moms out there who plan ahead and get glasses! :)

It is pretty amazing. 

A total eclipse of the heart. 💗

Trying to see the bright side

Some mornings you wake up and realize your refrigerator and freezer are not cooling your food. After spending the morning trying to figure out if you can repair it, it becomes time to remove all the food and try and salvage what you can. We moved all the freezer food to our deep freezer and put as much food from the fridge as we could fit in our cooler. This is when I noticed just how disgusting my fridge and freezer were, pretty gross. We were lucky enough to get a repair man in ASAP and diagnose the problem and get it fixed pretty quickly. So while he was repairing the fan in the freezer I was busy cleaning every part of my fridge. Now it is all clean, so that's the bright side. :) 

As far as appliances go we have been very lucky with not having a ton of repairs so hopefully this works and this baby gives us a few more years of life! 

I can't even

He is just the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. 

These two have such a special bond. She is absolutely his favorite. She takes care of him constantly and as soon as he can see her face when we pick her up from school he starts screaming. He would follow this girl anywhere and she will stop anything she is doing to take care of him. 

Just some Sunday morning shenanigans, waiting for 2:30 church to start. 

Rock 'n River Waterpark

So I made a list at the beginning of the summer of all  the places I wanted to take the kids to go swimming this Summer. Well the last one on my list was this small water park that opened last year in Round Rock. Carson's cub scout troop had an activity there this weekend and so our whole family decided to tag along. 

Carson with the cub scouts. It is a very nice group of boys. 

We did the water park in shifts. Aaron took the kids while I stayed home during Spencer's nap and then I came with Spencer, we over lapped for only an hour because the girls were totally done and then I stayed with Carson. Oh man it was so hot! But the kids still had a lot of fun. 

Our family is pretty much too big for a selfie these days. 

This boy loves water parks more than just about anything in the whole world. He would've stayed forever if he could. Then the two of us hit up Sonic (where Carson no longer gets kid's meals) and got cheeseburgers and fries and slushes. 

This boy, he is the most fun boy. 

Just some fun ones

Just some fun things going on this week at the Pierson household. 

Brooke picks out her own clothes. Some days she cracks me up. She said she wanted her "dress with the ruffles", her "fur jacket" and her "cowboy boots." Girlfriend was looking good at church. 

Spencer continue to be out of control. I took him to Costco this week. He threw food out of the cart, broke the container of strawberries, and insisted on pushing the cart by himself. Then when we got home I was taking groceries inside and took a box in and came back out to find this. 

He is such a crazy climber! 

Brookey had a play date with her friend Cadey. She was so excited to go over and talked about it constantly. She had such a fun time. 

The girls got to paint and Brooke couldn't wait to show me her pictures. 

And they got to play musical instruments. 

When Brooke came home she said, "I am not happy, our house is not even fun at all." Thanks love, I missed you too. 

Oh this boy, when he is not being crazy he is simply the cutest. 

I took the kids to the park this week one morning and Brooke was eating a Kind bar. She ate part of it and then set it down on our bench while she went back to play. Suddenly I looked over and there was a squirrel, chipping away at Brooke's bar. I ran over to try and stop it and it took off up the tree and just nibbled away at it. Then it got it out of the wrapper and finished it off. I thought that was kinda crazy. 

I took the kids to the Children's Museum after school one day this week. They were so excited and even though it was a short trip we had a great time. I got an amazing parking spot! That just makes me so happy. We didn't even have time to go upstairs. 

Painting for the win! This is my girls' favorite spot. 

Carson likes to do his own thing. 

But the scarves were the far and away winner this trip. Spencer was completely enthralled with them. He watched them over and over and just laughed and screamed the whole time. 

It was a fun week! 

Lake Plugerville

Friday night Aaron walked into our room at around 5, just finished up work and said, "hey lets take the kids to do something fun. Like maybe the lake." I was tired and thought maybe it would be a movie, hang out at home night. Plus going to the lake is a lot of work and the kind of thing I would plan out in advance and spend a lot of the day getting ready to go. Aaron pulled it off in about 30 minutes. He packed sandwiches and I got snacks ready and we took only the essentials and our little family. We knew it wouldn't be a long visit because kids needed to get to bed but that didn't stop us. The girls fell asleep on the way there but woke up happy to start the fun. And let me just tell you, we had so much fun. Aaron is just the best. He jumped right in the water with the kids and started throwing kids, playing games and having fun. I head over to the dock with the big kids and after a few jumps they started asking me to jump with them. 

It was a blast. 

Brooke eventually made her way over and was very brave and made the jump a few times. 

The kids jumped over and over again. It was so magical. 

The beach was not very crowded and Spencer loved playing in the rocks and the waves. 

Aaron helped the kids build a sand castle, with a mote. 

This boy, he is too cute. 

It was such a fun night. I am so glad Aaron is always up for doing fun things with us and creating memories together. 

Camilla

Camilla has had some exciting things happen lately. She came downstairs recently and has about 3 wiggly teeth. Oh man I can't imagine my girls with those 2 front teeth gone. 

After asking for an entire year I finally caved and am letting her try the violin. She is going to be in the orchestra at her school and it beyond thrilled about it. She wants to play her violin every day, asks every day if she has a lesson and couldn't even say her prayers because she said, "all I can think about is my violin, I can't think about anything else." 

The first night she got it she insisted on sleeping with it. :) 

She does kind of look like a natural. 

She also finally got her special date with Dad. She got to stay up late and go to half price books to pick a new coloring book. It was a very hard decision for Camilla. This girl LOVES to color. 

Then they hit up Sonic for a gigantic waffle cone with sprinkles. She came home just thrilled with the whole night and wanted to share her ice cream with Carson, who was already in bed. 

This is such a special girl. She is the first to help with everything and if Brooke or Spencer need anything she stops whatever she is doing to take care of them. When she gets home from school Spencer starts squealing as loud as he can and saying, "hi, hi, hi". She pushes her seat next to him so she can take care of him during meals and when Brooke forgets her shoes and doesn't want to walk, Camilla carries her. Her heart is golden and we love her to pieces. 

Coding

Carson had his first study trip of the year and it was all about coding. Carson started learning how to code this summer and really, really enjoys it. He was so excited about this study trip. He loved being a creator as the people at Microsoft called them. 

He got to work with Enock. 

Of course the video games were his favorite. 

These 3 are back in action this year. 

I think 3rd grade is going to be a good one! 

Crazy

We just want to always remember what a crazy 1 year old Spencer is. He is a monster! If it can be climbed he will find a way, the table, the piano, a chair, any bench, he will knock over a toy and climb it, he climbs inside cabinets and into toy bins, up slides and over the couch. He falls all the time and hits his head daily. He is all over pushing everything over, breaking things, ripping paper and taking things apart. He takes the tops off all the markers and pulls everything off the refrigerator and out of the dish washer. Leave him alone for five seconds and he will pour beans all over the floor, knock water off the table and spill cereal everywhere. Everywhere I go people always say, oh man he is a busy boy. But here's the thing, he is the happiest little monster you ever saw. He smiles, all. day. long. He waves to everyone and claps and says 'hi' to all who he meets. He is happy every time I come to get him from his room and goes to bed happily for all his naps and bed times. He gets so excited when Aaron comes home from work and if he sees his siblings in the hall at church or at school pick up he runs up to them and gives them big hugs. He is so very loved. Even when he is full on crazy I can't help but cover him in kisses. We are so crazy about this baby boy we don't know what to do with ourselves. XOXO 

A Mom of 2

I've been thinking a lot lately about life as a mom of 2. Now that Carson and Camilla are back in school I get to spend my days with my 2 youngest. And can I make a confession? I love it, like lots. I finally have Spencer on a great schedule and we just have so much fun. I told Aaron the other day that I really feel like I could have been a good Mom to 2 kids. I know that sounds dramatic but you know those moms. The ones where you are like oh she is such a good Mom. I feel like that kind of Mom when I have my 2 littles. We go on adventures, take walks, see the library, and go to the park. We read books, tell stories and play pirates outside. We run errands somewhat peacefully and the fits are very minimal. We bake cookies and muffins and laugh, a lot. The house stays pretty clean and Brooke handles Spencer's craziness very well. 

Playing pirates, we were fighting off the bad guys with pool noodles. 

These two love to play in the backyard. They dig, swing on the swing, play with the rocks and jump on the trampoline. 

They get pretty dirty so they take a lot of sink baths together to get clean. 

They love it. 

We love our relaxing walks. I can keep up with 2 kids pretty easily.  

But then my older 2 come home from school and chaos ensues. :) The house is suddenly a mess of crafts and books are everywhere. It is loud and the pantry and refrigerator are raided. Everyone starts asking me for dinner, after school activities are all over the place, and it just feels crazy. I feel my stress level slowly start to rise and it stays pretty high until my kids are in bed. It is something I am working on and trying to get better at but mostly I just try to remember that 4 kids is a lot. Life is busy, my kids are young and the most important thing I can do is give them my time and love. I tend to be the parent who is constantly telling my kids what they should be doing. They notice. I am trying to remember they are trying their best and things don't always need to be done on my time table. And I am trying to not make situations that don't need to be stressful, stressful. Its a process. I have small things I am doing each day to try to be better. Life with kids is all about phases, nothing lasts forever and I want to soak up this time more than I do. I know Camilla won't want to come home from school and climb in my lap and tell me every, single detail of her day for forever and that Carson won't strip down to his undies and read for hours for the rest of his life. Focusing on the blessings helps me and I hope to continue to improve. That's what life is all about right? :)