Christmas Cards!

Hey all. I thought I'd drop in and let you know that a. I'm still here! b. I think I found a new and better way to update this blog so that means better and more frequent posts and c. what we'll be doing for our Christmas cards this year.

Shutterfly has this amazing deal where you can get 50 free cards for blogging about your favorite designs. I hope you'll head on over to their website and check out their super cute products. For those of you that tend to procrastinate (ahem...like me) you'll be inspire by the cute designs in their card gallery here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery . I love, love, love the Swirling Ornaments Design. The colors are fantastic! Yep! I can just picture two cute little faces right there in the middle. While you're over there, check out the photo mugs. http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs/photo-mug . What grandparent wouldn't want to marvel at their grand kids' faces while they're enjoying their morning coffee? Don't forget that Shutterfly is more than just a place to make your Christmas cards. They also carry cute birthday invitation. Check out the Laughing Sorbet Pink invitation here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-invitations/girl-birthday-invitations?c=60384. I'm thinking Miss Addi needs those next year when she turns three (yikes!!). I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. Look for your shutterfly card from me, Marty and the Little P's!!

That Wasn't Me!

I'm a total slacker...I know. I promise to start blogging soon. I need to find some motivation. That last post was suppose to go on Marty's blog but he somehow ended up signed in to my google account. Oops! I hope you all got a few HVAC tips :)

Addison's Summer

Our Addi girl has had a marvelous summer! Of course, when you're a full of life little two year old, everyday is marvelous! Here's what our sassy lady has been up to.

going to the pool with her brother

sport'n her shades

playing dress up and smiling as cheesy as possible

trying to figure out how to get her unruly hair under control

eating strawberry shortcake

flirting with boys :)

riding 4wheelers with her cousin Cameron

eating popsicles after supper

coloring on everything but paper!

Hudson's Summer

Our Hudson has been one busy boy this summer! We start every morning with his most popular question..."What are we going to do today." Almost every day has been filled with play dates, pool trips, special daddy time and general summer fun. Here is Hudson's summer in pictures.

Hanging out with his best buddy...Daddy!

Hanging out with Mommy.

Getting ready to see some cool fireworks.

Eating popsicles

swimming, swimming and more swimming!!

touring museums

getting Wool E Bull's autograph

taking in his first Durham Bulls game

riding his dirt bike

riding horses in Bahama

Whew!! I'm exhausted just thinking about it all! Stay tuned for Addison's summer!

I'm Back!!

You can all breath a sigh of relief. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! I took a self declared summer vacation because, you know, writing this blog is some seriously hard work :) Actually there hasn't been much time for blogging because I've been entertaining these two Little P's.



We've had a grand time swimming, spending some much needed time with Daddy and visiting with friends. I'll have to do some back tracking and catch you all up with some super cute pictures but for now...enjoy the new background!

My Husband's A Blogger

As most of you know, my super talented and ambitious hubby is a part time home inspector. The man knows what he's talking about! He started working in construction when he was a wee lad and who better to know about the structure of a home and all its functions than a firefighter! So..with that being said, Marty has started his very own blog (so proud!). It's a blog dedicated to home improvement/maintenance tips. This month is all about landscaping. So head on over to www.firehousehomeinspections.blogspot.com and show him some love!

Oh...and if you're buying or selling a house in NC, or know someone who is....be sure to give him a call!

SWAGGER WAGON

I've seen this on a couple of my friend's blogs and I think it's hilarious!! We've watched it 3 times this afternoon. Addison can say "swagger wagon." I'm so proud :)

Coraline Lea Lunsford

I would like to introduce my new niece, Coraline. Isn't she the cutest?!! She was born Thursday afternoon. Oh...and she belongs to my brother, Grant and his wife, Andrea. You can get updates on their newest addition over at Greener Beginnings. Yesterday, we had the privilege of seeing all this cuteness in person. Congrats Grant and Andrea! She is awesome :)

Happy Belated Birthday!!

I got so caught up in the excitement of my Argan Oil post that I completely forgot to blog about my Marty! This Wednesday we celebrated 32 years of him. Me and the Little P's love you babe!!! (more than my Argan Oil. I promise!)

Good Hair

All my life (well, as far as I can remember) I have had a love/hate relationship with my hair. I've always wanted thick, straight hair that can air dry looking just as perfect as it would have been if blow dryed. I have no such luck. I ended up with thin, fine, frizzy Kramer (from Seinfeld) hair. My issues go way back. I can remember trying to get my "crave the wave bangs" to poof and go up and over my forehead in just the right way all the while dousing them with Teen Spirit hair spray. Any of you feel my pain? Oh..I won't even get into the time I accidentally turned my hair orange with Peroxide. Well, maybe I will get into it. You can't make this story up.

In middle school, I read (in my YM magazine that I had snuck upstairs to my room) that peroxide would lighten your hair. So, I found a bottle of leave in conditioner, emptied the bottle and filled it with Peroxide. I then decided I better not try it in fear my mom would ask me why my hair was lighter and have to reveal that I had read it in gasp...YM magazine!!

So fast forward 2 years later. I was digging through the bathroom cabinets and came across a bottle of leave in conditioner. I decided my hair could use a good dose of moisture so for a few weeks I sprayed the "conditioner" in and started to wonder why my hair felt like straw. It all clicked when one day my mom asked me why my hair looked orange. I felt a little sick when it finally dawned on me that I had been spraying Peroxide in my hair for 2 weeks. My poor head of hair was not only orange, but it was dry and brittle. One chunk of hair in the front actually broke off about 2 inches from my scalp and I had to bobby pin it down to keep it from standing straight up.

Like I said, you can't make this stuff up!

Anyways...all that said because after all these years of dying, highlighting, straightening and blow drying, I have finally found the perfect hair product. I'm serious people! Three weeks of good hair days! I'm totally addicted to .....drum roll please.....

Argan Oil!!

Oh Argan Oil. How I love you!!!

Girls, you've got to try this stuff. Just run a dime size amount through your wet hair and BAM, instant shine and softness. No more fly aways! This stuff actually bulks up my thin hair and makes it feel thicker!

Some salons carry a line called Moroccan Oil that sells for $30 per 4 oz bottle. Crazy!!! I went online and found that Sally's Beauty Supply sells the same stuff but bottled as Argan Oil. It's only $8.99 per bottle. On my first trip to Sally's, I asked the sales lady if they carried the stuff. She laughed and said they did but they can't keep it on the shelves! She found me a sample bottle and told me to keep checking back because their supply only lasts a few days. Get on it girls! Go get 'cha some Argan Oil. You'll thank me !!!

FYI...Argan Oil is oil produced from the kernals of argan tree fruit. This type of tree is mostly found in Morocco. Just in case you were wondering :) But really, why are you still reading this. Shouldn't you be on your way to Sally's?

Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mommies out there. You know who you are :)

I'm not sure what it is about Mother's Day at the Pearce house that brings out the ill attitudes of my two "bundles of joy" but......

here's a joyous moment from last year

and again this year.

Come on kids. Crack a smile for me. I went through childbirth for goodness sakes!! Joking...I love 'um to pieces even if they choose to save their crabbiest day for Mother's Day. I'm taking this day to praise God for entrusting me with the task of raising these two kiddos. He couldn't have given me better ones and I pray my life reflects the joy it brings me just to wake up every morning to these two faces (smiling or not!)

My Child's A Genius!!

I just had to dedicate an entire blog post to the genius that is my child.

This one...

The verdict is still out on this one. I kid, I kid. She is equally as smart although far more sassy.

But back to Hudson. I mentioned in an earlier post that Hudson loves the website starfall.com. He's mastered the sounds of all the letters so I took it a step further to see if he could put some sounds together. Wow!! My child is a reader! He can sound out almost any three letter word you throw at him. After a couple of days of reading random words, I wrote out some sentences while we were playing with sidewalk chalk. There are only so many sentences you can make with two and three letter words, so my child proudly read "Pip is a dog." and "I am a fat pig." Don't judge. I ordered him some beginner books that have only two and three letter words so I'm sure he'll have some more intelligent things to read in the near future. What a smartie!

Hair Cut!

Our little Addison experienced a momentous event this week, her first haircut!! We took Hudson, when he was 10 months, to an over the top, kid friendly, bells and whistles kiddie salon. Twenty five dollars and a few tears later we left that place with a butchered head of hair. I wasn't about to trust my little girl's head to just anyone. I took her to my trusted stylist and friends, Lisa, the manager at Mitchells at Triangle Town Center. Lisa is the shizzle! I have tried many stylist in my time but Lisa is the one I trust to do right by my fine, thin, hard to manage head of hair. She was great with Addison! Addi had to play her "I'm shy and you're not getting near me" act at first but then she let Lisa snip away. There wasn't much to cut. We just had her mullet evened out in the back and then Lisa blew her hair out until it was stick straight. Addi looked precious!

Check out those curls! Lisa gave us some product to use to keep them in tact after her hair dries. I can't wait to try it out!

In the chair.

A little unsure about the whole thing,

A sideways smile and poochy belly. Love it!

All the girls and the finished product!

The Kid's Pictures

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had the kids' pictures taken last week. No need for a cardio workout that day! Posing children, trying to keep them in that pose and all the while making foolish sounds and weird facial expression just so they'll crack a smile is an exhausting experience! Hopefully, we'll soon schedule a photo shoot with my super talented friend Rebecca so we can get some awesome candid shots. Here are the best one's from Picture People.

Hudson has a hard time with cheese'n up his smiles so we went for the "pondering" pose. I asked him what he was thinking about. He said "dirtbikes!" Surprise, surprise.

Hey Moms! FYI

Hey moms! I wanted to tell you all about a little jewel of a website called starfall.com. I love, love, love this website! Hudson started using it about 6 months ago and has learned so much from it. I tried and tried to teach him the sounds of all the letters and he never could get it. My friend Stasha told me about Starfall and I wasn't quite sure if Hudson was old enough to navigate it but, wow, was I wrong! Not only did he figure out how to use a mouse and navigate a web page but he learned the sounds of all the letter in no time at all. Now, he's learning to put letters together to make words. All of the programs are phonics based and best of all...it's free. I just wanted to pass this along to all you moms out there. I hope y'all love it as much as we do!

Moses Did What?

I love where we live! We're approximately 3 miles from Brier Creek, a shopping center with everything you could ever need (want) and more! And no...I certainly did not drive to Target to check the exact mileage on the day we moved into our house 2 years ago just to see how far it actually was! I mean...that's just a tad obsessive :) Anyways, we drive past Brier Creek almost everyday and of course, we have made many a pit stop in that fabulous shopping center to eat and shop. I may need to reign it in just a bit after last night's conversation with Hudson....

Last night on the way home from my parent's house, my super sweet Hudson asked me...

"Mommy?" "Moses opened?"

I thought to myself. Wow! Here's a great opportunity for a Bible lesson! Now, what did Moses "open?" The Red Sea, Ark of The Covenant, The Ten Commandments....

"Hudson, what did you mean when you said open?"

"Moes Mommy." "Where we eat." "Is it open?" "I'm hungry!"

Oh...never mind.

Question....

What is the most exhausting thing you will ever do as a mother (besides childbirth)?

Um...that would be....having your children's picture taken! I'm just say'n.....

Boo Boos

You know warm weather has arrived when your children's legs look like.....

this!!

Easter Eggs and Little P's

Well...Easter has come and gone! We had a great weekend celebrating our risen Savior and spending time with family. Things were a little different this year due to the fact the Marty had to work on Easter Sunday. Here's a little recap.

On Saturday, we headed out to Bahama to spend time with Marty's family. We had an egg hunt for the kids and Hudson had a chance to ride his dirt bike out in the wide open spaces of the country. Addison got the hang of hunting eggs pretty fast and stopped to shake each one she found to see if there was a treat inside. We went to church that night since our awesome church was expecting a huge crowd on Sunday morning. It was a little odd doing "Easter Sunday" on a Saturday night but the service was great!

Sunday morning, Marty left for work and the Little P's and myself stayed in our jammies most of the morning. I wanted to do something special for the kiddos so we read the Easter story, opened our resurrection eggs and made resurrection rolls. The kids had a blast and before we knew it, it was time to head to my parent's house for more food and more egg hunting. We hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

Here are the resurrection eggs. They are a great interactive way to tell the Easter story. After we finished, Hudson took them up to his room and played with them. I'm still finding egg parts in his sheets. They were a big hit!

The kids playing with the resurrection eggs.

Hudson whipping up a batch of resurrection rolls.

Happy Easter!

I couldn't resist sharing these funny moments from Easter morning.....

While telling the Easter story....
Mommy: "...and then, Judas showed the bad men who Jesus was by giving him a kiss."
Hudson: "Awe!! That was sweet!"

While opening the resurrection eggs...
Mommy: "This egg has rock in it just like the rock that was rolled over the opening to Jesus's tomb."
Hudson: "And then David picked it up and hit Goliath in the head!"

While making resurrection rolls...
Mommy: "...now roll the marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar. That's what we'll call the death." "Hudson, do you remember why Jesus had to die?"
Hudson: "Because he didn't eat all his marshmallows."

Final Four!!

GO DUKE!!

Hudson's Party

This posting is a tad late (tad meaning about 4 weeks) but here's a recap of Hudson's birthday party. He invited 5 of his best buddies over to bounce and eat hot dogs and birthday cake. There wasn't a lot of bouncing or hot dog eating or cake eating! The kids had more fun running through the house and playing with Hudson's toys than they did jumping in the moon bounce. Did I miss the memo that said bounces houses were a three year old thing? Despite the fact that 4 out of 6 kids weren't fans of hot dogs or chocolate cake with chocolate icing (really kids? really?) everyone had a blast. We are so grateful that Hudson has a group of fun, well behaved and apparently, healthy eating friends!

Hudson giving Lilly a ride on the dirt bike.

Hudson opening his presents. He didn't crack a smile until they were all open. It's serious business.

The dirt bike cake. In your face Betty Crocker (we have a history)

Some of the party animals. They're mostly chowing down on that plate of strawberries and grapes.

Moon bounces cause crazy thing to happen to one's hair :)

Surgery Day

This past Friday was Addison's eye and ear surgery. I know I kinda caught some of you by surprise with my facebook posting. I meant to blog about the surgery last week but time got away from me. Y'all know how it goes.....So, back to Friday. Everything went great! We woke Addi up at 4:45 am and checked into the hospital by 5:15. We were back in the surgery prep area around 6:00 and they took her back to the O.R. at 7:00. By 7:20 the ENT doctor came out to tell us the tubes were in and a large amount of mucus had been sucked out of her middle ear (I know...GROSS!!) We knew the eye surgery would take a little longer so Marty and I headed to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast to go. By 8:20 our ophthalmologist came out to tell us her eye surgery was a success! We got to go back to the recovery room around 8:40 and by 9:15 we were headed home! For those of you who lifted us up in prayer, we are so grateful. We felt at peace the entire morning (well...except for about 30 minutes when I thought I was going to pass out when the anesthesiologist started talking about breathing tubes and IVs) and Addison had a quick recovery. She slept most the the day and was outside chasing Hudson around the yard that afternoon. The only evidence of her surgery is her nasty red eye that has, thankfully, lightened a few shades. It was vampire red the day of the surgery. Yikes! I thought about taking her to a New Moon DVD release party....joking :)

Oh, and in case you have no clue what I'm talking about...Addison had tubes to (hopefully) put an end to her chronic ear infections. She had surgery on her eye to loosen the inner corner muscles so her eye will (hopefully) stop rolling inward.

This is a picture 3 days after surgery. It's hard to see how red her eye is unless she rolls it to the outside. This is the best I could get.

Baking Buddies

Paula Dean cook book: Check!
Enough butter to stop an elephant's heart: Check!
Two of the best beater-lickers a mommy could ask for: Check! Check!