I'm Back (Again)

I will blog today. I will blog today. I will blog today. I will.....

This has been my mantra for the last week. There's so much to catch you all up on. Well, not really but a few new things have been happening around the Pearce house. Nothing too exciting. Just some dirt bike riding, patch wearing, preschool searching, push up doing, moving watching and small group attending. But first, here's the answer to the last question from my previous post.

My testimony: I know some of you are already yawning and maybe even closing out the page. But let me assure you that this post came with a lot of thought and prayer. You see, in order for me to show you all what an amazing God we serve I have to admit things about myself that I would rather not. Embarrassing things. Things that may cause you to think differently about me. Hopefully, these things point you to the greater picture. A picture of a perfect God who graciously gives us perfect redemption through his Son.

I was raised in a Christian home. I attended a Christian school. I went to GA's and Pioneer Girls (anyone know what I'm talking about?) I knew how to be a Christian. I was a champion Bible driller, memory verse reciter and you wouldn't find any other tapes in my boom box other than Amy Grant and DC Talk! I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was in elementary school and life was great until I reached middle school. This time is difficult for any kid but I think I took it really hard. I didn't fit in anywhere. I didn't have a great group of friends and I was desperately looking for acceptance (from anyone!!) Hello high school! I certainly found acceptance at this point, just not from a healthy source. I found it in guys, parties (and everything that goes along with it.) I experimented with just about everything I could get my hands on (use your imaginations here, it's probably accurate). For a while things were fun but in the back of my mind I knew what I was doing was wrong and destructive. Thankfully, God had a plan for my life. He didn't turn his back on me even when I turned my back on him. He graciously put Marty in my life. At the time I don't know what Marty saw in me. I was a young, messed up girl but he saw past that. He helped me get my life back on track. After we were married we started looking for a new church. We happened to visit The Summit one Sunday and that's when things started to change. We got involved in a small group and formed relationships with other young married couples. For the first time we both had a desire to live for Christ, not just a knowledge of what it meant. Along with that desire came life changing forgiveness and acceptance. We are different people from what we were 10 years ago and praise God for that! Of course we still mess up but we can look back on our past and know that God is good. He brings beauty from ashes and I am blessed beyond what I can ever express. There is no question that God can use any circumstance for His glory. A few years back I heard a song by the band Sonic Flood that basically tells my life story. Here's the chorus:

I will exalt the One who lifted me
Out of the miry clay to heights of eagle's wing.
Words cannot express
All I know is this
You changed me.
You changed me.

I can remember how I use to be
I was so bound but now I'm free
I will exalt the One who lifted me.

This is why the verse at the top of the blog is so significant to me. God has indeed done exceedingly and abundantly more that all I could ask or imagine! How great is our God? !!

And The Answer Is....

Thanks girls for your questions! Here we go....

Is Addison our caboose? (aka the last baby) That is the question that is pondered daily around here. I would love to have more kids. I love my babies. They are so fun, sweet, smart, cuddly and I could just sit and smell them all day. Our only concern with having more kids is the question of time. I am a "working widow" about 60% of the time. It can take it's toll on a mommy especially when the kids are old enough to miss their daddy and cry for him at random times of the day. Hudson has taught Addison how to do this (thanks buddy!) and it can get pretty hairy around 5:00 and there's no daddy to be found. We cherish the times when we can all 4 be in the same room together with nothing else demanding our attention and we wonder how much a third child would distract our time away from our first two. Our answer to this question changes daily but we do know one thing for sure. We are praying hard about this issue and we know our God is faithful and good and He will give us wisdom to do what is right for our family.

PS: I already have names picked out if we were to have a third. Can you tell which direction I'm leaning? :)

More answers to come!!

Curious?

You've probably noticed a lack of post around here. Well....I think I've gone stale. I can't think of anything to write about. Nothing. I haven't posted any new pictures because I don't have access to a camera all the time like I use to. Oh yeah, I could have written about that!

Here's what happened. Thanksgiving day I was loading dirty dished into the dishwasher when I saw our camera...floating in a bowl of dirty water. It was awful! I would have taken a picture of it but..well..you know. I'm thinking a certain 3 year old (not naming names) knocked it off the ledge that sits above our sink into the bowl of dishwater. Needless to say it's ruined and I've been sharing a camera with Marty. He has one that he uses for inspections so I don't have it at home very often. We've been camera shopping and I found exactly what I want (Nikon D3000) but the price is a little high (maybe a lot high) and since we've had some unexpected expenses come up in the past few weeks it looks like we'll be buying a basic camera, which really is all we need.

So back to a lack of topics to write about. Is there anything you'd like to know about us. I know you're out there reading. I have Google Analytics :) Curious about our daily routine? How me and Marty met? How we decided on our kids names? Favorite Cook Out milkshake flavors? Ask away. I'm always curious about the lives of the people whose blogs I stalk :) You can leave your identity anonymous on the comment section or if you're really brave..leave your name and say "hey!"

Christmas 2009

Here's a recap of Christmas at the Pearce house.....Wednesday night we celebrated in Bahama with Marty's family. We had some good food (I mean good!!) and opened presents.
Thursday night we went to my parent's house. We ate, talked, and listened to my Maw Maw recap her and my Paw Paw's wedding day. It was such a cute (and funny) story! Their 61st anniversary was the day after Christmas.
Marty had to work Christmas Eve but another fireman graciously offered to work for him that night so he could wake up with the kids on Christmas morning. We had a great time that night wrapping presents and getting the room ready for the Little P's.
Then Friday morning was just plain fun! It gets more fun every year watching the kiddos rip into their presents. I love it!! Hudson got a dirt bike. Yes, we lost our minds and bought him one (used on Craigslist). He loved it even though he refuses to ride it before we buy him a helmet. (smart kid!) Addison got a kitchen set, a few stuffed animals and some furniture for her baby dolls. Hudson's already wants to know when Christmas will be here again!

The "before" picture.

As soon as he sat on it he tried to do tricks like he sees on tv. Oh my!!

Addison with her "baybeeee."

Organizing her kitchen.

The most played with toys that morning were the .25 super balls they got in their stockings!

Merry Christmas!

Our greatest wish for all of you is that you have a fun filled day celebrating the birth of our precious Savior.
Love to all,
Marty, Laure, Hudson, Addison

"Unto you therefore who believe, He is precious."
1 Peter 2:7

*I would like to point out that Addison's toy of choice on Christmas morning was an empty paper towel roll :)

Santa vs No Santa

As I peruse my friend's blogs and other blogs that I stalk, I've noticed a common post this month is the Santa vs No Santa debate. I thought I'd give my 2 cents to my 5 readers who frequent this blog :)

I grew up in a "no Santa" house. I never really felt bitter about it. I knew there would be presents under the tree for me come Christmas morning. However, my brothers and I were the obnoxious kids in the neighborhood who told everyone else there was no Santa. Shame on us!!

Marty grew up in a "Santa" house. He knew how to play the game but he really didn't have strong feelings one way or the other when it came to our kids.

So...we decided we would be a "no Santa" house. To some people this is a terrible form of child abuse and we get many weird looks when we share this with others but, well, we just don't care :) The biggest reason for our decision was that we just didn't want to keep up the lie. There's the initial lie (Santa comes down the chimney....) then you have to follow up that lie with more lies when questions start being asked. And believe me, Hudson has plenty of questions!

Then the argument is raised, "It's not a lie. It's just make believe. Kids love to pretend! It's just part of childhood." Our kids do like to pretend. Hudson pretends everyday that he's a dirt bike rider. Addison is already pretending she's a mommy/princess/ruler of the house. At the end of the day, Hudson realizes he's not a dirt bike rider. It's a clear cut line between reality and fantasy. With Santa, parents go out of their way to make their kids believe he's real. Kid's can't destinguish between reality and fantasy when there is no clear cut evidence of the reality.

The next question that is asked is. "Do your kids still get presents?" Of course they do!! And, might I add, more than they need. Our kids know that Mommy and Daddy buy their presents but they also know why we buy them. If you ask Hudson why we give presents on Christmas, he'll tell you it's because it's Jesus's birthday and he was the best present of all. We want our kids to know that gift giving has nothing to with whether they've been naughty or nice. Jesus didn't come to earth just to save the nice. He came in spite of our naughtiness (is that a word?) and we should in turn extend that same grace to others.

Oh and FYI, we do not judge others when it comes to the Santa vs no Santa debate. I know how fun it is for kids believe in Santa and it's just as fun for parents to play along with them. I'm sure there are plenty of things we do in our family that others find odd. We don't want to be juded because of our convictions and in turn we choose not to judge others for theirs. We are going to teach our kids to respect other's beliefs and not ruin the fun for them. Hudson actually asked me the other day if Santa brought him presents too (we've been watching a lot of Christmas specials this week). I told him that Santa was a fun story about a man who brings presents but that Mommy and Daddy were the ones who bought him presents. I also told him that some boys and girls believe that Santa does bring them gifts and we need to let them believe that because it's fun. Then he asked me if he was going to get a dirt bike so he got over that topic pretty quick!

Which ever side of the debate you fall on I hope that the center of your Christmas doesn't revolve around gifts. Come February, all those nice new presents will be old news to your kids but the real meaning of Christmas goes far beyond what you can buy them. Instilling the truth that Christ came to earth to reconcile the worst of sinners to himself and to give us undeserved grace and love is a far more precious gift than anything you can find at Toys R Us. Our biggest challenge this year is convincing Hudson that the gift of Christ is more precious than dirt bikes!

Preparedness

Undies: Check
Snow Boots: Check
A weather forecast cast calling for snow: Check!