Stuff.

I have stuff to share, folks. The last week was Spring Break (my first) and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Apparently I'm going to get one of these for the next 18 years or so!

The family started out the week getting our family golf majors pool figured out. I like my picks and suspect I'm going to end up with Mom and Dad's money again this year.

Sunday morning we celebrated St. Patrick's day with green food. It was kind of fun to eat. After breakfast Mom and I loaded up and headed to Denmark for a spring break trip. Dad stayed in Des Moines and had the house to himself for a few days. (He seemed really sad to see us go but probably got over it really quickly.

Remember the cool new bike helmet I picked up last week? It works! I rode my bike all around Grandma Kathy's basement and was able to go really, really fast. I'm much faster with this helmet than I was with my old helmet.

The next day I asked about the trombone that had been rumored to be at Grandma's. It was Papa's then it was Mom's. We got it out and I tried it out. Awesome! I played it a lot and, by all accounts, got to be pretty good!

(We went to visit Clayton, but I couldn't take the trombone.)

A benefit of visiting Papa and Grandma Kathy? I get to choose where we eat. McDonald's, baby!  Twice!

Grandma cuddle ... awesome!

I was surprised during my visit when the Easter Bunny stopped for a visit. I ended up having my own private Easter egg hunt and had lots of fun.

The Easter Bunny was very generous!

I ended my visit with the coolest lunch ever ... a real farmer's lunch with Papa! It was good to hang out with the guys, talk shop and have some good food. 

Upon our return home Mom and I needed to catch up around the house, remind Dad that he didn't live by himself and put the last day of Spring Break to good use. We met Dad for lunch then headed off to do some pottery painting. I chose a shark and will get to pick it up next week. I'm going to put it on my shelf.

We were supposed to go to Kansas City to see Uncle Eric this weekend but Mother Nature threw a wrench in our plans. We only got an inch or so in Des Moines but Uncle Eric got a ton so we made the right decision.

Well, tomorrow it's back to school for me.

Spring Break has been fun.

Pierce

An update on things ...

Sorry for the delayed blog post, folks. It's been a good couple of weeks and there is a lot to catch up on. Last Saturday Dad and I chose staying home over shopping with Mom. I'd gotten a Blue's Clues DVD from the library and one of the things they did was sponge paint. I wanted to give it a try. My piece is now up on the fridge if anyone wants to stop by and take a look. 

Sunday Dad left for a trip so Mom and I had the place to ourselves. Monday it snowed ... AGAIN!

Monday evening the Fletchers came over. It was a fun night but poor Nolan wasn't feeling very well. Needless to say, the Moms had their hands full.

Thursday after school I was officially on spring break. My first one! I can see why so many kids love it. I went puddle stomping! This was right next to a playground but I chose the puddle over the play equipment.  (I got invited to go to Daytona and Padre Island but laying on the beach watching girls just isn't my thing....yet.)

Friday morning Mom and I went out to breakfast ...

... then played outside a long, long time. Anna even came over! It was a really nice day so we got out the sidewalk chalk and played hopscotch.

I also put out some fires.

Mom, Dad and I went to the open field down the street and played baseball, too. I hit the ball a long way when I connected. It was fun!

Today we ran a very important errand. Afterwards we stopped for frozen yogurt. I had chocolate with a  brownie, cereal, gummy bears and strawberries.

There was some drama when I tripped and hit my ear on one of the tables but it was quickly forgotten once I started eating. Yum! Our family likes frozen yogurt.

Oh, and that important errand? I had to get a new bicycle helmet! My head got too big for my old baby helmet and now I have a big kid one. The guy at the store was really impressed at how good I looked in it.

Next up? A trip to Papa and Grandma Kathy's then Uncle Eric's. Next week's blog promises to be a good one!

Pierce

It snowed again.

I know. Big surprise. I tell ya, though, I never tire of shoveling the stuff! 

Thankfully snow means sledding! I got to spend the night at Grandma Maggy's Friday night and not only did she take me to our special hill ...

... I got to go shopping for my Christmas present! I picked out the coolest snow plow ever and, because I spent the night and Grandma Maggy is awesome she got out some beans and I moved them around and around and around.

After running errands with Dad Saturday I helped Mom wrap a baby gift for Alan and Libby across the street. They had a baby boy named Riggs. He seemed like a really cool guy. I look forward to playing with him in a couple of years.

Saturday afternoon Mom was stuck working on taxes so Dad and I escaped to Wakonda and did some sledding on a BIG hill.

As you can see, I got going pretty fast. After a few runs I had Dad start me out going backwards to add to the fun.

And, after a few times climbing back up the hill I was TIRED!

Today, after church, I finally got around to painting the volcano Uncle Matt and Aunt Emily gave me for Christmas. Dad and I did the plaster of Paris awhile ago so it was nice and dry. Once the paint is dry we're going to fire this baby off! Watch out, world!

One thing I learned is that by mixing colors you can create new combinations. Red + yellow = orange. Huh.

The weekend was capped off at an Iowa Energy game. Perfect!

That's it for now, gang.

Much love to all ...

Pierce

Snow

Hey, gang. I hope everyone survived the snowstorm. (I want to be a weatherman when I grow up. You never have to be right about anything!)

The week started off with my presentation to Mom and Dad of the Valentine's Day gift I made in art class. It was a nice bowl with ceramic hearts to go with it. Both Mom and Dad were a bit speechless and I could tell they were totally proud. It's going on a shelf in the living room and I don't think they care at all that it isn't Valentine's Day anymore.

I continue to explore my artistic side with self portraits. It's too bad that my thumb wanted to get into the act on this one. 

I got out of school early Thursday because we were to get the snowstorm to end all snowstorms. Well, nothing happened. We got 5-6" of light, powdery snow and no wind. It was a let down. Anyway, I was ready just in case. I used Mom's iPad to check radar and had my plow ready to go. Too bad I didn't get to use it. 

I had Friday off because of teacher meetings so having the fresh snow made for a good day. I shoveled outside for a long time, met Daddy for lunch ... 

... then Grandma Maggy invited me over to go sledding. She's really good at pushing me down the hill ...

... but I needed to walk back up on my own. By the time I'd gone up and down a few times the sledding run was really fast and I had a ton of fun.

 

(The nice thing about sledding with grandparents is that they always invite you in for snacks afterwards. Thanks Grandma Maggy!)

Saturday Mom, Dad and I headed to Denmark for a quick visit. I was ready to go outside and start farming as soon as we arrive. Come on, Papa. Papa? Hey, Papa?! Papa! Let's go outside!

I'm Pierce the farmer!

Since it's winter there isn't any field work to do, but Papa and I moved snow around and then things got a bit crazy because a calf was being born. Papa helped the mom while Grandma Kathy, Mom and I stayed back in the car. Dad got to help Papa and I think things went okay. 

Here is the mom cow and baby calf. Mom kept me kind of distracted so I didn't see much about the process or get a chance to ask many questions but Papa seemed kind of concerned about things. He and Dad spent the rest of the afternoon helping the calf because it's leg was broken.  I hear they even wrapped it and used a splint! 

Morning came early Sunday. I got some good cuddle time in and was able to show Papa a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" show. I think he liked it. As always, Grandma Kathy played and played and played with me so I was the center of attention. (Have I mentioned how cool grandparents are?!)

After breakfast I went back outside with Papa and we rode around on the four wheeler ... 

... then hooked up the sled. Awesome! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It was so much fun that even Grandma Kathy got in on the act. (Papa went extra slow when she was on the sled.)

I finished out my visit to Denmark with some time playing my Tonka firefighter game on Grandma Kathy and Papa's computer. It's a special treat that I get to play when I'm at their house. 

That's it for now, gang. I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Much love to all ...

Pierce

Valentine's Day!

Hey, gang. I have a lot to share this week. Last Saturday Mom had plans so Dad and I had the house to ourselves. She did give us a job to do ... pull up tiles from the closet and find out if we have hardwood in the entryway. I used my hammer, my shovel, my flashlight and helped Dad with the pry bar. Success! Wood!

It was a dirty job and found out that dirt on hands gets on faces if you scratch your nose. Lesson learned.

That afternoon Mom and I went to a birthday party for a friend. I really felt the need to wear my fire uniform and I think it made people at the party comfortable knowing a trained professional was on hand in case anything happened.

One thing about working in the closet? I found my swimming bag! After I got home from the party I changed out of my fire uniform and got into my swimming gear.

One should always wear a lifejacket when eating chicken nuggets.

Tuesday night Mom, Dad and I went to the shrove pancake feed at church. I ate four BIG pancakes and left full.

The weather has been kind of weird. Tuesday it was cold but Wednesday (which was an early out day at school) it was nice enough that I could go to the park and practice swinging. Mom and I worked on leaning back and pulling on the chain and I got going pretty well on my own!)

Thursday was Valentine's Day! Special donuts for breakfast, a party at school then gifts at night? Yeah!

Thanks to Mom's efforts I had the coolest tray of cookies to share with the class. 

And those gifts at night? They were awesome. Valentine's Day rocks!

Have a great week everyone!

Pierce