Remember when Charlie started sleeping?

Remember when Charlie started sleeping well?  Me neither.  

Actually, he had a few Golden,…. nope, we'll call them Bronze weeks.  He was taking TWO 2 hour naps a day and sleeping from 7:30pm - 4:30am, eating, and going back to sleep until 6:30am.  Still not ALL night but close enough.  

The last few days he's been napping 30 - 45 minutes and waking up at midnight or two and then at 4 and then at 5:30…. Am I dying here?  I think maybe this is how zombies really started.  Sleep deprived parents with no other way to cope and when they died, their bodies were so used to functioning with no real energy that they didn't realized that they should stop now.  I don't know.  You decide. 

Peacock Princess Dancer and Pajama Party

Still catching up here folks! 

Halloween was a few weeks ago - did you know that? :) Savannah came up with this grand idea of a costume to be a Princess Peacock Dancer thing… I think she just saw several things she wanted and put them together.  She's pretty smart.  I bought (what seems to be) an old dance costume from a second hand store and my mom did the rest.  She sewed real peacock feathers on the back and then found and added to the mask.  If you can't tell by the pictures, Savannah felt pretty awesome. 

Since it was almost bed time by the time trick or treat started, Charlie went as "Pajama Party boy" - which means he wore his PJs and tried to stay warm/awake.  We have some real party goers around our neighborhood when it comes to Halloween.  Several of our neighbors had dressed up and put out yard displays. There was even a fog machine across the street that filled the entire street with a cloud.  It was pretty amazing. 

My parent's neighbors, Mark and Roy, had a pretty extensive display also.  Those giant spiders were hilarious.  Savannah was walking up the side walk and they jumped ON her.  She freaked out.  This picture was after when she had decided they were cool.  

Savannah came in with a truck load of candy for sure, and yes, we let her eat it.  All of it.  Not right away but over a few weeks.  Because we're like that.  

My Journey into higher learning

I've been doing youth ministry at Cornerstone Church for almost 10 years, 6 of which I have been employed there part time.  I love my job.  I was once challenged to think through the kinds of things I am most fueled by and to think of my dream job in relation to that - what I came up with was Tour Guide!  That's a kind of funny dream job - but when I think about what I do at Cornerstone, it's pretty similar.  Through out my week I get to host people at our church at in our home.  I get to teach them about things that I have learned and open their eyes to a new view.  I get to solve problems here and there and I get to be a part of where we are going.  Pretty amazing.

In the last few years Cornerstone has begun to offer Masters level theology classes.  Many of the men I work with, and some of the woman have taken these classes and already received a Masters in Theology.  Yay for them! It takes a lot of work to do something like that.  Recently, it has been put in front of me that I too ought to consider taking these classes.  There are several reasons that have been brought to my attention by co-workers, superiors, and Travis that I agree with and I'm not going to go into - but overall I am getting the feeling (spiritually and logically) that I will soon be enrolled in CLASSES!  I am 32 years old.  I have no undergrad degree.  I have never liked school and even dropped out of Kindergarten for peat's sake!  And here I am, about to take Masters level classes.

I've been working through some pretty significant insecurities the last few weeks.  I wasn't aware that those were still laying around in the depth of my soul.  I'm a ridiculously secure person over all.  When I think of reading books and comprehending them and having a dead line and writing a paper…. I cry a little.  Not always outwardly, but always in my heart. I am a terrible reader.  I'm not illiterate.  I just can't just read and get it.  Not at all.  Most adults I know can.  They talk about the books they are reading for fun or entertainment or to better their parenting.  I try.  I do.  But when it takes me 10 minutes to fight through 3 pages….. So here are some truths I've discovered about this:

Truth #1: Satan wants to kill and destroy me.  He wants me to believe that I am Dummy McDummerson.  He wants me to quit.  To think that I cannot understand what others can and that I cannot do anything that is hard or would require something more than I personally can give.  Satan wants nothing good for me and will do anything to bring me harm.

Truth #2: It is not up to Wendy Sue Pierce to figure out the key to understanding the depths of wisdom that explain the Word of God.  That's the role of the Holy Spirit.  I have no business worrying about how I will get myself to do something that only He can do in me.

Truth #3: I have a great husband who is willing to love and support me.  Jesus is totally on my side and one way He has shown that is by giving me a husband, Travis Pierce, who is also on my side.  He has already championed for me with encouragement and grace.  In actuality - he is the student of the house and he would much rather be the one enrolled in a class of any kind.  But by his servanthood and love for me and for what God is doing in and with my life - he's giving this to me.

So I'll keep you posted.
 Back to school, back to school to prove to dad that I'm no fool.
 - That's a movie quote for the older crowd - I don't actually have to prove anything to my dad.  :)

Coats come out

I've been verbally beaten up a few times for not updating my blog.  I know not a ton of people read it, but I guess for people that have moved away, it's a little helpful.  Our kids are growing up big time and they are REALLY fun.  

We went to a fund raiser at Ames Middle School, where Travis teaches now.  Savannah got to get her hair colored and since I happened to have a friend doing the face painting and she snuck us in, the lucky girl got that done too.  She will wait in line all day long for a balloon animal or to get her face painted.  Unfortunately for her, Grandma is usually the only one willing to wait with her.  

Do you like that glow-in-the-day pink coat?  It's from Target.  We initially got one from Walmart because Savannah liked it so much, but it broke after a few weeks.  Walmart Fallapart.  That's what Travis says. :) It's true.  Sorry. 

Savannah really really wanted to do the money bars when school started.  They have a small play ground and a few of her friends could do them.  When school started all she could do was hang on the first bar.  But she worked and worked at it and now she's a pro. She can swing across them over and over.  It's a huge accomplishment and something she's found a lot of pride in.  

Charlie baby is TEN months old now.  He is getting to be SO much fun.  He crawls and gets into everything.  But he's a little different than Savannah was in that he also likes to sit with me and just snuggle.  He may end up being a little less cray cray than his sister.  He is wearing size 18m shirts.  

Travis and I celebrated (sort of) our 11 year anniversary a couple weeks ago.  We had the honor of helping with some friends of ours wedding.  To young kids that we met when they were 14.  They both went on missions trips with us in high school and came to our small groups.  They were always meant for each other.  It was so much fun and kind of like a dream come true (for me and for the bride) to see them finally get married.  

Can you believe this kid?  Look at his head.  It's so big. 

Savannah is still enjoying school a lot.  I love that she loves it.  She has so many new friends and it makes for so many great conversations around our house.  Today she sat in the kitchen and told me about the "authors box" in her room and then she described to me a story that she wrote for it.  And how her friend (that sometimes she doesn't like because he is mean) helps her spell words out that she doesn't know for her stories.  So he's kind of a mean friend and kind of a good friend. 

I'll try to post again soon.  Especially for you, Charissa :)