Art Show and PJM update

As a three and a half year old, Pierce is really coming in to his own. He has started writing his letters, and loves to know how things are spelled.  He loves art and other projects. He is into imaginative play, and will spend up to 2 hours in his room doing "quiet time" entertaining himself with his "boat game", "circus game", school, and reading books. He loves to play with others, but is also perfectly content on his own. He is increasingly independent, and can do his own carseat buckle, put on and zip his coat and unbutton his shirt. He loves teaching Teddy about all of these things, and is still just as loving and affectionate as always. When he grows up he wants to be a bear trainer, a doctor or teacher, and a Daddy! Pierce is looking forward to welcoming another baby into the house, and has a baby of his own growing in his belly. 

Recently, Pierce's class put on an art show for the families at school. He worked hard all month on different art projects, working in different media and using different tools to create artwork. We didn't hear much about what was going on in the classroom. We were then invited for a gallery reception where our proud artist showed off all of his work. We all got a little dressed up for the occasion and Pierce took so much joy in his artwork. The event was adorable, and the hard-working artist and his little brother got to celebrate with some snacks and juice in the classroom at the end of the show!

It is amazing to watch Pierce grow and change, and really turn into a little boy. He continues to amaze us daily with his knowledge, and his questions as he begins to understand the world around him!

Our proud artist greeting us at the door

A treat to have Daddy in the classroom

Pierce with Ms. Annemarie

Snack celebration

Finding Nemo

February was full of excitement! Just on the heels of Valentine's Day, we had an epic snowstorm hit the region which dumped 2 feet of snow at our house over the course of 2 days. The first day we got out to play in the falling snow in the backyard, but once it started picking up, played inside for the rest of the day.  The boys "camped" which meant they knocked the tent onto it's side and brought the entire contents of the bookshelf into their tent for some light reading. When we woke up the next morning, we couldn't even open our doors to peek outside. Halsey and Pierce worked tirelessly to shovel us out, and after hours and many cups of hot chocolate later, we all ventured outside for a walk in the snow. The boys were literally in over their heads, and we made it just around the block before heading back home. The city and town were shut down for two days, so this is certainly a storm for the history books!

Such focus

Sneaking in a tabletop read!

A little indoor camping

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year! We celebrated the day with some fun in the snow and had a party at 5 pm with our little lovebugs. We then rang in the New Year with sparkling cider and chili pie. Yum! Pierce and Teddy loved throwing the confetti (then ripping it to pieces), wearing their party hats and blowing their horns. We didn't make it up to watch the ball drop, but had lots of fun celebrating with the Bourques the next day. It's hard to believe that our annual New Year's celebration has changed so much in the last 5 years. What used to be a raucous night on the town for the grown-ups, then progressed to sleepovers and movie nights, which turned into a daytime brunch celebration this year. The highlight was meeting little Ryan Bourque who arrived on Dec. 23rd--the best Christmas present ever! The new family of 5 seemed so happy, and are adjusting well to their new dynamic. We can't wait for all of the New Year celebrations to come!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

It's amazing how many more Christmas activities we could do this year now that both boys are a little bit older! We took full advantage of the season, and peppered our December with lots of Christmas outings. We picked out our tree the day after Thanksgiving and got right around to decorating it, as well as officially starting to sing Christmas carols (though Pierce has been regaling us with "Deck the Halls" since August). We baked and decorated Christmas cookies (and Teddy ate his while decorating), went to the Pops Children's Concert (both boys adored it!), went to breakfast with Santa in Winchester, a Christmas party at Myopia, and then finally flew out to California for the actual holiday.

Pierce and Foster were roommates this year, which was much more successful than we thought--though it didn't stop a couple of 4 am wake-ups. They loved palling around together, and all 4 cousins had a blast playing, exploring local museums and taking trips to the playground. Nana, Pops and Santa were all so generous with the kids, that this will certainly be a Christmas to remember. We also shared the news that we are expecting Mini-Morris #3 in July, and can't wait until he/she can join in the playtime!

It was a very Merry Christmas in Tiburon!

November musings

It is embarassing how empty the blog has been for months. I figured out how to post-date, so I can go back and edit the year to make it look like I was on top of things. It's hard to remember too many details from November (now that it's March), but there are always some pictures!

There were two very exciting reasons to write about this month. One was we took a family trip to the Winchester Hospital ER to get some stitches for Teddy. While playing with Pierce, a small push from behind sent him flying into the bottom corner of our stairs, and 10 stitches later, Teddy came home with a lifetime memento of that moment. Pierce, Teddy and I were all in tears when it happened. It seemed to take forever to stop the bleeding enough to get to the hospital in our own car. Halsey met us there in a cab. Teddy was super brave, and was discharged with his papers after only 2 hours! Our neighbors, the Pines were on call in case we had to bring Pierce home, and spend more time at the hospital. Thank goodness our local hospital has a Pediatric ER--something to keep in mind if we ever move. I think I was more scarred by the event (no pun intended), with Pierce in a close second. Once the stitches were in, Teddy didn't seem to mind his little "owie", but it sure is hard to look at your perfect little baby with a gash on his head! He's a great sport.

The end of the month brought Thanksgiving at the Morrises. We celebrated with Marmie, Papa, Darcy, and the Loomises. The boys were our adorable little turkeys, ate up all of their yummy Thanksgiving goodies, then played on the indoor slide and bouncing horse until they were exhausted!

Hurricanes and Halloween

Well this Halloween sure shaped up to be an interesting one! With the threat of Hurricane Sandy ruining the actual holiday, festivities started early in Winchester. We had our town parade (both boys got maracas to play in the procession--the highlight!) and trick or treat on Saturday, which was so much fun. We met up with our good friends to show off our costumes, and collect as much candy as we could. Pierce loved filling his bag with candy and has asked for a treat following breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, no! He actually knows how good candy is now. On Sunday, we went to the Halloween party at Myopia and got to show off our elephant and giraffe costumes for Marmie and Darcy. Fortunately for us, Sandy did not cancel Halloween in our town, so Wednesday brought more trick or treating for both boys, who then crashed as they got back from their neighborhood jaunt. It was a very Happy Halloween here. Hard to believe November is already at our doorstep!

P.S. I just found out about a good friend of Santa's, the Switch Witch, who trades Halloween candy for a new toy. She is going to visit our house next year. Plus, then we can donate the candy to shelters and the troops. Our dentists will be happy!