My boys

I have two fun children stories to share that just happened in the last hour!

Jonathan:
We were at a playground eating lunch with Aaron. A group of kids from an elementary school came outside for recess. The playground swarmed with kids. My little ones loved seeing the older kids. When the class was ready to go, a little boy with his teacher came up to Jonathan. The little boy thought he'd hurt Jonathan during their play. Aaron saw what happened and Jonathan wasn't hurt, he was crying because of another issue. The little boy was genuinely concerned. I told the boy that Jonathan was fine and then encouraged Jonathan to give the boy a high five. Jonathan left my lap and went hurried to the boy's legs and gave him a full embrace! The boy's face lit up! Then Jonathan proceeded to go around the group hugging legs! As the kids left, he waved goodbye and blew all of them kisses! As small as he was, he had captured all the "big kids" and the teachers' attention and brought smiles to all their faces!

Austin:
As I am settling them down for nap, I sing them a little song that is actually Psalm 119:9-11 which I had memorized when Austin was just a couple days old. I periodically sing this over the boys as a prayer. It says:
How does a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to thy word. With all my heart I have sought you do not let me wonder from your commandments. I have carried your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.Austin asked, "what's that?" I told him it was a song from the bible that talks about a little boy who wants to make God happy and obey Him. Austin said, "The little boy is not hitting Jesus on the head?" Holding back my laughter, I said, "No, the little boy is not hitting Jesus on the head!" I love the simplicity of his innocence!

Treasured Wednesday

 So I wrote a few posts ago about the angels I've met along my crazy encounters in the city. Today I write to share about Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) again! A few weeks ago two very sweet friends began coming with me to BSF. It's been such a sweet treat to share studying the bible - God's Word - with these two woman. The first is a friend of many years - Cintia.

Cintia and I have been friends since 2004 when Aaron and I lived in Fortaleza Brazil. We attended the church where Cintia's husband, Mario, is a pastor. We were a part of Mario and Cintia's small group. Cintia and I became fast friends and shared many wonderful times. In our friendship we have walked through difficult times both emotionally and circumstantially. Aaron and I have been so blessed to journey with her and Mario. Their faith is solid. Cintia's demeanor before the Lord is extremely candid but also very teachable. I have gained a ton from her. She's also just plain fun. Her genuine nature lights up a room and you are sure to laugh with my sweet friend!

Then there's our new friend - Brandy. She is a huge blessing too. I met Brandy a couple months ago when we first walked into Trinity Grace Church. I was nervous about dropping the boys off because it was a completely new place and I knew no one that would be keeping them. Brandy met me at the door of the nursery. She's the preschool/children's director. Her smile was incredibly warm. Her words were reassuring. Her presence just permeated peace. I knew my children would be OK. A few weeks after that Brandy and I got a chance to talk more at Super Sundays (a ministry to kids in Harlem on Sunday afternoons).  It's like she was a kindred spirit. We realized we lived within a few blocks of each other. Both being somewhat new to the neighborhood (Brandy's lived in NYC for a few years, but just moved to Morningside Heights) we began to hang out. We've done dinner together, walked and explored together. Most consistently however, is our Wednesday mornings, where Brandy does the 45 minute trek with me and the boys to BSF. I like to think of her as our permanent angel that God has placed on the bus with us :) Here's a picture of us on the way to BSF.

I am continuously floored at God's incredible provision for community during this season. It's been astounding to watch him fulfill our desire and need for significant friendships through both old and new friends!

Happy 8 Years of Wedded Bliss!

Marriage is hard. It takes work. It's a choice to live sacrificially in light of another person. It's conflict and compromise....but it's amazing! It is bliss! 8 years ago today the Lord gifted me with Aaron as my perfect provision for a husband. We'd fallen in love pursuing God's work together. We'd carefully explored if we were right for one another. We knew that this was no small commitment. So on October 19, 2003 we confidently came before literally a circle of community to unite as one before our Lord and our world. I rejoiced then in the decision and I rejoice now. Here's our vows that we pledged to one another 8 years ago today.

Aaron to Joyce:

My dearest Joyce,

I have loved you as my sister in Christ, my friend

and now as my wedded wife and Proverbs thirty one woman.

My soul rejoices that this love is from God,

for it is by His strength and grace that I covenant these things with you.

I will love you faithfully and sacrificially

as Christ does the church.

I will honor and cherish you above all else in this world

including my own life.

I promise to glorify and seek the Lord with all that I am.

For it is His direction I will follow,

His Work I will handle,

and His wisdom I will pray for

to lead you in building a foundation for a Christian heritage in our family.

I promise always to nurture you physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

With strength and courage I will fight to stand on The Rock with you.

Joyce, my life changed forever when God brought us together on April 19^th, 2002.

Now I joyfully pledge myself to you as a loving husband

receiving God’s perfect provision.

Joyce to Aaron:

From the very first mention of an “us”

God gently whispered to me that you were His good and perfect gift for me.

Joseph Aaron today I pledge to embrace you as my gift for eternity.

I promise to love you in a manner that always pursues the oneness the Lord has called us to.

Believing that we are set apart for one another

I vow to respect you.

As your helper

I commit to supporting you in the missions that the Lord calls us to.

I will make every effort to continuously affirm my belief in you.

As you lead me, and one day our family,

I promise to be incessantly in prayer for you.

I pledge to communicate my love for you in creative ways

that you will always have confidence in the covenant we begin today.

As I reflected in prayer with the Lord this morning I realized that God's hand is so faithful to us. He has guided us given us purpose as one. I love Aaron more today than 8 years ago because I have been able to witness His dedication to that which he believes in. He is a man of excellence whom I've had the pleasure of following. I look forward to the many years ahead as we continue to journey each day together. In the trials and in the joys, my heart is so incredibly thankful for this companion God has provided for me.

Here we are during  the ceremony worshiping the Lord side by side.
Here's to countless more years of worship the Lord hand in hand!

Randomness in the Pierce Home

I've taken a few random pictures of the boys lately, thought it would be fun to share!

We were getting the car seats ready for apple picking - the boys were being cute (surprise!) so we snapped a few pics. Love their expressions in these close ups!

 

Look at those eyes!

The boys playing hide and seek in the cabinet that was empty due to us getting new bathroom floor!

Austin found a way to "share" the toy with Jonathan :) Pretty clever!

All the boys going for a bike ride!

Jonathan went for his first ride in the bike carrier with Daddy. Austin and I went to the park on his bike!

Life's pretty good in New York City!

Apple Picking

Last Saturday we had a great adventure. Apple Picking! There were two vans...seven adults....six children babies! The oldest of the kiddos will turn three in January! We set out for what was supposed to be an hour and a half ride and FOUR hours later arrived at Hurd Family farm. It was quite the challenge, but there was a lot of patience, laughter, and grace shared among the travelers. Here's a few shots of the road trip.

Here we are - our first time out of the city since leaving TX!

Austin, Jonathan, Sam

Ellion getting buckled in for the LONG ride!

Zack eating a quick bite on one of our MANY stops!

Roslyn and her momma Tumbuko eating their lunch!

What am I doing you ask? Trying to dry Austin's clothes after his FIRST poopy accident.

I couldn't help it - I had to take a picture. It's the sign for a strip mall. It felt like home! I haven't seen one of those in over a month. I didn't realized I missed seeing things like this until I saw them on this trip!

We arrived at the farm about 1pm - nap time for most of the kids! Luckily there was plenty to distract them. The parents all hoped that the children would nap at some point during the day, but that was just wishful thinking on our part! Jonathan caught a little cat nap in the car on the way up, but had difficulty sleeping because Austin and Sam took turns awaking him up!

Back to the arrival at the farm! Everyone was excited to the fun awaiting us. Aside from the apples, there were lots of things to see and do. There were horses and goats. There was a play area for the kids complete with a sandbox. A little school house with hay for chairs. Both of the boys had a blast. There was a bit of a mishap right after the boys began playing. I looked over at Austin who was standing some hay. I saw the look on his face and my stomach immediately sank. "No no no no no" I said as I rushed over to him. Too late. He'd already pooped. Yes, you read it right. I'd already dealt with one poopy accident on the way up in a public bathroom - I thought that was bad. Now we were off to the PORTER POTTY to deal with this one. I wanted to vomit. Luckily Austin was extremely compliant in the very enclosed, hot, stinky space. He left the Porter potty in a diaper. I was not doing that again!

The craziness settled after that and we were able to just enjoy the day. We set off to explore and pick apples with the Biddys (there will be a post about them soon)! You purchased a bag and you could stuff it with as many apples as you'd like. You could also sample the product while you picked! We sure loved it! Check out our adventures!

Austin and Sam with their first apples!

Jonathan chowing down on an apple in the Boba carrier!

Running "super fast" through the apple trees!

Taking some time to analyze the beauty in the apples!

Incredible trees with all different kinds of apples!

I lost count of how many apples Austin ate,
but he never had less than two apples in hand.
Usually he used one apple to push the other in his mouth like shown in this picture!

I didn't think Jonathan liked apples before last Saturday!

Zack happy to have a little time out of the carrier!

Jonathan saying "eeeeseee" (cheese!)

The Biddy's our adventure partners!

The four of us - happy in the country!

 

Hanging with Auntie Debbie

Here's a few pictures of our day to see Auntie Debbie. We met her at her work and got to meet all her friends at work. Then headed to the park for lunch and play! It was good time!

Headed home: ie: walk a couple blocks, get on the cross town bus, then transfer to an uptown train, then walk home. Total travel time: just under 60 minutes. The boys' expressions say what I feel inside about the commute!
Well worth it though :)

Morning of Exploring and Fun!

The boys and I had a great morning. We set off to find a peacock!
(Disclaimer on the post: I didn't have a camera so I looked up pictures online because I wanted to include pictures in this post.)

We'd seen one at The Cathedral Church of St. John Divine on Sunday when we were on our way to Central Park. Austin has been looking for it since. So today was a perfect day to go find it. Unfortunately, we did not see the peacock. The peacock wasn't out as it'd been on Sunday. So instead we stopped into the Children's Sculpture Garden of the Cathedral. The boys loved it!

In the center of the garden is this large statue. I cannot make out all of the things incorporated within the sculpture, but it's massive! I cannot imagine how big it must seem to the boys.

All around it are tiny statues of little animals. You can hardly see them in this picture, but here's the very first one we saw:

The boys loved going around the circle. Austin would name the animal and Jonathan would make some noise that he thought that animal might make. It was so sweet to see their interaction and interest for the sculptures. Then they saw a group of German tourist. Jonathan left our side and went hands spread straight to this man and hugged his legs. The man was taken off guard, but welcomed Jonathan's embrace. Before I could get to him, Jonathan made his way to another gentlemen in the group and did the same. The group loved Jonathan's interaction and all gathered around to play with him. Jonathan, of course, loved being the center of attention. My children know no strangers! It's sweet and petrifying at the same time!

We left the sculpture garden and headed uptown a couple blocks to a playground garden. I think I've found a hidden treasure in NYC. There's a little garden that's almost an ally between two buildings. It's been turned into a play area. It's filled with cars, little playhouses, bikes, and lots of other things. It feels like a back yard, but with tons of the toys kids usually have to take turns with. How many times have I had to tell Austin, you have to wait your turn to ride this car:

Well at this garden park there are 4 of these cars! Both boys got to ride in them without any interuptions. Austin even got to try out a toddler scooter with three wheels! We were the only ones there for two hours. The boys had a great time, and I loved watching them play!

We finished our morning at Columbia where we met daddy for a picnic lunch. This was our view one direction:

And this was the view on the other side:

We are loving life!

Sweet day!

This is my best friend Debbie. We met in 1999 when we were placed as roomates in Dorman Hall at FSU. She's been a jewel of a friend since then and last Saturday was no exception. Our day started at Babies r Us in Union square. While Jonathan took his morning nap and Aaron studied, Austin and I went to meet Auntie Debbie! We did a little shopping then headed back home to meet up with Aaron and Jonathan for lunch. When Debbie and I got off the subway, we found ourselves in the middle of a street fair with delicious smelling food. Aaron met us there with Jonathan. The five of us took our lunches from the street fair and ate on Columbia's campus.

After putting the boys down for their nap, Debbie and I headed out. We had no plans, other than make it to her place at some point to watch the FSU football game. We strolled through Harlem window shopping for some rain boots. We took our time, had no agenda, and enjoyed good - uninterrupted - conversation. We finally made our way back to her apartment and watched the first half of the game. By this point it was close to 6pm so I needed to make my way back. In true Debbie selfless form, she road all the way back to my place (about 45 min commute) only to drop me off at my building and return home.

You see for most of you, this sounds like a simple afternoon. Nothing special, nothing glamorous. Yes, that's true. But for me it was an incredible time of refreshment. Instead of carting two babies all around the city, plus diapers, snacks, drinks, etc....instead of having to entertain and convince a toddler that what's next on the agenda is necessary and will be fun...instead of walking quickly because surely we're late for lunch, nap, or something....instead of all that...I just got to hold one purse, one cup of coffee, talk if I wanted to, stop if I wanted to, and just hang with my bestie!

Yes, I love my life of a momma of a two year old and a one year old, but times like this are very necessary and go a long way :) It was a good day!

Touched by an Angel - Part Two

The second story is pretty comical in hindsight, but not so much in the moment. I'd decided to try letting Austin walk to the grocery store with me. Usually I do one kiddo in the baby carrier on my back and the other in the single stroller. I thought if he could walk, that would make getting around the grocery store easier. The walk to the store was beautiful (noticing a pattern here huh!). Austin was excited to walk and liked the Independence. We got our things quickly and started to head out of the store. The moment we walked out of the store, Austin looked at me and said, "I can't walk momma." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Now I not only have a baby on my back and a purse to carry, I also have groceries. You don't have a choice but to walk. I asked calmy for him to walk. He instead (repeatedly that he couldn't). Feeling a little hopeless and out of ideas on how to make it back, I quickly said a prayer, "Lord, please get us home." I kid you not, two seconds after I said that a woman pops out of nowhere about 30 feet in front of us saying very loudly "Ohhhh....Ohhhhh.....Ohhhh....." I look up, she's looking right at us, "He's sooo cute". She'd noticed Austin. He immediately stops insisting that he can't walk home and starts walking (in the direction we need to go) towards this lady. She is an older African American woman dressed in black and white. She has sliver hair and a bright white hat on. She was beautiful. If you've ever watched Touched by an Angel, I felt like I had run into Tess. Austin was very enamored by her. He was silenced and happy to show her that he could in fact walk home!

Unfortunately, when he could no longer see her, he resumed his insistence that he couldn't walk. But I'd gotten to experience an immediate answer to prayer that got me several steps closer to our destination. And really, who stops in the middle of the side walk in NYC and loudly almost sings in awe of kids. I know she was just a sweet human, but in the moment, she was our angel!!!

Touched by an Angel

This is part one of a two part series! I have stories to tell! Partly because I want you to know what's going on, but mostly because I need to remember these forever. So I will document them here.

I was on the bus with the boys by myself. We were returning home from Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). The ride there was great. We all had seats...the boys had Cheerios... everyone was happy. The ride back however was not so smooth. For starters I went back to the street that we arrived on to get back on the bus and head home, only to realize it was a one way street, heading downtown not uptown as we needed to go. After a minor internal panic, I went to reach for my phone to call Aaron so he could give me directions on how to get home. Only to realize that I didn't have my purse. Important side note - Jonathan has not had his morning nap. It's 11:45, both boys are used to eating by noon. I wasn't set up for success.

I returned to the church to get my purse. I knew exactly where I had left it. It was on the table where I had "loaded up" AKA: Jonathan on my back in a carrier, Austin in the stroller so he could hop off and get on the bus, and lunch box attached to the stroller easily accessible so I could fed the boys on the way home. My purse just hadn't been a priority apparently! Hey...I made it out of the church with both children...I felt that was a success.

Back to the story - I was able to find a sweet gal from BSF who gave me directions on where to get on the bus I needed. It was a short walk, I was thankful. The bus took FOREVER! Austin decided he didn't want his shoes on. I am in a dress with Jonathan on my back in the middle of the street trying to get the shoe back on - again and again....ahhh! Finally the bus arrives. Immediately upon seeing it I said out loud "OH Great". It was PACKED! I am a wide load with a baby on my back, purse hanging in front, Austin in one hand, stroller in the other. But  we have to get on...so we did. There were several other children on the bus along with some senior citizens and handicap people. What does this mean? No one offers us a seat. No problem...Austin just hang on! Austin keeps looking at me telling me he wants to eat his lunch. Lesson learned - DO NOT TELL AUSTIN WE'LL EAT ON THE BUS - just in case we can't! To make a long story longer, the bus started to clear and we finally got two seats. Jonathan's in my lap, Austin next to me, and my feet are "securing" the stroller.  I open the lunch bag. Breathe. It's going to be OK. Until of course, both boys decide they don't want the pizza cracker I made (which they loved day before). Austin announces he doesn't want it. Jonathan spits it out. Me...I'm flustered again...so much for breathing! In this moment, Austin shoves my purse down which pushes up against the stroller which then goes falling across the bus hitting the person in front of us. Yes - welcome to my reality. The lady next looks over with a ton of compassion in her eyes and says, "Do you want me to hold your stroller?" Well of course I do. She then struck up conversation of her raising her three kids in the city. She identified that it's very difficult. Then it happens. She says, "You're doing a beautiful job." There was nothing beautiful about anything this sweet woman had witnessed. We were a mess. She said it again, "Really. You're doing a beautiful job."  I smiled in relief. It was the exact words I needed to get us through the rest of the ride which was thankfully much better. But that sweet momma of three, saw herself years ago in me. Perhaps provided for me what someone did for her one day. I'd run into an angel!