No modesty in this house

When I see a camera, I just have to smile and look cute!

This child loves having his picture taken. We started realizing this on Thanksgiving Day when he would totally "cheese it" when I had the camera pointed towards him. I guess he's going to be a little ham.

Hudson also doesn't get to run around without clothes on very often. We don't trust him just yet not to pee on the floor. Yesterday, however, he managed to go through three sets of clothes because he kept sitting in wet grass and mud outside. I finally just stripped him down a few minutes before his bath.


Driving the bus!


Beep Beep! Out of my way!

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent our Thanksgiving at our house. My parents and my sister and her family joined us for the day. We had a lot of yummy food including Eric's delicious garlic and sour cream mashed potatoes, turkey, garlic cheese bread, and stuffing. We tend to keep our house pretty cold, so my family spent a fair amount of time under blankets (sorry), but I think we all had a pretty good time. The cousins spent their time playing outside and running through the house. After dinner, the kids decorated gingerbread cookies. That took all of 4 minutes! Maybe next year I'll do better at providing entertainment for all!


Grandma and Grandpa with their four boys.


Evan used the frosting and gel rather liberally!


Grandpa with a snotty-nosed Hudson. He also got the shiner on his forehead earlier in the day when he tried to get out of the stroller that Evan was pushing.

Here at the Forcey house, we are thankful for so many blessings in our lives. Most of all we are thankful for family. To all of our family...we love you!

Chef of the Week

Evan was Chef of the Week at school today. This past weekend we shopped for our supplies to make froggy sandwiches. The "froggy" part of the sandwich involved mixing green food coloring into the mayonnaise. The kids loved the mixing and spreading steps. Then they had to put ham and cheese slices onto their bread to make their sandwich. I was there to supervise the process. I also got to read a Thanksgiving story.

It was a lot of fun seeing Evan in his classroom. This is a side of him that I never get to see. I find it funny that I was exhausted after only being there for 2 1/2 hours. You would think I didn't handle 29 3rd graders every day! It was just different being around all the tiny people. Evan loved having me there and kept smiling and waving at me when he was at his other stations. It was a very special day for our little chef!


The start of Evan's big day as Chef of the Week.


Miss Monica crowning Evan as Chef of the Week.


Miss Monica demonstrates how to make a froggy sandwich.


Washing our hands before we "cook."


Sitting in the King's Chair to lead his group in making froggy sandwiches. Such a proud little man!

I have work to do Mom

I think Hudson is going to be our problem solver. The other day I moved the little footstool into the middle of the family room so that Hudson couldn't use it to climb up and reach anything. Evan would have been happy to climb all over the stool in the family room. Not Hudson. He gave me a look that said, "Um Mom, what good is a footstool going to do me in the middle of the family room?" He then proceeded to pick up the stool, walk it back into the kitchen, and use it to reach the computer. It looked a little something like this. Apparently my 14-month-old needs to get a jump start on his computer time!

Birthday Dinner

Eric made prime rib and mashed potatoes for his birthday dinner. Then we had cake. I think Hudson misunderstood that it was Dad's birthday. Or maybe he was making up for not going crazy with cake on his own birthday. In any case, he decided to take tonight to smear cake through his face and hair!

Happy Birthday Dad! (and the rest are sick)

Eric and me two years ago at Christmas - I know it's old, but I like the photo of the two of us!


Evan and his Daddy at the fair


Hudson and his Daddy at the fair

Today is Eric's birthday! Happy Birthday to the best Dad and husband ever! The day is a bit clouded with the fact that both boys and I are sick. I started to feel pretty bad on Friday morning. Hudson has been fighting a cruddy nose for a few weeks, and Evan started coughing on Saturday. At least Eric and I celebrated and had a wonderful "birthday" weekend a few weeks ago. Hopefully that will make up for the fact that not much is going on today. Eric is cooking prime rib for dinner. Yum! And there is birthday cake. Granted, it could be an entry for cakewrecks.com but it is white cake, and Eric likes white cake with butter cream frosting.

Here is what Evan loves about his daddy: I love my Daddy because he helps me. He helps do the gate for me and he helps me build my ships. I like him. He likes playing on his computer, and he fixes computers. He works at work, and Greg always goes there with him. My Daddy takes me to school. We listen to the Cars song. He always turns my Cars song on. I love you Daddy!

Here is what Hudson loves about his daddy: (loosely translated by Mom) I love my Daddy because he is big and strong and he picks me up and I am tall! My Daddy gives me big hugs, and he makes a mean bottle of milk! He feeds me, keeps me away from the puppies, and watches me when I play outside. I love you Daddy!

I love my husband because he is my best friend. He is a man with character, morals, values, and integrity. He protects his family, provides for us, and laughs with us. I love talking to him at the end of each day. In the 6 years we've been together, we haven't run out of things to talk about. He loves me unconditionally, makes me laugh, and is a delicious cook! There is so much I love about Eric, but that would take a book.

We love you Honey! Happy Birthday!

Delightful Boy

Evan and Miss Monica on the first day of PreK.

We had Evan's parent/teacher conference today. According to Miss Monica, he is "a sweet little boy" with a "delightful personality." All good things to hear! It was a very easy conference. Evan is sometimes a leader and sometimes a follower. He is doing well with his classwork and skills. And he doesn't throw fits and become a stubborn little monkey when things don't go his way. I guess he saves those fun personality traits for us at home!

Of course we are very proud of our baby. We celebrated a good conference by getting an ice cream at Baskin Robbins. It was a perfect way to end the afternoon.

Conferences

Parent/teacher conferences are over. Twenty-nine conferences in two days is exhausting, but it is nice to have them done. I always feel so worn out after conferences are done. Tomorrow we are going to Evan's school for his conference. It will be my first time on the other side of the table! I am looking forward to it.

Boo Boo

Sad little face.



Evan fell and hurt his arm at school today. He is definitely a rough and tumble boy.



And this photo is completely non-related to the ones above, but I chopped my hair short a few weeks ago. I promised some friends I would take a picture to show how short it is. It used to be down the middle of my back. I really like it shorter (and healthier).

We liked Madagascar 2

Evan and I went to see Madagascar 2 today. I enjoyed it and laughed out loud several times. Evan said he liked it. Of course he had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie, but I convinced him to hold it until the movie was over. This is only the second time Evan has been to the theater. His first movie was Horton Hears a Who, which wasn't the best choice of first movies at age 3. I figured over a year later he'd be ready for his second movie! I could not believe how much he remembered from a summer ago. He told me about Horton, he remembered getting popcorn, and he remembered leaving early! At least we got through the whole movie this time.

We made a stop by Powell's Candy Store before heading home. Once we were in the car, I asked Evan if he liked the movie. He said yes. Then I asked him if he liked watching them better in the theater or at home. Much to my dismay, he said at home. Ugh! Eric no longer goes to the movies with me, so I was happy that Evan is old enough to go...even if we only see cartoon flicks. I guess I now have to hold out hope for Hudson to get old enough to want to go to the movies with me. Or I'll just have to continue my vacation and summer tradition of seeing movies by myself. It's a tradition that I have actually come to cherish.

In any case, we liked Madagascar 2.

The BABY is 14 months today!

That's right. Hudson Hartman Forcey is 14 months old today. It sure doesn't seem possible. This is also the same day last year that I returned to school after enjoying my maternity leave. I was a stressed out mommy when Evan was born. However, I truly enjoyed my maternity leave with Hudson. We definitely got some good bonding time in during those nice fall days last year. My beautiful little boy is growing up so fast. There is a part of me that wants him to stay this little and precious forever. Then there is the other part of me that wants him to be Evan's age because life is a lot easier! One thing I know for sure, that child can grin his amazing little smile, and my heart melts!

Baby Genius

I enjoyed a cute baby moment tonight. Hudson (who turns 14 months tomorrow) was in the bathtub splashing around. He stood up and tried to pump the soap out of his baby soap. He held his other chubby little hand up to the pump and when he "dispensed" his soap, he rubbed his hand across his belly washing himself! It was too cute watching him "wash" himself.

More proof he is a genius: When I put his socks on in the morning, he turns to grab his shoes. And lastly, when someone is standing in the way of something he wants, he will resort to biting to get you to move. Not pleasant if you are the one being bitten, but sure resourceful for the 1-year-old!

Okay, so I may not have a genius on my hands, but Hudson sure delights us to no end.

A little Halloween catch up

I know it's November, but here are some photos of Evan and Eric carving Evan's pumpkin. I truly don't enjoy carving pumpkins, so this is a "boy" tradition. I am perfectly happy to be the photographer. Less than a week after they carved the pumpkin, the dang thing imploded on itself! I had said pumpkin sitting on a plate in the dining room. Apparently it was rotten and just folded in on itself. Pumpkin juice was all over the table and the floor. It was pretty gross. I really wanted Eric to take a picture of the nasty little thing, but he doesn't exactly view all the events in our life as a scrapbook moment!



Evan and Dad digging into the pumpkin.



Proud boy with his pumpkin.

New technology (for me anyhow!)

Eric got me a card reader to be able to copy photos from my camera to my laptop. It's all very exciting for me. I know the rest of the technological world has been able to get their pictures from their cameras and into their computers for some time, but I'm a little slow on the uptake. Here's the first picture I uploaded all by my little bitty self! It's Evan looking rather sleepy. It's just about time for bed.

The Birthday Weekend is Over

I sure love this man who is a wonderful husband and father.


Eric and I had the best weekend. My sister and BIL agreed to take the kids for the weekend so we could celebrate Eric's birthday. His birthday isn't until the end of November, but this weekend worked out for everyone involved.

We enjoyed going to the Bulldog game on Friday night. They lost, but we like being there. We slept in on Saturday morning. Yes, I slept in until 7 a.m! That may not seem like sleeping in, but when you are used to getting up in the 5 o'clock hour, 7 is definitely sleeping in! We spent much of Saturday shopping for Evan. It sounds weird to spend our day doing that, but it was nice to putter around town and shop without dragging two children along.

We had a relaxing afternoon, and then got ready for dinner. I had been looking forward to this dinner for over a week. We had reservations at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Oh my goodness. That was the best steak I have ever had. It arrived at our table sitting in sizzling butter! Butter on steak...could it get any better?! The entire meal was decadent and delicious. The service was superior, and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

We again slept in. What a delight when that never happens on the weekends. As much as we enjoyed being alone, as we drove to my sister's to get the kids, we both agreed that we missed the kids and were looking forward to seeing them. Hudson snuggled into my shoulder for the longest time. Such sweet little snuggles and smiles. Evan ran and leaped into our arms. Both kids had a great time playing with cousins but were ready to come home.

Happy Birthday my love! On your real birthday, I'll talk about you some more. For now, it was amazing spending time with you and only you! I love you!

Business as usual

Here are pictures of us at the Fair. Hudson spent his time in a backpack, and Evan loved raking straw.



I meant to post this particular story last week after the chaos happened, but almost a week later, here it is.

I picked Evan up from school, and he immediately started in with his usual plea of, "Can I have a popsicle when I get home?" I didn't really answer him so he started whining and screaming. Not fun. Then he asked me if we were going to get Hudson. Yes, of course. "I don't want to get Hudson! He bites me!" I talked to him about how I understood what it is like to be the older sibling.

We went to the grocery story first, and he insisted on walking 10 paces behind me. Frustrating to say the least with me having to turn my head every 4 seconds to make sure he was still there.

We finally get Hudson and head home. This is where it all fell apart. Evan decided to run in the house without waiting for me. No big deal expect that the alarm is triggered when you run in. I turn the alarm off with my key-fob, but somehow in my long journey from the driver seat around the the passenger seat to get Hudson, I couldn't find my keys. Don't ask me where they went. As soon as I heard the chirping of the alarm, I started panicking trying to find the keys. I looked like a mad woman jumping in and out of the car. Well, the alarm went off. Evan came running back out to the garage screaming in terror, "Hurry! Hurry!" Since the alarm was blaring, I figured I'd take my time and CALMLY look for the keys. I found them and shut off the alarm.

Once inside, I grabbed the phone and hung onto it waiting for the alarm company to call. Instead Eric called. I guess they called him first. He knew we were fine because I had just talked to him before getting home, but he called me to see what was going on. As I'm trying to have a conversation with him, Hudson trips over his own feet and does a face plant into the wood floor. He busted his lip open and there was blood everywhere. Lovely. He's screaming, I'm trying not to get blood on my school clothes, and I still have Eric on the phone. I got Hudson cleaned up, but then Evan decided he wanted to play with his Legos. He refused to wait for me to pull them off the counter, and pulls on the box himself. Three hundred miniature Legos went flying all across the kitchen floor.

Very calmly I told Eric that I was going to take the baby and go into our bedroom and shut the door. It was that or lose my temper all over Evan. I did just that. I closed my bedroom door, got in my bed, and stayed there until I heard Eric in the house about 5 minutes later! Hudson had a ball wandering around our bedroom getting into stuff, but I didn't care, as long as he didn't have anything sharp!

The alarm, bloody lip, and Legos all in less than 5 minutes. I was at my wit's end. Like I said, business as usual.

All Saints Day

Yep, it's All Saints Day for those of you who didn't know that. It's the day in the Catholic Church when we honor all saints. I remember my first year teaching, my class had the All Saints Day Mass. It was the FIRST time I had ever had to put together a Mass, and I was so nervous. It turned out well, but I'm glad that nine years later, putting together a Mass feels much easier.

I am sorry I haven't posted lately. I have wanted to. My excuse is that Eric took down our server, so I don't have access to pictures. I haven't wanted to post any posts without pictures. I don't think the server is being shared with me yet, so still no pictures. Hopefully soon.

I'll just have to post belated events like pumpkin carving and Halloween at a later date. We did have a good night trick or treating. Evan's pumpkin is literally filled to the brim with all the sugar he collected at his school, my school, and the neighborhood. He started out as Scooby Doo, but said his costume was hurting him. For trick or treating we pulled a puppy costume out of the closet. Hudson was a pony. He was cute!

Evan lost his candy for the day. Little monster woke us up at 6. I told him to lay down on the floor under the huge blanket left there for him. He said no and proceeded to scream. Ugh! I told him if he didn't stop, he'd lost his candy. He didn't stop. He lost his candy.

I haven't touched any of his loot. I so badly want to eat all the stuff in there, even the candy I don't care for. But I haven't.

Lastly, we had a visitor in our house last night. Mac T was sitting in the corner of the couch, but he had to jump down because Hudson was near. When he jumped down I thought there was a pile of poop left behind. Gross, I know, but you never know with kids and dogs. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a frog! Ewwwww! I flipped out and grabbed Hudson and ran to the kitchen! Eric kept asking me what it was. I kept trying to yell frog frog! Finally he saw it, the frog hopped onto the floor, and Eric managed to get it into a little box to put it outside. I have no idea how that frog got in the house, much less on the couch. Yuck.