End

Evan and I spent the day together seeing the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks and going bowling with school friends.

The entire Forcey Family got a haircut.

Now we are just relaxing in the family room waiting for the ball to drop. (We catch the East Coast feed and tell Evan it's New Year's!)

Not to be a downer, but 2009 was pretty hellish for us. So many terrible things happened. Of course there were good things mixed in, but the theme of the year seemed to be sadness, sickness, and worry. I, for one, am very happy to see a new year.

I have several resolutions or things I want to work on for this upcoming year including being a better and more patient mom. Personal health goals always rank high up there as well.

I wish everyone a healthy and happy new year. I know we are looking forward to better beginnings.

Flashback

Eric and I attended my college roommate's wedding in San Francisco back in August. Heather (my roommate) emailed me a few pictures from that day. I thought they were pretty cute.





That was a very fun weekend for the two of us.

Christmas Day From My Camera

I told you Christmas wasn't over just yet! Anyhow, according to the liturgical calendar, we are smack in the middle of Christmas even though the stores want us to think it's Valentine's Day.


Hudson seems to like his new bike.


Eric helps Evan check out his new MP3 player. He LOVES this thing.


Evan opened his new remote control car.


Hudson got a train. I am pleased to say that he likes this toy. I wasn't sure when I bought it, but he's been playing with it in the evenings.


I love the look on Evan's face as he pulled his new Slinky out of his stocking! He doesn't even know what a Slinky is, but he sure looks excited!

And Christmas Eve continues

Sorry for the interruption in posting Christmas Eve photos last night. I was a bit tired and needed to go to bed!

On with the celebration.


My mom bought me a new black sweater. I have had my old black sweater since 1999! It's a bit stretched and worn out.


The story behind this picture is pretty funny. My school always holds a Santa sale where the kids are able to shop for items for their family, and it will be a surprise for their loved ones. I sent Evan with $15 and the instruction that he could purchase gifts for Mom, Dad, Brother and Grandma. He indeed bought something for all of us (including himself). I didn't look at the gifts once we got home from school that day, but I did help him separate them and put them under the tree. When I saw the coffee cup wrapped in cellophane, Evan told me it was for Grandma. I didn't give it another thought, but made sure we took it to Grandma's for Christmas Eve. Grandma opened the mug, and I burst out laughing because the mug says, "Dad" on the front! I guess all grandmas need a personalized mug that says "Dad!" It is definitely the thought that counts.


Tiffany got me a breast cancer awareness sweatshirt. I love it! I've worn it nearly every day since Christmas.


Hudson got new cars from Aunt Tiffy.

And that is all for Christmas Eve. But don't worry. I have plenty of Christmas Day photos still to share. The Christmas blog posts might end sometime after New Year's!

Christmas Eve on Eric's Camera

Here are some highlights from Eric's camera.


Hudson spent several sessions on the time out chair. He's a mean child who hits and kicks. I'm not sure how to break him of this habit.


One of the few moments when Hudson was calm and still. I am constantly telling him to say his prayers and thank God for the adorable face that he has. It gets him out of many sticky/trouble situations (because I end up laughing or kissing those sweet cheeks)!


I didn't really care for our family shots this year. Evan is grumpy, my bangs are pulled to the side making my forehead look huge, and on and on. I like last year's group shot. But this is the 2009 Family Christmas Photo. I guess I'll take it for what it is.


The cousins: Logan (11), Hunter (8), Evan (5), and Hudson (2). This photo makes me laugh. Logan looks bored, Hunter has his eyes closed, Evan is a grump, and Hudson is the happy clam!


Me, my mom, and my sister. I miss my dad.


Evan opened his first gift which was a stuffed moose animal from my mom. Apparently, he likes it!


Hudson got a cool millipede/centipede/worm ABC thing from my mom. It is really cute.


My mom gave me a cool lap desk.


Eric received a Lowe's giftcard from my sister.


We got my mom a very pretty breast cancer Christmas ornament. She seemed to like it.

I have many more pictures to share from Eric's camera, but I am tired. More photos will have to be shared tomorrow.

Christmas Eve on my camera

Eric and I both have our own cameras. His is big and nifty. Mine is small and nifty. This post will feature Christmas Eve photos from my camera. Once I see his photos on the server, I'll post those in a separate post...because you can never have too many pictures to view of the Forcey family!


My mom was so excited about her little sammie breads. Oh my goodness she wouldn't hush up about them! Yes, Mom, they are ADORABLE! (By the way, doesn't my mom look pretty in this photo?)

Instead of a big sit down dinner, we basically snacked our way through the day. We got to my mom's house at 1:30 and ate steadily until it was time for church. But oh the lovely snacks we enjoyed: beef stick, deli meats, cheeses, crackers, fudge, pretzels dipped in chocolate, veggies, ranch dip (Hidden Valley - thank you Mom!), olives, soda, cookies, and so much more. Oh lovely and delicious snacks. We started this food thing last year and liked it so much we did it again this year.

We spent the afternoon eating, playing games, laughing, missing my dad, and enjoying each other. I like Christmas Eve even more than Christmas Day. I always have. There's just a lot of special memories wrapped up in Dec. 24th.


Photos by the tree before heading to church. Hudson looks weird, and it went downhill from there.


The screaming and pushing and crying was unbearable. And that was just me! These boys were making me crazy. They simply refused to sit there nicely to be photographed. Meanwhile my nephews were being angels. Made my two look even worse. Sigh.


Decent shot of Evan.


See? These kids are nuts. Evan refused to smile at this point.


Happy family, I think.


Logan, Hunter, Evan and Hudson.


Me, my mom, and my sister.

Then it was off to church. Hudson didn't sit still for most of the service, but that was okay. Then once we lit the candles for Silent Night, Hudson kept blowing out Evan's candle. Then Evan started shrieking. Nice. I relighted it several times. Once we got home, we changed into pj's and opened presents. I love traditions!


The kids were all dancing like loons after all the presents were opened. It was fun to watch.


Evan is a dancing fool.

We got home from my mom's at about 11. It didn't take too long for Santa to arrive! I was wired and didn't get to sleep until midnight or so. It's always neat to set stuff out knowing how excited the kids are going to be the next morning.


Santa came and spoiled our boys!


Evan's side of the tree included a new skateboard, an MP3 player, and a Transformer from Santa. Santa Claus does not have time to wrap presents. All the wrapped ones are from Mom and Dad. This year was the first time that we have had a substantial amount of wrapped presents under the tree. We took turns on Christmas morning enjoying Santa toys, but also one by one opening our gifts from each other.


Hudson's side of the tree included a Strider bike, a Sit and Spin, and a Diego toy. His bike is the cutest thing I've ever seen. It doesn't have any pedals, but he sits on it and uses his legs to move forward. In time he'll learn to glide and he can put his feet up on those little foot rests! He LOVES his bike. I first saw this type of bike from a friend (Hi Carol!). Her little one was a speedy little thing on his Strider, and I just knew Hudson would love it.

That was our Christmas Eve. Another year has come and gone. It was a day in which I missed my dad terribly, but I had a great deal of fun being with my mom, sister, husband, sons and nephews. It was impossible to be sad all day because we had a lot of fun.

Christmas Bread

Each year I make my bread. Each year I gripe about it. The bread is not hard to make, but it is rather labor intensive. It's an all day project.

I can't imagine Christmas without this bread, but I wish someone else could be the one to make it once in a while.


First the yeast has to rise.


Then you have to find a Christmas Elf who is in the midst of eating a donut to help you with this tradition.


Any day now with that donut Elf.


The dough before SEVEN cups of flour are added to it.


This spice is the reason this bread tastes so delicious. When Mrs. Fore taught me to make this bread, we used "real" seeds and ground them by hand! Yeah, I haven't done that in years!


I started adding in all the flour while Evan mixed it up with his hands.

At this point in the baking process, the dough goes into the oven for 90 minutes to rise. Evan and I ran to Costco to get gas, pick up some pictures, eat a quick pizza lunch and get the oil changed in the car. Then we ran home to do this...


The best part about making this bread is "punching" down the dough. Then it goes back into the oven for 45 minutes (at which point Evan and I ran to the Post Office, Target, and Bath and Body Works).


This is the sucky part. It takes a really long time to separate the dough into strands and braid them. I watched an episode of The Vampire Diaries while doing this. Then the braids themselves have to rise for 30 minutes. In this photo, the braids have already risen and have an egg wash.


Add a bit of cinnamon and sugar.


Bake until golden brown. Oh so delicious.

Zoo Lights

Last night we went to the zoo to see the Zoo Lights. It was really pretty, and I was very impressed! It felt strange going to the zoo in the dark, but it was very magical.

We forgot the cameras, but I took a few photos with my camera. However, I have no earthly clue how to get the photos off of my phone and into my computer. Eric isn't here, so I'll have to add those photos later.

Both Evan and Hudson got to visit Santa while we were there. Evan was running around acting like a loon. He couldn't understand why we couldn't see the animals. He apparently didn't buy the fact that it was NIGHT time and the animals were sleeping!

We even got free hot chocolate and listened to singers sing Christmas carols. The paths were fully lined with rope lights, and there were giant displays everywhere. Well done!

I hope the zoo continues this display next year. It will be a fun tradition to go each year.

The Sad Tree

Yesterday my two children decided that the Christmas Tree didn't look nice upright. So they decided to level it. Actually, they were fighting with each other. Evan said Hudson pushed him and he grabbed the tree and the whole dang thing fell over.

I was standing in the kitchen wrapping a birthday present when I looked up just in time to see it tumble. It was awful. Broken ornaments everywhere. The angel lost her head. Literally. Some of my favorite ornaments were broken.

Luckily just as many were not injured. Many landed on the tree or the carpet, but some landed on the tile floor in front of the fireplace.

I screamed. Then I yelled, "EEERRRIIICCC!" He was already headed towards the noise. I stuck Hudson in his crib where he screamed for 10 minutes, and I basically told Evan to go away. We got the mess cleaned up, but it took a while to get the tree back up.

Here it is leaning against the chair with the pile of ornaments on the floor.


I would have grabbed the camera as the tree was lying on the floor, but I was too upset at that point, the kids were screaming, I was screaming, and I wasn't thinking clearly.

Eric and I got the mess cleaned up right before Evan's little friend got dropped off at our house to go to a birthday party. I am planning to go look for a new angel topper tomorrow.


We at least got the tree upright again. The lights are all uneven, ornaments are hanging in clumps, and that is as good as it's gonna get. Talk about bah humbug.

Dinner after the parade

After freezing our tails off at the Clovis Electric Christmas Parade, we headed to Carl's Jr. for an easy dinner. (Again, next year I am going to get smart, and we are taking Subway or some similar thing with us to eat.)


Evan looks happy in this photo, but moments later he was throwing a fit. I asked him if he wanted anything to eat. He said no. So I didn't order anything for him. When he realized he wasn't getting anything, he flipped out. I am trying to get both kids to understand that they can't change their minds about things 42 seconds after answering. Hudson is the worst about this lately. For example:

Mommy: Hudson, do you want your milk?

Hudson: Nope.

Mommy: Okay, then I am putting it in the frig.

Hudson: AHHHHHHHHH!

And then the fun starts over when I ask if he wants his milk again. So I've stopped asking a second time. But then I get to listen to a very angry 2-year-old who wants what he wants on his terms, which are only known to him!


Both kids looking fairly normal and pleasant. It's all an act!


This face gets me every time.


Kicking back sipping on Sprite. Yep, he gets soda. And he knows the word "soda." Sometimes I marvel at my amazing parenting skills!

By the way, the $6 cheeseburger which only cost $2.99 was rather tasty. But that also could have been that I was pretty hungry by the time the freezing parade was over. In any case, we enjoyed a fun family evening.