Soccer Party

We attended Evan's soccer party on Friday night. Never mind the fact that soccer ended shortly after Halloween. At least we are now in possession of the much wanted soccer trophy.

When we got home from school on Friday, Evan decided all on his own that if we were going to his soccer party, then he needed to be dressed in his soccer gear. (He was the only kid that did this, but that's okay.) I thought it was pretty clever of him. The kids had fun running around playing video games.

Even though it was a bit late in the season, the soccer party was a success.

Mismatch Day

This week is Catholic Schools Week. It's a week where we celebrate our faith, our school, and each other. Keeping with the celebration, each day is a different theme day. Monday was sports day (I wore my Bulldog sweatshirt and Evan wore his soccer shirt), Tuesday was mismatch day, today was pajama day, tomorrow is super hero day, and Friday is accessory day.


Evan and me ready for Mismatch Day.

Something is very wrong when I am wearing blue, pink, orange, and burgundy all at once, and my 8th graders tell me I look cute. Evan thought he was pretty stylish with his two different shoes, two different socks, shorts, black shirt, and dress shirt. He fit right in with the rest of us crazies!

I didn't take a picture this morning of us trotting off to school in pajamas. I had to stop at the store, and I felt compelled to explain to everyone I saw that it was PJ day at school! They probably thought we were nuts!

It's been a fun week. It's even more fun getting to see Evan in kindergarten enjoying the festivities.

Just Had To Share

I ran four miles today! I never in a million years thought I'd be able to do that. It gives me hope that I can run even further. Just wanted to share!

Getting Along

Sometimes my boys get along.


And when they get along...my heart swells.

Infection

Hudson woke up this morning with a raging eye infection. Luckily, I was able to get him into the allergist just after 8 a.m. this morning. Poor kid is just crusted over. He's now on an oral antibiotic, eye drops, and his inhaler.

The eye drops are super fun to administer. It is definitely a two-person job. One to hold the screaming kid and one to do the eye drops. Seven days of this. Sigh.

Great

My post title has a double meaning today.

I truly mean the word "great" when I say that Evan did well on his progress report at school yesterday. We are so very proud of how well he is doing in kindergarten. We celebrated his success last night by going out for ice cream after dinner. (I always love a good reason to go out for ice cream. It makes me feel less guilty about it when there is an actual reason as opposed to just wanting ice cream!).

My second meaning of the word "great" should be said with utter sarcasm. The pictures below show what we woke up to this morning.


Yeah, that would be our back fence lying flat on the ground!


Just what I always wanted to see...my neighbor's backyard while standing in my own backyard.


I think the wind knocked down at least three panels of fence. Eric was the one who found this lovely sight. I was already on the way to school. Eric wasn't happy.


The really irritating thing about this whole mess (aside from the new view out my back sliding glass door) is that Eric had already spoken to the neighbor about needing to get the fence repaired several months ago. It has been weak and leaning for quite some time. The only problem is that the support beams are on the neighbor's side...not ours. Eric told the neighbor that he was completely willing to pay half, help out, or do whatever needed to be done to get the fence fixed. Apparently the neighbor thought Eric was kidding.


Not only do we now have a suddenly larger backyard, but we have to leave the dogs inside during the day. We don't want them wandering into the neighbor's yard to get eaten by their dog. And the fence won't be able to be repaired until the ground dries up, we get an estimate, and insurance gets sucked into the mix.

What a "great" day.

Day Off

Yesterday was a day off from school and work (which is one and the same for me). To run off a little energy, I took the boys to Pump it Up during the morning play time. It was the first time where I didn't have to physically get on every slide and bouncy house with the kids. They both can handle it by themselves! I actually got to sit for short spells!

I was leery of Hudson making it through one particular slide thing, but he managed just fine. He's a scrappy little guy!


Hudson coming down the small slide. This bouncy house is a little freaky because the kids go in and disappear for a while. I had to resist the urge to crawl in and look for him!


Hudson must have gone through this bouncer at least 10 times. Talk about a lot of energy!


Both boys after we had shoes on and were preparing to leave. Evan is such a sweaty monkey.

It was a very crowded morning at PIU, but luckily most of the kids there were really well behaved. It was a good way to run and play. Then we called Daddy and met him for pizza. Evan ended up going back to work with Eric while I took Hudson home for a nap.

I love Monday holidays!

Once Evan got home I heard the sweetest words ever. "I think I'll go play in the playroom," he said. And the heavens rejoiced! Here's to indoor play gyms and clean play rooms!

Purging

Apparently I had a burst of energy this morning, because I cleaned the boys' playroom. I should have taken before and after pictures, but I only got the after shots. Just imagine a floor so covered with toys, you couldn't walk through the room. At all. It was bad. Really bad.


One bag is trash, and the other three are to give to the Thrift Store when they call for donations. I am still trying to figure out what to do with the backpacks. I am thinking the closet in the other room. I would also like it if the table was completely empty. I want a little craft bin for crayons, paper, etc.


Do you see that? There are EMPTY bins in there! That makes me super happy.


Ahhh! Tidy bookshelf.

I just don't know how it gets out of order so dang quickly. I really tried to only hang onto things that the kids play with. I put a few items up in the closet to rotate in at a later time. I still need to find room for the remote control cars they got for Christmas.

Now I just need to get the car cleaned. Then I will consider it a productive day.

Average Night

Just an average night in the Forcey household.


P.J.s, a popsicle, and cowboy boots.


Evan works on homework.

It's been pretty routine around here for the past few days. I can handle that!

Girlfriend

I had a funny conversation with Evan on the way home from picking Hudson up at daycare today. As I walked around to the driver's seat and was waiting for the boys to get in the car, Evan and Hudson were busy on the sidewalk petting a neighbor's dog that had run over to greet them. I darted back around to the sidewalk to see what was going on.

The neighbor was holding his English Bulldog while the boys were petting it. She was a really sweet puppy. I asked what her name was, and the neighbor responded that her name was Bella. Bella the bulldog!

We got in the car, and I said, "That's funny! The dog's name was Bella!"

Evan: Yeah, it's just like my girlfriend's name!

Me: Oh, you finally admit that Bella is your girlfriend! (Whenever we bring up Bella's name, he gets quite defensive. Bella is a pretty girl in Evan's class at school.)

Evan: shy smile

Me: Does Bella know she's your girlfriend?

Evan: No, I don't want to surprise her. Mom, when you see Bella's mom, can you tell her?

Me: Um, sure. We'll see!

Too cute! Little ladies man my 5-year-old is! However, I doubt that I'll be running up to Bella's mom informing her that her daughter is betrothed to my son! I'll at least wait until they are in 1st grade!

Race Day!

We were up and out of the house by 7 a.m. this morning because Evan and I were signed up for the Run the Dream race at Woodward Park.

Evan's race was first. Unlike the Pelco race in December where he came in first out of the entire pack, he was about the 6th kid through the chute. Because of that, Evan was pretty disappointed thinking that he wasn't going to get an award. He has a hard time understanding that you don't always win. We kept emphasizing how proud we were that he did his best. He calmed down after Daddy talked to him.

I ran my 2-mile race. I was pretty pleased with my time. According to my watch, I came in at 21:47! My average pace for the run was 10:55/mile. That's the fastest race I've done yet. Granted, my other races were 3.1 miles, so I don't know if I would have been able to keep up that pace for another mile, but in any case, I am pleased that I seem to be continually improving.

After running, we grabbed some snacks, the kids got their faces painted, and I found out that I won a raffle prize! I was planning to ask Eric to get me a running ID bracelet or shoe tag for my birthday, and now I have a $15 gift certificate towards one of those very items! Pretty cool!

Then they announced that the kids' results were in. Well, lo and behold, Evan managed to get 2nd place for the 5-year-old male division, so he ended up with a really cool trophy after all. I don't think he's put it down since he got it!


After waiting out in the cold for two hours, Evan finally got his trophy!


Mom and Hudson trying to stay warm.


Evan was getting a bit grumpy from having to wait so long and being cold. Hey, if I could have fit, I'd have huddled in the stroller as well!


Waiting.

I really love the atmosphere at races. I always run faster at a race than I ever do in training runs. Something about the excitement that pushes me along. It was a great way to start the morning.

Next race: February

Floater

After last night's rough evening, we had a pretty great evening tonight...except for one small problem!

I finished my exercise early and asked the boys who wanted to take a bath. All three of us hopped into our big master bathtub. After a few minutes, Evan got out.

Suddenly I noticed that Hudson was poking at his butt. I thought, "Uh oh. Please don't poop in here." Well, that thought was about 10 seconds too late, because floating next to me was a little brown log!

I screamed. Hudson laughed. I was in the middle of shaving my legs and not exactly ready to get out of the tub. I guess I should be thankful that it was a solid poop as opposed to NOT!

Eric gave me a paper towel to scoop the icky thing up. I QUICKLY finished shaving and got the heck out of there. So much for that bath.

I can only imagine what tomorrow will hold!

Rough Evening

Both kids, but especially Evan, were just grumpy tonight. Evan spent a good deal of time crying and screaming.

My friend at school calls Evan a "Dreamboat," but he was anything but tonight. As he kissed me goodnight, I requested that we have a more calm day tomorrow.

I guess it's rough for everyone to get back into the regular routine. Darn holidays!

P.S. Hey Mom, I have been trying to call you for two days. Is your phone working? It rings and rings and rings and no answering machine or human picks up. Are you there? Did you go on vacation and not tell me? Email me, use your cell phone...do something! I miss you!

Back to School

It was back to school today for Evan and me. Getting up before 5:30 was not the easiest thing in the world to do after settling back into a late night/late morning routine over Christmas break.

Luckily today was a minimum day. And it was Casual Day if you brought a can of soup for the needy. I wore jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes. Evan wore the same.

I was proud of the fact that I did not ignore my alarm. I got up, got ready, and was not a screaming lunatic at 7:15. Instead at 7:15 we walked out the door to the car. I just have to stay off the computer in the morning. It's what messes me up every time.

The kids at school were good, and we eased back into the routine with some review.

Now I am off to watch The Bachelor. Now that the holidays are over, tv is going to get good again!

Hip Feels Better

I went for a pretty long run today. As soon as I got home I took ibuprofen and did a little stretching. I should have iced the area, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that.

Anyhow, I am not hurting tonight. That is good news! I don't need to lean on my 5-year-old to walk across the family room.

Thumb

Evan stopped sucking his thumb! He was really attached to that thing. A few weeks ago Eric made a deal with him. If he could stop sucking his thumb for three weeks, we would buy him a game for his DS. Well, he did it.

The other part of the deal was that if he was caught sucking his thumb and we mentioned it, he had to stop immediately and without grunting at us. I am very proud of him!

Funny thing is that in his entire life, that thumbnail has NEVER needed to be trimmed. We had a first the other night. The nail needed to be trimmed!

So what game did Evan pick out at Target today? He chose Star Wars Legos. And the best part is that we also picked up some kid friendly earphones that he can wear while playing the game or listening to his MP3. We no longer have to listen to the tinkly little music of his games! Yay!

Sore

I have a sore hip. I'm not sure if it is actually my hip, but I have great pain coming from the region of my hip/joint/leg socket. It gets worse right after I run. I know, logic would suggest that I stop running. But I just can't.

I have worked too hard to build up my endurance and strength with my running. I don't want to stop. If I had to self diagnose, I'd say there is inflammation where my leg and hip meet. Pretty good diagnosis, huh?!

Tonight the pain is pretty intense. I am having a hard time walking around the house. It is also pretty painful if I've been inactive for a stretch of time like sitting down. Once I get up to walk again, I'm hobbling.

Eric suggested that I might need to see a doctor. I really don't like to go to the doctor. I don't know many people who do, but I get more fearful of them the older I get. I am also afraid that they are going to laugh at me or make me feel bad about whatever ails me. Silly, I know.

I am about to take a really hot bath. Heat seems to help. I slept with a heating pad on my hip last night. I wonder if icing the area would help as well. I just don't relish the idea of putting ice in that location. Yikes!

Are we the only ones?

Are we the only parents who have neurotic children who can't eat a banana if it accidentally breaks? Both of my children are like this. If the banana breaks during the peeling process, they refuse to eat it! I haven't been able to convince them that the integrity of the banana has not been compromised.

For this reason alone, I want to peel the banana - to ensure it comes out of its yellow wrapper in one piece. But of course my children are independent little buggers and want to peel it themselves.


The no longer edible banana from tonight.


Hudson refused to eat the "broken" part, but thank goodness he still wanted the larger portion of said fruit.

The sad thing is, I know they get this crazy behavior from me. I have plenty of neurosis of my own. One even involves a banana. I like bananas. They taste just fine. If someone was to peel a banana and give one to me, I would eat it. However, I NEVER choose to voluntarily eat a banana. I couldn't even begin to explain to you why that is the case. I have no idea. I just don't do it. I have nothing against them, but they are not my go to fruit.

On a completely unrelated note, today is my mom's 65th birthday. We celebrated by meeting at Logan's Roadhouse for lunch. I had a delicious onion butter steak. Yum. Luckily I ran 3 miles, so hopefully a portion of that was burned off. My mom brought party hats, a table centerpiece, and blowers! Evan and Hudson loved it! It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Happy birthday Mom!