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