A Christmas Irritation (but this applies year round too)

Not to be all bah humbug or anything, but there is something that bothers me. It just so happens that my irritation is more noticeable around Christmas time because every fourth decoration I own needs batteries to light up or sing or dance or ho ho ho, or, well you get the idea. My irritation is not that I have to put batteries into all these nifty decorations, it's the fact that a majority of the little battery door holder thingies are now screwed shut. As in with an itty bitty stinkin' tiny little screw. That means I have to find an itty bitty screw driver with which to remove said door. It's just more than I can take at this time of year. I did manage to spend 42 minutes unscrewing tiny screws from tiny battery holder compartments so that all my Christmas "pretties" can be heard and seen properly. And then I screwed them all back into place. We wouldn't want Hudson to get hold of a battery for goodness sake.

This is an irritation that does last all year, but apparently I don't use nearly as many batteries at other times of the year so it's not as noticeable in July.

There, I feel better. And now my house is pretty. I plan to share pics of the inside and outside of the house later. I know you are on pins and needles waiting to see my house clear of empty Pepsi bottles and underwear. I try. I really do.

As a side note, I love how the outside of the house looks all lit up, but I am always terrified having Eric clomp around on the roof. I have this weird fear that he might fall off. That would not make for a happy Christmas.

Little Fresno State Fans

Evan and Hudson both had their Fresno State sweatshirts on today. I sure do love these boys.







These little monkeys make me laugh. Life is never dull.

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!