Santa 2009

I took the boys to see Santa at the new Allen Mall and they were hysterical. Cole has this extremely long list of expensive things that he wants... like a hanging flat screen TV. We get to Santa and Carson says: I can't shink of anyshing right now... and Cole says: any ole action figure will be just fine. WTH!?!?! Why does Santa get the cheap list??? ;)

Gaylord Texan ICE

Neil and I took the boys to the Gaylord Texan's ICE exhibit and it was AMAZING!! It was extremely hard to remember that everything there was made of solid ice! The boys had a blast. Of course, right when we walk in Carson tries to lick the ice... Yes.. he tried to LICK IT!! Gross! :/ Enjoy the pics... we sure had fun!













Yes... they LICKED the ice!!















THE GR....GR...GRINCH!!!





















Some of the ice sculptures.





















Cole posing!
















Another shot of the Grinch and Max.

Ornament Exchange 2009!!

I had my annual ornament exchange on December 5th this year. It was so much fun. I have an amazing group of friends that I adore and love spending time with. God has definitely blessed me in the friend department and I truly appreciate every one of them. We ate some yummy food, had some holiday drinks, opened our ornament, and then played Shout it Out... blondes vs. brunettes! Hahahaha!!! There were more in attendance then what you see in the pics... batteries ran out. Ugh! :)

Love you girls!!

PrEtZeL MaKiNg TiMe!!

The boys made chocolate dipped pretzels for Halloween treats last night. They had so much fun dipping and rolling their pretzels in chocolate and sprinkles. It was a HUGE mess... but worth the memories. Cole was too cute when he asked if I thought he could take some to Mrs. Heald for her snack. He loves her or he would never think about sharing his goodies. Of course... we put a baggie to the side for us. :)

PuMpKiN PaTcH 2009

We had an awesome day at the pumpkin patch this past Saturday. We went to the Pumpkin Patch in Celina with our favorite families: the Van Dykes, Thompsons, Grimes, and Amayas. I love these people and I love even more that our kiddos love each other. With our family not living close to us, we adopted these peeps as aunts, uncles, and cousins. Carson cries for Rich Van Dyke.... he loves Mr Wich. :) The kiddos had a blast, feeding the animals (all but Allie), riding on a hayride, playing around, eating lunch, and taking lots of pictures. Kirsten and Val had to leave early because of Cristian and Lance's soccer game, but we all had a blast with what time we spent together.

Baseball Time!!

Cole has played baseball since he was 4, but this is the 1st season that Neil has coached his team. They are both loving it. I think Neil missed his calling by not going to school to be a coach. He is so wonderful with the boys and has the best 2 dug out moms EVER!! ;) No really.. I am very proud if my Fortenberry boys young and old... well.. older. Lol. Cole got the game ball on an awesome night. He tagged someone out and hit a double and a triple. Way to go Colio!!! Cole is enjoying this season so much more than he has in the past and I owe it all to Neil for making it so much fun for the boys.

Funny Story :)

As anyone who is close to my family knows, Cole is a HUGE chicken. Cluck... cluck!! Anyways, the other night I am working on the computer trying to return PTA emails, order spirit wear, catch up on my Facebook, etc. I told Cole to go upstairs and take a shower. A little while later I realized I couldn't hear any water or him stomping around getting ready. So I tell Carson to go upstairs and make sure Cole is in the shower. I hear Carson stomping up the stairs and then I hear him loudly say: "Get in the shower scarey cat! Nothin gets a mean boy!!" I started dying laughing. A: he says scarey cat instead of scaredy cat. B: my 3 year old is more brave than my 7 year old. Good times... good times!! :) Gotta love little brothers.

OMG!!!

Ok... I am sooo excited fo New Moon to hit the theatres!! Carrie sent me this link and I am addicted!! Thought I would share. :) Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8r-xcnlSOA&feature=player_embedded

First day of 2nd Grade!!

Ok... so when did this happen? When did my precious baby become the age of the grade I taught??? How time flies when you are having fun!! It is like one minute I am teaching 3rd grade, finding out I am pregnant, have a precious baby. Start teaching 2nd grade , celebrate his 1st birthday, and now he is that 2nd grader!!! He is loving school right now, which is awesome. A happy Cole and a challenged Cole is a quiet.. well as quiet as he gets...Cole. :) Here are some first day of school pics.

Austin trip :)

Every summer our PTA board members are offered the chance to go to a convention in Austin. Not only is it a great opportunity for team building and to learn the in a nd outs of Texas PTA, but it is also a ton of mommy fun!! This year I went with Valarie and Kirsten. Valarie and I were already buds, but it gave me a chance to make a new friend who is dear to me. We had a blast going to classes, out to dinner, and talking to the homeless. Well.... I thought they were homeless.... long story. :) Kirsten came on Friday morning to pick me up. We then went to Val's to get her. Here she comes with her big sunglasses on and a look of not so happy. Once in the car she proceeds to take her glasses off to show us her BLACK EYE!! She was using a lever on her son's light and it fell on her face. I felt so badly for her. We were going to a friggin PTA convention and she has a black eye. No bueno. :) Enjoy our pics. We had a blast!!

Summer Fun!!

This has been an awesome summer for the Fortenberry family!! We have made some new friends that I know are lifelong friends. It has been a relaxing summer, but one we tried to keep the boys busy... and mommy go nuts. :) Here are some pics just to highlight our fun. Yay!!!

Florida Vacation!!

So this summer was the first out of state family vacation we have done. Neil and I used to go to Mexico or somewhere every summer. After becoming parents our travel slowed WAY down. Lol. So we decided it was time to hit the road. We drove to Florida in August. We stopped in Louisiana and took a airboat sunset swamp tour. It was awesome. Cole was ecstatic!! He was like the Crocodile Hunter. Hee hee. Neil caught a baby crocodile and I got the whole tour on video. :) Then we stayed over in Mississippi to catch some sleep. The next morning we woke up early, ate breakfast, and took to the road. It was a long drive... when you have 2 kids in the back asking are we there yet?? We FINALLY reached Florida and had the best 6 days ever!! We lived off of seafood for a week, stayed almost 24 hours a day on the beach, and took some amazing pictures. We are already planning for skiing in December and have decided it isn't so bad that the boys are getting older. It is now allowing us opportunities that we have desperately missed. :)

Relay for Life 2009

What an awesome even Relay for Life is. This is the first year I have went to this amazing event here in McKinney. Kaysee and I decided we would take our kiddos out for the booths and to support our Minshew friends at various booths. The kids had a blast and we got to walk around in awesome weather and here/read amazing battles. It was touching to see the bags with survivors and those in memory of the battle with cancer. Since I had Melanoma just 1 year and a half ago and had to have major surgery and a lymph node removed, this battle hits home with me. I had to fight back tears as we saw bags with names and pictures of little ones on there that either won or lost their battle. But... on a fun note.. the Mr. Relay pageant was hysterical. There was an older man that was our favorite. He knew how to work it and was hysterical! As we were leaving, he and his wife had parked next to Kaysee. What was awesome, was he and his wife both were survivors and he was proof that God is good and we should enjoy this life while we are here. He is an inspiration to me and I am sure he is to others as well! Enjoy the pics. :)

GROSS!!!!!!

Yes... so... in a family of all boys this should probably be expected, but it still doesn't make it not disgusting!! You know in the Easter post how my lovely angels colored Easter eggs??? Well, my oldest one found 7 on Easter!! End of that part. Fast forward to Tuesday AFTER Easter. I think Cole stepped in dog poop at his baseball game because we get in the car and it smells disgusting. Thursday... I am thinking... what is that smell? Cole's shoes are clean and in garage... carpets in back seat are clean... but the smell is getting worse. Friday... on our way to Mesquite I am telling Cole that when we get to Granny's we are cleaning this car from hood to back door because the smell is even worse. The boys want to listen to their Veggietale CD. I reach into the passenger seat pocket (on back seat) and pull out 5 colored EGGS!!!!!!! OMG! I check... 2 more. Half the eggs are smushed, half are not. But the stench is overwhelming. It made it worse when we pulled the pocket out to see how many were in there. I thought I was going to pass out driving down 75! When the wind wafts the smell even Carson was like.. Mommy what is that smell?!?! So Cole has to babywipe what he can as we are chunking eggs out of the window, yes... I know I littered people but you didn't smell my car!! Anyways... days of Pine Sol and any other cleaner I can get my hands on, and my car still has a tint of egg smell. I told Neil we should have done the traditional plastic eggs!! Here are those lovely boogers that caused my whole problem!

Happy Easter!!!

We celebrated one of the best days of the year with family. First we died eggs Saturday night. Then Sunday morning we went to church. It was awesome getting to go to "big church". I do miss my Sunday school friends when I don't teach though. :) Then we traveled to Mesquite for all of our family. Of course most of the day was spent by our family trying to convince us to at least move to Sunnyvale. They gave up the idea of me moving back to Mesquite A LONG TIME AGO! It would be nice to be close to our family for once....... Anyways... we had a great day and lots of good food. My Granny know how to fatten you up. If you are ever starving or feel like you need to gain weight.. call me. I will hook you up with my Granny. HA HA!! Enjoy the pics. There are a ton, but I can only put 5 on here. :)

Circus Time!!!!

My dad is a Shriner and has been since I was Cole's age. Every year the Shriners host a circus. This year it was at Fair Park in Dallas. The boys, my brothers, and I joined our Dad in hitting the big top. This was the boys 1st circus so needless to say they were stoked!! You can see a before and after picture of Cole. He wanted a $10 light saber that will break as soon as the $ leaves your hands. Well... I wouldn't buy it because Carson was saying "me too, that not fair." I was not about to spend $20 on light sabers. Well.... let's just say Uncle Trey is the bomb in the eyes of a 7 and 3 year old. They go to "ride" the elephant and come back with 2 light sabers because the lines were "too long". Thanks Trey!!!!