Friday, December 24, 2010

Some Notes About Pictures with Santa

Dear Mom,
I would like to apologize for not cooperating every year that you tried to get my picture taken with Santa.
Love, Kendra


Dear Chelsea,
Thank you for always trying to hold me on Santa's lap. I know I ruined your pictures too and, for that, I apologize.
Love, Kendra

PS - it looks like I'm getting my payback.

Christmas 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

Two-Week Break! Wahoo!

Phew! Today was my last day of school before winter break! ...a much needed winter break!

The next two weeks promise to be busy but fun and full of things that I love; especially the face that you see below!

I used to look forward to break so I could sleep in. I know that won't happen, but I am looking forward to staying in my sweatpants a little longer than usual. I am also looking forward to being the one to put my baby down for her nap, and go for long walks with her, and cook healthy meals. And, of course, I'm looking forward to Christmas!

Being that I survived the day before break, I thought a celebration was in order!

After dropping some holiday cards that the kids made for overseas troops at Gabrielle Giffords office, Shyla and I celebrated in fashion.

At DQ!

She was happy to know that Mommy is on break and happy that I picked her up earlier than usual because it meant I got to sit and have snack with her and her friends.

I celebrated with a Dilly Bar. It was delicious. It was also quite a bit smaller than I remember.

Shyla got her first ice cream cone. The "kiddie cone" was larger than I had expected!

She dug right in and laughed every time that ice cream hit her face!

Then, with a messy face, she gave me her cone when she was done. I thought about finishing it, to make up for the poorly sized dilly bar, but I didn't and I threw it away instead.

To all of my teacher friends who are starting break, ENJOY EVERY MINUTE!

To all of my other friends, not starting break, HA!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Half-Marathon #6

This post has no pictures.

This past weekend Stevie and I went to Las Vegas! We were running in the 2nd annual Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon for the 2nd year!

This was the first weekend we were BOTH away from Shyla, at the same time. I had been away twice (Ragnar and CIMI) and Stevie had been away a few more times than that (Vegas, Vegas, work, Vegas, etc.) But this was the first time we were both away which meant Shyla needed to spend the weekend with my parents for the first time.

I was nervous about this for 2 reasons:
1) I knew I would miss her terribly
2) For the past 18 or so months Shyla has not slept through the night

Anyway, Vegas was fun. We went with our friend Cesar and his girlfriend. We stayed at Planet Hollywood. We ran in the race. We finished the race. Stevie finished in 1:58 and I in 2:44. We ate a lot of good food. I took a lot of naps. It was beautiful.

Shyla......Shyla, of course, slept all night. Like clockwork she fell asleep at 7, stayed asleep until 6, and napped without a fight.

Classic.

So my line-up of half-marathons:
2006 Tucson
2009 Tucson
2009 Vegas
2010 San Diego
2010 Mt Lemmon
2010 Vegas

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Why I haven't posted...

It's been awhile since I've posted and here's why:

That lady ate me and stored me all in her face. How rude!

We've been too busy sliding down slides!

...with our cousins!

...who sometimes do things their own ways!

And we've been playing the piano. A lot!

A few other things we've been doing:
  • waking up at all hours of the night
  • driving Pancake to the ER with a swollen face and hives (don't worry, she's okay)
  • making reindeer noses
  • gearing up for the annual Forgacs Family Fight
  • addressing, stamping, stuffing, and licking Christmas Cards
  • hoping those Christmas cards will be in the mail before, you know, Christmas

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Brought to you by the letter "S"

At the beginning of every year I tell my students that my life revolves around the letter "S." Allow me to explain:
  • My husband's name is Stephen and I heart him
  • Our daughter's name is Shyla and I heart her
  • I heart Starbucks, and could go there everyday
  • I heart Subway so much I could do the Jared Diet
  • The diet-cherry-limeade from Sonic is to die for
  • I spend a lot of time, money, and energy on Shutterfly.com
This post is about my love of Shutterfly and all-occasion (but especially holiday) cards! Enjoy, and if you've never used Shutterfly before, you need to. Right now! Well, when you're done reading this post.

Take a look at some *some* of my shutterfly creations:

We had these notecards made of Shyla when she was about 3 months old. We used them as "thank you" cards and "just writing to say hi" cards.

We used these Valentine's Day cards to celebrate...well...Valentine's Day!

We recently used these cards to say "thank you" and just to show off a really cute picture of our little girl.

In addition to cards, we do an annual Forgacs Family Photobook, occasional themed photobook, order 4x6 prints, and canvas prints (which, BTW, are lovely).

As it is already mid-November (can you believe it?) we've (okay, correction, I've) been thinking about our annual holiday card. We recently had family pictures taken and are anxiously waiting to see them, with the hopes that there one good enough to use!

Do send holiday cards? I look forward to it every year. I love picking out the card, finding the right picture, addressing the envelopes, and I LOVE receiving cards. I love that I exchange cards with friends and family that I see weekly and also with friends and family who I see maybe once a year or even less. Holiday cards are quick and thoughtful. They are easy, make people smile, and make great keepsakes.

Here's what we've done in the past (side note: the reason I was able to find all 3 of these is because every year I write a short novel to my husband on the back of one of our holiday cards all about how much I love him and our live and yadda, yadda, yadda):

In 2007, two months after we got married, we sent these New Year's cards because they were pretty!

In 2008, we sent this Christmas card to announce that we were expecting a baby!

Sorry it's sideways, but in 2009 we sent this card to show off said baby.

So...2010....I'm thinking of:
possibly THIS ONE

What do you think? To be honest, those are my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choices because I want you to be surprised when you get yours in the mail, of course. Do you have a favorite?

What other photo products do you like or use? I used Shutterfly once to make luggage tags. I loved them.


What do you do for the holidays? Do you use Shutterfly? Does your life revolve around a particular letter?

Monday, November 15, 2010

Spaghetti Time!

Would you vote for this picture?

We've entered this picture in a contest through parents.com. The theme had to be a picture that showed your child's personality.

We thought this one captured it perfectly!

It's really easy to vote and you can do it once a day! Just follow this link:

Thanks!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween 2010! Yabba, Dabba, Doo!

Happy Halloween!

Last Halloween Shyla dressed up as a giraffe, Stevie dressed up as my dad, and I dressed up as a tired Mommy not getting any sleep. I remember thinking....by next Halloween she will be sleeping through the night and I will be rested.

Well...as of about 5 nights ago, she is sleeping through the night but, shhhh, I don't want to jinx it!

But I digress.

For Halloween this year we decided that Shyla and Zac would go as Pebbles and Bam Bam from the Flintstones; Lilly decided she would go as creepy Dora. My sister did an awesome job on the kid's costumes. Thoroughly impressed am I! Have a peek:


Their daycare hosted a Fall Festival that benefited the Make a Wish Foundation so of course we attended. It was a lot of fun!
Shyla loved Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin! She knew exactly where the nose would belong!

She also like Feed the Pumpkin. And for the rest of the night she tried to feed the pumpkin anything she could get her hands on from tickets to candy to beads!

Not pictured here are the 3 cakes Stevie won in the cake-walk. He was on fire! Lilly won once and Stevie even helped on of Shyla's little friends win by rubbing her head.

Our Forgacs Family Pumpkin! Picked at Buckalew Farms last weekend and carved this weekend. I even roasted the pumpkin seeds!

At grandma and grandpa's today she introduced prehistoric Pebbles to modern day with her wireless laptop!
No caption needed. That's my husband though. This was a proud moment for me.

Beth and Sadie came to experience Halloween Our Way! Sadie is 17 days old. I bet she will always remember her first Halloween.

This is the trick-or-treating crowd! We made it to 3 houses. Shyla fell about 7 times but she always saved her candy and she never cried!

Dad dressed up as my Uncle Pete in high school. Classic.

And this is how we spend every Halloween. It is Halloween Our Way. My mom makes a yummy dinner and friends and neighbors sit in the cul-de-sac and silently wish for trick-or-treaters to come down the dark street. Then they always end up with lots of leftover candy because they buy multiple bags for the 5 or so kids that show up. It's tradition. As is Stevie' weird costume. Time will only tell what he will come up with next year.

Oh, and Halloween always ends with a flat tire, right? Mr. Mammogram is outside changing my tire as I type. I guess he's not all creep.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Mikey's 2nd Birthday!

I've posted about my friend Vanessa before. She is the girl who I was best friends with through elementary, lost touch in high school, and have reconnected via Facebook. She is also the one with an adorable son, Mikey.

Mikey was born in the wonderful month of October so today we went to the park to celebrate his 2nd birthday!
I love this pic of Vanessa and Mikey (taken in the jumping castle!)

Shyla and I had fun in the jumping castle. Although I don't have any pictures of it, Stevie had tons of fun while jumping and encouraging the little kids to run full-speed into the sides.

My daughter, the goof!

She made friends with these two cutie pies while jumping. They graciously took a break from running into things to tickle and laugh with my girl!

More jumping!
And since it was a park, Shyla also wanted to play on the equipment and swing, of course!

It was a really fun party and we were so glad to be able to go. We look forward to seeing more of Mikey, Vanessa, and James and being a part of each other's lives.

Happy Birthday Mikey!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Mt. Lemmon Marathon!

Did y'all know that my sister is nutty? She is.

She orchestrated (beautifully, I might add) the Vail School District team to run in the inaugural Mt. Lemmon marathon/half-marathon.

I like to think that I am not nutty. When I first heard about this race, I thought anyone who signed up would have to be out-of-their-minds.

Nope, not nutty. But I guess I am easily persuaded though.

As Chelsea was recruiting runners for the event, sending persuasive emails, getting sponsors, and making me feel lazy, I gave in and signed-up. I think it was the idea of the long-sleeve finishers shirt that really lured me in.

All of us crazies started running up the mountain at 6:00 AM. Three hours and ten minutes later I crossed the finish line:
Some hi-lights from the day (other than finishing, of course):
  • Our fellow French Toasts, with cowbell of course, cheering for us along the way at at the finish line.
  • Watching Andy (another French Toast) finishing the FULL!
  • Finishing 1 minute ahead of Chelsea after running together for over 12 miles (sorry, Chels, it's all physics)
  • The ridiculously good breakfast at the Cookie Place
  • Putting on the finishers shirt!
  • James being announced as the winner of the FULL when he did the HALF (okay...I didn't actually hear this because I was 5 minutes behind James but I know it happened and it makes me giggle.
  • Finishing before the winner of the FULL (by about 3 minutes).
  • Our fellow French Toasts being there for support! (I know I already mentioned it, but it was truly amazing to have them there.)
Up next - Vegas, Baby!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Our 3 Year Anniversary!

Stevie and I were married on October 12th, 2007 in a beautiful ceremony at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in front of 275 of our closest friends and family!

So Tuesday was our 3 year anniversary! We celebrated by going to dinner at The Melting Pot while my parents took care of Shyla at our house.


Our beautiful girl!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Disneyland 2010!

Whew! We are back from the epic Disneyland 2010 trip! It was AWESOME! We were gone for 5 days spending 3 days in the Happiest Place on Earth.

3:30 AM Sunday Morning we pulled out of our driveway with a 4-car caravan. The caravan, however, wouldn't last long as certain individuals had to stop to go to the bathroom.

Sunday afternoon we checked into our hotel (we had an adjoining room with Chelsea's family) and we got Dan and Erin checked into their hotel as well.

Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

Shyla found this Goofy sculpture, in the lobby of Grandma and Grandpa's hotel, to be fascinating. Even as he was eating her head!
Lilly got a phone call from Micky and Minnie Mouse on Sunday evening! All she could tell them was that she was eating pizza. Classic.
We all got welcome gifts from Micky Mouse (thanks Dan and Erin)!

And we spent the rest of Sunday evening just playing in the hotel room! Boy were we hyper!

Monday morning we entered the park!

Shyla was overwhelmed, but she was a very good traveler and had a lot of fun!

Toon Town with God-Parents Dan and Erin!

For the first 2 days at the parks, Shyla was stuck to me. She didn't want to be in her stroller and she didn't want to be held by anyone else and she didn't want to be in the Ergo-Carrier. Just me. I love that. But my back hurt and my arms were tired.

In Minnie's house she made herself comfortable by sitting in all her furniture and playing her piano.
Then, while posing for a picture with Minnie, she hit her. Yep, that's right. My sweet, innocent, loving 16 month old baby hit Minnie Mouse straight across the nose. I was mortified. Minnie took it in stride though.

In retrospect, I realize that I didn't prepare Shyla for the trip. I never showed her pictures of the characters or TV shows or stuffed animals. So, I guess I don't blame her for striking out against the giant mouse wearing clothes. Who could blame her? I blame me.

Often, after doing something bad, Shyla will give this I'm-so-cute pose. I think we are in trouble as she gets older.

On Monday evening my parents took Shyla and Zac back to the hotel to bathe them, let them play, and put them to bed. This meant that Stevie, Dan, Erin, and I had about 1.5 hours to do whatever we wanted.

It led to Captain EO and Splash Mountain....
three times in a row! We were drenched!

On Tuesday my mom bought Mouse Ears for all the kids. I wore Shyla's for this picture and had to beg Lilly to take a picture with me.

Lilly met Chip and Dale! Notice, she didn't hit either of them!

Also on Tuesday, while I was in the hotel room with a napping Shyla, a particularly funny thing happened. Stevie, Dan, and Erin got stuck on Mulholland's Mayheim. For a long time. They eventually had to be escorted off the ride. Oh yea, and it was raining the whole time! So you'll notice in the picture above Erin is wearing some dry clothes of mine. But, they got a pass for 6 to the front of any line and used it at The Tower of Terror with Jeremy, Chelsea, and my dad.

While my mom and I waited for them, it poured. And poured. And poured. We ended up racing through the rain with the 3 kids (mine in my arms) to her hotel to put the babies in a warm bath to warm them up.

Tuesday evening we had to say goodbye to Dan and Erin. We SO appreciate them making the trip with us and for being so patient with the little babies and the big babies.

Wednesday morning arrived and it poured. And poured. And poured.

We debated skipping Wednesday at the park and extending our trip by one day (which is what Chelsea's family decided to do) but instead we took my parents up on their offer to babysit Shyla while we braved the weather. We were really happy with our decision: For a few hours Stevie and I enjoyed both parks together in our ponchos, there were no lines, and we did every attraction we could have wanted to do.

Around 2:00 the skies cleared resulting in a beautiful day! My parents brought Shyla to us and we spent the rest of the afternoon with them all! It was SO MUCH FUN!

By this point, Shyla was feeling very comfortable with this Disneyland thing. She and Grandpa walked Main Street together, hand-in-hand.
And she found the balloon lady! She thought this balloon lady was the bee's knees! My mom bought her a giant Minnie Balloon. When it deflates we will put it up on her wall and hopefully avoid another Minnie fiasco in future years.
Shyla loved It's a Small World! We did it twice in a row!

She really loved the carousel. She did it four times! And she laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
And F for Forgacs (don't ask Stevie what it stands for). Shyla loved these giant letters. She would run in circles around them and play peek-a-boo.

In every aspect this trip was an A+ Success!

In addition to Small World and the Carousel, Shyla also did a lot of other rides:
  • Buzz Lightyear
  • The Train
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Dumbo
  • Heimlicks
  • Flick's Flyers
  • Bug's Life
We took 132 good pictures so this is just a sampling. Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible!