total white boy

Don't know where he picked up these dance moves but I couldn't be more proud!

Offspring

Between the 4 of us, we produced the most "perfect little angels" in the whole wide world pictured below :)

Who wouldn't love these sweet babies?!?

I can't wait to see them grow up together and be bestest of friends!
(If you remember, Ben wouldn't leave the legos, so I had to bribe him to sit there with candy, hence the fingers in the mouth) 

party animal

Happy Birthday Reese and Jacob!

Reese is Ben's one true love :) He calls her Reesey-poo.  She is one feisty lil thing... nothing like her mommy.wink wink. Reese's bday last year was hampered by a stupid March blizzard, but not this year.  It was an awesome afternoon and it was great to have the kids all together. We attempted a group picture - I had to bribe Ben to sit with chocolate candy, so his hand was stuck in his mouth the entire time nawing on it.  I will post it once it is edited for blog use by a fellow blogger :)

Birthday Girl on her new 4-wheeler

Love this. Reese is so giddy on her bike and Ben looking so studly in his "sundays best"

I'm catching iiittttt

Here ya go Parker and Cason....


Jacob is Ben's best bud from daycare. Jacob showed him the ropes at daycare when Ben started last year and he is such a sweet kiddo.  We were anxious to see how Ben would do, given this party was at Bounce Craze and Ben is just a tad bit scared of them (as seen in the picture below).  Didn't matter though, his daycare girlfriends were there and he played with them.  Getting a pic of all 3 turned out to be impossible.  John and I just sat and watched Ben be the ladies man and play house with his ladies.  Until things went south... no nap, coming off a sugar high from Reese's... Ben was in no mood to listen to us and decided to revolt- crying and then pulled his shorts right off in front of everyone. I wish I would have taken a picture but I was so stunned.  Needless to say, we left and didn't stay for cake.  It was time for someone to have nap.  We had another get together that night and Ben once again was the ladies man, being the only little boy at this party filled with 6 other little girls! I didn't take pictures, I was all pictured out. 
One last thing... Ben's uncle Nate scared the living day lights out of him with this Rock Band fog machine.  Ben was standing right in front of it when it went off, shooting the fog directly at his face and Ben took OFF. Crying "focking machine".  Except you know what it really sounded like.  "FOCK".  Just to make sure we asked "spell what you are saying", and phew "F-O-G".  He likes to tell people about this "focking machine". I love it, I find it hilarious.  I also love that Ben tells me "good job mommy, good job" after I go to the bathroom or how he yelled out while taking a bath (and grabbing it) PEN-IS.  Through the tantrums he continues to crack us up every day with something new.

DADDY... get me off this!!

Ben and birthday boy Jacob



Ben and Iyla looking really excited to be photographed



Demo weekend

"What a beautiful formal living...(minus the apalling window treatments)"  we thought as we came across this listing picture for a home we liked... too bad this was a psych out picture....

Because a little marketing birdy did some photoshopping, this is what the floors really looked like..

It was way worse in person. What to blame - the 500 year flood from last summer.  This was the deal breaker on the house, we feared this wasn't just this damage, but also water in the ducts.  Camera scope put our fears at ease, clean ducts. This was a week before we were suppose to close. Fast forward to now, we.... meaning John (I tried but decided to mop the rest of the house instead).... has ripped up the floors, all 100 layers of it.  Someone's hamstrings are stinging, so my handyman is slowing down but almost done getting the plywood boards up.  Carpet is going down in here and this will be our main living room.  I love the look and easiness of hardwood floors but carpet is so much softer on the toosh... and cheaper :) 

Our family photo is really making this room feel so homey :) I had to put it somewhere for now.  Not only were there horrendous window treatments in there but the dining room might take the cake.  I will save that room for another post and sorry if I offended anyone's taste of curtains!

Marvelous Lindsay McDaniel

Please check out my friend's blog, the exceptionally talented Lindsay McDaniel.... she took the time to photograph Ben and 2 other friend's kiddos and I must say she captured their personalities to a "T" :)  Milam - thank you SO much, I love how you got Ben's signature pose, what a stud he is...I can't wait to get that one in a frame and see the other shots!

Cursed

Remember that movie Teen Witch?... well I think Louise is using her voodoo doll to "reck" havoc on our lives. I mean seriously, who put a curse on us? I don't want anyone to think I'm asking for sympathy but you know, sometimes life isn't so peachy all the time and I hate the "I'm so perfect blogs", so I'm laying it out of what is going on in the Forrest household - bad or good :)
I think our home on 62nd is pissed at us for leaving him because once we put the for sale sign in our yard, it all went downhill from there (with the exception of getting our new house just in the nick of time). Among other things discussed in previous blogs....The icing on the cake occurred last Friday, when a chunk of wood came flying at my face on I-35 and smashed into my windshield... thankfully John was with me or else, I would have pulled over and made him come get me.  It scared me to death. The windshield didn't break through, just crackled all over. And then the cherry on top came on Saturday when John stepped through the attic floor.  Not a totally horrible curse cause it was only in the garage but still there is now a huge hole in our garage ceiling.When the cursed was lifted.....

   1. John and I went to the movies - 11:45am show time... just the way I like it.  Empty. I'm not a fan of movies, I need to able to get up and walk around if I want. But we saw Cedar Rapids - hilarious! (and short)
   2. My best friends and I got to enjoy a night out.  A night out to dinner and good ole beer, to share our stories, to realize everyone else goes through the same stuff and to laugh our asses off at Kelly and her "here I go throwing myself under the bus again" stories. Aaaww I love my friends, they make me laugh and make me forget about everything going on.
  3. I failed at taking pictures this weekend.... Ben wasn't in the mood for me. But he was in the mood for Milam to get some pictures which I'm dying to see.  Milam was so gracious to take pictures of all our babies.  She found this original awesome John Deere tractor in this abandoned lot that we trespassed on and then discovered a barn was there too.  Don't worry we didn't stay long, this place was actually super creepy but made for a great photo op! Can't wait to see what her talent produced!!!

   4.We discovered what a sweet heart Ben is, I mean I've always known my boy is a sweetie (when he has time to sit and relax) but never really saw him in action around other kids. His friend Reese was quite shy upon 1st meeting on Sunday, so Ben tried everything to make her better.... patting her back, giving her toys, "it's okay Reesey"... it was priceless.  He absolutely loves people. I know I've said it before, but no one is a stranger to Ben.  My favorite Ben slogan this weekend "uuumm no way mommy".  Or how he told me "bbbyyee  mommy" and waved me out of his playroom so he could do his #2 business in the closet :)

Homemade garage ventilation

We caught him twice tonight swiping the cookies off the counter. Guess the new recipe was a success 

Attempting to cook with mommy... but it was more lets try to throw in whatever in the mixer

More beater action.