Circle of Life

Tonight Hudson and I had a date night. It isn't very often that Anthony and I just get one of the children alone so when there is an ounce of opportunity we usually jump on it. I had been hearing that Marley and Me was a really good movie to see and so I checked out the listing and what it was rated and thought that it would be a good one for Hudson also. I have to start off by saying that I tricked him to go to Walmart first with me (because he HATES shopping). I told him that we had to pick up dog food. Well really I wanted to slip through the clearance Christmas isle. While there I saw the .88 cent candy and thought heck ya.... I always sneak my own in, why not tonight??? Well then I remembered (he stood just over 4 feet). Mr. Rule Follower Hudson (where the heck does he get that from)??? :) He was appalled that I would even THINK of such a thing! He was not going to jail for me is what he said. When talking to Anthony on the way to the movie he said to him, "Do you have enough money to bail us out of jail tonight dad?" It just cracks me up how he is such a rule follower. Heavens... I'm not complaining (just thinking its cute). :) The movie was great. Hudson laughed so hard. I made him cover his eyes at the two parts that were maybe not so appropriate for a 6-year old. I was NOT ABOUT to cover death AND sex in one night!!! At the end he asked to sit on my lap and I could just feel him shake from crying. I'm not sure if I was crying because of the storyline or because I had Hudson feel these sad feelings he was feeling. Either one it was great conversation. He has had his hermit crab (rest in peace Marty and Elmo) and a guinea pig (Trix #1) die so he's dealt with death a tiny bit. We talked about how babies die, trees, grandparents, and our favorite pets. It was a conversation that I felt was time to be discussed. Even as an adult its not easy to grasp or even talk about, but important. Great movie!
E

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope that everyone got exactly what they had been wishing for. As we laid in bed last night we listened very hard for Santa. Would you believe that we actually heard him land, jingle his bells, and even yell, "Ho, Ho,Ho!" Our tradition is that the boys sleep in our bed (1 time a year) on Christmas Eve. It was great. A few minutes later Anthony came running up the stairs to see if we had heard what he did. He had been watching TV and he said Lucy (our dog) started going crazy. The boys were WILD!!! Then... in Santa's note to the boys he told them that he had stopped early in the night but Lucy had scared Blitzen and so he had to come back. :) It was cute!

The boys (and Abby) were up at 7 and so eager to get downstairs. When we got down stairs we noticed that Santa had been very good to us (Amen). Hayden had been blessed with a huge gumball machine (fully loaded), Hudson with a Nerf gun and some Wii games, Abby a dolly and tub, and Anthony and I new pots and pans (how did Santa know)??? Then we opened from each other. What a fun day!
There was only 1 little unfortunate incident. Hudson and Hayden were playing (rough) on our bed and Hayden slipped and hit his mouth on our foot board. His top gums are literally pushed up and his right cheek on the inside is pretty banged up. I panicked and Anthony stayed calm. We went back and fourth on whether to take him to the ER or not. It may need some stitches to hold the gum back down. I really thought he was for sure going to have a couple loose teeth also. We can't get our figures in there to check yet. OUCH!!! He was such a trooper. He cried for a little bit, but got super tough. I may take him to our dentist tomorrow. We shall see! UGH!

I have all of this week off and next. We are hoping to hook up with some friends in Waverly over New Year or hanging around here will be fine too. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Thanks-Mas

Okay everyone... I realize it has been awhile... I'm sorry!

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksmas on the Hoyer side. We have been doing this for the past few years now and it really seems to work out slick. On Thursday we celebrate Thanksgiving and then on Friday we shop until we DROP!!! Then on Saturday evening we celebrate Christmas. This years Thanksmas was super fun and always awesome to see everyone.

I had a very special surprise on Friday night. Michelle, Amy, June, Claudia, Anthony, and my mom had been planning a surprise birthday party for me since I guess September. I believe Michelle said they were tossing around the idea on the beach back in July... Well let me tell you.. THEY GOT ME!!! As you know I turned 30 on November 10th and therefore had NO IDEA this was about to happen. Us girls had gone shopping all day and we were all getting tired of each other (okay... I was seriously tired of them) :) I know Michelle and Amy.. I was a B#@!!#@... Come to find out they were PURPOSELY trying to annoy me and irritate me... hmmm.... Well I only needed 1 more store and Michelle said we couldn't because Cory needed her home to help with the boys... that did it... I just needed to scootch away. My last words when I got out at my house were, "I just need a break from you three." I'm shameful now!!! Well I got home and Anthony kept saying, "Are you jumping in the shower before Geno's tonight." Ummm NO it is a pizza joint with my family. I'm going as a scrud that stinks, hair kind of pulled back, and no deodorant on. Who cares, right??? Then Claudia called and asked if we were going out that night and I said that we weren't because I had been up since 2:50 am. and I was so tired.

I called over to my folks to make sure pizza was on for 6:30 and Krisitin (Amy's sister) answered and said they were at Geno's. I told Anthony to get in the car because I had the time wrong. So he now has to hold me off for a half an hour. He first took about a 15 minute shower and then said he could hear a leak in the van tire. I had the kids in the van at 6:00 by the way! I said that was fine I would put them in the car... To make a long story short we roll into Geno's at 6:30 and walk in and it is packed. There is a room off to the side and my brother tells me that they are in there. I open the doors and there are 30 of my friends and family screaming, "Happy Birthday!" It was such a fun night. There were babysitters lined up already and just really fun night it was!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that was involoved.

Middle-Aged Mama!

I'm am so excited to be 30.... Let me tell you why! I had a huge debate after the election about the candidates. I do feel that if people do not want to share who they are supporting fine... BUT if you offer your opinion... I'll be doing the same. When I got to school one day a para-educator was talking about how Obama was NOT going to do a good job, ya da, ya da, ya day. To make a long story short I defended my Obama man (the NOW President elect) and her response was, "You're to young to know better." GULP GULP!!!! Sooooo..... to make my long story short, when I think of 30 I think of 'grown-up' and damn it I better not hear that again because NOW I'M 30!!!!

Anthony and I celebrated last Saturday night. We went out for dinner and then went to the casino. They built a new one in Clinton and this was the second time we have been. I won 84.00 (WOOT WOOT), and Anthony made a donation to the casino. It was a fun night though. We hit a bar in Clinton for a drink and then came back to Preston for a drink also. We had never been up to the 'local bar' so it was fun to see peoples faces. Most probably didn't even know who we were. :) Fun times!

Monday was my actual birthday and some teachers had a surprise party for me at school. My principal came to me on Friday looking for 'advice' on a previous student of mine. He asked if I would come to this 'really important' meeting. THERE WAS NO MEETING!!! There were pictures up of my 'dyed hair' experience a couple years ago, KISS pictures, and some of Anthony and I. What a fun day!

The kids are all great! It was Hudson's turn to bring snack this past Thursday. He brings it about every 20 days. I forgot it... That KILLS ME!!! I felt terrible! He is great though. We watched a little girl at our house today. She is about 18 months and Hudson had a lot of fun with her. He's a strong leader.

Hootie Boy (Hayden) continues to be full of life :) God I love him!!!! He has had a rough couple weeks a preschool. Nothing major... just not resting at nap time, running with the trucks... Did you know the 3 year old is the new 2? SCARY!!!

Abby Dabby Doo is great. She cut her top two teeth this week. She naps most of the weekend away because she doesn't always sleep real sound at daycare. She's great though.

I do have some sad, sad, news... Elmo (AKA the Hermit Crab) died Thursday night. Elmo had been in our lives for almost 2 years. For the love of GOD NO MORE HERMIT CRABS!!! We're going to do fish.

Love to all!!!

E

AND THE WINNERS ARE..... KISS!!!

Well... Well... Well.... what a fun week/weekend it has been. Again, the week flew by with 50 bazillion things going on. On Thursday night we finally witnessed what parent-teacher conferences felt like. It was weird being on the receiving end, and I asked questions that I as the teacher would have been getting irritated by :) Let me just say that Mr. Hudson Felkey has the BEST kindergarten teacher around. She has shaped our son to love anything and everything there is to love about school. Hudson is doing very well and will be starting on a read naturally program because he is reading so well. Preston does Guided Reading and Hudson is flying through it. We were/are very, very proud of him. OF COURSE who knows Anthony and I well are laughing right now (we know you are). Anthony asked what TAG/TEP standed for and I explained to him that it was the smart kids that got to leave for lunch once a week earlier than all of us. Anthony said, "Oh yeah... we always made of them." I explained it was because we were just jealous!!! ;) For all you smart kids that got to leave class to go to lunch early... sorry for making fun of you! Hudson also had his first overnight sleepover with his friend Keaton. Keaton and Hudson started at WeeCare around the same time and have been best of buds. However, Keaton lives in the East Central School District and goes to Miles. Keaton's mom and I make a point for the boys to get together often. Hudson had a blast spending the night with Keaton. It was nice to snuggle up Hayden and Abby for the evening.

So this brings me to Saturday... Anthony, Claudia, Kevin, and I thought it was time to GO OUT! We hadn't been out since the babies were born, so we did. Oh did we!!! We shipped the boys to Grandpa's house (my mom had to work) for their own special slumber party.

We went as the group KISS. It was a blast! We went to a place called Mooney Hollow (sp). It was just FUN! We were absolutely the H-I-T!!! I so badly wanted to rock out... and I think towards the end of the night (had we had the chance) we would have. It was great!!! We ended up winning first place which meant 100.00!!! We promised the boys if we won anything we would take them to Chucky Cheese today :) Everyone is a winner at our house! I hope you enjoy the pictures. I believe we were not recognizable!

On Sunday we got up, got the boys, and kept our promise to them. Little did they know we already were headed to Davenport to get Abby's 9 month (more like 10 month) pictures taken. They turned out cute!

Okay... off to bed. Enjoy the pictures. :)

Abby's on the Move

Hello Everyone!
Here are a few pictures of Abby on the move :) She's on the go... go... go....

Lots of News

I know... I know... its been awhile! Big things have happened in a week and to be REALLY HONEST I haven't had time to sit down and update out blog. The biggest news: Abby is crawling! She had been making little movements, but she is now full-time, move about, get into everything CRAWLING! OUR LIVES JUST GOT REALLY BUSY-IER :) YEAH! I'll post pictures soon!

So.. yesterday was Halloween in Preston. Claudia and I had been working on the girl's costumes for quite sometime and Anthony and I pulled the boys together a night last week. Mr. Hudson was the Army Comander... (which he loved because he boss Hayden where to go and what to do). Hayden was the solider who got to ride in the tank. This was super cool :) Abby and Adlie were the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. We decorated our wagon and put a sign on the back that said, Pumpkins for Sale.

Work is good... Anthony is 'getting a truck' through work. Its not his by all means, but he will be kind of like 'assigned' to it. He mainly spends his day doing service calls so this truck is designed to hold all of his tools and goodies. He's pretty excited about it (if you can imagine)! He has the most wonderful people on the planet Earth and in 72 years of business had their best year in 2008. They shared the wealth. Yeah for us!!! Super people!!!

School is good for me. Thursday will be a Literacy Day so there are many activities planned in the morning and then we have a Halloween parade in the afternoon and then our room parties. I have 2 room moms that pretty much take over. Yeah for me! Friday is an all day in-service. This means meetings... a longer lunch.... and no lesson plans!

Stay warm everyone! This weekend is our Halloween party that Claudia, Kev, Anthony, and I will be attending.. be sure to stay tuned!
Love to All,
E

Navy Pier

Great Weekend to Chicago!

Anthony and I needed a much deserved get-away to the great city of Chicago. Jeff and Lori came in Friday night and Anthony and I were out of the house by 6:30 Saturday morning. We stopped for breakfast and just took our time getting to the hotel. We stayed in Rosemont (which is outside of Chicago) so we could stay away from traffic. We pulled in around 9:30 am and we were on our hotel shuttle bus by 10:00 to take us to the train. Once we got into Chicago we went straight to Navy Pier. There we ate lunch overlooking Lake Michigan, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery at Navy Pier. We took the trolly back to Michigan Ave. and walked, and walked, and walked. It was great stopping in and looking at things we could only dream of owning. I had to take Anthony the the 'American Girl' store. He was in amazement to see little girls dressed up like their dollies. I LOVED IT! I can't wait to take Abby there someday! We then went to the Cheesecake factory for supper. Yum!
We saw a lot of advertising for the show Dirty Dancing. All who know me know that it is one of my all time favorite movies. I could probably recite the movie word for word. Well we found the box office and got tickets for the 8 o'clock show. It was AMAZING!!! The performers were just out of this world! I must say it was quite sexy... oh my... the dancing!!!
We got back to our hotel around 12:30 a.m. The next morning we were REALLY going to try hard to get up around 6. No kids though.... yeah right! We got up at 8:00. I wasn't feeling well. I took some tums but just felt 'yucky.' We went down for breakfast and my food came and I knew I had a bug. I wasn't going to let it run our awesome day at the Vikings vs. Bears game though. I just kept eating tums, saying a lot of prayers, and sipping sprite. The train ride in could not have been better. The traffic was UNBELIEVABLE!!! We just hopped the blue line to the red line, walked a few (or more) :) blocks and bam we were there. The game was so much fun. There were about 2,000 Bears fan to 1 Vikings fan. Unfortunately there were NO Vikings fans around us. We were pretty much heckled the ENTIRE game. We defended the Vikings boys though. We were not afraid to stand up and cheer. I was pretty sure we were going to get shot though! There was once I thought we might be going to jail too!!! NOBODY was going to touch Anthony's horn hat!!! It was hilarious! Vikings lost, but it was a great game :)
Hope you all are well!
Today I took the day off. I volunteered at Hudson's school for a couple hours. It was fun to see our big boy in action.
Little Miss Abby had her 9 month appointment today. She is topping the scale out at 16 pounds 12 ounces. Topping is what she is NOT. She is little, little. Dr. Corpuz says he'll watch it, but is not concerned. She's just petite. Happy Week Ya'All!

Turning Leaves

My favorite season is by far fall. I love the color of the leaves... I think I've posted that already but I really do!
All is good in the Felkey household. Anthony and I are gearing up for the BIG Vikings vs. Bears game at Solider Field this weekend. It isn't often (never with Abby) that the two of us just get away. It will be so much fun. We are hoping to take the train into Chicago on Saturday and do some 'shopping' (ha ha) and just hang out in the city Saturday night. The game is on Sunday so we'll take the train back into Chicago on Sunday. I have a feeling we'll be in the city VERY early to capture EVERY moment of the Vikings! I'm so afraid we're going to get beat up with our Vikings gear on! :)
The kids are all good! Abby is SO CLOSE to crawling. She is saying and doing so many new things. Tonight it was Uh-Oh. She is so dramatic when she says it too. Hudson tries so hard to get her to say Hudson. Sometimes I'll just say, "Oh Hudson Abby just said your name." It makes him feel so special! Hootie Boy is more for doing "Shake your bootie" with her. He loves, loves, loves to dance with her!
Hudson had a field trip today to a greenhouse, a corn maze, and the interpretive center in Maquoketa. He said they went to a 'real' haunted house and it had 3 levels. He said the kids went to the 3rd floor even. I asked him why he didn't go, and he said, "I'm too Bauk Bauk like a chicken." :) AND HE IS!!!
Hayden goes to the pumpkin patch with his preschool class on Thursday. He's already mapping out who he will be sitting by on the bus (because that is SO IMPORTANT).. Gosh he's just like his dad! HA HA!!!! When I went on a bus ride this past summer with him to the zoo he was mostly concerned about who he was going to sit by AND what I was packing for lunch.
Anthony continues to be very busy with work. He mowed tonight and is hoping he won't have to again until spring.
School is good for me. Today there were many of my parents there for school lunch week. We have wonderful families at Eagle Heights. Tomorrow is inservice in the afternoon. Oh the joy!
Happy Hump Day All!
Love,
E

Wapsi Pumpkin Patch

What a fun-filled day! It was supposed to be very rainy and cold today so we decided to go to the pumpkin patch ;) While the kids were at Sunday School it rained and we figured the day was a wash. We decided to give the pumpkin patch a try anyway. When we got there it was a bit crisp, but in no time at all the sun came out and it was a BEAUTIFUL day! The pumpkin patch was a blast. There was so much for us to do there. There were inflateables, a petting zoo, hay rides to the pumpkin patch, pony rides, and so much more. We planned on going for an hour or so and ending up staying 3! The kids just LOVED it (Anthony and I too). After we went to 'the fun' McDonalds with a huge playground.

FYI... the kids were asleep by 8.. not just in bed, but asleep :)

Happy Week everyone and enjoy the few pictures of the pumpkin patch.

E

Anthony, Erica, Hudson (6), Hayden (3), Abby (9 mo)

Go Vikings!

One last thing.. If there are any Vikings players out there reading this blog... could you PLEASE win one for my hubby tomorrow? He'll have his baby girl dressed to cheer :)

Go Vikings!

What a Night!

Hello my friends and family from around the world (or at least a couple states). Its that time of year again. F-A-L-L. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I love the smell of fall, the cool weather, the football, and of course the chili! Anthony worked for some friends of ours today in the field. They are great people and great friends! They have 2 little boys and our Hayden is best friends with their Hayden. I am very sure that there WILL be many more posts in the years to come about Hootie and Hayden.
Hudson had soccer today. We just love watching him. He really works hard and for being in kindergarten really is good (bragging... sorry)! They lost today (1-0), but man did they ever have fun! After soccer the kids and I cleaned, took naps, and then we went to my cousin's cabin for an awesome fire! It is in a tucked in area out in the country. It REALLY reminds me of Gilligan's Island in Ringsted. Does anyone remember Gilligans? There were plenty of kids out at the fire. They played football, ate hot dogs, and played tag. Abby and I sat around the fire enjoying the conversation.
Anthony is super busy at work right now. The farmers are pretty much in the field now and so Anthony is to the rescue. School is good for me. I have had a student teacher in my room and this Thursday will be her last day. I'm ready to have my little darlings back :) FYI: It has been exactly 1 year since I graduated with my Masters!! YEEEEEE HAW!!!
Happy week everyone. Thanks for taking time to be apart of our lives.. Have a great week!

Our Cheerleader

Our little cheerleader was rooting for the Vikings yesterday but aparently wasn't cheering loud enough. Another upset.... Anthony was pretty ticked about that one. We are REALLY looking forward to our weekend 'get-away' without kids in a few weeks to the Vikings vs. Bears game in Chicago.

This past Friday night was Prestons Homecoming. It was a great game and the Trojans had a victory! It was exciting! On Saturday Mr. Soccer himself had a 9:00 game. I'm not trying to brag, but he's pretty darn good. He's playing with 1st graders too, and man he gets right in there. He's for SURE our 'rule follower' and we have to remind him that in soccer it is OK to steal the ball. :) God for bid he hurt the other team members feelings... SERIOUSLY!!! He has a game tomorrow night too!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning along with Sunday School. After that we made a trip to Clinton for a motion detector run. As most of you know a few weeks ago we had a man and lady lurking around our house... It was/is very scary. He (in a hooded sweatshirt) was up to our house and her by our garage. We wanted to add some light to hopefully scare off people when they got to close. Our house is now like the move National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. It is SOOO funny! Its bright all right!

Hootie Boy learned how to ride his bike tonight without training wheels. We are so proud of him. He had been practicing only once awhile back and then just tonight decided he could 'do it.' Yeah for Hootie Boy! He was so proud today when I picked him up from daycare because he had gotten an award for using good manners without being told. He was so proud of it and said, "This for sure gives me a good heart of making good choices."

Happy Week Everyone! Love to all!!!

Happy Birthday Madison!!!

Armstong

It was a fun weekend had by all in Armstong. When we go back we need a few extra days to see everyone it seems like. We didn't roll into Armstong until late Friday night. Jeff and Lori have a really nice camper and are always so nice in letting us 'crash' in it. Having the 3 kids you can imagine how much space we take up!
On Saturday Nicole hosted a shower for Lacey at her place. It was perfect. We hadn't seen a lot of the Felkey family friends in a long time and it was nice to catch up. The real special treat was seeing Russ, Jean, and Anna. Gosh they are super people!!! Lacey got some nice things for Jack and he was a trooper through it all (get it paul.. troooper). :) Thanks Nicole for doing everything.
Okay.. back to our nephew Jack.. He's adorable! They said he is about 10.5 pounds. He's changed a lot in just a month. Abby LOVED Jack.. When she would go to touch him though she would get to excited and scratch him and then he would cry. I said that they were going to put a restraining order on her. :) On Saturday we also got to stop by and see Madi and Kayla as well in Armstrong. It was so nice of Amy to plan her schedule around ours. HAHAHA!!! Our Godchild Drew Henderson turned 1 last week and they had his party on Saturday night so we stopped there for just a little bit to see them as well. Anthony, Cory, Jeff, and Paul hunted as well... they did very well.
On Sunday I took the kids to go see Michelle and the boys. I love watching the cousins interact with each other. They love each other so much and I think they will be 'besties' for life!! Cory came home so I got to see him as well. I love catching up with Smed and Cory!
We left later in the afternoon but the ride home went well. We stopped at our usual places (Target and Wendy's).
Back to work tomorrow. :) Thanks Felkey's for a FUN weekend!

Exciting Time

Hello All!
Last night we had Hudson's first soccer game. It is so much to sit with other parents and watch the kids. I feel awkward because I feel like I am to young to be doing this (ha ha)! It is such a proud feeling to watch your children do something they are so passionate about. I look forward to watching all 3 kids do sports, piano, or whatever they feel like doing in the future :)
Hayden has loved preschool. However, with low enrollment they are going to have to cancel the 3-year old preschool. Hayden's daycare teacher will still be the preschool teacher so he will still get that feeling of 'school.' I don't have the heart to tell him there won't be preschool so I'm just going to let him take his bookbag every darn day and pretend that he is going... He will for sure go to 4-year old preschool to prepare him for kindergarten the following year. Little Abby (AKA: Sissy) is growing so fast. She was awfully sick last week with a virus but has bounced out of it. She is so happy and 'full of life'... She just turned 8 months (tear drop).
School is going well for me. I have a student teacher and she is doing a really nice job. I also have an assistant in my room this year that works with a child one on one. Other than school, home, walk, bed... that's about it with me. Anthony just celebrated another year last week. I had gotten him Vikings tickets whom play the Bears. Him and I are going to have a BLAST that weekend. Jeff and Lori will be down to be with the kids that night. I hope everyone is loving the fall weather... WE ARE!!! We really enjoy going to the Preston football games! Have a great weekend everyone and be safe!

Taking a Stab at it :)

Hello Friends and Family!
I thought this was a super way for everone to stay in touch with us. Hopefully I can get into a routine of updating 'our life' a couple of times a week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the days/weeks/years to come!
Erica