Happy Veteran's Day

Evie's school celebrated Veteran's Day with a ceremony. We invited Grandpa to take part! You can see him on stage in this video of Evie and her schoolmates singing so beautifully.

Thanks to all of our Veterans!

Happy Birthday to Evan AGE 3

Our baby boy is now three years old!!
Evan had a lovely birthday weekend filled with friends and family!
We started out the weekend with a friends party at the indoor playground.. his guests were Mommy, Grandma Hoctor, Grandpa Hoctor, sissy Evie and her friend, Grace, Hope and her boys, Melissa and her boys and Mandi with her boys. Evan just LOVES Wow Wow Wubbzy this year so that was the theme. I found some cool edible images online that we used for Evan's cupcakes and for his cake.









Then Saturday (Evan's birthday), we went over to The Hoctor's for a family day!
The entire family was here to celebrate with us! (All but Angelique who is in Florida) The kids had a great time and Evie got to spend time with her cousin, Joel... something that she is always looking forward to.



And here some pics of the family!


The last two pics are of everyone, one was taken by Timm, the other by Theresa, (the reason one of each is absent from the pics)



Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting at the house and to Stephen, Katie, Brianne, Timm, Theresa, David, Lauren, Diana, Rick, Zadee, Joe, Evie and Joel for making Evan's day special!!

Road Trip!

Hey all! The kids and I went to my parents house in Mississippi over Spring Break. Joe stayed behind to work, but we did fantastic! The kids are seasoned travellers now! Little to no fighting or complaining. They watched DVD's, (mostly "Wow Wow Wubbzy") and ate snacks. We left in the afternoon on a Wednesday night and did about 5 hours of driving, stayed at a hotel in Sikeston, MO to swim and rest for the night. Then picked back up the driving around 8 am Thursday morning. We drove until 4 pm and we were there! The kids enjoyed seeing their grandparents and my niece, Christina made the trip from Alabama by herself as well! It was so great to see her! Evie took to her immediatly and the two girls played their Nintendo DS's together.


We loved the 75-80 degree weather there and Evie took time to sunbathe on the cement.



So, you know those big, fat, fuzzy bees? Forever I always thought (most of us do) that they are bumblebees or can sting you. They are much fatter and act like a bee.. but It's a type of bug.. Evie was nervous of them when we first got there.. they were flittering about everywhere because of all of the trees and flowers, but my Dad quickly educated her about it not having a stinger and not to worry about them.. and from that moment on, she never did. Christina didn't believe him so he posed a challenge for her.. he would prove it didn't have a stinger if she could catch one in his hat.. something he said was impossible.. they are too fast! She caught one.. but injured his wing a little so we're not sure he made it.. still, it was cool to see him up close with NO stinger and no way to bite.. just a big furry bee looking thing. Still can't find one online anywhere to show you or get a name.. but here's the picture I took of him on one of the flowers that Dad was holding..
By the way.. Evie picked him up freely with no qualms, as well as caught a lizard that nipped her and she just pulled him off and kept playing with him LOL


Evan enjoyed playing in the dirt...


And here are the rest of the pictures that we took with my camera.








Miss you guys already!

You Wanted The Best, You Got the Best!

The HOTTEST Band in the WORLD.... KISS!

Hey all! November 6th was the KISS concert in Chicago. Joe and I went along with Stephen and Catherine and we had a blast! Buckcherry was the opening act.. fantastic! And KISS never fails to amaze me with their spectacular show! Be sure to read through this entry and pics to see the videos that I took! (If you have high speed)

We stayed at the Fairmount Chicago and it was sooooo nice! Our view from the 12th floor was astounding! We were in the middle of the city but could also see Lake Michigan wonderfully!
Here are pics of us checking into the hotel and our walk through the city to eat.
Thanks Katie for the pics!






Here we are waiting for the show to begin..





Here's a pic of the stage taken by my camera phone and a picture of Paul Stanley from the little stage close to us..




And here are a couple of awesome viseos that I took..
the first is the opening.. NOT TO BE MISSED!


And this is of course "Rock and Roll All Night Party Every Day". This video is complete with confetti and a good span of the crowd so that you can see how sold out it was!

Family Visit

We had a wonderful visit with my parents a few weeks ago! They travelled here from Mississippi and the kids miss them already!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVAN!

My little boy is now 2!
We had a wonderful day for his birthday!
He had a Yo Gabba Gabba themed birthday party at the indoor playground with many friends! My friend, Jess and I made cupcakes with all of the Yo Gabba Gabba friends on them and they looked so cute!


Evan always has a great time playing there but it was especially exciting for him to have his Grandma and Grandpa Hoctor there. Here is is showing off for them going down the tall slike.. (they had never seen him do this.. although he does it regurally)



He loved hearing his name in the birthday song but was afraid of the flame on the candle... it shows.. he is clinging to me for dear life!

and eating cake with his friends and sister...






He had a good time opening his gifts! (We asked friends not to worry about gifts this year, but you know how friends are!! :o) )
Most of his gifts were Yo Gabba Gabba items.. which made the tearing of paper more
exciting for Ev.. he absolutly adores that show and their characters!




We tried to get a good picture of all of Evan's friends together.. that was nearly inpossible.. so I'm gonna post 3 pics.. that way I'm sure if you have a child in any of these three, I'm sure they look good in at least one!




No party would be complete without Evie and her boy toy, Alexander...


And here are Evie's Grandparents and Joe watching the festivities!



Thank you to everyone who helped make Evan's 2nd Birthday a memorable event!