Category: Quinn

Bring on the Christmas traditions….

So this month…I think I might be talking a lot about our Christmas traditions…I’ve done it a bit in the past..but it might be more this year..so be warned.

One of our first traditions is getting out our advent calendar.  My mom gave this to us years ago and I love it because it is reusable.  I also love it because it challenges me to get gifts that are small enough that they fit into these little tiny drawers..which usually means candy or small amounts of change…which is a good thing..because to me the advent calendar is about little tiny things…..(okay..the first day I cheated…I put a little note in the drawer that said to look somewhere else..I got snowman candy bars and they wouldn’t fit in the drawer…but I couldn’t resist..they were delicious…white and dark chocolate with pepermint pieces!!)

We try to do the advent calendar first thing in the morning…when things aren’t too crazy…but River doesn’t always cooperate.  She likes to sleep in..and Tuesday and Quinn have to be off early for school.  So, we will either do it first thing in the morning…or right after school.  If we end up not doing it in the morning, it drives River crazy.  She spends the whole day asking why Tuesday and Quinn aren’t home from school yet!!

Embrace the Camera……photo booth style…


It is Embrace the Camera time…..better late than never…I didn’t get this post up til late!…oh well…..I so rarely get a shot with me and all my children..I thought it would be fun to do a photo booth style shot….so here it is..I love the site Laphotocabine.com.  It is a lot of fun…try it out!

Embrace the Camera……lovin’ it……

So, I wanted to participate in Embrace the Camera with Emily over at her blog, 3 boys and a little lady….and I wanted to take photos with my three children…I can’t tell you if I have ever taken photos with just me and my three children…how sad is that??  Well, River instantly decided she wanted no part of it…..so Quinn and Tuesday and I took a bunch of photos..we had so much fun..and then at the end…River joined us..though she was still a bit grumpy.

We had so much fun taking all the photos..and it was great to get some good ones of just me and Tuesday and then me and Quinn and then the three of us….and then River…..

We took a million photos..I had a hard time picking out my favorites!!

Embrace the camera…with upside down chin faces….

It is Embrace the Camera time again…….from Emily and her blog, 3 boys and a little lady.  It was supposed to happen yesterday, but I wasn’t able to post….too much craziness!

So, we decided to have some fun……and we had a blast!  We had so many great pictures….and laughed so hard..I didn’t know which photos to choose from…..we did the classic upside down mouth/face photos!  At first, River thought it sounded too strange and wouldn’t participate..but once she saw how much fun we were having..she wanted to jump right in and have her photo taken!

Tuesday and I were upside down on the sofa…with a blanket covering the top part of our heads….and I was holding the camera……trying to take photos..but it was just too hard…and we were laughing way too much!!  Then, I decided to just take the photos normally…..(if you can call it that!) and then turn them upside down and crop them in Photoshop…so much easier! The first set of photos are of Tuesday and I…..

Then there are some of Quinn and I…..

And the last one is of Tuesday and River……We had an awesome time!!

Have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend…go take some great photos with your kids!!

A tree…..

Tuesday has been going to violin lessons at an art center since she was six.  On their beautiful property is a wonderful  tree that Tuesday and Quinn have always loved to climb.  While Tuesday is having her violin lesson, Quinn likes to sit in the tree and do his homework.   River, of course, also wants to climb the tree…but she isn’t exactly big enough.

She tried and tried to get up on her on..but couldn’t…so she had to agree to let me help her onto the branch.  Once she was on the branch, she was so pleased…but then she realized she wasn’t as high as Quinn…..she says she can’t wait until she is bigger, so she can climb higher.

Tuesday and Quinn still love to climb this tree.  I think because there are so few “good climbing trees” by where we live.  There are a lot of trees…but none of them with wonderful low branches…so you can climb.

Our Library…

Our town library is huge!  I mean HUGE!  It used to be a very small town library that was warm and cozy…but they knocked it down and built a humungous 21 million dollar library!  I still can’t believe it cost that much money!  It is a nice library, but I actually miss the old library.  The new library is so massive and cold feeling.  It seems like a lot of wasted space and energy!

But we go to the library a lot!  River loves it there.  Besides the books, one of River’s favorite things about the library is the statue outside.  It is called “Sunday Morning” by sculptor J Seward Johnson.   The library had it on loan for two years, but when the two years ended, the library purchased it through donations and fund raising….it was a bargain for only $65,000!  I guess when the library costs $21 million, what is another $65,000!

She loves to stand on the statue plaque and pretend she is a statue..but then she starts to giggle….Quinn told her to sit by the statue and they would both pretend they were statues…that just made her giggle more!…but Quinn was good at being a statue!

365 Stories….


We have a “book” called 365 Stories. It will eventually have 365 stories, but as of now..it probably only has 80!

Some day it will have 365 stories…some day.

I can’t believe we started the book six years ago. I must say I had hoped to have all the days filled in by now. But, life got in the way…..

Sometimes Quinn will write the story and do the illustrations, sometimes Tuesday will draw the pictures and Quinn will write the stories or sometimes I will make the story! It is a little bit of everything..all creative!!

It actually is quite fun that the stories are spanning many years. We started it when Quinn was only 4 years old and River wasn’t even around! Now she is old enough to start working on some stories. On holidays or special occasions, it is fun to see what type of story the kids come up with to memorialize that event! They love going back and reading the stories over and over again!

Memory Boxes….

It’s that time of year again..time to get ready for school! One of the items I buy every year, for each of my children, is a new memory box. They aren’t anything fancy, just a large tupperware style container. Each one of them has one from preschool onward.

They keep them in their rooms and they love to look through them from time to time. Instead of starting a new memory box each year, we start them each new school year. That way they are organized by grade level. The rule is..once the memory box is full…no more stuff goes into it…so they need to edit what they want to keep and what they want to throw out. They can put whatever they want into their memory boxes..not just stuff from school…tokens, tickets stubs..whtever!

Favorite Shoes…..

Who doesn’t have a pair of favorite shoes?  Quinn’s favorite shoes are his Crocs.  He literally wears them everyday, all year!  It doesn’t matter if it is snowing, raining or hailing!  We had so much snow this year and he still wore his Crocs!

Tuesday’s favorite shoes are her Adidas flip flops.  She needs a new pair.  We’ve ordered her a new pair.  She is very picky about her shoes.  Once she finds  a pair of shoes she likes..she wants the same pair over and over again.  This isn’t always easy.   They always have to be “ordered”…thank goodness for the internet!

River’s favorite shoes are her pink Uggs.  She needs new ones.  Hers are disgustingly dirty!  You can’t call them boots…they are Uggs..she reminds you of this.  She wears them even if it is 99° outside!  She loves them!