Thanksgiving Part 1

For Thanksgiving this year we headed south and then east. First we drove to Houston to spend a couple of days with Nena and Pops. We left on Monday (Yes, the kids missed a couple days of school, and yes we were going to leave Sunday, but that was snow day). So we waited until later in the morning, let the ice/snow melt some and were finally on our way! The boys did awesome in the car, as usual, and the weather was great, no icy roads!

We got to Nena and Pop's house a little before midnight and they had a birthday party waiting for us for Quinny! Nena had balloons, brownies, party hats, the whole shabang! Quin was so excited and loved every minute of it. We sang to him, opened some presents and ate some brownies....yes, at midnight! He got a Nabi Jr. and absolutely loves his "new ipad"! He played with that some, the boys went upstairs to play, and around 1am they got in the bubble bath. Only at Nena's do we allow such craziness at such crazy hours. It was quick, and we hurried them to bed.

The next day was full of chuck-e-cheese, McDonald's, The Dollar Tree, everything that they love to do with Nena and Pops! They came home exhausted and with a ton of new toys.

That night they took another bubble bath, with different results. To say Nena is a fun grandma, is a total understatement! She's great at "making memories" which is what is most important! We loved spending time at their house, but Wednesday was time to head to Baton Rouge!

First Snow Day 2013

This was the scene the day after Quin's birthday party! We got lots of snow and the boys were SO excited!!!! When Quin saw the snow, he immediately ran to look under the Christmas tree. Talk about a disappointed little boy! I guess to him snow=Christmas=presents! He got over it quickly after he found out we got to go play in the snow. We bundled the boys up and figured they'd last only a few minutes due to the bitterly cold temperatures. We were wrong. They pretty much stayed outside all day, with only a few breaks to warm up by the fire. This was my most favorite day. We stayed in our PJ's (my robe), drank coffee and hot chocolate, had the fire going all day, played a few games here and there and watched a movie or 2. A perfect family day! That afternoon, daddy got out there and helped the boys build an awesome snowman. Our daddy has SO many talents, and building snowmen is definitely one of them!

 Our sweet neighbors had all the kids on our block over for hot cocoa, cookies, and a Christmas movie. They had a blast and we thought it was the neatest idea! They all get along so well and we are so thankful to have friends who live just doors away from us. So neat to get to do life with them!

 

The boys:

The girls:

Keep your eyes open for a wedding invitation for these 2. They are equally smitten with each other, and the parents are hoping they stay that way until they are 25 and old enough to get married!

Quin's 3rd Birthday Party!

For the whole month of October, I had Quin's birthday party scheduled at the Pumpkin Patch. I thought it would be fun, but something in me wasn't sure the weather would cooperate. After all, in Lubbock in November, you could either have a 75 degree day, or a 15 degree day with snow. Luckily a few weeks before his birthday, I decided to play it safe and do an indoor swimming party at BodyWorks. That way, no matter what, we would be good. Fast forward to the party, it was FREEEEEZING! Some icy roads, snow in the forecast and downright, cold. THe pumpkin patch was closed, churches were cancelling services, the city was shutting down. Luckily, our friends still came to party with Quinny! 

We got to the swimming place, Quin saw it, and said "I don't want to swim!"...I told him this was his party (he had been SO excited eariler!). So we get in there, take all of his layers off, and he is adamant about not swimming, and asks when we get to go home. Mom fail. BUT all of the other kids had a blast, and eventually Quin liked it ok. He stood by the stairs the whole time and didn't venture too far from the side (even though the whole splash pool was about 1 foot deep)!

All of his buddies were there and they had a blast. After swimming, it was cake, presents and play time. He got lots of goodies, the cake was delicious, and his favorite part might have been the giant slide he got to slide down a few times. All in all, it was a success and I think he had a great time, even if the swimming wasn't his favorite!