Febraury Fun

 I woke up extra early on V Day to make pancakes for the family.  I realized I had no eggs to make the pancakes with so I tried oil instead.  Bad idea.  All that work, and they could have ben used as a bouncy ball!  Bahahaha!  I even made them pink with sprinkles.  In the trash they went.  Luckily David ate some of his candy first and thought that tasted ruined the taste of his pancakes.  I wouldn't want to tell him he's wrong, so I let him believe it. 
Valentine's Day is always a fun day when you are in elementary school!  David's class wore these cool hats with their name written in the hearts and had a party at the end of the day.  We made snack mix for the party.  Valentine's Cards aren't the same as they were when I was a kid.  To get excited now, the card has to come with a piece of candy.  Back in the day, the card itself was exciting! 

We had a candlelit steak dinner at home with the whole family that night.

 

 David had a doctor's appointment in Montgomery one day.  We thought we would make it back to Eclectic by 11:30, but that's when we left the office.  So instead we enjoyed the beautiful day together.  I love days like this!  We had breakfast at Krispy Kreme (his teacher is probably happy we didn't make it to school) and lunch with his Daddy at Arby's.  We had never tried the famous cupcakes at GiGi's, so we shared a chocolate chip cookie dough one.  Yummy!  Then we headed to downtown Montgomery to go explore the Archives building.  We heard they renovated the kid's room and added some other rooms too.  It was very interesting.  We surprisingly found that the First White House of the Confederacy was next door, so we went inside.  This was David's favorite.  We also had to make a stop at the Adullam House thrift store before going home. 

 

My Dad's last day of the work life was this month too!  He invited us down to the fire station to watch the F-16s fly at night.  I had never been there at night to see them and neither had the boys.  We loaded up and got there just in time.  We missed two of them, but were able to see the other four.  The boys explored the fire trucks of course and then we had cake.  You never know what Dad will won't so we didn't want to go too far out with surprises.  It was a good night and the fire shooting out of the back o the planes was cool to see.  Proud of my Dad for this milestone.  David said he can spend even more time with us now.   

Snowmageddon

 Snow Days in Alabama are rare and we get excited!  This was the first snow in 4 years and the first in our new house!  Walter started the morning hunting in Macon County.  I finally called him and told him to come home, the roads were closing!  He had now clue about all the ice and wrecks.

David and Walter went out and played first while I stayed in with the boys.  Later we all went out.  The boys only stayed out for about 5 minutes.  They didn't know what to think.   

 David and I stayed out and played.  We tried to have a snowball fight, but the snow was powdery this time and didn't stick together well.  We walked down to the pond to see the ice that covered it.

We even tried to "sled" down a little hill on a pizza box.  That was a fail!  We both hit the ground with a thud... and just laughed! 

I tried to write something funny in the snow, but David didn't appreciate it and he wiped it away, twice, before I could take the picture. It was supposed to say the Poot Family because that's the only air that circulates in a house full of 4 boys.

We also performed a science experiment by making a snow volcano made out of baking soda, food coloring, and vinegar. 


It was a fun 2 days and we loved it!  Now we are glad it is gone and thankful we were not stuck in the crazy traffic!

Pictures from NOLA

We had a peaceful ride to New Orleans.  We drove until we got to Slidell and ate lunch at this yummy place.  The shrimp even pinched Walter's butt!

Then we went downtown and rode the Riverboat Cruise that went to the Battle of 1812 site.

Thursday we stayed in Slidell and went on a Swamp tour.

Thursday night was GAME TIME at the Sugar Bowl.

We Lost, But Memories Were Made

Walter asked me a couple months ago what I wanted for Christmas.  I told him a vacation.  I love to be on the go and I love seeing new places.  When I said a vacation, I was thinking with the kids, and I knew I wouldn't get it.  After all it's hunting season and going out of town is not on Walter's favorite things to do list! 

 

When he came home one day and said Merry early Christmas, we are going to New Orleans to the Sugar Bowl to watch Alabama play, I was shocked!  A vacation?  With no kids?  No way!  We haven't been out of town without kids since I was 11 weeks pregnant with the twins... so about 3 years ago.  We took that trip because we figured it wouldn't happen for a while once we had 3 kids!  Neither one of us have ever been to New Orleans so I was pumped.  Thankfully, my Mom stayed each night here with the kids and my Dad, Dale, Erica, and Paige helped with them during the day. 

We packed all we could into our trip.  We left January 1st at 6:45 in the morning.  We made it to Slidell before stopping to eat lunch at a place called Nola's.  I had my first shrimp po boy and it was yummy!  Walter had his first seafood "fix" too.  We left there and went straight to downtown NO.  We we first pulled up to Canal St we heard a boom.  We both thought we were encountering a shooting!  Haha!  Instead it was some mean teenagers throwing fireworks near a homeless person sitting on a bench in the middle of the day.  Sad.  We finally found parking and met up with Walter's parents to ride a Riverboat Cruise that took us to the War of 1812 Battlefield.  It was a nice ride along the river.  When we got back it was turning dark.  We wanted to experience Bourbon St, so we headed that way.  Wow!  How sad it is to see women posing in doorways wearing barely anything trying to lure you in.  Not much there for us now that we are old, so we headed on out. 
Thursday was game day and we decided to stay out of NO until that night.  We took it easy and stayed in the Slidell area visiting a little county store called Bayou Country, had some beignets for the first time, ate some authentic seafood, and then went on a swamp tour.  We saw turtles, a juvenile bald eagle, other birds, raccoons, a cottonmouth, and a water snake on our tour.  The houseboats people live on were interesting to say the least.  By the time we made it back to the hotel to get ready for the game it was COLD!  With a little, okay a lot, of maneuvering we found our parking deck and went in the Superdome!  Huge place!  I loved the pregame show, fireworks, the game was exciting even if we didn't pull off a W, and the halftime show was good too.  We could see the field good even though we were high up.  Definitely the best Alabama game I've ever been to.  After we lost, I wanted to stay to see if they dropped confetti.  Walter thought I was crazy but he waited anyway.  The field was rushed and no confetti, so we thought.  We did get to see a crazy OU fan run in circles on the field with security chasing him and then dragging him off the field.  That was exciting. 
This morning we woke up, Walter turned it on ESPN, and guess what I spotted?  Confetti!  What in the world!  Major disappointment that we missed it!  They need to pull the cord faster next time!
We got to sleep past 6:30 both mornings, enjoy peace and quiet, eat alone, have uninterrupted conversations and are now refreshed! 

Christmas Memories

I love CHRISTmas time!  I remember as a child being so excited to help my Mama decorate the yard with lights (white only because she didn't like the color ones).  I remember looking for a Christmas tree with my Dad along the river banks.  One year in particular sticks out because while trying to get a tree, my Dad stuck the saw down the back of his pants.  He squatted down behind the tree because he thought he heard someone coming and ripped his brand new Levis!  The same tree blew out of the boat on the ride home.  We found it in the road, crushed.  I cried so hard!  We ended up having a tree that was flat on one side up against the wall!  I also remember the joy of taking out the ornaments from the old and worn shoeboxes and placing them on the tree.  We always used homemade ornaments too, not the fancy ones.  I loved that!  I have so many great memories getting ready for Christmas!  I am trying to do the same for our three sweet boys.

Life is all about making memories.  The boys and I made salt dough ornaments one day.  Dillan and Daniel made a Santa and Rudolph from their handprints.  David wanted a baby Jesus (made this Mama proud) and a snowman.  They have each colored an ornament.  David was talking about D & D's scribbling so I showed him his ornament from when he was 2.  Yeah, it looked just like theirs!  He thought that was funny.  Walter (we conned him into it), David, and I put on the Christmas ornaments one night after the babies went to bed.  Maybe they can help next year.  Daniel has only broken 2 of them this year.  Yes, he's the destructive one!  David helped me wrap presents for everyone.  He was a big helper.  I cherish these time because I know they probably want last forever... although I hope they will.  We made snowmen out of powdered doughnuts for David's class party Tuesday night and then went to look at Christmas lights with my Mawmaw, Aunt ReRe, and Mom.  It was a fun night of laughter...mostly at my Mawmaw and the crazy things that happen to her.  The Quinn 5 went to look at lights one night too.  We really like the Christmas story in the neighborhood behind Smokin S BBQ.  All three kids SCREAM "Christmas lights" EVERY time they see some.  Scream and every are in caps for a reason! 
Christmas memories are in the making for the Quinn's.  I hope they are for you too. 

Thanksgiving Week

This week has been great so far! I am a busy body and have a hard time staying still.  I like to go, go, go and that is what we have done!

Saturday we participated in the Hope 4 Houston Run in Wetumpka.  This was our first experience with 5Ks.  We ARE NOT runners, but this was something we felt led to do... all of us.  David wanted to run to so he could earn miles for the 50 Mile Club at school.  We froze our rearends off, but had a great time. 

Sunday we traveled to Georgia.  I have always wanted to go to Callaway Gardens, but have never been.  Walter hasn't ever been either.  We went early so we could enjoy the trails and other things there.  I think our favorite was the Butterfly Garden.  David wanted to catch one of the butterflies so bad.  We enjoyed the outdoors.  Walter wants to go back another day so we can see everything.  That night we rode on the trolley to see the Christmas lights.  They were beautiful.  By the end of the ride, Daniel was ill and ready to sleep!

Monday we froze again and enjoyed the outdoors at my Dad's.  We walked around in the woods, had a leaf fight, threw rocks and sticks into the creek, and ate junk! 

Tuesday, it was a rainy, wet, cold mess so we stayed in.  I decided we would make ornaments thanks to Pinterest.  David and I mixed the dough and baked it.  David, Dillan, and Daniel made handprints.  We used a cookie cutter to make each one a dinosaur.  After we baked them and let them cool, they painted them.  That was fun until the babies started getting paint all over my floor... game over! 

Today, we left early and went to my Dad's work.  I wanted to take them again before he retires.  It was a good day.  We were taken on a fire truck ride down the runway.  At one end we squirted water out the front of the truck.  David was grinning ear to ear, Dillan was silent and staring, and Daniel had his mean luck shaking his head no!  The noise scared him a bit but he was a trooper.  We went to the other end of the runway and waited on the F-16s to taxi down.  This was the coolest thing!  We saw how the crew works!  The pilot kept waving at us and the kids waved back.  One of them gave us the thumbs up when he left.  Daniel told each plane bye as it left.  It was a great learning experience and great memory.  I know my Dad was happy and so were we. 

Tomorrow we will eat as a family at my Mom's house and be thankful for all we have and do.  I can't wait!

A Ninja and 2 Train Engineers

I love this time of year!  Kids have so much fun... and so do I.  This year David decided he wanted to be a Ninja, and he made a cool looking ninja too.  Daniel and Dillan were cute little train engineers.  The first time they dressed up, we went to our old church to a Trunk or Treat.  We enjoyed seeing our friends that we haven't seen in a while and the kids had a good time.  We walked around the field and played games, got candy, let the kids pet goats, and rode on a hay ride.  It was a pretty wild and bumpy hay ride!!!  Haha!  Dillan and Daniel didn't want to wear their hats at first, but I told them they had to wear them to get candy... so they did! 

On Halloween night we went trick or treating.  We like the more traditional approach to Halloween.  We don't see anything wrong with trick or treating.  My Mom, Dad, Amber, Daniel, Preston, Walter, me, and the kids went to River Oaks neighborhood.  Lots of candy was collected, fun had, and memories made.