The O'Quinn Family: July 2008

Swimming

Today my family went swimming with the in-laws...no, not mine...my sister's. It's a very weird but wonderful relationship that we share with my brother-in-law's parents. My sister's son (that would make him my nephew) was in town to spend a big boy week alone without them with his Nana & Pop. They so graciously invited his other grandparents (my mom & dad) and my family over to play and swim. We all share a love for one sweet little boy and had a blast watching our big kids swim back and forth across the pool. This is a new thing for both of them and I'm so proud of them for gaining the confidence to finally start swimming.

We also got to hang out with Bethany and Charlie. She's my sister's sister-in-law. (I know...this post requires some sort of family tree diagram). I call her 'friend'. She and I had babies 7 weeks apart. They were together in our bellies, in the hospital and haven't seen each other in a while. See if you can guess who is older?

Thank you, Nana & Pop for a fun day!

Too Big Too Fast

How could Sully already be sitting up? It's too soon. With Maggie starting kindergarten in less than a month, I need my baby to stay a baby for as long as possible. He is still a little weeble-wobble but he gets tired of laying on his back and is determined to sit up.

Labels: Sullivan

My Little Buddy

He's rough...

and tough...

He likes to work...

and likes to play.

But at the end of the day,

he just wants to sleep in a box.

Labels: Rory

Little Mama

She loves her little brother...

Labels: Maggie

First Astros Game for Rory!

>

Labels: Rory

First Pedi for Maggie!

This is what girls do when the boys go to a baseball game!

Labels: Maggie

We're Eatin' Now, Boy!

Rory and Maggie showing him how to do it

Little Mommy

Mmmm....squash!

Labels: Sullivan

Does "Princess" have to mean no mom?

What is it with the main characters of all of my kids favorite movies not having parents? This topic came up with my sister when I was visiting her and sure enough...it's so true.

Think about leading characters of Disney and see what the ratio is of parented to parentless children:

Snow White...only a step-mother
Sleeping Beauty...has parents, but is taken away from them for 16 years
Cinderella...only a step-mother
Beauty and the Beast...Belle only has a father
Little Mermaid...no mom
Aladin...no parents for him and only a father for Jasmine
Lion King...daddy dies (sorry if that ruins the movie for anyone!)
Dumbo...only a mom
Bambi...mommy is shot (probably by the likes of my husband or one of his friends:)
Toy Story...only a mom
Finding Nemo...mom was lunch in the first 2 minutes and dad spends the whole movie trying to find poor little kidnapped Nemo!

Then there's
Annie, Pollyanna, Newsies, Oliver Twist, Enchanted and countless other movies geared towards kids that only have one or no parent present.

Why does one have to be without a parent to over-come an obstacle? I guess if these characters were in the confines of a two-parent home, the story line would be lacking conflict. Would a mother have been more in tune with Ariel's needs? Would a father have allowed his new wife to treat Snow White so terribly? Are we depressing kids or showing them that they have it good by letting them watch these movies?

See, honey...if you didn't have a mommy and a daddy...you too might get lost in the woods, kidnapped, potentially poisoned, loose your voice, made to be a personal slave, locked in the attic and held captive by a very scary villain. Hmmm. Guess I'm not so bad now, am I?

Just kidding.

Nomads

We've returned and recovered from our long trip to Lubbock. It's the summer before Maggie starts kindergarten and we are trying to move further north. We de-cluttered, cleaned and staged our house and put it on the market about a month ago. Do you know how long it takes for 3 kids to scatter toys and splatter food around a clean kitchen? Not long.

Our gracious parents have offered to let us hang-out with them for a while in the hopes that a vacant and clean house will help it to sell quicker.

That leaves us as nomads for a while. So I apologize if I haven't called you back or replied to your email. Don't take it personally. I've just been out of my 'normal' routine since the first of June!

If you think about us, pray that we will sell our home and find a new one...fast! :o)

So Long, Farewell...

It turns out that we were having so much fun, we decided to stay an extra couple of days. The kids have had so much fun playing together and we have had such an amazing visit with Matt & Robin. We've laughed, cried, cuddled, played games, shopped, gone on adventures, and in general...just enjoyed being together. Thank you, guys, for such a great week (& 3 days)! We'll miss you.