An Interview with Quinn - Age 14

Here is the annual interview with Quinn - the pandemic 14th year edition.  That being said, some of the annual questions I asked this year again garnered a couple of eye rolls, as if to say, this question no longer applies to me.

The answers in green stayed the same as last year; the ones in blue were new answers.  Check them out... it looks like this was another year of change!

What is your favorite color?           Sunshine Yellow
What is your favorite toy/app?       Instagram 
What is your favorite fruit?            Apples
What is your favorite TV show?      One Day at a Time
What is your favorite outfit?          Hooded Sweatshirt and Shorts
What is your favorite game?          Clue
What is your favorite snack?         Cheesy Goldfish 
What is your favorite animal?        Cow
What is your favorite song?          Our Song by Taylor Swift
What is your favorite book?          Paper Towns by John Green
Who is your best friend?               Whitney 
What is your favorite food?          Mac 'n Cheese w/ Sliced Sausage
What is your favorite thing to do outside?       Sidewalk Chalk
What is your favorite thing to do inside?        Tik Tok
What is your favorite drink?         Iced Water
What is your favorite thing to take to bed?    Stuffed Bear
What is your favorite candy?         Tootsie Roll Fruit Chews
What is your favorite holiday?       Christmas
What is your favorite season?     Spring
What is your favorite movie?       Frozen 2

What do you want to be when you grow up?    Middle School Math Teacher
The thing I do the best is...             Tik Tok
The coolest person on Earth is...      Mom 
Three words that describe me...     Dramatic, Oversensitive, and Funny
One food I really do not like is...         Seafood
One wish I have is....                      Go on a vacation where you don't have to read  
                                                     anything (museum, national park, etc.)

This is how Quinn writes her name when she is 14...

Click on the following links to see Quinn's answers at:
Age 13,

Age 12, 

Age 11,  

Age 10, 

Age 9, 

Age 8, 

 Age 7.  

It is fun to see how her answers have changed over the years!

Fourteen Candles....

This sweet girl turned 14 this week.  

Fourteen.  Sit on that for a minute.  I know I had too.  

The morning started out with her birthday breakfast - French toast - and her first chance to make a wish.

The day was quiet, uneventful, and absolutely perfect for Quinn (aside from maybe seeing friends - which "the rona" has made impossible this year).

She received so many great presents, and thoroughly enjoyed opening all her gifts.

She got a weighted blanket as a gift, and instantly fell in love.

Quinn's friends, family, and teachers all recorded video messages for her.  She was so appreciative and so grateful for everyone's sweet messages.  The videos made her day.

Check out this picture when Quinn found out her teachers recorded messages for her...

Birthday dinners in our house are usually celebrated out in restaurants, but with the crazy pandemic that wasn't possible.   We did the best to substitute though - Quinn chose the dinner to bring home to eat.  Her dinner of choice was Five Guys.

She can't pass up a good bacon cheeseburger!

Quinn chose to spend the evening playing games.  While she got to choose the game (Clue), she did not come out victorious.  Her baby sister did!

The night was capped off with what else... Dairy Queen cake.  And another chance to blow out some candles and make a wish.

Cookie Dough Blizzard Ice Cream Cake with an extra layer of fudge... yum, yum!!

And just for the record, Quinn begged me not to put the candles up in the yard like I did for Sullivan.  She said it totally attracts unwanted attention.  She begged and pleaded with me the night before.  So as a small compromise, I put just a couple outside in an inconspicuous location.  I just want Quinn's wish noted for the record so that it won't come back to haunt me later in life.  Ha!

This pandemic isn't the easiest thing to live with... we are missing friends, missing school, missing the familiar routines that make up life.  Simple joys of going to the store or going out to eat.  That said, this birthday girl has been such a trooper.  Sure there has been disappointments and some moments but overall she has taken each day, especially her birthday, in stride.

Quinn McKenna... we love you and are proud of the young woman you are turning out to be.  Happiest of (pandemic) birthdays to you.  Hoping this next year is your best one yet!

We Are There...

Today marks day forty-three of social distancing for us, and I think some of us in the house have officially hit this point with one another...

I won't mention any names, but it might include two of the youngest members of the house.  Again, I won't mention any names though.    

Passing the Time...

Again, the days have blurred into one another lately.  There is no knowing what day this stuff all occurred, but it occurred.  I can attest.

The girls have passed countless hours doing Diamond Art crafts lately.  If you don't know what Diamond Art is, think color by number, but with little tiny beads instead of paint.

One might think it is a tedious task, but surprisedly it is somewhat therapeutic.  

We made homemade pizzas one night for supper. 

We have done countless walks outside... anything to soak in a little sunshine and get out of the house.

We made another day trip to the south side of Indy to have Sonic for lunch.  The girls love Sonic - especially the dessert!

We've got our puzzling on...

The girls got outside and did some sidewalk chalk...

Sullivan made us Rice Krispies treats... yum!

With the weather being fairly nice, we've gotten outside to play some Ladder Ball...

We've played a fair deal of Super Mario Brothers lately. 

Tessa is getting really good at helping...

Quinn got magnetic face masks in her Easter basket.  

At first glance, it is like any other face mask - you simply smear it on.

Here's where it gets really interesting...

To take off the mask, you use a magnet.  You put a thin cloth on top of the magnet and hover it above your face and it sucks the mask off.  No wiping.  Pure craziness!

Hope everyone is finding ways to keep themselves busy, happy, healthy and safe!

An Interview with Sullivan - Age 11

Here is the annual interview with the pandemic birthday girl - Sulla Grace!  Here are all her favorites from this year!  The answers in purple stayed the same as last year.  The red answers are different!

What is your favorite color?            Periwinkle
What is your favorite toy?              Legos
What is your favorite fruit?            Pomegranates
What is your favorite TV show?      Austin and Ally
What is your favorite outfit?           Comfy Clothes
What is your favorite game?          Nintendo (Super Mario Bros.)
What is your favorite snack?         Goldfish Crackers
What is your favorite animal?        Rabbits
What is your favorite song?          Memories (by Maroon 5)
What is your favorite book?         Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Who is your best friend?               Maddy & Courtney
What is your favorite food?          Raviolis 
What is your favorite thing to do outside?       Playing with the Dog
What is your favorite thing to do inside?       Playing with the Dog
What is your favorite drink?         Fresca
What is your favorite thing to take to bed?    Little Blankies 
What is your favorite candy?         Junior Mints
What is your favorite holiday?      Christmas
What is your favorite season?     Spring
What is your favorite movie?       National Treasurer

What do you want to be when you grow up?    Teacher
The thing I do the best is...             Gymnastics
The coolest person on Earth is...      Mom
Three words that describe me...     Caring, Helpful, and Organized
One food I really do not like is...         Cheesy Chicken and Rice
One wish I have is....                      To go to Paris

This is how Sullivan writes her name when she is 11...

If you want, you can check out her answers from previous years.  

Just click on the link:

Age 10

Age 9

Age 8

 Age 7 

Age 6 

 Age 5 

 Age 4

It's fun to see how her answers have changed over the years!  

Happy Easter, Happy Birthday...

Sunday was a BIG day around here!!!  Not only was it Easter, but it was also Miss Sullivan's birthday.  This is only the second time (since the day she was born) that her birthday fell on Easter.  What a day to celebrate!

The day started off with a breakfast of the birthday girl's choosing... carmel rolls!

The last bite of carmel roll was barely eaten and the first birthday gift was already opened. The girl loves her some presents!

The Easter Bunny made a stop by Indy, so it didn't take long before the hunt was on.  

I'd love to say that the girls have great perseverance when it comes to searching for their baskets and eggs, but that doesn't appear to be their strong suits.  Nonetheless, the hunt for everything was still loads of fun!

Baskets were found and eggs were hunted...

The day didn't stop getting better for Sullivan. All her family, some friends, and her sweet teachers were kind enough to make videos for Sulla to wish her a happy birthday and share their love for her during this time of social distancing.  The pictures don't do it justice, but she was so shocked and so appreciative and felt so special....

Aside form be showered with kind words from everyone, she was also showered with lots of great gifts.  She spent all day lazily opening a present here and there.  It was the gifts that kept on giving!

This birthday was a bit different with the social distancing pandemic going on.  But didn't stop Sullivan's friend, Maddy, from driving by...

It brightened her day to see Maddy and spend a couple of minutes talking together, even if it was from 6 feet away!

No birthday is complete without a cake.  Thank goodness our local Dairy Queen is still accepting cake orders.  I don't know that we could survive a Pooley birthday without a DQ cake.

Yum...!

All in all, a special and busy and quiet and different Easter/Birthday.  While we would have loved more than anything to have our family here to help celebrate this special day, we did the best we could.  We made memories and tried to make it special.

Happy 11th (Easter) Birthday, Sulla Bulla!  

We love you and your kind, generous, amazing spirit.  

Nothing seems to hold you back or get you down. 

This will definitely be one birthday for the books!