our first annual QFDDRT (Quincy Family Dance Dance Revolution Tournament)

Yeah, it's quite a mouthful, but we're hoping it will catch on. :) The first QFDDRT (did I get the name right Jen?) was held on Christmas Eve and the competition was stiff!

Dad VS Mom

Jack and Jonathan, mentally prepping.

A little background:  DDR is about as Quincy as Stinky Popcorn! (explained below)  When Santa brought us our first DDR game over 15 (ish?) years ago we played it NON-STOP until we wore the pad out (which took a few weeks I think?  Mom would remember, I don't).  Since only 2 people can play at once the other 5 of us stood behind the couch and danced along to practice, it was epic.  This tournament was the brain child of Jenny with the help of James, I believe, thank you very much for putting this together guys!  Such fun memories.  Unfortunately the locals (Josh, Meg, Joni, and Gino) had to work or something, and were missed.

Dan VS James

 

Jason VS Jack and Jonathan VS James 

Sophie VS Tessa

Tessa was just there for the food. Look at the tray in front of her, she'd peeled the "blankets" off all of the little hot dogs and just ate the "pigs!"

There was a Quincy family classic, Jello Popcorn, aka "stinky popcorn" (meant to be sticky popcorn, but baby Jason pronounced it stinky, and the name stuck).  It's just: 1 cup of corn syrup, 1 cup of sugar, 1 package of Jello, and 1 tsp of baking power melted in a pot and poured over 1 batch of air popped popcorn.  It's fun because you can make it any flavor or color that Jello comes in.  One word of advice: eat it while it's hot, it hardens and is not so easy to eat after it cools.

Here's some photos of the cheerleaders/spectators.  If you'll look behind my mom's head in the this first photo you'll see James working on the brackets for our tournament, this was no hodge podge!  It was a legit single elimination, winner moves on competition! (sorry for the horrible colors, my camera is not so good with incandescent light and I don't have the time to tweak each photo)

Sydney was napping, I think Nicole and Jason like that. :)

Nicole and Stephanie (who evaded my camera) played the pregnancy card and choose to sit it out this year.

Dan and Sophie playing: the wind up... and then the aftermath!  (Sophie hit Dan in the face, poor guy.)  But the picture is funny. ;)  Sophie plays so rough!

Dean is such a handsome guy!  I caught him upstairs playing with decorations.  Not mischievously, he's just trying to figure out how they work, he's very serious about his play.

 

Oh look, Sydney woke up!

 

I got creative with the angles for the FINALS.  The line up was no surprise, Jonathan VS Jenny.

Jenny won!  A bit of an underdog story, we all expected Jonathan to take it (including Jenny by the way).  Well done!!  (Don't they look like twins?)

Good times.

Tessa's Tea Party

So my mom REALLY wanted to be there for Tessa's 3rd birthday party but it was too hard with it being so close to Christmas so I convinced her that she could just do a party at her house after we got there for Christmas, since it was just a few days later!  It was a big hit.  And really fun to have her cousins, aunts and uncles there too!!  They dressed up and had pink marshmellows, pink cupcakes, pink milk, and applesauce (one of Tessa's favorite foods).  Oh how I love her super CHEEEEESY grin!!

Auntie Ann put together a shell game with her fancy tea cups, so cute!  And they danced to some princessy music, of course!

 

Elise and Melody dressed up in their fancy dresses and looked cute as can be!  Sophie REALLLLLLY loves Elise, I think it's obvious in this picture, just pure joy on her face.

 

Admit it, Tessa's adorable when blowing out candles... I love how she goes cross-eyed.  Ha!  Dean, with his gluten-free muffin, ignored all the girls and went to town.

 

Jaycee tried on some earrings, and looked adorable.  Proud Grandma Nina with her grandsons!

Poor Jane was sick and felt awful, but still managed to look beautiful for the photo, isn't she a beauty?  Jake's acting like a boy...

Ahhhhh, my sister Jenny... are there some people you love so deeply that seeing a photo of them makes your heart and your face smile?  That's Jenny for me, I love you sis, sure do wish we lived closer.  Wow, Tessa got 3 birthday parties?  That's a pretty lucky little girl.  I wanted to mention that Sydney (who became a big sister today, btw) was also around for the party but didn't make it in any pictures before she left for a nap.  Thanks everyone for coming!

NOPE, the blog post isn't over!!  I can't very well do 1 blog post that doesn't even finish out the day!  That same day we also celebrated Josh's birthday.  Say hello to pretty little Elliott!

Tessa "helped" Jenny repair a dress up casualty from the party.  The girls dressed up again, I love the leopard, nice touch huh?

Dan invented this complex game with the girls in the toy room.  It was founded on his many hours of video game playing I think, because there were different "bosses" that they girls had to conquer using certain tools, for example I believe the evil bear twins had to be tied up with the jump rope.  I took a couple blurry pictures, but there's a video as well.  It was a big hit and a constant request for the duration of our Christmas vacation.  I thought it was really cute.

Tessa's 3rd birthday

This pretty little thing is 3 years old! Oh how we love our sassy little Tessa girl!!  Her birthday fell on a Saturday so I was determined to make sure she could have a friend party, she's never had 1 before, but Sophie's had 2 and I was having mom guilt.  I still gave her the option, because Disney on Ice was coming to town, of going to that with her family or having a friend party.  She choose her friends (I hope this isn't the beginning of her choosing her friends over her family! yikes, it's too soon!!).  She also wanted a princess party... at the Museum of Nature and Science.  I tried to talk her into dinosaur invitations, but she wouldn't budge.  Oh well, whatever makes her happy!  That's the point of a birthday party right?  Anyway, here are some of the MANY MANY photos I took that day.

(Caleb, Miles, Eden, Paul, Mia, Sophie, Tessa, Logan, Lily, and Lydia)

 

 

We had a fun morning together!  Even Tessa's cousin Lily came, she had to drive 2 hours to get there!  What a treat.  Thanks to everyone for coming and partying with us!!

We had a little family party that night too.  Pretty sure I'm the only one who takes pictures seriously... probably because I'm not in them near as often. :)

Tessa, I can't tell you how much your mom and dad love you!  You are such a special little girl with a tender heart, at 3 years old I especially enjoy how you are willing to always help me around the house by fetching me things I need or singing your brother a song to pacify him.  Tessa loves to dress up like a princess and dance like a ballerina!  Tessa's favorite foods are pears, apples, cheese, macaroni, chocolate milk, cheerios, and mashed potatoes.  Tessa is really smart and often surprises us with how articulate she is.  Tessa has an infectious smile, it's HUGE and adorable, and the best part is she shares it freely!  We love, love, love, love you Tessa!!