Turning SIX times two

Wow, those twinkies had a great time ringing in being SIX year olds! Sad to say but they had never had a birthday party with friends so this was a big deal.  They are easy to please unless we are at the dinner table ; ) We invited a bunch of boys & a couple big sisters over for the big bash. 

Delcious donuts + a dinosaur craft + an obstacle course = happy boys

Arlo the explorer did the inspection of the yummy treats...

You know you have big sisters when you request a craft at your birthday celebration. I suggested this fantastic Pinterest idea & it met their approval & our bank account's approval too! Lots of dried pasta, black construction paper, glue & chalk.  With a few examples the kids went to town designing their own....

Next up, obstacle course time. We set it up first thing that morning, tested it multiple times & were ready to roll by the time the contestants arrived! On your mark, get set, GO!

Action shot of the O-Meister!

He stuck close by his mama....

We kept a stopwatch going & recorded each race. They had SO much fun & were great at cheering for each other, especially when the 3 year old brothers had their turns.

When I say "we" kept the time, I mean the 4 big sisters, Charlotte, Eloise, Daphne & Hera. They kept those boys under their command. I saw so much of myself at 9 years old as I was observing that role. The runners & jumpers never voiced a complaint against the judges so I just went with it!

Every minute was full of playing & noise, just as it should be!

and the whole bunch... for such a crew, it was easy peasy!

We enjoyed our morning & evening celebrating with our family too. The girls & I worked on some homemade dinosaur décor & it was mostly great minus table bumping & knocking down trees. 

The video of the candle blowing is so hilarious. A few of us have asthma & we joke that due to that condition, our lungs don't work as well as they should & it takes twice as long to blow out candles. Poor Owen, he was quite the source of laughter that morning! 

 Silly siblings.

Some gifts they received were walkie talkies, fidget cubes, Battleship & Uno. There were more but my memory is lacking and I am about to fall asleep while typing.

Wouldn't it be fun to have another picture like that when they turn 66? Just 60 more years : )

It was a busy day with lots of visitors. Paw Paw came then Auntie Deb joined him. Our beloved babysitter Alison stopped by with a mini Bop-it game for each of them. They were quickly hi-jacked first by siblings then by parents where we worked hard to blow any record out of the water. Thanks Alison!

 Speaking of BELOVED, GGran stopped by as well. 

Grandpa & Grammy were happy to play a game of Battleship, Uno & of course offer a cozy lap to sit in.

We had to squeeze in a hug at the end of dinner. We just love those birthday bubbies to the moon & back. Six has been a great year & seven is just around the corner come 2020! 

Owen & Anson turn three! -part 2

On March 7th, we sat down to eat dinner together & told the kids the story of March 7th & 8th, 3 years ago. We went to bed that night in 2013 with a little lady named Eloise snuggled between my massive belly & Rob while my mom kept Charlotte in quarantine after getting sick. We headed to the hospital early the next morning & at 8:04 am we heard the most beautiful cry from Owen followed by Anson one minute later. It was certainly one of the most joy filled moments ever!

Back to present day, I spent time leading up to their birthday extremely tearful considering the three years that have seemingly passed in the blink of an eye. I say "blink of an eye" although many days felt painfully long ; )  After putting the kids to bed the night before the big day, I started crying in the kitchen but this time it was for a different reason. I forgot to get ANYTHING to decorate, not even a balloon! What kind of mother am I? Robby encouraged me to hop in the car & head to the store. I did just that & arrived at Party City which had closed about 3 minutes before...grrrr...didn't they know how forgetful I am? I looked across the street & saw a Dollar General.

The road which these stores are along would not be my prime choice for wandering around at night but I had to have balloons even if it meant risking my life. I walked in, made eye contact with the guy at the checkout then headed to where I could see balloons. I cannot even express how eerily quiet it was in that store with just the two of us & the hum of the air conditioner. I quickly selected two balloons, some party hats & a table cloth then looked around for some other things. I ended up making some laps around the store still feeling a bit nervous. I looked up & realized my balloons were floating just over the height of the shelves meaning that guy could see exactly where I was at all times. At that point I was completely creeped out & my imagination carried me into thinking about what I would do in a crisis situation. So I decided to get to the checkout ASAP & was surprisingly greeted by the nicest man who wished me well as I headed out the door. Imagine that.....not everyone is out to get me ; )

Once I got home I put a bunch of picture of the boys in frames behind the table while crying. I put the décor out, snuck in to give one final kiss on the heads of our two year old boys then went to sleep.

We started the day bright & early with these two who were actually a bit grumpy until they saw the table. We were glad that lightened the mood. They requested breakfast tacos which in their language is "breakfast ca-cose" & I was happy to make them since they are my favorite breakfast too.

They were excited to use the blowers or whatever they are called. Some broke within about 30 seconds...that's what we get for shopping there, Ha! Nonetheless, they were enjoyed for a moment.

I was really looking forward to a fun day at home with the kids knowing it would be rainy & we would likely be inside. You would think that you might exhibit the best behavior on your birthday or at least not be a grump right? After breakfast Robby left for work, the skies opened up & the downpour began. We heard the loudest lightning crack I think I have ever heard in my life. The kids reminded me of the Von Trapp children running to my room caught off guard by the loud sound. I was trying to be spontaneously fun & told everyone to grab pillows & blankets so we could snuggle up, watch the storm & sing "Raindrops on Roses.". It was really sweet & fun until we hit the five minute mark in which a big fight ensued. It ended with me telling everyone to pack up & move out. I might have said "why can't we ever do anything fun?" Not the first time I have thought that ; ) While things were calm....

We continued on with our regular school day & other daily tasks while focusing on some extra snuggles & reading with the birthday boys. They took a good nap & when they woke the sun had made it's grand appearance. This was the signal to don rain boots & up the morale!  The boys got new dinosaur rain boots from their Gigi & they sure did come in handy.

Bella came out to explore the larger of the two puddles...

It didn't take long for the splashing to begin!

Eloise was the craziest & dirtiest by far. Plus, she was adorable in her camo hat! Bella had to be captured at this point after nipping at Elo's legs to catch the splashes of water.

More than a few pictures of my favorite 3 year olds...

They got their fair share of unwelcome splashes from each other...

Then they had a good brotherly chat...

& decided to show off their "I am three" fingers...

The mud bath was a blast until it was time to come inside. Long story short. I stripped down each mud covered kiddo minus Char, wrapped them in a towel & carried them down the hall to my shower. I hosed them off as they all were screaming in silliness. I ended up with mud all over me & a near crash on the slippery tile. Of course Arlo woke up as soon as I carried the last kid to the shower & was forced to scream his head off while I went to work with the detachable shower head. You know what? He survived! As crazy as it was, they were all clean & in jammies by 4:30. It was worth it! I was sooooo tired at that point & called Robby. We decided to surprise the kids with pizza from our favorite place around the corner. They were jumping up & down when they realized what Robby was carrying when he got out of his truck. It was certainly more exciting than a work bag!

Those four can do some damage on a pizza or two. We have to cut them off so we can still eat. I can only imagine the amount of pizzas we will need when we have five teenagers in the house!

After our dinner we fulfilled all the birthday dreams of these two. Since Valentine's Day when Robby so lovingly made chocolate covered strawberries & marshmallows the boys talked relentlessly about how they wanted to put fire on a chocolate marshmallow....sounds safe right? They are super adorable when they say "marsh-moh-low" similarly to how they say "poh-low" for pillow.

I was in charge of the strawberry & marsh-moh-low covering & forgot to put wax paper underneath what was dipped in chocolate. Big thumbs up for me! Rob got to scrape all the sweet treats off the plate leaving chunks of hardened chocolate everywhere. Lolo (of course) was found trying to lick every morsel off.

The boys were delighted to have their chocolate covered marsh-moh-low with fire on it....

Owen blew his candles out while Anson spent his time trying to tell Rob that he wanted a chocolate covered strawberry too. He talked for so long we had to sing Happy Birthday again & then the next five minutes were filled with the singing of "Sto lat" which is a Polish tune sung at occasions such as a birthday in this case. Our precious niece Karis sung it for us via video & the kids learned the Polish words to the best of their ability. They sing it ALL the time. It was fitting though for a birthday...we will give them that. It is not fitting while driving in the car or taking a bath etc.

One last picture to prove Arlo was there....

It was a simple birthday filled with five dollars worth of decorations, a rainstorm, puddle stomping, pizza & a flaming marsh-moh-low & now they are THREE!

Owen & Anson turn three! - Part 1

Owen & Anson are officially three as of March 8th! We started the celebration about a week & a half before with a birthday bash at a nearby park. After last years cancelled party x2 due to the stomach virus, we went low key & invited grandparents plus G.Gran. It was so relaxing! The night before the party I was saying how thankful I was that we have remained relatively well throughout the cold season. The next morning we sat down for breakfast. Owen took a bite of his oatmeal followed by a gulp of orange juice then threw up all over the table!! I could hardly believe it as I helped clean him up. Rob & I looked at each other like "of course someone is throwing up today!" Charlotte immediately had the most horrified look on her face & said loudly "can we still have the birthday party?" Haha! We chalked it up to Owen being our child with the most sensitive gag reflex. We kept a close eye on him over the following two hours then considered him well.

We met up at the park, set up camp at a table & got down to business opening gifts. The girls & I went to Target the night before for wrapping paper & a couple other birthday items & couldn't believe how much a roll of paper cost. Maybe I'm cheap but we decided on brown paper packages to be tied up with string hoping all would say it's a favorite thing ; ) It actually turned out way better than expected when the girls pulled the markers out & did some decorating for their favorite twin brothers.

They chose ostriches for Anson since that is his favorite animal....we are not sure how he settled on that one, ha!

There were some very feminine drawings on the rest of Owen's box but my favorite part is the "really really really love you" from Charlotte. Melts my heart.

Robby & I bought scooters for the girls when they turned three or a little before. They are still in fabulous shape & are ridden all the time. We decided that the boys would be happy to have their own & that the girls would feel the same so they don't have to share anymore. It makes us laugh that the boys still don't connect the dots & realize that the photo on the outside of the box usually reveals what the present is.

The onlookers were excited to watch the boys open some other fun gifts like a mini rolling suitcase, rain boots & a few summer wardrobe items. They also received some Tonka trucks that make a lot of noise. The boys brought a couple in the car the following day when we drove to Kingwood with my parents one of which had a siren that made me think we were getting pulled over EVERY time is went off! I almost had a heart attack.... & I wasn't even the driver.

Owen was happy to give his a try while we had to force Anson to even put his helmet on! Little stinker....doesn't he know how much we spent?? ; ) I guess he's not actually riding it in the picture below. Both feet are off while Grammy pushes him along.  Papa walked along with Owen for a good distance as he got the hang of it.

Now we have our own little scooter gang to rule the park...

Poor Arlo did not receive any attention as usual...

Once we did a little riding it was time for cupcakes.  That's my favorite part! They were sad that Daddy couldn't "put fire on it" since it was extremely windy but once they realized how yummy the chocolate icing was, they didn't care anymore.

Those cupcakes were gone quickly & all were off to the playground. It's so nice to have more than two adults to eyeball all the kids on a busy play structure or be the pusher of a swing. Arlo took a snoozy in G.Grans arms which I know she liked very much.

We know our kids are all still "babies" but my goodness, we can't believe how big they are & how much has happened in the last six years!

Here's the Valentine family of seven....

One three year old was a challenge...two...I feel tired ; ) We sure do love those big three year olds & are thankful to be their mama & daddy. They've come a long way from just under four pounds & six pounds! Sweet babies to rambunctious toddlers!