Celebrating Arlo

The littlest of the bunch turned two in October & boy did he enjoy a relaxing day at home. I think we all did! It's like he knew it was his special day & that we would let him snuggle up in our bed no matter how early he woke up. Around 5:30 am he peeped & I swooped in to get him before he woke up his roomies. We crawled into bed & got all cozied up together. He will snuggle FOREVER so we did..until everyone else came in to wish him "Happy Birthday!"  They are always so loud ; )

Arlo liked posing for his picture...ha! He takes awhile to wake up in the morning. I think he gets it from the Ellis side of the family.

He really perked up when we served him ten cinnamon rolls!

Some birthdays we go all out. Some years we do the opposite. This was one of those EXTREMELY simple birthdays & we loved it.  We got him two Spot lift the flap books that we have read too many times to count. On birthday eve, I printed out pictures of Spot the dog & let each of the kids color whichever & however they wanted. We slipped some twine through hole & hung the from the light fixture over the kitchen table.

Lolo said that while Arlo likes Spot, he would really like a silly picture of himself. If his teeth happen to look like that, we may request donations to his orthodontic spending account in lieu of gifts! Arlo really did like all the dangling pictures as evidenced by his constant climbing onto the kitchen table, pointing & saying "Spot" over & over.

He received some fun gifts including his very own battery operated train! Two siblings (that happen to closely resemble each other) have trains that a little someone likes to play with. Uncle Kyle's gift was a win-win-win! I love baby hands.

Flipping through pictures of the day it looks like he doesn't even have sisters! The three amigos had such a wonderful time playing together which makes this mama happy.

We built SO many train tracks that were much cooler than what we usually build.  While Daddy was at work, we broke the rules & emptied a couple shelves of his library to add some height to our track.

Thomas the Train happened to be a bit faster than the old engines & would rear end them as the raced down the track. We found out how strong he really was when Robby put a 1 liter Nalgene bottle on the kitchen table & he pushed it right across!

When they ran out of books, they moved on to Bella. She is such a great (& tolerant) dog at nearly 13 years old to happily or rather unhappily provide a stunt option at the end of the track! 

The bounce house was in use for about 4 hours that day & Arlo decided it was pretty exciting to jump with siblings.

I sat & talked to him for a bit while we watched Elo the Butterfly Whisperer catch butterflies with her bare hands. He was making the most hilarious faces.

After lots of bouncing & a long nap, we were ready for guests. GGran, Grammy & Grandpa joined us for dinner & cake. We made a lasagna & the ravishing two year old ate more than the rest of our children combined! I guess he's a growing boy!

Again, minimalist décor on the cake. Some printables cut into squares & taped onto toothpicks placed atop a Betty Crocker cake. Simplicity at it's finest.

a spontaneous family picture always captures such natural smiles.

Arlo was the happy recipient of a cool tool set & a Little People RV camper he can either push around or pop open to play with what's inside. Both have had plenty of attention since the big day.

Arlo must have emailed GGran to let her know she should wear green. He loves his GGran...and the jellybeans she brings everytime she comes to visit!

Grammy & Papa are up at the top of the "like list" too.

I think we are at the tippy top of that list.

These two, oh my. They are sweet together! When Robby was leaving for work that morning he said "Bye Arlo, I love you!" & for the first time ever Arlo responded with "I luh=oo too!" All of our hearts just melted.

He is darling alright!

Party time with those Polish Valentines!

Long, long ago in July we had quite the exciting two weeks with some very special cousins! As mentioned in the previous post, the visit started off with a bang when Jenny ended up in the hospital & Steve was stranded in Houston on the last leg of his trip back from Poland. The only exciting part about their situation was that I got to visit Jenny twice while she was an inpatient & we got to talk for about 6 hours uninterrupted. That certainly did not happen the rest of the visit! A few days after discharge the crew moved in to the Valentine Nest with lots of suitcases, snacks & smiles!

This picture was taken just moments before we sent them on their way. It's my fave of all the cousins together.

One thing we enjoyed about a weeklong stay was the opportunity to do some normal daily activities. For example, we spent an afternoon at the library looking at books & learning about bees. Quite possibly the most energetic bee keeper there ever was led us in song, showed off her beekeeper attire & sent everyone to table after table to taste honey, look at bees under a microscope & make some cute little antennae. There was a number of questions from a kid about pollination which ended with her saying "that's called the birds & the bees & you can talk to your parents about that!" Oh my, were we giggling!

We had a ladies outing that included lots of debating at Half Price Books about how to spend $3 & then Sonic for some frozen lemonade.

They really had fun together & were cute as they could be. I do think all those little brothers made them a bit annoyed but that's what little brothers are supposed to do sometimes, right?

Those little guys (don't tell them I called them little) took a trip to Central Market with Steve & Jenny. Isaac had a jam session in the car while Owen & Anson watched. That kid has some moves & I think he got them from Aunt Lala!  They had a blast running in the backyard or racing Hot Wheels on a track down the entire staircase......and picking on the big sisters!

One obsession ended up filling lots of time for the big girlies. It was an Animal Rescue Team which we are pretty sure stemmed from another obsession. Dolphin Tale, the movie had been on replay for a long time in both our homes & practicing animal rescue was on the top of the priority list. They decided to start small with roly-polys but quickly advanced to the most miniature frogs the park had to offer. There was a sign posted on the door of the Animal Hospital headquarters and lots of decorative posters on the door to where the animals were kept. Take note of "Save the BABBY animals!" During one of our drives we overheard the three of them talking about when they were 19, they would move to Clearwater, Florida to work at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where Dolphin Tale was filmed. They decided they would room together & drive a Corvette. I guess that means only two could get around at a time...that's where the plan breaks down & shows that you still need your parents to help you make the right decisions!

The girls took notes & even brought a ruler to measure how far the frogs could jump. The rescue kit was filled to the brim with necessary items like water to make sure the frogs could stay damp if needed.

Here's the best bug catcher I know with a roly-poly.

We played a LOT! Char got a new Polish game called Nogi Stonogi & it is perfect for all ages. It's a battle to make the longest caterpillar by rolling dice. One night we played another game that Aunt Jenny thought would be awesome. It was, depending on who you ask. It is called Bean Boozled & is basically a game meant to see how many people can gag without throwing up. There are 10 colors of jelly beans but each color has two vastly different flavors. It's a guessing game & there is no turning back once the nasty flavor is in your mouth. Uncle Steve was surrounded as he took his turn.

Check out the possibilities without gagging..

It's hard to pick the worst but for me, the dog food & barf flavors just about did me in. If it wasn't enough to taste the flavor you picked, our children walked around blowing their nasty breath on our faces!  We didn't let Owen pick the color that could be rotten egg flavored as he gags if someone sits next to him with a plateful of scrambled eggs. I so understand! I would have avoided a color if it could potentially taste like a banana. Our favorite part was when Anson walked by the "spit cup" & his eyes said it all. YUCKY game but good for some laughs!

The park held lots of opportunity for burning off energy & taking pictures with goofy faces.

Safety Steve playing lifeguard with eight kids.

I loved getting to know Karis, Isaac & Olivia at their current ages since I still picture them as 5,3 & 1 when they left for Poland in 2015.

Bob & Jeannine hosted dinner at their house for the Valentine & Blanton families. It was loud & fun as expected! Last time we had a full family picture, Arlo was hiding in a baby bump & we didn't even know he was a boy. Special crew.

We made promises we couldn't keep like camping out in the backyard. I'm not sure what we were thinking promising that! The heat index was 105 degrees so we apologized as we opted for a sleepover in the playroom instead. We closed the blinds, turned on the lanterns, sang a couple songs & heard a scary story from Uncle Steve. It was fun for a little bit until people started bothering other people & were sent to their rooms, as expected.

Grandpa helped the kids make Charlotte's Snap Circuits work. It was interesting for all as you can tell, even Arlo!

Those are some happy grandparents!

Gigi even mustered up the courage to brave the Texas heat & join us to see the Polish Valentines. Her parents came to the United States from Poland....fun fact! Here she is with some of the grands & great-grands. I LOVE the picture of Livi-Lou & Owen!

Just a couple nights prior to their departure, Bob & Jeannine treated us to dinner at Uncle Julio's. Dinner was delish but dessert made me wish I hadn't eaten for the previous 24 hours! A chocolate piñata filled with churros, chocolate covered strawberries & plenty of other yummies was delivered to our table. I was nominated to take a swing & did a fantastic job allowing us to eat seconds later.  

We love these two (and their three) & enjoyed evenings of visiting after we got 8 kids to fall asleep. At the weeks' end, we were all tired but oh so thankful for our time together.