Russian Space Dog Birthday Party...

Alternately titled  {DOG} ROCKET to RUSSIA party as a nod to the Ramones album.

So the E- cousTWins turned 2.

 In an effort to remain original while having a 'dog' themed birthday party... I combined their mutual love of dogs with an awesome vintage Russian space program ad I found.
Bam.  3 themes for the price of 1.  Be still my heart.

April 14th turned out to be the WINDIEST day in Central Texas history... I'm guessing while I was praying for no rain... someone else was praying for gale force winds.  The party still happened... and no one was sweating but me.

Details (Pictured above) Explained:

Party activities:
Rocket test-launch: using the best. toy. ever. and my new 'go-to' birthday present!
    Pre-flight check up:  Lily's idea.  toy doctor kit and stuffed dogs.  done.
    Moon dig simulation: plastic pool filled with sand and 'moon rocks' (foil balls)
    Space Race: rolling dog toys labeled with Russian and US flags
    Anti-gravity training: bounce house (one of those cheap second hand purchases that keeps paying for itself)

Party Food:
Cocoa Kibble: Cocoa Puffs
Dog Bones: Scooby graham cracker bones
Puppy Chow:  with this recipe but substituted Crispix for Chex... because Kellogg's is good to Mr. Olson.
Potato Rounds:  a nod to the Russians. thank you pinterest for this recipe.
with copycat Chuy's Creamy Jalapeno: (got me through a pregnancy outside the Austin City Limits)
    1 c. mayo
    1 c. buttermilk
    1 HV buttermilk ranch packet
    2 Tbs. diced green chiles from can (more or less for desired heat)
    A few fresh cilantro leaves... if you've got them
    Combine in a blender until smooth.
Fruit with cream cheese fruit dip
Party Punch: listed on Pinterest as the best. punch. EVER!!!... it was good... but not the best.


Cake:
Buttercream frosting: found here with Wilton sky blue icing color and Wilton black spray color and Wilton white sugar sheet cut into stars, planets, and comets.
Moon: Rice Krispie treats molded into a mixing bowl and craters hollowed out with a melon baller. I meant to cover it in grey fondant... but didn't have it in me after the other preparations.... so I sprayed it with the remaining Wilton color spray.
Rocket: paper towel roll with a cone cup top and a pronamel toothpaste top burner
Dog: Schleich toy


Homemade touches:  (all super time consuming... and ruined in seconds by the WINDIEST day in history... but such is life.)
paper banner
cardboard rocket ship
balloons turned planets with cardstock rings wrapped in foil
painted cardboard logo with dog silhouette and giant E^2
cups: each taught you to say a word/phrase in Russian  while making it distinguishable from your neighbor's cup... (theme related cup markers: a Tiffany Ashcraft party idea that I continue to use... just like the next one)

Guest book:
Dogs in Space by Nancy Coffelt


Favors:
AstroRox: freeze dried "Astronaut ice cream"
Party Playlist cd:

Guess who’s TWO….

the same kid who sat in the same yard looking like this:

only months ago.

Here is my little Easter baby… the past three years.

 

Eli at 2:

-still loves his paci.  We hear “Pa-ti, are you?” multiple times a day, as he looks for them.  I’m not ready to take it from him… don’t judge.  A kid this cute can pull off a wicked overbite, right?

-such a character.  Already loves making us laugh.

-answers to Beankins, Goo-beankins, Mr. Goo-Beankins, and Beankins ol’ Stinkins

-wakes up everyday telling me (very seriously) how he dreamed about “ow-dants" and “rogs”… elephants and frogs

-can say (or at least try to say) pretty much everything now.  Some of our favorite Eli-isms are “Lucky=yucky, ‘Mon= C’mon, eeg0=here you go, wajthiz=watch this” and of course Mommo and Daddo

- loves everyone.  Finally an Olson kid that will wave  to old people in the grocery store… and save his mother from overcompensating with nervous high pitched laughter.

-SO busy. This kid NEVER STOPS.  He is a full time job and the source of my premature aging.

-loves Barney (“Marney and eebop”). loves to sing. loves to talk about animals (especially cows and chickens). loves any kind of drink at any time of day.

-wants to be just like his ‘Daddo’… which is okay by me.

I’ll admit that I was scared of life with a boy…  and that it is COMPLETELY different than life with a girl… but I wouldn’t trade it.    He is ALL boy and is  a CONSTANT source of joy and laughter.  Nano’s early nickname for him is still so fitting… he’s our little ‘bright spot’…. and I LOVE LOVE LOVE him with all my heart.

Happy 2nd birthday Eli!

 

Around our house lately…

 

it has been crazy busy.  Who knew October was going to be so full.

Here is a  snapshot from our life:

 

 

Lily is a writing fool.  My days are spent spelling words aloud as she writes the letters.  Not a fan of having her picture taken.  Christmas cards may feature a family of 3 this year.  Eli prefers to write on floors, walls… or just eat the writing utensil.  I observed him yesterday chilling in the recliner (without any pants, of course), munching on a brown crayon.   Crayons, rolie polies, chewed gum from the HEB floor, dirty marshmallows meant for the lemur at Emily’s exotic animal party… oh, that kid and the things he eats.

Augie came home with a new ‘racecar’… none more excited that Eli, who promptly crawled in and broke something. 

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….

 

Eli is still a man of few words… but get him around a guitar (be it Barbie or human sized) and he’ll immediately begin the chorus of his favorite song, The Cave.  “Iiiiiiiii…” and that’s all he can say.

I want to record all the little things that we love about him at each phase, because I know first hand how the things you think you’ll remember about the kid will be replaced by useless things like the names of all of the past winners of The Bachelor.  I can’t tell how many little things we remember about Lily only because of blogging and scrapbooking them at the time.

I don’t know how long this will be his favorite song.  One by The Strokes and Arcade Fire have entered the running… he’s always liked a good beat.  I always want to remember this story, though.

 

 

Sidenote: David showed us this clip of Mumford and Sons singing Come Thou Fount… LOVE, love, love.

 

Here are some other pages that I finished this summer:

for beankins…

for b-bug…

 

Oh, Beankins….

…Is probably the most said phrase in our home. 

At 13 months, Eli is into everything.  His head and our living room are pretty much always in rough shape. 

He loves to climb, to dump out, to grab, to eat, to run, to trip, to fall, to dance, to splash, to drink and to spin.

He still doesn’t feel the need to say much…. (just like his dad)… including ‘Mama’ despite my constant coaching. 

He’s been saying: Da-Da, woof (for dog), buh (for bird), and hot, hot, hot (while eating) and dat (for everything else)… but I think he’s on the verge of a verbal explosion.

He LOVES music and has pretty good rhythm. I think a drum set is in his future.

He is forever looking for his paci and blue blankie.  When he has them, he will lay his head down on anything or anyone.

He gets more kisses and squeezes than he knows what to do with, between Lily and me all day.

He is such a good sleeper. (THANK YOU JESUS)  Lily is still up every night… but he sleeps from 7 pm to 7:30 am without fail… never making a peep.

He adores his dad.  Hard to believe that  he might wear size 12 shoes one day too.

He is the sweetest little boy I’ve ever met.  Seriously.

Eli’s first (and hopefully last) trip to the ER…

all because his favorite toy is a princess microphone that lights up and sings ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo’.

He stood up during a diaper change to get away from me… which is customary during all diaper changes… lost his balance and the skinny end of the microphone was standing up between the floor and his EYE!  He couldn’t open it for a few minutes while crying bloody tears.  Praise Jesus that Suzanne was there to keep Lily and praise Jesus both of my parents left their jobs to meet me at the ER since Jeff was in San Antonio and praise Jesus that the ER doctor secretly told us to leave and go to the Eye Center and praise Jesus that they got us right in

…and praise Jesus above all else that after the awful ordeal of having his hurt eye dilated with 6 rounds of drops and checked out-- he had missed the major stuff and had no puncture wound or even scratches …only  a surface hemorrhage (aka nasty eye bruise) that will go away in 5-15 days with no medication or follow up visits… (which is what I was praying the entire drive there).  Praise Jesus.

Here’s our little guy sporting his new gimpy eye and eating some cookies. I still wish he would have worn the tiny sized dilated eye shades from the doctor.  They would have been precious on him…  I wasn’t about to torture him for some better pictures of his first major injury.

I think we might start calling him ‘Left Eye’.

Guess what y’all…

I’m officially a walker!    (… and ready for March Madness!)

I’ve marked in the baby books at 10 months.  He’s been taking steps for a while… but last week he started being able to cross a room on his own two feet.  Who would have thought… walking before he even says ‘Mama’.  What a different kid this is than the first one…. (pictured in the background wearing fairy wings, ballet slippers and jammies at 2 in the afternoon.  sidenote: Olson has started calling her ‘Hef’ because the only other person he can think of that wears his jammies all day is Hugh Hefner.)

p.s.  no.  you’re right. he hasn’t closed his mouth for a picture since birth.

10 months…

 

I can’t even believe that this little guy is fixing to be A YEAR OLD…. good thing his mom has been planning his birthday party since Christmas.

Right now, Eli:

-weighs 24 pounds

-loves to point at everything

- knows where his nose is

-says Da-Da for Jeff and I’m pretty sure he uses ‘Hey’ in context (I always heard that boys, especially 2nd born boys, talk a lot later… but I never thought MY 2nd born boy would be that way.  Ha Ha… Lily was always advanced, but Eli looks to be the silent observer type like his dad… which is kind of nice.  His big sister doesn’t draw breath between words from the moment she wakes up.)

-takes 3 steps by himself consistently… 8 steps is his record so far

-loves to play with whatever his sister has in her hands… especially things with hair to pull

-just like his sister, loves to go feed the horses.  He tries to pet them the whole time. 

-He hates to ‘drive’ past the neighbor’s great dane who barks LOUDLY at Eli’s little car coming down the dirt road.

-is obsessed with the trash can and toilets… which is awesome for me.

I LOVE every little thing about him.'

…except maybe the last one… that’s really not even cute.

 

     

 

Yay summer…

Our summer has officially begun with vacation #1 to Minnesota…

Eli had his first plane ride… not nearly as champion of a flyer as Lily.  Not nearly as champion as an eater either… these two are closely connected.

 

B-Bug got some much needed quality time with her cousins!

Eli got some much needed quality time with his Maow and Papa.

… and got to finally meet his two oldest cousins.

We had our Twins game in the new stadium… we can say that Eli went to one in the old one too (in utero).  We made it to the 5th inning. Hopefully we can go back in August with better weather… and maybe no children. Ha.

 

 

 

Talking to Maow made Eli smile.  This picture of his bath in the sink makes me smile.