Classic Arlo Moments

Here are some conversations Arlo and I have had this week.

How does the remote work?

Arlo: Mom you know how the remote control closes the T.V.

Mom: Yea

Arlo: Well how does that work ? I mean I know the remote has batteries that makes it work but how does the remote close the T.V.? Is it electric?

Mom: Wow bud, were going to have to ask dad about this when he gets home

Arlo: He knows more about this stuff huh....

Where is it we live?

Arlo: Mom what is this place? this place we are in?

Mom: Midvale

Arlo: No Midvale is in

Mom: Utah?

Arlo: No...like we are all in it

Mom: America?

Arlo: (Exasperated)
NO bigger, we all live here it's a ball

Mom: Oh, the earth your talking about the earth

Arlo: Yea-so how are we driving on it? why dont we fall off

Mom: Well buddy it's kind of complicated but it's a really big ball so some parts are kind of flat and gravity help keeps us on the ground

Arlo: What's gravity

Mom: (once again out of answers) well, lets ask Dad about how gravity & the Earth works when he gets home.

I am leader of lunch

Arlo: I am hungry when is lunch?

Dad: how about around 11:30

Arlo: no, it is going to be in 2 minutes

Dad: How come you get to decide?

Arlo: I'm not a stunt dad

Dad: (laughing) do you mean grunt?

Arlo: yea, I am not a grunt I am the leader of lunch.

Snugglefest

(Dad is sitting on the couch snuggling both boys)

Arlo: I have got to get out of this snugglefest!

I made something pretty...and the kids are sick

This week we have all been at home sick. the boys got Cocksaki virus. Heard of it? I hadn't . Poor little Dyl got it and then Arlo. I actually think it was good for all of us to have some down time, and I don't do it unless I am forced to. Everyone is slowly starting to feel better. While at home this week I got inspired to make some pillows for my couch. With my crafty buddy Sonya's help I made these. They even have zippers! yea me

Good times in Georgia

Our family just took our first big trip together. Clint's sister Claire lives in Georgia and has for the past 7 years and we haven't been able to get out to see them. We decided we needed to make it happen this summer and I am so glad we did! We had the best time. It is absolutely beautiful there, and it was so fun to stay with Claire and her family. They were such thoughtful hosts and did everything they could to make our stay a good one. I came back feeling more rested than I have since I had Dylan. This 2 kid thing has really thrown me for a loop. Being the perfectionist I am I have really been struggling to adjust. I have been so hyper focused on doing everything exactly right as a mother and wife that I have been forgetting to relax, marvel at my boys and enjoy the ride. This trip was such a bonding experience for all of us. I felt like we got to know Claire and her family on a more intimate level and I have such respect for her family and the way they have raised their kids. We had 10 days to just hang out, have fun and get some rest! I also had so much help with the boys. Clint is such a great dad and having him their with me all day every day was the best. Claire, Todd and the kids were so helpful with the boys. Anytime I needed extra hands someone was their. I cant believe how great it felt to have so much support. We did so many fun things, below are some pics of the highlights

Us at the airport and on the plane....

This is such a funny one. thank goodness for the fold up tray. This was Dyl's absolute favorite thing on the flight. The boys were so good! I was so proud of both of them. We had a layover, which was delayed and we sat on the tarmac for over and hour. They were troopers! we got a lot of comments from the other passengers about how great they were.

Pics of Claire, Her family and the kidsHailey has turned into such a responsible, beautiful and warm person. It was great to see herDaine is all grown up and getting ready for college this year. He is such a funny, intellegent kid with a great head on his shoulders. He is going to do great in school.The boys just LOVED beau-he was such a sweet little dog. Here we are in a little town called Helen. It was the neatest place. It was a little German town with a whole bunch of cute little shops and great German food. We all shared a bavarian pretzle at the beginning of our meal that was Amazing! Todd, Chase, Clint and Arlo decided to go tubing down the river their and Claire Dyl and I sat at this cute little bar, sipped some margarita's (Dont worry, just Claire and I) and waited for the boys to come down. Here is some pics I got of their adventure. Arlo Loved it! Here is a pic of Claire Todd Dayne and Chase on the 4th of July. They took us to their town carnival and Fire works show. Us on the 4thChase and Arlo going on some slides together
Chase was such a great cousin for Arlo to play with on the trip. He always took the time for him and Arlo just loved it. Since we have gotten home he has asked multiple times when he can see his cousin Chase again. Dad and the boys -all having a great time Dyl being Patriotic while waiting for the fireworksMom & the boys watching the fireworks-they Loved them

Arlo & Hayley with Sparklers

All of us getting ready & going to the Atlanta braves game-Both Dyl and Arlo were sporting adorable Braves Shirts and hats that Aunt Claire got for them.

Us at the Atlanta Aquarium-This place was amazing. One of Arlo's favorite days on the whole trip. He loved it!All of us at dinner. Claire took us to this yummy mexican place for my B-day. We had a lot of fun.

Sorry for the LOOOOOOOOOONG post, but this was a great trip. It was hard to leave anything out!

Arlo's last week of school!

Arlo's pre school he attends is the absolute best place ever! not only did they put on an adorable broadway show which all of the kids had so much fun doing, they had the funnest last week of school planned for the kids.

Here are his Teachers who he has grown so attached to over the course of the year. I just love them both and have so much respect for the way they do their job. They are always so fun and energetic with the kids. They keep everything positive, are so nurturing and great with classroom management. In otherwords, they pretty much can do it all.

Here is Ms. Lani doing the cutest little song with the kids.

Here is Ms. Debbi with Arlo

This is Arlo and his 4 buddies in class on their school carnival/dress up day. They had so much fun. The teachers had different games that the kids could pick to play and if they won they got a ticket which they could spend at a little store. The moms helped man all of the games etc. It was such a fun day. This is Arlos best buddy Isaih

This is the plant Arlo and I made for his teachers to thank them for doing such a great job. Check out the pot-Arlo painted it himself!

This is the coolest box car ever that Arlo and his dad made together for his drive in movie day. I just loved this idea. The kids all made their own car that they got to take to school and sit in to watch a "drive in movie" they all got a drink and popcorn and got to watch the princess and the frog on a projector screen. They loved it

What a great week! school has been such a positive experience for Arlo and has helped him to come out of his shell so much. He has gained a lot of confidence over the year. It was hard for both of us in the beginning-but it has been such a good thing. I am so glad we stuck with it.

The other big thing that Arlo has done this year is gotten his Alphabet king crown. When the kids learn all of their ABC's (upper and lowercase and all of the sounds) the teachers celebrate them buy having them wear an alphabet crown all day at school and they get their picture taken. Arlo was so excited. Mom and Dad were really proud. I will post a pic soon. Yeah Arlo! your first year was such a success!

Lots of Catching up to do...Arlo's big show

Wow! has it really been 3 months since my last post? how does this keep happening? I just have to find a way to keep up on this blogging thing with 2 little ones....anyhoo heres a bit of what we have been up to...

Arlo has completed his first year of pre school! what a proud momma I am. He has blossomed so much since he started. At his first little show they did, he was so nervous and had a hard time being up on the stage. This time he was a pro. He even did some of the singing and hand motions. Those of you who know my little guy know that this is not his bag, but he did it!! Here are some pics of his big Broadway show they did for the parents.

Here is the boys getting ready to do Fairie's and Giants. This is an imaginary game the kids did at least once a week in class. There is a little story about the fairy's getting chased by the giants and the teachers turn on a tape which is narrated with music and let the kids role play the whole thing out. They all absolutely loved it and begged and begged to do it.he just loved being able to pretend to be a giant and chase the fairys around.below are pics of the kids doing adorable actions to some broadway type songs like "New York, New York" and "Singin in the rain" etc. It was SO CUTE! Each kid got a little award from their teacher for something they were most remembered for that year. Arlo got MR. HOLLYWOOD because his teacher said he just had a cool little demeaner and he never entered class without his sunglasses (He always remembered to take them off and put them in his bag at the beginning of class though)

I'm Gonna be a Runner

Ok, I am committing in front of the whole entire world again...he he ok, the few of you who read my blog. I am going to start training to run a 1/2 marathon. I have been looking around for a good starter run and I found one that takes place in Layton in October. It says the run is not super difficult and I think that would give me enough time to get it together. I am going to start small with a 5k in june and then a 10k in august. I have always wanted to do this and the thing is I'm not getting any younger, less tired or finding more time available. I figure I need to start NOW. So any of you who are runners, and I know quite a few of you are, I need tips! I have been researching how to train etc. but there are a lot of different things out there. If you have found something that has worked for you please share.

I just ate a cake, the baby said momma, and our house was hit by a car

Well, as you can see from the above title a lot has been going on at the Dilley House. First of all yes I have in fact just eaten 3 pieces of chocolate cake in one sitting....and I seem to want more. I have not had the best of days. My little guy Arlo is putting me through it and I am yet again discouraged. I feel like a huge mom failure. I love him so much and I just want to do everything right to insure he is a happy, well adjusted, well behaved and respectful. I feel like I will just turn a huge corner with him and he is doing great and then we will have a few days like the ones I have just had. He all of the sudden has discovered he can talk back and tell me a lot of what he is not going to do...and what he is going to do to me if I don't let him have his way. I really don't take well to being talked back to... and this little guy has a lot of ideas, about everything! It can be so exhausting.
He really responds great when he has very firm limits that are set in a respectful non emotional way. The problem -It's hard to be Gandhi every day. I am such a far cry from the guy. I am a fiery high intensity individual, and so is my Son. I guess this is a work in progress for the 3 year old and mom. I will keep trying!!!

Also, last Tuesday our house was in fact hit by a car. A jeep Liberty to be exact. I was just heading out the door to take Arlo to his T-ball game. Luckily, I realized I had forgotten the treats I made for the team and turned around to get them. Suddenly, there was a loud horrible sound and the entire house vibrated, enough to knock me and Dyl over. Both kids were very upset and crying. I thought that there must have been an earthquake. I scooted over to the window to take a look and instead of seeing the street split in two, I saw a jeep on my porch. It was really smashed up. The windshield was shattered and the front end was totalled. I could see an older man in there who didn't appear to be conscious. After freaking out a bit, I ran to try and locate my phone to dial 911 but was so panicked I couldn't find it. Next I ran outside to see if he was OK. I had a screaming baby in my arms and was trying to navigate to the door through all of the broken glass and car parts strewn about. Luckily two women from next door ( who were nurses) ran over and knew just what to do. They told me to go inside and calm the kids down and look for my phone and they would help the man. So after getting us all calmed down a bit, and still not finding my phone we went outside so I could run to a neighbors and call. Luckily a woman who was walking outside had seen the entire thing and had already called the police. LONG story short...to late, The man was OK but really hurt. He has just gotten out of intensive care. He broke all of his ribs, an ankle, and his arm. They are still trying to determine what happened. He had a black out related to a medical issue and last I heard they thought it may have been a medication he was on that had a bad side effect. We need to get our porch replaced and we continue to find cracks in the house due to the car hitting it so hard. Clint is in the process of getting some quotes to get the house inspected so we can figure out what type of damage we are looking at. Yea...so that has been fun

On a lighter note Little Dyl Dyl said Mama for the first time on Mothers day. It was the cutest thing ever. He crawled over to me, pulled himself up on my leg and said "Mama" clear as day. The best Mom's day gift ever. Also, despite my relapse with the chocolate cake I have lost 29 lbs and have 8 more to go to reach my goal. So that is very exciting. Hopefully I can stick with it to get those last pesky pounds off. That about sums things up...thanks for listening, or leaving my blog to read a more uplifting one.... I really needed to vent.