Random Things in my Brain that must be Emptied

Xander said this while shooting hoops outside today,"I love my home. I love my Mom and Dad. I love my sisters. I love my family."

We got a little kid basketball hoop and Xander wants to play all the time. He asked me the other day, "Can I shoot some hoops?" Ahhh. . . A basketball star in the making.

Xander went to the Halloween store with his Dad last night and has not stopped talking about it. Nothing scared him until he saw the animaltronics. Today, he was, for the second time, telling me about his adventure and how he was scared and he said, "I was so scared. Look at me Mom (I was painting)." I look at him and he is showing me how he looked when he was scared. He was shaking and his shoulders were raised and he had a scared expression on his face.

Xander also loves Michael Jackson. Here are some funny things he has said about the King of Pop:

"When I grow up, I'm gonna look like Michael Jackson."

"Mom. . . can I do the moonwalk?" "Uh yeah," I reply. He proceeds to moonwalk. Well the kid version anyway, which is jumping up and down.

After coming home from preschool, "Michael Jackson is in my class. He's got really poofy hair." And then he shows me how much hair this Michael Jackson has with his hands.

Xander is amazing at picking up lines in songs. I will hear him singing songs we listen to all the time. In the car, I see him trying his best to sing along. I will hear him singing Justin Bieber or church songs. The other day in the car he was singing, "I too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt". Over and over.

I must add some things that Mia said. Ben was talking about how something was "Made in China" and Xander repeated. "Made in China?" and Mia yelled, "DON'T TALK ABOUT PAGINAS!"

She also asked Ben while he was tucking her into bed, "How do you know Jesus is true because I don't know if he's true?" Ben told her to pray about. She told me the next day, while I was volunteering in her class that she prayed and knows that Jesus is true. I asked her if she felt good inside and she held her heart and said she did. I love how this little girl thinks.

Mia came home from a playdate and while giving her a bath, Ben noticed she had a tatoo on her butt. Apparently, her and her friend went into the bathroom tatooing their body. She had one on the middle of her back and arm too!

After being scolded for telling her Dad, "No!" and that is not okay to say that to her Mom and Dad, Mia replied, "If I can't say, "No" than I'm not a real person!" I told Ben later that that was a profound statement.

We were talking at the table about our nationality. CJ said she was Hawaiian and Anika said she was Japanese. Ben asked Mia, "Do you know what kind of Asian you are?" Mia replied, "Your kind of Asian!"

Oh Ben! (say it with a southern accent)

Ben celebrated his 35th birthday this past Thursday. He called in sick on his birthday because, he was indeed, sick. "Awww sick. . .on your birthday ?" you say.

Don't feel bad for Ben. He still had a great day. After dropping Xander off at preschool, Ben, Zoey, and I went out to breakfast. We tried this new restaurant that had high ratings. It was delicious and filled our tummies to the max. We didn't eat again until dinner.

I just gave Ben money to spend on Halloween decorations. During many moves, we had to get rid of alot of our decorations. Now that we have a house and a yard, Ben is so excited to get more decorations. He's planning a graveyard in our front yard. I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Ben told Xander that after preschool, he could go with him to a Halloween store. Xander told me on the way home,"I told my teacher that I so cited I get to go to the Halloween store!" Xander loves Halloween just like his Daddy.

Dinner, was of course, pizza and Ben chose an Earthquake Cake this year. The cake is pretty simple to make and yet, so mouthwatering, especially if you like coconuts, pecans, and tons of sweetness!

I love Ben's triumphant fist in the air as he blows his 3+5 candles out in one sweep. What a champion!

These two, I also would like to call Ben's presents. We got them just a few days before Ben's birthday. Ben is such a cat lover! I caught him taking a nap on the floor just so he could be close to the kittens. These kittens are the same age as the kittens we had that died. We've decided that there is no way, the kittens we had were as old as we were told. The size difference is crazy. I would say these kittens are at least 3 X's the size of our other ones. I think our last kittens were too young and weaned too early.

The kittens are slowly getting used to us. They have hidden themselves most of the time but have recently been getting braver. The black one is a male and has the loudest meow ever. The gray one is female and is the bravest of the two.

Check out these awesome pictures that Ben took with my Canon XTI at the Oakland Temple.

Ben is awesome in every way!

Inspiration Point

On Labor Day, we woke up early and joined the ward in a hike to Inspiration Point in Tilden Park. We've been to another part of Tilden Park that has the train and little farm. The kids were great on this 5 mile hike. The longest we have ever made it with the kids! I think that it helped to have a ton of people hiking too!

At one point, there was a "shortcut" that a bunch of people were taking. We thought we'd try it too! The shortcut turned out to be a long cut. Instead of going straight over, it curved around and by the time we made it to the bottom, we were now at the end of the pack. Sometimes, shortcuts are not worth the hassle!

There was a point where we were uncertain as what direction to go next. Many decided to turn around and go back but we decided to trek forward.

Good thing we did because not too much farther away, was the lookout point.

Xander flirting with Claire! Just kidding, he's probably telling her a fantastic story about skeletons and superheroes.

Proof that I was there!

On the way back, I pretty much gave Xander a piggyback ride the entire way! The kids were great and we had a fun time hiking with the ward.

Dear Russ,

Dear Russ,

Thank you for working at Nike. So women get excited about stilettos, I get excited about these. I love my new shoes. I want some more.

Sincerely,

Valerie

Oh yeah. . .we went to Disneyland

We went to Disneyland the weekend of Mia's birthday but only recently found Ben's camera that had the pictures on it. Ben thought we left it at Dan's house and I had a sick feeling that we left it somewhere in Disneyland.

We went into Disneyland and California Adventure for 3 days this year. Every year, we seem to go earlier in August because of school. It was very busy and had to wait awhile for some of the rides. Next year, we are going to experiment and try a different month.

We stayed with our friends Kori and Dan. Dan and Ben went to BYU together and were in the animation program together. It was fun catching up with them. Kori and I went running together one morning, which was great! She is doing a ton of races with a half and a full marathon scheduled for next year. Go Kori! I thought she could help motivate me-I'm almost there. Almost.

Here are some highlights:

-We had fun watching the Pixar parade, which if you can believe, we have never seen.
-The kids got to spend their money that they have been saving on anything they wanted. Cotton candy was first on everyone's list. I think CJ spent most of her money on food. Mia bought herself a cute Mickey Mouse ear hat. Xander, of course, had to buy swords.
-Since Ben has a silver pass, it is easier to use it at food vendors. I still had a heart attack even after 35% off seeing how much the food was.
-Xander could ride almost everything. He rode the Tower of Terror and wasn't scared at all.
-Zoey was great and even took some naps.
-Favorite rides: Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story Mania

The best story. . .

Ben and I had to split up quite often while the other watched Zoey who couldn't ride all of the rides. There was a rollarcoaster in Toon Town that Ben took Mia and Xander on. The cars could only fit 2 people. Mia didn't want to go alone because she was scared so Ben asked Xander if he would ride with Mia and help her not to not be scared. Xander, the brave and fearless little man, saluted his Dad and said nothing else.

How precious is that?


We had a great time. Thanks to Kori and Dan for letting us crash at their place.

Xander's in Preschool!

I was so excited for Xander to start preschool. I just love it when my kids start school. I kinda get excited with them-the new teacher, making new friends, and learning all sorts of things.

Xander is so funny lately when I try to take pictures of him. He's always making goofy faces. Check out Xander's versatility when it comes to posing for a picture.

THE "I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY" LOOK

THE "WINK WILL DO THE TRICK" LOOK

THE "LET'S TAKE A BREAK SO I CAN PICK MY NOSE" LOOK

THE "I LOOK LIKE MY SISTER MIA" LOOK

THE "I CAN MAKE A FART NOISE" LOOK

I can't wait to hear about his day! He told me that he was going to make some friends today. I always think he's like Mia where new situations make her super shy and she sometimes cries. Xander is a little shy at first, but when I dropped him off, there were no tears!

Xander said that school was good and that he made a friend. This is his teacher Mrs. Sonya. From what I have heard, she is a great teacher.

Xander was asking me when he gets to go again. When I told him "Thursday", he wanted to know if it was tomorrow. I'm glad he is excited to go again!

A Lil' Stroll

At the beginning of the year, I dubbed it, "Year of the Hike". I was optimistic and hoping that we would go on many hiking adventures, maybe even once a month. Yeah right, we've been on three this year but I am hoping to make up for it, with another one on Labor Day. Our ward is going on a nearby hike.

As a family, we discovered this trail right behind our house. It's not anything spectacular, but it was fun seeing our house in relation to everything around it. I knew there was a creek behind our house but didn't know how far it was from the fence. Turns out, it is right on the other side of the fence.

We also checked out people's backyard. One neighbor made a bridge across the creek and used the other side for storage, since it is technically their land. I can't imagine doing that to ours even though we own it.

Found somethings to photograph along the way.

I thought these were unique. I have no idea what they are. They almost look edible.