Silly Boy

Daddy took this video of the Superstar and we thought it was so funny...he's such a silly boy.

Chocolate Poll

So the majority of you like Peanut Butter with your chocolate, but really, who doesn't?! ;) Yummy! Nuts and Caramel tied for 2nd place, followed by Nothing and just one vote for Fruit. I like it all, but really the only fruit I like with my chocolate is strawberries. YUUUUUUUUUUM!

Fire Season

So my Dad always says to people that complain we have so seasons here, that we do have seasons: fire season and flood season. I just can't believe that they're saying this is worse than the fires three years ago. I thought at that time it couldn't possibly be any worse. I remember it went on for weeks and every channel on TV was fire coverage. My sister in San Diego thought she might have to come up with her family to stay with us, but so far they're okay, just really smoky and close to the evacuation areas. It's really incredible how the weather can change so quickly and dramatically. I just went and bought some new jeans in preparation for the cooler days and nights, and now it's almost 90 degrees! The wind reminds me of being in Oklahoma. I'm jealous of the people who have good wind hair, which basically means no hair at all. So here's our tarp in the backyard. We came home and found it toppled. Daddy wanted to put it back up, but I said, why? It will just blow down again. So Superstar and I took pictures of it. He loves to take pictures with my camera. Yesterday I downloaded my pictures and found 104 pictures on there, few of them being mine. There were lots of pictures of a green balloon and self-portraits of Superstar, and his trains. It's cute. I'm hoping he'll get a kid camera for Christmas, but we'll see. Here's some of his best work. Abstract, but fun.

Softball Champions!

Daddy's team won!!! This week was the play-offs for Daddy's softball team on the Naval base where he works. I like to go watch because it makes Daddy happy and the other guys too since I used to work with them and they laugh at my bench coaching. Run run run now stop stop! It's fun. So Daddy played the first game and they won, which put them into the championship game. In between we had a bbq. I brought brownies with M&Ms. Tasty enough, but I don't think I'll waste the candy on the brownies again. I'll save them for the rice krispie treats. So they won and it was so fun! Superstar got tired at the end and fell asleep; it was after 9 and like 56 degrees outside.

Here's their cute team with the trophy.

Daddy's Birthdays!

Last night we celebrated Daddy and Luke's birthdays, since they're born a week apart, well, and a few years. We had Korean BBQ, thanks to Luke, and I made 2 cheesecakes, one with strawberries and one with raspberries. So yummy!!!! The best part is that there's leftovers, so we get to have this yumminess again on Sunday!!! What could be better? I gave Daddy the leaning tower of presents, sorry no picture, but it was stuff for his new bike and for his racquetball adventures. I made Luke a Star Wars quilt, which he thought was pretty cool. Diva got a little grumpy, so Luke tried to cheer her up with his never-should-happen-again but funny combover. Really, you men out there, take a hint! It's really better to be bald. Just do it!

Animal Planet

Superstar loves animals! I'm so happy about this. I get so impatient with children who are afraid of animals. I always wanted Superstar to be tender-hearted towards God's creatures and have tried to help him feel comfortable around them since he was very small.

Favorite Holiday

So you love Christmas, really, few don't! Halloween and Thanksgiving were a tie, with one vote apiece. I love Thanksgiving. I love Christmas, but the older I get, the more thankful I become and the more I see the need for us all to develop an attitude of gratitude so we can be happy and spread joy to all around us. People who don't count their blessings are miserable human beings. Plus, Thanksgiving is hands down the best meal of the entire year! There's no other meal I crave all year long and can eat the leftovers for as long as they last. And it's a certified pie holiday, so who wouldn't love that!

Catch-up

So much to catch-up on! I'm tempted to just skip to today, but there's so many cute pictures that I can't resist! So here's Diva and Superstar at USA Skates. We went to get Diva's ice skates sharpened. It was an expensive store, but it had some fun stuff. I called Daddy and told him maybe we couldn't afford for Superstar to be an ice skater. My niece came to wreak havoc on our house a couple of times this week. She's fun to have because she really loves me right now, but my house is definitely not baby-proof anymore. How does that happen? I always thought once you baby-proofed your house it just kind of stayed that way, but boy was I wrong!

Last week we had a tragedy in our ward; our bishop's daughter was killed. It was hard to take, but I can't imagine having to do it without the strength and comfort the gospel provides. Without the knowledge of our Savior and the love of our Heavenly Father and his wonderful plan of happiness for us, I think I'd be in the loony bin. I am so grateful for loving parents who taught me the plan. We were able to take the Young Women to the temple that week and it was so great to feel the comfort of the Spirit there for all of us.

Bush People

Bad Bad Blogger! So Sorry, I've been a major slacker. 2 weekends ago we had General Conference and we watched it at Luke and Diva's house which was relaxing since Superstar was the only kid there and he's so quiet by himself. Luke has done such a good job with the front yard that it inspired me to do some front yardwork of our own. It was Columbus Day the day after, so Daddy was off work and helped me chop chop some overgrown bushes, trees, plants, what were these people thinking? Whoever had the house before us went hog wild with the plants and they're planted on top of each other everywhere with so order whatsoever. Daddy has wanted to rip them out for a LONG time, but I'm always so reluctant to kill something that's actually green and surviving. But Luke's yard inspired me, thanks Luke! Anyway, Daddy borrowed Luke's chainsaw and took down the bush that they planted our mailbox in the middle of and some other stuff. Luke only let us borrow it on condition that I could not touch it since apparently I'm a "delicate flower." Whatever!!! How sexist is that?! But whatever, it's kind of cute they want to protect me from the big bad chainsaw. ;) I had to settle for doing battle with the clippers, which was kind of therapeutic, actually. I was so filthy from literally climbing under bushes, ripping stuff out that I had to include this picture of Superstar and I post-shower all clean and cheeky!

You feel loved...

So the majority of you feel loved most by Acts of Service. There was a tie between words of affirmation and quality time. Interestingly enough, no one voted for physical touch. Just in case you're unfamiliar with this concept, I got it from the book The Five Love Languages. I have a sister and a sister-in-law who are really into it and I have to say that when you love people in their love language it's much more effective. I'm kind of a mix. I love people to do things for me, so I think sometimes that's how I show love for people is by acts of service. But I've learned that some people just don't appreciate that, so I have to learn to love them some other way. It's funny too because I would never say my love language is physical touch, but I love being hugged, so maybe that tells me something. I also love the words of affirmation, because if someone tells me something nice about myself, I light up like a Christmas tree and glow all day, basking in the compliment. So anyway, have fun trying to figure out the love languages of yourself and your loved ones.

Monday Rally Go Angels!

Last night we went to the Angels Rally at the stadium. Daddy likes to go because it's all free. I like to go because of the parachuters and the fireworks. The rest of the stuff in the middle is kind of boring, but we took Luke with us and he said it was more fun than sitting at home. Superstar was kind of bored and there was this little baby in front of us that was exasperating her mother. She wanted me to hold her, I could tell, but David said that would be weird, so I didn't ask. Sometimes I get a little too excited and Daddy has to reign me in and tell me to chill. Of course sometimes he's a little too chill and he needs to pump it up!!!

Ice Skating

So Saturday was Superstar's first time on the ice. He'd been wanting to go ever since we first went and picked up Diva from her ice skating practice. So we signed him up with a class from the city to see if he likes it before we invest too much into it. So he loved it! He wasn't exactly a natural; he was very cautious and didn't want to let go of Daddy, (I was so disappointed I forgot my socks and couldn't skate with them!) but he never wanted to get off the ice and keeps asking when we're going back.
Of course, Superstar was disappointed because Diva wasn't there. She and Luke were at the ward campout, which we were sad to miss, but didn't want to miss Superstar's first lesson. He just asked me again if we can go ice skating tomorrow with Diva, and last night he asked where his skates were. If this keeps up I'm seeing ice skates in the future for his birthday. I picked up a brochure for the birthday party package they have at the ice rink, but it's only for 10 kids, including Superstar, and with all the nieces and nephews, it will be hard to invite hardly anyone else, so we'll have to see about that. The real drama of the day was that my camera died, so Grandma came to my rescue with batteries. Then the flash was acting up and I couldn't get any pictures, so Grandma went and got her camera and I took a few pictures, but then her memory card was full. I got a few, so I was okay. I had to have pictures of my baby's first time on the ice!

Greatest Fear

So the results show that the greatest percentage of your fears were about rejection. That one was mine. No one said public speaking which is supposed to be really high up there on the stress list, but I guess most of you are professional Mormons. The runner-up to rejection was death. I respect your fear, but let me give you my thoughts on that. Once you're dead, you don't have to fear the rest: spiders, rejection, heights, all of that. So death should be the end of all fear and I like that. Here's to overcoming our fears so we can embrace life more fully!

Don't forget to vote on the next poll!

In the Doghouse

So here's Superstar in the doghouse. He just loves to play with Baldo in the backyard. He runs around and digs in the dirt and jumps on the trampoline with Baldo and then yesterday climbed right in his doghouse. At first I was like, eeeeww! But then I just grabbed the camera and took his picture. Good memories.

So last night we had the second missionary discussion with Luke's friend and it was awesome! I got to share on faith and hopefully something I said will help him. He's getting baptized! So exciting. :)

Where's Malldo?

Last night was our youth night and we played Where's Malldo? I was so excited! I'd been waiting to play this for years! So what you do is have people dress up in disguise and the youth have to try and find them in the mall. Super fun!!! It was hard to find them! There were some really good disguises and then some people who looked like themselves but didn't prove very easy to find for the youth. It was funny to watch them. I made lots of goodies. Zucchini bread, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter and cream cheese swirl brownies.

So I've been kind of in a funk this week and haven't posted, but today I posted 6 times, so that should make up for it!

TAG!

I've been hit! So fun!

The ABC’s of ME!
A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: My husband
C- Cake or Pie: Pie! We didn't even have wedding cake, just 50 pies. Go Pie Month!!!
D- Day of choice: Saturday
E- Essential Item: lip gloss
F- Favorite Color: aqua, yellow
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: bears, worms are creepy.
H- Hometown: Not sure, but I was born in Loma Linda.
I- Indulgence(s): none, I'm cheap!
J- January or July: January, it's Superstar's birthday! And being hot makes me one grouchy Mama!
K- Kids: one little superstar!
L- Life is Incomplete Without: family and friends
M- Marriage Date: Feb. 5, 2000
N- Number of Siblings: who can really say.
O- Oranges or Apples: oranges, but only the really good ones.
P- Phobias or Fears: small spaces or being trapped
Q- Quote(s): Mama, I love you.
R- Reason To Smile: somebody loves me!
S- Season: Spring!
T- Tag Three +: Cherish, Lindsay, Ronda
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I'll do almost anything for free food.
V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: MEAT
W- Worst Habit: Being lazy.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasounds, so fun!!!
Y- Your Favorite Food: corn on the cob at the beach!
Z- Zodiac: Pisces

Buzzzzzzzzzz

So Superstar's hair was getting out of control and I felt poor so I decided to cut it myself. Well, I used to be able to do a good job. Maybe I just thought it looked good until I started taking him to the barber shop and now I just can't go back to my home chop chops. So he ended up with the buzz to cover up my creative errors we'll call them. I never wanted to do this to my baby. He looks like some skinhead cancer patient. I am getting used to it, but I prefer him with some hair.

So Tuesday night was really awesome. Luke was a super missionary and invited his friend from work to our ward open house a few weeks ago. I got to go to Luke's house and sit in on the first missionary discussion. It was cool. I made enchiladas and rice for dinner and we all ate and then had the lesson with the sister missionaries. It was so great to be able to participate in that. I told Luke that I'll just keep feeding his friend, since apparently that's the only missionary work I'm doing right now. Tonight is another discussion and the sisters asked me to be prepared to talk about what faith means to me. Daddy's been out of town this week, so Diva has been nice and watched Superstar during the discussions. That's her missionary work. Go Diva!

Party all the time

Sunday was super busy!!! Daddy's nephew was blessed and we had to bring potato salad for 20 people to the luncheon afterwards. Here's Jeremy holding his new baby cousin. Then we had to hop down to San Diego to the launch party for my brother-in-law's new car. It's so amazing, he invented this diesel-electric car that gets over 200 miles to the gallon. It's been fun watching the process, from the beginning in his garage to the start of the company, to that day when it was revealed to the world. Anyway, it's really cool, you can check it out on the website: http://www.aptera.com/
Here's me with my cute niece in her new beautiful pink dress for the party. She took out her headband, but she still looks so pretty! She remembered me and wanted me to carry her all around, so of course I loved that!

Beach Birthday

Saturday was Diva's big beach birthday bash. The sky was so beautiful and clear from the rain. You could see Catalina and the lights of Long Beach really clearly, and the moon and the residual clouds and the sunset were gorgeous! It was so fun to hang out with Luke's family. They are so nice! Superstar and I love to be at the beach! OOOH and there was corn on the cob cooked in salt water with melted butter. It's absolutely my favorite beach food! I ate like 4 ears of corn. I was a corn piggy. :) Daddy couldn't come because he went to Wicked with his mom! She was going to take me, but I didn't want to miss Diva's party. Both great things, I was torn! But I really wanted Daddy to be able to go because I got to go to Phantom and he didn't, so he deserved it. Then his mom took him out to dinner at Lucille's. So jealous!!! But I had beach corn and great memories, so I'm happy. :)

Here's our awesome bonfire. Luke said it was a termite-infested balcony from his work, and his brother's fiancee swore she saw a big ugly worm crawl out of a hole in the wood in the fire. Creepy! His brother knocked the corn butter can into the fire, and so I used it for a marshmallow cooker and it worked awesome. It cooked the marshmallows so fast! Luke called it the marshmallow microwave. They had really cool kites too and Superstar had so much fun trying to fly them.

Slumber Party

So here's Diva with her birthday quilt I made for her. She loved it, which is good! I'm always afraid I'm going to make one for someone and they're not going to like it and I'll be really disappointed. So anyway, the slumber party was kind of boring for me. The highlights were the great pizza and the awesome rain! Here's the girls all wrapped up marveling at the rain. It's been a long time, okay? Rain here in Southern California is nothing short of the eighth wonder of the world. So the weather man came through for me. Better late than never, right? I love this picture of the rain, it looks like some fiery meteor crashing through space. It's my own ode to Star Wars with special rain effects. So anyway, the girls just watched TV all night so I got bored and organized their kitchen pantry while Luke and Daddy were playing racquetball. Luke got mad at me, but I told him he should be grateful and just say thank you. I cleaned out all expired food and organized the spices and breakfast foods and all their different oils. It was fun! The girls were wimps and in bed before 12:30. The next morning I woke up early and hung up a big birthday sign with glittery silver letters that Diva had been hinting about everytime we went to Joanns. Then I cleaned up the ants who had taken a liking to our leftover hot wings. Luke, Daddy & Superstar came back over from our house and we ate pancakes and bacon. YUM!

Sunny Days

Okay, so here's my cute boy playing outside in the water in the SUNSHINE! Where's this great record-breaking storm? Why do I watch the weather? I was so excited for the rain; storms are my favorite! I am so disappointed. I had great plans for this day. I was going to stay inside and finish Diva's quilt for her birthday tomorrow, and drink hot chocolate and open the window and smell the rain and be all cozy. Now, it's just another day. Except tonight is Diva's slumber party and Luke and I are trading places tonight so I get to chaperone! I'm so excited!!!! I think it will be so much fun! I was kind of surprised that he didn't want to be there, since he and his daughter are so close, but I guess it is a girl thing. So yay for me! Luke is going to come have a guys slumber party with Daddy and Superstar, whatever that means. :) So the poll results are...you like your neck/shoulders rubbed the best! Hands and back tied for 2nd place. I was the only one who voted for head. That's my favorite part of getting my hair cut. The shampoo and head massage. At the Paul Mitchell School where I go in Costa Mesa, they give a really good head massage, it's so awesome! And the winner of the gumball contest is CORY! Final gumball count: 669. Can you believe it? Congratulations and I'll bring your cookies on Sunday!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

So I thought my little pirate boy who never minds dressing up in his pirate costume would love to pose for a picture today, but the closest I could get was him saying AAAAARRGH in his pirate bath. I found this really cute pirate set at a toy store when I was visiting my sister in San Diego. He loves it. Now it's not a choice between a bath and a shower, it's a pirate bath!

Last night was really fun. We were supposed to go to the dog beach after dinner, but Luke's friend came to dinner too and so the missionaries stopped by and set up an appointment to teach him on Friday. He came to our ward's missionary open house a couple of weeks ago and felt the Spirit, so we were excited to see him again. He's really nice. So I guess missionary work is more important than the dog beach, but you know it's my favorite day of the week, so I couldn't help being a little disappointed. Hey, I'm not that holy yet! So I compromised and took Diva out for a spin and blasted Mika in the big bad truck.

Gumball Contest!

So Daddy's friend from work gave him all these gumballs, like what are we supposed to do with them? It's like a lifetime supply for me since I like my gum in a slightly smaller form. So I'm super excited! I want to have a gumball contest and everyone guess how many gumballs are in this container and whoever is closest gets a batch of their favorite cookies baked by me, dessert lover extraordinaire! Just post a comment with your best guess, and I'll let you know who won next week! Have fun! And BTW, this contest is open to family and friends only. I'm not shipping cookies all over to random people who might stumble upon my beautiful blog. :-)

Morning Walk

This morning we went to walk Baldo the Wonderdog and before I knew it Superstar had taken the leash and put it around his wrist just like he sees me do and was ready to go. He did a great job, and Baldo really respected him and responded to his commands. I was impressed with both of them, and it was so darn cute I took tons of pictures! Doesn't Superstar look so happy!?

I had my camera with me because I
wanted to take a picture of this tree that I'm trying to figure out what it is.

I think it might be a braided ficus, anybody know? I was reading on the internet and it was giving instructions on how to braid the trunk when the branches are young and supple. I think it looks so cool. This one's branches have kind of welded together, I like it when the branches kind of interweave but stay more separate. I want to try it!

Happy Meals

Yesterday we had so many friends come over. So fun! First Superstar's friend came over with Happy Meals which made everyone, well, happy. It's so fun to watch him interact with other kids and the things he says to them. Then Daddy's friend came for dinner. We haven't seen her in a few years. She's quite the world traveler. Anytime she's got a few days off she takes off across the world somewhere. She just got home from Honduras and is thinking about going back next week to dive some more. So spontaneous! If I went to Honduras or anywhere, I'd probably plan it for months! I told her to live it up while she's still single. You go girl! Luke came for dinner too and then he and Daddy went to play racquetball. I got to drive Luke's bad boy truck back to his house. It was so fun! I didn't want to forget how to drive a stick, and since it's been almost 5 years since I became a lazy mama automatic driver, I thought I should brush up on my stick skills. I forgot how much I like it! We were waiting to turn though and Superstar tried to shift which freaked me out, but luckily we were stopped and nothing happened. Plus I'd never driven a 4 wheel drive before so I tried to shift the wrong stick and ended up in neutral for a while. I figured it out, but Daddy and Luke were laughing at me.

Tile that!

So Luke came over today to help us finish up our bathroom tile project. So nice! It's almost done and it's looking so much better. Of course Luke and Diva's bathroom is way nicer but he gutted his totally first, so maybe later on we can do that and start from scratch. I had to take Superstar over to their house for a bath since ours was under construction. I fell in love with the tool belt, I thought it was so cute, and Luke thought I needed my picture taken so here I am. Daddy barbecued and then we had a fire and ate smores. It was a really nice day for me with my family and friends. Thanks for all your help Luke! You're a real buddy!

Happy Happy Park Days

Yesterday was the mom's group at Atlantis Park, or "the dragon slide park" as it's officially known at our house. Superstar wanted to climb this tree, so I boosted him up. Then I decided I wanted to climb it too, so after several unsuccessful tries which ended up in me swinging upside down from a branch. Finally I got up there so we had to have a picture. I was so sappy; I still have sap on my feet which is a mystery since my bare feet never touched the tree now that I think about it. Yep, it's confirmed, I'm a sappy girl. ;) Then last night we went to Disneyland with Luke and Diva. Luke's favorite missionary companion was in town with his family, and they invited us to go too so we went for a couple of hours. It was fun, and I could see why he was the favorite companion. And his wife was cute and sassy so I liked her too. We rode on Star Tours and the ride shut down right when the spiny icy things come at you so we sat in there for a while and made friends with the other passengers. I kept thinking this would be an awful place to die, all sealed up and stuck in our seatbelts. Daddy was on the other side of the ride in another row, due to those annoying Disney employees. The intercom kept going back and forth on whether we were staying in the ride or getting off. Finally they opened the doors and took us to another space shuttle. This time I stretched the seatbelt over my knee so if we got stuck again I could get out. But it went smoothly that time so it was all good.

Girly Fun

Look how cute my niece is! I had her today so my bro-in-law could go shoot guns with his friend. She was so cuddly and I got to do her hair and tie a bow in it and get my girly fix, so that was fun. She even wanted to stay with me when her daddy came to get her. I love it when kids like me! It doesn't happen very often. Maybe because most kids I just tolerate. There's only a few I really like. Is that terrible?

So the chocolate chip cookies won by a landslide. Hope you like the new poll!

Tree Hugger

So I really wanted to be Wonderwoman for Halloween, but all the costumes look like I should be working on a street corner so that's just not going to work for me. But last night I was with the Young Women learning how to make orange rolls and delivering them and one of the Young Women was talking about being a tree for Halloween and then we started talking about someone needed to be the tree hugger. Well that just sounded about perfect for me. I mean really, if I can't be Wonderwoman, then a tree hugger is the next best thing, right? ;) So I went to this cool T-shirt website that Daddy's friend told him about and I had so much fun making up designs! They had so many cool fonts, and I loved this Asian one. This design is Daddy's favorite, so I'm going to order it and wear it with some other funky hippy stuff and run around on Halloween saying, "Peace man," and "Make love, not war." Oh and I can have peace signs painted on my cheeks. This is getting better all the time.

Sunday Dinner

So Sunday we went to Luke and Diva's for Korean BBQ. I was so excited because Daddy had been bragging about how good it was for a while. Of course I packed a PB sandwich for Superstar who is not the most adventurous with food. Then he just played in the dirt anyway and I had to run home and get him clean clothes; he was so filthy! Well the BBQ was so delicious! I just wanted to eat and eat! I even tried kimchi. I always like to try everything once and give it a fair chance because it bugs me when people say they don't like something they've never even tried. Hello! So anyway, I didn't like it, but I tried it. And we had the best watermelon ever. Then we played ping pong and I kept hitting the ball over the fence in the yard of their really nice neighbor, but I felt bad because we kept going over to get the balls. She was really sweet about it. I was actually better than I thought I would be, but still not really good at all. It was super fun though. Then Luke made us peanut butter cookies, yum!, and we played karaoke on their Playstation. I had no idea there was like skill involved and stuff. Next time I'll be better; I've been practicing so look out. :) Then we went for a little walk on the sidewalk by the beach. Thanks for having us guys, that was really fun!