November

November is the month where the weather in Arizona starts to be amazing (usually.) This year was no different. We had birthday parties to celebrate and things to do outside all month. Steven's birthday was at the beginning of the month and we spent the day making Cars cupcakes with him. All the kids were fans of Nana's idea to make those!

 

We also got to spend one Saturday morning watching Dallin and Steven at their soccer games. They were both a lot of fun to watch. The kids spent most of their time wrestling so they didn't see much of the games.

We also got to go to Ian's birthday party which was complete with a pinata and a garbage truck cake.

Amerae invited us to go on a "hike" with her and Claire. I suggested the Riparian preserve. It was perfect for the kids although one lady seemed quite annoyed with our group. I guess we may have been scaring off the birds.

Recent Landon and Elliot "Isms"

Landon

• "I am the best sharer in the world!" (after offering me a bite of whatever he was eating)
• "I don't know." - This is Landon's response to almost anything you ask him. It is an automatic response without even considering the question.
• "I love you up to the earth...and not back." - He won't budge on this one if you try and get him to say something further. The earth is far enough in his mind.
• "Okay! I will not do that again." - He says this whenever he is asked to stop doing something he shouldn't be doing. It is usually said in a robotic voice which somehow makes me question the sincerity. I still think it's cute though.
• "First, I will watch Word World, then I will take a bath and then I will go to church. Is that going to be a problem?!"
• "If it's dunna be Christmas, you have to do this." - We were making a countdown chain for Christmas and my mom asked him about it. This was his response. It was said in a fairly unexcited voice even though he seemed to be enjoying himself.

Elliot

• "It is a nice, hot summer day." - Nov. 26 while it was about 70 degrees and sunny
• "I love you up to the sun and to the moon and back." - He says this rather frequently. Sometimes he throws in another planet too.
• Before bed, Elliot has a special routine for saying goodnight. He gives us a tight hug, then a soft hug, then 5 kisses (one on each cheek, one on the lips, one on the forehead and one on top of my head), followed by two high fives. He has been doing this for months and I will be sad when he stops.
• "Elliot Smelliot, Elliot Smelliot." - I did not prompt him on this one and I don't think anyone has called him this yet. He has been into rhyming words lately and came up with this on his own.