Another fun day. This morning we hung out at home. We were supposed to have someone fix the dining room light and the garderner, but neither showed. Oh well we had fun at home. The kids did lots of performances for me, pretending to be Chip and Dale. Nicole put on her Minnie shoes and Justin his new car shoes, for some reason it was way better dancing in their shoes. The kids played by themselves a bit too. Then they colored and did stickers. They are so proud when I hang up their work on the fridge. After lunch we went for the kid’s swim lessons. Both kids are doing really well. I played in the water a bit with them before their lesson. Both kids were showing me how they go under water-they went under water together and looked at each other. They were also loving jumping in with their floaties. Very soon they will be swimming on their own. They practiced swimming with their face in the water (crawl stroke) then turning over on their back to float. After swimming, we went to Big Wheel Park with our play group. The kids love this bike park. Justin was on his bike almost the entire time. It is gated so very safe, and the kids just ride their bikes around-there are tunnels, bridges, speed bumps, gas stations, etc. Justin was having a great time hanging out with Mikey. Nicole biked for a while then pushed a baby around in her stroller. She also played in the wood chips and made cakes for her friends. Nicole did not want to leave and was a little upset, she had so much fun. On the way home we stopped at the farm and got some fruit and veggies. The kids love this farm. Too bad we were in a hurry to get home as I like to show them everything that is growing. We ate dinner. Now I know why the kids were a little melty-they were starving. I can’t believe how much they ate. We made mini ravioli’s and the kids either loved them or were starving. Dad played with the kids for a bit while I cleaned up. It was the messiest dinner ever. Justin has been taking care of his seeds that he planted from school. We thought it was beans but turns out it is sunflowers. The plant is huge now. It is taller than daddy and has two big sunflowers starting to bloom. We went upstairs and the kids seemed tired. We played a bit, we were throwing pretend balls for our kids, I mean dogs. We read lots of books. And Nicole is teaching her baby how to swim. I still hear them chatting away up there, I could have fallen asleep in the kid’s beds, I am tired.
Why is it that weekends go by so fast. Today we have just had a mellow day at home. We hung out with our good friend Arthur who headed home today. The kids really liked him. Bret and Arthur went to get coffee then we just hung out at home. We worked in the garden a bit and played with the kids. Nicole was loving playing baby. We had to take care of her baby while she went for a jog, and feed the baby, etc. Justin was playing with a baby for a short bit but loved bouncing the ball. We made a track around the train table and I am not even sure the kids used it. After lunch the kiddos went in the backyard. At first they were into the see saw but then they brought down Justin’s blanket. They laid it on the pavers and they were just playing. They laid down on it and wrapped themselves up. They were hiding from the storm apparently. And according to Justin the jelly squirter was going to get them with jelly. It is on the roof and it is squirting jelly on the blanket. This is hilarous and disturbing all at the same time. We decided to go to the ice skating rink and let Nicole practice. Justin said he didn’t want to go on the rink so we took his Leapster. He was perfectly content eating raisans and playing the Leapster. Dad and I took turns on the ice with Nicole and hanging out with Justin. Dad was able to skate after not being on skates since he was 7 he thinks and he did really well. During the all skate the lights dimmed and the disco lights went on. So funny to see Nicole’s reaction to that. Nicole is doing better and better at skating; she really loves it. Maybe this will be her thing. On the way home we stopped at the mall just to run into Gymboree. I had some coupons that were expiring. The kids loved watching the TV. I bought some clothes for next summer-lets hope Nicole will wear them. Justin was into his Ottor pupper that Alan and family gave him, so he brought it into the mall. On the way home I was letting the Ottor be naughty, beeping the horn, turning the lights on in the car, etc…and the kids were just laughing. We decided to go to the pool this afternoon. Skating and swimming in the same day crazy I know. The kids had the best time at the pool and were so happy that daddy was there. We all kept going under water. The kids jumped in the water by themselves, of course we were right there to help them. They loved that they touched the bottom when they jumped in. Nicole was so sad when we had to leave but Bret and I were so water logged. We gave the kids a shower there since it was bath night anyway. It was nice to actually take a quick hot shower after being in the pool. On the way home we got food through the drive thru. After dinner the kids just played outside. They put a bunch of dirt on the table and weremaking mud houses, ugh. What a mess but they were content. I cleaned up a bit and dad mowed the lawn. The kids played with money and the kids fed the animals. Dad was the crocodile and I was llama mama. The kids were pretty tired and went right to sleep.
Busy but fun day. This morning we went to Justin’s sports class. This morning was t-ball. Justin seemed kind of out of it during the class, or maybe just had a lack of interest to it. He used a glove for the first time. It was cute after he hit the ball he needed to run the bases. He went to first kind of to second and skipped third. Nicole was busy pretending to be a dog and was fetching the ball.
We all played at the park for a little bit-we didn’t stay long as it was hot and humid. When we got home we hung out, all of us on laptops. We finally decided to go to the Spectrum. We walked around a bit and I was able to shop for a bathing suit. Nicole definitely has her opinions on what bathing suit I should buy. She was pretending to be a dog in the fitting room and going out the bottom of the door, pretending it was a dog door. We went to Ruby’s for lunch. Then we headed to the fountains by Target. It took Justin a bit to get into it. Nicole wasn’t interested at all, so we headed to the other fountains. The kids had a blast. So cute watching them. After playing for a bit at the Spectrum we headed to the fair. We are so tired. We had a great time at the fair. We ate lots of food, we even tried chocolate covered bacon-ewww. The kids went on lots of rides. We all went down the slide together. The kids loved being on the bumper cars and were able to go on it by themselves. I went on the skyway with Justin. It was so nice being with him alone. I never get alone time with J. He loved looking at all the fair things from the skyway. We had a great day but we are all really tired. The kids went right to bed.
This morning we were supposed to go to a friend’s house but they cancelled as they were sick. So we were in the car so I dragged the kiddos to the grocery store. The kids were so good at the store and had fun pushing the carts. I let them look at books for a bit. We came home and just played. We got the house ready for the carpet cleaning. Our carpets looks so great. We meant to get them cleaned after potty training but didn’t do it until now. We were supposed to have a swimming lesson today. I got the kids all ready but the swim instructor didn’t show up. Oh well we had a great time at the pool anyway. The kids love the pool. We went in the big pool and the kiddie pool. They both went under water, so cool. They are growing up so fast. We were at the pool for the longest time. We were almost ready to go home but then the kids saw the swim team getting ready. They were full of questions, such as why are there lanes? Why are the kids lined up? etc. N&J were so excited to just sit there and watch. We came home and the kids played. Dad got home and the kids played outside. They did chalk and then Justin wanted to drive his car. He wanted us to run next in front of the car while he drove. Nicole sat on the back of Justin’s car and he gave her a ride, totally cute. We got a video. Then the kids went in the backyard while we bbq’d. They were in their swings for a while and then just played. Our friend Arthur came for a visit and is staying with us for the weekend. We all had dinner. After dinner the kids went upstairs. They took their little stools upstairs and loved looking out the window. They were playing so nicely. When I asked what they were doing they said reading books. Then Nicole asked me back what I was doing. We got out the new Aerobed for Arthur. The kids thought it was their trampoline. They had a blast jumping on it. It was funny. We went upstairs and it is 8:30 and the kiddos are still awake. We read some books and said goodnight. The kids were wild. They wanted us to keep their stools upstairs but we knew better. I did go up there once and they were playing in their closet. The light was on and we heard their toys. Nicole had to go poop and all of a sudden she looks at her poop and says it looks like corn dogs. Nice.
We are taking it easy this morning. The kids and I have been playing. We were pretending to paint the mural together. The kids have been playing nicely upstairs for a bit, playing in dad’s office-all the cd’s, ugh, then reading books in their room. I got caught up on some stuff today and worked a little on the mural. We ran to Wal-Mart for a few things. I finally found Justin a new pair of “Cars” tennis shoes. The kids love helping pick things out at the store. We had lunch then we were babysittting Tierney. She is so cute. She was a bit grumpy and luckily I finally got her to take a nap. I rocked her a lot (Nicole wanted to help) but then everytime I put her down when she fell asleep she woke up. Finally the third time worked. My kids watched some TV while T napped. Nicole and I kept going upstairs to check on her. Nicole wanted to stay in the room with T the entire time, so sweet. After TV I went to give my kiddos a bath. Justin wanted a shower so he could use the sprayer and Nicole wanted to take a bath with T. T woke up just as Justin was finishing. I put Nicole and T in the bath together. Nicole was a little more excited than T. I washed T and her hair but then she pooped in the bath. I thought I was so lucky that no one had pooped in the tub but T made up for it. So I grabbed Nicole and T out. Luckily T was finished in the bath so Nicole finished in the other tub. Tierney was all happy playing with toys while I finished with Nicole. Nicole helped me pick out an outfit for T. T was happy to see her daddy and played a bit and ate. She loved her string cheese, glad we found something she liked. She is teething a lot, poor little thing. We had a great time having T here. After she left the kids played out front and used chalk on the driveway. We had dinner then headed over to Blue Gum Park. The kids took their new shovels and played in the sand for a bit. They went on the swings then we played on the slides with the kids. I love when Nicole is so happy I am playing with her. She was singing I love mommy because she is so sweet and she plays with me. Justin was bumping into me at the bottom of the slide, it was a fun night. The kids read lots of books and were really tired tonight.
I am trying to remember what we did today. This morning the kids played really well at home. They pretended they were dogs. Nicole, calling her self Bicscuit, decided it was Biscuit’s birthday. Justin was busy giving Biscuit lots of toys. It was really cute and nice to see them play so well. We went to Katie Wheelher Library to see a juggling show. I wasn’t that into it, we were sitting kind of far away as well. The kids seemed to like it a bit but not as much as other shows there. We met up with lots of our pre school friends. After the kids played. They were both filling up water bottles and watering. They ran around with their friends. There was some fighting over water bottles and such. We came home and had lunch. After lunch we did some things around the house. The kids were playing by the front door and saw Zoe the dog. So we went on the greenbelt to see them. The kids threw balls for Zoe and it was nice to see them. I wanted to go to Kohls, so after playing with the dog we went. I needed to get Justin more summer jammies. He picked out skate boarding ones, brown and orange, kind of a surprise but he loves them. I also got the kids some big kid cups as they have been needing more water than their sippy cups can hold. Of course the kids loved their new cups and drank a ton of water. We were at the store for a while then I dropped the kiddos off at Paula’s. They were so excited to go. So funny I was talking to Paula for a bit and Nicole says “mom what are you still doing here”. Both kids headed up to the play room right away. We went out to dinner with our neighbors. So nice to be out with another couple. We had fun. We came home for a bit before picking the kids up and I hate to admit it but we did enjoy the peace and quiet. The kids had a blast and didn’t want to leave. They were a bit hyper when we got home but finally settled down.
This morning seemed so stressful to me. I guess the major problem was me and I am pmsing. I went out for a walk early this morning. When I got home had to get the kids ready and the house ready for the cleaners. Bret stayed home a bit to help, thank goodness. The kiddos attending the first day of summer session 2 at pre school while I got caught up on all my membership stuff. I decided to let the kids play there the entire time while I got everything done. The kids were as happy as can be to be there-they had so much fun. They went in their bathing suits and went into the pool. There was a slide going into the pool, so fun. I am so glad I accomplished so much. We decided to have lunch with daddy since he is not going to see us tonight. We had a nice lunch. Nicole was a little melty for some reason. The kids seemed wild. I let them watch a show when we got home so I could have some time. Then I gave them a bath/shower. Nicole has pig tails in-I love it. Justin stayed naked for a while. Both kids decided to do a show for me. They pretended to be dogs, Nicole was Biscuit and Justin was just Justin the kitty. The kids are crazy but fun. We went to Nicole’s ice skating lesson. She did so well. She is getting a little faster and was skating by herself. The instructor tried to make it fun and threw balls for the kids to skate and get themselves. Nicole got so many of them. Justin hung out with grandma/pa. After we went to dinner with grandma/pa. The kids had fun. We went to the candy store as well. Nicole got some ice cream and Justin wanted candy. They both shared though. They watched a little of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Nicole was horrified someone turned blue and kept asking about it. We came home and it took a bit to unwind the kids but they are sleeping.
Here are some pics from ice skating:
We had a little play group here this morning. The kids had fun playing but wanted to play with me as well. They were also wanting to wear all their bathing suits and change-it was only 9:00 and they had changed twice. They were outside for a bit and got all wet. Oh well they were happy. They played up in our shower/bath. They shut our bedroom doors and I heard all the bath toys making there way into the shower. After lunch we headed to the pool for our swim lessons. Both kids did so well. Nicole went first this time and Lynne had goggles for her so she was all happy. Both kids went underwater-yeah! They both hopefully will be water safe soon. I was so proud of them. We had fun swimming. The kids loved jumping into my arms, they splashed me so much that I gave in and went under water. I was trying to keep my hair in tact, silly me. We ran into some pre school friends as well. All the kids had fun playing in the pool together. After we went to Paula’s for play group. I think Justin was tired and it took him a while to get into playing. He cuddled with me for a bit. Nicole had fun playing with Katie and Sarah in the girl’s room with all the girly toys, the doll house, etc. Justin had fun playing with the hot wheels and trains. When we first got there he was looking for trains and the helicopter. All the kids did a show for us. So funny they stand by the bay window with curtains and that is the stage with the coffee table being part of it too. They did a dog and cat show, orange show, and bunny show. It was so cute. What an imagination. We picked up daddy and went to Red Robin for dinner, with daddy’s coupon for his birthday burger. Nicole was a little cranky and tired. The kids were in the game room for a bit. We had a nice dinner and came home and went upstairs. The kids were into playing with their name (letter) trains in their rooms so we only read a few books.
Bret was working late last night. I walked with a couple friends this morning. Dad played lots of games with the kiddos. It is so hot though! We all went to Costco this morning. It was getting a little crowded but the kids were really good. Nothing too exciting we got gas and lunch then headed home. The kids went in the jacuzzi while dad and I worked out in the backyard. They had so much fun in the jacuzzi, they used their floaties. We have been neglecting our jacuzzi and it needs some maintenance-ugh. After I gave the kids a shower. They love using the sprayer thing in the bath. Nicole let me put pig tails in and it looks so cute. They have been watching the trailer to Alvin and the Chipmunks and love it. They are saying Chickawow from the movie-Alvin said it. So silly. We fought turning on our air conditioning, so we decided to go to the mall. I needed to look at a couple things for the kids. It was so crowded at the mall; we should have figured. The kids rode on a little train there in the caboose. We came home and finally gave in and turned on the air conditioning. The kids watched some Seasame Street and dad rested. Then Paula’s kiddos came over. We were babysitting so Paula and her hubby could have a night out. Sarah and Nicole played really well together, playing baby and grocery store. They pretended to be hiding from the monsters. Katie and Michael played with the race track and Justin was outside helping daddy with sprinklers. The kids all loved eating dinner, Nicole said pop goes the bread and all the kids were cracking up. It was really funny listening to the kiddos. We decided to go on bunny path-we were hoping to see some bunnies. The kids had fun pretending to scare us. They went on all the stepping stones and had quite and an adventure. They all played really well together. The kids went to bed a little late but are sound asleep now. Bret and I cleaned up and we are pretty tired, maybe it is the heat.
I went and got my haircut this morning. I decided to take Nicole with me. We had fun together. I changed into a robe thing there and hung up my shirt in the bathroom. She was worried I was leaving my shirt behind-she told me she really liked my shirt. Silly! She liked watching me get my hair washed. The girl offered to wash Nicole’s but Nicole said no. While I was getting my hair cut the assistant put Nicole’s hair in french braids. She looked so cute and grown up. She really liked it too but she was bribed with a muffin. After getting our hair done we met dad and Justin at sport’s class. Today was all about soccer. Justin is doing so well. He learned to use the side of his foot to kick and learned to kick the ball to the goal. He is doing really well. After we went to Grammy’s. We wanted to see cousin Zach one more time before he headed home to New Zealand. We just hung out and the kids played. After we dropped daddy at home and headed to Nathaniel and Marina’s birthday party at Jump N Shout. It was so hot in there though so not a lot of the kids were jumping. My kids really liked the trampoline but didn’t go in the bounce houses too much. Nicole loved putting baby Marina in her lap and hanging out with Lexie. I caught Nicole on top of Justin. I got there a little late with the camera but I tried.
The kids ate too much sugar though-Justin actually complained of a belly ache. The party was fun. Dad had to work tonight so I stopped at Chuck E Cheese with a friend. The kids had a great time playing games. They are getting into getting tickets and were so proud when a ton of tickets came out. We had a great time. The kids got little microphones and lollipops with their tickets. We stopped on the way home and got a pizza for dinner. Dad worked but from home and the kiddos watched a little TV. I needed a break. I went upstairs with the kids and they seemed kind of tired. We did capes for a bit but then I just read a lot of books. I was ready to go to sleep after reading all the books. I told some stories as well. It seemed as though they weren’t going to sleep but all of a sudden all is quiet.