It is a little sad that are anniversary is over. This morning Nicole woke up first so her and I played a bit. We had fun putting all her animals in the doll house bookcase. Justin slept in this morning, he must be growing. I went for a run this morning. I ran up the paths and saw so many bunny’s, so when I got home I grabbed the kids, daddy, and some carrots. We saw 2 bunnies and the kids left carrots for the rest of the bunnies. It was really fun! Dad had to work a bit this morning. The kiddos took a shower in the fishy bathroom. Their version of a shower is sitting in the tub holding the sprayer thing, oh well, at least they are clean kids. We played outside and I started to swing the kids. But they wanted daddy to swing them, so they just sat in the swings until dad was done working. Then we headed to the Tustin Chili Cookoff. It was too crowded, so frustrating trying to get the stroller through all the people. Dad got some chili but we just wanted to get out of there. The kids spotted lollipops and got one, so at least they were happy in the stroller. We had to stop at Home Depot on the way home. Dad and Justin went to Home Depot and Nicole and I went to Toys R Us. We played in the store for a bit. We came home and the kids wfanted our full attention. We had so many little things to do around the house so we let them watch TV. We had Stacey come over tonight and babysit so we could have a night out. We went to the Orange County Mining Company and had a nice peaceful dinner/drinks. It was weird being out just as the two of us. I hope we can do it more often. I had mommy guilt so I made the kiddos their favorite dinner Mac and Cheese and corn dogs. Also we brought them back some frozen yogurt. They had a great time with Stacey-they played so much and were so excited to tell us what they did. I missed them. They were wanting to play and tell us so much that we let them stay up a bit. Justin gave Stacey a hug and a kiss and Nicole wanted to make her a picture. Dad read some books while I put away laundry. Justin had a big smile on his face when I told him he could pick out his clothes and he could reach them himself. Can’t believe the weekend is over already.
Happy 10th Anniversary
Can’t believe 10 years ago I married my best friend. We gave each other cards and are just loving being together. Bret went out and got some bagels this morning, the kids loved it. We played inside for a while then Justin wanted to do bubbles, so we went out on the greenbelt. I got to walk the dog, Nicole. I went out to get my haircut and colored. Dad and the kids took scooters to the park and played lots of games at home. They met me for lunch. It was so weird being gone for 2 hours from the kids. After lunch I took the kiddos to the play ground at McDonalds. So funny the kids kept pointing to McDonalds saying they wanted to eat there. I asked Justin what he wanted to eat there and he said anything. Well of course they wanted to just go over there for the play area, so after a good lunch we headed over there. When we got home I decided it was time to put on the good old wedding dress. Proudly I can say it still fits! Nicole loved seeing me all dressed up, she immediately went and put on her Cinderella dress. She loved me being a princess with her. We took some photos too:
After playing princess we looked for pirate treasure. Cracks me up how many times the kiddos can look for treasure, over and over again. The kiddos watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Then we went outside to play. Dad got the tent from upstairs and put it outside, Nicole enjoyed that. She ran up and got her sheet and pretended to sleep. Justin wanted to play soccer. It was a bit windy out so we took a chnace and grabbed the kites and walked to castle park. Unfortunately the wind wasn’t that great so kite flying was a little difficult. I love watching Justin run with his kite, it is so cute. Nicole had to wear her dog harness thing and pretend to be a dog. We went over to the play area. The kids wanted to swing. Justin lets out this big squel everytime daddy pushes him high. The kids also played in the sand for a bit. We came home and the kiddos played Leapsters while we made dinner. Daddy had to do some work (memory in a server). After dinner I did puzzles with the kids. The first one went well, Care Bears. The second one, Little People, I was having a difficult time having patience. We went upstairs and got ready for bed, jammies, brush teeth, etc. Justin’s clothes are on the top bar of the closet that he can’t reach. He is wanting to pick out his clothes, so I feel bad. I ended up moving his clothes to the bottom bar of the other closet. I have a bit more arranging to do tomorrow but I hope he likes the independence. A few books and the kiddos are sleeping with a lot of animals in their beds (barely room for them).
Happy 10th anniversary Bret. I just want to tell you how much I love you. The past 10 years have gone by so quickly. It is amazing what has happened in the last 10 years, moved to Foster City and bought a town house, adopted a puppy (Tracey-I miss you everyday), job changes, move back to Southern CA, got pregnant, became a stay at home mom, etc. We have a beautiful family and you are an amazing dad. Life can’t get much better than this. I love you with all my heart and look forward to our 50th wedding anniversary. Thanks for making me feel so loved and special.
It is Friday-yeah! We played at home this morning. Dad made Justin a track for his new train that Buffi and Mark gave him. We had fun at home. Nicole put her harness on and wanted to be walked. We had to run to Target as I wanted to see if I could find Ashley and Jordan another present-I wasn’t too thrilled with the one we found at Toys R Us. The kids picked out some pool thing with slides, sprinklers, etc. It was cute then they had fun playing in the toy aisle. I wish I could buy my kiddos everything but then they we just be spoiled brats. They liked helping me pick out the present. We got a couple other things then headed home. The kids had a snack and we got ready for the party. Ashley and Jordan had their party at a bounce house place. The kids had a blast. Nicole was really happy to see Penny and kept wanting to play with Penny, so cute. The kids went down the big slides and bounced a ton. It was fun playing in the bounce house with them. I used the new flip video camera that we just got so I can’t wait to see the videos later. The kids loved the bouncer with the big extra bouncer thing in the middle. I kept throwing the kids on it and they loved trying to stand on it. I chased them around the circular bounce house as well. We had a great time, it was a great party too. The kids all had pizza and cake together. There was a boy and a girl table. So cute to see all the boys together and all the girls. Justin wanted a vanilla cupcake and Nicole chose chocolate. They were so excited for their goodie bags and balloons. On the way home we had to stop and pick up a doll house bookcase for Nicole that I found on Craigslist. It was in such a pretty part of Lake Forest. I was hoping we could walk through the foresty areas but I was too nervous with out a potty. When we got home Nicole wanted to put on her Pooh dress and tights. She looks so pretty in it but thought she may be hot. The kids played with their goodie bags stuff. Justin made a wood block track for his new Lightening McQueen. The kids played doctor and laptops as well. The fighting was starting a bit so I let them watch TV. The kids chose to watch Curious George then Thomas. While they watched TV I had to do some stuff for pre school. Then the kiddos took a bath. The kids had a fun bath playing with these frogs. I think I had to hop it on their heads about 100 times. But then the frogs got a time out for splashing and the kids thought it was great. Dad came home and we all went to Red Robin for dinner. The kids played games there, luckily we sat near the games so we were able to sit at the table and watch them. Nicole and I went into a store for a little while and dad and Justin went over to the fountain. I love Nicole time as much as she loves time with me. The minute we were alone she looks up and says I love you mom. We were playing in the store and Nicole was watching me rather then watching where she was going and she bumped into a table, poor thing. We met up with dad and Justin and joined them going up and down the escalators. We got home and dad brought in the doll house bookcase so the kids wanted to play with that. Justin put books in it and Nicole wanted dolls to put in it. We also played car wash, where the kids run up and down the hallway and run into their sheets, I love the games we play. The kids went right to sleep.
The kids slept in a bit. I was glad since they went to bed a little late but stressful on a pre school morning. I stayed at school for a bit to do some paperwork, it was fun hanging out with the kids. I then ran a few errands and came back to school early. A mom asked me if I could work a half hour of her shift. So cute N&J were so excited to see me. We were outside for the last half hour and I just had fun playing with the kids, parachute and red light/green light. We played outside for a bit and saw a cute little puppy. So cute watching the kids run with the puppy. We came home and had a quick lunch. Then I headed out to try to find a birthday present for a party tomorrow. Taking the kids to a toy store while I am in a hurry is not a good idea. Actually the kids did really well-I bought something but am hoping I have time to run out in the morning to get something different. I got a sprinkler thing that is so cute but not sure how practical it is. After the toy store we went to Grammy’s. Buffi and Mark were heading home tonight, so we wanted to spend one last day with them. I brought bubbles and chalk over so the kids did that for a bit. They loved showing off their chalk drawings. So funny all of a sudden I heard the kids trying to come in and I wasn’t sure why they were hurrying in, then they said scary Buffi is coming and they ran, so silly. Buffi and I took the kiddos for a walk to 7-11. The kids put on their sunglasses and we were good to go. The kids enjoyed reading lots of books with Grammy outside while I got some time to talk to Mark. Even thought Grammy had some tasty snacks I thought it would be fun to go for a walk. The kids loved it, they saw a police car, loved picking out a snack. They chose fig newtons of all things. On the way back we went to the little park by Grammy’s and saw bunny’s, dogs, etc. They had fun at the park. They climbed up the play structure and were pretending Pete (from Mickey Mouse ClubHouse) was at the top. They went down the spiral thing a ton of times. By the time we headed back to Grammy’s daddy was there. The kids watched a little TV and we all had dinner and the kids couldn’t wait for the strawberry cake for dessert. And it was yummy! It was a really fun afternoon. The kids pounced on us for a bit and we pretended to throw them into the pool. Dad took Buffi and Mark to LAX while the kids and I drove daddy’s car and came home. So proud of Justin for holding his pee, poor guy really had to pee but I took a chance and didn’t pull over and he made it. After all the water he drank, I was surprised he was able to make it. The kids needed some play time and finally went to bed around 8:40. I read them books and told stories tonight. Just waiting for daddy to come home now.
We had a cool thrunderstrom last night, can’t remember the last time I saw lightening. This morning we just played at home, the kids fought some of the time and played really well some of the time. We cleaned up a little. The kids raced their car arounds and played on their little laptops. I think they played on their laptops for a while as I was saying when you are done it is bath time. The kiddos took a bath. They stayed in the bath for a while. Nicole is very touchy today. She had a fit when I said it was time to get out of the bath. It only got worse when I told her she had to wear pants. Justin really wanted to wear this stripe polo, it was so cute. He never cares what he wants to wear so when he does I let him usually wear it. I put on jeans for the first time in a while on the kids and I can’t believe how small they have gotten on them. They are just growing and growing. We went to get some sandwiches to bring to CA Adventure. We went to CA Adventure with grandma/pa. This was the last of grandpa’s birthday ticket. We had a great time, but I am tired. We did the usual things like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, the caterpillar ride, box cars-Justin wanted to sit in a white one, bumper cars, etc. We went over to the Hollywood area. We watched a show that the animators put on. They talked about how the animation works, sang songs. At the end Cinderella, Woody, and Micky came out. Nicole was in aw of Cinderella. We waited in line and Nicole went right up to her, first character Nicole has gone up to. She even gave Cinderella a hug, it was cute. We saw Goofy as well. We went to the talking Crush show. It was really interactive and the kids could ask him questions. It was really cute. Nicole was so sad and cried at the end because she couldn’t ask her question. So we went over to the guy who was the host and he got Crush back. Nicole and Justin got alone time with Crush, it was so cute. Nicole asked Crush how old he is? Crush said 150. Justin talked to him too and told him how old he was, etc. After we ate some dinner and the kids got a Mickey Mouse cookie. I really wanted my parents to see Soaring Over CA.Surprisingly the kids were tall enough, barely but they let them on. Justin liked it, Nicole not so much. The firework part scared her. Justin loved the big boat and the jet planes. Overall we had a great day, the weather was pretty cool but I would rather have it cool then too hot. Nicole told daddy all about the fact she didn’t like soaring over CA. The kids had lots to tell daddy and went to bed, a little later then I would have wanted. Bret got me a new laptop since my other one seemed so slow. This one is really light and compact, lets see if I can get used to it.
The kiddos slept in a bit this morning. I took the kiddos to pre school. Nicole wanted to take her doggie harness to show everyone and Justin wanted to take one of his shake and go cars. I stayed at pre school for a bit to meet the membership person. I wanted to go over some things with her before I took over the position. So fun to watch the kiddos. Nicole and Justin were happy I was there. I think they forgot then Nicole saw me, and all of a sudden the room is quiet and I hear hi mommy. I left and went for a quick run/walk. I am pmsing so I didn’t have a great run/walk. I came home for a short bit. The kids had fun at school. After school we played outside for a while. It was great to hang out with the moms and watch the kiddos play. We got home and I fed the kids lunch. Then we just played. I played babies with the kids, we walked our babies to the beach (futon room), fed them , played with them, watched the train, etc. Then the kids did some shopping in the mini market and the played with trains. Nicole at first wasn’t being very nice to Justin. We had a talk and she said she would try harder and she did. Since they were playing so well I rewarded them by letting them watch TV. They watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. While they watched TV I worked on membership stuff for pre school. After TV we went to BlueGum Park. The kids played over by the volleyball area. First they threw the balls into and over the net then they played in the sand. They were busy making big holes. After Justin went to play on the swings while Nicole built a gingerbread house out of sand. We weren’t able to stay at the park for very long as we need to meet Buffi, Mark, and Grammy for dinner. We met at Olive Garden and dad met us there too (he biked from work). The kids were so talky and hyper at dinner and very hungry. Dinnner was very nice and the kids did well. When we got home though we had crazy kids. I went to change Jusitn in his jammies while all naked he just went running up and down the hallway screaming. It was so funny then Nikki joined in. I put up a sheet and had them run through it, more laughter. They were calling it their car wash. It was a fun night at home. The only thing was crazy kids don’t go to bed on time. It was at 8:00 when we finally started reading books. After putting them to sleep I still heard them upstairs singing. They eventually went to bed but around 8:30. It was really cute though. I had some more membership stuff to do then I am heading to bed.
This morning we just stayed at home. I did a bunch of laundry. The kids played. They filled up their new lunch bags and pretended to eat. Nicole wanted to be walked all day. She loves that harness. Justin walked her a bit but only when she wasn’t running. She kept on promising to be a nice dog but that didn’t last too long. We did dress up with the magnetic doll but Nicole only wants to have the ballet tutu on the doll. Justin played with his new truck and found a great parking spot for it, in between the the entertainment center and speaker. The kids played out in the backyard a bit and they got along really well. The kids had an early lunch as they were hungry. After lunch they took a long overdue bath. It seems like lately bath has been 3 days instead of every other day. They were having fun in the bath. They was a little fighting. Once Justin picked a toy he wanted, Nicole immediately wanted it. Justin was so nice as most of the time he gave it up for Nicole. They kept on splashing though and throwing wash clothes at each other, but they were giggling the entire time. They took a really long bath and I was getting really bored that I decided to do some ironing. After bath Nicole put her swim suit on and after being naked for a bit, Justin wanted his Spiderman swimsuit on. The kids played with the Leapsters for a bit. Nicole helped me with the laundry. We finally headed outside. I tried to work in the garage for a bit. I am also working on getting all the weeds out of the grass, so I pulled some out then fertilized. The kids played really well while I did this. Justin first got his broom to help me sweep, then they headed on the green belt. Justin brought out the rocket launcher and they did that for a bit, then hopped on the Thomas hippity hoppity ball, then threw sticks down the drain, then bubbles. I was amazed at how long the bubble play lasted. They dipped their hands in the bubble solution and used it as soap. They had bubble stuff in their hands all over their legs, etc. Note to self give them a bath after bubbles not before. So I knew I had to get the hose out to clean all the bubble stuff off so I decided to wash my car. The kids were so excited. We got started then our neighbor with Zoe the dog came by. The kids continued to wash but I chatted. Just when I was ready to work on the car again, the kids wanted to play with Zoe. So finally an hour later or so we started washing the car again. The kids were great helpers. Dad came home and we all finished my car. Then another neighbor came over with her kids. All the kids rode bikes and scooters in the clean garage. They also played in the backyard and house. My kids decided to stay on the greenbelt and play soccer with daddy. Finally we ate dinner after 6:30. The kids were so hungry that they finished a whole thing of blueberries and ate a ton of veggies. We read some books downstairs and finally headed upstairs after daddy got off the phone with his brother. Dad read more books while I put away laundry. Justin wanted to rock with me tonight, I love when they are so snuggly. Nicole wanted to sleep with her Minnie Mouse bookend. I will take it out of her bed sometime tonight. Oh I forgot to mention Nicole got up all by herself to go potty in the middle of the night. I was sleeping in her room and she didn’t know I was there. Of course I woke up anyway but at least she didn’t scream mommy. Bret and I are still so full from all we have been eating lately-worst feeling ever. Hopefully we will sleep well and feel better in the morning.
I was up early this morning…I decided to prep the food for tonight. It was kinda nice just having the TV on and being in the kitchen by myself. The kids ate breakfast and we headed over to Grammy’s. We wanted to spend some time with Buffi and Mark. We all went to the swap meet. The first thing we found was one of the animal safety harnesses for Nicole. She was ecstatic. She picked out a dog one and it even barks. I had to hold her leash the entire time. We let Justin pick out a truck. But after getting his truck he just wanted to go home and play with it. We went to Sunday brunch with everyone. The kids ate so much. Justin was full of maple syrup and sticky! On the way home we had to stop at a computer store for daddy to do a return. Then we headed home. We cleaned up a bit to get ready for our friends to come over. I walked Nicole around with her leash while she cleaned up toys for me. It was pretty silly. Justin made a drive thru for his new truck with some sticks. Then they both pretended they were Ms. Donna and asked whose name it was and counted all the people that were in school. It was so cute and it lasted a while, they played so nicely. I guess Justin was playing the teacher, Ms. Donna as he asked who had sharing and Nicole said I do. She sat up next to Justin and gave her clues for her lion. I guess dad was in a food coma as he needed a nap. We had a great time with our friends. We let the kids watch TV a bit so we could be with our friends. Can’t believe Jenny Jen is married and pregnant. It was nice to see Len, Mary and meet their baby Ryan and Ken/Cathy. We had a nice dinner. The kids had a blast helping Jenny Jen open all her presents; I can’t believe how fast they open presents these days. Nicole and Justin walked our friends out to their cars. Then they played so well. Ken and Cathy brought them some lunch bags from Hawaii since they helped take care of Pali. The kids filled them up with their pretend food, played outside, etc. We ended up letting the kids stay up until 8:45 since they were playing so well. I am tired. Time to clean up then relax.
I got up and ran with a friend. It was hard to get up with the weather being so gloomy. Isn’t it so funny how few days without sunshine and we all go nuts. We just played at home for a bit this morning. The kiddos stayed in their jammies for a while. The kiddos have been really want to play with us all day. Dad played Bingo with the kids. We put a leash on Nicole’s kangaroo backpack and she just loved it. But she wanted the clips like the monkey harness. Justin was holding the leash and Nicole was running. It was funny. I went outside and finished the hedging. Dad had to run to the computer store for a few more computer parts. The kids helped me with the hedging and the gardening. They got their brooms and started sweeping. They loved using the dust pan and little broom. They helped in the garden for a bit. Dad wanted more time with the computer so I took the kiddos to Lakeshore for craft and story time. The kids loved it-it was really cute. The kids made bookmarks and puppets. Of course a ton of glue was used. They sat so well for the storytime too. We had a great time shopping and looking around. After we stopped at the grocery store. The kids helped me so much at the store. We came home and the kids played with some new toys I got them. Nicole loves her magnetic dress up dolls. Justin got some cards and you match shapes and put them on. He liked it but didn’t keep him as amused as the dolls did for Nicole. The kids have been wanting all our attention all day. It makes it so hard to get anything done around here when they are like that. We tried going out in the backyard for a change of scenery. That worked for a little while, but ended up in the front yard. Justin drove his car and Nicole had a snack and sat with dad and I. They had fun with the rocket too but kept fighting over it as well. Grammy, Aunt Buffi, and Uncle Mark came over. The kids were so happy to talk and show new people everything. Dad and I had a night out while they babysat. I am so glad the kids got some time with them as well. And the bonus was we got a night out. We went to Claim Jumper and had a nice dinner then headed to the Spectrum. We just walked around and enjoyed being together. It sounded like everyone had fun while we were gone and I am sure the kids loved it. I can’t wait until they wake up in the morning and they tell me all about it. Time for bed.
I woke up last night and just ended up watching TV. Too bad our Tivo is not full of new shows for me. Dad stayed up late building his new computer. The kids and I played at home this morning. Nicole set up a nice tea party for us. But I was told I couldn’t eat all the “pretend” food-ha ha. The kids played with their kitchen a lot and made me eggs with grapes and soup-yum yum. They also played with trains. I feel like they aren’t using the train table that much. It is pretty gloomy out so far even rained a little bit last night. I showed the kids a huge snail on our window and they were so intrigued-eww. They entertained themselves for a bit while I looked into some summer classes and ice-skating. We went to the bounce house place, Jump N Shout. The kids had a great time. I think the most fun that they had was on the long trampolines. They were so proud at how high they were jumping. They got lots of energy out. It was so nice when we first got there we were the only ones but then it started to get a bit crowded. The kids love riding in the car and hearing all their music. We came home and had lunch. In between all this I got some laundry done. The kiddos took a bath. Since today is so cool out, Nicole chose to wear her Pooh dress. And of course she insisted on wearing tights. Anyway she looks so cute in it. The kids watched a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse then we ran to my haircut place. Since I need to wait one more week for a haircut I went in for a bang trim. The kids sat there and watched while they had a snack. So well behaved. After I dragged them to Target to shop for a wedding gift for Jenny Jen (an old co-worker of mine). I was so amazed at how well the kids did in Target. I had so much to get and they just went with the flow. It helped that they both were in the cart too. They just make me so proud of them when they act so well. Dad was home when we got here, he worked on his computer a bit and the kids finished watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We headed out to Grammy’s. The kids weren’t very shy around Buffi, a little around Mark though. I think they were excited as they knew Buffi had a present for them. The kids were pretty silly tonight, telling stories, playing, etc. They had a great time visiting with their Aunt and Uncle. We left Grammy’s late so the kiddos didn’t get to bed until 8:45. Nicole wanted to sleep in her Pooh dress tonight.