So nice not working at pre school too much lately. Don’t get me wrong I love being with the kiddos but it is nice to get a break. I went to the gym and worked out a bit. I came home and worked on trimming the hedges, almost finished. I took a quick shower then headed to Chick-Fil-A to get some food to bring to the park. After pre school we all went to Orchard Park to have a little going away party for one of our pre school friends. The kids had a blast playing together and eating lunch together. We had a really nice time at the park until Nicole got Justin’s head with sand thing. It was an accident. It was hard to get Nicole to leave the park. We came home and changed, packed up some toys and headed to grandma/pa’s house. We were hoping to see Tierney but she is sick. On the way to grandma/pas we stopped to get the brakes in my car looked at. I did need new brakes and since they could do it today I left my car. Grandma/pa came to pick us up and we hung out at Costco for a bit. The kids basically had snack there. About 45 minutes later and $510.00 I had new brakes. Nicole came with me in the car and we headed to grandma/pas. Justin went with grandma/pa. Nicole and I had fun in the car together; she loves time alone with me as much as I do. The kids had so much fun playing at grandma/pa’s. They made a tunnel between the ottoman and couch with a blanket and loved hiding underneath it. Justin would stand up under the blanket. They played with cars, stuffed animals, and brought their rolling suitcases full of their toys. Both kids had lots to tell grandma/pa. Nicole brought her baby lion and put the leash from her skatebaord around his neck. She even wanted the lion tied to her bed tonight with the leash. She said the other night he tried to go down the hall. We had dinner at grandma/pa’s and then some ice cream. Justin said he was too cold for ice-cream, silly guy. But after showing grandma that he messed up her bed he sat down and wanted ice-cream. We left around 7:30 and the kids were pretty tired. They kept on asking me why it was drizzling. WE read one quick story and the kids went right to bed. Bret has been working on re-building his upstairs computer. It is nice to be home.
Well we were lazy slugs this morning. I think the kiddos stayed in their jammies until 11:00ish. I was trying to clean up the backyard a bit. The kids wanted their froggie table out so they ate all their pretend food on it, then I gave them a snack on it which they loved. They helped me clean up the back a bit. Helped me sweep and pick up leaves. We just had a nice relaxing morning at home. I needed to run some errands, so I decided to bribe the kids. I surprised them and let them play at Chuck E Cheese and in return they would be good during errands. And it absolutely worked. I had the best behaved children. We had fun at Chuck E Cheese, they both loved all the games and little rides. When I said it was time to go they said ok and off we went. I was shocked it was that easy. We did turn in the tickets and the kids each got a lollipop and stickers. Then we headed over to Walmart and got a ton of things. After we got home we went to Blue Gum Park and met some friends over there. The kids had such a great time. Justin went over to the volleyball court to throw the ball over the net; all the kids followed and they were throwing the balls back and forth. Justin and Nicole played in the sand, filled up buckets with water, were monkeys on the mokey bars, went on the swings, etc. All the kids were sliding down the slide together then waiting at the bottom for each other. The kids played so well that Paula and I got to hang out and catch up. Nicole and Justin just love hanging out with Paula’s kids. We came home and daddy was home. The kids pleayed Leapsters while we prepared dinner. After dinner it was bath time. Nicole just puts on her own jammies, it is so great. Justin just wanted to stay naked. They were busy throwing stuff on top of their canopes and bopping them off. The kids also wanted to brush their own teeth. Anyway 20 minutes later and I hear Nicole singing. Time to relax!
I loved having hubby home for 3 days. We had a great weekend. Back to work, back to pre school, back to reality. I dropped the kiddos off at pre school. It was kind of sad for me since we had such a good family day yesterday. I am going to miss my little buggers when they go to school more often. I ran some errands while they were in school. It was kind of nice to do things on my own. The kids were so cute when I picked them up. They didn’t want to leave. Nicole of course changed her outfit. After school one of our friends invited us over to play. We had a great time, nice to chat with other moms and pretty relaxing as the kids are all occupied with all the new toys. We came home to a clean house, I love that. The kids played outside for a bit. But if I hear mommy what should we do again, I may go nuts! They did water outside and I let them play with their umbrellas. They came in and watched some TV, a Little Einsteins and a Mickey Mouse ClubHouse. After TV they were getting a bit cranky so we just spent time together. I took turns playing with each one in my lap, tickling, etc. Then I became a play structure. I bought the kids some new clothes so they tried them on and wanted to wear them. Finally Nicole liked something I picked out but she wanted to wear the shirt with dif’t shorts then I picked. The kids made some friends, Matthew and Ellie, pictures. So we rode bikes over there. Justin was busy looking at his shadow on his bike and crashed into a trash can. We all decided to go to Castle Park. The kids biked around the park. Then we headed to the play structure. The kids had a great time, Justin was busy biking down this little ramp and biked into the sand. Poor guy fell off the bike twice today but was fine. Both kids were in the swing for bit then played on the play structure. On the bike ride home the kids saw this huge limo and got to pet lots of dogs. Justin loved the big limo and told me he wanted to drive it-I let them look in the window but we couldn’t see much. We got home and the kids drove their cars for a bit. When dad got home Justin so enthusiatically told daddy about the big limo. After dinner dad played Bingo with the kids then had to go do some work. The kids and I headed upstairs and we read a ton of books. The kids used books as stepping stones as well. They had a hard time going to bed tonight-ugh. I got every excuse from the ceiling fan is waking me up, they hear people outside, they have to go potty, etc.
Memorial Day
Justin slept in this morning, the latest he has ever slept. Guess all that running with the kite did in fact tire him out. Dad played Bingo with the kiddos this morning and then the kids played with Play Do. So cute they made bagels out of the play do and out them in their lunch boxes. The imagination just amazes me. Bret had been wanting to go to the beach, so we decided to go. I am so glad Bret suggested it as we went to Balboa and had a great time. We parked so we could take the ferry to the other side. We had a picnic lunch then headed to the beach. Nicole and I were playing in the sand for a while making sand castles and finding shells. Once Justin saw the water thats all he wanted to do. Daddy and Justin went down to the water. It was so cute to watch. Justin excitingly squeled everytime the water got him. Nicole and I went to the water too. Nicole loved it as well. They both sat in the sand and let the water go all over them. The best part was after the wave when the water pushes back out, both kids loved it. It was such a fun time at the beach. Dad dug a hole and buried Nicole. You could only see her head, shoulders, and arms. She loved it, I wish I brought my camera. She asked to go in the hole over and over again and she covered daddy too. Justin and I were building sand castles watching the waves. We put a sand castle by the water and watched the waves destroy it. We went over to the grassy area to get all cleaned off. We all just layed down and relaxed. We watched all the planes with banners, helicopters, kites, etc. Justin was so cuddly with me; I just loved every minute of it. Nicole was all over daddy and pretending to sleep. We surprised the kids and stopped to get some ice-cream. They were so cute with their cones. After we went over to the fun zone. We spent some time in the arcade then wacthed the jumpy thing that the kids love. The kids loved taking the ferry back to the car. Guess ice-cream and the beach made the kids starving-luckily I had the rest of their sandwiches to eat on the way home. I was afraid the kiddos were going to fall asleep on the way home. So I was telling stories of them while they were babies. Nicole was loving it! We told the kids how dad lost a shoe one time walking Tracey in Foster City. It got really muddy (we called it moon sand) and his foot was buried. When he pulled his foot out he lost his shoe. The kids wanted to hear this silly story over and over again. When we got home the kids played with money and put them in bottles. Justin poured all the money all over the floor and Nicole was nice enough to help him pick it up. We gave the kids a well needed bath. After dinner the kids played in the backyard. They brought their umbrellas out there and had a great time. Also played with water. Both kids were exhausted tonight and went right to bed. I got the house cleaned up for the cleaners and just kicked back watching TV.
Today staying at home sounded kind of nice to me. The kids played their leapsters for a bit. Of course then they ask what do we do now? Dad built a spiral track for Justin and also added the tracks that makes the train light go on and makes it beep, etc. We needed to run a few errands this morning. So we went to Costco before it got crazy then The Great Indoors. We came home and the kids mostly played outside. Dad drew a track out of chalk and the kids drove their cars in it. Dad also added a gas station. Dad is being the fun guy today! I, on the other hand, vacummed the cars and cleaned potties. After lunch the kids took all the cushions off the couch and jumped up and down. They colored and did stickers. I guess the stickers reminded them of maps, so they got on the couch (with no cushions) and pretended they were on a bus and a plane. They tell me they are going to Canada. Finally Nicole looked at me and said how do we get to Canada? Justin says a plane takes us faster, so cute to listen to them. We all went outside in the backyard. So while the kiddos were playing, cleaning my windows, sweeping, etc I hedged the shrubs. The kids loved to sweep up my leaves and Justin helped me pick up all the leaves. Dad and Justin went to an RV place. Dad is interestd in renting an RV. Nicole and I stayed here and got ready for the Great Park. We met dad and Justin there with kites. It was so much fun but a little stressful as kites were getting tangled. It took a while but Nicole got her kite up and as high as it could go. Both the kids kites I think were made to dive bomb or something. You would get it up and then it would circle around, doing tricks or something. Well Nicole has a fish kite which she insists is a bird, who is going to argue with her. She does wonder why it only has one eye. Justin has a turtle and his kite was not a good one. It dive bombed a lot but Justin said thats ok he is hungry. Justin went running around with his kite. He ran so much. Both were so cute when their kites were flying. It was a nice windy afternoon. We decided to go out for dinner. We went over to the Spectrum to Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite restaurants. Since my car was still parked at the great park we thought we would try to get on the balloon. But the wait was too long. So we came home and headed upstairs. Got into jammies and brushed teeth. Since the kiddos were up late last night we made sure they were in bed by 8:00. Nicole had to show us all the way she sleeps. I got to snuggle with Justin. He was saying sandy helper and we figured out it is handy helper from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They both crack up when they say this. We are so impressed by Nicole’s memory. She hears something once and I am always shocked she remembers it. Here is a picture of Nicole and Tierney that I took the other day. Nicole loves to hold T.
Yeah it is Saturday! I woke up and went running this morning with a friend, almost 4 miles. After running I watched the kids for a bit while daddy did some work (side work for a friend). We all went to the grocery store. The kids got some balloons and were so excited. When we got home the kids had a snack. I made them apples with peanut butter and teddy grahams (teddy teeter totters). Then made teddy sandwiches with peanut butter, they loved it. Then I made the cheesecake and had a glass of wine. It was fun to make an adult dessert. The kids played outside for a bit and played really well. So they were so good I let them watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They love that show and it is fun to watch them interact with it, dance, etc. After lunch we played, read a new Little Einsteins book, finally got the kids dressed. A nice lazy day for us. Nicole wanted to play Bingo with me while dad and Justin were outside. Then she pretended I ws her rocket ship and she used my arms as the seatbelt. We went out front to see what dad and Justin were up to. I brought out chalk and the kids loved drawing on the driveway. The sound of chalk will always bother me. They hadn’t done chalk in a long time. We also went to run an errand. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to look at new dishes. All the kids wanted to do was see the beds. The kids did get distracted and played with the pot holders, made puppets. There were pigs, alligators, dogs etc one pot holders that the kids just loved. I couldn’t believe how much fun it was to get on the display beds. Who knows if they were allowed but they sure loved it. When we got home we got ready to go to a friends for dinner. Another couple was there and it was fun. Nicole fell in love with one of those animal harnesses-I think she wore it all night. She loved the clips in front and the leash. I guess I should mention too that the kiddos wore their bathing suits there. Justin loved the little play structure and the cozy coupe car. He found a great little parking spot for it too. Nicole was so upset to leave the monkey harness behind. The kids were pretty hyper when we got home. They didn’t settle down until after 8:30. But thats ok as it was a fun night.
Yeah it is Friday. The kids slept in a bit this morning. We just played at home this morning. We did the pretend grocery store then packed up our pretend lunches and had a pretend picnic. I tried to clean up a bit too to get ready for a play group. The kids were constantly calling for me during play group. Overall the kids had fun but were pretty needy. One of Nicole’s friends did dress up, so that got Nicole all into dress up it was so cute. It was nice to catch up with my mom friends. The kids wanted to walk their friends out to their cars. Justin went to get the mail and Nicole decided to meltdown. She was so mad she wanted to get the mail too. She just cried and cried. I know she was hungry too as it was lunch time, so I am sure that didn’t help. After lunch we went and did an errand. Justin got this cool helicopter that shoots balls out; it is an awesome toy. He was really excited about it. The kids had to take a bath since we were going on 3 days without a bath. I let them use bath crayons which they hadn’t used in a while and they loved it. They were drawing all over the tub. After bath Justin stayed naked for a while and Nicole had to change her outfit again. We played Bingo and then dad came home. Dad joined in and played some games. While we were making dinner the kids played in the backyard and I did some gardening too. It was time to pull out the majority of the carrots and green beans, the tomato plants have officially taken over. After dinner we decided to go for a walk and the kids wanted to take their brooms with them. We ended up at the little park (Carrotwood park) across Eastwood. The kids had so much fun. They made sand pie and a bucket of pie, according to Nicole. They climbed and went down slides. They really needed to get out. Justin has been injuring himself all afternoon and evening. He bumped his head on the glass table, hit his foot on the play trash truck, and fell on the street. Pooe little guy. We went upstairs and got ready for bed. We read lots of books. Nicole told me I was a bad mommy because I didn’t let them watch TV. I guess this won’t be the first time I hear this. My mistake I asked her if she would rather play games or watch TV-I should have known she would say watch TV.
Nicole woke up last night, crying and had a hard time settling down. She woke up again this morning in search of her blanket. The kids went to pre school this morning and I wasn’t working. I went for a jog around the park by their school. I figured if I came home then I wouldn’t work out. It was fun spying on the kids. I also ran and finally got a pedicure. It was so nice! We played outside for a while at school. The kids had fun. Nicole is really loving Rio, so cute to watch them talk together. Rio was telling me all about Shamu getting her all wet and Nicole was explaining if she sat up top she wouldn’t have gotten wet. The kids had fun playing outside. We came home and the fighting started again. Luckily they knew they had to be good to be able to watch TV, so they played really nicely. They played trains and had fun together. So I put on Mickey Mouse Club for them. They seem to love Little Einsteins, Curious George, and Mickey Mouse Club House. After I played with the kiddos on the couch. They both wanted to be on my lap, at first Nicole was not ok with this but then she got over it. We did the usual row row your boat, slide, jump on me, etc. It was fun. Then I had to run to the grocery store. The kids each added an animal on their skateboards, Nicole a dog with her cat and Justin another dog named fluffy. They took their skateboarda animals with them. We took daddy car since it was in the garage and easy to unload groceries. Nicole told me daddy was going to be mad since I was taking his car. It was funny. The kids were really good at the store and very helpful. Justin saw these crackers that were octagon shape and really wanted them. When we got home the kiddos played really well together; it was great. I was able to make dinner. I was trying to hurry since I was dropping off a meal to a friend who just had a baby. I was running late and was cutting into our dinner time but the kids really wanted to come drop the food off. It was such a pain unstrapping them for just a minute when we got to her house but they were just so excited. They just wanted to look at our friend’s toys. We came home and had dinner then the kiddos played with their leapsters. I cleaned up getting ready for a play group tomorrow. We went upstairs and we had fun throwing the kids on our bed and playing. They are so laughy and cute! We read books and the kiddos are sleeping.
The kids are loving playing music on daddy’s laptop with him. All the Disney songs, it’s a small world, tiki room, and little piggy song. Nicole is kinda scared of the piggie one but still likes it. Nicole wanted her hair in pig tails again, I just love it. We spent the first part of the morning at home, then went to the park. We went to Woodbury Park and met saw some friends there. The kids had so much fun. They discovered how to go down this spiral thing and had to do it again and again. They were in the swings for a bit, played with sand. Justin pee’d his pants though. He told me he had to go potty and then all of a sudden he said his penis couldn’t hold it anymore. Oh well, luckily I had other clothes in the car. Guess he was having too much fun to stop playing. After the park we came home and had lunch. Unfortunately the kids have been bugging each other all day. I am so tired of hearing mommy Nikki this and mommy Justin this, but some days are just like this I guess. The kiddos are so proud of their bean plants that are growing that they planted at pre school. Nicole is into changing her clothes a bunch of times. I guess I shouldn’t complain at least she is wearing clothes. The kids watched Thomas and Curious George today. We played a little more at home, My Little Pony, and magnets. I put magnets on a cookie sheet and the kids thought it was so great. It was going really well till the kids knew that cookie sheets belong in the oven, so they started to play with the oven. All of a sudden the kids say someone is here, so excited…it was Uncle Alan and he brought Tierney. That was the best surprise. T is doing just great, cute as anything. She is clapping now and it is adorable. Nicole, of course, wanted to help feed her. T is just a love bug. After their visit we decided to go have a picnic dinner by the train path. Dad met us there coming from work on his bike. We had a great time running and chasing the kiddos, spinning them. Justin brought his football and Nicole her princess ball. However, they both wanted to kick the princess ball and thus more fighting. We would have been better off not bringing toys. Then Nicole wanted to pretend we were pirates. So the kids hid the balls and we found the treasure. Justin kept telling us where he hid the ball, it was funny. Whenever a train went by the kids were so excited. We came home and the kids played in the tent room for a bit. The good old ball popper kept them occupied for a bit. They started to sing the popcorn song from pre school. We read lots of books and the kiddos went right to bed. Of course it is not that dark @ 8:00 so Justin keeps saying it is not dark yet.
Justin slept all night, fever free so hopefully he is all better. I decided not to let the kids go to pre school today. I couldn’t imagine Justin or Nicole feeling terrible at school, who would cuddle them until I got there? So we are playing it safe. This morning we just played at home. The kids don’t want to get out of their jammies. Then I got a call that I was supposed to work. Someone asked me to switch and some how it got all messed up. I was so angry at how the situation was handled. So I decided to take the kiddos to school and sorry if they get anyone sick. The kids had a fun time at school. Since I ran out of the house so fast I didn’t get anything for the kids to share. Instead Nicole told a story about Sunday going to the hotel and Justin getting sick. She was so cute. And Justin sang the ABC song to everyone, I was shocked he did that and it was adorable. I wish I brought the video camera. Anyway we played outside and made sand castles, pushed the kids in the swings, and the kids rode bikes. Inside the kids made pirate hats and patches. It was so cute watching them all wear their patches. I hid some treasure for all the pirates to find. Sine I was still mad after pre school we just came home. One of their friends from pre school stopped by to drop off party favors (my kids missed the party). It was very sweet and came at a great time. How could I be mad at anything after seeing the kids so excited to get their goodie bags and Neela so happy to give it to them. The kids loved all the stuff they got. I gave the kiddos a bath. And Neela gave Nicole pony tail holders, so she wanted to put her hair up. It was so cute in pony tails; she looked adorable. I have to take a picture. After bath I needed to go to the mall for a few things. The kids had a great time riding on the cars, motorcycle, etc. They were so disappointed that the lights were gone. We went up and down the escalators, up and down elevators, played in the Disney store…we had a really good time just taking our time. We came home and the kiddos were hungry, so we ate an early dinner. After dinner the kiddos rode their bikes on bunny path. We are so proud of the kids for stopping at the end of the path and waiting for us. I look at them on their bikes and think in no time at all we will be taking the training wheels off-time is just flying. I went out tonight for mom’s night out. I had a great tie and it was nice to get out. I missed my family but I needed some time out.