Melissa’s Blog

Justin woke up feeling a 100% better, thank goodness. He was as good as new which I figured that would happen. I would rather have this situation then him still sick in San Diego. Nicole was so nice to Justin when he was sick, wanting to rub his back, etc. This morning the kids took all the cushions off the couch and played on them. They did bubbles outside together and painted with water outside. We just took it easy today. I wanted to make sure Nicole didn’t catch it and keep the kids away from their friends for a few days. The kids liked spreading out their towels and laying on them. I played some games with the kiddos, Candyland, etc. I thought by playing with the kids for a bit then they would play on their own. Nope, I built tracks, played mommy with Nicole’s dogs, etc. Justin started to not feel well again. His fever came back but not too high. I let the kiddos watch TV and rest for a bit. All of a sudden Nicole says since Justin doesn’t feel good, he can pick the TV show. I am so amazed how sweet she is. Her thinking of others impresses me so much; I am so proud of her. Justin picked Little Einsteins. Justin felt better and wanted to eat lunch. We just played all afternoon. I took out whatever toys they hadn’t played with in a while, Crystal Climbers, ariel dolls, light sabers, I became a play structure…..Dad came home early as he had to go to the dentist. Just as he came home the kids wanted to go in the pool. They wanted to bring Ariel and barbie dolls in the pool. Justin was the first to get Ariel naked. We did the squirty tools and just had fun playing with the water. Nicole really wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Club House, so they watched one. Finally after playing with the water, the kiddos got dressed. They were in their jammies most of the day. After TV Justin started to feel yucky again, poor guy. Dad wanted to take Nicole for a walk so Justin could rest but he wanted to go too. I gave him some Tylenol and I was hoping he would fall asleep in the stroller. He lasted until bunny path then wanted to come home. I came home with him while dad and Nicole still played. Justin said he was hungry so I gave him a snack then we watched Curious George together. After dinner the kids went right upstairs and we read a lot of books. Justin was so excited to wear his new jammies; they are so cute on him. He finally fell asleep-I think I did too for a bit. Dad and Nicole were watching Utube videos of space shuttles blasting off and dogs swimming. Nicole really liked the dog one and acted it out too. She put her toys on me then pretended to be a dog and jumped in to get them. The funniest part was when she decided she needed to wear goggles. She pretended to be a dog for the rest of the night. She was doing tricks and gettting bones. What a cutie pie she is. We read some books and then we headed upstairs. I rocked her a bit and hung out with her. She was so great and not jealous about Justin getting my attention today. She doesn’t want to go to school without Justin and I am not going to make her just yet. So tomorrow we will have another day at home.

I went for a quick run then got ready for San Diego. The kids took a quick bath and then we were off. We picked up grandma, so the kiddos went into grandma/pa’s house for a bit to play. On the way to the hotel we stopped in Carlsbad. We had lunch then went over to the outlet mall for a bit. The parking lot was so incredibly busy-it was like Christmas. I think it took us about 20 minutes to get a space. We went into a couple kids stores. Justin found jammies that he just loved in Carters. He never asks for much so I hate saying no to him. The jammies are so cute and remind me of him as a baby. They are like the one piece footed sleepers but this is much cooler for the summer. The kids played on the little quarter rides and the toy store. In the toy store I found cards that sang happy birthday and used the kiddos names. Nicole loved it and played it over and over again. She wanted to buy it but I told her it wasn’t her birthday. She completely understood and said ya it is not my birthday. I got the kiddos some new shoes from Stride Rite and then we headed to the hotel. The hotel was like a hotel you would see in Hawaii. It was beautiful but the rooms were older. The kids could have stayed in the hotel room the entire day. We went over to the lagoon pool and ran into some friends from pre school. The kids had a great time in the water. Justin headed over to the jacuzzi for a bit then we all finally made it over. We got back to the room and the kids were having fun hiding under the covers in the bed. But all of a sudden Justin was acting like he was sick. He just wanted to sleep. He fell asleep on me but then spiked a fever. Luckily the hotel had a place to buy some Tylenol. Justin just slept for a while and Nicole was so good. She was just playing and having fun. She needed dinner so I got her yogurt and a nutri grain bar at the place that had Tylenol. She didn’t care that it was her dinner, she made the best out of the situation. Finally at 7:30 I decided it was best to drive home. I wanted to be on the safe side and just in case we needed to take him to the doctor or hospital. They both fell asleep on the way home. On the way home we heard there was an earthquake of 5.0. I slept in the kid’s room most of the night. Justin felt hot so I gave him more Tylenol and got him some water. He went back to sleep.

It was a busy night in the Sander’s household. Justin came into our bed last night, dad was working, and Nicole woke up really early this morning. Nicole and I were out and about this morning. We went to the Woodbury garage sale. Nicole was amazingly sweet and picked out a Diego toy. She said Justin will love this, so I had to get it. She wanted to go home and bring it to him right then, it was so sweet and cute. We got a couple things but mostly just had fun together. Later we went over to the Spectrum to go in the fountains. The kids had a blast. They were happy screaming and got soaked. Justin was acting a little tired so after lunch we left the Spectrum. We headed to Grammy’s. She needed some help with some things around the house. The kids love her house and we were glad to help her out. The kids played hide n seek with me once. But I guess they didn’t know Grammy’s house to well and had trouble finding me, so they didn’t want to play that anymore. Lets see we went on a “hike”, played on the office chairs (spinning), play doh, rode trikes, etc. We had a great time. We also went to a carnival at a local school. It was a little lame as far as carnivals go but the kids had fun. There wasn’t a lot for little kids, but they did a ring toss, and a couple ball games. They watched someone get dunked in the dunk tank. We ate dinner at Grammy’s. The kids helped Grammy set the table. Grammy was very brave and let the kids carry plates and glasses. The kids were so happy and proud of themselves. After dinner we came home and got the kiddos to bed. They were really tired. Now to go pack up for San Diego.

So glad it is Friday. This morning we just played at home. The kids got the picnic blanket out of the gara Joe things for Justin. He doesn’t know about GI Joe yet, but he like the army men and planes. He was so excited about them. We came home and played some more. The kids wanted their Minnie/Mickey mouse beach towels so after cleaning up the house the kids got their towels. They spread them out on the floor and pretended they were beds. I think I used the crockpot for the first time ever, I am making pulled pork. But really now that I have been smelling it all day I don’t want it for dinner. After lunch I let the kiddos watch Clifford and a Princess  DVD that I  bought this morning. I played and played with the kiddos, joked with them, made them giggle, etc. We had great quality time together and read some books. I needed to go to Costco and return some stuff so we headed over there. The kids were so excited about all the snacks. They love to help me shop there. For some reason they are loving jammies these days and wanted to buy all the jammies there. Nicole put her jammies on when we got home. Then we tried to use the fishy sprinkler from last yeat but it has a hole in it. So we brought the pool out front. The kids had a blast. They lied down in the pool and got their hair all wet, they loved making footprints on the concrete and loved watching their bathing suits drip on the ground. They were running around just having fun. Poor kids were getting cold but they didn’t want to stop. Dad came home and after shivering we came in and had dinner. After dinner the kids drove their cars for a while and did bubbles. Bret and I worked in the garage a bit. We went upstairs and read lots of books. Nicole called me upstairs since there was no room in her bed for her with all her animals. After fixing it I got a ton more hugs and kisses then I thought Justin was asleep so I kissed his cheek. He was awake and hugged me and gave me kisses but then he licked me-gross. Earlier today the kids were sticking out their tongues and wanted to lick each other’s tongues. And they probably won’t believe me even though they may read this someday.

It was a work day for me at the kiddos pre school. I was blue mom. I spent the morning in the sand and water. We had fun making a bunch of sand castles then the kids all smushed them, it was cute. Nicole brought her laptop to share and Justin brought his Thomas, Crack in the Track book. The teacher even read it. I think the kids are more excited about sharing than pre school. The kids had fun this morning. We have one kid in school that doesn’t sit during storytime and doesn’t listen, I am so glad my kiddos haven’t picked up his bad habits. It is nice to be able to be with the kids and observe their behavior. After school we met Grammy for lunch. The kids love seeing Grammy. Grammy brought them a Tigger and Big Bird figurine thing. Of course Nicole wanted Tigger but they shared (not happily though). I need to work on teaching Nicole just to say thank you. She really wanted Tigger and said she didn’t want Big Bird. After lunch Grammy came back to the house for a bit. She is going to help with decorate the kiddos play room, so we looked at murals online and got some great ideas. Thank goodness Grammy is creative. I am excited to get started on the room. The kiddos watched Little Einsteins. After Little Einsteins I gave the kiddos a bath. Justin goes right into the bath while Nicole plays for a long time. When we got home today Nicole wanted to put on her Dora nightgown. After bath she wanted to put it on again, oh well I guess I should just be happy she is dressed. After bath Nicole got dressed in jammies right away while Justin stayed naked. Dad came home and we played. We had to have an early dinner as I had a pre school meeting. It was a fun meeting being the last one of the year but really I would have rather been with my family.

It is only Wed. I am tired today. The kids want to wear bathing suits all the time. For Mother’s Day the kids made cards at pre school for me. On one side they drew a picture of me and the other side they answered questions about me. I think Nicole and Justin were prompted on some of their answers, so I re-asked the questions. This is what I got (Justin’s answers first then Nicole’s):

My mom is __4__ __6__ years old

My mom likes to eat __salad__ __salad__

My mom alwayars wears __pink__ __brown, white & pink__

Her favorite TV show is __mommy shows__mommy shows__

She cooks the best __chicken__ __pancakes__

These thing make my mom mad __sad things__ __mad things__

What I like to do with my mom __ride on planes__ __play__

These are the things my mom does __ play, dance, turn on music, get exercise __  __cook, clean, play__

What my mom likes best about me __my squeezes, hugs, kisses__ __my pictures I draw__

This was really cute and I just love it. The kids should have said what I like best is everything about them 🙂 Thanks kiddos for making this so special. We stayed home all morning and played. The kids also helped me clean up to get ready for a little play group. We were so happy to have our friends over. The kids had a great time and played really well. My friends even brought cupcakes for my birthday, so sweet. So we all had lunch together and it was just nice to hang out. Today I was determined to get some stuff done, laundry, gardening, clean the backyard, etc  I got a few things done. The kids played with Easter eggs and stickers. Then we went to garden. We did so much gardening in the front yard. The kids helped by digging and watering. The highlight for Justin was using the hose. So funny to hear him tell people that we call him Jose because he loves the hose. Nicole’s highlight was helping me use my clippers. So nice to look at our yard looking all nice (except where the big palm tree is). I don’t know what to do in that area. Uncle Alan stopped by to get his computer and the kids wanted his full attention. They read him books. He only stayed for a short time so we went back outside for a bit to clean up. We all went to a fundraiser at California Pizza Kitchen for pre school. We took our neighbor, Bernice as her husband is out of town. It was fun and the kids liked seeing their teachers. Then we did the frog fountain until the kids got too wet. We came home and read books and said goodnight.

I got the house all ready for the cleaners last night, so this morning wasn’t too stressful. I dropped the kids off at pre school. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my time, but a couple mom’s were going for a walk, so I joined them. It was really nice talking with no kids around but I got nothing done. Oh well. The kids made me big mother’s day cards at school. The teachers asked the kids questions and they answered them about me-very cute, I will keep these forever. I think on some things the kids were prompted so I may have to ask the questions again. The kids played outside after pre school. I brought Reed and Neela’s presents for their birthday today. Nicole and Justin were so excited to give them to their friends, it was really sweet. We came home and the cleaners were still here. So I decided it was a good time to give the kiddos a bath. Nicole was a little reluctant to get in and she has been a bit moody lately, ugh. I hope she isn’t getting sick. After bath she seemed to have snapped out of it, but insisted on wearing a bathing suit. Oh well. Justin wanted his too. Then the kids watched their new favorite, Little Einsteins. After the kids were starving and asked for a bunch of snacks. I needed to get out of the house, so we decided to go for a walk on bunny path. Nicole pushed her stroller with Winnie The Pooh in it and Justin biked. We were on a search for bunnies but only saw one. But we saw Mr. Lizard and dogs. We sat in the shade together and just talked-Nicole put sunscreen on pooh and Justin said he was tired. On the way home we ran into daddy driving home, Justin abandoned his bike and happily jumped into daddy car and went for a ride on around the block. Nicole and I walked home and then hid in the house from daddy and Justin. After dinner dad had fun with the kids, he pushed them in the swings…but the kids got cold. Go figure that a bathing suit wouldn’t keep them warm. So the kids played games, Bingo and then duck duck goose. I left to go to Bunco. It was nice getting out. I never want to go but I am always glad when I do go. I had fun and won for the most babies ($65). But I am sure tired this morning.

I hate Mondays as it means Bret had to go to work, we love weekends and they go by so fast. This morning we just stayed home and played. The kids didn’t eat breakfast until after 9:00. The kids are pretending they are Chip (Justin) and Dale (Nicole). We all colored with markers for a bit. I got to babysit Nicole’s baby. We played store for a while, just a quiet morning at home. Nicole woke up and was a little cranky this morning but she got over it, thank goodness. She said she was tired since she woke up in the middle of the night. Justin ended up in our bed at 5 this morning. The kids played outside and pretended to clean my windows and use their squirt bottles. We spent a lot of time playing with trains and building tracks. After lunch the kids decided to play pile up on mommy. It was cute. We went to the toy store to get a couple gifts for friends. The kids had a great time playing with the train table and the Little Einsteins stuff. They are really into Little Einsteins these days. We also went to the grocery store. The kids went in the car carts but were still up and down. It made shopping go slow but the kids did pretty well. They wanted to watch TV so I let them watch one Curious George. Then we went out and did the water table. I am not sure if they love playing with water or just love wearing their bathing suits. Justin was so proud of himself for showing me he can put on his own bathing suit. They played with balls, Dan the diver, little pony in the water table. They also squirted with their squirty toys, squirt bottles, and washed my windows. The kids wanted to stay naked after. They played with these foam letter, foam letters everywhere. They threw them up like it was a party. What a mess! We cleaned up-dad came home a little early as he had a dentist app’t. Dad played Memory with the kiddos while I cleaned up the house a bit getting ready for the cleaners. We went outside and the kids drove their cars for a while. Dinner wasn’t much as it didn’t seem like any of us were too hungry. After dinner the kiddos were wild. We played duck duck goose in the house and ran around the downstairs. The kids wanted us to catch them, they were laughing and giggling, it was cute but tiring. Then we played hide n seek. Another fun game. I enjoyed finding great hiding places and getting a few minutes of peace before any one found me. We went upstairs a little early as we were out of hiding places downstairs. We read a ton of books tonight and the kids are sleeping.

Well mother’s day isn’t really different than any other day. I guess it was different as I got to help clean windows. Nicole and I ended up going to the grocery store while dad and Justin went to Home Depot, both in their jammies still. Both of us are realizing how easy it is to shop with one kid. Dad managed to get everything plus more he needed and Nicole helped me shop. We came home and decided to clean the windows, it was so much fun maybe an annual tradiion if I am lucky (sarcasm). I sort of volunteered to help. We only did the upstairs and it really looks nice. Reminded me though that I want new baseboards upstairs. The kids wanted to help too. The kids played with Diego rescue pack and Dora backpack then we played in the tent room. Justin was asking where the trampoline today-we let a friend borrow it. We did a bit of spring cleaning. After lunch we gave the kiddos a bath. Nicole did not want to get in the bath, she did not want to take off new jamies. The kids stayed in their jammies until bath time. Justin and dad after bath went to lay down and read books while Nicole and I polished our nails together. It was definitely a great mom/daughter moment on mother’s day. We had plans to go to Bret’s moms for dinner. On the way we stopped at TeWinkle Park. The kids played a little then it was too hot for Nicole’s feet and the shoes we had don’t have backs so they kept falling off. So we decided to take a nice walk around the park. We saw all the water falls and the ducks. We even crossed over the water using the stones, the kids really liked that. We headed over to Grammy’s. The kids played while dad did some work around her house. The kids rode their trikes for a while too. They had a great time in her front yard riding their trikes. We had fun at Grammy’s. Nicole was getting a little cranky. We got in the car and Justin announced he was hungry. I am not sure how he could be hungry as we were all full. Nicole almost had a fit over jammies so we realized we better read books and put them to bed.

I woke up this morning before everyone and got some time before anyone else woke up. We got out of the house early. I went to go take some family photos for a friend. The kids did great while I took pics. It was a really pretty park. We didn’t spend that much time at the park though as we wanted to get to the open house at the Brea fire dep’t. It was an awesome event. The kids loved it. There were tractors to play on, street sweepers, trolley, police cars to go in, the fire engines, etc. The fire dep’t even set a couch on fire. Poor Justin had to go potty but he didn’t want to stop looking at everything, so after doing the potty dance for a while I finally made him go. There was food and the kids got their first snow cones. They rang the bell in the trolley, got behind the driver’s seats of everything…it was very cool. We were gone for a long time this morning. The kids were pretty fighty when we got home, so we let them watch TV. I was having computer issues and dad was trying to help me out. After TV the kiddos played for a while. They were wacking things with golf clubs and still getting on each other’s nerves. So we decided to go to see saw park. It was a great day for the park. The kids had fun. But so many big kids were on the see saw so the kids didn’t get much time on it. They played on the play structure and with their sand toys. They kept on bringing us buckets of sand (cake) and the shovels were the candles. We swung them on the swings for a while. Then we walked to the grocery store to get a few things. We stopped and got dinner and came home. We just got pick up stix for dinner and the kids loved the boxes everything came in. Justin especially it was pretty funny. After dinner the kids went outside and played. They played with their frisbees they got from the fireman and in their play house. I brought the remote control Scootaloo (My Little Pony) outside and the remote control car. It was a whole new toy outside, the kids had fun. We went upstairs and the kiddos played with money. Justin went down to get all his cars so he could build a drive thru. The kids ran around naked for a bit and got a little wild. Then we read some books and off to bed. Here are some pictures from our morning: