Melissa’s Blog

This morning we headed over to Kam’s house for a play group. Candice, Victoria, Stacie, and Hina were all there. Nicole and Justin played so nicely. They of course loved all the new toys. We had a great time and did our Christmas exchange party. I had Vena’s kids but unfortunately they were unable to come today. Vena got Justin and Hina got Nicole. They loved opening their presents. Justin wanted me to read his books that he got right away to him. It is so great to have such wonderful friends. After I ran to the mall with the kids. I had a few returns to do. Plus it was pouring rain and I didn’t want to be home all day. The mall was crazy but we had fun. The kids loved just looking around at all the stuff, decorations, Santa, etc. The kids loved the rain today. When we got home the kids played in the rain. Put on boots and warm jackets. They loved splashing around in the puddles. I tried to take a few pics but then realized the video camera was necessary.

It was crazy when we got home changing the kids out of their wet clothes, trying to open the mail, making dinner…finally Bret came home and we just turned on Thomas for the kiddos to watch. After dinner daddy played games with the kiddos while I baked cookies for Mom’s Night Out. I left to go to MNO about 15 minutes before the kiddos were in bed. It was at a mom’s house, really nice to just sit back and drink wine, with no kids pulling at us. Hopefully no rain tomorrow.

Last night Bret and I made a ton of potatoe latkes to take to pre school. The whole house smells. I was snack mom at pre school today. I was in charge of the kids making paper candy canes with marbles and paint. It was too wet to go outside so we all stayed inside until the end. It was so cute watching Nicole and Justin share today. Nicole brought a plane and Justin a helicpter. When Nicole was giving clues she said it flies to San Jose. Shows she remembers flying on the plane to San Jose. It was Rio’s birthday, so Justin got picked to be a candle. So cute he tried to blow her down. The kids made lots of stuff to hang on the walls! After school it was so fun to watch my kiddos play with some of their friends. The girls would hold hands with Nicole and run. Nicole and Justin walked into the street so I gave them a warning, Nicole walked in the street so unfortunately we had to leave. But Nicole outsmarted me and said she went into the street so she could go home, I explained it would be better if she just told me she wanted to go home. We came home and the kiddos went and played trains and laptops. We had lunch and the kids looked at all the Christmas cards we got. They love looking at the family pics. I gave the kiddos a bath and then they watched TV. They have been watching the same Thomas episode over and over again but don’t seem to care. After Thomas we played store, Nicole was busy being the cashier and Justin and I were buying things. Justin and I were also playing with cars. We heard daddy come home and we hid behind the couch. The kids loved it. I went out with the girls tonight, Krista and Paula. We went to Zov’s for dinner; it was nice. The kids wanted me to bring them back something. Dad took the kids to the drive thru at Del Taco, for some reason they loved drive thru’s. They had a good time with daddy and I brought back frozen yogurt. They loved it! I just had to go up to see what Nicole needed, she needed me to shut off the X-mas lights as it was too bright, silly girl. Oh and most importantly I thought it was time to finally join Facebook. So far I am not sure of the appeal but maybe will soon.

This morning the kids came to 24 hour fitness with me. They were so excited about the rain. They loved to look at everyone’s windshield wipers and were just excited it was all wet outside. The kids had a great time in the kids club while I worked out a little. When I was ready to go it was pouring rain. I got soaking wet even with an umbrella. I pulled the car up closer for the kids. Of course they were loving it! We went to My Gym and the kids had a blast. They were jumping in the ball pit and playing. Glad we had that today so the kiddos could get out of the house. When we got home the kids wanted to ride their scooters. At first it started in the garage then they moved onto the driveway, laughing so hard when they got wet. I wish I loved rain as much as kids! We had lunch then the kids played trains. I was working on the kid’s baby books and the kids did some drawings. They played with their baby strollers and told me to be quiet as their babies were sleeping. If I made noises I was going to get a time out-HA. The kids scootered a bit more then we headed to the grocery store. I am snack mom for pre school tomorrow. The kids picked out granola bars for their friends. The kiddos watched Thomas and had a snack. The kiddos were playing with the Cars track and fighting over and over again, even with me playing too. So I cranked up the Christmas music and we danced. Then we made a band with the drum, jingle bells, maraccas, etc. We had a great time and daddy joined in when he got home. We had dinner and then just played some more. We finally got the kiddos down by 8:00, usually we are late. They seemed pretty tired.

This morning dad and Nicole went and got bagels and coffee. Justin and I stayed home and played. Of course trains. We also ate breakfast together. Justin sat on the counter and ate Rice Krispies with me, it was nice. We also sat at the little table and had pancakes together. Dad had fun with Nicole. We had a little play group this morning with Vena, Victoria, and families. It was fun. Justin and Nicole were protective of their trains, but after that played really well. All the kids wanted to play in the back yard even though it was freezing. It was nice dad got to talk to the guys and I got to talk to the girls. So I have discovered everyone is on facebook-I may be peer pressured in joining, ugh! I was happy I was able to keep my hair straight again. After everyone left the kids watched the Christmas train again and again. We had lunch and after lunch the kids played upstairs together. They played so nicely and came down with all these animals. Nicole has been carrying little Duey around like a baby and telling him stories. Justin and I had snack at the little table. I was eating and he said will you eat at the little table with me. So we did and it was cute!

We had to go to Wal Mart again to deal with the batteries, unfortunately the ones we got were old and used. Everything on the shelf was used as well. UGH! We came home and gave the kiddos a bath. The kiddos are loving their laptops, so great. We decide to go look at Christmas lights on this street in Tustin. The kids loved it, even got hot chocolate for the very first time. Once we saw the Christmas village with the train, thats where Justin wanted to stay. He LOVED watching the train. When we walked away from the train, he kept on asking can we go back to the train. It is so wonderful to see the kids little faces as they see all the lights. After we went out for dinner. Justin was acting a little strange, tired. But it passed and he snapped out of it and ate lots of dinner. The kids shared each other’s dinners. We came home and the usual upstairs, read books, tell stories, and to sleep they went.

Well we went to Home Depot early this morning to get our Christmas tree. Unfortunately the kids could have cared less. Here is our tree:

They wanted to look at the decorations at Home Depot instead. But before going to Home Depot we wanted to set up the Christmas train. The kids thought this was the greatest thing ever. They could not wait to get their hands on the train, they just loved watching go around and around. We thought maybe they will be into the tree when we got home, but it was just in the way of the train. Bret was such a sport setting up the Christmas tree. But if I ever wanted a fake one while he was setting it up was the time to ask. Justin was hanging out playing with our non breakable ornaments.

Bret put on the lights while I went and got my haircut finally, I was well over due. I went to a new place and the guy did a great job, it is so straight but tomorrow it will probably be curly again. The kids were a little fighty this afternoon so we headed outside. It was getting cold out but the kiddos played a bit, watched our sprinklers, made tunnels at the bottom of the driveway where the water was going, watched the water go in the drain, and rode bikes. We went in back and the kiddos wanted daddy to swing them and I got to pick up leaves. We went to Wal Mart to get new batteries for their electric cars. We walked around Wal Mart for a bit then headed to dinner. We just ate at Souplantation; the kids ate a hug variety. We read lots of books and told lots of stories; the kiddos are sound asleep.

The kids are loving all these parties. This morning our play group had it’s holiday party. The kids had fun playing with all the toys and seeing their friends. We did a holiday gift exchange and the kids loved opening all the presents. Nicole wanted to wear her Dorothy The Dinasour outfit with tail and all, silly girl. We got home and surprisingly the kiddos ate lunch, they snacked so much at the party I thought they wouldn’t eat. They rode scooters for a bit in the front yard and played in the back as well. They pretended the big bad wolf was outside of their play house. They played on their little laptops for a bit too. They were playing so nicely but I made them stop to do an errand. The kiddos car batteries aren’t working right so I was hoping they were still under warranty. So I took them to the place and they are not under warranty anymore. We will have to buy new ones. Nicole and Justin are calling where we went “The Works” like in the Thomas books. We came home and I gave the kiddos a bath. Then they got in their Christmas outfits and we went to Marcie’s (Matthew) holiday party. The kids had so much fun watching the Christmas train around the tree. They also decorated and ate gingerbread cookies. Santa was there and he sang songs with the kids. It was cute but Santa told the story of baby Jesus and now our kids are singing Happy Birthday Jesus. Santa read stories as well. Justin and Nicole just sat on the couch and listened. Their favorite was Twas The Night Before Christmas, we have been reading that at home as well. They wouldn’t sit on Santa’s lap, oh well. They did make their Christmas wishes known though, they shouted a Diego and Dora bike. Here are some pics:

We came home and the kiddos were so hyper. They were so happy to see daddy and tell him about our day. They went to bed a little late. I cuddled with Justin in his bed, it was so nice.

Well since going to the dentist on Tuesday I have been getting bad headaches. So went back today and they adjusted my bite a bit, hopefully that was it. There went my morning while the kiddos were in pre school. The kids had a great time in pre school. After pre school we had some pre school friends over to play. The kiddos all played really well and it was fun. After everyone left the kiddos took a break and watched some TV. We met Paula and kiddos at Blue Gum Park. The kids played and had a great time. So cute! Of course the kiddos played in the sand, the swings, and the play structure. They were into pushing trucks and boats in the sand. On our way home, they said it is dark we need to go to sleep. Dad had to work a little late, so the kiddos and I just had pizza for dinner. At dinner the kiddos were eating brocoli and decided it was slippery, the kids were cracking up. We cuddled and read lots of books together. We waited for dad to come home then headed upstairs. We still hear the kiddos talking. Actually I think Justin went to sleep and Nicole keeps calling him.

The kids played with trains mostly the entire morning. They kept on saying they are in the special lane (carpool lane) heading to Disneyland, so cute. Then they say there will be fireworks there. I just cleaned up a bit this morning. Then we headed to park day with the mom’s club. It was the holiday party @ Settler’s Park. We had a great time. Nicole was really wanting to play with Teagan, so cute. And Justin found a little boy to play with too. The kids had a big snack so I didn’t have to worry about lunch when we got home. The kids rode their bikes, climbed on the play structures, and really loved being in the sand. The sand was really soft and they were just laying in it. We came home and the kids played trains and trucks. Actually went upstairs to play for a bit. I tried to pick up leaves in the backyard as it was really windy yesterday. I chased them upstairs and then gave them a bath. They wanted to stay in the bath an extra long time. Nicole got out first, so Jusitn just hung out in the bath himself. After we had a snack and did a little more cleaning in our backyard. Then the kiddos watched Thomas and then we went to open gym @ My Gym. Of course the kids had a great time at My Gym. They were very jumpy on the trampoline. They loved sliding into the ball pit and playing in it. On the way home we stopped at Castle Park just for a short time. The kids were monkeys climbing on the play structures and had fun swinging in the tire swing. When we got home they were hungry, so I hurried and made dinner. Just as we sat down to eat daddy came home. The kids played for a bit after dinner. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood to see X-mas lights. So fun to go on night walks with the kids, they brought their little flashlights too. We got home and went upstairs, we are still waiting for Nicole to fall asleep.

This morning I was off early to go to the dentist. Bret got the kids ready and off to pre school. Of course daddy couldn’t leave pre school until he got trailers out of the shed for the bikes. I am miserable from the dentist and Bret has lost his voice. The best part of the dentist was as I was coming out of the elevator, Bret was there to give me a hug-he knows how much I hate the dentist. The cleaners are at our house right now so Bret and I are sitting at Panera with our lap tops together, groaning to one another. We picked up the kids from pre school and all ate lunch together. We ate at Woodbury and the kids had a great time running on the grass. Bret came home to work while I took the kiddos to the grocery store. They were great helpers. We came home and I have been pouty from the dentist. The kids played a bit. It was nice Nicole was in the futon room playing and Justin was playing trains, so no fighting. The kids watched some TV while I addressed Christmas cards. It has just been a blah day! After TV we realized we needed to get out, so dad and I took the kiddos to Blue Gum Park. The kids and us had a great time. They love when we slide down and play with them. We came home and the kiddos brought their trikes in the house and rode around. We had dinner, after dinner we played games with the kids, their favorite Candy Land. Well this seemed like the longest day ever, but the kiddos are in bed sound asleep. Now Bret and I can go groan to one another again, my teeth hurt and his voice is still hoarse.

This morning the kiddos had their first dental app’t. They were amazing! The dentist was able to do everything from counting teeth, to polishing, flouride, etc. Justin was the brave one and went first. He has 18 teeth, waiting for 2 more baby teeth to come in. Nicole has 20 teeth, all her teeth are in. They watched TV and didn’t seem too bothered by the dentist poking in their mouths. Justin’s teeth are closer together than Nicole’s. It was so funny to watch the kids with the suction thing in their mouth, Justin sucked on it like it was a bottle. At the end the kids got new toothbrushes, toothpaste, balloons, and some little toy. I was so proud of our little munch kins and so was the dentist.

After the dentist our day got really fun. It was our My Gym class today, the kids always have at My Gym. Took lots of pictures today. Of course sliding into the ball pit was so much fun, climbing up and hanging from the bar, etc.

After My Gym we came home and had lunch. I gave the kiddos a quick bath so we could head to Disney. Daddy came home early and off to Disney we went. The parade and fireworks were earlier than normal tonight. We got on one ride, the rocket ships then it was pretty much waiting. We had to line up an hour before the parade and the kids were great just sitting there with us. They liked the parade. Just so fun to watch their faces watch everything. They were excited to see Santa and waved to him. The parade was really cute-I am glad we went. Then we went over to see it is a small world lit up for the holidays, so cute! It was pretty crowded so we went and had dinner and waited for the fireworks. The kids seemed to like them. I think they were a little scared by the loud noises but they were mesmorized. It was a great show. We fought the crowd out of there and hiked it back to the car rather than wait for the shuttle. What a fun Monday night we had. Justin fell asleep in the middle of telling stories and Nicole went down pretty quickly as well. We had a big day.