Melissa’s Blog

Well this Thanksgiving we decided to ditch family and take the kiddos to Knotts Berry Farm. We had a fantastic day and I am tired. The kids loved all the rides, the cars, the trucks, the Snoopy bounce house, trains, planes, carousal, parade, shows, etc. They were all smiles on all the rides. We watched the character show with Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, etc. It was cute and the kids liked it. We also saw the skating show. Nicole really loved this, Justin got bored near the end. Nicole has been really interested in ice skating since we have read the Barbie ice skating book, she even asked if Barbie was going to be skating. Nicole loved it when Snoopy skated. We walked around the ghost town and went on the train that gets “robbed”. Nicole was a little scared of the robbers at first, Justin was indifferent. The kiddos did give the “robbers” high fives, etc so it was all good. The kids LOVED watching all the big roller coasters and water rides. They were really great today; no meltdowns. They loved watching the parade. I can’t wait to show them the Disney parade as the parade at Knotts was disappointing but like I said the kids loved it. Knotts was way more crowded then I thought it was going to be, but we didn’t really have any long lines. It was a great day! We went and had breakfast for dinner and both kids were really good at dinner. We will have our bug turkey day meal tomorrow. We just didn’t have the energy tonight to cook. The kids came home and played trains before bed. We went upstairs and read books and told stories. Kiddos fell right to sleep and I am about to follow. Here is only one picture of our day (I couldn’t take too many with my little crappy camera now that I have the better one).

It rained a lot last night. This morning the kiddos played so well, I loved hanging out with them. We went over to Stacey’s for a playdate. The kiddos had a great time playing with all of Nikki’s toys. They shared really well. The liked Nikki’s little electric ATV even though my kiddos were too big for it. The kids and adults all had lunch. It was just a great morning. After I ran to Target to get Justin a new cup finally, he picked a green one this time. We just took our time around Target then headed to Carters. It started raining on us, the kids were so excited. They didn’t care if they got wet at all, they wanted to watch the rain. They rarely see rain-they even told me I would need the wipers on in my car. We also saw a rainbow but the kids didn’t seem to care. On the way back to the car we stopped at the little Farmer’s Market and the kiddos picked up some fruit to eat for a snack. We came home and played for a bit. Then Staci (instructor from Playball) came over. The kids seemed really excited. I left and met Bret. Bret and I saw a movie, the first time in about 2 years. We saw Role Models, predictable and stupid but just what we needed. It felt so good to just sit and watch a movie. Then we went to BJ’s for dinner, so yummy! We got home and the kiddos were so happy, loved having Staci here. They walked to the park and played in the puddles, they seemed to love that. Played lots of trains and ate dinner. They had a great time, so glad we found a great sitter again. I can’t wait to go out again. The kids were pretty hyper when we got home, much better than having them unhappy. But they went to bed easily.

I had a dentist app’t at 7:00 to have more work done on my teeth. Really I am being pathetic but it sucked. Bret dropped the kiddos off at pre school and then switched cars with me. I was at the dentist for a while. After I stopped at Bret’s work as I needed a hug from my hubby after the dentist. Then I ran errands. I stopped at Target to get the kiddos a few games then I found bikes for them (Diego and Dora). Our friend may be giving us a bike for Nicole. But we feel a bit bad as we made it seem like she would get a Dora bike. I don’t think she will be disappointed but who knows. If she is really upset, we may cave in and give her the Dora one. If niot we can just return it. I am so glad we finally found bikes for the kids, now daddy gets to put them together. Then I ran to the paint store again and got hopefully the right paint this time. The pre school was having families come for Stone Soup (veggie based with lots of veggies). It was cute and fun to be with the kids. They loved eating the pumpkin pie they made. They told all their friends they made it. After we met Candice and Vena and kids at Orchard Hills for pizza and play. Then I ran to the grocery store to get fixings for Turkey Day. We came home and the kiddos watched TV. The kids played so well with trains so I finished painting. We also had snack upstairs so I could keep painting. It kept my mind off my hurting teeth, ugh. I gave the kiddos a bath finally, it has been a few days. Then we decided to go and ride bikes before it got dark. We biked all around the neighborhood, it was going so well until the end. Nicole fell and then all of a sudden we heard a burglar alarm and it scared Justin. So here I am so close to home with two crying kids. Luckily dad was home and heard the alarm and came out. After dinner, the kiddos just played trains on the train table but with no tracks, silly kids. But not a lot of fighting so it was a nice evening. Upstairs we went and the kiddos loved peeling the painter’s tape off the wall. We read books and off to sleep they went. Justin fell asleep during the stories, but he was up early.

This morning the kiddos and I just played this morning. Trains, trains, and more trains. Plus I tried to clean up the house a bit. Today was our last Playball class. The kids really enjoyed this class. But Justin is asking for My Gym, so I called to sign us up! Playball was so much fun. The kids did so well-I love watching them and I am amazed at all they can do. We came home and had lunch. Then the kiddos played. They played upstairs while I tried to finish painting their room. Since they were so good painting I told them they could help cook the pumpkin pie I had to make for pre school. They love cooking. Thank goodness the cleaners are coming tomorrow as we made a big mess! Then I let them watch some TV. I finished painting or so I thought..I even touched up the entire house. But then I looked and the white paint we got blended from Home Depot was not the same color as ours. So after TV time, we went to buy Vista paint and painted yet again. Come to find out later that I got the duoroglide which is different then what we have on our walls. So this looks to white compared to our walls. Yes I want to scream. I felt so bad as I didn’t get good play time with the kiddos that I told them when daddy got home we could go for a walk and get pizza. So the kiddos grabbed their skateboard kitty and dog and off we went to walk to the pizza place. It was really nice but I was still steaming about the paint. The kids played games or pretended to play, they love driving. They were too excited to play games so they gobbled up a slice of pizza and back to games. The minute we stepped out the door Justin declared he was still hungry and Nicole followed. So they ate pizza and walked home. Nicole has nicknamed her skateboard kitty, Fluffy and Justin nickamed his dog Henry. The kids and daddy played downstairs for a while. I tried to run around to get ready for the cleaners. Tomorrow morning I have an early dentist app’t so can’t leave anything for the morning.

This morning I woke up early and read the entire paper before anyone got up, I rarely get uninterrupted moments like this. Daddy started working on painting the kiddos room. He finished the primer coat-yeah! The kids and I played, mostly in the empty room with the tent and tunnel. I had some painter’s tape that didn’t stick too well to the wall, so I let the kids put it all over the wall. They loved it. Nicole said she was putting Angela’s name on the wall (name from a book, Red, Blue, I Like You). Justin wanted really long pieces of tape. After the kids fought over trains, so we escaped to the park. The kiddos rode their trikes to the little park across Eastwood (the one where Tracey went down the slide). It was fun being outside. We came home and had lunch then decided to finish painting a bit. The kids watched Diego while we painted. We got one coat of blue paint (needs two coats) on Justin’s wall and Nicole’s only needed one coat of pink. It is looking really cute. Can’t believe this is the second time we are painting the kiddos room. After I took the kiddos grocery shopping, it was so crowded though and there were no little carts. But the kids still did well and discovered new ways of helping me. After we got home we ran to Santa Ana Mall for a few things. Of course the store was out of the sizes we needed, ugh. The kids got hungry earlier, so we ate at Olive Garden at the mall. Justin is being such a momma’s boy these days and Nicole a definite daddy’s girl, with one exception they both want me when they cry. We came home and the kiddos watched while daddy made sure a vcr/dvd was working, of course they would have loved to watch more than 5 minutes. We put their room back together a bit then read books. I didn’t think Nicole would go to sleep tonight but luckily she did.

Well no nightmares last night, so guess the kiddos are ok from Pirates. We all had fun playing with Tierney, unfortunately she went home this morning.

Dad was on a mission to get some stuff off his to do list. The kiddos and I read some books and played upstairs. Then we all moved outside to paint. What a mess. After painting straight into the bath. Quick bath as it was lunch time. After lunch we all played in the backyard for a while, they wanted daddy to swing them. After I ran an errand and dad and the kids watched TV. Then snack time. We decided we all needed to get out of the house, so the kiddos biked on their trikes to Castle Park. They love going around the track and putting lots and lots of pine cones in their baskets. They have to get every pine cone out there. Then we played at the park for a bit. Came home and got ready for dinner. We were meeting Alan, Tierney, and Grandma/pa at Dave and Busters (Spectrum) for a late birthday celebration. Justin LOVES games. He was fascinated driving the car with daddy. You should have seen his face, crashed a lot but over all did a pretty good job. The kids did other games and we spent a lot of time at Ski Ball. Tierney was exhausted and went to sleep. Nicole and I turned in tickets and she picked out a ball for herself and one for Justin. The kiddos went to bed a little late but we had a good time.

Bret had to do a little work this morning, then he took the rest of the day off. We went to Disney. We are exhausted but had a great time. We went on so many rides, rocket ships, Buzz Light Year, circus trains, carousal, Pirates (this is where the kids may require therapy), the big steamboat,  and Tom Sawyer Island. It’s A Small World just re-opened. It was all decked out with holiday, so cute. The kids loved it. The kids did not like Pirates, looking back on it what were we thinking? The first water slide thing the kids just cried, we are happy to report they survived. Oh well we tried it. On Tom Sawyer Island the kiddos loved the crazy bridge, we did it over and over again. It was a great day. I didn’t sleep that well last night so I was tired. We came home and the kids fought over trains again. Nicole loves to bug Justin. We are babysitting over night for Tierney. We are so excited to have her. We wrapped her in a blanket and let her swing in the backyard, she seemed to really enjoy it. Nicole loved having baby T here. She helped whenever she could, she swung her, helped me feed her, played toys with her, so cute. She also helped us with a Chrismakkah present for her parents (can’t write just in case they are reading). It came out so cute I can’t wait to give it to them. Dad and the kids played a game called, Don’t Wake Up Daddy. Poor Justin when the dad woke up it scared him to death. Tierney loved all the stimulation but finally just crashed at 7:30, poor thing was exhausted. Our kiddos were pretty tired too from their long day.

This morning we needed to get up and get to pre school, I was working there today. The kids wanted me to be the blue mom, so I got to play in the sand (get messy and muddy-woo hoo). It was fun as my kids hung out with me for a while then all the other kids joined in. We had fun building in the sand, using water-I was so wet. The kids swung for a while as well. Nicole shared her Elmo dentist and doctor check up book and Justin shared one of his trains. I love watching them share-they are so proud to share their stuff. We came home and had lunch. The kids say they are starving but then they barely eat. They have such a big snack at pre school. Today at school everyone was outside and I couldn’t see Nicole. I had Justin go get her and she was happily still eating her snack by herself. After lunch we cleaned up a bit as we are having friends over this afternoon. Then we made brownies for the pre school meeting tonight. I needed a break so the kiddos watched Thomas and Elmo’s World. While watching TV Nicole had to go pee pee and she actually asked me to pause it, she told me she didn’t want to miss anything. After a bunch of friends came over to play. Neyha, Krish, and Isha came for a visit. It was great, just like play group used to be. It was crazy but really fun.

We had dinner and then I was off to a meeting at pre school.

This morning we packed up the bike trailer and biked to Home Depot. I needed painting supplies. The kids were great in the trailer. I rewarded them with a trip to Woodbury Park. We met lots of friends there. It was really fun and nice to see people. We biked home, the kiddos were occupied in the trailer with apples. The kiddos were so good that I decided to take the kiddos out for lunch. It was fun then we ran to Trader Joes. We came home and I gave the kiddos a bath. Grammy came over to see us before heading to NZ tomorrow. She stayed for a bit and told the kiddos some stories and had snack with us. After Grammy left we ran to Costco. It was a little crowded but we managed to get everything we needed. The kids listened really well. When we got home the kiddos fought over trains and we had dinner. After dinner, we played with the kiddos for a while. The kiddos seemed pretty tired so we just sat on the couch and read lots of books. Daddy worked on his new laptop for a bit. We went upstairs and put the kiddos to bed.

I have been asking a lot of people their opinions of holding November birthday kids back a year before starting kindergarten. I am shocked to discover the majority of people who have late birthdays do hold their kids back. Wow this was a huge shocker for me. We have a lot to think about, but luckily don’t need to make the decision for another year. I love the idea of having the kiddos home an extra year but I have to decide what is best for them. Anyway it was pre school day and I wasn’t working. I dropped the kiddos off, they were so excited to go since they missed last week. I went to the gym then came home. I wanted to start painting the kiddos room. But by the time I got started, everything upstairs and prepped, I only got a little of the painting done (just primer on some of the walls). We came home and the kiddos played. They have been fighting over trains so much lately, Nicole wants to play with what Justin has. I finally started playing babies with Nicole to distract her. I am trying to remember to have the kids start helping more around the house, like dishwasher, clear their plates, etc. They are at such stage that they want to help, I better take advantage of it. The kiddos watched TV while I tried to build their new kitchen/bbq combo thing. I gave up on step # 6 after I hammered my thumb. We hadn’t been to the park in a while so we headed to Blue Gum with trikes. We had such a great time, swinging, sliding, playing, etc. When we got home we walked to find daddy and he drove us home. Daddy worked on building the kitchen and the kids assisted. Finished it and the kids played with it a bit. We all read books for a bit and off to bed.