Melissa’s Blog

This morning I decided to take the kiddos to Disney. We have ther greatest time there. We went on so many rides, Wild Toad, Pinnocho, Dumbo, Carousal, Circus Train. Rockets, Tiki Room, etc. The kids loved Dumbo the best they say. Of course the shuttle ride was a ride to them too. It was pretty hot though at Disney today. We ran into some friends as well. It was a great day just exhausting for me. On our way home we stopped at the grocery store as Todd and Penny (Victoria is away) are coming for dinner. The kiddos watched a little TV to rest when we got home. Then we just went out to the front yard. The kiddos rode their bikes and I got some gardening done. All stopped when we ran into Zoe the dog. The kiddos were so happy to see her, Justin threw the ball to her. Nicole decided to ride her trike down the grass hill and over the curb but then she crashed and fell. We brought Zoe and Andrea (neighbor) in to see our house. They have the same floor plan but theirs is totally updated. The kids loved having Zoe in the house. The kids showed her their room. Nicole held onto Zoe’s leash going down the stairs and fell, poor Nicole had lots of falls today. Then she was crying and Justin started, he couldn’t get his underwear down. Both kids are crying, Todd and Penny show up, both kids are still crying….ugh daddy comes home and Nicole starts crying again. The kids went out in the backyard and swung for a while. After dinner the kids played a bit then upstairs. We just read them lots of books. Justin decided to surf on the ottoman and fell off, ugh more crying. The kiddos are sound asleep now.

Today was my day to be snack mom at pre school. I planned it this way so I could bring the kiddos cupcakes to celebrate their birthdays. They both wore their crowns throughout pre school, so cute. They had so much fun at pre school. My job for the day was to make apple sauce. The kids loved cranking the machine peel apples and they loved cutting them up. Also at my table was play doh. It was my kid’s turn to share. Nicole brought her barky dog and Justin brought his measuring tape. Everyone sang happy birthday and the kids got to blow out candles (their friends)-it was really cute. Near the end Nicole decided to paint her hands, arms, pants, etc. Oh well, it was ok and bath was necessary when we got home. On the way home though we stopped at the grocery store to get a few things for dinner. The kiddos took the longest bath ever. I actually had to add more hot water for them. They were enjoying it and relaxing so I just let them be. After bath we had a quick snack then went out to play in the front yard. Paula and kiddos came over. The kids all rode bikes, did play doh, and drove the electric cars. Nicole and Justin loved riding Mikey, Katie, and Sarah’s big kid bikes with training wheels. They did pretty well on them but had some problems going from the street to the side walk. Bernice, our neighbor came over for dinner. Her hubby is away so she came to play for a bit. Nicole loves her and wouldn’t stop talking to her, so cute though. Nicole showed her the Dora and Diego rescue and backpacks. We had a nice dinner and then Justin wanted to play trains. So we all sit in the living room while the kiddos played. We went upstairs, brushed teeth, and lots of books and stories.

This morning was all about play. We ran to the grocery store to snack for pre school for tomorrow. Of course the store and pushing carts is always fun for the kiddos. Well we had a big play date planned, but then little by little people called and said they were sick. Candice and kiddos ended up coming over. Nicole was a little screamy but got over it when she had a snack. The kiddos had fun playing together, dress up, trains, scooters, etc. We had lunch then the kiddos and I made cupcakes together to bring to pre school. The kids love adding ingredients and mixing, so fun. Then I let them watch TV for a bit to distract them while I finished the cupcakes. After we went outside in the front yard and just played. The kiddos helped me clean out the garage a bit. They drove their little electric cars, but Nicole’s wasn’t working that well. I hope that the battery just needs to be charged but we will see. The kiddos rode their trikes, played catch, ran on the greenbelt, etc. We had a great time outside. Maggie and Aliya came by as well to play too. Dad’s car can come back into the garage finally. We had dinner then the kiddos played games (Don’t Break the Ice and CandyLand) with daddy. Justin loves to play games! While playing Candy Land someone got sent to the peanut and dad said “fricken Peanut”. Justin stood up with his arms raised a bit and said fricken peanut. It was so funny but bad at the same time. We read lots of books tonight and the kiddos were pretty tired, we love that!

This morning I had to go to the dentist, yuck. I really dislike the dentist. It went ok and Bret took the kiddos to pre school. The kiddos loved daddy taking them to school. Nicole wanted daddy to stay, so cute. I didn’t do too much while the kiddos were in school, I just sulked abotu the dentist. Daddy went to vote but I decided not to vote. I know what a bad American I am, but my vote wouldn’t have made a difference.  I picked up the kiddos and Nicole was so clingy. We came home and had lunch then we played a bit. I decided to give the kiddos a bath as it is hard at night; I always feel like we are rushing around at night. After bath Justin played trains for a while and Nicole played with her babies. Nicole wouldn’t leave me alone though, very sweet but sometimes I need to do some other stuff. We met Carin at the Spectrum. We went on the carousal, of course. We just walked around and let the kids just play together. We shopped a bit too. The dads came and met us so we could all have dinner at Red Robin. It was nice. Nicole was melting down a bit tonight, both kids were pretty tired. Tonight we have a new President: Barack Obama, first African American President.

This morning we made a new track on the train table and Justin played trains for a long time. Of course he wanted to play the game Break The Ice again. Today was our play ball class. So cute. Nicole was a little shy at first but she came around. Today I am just trying to catch up on things, we ran some errands. We came home and ate lunch then the kiddos played trains for a while. We played at home for a bit-the kiddos were playing with the oven and sticking magnetic letters in there. We ran to Target and then to the grocery store. The kiddos were great. I was afraid I was doing too many errands. They have so much fun at the grocery store with the little carts. I let the kiddos help me find things in the store and get things out of the freezer. They loved the cold, silly kids. They helped load the car and bring in the groceries. And the kiddos even made bringing in trash cans fun! We watched a little TV then I took the kiddos to the Kid’s Gym for open play. They were so excited to go and had a great time. They were really into this swing that had a rope and a disk at the bottom. They were so silly, swinging on it and screaming cheesy for some reason. Paula and her kiddos met us for open gym too. Now that it is getting darker earlier, I need to do this more often with the kiddos. We came home and had dinner. Justin couldn’t wait to play Break The Ice again. When we went upstairs I hid from the kids and they would find me. They were screaming when they found me-it was so silly, then they would run into their rooms as fast as they could. We read lots of new books and told some stories, it is pretty quiet up there now.

Well we woke up this morning and felt like we had been hit by a bus, we are exhausted. Somehow we gained an hour sleep but it doesn’t feel like it. This morning the kiddos opened up their presents, so cute. Justin was so excited opening things and saying oh wow. They were really into opening presents this year. We couldn’t get the video camera out fast enough. The kids were so excited to see all their presents. So far of what we opened, the kids favorite is: the cash register. the t ball set, the hockey sticks, and the game Don’t Break the Ice. This is the first time we have played games with the kiddos.

We ran a few errands this morning and have just been getting organized around here. Nicole has still been wearing her birthday crown again. She loves being the birthday girl. We played with the crystal climbers. I think the kiddos got it about a year ago but now they are big enough. Justin loves the building things. The kiddos watched Thomas and Elmo’s World. Then we decided we needed to get out of the house. We put the kiddos in the bike trailer and went to Woodbury Park. The kids had a great time at the park. When we got home we go the game Candy Land out. Oh my goodness the most frustrating game ever to play with them. They weren’t listening and were just so excited to play it was hard to get them to pay attention. Finally after dinner they got the hang of it. Justin loved it and wanted to play again and again. We read lots of new books tonight that the kiddos got for their birthday and finally are sound asleep.

Today was spent pretty much getting ready for the kiddo’s party plus playing with the new camera. We gave the kiddos a bath and then took pictures. We got some great shots. You may have to click on the picture to see as the thumbnail cuts it down a bit.

Getting ready for a party is a lot of work. It turned out great though. We have wonderful friends who helped us. All the kids played really well together. Nicole and Lexie were playing together so well at the party. It was so cute to watch. We had way too much food. The weather was beautiful and the park lights were perfect. The kids had fun with the glow things and it was neat to look around and see all the glowing (bad for pictures though). Nicole wore her crown the entire night. Nicole and Justin had a blast with Jeremy. It was so cute. They were on the see saw together for a long time. We need to get together with Holly and Jeff more often. The party was wonderful. The kids were hungry and tired when we finally got home. The kiddos loved blowing out their candles-this was the first year they were able to do it. I can’t believe they are going to be 3 soon.

I can’t believe it is Halloween; I feel like I just got my decorations out. This morning we ran to the grocery store then to playgroup at the park. The kids had so much fun at the park. We went to see saw park and yes they spent a lot of time on the see saw. Here is a cute pic of the kids in their batty shirts:

I am loving play with my new camera. After park Vena and I and the kiddos all went to lunch. It was fun watching the kiddos grab each other’s lunch and Nikki eating Vena’s soup. We came home for a bit and then we were off again to visit grandma/pa. They were so excited to see the kiddos in their costumes, Tierney and Uncle Alan were there too. We had lots of fun but couldn’t stay long as we needed to get home to celebrate Halloween. Here are a few pics:

We came home and Grammy came over. Then Uncle Alan and Aunt Roberta and Tierney came too. We had pizza and hung out for a bit and then it was time to go trick or treating. The kiddos were so funny and didn’t want to put on their costumes for some reason. Justin ended up going as a doctor as it was too hot for the dog costume, Nicole as Abby Cadaby, and Tierney as a pumpkin. The kids had so much fun ringing door bells and saying trick or treat. We visited mostly neighbor’s that we knew. It was such a nice night out. So cute to watch Tierney looking all around. We came home and the kiddos dumped out their candy and got to pick a couple pieces each. The kids stayed up a little late and hopefully they won’t be cranky tomorrow. It was a great evening.

I am exhausted and now need to get into party mode.

Nicole woke up early this morning. UGH! It was fun hanging out with her though. She was so cute this morning. I dropped the kiddos off at pre school. Nicole seemed a little more needy but she was ok with me going. I went to pre school early to watch the costume parade. So cute. Nicole AKA Abby Cadaby was busy turning everyone into pumpkins with her magic wand. The kids did a parade outside and the sang songs inside. They also did a little skit, so cute. It was fun. Here are some pics:

We came home and ate some lunch and played a little. Then we headed to Costco to get party food. The kids were great in Costco. I just have to remember and stop and be patient as they look all around. They got great snacks and wanted to help empty the cart. We came home and decided we would get the pumpkins ready for carving. I loosened all the pumpkin guts and Justin loved putting his hands in it.

It took Nicole a long time-she kept on telling me she didn’t want to get her hands dirty. They were mixing all the pumpkin guts in the bowl but then it was getting messy and my kitchen was a mess. So I grabbed the bowl and kids to the greenbelt we went. They had so much fun. They carried pumpkin guts with spoons, mixed it, put it in their hands, tossed it, nice messy fun. They decided to make witch’s brew and added grass and flowers to the pumpkin guts. The kids pretended to be alligators and attack me. They were loving it and so was I. But I was really happy when daddy pulled up and could come play too. After playing a bit on the greenbelt, we decided to carve pumpkins. We made an easy face on one and used these pegs on the other. The kids were able to hammer in the pegs and we made a cat face. The pegs are sort of like lightbright. It was cute and we had a blast. We came in and Nicole wanted to mow the lawn in the backyard, so the kiddos and daddy played while I made dinner. After dinner we watched the video I took of the day. Justin was cracking watching himself playing with pumpkin guts-it was so funny. After it was bath time and to bed.

This morning we went over to Candice’s for a bit. It was a fun play group but we couldn’t stay for long. We got some cute pics of the kids. Here they are:

Later in the day we ran and did some errands for the kid’s party. We are pretty organized. The kids are driving me crazy the last few days. They just want me to play with them every minute of the day. Which is so sweet but I do have a lot to do. I finally turned on the TV so I could bring stuff in from the car. After we played, I gave them lots of attention. We read a ton of book as well. Justin decided to pretend vaccuum with my Dyson. We played with the pirate ship and puzzles. We did a little gardening as well. But Justin was putting all the good dirt in the recycling bin, so I gave up. We headed to Maggie and Aliya’s for playdate. On the way we ran into Zoe the dog. The kids were so excited, Justin threw the ball to Zoe for a while. So cute to watch and Zoe is such a nice dog. We got to Maggie’s and the kids bounced a bit and played. I used the oven timer so dinner cooked while I was away from home-nice! We came home and had dinner and the kids wanted to show daddy their new shoes (princess and tow mater croc things with fleece inside-cozy). We showed the kids some of their glow in the dark stuff for their party and they loved it. We went upstairs and just read a lot of books and put them to bed. They have been so needy lately. I try to remember they won’t be this young for long and stop and play with them.