Melissa’s Blog

The weekend went by way too fast. Poor Bret was up late working last night. Justin called out mommy in the middle of the night so I ended up sleeping in his bed for a bit. This morning we had pre school. I was a working mom and of course the kids wanted me in the sand. We had a great time playing with water, washing all the trucks, doing hopscotch, etc. I know I am bias but I am also so impressed with how my kiddos sit at circle time. They sit in the front row and listen so well. The kids in the back were pretty disruptive. I see the other kids and definitely think mine are ready for kindergarten. Justin and Nicole shared together-their canteens. Justin was the canteen that came with his cowboy costume and Nikki’s is a lion king cup. The kids played outside in the front of the school for a while with their friends. We didn’t even eat lunch until after 1:00. The kids played Geotrax while I cleaned up for the cleaners and did laundry. The kids convinced me not to go to the grocery store. So we went on a bike ride instead. We ran into some neighbors and their dog and then went on bunny path. We saw two bunnies. When Justin pays attention he does pretty well on his two wheeler, he gets easily distracted. The kids had fun on bunny path. They walked on all the stepping stones, collected dandellions, etc. When we got home Nikki put on her leotard and tutu. Then she needed ballet slippers/tap shoes. I wanted to wash my car and Nikki didn’t want to . So she stayed instead and practiced a routine for us to watch. Dad came home just as Justin and I were going to wash my car. It has been a while since washing my car. Then it was all about the Wii-Mario Kart. Nikki asked for ravioli for dinner. So decided just for her we would have tortellini (closest thing I had to ravioli). The kids decided they wanted to swing. I swung them while dad made dinner. I can’t believe they still fit in those swings-I am getting a bit nervous though since the kids are much heavier now. After dinner the kids wanted to cut the grass that Justin planted at school. It wasn’t long enough so we told them they could cut our grass with scissors. They loved it! They got a bucket and put water in it. Then they added the grass clippings and pretending to pick veggies from the garden and said they were making soup. It was the cutest thing ever. It was getting late so we came in and got ready for bed.

Dad had to work late last night. So I tried to let him sleep in a bit this morning. Justin and I came down and played with GeoTrax for a bit then Nikki came down too. We got ready for a cowboy/cowgirl party. I didn”t have any western for Justin so I ran out this morning and got some. The kids looked so cute as a cowboy/cowgirl. We had a great time at our friend’s birthday party. The kids got to ride ponies, hit a pinata, eat cake, etc, so what more can they ask for. It was a really nice party. We came home and the kids needed a bath. I finally got them in the bath. Dad had to do work in between playing, etc today. I had a photography meeting at our house so the kids played and watched a new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. The kids played fairly well with the other kids while the photography thing was going on. A photographer came and talked to us, it was pretty enlightening. It seems like photography is all subjective. Dad did really well keep an eye on the kids, poor dad has a hard time with other people’s kids. Something went down at work and he has been working off and on all day. He will be working late tonight too, it sucks. Here are a few pics of our day:

I skipped blogging yesterday and we had a fun day too. Justin came in our room early and cuddled with me, it was so nice. After pre school we came home for a bit then headed to our friend’s house in Ladera Ranch. The kids were so excited to play with her toys. They have this dizzy disc thing that the kids can sit on and spin. We actually borrowed it and the kids are loving it. We also went to the park and the kids just had a great time playing. We went over to Woodbury for dinner. The kids played on the grass and fed the plants tortilla chips-I am not sure why but they were having a blast. They also found a penny each and kept looking for more. This morning was soccer. Nikki had a lot of bigger kids on her team so she didn’t get the ball much. But she still kept running like a trooper. Justin had fun with the fun games they played. Then they took team pictures. We came home and had lunch. The kids wanted to go in the jacuzzi. They were afraid of the bees by the plant by the jacuzzi so I ended up going in the jacuzzi with them. It made me so tired that I took a power nap. The kids played some Wii for a bit and seemed a bit tired when we turned it off. They were a little fighty this afternoon. They played really nicely for a bit then would fight, ugh. Dad took a power nap too, to bad we couldn’t take one at the same time. We went to our neighbor’s grandson’s birthday party tonight. The kids had a great time, who wouldn’t new toys to play with and cake. They had a pinata and Justin just hit that thing so hard, we were impressed. Nicole hit it and part of it fell down too. Can’t believe how strong the kiddos are getting. We are being able to let our kids play while we talk to other adults, it is really great. We didn’t get home until 8:00 and didn’t get the kids down until about 8:45. Hopefully they will sleep in. So Nicole likes when I scratch her all over basically before she goes to sleep, including her arm pits.

Busy night last night, Justin soaked through his diaper or something so I had to change his  bed in the middle of the night. So funny I thought no more laundry. I think I have done a load of laundry each day this week. Justin woke up us bright and early this morning. He went back to sleep in our bed but I don’t think dad or I did. We decided to take it easy at home this morning. The kids really played well together. They were having picnics, bringing things upstairs, etc. Justin walked Nikki as she pretended she was a dog. I played a stranger who asked to pet Justin’s dog. I was able to make a few calls. Of course playing together can only last so long but like I said they did really well. We ran some errands. I needed to return some things. The kids at first didn’t want to go, but Justin found a Hot Wheels shirt he loves and Nicole found a Thumper one. With the excitement in their faces I had to buy them. We ate lunch then I dropped the kids off at their get ready for kinder class. I tried to go shopping for myself for a bit then came home and relaxed. I started a movie but who knows when I will finish it. It was such a cold day that laying on the couch was awesome. I picked up the kiddos. It is Earth day today and the kids made things out of recycable things. I was greeted with a great big sculpture of an airplane from Justin. It was awesome and he was proud. The kids played outside for a bit. They were so happy to finally be able to play outside at their class. They rode bikes and took turns giving each other rides in the trailer. We got home and we called grandma/pa to say hi. The kids were wild. They were inside and outside, running all around. Finally I got them in the tub. Meanwhile I put dinner in the oven and cleaned up their rooms. They made a mess! We keep talking at dinner about how we always sit in the same chairs. We always forget to switch places. The kids played Wii after dinner and I was off to the pre school meeting. Luckily during the meeting I was able to work on some of my membership stuff. When I got home Nikki was still awake. She just reached out for me and of course I crawled in her bed and cuddled. She actually made room for me in the bed.

Justin came in our bed bright and early (6:15). I tried to get him back to sleep but I suddenly realized that was not going to happen. He sat in our bed and read books while dad and I tried to wake up. Nicole was the opposite and slept in, I almost had to wake her up. I worked at school this morning. I was an outside mom and boy was it cold out. We put together an obstacle course that the kids really liked. We tried doing 3 legged races. I put N&J’s legs together and they did pretty well. It was pretty funny. Nikki shared her baby alive doll whose name is now Butterfly. Justin shared his binoculars. The kids planted marigold flowers to bring home. It is all about earth week at school. The kids did pretty good at cutting things out. Nikki and Keyon were great buddies today, she sat in the trailer while he biked her around then they switched. He even laid in Nikki’s lap during a story, so sweet. It was a fun day at school.  We headed to the library to return books and get new ones. The kids picked out books in record time. We had some lunch then I read the books to the kids. I read a ton of books and was falling asleep. Finally I needed a nap, so I turned on George for the kids and took a quick nap. There must have been a tree house on George and the kids decided to make a treehouse out of books on the fireplace. Then we headed to the library for story/craft time. It was all about caterpillars and the kids made cute ones. After we played outside with our friends. It was so cold and the kids were running around like crazy. They were playing hide n seek too, it was great. When we got home we all made a pizza for dinner. The kids also did some puzzles together. We went upstairs and Nikki and I had a tea party while dad and Justin played Crazy 8’s. We pretended dentist-this is the easiest way to brush/floss Nikki’s teeth. Then we read some library books. The kids are sitting through longer and longer books these days. Justin fell asleep while I was visiting him and I laid on Nikki’s floor for a bit hoping not to hear mommy when I came downstairs. Dad was teaching Nikki so many words in Spanish. She asked me how to say candy in Spanish, when I said I don’t know she said “I will ask daddy in the morning he knows a lot”.

This morning I got caught up on laundry and cleaned up a little bit. The kids played Wii for a bit. Dad  unlocked new tracks/characters on Mario Cart. We met some friends at Orchard Park  this morning for a play date. The kids had a great time. It is so great lately that they play so well that I can just sit, watch, and relax. They are really into playing with sand at the park and one of their friends brought their rocket launcher. They kids had a great time with that. We came home and a friend of theirs came home with us for a bit. The kids all hung out and read books. After lunch I needed to take the kids to their get ready for kinder class. They both came out with some cool pictures they made. Their art work is looking really good these days. They made pics with stamps and included the grass and the sky. Nikki didn’t visit her brother today but I think they had a combined project so they were able to see each other. I rode daddy’s bike to him and took his car. This way he can ride home and I can get some exercise. It is a win-win. The kids were so excited that I had daddy car. We were all so happy to have the sun roof open. When we got home the kids played and made a mess. They dumped all their pretend food and all of Justin’s cars. They were pretending to give each other X-mas presents. Then they took a bath together. We tried to hurry since it started raining a little bit. I was thinking dad would need us to pick him up. It certainly made bath quicker than normal. After bath the  kids read some books then we played out in the garage and outside while waiting for dad to come home. The kids were hungry so we made dinner. Poor Bret bbqing in the rain. Then his umbrella blew away 🙂 After dinner the kids played Wii for a bit. Dad played Memory with the kiddos while I cleaned up. My kids are so lucky that I clean up all the time for them but I do need to make them do it more. Dad played games with Justin while Nicole and I played doll house. We all read books and then lots of cuddling. Kiddos are sleeping.

It was dad’s work from home day. I dropped the kiddos off at preschool. I ran to the grocery store then headed home. It was nice to be in the house alone with Bret. We just cuddled a bit and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I finished editing some pics.

When I went to pick the kids  up from pre school, everyone said how Nicole and Keyon were buddies. She was playing with Keyon almost the entire time. I decided to take the kiddos to Disney. We hadn’t been in so long. We had a great time but I am tired. The kids were too and went right to bed. We went on all the normal rides, the rocket ships, the autopia, etc. We saw the show by the firehouse with Chip and Dale, Cruella, and Goofy. The kids loved it and were so excited to see the characters.  We headed over to CA Adventure. The kids decided they wanted to see the Clubhouse show so we did that. They love to dance and sing during the show. Then we had dinner in the stroller and waited for the parade. So cute the kids yelling out as they see the characters. Nicole was so excited to see Boo from Monsters, Inc. Justin loved Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater. We had a great time at Disney today. When we got home the kids and dad played Memory then off to bed.

Nicole woke up saying her belly hurt in the middle of the night, too much ice cream before bed.  She woke up this morning and felt better. Justin visited us early this morning but went back to bed. The kids actually slept in a bit. The kids played Wii a bit while we read the paper. Dad went to run a Sunday morning errand. He has been liking going out by himself, but he wasn’t gone that long. Dad dealt with jacuzzi chemicals and I did some gardening. The kids got all into the digging part of the gardening. We decided to pack up and go to the beach. We had a great time at the beach. We made a ton of sand castles, buried children, and went in the ocean. Justin couldn’t wait to go to the ocean. Nicole and I stayed on the sand for a bit. Finally we got Nicole in the water. Of course when she finally got down there we knew she would love it and she did. The waves were big and strong today. So cute watching the kids in the water. They were running into the waves then running away from them, screaming and laughing. We were at the beach for a while. When we got home I gave Nicole a shower while dad and Justin played Wii, then Justin’s turn for a shower. The kids were pretty tired and so were dad and I from the sun and the beach. Dad and Nikki went to go get some dinner. I got some alone time with Justin. Him and I played race car and trains. Totally reminded me of when we first got the train table and how the kids would always take the track apart. After dinner we all went in the jacuzzi for a bit. It was pretty relaxing for a bit but then Nikki got wild. She was pretending to be Shamu and splashing. They had a great time in the warm jacuzzi. We went right upstairs and the kids drew pictures. They are starting to draw people, so cute. Justin added a beard to one of his guys and Nikki made a mask and a snorkel on one of her people. We pretended dentist. The kids lie down and I pretend I am the dentist while I brush and floss their teeth. Nikki loves it for some reason. I even pretend to be a bib on them and count their teeth. Then we read lots of books and off to bed. I was almost falling asleep in Justin’s bed and he just said it is ok mommy you can sleep here. What a sweet kid.

Soccer morning! We walked over to soccer. Nicole played first and had fun. The girl’s coaches aren’t really good at explaining what the kids are doing, so I can tell Nicole gets frustrated. She was playing a game where she was the winner but it took her a minute to understand. Justin told Nikki she was doing a great job…such love. Nikki really kept up with all the running and had such great determination. Justin did great too. He made a few goals. The boy’s team is so much more organized. We took our time walking home. We stopped overlooking the freeway so the kids could try and get trucks to beep at them. They love it. Justin wanted to check out the “new” park. I guess he had never seen this park but it wasn’t new. It was the kids elementary school. So we stopped there for a bit to let the kids play. We had to leave as one of the kiddos had to go potty. It seems as though it will take 10-15 minutes to walk the kiddos to kindergarten, not too bad at all. The kids played in the backyard for a bit, we heard laughing and both kids were a little wet. We also went out front and the kids drove their cars for a bit. They both ran up to their rooms and brought down stuffed animals to drive around. Justin brought down Mr. Lizard and Pumpkin, 2 very large animals. So large that only one fit in his car. Then we had to get ready to meet my photography group for a photo shoot. I am hoping we got a good family picture. As soon as I am done blogging I will look at some of the ones that Bret took with my camera. We took pics at Hicks Canyon path. The kids had fun playing at the park while we waited for everyone to show up. On the path just added more fun for the kids. They were all running together, pretending to fish, picking up leaves, sticks, etc. All of a sudden it was 5:45 and we  had to figure out dinner. But the kids saw the park and wanted to play more and we let them. When the group all got back to the park, we all decided to go get some dinner. We sat outside and the kids were able to play. The kids were running around and having such a great time, not one fight. In between playing they ate dinner. Nicole really had lots of fun with a girl named Lily that I hope we see her again. The kids wanted ice cream so we stopped at Dairy Queen then headed home. It was straight upstairs, jammies, brush teeth, etc.

Bret and I were so tired last night we ended up in bed early. This morning I was working at pre school. We didn’t have much time this morning except to get dressed and eat breakfast. The kids wanted me to be blue mom, so in the sand I went. We made a ton of sand castles and all the kids mashed them at the same time, so cute. I love watching N&J paying attention and listening so well in school. Today Justin shared Dinoco AKA the King (car from the Cars movie) and Nikki took a teddy bear named gum drop. After pre school we ran to the library to return a book the kids borrowed from a friend. They lent us a library book. The book was called Sweet Tooth and the kids just loved this book, we read it a lot. We came home and the kids helped me make lunch. We were pretty lazy today and just hung around. We read a ton of books which made me sleepy. While Nikki was in the bath, Justin and I played crazy eights. He is so determined to win and block me which he did. The kids got in the tub together for a bit but fighting started. So Nikki got out and Nikki and I played crazy eights. She has the same determination to win like Justin. We packed up a picnic dinner and headed to train path. Dad met us there after work on his bike. We just had a nice picnic. We brought a ball so we played catch for a while, kicking, and we made a basket for the ball to go in. We saw lots of trains! We didn’t stay too long as it started to get cold. I thought we wold have a Wii free day but dad caved when we got home. The kids love it and I did enjoy the break a bit. We went upstairs and got ready for bed. Nikki wanted to pretend she was at the dentist. So she laid down while I brushed and flossed her teeth. Justin was asking to read Three Blind Mice, so dad read that book to him. We read Llama Llama Red Pajama and Nicole wanted to hear it over and over again. I tried to visit her for a long time so she didn’t call me up over and over. I think it worked.