Melissa’s Blog

I keep wondering when life is going to calm down. We have been crazy lately. This morning we went over to a friend’s house for a holiday play date. It was really fun. The kids played so well with all the different toys. They had lunch with their friends and got to decorate cookies. There was also a gift exchange. The moms broke out the mimosas, totally made the play date so much better. We had to stop at Grammy’s to drop off the tracks for Henry. There was traffic but I know Henry will enjoy them. The kids got crazy hyper at Grammy’s. Her gardener was there trimming the big tree and the kids were all curious and watching. Nicole at the party this morning saw a mom wearing a Santa hat and really wanted one. So we stopped at Target to try and look for one. No such luck but Grammy had one and I dig mine out. Of course digging mine out made me realize how much junk we have. That closet it such a nightmare to get things out of. I always think no big deal as it is only once a year-I will have to clean it out when I put all the decorations away. I did a ton of laundry today and still have a load or two to do. The kids took a quick shower, really quick. They were wanting to play. They were crazy playing, but fun crazy. I did more laundry and cleaned out my car a bit. The kids took a huge pad of paper and were drawing together-it was so cute. I should have taken a picture as I haven’t taken many pics lately. We had dinner then headed over to some friends house. Nicole and Penny played together-they were so happy to see each other. Justin was having a great time too. We saw their cool Christmas decorations and visited with friends. It was nice to get out. I cleaned up like crazy tonight to get ready for the cleaners. The kids went right to bed.

Well you would have thought I would have slept in, nope I was up at 7:00ready to get up. It will hit me later. The kids are having a great time at grandma/pa’s. Although Nikki went to bed really late, so we will see how that goes. I got some things done this morning and relaxed, it was nice. We wrapped presents, lots of presents. I ran out to Target for a few things then we just waited for our kiddos to come home. I worked on my picture calendar for next year and finally finished. It was nice to have the kiddos home, I missed them a lot. I love getting the biggest hugs from them. Bret ran out and got a pizza for lunch for all of us. Grandma/pa stayed a bit longer so Bret and I could run to Toys R Us. We returned Nicole’s doll house as she is going to use my old one (kinda cool). Maybe one day her daughter will use it, who knows. So we got some people for it. Bret walked to the park with the kiddos while I finished up around here. I swear I am always shifting things around and cleaning and it still looks messy. We headed to Grammy’s to celebrate an early Christmas. The kids were so excited for the presents. They are at the age that clothes suck. They couldn’t wait for more and more presents, good thing Grammy got a lot. Nicole loved the boxes, santa nested boxes and Justin’s favorite was the red model car to put in his room. Mine was the money that I am going to put toward a camera bag. We had dinner, lots of food and deserts. Seriously I need to get back on a diet. We are overwhelmed with all the toys and our messy house right now. Nicole was in a great mood all night and helpful. The kids played Santa at Grammy’s. This entailed taking all the boxes and bags and pretending Justin was Santa and Nicole was an elf. They were putting all their stuff under the piano which was the tree. It was great. They chose to play rather than watch the Up movie. I was really surprised by that. The kiddos are sound asleep. Justin was my cuddle bug tonight and Nicole was so sweet when I was putting her to bed.

Family back in tact. We took it easy today. The kids played with daddy and I did laundry. I also ran out to get some last minute Christmas shopping done. I got Justin the race track he has always wanted like Mikey’s. It will be his gift from Santa. We got out my Christmas train. Dad put it around the train table instead of the train. Too hard to get it around the Christmas tree after it is already up. The kids couldn’t wait for dad to finish with it. I finally finished Christmas cards-woo hoo. We walked some to the neighbor’s mailbox. The kids put their Chip and Dale animals in their strollers and took them for a walk. It is so warm today, such a nice December day. We found some pine cones on our walk so we decorated them. The kids decorated with glitter and glue. We also got sharpie pens out and decorated their buckets from pre school. Keeping the kiddos busy has been hard today. The kids packed up to go to grandma/pa’s tonight while Bret and I go to a party. We also made snowman snow globes. They are so cute, it was a project that a mom gave us from our Coastline class. The kids were pretty needy today always calling us. We needed a bit of a break so the kiddos watched TV. I worked on putting more pics together for my photo calendar I do every year. Bret and I dropped the kiddos off at grandma/pa’s. They were excited to go. We miss them but we had a great night out. We ran to Wal-Mart for some last minute shopping. Since I gave Nicole my doll house we are going to return the other doll house I bought and get her something else. I keep thinking I am done Christmas shopping but then I think of something else. Bret and I had a great night out. We went to one of Bret’s old high school buddies house. After a few drinks things were good. The people were really friendly and I am still a little buzzed. Off to bed soon-the good news is I can sleep in in the morning.

Justin came to visit me in the middle of the night. He laid sideways across the pillows and filled up Bret’s side nicely. Today we are planning just a quiet day. We stayed home this morning and played. The kids are doing more and more puzzles these days. And so proud of themselves for completing it. Nicole did a care bear puzzle while Justin was working on the Car one. She finished first and I heard her ask Justin if he needed help then she said we will surprise mommy, so cute. I love when they help each other. We ran to Kohl’s to do a return and the grocery store. We ran into some friends there. Justin really wanted this fire engine shirt but when I saw the long line he wanted to wait and wait. The kids were being so kind to one another that I gave them some pennies to throw in the fountain. I love the little things that make them so happy. Nicole is getting a little screamy that I hope she isn’t getting sick. We decided to just take it easy and not rush around. So we had lunch then played in the yard. The kids helped me garden then I let them watch some TV. I am getting more hopeful about my pending photography business. I have received so many compliments on the pics that I have taken for friends, they are saying lots of people are giving them compliments too. The kids pounced on me in our bed. I let them jump all over me, mess up my hair, and I pushed them down on the bed. We had a great time. After the kid’s shower we put the kids bikes in the car and went to train path. The kids biked for a bit and I tried to jog. The kids kept stopping. They wanted to stop at the grass patch and play duck duck goose and so we did. It was fun. We ran to Michaels and then headed to Grammy’s. On the way to Grammy’s dad called so we went to pick him up at the airport. We were so excited to see daddy. We had dinner at Grammy’s and played. The kids were all over the Scooby Doo punch bag, although it became a soccer ball. On the way home we stopped off to get dad’s car by the airport. Justin went home with daddy. Dad gave the kiddos Chip and Dale stuffed animals and they were so excited. It was really cute. We were going to give them to them for Christmas but I knew daddy wanted to bring them back something. They are both sleeping with their chipmunks. They both said it was exactly what I wanted, so cute.

Can’t wait for dad to come home tomorrow. The kids and I had fun at Grammy’s. This morning Justin woke up and said the planes were too loud. The kids got a special breakfast, Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes, cinammon rolls. We hurried out as we needed to go to the last class for Coastline. I needed Starbucks though. I so couldn’t figure out how to get to the class or Starbucks from Grammy’s but I figured it out. The kids had a great time at the class. Justin was outside playing with the car ramp toy, Nikki was wanting to play with the felt board and read books with me. We had a little potluck party and the kids had more crap to eat. We came home and got organized, laundry, unpacked, mail, etc. The kids read books and then did puzzles. I figured they needed a rest so I let them watch Alvin and the Chipmunks. After we hung out in the backyard for a while, the weather was so nice today. We also tried to clean up the backyard too. Mikey, Katie, and Sarah came over and we all walked to “pirate” park. The kids played really well and had a great time. They were collecting pine cones, lots of them. Filling up their buckets, there was some mild fighting but then a bigger boy came and the boys played with him while the girls played nicely. The kids pretended to hide from us on the walk there, silly. We got home and made dinner. We didn’t eat it though as we headed out to the Katie Wheeler library for a show. This show was awesome. I think I smiled the entire time. Justin and Nicole were giggling. At the end the kids said the woman were silly. I am so glad we made it to the show. We came home and had dinner then headed upstairs. Justin wanted to put his new sheets on his bed. He tried to do it and was so happy about it. The kids colored and we cuddled a bit. I tried to get them to bed on time since we stayed up a little late last night.

Only a few more days until daddy comes home. We were off to Ms. Donna’s house today for cookie baking. The kids had a great time; they got to see where Ms. Donna lives. Justin had a great time playing with all the cars while Nikki loved making the cookies. I was snack mom. It wasn’t a full day of school, so we came home. The kids played chalk in the garage. Nicole used the turkey fryer circle and made circles. She made a sun too. Then they went out on their scooters to the pretend park. I got some of the garage cleaned up. We have just been throwing boxes and crap out there. Grandma/pa came for a visit. They needed to pick up the race car track that isn’t working. They stayed for a bit. Nicole wanted books read to her while Justin was busy doing puzzles, playing with cars, etc. The kids and I did some gardening. I can’t remember the last time I pulled weeds. After getting all dirty I gave the kiddos a shower. They are wanting to take separate showers which is ok as Justin likes the water much hotter than Nikki. Justin got into my jewelery and the kids pretended to go to Carnegie Hall and do the Alvin and Chipmunk show. We are off to see Grammy. We had a great time at Grammy’s, in fact a sleepover. The kids love playing at Grammy’s house. They made a huge mess in e play room and did lots of singing and shows for us. They played really well together. We had dinner but the kids barely ate, guess way too exciting here to eat. Grammy is reading them books right now. It is getting late so I hope they calm down and go to sleep soon.

Nicole was up at her normal time, 7:00ish but Justin decided to sleep in until about 8:15. Normally this is fine but I wanted to leave by 8:30 for Disney. It worked out fine though, we got to Disney by 9:30. The lines weren’t too busy so we got on a few rides, Dumbo, circus train, storybook, carousal…Then we looked up and it was crowded. We watched a show in New Orleans Square with the new Princess Tiana. The kids loved the show but there was a scary guy the kids didn’t like. We headed over to CA Adventure after the show as the kids wanted to see the Clubhouse show. We had some lunch then we saw Minnie and Pluto. Without hesitation Nicole went right up to them and got her pic taken. I took a pic with my cell phone but not sure how to get it off the phone. We rode the box cars, ladybug ride, and the bumper cars. Nicole wasn’t pleased with the lady bug ride as it was really spinny. The kids were so great waiting for their turns with the bumper car-I could only take one kid on at a time. We had a great time today. When we got home the kids rested in front of the TV. Of course wanted to watch Curious George. I should have rested too but instead I did house stuff. We headed out to Mikey, Katie, and Sarah’s for playtime. Great distraction and helped pass the time. The kids had a great time playing on their new play structure. So jealous I wish we could have one in our yard. Nikki was on the swing a lot of the time showing us how she pumps her legs. I think that just happened over night. Justin wanted to play inside with all of Mikey’s toys. The girls all played in Katie’s room, away from the boys. We went to Chick Fil A with them for dinner. The kids had so much fun in the play area even though it was a little loud and crowded. Justin stayed in the entire time where as the girls kept coming in and out. The girls came out saying they were pretending to eat bugs of the tree (tree house) in the play area. Love what they come up with. The kids had a big busy day. We talked to dad a bit and the kids colored. They didn’t want any books tonight, just like last night. Maybe dad reads books better than I. Off to watch TV and call Grammy. She is home from NZ.

Since daddy is going out of town he came with me to drop the kiddos off at pre school. They love it when daddy comes and love to show him things at school. Dad and I came home and spent some time together. Then he packed and I did some errands. I am officially done with Christmas shopping now, yeah. The stores are just nuts. I picked up the kiddos and they played outside of pre school with some friends. I dragged them to Costco to do a return plus get some other stuff. Luckily this time of year Costco has a million snacks so the kids were loving it. When we got home the kids played a bit and then watched some TV. They are loving watching the Curious George Christmas special thing. Since the rain I feel like we haven’t had a chance to go to the park, so we met Matthew and Ellie there too. We went to “pirate park”-the kids played so well. They pretended their usual…find treasure, pirates, etc. On the walk home the kids played stage on some lumpy grass. It was so funny the kids kept performing for us. They also looked at some Christmas decorations then played soccer with some sand buckets on our driveway, ruined some buckets but they were having fun. When we got home I made the kiddos soup for dinner-both requested it. I let them have a candy cane for playing so well then it was shower time. The kiddos took quick showers then wanted to play with money. We haven’t done that in a while. They pretended to feed the animals and money everywhere. They did a great job cleaning it up though, I was impressed. We colored then talked to daddy a bit. The kids wanted to read books to themselves then it was off to bed. I addressed a few X-mas cards and then relaxed in front of the TV.

Last night Justin woke up and started coming down to our room, Zoe decided to bark at him. Justin didn’t seem to mind, he thought Zoe just thought it was Andree. The barking woke up Nicole too. I went back to Justin’s room and slept in there a bit. Dad and I didn’t sleep very well. In fact I felt like I had a hang over this morning. I had such a head ache. No time to do too much this morning as we wanted to get out and get our Christmas tree. The kids were so excited.

This is the first time we have had colored lights on the tree, really pretty. The kids requested colors. Well setting up the tree was an ordeal. I think it almost put us over the edge. We thought we got it up ok and the kids were decorating, so cute. Of course all the ornaments went into one general area but dad spread them out. I was in the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard screaming for me-the tree fell. UGH. Finally we got it secure again although a little crooked. We were running around before my family came over, cleaning up, preparing food, running Zoe. Zoe went home this afternoon. I already miss her. Anyway everyone came over and the kids just wanted their presents. Seems so silly to be all about presents but I was the same way when I was a kid. The kids could hardly wait. They got some great stuff.

Justin got lots of Hot Wheels and loved his car carrier thing. Nikki loved her doll house rooms. We got down my old doll house and Nicole had fun playing with it. She wanted to bring it to her room. The kids played with all their toys. Justin went outside to play with his remote control car. It was time to make potato latkes. It wasn’t too bad but I am very full. We had a nice dinner. The kids were happy to give grandma/pa the cookie they made for them, a big X-mas tree with lots of sprinkles. After the grandparents went home we went upstairs. We played cars on Justin’s car rug and Nicole did some coloring. The kids were tired and went to bed pretty easily.

Too rainy to get our Christmas tree. This morning I finally got all my dishes unpacked and cleaned. I love my new dishes, here is a pic:

Hard to see in the pic but you get the point. The kids played this morning, did puzzles, the kids talked to grandma/pa to wish them a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Anniversary. Nicole sang lots of songs to grandma/pa. We finally got out of the house and ran to our favorite sandwich place for lunch (Lil Pickle). Then we headed to the Newport Beach library for a puppet show. This library is so cool. They have so much more than our library. Justin watched a cars thing on the computer and Nikki did all the puzzles. We read a few books and then headed to the puppet show. Mikey, Katie, and Sarah were there as well. The puppet show was so cute. The kids were laughing and they seemed to really enjoy it. They liked when the panda puppet popped up and then hid. Also the part when the Panda tried to put up the tree and it kept falling on him. Bret found an article about his mom’s neighborhood, Sherwood Country Club Estates when it was originally built priced from $32,500-$33,700 from 2515 to 2585 sq ft, crazy. Pretty cool to have found. After we ran to the mall. I know crazy this soon before Christmas. It was a little crazy but we weren’t there too long. We came home and since it was so rainy and gloomy. We turned on the fire place and made cut out sugar cookies. We had fun-the kids made all dif’t Hanukkah and X-mas shapes. I have never seen so many sprinkles end up on a cookie. It was fun family time. Then we went and got a pizza for dinner. Poor Zoe every time we are outside it starts to rain. I did get a good few minutes on the greenbelt so she could fetch the ball. After dinner the kids glued some paper cars on paper and colored. Then we let them watch some TV. I brought the street carper thing up to Justin’s room so he was so happy playing with his cars in his room. The kids are definitely loving having their own stuff, even their own books. We read some books and said goodnight. We are all going to miss having Zoe here-she is such a great sweet dog. Justin is sleeping with his big floppy dog and little dog. Nicole and Justin were zurburting our bellies tonight-getting us back, Justin was laughing so hard.