Melissa’s Blog

Another rainy day. It keeps coming and going. Of course when we got to preschool it started raining and when I picked the kids up again it started again, perfect timing. I actually made it to the gym this morning, finally. It was hard but I just took it easy. After I came home and did some work for preschool. Then before I knew it-it was time to pick up the kiddos. They got to go outside a little at school before the rain started. We came home and the kids ate a little lunch. Then they pretended to go ice skating in the kitchen. They also went and played the shake n go cars. The track is on the train table. I put it up there for the cleaners so it is like a whole new toy. We are just taking it easy today. The kids did some crafts, coloring, and water colors. They played race car and played with their Chip and Dale animals. They were trying to put them to sleep in the crib but apparently they kept crying. HA. We took all the cushions off the sofa and jumped around. I chased the kiddos around the house, needed to burn off some energy. The kiddos watched some TV, Mickey Mouse Choo Choo. I made dinner while they watched. I made some new pasta dish-I just love it when the kids eat what I make. Right after dinner the kids wanted to head upstairs. Justin wanted to play cars. Nicole and I had tea parties and played doll house while dad and J played. Dad and J played hide n seek. It was fun snuggling with the kiddos tonight. Nicole pretended dad and I were Chipettes. Dad was Britany, Nicole was Jeanette, and I got to be Eleanor. Not fair dad gets to be the coolest chipette.

This morning we stayed at home for a bit. The kids played their Leapsters for a bit. After breakfast we got ready to go. We headed to Chuck E Cheese. We met some friends there. It was so hard to chat with the moms.  I had to do the pedals for Justin for the driving game and then help Nikki. Nikki liked the little rides, chair that goes around the clock, horse, and the bike thing. Justin would have been happy just driving the car games the entire time. We had a great time. Chuck E Cheese came out and did a dance/song with the kids. Nicole took her pic with him but Justin went running back to the games. By the time we left the rain had started. We ran over to In N Out Burger for lunch. I never gave the kids a snack so I thought they would be starving. We decided to come home and get in out of the rain. The kids started fighting over the harmonica and then finally went to play Memory together. So cute. It started pouring so we sat in the garage and watched the rain. The kids heard thunder and saw lightening for the first time. They thought all the rain was cool but was a little scared of the thunder. We came in and played for a bit more. The kids pretended the  memory game cards were the newspapers. All over the house they went, ugh. But they were having so much fun. I read lots of books to the kids. We headed upstairs for bath.  Nicole (AKA Biscuit the dog) wanted to take a bath. Simon Zoe the dog wanted to take a shower. The weather cleared so I rushed the out of the bath. I dried their hair and outside we went. It was cold out. The kids pretended they were dogs and I was walking them. We were also looking out for daddy. Unfortunately daddy had to work late so we came home. I made dinner while the kids watched Curious George. After dinner we cleaned up a bit. The kids thought it was the funniest thing ever to put Memory cards in their shirts and pee/poop them out into the box, lovely huh? It was actually pretty cute listening to them. We went upstairs a bit early tonight. Dad is on call and had to do some work. We played mechanic with all of Justin’s cars. Justin put them in and out of the shop while Nicole moved the line up and I brought the cars to their homes. It was nice all playing together nicely. I left lots of time to read lots of books which was nice. Usually the nights seem like we are running around crazy-it was nice that it was so relaxing.

Lots of rain! Nicole wanted to go out in play in it even before breakfast. We were a bit lazy today. Dad played with Justin a bit and Nicole and I did play doh. Then Justin came over for play doh. We made Christmas trees out of play doh and the kids decorated them and put presents under them. They did a bit of coloring as well. Then we headed outside. The kids had a blast playing in the rain, jumping in the puddles, and getting soaked! It was fun to watch them. So funny these days trying to get Justin dressed. You take off his pants and he gets crazy, jumping up and down or very huggy. I did lots of laundry and then we headed to the mall. We needed to get out of the house. We had lunch at the mall and then tried to go to the play area. The play area was so crowded. We just walked around the mall and did mall things…went to the puppy store, toy store, TV store (AKA Gymboree). The play area was a little less crowded so they were able to play a bit. Dad went off to buy the Alvin and Chipmunks DVD. Once the kiddos saw that they wanted to come home. The liked watching the rain too. We watched Alvin with them. I also tried to clean up the house for the cleaners. After Alvin we made spice cake. The kids learned about it from a Leapster game. We had fun in the kitchen but kind of stressful with both kids, making sure everything is equal. Dad played with the kids after dinner. They played Memory. Justin was doing so well at it tonight. We all had the spice cake, it was really tasty. We headed to some neighbors to share. We don’t want any sweets in the house. We ended up hanging out at Andree (Zoe the dogs house) for a while. The kids were wild though. They went up to the third floor and bounced the exercise ball all the way down 3 flights. They also played with Zoe. We didn’t get home until 8:00 and rushed to get the kiddos to bed.

Rain is coming, so we were out and about early this morning. We met some friends at “pirate park”. We didn’t bring the kiddos bikes so we ran home and got them. They had fun riding around the park. Justin and Nicole weren’t too into playing with their friends though, they are definitely liking playing with each other. I guess as they get older they are going to pick the friends they want to play with rather than me setting up play dates for them. They did play a little with their friends but it was definitely difficult to get them to include them. When we got home it was straight to the bath. The kiddos were overdue for a bath. Since both of us were home we let the kids take separate baths in each tub. They loved being in their own tubs, plus Justin likes the water hotter than Nicole likes. We grabbed some lunch then played. Mom and dad were pretty sluggy, it was getting cloudier and cloudier out. We played outside for a bit in the backyard but started to get cold. We played some games Don’t Break the Ice and Memory. Nicole and I had a birthday party with her little ponies and all her little animals while dad and Justin played some games. Justin has been wanting to come and bug Nicole lately. He grabs her stuff then she gets all mad. She leaves the room and he drops her thing. So the fighting encouraged us to go out. We stopped at a furniture store to look for beds for Nikki. This ended up being like a play ground. They had so much fun getting on all the bunk beds. Nicole had a hard time understanding that the beds didn’t come with the bedding and teddy bears. She said she wanted the bed with the teddy bear. Then we headed to Grammy’s. The kids played upstairs and then came down and watched a little TV. The only movie Grammy had was Big Bird in Japan. The kids were content watching it though. We had dinner-the kids didn’t really eat. Just as we were trying to come home, they started running around and playing so nicely. They wanted us to catch them and we all were. Grammy gave them polar bears that poop out jelly beans. The kids loved them, they had their polar bears pooping all over the floor. It was pretty funny. As we left the rain was coming down. Justin and dad played cars for a bit when we got home and Nicole and I had a tea party and read books. Then it was off to bed. It was a little later than normal but maybe they will sleep in.

I was so sluggy this morning. I kept on getting up and making sure the kids had their covers on. Justin came in our room and I took him back to his bed. I slept in there for a bit. Dad and the kids came downstairs so I could sleep but who can sleep in this loud house-ha. The kids and dad were building the marble race thing. We got ready and walked over to the Heritage Library. The kids waved to cars and trucks on the freeway overpass. Justin just loves that. The story time at the library was all about clouds. They read some stories then a guy came in and showed the kids how to draw clouds. As well as making things out of clouds-it was pretty cool. They also got to do shaving cream, ewww I hate the smell of shaving cream and very messy. Nicole got in her wrists and she started itching like crazy so we washed it off and ended that activity. They read some more books. The guys there drew the kids some pics, a car for Justin and a princess/castle for Nikki. We got home and had lunch. I headed off to get my haircut. So nice having it straight. Dad and the kids played. They went outside and played soccer and tag. They had fun with their dad. This afternoon was kind of boring. I set up a huge Geo Trax set for Justin, using the steps in the house while dad set up the zebra tent. The kids were more into the zebra tent. They pretended to be camping, thus all their play food and toys are now in the tent. We had to clean up a little-this house is a mess. While dinner was cooking Justin and dad watched cars on the internet, cars crashing, etc. Nicole and I were in her room playing doll house. I try to treasure the alone time. I am so amazed sometimes at what my kids eat. They ate salmon, I don’t think Bret and I liked salmon until 10 yrs ago. I also made carrot pudding, a recipe from my mom-they loved it. But they didn’t understand why it was called pudding, it wasn’t the pudding they know, more like a corn bread thing. After dinner we headed upstairs. We played hide n seek. I found a great spot by the lion and beanbag. I finally just started laughing as they were in the room talking and couldn’t find me. Justin and I played cars for a bit while Nik and dad played more hide n seek. Justin and I lined up all the cars, then they went in these parking spots which was the mechanics. You see all the cars needed to be repaired. As one car went in we had to move the whole line up. I had to wait until all the cars were fixed before we even talked about getting in our jammies. We read some books and off to bed the kids went. Thankfully they fell asleep pretty quickly, Justin was out while I was still in his bed visiting him.

Yeah it is Friday! I dropped the kiddos off at school. Nicole wanted to bring in her harmonica and Justin brought in a plane. I still hate leaving them at school but I know they are so happy there. I miss them when they aren’t with me. Anyway I was a bit lazy and tired this morning. I did make it to the grocery store. I picked them up and forgot to bring the harmonica and plane in. Once I got it out of the car the kids were happy. They played outside for a bit and we ran into a friend. We came home and the fighting over the harmonica began. They barely ate lunch even though they old me how hungry they were. We played outside for a long time. I gardened for a bit while the kids cleaned the window. They enjoyed when the sponges stuck to the window. They played so nicely. They were of course all wet. The kids went up to change and Justin came down with his pants on backwards. I don’t have the heart to tell him and he looks so cute. Then they filled their backpacks with toys and went on a walk. Then dressed up a bit. They watched TV a bit then Mikey, Katie, and Sarah came over. We all walked to “pirate” park. The kids had a great time. I love watching them play. The kids loved throwing sand up on the slide, pretending it was fireworks. We decided to go out to dinner, it was under $10.00 at Elephant Bar. Bret and I shared a meal and we had free kids meal coupons. The kids had fun coloring tonight and played Leapsters for a bit. The kids played soccer upstairs. We read books and off to bed. The kids were silly tonight in bed. Nicole was so movey, every time she sat up I pushed her down and she was laughing so hard. Justin was talking to me about his play date with Mikey still and he can’t wait to do it again. I still hear Nikki talking upstairs.

Bunco was really fun last night. When I got home Bret told me Justin said “I miss mommy” when he was going to bed. That made my day that Justin loves our cuddle time as much as I do. Or maybe it is just the back scratch I give him 🙂 This morning we all slept in a little bit, well that is if you can call 7:30 sleeping in. The kids played their Leapsters for a bit. Today we planned a play date for Michael and Justin only and the girls alone. Nicole wore her Tinkerbell costume and Justin wore his race car costume. Paula dropped Michael off. The boys had the best time ever. It was so great to hear them playing, giggling etc. This was one of the best play dates ever-not one fight. I miss Nicole though and I can’t wait to hear what a great time she had. The boys played race cars, used all the tracks, flew planes, played trains, etc. all boys things! The kids helped me make a pizza. They were totally laughing when they plopped the sauce on. After lunch they played a little more and then we headed to the Newport library. Paula met us there and it was nice to have Nicole back. Paula had a much more rough time with the girls. I wasn’t surprised there are two things against the kids, they are all girls and there are 3 of them (one is bound to feel left out). It will be interesting to see how it goes when I have the girls and Paula has the boys. Justin really enjoyed his boy time. Michael and Justin were running around before the show-they were having so much. The show was cute, magic and juggling-the kids were loving it. After the show we went outside and let the kiddos play. They seemed to need to get their giggles and wiggles out. They all played, running around and hide n seek. Finally everyone was starving so we came home. Nicole didn’t tell me too much about her play date. She said they had a tea party and played baby. Tonight at dinner she told us a little more. The kids went into the bath when we got home. They took one in their fishy bathroom with the sprayer. We hadn’t done that in a while. They did tell me they didn’t care if they were clean. It is getting a bit harder to get them in the bath. When I do get them in they love it, but I guess being clean interrupts their day. The kids were so hungry and had a big dinner. They are loving tortellini and alfredo sauce. Dad made a yummy homemade cream sauce. We headed out to another library for another show. It was Buster the Balloon something or other. It was cute. The kids really liked this silly show, as they call it. Just watching J&N watch the show was making me smile. I can’t believe all the free programs the library has to offer. Speaking of money I was telling Bret tonight that I don’t think I have spent any money this week, this is definitely a first. I see the light of maybe remodeling a bathroom this year. We got home at 8:00 from the show, so we had the kids go right to bed. Nikki wanted to do a harmonica show. She is so cute playing that thing. Justin has been so tired at night I feel so bad for him. We cuddled and he was so tired when I left him he just said goodnight-he didn’t even beg me to stay in his room.

Pre school morning and I was working. Even though it was raining we still had fun. We took out stuff we haven’t played with in a while. I was blue mom. I got the magnetic blocks out and the cardboard blocks. We set up a puppet show with the cardboard blocks it was great fun. Also we built it up as high as we could and then kids pretended it was a Christmas tree. So we got out bells, etc. The kids didn’t want to knock it down. Nikki shared her new music player and of course played Alvin and the Chipmunks song. She was so happy playing it for everyone. Justin shared one of his balls. So funny Nikki says “oh brother” and Justin says “oh sister”. I still smile everytime Nikki says “why does that not surprise me” with her hand to her head. We got home and the kids said they weren’t hungry so they could watch TV. Nicole was melting down as she was hungry. Luckily I made lunch knowing they would be hungry. I let them watch Alvin and the Chipmunks after lunch. I am getting pretty sick of these chipmunks. We just hung around at home. The kids colored with markers while I worked on scrapbooks a bit. Then they got crazy and wanted to bring all their bedding downstairs. They pretended they were sleeping over grandma ocho’s house (from Alvin and the Chipmunks). Silly kiddos. I think the played Alvin and Simon all day long. We were catching stuffed animals as the kids threw them down over the banister. These are the things you do on a gloomy day. Then they took all the papers they colored and delivered them all around the house, what a mess. Nicole (Alvin) was coloring while Justin (Simon) was passing them out. We went outside for a bit and played. Justin and I were running around on the gree belt playing tag. Nicole was busy listening to the music player and was listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks. Dad came home and we played some more tag. Then came in and played doll house. We had dinner and the kids played with their Leapsters a bit. We cleaned up a bit and headed upstairs. The kids played some soccer and off I went to Bunco. It is hard to leave the family.

What a difference a good nights sleep makes. I feel so much better today. We played a bit this morning. The kids were playing well and then we had some friends come over for a play date. Nicole and Justin had a hard time including their friends in what they were playing. I finally lent out the Chipmunks DVD so this little girl knew what Nikki and Justin were talking about. I finally had to bribe the kiddos to include this one friend. That worked brilliantly but I hate having to bribe them for this reason but I didn’t want the little girl to feel left out. Justin and Olivia raced cars then the kids all did puzzles together. They all had lunch together. Then they got into the dress up bin. Nicole was Cinderella and Justin just put on the shoes and walked around. Poor guy with all these girls around. He is such a trooper. The kids all did shows for us. My kids have been in their jammies all day, for some reason they didn’t want to get dressed today. We played for a bit and cleaned up then the kiddos watched TV. So funny I said after TV it is bath time and Justin says ok we won’t say can we watch one more show. They were great and headed to  bath. Bath took a whole new meaning today by adding cups, bowls, spoons, and measuring cup. They are making hot chocolate and cakes. The little figurine Tigger and Pooh have become ice cubes in their cups of “bath” water. Bath went on for a while. The kids wanted to wear dad’s t-shirt-it is so funny. They were loving it and laughing when dad saw them. So they have been in their jammies all day and now dad’s clothes. We had dinner. We had green beans and we always do the green bean kiss, they love it and eat a lot of green beans. They loved when we had it in our mouth pretending it was ours. I pity the person who serves green beans around my kids, ha. The kids played. We built a Lincoln Log House and a Lego police station thing. We gave the kids hot chocolate. That was their reward for including their friend in playing. Bret got the kids music player working that we got them for Christmas, so he loaded songs on it. Now they have the ability to play Alvin and the Chipmunks song whenever they want-what were we thinking? We read some books and Justin was so tired. Justin fell asleep so fast and Nicole is still talking. Today was a nice day at home.

I am so tired. This morning I dropped the kiddos off at school. I was doing some work there and the kids kept asking me what I was still doing there. HA I didn’t do too much while they were at school. I did a few errands then packed up for Disney. Now I am thinking what was I thinking as did I mention I was tired. Off to Disney, we had a great time. Nicole wanted to see all the characters and get her picture taken. The first characters we saw were Chip and Dale; of course the kids were so excited. Justin didn’t want to take a picture so Chip tried to push him in the stroller. It was funny. Justin just wanted to go on the Autopia. He just loves it and was so excited. I haven’t been on the Autopia in a while with him-I was so impressed at how well he was driving. We then headed over to Pooh for Nicole. We got on the ride really fast then visited Pooh and Tigger. Justin didn’t want to take a pic with any characters. He did bounce over to Tigger. We went on a small world and the boat stopped on its own in the middle of the ride. Then we headed over to the princess area. Nicole got to see Ariel, Jasmine, and Cinderella; she was loving it. The kids entertained themselves while waiting in line, playing with the chains and running away from me trying to take pictures. It is just a long day going to Disney but lots of fun as well. We met dad for dinner then I was off for the photography class. Here are some pics from our day:

Photography class was pretty interesting tonight. It would had been much better if I wasn’t exhausted.