Melissa’s Blog

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.

This morning we played at home before play ball. We played Don’t Break The Ice and with trains. Then we headed to play ball class. The kiddos just love this class, I am a bit sad that the last class is next week. The kids did great and learned to put their feet together and practiced jumping side to side. Justin and Nicole had a little trouble with this as they had never done it before but got the hang of it pretty quickly. Justin told the coach he had legs and Nicole said she needed to get in the shade. They crack me up. We came home and had lunch. Then we just played. We were talking about sharing at pre school so the kiddos loaded up their backpacks and packed them with books, cars, toys, etc to share. It was so nice out that we went and did crafts outside. We did glue, water colors, sticker, the the messy paint too. The kids had so much fun. They treat the paint like it is soap these days. Rub it in their hands then on their arms, so messy. It is so scary letting them in the house with their hands such a mess. But we just run right to the bath. Note to self, only paint on bath days. We played more trains and had a snack. Then I wanted to go work out so we headed to the gym. I had the times wrong when the kids area opens, so we got there early. Luckily it was at the spectrum so we played a bit, went on the carousal. Thankfully the kids love the play area at the gym, makes it much easier for me to work out. Bret met me at the gym and we worked out then we got the kiddos and went to dinner. We went to Champs and the kids liked the fire place. They had fun at dinner. We came home and did our nightly routine and off to bed.

Lots of fires in CA with these Santa Ana winds. It is terrible as lots of houses were burned down. We got up this morning and guess what we did? Played with trains! Dad ran to the store and out for coffee. Nicole is bugging Justin while playing trains, putting her foot on the tracks, etc. Lots of whining and fighting today. We went to Grammy’s today for lunch. The kids rode their trikes there. We went around the neighborhood on bikes then the kiddos played with the CD’s. What a mess stacking CD’s up into towers. Daddy needed to do some things at Grammy’s as she is leaving for NZ on Thursday. On the way home I needed to go to Nordstrom rack to exchange a few of Nicole’s clothes she got for her birthday. Dad played with the kids on the escalators for a bit while I shopped. That store is crazy busy. On the way home, we stopped at Toys R Us to pick up the new kitchen that grandma/pa bought for the kids. It has a bbq attached, the kids will love it. We came home and had dinner. We went on a walk around the neighborhood with flashlights and the kids loved it. We got out mail and it is was a birthday gift card to Toys R Us from one of our friends. I asked the kids what they wanted to buy with it and Nicole said she wanted to buy Tierney singing birds (like Tiki room at Disney) and Justin wanted to buy Tierney trains. It was time to go upstairs, we read books, and the kiddos went right to sleep.

I woke up early this morning-it was nice getting up and being downstairs by myself. We just played at home. Nicole was laying around a bit so we were a bit concerned that she would throw up. But she is fine. The kids wanted to go with daddy to Startbucks, I went too. We got coffee then we went to the fountain in the center and the kiddos ran around and played. They had so much fun. After we went to Jax Bicycle Shop to see what size bikes we should get for our kiddos. They are so excited to get two wheelers. Jax wasn’t as helpful as we had hoped. We had Santa Ana winds today so crazy weather. I ran out and got a pedicure. Nicole is so into daddy these days. I was hoping Nicole would come with me and I would have her toes done too but she wanted to be with daddy. We just hung out at home and played with trains. Justin is so into trains, I can’t believe how much. Nicole was a bit whiney today too, feeling better but probably not all the way. We decided to take the kiddos border down in their room. It was kind of sad. I remember when we first painted the nursery-it seems like it was yesterday. The kiddos helped with the border. Then we headed to Home Depot to get some paint and then to dinner. We just ate over at the Woodbury Center, after the kids ran around a bit and had fun. We came home and headed upstairs. The kids went right to sleep. My laptop has been acting weird lately, hope it doesn’t break.

Nicole seemed fine when she woke up but then after breakfast, right after daddy left she threw up or “spit up” as she calls it. The best thing about whatever she has is she spits up then she is the happiest little girl ever. Luckily but not for Justin I was able to get her to spit up on Justin’s Diego comfortor. Luckily he didn’t see it but thought I would put this in the blog so we can all laugh about it one day. So we just stayed home all morning. We played all over the house, upstairs, living room, family room, futon room, etc. Of course I have been doing laundry for days. I was able to clean out some of the kids clothes and get a little organized with all this home time. Nicole ate a lot of lunch and was fine all day. I think she is over it, I hope. After lunch the kiddos went outside in the backyard for a bit. We ran to Toys R Us as there was a game on sale that I wanted to get for the kids. Of course the toy store takes hours, but they had fun. Then we headed to the grocery store. The kids love sticking their heads in the freezers and get cold. They are so helpful at the store. All I hear is I do it, I want it, I want to help. It is cute. We came home and the kiddos watched a little TV then we headed outside to ride bikes. We had so much fun outside, then daddy came home. We took a walk along the greenbelt and home, the kiddos just ran and had fun. After dinner we attempted to play Cat In The Hat, I Can Do That. The kids got it a little. It was fun to watch them do crazy things like walk with something between your legs, balance something on your head, walk backwards, skip while holding something behind your back. We went upstairs and Justin was crazy. Justin was running, getting dizzy, and falling-just making us laugh. The kiddos were pretty tired and went right to bed.

This morning Nicole threw up, as she calls it spit up. It was so weird she was so happy then went to lie down a bit and all of a sudden threw up. It has been about an hour later and she is the happiest little girl ever. So weird. We were supposed to go to Sea World but I was too afraid to be so far away from home as I didn’t know what would happen with Nikki. Thankfully, she was fine all day, happy and her old self. We stayed home most of the morning and the kiddos played trains, made tracks, Nicole swung her baby, made snakes with beads on strings, etc. Nicole looked kind of sleepy, so I took her upstairs. I rocked her a bit then laid down in our bed with her. Finally she fell asleep. Meanwhile Justin and I played. We played outside, picked up leaves, used the hose (his favorite), played T ball, painted, etc. We came in and had lunch together. I love the way he says blue berries. So weird to be with one child, kind of quiet with Nikki sleeping. After lunch Justin and I got the wood blocks out and made a street, we pushed trains, cars, planes on it. He was putting them in the “special lane”-which is what the kiddos call the car pool lane. We used flashlights, Justin is a very busy boy and makes messes in his path-ha. Nicole slept a couple hours, so sweet looking at her in our bed. We played upstairs for a bit then Nicole wanted some food. A little yogurt, crackers, and water and more throw up, poor little thing. But then she is the happiest kid after. Then I let the kiddos watch TV to rest a bit. After TV I couldn’t take being inside so I went to take the kiddos for a stroller walk. Of course no one sat in the stroller. The kiddos were running like crazy. I was a bit worried about Nicole but she was fine. We got home and the kiddos wanted to ride their bikes. They had so much fun going down the driveway fast together. Hopefully Nicole is on the mend as she ate a good dinner. The kiddos took a bath and then we just read a ton of books. Nicole is still awake singing up a storm, so she is definitely feeling better, thank goodness.

Bunco ended up being a lot of fun. Bret waited up for me last night, it was nice as we have been too busy to be together. But I am sure tired today. This morning we were home for a bit, it was nice. The kiddos played with trains, rode trikes in the house, etc. Then we met some friends at the bounce house place. The kiddos love it there. They are so cute to watch as they go down the slide together, hold hand, and go down with big smiles on their face. They bounced a bit but also enjoyed the air hockey table and the toddler toys. Then we went to In N Out Burger for lunch with our friends. It was just a relaxing morning. I finally made it to Costco to pick up the pictures of the kids (3 yr old pics) that we took. They came out great. We shopped a bit at Costco then came home and played. We played trains, baby. rode trikes around the house, and made a mess in the house. Then we had to drop something off at someone’s house, so we decided to walk. We had an adventure, met a kitty named Scooter and talked to some neighbors. We finally got to the person’s house and there were big kids playing. Nicole and Justin just sat on the curb watching, so cute. Near the end they felt comfortable, so they shared their pink teddy bear and skateboard doggie. They were so interested in the big kids that we were there for a long time. Then we headed to a little park and the kids discovered the tire swing. Justin loved it and the way Justin shows us how the tire swing was so cute. We met a dog on the way home too, it was just a great time playing with the kiddos. We all had so much fun. We met Grammy and Sharon for a birthday dinner at Islands for the kids. It was fun. Justin drank so much, sippy cup of water on the way there, big cup of milk, more water…silly guy. Nicole was all over Sharon, calling her scary for some reason. It was silly and cute. We got home kind of late and Justin fell asleep pretty quickly but I still hear Nicole. We are tired.

This morning the kiddos slept in until 8:00 which normally would have been great but we had to leave for pre school at 8:20. The kiddos were great, they got up and ate quickly. It was my day to work at pre school. I love being there but I do miss my time alone. There were only 11 out of 20 kids there due to Veteran’s Day. My kids made me the blue mom, so that meant I was outside. We built sand castles and moats, the kids loved pouring the water in. Kiddos had such a great time at pre school. Nicole got to share her teddy and Justin shared his Lightening McQueen car. They are so excited to share. When Ms. Donna finished her book, Nicole said time to share and off she was. After pre school I took the kiddos to lunch as the cleaners were still here. Then we ran to Kohl’s and Albertson’s. I exchanged Nicole’s flower towel and got her a fireman’s towel just like Justin’s. The kids sat in the car cart really well and I got the rest of the stuff for Bunco. When we got home we made some brownies for Bunco. Normally this would be really fun but I was trying to keep the house clean, oh well brownie mix everywhere. We watched some Thomas and Elmo’s World. Then I gave the kiddos a bath and then played outside until daddy got home. It was dinner then I was off to Bunco. The kids had a great time with daddy and I had fun at Bunco.

I can’t believe it is already Monday. This morning we had to run to Target before play ball. The kiddos were so good. They took lots of stuff with them to Target, their skateboarding animas, sheep, and teddy. I love watching them pull their animals it is so cute. Then we headed to play ball. I got there a little early so the kiddos could play at the park. They just had fun with a ball playing catch and kicking it back and forth. Play ball was so cute. I can’t believe how well my kids listen and follow directions. In the middle of class Nicole tells the teacher, that she loves Justin and her family very much and that she wants to marry Justin. After play ball we met Paula and her kids at Costco to shop for Bunco (Paula and I are hosting). The kids had fun together, getting cold and running around. Nicole and Justin were really well bahaved. In fact Paula told the kids if they are good, they could have jelly beans. I was so proud of my kiddos and got 3 jelly beans. They understood while Paula’s kids didn’t get jelly beans as they didn’t lsiten. We all had pizza at Costco together. On the way home we got gas. For some reason the kiddos love to get gas. The kiddos played with trains for a while. Justin made a huge track along the entire living room floor with bridges, tunnels, etc. He is so into playing with trains lately. Then I decided to go to the mall. I had some returns to do and needed a few things. The kiddos love the mall. They took their skateboard animals. They love the escalators, the TV’s in the kid’s stores, the play area, the rides, etc. We had a great time. We got home and had dinner. Then Justin made a pretend mudslide with his Diego comfortor. The kids put all the toys on it from the fire place. Nicole was having a few meltdowns. She is wanting to wear shorts in the cooler weather. I let her change into a striped dress she loves but when it came to taking it off, she was not pleased. Finally I put it over her jammies, silly but made her happy. They fell asleep pretty quickly.