Melissa’s Blog

This morning we played at home for a while. The kids wanted to play lots of game. The kids love games but it still takes a lot of patience. We gave the kiddos a bath to get it out of the way. The kids had fun in the bath and colored with crayons all over the tub. Wd are trying to clean out our house, so we went through our closet to get rid of some clothes we never wear. After bath we went and got Justin a haircut. It took forever and Justin was the best kid ever. He was busy watching the alphabet movie. Nicole was amused by me and pretended to give me a haircut. She saw someone getting their hair colored and said why is she getting her hair painted? Kids say the greatest thing ever. Dad met us for lunch at Woodbury. The kids loved running around on the grass. After lunch the kiddos and I went grocery shop. I needed to get some food for Chanukkah dinner tomorrow night. The kiddos were troupers in the store as I did a lot of shopping. We came home and the kids drove their cars. They are on fast speed now and are driving crazy. Both go off the curb now. Since they were seeming a bit tired we let them watch TV, no driving while tired. Then we headed off to Grammy’s house. We needed to check on it and pick up Christmas gifts. The kids had so much fun playing. Justin was playing with a limo and Nicole a train. They loved the guitars and sang for us; sang happy birthday to each other. We came home and the kiddos were pretty tired. They are loving having Cindy around, so cute. But they are acting like dogs now. Kids are sleeping so I am just going to finish getting ready for Chanukkah dinner tomorrow night.

After weeks of promising the kids we would get their electric cars wokring again, they are finally done. The kids loved riding them again, really fast too. Justin gets a kick out of hopping the curbs. One of our friends said the snow in the mountains was amazing, so we decided to drive a little. I bet a few days ago it was way more beautiful. We just played at home this morning and tried to get things off of our list. After driving thier cars, the kids watched TV. Daddy put together Nicole’s bike and I wrapped a bit. The kids are going to be so spoiled on Christmas. We went to Holly and Jeff’s for their annual holiday open house. Nicole fell asleep pretty quickly, however, it was 4:00 so I wasn’t too happy. Justin fell asleep right when we got off the freeway. I was talking to the kiddos and look over and he is sound asleep. They did take their laptops in the car. Well when we got to the party, the kids were melting down at everything. I thought we were going to have to leave. FInally the kiddos started to have a great time. It was so cute to watch Jeremey play with Justin and Nicole. Nicole was looking and hiding things under the bed with Jeremey and hanging out on his bed with her (sitting and playing toys). Justin was hanging out with them too, he was busy playing trains and riding a Thomas scooter. Near the end the kids decided they were hungry and helped themselves to the food on the table, so funny. Whatever Jeremey ate my kiddos followed. Nicole decided to entertain everyone with Jeremy’s guitar. She got up in front of everyone and started singing, Jingle Bells, Twinkle Little Star, Old Mcdonald. It was adorable-I wish I had the video camera. It was so cute watching them all play together, talk, etc. I wish we lived closer so they could see Jeremey more. We had a nice time and could finally relax a bit when the kiddos started playing so well. It is 9:45 and Nicole is just going to sleep-hope she sleeps in in the morning. We are off to bed soon as well.

Today I babysat Jason from pre school. It went pretty well, the kids played nicely. Then we headed to the bounce house place (Jump N Shout). Paula and gang came as well. The kids had a great time. Nicole was hanging out with Sarah and Justin with Mikey. very cute. The kids jumped their little hearts out and loved going down the big slide. They loved when I played too, man I got a work out. After we ran to lunch with Paula then had to stop at Wal-Mart. After we went to Costco. I had these kids running around all day. I tried to rush through Costco but not possible with the crowds. We came home brought the groceries home. Nicole decided to take her laptop in the bathroom to poop, mmm wonder where she learned that from?

She will kill me someday for posting this picture 🙂 My Gym had a drop off for 3 hours. I was worried about the kiddos but they opted to go. I ran to work out then home. I walked Cindy and tried to clean up the leaves in the backyard. Dad came home. So weird to be in the house just ourselves. I went to pick up the kids a half hour early and dad went to pick up my car. It was amazing to watch the kids having so much fun at My Gym. I couldn’t get them out of there, so I just watched. They were having a snow ball fight with balls when I walked in then a puppet show, then bubbles. The kids loved it and want to do it again. I am so happy that they are pretty happy anywhere these days. They are so grown up. We came home and needed to go upstairs and unwind these kids. We read a ton of books and surprisngly they didn’t fall asleep right away.

We are now dogsitting Cindy, so I ran over to get here this morning. Justin was excited to have her here, Nicole likes her but is a little scared. For pre school the kiddos went to Ms. Donna’s house to make cookies. It was cute. She brought out all her old toys. They were only there for an hour and a half. So I went to work out then ran back to catch the end of the festivities. All the kids were sitting around the table eating their cookies and snacks. We came home and the kiddos played. I tried to clean up the house a bit-we always have crap everywhere. After lunch the kiddos watched some TV. We went and ran some errands. It is crazy out there. We came home and we all walked Cindy. Nicole loved holding the leash. Justin was running around and exploring. He also walked Cindy a bit. The kids did so well taking care of the doggie. After I gave the kiddos a bath and then the kiddos helped me make dinner. Bret had to take my car to the dealership to get something on the driver’s side door fixed (common thing). Luckily they are going to give us a loaner. The kids will love riding in dad’s car. We had dinner then played Candy Land with the kids. It is getting a little easier to play with them but it still requires a considerable amount of patience. The kids are extremely hyper and are upstairs screaming goodnight, surprisingly as I thought they would crash.

This morning we headed over to Kam’s house for a play group. Candice, Victoria, Stacie, and Hina were all there. Nicole and Justin played so nicely. They of course loved all the new toys. We had a great time and did our Christmas exchange party. I had Vena’s kids but unfortunately they were unable to come today. Vena got Justin and Hina got Nicole. They loved opening their presents. Justin wanted me to read his books that he got right away to him. It is so great to have such wonderful friends. After I ran to the mall with the kids. I had a few returns to do. Plus it was pouring rain and I didn’t want to be home all day. The mall was crazy but we had fun. The kids loved just looking around at all the stuff, decorations, Santa, etc. The kids loved the rain today. When we got home the kids played in the rain. Put on boots and warm jackets. They loved splashing around in the puddles. I tried to take a few pics but then realized the video camera was necessary.

It was crazy when we got home changing the kids out of their wet clothes, trying to open the mail, making dinner…finally Bret came home and we just turned on Thomas for the kiddos to watch. After dinner daddy played games with the kiddos while I baked cookies for Mom’s Night Out. I left to go to MNO about 15 minutes before the kiddos were in bed. It was at a mom’s house, really nice to just sit back and drink wine, with no kids pulling at us. Hopefully no rain tomorrow.

Last night Bret and I made a ton of potatoe latkes to take to pre school. The whole house smells. I was snack mom at pre school today. I was in charge of the kids making paper candy canes with marbles and paint. It was too wet to go outside so we all stayed inside until the end. It was so cute watching Nicole and Justin share today. Nicole brought a plane and Justin a helicpter. When Nicole was giving clues she said it flies to San Jose. Shows she remembers flying on the plane to San Jose. It was Rio’s birthday, so Justin got picked to be a candle. So cute he tried to blow her down. The kids made lots of stuff to hang on the walls! After school it was so fun to watch my kiddos play with some of their friends. The girls would hold hands with Nicole and run. Nicole and Justin walked into the street so I gave them a warning, Nicole walked in the street so unfortunately we had to leave. But Nicole outsmarted me and said she went into the street so she could go home, I explained it would be better if she just told me she wanted to go home. We came home and the kiddos went and played trains and laptops. We had lunch and the kids looked at all the Christmas cards we got. They love looking at the family pics. I gave the kiddos a bath and then they watched TV. They have been watching the same Thomas episode over and over again but don’t seem to care. After Thomas we played store, Nicole was busy being the cashier and Justin and I were buying things. Justin and I were also playing with cars. We heard daddy come home and we hid behind the couch. The kids loved it. I went out with the girls tonight, Krista and Paula. We went to Zov’s for dinner; it was nice. The kids wanted me to bring them back something. Dad took the kids to the drive thru at Del Taco, for some reason they loved drive thru’s. They had a good time with daddy and I brought back frozen yogurt. They loved it! I just had to go up to see what Nicole needed, she needed me to shut off the X-mas lights as it was too bright, silly girl. Oh and most importantly I thought it was time to finally join Facebook. So far I am not sure of the appeal but maybe will soon.

This morning the kids came to 24 hour fitness with me. They were so excited about the rain. They loved to look at everyone’s windshield wipers and were just excited it was all wet outside. The kids had a great time in the kids club while I worked out a little. When I was ready to go it was pouring rain. I got soaking wet even with an umbrella. I pulled the car up closer for the kids. Of course they were loving it! We went to My Gym and the kids had a blast. They were jumping in the ball pit and playing. Glad we had that today so the kiddos could get out of the house. When we got home the kids wanted to ride their scooters. At first it started in the garage then they moved onto the driveway, laughing so hard when they got wet. I wish I loved rain as much as kids! We had lunch then the kids played trains. I was working on the kid’s baby books and the kids did some drawings. They played with their baby strollers and told me to be quiet as their babies were sleeping. If I made noises I was going to get a time out-HA. The kids scootered a bit more then we headed to the grocery store. I am snack mom for pre school tomorrow. The kids picked out granola bars for their friends. The kiddos watched Thomas and had a snack. The kiddos were playing with the Cars track and fighting over and over again, even with me playing too. So I cranked up the Christmas music and we danced. Then we made a band with the drum, jingle bells, maraccas, etc. We had a great time and daddy joined in when he got home. We had dinner and then just played some more. We finally got the kiddos down by 8:00, usually we are late. They seemed pretty tired.

This morning dad and Nicole went and got bagels and coffee. Justin and I stayed home and played. Of course trains. We also ate breakfast together. Justin sat on the counter and ate Rice Krispies with me, it was nice. We also sat at the little table and had pancakes together. Dad had fun with Nicole. We had a little play group this morning with Vena, Victoria, and families. It was fun. Justin and Nicole were protective of their trains, but after that played really well. All the kids wanted to play in the back yard even though it was freezing. It was nice dad got to talk to the guys and I got to talk to the girls. So I have discovered everyone is on facebook-I may be peer pressured in joining, ugh! I was happy I was able to keep my hair straight again. After everyone left the kids watched the Christmas train again and again. We had lunch and after lunch the kids played upstairs together. They played so nicely and came down with all these animals. Nicole has been carrying little Duey around like a baby and telling him stories. Justin and I had snack at the little table. I was eating and he said will you eat at the little table with me. So we did and it was cute!

We had to go to Wal Mart again to deal with the batteries, unfortunately the ones we got were old and used. Everything on the shelf was used as well. UGH! We came home and gave the kiddos a bath. The kiddos are loving their laptops, so great. We decide to go look at Christmas lights on this street in Tustin. The kids loved it, even got hot chocolate for the very first time. Once we saw the Christmas village with the train, thats where Justin wanted to stay. He LOVED watching the train. When we walked away from the train, he kept on asking can we go back to the train. It is so wonderful to see the kids little faces as they see all the lights. After we went out for dinner. Justin was acting a little strange, tired. But it passed and he snapped out of it and ate lots of dinner. The kids shared each other’s dinners. We came home and the usual upstairs, read books, tell stories, and to sleep they went.

Well we went to Home Depot early this morning to get our Christmas tree. Unfortunately the kids could have cared less. Here is our tree:

They wanted to look at the decorations at Home Depot instead. But before going to Home Depot we wanted to set up the Christmas train. The kids thought this was the greatest thing ever. They could not wait to get their hands on the train, they just loved watching go around and around. We thought maybe they will be into the tree when we got home, but it was just in the way of the train. Bret was such a sport setting up the Christmas tree. But if I ever wanted a fake one while he was setting it up was the time to ask. Justin was hanging out playing with our non breakable ornaments.

Bret put on the lights while I went and got my haircut finally, I was well over due. I went to a new place and the guy did a great job, it is so straight but tomorrow it will probably be curly again. The kids were a little fighty this afternoon so we headed outside. It was getting cold out but the kiddos played a bit, watched our sprinklers, made tunnels at the bottom of the driveway where the water was going, watched the water go in the drain, and rode bikes. We went in back and the kiddos wanted daddy to swing them and I got to pick up leaves. We went to Wal Mart to get new batteries for their electric cars. We walked around Wal Mart for a bit then headed to dinner. We just ate at Souplantation; the kids ate a hug variety. We read lots of books and told lots of stories; the kiddos are sound asleep.

The kids are loving all these parties. This morning our play group had it’s holiday party. The kids had fun playing with all the toys and seeing their friends. We did a holiday gift exchange and the kids loved opening all the presents. Nicole wanted to wear her Dorothy The Dinasour outfit with tail and all, silly girl. We got home and surprisingly the kiddos ate lunch, they snacked so much at the party I thought they wouldn’t eat. They rode scooters for a bit in the front yard and played in the back as well. They pretended the big bad wolf was outside of their play house. They played on their little laptops for a bit too. They were playing so nicely but I made them stop to do an errand. The kiddos car batteries aren’t working right so I was hoping they were still under warranty. So I took them to the place and they are not under warranty anymore. We will have to buy new ones. Nicole and Justin are calling where we went “The Works” like in the Thomas books. We came home and I gave the kiddos a bath. Then they got in their Christmas outfits and we went to Marcie’s (Matthew) holiday party. The kids had so much fun watching the Christmas train around the tree. They also decorated and ate gingerbread cookies. Santa was there and he sang songs with the kids. It was cute but Santa told the story of baby Jesus and now our kids are singing Happy Birthday Jesus. Santa read stories as well. Justin and Nicole just sat on the couch and listened. Their favorite was Twas The Night Before Christmas, we have been reading that at home as well. They wouldn’t sit on Santa’s lap, oh well. They did make their Christmas wishes known though, they shouted a Diego and Dora bike. Here are some pics:

We came home and the kiddos were so hyper. They were so happy to see daddy and tell him about our day. They went to bed a little late. I cuddled with Justin in his bed, it was so nice.