Melissa’s Blog

This morning the kiddos and I had a great time playing at home, mostly with trains. But I knew I had to get to the gym. I was nervous about leaving Nicole in the kid’s club as she hasn’t been too happy there. But today I walked in to pick them up and she screamed I had fun! They both colored pictures for me. I brought them in the locker room area with me and they were so happy to see where I go. Then we ate some lunch on the go and at My Gym. The kiddos had their My Gym class. They had so much fun. But I think they are going to My Gym a lot as the kids said we just went there. So cute to watch them, just puts a smile on my face. We ran an errand on the way home. The kids came home and played. They played with the pieces of Candyland and pushed trucks and cars. I had to go to the grocery store. The kiddos were a great big help pushing the little carts. They love to take things off the shelves for me and the best part for them is unloading their carts. Also love to help me pick out what fruits/veggies to buy and put them in the  bags. I was going to take the kiddos to the park since it was a nice day but they just wanted to hang out at home. Unfortunately staying at home means a mess. They filled up the futon room (airport) with all their toys. They sit on the futon as that is the plane and read books. We read a ton of books this afternoon. It was nice cuddling with the kiddos on the couch and reading to them, especially since we haven’t been reading too much at night time. Dad came home and the kiddos watched Curious George while we made dinner. After dinner we went to PJ storytime at the library. Our kids were a little too hyper to sit still. After watching them wiggle for about 10 minutes we decided to leave. We came home and they were playing with the money again. Just having a great time. The kids are becoming home bodies which is fine with me. They went to bed a little late-ugh. Nicole really wants me to work at pre school tomorrow. She said to daddy what happens if I poop, who will wipe my butt-HA

Pre school and cleaners this morning. My car battery seems fine. Came home to a clean house, love that! I worked at pre school. It was raining so the kids were a bit wild, needing some outside time. We built a space shuttle. The kids loved hiding in it and playing with it. It was cute. Watching my kids share is my favorite part of pre school. Today my kiddos gave their clues nice and loud. Nicole loved showing her blocks and Justin loved showing his pinwheel. Pre school was all about space today. N&J wanted Reed to come home with us. They went running in to ask Reed’s mom. So Reed came over while his mom did the mommy and me class. The kiddos really played so well together, at least Nicole and Reed. Justin tends to go off by himself more but he still joined in. We ended up outside for a while as the kids had lots of energy to burn off. We played out in front with bikes, scooters, and cars. When Reed left I should have given my kids a bath but I let them watch TV, I needed a break. After TV we headed to My Gym for open play. These kiddos really needed to play. They had a ball, I feel like we hadn’t been to My Gym in a while. Driving there the kiddos said I was 40 and I told them I was going to throw them in the ball pit for that. And I did and they wanted me to do it again and again. They were busy climbing, hanging, playing, etc. We came home and had dinner. I was told sometimes they like the pasta I make and sometimes they don’t, silly. We gave the kiddos a bath after dinner. Then they wanted to play with money again. They were putting it into a pile calling it their cakes/cheesecakes. We sang lots of songs and Nicole put her baby to sleep in the crib. Not sure how Justin fits in his bed with the black dog, teddy, and sheepy. So cute seeing them snuggly in their bed.

It may be dead presidents day but we are happy Bret was off from work. But the weather was so crappy, staying in bed sounded nice. Nicole was up last night. When I asked her why this morning she woke up last night, I got she wanted to tell Justin something. We got up to go to the gym. Told the kiddos we were going to take daddy car but then it was too rainy. So since mommy car was in the garage we wanted to take it. Got into mommy’s car and the battery was almost dead-ugh, so to daddy’s car we went. We left the interior light on in mommy car-ugh. Dad and I worked out. The kiddos did ok in the child care. Nicole was still a little dif’t about being in there. After we headed to Grammy’s for her termite inspection. It was so cold at her house. Then we grabbed lunch at Little Pickle, our favorite sandwich shop and headed to South Coast Plaza. The kids rode the carousal and was really interested in Rainforest Cafe. But they were still a little scared. Did a little shopping too. We came home and the kiddos watched some TV. Then we just played and played at home, trains, babies. etc. We colored and did stickers. We made a street out of blocks but then Justin wanted to build a track. Nicole and I made a tower with blocks and she crashed it down. The kids pretended to do their sharing like in pre school. Nicole is bringing her blocks tomorrow and Justin his pinwheel. We practiced saying the clues louder so we will see what happens tomorrow. Got the house already for the cleaners tomorrow. We played upstairs, the kids just wanted to play with all the money again. It is really silly to watch. The kids were a little hyper when they got into bed but they settled down quickly.

The kiddos are loving Rice Krispies for breakfast, that is their favorite cereal these days. We went to Target this morning to buy some gifts for friend’s birthdays. We had fun in the empty store just taking our time. Then we headed to Krish’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Neyha and gang are down here visiting, so we were so happy to celebrate Krish’s 3rd birthday. The kids had a great time at Chuck E Cheese. They loved holding on to their own cups of tokens and putting the tokens in themselves. And of course the cake was the highlight! It was nice to see some old friends. After we headed to a homestore that was closing to look for lights for the kids room and futon room. Nicole has been so whiny, driving me crazy. They both wanted to come home. So home we went. The kids played with their new umbrellas they got. I gardened for a while and the kids played outside by me. Dad mowed the lawn. Then the kiddos drove their cars. Nicole wore her helmet and kept it on while watching TV, silly girl. Then we gave the kiddos showers and bath. Nicole wanted to shower so dad showered with her. I was busy giving Justin a bath. He said he didn’t want me to come in the bath with him. But he decided he wanted me and told me to take off my boobies (I think he met bra) and necklace. Justin and I threw water balls into dad’s and Nicole’s shower. They loved throwing the balls back and forth. It was fun as we realize we may not be able to take baths/showers with our kids much longer. Then we decided to go to the Spectrum. Nicole was so unhappy though, kept on saying she was cold. I wanted to run into Nordstroms, so Nikki and I went while dad and Justin went to put our name in at Cheesecake Factory. All of a sudden when Nicole got me alone she was the happiest kid in the world. I bought makeup and she gave me credit card to the lady and loved helping me. She played on all the chairs/couches and helped me look at shoes. We met dad and Justin and had a great dinner. The kids did great but were really hungry. Of course the kiddos wanted to ride the carousal, still Justin rides the ostrich and Nicole the bunny. When we got home it was a litte late. Luckily we can get the kids to move pretty quickly if we pretend to race. The kids wanted to play with money and have no stories or books. They had a ball pouring the bowl out and putting the coins back in as fast as possibe then dumping them out, etc. It was great they played so nicely together. They went right to bed too.

This morning there was a pancake breakfast for the dads at pre school. I volunteered to help out there so I went a little earlier. It was cute. Nicole made me a beaded bracelet there. I think the kiddos had fun showing daddy their preschool. We came home and decided to go get some exercise. Kiddos in the Bob stroller, dad on his trikke, and me trying to jog. Then we met Alan, Roberta, and Tierney at the Irvine Regional Park. We rode the train, Justin was so excited. He sat in the way back with daddy and rode backwards. Nicole wanted to sit next to Tierney. Nicole and Justin decided they wanted to ride ponies, so cute. Justin’s pony made a loud noise and he was laughing so hard. We walked over the zoo. All the animals were out so we could see a lot. The kids had the best time feeding the goats and in the little petting zoo. We tried to take some pics of the kids. The lighting was a bit off, but here they are:

Nicole got to hold T for a bit and loved it. We walked slowly back to the car and the kiddos played on the play structure for a bit. So cute they had a great time. On the way home we stopped and dropped some Valentins’s off for our friends. The kiddos watched some TV, Curious George and Seasame Street. After TV we played for a bit then I decided the jacuzzi sounded so nice. So I went out there and Nicole wanted to put on her bathing suit as well. Nicole wanted to come in with me but it was way too hot, so she ended up just putting her feet in. Since it was Valentine’s Day we had a candle light dinner. The kids seemed to like it but really wanted to blow out the candles then Justin wanted to find his flashlight. So the kids were too busy to sit still but I am still glad we did it. We will have to do it more often. The kids were wanting to play with the Easter eggs-what a mess. They love it, get out their little baskets, etc. We went upstairs and the kiddos played with money (coins) for a bit. We don’t need toys anymore. Actually they played with the money and their cars. Lots of books and off to bed they went. Nicole ran over to Justin’s bed-she said she had to tell him something. Also as pre school today another mom told me that Justin was sitting in the back at story time and Nicole was up front. Nicole looked for Justin and went to go sit with him. The mom told me Nicole said we love each other today 🙂

I was up early and out of the house to get a blood test. Got the kiddos ready and headed for the gym. I did about 3.5 miles on the treadmill, walking and jogging. When I went to pick up the kids from kid’s club Nicole wasn’t too happy. The person working there sad Nicole asked for me and cried a little. When I asked Nicole what was wrong she said she wasn’t having any fun and then it was she wanted a snack. So unlike her as usually I need to bribe her to leave the kids club. She seemed a little weird for a bit too. We dropped some Valentine’s at friends houses then headed to Wal Mart. We got home and there were beautiful Valentine roses for me. Nicole was really happy to be home. She played baby and the kids played with the Gingerbread men and cards from Candyland. They played really well together. After watching Curios George and Thomas I was bored. So I decided to give the kids a bath. Nicole decided she wanted to take a shower though. It was fun playing in the bath with Justin. Justin got a new train named Spencer, so I played trains with him. I thought he was going to pick James. All of a sudden he says I want Spencer. I didn’t even know he knew who this train was. It rained most of the afternoon. I played lots of trains and listened to a lot of whining from Nicole because she didn’t play with Spencer. Dad got home and we let the kiddos watch a little TV again while we cooked dinner. After dinner we got the play doh out and had family play doh night. It was fun and no whining! We went upstairs and the kids were running around naked screaming really loud-they were loving it. We read lots of books and told stories. I am ready for bed, it was a long day. Oh so I never know what to get Bret for V-Day so just got him his favorite chocolate covered raisans. I also went through old cards and re-gave him a card. It was hilarous, of course he didn’t recognize it. I told him and we laughed!

Today was pre school day and I was working. It was a fun day since we did lots of Valentine’s Day activities. The kids made V Day cookies and loved it. I helped the kiddos make invitations for the daddy and kids pancake breakfast on Sat. After I helped the kids make hearts with glitter. The kids were so cute passing out their Valentine’s to each other. Of course Nicole and Justin were more excited about the candy. Nicole shared her swim goggles with the class and proudly wore them. Justin shared his remote contral car. He had a big smile on his face while he wsa showing everyone how it worked. After school we played outside with our friends. Nicoel and Justin put sticks in the mud and drew on the side of the pre school and side walk. We didn’t get home until 1:30ish.  More toys went into the airport room AKA futon room. We ate lunch then we went through the kiddo’s Valentines we got.  It was cute. The kiddos took a bath. After bath we headed to the train path to ride bikes. Paula and kiddos met us there. The kids had fun. There was a big puddle so the kids had fun throwing rocks in and getting muddy. I had to take the kiddos shoes and pants off before getting into the car. We came home and grabbed dad and went through the drive thru. Cracks me up to see how much my kids love the drive thru. After dinner the kiddos played. They also got a candy cane from one of the Valentine’s and were happy when we said they could have it. The kids helped us clean up the “airport” futon room. We went upstairs and read lots of books and the kiddos went right to bed. My period must be coming as I want chocolate!

Nicole is a 100% better but we decided to stay at home and take it easy. The kids were so happy to be home all day-me on the other hand was going crazy. Ok not that crazy. The kids played trains for a long time with minimal fighting. Justin shared so well so I gave him and m&m, Nicole quickly learned how nice it was too share. We did play doh for a long time at the kitchen table. The kids pretended the blob of play doh wasa mud puddle and they had their Dora and Diego’s jumping in them. I made them all types of animals and they acted the animals out. We had fun! The kids played some more while I made lunch. I had a very hungry bunch! The kids decided after lunch to put all their toys in the futon room (they are pretending their room is the airport). Appaently they are going to Canada. What a mess.

We went and did some errands. We ran to Micheal’s craft store and since we were right there we went to TJMaxx too. I found polo shirts (kids call them goat shirts), the kiddos were so excited so I bought a few. Then we ran to the running store to exchange my shoes and to the grocery store. We decided to have a picnic in the house tonight so needed to get picnic food. The kids watched some TV while I finished stuff around the house, laundry, etc. Then we made some Valentine’s for our friends, gummi bears and teddy grahams. The kids loved putting them in bags and wanted to eat every other one. Dad came home and we had a picnic! It was fun but then we heard helicopters and lots of police activity. Something was going on at Trabuco and Jefferey shopping center, scary. Anyway we wanted to go to jammy story time at the library but it ended up being cancelled. So we just hung around the library and read books. Came home and kiddos went to sleep.

This morning we got ready for pre school. Nicole really wanted me to work but it wasn’t my day. I dropped the kiddos off and went to the gym. I ran/walked 4.5 miles but my feet were killing me. I am not even with the right shoes I will be able to do the half marathon. When I came to pick the kiddos up, the pre school teacher said Nicole was a little sad and cried. Nicole said she cried because another kid in her class took her trains. I thought this was a little unusual. We played outside. So cute to watch the kids interacting with one another. The kids were so excited to go to Rio’s house. They were playing so well. The kids weren’t too into eating lunch since there were so many new toys. But all of a sudden Nicole started crying about her ear. So we left and headed to the Woodbury clinic. She does have an ear infection so the kiddos just rested and watched some TV while we waited for the Tylenol to kick in. The kids watched Curious George and Nicole wanted to watch Seasame Street, to my shock Justin went to play trains instead of watching. He did come back to the TV. After TV we went to Target to get Nikki’s prescription. Poor Nicole was miserable. Justin was in such a great mood. When we got home Nicole laid in our bed and watched TV while I gave Jusitn a bath. So cute he was happy to be by himself but later he said there is room for Nikki. We played with the train squirters and ducks-I got some great Justin time. After dinner Nicole was feeling much better, so nice to see her happy again. So daddy played games with the kids, Candyland and Don’t Wake daddy. We went upstairs and the kids for some reason loved sitting on the vanity. We brushed teeth and got them into their jammies there. We read lots of books and the kids went to bed a little early tonight-ah.

Well today was grandma’s birthday. Disney was our plan but rain was in the forecast. So this morning I wanted to walk/jog. I got the kiddos in the stroller met a friend at the track at Castle Park. Half way around it starts to pour. Luckily I brought an umbrella but covering the stroller with it I was soaked. We played for a bit then grandma/pa came over. The kids played with them for a bit then we headed to My Gym. They had so much fun at My Gym. We couldn’t decide whether to chance it for Disney. We took grandpa back to our house as he wanted to rest and wants to wait to go to Disney instead. We went to In N Out Burger and it poured. But then there was a break in the weather. We went and man it was so cold, no rain just really cold. We went to CA Adventure to activate my mom’s 2fer pass. We all had a great time, just tiring. We went on most of the kids rides, caterpillar, lady bug, bumper cars, box car thing and not only went on it once but several times. That was the only benefit to going when it is cold and may rain at any second. We lucked out with the weather and no rain. We saw the Mickey Mouse Club House show, of course the kids loved it. I love watching the kids interact with the show, clap, jump like tigger, call for toodles, etc. Well I thought we would head out after the show but then we heard the parade was coming up, we only had to wait about a half hour. So we stayed. I am glad we stayed as the kids loved the parade. They were real quiet watching it but talked all about it later. Bret stopped and got some Chinese for dinner on the way home from work for Grandma’s birthday. Then the kiddos just played. Nicole wanted to hang/swing upside down like the people in the parade. Justin was thrilled he saw Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater in the parade. After grandm/pa left we headed upstairs and the kids fell asleep quickly.