Melissa’s Blog

Nicole taking morning showers continues. It is totally fine but whoever is in there freezes, we definitely need a bigger shower and a second shower head. The kids played a bit this morning. Of course they wanted to play Candyland. It is getting a bit easier to play games with them. We told the kiddos that daddy would be going to a Thomas show at the OC Performing Arts Center and Nicole and I would plan something. Nicole was attached to me, she was so excited we were going to do something alone. I went for a jog/walk then came home and we ran some errands. The kids are talking about having their own rooms, so we looked for some posters and ceiling fans for light. We had no luck! When we got home dad and the kids played Chutes and Ladders. Dad and Justin left, so Nicole and I made cupcakes with pink frosting. She loved stirring and adding the ingredients. We had so much fun. I can’t believe how many sprinkles she put on but she loved it. She wanted to bring cupcakes to her friends in the neighborhood, Aliya, Matthew and Ellie, Zoe (the dog) and her family, Noah and Olivia, and Art and Bernice. Nicole was so proud to give her cupcakes to her friends. Nicole played Zoe for a while and threw the ball to her. We came home and did some laundry. Then we did watercolors. Justin came home and said he really liked the show, saw Thomas, James, and Henry, etc. It sounded like he had a great time but then he was focused on the watercolors. So they both painted for a while. I think this is the first time we have done water colors at home. I gave Justin a bath by himself today. It was nice to spend some time with him alone too. We squirted the ducks and had so much fun doing it. The best part was when I got him out and dried him off, I messed up his hair and he loved looking at himself in the mirror. We were both laughing so hard. Dad stayed downstairs and did water colors with Nicole. Then we decided to go to the pizza place AKA Northwood PIzza, the kids were ecstatic. They just love it there. We played games and ate pizza, a good time was had by all. When we got home Nicole shared the cupcakes she made with daddy and Justin. We played trains then headed upstairs. The kids were pretty happy and hyper, hiding in the beds under all the covers. Then Nicole decided she wanted to be a ballerina, so I got her tutu out. She looked so cute. We read books and the kids went right to sleep.

This morning we had a make up class for My Gym. The kids had a great time and listened really well. They did what My Gym staff called log rolls. They lay on a ramp mat and roll down-it was so cute to watch N&J roll down next to each other and hold hands. They also did the monkey bars. The staff always partned Justin and Nicole together which is sweet but I like to watch them interact with other kids. The kids played duck duck goose and now they want to play it all the time. Then we headed to South Pasadena for Jeremy’s 4th birthday party (pirate). It rained a lot on the way down there. The kids had a great time, they were more into playing with Jeremy’s and John’s toys rather then jumping in the big pirate ship bounce house. They played pin the tail on the treasure chest. Justin and Nicole both loved playing. Nicole especially loved wearing the mask, it was cute. We came home and ran to a neighbor’s house, but it started pouring on us. We ran back to get the umbrella but very difficult with all of us under the same umbrella, even though it was a big one. The kids wanted to then play in the rain on the way home. We all got soaked. The kiddos put their boots on and played; they even saw a rainbow. We came in and got warm and the kiddos played trains. After dinner the kiddos tossed balloons in the air and tried not to let them touch the ground. They also played duck duck goose with their slippery socks (as they call them). We went upstairs and the kids were kind of wired, running around. Justin decided to take his kids (teddy. doggy, and sheepy) on the pretend monorail. When I asked him what his dog’s name was he told me pizza dog, thus teddy was pizza teddy and sheepy was pizza sheep. We are hoping Nicole goes to bed. She napped for about 10 minutes on the way to Holly and Jeff’s-it was a really early nap so we will see what happens.

Nicole wanted to put on her bathing suit and take a shower again this morning. So she came in with me and now I think our shower needs two shower heads 🙂 My highlight is I have now lost 20lbs!! We played a bit at home then I went to the gym. The kids played and had a great time. I jogged/walked 4 miles. I need to get some new running shoes, mine were bothering me a bit. The kids wanted to go to the mall, so I figured they put up with me going to my work out place I will go somewhere for them. We just went to the Laguna Hills Mall. The kdis loved that it was raining. We played on the lights for a while and walked around the mall. I took the kiddos to Ruby’s for lunch. They were amazing, loved watching the planes and getting the cardboard planes with stickers too. After we went in a few stores and headed home. The kiddos watched Curious George and then Uncle Alan stopped by. He stopped over to show us cute pictures. The kids were happy to see him. Then the kiddos just played trains for a while. Then we headed to the toy story to buy a gift. The kids had fun playing around in the store and were very happy to get balloons. I needed to go to Ann Taylor Loft as well. The balloons saved me in the store. The kids had fun playing around while I did a return and shopped.The fitting room was the highlight for the kids. They preteneded like I was the storm and closed the fitting room door while I was out of the room. Dad was happy we weren’t home as he decided to try and learn the electric bass guitar-the guitar came today. He was able to play with it a little bit. After dinner, Justin wanted dad to build a spiral track. Dad showed the kids his new guitar and the kids wanted to get their guitars. Here are some pic:

We played in the tent room and the kids were silly. They were even pushing trains up there. We read a lot, the kids haven’t been into me telling them stories lately. Nice to hear the rain outside.

Nicole has a thing for her bathing suit, she wore it yesterday for part of the day and put it on this morning when she woke up. She decided she wanted to take a shower this morning, so bathing suit on she went in with daddy. She was so proud of herself for taking a shower. Justin just came downstairs and played with his trains. We were organized this morning and didn’t have to rush around. When I took the kiddos to pre school, one child whose mom was working wasn’t feeling good. So at the last minute I worked at the pre school. Thank goodness the kids leave lots of stuff in my car, so I brought Justin’s flashlight in and a Thomas watch. It was fun being at pre school. I love watching the kids play and interact with their friends. The kids got some books at pre school today (had to buy for a fundraiser) so after school they just wanted to come home and look at them. After lunch I wanted to try and run a bit. So packed up the Bob stroller with every toy/book it could hold. The kids impressed me and did really well in the stroller. They liked the books and laptops the best-didn’t even need to go to a snack. But I only got about 25 minutes then it started to rain. We came in and I read all their new books then let the kiddos watch some TV. We played trains for a bit then the fights started so the kiddos took a bath. They can’t bug each other too much in the bath. After bath we just played, too rainy to go out. The kids love playing Candyland, so we played it a lot, read books, and did puzzles. Nicole is loving her new book Pinkalicious, I think it is just because it talks about cupcakes. After dinner the kids practiced cutting with scissors. I was shocked when I discovered they did this for a half hour. Nicole switches hands often but can cut with the scissors in one hand, Justin still uses two hands. Just a little more practice and he will do it right. The kids did boat rides (using their bumper from crib) with daddy upstairs. The kids were cracking up. When dad got tired, they pulled their animals. Books and songs and the kids are sleeping.

I made it to the gym this morning. I am still considering jogging/walking in this half marathon. Of course after 2.5 miles I was done. Hoping it gets easier and easier. The kids had a great time in the kid’s club. So glad they love it so I don’t worry about them at all. Then we headed to Jump N Jammin for some play. The kids had a blast. They loved the balls, the climbing…basically everything. Justin had a big smile on his face while shooting balls and Nicole liked to put them up the tube for Justin to get. They danced on the lights and went in the bounce house. It is a great place for the kids, just a little expensive. Luckily they were hungry so it wasn’t too hard to get them out of the place. We just ate some pizza for lunch and sat outside. It was a relaxing lunch. When we got home the kiddos played with trains for a bit. Then the kiddos watched some TV. They love their TV time. We went outside and tried to take a walk, we didn’t get too far and the kids wanted to go home. They wanted me to carry their doll strollers but they knew they took them they need to bring them home. Justin drove his car and found it wasn’t very fun without his sister. Nicole was inside feeding her Winnie The Pooh honey. We played some games, Hi Ho Cheerio and Bingo. After dinner, I ran to the grocery store with the kiddos for a few things. Kids played trains really well together when we got home then we headed upstairs. I forgot to mention a couple days ago we were reading Cinderella and Nicole asked what the prince’s name-we said prince and then she said no it is gentleman. It was funny and cute at the time but I am sure I will look back on this and think why did I write this. Bret and I are really tired, we are going to watch some tv then to bed.

We got ready for the cleaners and pre school. I worked at pre school-I was snack mom. We didn’t know but today the preschool was going to visit the fire station. Unfortunately I didn’t know ahead of time, so I didn’t bring my camera. The kids had fun. The fire chief did say the word stupid, so not happy about that. N&J gave the fire fighter that put his uniform and mask on a high five. They learned to stay down low in a fire. So pre school today flew by. We brought Reed home with us since his mom had to work at the mommy and me. The kids were excited to bring Reed home with us. They all ate a huge lunch, very hungry kids. They played outside in ther backyard for a while then we made a big train track on the living room floor. The kids played with flashlights up and down the stairs. The kids had such a great time playing, so amazing. My parents came over and took Justin and Nicole away from Reed. N&J played with grandma/pa for a bit. Then I gave the kiddos a bath; they stayed in the bath for so long. We found out today that Bret is safe from layoffs, thank goodness. This is the first layoffs for his company in 75 years. It is just a relief as Bret really likes his job. We decided to go for a walk tonight with flashlights, just went around the neighborhood. I was so tired so Bret was a trooper and became a street for the kids to drive their Hot Wheels cars. Then he read them a book or two. Nicole put Winnie The Pooh in her doll crib to sleep. Justin is asleep and we still hear Nicole fussing with the doll crib.

So I think I am coming down with a cold or it still may be allergies. The kids played this morning while I got organized a bit around here. We met our My Gym friends at Chick Fil-A for some playtime. Justin and Nicole said they were so hungry, took one bite then headed into the play area. They were excited to see their friends, but Luke was out of sorts today. He actually bit Justin on the shoulder. I felt so bad for Justin. When Luke apologized Justin said don’t do it again. I was proud of Justin for telling Luke that. All was good again so we headed to My Gym. The kids had a lot of fun. Nicole had a little trouble listening as she was doing what other kids were doing. They played duck duck goose, so cute. I just love to sit and watch them and got a little bit on video for daddy. After we headed to Costco. The kids were so good in Costco. They got to run around in the cold area and watch some TV. They pretty much just stayed in the cart. The best part was trying skittles for the first time. We came home and the kids wanted to watch TV. We then played outside in the backyard and front. I did a little gardening while the kids played up front. We decided to take a walk with the doll strollers. It was a great walk and we just explored. The kids played in the gutter water, they loved watching it move fast. We ran into daddy coming home from work so the kiddos got a ride home with him. After dinner, I cleaned up for the cleaners while dad and the kids played Candy Land. We went upstairs and read books. The kids wanted more books tonight and no stories. That was actually nice for a change, it gets more and more difficult to make up stories.

This morning we headed to Target to get a few things. After we went over to the train path to ride bikes, dad brought his Trikke and I jogged a bit. We all had fun especially when the trains came. The kids watched the cars under the bridge, they were really hoping someone would beep. We just took it slowly and played along the way too. On the grass we played tag and just had family fun! We decided to stop by the Ralphs shopping center and get lunch. The kids wanted blueberries and bagels for lunch. Again we just took our time and played, went to the hardware store and the music store. When we got home the kids watched TV and dad and I played on our computers. The hedges have needed to be done for a while and finally I decided to do it, it took a long time. I haven’t done serious gardening like that in a while. We took out some toys we haven’t played with in a while, Mr. Potatoe Head and also played with the market. I gave them my little shopping cart thing that I had and a basket-they loved using it with the store. We played outside for a while with bubbles and the rocket launcher. That rocket launcher thing is awesome, I should have bought one for me too. After dinner the kids pretended to ice skate. The kids grabbed their flashlights and went upstairs in the dark. They got in their jammies and brushed teeth, we read books and within telling the first story Justin was fast asleep. Nicole really wanted a baby to put in her crib, but she settled on Winnie The Pooh. Nicole fell asleep pretty quickly too. My allergies were horrible from all the gardening that I ran into the shower real quick.