Melissa’s Blog

Bret and I went to bed late last night. He was playing on his new computer and I was just trying to unwind from Bunco. I gave the sleeping kiddos kisses last night when I got home. This morning we heard Justin calling daddy. At first I couldn’t find him, he was downstairs. Usually they come in our room to wake us up, but all he wanted was apple juice. It was silly. Then we went back to my bed and just played. He was so giggly this morning-I love it! The kids had breakfast and then they just played. I tried to get ready for the cleaners. They played baby together, pushed babies in strollers and pretended to look for baby clothes. They kids also said they wanted to marry each other and live happily ever after. We headed to park day for the mom’s club. It has been so long since we have been. It was election day so they had pizza and cupcakes. The kids had fun playing at the park but weren’t too excited to see any of the friends, they just stayed together. The kids ate some pizza but then were sitting next to the cupcakes, so eating pizza was over. As we were leaving the park the kiddos decided they were starving again so we got some pizza to go. Dad’s work was near this park, so we went over to say hi. The kids love to visit daddy at work. We met some friends at Lower Peter’s Canyon park. The kids now love this park as the monkey bars are low enough for them to try and do it theirselves. Nicole is determined she can do one or two bars. I think she has watched Paula’s kids so much that she wants to do it. Justin had fun playing in the sand. On the way home we stopped at Target to get some presents for a friend’s birthday party tomorrow. I got the kiddos some cones to drive their cars around, who knew simple cones could occupy them. They used them in the futon room and went around them with the trash truck. We all played on our laptops for a bit and the kiddos put their birthday crowns on. I had to go to the grocery store to get some stuff for pre school tomorrow. Nicole took a little cart an Justin stayed in the car cart for all of 5 minutes. Then he tried to push it around the store-way too big for them. Anyway the kids love to shop get things down from the shelves, etc. If I could get them to agree on buying the same thing we would be all set. When we got home they helped me bake a cake for Ms. Donna-they love pouring in the ingredients and mixing. Then the kiddos watched some TV while I got dinner on the table. After we had celebration ice cream. Dad still has a job, he survived the layoffs. All of a sudden Justin is eating his ice-cream and says this is delicious, too cute. We went to play outside. I got the kids cones so dad set them up to ride their cars around, but Justin set them up himself on the sidewalk. We decided to go to Lower Peter’s Canyon Park so the kids could show daddy the monkey bars. They were so excited. It was great-we had a great time. We did monkey bars, slides, chased the kids, etc. We need to do that more often. We came home and headed upstairs. Our neighbor next door called and told us she was having trouble breathing. So I called 911-it took them about 3 rings to answer, surprisingly. The kids were just watching everything. Our neighbor does have asthma but it turned out to be a panic attack. Big excitement on our street. The kids asked us a million questions and wanted us to tell the story over and over again. Finally they went to bed. We are just waiting to hear from our neighbor. What a crazy night.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. Nicole greeted up bright and early this morning. Bret took her downstairs and let me sleep a bit more. But then I felt frazzled trying to get ready this morning. I had to pack snack for pre school and get the house ready for a play date. I had to wake Justin up this morning. I got the best job at school today-sarcasm. The kids put paint on a fish and then put paper on it to get fish prints. The fish was so gross, looking at me-ha. The kids had a great time. Justin shared his Spencer train and Nicole shared her dalmation dog. It was so cute, they are getting so good at making up the clues. After snack, it was wet and wild day. Ms. Donna put on goggle, rain poncho and let the kids spray her. We couldn’t get the kids in their bathing suits fast enough. They had a great time spraying water and using spray bottles. Some kids were pretty soaked, Nicole and Justin stayed fairly dry. We came home and had some friends from pre school over. The kids all played really well. Nicole really wanted to show everyone her room. Justin built what he calls Legoland with Reed. He was so excited for me to see it, it was so cute. Nicole almost broke it though and ended up getting a time out. It was a bit crazy with all the kids and what a mess, but we had fun. Nicole was really fighty with Justin so I made the kiddos play nicely together then I let them watch TV while I cleaned more. I am sure tired today. After TV the kiddos took a shower/bath. More like a bath using the sprayer. The kids had fun and Nicole sprayed me pretty good. After bath the kiddos played their Leapsters for a bit then we went into the futon room to play. We all played grocery store for a bit then dalmation. Daddy came home and he took the kiddos outside. They drove cars, played soccer, and did the rocket laucher thing. Meanwhile I straightened my hair since I am heading to Bunco. After dinner we played games, Bingo and Candyland. Then the kids decided to have a parade. They got the guitar out and walked in circles downstairs. The kids were crazy, shaking and dancing. Then they got placemats out and pretended they were telescopes, the little things that occupy them, why do I buy toys? HA I went to Bunco tonight. The kids waited with me for my friend to pick me up and watched me off. So cute that they love when I go to Bunco. I am sure they had a great time with daddy.

Nicole slept in this morning. I finally had to wake her up at 8:15 as we had to leave by 8:30 for their dentist app’t. The kids did great at the dentist. The TV helped too. At first Kung Fu Panda was on but Nicole didn’t like some of the characters so they turned on Finding Nemo instead. The kids picked chocolate toothpaste, eww. Justin now has all his teeth, 20. The dentist did a checkup, polishing of teeth, flossing, and a flouride treatment. We did an errand on the way home and came home and played. We played at home most of the day. What a mess this house is. After lunch we headed to Costco as I am snack mom for pre school tomorrow. The kids loved going to Costco, mostly for the samples but they enjoyed picking out the snack for tomorrow. We played with trains this afternoon and the kids played pretty well together. Dad came home and the kids went outside to play with him. They had so much fun. They played with their hippity hoppity ball thing, soccer, rode bikes, etc. They needed some outside time. Dad took the kids to the drive thru and I started to do some work for pre school. I have been pretty blah and boring all day. After dinner we let the kids watch a little TV, for some reason we forgot to watch TV this afternoon. We went upstairs and played some more. The kids used dad as a play structure. The kids brushed their teeth for the longest time with the new toothbrushes the dentist gave them, so cute they were sitting on the vanity together. They did carwash and played with all the Mickey and friends stuffed animals We had a mellow evening. We read lots of books we hadn’t read in a while. We told lots of stories and we are finding since it is lighter later the kids are going to bed later and later.

It is a little sad that are anniversary is over. This morning Nicole woke up first so her and I played a bit. We had fun putting all her animals in the doll house bookcase. Justin slept in this morning, he must be growing. I went for a run this morning. I ran up the paths and saw so many bunny’s, so when I got home I grabbed the kids, daddy, and some carrots. We saw 2 bunnies and the kids left carrots for the rest of the bunnies. It was really fun! Dad had to work a bit this morning. The kiddos took a shower in the fishy bathroom. Their version of a shower is sitting in the tub holding the sprayer thing, oh well, at least they are clean kids. We played outside and I started to swing the kids. But they wanted daddy to swing them, so they just sat in the swings until dad was done working. Then we headed to the Tustin Chili Cookoff. It was too crowded, so frustrating trying to get the stroller through all the people. Dad got some chili but we just wanted to get out of there. The kids spotted lollipops and got one, so at least they were happy in the stroller. We had to stop at Home Depot on the way home. Dad and Justin went to Home Depot and Nicole and I went to Toys R Us. We played in the store for a bit. We came home and the kids wfanted our full attention. We had so many little things to do around the house so we let them watch TV. We had Stacey come over tonight and babysit so we could have a night out. We went to the Orange County Mining Company and had a nice peaceful dinner/drinks. It was weird being out just as the two of us. I hope we can do it more often. I had mommy guilt so I made the kiddos their favorite dinner Mac and Cheese and corn dogs. Also we brought them back some frozen yogurt. They had a great time with Stacey-they played so much and were so excited to tell us what they did. I missed them. They were wanting to play and tell us so much that we let them stay up a bit. Justin gave Stacey a hug and a kiss and Nicole wanted to make her a picture. Dad read some books while I put away laundry. Justin had a big smile on his face when I told him he could pick out his clothes and he could reach them himself. Can’t believe the weekend is over already.

Can’t believe 10 years ago I married my best friend. We gave each other cards and are just loving being together. Bret went out and got some bagels this morning, the kids loved it. We played inside for a while then Justin wanted to do bubbles, so we went out on the greenbelt. I got to walk the dog, Nicole. I went out to get my haircut and colored. Dad and the kids took scooters to the park and played lots of games at home. They met me for lunch. It was so weird being gone for 2 hours from the kids. After lunch I took the kiddos to the play ground at McDonalds. So funny the kids kept pointing to McDonalds saying they wanted to eat there. I asked Justin what he wanted to eat there and he said anything. Well of course they wanted to just go over there for the play area, so after a good lunch we headed over there.  When we got home I decided it was time to put on the good old wedding dress. Proudly I can say it still fits! Nicole loved seeing me all dressed up, she immediately went and put on her Cinderella dress. She loved me being a princess with her. We took some photos too:

After playing princess we looked for pirate treasure. Cracks me up how many times the kiddos can look for treasure, over and over again. The kiddos watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Then we went outside to play. Dad got the tent from upstairs and put it outside, Nicole enjoyed that. She ran up and got her sheet and pretended to sleep. Justin wanted to play soccer. It was a bit windy out so we took a chnace and grabbed the kites and walked to castle park. Unfortunately the wind wasn’t that great so kite flying was a little difficult. I love watching Justin run with his kite, it is so cute. Nicole had to wear her dog harness thing and pretend to be a dog. We went over to the play area. The kids wanted to swing. Justin lets out this big squel everytime daddy pushes him high. The kids also played in the sand for a bit. We came home and the kiddos played Leapsters while we made dinner. Daddy had to do some work (memory in a server). After dinner I did puzzles with the kids. The first one went well, Care Bears. The second one, Little People, I was having a difficult time having patience. We went upstairs and got ready for bed, jammies, brush teeth, etc. Justin’s clothes are on the top bar of the closet that he can’t reach. He is wanting to pick out his clothes, so I feel bad. I ended up moving his clothes to the bottom bar of the other closet. I have a bit more arranging to do tomorrow but I hope he likes the independence. A few books and the kiddos are sleeping with a lot of animals in their beds (barely room for them).

Happy 10th anniversary Bret. I just want to tell you how much I love you. The past 10 years have gone by so quickly. It is amazing what has happened in the last 10 years, moved to Foster City and bought a town house, adopted a puppy (Tracey-I miss you everyday), job changes, move back to Southern CA, got pregnant, became a stay at home mom, etc. We have a beautiful family and you are an amazing dad. Life can’t get much better than this. I love you with all my heart and look forward to our 50th wedding anniversary. Thanks for making me feel so loved and special.

It is Friday-yeah! We played at home this morning. Dad made Justin a track for his new train that Buffi and Mark gave him. We had fun at home. Nicole put her harness on and wanted to be walked. We had to run to Target as I wanted to see if I could find Ashley and Jordan another present-I wasn’t too thrilled with the one we found at Toys R Us. The kids picked out some pool thing with slides, sprinklers, etc. It was cute then they had fun playing in the toy aisle. I wish I could buy my kiddos everything but then they we just be spoiled brats. They liked helping me pick out the present. We got a couple other things then headed home. The kids had a snack and we got ready for the party. Ashley and Jordan had their party at a bounce house place. The kids had a blast. Nicole was really happy to see Penny and kept wanting to play with Penny, so cute. The kids went down the big slides and bounced a ton. It was fun playing in the bounce house with them.  I used the new flip video camera that we just got so I can’t wait to see the videos later. The kids loved the bouncer with the big extra bouncer thing in the middle. I kept throwing the kids on it and they loved trying to stand on it. I chased them around the circular bounce house as well. We had a great time, it was a great party too. The kids all had pizza and cake together. There was a boy and a girl table. So cute to see all the boys together and all the girls. Justin wanted a vanilla cupcake and Nicole chose chocolate. They were so excited for their goodie bags and balloons. On the way home we had to stop and pick up a doll house bookcase for Nicole that I found on Craigslist. It was in such a pretty part of Lake Forest. I was hoping we could walk through the foresty areas but I was too nervous with out a potty. When we got home Nicole wanted to put on her Pooh dress and tights. She looks so pretty in it but thought she may be hot. The kids played with their goodie bags stuff. Justin made a wood block track for his new Lightening McQueen. The kids played doctor and laptops as well. The fighting was starting a bit so I let them watch TV. The kids chose to watch Curious George then Thomas. While they watched TV I had to do some stuff for pre school. Then the kiddos took a bath. The kids had a fun bath playing with these frogs. I think I had to hop it on their heads about 100 times. But then the frogs got a time out for splashing and the kids thought it was great. Dad came home and we all went to Red Robin for dinner. The kids played games there, luckily we sat near the games so we were able to sit at the table and watch them. Nicole and I went into a store for a little while and dad and Justin went over to the fountain. I love Nicole time as much as she loves time with me. The minute we were alone she looks up and says I love you mom. We were playing in the store and Nicole was watching me rather then watching where she was going and she bumped into a table, poor thing. We met up with dad and Justin and joined them going up and down the escalators. We got home and dad brought in the doll house bookcase so the kids wanted to play with that. Justin put books in it and Nicole wanted dolls to put in it. We also played car wash, where the kids run up and down the hallway and run into their sheets, I love the games we play. The kids went right to sleep.

The kids slept in a bit. I was glad since they went to bed a little late but stressful on a pre school morning. I stayed at school for a bit to do some paperwork, it was fun hanging out with the kids. I then ran a few errands and came back to school early. A mom asked me if I could work a half hour of her shift. So cute N&J were so excited to see me. We were outside for the last half hour and I just had fun playing with the kids, parachute and red light/green light. We played outside for a bit and saw a cute little puppy. So cute watching the kids run with the puppy. We came home and had a quick lunch. Then I headed out to try to find a birthday present for a party tomorrow. Taking the kids to a toy store while I am in a hurry is not a good idea. Actually the kids did really well-I bought something but am hoping I have time to run out in the morning to get something different. I got a sprinkler thing that is so cute but not sure how practical it is. After the toy store we went to Grammy’s. Buffi and Mark were heading home tonight, so we wanted to spend one last day with them. I brought bubbles and chalk over so the kids did that for a bit. They loved showing off their chalk drawings. So funny all of a sudden I heard the kids trying to come in and I wasn’t sure why they were hurrying in, then they said scary Buffi is coming and they ran, so silly. Buffi and I took the kiddos for a walk to 7-11. The kids put on their sunglasses and we were good to go. The kids enjoyed reading lots of books with Grammy outside while I got some time to talk to Mark. Even thought Grammy had some tasty snacks I thought it would be fun to go for a walk. The kids loved it, they saw a police car, loved picking out a snack. They chose fig newtons of all things. On the way back we went to the little park by Grammy’s and saw bunny’s, dogs, etc. They had fun at the park. They climbed up the play structure and were pretending Pete (from Mickey Mouse ClubHouse) was at the top. They went down the spiral thing a ton of times. By the time we headed back to Grammy’s daddy was there. The kids watched a little TV and we all had dinner and the kids couldn’t wait for the strawberry cake for dessert. And it was yummy! It was a really fun afternoon. The kids pounced on us for a bit and we pretended to throw them into the pool. Dad took Buffi and Mark to LAX while the kids and I drove daddy’s car and came home. So proud of Justin for holding his pee, poor guy really had to pee but I took a chance and didn’t pull over and he made it. After all the water he drank, I was surprised he was able to make it. The kids needed some play time and finally went to bed around 8:40. I  read them books and told stories tonight. Just waiting for daddy to come home now.

We had a cool thrunderstrom last night, can’t remember the last time I saw lightening. This morning we just played at home, the kids fought some of the time and played really well some of the time. We cleaned up a little. The kids raced their car arounds and played on their little laptops. I think they played on their laptops for a while as I was saying when you are done it is bath time. The kiddos took a bath. They stayed in the bath for a while. Nicole is very touchy today. She had a fit when I said it was time to get out of the bath. It only got worse when I told her she had to wear pants. Justin really wanted to wear this stripe polo, it was so cute. He never cares what he wants to wear so when he does I let him usually wear it. I put on jeans for the first time in a while on the kids and I can’t believe how small they have gotten on them. They are just growing and growing. We went to get some sandwiches to bring to CA Adventure. We went to CA Adventure with grandma/pa. This was the last of grandpa’s birthday ticket. We had a great time, but I am tired. We did the usual things like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, the caterpillar ride, box cars-Justin wanted to sit in a white one, bumper cars, etc. We went over to the Hollywood area. We watched a show that the animators put on. They talked about how the animation works, sang songs. At the end Cinderella, Woody, and Micky came out. Nicole was in aw of Cinderella. We waited in line and Nicole went right up to her, first character Nicole has gone up to. She even gave Cinderella a hug, it was cute. We saw Goofy as well. We went to the talking Crush show. It was really interactive and the kids could ask him questions. It was really cute. Nicole was so sad and cried at the end because she couldn’t ask her question. So we went over to the guy who was the host and he got Crush back. Nicole and Justin got alone time with Crush, it was so cute. Nicole asked Crush how old he is? Crush said 150. Justin talked to him too and told him how old he was, etc. After we ate some dinner and the kids got a Mickey Mouse cookie. I really wanted my parents to see Soaring Over CA.Surprisingly the kids were tall enough, barely but they let them on. Justin liked it, Nicole not so much. The firework part scared her. Justin loved the big boat and the jet planes. Overall we had a great day, the weather was pretty cool but I would rather have it cool then too hot. Nicole told daddy all about the fact she didn’t like soaring over CA. The kids had lots to tell daddy and went to bed, a little later then I would have wanted. Bret got me a new laptop since my other one seemed so slow. This one is really light and compact, lets see if I can get used to it.

The kiddos slept in a bit this morning. I took the kiddos to pre school. Nicole wanted to take her doggie harness to show everyone and Justin wanted to take one of his shake and go cars. I stayed at pre school for a bit to meet the membership person. I wanted to go over some things with her before I took over the position. So fun to watch the kiddos. Nicole and Justin were happy I was there. I think they forgot then Nicole saw me, and all of a sudden the room is quiet and I hear hi mommy. I left and went for a quick run/walk. I am pmsing so I didn’t have a great run/walk. I came home for a short bit. The kids had fun at school. After school we played outside for a while. It was great to hang out with the moms and watch the kiddos play. We got home and I fed the kids lunch. Then we just played. I played babies with the kids, we walked our babies to the beach (futon room), fed them , played with them, watched the train, etc. Then the kids did some shopping in the mini market and the played with trains. Nicole at first wasn’t being very nice to Justin. We had a talk and she said she would try harder and she did. Since they were playing so well I rewarded them by letting them watch TV. They watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. While they watched TV I worked on membership stuff for pre school. After TV we went to BlueGum Park. The kids played over by the volleyball area. First they threw the balls into and over the net then they played in the sand. They were busy making big holes. After Justin went to play on the swings while Nicole built a gingerbread house out of sand. We weren’t able to stay at the park for very long as we need to meet Buffi, Mark, and Grammy for dinner. We met at Olive Garden and dad met us there too (he biked from work). The kids were so talky and hyper at dinner and very hungry. Dinnner was very nice and the kids did well. When we got home though we had crazy kids. I went to change Jusitn in his jammies while all naked he just went running up and down the hallway screaming. It was so funny then Nikki joined in. I put up a sheet and had them run through it, more laughter. They were calling it their car wash. It was a fun night at home. The only thing was crazy kids don’t go to bed on time. It was at 8:00 when we finally started reading books. After putting them to sleep I still heard them upstairs singing. They eventually went to bed but around 8:30. It was really cute though. I had some more membership stuff to do then I am heading to bed.

This morning we just stayed at home. I did a bunch of laundry. The kids played. They filled up their new lunch bags and pretended to eat. Nicole wanted to be walked all day. She loves that harness. Justin walked her a bit but only when she wasn’t running. She kept on promising to be a nice dog but that didn’t last too long. We did dress up with the magnetic doll but Nicole only wants to have the ballet tutu on the doll. Justin played with his new truck and found a great parking spot for it, in between the the entertainment center and speaker. The kids played out in the backyard a bit and they got along really well. The kids had an early lunch as they were hungry. After lunch they took a long overdue bath. It seems like lately bath has been 3 days instead of every other day. They were having fun in the bath. They was a little fighting. Once Justin picked a toy he wanted, Nicole immediately wanted it. Justin was so nice as most of the time he gave it up for Nicole. They kept on splashing though and throwing wash clothes at each other, but they were giggling the entire time. They took a really long bath and I was getting really bored that I decided to do some ironing. After bath Nicole put her swim suit on and after being naked for a bit, Justin wanted his Spiderman swimsuit on. The kids played with the Leapsters for a bit. Nicole helped me with the laundry. We finally headed outside. I tried to work in the garage for a bit. I am also working on getting all the weeds out of the grass, so I pulled some out then fertilized.  The kids played really well while I did this. Justin first got his broom to help me sweep, then they headed on the green belt. Justin brought out the rocket launcher and they did that for a bit, then hopped on the Thomas hippity hoppity ball, then threw sticks down the drain, then bubbles. I was amazed at how long the bubble play lasted. They dipped their hands in the bubble solution and used it as soap. They had bubble stuff in their hands all over their legs, etc. Note to self give them a bath after bubbles not before. So I knew I had to get the hose out to clean all the bubble stuff off so I decided to wash my car. The kids were so excited. We got started then our neighbor with Zoe the dog came by. The kids continued to wash but I chatted. Just when I was ready to work on the car again, the kids wanted to play with Zoe. So finally an hour later or so we started washing the car again. The kids were great helpers. Dad came home and we all finished my car. Then another neighbor came over with her kids. All the kids rode bikes and scooters in the clean garage. They also played in the backyard and house. My kids decided to stay on the greenbelt and play soccer with daddy. Finally we ate dinner after 6:30. The kids were so hungry that they finished a whole thing of blueberries and ate a ton of veggies. We read some books downstairs and finally headed upstairs after daddy got off the phone with his brother. Dad read more books while I put away laundry. Justin wanted to rock with me tonight, I love when they are so snuggly. Nicole wanted to sleep with her Minnie Mouse bookend. I will take it out of her bed sometime tonight. Oh I forgot to mention Nicole got up all by herself to go potty in the middle of the night. I was sleeping in her room and she didn’t know I was there. Of course I woke up anyway but at least she didn’t scream mommy. Bret and I are still so full from all we have been eating lately-worst feeling ever. Hopefully we will sleep well and feel better in the morning.