Melissa’s Blog

Well we stayed home this morning. I did some touch ups on the mural. The kids did some pretend painting as well. The kids played with their drawing toys, the crystal climbers, and then their Leapsters. We all went outside after and did some watering. The kids played T ball which ended in Justin in tears, Nicole accidently got him with the ball. Nicole has been hungry all morning. Justin wanted to weigh himself and is 34 pounds. The munchkins are growing. Our swim lesson was canceled. The kids were so sad so I had to come up with something fun to do. We ended up going to the lagoon in RSM. We had a blast. The kids love it there. Nicole is starting to go through my legs underwater. Justin did a little as well but I did pick my leg up to help a bit. We met a new friend and the kids had fun playing with Johnny. So cute watching Justin play with a boat around the sand. The kids played in the sand and just had a great time. It wasn’t bath day but I figured with the showers there it makes for an easy way to wash their hair. They love the shower. The kids played really well and even shared snacks on the way home. When we got home we went right out front and played. The weather was beautiful. The kids did chalk. Then they got their golf clubs and balls and hit them on the greenbelt. I was busy vacuuming my car and cleaning out the garage a bit. The kids then decided to play in my car and read books in my car. They had a great time. We had a later than usual dinner. So nice not to have to rush to get dinner on the table anymore as they can wait a bit. After dinner the kids watched the trailer to Alvin and the Chipmunks. They just love that movie. We went upstairs and all of a sudden a happy screaming naked Justin comes to my room. It was so funny. We chased each other around a bit then played hide n seek. It was a fun evening. We didn’t have too much time to read books but the kids were laying down while I was reading. They were tried. I love when they go right to sleep.

This morning I needed to run to the pre school again to meet some new parents there. The kids had the best time playing. I had to race them to get them to come inside to the school, then I had to race them to mommy car to get them out. Thank goodness this trick still works. The kids played so well at pre school. Dad stayed home to upgrade his server. He had a hard time concentrating with the kids around. So the kiddos and I hung out in the backyard. They entertained themselves by using golf clubs to hit a beach ball. I took this opportunity to get some gardening done. They did some T-ball as well. They were starting to get bored so we all washed the windows together. I know child slave labor. I let them do two windows and they loved it. They loved using the squeegees. It was actually kind of fun. Then we washed their play house as well. After lunch I gave the kiddos a bath with the prayer. It was a quick bath because we needed to go to My Gym. I signed them up for one day of camp and the kids had the best time. I took the opportunity to go to the gym for me while they were there. I also managed to get to the grocery store and some time at home. When I went to pick the kids up they did not want to go. They played and played. They told me about their snack, the games they played, the parallel bars, etc. They also did a craft. They made door holders that say Justin’s room and Nicole’s room-they came out really cute. I will probably do the “camp” another time since they had so much fun. We came home and then kids ran up to put their signs on their doors and I made dinner. It was an awful dinner. Luckily we had corn and pudding for dessert so that saved us. The kids seemed like they needed a rest so we let them watch Barney. I wanted some computer time now that e-mail is back up. After we went outside for a short bit. Justin drove his car while Nicole roller skated. We also talked to our neighbors for a bit. Nicole wanted to show our neighbors her new door hanger she made plus she showed them her bed and all the animals she sleeps with. Justin has been sleeping with the black dog, a bunny, and teddy. Nicole sleeps with pooh, sparkle bear, fluffy, puppy, dalmation dog, a Minnie Mouse, a Daisy Duck, Lion, baby Lion, and Charlie Brown. And there is still room for Nicole. Justin was really tired tonight but I still hear them chatting away.

This morning we stayed home and played for a bit and all of a sudden it was time to go. Time flew by this morning. The kids are getting annoyed with each other at times when they are close to one another.  We went to the library for an animal magic show. It was so cute and the kids loved it. I love when they talk about it at the end. They say chincillas, snakes, doves, and a hedgehog. The guy was really great. After the kids just ran around and played with their friends. It is amazing that it doen’t take much to get their imagination going. They found a huge piece of masking tape and just ran around pretending it was a snake. It was so funny until Nicole stepped on Justin’s snake. We were there for a while and the kids were just running around. Then we headed home and the kids colored together in Justin’s Thomas sticker coloring book. They were coloring the same page without fighting, shocking! The kids watched some TV and I decided to go upstairs and watch TV too. I never do that and it was really nice. After TV we just played. The kids and I hung out and it was fun. I love to hear them laugh so much. We played inside and outside. Justin and I were playing together which was fun. We were on the floor rolling a battery back and forth, then had a food fight with the plastic food. Silly but we had fun together. Grandma/pa stopped by for a short bit. The kids were very happy. While dinner was cooking the kids and I ran outside and washed mommy car. It was so dirty! The kids played outside as well. Dad is working on upgrading Cybersand, so our e-mail is down and my blog. I can’t believe how much I miss my e-mail but it is a little nice as I am not constantly looking at the computer. After dinner we went outside. I did some gardening and the kids played. They did chalk then got their umbrellas out and pretended it was raining and snowing. We all wore pretend jackets and hats. It was really cute. It was such a nice night that I just wanted to stay out for as long as possible and so did the kids. Finally we went upstairs and did our nighttime routine. Nicole tried to sit on Justin’s water cup for some reason. I told the kids to have a contest who can fall asleep the fastest. It has been silent up there since. Not sure if they were just tired or they were trying to fall asleep first.

Another fun day! This morning we had to run to pre school as I need to register a few more people. The kids had a great time playing. I thought Nicole would give me trouble as she didn’t want to go, she was having too much fun at home with sticker books, but she was fine. After pre school I took the kids to the lagoon in Irvine. We met a few pre school friends there. The kids were so excited to go to the little lagoon as Nicole calls it. To my shock my kids are big enough to go down the water slides by themselves. They were loving swimming under the rope as well. I just turn around and I can’t believe how grown up the kids are getting-time is passing by so fast. I am so proud of the little people they are becoming. I think Nicole could have stayed at the lagoon all day but Justin ws getting cold. I gave them a quick shower and we came home. Nicole actually said thanks mom for taking me to the lagoon-she loved it that much. The kids played at home for a bit, did a parade, played in the backyard, etc. Oh and can’t forget Nicole has learned our phone #. The kids watched Thomas and a little of Curious George while I ran around doing laundry, etc. I was sweating. Then we headed to ice skating lessons. I was a little nervous the kids would fall asleep so I took their sticker books. So cute listening to them talk to each other about their stickers. They were sharing stickers, etc. Grandma met us at the rink, so Justin hung out with her while Nicole skated. I kept checking on Justin and he was happily playing his Leapster. After we went for dinner at Pick Up Stix. The kids ate a ton, they were starving. Of course they remembered about the candy store, so off we went. The kids were getting tired and they were watching the TV in there. Nicole picked out a lollipop and Justin got some gummy candies. They shared their candy, Nicole gave Justin licks of her lollipop and he gave her lots of his candy, so sweet. They were performing for grandma, doing their Chip and Dale show. It was nice hanging just haning out outside. We came home and the kids seemed so tired, so they cuddled while we read books. It did take them a bit to go to sleep though.

Another fun day. This morning we hung out at home. We were supposed to have someone fix the dining room light and the garderner, but neither showed. Oh well we had fun at home. The kids did lots of performances for me, pretending to be Chip and Dale. Nicole put on her Minnie shoes and Justin his new car shoes, for some reason it was way better dancing in their shoes. The kids played by themselves a bit too. Then they colored and did stickers. They are so proud when I hang up their work on the fridge. After lunch we went for the kid’s swim lessons. Both kids are doing really well. I played in the water a bit with them before their lesson. Both kids were showing me how they go under water-they went under water together and looked at each other. They were also loving jumping in with their floaties. Very soon they will be swimming on their own. They practiced swimming with their face in the water (crawl stroke) then turning over on their back to float. After swimming, we went to Big Wheel Park with our play group. The kids love this bike park. Justin was on his bike almost the entire time. It is gated so very safe, and the kids just ride their bikes around-there are tunnels, bridges, speed bumps, gas stations, etc. Justin was having a great time hanging out with Mikey. Nicole biked for a while then pushed a baby around in her stroller. She also played in the wood chips and made cakes for her friends. Nicole did not want to leave and was a little upset, she had so much fun. On the way home we stopped at the farm and got some fruit and veggies. The kids love this farm. Too bad we were in a hurry to get home as I like to show them everything that is growing. We ate dinner. Now I know why the kids were a little melty-they were starving. I can’t believe how much they ate. We made mini ravioli’s and the kids either loved them or were starving. Dad played with the kids for a bit while I cleaned up. It was the messiest dinner ever. Justin has been taking care of his seeds that he planted from school. We thought it was beans but turns out it is sunflowers. The plant is huge now. It is taller than daddy and has two big sunflowers starting to bloom. We went upstairs and the kids seemed tired. We played a bit, we were throwing pretend balls for our kids, I mean dogs. We read lots of books. And Nicole is teaching her baby how to swim. I still hear them chatting away up there, I could have fallen asleep in the kid’s beds, I am tired.

Why is it that weekends go by so fast. Today we have just had a mellow day at home. We hung out with our good friend Arthur who headed home today. The kids really liked him. Bret and Arthur went to get coffee then we just hung out at home. We worked in the garden a bit and played with the kids. Nicole was loving playing baby. We had to take care of her baby while she went for a jog, and feed the baby, etc. Justin was playing with a baby for a short bit but loved bouncing the ball. We made a track around the train table and I am not even sure the kids used it. After lunch the kiddos went in the  backyard. At first they were into the see saw but then they brought down Justin’s blanket. They laid it on the pavers and they were just playing. They laid down on it and wrapped themselves up. They were hiding from the storm apparently. And according to Justin the jelly squirter was going to get them with jelly. It is on the roof and it is squirting jelly on the blanket. This is hilarous and disturbing all at the same time. We decided to go to the ice skating rink and let Nicole practice. Justin said he didn’t want to go on the rink so we took his Leapster. He was perfectly content eating raisans and playing the Leapster. Dad and I took turns on the ice with Nicole and hanging out with Justin. Dad was able to skate after not being on skates since he was 7 he thinks and he did really well. During the all skate the lights dimmed and the disco lights went on. So funny to see Nicole’s reaction to that. Nicole is doing better and better at skating; she really loves it. Maybe this will be her thing. On the way home we stopped at the mall just to run into Gymboree. I had some coupons that were expiring. The kids loved watching the TV. I bought some clothes for next summer-lets hope Nicole will wear them. Justin was into his Ottor pupper that Alan and family gave him, so he brought it into the mall. On the way home I was letting the Ottor be naughty, beeping the horn, turning the lights on in the car, etc…and the kids were just laughing. We decided to go to the pool this afternoon. Skating and swimming in the same day crazy I know. The kids had the best time at the pool and were so happy that daddy was there. We all kept going under water. The kids jumped in the water by themselves, of course we were right there to help them. They loved that they touched the bottom when they jumped in. Nicole was so sad when we had to leave but Bret and I were so water logged. We gave the kids a shower there since it was bath night anyway. It was nice to actually take a quick hot shower after being in the pool. On the way home we got food through the drive thru. After dinner the kids just played outside. They put a bunch of dirt on the table and weremaking mud houses, ugh. What a mess but they were content. I cleaned up a bit and dad mowed the lawn. The kids played with money and the kids fed the animals. Dad was the crocodile and I was llama mama. The kids were pretty tired and went right to sleep.

Busy but fun day. This morning we went to Justin’s sports class. This morning was t-ball. Justin seemed kind of out of it during the class, or maybe just had a lack of interest to it. He used a glove for the first time. It was cute after he hit the ball he needed to run the bases. He went to first kind of to second and skipped third. Nicole was busy pretending to be a dog and was fetching the ball.

We all played at the park for a little bit-we didn’t stay long as it was hot and humid. When we got home we hung out, all of us on laptops. We finally decided to go to the Spectrum. We walked around a bit and I was able to shop for a bathing suit. Nicole definitely has her opinions on what bathing suit I should buy. She was pretending to be a dog in the fitting room and going out the bottom of the door, pretending it was a dog door. We went to Ruby’s for lunch. Then we headed to the fountains by Target. It took Justin a bit to get into it. Nicole wasn’t interested at all, so we headed to the other fountains. The kids had a blast. So cute watching them. After playing for a bit at the Spectrum we headed to the fair. We are so tired. We had a great time at the fair. We ate lots of food, we even tried chocolate covered bacon-ewww. The kids went on lots of rides. We all went down the slide together. The kids loved being on the bumper cars and were able to go on it by themselves. I went on the skyway with Justin. It was so nice being with him alone. I never get alone time with J. He loved looking at all the fair things from the skyway. We had a great day but we are all really tired. The kids went right to bed.

This morning we were supposed to go to a friend’s house but they cancelled as they were sick. So we were in the car so I dragged the kiddos to the grocery store. The kids were so good at the store and had fun pushing the carts. I let them look at books for a bit. We came home and just played. We got the house ready for the carpet cleaning. Our carpets looks so great. We meant to get them cleaned after potty training but didn’t do it until now. We were supposed to have a swimming lesson today. I got the kids all ready but the swim instructor didn’t show up. Oh well we had a great time at the pool anyway. The kids love the pool. We went in the big pool and the kiddie pool. They both went under water, so cool. They are growing up so fast. We were at the pool for the longest time. We were almost ready to go home but then the kids saw the swim team getting ready. They were full of questions, such as why are there lanes? Why are the kids lined up? etc. N&J were so excited to just sit there and watch. We came home and the kids played. Dad got home and the kids played outside. They did chalk and then Justin wanted to drive his car. He wanted us to run next in front of the car while he drove. Nicole sat on the back of Justin’s car and he gave her a ride, totally cute. We got a video. Then the kids went in the backyard while we bbq’d. They were in their swings for a while and then just played. Our friend Arthur came for a visit and is staying with us for the weekend. We all had dinner. After dinner the kids went upstairs. They took their little stools upstairs and loved looking out the window. They were playing so nicely. When I asked what they were doing they said reading books. Then Nicole asked me back what I was doing. We got out the new Aerobed for Arthur. The kids thought it was their trampoline. They had a blast jumping on it. It was funny. We went upstairs and it is 8:30 and the kiddos are still awake. We read some books and said goodnight. The kids were wild. They wanted us to keep their stools upstairs but we knew better. I did go up there once and they were playing in their closet. The light was on and we heard their toys. Nicole had to go poop and all of a sudden she looks at her poop and says it looks like corn dogs. Nice.

We are taking it easy this morning. The kids and I have been playing. We were pretending to paint the mural together. The kids have been playing nicely upstairs for a bit, playing in dad’s office-all the cd’s, ugh, then reading books in their room. I got caught up on some stuff today and worked a little on the mural. We ran to Wal-Mart for a few things. I finally found Justin a new pair of “Cars” tennis shoes. The kids love helping pick things out at the store. We had lunch then we were babysittting Tierney. She is so cute. She was a bit grumpy and luckily I finally got her to take a nap. I rocked her a lot (Nicole wanted to help) but then everytime I put her down when she fell asleep she woke up. Finally the third time worked. My kids watched some TV while T napped. Nicole and I kept going upstairs to check on her. Nicole wanted to stay in the room with T the entire time, so sweet. After TV I went to give my kiddos a bath. Justin wanted a shower so he could use the sprayer and Nicole wanted to take a bath with T. T woke up just as Justin was finishing. I put Nicole and T in the bath together. Nicole was a little more excited than T. I washed T and her hair but then she pooped in the bath. I thought I was so lucky that no one had pooped in the tub but T made up for it. So I grabbed Nicole and T out. Luckily T was finished in the bath so Nicole finished in the other tub. Tierney was all happy playing with toys while I finished with Nicole. Nicole helped me pick out an outfit for T. T was happy to see her daddy and played a bit and ate. She loved her string cheese, glad we found something she liked. She is teething a lot, poor little thing. We had a great time having T here. After she left the kids played out front and used chalk on the driveway. We had dinner then headed over to Blue Gum Park. The kids took their new shovels and played in the sand for a bit. They went on the swings then we played on the slides with the kids. I love when Nicole is so happy I am playing with her. She was singing I love mommy because she is so sweet and she plays with me. Justin was bumping into me at the bottom of the slide, it was a fun night. The kids read lots of books and were really tired tonight.

I am trying to remember what we did today. This morning the kids played really well at home. They pretended they were dogs. Nicole, calling her self Bicscuit, decided it was Biscuit’s birthday. Justin was busy giving Biscuit lots of toys. It was really cute and nice to see them play so well. We went to Katie Wheelher Library to see a juggling show. I wasn’t that into it, we were sitting kind of far away as well. The kids seemed to like it a bit but not as much as other shows there. We met up with lots of our pre school friends. After the kids played. They were both filling up water bottles and watering. They ran around with their friends. There was some fighting over water bottles and such. We came home and had lunch. After lunch we did some things around the house. The kids were playing by the front door and saw Zoe the dog. So we went on the greenbelt to see them. The kids threw balls for Zoe and it was nice to see them. I wanted to go to Kohls, so after playing with the dog we went. I needed to get Justin more summer jammies. He picked out skate boarding ones, brown and orange, kind of a surprise but he loves them. I also got the kids some big kid cups as they have been needing more water than their sippy cups can hold. Of course the kids loved their new cups and drank a ton of water. We were at the store for a while then I dropped the kiddos off at Paula’s. They were so excited to go. So funny I was talking to Paula for a bit and Nicole says “mom what are you still doing here”. Both kids headed up to the play room right away. We went out to dinner with our neighbors. So nice to be out with another couple. We had fun. We came home for a bit before picking the kids up and I hate to admit it but we did enjoy the peace and quiet. The kids had a blast and didn’t want to leave. They were a bit hyper when we got home but finally settled down.