Melissa’s Blog

I slept well last night, feel much better today. The dog did bark a few times and wake us up last night. We stayed at home this morning. The kids were wanting to play and play. We did puzzles, play doh, let the kids watch Super Why, etc. Then we went to a cancer free party for one of my friends. Can’t even imagine that this could happen to one of my friends, but the great news is she is cancer free. The party was at the park but it was hot! The kids had a great time, playing on the play structure, the sand, and the bounce house. But they were hot too. On the way home we stopped at some fountains and let the kiddos get all wet. They had fun. We also had some lunch then did a little shopping. I got some great deals on shoes for the kids but I am hoping they will fit them next summer. We came home and played some more. Nicole wanted me to be the mommy and daddy to her baby with the little people mini van toy. Dad and J ran out to Home Depot. We went on the greenbelt and threw balls for Zoe the dog. She is the cutest dog. Then we met Grammy at the District and had dinner. Nicole wore her cheerleader outfit to dinner, so cute. The kids were dancing at dinner and were pretty wiggly. Outside they did their shows and danced around for a bit. They went to bed a little late tonight but went right to sleep. I took Zoe out and now Bret and I are having laptop time.

We were up bright and early this morning. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to walk the dog and help clean the pre school. I did walk over to the pre school which was nice. It was a pain cleaning the pre school but it had to be done. Dad and the kids played games while I was gone. Dad picked me up and Nicole was dressed as Cinderella and Justin was still in his pj’s. Nicole and I walke t. She looked adorable in her Cinderella dress and glass slippers. Dad and Justin went to get coffee then came back to get us. I was so sleepy when I got home. The kids played and kept calling us over. We played farm, baby, and the toy with all the screws and stuff. We took my car to get an oil change and left the car while we walked over to have lunch. The kids remembered DQ is the place for ice cream, so we all got some. So yummy! We got my car and came home. The kids played cars and planes for a bit. Dad took a little nap and the kids and I played Diego and Dora. The kids had their rescue and backpacks and pretended to rescue people and animals. I hid them around the house and they came running when I said help help. It amused them for a long time. We decided to head to the pool since it was so hot out. We had a great time at the pool. The kids could stay in the water forever. They loved the warm shower after as well. Justin was cracking up when dad put water in his water noodle and blowed it out. It was a fun family afternoon in the pool. We played outside for a bit when we got home. Nicole pretended to make dinner in the play house while Justin squirted and pretended to clean things in the backyard. After dinner we headed out to the greenbelt to play with Zoe. The kids are loving having her around. Justin keeps telling Zoe he loves her. I hope they aren’t getting too attached. It is fun having a dog around again but I am not ready for more resposibility. Zoe has been fun though. We were all tired tonight. We read books laying down. Nicole brought up her new Care Bear coloring book and had fun coloring. She reluctantly shared it with Justin. All is quiet in our household.

Zoe the dog woke us up bright and early. Luckily she wasn’t whiny like the first night we had her last time. In the middle of the night Nicole had to go potty-daddy and Zoe both went and I Nicole laughed, so happy to see Zoe. We played with Zoe a bit this morning. I got to play trains then have the kiddos climb all over me. We headed to the library to return our books. We didn’t have much time to look for new ones. Instead we went to the store at the library and picked up some cheap used books. Justin loves his new train book of course and Nicole likes the Littlest Pet Shop. Justin’s last monster machine class was today. So we headed over to the Great Balloon. Not too impressive since we go really go there anyday. But the kids got to go up in the balloon and loved it. They had a great time looking out at everything while we were so high. After lunch was the kiddo’s swim lesson. They were so happy as they haven’t been swimming this entire week. I didn’t want them to be cold with their colds. Justin was a little shy about his lesson today, but seeing how we haven’t been for a while it wasn’t too surprising. Overall they both did well. We played in the big and little pools and just had a great time. It is so hot today so being in the pool was great. We have been in and out all day. After swimming we came home for a bit then I went to go get a bang trim. They kids were so great, just sitting in the chair reading books and playing Leapsters. It didn’t take too long either. When we got home we played. We played more trains and games, Hi Ho Cherry-O. Nicole and I played farm and tractor while Justin and daddy went to get a pizza for dinner. After dinner Nicole was playing guitar and Justin trains then we went on the greenbelt to run Zoe and play ball. It was still hot out tonight. We bopped a beach ball around and just had fun outside. We came in and read some new books. Then all of a sudden Nicole wanted to be tickled, cutest laugh ever. Then Justin wanted in on it. He could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard. It was so cute. We tried to get them in bed a little early but they are still up. Justin just screamed mommy I can’t get my blanket on.

Oh just another day. This morning the kiddos played Mr. and Mrs Potato Head. They walked their potato heads around pretending to go places, the grocery store, the park. But Mrs. Potato Head soon became Santa and Mr. Potato head was Mrs. Claus. We took it easy this morning. I did some gardening before it got too hot out. The kids wanted to swing for a bit as well. Then we headed to pre school as I needed to check messages and return calls. I thought I could get in and out of there in a few minutes but then it was snack time. So the kids joined in the mommy and me for snack and circle time. They love it there. They got to put caterpillars in the yard of pre school. Justin liked the big ones and Nicole likes the baby ones. They also go to feed the fish. We played outside with our friends for a bit as well. Just as we were about to go we realized we didn’t know where Nikki’s baby doll was. She was not pleased. After looking for it for several minutes we found her, thank goodness. Then we headed to daddy’s work to give dad his badge. The kids asked daddy if he could go to lunch-how could he refuse? So he came to lunch with us and it was nice. We came home and just played, mostly with little Hot Wheels Cars. We were parking them, deciding which were broken, etc. Then the kiddos watched a little TV. And Zoe the dog came over. We are dog sitting again. The kids were so excited to see Zoe and have her stay with us. Nicole almost chose not to go to the preschool family fun night since Zoe couldn’t come. The event was at Settler’s Park. It was fun but really hot. The kids played on the play structure, rode their bikes on the little path, did a water balloon toss, then played soccer. Busy little munchkins. We also had dinner there and the kids got popsicles as part of a school fundraiser. When we got home the kids ate a ton, they didn’t eat much at the park. We took Zoe out on the greenbelt and the kids just loved it. They were hyper silly tonight. They didn’t want to read books-they just wanted to play with Zoe. They were all over the dog, good thing Zoe is the sweetest dog ever. It is 8:30 and I still hear the kiddos talking, ugh!

Another day at home. The kiddos and I have been playing this morning. We were outside for a while until the kids got all wet playing with the hose. I am proud to say I see sunflower seeds appearing on Justin’s sunflowers, so exciting. So I decided if I am going to be stuck at home we better do some stuff.  So not even noon Justin is still in his jammies but I have primed the blue wall in the kid’s rooms. We are preparing to move the kiddos into their own rooms. When I think about it, it makes me sad-they have been together since they were born. I remember the first time they were put in a crib together. I am sure they will love having their own space though. They can even have sleepovers in each other’s rooms. I have played so many trains today and built so many tracks. We built a new track on the train table and played shake and go cars too. Then I built another thing…the joke is what is black and white and takes up an entire room?

\

After all the work putting it together, they only played with it for a few minutes. They came up with a new thing. They took daddy’s belt on the couch and put it in a semi-circle and parked all the hot wheels cars.

The kiddos are starting to get into watching  Super Why and Sid the Science Kid on PBS. While watching I started making dinner and worked a bit on my scrapbooks. We had an early dinner then headed to the park. It was nice as dad and I got to walk a bit with the stroller then we let the kids out to play at the park. It was such a nice evening and the kids had a great time. Nicole was pretty hyper when we got home but surprisingly went right to sleep. Just enjoying some peace and quiet.

Well it is official the kids have little colds. It seems like a minor one. Nicole was up a bit last night. I crashed on her floor for a while then Bret did too. So today we just took it easy. The plumber was here this morning fixing the leak in the downstairs shower. Now we just have to fix the hole in the wall. There is always something to do. The kids and I just played trains for a long time. Then we built the shake and go race car set and played that. We built bridges over the Geotrax with blocks and Lincoln Logs. It was a play morning. When the plumber finished we went to the grocery store. The kids helped with their little carts, near the end Nicole said she was tired of pushing her cart. Silly thing. Now we have food in the house. I made the kiddos soup for lunch then let them play their Leapsters for a bit. I started taping off Justin’s blue wall to paint it back to white. The kids are going to get their own rooms soon, so we have some work to do before that happens. Of course I couldn’t get the primer open so will have to wait until dad comes home. So instead  I decided to try to make Mexican food for my loving husband. I did have to call him once and ask if something was ok. At least I will never know how awful it tastes. I am trying to get a lot done this week while the kiddos aren’t feeling 100%. After the kiddos bath, I needed to get out of the house I was getting cranky. So in the stroller the kiddos went. I walked for a bit while the kids had a snack and read books. Then I let them play at a park we had never been to. They had a blast. They were pretending the play structure was a bus. Also I was laying on the slide and the kids loved crashing into me. They were laughing so hard. They went on the swings for a bit. It was a quick part trip but really fun. On the way home, I pushed the stroller funny. They loved it when I bounced it up and down. Everytime they went to drink I would bounce it on them, and they were just laughing so hard. Daddy was home when we got home. After dinner, the kids seemed a little tired so we let them watch TV. Nice break for us too. We went upstairs and the kiddos played with money. We got lots of cars to go through our drive thru made out of money, Barbie cars, daddy car, the police car, a tractor, etc. It was fun. Then we played hide n seek. It didn’t take long at all for the kiddos to find us. We read lots of books and Justin is sound asleep. Still waiting for Nicole to go to sleep.

Last night dad had to run to LA for work. So around 11:00 a visitor came to visit me in my bed. I thought it was Bret but it was Justin. I enjoyed having him in bed with me since Bret wasn’t there, Justin is a cuddle bug. When Bret got him I brought Justin back in his bed. This morning we played. Nicole and I hung out at home while dad and Justin went to Starbucks. We built a track on the street carpet and did trains for a while. Dad and I took turns playing with the kids so we could read the paper too. Then we headed to Grammy’s. She had people visiting from northern CA, Larry and Debra. They were very nice and Nicole really liked Debra. Nicole even asked me at one point where is the girl that I love. Justin played upstairs with Grammy’s toys and had a great time. He did really well entertaining himself. Nicole was so happy as Debra was giving her a 100% of her attention. Dad worked on helping Grammy with things around the house. The kids had so much fun at Grammy’s today. When we got home the kiddos watched Sid the Science Kid for the first time. They were just in awe. Then we headed over to the neighbor’s house for a little party. Everyone was swimming so we ran home and got the kiddos bathing suits. They went in the jacuzzi, it wasn’t too warm. There was a little girl there named Samantha that Nicole and Justin played with.  When we mentioned eating dinner, Nicole wanted to wait for Samantha, really sweet. It is nice to be finally getting to know the neighbors a bit. It is too bad it took a biking accident (the father) to get to know them. Luckily he is fully recovered and doing well. Their family is really sweet and was a nice get together. I didn’t think we would be there for very long but it turned out to be getting later and later…we didn’t get home until 7:30. The kids were so tired though. By 7:45 they were in their beds and I told them a Sally and Billy story. After the story they were asleep.

Dad and Justin were playing music on the laptop this morning.

Today is birthday party day. But before we went to birthday parties, dad took Justin to Lowe’s to build a school bus. It came out so cute. Justin helped dad build it and hammered in nails. They had a great time. Nicole and I went to Target as I needed a ton of stuff and wanted to use a bunch of coupons.  Nicole was so helpful. She really wanted to pick out a new birthday crown since her old one broke. She also helped me pick out new winter jammies for the kids. Justin got cars and Nicole got princesses. After we met up with dad and Justin and headed to Micheal, Katie, and Sarah’s 5th birthday party. It was all about water. They had slides going into pools, water table, and slip and slide. There were also bubbles and paint with water. This is the first time my kiddos have been on a slip and slide. It took them about 10 tries to figure it out. Justin was way more into it than Nicole. Here are some pics:

Lots of pics and lots of fun. It took a while to get the hang of the slip and slide but once they did-they loved it. After eating some lunch there was a balloon toss game and Nicole won it. Justin was inside playing with toys. Then it was pinata time. They loved trying to hit the pinata, it was really cute. I am sure they will be talking about how Pablo’s head fell off.

They got lots of candy. It was a great party, we had so much fun. It was just so humid. The kids finished eating their lunch on the way home, they were too into the party to eat. Then we let them watch some TV. We played at home a bit then we went to another birthday party. This one was at My Gym. The kids had a blast. It is amazing to watch them now at My Gym. Nicole was showing off and hanging with one arm. Justin was on the hot dog swing with me. They did some cool activities like parachute, snow ball fight, bubbles, roller coaster (wagon down a hill crashing into a mat), train ride, etc. It was so nice to participate when necessary and sit back and watch too. Nicole and Lexie had fun playing together, Lexie had to go potty so Nicole said she did too. They just copied each other, it is cute though. Justin loved going on the rope and swinging and space flight as well. We got home and the kids had to do the puzzles they got as a thank you gift for coming to the party. Nicole got a Pooh one and Justin got Cars, very appropriate. We gave the kiddos a bath then decided to go for a walk in the Bob stroller. So nice for dad and I to get out and be able to talk to one another. The kids brought books and were pretty amused. We read to the kids then they fell asleep so fast.

Yeah it is Friday! This morning we stayed at home for a bit. We played farm but Nicole sys I don’t play it right. I worked on fixing Justin’s skateboard leash thing, so it was like a nice new toy.  Justin put his new green teddy on it (the one he won in Vegas) and took it for a ride. Nicole put the leash around Lion’s neck and took him for a walk. I packed up to go to the OC Coast Guard for Justin’s monster machine class in Corona Del Mar. I was able to bring Nicole along in the class. The kids got to take a tour on the big coast guard boat and see where the coast guard eats, sleeps, etc when on the boat. The kids liked being on the boat and looking all around. They listened pretty well but I am not sure they knew what was going on-just that they were on a pretty cool boat. After with Paula and gang we went over the ocean. By the time I got back from the car from getting our beach stuff and lunch, the kids were pretty wet. They had a great time playing in the water and with all their sand toys. We had a picnic lunch and the kids just had so much fun. They were tired on the way home. Nicole wanted to put her jammies on when we got home. It is pretty cloudy so I think she thinks it is going to get dark soon. The kids played trains for a bit and built a new track. Then we did major gardening, I am amazed to say I have touched every area of my garden. This is the first time in 4 years. The kids helped me so much, they were great. Dad got home and we made dinner. We ran out to see Zoe the dog on the greenbelt, we haven’t seen her in so long. The kids threw ball for her. After dinner dad played trains a bit then we all went on the greenbelt. The kids climbed the ladder I used for the hedges, they were so happy to reach a tree. We played duck duck goose and red light/green light. Then the kiddos rode their bikes and scooters. We headed upstairs a little late as they kids were having so much fun riding their bikes. They are getting more and more daring on their bikes. The kids played with money before bed. They made drive thrus and pushed little cars through. They even ordered food. We read a few books and the kids went to sleep pretty fast.

We decided to take it easy today. I had to stop at pre school for a bit this morning. There was no way I was getting my kiddos out of there until the mommy and me class was over. The kids had a great time and I got lots of stuff done. On the way home we stopped at Home Depot. We got some seeds for our garden and some plants as well. It is time to get the garden growing again. The kids were so excited to help pick out green beans, carrots, strawberries, etc. We also ran to Trader Joes for a few things. When we got home the kiddos and I played. We played trains and went outside for a bit. The kids washed my windows and played pretty well together. We watched a little TV. After TV we played more trains, with the animal barn, and had a birthday party for one of Nicole’s animals. I got some stuff done too, app’t’s made, gifts wrapped, etc. Then we went out front for some gardening. I trimmed some hedges and more plants. The kids helped out when they could. They also did a scooter parade, pretending to be Tigger  (J) and Pooh (N). The scooter parade went around our house started in front and the kids went around back then back to the front. It was cute. When dad came home we made dinner while the kids played. After dinner we went in the backyard. We planted some strawberries and pumpkins. I am not sure about the pumpkins but it will be fun to see what happens. The kids got crazy. Nicole ended up getting in a bucket of water while Justin put the hose on himself. So we had soaking wet kids but got some cute pics:

The kids got pretty cold and were dirty from gardening, so we gave them a bath. Justin spent most of his time dunking his head in the bath, he kept on showing me how he goes under water. They played with trains and had a great time. Dad started to put their jammies on funny. They loved it-they were laughing. So here is Justin in Nicole’s Dora jammies and Nicole in Justin’s. This will be used as blackmail later on in life:

It was a fun night in the Sanders’ household. The kids ended up going to bed a little late but are sound asleep right now.