Melissa’s Blog

The kids were all over daddy this morning. I joined in on the game of Candy Land. We played at home until swim lessons. We are doing a few more weeks with a new instructor. His name is Jessup but Nicole thinks it is dress up. The kids did great and I really like this instructor. He is more fun than our last instructor. The kids did kick boards and played motor boat. They did their lesson at the same time. The kids couldn’t wait to show the instructor how they jump in, etc. It was great as daddy got to come as well since we did it on a weekend. After we gave the kiddos a shower and headed home. Grandma came over as we were going to see Disney Live. The kids loved showing Grandma their rooms. I think they would have been happy if Grandma stayed up there all day with them. We headed to Long Beach. We went to Shoreline Village for lunch. The kids saw the game place and wanted to go but we needed to eat lunch. The kids were starving. We went to Yard House and before we knew it we needed to get over to the theater. The kids loved the show. I wasn’t impressed for a Disney show. I actually tried to take a nap but the clapping kept waking me up. The kids participated with the show, standing up and bouncing with Tigger, etc. After we went back to Shoreline Village so the kiddos could play games. Justin could have stayed there all day with the driving games. We walked along and looked at the boats and Justin picked out which boat he wanted to drive. It was a great afternoon, we had lots of fun. The kids ate their lollipops that they got with their tickets as they weren’t hungry for dinner. However when we got home dad was eating so they decided they were hungry. The kiddos wanted to play when we got home but it was getting late, we had to get upstairs. We read books and Nicole is singing where is thumpkin. I have a huge pile of laundry to do tomorrow-ugh.

We had a lazy morning today. The kids just played for a while. Nicole and I ran to the grocery store. I finally made it there. Boring thing to do on a weekend. Grammy and her friend came over. Grammy wanted to see the kid’s rooms and the kids loved showing her. We all went out for lunch. The kids were really busy at lunch and hanging all over me. Nicole has a new favorite pink bear that she has named Beary. She has been taking it everywhere. After lunch the kids and I went through some of their toys. I want to start cleaning out the toys they don’t play with anymore. We didn’t get rid of as much as I hoped but it is a start. Getting things out though makes them play with everything. We played at home most of the afternoon. We played with these snap bead things and made bracelets and necklaces. Justin turned his into a really long snake. We were getting a little bored inside so we went out front. The kids drove their cars and had a great time. They ran in the house and drove around with a book on the back of their car. They were looking for a shady spot to get out for a story time. I just loved watching them play, so sweet. And Nicole has become quite the parallel parker. Dad had to do some work tonight. So the kids and I went to Blue Gum. Justin rode his bike and Nicole got in the trailer. Justin is doing so well on his bike. He did say when he was going to bed that the bike ride made him tired. We were only at the park for a short time but we made the most of it. We played in the sand of the volleyball court. Then threw the ball over the net. Justin got it almost every time, Nicole still needs a little more practice. We played soccer too. When we got home the kiddos had dinner. And we went upstairs to start getting ready for bed. We read lots of books and off to sleep they went.

Friday, yeah! The kids wanted to bring trains and the pooh animal to show Ms. Donna. They wanted to keep them at pre school but I was nervous they would get lost. I asked Nicole if I could take Pooh to my doctor app’t. A check up for me and everything looks fine. I feel violated as this doctor is very thorough. I got the flu shot and a booster for tetnas. Ouch! I feel like someone punched me in the arms. I love picking up the kiddos from preschool. They are so excited to see me as I am to see them. I had a hard time getting them to leave but they played outside with their friends. It is a great class. Justin was busy playing tag “carrot” your it and freeze tag. That boy can run and run. Nicole has a new friend name Sofia. They were holding hands and switching animals. Nicole never lets anyone hold Pooh. It was so cute. The kiddos told me they made soft pretzels at school. I was sorry I missed this one as it sounded so cute. We came home and just played. The kiddos were fighting and bugging each other so we ran over to the pool. They had a blast swimming we hadn’t been in a few weeks. They both were busy jumping in and playing on me. I was the motor boat. The kiddos took showers there as well so that took care of bath for today. Just someday I need to get to the grocery store. We picked up daddy from work and headed to Grammy’s. She wanted to have dinner with us. The kids had fun there and loving playing with her toys. Grammy’s friend got the kiddos the Bee Movie, so we let them watch it for a bit. So far they are really liking it. On the way home we stopped at dad’s work to get his car. Justin went with daddy and Nicole came home with me. Justin found a plane he hasn’t seen in a while so we have been flying. He is sleeping with it and we will play again in the morning. Nicole found a pink teddy bear that she loves so another animal has been added to her bed. Kiddos are sleeping and I am going to relax.

Another night of Nicole waking up, ugh. We went to our class at Coastline College. The kids had a great time. Their friends didn’t make it today since they are sick, but they still had fun. I just played with them. Cars, dollhouse, Nicole discovered the vanity, artsy stuff, etc. Nicole was sad she couldn’t find her crawly baby for the dollhouse. But it turned out to be a good thing as she played with other things. The kids had so much fun using bubble wrap, paint, glitter, and glue to make an ocean on the paper. They are so proud of their oceans. Can’t wait to hang them up when they are dry. We had lunch then Tierney came over. I got to babysit. We had so much fun playing in the house; she loves the new toys. She loved the zylaphone and fridge magnets. Nicole and Justin were so excited to have her here. She get a little fussy, so she laid on my chest for a while and relaxed, what a cuddle bug. Justin and Nicole were hoping T would be interested in watching Curious George with them but she just wanted to play. We walked over to Nicole’s dance class. Both kids wanted to push T in the stroller. Nicole was so excited about her class. She had a great time. T and Justin hung out with me and watched Nicole. We walked home and took our time. T fell asleep on the way home. Then we waited for daddy. After waiting for 10 minutes and one kid needing to go potty-I called dad’s cell phone and found out he was already home. We ran out and got some dinner then I had to head out to a meeting for pre school. Here is a picture of my little ballerina:

Last night Justin said to me I really love having my own room. Kids went to pre school this morning. Nicole didn’t want to go. After talking to her a bit, she just wanted alone time with me. Very sweet, so after pre school dad took Justin for a bit while I had Nicole.  I took pictures today of the kids since this is the first day that I am not working. I took the same pics last year.

I stayed at pre school to do some work then needed to head to the dentist. I am now going to Bret’s dentist and I like him so much better than my old one. Need to replace a few fillings and need a night guard. Since having the kids I have started to clench my teeth. I have flattened out my fillings and doing some damage-UGH. The kids were so happy when I picked them up. Now Nicole didn’t want to leave school. I love how my kiddos always give the pre school teacher a hug when they say goodbye. They even hugged the other teacher who doesn’t teach their class. Well I drove Justin to daddy’s work. While waiting for daddy I wanted to spend a minute with Justin. So I let him come up front in the car. It was the cutest thing when he turned on the blinkers and windshield wipers. He squeled with delight. Justin had lunch at daddy’s work and got to see daddy’s cube. He loved it. He even told me that his co-workers have the same badge since they work in the same building. Nicole and I went and had lunch outside. She didn’t even want to eat. She just wanted to play with her little yellow and pink doggies. It was very special to have alone time. Nicole also got to sit in the driver’s seat and play for a bit. She didn’t squel as much as Justin. Justin saved a little dessert for Nicole and I, so thoughtful. We came home and the kiddos played nicely. They have been playing My Little Pony and with the dogs. They watched some TV, then took a shower. The shower wasn’t going well for a bit, they were just fighting over the toys. It ended well though and they had fun together. I was feeling the need to get out so we got lucky and Zoe the dog was on the greenbelt. The kids were so excited to see her and throw balls. They also were so excited to show Andree their rooms. I decided to take the kids to Blue Gum as it was so nice out. They said they weren’t hungry for dinner so I decided to push it. We had so much fun at the park. I feel like I haven’t taken them to the park in a while, so they were loving it. They played in the sand mostly and made a big cake. Nicole wore her Cinderella dress so Justin was a prince and I was the wicked step mother. Nicole is getting very impatient with younger kids these days. We ended up having a late dinner, late for us. Bret had to go to his mom’s house to help her with her computer. We went upstairs and played a little. We read books and I juggled going from room to room to put them to bed. They were tired though and went right to bed. Justin always wants me to come into his bed and I told him I loved that and he said I love it too!

This morning we got ready for the cleaners, cleaning up.  Much less stressful the mornings of the cleaners are going to be as I don’t need to run out to pre school. We cleaned up a bit. Plus tried to find toys all over the house. I wish I could get the kids to leave the toys in the right rooms. The kids played really well this morning. They played trains and then went outside. They hit balls with their golf clubs and played in the play house. Nicole had pretend conversations on her play house phones. We went to the Spectrum for play group. It was fun! We took the kiddos on the ferris wheel. Nicole and Justin were running around with their friends and having a great time. After I met with a photographer to help me figure out if I can really do this photography thing. It was a great meeting and totally got me motivated again. However, I have spent the better half of my day looking for a remote that is missing-ugh. Then the kiddos and I played in the futon room. I got to play with the moms, the car, and the little dogs. I even incorporated a train ride to keep Justin involved. We went over to Woodbury for dinner. The kids were begging to go to Chick-Fil-A. So we did. They love that little play area. Barely ate any food there. Then we ran over to a place so Justin could get his haircut. We had to wait a bit so we played on the grassy area and had great family time. We played tag, duck duck goose, and just ran around with the kids. The kids still tag carrot instead of tag your it. We came home and rushed upstairs to get ready for bed. I made it into a race. I said dad will fill up your water cups and then the kids and I ran upstairs. They got into their jammies and brushed their teeth so fast to beat daddy. I hope this trick works forever. Bret is up playing with a new router and I went for a run/walk tonight. I hope I can sleep as I am a bit wired from the run.

I am tired. Nicole woke daddy up needing help to pull up her underwear then she needed me to help her find Dewey. I went and got my hair cut and colored this morning. The kiddos had a great time with daddy. When I got home they were outside doing water balloons. Poor Justin got so upset when two big balloons started to pop. He is so pathetic trying not to cry-I felt so bad for him.  I took a little nap and the kids watched Curious George. We played at home for a while and after lunch we went and ran some errands. We went to a dance store to get Nicole some ballet and tap shoes. She was so excited about the tap shoes. If we would have let her she would have been wearing them out of the store. We also ran into a Halloween store. The kids didn’t like this store too much, too many scary things. But now I guess Justin wants to be a race car driver. He has gone from wanting to be Super Why (on PBS) to Mickey Mouse and now to a race car driver. So we will see what he ends up being. We did a couple more errands then headed to Grandma/pa’s house. We dropped off the kiddos for a night away. All 3 grandkids are staying the night. It is very strange without the kiddos. The kids were really excited to go. Justin picked out his clothes to wear and picked a brown shirt with bright green shorts-ewww. But I couldn’t tell him no, he was so proud of his outfit. Tonight dad and I just went to dinner, drove up PCH, and ended up in Huntington Beach. It was just nice to be together. I really miss the kiddos though. It definitely feels like something is missing. I can’t wait to see them tomorrow. But I am also looking forward to sleeping all night and sleeping in.

This membership position is keeping me so busy but hopefully it should get better when school starts. The kids had a great time playing at pre school. For the most part they let me get what I needed to get done. I should be done next week with everything. I can’t believe the first day of school is Monday. Today was meet the teachers but no big deal for us as we already know the teachers. After we stopped to grab lunch and run to the grocery store. When we got home the kiddos played so well in the play room which enabled me to get some stuff done. I gave the kiddos a shower-I think for the first time in my shower. They wanted to go in together. They had a blast. Even after the shower they continued to play-throwing their tigger and pooh water animals in and out of the shower. They were laughing and having a great time. They didn’t even want to get dried off. We went to an open house at My Gym. The kids had a great time, they just love it there. I may have to sign them up again. It is amazing to watch all the things they can do now. They loved popping out of a tub thing-I would put the ball on top and they would pop out. They were just running around and playing on everything. When we got home the kiddos watched a show and we had dinner. After dinner we hung out outside. The kids drove their cars, dad and I kicked balls. The kids drove their cars all the way down the greenbelt and loved it.  Dad kicked the ball into someone’s backyard so we met some really nice neighbors. It was a great mellow night. The kids packed up for grandma’s house. I can’t wait to take a picture of the outfit Justin picked out, brown shirt with bright green shorts. He loved it, so we just let him go with it. We played in the kiddos rooms-Justin can’t wait to bring up some train tracks to his room. Our house is finally feeling clean. Clean as far as putting everything away. Kids went right to bed, a little late but they are sleeping. Justin and I love looking out at night to find the same star. Tonight the clouds covered it but then we found it. I turned on the stop light Justin has and he wanted to use it as a night light.

This morning we were off to our new class @ Coastline. It was fun but got a little boring for me. I played doll house with Nicole. Every minute she kept begging me to play but I had to give Justin some attention. He was busy playing with the cars. The kids played with all the toys, Justin played with Mikey a lot. They both loved stringing the beads and making necklaces, especially Nicole. Justin liked it but then went off to play with cars again. They played with the water table for a while-it was full of fake fish, octupus, etc. After we went with Paula and kiddos to Burger King. The kids loved playing in the play area and it looked relatively new and clean. The kids have such a great time playing together. Nicole had a fit when someone got her Dewey stuffed animal though. We all had lunch together then came home for a bit. The kids played at home for a while then we headed to Pacific Dance for Nicole’s trial ballet class. She loved it. She was so intense sitting there watching so she could learn really fast. She can’t wait to get ballet and tap shoes. It was really cute, although hard to watch through the window with all the other moms plus trying to hold Justin. We hung around the shopping complex and dad met us so we could go to Northwood Pizza for dinner. The kids played games and barely ate which is typical. Nicole asked to go to froen yogurt next door and since I wanted it I said yes. We came home and the kiddos played outside. I had to go to parent orientation at pre school tonight. I was hoping to get home before the kiddos went to bed but I didn’t make it. Back to pre school in the morning for meet the teacher.

Here are some pics I took of the kiddos:

I decided to have a relazing day. I didn’t want to be running around. So this morning we just stayed home for a bit. Justin wants someone to race cars with him the entire time and Nicole wants to play dollhouse. I decided to get some stuff of my to do list as well. So I finally got my tires rotated at Costco. It didn’t take too long, so we just passed the time by shopping at Costco. It was nice shopping since we weren’t in a rush. We came home and I had to race cars and play doll house again. I had to return some calls for pre school and the kiddos played well while I did this. Then our friends came over. Nicole was all over me the entire time just wanting me to play doll house. She loves it so much but I wanted to talk to my friend a bit. Justin enjoyed having friends over so he had someone to race with and play trains. I needed a break so the kiddos watched some TV. After TV the kiddos took a bath. I haven’t given them a bath in the longest time since we have always been at the pool. They got a bubble bath and were as happy as can be. So cute Justin brought 4 shirts to me so he could pick which one to wear. He loves picking out his clothes. Nicole wanted to be Tinkerbell. She put her hair in a headband and it looks so cute. I had a gift bag in my hand and that was the best toy this afternoon. Both kids loved filling them up with stuff, lots of toys then pretending to go on a plane. They even played ball on the plane. Then they went into their playroom and shut the door. I have no idea what they were doing in there but they were playing so nicely. I started making dinner. When daddy got him Justin wanted to do race cars and Nicole wanted to play farm with me. And again after dinner. I feel like I was inside most of the day that finally I took the farm outside on the patio table, so nice to be outside. It was time to head upstairs but the kids started having a great time outside together, playing with water, cleaning the playhouse, etc. It was getting dark and Justin didn’t see the screen was shut and banged into it and luckily fell on his bottom. We headed upstairs.  Dad read books and the kids went right to bed. Justin is so sweet when I am laying in his bed with him, I love that time. Nicole was rubbing daddy’s head. She couldn’t go to sleep without her Dewey stuffed animal and luckily we found it.