Melissa’s Blog

The kids are so happy it is Halloween. Justin had a rough night last night. He was tossing and turning and having a hard time getting comfy. It was a long night for Bret and I. He told Bret in the middle of the night his ear hurt but this morning he woke up as happy as can be. Nikki and I were off to get my bangs cut. Then we stopped at Kohl’s. Nikki picked up a hot wheel motorcycle toy for Justin as a gift for either his birthday or X-mas. It is fun to have the kids shop for each other. We decided to get the kids vaccinated for swine flu. This morning there was a clinic giving the nasal mist one out with no mercury. So we stood in line for an hour and a half. The kids did great with it. I had a lollipop ready too. Now we just have to remember to get them vaccinated again in 30 days. Then we headed to Vena’s for a Halloween brunch. It was nice and we were really hungry. The kids decorated cupcakes…we are all eating like crap today. Nikki found the Little Einsteins rocket ship that she loves to play with and Justin played with the Geo Trax. When we got home we carved our pumpkin. Nikki was really into helping dad with it.

Justin and I were in the backyard cleaning it up. Right now the kids are relaxing watching The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Grandma/pa came over. The kids got lots of Halloween stuff and goodies from them. Alan, Roberta, and T came over too. It was a nice family night. T wasn’t too happy though-maybe teething. She loved the swing though.

We need to dress her up and retake Halloween photos. We just got pizza and then got ready to go trick or treating. The kids had a great time and looked adorable. Nicole wanted to lead the way with her magic wand. They were so cute going to people’s door and yelling trick or treat. Most of the time they remembered to see please and thank you. Watching the kids was a memory I hope to treasure forever as I had such a great night. The kiddos were so excited to have some candy tonight. Both picked out the biggest pieces to eat. They didn’t go to bed until 9:00ish but like I said it was such a great night. But I am so tired. Bret had on this cool shirt that lit up as you talked, he got all the attention tonight. Everybody thought it was so cool.

It was so fun when the kids woke up this morning and I was in my witches costume as I wore it to pre school. This morning I was snack mom at school. So fun to be with the kids. It was a little crazy though. All the kids looked too cute in their costumes. It was a regular school day until 11:00 when the kids paraded around outside in their costumes. Justin and Nicole had fun riding bikes outside for a bit:

Nikki loves to put the Scooby Doo costume the school has:

The kids loved the book about the skeleton that had the hiccups that Ms. Donna read today. Nik sat on my lap and I loved it. After snack the kids paraded outside in their costumes. Nicole was screaming Happy Halloween to everyone. It was really cute. Hard to take pics since the moms were in the back. I had a hard time getting one of Nicole though. But here is what I got:

Roberta and Tierney came at the end and hung out for a bit. We got to babysit T today. The kids were excited. Nicole wanted to sit next to her in the car. We played and played when we got home. The kids got into my ribbon and it is all over the house right now. T and I played with beads and the kids kitchen. We all ate lunch. T needed a bath as we had an issue with her and the bathroom. Then I got her down for a nap. Nicole was happy T was sleeping in her room. Then gave Nicole and Justin a shower. After all this Justin and Nicole watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for a bit. The kids and I played for a bit. Nicole was really into cutting with scissors today, paper everywhere. We made beaded bracelets and did some crafts. Tierney slept until her mom came to pick her up. The kids and I kept running up there to check on her, so sweet. We decided to go out to dinner then to the pumpkin patch. Here is a cute pic of Nicole-we practiced her hair bun for her Tinkerbell costume tomorrow.

At the pumpkin patch the kids had a great time. Nicole rode a pony and wanted to go again. She told us she had a blast. She was all smiles and yes I forgot to bring the camera. Justin was really into the coin operated rides, the rocket ship in particular. They went through the haunted house, the teepee’s, and just had fun being out at night. They went to bed a little late tonight so maybe they will sleep in. They are so excited to go trick or treating.

To say I am tired would be an understatement. I am exhausted. We didn’t get home until 6:00 tonight and I feel like I was just running from one thing to the next. We went to our class at Coastline. I love watching them follow what the teacher does in story time. Poor Justin though, his buddy Michael was dressed up as a pirate and for some reason it scared Justin. Then Mikey was sad because Justin wasn’t playing with him. Finally Mikey took off the hat and eye patch and Justin was ok. The kids had a blast making spider webs, I love all the Halloween stuff. The kids are starting to take all their art work to their rooms. After class we went to BK with Paula and gang. After that we headed to Grammy’s to see Sharon and get Grammy’s mail. The kids were excited to see Sharon but Justin mentioned he missed Grammy. The kids played with some balls and rode the trikes. We didn’t stay long then ran to Target quickly. I needed a few things-I think I have been there everyday this week. Then dance class. Justin watched Nikki a bit and played trains as well with another little boy. At the end of class Nicole got stickers and a pencil from her teacher. Thankfully she gave Justin one too. I made Justin share his stickers with the little boy who shared his trains. He wasn’t too happy but got over it quickly. So after dance we ran to Costco. Luckily Costco had everything I needed for the pre school snack. So the kids played a little, watched TV, etc. Finally we got home and dad had started dinner. After dinner I started on pre school snacks. Using halloween cookie cutters, I cut out cheese, used clear gloves and filled with popcorn using candy corns as the nails, and melon brains (out of a watermelon). I will have to take a pic tomorrow. The kids loved helping to stuff the hands and eat the popcorn. We only had time to read two books tonight. After the kids went to bed, dad and I went back to work on pre school snacks. I am off to bed very shortly.

We had another busy day. I dropped the kiddos off at pre school then I was off. I needed to run some errands. I can’t believe how fast I was able to do some things. I picked up the kiddos at 10:30 as we had their friend Nikki’s party today. It was at Build A Bear at Downtown Disney. It was so cute-the kids had a blast. Below are the bears the kids picked out to stuff:

After being stuffed:

The kids chose outfits too. Nicole picked out a Minnie Mouse shirt with matching ears and Justin just wanted sunglasses for his bear. After the party we walked around Downtown Disney and just had a good time together. We went into a few stores and just took our time. When we got home the kids watched a little TV to rest from our busy morning. Then a new neighbor came over with her little girl named Olivia. Unfortunately all the kids seemed pretty tired so it wasn’t the best play date. Of course when it was time to leave everyone was playing well. Dad got home and we decided to get out for dinner. We went to Woodbury but Justin so badly wanted to play games at the pizza place. So we went to Woodbury first and ate. Nicole wanted to play duck duck goose there too, so we did. Then we went to the pizza place for Justin then yogurt for me. Nicole was so good and got ready for bed without being reminded. Both are sleeping with their new bears.

We have been so busy. This morning we were off to play group for a Halloween play group. It was cute, the kids did crafts and played with flubber. Justin was kind of afraid of flubber. On the way to the party I had to pick up cookies at the store. You know how fun that is with kids; they were so excited. Luckily we found green monsters and black cats so both kids were happy. After the party we quickly went over to the bike park to meet some friends. The kids had a great time. Justin now idiolizes Mikey. It is sweet and Justin is learning to pretend to be a bad guy via Mikey. Oh well he is going to learn it sometime. I got to catch up with some moms at the bike park which was nice. Our friend had on a ghostbuster shirt that is just like Bret’s. So we ran to Target so they could match daddy. The kids put them on as fast as they could and are so excited to show daddy. So I have been feeling like our house/life are unorganized as we don’t have time to do much except play with the kiddos. So I took a stand and cleaned out the garage today. It is so easy once it gets messy to keep throwing stuff in there thus a mess again. So dad can get his car back in, yeah! I couldn’t put a dirty mommy car back in the clean garage so the kids helped me wash the car. They also played on the greenbelt a bit and with water. They came inside while I was finishing up my car and I discovered they decided to play with toothpaste. I was wondering why it was so quiet when I came to check on them. Dad came home and the kids wanted the furniture dolly, creeper (thing you use to get under a car), and hula her hoops…they made an obstacle course. Dad and Justin went to get dinner while Nicole and I played baby. After dinner the kids took a quick shower then watched some TV. I needed to work on editing some pics. Then we read books and off to bed they went. Justin was so sleepy to the point he was becoming difficult to deal with.

Life is back to normal..doing laundry, working at pre school, etc. Nicole brought her dog named Princess to share and Justin brought 3 cars. The kids had a great time at school. We did a car/bike wash and the kids loved it. After school I pretended to be a waitress while I cooked up for the kiddos (PB&J) and food for their dogs. It was so fun and cute. The kids played at home so well. They played upstairs for a while and worked together doing puzzles. I couldn’t have asked for kids to be more well behaved while I got organized. Cleaners are coming tomorrow so have to clean up! We headed out to the Irvine Regional Park where we met some friends. It was a great day to go but a little busy. Trying to get all the Halloween activities in before Halloween is over. The kids liked the hay maze but got a little scared because of some of the decorations. Nicole wanted to follow her friends in the haunted house and was very brave. Justin was scared of the white ghost that moved so he chose not to go in it. The kids drove electric John Deere tractors and they had enough for all the kids to ride together. It was so cute. Of course we had to go on the train. Nikki sat with the girls and the boys sat further down on the train. Then it was time for the bounce house, so many activities there. We came home and made dinner. The kids played with stickers then swung on the swings while daddy bbq’d. After dinner we let the kiddos watch Curious George. We headed upstairs and played. Nicole pretended to make a robot out of all her hair ribbons (copying Curious George). Justin and I were playing. We read some books and the kids headed to bed.

Here are some pics from our day:

What a great weekend with the family. I am kind of indifferent about traveling in an RV. It was fun but I think I still like a hotel. One moment that was nice, after a long time at the beach we had the RV in the parking lot.  We were hungry and tired and we had everything at our doorstep. It was nice to sit in an air conditioned RV. Bret impressed me with his driving, even backing up the RV.

The kids loved it. They wanted to stay in the RV as much as they could. The first night we stayed in a place that was kind of like an RV parking lot. What was really nice though is we could walk to the beach and there was a little park for the kids. The place even had a game room which Justin was excited about. It just had pool and ping pong, but the kiddos liked rolling the pool balls and trying to play ping pong. The kids decided to sleep in the same bed-so cute. The next day we moved the RV to San Onofre. More like camping, in a more remote location with lots of trees, fire pit, and a warning of mountain lions. On the way to San Onofre we stopped by a beach in Oceanside. This beach had it all, places to eat, play structure on the sand, etc. Justin was in the water almost the entire time. He just loved the waves coming at him.

We built sand castles and Nicole collected as many rocks as she could. Nicole got in the water near the end and was running around. She decided to pretend to be Biscuit the dog and get on all fours. I even made her a dog house in the sand. We had a great family beach day. When we got up to our campsite our neighbor had the cutest puppies ever. The owner let me bring one in the RV so the kids could see. The kids came out and played with the dogs a bit. One liked to chase Nikki and was pretty nippy. The kids loved playing on the dashboard in the RV then they laid in our bed to watch TV.

We played lots of games and read lots of books. We even did some crafts….lots of glitter. This is the first time the kids have done glitter with me, glitter and glue. What a mess but it was great fun.

We made hot dogs using the fire pit. The kids enjoyed it but the fire bothered their faces a bit.

Of course all they could talk about was roasting marshmellows. They roasted one  but decided they were too messy and sticky and just wanted to eat them plain. The kids went to bed pretty easily and so did we. This morning we had to clean and pack up to come home. We had to have breakfast in the RV. The kids just loved eating in it.

We needed to have the RV back by 10:00. We let the kids walk around in the RV just a little bit while it was moving, they loved it so much. Today was just a lazy day at home. I did lots of laundry. The kiddos played with their toys and we all showered. So nice to shower. I am photographing a family friend later so I went out and scouted locations. I am excited to see how the pics come out. We had a quiet day at home. The kids watched TV. The kids and I went to take my friends pictures. Justin and Nicole were great while I took the pics. The kids sat in their boosters in the back of the minivan. So cute they loved it and I pretended I left them at home since they weren’t in their regular car seats. They were laughing so hard-it was cute. Nicole was so hungry for dinner when we got home that she sat at the table and waited for dinner. Nicole is wanting to help more and proud of herself for helping. She set the table. The kids helped put their laundry away. Dad read lots of books tonight and the kids went right to sleep.

Well Justin decided to dress himself this morning, his underwear and shorts. It was so cute how proud he was of himself. He was all smiley-it was great. When we still mention it he still smiles-I love it! We dropped the kids off at pre school. It was great Bret was able to come too. Bret and I ran out of there-kid free and went and got the RV.

We packed it up and figured it all out while the kiddos were at school. We took it to pick up the kids from school. They ran to it with huge smiles on their faces. So great to see them so happy and looking forward to it. When we got back home I don’t think the kids got out of the RV the entire time. We are planning to leave in a few minutes for Oceanside and San Onofre. Looking forward to great family time.

Usually I start my blog during the day but had no time today. We went to our class at Coastline this morning. The crafts were cute and the kiddos had a great time. They played in goop, corn starch and water. Nicole did a craft using food coloring, glue, and shaving cream. It came out pretty cool. After we went to Burger King with Mikey, Katie, and Sarah. The kids had fun together. Justin wanted to ride in Paula’s car so I took the girls. Nicole was so happy to sit in the middle of the girls and Justin was so happy to sit in back with Mikey. At BK the kids were loud and screamy in the play area. Nicole was having a bit of trouble with Mikey and vice versa. It was strange but maybe the kiddos were tired. We did an errand on the way home. Got home and the kiddos took pretty quick showers. Nicole decided she liked playing on the outside of the shower in that weird space (the way our house is built). After we were out again to dance class. Nicole loves it and we watched a bit. She loved seeing us in the window. Justin kept asking to watch her. Justin did play trains with one of the boys and we played crazy 8’s. On the run again, we went to the grocery store to get some stuff for our trip. Then off to dinner. We got home and the kids seemed wild, so we let them run around on the greenbelt. We went and looked at some Halloween decorations too. All this led to a later than usual bed time. Now to go get ready for our trip.

We got ready for our friends to come over this morning. My kids were more into playing with each other rather than their friends. Their friends were all younger and I think my kids like the older kids. Anyway I got some mommy time with my friends. I even ran out to the toy store to look for something for Justin for the holidays. The kids did great without me; they just had their lunch. I guess I can be temporarily replaced with mac and cheese. The house didn’t get too messy but haven’t checked upstairs yet. The kids and I relaxed and watched some TV. After TV the kids were busy playing with the cars and My Little Pony. The fighting began too. Justin had a huge fit; he was so angry he didn’t know how to deal with Nikki taking his car. We cleaned up a bit then headed to Blue Gum. We met some friends there too. The kids played so well. N&J were so excited to play in the sand. They made sand cakes in the play house. I played with them for a bit then just relaxed. I brought my camera with the new lens and had fun taking some pics.

My kids must be so sick of getting their picture taken. Unfortunately I need to take a ton to get one or two good ones. On our way out we needed to give our friend a b-day present. J&N were so excited to give it to their friend. They both handed it to Chase then carried it to the car for him-it was so cute.

We came home and the kids went happy nuts. They both came in and said they were freaking out. Freaking out consists of laughing and running, it was so funny. They ended up outside playing with water and were soaked. They both laid on the picnic tables that were soaking wet. They took the hose to their clothes and windows, etc. They were wild, crazy, and wet. After dinner the kids were pretty mellow and dad read a lot of the library books. Dad read a lot more books upstairs while I got ready for our RV trip. I packed up the kids clothes. We have a lot more to do tomorrow to get ready and have a busy day-ugh. I need to find some time to have Nicole time, she has been begging to have some time with me.