Melissa’s Blog

We stayed home for a while which was nice. I felt like we haven’t been home for a while. We met some friends at a pumpkin patch. The kids had a great time. Justin and Mikey played a lot together. Nicole hung out with Christy and Lexie. In fact when I came to Nicole she said “I want to stay with Christy”. The kids went in the jump house and all the coin rides. Justin and Mikey were pushing each other in the bouncer, but it was innocent play as they were laughing. Nicole fed the animals. It was a nice morning. They were running around and screaming through the haunted house. Not scary screaming just playing with their friends. After we met some friends at the bike park. We just love it there. The kids were hungry but chose to ride their bikes first. Finally we had a picnic lunch. Justin had so much fun at the park he asked when we could go back. I am thinking about doing a little pre school birthday party there for the kiddos. When we got home the kids played a bit. But then Nicole broke Justin’s track and he hit her. He knew he was wrong and quickly apologized, but Nicole wasn’t wrong. We read lots of books today. The kiddos have really been into books today. The kiddos took a bath and Justin stayed in the bath forever. Glad he had so much fun in there. Nicole kept on bringing him toys. We played upstairs for a while and organized some books. Dad came home and we made dinner. Dad read lots of books with Justin while Nicole helped me in the kitchen. She was so excited to set the table, help me cook, and even put things in the big recycling bin. I hope she is always this helpful. Her favorite thing is getting a new apple juice in the garage. After dinner the kiddos watched TV for a bit. Dad got the mail and my new lens came. Oh my god it is so cool, I can’t wait to go take pics. We went upstairs and the kids played more. They rolled this paperweight ball around. They did the usual pretend that they are the pre school teacher, etc. Both kids wanted us to hang out after lights went out. I love that time but I also want to get some stuff done.

No pre school this morning. It was nice to take it easy a bit this morning. I went to the gym for me. The kids did great in the kids club. In fact I came back to get them and they told me to go work out some more. I need to get my lazy butt to the gym more often. After the gym, we went to the Laguna Hills Pumpkin Patch. Funny to think about when we went in years past….they wanted all the bigger rides now and weren’t too interested in the pumpkins. This was our first pumpkin patch this year and I have a feeling we will be going to a lot more the next two weeks.

We walked over to the mall and had lunch. Then just hung around and walked the mall a bit. We went in the bookstore and read lots of books too.  On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for a few things then finally came home. The kids played and played. Nicole has been a little screamy today-I hope it is just because she is tired. I was sick of the fighting so out we went. We grabbed the kid’s bikes and biked around castle park. We then played at the park for a bit. The kids had so much fun at the park. We hadn’t been to that park in a while. When we got home, dad and I tried to make homemade pasta. The kids played really well for a bit. But then the fighting started again. Nicole is borrowing a dog from Katie and it is starting a lot of fights with me and Nicole and Justin and Nicole. Nicole wants to take it everywhere but we can’t as we don’t want to leave it anywhere. The kids decided to dump all the bins in the play room, what a mess. Well dad and I made home made pasta. Lot of work but it was pretty tasty. What a mess too. Don’t think we will try it again but it was fun to try once. After cleaning up the kitchen dad read books to the kiddos, they seem pretty tired. We also had to clean the play room. Dad played with Justin for a bit while I read to Nikki. It was sweet as Nicole was laying in my lap. We then switched and Justin pretended to be the pre school teacher while I was a naughty kid. I still hear them upstairs but hopefully they will fall asleep very soon.

We dragged the kids to the Anaheim Auto Show this morning. Justin was so excited to see the cars and get in them. He loved the green cars but was not able to go in those. Nicole said she was having a little fun but not too much. She is borrowing a Barbie dog from Katie and we wouldn’t let her take it in the place so she wanted to get back to the car. We weren’t at the show too long. It wasn’t very crowded as we were there so early. We got to see the fastest car in the world and the price tag $1.8 million. After we went to check out the Anaheim Garden Walk. It was really nice but not a lot of stores have moved in yet. We had lunch then headed home. At home the kiddos took a bubble bath. Then we packed up to go to Laguna Regional Park to take pics with my photography group. I got some cute pics of the kids. Just love practicing with my camera. The kids did really well posing for everyone. Nicole wanted to put on all the dress up stuff. Here are some pics from our day:

After taking pics we were so close to grandma/pa’s house so we stopped by. The kids were so happy to see them and play. We had dinner with them then headed home. The kids were pretty hyper when we got home. Justin played with cars while I read to Nicole. Nicole called for us a few times but finally fell asleep. I need some relaxy time.

I didn’t sleep well at all last night, ugh. I ended up watching TV for a bit then we had a routine power outage, so not TV for me. I ended up on Nikki’s floor for a bit. She woke up and I was so happy to have someone to talk to. But she just wanted me to get her animals and then went back to sleep. This morning we walked to the library for a story/craft/snack time. It was really cute. The kids made monsters and loved the book, Skeleton has hiccups. It was a cute event and not very crowded. We started walking home. The kids loved looking at the freeway overpass. The kids waved and waved and were so excited when someone would beep at them. We also stopped at Orchard Park AKA train park. The kids played in the sand really well together. Dad picked us up and we went and grabbed some lunch. At home we played in the backyard. The kids brought all their chairs in the yard, Justin mowed, and we pretended to be camping. I worked on cleaning up the yard a bit. Justin was busy organizing the water, telling me how to fill water balloons, and he was very concerned I didn’t have water in the bucket with the balloons. They threw the water balloons at the play house and 1 minute later they were broken. Water balloons don’t last very long. After playing outside the kiddos watched TV. Since we babysat for the triplets last night, it was our turn to go out tonight. Justin talked to Michael on the phone this morning as Michael wanted Justin to bring his storm trooper planes. Nicole said hi to Katie and Sarah-I think this was the first time they all talked on the phone. Dad and I had a nice time out tonight. We went to the District and had a great dinner and drinks. We both got a little tipsy. We just took it easy and relaxed together. The kids had a great time at Mikey, Katie’s, and Sarah’s. They all traded toys. Nicole is in love with Katie’s puppy. The kids went to bed a little late but they are sleeping.

This morning was pre school day but also Friday, a good thing. I was snack mom at school this morning. I got the job of shaving cream, ugh. It was messy, gooey, and smelly but the kids loved it. We put glitter in it and water coloring. I made the best of shaving cream and seeing the kiddos smiley faces was priceless. But it was so nice out so after snack I switched with a mom and went outside. Way better playing with the kiddos then cleaning up. We went to the library after school and got lots of new books. The kids loved it. We went to Michael’s craft store as well. I wanted to get some new crafts for the kiddos tonight since we are babysitting the triplets. The kids chose going to the craft store vs. lunch. I was worried I may have two melty children but they were fine. So we grabbed lunch after and so fun being out with the kiddos. When we got home I had a little time to myself then read some of the new books to the kiddos. Then they took a shower. Unfortunately reading to them made them a bit tired so they were pretty fighy in the shower. Finally I ended the shower and dried them off. They got dressed then did stamps. I am having them stamp the back of the envelopes to their birthday invitations. Then Mikey, Katie, and Sarah came over. Mikey and Katie went to play with Geo Trax. Justin heard this and went to join them. Sarah and Nicole did stamps for a bit. The kids all played really well together and didn’t make too much of a mess. After dinner we went on a flashlight/glow stick walk. By the end though Bret and I ended up carrying everything. The kids had a great time running around. When we got home everyone was hungry again, so got out the dinner again. It was fine just tiring as I felt like I was being ordered around. The kids all did play doh together. So nice to see them have such good friends. We read some library books and put the kids down (a little late though). Now I am off to rest-I think this is the first time I have stopped today.

Bunco was awesome last night-I had so much fun. But am paying for it today-I am so tired. Bret and I stayed up too late after. I also started sleeping with my night guard and it woke me up a million times. I finally took it out in the middle of the night. Nicole woke us up wanting to be covered then needing help finding her baby elephant stuffed animal. We went to our class at coastline this morning.  The kids had fun and did lots of crafts. Glitter was the most fun. I have some great Halloween pics to hang out when they dry. There was an earthquake drill this morning so of course the kiddos were asking all about earthquakes. The kids had fun playing this morning. After we went to BK with Mikey, Katie, and Sarah. Sarah came in our car with Nicole. Justin was so happy to go in Paula’s car. They played for a bit but we needed to get home. We had to get home to take care of Tierney today. We were so excited to take care of her. T was a bit tired and a little cranky for a bit. But we got her out of it. We all watched T and her new tricks, going down the stairs backwards. Once we all played with her she was as happy as can be. I was tired and had a headache. My teeth were bothering me a bit. I turned on the TV for my kiddos but T didn’t look at it once. She was too into playing with our toys and me. The kiddos rode their bikes to dance class. Justin made a friend there with trains and he was so happy playing trains. T and I were watching Nicole and playing. T had a snack in her stroller. Nicole had a great time at dance class. After dance since Justin was so good we went to the pizza place to play games. The kids played while T and I laughed at one another. Then we biked home. We played on the greenbelt for a bit. Justin and Nicole pretending they were dogs fetching balls. T and I practiced walking using the doll stroller on the grass. After T left, we had dinner. I walked to the pre school meeting and dad and kids played. Now to catch up at home and off to bed as I need sleep.

It rained last night. I thought one of the kiddos were heading to our room but then discovered it was just rain on the roof. Dad’s back was hurting a little more this morning, stiff. So he stayed home for a bit and rested it. I had to go to the dentist, ugh. I am now using Bret’s dentist. And yes it did suck but I have to say it was the best dentist experience I have ever had. This dentist is awesome. The right doctor/dentist makes a world of difference. I even used some new thing that gets rid of the numbness in half the time. I ran an errand then picked up the kiddos from school. They were stuck inside at school because of the rain. Justin made a J out of beans today, glued them on paper and the kids made people that they were so proud of too. We came home and the kiddos played for a while. They got these big bags out and did sharing over and over and over again. I had to run to Costco to get some stuff for Bumco tonight. I am hosting it at our house. I am so excited to start playing Bunco again. The kids were great at Costco. The TV’s and snacks there helped as well. We got home and made brownies for tonight; they love to bake. While the brownies were in the oven they watched TV. Then we jumped into the bath, the kids wanted a bubble bath. While in the bath though, Andree called and her and Zoe were out on the greenbelt. We haven’t seen Zoe the dog in so long that it was easy to get the kiddos out of the bath. It was fun catching up. Nicole wanted to show Andree her room now that the furniture is pink. They were so proud of their rooms and wanting to show Zoe too. Dad came home and we had dinner. After dinner we played games with the kiddos, hi ho cheerio and candyland. Nicole was a bit distracted and kept on giving daddy animals to lay down with-dad was resting. Then Nicole played Ms. Donna while J and dad played another round of Candyland. The kids and dad went upstairs while I hosted the first bunco. We have such a great bunco group. I had so much fun. So nice just to sit back and relax and drink with friends. We were pretty loud but dad got the kids down. Nicole heard the bell and wanted to come see what was going on.

This morning we stayed home for a bit to get ready for the cleaners. The kids played in the garage for a bit, rode their bikes and did bubbles. They brought in some camping chairs from the garage and just had fun together. Just as the cleaners were getting here, we escaped to McDonalds. On the way it started raining. The kids grabbed their umbrellas and were so excited but it didn’t last long. We met some friends at McDonalds and the kiddos had a great time playing in the play area. The moms actually got to just hang out and the kids played really well. We decided to eat lunch there too. We were there for a while. The rain kept on starting and stopping. What a bummer as we were supposed to go meet some friends at the Woodbridge bike park. The kids really wanted to go and they were willing to go in the rain. We came home for a bit and so nice walking into a clean house. I wish somehow it would stay this way for a while. I have been needing to go to the mall but I keep procrastinating. We finally decided to go today. I needed to just exchange some sizes in the kid’s clothes. We had fun at the mall. I first did the things I needed to do then rewarded them for being so good…we went to the play area. Justin was so excited to ride in the black car. They rode together, so cute. We had our usual fun at the mall, escalators, elevators, running around, watching the TV in the kids stores, etc. They didn’t want to leave the mall. But when we got home we had some fun outside. It was a little cool out but felt like the kiddos could use some outside time. Nicole got the package by our door while Justin got the mail. I got an external flash for my camera-I am so excited. I didn’t know Bret ordered it. Nicole was nice enough to open it for me. She even got her wood play knife to open it-boy was I surprised. Dad came home. The kids drove their cars all around the neighborhood while looking for Halloween decorations. It was great as we got a walk in as well. They loved riding their cars around. I kept on thinking in about 12 years they will be really driving, ugh. We decided to go out for dinner, so bad of us but so much better than my cooking. The kids were really into coloring tonight so we hard a hard time getting them upstairs. When we finally did I was putting away laundry and dad was fixing a computer, but all we heard was mommy, mommy, daddy, daddy, etc. Finally waited on the laundry and we played, got ready for bed, and read books. We have sleeping kiddos now.

This morning it was cloudy and cold and really hard to get out of bed. I dropped the kiddos off at pre school. At pre school I cut all the kid’s invitations so we are ready to send them out. Can’t believe my babies will be 4 soon. While the kiddos were at pre school I went for a quick walk then ran to Toys R Us. I wanted to start birthday and holiday shopping. I just want to be done. I think I got the kids done today just need to show Bret and make sure he agrees. Nicole showed her new Tinkerbell all around pre school today, so cute. After school we played at home for a bit. I had to make some calls for pre school then Carin, Sofi, and Mylee came over to play. The girls played really well together-I was very impressed. Nicole loves having her friends here. Poor Justin didn’t have anyone to play with but I tried to give him some extra special attention. The kids made cards for one of their friends that had cataract surgery. They drew pictures and put stickers all over it. They grabbed their doll strollers and we walked over to their house. Justin put his blue dolphin in his stroller and Nicole put her pink teddy bear in hers. Matthew and Ellie came out for a little bit. We head fun walking. The weather was nice and cool so the kids got all hyper. We basically jogged home then we were on the greenbelt for a while. We played duck duck goose then daddy came home. Daddy’s back hurts a bit so we came inside and the kiddos watched some TV. They watched Clifford and Thomas. They also played with daddy on his laptop, typed their names, etc. They even rubbed daddy’s back a little. After dinner the kids pretended to share. Nicole shared her boo boo bunny and pink teddy-Justin shared his cars. We went upstairs and dad went to drive Grammy to the airport. The kids read books by themselves for a bit and were pretending to be pre school teachers. I put laundry away and cleaned up a bit (cleaners come tomorrow). I finally convinced them to let me read books to them. They went to sleep pretty easily. It is a bit tougher to put them to bed in dif’t rooms, but they were very patient with me.

We had a visitor last night, Justin. On the second or third time I gave in and let him sleep with us. But he was snoring so I left. But I couldn’t fall back to sleep so I came down to watch TV. I went jogging/walking with a friend this morning. We haven’t been in so long, but hopefully we will get back in the swing of running. We stayed in for a while this morning and read the paper. Dad built Justin’s new bridge. Geo trax stinks as this is one more part we have to buy to get the bridge lifted off the ground. But Justin likes it. Bret went for a walk this morning too. While Bret was out I showered then gave the kids a shower. Nice to have it over with already. Justin picked out his new outfit Grammy gave him for his birthday. He looks adorable:

Nicole chose her new Halloween outfit and she looks so cute too. The kids did some cutting with scissors, we even let them use real adult scissors. They likes cutting up the newspaper ads. We ran out to do a few things. First we listened to some music at Woodbury then went to Staples, Home Depot, Trader Joes, and Ralphs. Now we are tired. The kids watched some TV. They watched Blues Clues for the first time. Nicole really liked it and pretended she was Blue. We went outside and did a ton of gardening. We got a bunch of fall flowers at Home Depot and planted those. Then pulled weeds and trimmed bushes. Can’t believe how much we got done. Justin was driving his car while Nicole wanted to help me. So much faster with her helping. Justin used his maze book, he loves it. Nicole practiced cutting with scissors for the second time today.  The kids ate a lot at dinner tonight. We had a late dinner and headed upstairs. The kids were nuts. Nicole was running away from us and playing while we were trying to get her jammies on. She was laughing so hard that we just went with it. It took two of us to get her jammies on then she took them off and ran again. Justin got into it too. It was fun and cute. We read some new books tonight that they really loved, Danny the Dinasour and Amelia Bedilia. Justin claimed daddy didn’t come visit him (which wasn’t true), but I decided to carry him down to get an extra hug anyway. I am tired! Time to relax.

Oh and we decorated the kids windows with Halloween. Here is a pic: