Melissa’s Blog

Last night was rough in the house. Nicole woke up 3 times for no reason. Although all 3 times she wasn’t covered so I covered her up. Justin came in around 5:00 and was so movey. I finally went back to his room with him and he fell back to sleep. My back was killing me this morning from sleeping on Nicole’s floor and Justin’s bed. Luckily with some ibuprofen and coffee I was much better. We went to the park with some friends this morning. We brought our rocket balloon things and the kids had a great time. I think most of the balloons popped but it was great fun. The kids played really well, digging in the sand making a garden with sand flowers, etc. It was such a nice morning and nice to get out. We came home for a bit to have lunch. Dad came home for a bit to sell a server but then needed to go back to work for a bit. Zoe went home too. It was so nice to have her here, she is a terrific dog. But it will be nice not to have to walk her tonight. The kids and I ran to the grocery store to get some stuff for our dinner tonight. I thought we would have a dipping/fondue dinner. The kids watched the Alvin DVD. I can’t believe how much they love the chipmunks. Dad came home a bit early which was nice. We worked in the garage for a bit. Also we sold our bike trailer. A little sad to see it go but I am tired of a crammed garage. The kids prefer riding their bikes any way. Well the kids were supposed to take a bath after watching TV but somehow we ended up having a squeeky dog toy fight. It was so funny, we had so much fun. Then we ended up outside. The kids rode their bikes for a bit then drove their cars. We found our tennis racquets and the kids thought it was so cool. So I gave them a big bouncy ball and off they went. Finally we got them in the bath and then made dinner. I made cheese fondue then chicken with all sorts of dipping sauces (sweet n sour, plum, bbq, and ranch, then chocolate fondue with marshmallows, pound cake, cheesecake bites, strawberries, and bananas. It was a fun dinner. We opened the lion the kid’s got from our friend Tom. They loved it. They were busy playing on it and fighting over whose room it would sleep in.

It is sleeping in Justin’s room tonight and Nicole is not too happy about it. I put a leash on big floppy dog and dragged him into her room. At least they thought it was funny. Justin tried to put the leash around the lion, so funny. Dad played with Justin tonight and made a race track and drive thru. I played doll house with Nicole. Nicole said I am so glad you are letting me borrow your dollhouse-I love it. Nicole doesn’t want to go to bed tonight. It is 8:45 and she is still awake. So goodbye to 2009 and hope that 2010 brings lots of good health and happiness to all our friends/family.

It was kind of a boring rainy day. Luckily I took Zoe out this morning before the rain started. I was a bit lazy this morning. Dad went to work and I hadn’t even showered yet. The kids played their Leapsters while I showered. To my surprise when I got out of the shower they were racing cars together. We just stayed home and played all morning. We got out things we hadn’t played with in a while. We forgot to put away the Christmas train, so the kiddos helped with that. I had to write some thank you notes for Christmas gifts, so the kids decorated the card. Nicole ran out in the rain to put it in the mailbox. After lunch Justin brought down his old Diego comforter and they had a picnic in the family room. They got all their play food and had a nice picnic, totally cute.

We have been in the house for the last few days, I was antsy to get out. It ended up getting later and later though. I told the kids we could go say hi to grandma/pa. So we walked  Zoe-it was so cold and lucky we got out before the rain. We headed to grandma/pa’s. The kids tired them out. They played hide n seek and did a lot of coloring. We headed home before dinner so we could be with daddy. The kids barely ate dinner as they just wanted to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks. We played Candyland then headed upstairs. Justin and I played cars and read books while Nikki and dad played doll house. I got lots of snuggly time with Justin. I said goodnight then went out to walk Zoe.

Another day at home, now I am starting to get bored-ha. We just hung out at home and the kids found things to play with. They read some library books and jumped all over me. They looked at some pics on my laptop with me. Then I started cleaning up dog hair with my swiffer and that got the kiddos started. I no longer have my swiffer and Nikki has mine and Justin has the little one (baby one, the kids call it). They are taking them all over the house and cleaning. They never really see me clean so they are having fun. I made them a smoothie for a snack. They have been wanting smoothies for weeks. They drank them laying on the kitchen counter. I had to take a pic:

Since we were on a cleaning spree I decided to work in the garage. I am always working in the garage. I pulled my car out so the kiddos could bike and play in the garage. They helped clean and sweep too. I don’t know how I keep finding stuff to get rid of but I do. I took down the Christmas lights too while the kiddos threw the ball for Zoe on the greenbelt. We had to run to the grocery store to get milk. We are switching to organic milk. When we got home from the store we went back on the greenbelt and played. We took Zoe for a little walk as well. It was just nice not be in a rush or needing to do anything. Dad came home and we had an early dinner. After dinner we headed to Candy Cane Lane in RSM to see the decorations. Unfortunately some people either didn’t have them lit up or were busy taking them down but we did see a few cool houses. I felt bad that it wasn’t as great as it could have been, so we stopped to get frozen yogurt on the way home. We just love this yogurt place, yogurtland. When we got home the kids went crazy with paper and crayons. This is the first time they have been allowed crayons in their rooms. They scribbled then tore the paper out. They pretended they were delivering newspapers (like Alvin in the Christmas movie) and X-mas cards. Our hallway was full of paper. It was cute but messy. We put the munch kins to bed and I was off to walk the dog.

I have crazy kids today. We stayed home most of the day. It was kind of nice.  I did take the kids with me to get a blood test. Their Leapsters and coloring books kept them happy. Justin watched the blood test but Nicole didn’t want too. Justin was eating rasains just watching-it was like he was watching TV while eating popcorn. Anyway, pretty much got the house back together. It is nice having a dog around but I don’t miss the dog hair. Dog hair everywhere. Nicole started out wearing her Tinkerbell costume a few hours later and she put on Abby Cadaby. The kids were so funny today. They pretended they were elves and got toys ready for Santa. They played outside and pretended to put the gooey things on the side of the house. I asked for my broom back and they said ohhh it is all gooey now. They were cracking up-love the little things make them laugh. I did laundry and finally have an empty laundry basket. The kids pretended they were Alvin and Simon, which is no surprise. But they turned the big king chair into bunk beds. They also turned the play room upside down dumping all the bins. It was hard not too be mad but I made them clean it all up. We went outside for a while and played on the greenbelt. The kids played with their balls for a bit, throwing them up in the air. They were having a great time. We threw balls for Zoe too. We were outside for a while, it was such a nice day. We played soccer too. Nicole got a little upset when she didn’t get the ball. After talking to her she was much better. They played pile up on mom. Also got up and did and Alvin and the chipmunks show. We came in and I negotiated with the kids, a little swinging and in return they would take a bath. They are wanting to take baths alone lately. So Justin and I played cars while Nikki was in the bath. Nicole is wearing her favorite shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Crazy girl as the rest of us are in pants. After bath we headed to Costco. Starting to look at Organic stuff. I can’t believe how much more expensive it is. The kids ate their way through Costco. While I was doing a return the kids were signing Alvin and the Chipmunks. Of course I went to Costco too late so by the time we got home they weren’t hungry for dinner, oops. It worked out really well as dad wasn’t very hungry either. On the way out of Costco the kids are yelling happy new year at everyone, so funny. We got home and the kids colored. They colored some pics for Art/Bernice. Art/Bernice came over and brought them a X-mas gift, so thoughtful. We are lucky to have such nice neighbors. The kids watched some TV. Then we went upstairs for some hide n seek. It was so fun. We only had time to read a couple books then off to bed. The kids are wanting us to stay in their rooms longer and longer. I try to love the time but there a million things I need to do.

I feel so much better today. Glad it lasted only one day. Nicole woke up early this morning but I laid down on her floor and she went back to bed. I felt like everyone slept in a bit. I guess Zoe barked in the middle of the night but I didn’t hear it. Nicole walked Zoe with  me this morning. She was so cute with her scarf, mittens, and jacket. Nicole pretty much walked Zoe the entire time. Zoe tugged Nikki a bit but not too bad. Nikki was so proud of herself and it was nice out this morning. We played with the kiddos this morning and also took down Christmas. Dad and Justin raced cars while Nikki and I took the ornaments off the tree. Nikki wanted to help. I took everything out of the downstairs closet to clean it out. Once a year I do this and put things back. It is so clean right now and I put all the decorations back. While the closet was empty the kids played in it. They loved it empty. After lunch we headed to the Spectrum. We had to do some returns and just wanted to play. Dad was so funny he kept on saying he wanted to go on the ferris wheel. So we did that as a family. It was nice. Nicole wanted to wear her shorts but it was too cold, so she put her pants over her shorts. We played in the toy store, saw all the puppies..typical Spectrum day. We also rode the carousal. N&J weren’t able to get on the animals they wanted, so we waited until we were first in line. Nicole got the bunny and Justin the ostrich. Nicole has been unsnapping daddy’s jacket sleeves and just laughing. We got home and played with Zoe on the greenbelt for a bit. We came in and the kids watched the Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD. Justin has been into My Amusement Park Leapster game and actually played it while the TV was on. We have been having issues with Justin peeing in his pants. It is so frustrating. I think he just doesn’t want to stop what he is doing to pee. After dinner dad and I took the Christmas tree out to the curb. It feels like we just got the tree. We decided since it is trash day tomorrow we may as well take it down. It is kind of nice with all the decorations down, the house doesn’t seem so junky. I was so embarrassed when a neighbor stopped by and our living room was a huge mess. Why is it we are always getting rid of things? After all the chaos of the Christmas tree, Justin helped me vacuum up the pine needles. He actually enjoyed it. I haven’t vacuumed in so long-it was kind of nice. We all played Memory together. Nicole is really good at Memory. She got upset though as she didn’t get to pick the last cards, but she still won. We went upstairs and the kids played with their new banks and money. They pretended the money was popcorn and was busy throwing it everywhere. We read lots of books. Justin was so tired that he fell asleep when his head hit the pillow. Nicole on the other hand wanted to talk about the Squekel movie and all the bad parts. I wonder why she asks only about the bad parts.

Well it is official I have a cold, ugh. I woke up a bit last night. This morning we were all hanging out and I decided to go back to sleep for a bit. I promised Nicole I would take her ice skating so I needed more rest. The kids had a great time with dad playing games. Nicole came upstairs to tuck me in and give me some of her animals. When I woke up we played, the kids wanted to go swing even though it was cold out. They still love their swings. I love listening to them giggle in them, Nicole has to get in it herself. We had lunch then Nicole and I were off to go ice skating. Dad and Justin were heading to the park to feed the ducks and the pizza place for games. Nik and I had a great time ice skating. She is doing so well. When I asked her about taking lessons again she informed me she already knew how to skate, do twists, and go backwards. She says she wants to be like Tinkerbell on ice from Disney on Ice. I took her to the candy store after. I know I am a sucker, I was so grateful she wanted to be with me and she is so affectionate I decided I would make it a great mom and daughter outing. We stopped at Lakeshore to exchange something on the way home. We made it in time for the craft and got one for Justin to do at home (Happy New Year hat). Dad and Justin weren’t home when we got home, so we took Zoe out. We threw balls to her. Nicole really wanted to walk Zoe but Zoe pulls a bit. Finally I let her do it on the greenbelt and Nicole did really well. On the greenbelt Nicole could let go of Zoe’s leash and everyone would be safe. Nicole loved it and wanted to walk Zoe more. However, Zoe noticed her balls and just wanted us to throw the for her. She is cuckoo over her balls. Dad and Justin had as much fun with their alone time. Justin was telling me about the games he played at the pizza place. I love one on one time but I miss being with the other child and daddy. The kids were overdue for a shower so we gave them showers. So nice to have clean smelling children. I let Justin stay in for an extra long time as I noticed he is getting sniffly-the hot shower probably felt good. Well I am an idiot-I forgot to put out two Christmas presents. So we gave them to the kiddos tonight. The marble race toy was a huge hit. The kids loved it. Justin shows his excitement watching the marbles, so cute. I didn’t plan on cooking so we went and grabbed dinner. We came home and I did laundry, dad read books. Zoe just cuddled with me on the floor so everyone started to pet her. Zoe has got to be the sweetest dog on earth. Nicole talked dad’s ear off tonight, telling him that one of her friends talk about dead people, jail, and her other woes.

Daddy says “memories will last forever, daddy playing Santa by the tree passing out presents”. I woke up a bit early so I could take Zoe for a walk before everyone got up. Everyone got up at the same time. I made breakfast, pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I made Mickey Mouse pancakes and I tried my best to make snowman ones. The kids checked out all the presents. We let them go through their sticking while we finished up breakfast. The kids were so cute this morning. They wanted to stack all their wrapped presents in piles for themselves. Dad played Santa and we passed out presents one at a time. The presents were all opened in a matter of minutes. All the work was worth it! Nicole’s favorite Christmas present was all the stuffed animal dogs and the Alvin stuffed animal. Justin’s favorite was the race track. Dad and I opened the toys and put things together. It was a great morning. Nicole and I went upstairs to play doll house. It ended up all the dolls came out of the dollhouse “outside” to watch her new Alvin perform. The kids spent lots of time putting money in their new banks. We are looking for a good Christmas tradition. So we decided to go to the movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks-The Squekel. It was terrible, even the kids weren’t so into it. Here is what Bret said

“Since Alvin & Britney are now “close” (and sleeping in the same room), they soon discover the joys of teenage parenthood, with their new baby Chipmunk twins. Next movie: “Alvin & the Chipmunks 3 – The ChipSqueaks”. 20th Century, that one’s MINE!”

Nicole is saying why am I not surprised lately and it is just cracking us up. Plus she is saying let me tell you something. We came home and played outside for a bit. Dad and Justin washed the cars with Justin’s new pressure washer thing.  I threw balls for Zoe and then we came inside. However it was too boring inside so we all headed to the park. We went to pirate park and took Zoe with us. The kids spent almost the entire time pretending to feed the birds/ducks. This was done by sprinkling sand into the hedges. When we got home I needed a rest so we turned on the new video, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo one. I took a bit of a nap while dad cooked us all dinner. The kids did some new puzzles after dinner and coloring. Both brought their pics into their rooms to hang. We have to come up with a clothes line or something to make it easier to hang the pics. Nicole said opening presents was her favorite part of the day, shocker. Here are some pics from today:

Finally it is almost Christmas; it is so fun with the kiddos. We decided to go to the park this morning with some friends. The kids had a great time playing. They were watching a remote control plane and helicopter. Then they decided to run on the field and hide out in the dugouts. They enjoyed opening the gates. They also decided to crawl up on the rocks at Woodbury. They did really well on their own and kept going up and crawling. Then they became confident and started trying to stand. But I was too nervous and made them crawl . We headed to the grocery store. It was pretty crowded. Justin pushed the little cart but Nicole didn’t want one. They both helped get things off the shelves. We tried to get out of there as quickly as we could. At home we ate lunch then played. The kids were singing out the kitchen window. We took Zoe on the greenbelt and played with her. The kids are more into playing tug of war with Zoe rather than throwing the ball. So I threw the ball while the kids pretended they were on stage. Inside we played games, Cootie, checkers, etc. We also made cupcakes for Santa. The kids love to bake-sprinkles and mixing are their favorites.  They were so proud of their frosting and tons of sprinkles. Dad came home and they watched TV for a bit, Charlie Brown Christmas. The kids seemed tired after TV but we dragged them out to Balboa to see the Christmas lights. Justin fell asleep on the way there. The kids didn’t really care we were down there seeing the cool lights. I enjoyed it though. However, they thought it was pretty cool when we saw the snow man. Nicole got all excited and was so happy to see/touch snow. Justin too. I think that was the only thing they cared about. They can’t wait to go play in snow. It was worth it to go see the snow man. However, I seem to think back and think the kids never really enjoy the lights. Note for next year. We tried to get dinner but things were closed or too busy. We gave up and just made mac and cheese at home. Not a very exciting Christmas Eve dinner. The kids are still awake and I hope they fall asleep soon. We have some wrapping to do, get out all the presents, and walk Zoe.

Justin woke up in the middle of the night to find Zoe in the house. Nicole woke up this morning and found Zoe. They were so happy to have her here. We started to have a quiet day at home but then I thought it was a good time to get Justin a haircut. We got an app’t so off we went. He looks so cute with his haircut, although the girl got him with the clippers a little. We ran home and played with Zoe for a bit. So fun to play with her on the greenbelt. Grandma came over to go to Disney on Ice with us. We picked up some lunch and ate in the car as we didn’t want to be late. The show was cute. It started off with the “Cars” characters. Justin loved this part and even his favorite Ramone was on the ice. There was a part with Ariel,  Lion King, and Tinkerbell too. I hate how Disney tries to see so much crap, so annoying. Needless to say Nicole loved the Tinkerbell part and Justin the Cars. I am glad we took the kiddos. We came home to a very happy Zoe. Grandma stayed for a bit then we headed out to play with Zoe. We always have fun outside on the greenbelt, just running around and no fighting. The kids helped throw the balls for Zoe. We threw one over the fence so we walked to go get it. So funny it was in the bushes and Zoe must have smelled at as she just jumped in. Then daddy came home and we threw more balls for a bit. We headed in to take baths. The kids took a bath instead of a shower. I think Nicole picked a bath in hopes Justin would take a shower. No such luck-he wanted a bath too. They were playing doggie in the bath, we threw things in and they retrieved it and gave it to us with their mouths. We made breakfast for dinner and the kids thought it was great. We played a new game called Cootie, Justin loved it and Nicole just watched. We got upstairs a little earlier than normal. The kids brought up their balloons and wanted shorter strings. Justin wanted to get his and stacked up a stack of books and was going to use it as a stool. Pretty ingenious to think up. Had to take a pic and while I was at it I took a picture of the race car bed finally.

I read to Nicole while dad and Justin colored together. While putting Nicole to bed she totally me I was the best mom in the whole world. Wow that was so nice to hear, she just made my day. Justin said it to but it was prompted after I was telling dad what Nicole said. Also while at the ice skating show I mentioned to Nicole about going ice skating and Grandma chimed in to let her know when we go. And Nicole said she just wanted it to be mommy and her. Love it! Nicole and I are having some alone time together this weekend. I got the biggest hugs tonight-it was great.

Wow today was a non-crazy day for once.  We were at home this morning just cleaning up toys, getting ready for the cleaners. The kids were busy drawing and making a mess. They love their huge paper as one can draw on one side and the other on the other side. I read the kids lots of books-we haven’t been doing a lot of reading lately. We had play group at the park this morning. It wasn’t too bad in the sun but the wind was really cold. The kids had a lot of fun though. They played with their friends, ran around with the ball, swung, etc. Justin had to go to the bathroom and there was no time, so I ran him to the car. Poor Nikki didn’t know where I went, she was crying. I screamed to her and she heard me but she had a hard time. I re-assured her I would never leave without telling her. She was ok and nice and snuggly which I loved. We stayed at the park for a while as the cleaners were here. We had to play upstairs when we got home. We came down and the kids wanted cereal for lunch so I just went with it. So easy. Then we just played. The house stayed clean for all of two minutes. The kids and I played, we made Lincoln Log houses, played with cars, and played with my old cabbage patch doll. We waited for Tierney to come over. We played with her a bit, got our hair pulled, and got pinched-ha ha ha She is lucky she is cute. Then we went for a walk to get my contacts. Halfway there Justin connected it was near the pizza place. Since I had no money we came back home then headed out again. Nicole loved being in the stroller with Tierney. It was very handy actually. Nicole kept her socks on. Nicole loved being the care taker and helping me with T. Justin was busy giving her toys. We went to the pizza place for a bit. Justin played the driving game and Nikki, T, and I hung out. Justin was thrilled to be there. When we got home we all just played. T really loved watching the train go around. I built a new track using the bridge. We all played in the play room. Dad got home and the kids pounced on him. We were making block towers for Tierney to knock down. So the good news of the day is we found the harmonica-not so good for me, and Justin’s original Dinoco car which I actually think is Lightening McQueen just painted blue. We went to Chick Fil A for family night. It wasn’t too crowded. The kids didn’t get to play in the play area for too long. They aren’t scared of the big cow anymore, he had on a Santa hat. They gave him a high 5 and wanted to know where he was at all times. The kids colored Christmas trees. Justin traced all around his and Nicole colored mostly in the lines and she even drew presents under the tree. Nicole wanted ice cream from Chick Fil A so since there ice cream isn’t the best we went to Yogurtland. It was so yummy! Kiddos are sleeping and we are waiting for Zoe to come over as we are dog sitting.