Melissa’s Blog

I think we have recovered from the party. We are still a bit tired. The house is a bit of a mess still but it will probably be that way until the cleaners come. I am sad thinking about the Halloween decorations coming down soon. This morning Nikki couldn’t wait to walk Go Go. We basically took showers, quick breakfast, and we went walking. Justin took his new remote control jeep on the walk. It was a bit hard for Nikki to control Go Go for a bit. It was a bit easier when we finally got to bunny path. On bunny path it went really well. Justin’s jeep batteries ran really low at this point. Nikki did share Go Go with Justin for a few minutes. That must have been very difficult since it is a new toy. Nikki is calling her go go dog, Lady. After our walk, I gave the kiddos a bath. Dad got called for work. I took the kiddos over to a friend’s Halloween party. Dad met us over there. The kids played some pretty cute games, fill up the candy corn bowl with a spoon and the donut on a string thing. I think they put away most of their toys and my kids just wanted to play with other kid’s toys. I finally convinced Nikki to do the craft. Justin barely ate lunch as he was too busy. So when he got home he played Legos a bit. Dad took a nap and I wanted a rest so the kiddos watched TV. Justin decided he was starving. After TV we decided to carve pumpkins. Justin picked Tigger to carve and Nikki picked Scooby Doo. Dad did Tigger and I did Scooby. Dad and I were going to have a contest to see who carved a better pumpkin but by the time we finished we didn’t care. It took us forever. They came out pretty well. I need to get a better picture in the morning. Grandma/pa and Uncle Alan and gang came over. We just had left over pizza and cake. I ate so much crap tonight, ugh. Then we all got dressed and we were off. The kids were so excited. It was so great being out and running into friends. I love Halloween. Nikki and Justin were very polite and so excited to run up to people’s houses we know. Tierney did great, started to get into it as well. She looked adorable as a cat. We came home and the kids had some candy and opened a gift from our neighbors. The gift was sea monkeys so we got those started, so fun for the kids. More cleaning up here and I am just exhausted.

Happy Halloween.

Yesterday was a whirlwind day. I woke up early to pouring rain. I did the anti rain day as we were supposed to have the kid’s birthday party in the evening. Luckily it worked and the sun came out. We had their horsey class in the morning. We knew it would be really muddy and I knew to have the kids prepared. I had the kids in their boots. Unfortunately I didn’t think about daddy and I. The mud was so bad around the area where the kids ride the horse. Luckily I found another mom that lent me her boots, I was so grateful. It was actually fun in the mud. The horse class was fun. They rode a horse name Mia who was very sweet. After class we had to run home to be here for when the bounce house arrived. The kids were so excited when the bounce house arrived; they were bouncing as soon as they could. We just spent the afternoon getting ready for the party. Unfortunately, A couple people weren’t able to come due to getting sick. Grandma/pa and Uncle Alan/Aunt Roberta and Cousin Tierney came over early. The kids opened their presents. Nicole got her Go Go Doll and she was just so excited. Justin got his parking garage. And they also got a membership to Pretend City. We are very fortunate and looking forward to lots of adventures at Pretend City. The kids played with their new toys for a bit but then we put them away as their friends started to arrive. The party was great. It was pretty mellow which was nice. The kids just all played with the toys. The play room was a huge mess but I figured it would be. So not a big deal. The kids had a great time bouncing together. Nicole and Justin couldn’t wait to do the cake. That morning they came with me to pick up their cake. Nikki picked out a Scooby Doo candle. Justin wanted one too but they only had one. Justin decided on Pooh, Tigger, and Honey Pots. Then when we saw Justin’s cake they didn’t have a truck on top of it. They had the Transformer robot but not it didn’t transform into a truck. I didn’t want to disappoint him. He only picked that cake for the truck. So we went down the toy aisle of the grocery store and found a truck to put on top. Luckily he liked this truck better. Nikki and her friend Sofi hung out together a lot during the night. Nikki and Jeremy played a lot too. Justin played with Jane. They had a tea party in Nikki’s room with water. Justin at one point just wanted to open presents; thats all he could concentrate on. The kids bopped the balloons and drew faces on them. The pizza’s came a bit earlier than expected but I guess better early than late. After dinner more playing then we did the cakes. While Bret and a friend were cutting the cakes I hid the plastic pumpkins with a friend. We hid them on the greenbelt. It was pretty dark and we didn’t remember exactly where we hid them. The kids all got their little flashlights and they were off to find pumpkins. It was really cute, so glad we did that. Nikki loved handing out the favors and saying thanks for coming. Justin still wanting to open presents. Nikki wore her Violet the Incredible costume. Justin kept on his regular clothes which was fine too. Dad’s costume was hysterical. Totally got everyone laughing. He couldn’t keep it on too long as it was hot and got in the way. Justin was kind of scared of it too. Overall it was a great party. Nikki’s favorite gift is Go Go and we can’t tell what Justin’s is. He has kind of gone from toy to toy, investigating everything. So far he has played mostly with the garage, remote control jeep, and lego’s. It took Bret and I a while to clean up last night.  I didn’t take too many pics. Here are just a few:

Party almost here. We drove daddy to work this morning so he could ride his bike home. This morning I gave the kiddos a bath early. Nikki didn’t stay in for very long. As soon as I got them both out, I went outside and finished some more gardening. Then I came in, fed the kiddos lunch, packed up for pre school, and loaded the car. We had to bring snack, costumes, camera, change of clothes, etc. It was a fun day at school. I wore my pirate costume. I was the only mom who dressed up. I was doing some painting tissue paper thing with the kiddos, then a puppet show, blocks, then Bingo. We had lots of fun. The kids put on their costumes and went on a little parade outside. They just loved when someone noticed them. Here are a few pics:

I love Halloween. I hate to think it will be over so soon. Since I was snack mom the kids got to take Ms. Bushy Tail and Mr. Pickles home.  I can not believe how much the kiddos love those little guys. They played with them outside school then came home and showed them our house. I did some more gardening out front. The kids came out and helped for a bit. We got out their cars and they gave their animals a ride to Palm Springs. Our yard looks beautiful right now. I just wish it could stay that way for a long time. It does take a lot to maintain. Tonight the kids helped me fill little plastic pumpkins and cauldrens for a little Halloween hunt (similar to an Easter egg hunt). Dad put batteries in the little flashlights for the night hunt. So party stuff is complete. Just a little last minute cleaning tomorrow and hoping for no rain. Justin wanted to snuggle tonight. It was great as we had lots of cuddle time with the kiddos. I feel like bedtime has been so rushed lately so it was nice to cuddle and talk.

This morning we just hung out at home. Dad worked from home. We read some books and the kids listened to their little music player all morning. We decorated their pumpkins from Tanaka farms. Nicole made a bunny and Justin made a one eyed monster.

I went through all the printed pics from pre school. I really liked how most of them came out. There are about 3 I don’t like. 2 of them have to do with lighting. The parents loved them as they ordered a lot but I may offer to retake as it may bother me. Plus there were a few that I don’t like how Costco printed pretty minor. The school put them in this awful frame thing though, oh well. We just played a bit. The kids painted the play house and bbq. I cleaned some windows and screens. We decided to leave for school early and have a little picnic. It was fun as we watched the 2 day class do their Halloween parade-it was so cute. The kids played outside of school and were so happy when their friends starting coming to school. I left the kiddos. Nicole was dressed as Scooby and digging the guts out of a pumpkin. Justin was playing with a little girl from school. I ran to Costco to get snack for tomorrow at school and some food for the kid’s party. Dad and I watched a little TV together then I went back to washing windows. It is such a pain but it is stuff that will be so nice when it is done that we are always putting off. I picked up the kiddos and we were off to soccer. I brought Justin’s scooter but he just sat with me most of the time and ate. He was starving. He did play with his scooter by going down the grass hill, silly guy. Nikki did so well at soccer. She was one of the last people left in a game and got a little annoyed at all the people trying to get her. She did make a goal and was so proud of herself, see pic below. The last pic shows her falling to the ground, ha ha ha

After soccer the kids played. The kids made friends with one of Nikki’s team mates so they played for a bit. They played really well for a bit but then the girls left Justin out. We ended up leaving. We came home and I did some more gardening. We had dinner and headed out for some frozen yogurt. We came home and the kids played Uno with dad then we did some stuff for pre school. We didn’t make it upstairs till really late.

Just busy getting stuff done today. This morning we were home listening to the winds make a mess in a yard. The kids loved the winds. The kids did some crafty things this morning, colored, etc. They also took a nice hot bath. After bath it was get dressed and eat lunch then off to school. The usual school day, Nikki couldn’t wait to put the Scooby Doo costume on. Justin made a cool pumpkin with stickers and stuff. When I picked the kiddos up, Nikki was so excited that I was the first mom there. I came a bit early to do some paperwork. Nikki really wanted to check out some scarecrow boy book but we didn’t bring her other book back. She was in tears but luckily the teacher let her take it home. We hurried out of school and headed to a friend’s house for a Halloween play date. It was so much fun. The kids had a blast. All the new toys to play with, good food, crafts, etc. The kids love the goody bags and the fangs they got. They played so nicely there and also had some hot dogs for dinner. When we got home they watched some TV and relaxed. I finished the kids favors and then just went in the backyard to start cleaning up. Mostly just to unwind. Then I went for a walk with a friend. Dad and the kids played. I loved coming home as the kids were so excited to see me. They told me that they now have Michael Blueberry “Buble” and Scooby Doo on their music player. Then we played doggie. Justin was scrappy and Nikki was scooby doo. I threw balls and they fetched and fetched. I wound them up pretty good. But a few books later they did go to bed pretty easily.

This morning I got the house organized for the cleaners. After it was all clean I let the kiddos watch TV for a bit just so it didn’t get messed up again. When the cleaners got here we ran out. The kids love to see the cleaners. We grabbed lunch at Costco while doing errands. We met some friends at the pumpkin patch. We finally made it to the pumpkin patch. It wasn’t as exciting for the kids as it was in the past. Guess they are growing up. They did like those stupid quarter ride things, the machines kept taking my money. The bounce house was probably the highlight. I still need to get the pics off my camera. I didn’t get too many any how. We came home for a little bit before soccer. The kiddos played their Leapsters while I packed up. Justin played soccer today. I remembered to bring Nikki’s scooter but forgot her helmet, oh well next time she will be able to be ride. Nikki pretended to be a dog for a while. I threw a pretend ball and she ran to get it. Then she played with a little girl she has seen there before. Justin was busy on the field doing a bunch of different drills. He is really liking his coaches. He is definitely a quick runner. We grabbed some dinner on the way home. We came home to a clean house, I love it. Now if I can just maintain it until the party we will be all set. Tonight the kids were pretty needy as far as needing one of us to play with. I am almost done with putting together party favors. Still working on cleaning some windows. It will be so nice to have all these things done, party or no party. We read lots of books and kiddos are sleeping. Now I am just catching up on things and need to make a few picture cd’s for school pics. Here are some pics from the pumpkin patch:

The days are just flying by. I tried to get the kids out early this morning to run some errands. One errand I just put the kids in the Bob stroller and ran into the store. So much easier than them walking. After we headed to the library. We got some more books then were there for story time. Some of our friends were there too. It was cute. We hurried home and had lunch. I had no idea what to make the kiddos for lunch. Good thing they don’t care as they had a silly lunch, a few frozen pancakes, cottage cheese, peanut butter crackers, etc. Then I dropped the kiddos off at pre school. I came home and went out to lunch with my neighbor and her baby. Her baby is adorable and it was nice to be out with just another friend. It was also very strange as I always have the kiddos with me. This gave me a glance of what it is going to be like when the kiddos are in school. It is good and bad. I also ran to the grocery store while the kiddos were in school. We came home and just played. We made a mess in the house and got a bunch of toys out. It was so nice out so we played in the back yard. The kids helped clean up in the yard for a bit as well. I always try to think of something for them to do as they love to help. We bought some flowers to put by the front door and the kiddos just want to water them all the time, they are so worried about them, too funny. The kids played t ball too then put things in the truck and wheel barrel and moved them from one place to another in the yard. After dinner the kiddos and dad played trains. I tried to clean up a bit and put party favors together. Upstairs we read all the library books we checked out, plus the ones we borrowed from pre school. The kiddos went right to bed.

I got the best cuddles last night. Justin came in-I think he was cold. We headed back to his room. He was so happy I was there, he had a smile on his face with his eyes closed. Then I was on the way back to our room when I heard Nikki so I snuggled with her too. So much to do and so little time. Bret ran a few errands this morning. It feels a little like spring cleaning around here. I got the hedges done. Bret played softball with the kiddos in the backyard. I loved hearing all the laughing going on. It was a beautiful day out, sun out finally. The kids were playing so nicely and I was trying to get the yard all cleaned up. It didn’t leave much time for bath. We were overdue for a bath. The kids had fun in the bath even though it was short. They were busy cleaning their trains. We got them out and got them dressed as fast as we could. Then it was off to a birthday party at My Gym. It was so cute watching the kiddos at My Gym. They just love that place. Justin barely ate the pizza or cake as he just wanted to play. I can’t believe how much time we spent at My Gym and how much they love it. The party was great and the kids got some energy out. The kiddos wanted daddy to come to the party. When we got there no other dads were there, so I told dad to go run some errands. The kids didn’t even realize dad was gone-they were way too busy having fun. After the party we ran to Home Depot to get some fall flowers. We came home and the kids wanted to watch TV. But the kids couldn’t agree on what to watch. Justin went upstairs to watch Thomas while Nikki watched Scooby Doo. After Thomas Justin came down and watched Scooby Doo. I was outside finishing up and cleaning up. In the goody bag from the party the kids got punching balloons. They were playing with those for a long time. They were playing scooby doo with them and riding their scooters around the house. Dad and I were making lists of things we need to do to the inside of the house, not very exciting. We just played tonight and tried to get organized. I moved a few things around in the kids rooms. Justin has just been loving messing up my hair at night-silly guy.

This morning we just took it easy. The kids were in their jammies until we had to leave at 10:30. They played, they fought, etc. They are really into playing Uno these days. We went to their horse class today. It was fun as they got to ride Benji. Both kids were smiling and were pretty excited to ride:

Benji the horse tried to nip my leg while I was holding up his foot to clean out his foot. UGH! The kids got to feed the horses and Nikki wanted to save most of the carrots for her pony, Benji. Justin has a liking for the white horses. It was a fun morning. There was also a black pig and a goat there. Justin really liked the goat-wanted one as a pet and Nikki really liked the pig. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, a new place. The kids saw this place being built so they were so excited to eat there. It was a fun place to eat. Then we came home and did things around the house. Justin got out all the Geo trax and made a cool track. Nikki and him played for a bit. I went outside and gardened in the backyard. I cleaned out our veggie area. Justin helped me for a bit while dad and Nikki played Uno. Justin was so into the worms. He made a dirt area on the pavers and put the worms there and watched them. He carried them around. He searched for more worms-such a boy. He got gloves just like me and before I knew it-I lost my shovel. Nikki wanted to join in on the fun. Surprisingly both kids weren’t as muddy as I thought they would get. After dinner the kids played pretty nicely. They got out beads and pretended it was popcorn. They sat at their table and ate popcorn. Then they made some snakes, mama, papa, sister, brother snakes, etc. It was cute. Then they decided to go on a bear hunt with their backpacks. I love the imagination and love it when they get along. We read lots of books tonight. I decided at the lat minute to take the kiddos out to look at Halloween lights after brushing teeth, etc. They were so excited to be out, it was fun and luckily they went to bed.

I have a few days to catch up on but I am feeling better so that is the good news. Yesterday was a busy but really fun day. In the morning we went to the big wheel park for the trike a thon with pre school. It was so much fun but the thought of this being our last trike a thon with this school set in. It was sad but exciting all at the same time. My kids are definitely the big ones now. The minute we got to the park Justin and Nicole were on their bikes going around and around. I got them donuts there and they were so excited. They rode around with their class. Justin had a determination to come in first. He pedaled his little heart out and did come in first. He walked away with the knowledge he was first. The kids got their faces painted like dogs. The park was still wet from all that rain so we just ate lunch quickly. It was a great time. Here are some pics:

Dad took a half day off from work. So we packed up and we were off to Disney. We wanted to use our passes before they expire. We had a great time, but I still wasn’t feeling that great. Justin immediately wanted to go on Thunder Mountain with daddy. Nikki didn’t want to go on it so her and I went in the tiki room. That was fun as we hadn’t been in the tiki room for a while. We went on the usual rides, Buzz, Autopia, Small World, etc. The kids sat with dad on small world so I just laid down and took a nap. We went over to CA Adventure as well as Disney closed early for the Halloween thing. We went on Monsters Inc, the blimps, the bumper cars and the caterpillar, then we headed to the grizzly adventure area. We were surprised to find the kids had the best time there. They were on the rock wall for over 45 minutes, it was one of the ones that went sideways rather than up. The kids just loved it. They also ran around, went down slides, etc. I wish we could just get into the park and go into this area. I think next time we go we will spend more time in that area. Dad and I were exhausted but the weather was great and the crowds weren’t too bad.