Melissa’s Blog

Things are getting better and better, thank goodness. I seem to be back to my regular self. Now I have to catch up on the things I was ignoring the last few weeks. The kids played this morning. We took it easy at home for a while. It is Alan’s b-day today so the kids and I left him a message. The kids thought he deserved the day off since it is his birthday. They wanted to see him so hopefully we will see them soon. The kids played upstairs. They play so nicely up there-it is great. We  had lunch then we were off to pre school. I worked today. Today they did a pat on the back for Justin. It is when everyone says something about him and the teacher writes it down. Justin was up there just smiling but a little nervous. In the middle of it-he says I love you more mommy. This is what everyone said:

-Nikki says she loves you and that you are good at running
-Justin’s mom says she loves him more
-Mrs. Nowicki says Justin is great at being kind to all the kids at school
-Mohammed says Justin is good at playing
-Ms. Donna says Justin is a great hugger
-Anushka says Justin is good at playing w/Nikki. Nikki is his sister
-Sushant says Justin likes trains
-Izabel says Justin is good at doing puzzles and he listens to Mrs. Nowicki. I remember he likes to play in the snow and he loves his sister and mother.
-Melodie says I think he is great at games
-Nathan says I love Justin
-Sansa says I love Justin and he is my friend. Justin is good at playing with cars
-Jaffer says he likes Justin. I like to play with him
-Rakshana says I love him. He is good at riding bikes. He is good at climbing trees

Hopefully on Wed. she will do Nikki. After school the kids played outside of school with their friends for a bit. Then we went to Kohl’s for a return and ended up getting Justin some pants for next year. At home we played out front. The kids rode their scooters. They pretended they were going to Disney on their scooters parking on the Chip and Dale level. So funny. They were having a great time. I did a little gardening. Our neighbor came by and we just hung out. The kids wanted to eat dinner at the bar, so we all did. It felt very strange but was fun. Then after dinner the kids played Mario Cart together. We had a nerf gun war, so fun. The kids and us love it. Then we just read lots of books in our bed. Finally they watched a book on the ipad (Monster at the end of the book) and off to bed they went.

The blog is getting more and more scarce. Lets see the hormones are still bringing me down. I finally called the doctor and had him give me a 7 day prescription so I could fill the new drugs. This way I can start it soon rather than waiting for it to come in the mail. I just took it yesterday and it will take a few days to actually work. Today we were so busy that there was no time to be depressed. Dad was off to trombone practice. We were out early this morning too. We went to a science fair. We didn’t have much time there though. But we did see was pretty cool. The kids made a color wheel, watched a math magic show, then the water rocket was the highlight (at least for Justin). The kids built rockets out of soda bottles but when Nikki saw that some of the rockets were falling apart, she didn’t want to send hers up in the air. Justin did and it was pretty cool. We then headed to a birthday party for a pre school friend at Chuck E Cheese. Dad met us there. The kids had a really good time. It was a little crowded so it was nice to have dad there. Justin just wanted to play games. Nikki gave some of her tickets to a little boy who didn’t have any. I was so impressed by her thoughtfulness; she made me proud. I ended up grabbing her and giving her a great big hug. We let her get something more with her tickets. She was able to get a doggie chuck e cheese stuffed animal. Justin got a rocket with his tickets.  We then headed over to Grammy’s to see Brittany and Buffi. The kids were so excited. Nikki and Justin just love Brittany, it was so cute. Brittany is going to sleep well tonight because the kids must have worn her out. Since we had two cars I ended up coming home by myself. It was so weird-I only had about 5 minutes alone. But I didn’t have to try and get the kiddos out of Grammy’s house. The kids did not want to leave Brittany. We went to a neighbor’s house for dinner and had a great time. The kids all played so nicely and we were able to carry on an adult conversation. We didn’t get the kids to bed until 9:45. It was nice to be able to walk over to someone’s house and just hang out. I thought about canceling since I have been kind of down but now I am glad I didn’t. Off to bed soon.

I am so slacking on the blog. I have been hormonally not doing well. I finally e-mailed my doctor and went in to see him today. Thank goodness for a wonderful husband who has put up with me the last week or so. Seriously the love he has shown to me is amazing. Hopefully I am on the road to being fixed. I thought our battles would be over after pregnancy. Luckily we have two healthy kids and all this is happening now rather than before we had kids. Anyway we went on a whale watch cruise with the kids pre school this morning. It was so cute as we were getting on the boat Justin was holding Violet’s hand and they walked on the boat together. They spent lots of time together hanging out. Nathan, Justin’s buddy followed  him around the entire time. Nikki was a busy body walking around the boat, going inside and out. The kids had a great time on the boat and I was so glad I didn’t get sick. We didn’t see one whale. We did see lots of dolphins and sea lions. That was pretty cool but it was a long boat ride just to see that. We ran off the boat and I dropped the kiddos at Grammy’s. Grammy watched the kiddos while I was at the doctors. We went out to dinner with Grammy and a few of her friends. The kids were super tired tonight and so am I. Here are a few pics from today:

Well today didn’t quite work out as I had hoped. I got the kids in the shower this morning so we could get bath out of the way then ate breakfast. I did let the kids watch TV while I got ready to go for an adventure. The adventure was happening since we had to go to LAX to pick up Grammy from the airport. So the plan was to go to the kids space museum in Pasadena. Traffic was great until the car pool lane ended on the 5 and it was just bumper to bumper with no end in sight. The kids were so good in the car, no complaining what so ever (unlike me). So we finally get to the museum, 45 minutes later than I thought to find out it was closed. So crazy as I checked the website and nothing. There was a little park there that the kids played on while I figured out the next thing to do. All the things I had in mind involved getting back in the car, ugh. We finally decided to head to Santa Monica Pier/Beach. This way we would be closer to LAX and have fun. I think traffic followed me everywhere today and I think I was on every freeway in LA. On the way I am watching the temperature and it is getting colder and colder. It went from 72 to 59. Luckily I did bring jackets and I had one pair of pants in the car for the kids. We ended up having a really fun time. We walked around, played games, had lunch, fed and chased the pigeons, people watched, played in the sand, collected shells, etc. It was a nice time except a little cold. Back in the car again to go to the airport to get Grammy. We saw her luggage came down even before we saw her. We had more traffic from Grammy’s house to ours. LAX to Grammy’s wasn’t too horrible. We spent a little time at Grammy’s then came home. Dad stopped and got a pizza for dinner. I went through almost a half of tank of gas and am just beat. We just played tonight and I was ready to fall asleep at 8:00PM.

Today is kind of a blah day for me. Just feeling a little moody or something. We got ready for the cleaners. Nicole was so cute in wanting to clean her own room. I showed her how to take off her sheets. She is so helpful. Justin played the Wii. He is so into games and that parking garage. Our downstairs toilet got clogged again. I worked on it for a bit but I am sure Bret will come home and unclog it right away. We finally got out of the house around 11:00 this morning. We took Marshmallow back to school. Ah nice not to have the responsibility of anything else. We also went to drop off a video at the library. I was surprised to find the DVD not in the case. Luckily it wasn’t out of our way to go there but what a pain. I read the kids lots of books and we headed to the Spectrum. I know we went yesterday but we didn’t get very far. We walked around a bit, had lunch, watched the ice skating, ran a few errands, played, went on the ferris wheel, etc. And before we knew it a couple hours passed. We came home to a clean house. The kids finished coloring their pics that they started when we dropped off the bunny at school then played parking garage. Nikki wanted to match her brother and is wearing one of his Lightening McQueen shirts, it is pretty cute. She can button and zip her jean shorts now. We played outside for a while. The kids rode their scooters. After dinner we just played. We were all in the futon room, Nikki and I mostly playing bugs with the princesses and all other people watching like Moxie dolls, Mr. Potato Head, etc. It was the girls cheering on the pink bug and boys cheering on the green bug. Dad and Justin were playing cars. Justin was racing the cars. Justin would line up the cars to watch the race and if you moved the cars Justin would let us know that was not the way to play. The kids were wild when we got upstairs. Nikki was wanting to wear a leotard and do ballet. I can’t believe both went to sleep just fine. There is barely any room in Justin’s bed with caterpillary, big floppy dog, blackie, little bear (from pre school), Pumpkin, etc. Time to go watch some shows.

The best part of MLK day is Bret is off. He still is feeling a little under the weather. We have been so lazy in the mornings these days. I was downstairs early this morning and at first Nikki came down and Justin followed. I was watching TV so I let the  kiddos watch TV for a bit. We let Marshmallow the bunny out in the backyard for a bit, he loved it. I had to guard one of my plants though. I did lots of gardening in the back. I need to work more in the front though. After lunch we decided to go to the Spectrum. We haven’t been there in so long and we didn’t get too far. The kids saw Dave and Busters and just wanted to play games. Justin is so psycho about games, he just cracks me up. He gets so excited. Dad rested in the bookstore and I took the kids to Target. I needed to return something and we felt bad they never get enough tickets to buy the junk at D&B. Justin came up with this huge monster remote control truck. Luckily he saw some Dinoco things he liked better. I let Nikki get a car so she could play with him. Nikki picked out a pink dog that she named Coconut. When we got home the kiddos played so well with the new toys. I wish the novelty didn’t wear off but I know it does. I did laundry and got organized around here. Then Nikki and I went outside. She pretended she was a girl from a new show she watched today. She pretended her scooter was a motorcycle like the girls on TV. I did a little gardening. And Justin has been as happy as can be playing with his new cars. Tonight we went to dinner with two other couples and their kids. It was so nice as the kids played so well. They ran around outside for almost an hour and a half while the parents chatted. The best part was it seems as though we all got along really well. I held our neighbors baby (5 1/2 months) to try and give them a break tonight too. The kids seemed so tired when we were leaving and we were not surprised-they played hard. Justin wanted to play cars so dad and him did for a bit. We finished laundry and read books. Then it was straight to bed.

We took a long time getting going this morning. We played outside. We let Marshmallow the bunny out in the backyard. He loved it. I did some gardening, dad checked the jacuzzi water and the sprinklers, and the kids were busy playing. Justin took a shower while Nikki took a bath. Then we headed out to grab some lunch and a quick grocery run. After we went to historic downtown Orange to meet my photography group. It was kind of cool in downtown but not my typical place where I take pics. I wish I thought about it more and dressed the kids a little differently. The kids still had a great time, Nikki was ready to model. Here are some pics:

I still had fun taking pictures too. We ended the photos with ice cream at an old fashion drug store ice cream soda fountain shop.

Someone in the group brought their kids as well so Nikki and Justin had some one to play with. Bret has a little cold so we came home and the kids wanted to go home as well. We let Marshmallow out of his cage for a bit. He pooped in the house so back in the cage he went. The kids played parking garage for a bit and watched TV for a bit. After dinner they played Trouble and we went upstairs. The kids had a great time playing together and didn’t want to stop to read books. But I picked out some cool books and they were excited to read. Dad and I watched Social Network while I edited pics.

The weekend is here. We were lazy this morning. We let Marshmallow out for a while. The kids are loving him and he is loving being here. Here is a pic of Justin with Marshmallow and Nikki with the little bear from pre school:

Since the kids sent grandma/pa pics in the mail I wanted the kids to talk to grandma/pa so they could mention they received them. Nikki invited herself over to their house. Justin was too busy playing parking garage but wanted to go too. Bret and I decided no problem. Before I dropped them off, we all walked to Chase bank. I needed to sign some forms. The kids got their lollipops so they were happy. When I dropped the kids off at grandma/pa’s there were kids playing outside. One of them was a 5 year old girl and Nikki and her hit it right off. Nikki was loving running back and forth to her house then grandma/pa’s. Justin was happy to be inside grandma/pa’s house. The kids had lunch and I helped arrange car seats and left. When I got home Bret was watching Piranha. I am so scarred for life now. It was horrifying. It is so funny how we know none of this is true but we still get frightened, I let out a few screams due to the sub woofer probably. Well since I am on a diet that puts Bret on one as well. We were going to go for a run but it was kind of warm. We decided to go for a hike type thing. A lot of the trails were closed due to the rains, so we ended up walking around Mission Veijo lake (3 miles). It was a good walk as there were some hills. Then we met grandma/pa, the kids and Tierney at Corky’s for dinner. I missed the kiddos so much. They seemed so tired and their bellies full. They had a good time. Justin watched CARS with grandpa and Nikki mostly played with the neighbor. Both are sleeping.

Beautiful day out, dad worked from home. I gave the kiddos a shower this morning. It took a while to get in the shower as the kids found every distraction. Then when the time to get out of the shower came, it was hard to get them out. I started to give myself a pedicure. Now that the weather is warmer I want to wear my cute sandals. Nikki wanted her toes done too, so cute. While the kiddos were at school I went to lunch with a friend. It was so nice just to hang out and eat slowly. We ended up staying at Lazy Dog Cafe the entire time the kids were in school. I attempted to make home made pizza dough. It tasted good but didn’t bubble up-I may have over kneaded it. I will try again. I ran out to my photoshop elements class. I think it will be a good class-I am glad I have a foundation though if not I would be lost.

Today I weighed myself. Not sure what I was thinking. Lets just say I am on a diet big time. This morning was full of adventures though. The kids and I had so much fun exploring. I needed to run over to the eye doctor to have my eye glasses fixed. So we walked. We stopped in a bank so the kids could see the inside of a bank. There was someone really nice working that gave the kiddos the tour of the safety deposit boxes and gave them lollipops. Nikki didn’t like her flavor of lollipop and Justin switched with her. Justin was really nice to his sister today-I love it. Then we headed over to the dog groomers and the vet. The kids were fascinated with someone trying to get their dog on the scale. Finally we made it over to the eye doctor. Kids wore their jammies as it was jammie day in school.

I did forget their stuffed animals so I ran home to get them. I felt like such a mom running home to get something for school. The kids had so much fun wearing their jammies to school. They had hot chocolate w/marshmallows and pancakes. The kids got to take home a bear stuffed animal for the weekend and Marshmallow the bunny. I hope this bunny isn’t too much work for me. While the kids were at school I went to the gym-the first time in a long time. It felt good and I hope I can keep doing it. After school we stopped at the library to return books and get new ones. We got a Scooby Doo DVD, so the kids were thrilled. Although Nikki used it as an excuse not to go to bed saying there were scary parts. Tonight it was so nice out. We visited a neighbor friend whose birthday it was. We let Marshmallow the bunny out of his cage to run around a bit. Justin would always run up to him so the bunny always ended up running back in his cage. Marshmallow is getting a little too comfortable here. He was laying on top of our carpet we folded over all comfy and cozy. Good for the little guy since he probably doesn’t get much loving. We read all our library books and Bret had to do a little work. And I started getting the Valentine decorations out.

Yesterday I was under the weather, my cold hit me hard. I had no energy-luckily today I am feeling much better. Yesterday we went to a class at Pretend City. It was ok. It was a pizza party. The kids got to make their own pizzas and then they read a Curious George book. The kids in the class were so young compared to N&J so they didn’t get to roll out the dough etc. Just as I was dragging and ready to go home, we met some friends there. The kids were so excited to have new people to play with. It was a whole new Pretend City with their friends. We spent lots of time in the Curious George exhibit and the restaurant. The kids pretended to make us lots of Italian food. When we got home I was basically useless and just wanted to rest. Dad ran out to get some dinner and he played with the kiddos.

Today I am feeling much better. I was snack mom at school today. I just grabbed a bunch of things and brought them in. I did a lot of cleaning at school today as the place was a mess. The kids had a great time in school and made some pretty pictures. Outside they were really into riding the bikes. We did a bean bag thrown and I was amazed at how far Justin threw the bean bag. When we got home we just played at home. The kids found some blankets from when they were babies and they played with them. I am not sure what they were doing but they were having a great time. And of course parking garage. We went outside and did some gardening. We gardened in the front and I can’t believe the size of the weeds that were growing. With all the rain we had I had been neglecting my garden. Hopefully the next few days I can really get out there. Also dad and I made a list of things to do in the house a while back…..I finally re-spray painted the bathroom toilet paper fixture. It is the little things. When dad got home they played Pac Man World. I am off to Bunco tonight. Woo hoo!