Melissa’s Blog

We had a great Halloween. Nikki dressed up in a dragon onsie with a few of her friends. Justin decided he wanted to be a mail carrier. He just carried a messanger bag with a hat that we wrote mailman on it. We went trick or treating with some friends and the kids had so much fun. Of course we carved pumpkins and Justin didn’t want to touch the pumpkin guts, ha.

So for soccer, Nikki has secret sisters. The girls buy something under $5.00 and write a note. Nikki has received awesome notes in the past. This time she hasn’t gotten many notes. Nikki’s secret sister and family knew the story of our bunny, Scooters dying. The mom asked me if her daughter could give Nikki one of her baby bunnies. I was hoping that a bunny fell into our life again. Nikki had no idea she would be going home with a bunny after this soccer game. The mom brought the bunny to the soccer game. We showed Justin as he had to leave for tennis. So Nikki got bunny hay and bunny food from her secret sister. Nikki was thoroughly confused-it was awesome. All of a sudden her secret sister brought over a box. When Nikki saw the bunny, her face was priceless. She was so happy and crying in disbelief. So we now have a new bunny named Chillie Bean. He came with the name but Nikki wanted to spell it Chillie. This is a picture of Nikki with her secret sister, Ashlynn and the bunny. Soccer is Nikki’s main activity. She just loves it so much. Always see her with a soccer ball.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since March. Time is flying. There are so many fun things that I have missed blogging about Lets see if I can remember a few of them. This summer both kiddos did Seals, the swim team. We are those parents that bribed Justin with a iphone to do it. Nikki was ready and willing and Justin was a little skeptical. Justin’s attitude was amazing. He just went to swim, no complaints, did his best and had fun. Nikki loved it and worked so hard.

This summer their cousins from Canada came to visit as well. They had so much fun being together. We took them to the cabin, played Wii (dance party/pirates plunder), lots of swimming, went to Knotts, etc. I wish their cousins lived closer. Meghan and Henry are a bit shy and I think Nikki and Justin bring out their goofiness and laughter. Here are some pics from their visit.

So much soccer but according to Nikki never enough soccer. We did soccer in the sand in San Diego. It was a great tournament. Lots of fun in the hotel and the girls bonding.

We have gone to the cabin several times in Arrowhead. I love it up there, just really relaxing and not a care in the world. Got some great photos last time we went.

We played some games up there, went to the village, took a hike, etc. The kids were all into the game apples to apples game. Cody does so well up there. He loves running free and is so happy!

Nikki and I went to the mother/daughter tea at school. She looked so pretty all dressed up. Her and I just smiled at each other a lot and there was really good info. But we were totally uncomfortable.

School they did a Colonial Day. Nikki dressed up as we borrowed a costume so it was easy. They did “colonial” things, like weaving, building log cabins with pretzels and frosting, planting, etc. It was a fun day at school.

Our Cody is such an amazing dog. He has been a great addition to our family. We are so lucky. He is a pain with the ball but it is super cute.

We took the kiddos to go see the Harlem Globtrotters. I wasn’t even sure what to expect but I read you don’t even have to like basketball to enjoy the show. The kids really didn’t want to go but after the show, we were so glad we went. It was an awesome show, funny and entertaining. The kids had a blast. We bought a basketball and we came home and started to play basketball. I captured pics of Nikki and dad having fun. By this time, Justin was throwing balls for Cody.

The kids are growing up but I still like to celebrate holidays. My mom never really did V Day so I want to. We just got the kids a couple things and had dinner together. The gummy controller was perfect for Justin.

Both kids are enjoying 5th grade and are doing really well. The first trimester both received honor roll, all B’s or better. We are proud parents. It is nice as well when they both receive awards as it always doesn’t happen. We are happy parents as long as they do their best.

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Over holiday break, Nikki did a soccer camp. It was a soccer camp run by retired soccer players, Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx, and Christie Rampone. Nikki was star struck. I guess one of them bumped her and said excuse me and Nikki loved that they talked to her. The soccer players signed one item. Nikki decided to have the soccer ball they gave her signed. Here is a pic.

And just like that it is December….I am going to be so sad that I didn’t update this earlier. Nikki has been enjoying club soccer. She eats, breathes, sleeps soccer. It has been a good/bad season. The coach was a bit of a let down. I thought she was going to be amazing but instead she is unfriendly and moody. We try to be as positive as we can be but it kills me that Nikki and a few other girls have been on the bench a lot. I am not going to let this coach burst Nikki’s enthusiasm for soccer. 

We are just loving having a dog. It is work but for the most part he is a great dog. He is so easy going, loving, and ball crazy. Cody brings a ton of joy into our lives.

In September, the kids and probably Bret went to their first Bat Mitzvah. It was really surprised to see how reform the temple was compared to the temple I went too. My temple was reform but compared to this one mine seemed conservative. It was a wonderful Bat Mitzvah, fun dressing up, and partying. Nikki could have danced all night. One thing that was pretty cool is the kids sat up at the bar and had someone getting drinks for them. They loved that! I wonder how many Shirley Temples they drank that night.

September 29th, Nikki got quite a surprise….her braces came off. We went to the appointment not knowing they would come off. We were shocked but what a smile she has. Yes there is a wad of gum in her mouth.

I would say Justin’s highlight in October was that he was finally tall enough to drive the go carts himself at Boomers. He loved it! Bought him a season pass and we have used it a lot. After being able to ride the go carts, Justin decided he wanted his bday party at Boomers.

For Halloween Justin is not much of a person who likes to dress up. He went as “glow stick man”. It actually looked really awesome when it got dark. Nikki dressed up as Alex Morgan. We went trick or treating with some friends. And the kiddos in their almost matching orange shirts.

Kiddos turned 11 and had amazing birthdays. Justin finally got a laptop. Ugh, I didn’t get a picture though. So now when he goes to friends houses, he can take his laptop, DS, and ipad. He is all set for gaming! Nikki finally got a cell phone. She had a better phone than me for a while there. Now she can do musically all the time. Both were so happy with their gifts.

This is the first year for separate birthday parties. Justin took about 10 people to Boomers. He had a great time. I think it ended up being a 5 hour party as there was so much to do there. Of course the highlight for Justin was the go carts. The only problem was a lot of his friends weren’t tall enough to drive them yet. Nikki was able to bring one friend so she had a great time too. Nikki had her party at the Hyatt Newporter. She took 4 friends to the hotel, where we had an adjoining room. The girls had so much fun. Justin took a friend too. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory where the girls had their own table and we sat with the boys. The waiter wanted to practice his magic skills, so did a little show for us, so cool! The pool was heated and the following day the water slide was on. There was a little theater so the girls did a bunch of shows. Girls wanted to go to the gym so at 10:00 PM, we went to the gym. Finally they went to bed around 1:00AM when the neighbor next door pounded on the wall to be quiet. The hotel was great as there was shuffleboard, huge chess set, and just big areas to play on.

And just like that summer is over. Kiddos got their back to school haircuts. These were taken with  my phone so the pics are just ok:

The day before school started I let the kiddos do what they wanted to do in the morning. Nikki chose breakfast in bed and no surprise here Justin picked video games.

We spent the afternoon before school started at the pool with some friends. We all found out who the kids teachers would be together. Nikki got Mr. Holton and Justin got Miss Garrison. Mr. Holton has been at Northwood for a few years as an assistant teacher I believe. Miss Garrison was pretty much hired the day before school started. So far both seem like great teachers and the kids seem happy. Both kids, thankfully, have friends in their class. Here are some pics from the first day.

The kids did a Girl Scout Camp this summer. It was a week long day camp. I worked there so Justin was able to come with us. It was such a good price that I made Justin go one day and if he didn’t like it he didn’t have to go back. I was so happy to find out he really liked it. He was with the boys. The theme was animal week, so we saw a sheep herding demo, blind guy with his helper dog, police blood hounds, petting zoo, etc. The kids learned a skill daily, made a snack, and some art project. It was really a fun week. We had to make up names for ourselves and go by them.  I was Shutterbug, Nikki was Slammer, and Justin was Oreo. They made something called “swaps”. That is what is on Nikki’s hat. It is just a safety pin with something cute. Nikki cut out soccer balls and ribbons. One day was mustache day as you can see on Nikki.

Justin has spent most of his time this summer playing video games and has been the happiest kid ever because of it. His favorite seems to be Agario right now. We did put him back in a tennis class. After tennis class he kicked everyone’s butt in ping pong. I am afraid he will beat me in tennis soon. We finally were able to find him a new racket as well (26″). Of course it had orange in it so he loves it. I got an amazing deal on an outdoor ping pong table which is now in the backyard. We have been having lots of fun with it.

We had to pick up the ping pong table and decided this: Bret and his Bitches moving company is ready for hire. We specialize in moving things on wheels. Our first job was moving a ping pong table. HA HA HA

This summer was our first season doing swim team through the Heritage Park Seals. Nikki had a great season. She did it with a few friends which made it even better. It was tough but she is definitely a better swimmer because of it. Her freestyle is her best and fastest stroke. She has won lots of ribbons. A few of Justin’s friends were at the meets so Justin had fun cheering his sister and friends on and he got lots of ipad time with friends as well. Both kids loved going to the snack bars.

Here are some pics from the season:

Dad was in charge of pulling the Seals trailer. Kate did great!