Random

Today on the way to school M suggested we go out and dig up dinosaur bones. I told him I wouldn't have any idea of where to look to for them. He said, "Mom, you just look for the sign that says dinosaur bones and that's where you look." He can be such a crack up. He was such an angel today. They both were really. She tolerates no nap so much better than he did at that age.

I think K may be getting her molars. She is drooling constantly and if she doesn't have her fingers in her mouth she is gnawing on one of M's toys which is not going over real well as you might imagine. We went to story-time at Barnes and Noble this morning. She was very into the singing part but not so much into the stories yet. She's a little too young.

Here's a story for you. Today what I thought was my house alarm system (ADT) started going off. Off course, it was right during K's naptime so she didn't nap. It would go off randomly... every 3 minutes to 30 minutes. It was driving me crazy and I was becoming very frustrated so I called ADT and asked for someone to come out ASAP. Well, she told me se could have someone come out tomorrow. I asked her how she would like to hear her alarm go off every 5 minutes and just how should I get my kids to sleep tonight with the noise. I didn't get anywhere with her. She wanted to charge me $300 for 30 minutes of labor. After not getting anywhere with her, I asked to speak to her superior and she had someone come out right away. The funny part of the story is that when he got here he just couldn't figure it out either. He troubleshooted the alarm system and said there wasn't anything going on with it. Finally the alarm went off again and guess what it was??? My SMOKE DETECTOR!!!! HELLO!! I couldn't have felt more like a dummy. He said it fooled him as well because it just echoed through my house and really sounded like the security alarm. It was the one in the high ceiling of my loft area. Turns out it was a good thing this happened because when Comcast came out a few weeks ago to activate our phone system they disconnected the phone connection for the alarm and if something were to have happened nobody would have been called. He was a super nice guy... fixed that too (even though it should have been Comcast) and didn't make me feel like the complete idiot I am.

Off to bed, I can't believe it's 11:15 pm already. I do this to myself every night!

Miscellaneous Monday

Brian's parents came up for the weekend to help us install the flooring in the playroom. I had no idea what a huge project we were undertaking when we decided to do it ourselves. We started the project last November! I'm just guessing it's around 1800 square feet of flooring and baseboards (our entire downstairs). We just have one room to go. We still have my scrapbooking room which is very small but has a closet that will be difficult to do.

Mason and Grandpa leaving for a bike ride.

Brian and Kyla.

The playroom. Yeah, it's all done. We really need a rug now or the kids will have to start wearing knee pads.

The other day I was in Walmart with the kids and there was a lady that was about 5'0 and at least 350 pounds. M said, "Mom, look at her BBBIIIIIGGG .... muscles." (she had a sleeveless shirt on) My heart was pounding... I could see him looking at her and I wasn't sure what he was going to say! It wasn't too bad but I sure got the heck out of that aisle in a hurry!

Today we were in McDonald's playland and there were 2 older kids (probably 7 and 9) playing in this area with tons of balls (I know, giant cesspool). K ran in there and said, "hi guys, I play with you now?" I don't think they knew what to do or say. My outgoing girl.

That's all I have tonight.
Melissa

All about M day

Today I took K to daycare so I could hang out and have some quality time with M. We started our day off by going to the Halloween Superstore. Halloween sure makes you feel like a kid again. We had a blast in there... we played with the masks, I chased him around the store with a fake amputated leg, we pushed the buttons on all the scary decorations, we fought each other with the swords. I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out. He loves that stuff. K would have been scared to death. All that fun cost me $1. We got him a pair of dracula teeth. We had pizza for lunch before heading on over to the California State Railroad Museum. He's been there lots of times and I have only been there once so I let him lead and show me around. He loved that (being in control). He told me which ones were diesel and which ones were steam engines. He wore his "sharp" teeth and would walk by people and show them and make scary arms. Most of the ones he "scared" were elderly volunteers at the museum and got a real kick out of it. He talked me out of an ice cream cone when we were done and then we headed home for a little down time before we had to pick K up.

I'm going to vent a little (OK tons). Bear with me. M has been quite a challenge since he got home from vacation. Even before he left he was quite difficult. I don't know what happened when he turned 4! Everything is fine as long as he gets what he wants, when he wants it and he gets his way. He constantly pesters me for snacks and to play with him. I can't get anything done around here. K plays very well by herself and will just hang out in the playroom... I almost don't know she's here. He insists that I play with him. If I'm busy or I just don't feel like it... forget it. I'm talking yelling, screaming, jumping-around-having-a-fit, sticking out his tongue, name calling ... you name it. And, boy is he persistent. God forbid I actually want to watch something on TV. He'll nag and nag and never leave me alone. After a really fun day and evening tonight I wanted to watch Project Runway (not the entire episode). K was playing in the playroom, dinner was done and we had just finished playing outside. He just wouldn't have it. He kept standing in front of the TV, looked at me like he was going to turn it off, jumped on the couch, whined that "he never gets to watch anything and nobody ever plays with him", just made me it miserable that I couldn't hear it anyways. I honestly had to stop for a minute and count to ten. I don't know what to do. Talking to him about his behavior, time-outs, taking toys away, rewards systems, bribes, etc. are not working! What do I do? I hate to say it but the only time they are both good is when they are watching TV. I see how easy would be to abuse that. I don't like being the frustrated, angry and tearful mommy he is making me be. I especially hate that I can't ever spend any time playing with K. He won't have it. Not to mention, I don't want her to start behaving like he is and he's not exactly nice to her either... if he's is a bad mood that's it. I don't want to make it sound like he's always like this or a mean boy but I'm seeing this behavior more than ever. He has a lot of wonderful qualities too but I'm not going to talk about those now. Mommy guilt here for talking negatively about him but I just need to vent. Is this normal 4 year old behavior? Seriously though ... if anyone has any advice, please let me know. Leave me a comment or an e-mail.

His "sharp" teeth.

I found this egg made of plaster or something that contained pretend (duh) dinosaur fossils. They gave you a scraper tool and a brush and you dig the bones out and put them together to make a dinosaur. I found this at the dollar store. We enjoyed this very much but the tools they gave us weren't touching it. We ended up using a meat tenderizer to break it up a little.

Future archaeologist at work.

Here's our triceratops. M was disappointed it wasn't a T-Rex. I like how well you can see the details of his hands in this picture.

A peaceful moment tonight. Snack time. I made them smiley faces.

While I was reading to M tonight he said, "I still don't like you a little". He gave me huge love while I tucked him in though. I'm hoping we'll get along better tomorrow.

Melissa

UPDATE: I just watched an Oprah that featured a mother that almost died after childbirth and shortly after had to have both of her arms and legs amputated. I want everyone to know that I am thankful for the health of my family and thankful that I have active and rambunctious children. My life is truly blessed. I'm aware of this although sometimes I need a little reminder.

Back to reality

We had a wonderful weekend but it's back to reality today. Brian is at work and I'm home with the kids. I really think getting away together (alone, without kids) is so important for a relationship. It was nice to be able to have a conversation and enjoy an entire meal without our helpers!! We worked on getting to know each other again. Would you believe I forgot my camera!! It happens to the best of us.

On Friday night we got into town about 6:30 pm. Brian had class in Concord and didn't get out until 1:30 or so. We had dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant called Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar. Wow, the best meal I've had a in a long time and we had a fun table. That night we partied like rock stars until about 2:30 am. I played all night on $10.00 and we found a casino with a live band that was very entertaining.

Saturday we went out to Virginia City. We looked around in all the little stores and just hung out on a bench for a while. We'd been there before but we figure everyone needs to go there about every 10 years or so. We had a very nice (and cheap) dinner at Limerick's Pub inside Fitzgeralds Casino. $12.95 Prime Rib dinner! It was yummy and the ambiance was nice too. After dinner we saw the headliner, Lisa Lampanelli at the Silver Legacy Casino. She's a regular on the Howard Stern Show, Jay Leno, many of the Comedy Central Roasts and working on an HBO Special. Absolutely hilarious. One things for sure, if you're easily offended by racial jokes or jokes about gender... do not go. She was just brutal on the people in the front rows and anyone walking in late. Thank goodness we were out of the danger zone in Row 5. We got great seats on the day of the event.

Sunday morning we slept in late... finally got moving and out the room at 11:00 or so. We headed home by way of Truckee. For any of you that haven't been to Truckee, it's a very charming little town with a lot of cute shops to browse in (too expensive for my blood). We enjoyed a delicious lunch and left for home. I stopped by a furniture store just to look on the way home and ended up buying a much needed bedroom set. Our bedroom has such potential and I just want to make it the retreat I know it's capable of being. The furniture we've been using is ready for retirement ... I purchased it 16 years ago for my first apartment. We are sharing 6 small drawers!! Let's just say sometimes our clothing ends up staying in suitcases for a long time because we have nowhere to put it. It'll be delivered in 6 - 8 weeks and I can't wait.

Monday morning Brian and I went for a long walk to the coffee shop and back. I worked Monday evening and he picked the kids up. They met me for dinner on my break at work. They sure made me feel good when they saw me. The both screamed my name and immediately ran to me. I don't think they took their hands off me for a while. I know M didn't . They had an absolute blast in Coalinga. Between my sister and my mom they were kept busy the entire time. I'm so glad it went well (so they'll do it again). M liked the Walking with Dinosaurs show. It was so loud he kept his ears covered the entire time but I guess he still liked it because he's been talking about it since. He said they had a T-Rex and he watched plants "growed." He swindled Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim out of a Dinosaur Sword and a Dinosaur Book at the show and a new Scooby Doo movie at Target. Sue said he just gave her "those eyes" and that was it. She's easy... just ask Lacie.

The housekeepers were here today and they brought their 1 year old daughter along (don't get me started on that). Well, while they were packing up he (the husband of my housekeeper) left the front door open and Leticia (the housekeeper) was still cleaning in the kitchen. The baby was toddling around downstairs and K was watching her from the top of the stairs. She began screaming, "door open, Baby" over and over at least 5 or 6 times until Leticia ran over and closed the door. She sounded panicked and worried that the baby was going to run out. How smart is she to even put it together that the baby may get hurt if she runs outside. We were so amazed.

M told me out of the blue today that I was his girlfriend. When I asked him if he had one at school, he said "no silly, you're my girlfriend." I'm sure he'll get a kick out of reading this in 10 years!

Anytime we're outside M talks K into riding in the Cozy Coupe while he pushes her as fast as he can (sometimes he stops and sometimes he doesn't). Today he was trying to run me down while I was taking pictures! She laughs the entire time... doesn't have a care in the world. Fearless.
(click on the picture to enlarge... her face is too funny)

She was trying to get me out of harms way by yelling "beep, beep, honk, honk." Look at his devilish grin.

Our craft project from today. Yes, I know it's a little early for a turkey but whatever. M was such a grump that I didn't get any pictures of him. I think he's behind on sleep from his vacation.

That's all for tonight.
Melissa

Our weekend getaway

The kids are going to stay with my family for the weekend (a long weekend) and I couldn't be more excited to get my sanity back and spend some quality time alone with Brian. My mom is picking the kids up today and she will watch them for 2 nights and my sister will watch them for 2 nights!! My mom happens to be in the area anyways because she's visiting Frank in the Bay Area. On Saturday my sister and brother-n-law are taking M to the Walking with Dinosaurs show. K will just spend time with her Granny because the loud dinosaur noises will scare her. M's been asking me everyday how many more days until the dinosaur show. I'm sure I'll miss them by Saturday (not enough to come home early) but we desperately need this.

We were going to fly to Seattle but airfare is just too expensive so we decided on Reno. Why Reno? Well, the rooms are super cheap (we got a luxury room for $99 per night) so we will be able to really do it up! Nice dinners, gambling and maybe a show or two. We are also planning to go on a hike (if weather permits) and do a little shopping in Truckee.


Melissa

McKinley Park

On Saturday Brian and I took the kids to McKinley Park in Sacramento. We had a few errands in the area and it's such a fun park to play in.

She is such a kissie face. She loves kisses and will just ask for them out of the blue. She holds onto the kiss for a long time and then says "mmmoooaa."

We fed the geese and ducks (this time they would actually come around us).

They were practically eating out of K's hand.

The kids got to pet a bunny that someone brought to the park. K kept scaring him away because she would hop around and say, "hop, hop, hop."

After I took one of M's favorite toys away (he assaulted his sister with it) he said, "when you get younger I'm going to take your toys away!

Tonight he said, "do you know where your longest bone is? The he said, "your leg" and pointed to his femur. They talked about bones in school today. I love his preschool.

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Happy 35th Birthday Brian. Can you believe it? I hope you have a wonderful day. Sorry I have to work tonight! We'll celebrate and have so much fun this weekend on our getaway. No time to write more now.

Because I'm working today, we had Brian's favorite pie last night (German Chocolate from Marie Callendars).

The lighting is terrible. My house gets so dark at night.

Blowing out the candle. I thought I had candles but didn't so we improvised and used a tea light. It worked.

"A little help please"

Yesterday I'm downstairs and M's upstairs yelling, "Mom, a little help please... upstairs". When I got up there this is what I found. I asked him why he did it he said he was just trying to get some toilet paper. He emptied the whole roll!!

The face I got after I told him he was going to have to help me clean up the mess.

That's all for now.

Parascope

M learned about parascopes and being a spy while watching Curious George. It's his favorite show right now. He and Brian have been talking about making one for a few weeks now. While K and I napped he and M went to the store to get the parts and then got started. They had such a fun time. M wanted to use his tools also. They made it using velcro, duct tape, two mirrors a 2x4 and a staple gun. M was so excited he couldn't stand it. I definitely encourage doing this project at home with your little ones. He's taking it to school for show-n-tell tomorrow. Here are a few pictures.

At the start of their project. M didn't want to look at the camera so Brian told him if he would look at the camera, smile and get it over with I would leave him alone!! So he did. I was in the middle of making dinner. (he made his tie-dyed shirt at school)

M helping Dad with his square.

K loved making funny faces and admiring herself in the mirror.

Here it is.

See the huge laugh of M's? Brian leaned down and made a silly face on the lower mirror (see Brian's head). They had been spying over the fence.

... And spying around corners. If you click on the picture you can see M's face in the mirror.

I was talking with M's teacher (Shiloh) today when I picked M up from school. She said that he is doing very well in school and plays with Jack all of the time. They are good together and are much happier when the other one is there. She says sometimes they get too rambunctious and she has to sit down and have a talk with them. I bet you'll never hear another mom say that she was glad to hear that about her child. When M was in the Sky Blue Room Teacher Julie told me that he was very quiet and shy. She said if called upon he would sometimes get tearful and embarrassed easily. I have been wanting him to come out of his shell and be more outgoing and less reserved. Shiloh said she wouldn't worry about him ... he's been fine in her class and not too quiet at all.

Laziness starts very early in life. Before bed I asked M what kind of sandwich he wanted in his lunch. He said with a cute grin, "I want bologna and cheese so then I won't have to wash my face." He always eats the middle of the sandwich first so PB & J gets all over his face and Shiloh makes him wash it. I know he likes PB & J more but he's just lazy.

While we were playing outside today he said he was going to be in charge. I told him I didn't think so. So then he said, "only 4 year olds can be in charge!!"

K is obsessed with a flannel blanket that she saw M using once or twice. She cries for it and carries it around the house with her sometimes. At nap time we forgot it and she began screaming out and crying "need M's blanket" over and over until I brought it too her.

This morning we painted our toenails the same color and she's been talking about it ever since.

Melissa

Painting

The other day while Brian was working I set the kids up outside on a blanket with some watercolor paints, stamps, markers and a roll of white paper that I found in the dollar section at Target (a supermom moment). I took a few shots but mostly just played with them. K enjoyed it for about 10 minutes but M and I painted for about 20 minutes (a long time for a 4 year old). We worked on writing his letters. It was nice (but hot) being outside.

A couple of days ago when M woke me up in the morning with his very sweet voice (he has a sweet voice and an evil voice) he whispered in my ear, "I have an idea, we can go and do something fun today." I told him OK. Well that was the day we went to the pool (FOR 3 HOURS), had a picnic there with Dyan and the kids, and painted outside in the afternoon. Before bed he told me, "we forgot to do anything fun today." What??? You don't call that fun. He said, "no, I meant going to a bounce house or something." Have I spoiled him with all the activities we do? I swear that kid has to be busy doing something every minute of every day.

Funny things they say.

The other day M pulled our alarm sign down in our front yard and K yelled, "now look what you did!"

Yesterday M fell asleep while driving home from the store (I was at work). Brian said he just left him in the car in the garage with the big garage door closed and the door to the house open so he could hear him when he woke up (and left all the windows and doors open... hope we're not bad parents for doing this). Well, about 20 minutes later he heard M saying, "Dad... Dad, did you forget something out here!!" He is so funny sometimes. Brian just said that he had just gotten home and was unloading K.

If you are doing something that K doesn't like (like singing a song she doesn't want to sing) she'll say, "NON'T do dat!!"

Cute but not his real smile.

She made a really long paint brush.

He was having fun.

K and D (Dyan's son)

The funniest thing. Dyan called me and said that the other night Monte (her husband) was talking to M (their daughter) and saying, "where's the prettiest little girl in the whole world." Over and over, kind of a little game they play together and D (Dyan's son) said, "Dad, she is not the prettiest girl in the world." Monte said, "well then who is D?" Then he said, "K is". I know I've talked about this before... these two are just so cute together. She screams his name when she sees him, runs over to give him a hug and talks about him all the time. The other night at the State Fair she wouldn't eat any of her food and wanted to sit by D. So we sent her over to him with her food and he helped her eat and the little SH#T almost ate the whole thing!! Whenever they walk anywhere they hold hands.

I decided to get a few pictures of them together. This is totally on their own. I never encouraged them to cuddle or anything. Finally I had to say it was enough. They played together in the pool the entire time. She does whatever he does. He would get out of the pool and lay on the side and so would she and they would talk. It's very cute... not weird in anyway (just in case anyone was wondering).

Best friends. I love her expression here. (you can click on the picture to make it bigger).

Happy. Is he photogenic or what?

M. Look at those red cheeks. It was hot outside.

M and M played together a lot also.

Beauty school drop out

The other day we were getting ready to go somewhere and Brian said he was going to try to do K's hair (completely shocked me). He said that way if he needed help I would be there. Well, let me tell you... this man can fix anything. He can look at any kind of machine or engine and figure how it works in a matter of minutes and fix it (washing machines, garage door openers, dishwashers... everything). He absolutely CAN'T do K's hair. It was the funniest thing. We laughed so hard. I don't know if his hands are too big or what. It took him forever and she's not the most cooperative. I don't know what we're going to do when she starts school and I'm not around.

It started out OK.

Laughing.

Poor thing... I had to take it out and start over. There was hair sticking out of the pony-tail holder everywhere and the pony-tail was going the wrong way!! I told him that the key is lots of water.

My mom came up for a quick visit on Thursday. She bought the kids Moon Sand which was so much fun. It molds very easily and is pretty easy to clean up. We found a shady place on the back patio and played with it for a long time. (I can't wait to get a patio cover built... someday $$$)

That's one of the things I love about my mom. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty. She really entertains the kids when she visits. Last time she came, she and M played trains for an hour!!

Love for Granny.

K made a "cupcake." Here she is blowing out the candles.

Stories before bedtime. We've already been reading our Halloween books. I just bought some great ones from Scholastic.

My dollar store find that he's played with for 3 days. Some of their stuff is just junk but every once in a while you get lucky and find something like this. He has been hooking everything since he got it including his sister!

Something funny... last night while I was fastening M into his car seat he pulled my shirt down and said "so... what are those for?" I tried playing stupid and said "what?". Then he said "those" and poked one of my breasts!! It caught me so off-guard so I said "for feeding babies" and closed the door and got in the car. He's been extra curious about the female anatomy lately.

M knows his days of the week now. He sings a song about them. K is wearing a size 7 and M is wearing a size 11 in Vans shoes. My mom got them each a cute pair. He was so proud off them, he showed all his teachers at school the next day.

M has been an absolute angel this weekend (Brian's been at work). I was worried because last week while Brian was at work M was just awful. We fought the entire weekend... he was very challenging. I would describe his behavior last weekend as bratty. Nothing worked... putting toys away and time-out didn't phase him. He even brought me to tears! He has been so helpful over the past 2 days that tonight he offered to help me pick up the playroom, went in and turned on the light and said "let's get started." He's been nice to his sister (somewhat) and has listened so much better. That's my boy.

I'm exhausted. More tomorrow.
Melissa

Go fly a kite

Brian and I took the kids to the local park to fly a kite yesterday. We've never done it before and M sure had a blast. After the kite crashed he would run over and throw it back up into the air again and he even controlled the kite for a while. He sure got his exercise and even fell asleep in the afternoon (of course, it was a day that I was at work). K was interested for about 3 minutes but then she was more interested in the play area.

Setting up.

After it crashed and almost got him.

The only good picture of K. This is in one of the tunnels in the play area. Peek-a-boo.

M's turn.

My turn. I had a great time. I've never flown a kite before. We'll do this again for sure.

Nothing funny or witty to say this morning. I worked last night and then had a terrible time getting to sleep so I am groggy. At least the kids are both gone this morning so I can wake up slowly and Brian and I can just chill together.

Melissa