Waiting Patiently...

Had to post this pic. As I was getting myself and all of our 'stuff' ready for the BBQ I put on an episode of Blues Clues (DVR is my best friend) to keep them occupied. When I was finally ready to load them up (...Terry and I have now decided to just meet at the BBQ) I noticed that they were especially quiet...this is what I found.



Off to the BBQ!

ABCs and BBQs

Just a little video of the kids saying their ABCs. They are talking up a storm these days. They love their trikes and are beginning to understand how to operate the pedals...although they can't quite reach both pedals at the same time. TJ loves his colors...he is forever pointing out the colors that he sees. His favorite color shirt to wear is ORANGE. I think we might be able to work with that;) Olivia got to spend Friday with her Daddy at work because she had another bout of pink eye. The school gave Terry her favorite toys and books to take to his office so she'd have something to do. Have I told you how much I love that school! He has a couch and a tv in his office so she was right at home. They got to watch the women's team practice as well so she had a great time. At noon I left work and picked her up and we went to vote. She slept the ENTIRE time and, of course, I had the car with no stroller so I was left to hold her for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It really wasn't bad. The people in line we very considerate and kept offering that I got to the chair and sit while saving my place in line. I decided to just stay in line like everybody else. It wasn't bad at all. We voted and came on home. I was able to vote at the Supervisor of Elections office that is literally 0.25 miles from my house:) Pretty convenient. Yesterday, the kids and I went to the gym b/c Terry's team had an intrasquad scrimmage. They had a ball. Like I often say, the gym is the PERFECT babysitter. They can run and run until their heart is content. Towards the end of the game, however, they kept wanting to run out onto the court, which made me a little nervous. I ended up taking them in the halls outside of the gym and letting them run around there, instead. After the scrimmage we went over to some friends' house to celebrate a birthday/eat some good BBQ. Kids were well behaved:) We are headed to another BBQ whenever Terry gets home from giving basketball lessons. Same people, different house. You can never get enough BBQ!!! That's all for now.

House of Infections/Christmas in October

Well it has been quite a week in the Parks' household. It started out with TJ getting taken back to the doctor because, despite finishing 10 days of antibiotics, his sinus infection/coughing was not getting any better. So we went back to good ol' Pediatric Wizards, and to get some x-rays, to make sure that no fluid was in lungs. Thankfully there was "only" fluid in his sinuses, so back on a different antibiotic we went. Well, because the infection in his sinuses backed up into his tear ducts, I also self-diagnosed him with pink eye. And, of course, Olivia picked it up from him. Terry and I alternated days staying home with them while they were recovering from pink eye as they were not allowed to go to school because it is highly contagious. Whoever decided that eyedrops were an effective way of administering medicine to toddlers were WRONG. Although Olivia doesn't mind it, TJ literally acts like he's fighting for his life everytime (3x a day) we have to give him the eyedrops. (Somehow, this has also translated into him strongly disliking me brushing his teeth.) Only 3 more days of this hopefully. We sent them back to school after 48 hours of eyedrops because after 24 hours they were supposedly no longer contagious. Oh yeah, and while all of this happened, Terry started getting sick. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with something contagious and is also on antibiotics. I started to have a very bad sore throat but decided to ignore it because I didn't have time to be sick.

So my off Friday from work could not have come at a better time. I treated myself to Waffle House in the morning before heading to Wal-Mart to pick up a few necessities...picture below.

I put these together in about 1.5 hours...it took me twice as long to put together the first one, but then I got the hang of it and zipped through trike #2. They kids LOVE it. It has working blinkers and lots of sounds.


Money well spent.

Last week my parents brought bean bags and a very cute alphabet table that they LOVE. I tell you, it's been like Christmas in October for them.

In other news, Olivia is becoming quite the little lady. She loves to put on her own shoes (she has velco Mary Jane's) and whenever I am giving them both something (their clothes, a cup of milk, etc) she always points to TJ's and says "TJ's" and proceeds to give him his before she takes her own. It is very sweet. On the opposite end of the spectrum she is very into screaming "MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE" at the top of her little lungs...which isn't very loud to be quite honest. It is pretty funny to tell you the truth... Also, TJ definitely is counting to ten and identifies some of his colors. (Thank you BCC Montessori School!...again, money well spent!) I truly believe that Olivia also knows how to do this, but is just holding back.

Not sure what we'll get into today. The fair is next door to BCC's campus, but I'm not sure if I want to take them since I am not a fan of the fair myself (except to get my annual funnel cake and candy apple). One of Sarah's previous posts has made me feel a little guilty/selfish so I may try to take them anyway. As I have been told many times since they were born..."it's not about me anymore!" I'll let you know how, or if, it goes!

Videos!!

It's been quite a week of funny videos! TJ and Olivia are talking up a storm! They LOVE books and are now saying and recognizing the majority of the alphabet. It is absolutely amazing how fast they are growing up. Here are some videos that I thought you would enjoy.

This first video is of one morning at the breakfast table. We (meaning Daddy) wakes the kids up between 6 and 6:15 to eat breakfast. Usually they wake right up...but this particular morning was difficult for Olivia.



This next video was taken after school this week. DJ TJ went into our room, with Olivia following of course, and turned on our stereo...I am not exactly sure why the top of the video/their heads are being cut off, but you get the picture.



Lastly, this video was taken this morning. The kids and I were hanging out while Daddy was at basketball practice. To translate..."ya" means "Olivia".



Enjoy!!