Olivia and TJ turn 2!!!!

The kids turned two years old yesterday! I cannot believe that it has been two years since I stood in front of our Christmas tree wearing Terry's 2X shirts and shorts because I couldn't fit into much else.  


I cannot believe that it has been two years since I brought my little babies home from the hospital. 



Hard to believe that those little infants that I brought home that used to do nothing but sleep, eat and poop are now little people who are learning new words/phrases everyday (like "no thank you" and "no sing!"...that is what they say when we sing to them now), who love to play with each other/give each other hugs & kisses, who love Mickey Mouse and who love to read and watch Noggin cartoons (their favorite...and mine...is Backyardigans).  

For their two year birthday, I decided to postpone the "kiddy birthday party" for yet another year, at least.   In place of a party we decided to take the kids on their first zoo trip.   Star and her fiance, Travis, were in town and came along.   We saw birds, alligators, giraffes, rhinos, and so many other animals that I care not to list.   Good times were had by all. 

The zoo trip occurred on Saturday, two days before their actual 'date of birth'. Their actual birthday turned out quite nice.  I decided to not get another Publix cake since TJ broke out from it last year.   Bless his heart.  Instead I decided to make cupcakes for them using Soy milk so both kids could enjoy them.  Star was nice enough to volunteer to bake and decorate the cupcakes and they were excellent.  We didn't actually begin the celebration until about 6 at night for a number of reasons but it was a great party!  They kids loved their Mickey balloons and decorations, they LOVED the "lights" (aka candles) on their cupcakes and loved the cupcakes as you will see in the pictures.  It was a nice stress free gathering and everyone seemed to have a good time.  They got their own set of Mickey keys so I don't have to worry about them losing my car keys (thanks Star and Travis!), they got an interactive book with a 'matching' stuffed animal Mickey and Pooh (thanks Jen and Jason) and of course they got more books from Mommy and Daddy.  

The finale of the birthday celebration will occur on New Year's Day when we go to Disney World!!!!!!  We are taking the kids for the first time...should be interesting...

Enjoy some pictures!

Christmas Portraits 2008

We took TJ and Olivia to get their Christmas portraits done a few weeks ago. TJ was a little shy as you can see. He lightened up when he saw their basketball. Go figure. Olivia had no problems. She is so easily entertained...

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy!

Johnson-Parks Christmas

Well the Johnson and Parks family had another wonderful Christmas! My family (Mom, Dad and sister) came to Palm Bay to celebrate for the 3rd year in a row which is really nice. It's especially nice because my mom and dad also bring the food since I have yet to attempt a holiday meal. Terry, the kids and I woke up before my family came, ate breakfast, and opened gifts from the Parks' family in Columbus since they were unable to travel to Florida for the holiday. I did a separate post of those pictures. Shortly after we finished opening the gifts from The Parks, my family arrived. The kids, as expected, were not as interested in what was in the bag/paper as they were the bag and paper itself...until Tara's gifts of Crayola "Mess-Free Color Wonder" and "Aquadoodle" coloring and painting supplies were opened! From that point on they were only interested in coloring. What is nice about these gifts is that I don't have to worry about finding crayon on my walls (which hasn't happened yet, thankfully) since these markers and paints only show up on the special paper. Good job Crayola and Aquadoodle (and good job, Tara for giving them such a wonderful gift!)

Another hit was a gift from Terry and I...their "band in a box". It included a tamborine, morracas, symbols, a triangle, a clacker thing and a wooden noise maker "thing". Upon opening that gift, the entire family proceeded to make 'music' for a good 2 or 3 minutes. The kids LOVED IT...and, quite franky, so did the adults! I can't remember who all had which instrument, but we certainly put on a show! Good times. The kids were also fortunate to get gifts that they needed, like undershirts, shirts for school and cute pajamas! TJ got Superman pajamas (complete with the cape) and Olivia got "Disney Princesses" pajamas. They also got these cute 8x10 alphabet cards with animals on them to put up in their playroom...after I take down all of their Christmas decorations. They were fortunate to receive several books which will be a nice replacement for the mangled books that are now in their playroom. They received books from me (of course), my coworker who adores them and our beloved BCC Montessori school. And, as if they didn't have enough of these, their Ti-Ti (Aunt Tara) got them more mini-volleyballs from the women's volleyball national tournament in Nebraska that she bravely attended last week.

Of course, throughout the day, we enjoyed my mother's cooking and baking (mostly baking in my case...I couldn't put the pound cake and sweet potato pie down!). My mom was able to braid Oivia's hair (yes!...that means I don't have to do it!) and most everyone except myself and Olivia was able to take a nap.

I had such a wonderful time with my family...and especially loved seeing TJ and Olivia have so much fun with them.
Everyone has gone back home now, the kids are asleep and Terry is watching his 4th Christmas Day NBA game (the boy is obsessed...although I must admit there were some great games on today...). As soon as I post this blog, I am off to sleep as well...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!

Christmas Morning

Here are are few pictures from this morning before my family (Johnson Family) came into town. Enjoy! Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Parks (and Uncle Chris) for the gifts. The kids LOVE their riding horse and I, of course, am particularly excited about their Auburn gear!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday

My parents, the kids and I traveled to Pensacola this weekend to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. Although no one was allowed to say how old she is, I believe she turned 88 years old today. It was an amazing weekend, that felt more like a family reunion than a birthday party. Since Pensacola is pretty far, we don't get to see that side of the family as often as we'd like. It was nice to be able to fellowship with family and celebrate my grandmother's life while is still alive!!! 5 of my 6 uncles were there along with countless (literally, my grandmother has lost count) of her grandchildren, great-granchildren (none of her great-great-grandchildren were in attendance), friends and family. TJ and Olivia had a blast! Once they got some food in their system, it took no time at all for them to warm up to their cousins. Thank goodness there were balloon bouquets because the balloons turned into instant entertainment for all of the little cousins that were there. Unfortunately I failed to charge my camera battery so when I took my camera out to take picture #1, my "low battery" indicator was flashing. I don't know why this happened to me because there were so many kodak moments that I would have captured had I had a working camera. There were a lot of people taking pictures so hopefully I will get some from my family. Anyway, the kids had a great road trip, a far cry from our 1st roadtrip last Thanksgiving. They are now sleeping peacefully...hopefully for the entire night. Once I get some unpacking done, I will be doing the same.

Happy birthday, Grandma!!!