July 4th

The sun peeked out from the fog just long enough for us to have a wonderful Fouth of July backyard cookout. It was a bittersweet holiday, missing our friend Phil, but we all tried to have a fun, joyful holiday. Having the twins around certainly made everyone laugh and smile for just a little while. We had Claudia and all her extended family, who are in town for Phil's service, over so there were lots of hands to play with the kids and keep them occupied! The kids were little piggies the whole time, walking around to everyone, "begging" for food and getting fed constantly. I couldn't get them to sit down and just eat off their own plate! And I didn't get any pictures of it, but the kids would only drink out of big cups...no sippy cups, so there was a constant stream of water running down their chins. Between that, dump truck rides, sandbox, bubbles, and some bug Timo decided he wanted to eat, they were an absolute mess! As someone said, they earned their bath last night.

The kids enjoying July 4th staples...burgers and watermelon!

Claudia's sister is up from Columbia and loved the cool weather we were having. And Phil's sister from VA and his mom (we call her Honey Mama) from Texas..such southern gals, I love these ladies! The Busbee girls were here as well as Phil's brother and his whole family.

Tmo loved eating his chips all day. I would find him reaching in the bag himself! I got the kids a bubble blower on sale and pulled it out for the first time yesterday. Big hit. Cameron kept trying to catch the bubbles...until she reached for the machine and dumped bubble liquid all over herself...oops!

Oh yeah!

Wet Mess!

Our Korean Mom's groups met at a park the other day that I had been to several times with the kids...but we typically stayed in the sandbox area or by the swings. This time the group moved over toward the play structure because some of the kids are around 2years old and obviously need more entertainment than a sand box can provide. I let Timo go over with one of the other moms while I chased Cameron down to bring her over. When I got over there I found Timo soaking wet, splashing around in the sand and water area!! I had no idea there was even a sand and water area at the park. Sure enough, there is this little area that is almost like a beach area...kids are in bathing suits playing in the water, building sand castles out of wet sand and splashing around in the little waterfall. Ugh!!

I immediately took his soaking wet shoes and socks off, rolled up his pants and tried to take his long sleeve shirt off but he was just way too active and wet. So...what are you gonna do...I just let him play. He even "borrowed" another little boy's truck to get even dirtier. Luckily Cameron is such a priss...she didn't even like getting her shoes wet.

Then my thoughts went to "oh my goodness, the one time I don't bring a change of clothes for them!" All I had was extra oneies and extra socks in my bag so that's all he had to wear. I changed his diaper, put the new oneie on, new socks and threw his jacket on him to let him run around like that while we had our picnic lunch. Everyone was laughing at him running around in his socks with no pants on...luckily is was warm outside!
I learned several things from this experience...I need a new, bigger diaper bag that will hold a full change of clothes for both, throw an extra towel in your car for whatever might come up and people really don't care how your child is dressed...as long as he is running around with a big smile on his face!

Sand Box

The kids have really gotten into the sand at playgrounds lately so we got them a small sand box off of Craigslist. They love it! Most of all, they love throwing the sand OUT of the sand box! We had a few of their friends over last week and it was a big hit...for the first 15 minutes, then everyone found the sticks, dump truck and compost bin much more fun.

Olivia and Caleb came over and there was a party in the sand box! Then Caleb figured out how to ride in the dump truck, going so fast he knocked over our lawn clippings compost bin.

And of course, my kids have figured out how to use the sand box as a jungle gym. I had just covered it up the other day and was trying to wrangle them inside when Cameron climbed on top, follow quickly by Timo. They figured out how to climb and slide down the side! I'm amazed how kids can find fun in anything!

Big Box

We got a new washer and drying last week and the boxes they came in were HUGE. I asked the installers if we could have one because I knew the kids would love it. I was right! The box was a good solid day worth of play. The kids went in and out, in and out, drove their cars in, rolled balls around inside, opened the other end and walk in and out, in and out...all day long. Ahh, the simple pleasures.

Remembering Our Friend

This past Saturday our good friend and pastor passed away from a long fight with diabetes. Phil was not only a pastor and friend but our counselor, confidant and most of all, a true lover of the Lord. I never met anyone who could express how much the Lord love all of us more than Phil Busbee.

Phil touched my life the day I walked into First Baptist Church of San Francisco over 6 six years ago. I heard him preach on coming home and realized the Lord was calling me back to His self. And my story isn't the only one...Phil touched a countless number lives. Young and I had the pleasure of becoming close friends of Phil and his family, Claudia, Alexis & Ashley. We were in the same home bible study group for several years, sharing our most deepest fears, struggles and joys. We also spend a number of holidays and special occasions together because the Busbees are truly our family here in San Francisco.

I have to be selfish and say my fondest memory of Phil is our wedding day. I remember him smiling the whole ceremony. He chose just the right words to bless Young and I in our lives together and prayed a most intimate prayer for us as we took communion in private.

Here are a few photos of Phil over the years we were blessed to call him friend.
Phil had such amazing blessings for us on our wedding day.


This was Christmas 07' at our house...and our bible study group taking a night out at the ballpark.

We love you Phil, you will truly be missed.

They All Fall Down

Timo was playing the other day and fell down on his bum...it was kinda funny so I laughed which made him laugh too. Now he has figured out how to get a laugh from you, just fall down. He got up and kept trying to fall back down but it was harder than it looked. Cameron saw him and of course had to join in the falling game. They both were cracking each other up trying to fall down. Here they are the next day, still trying to perfect the fall down to get a laugh...

Bu-bul

Cameron has finally warmed up to bubble baths. For the longest time she has been scared of the bubbles and wouldn't go in the tub. So I put it away even though Timo loves the bubble bath. She started noticing the bubbles left behind when I washed their hair and started saying "bu-bul". She then noticed the bubbles we would blow in the back yard so I thought it was time to try bubble bath again. It was a rough start...she sat in my lap outside the tub for about 10mins, too scared to get in. She slowly warmed up to them as I played with them and wanted in. Now there is no stopping her. Every night at bath time it's "bubble, bubble, bubble" as she carries around the bubble bath container. She has a screaming fit when I pull her out of the tub, even though little her hands and feet are all pruned up.

Here are some pics from her first official bubble bath. Timo keeps trying to eat them, yuck!

Happy Father's Day

It just doesn't seem right to only have one day a year to tell our Daddy how much we love and appreciate all that he does. I love Young so much for the amazing husband and father that he is. And I know the kids love him for the big playmate that they have. The kids made Father's Day cards for their Daddy in their Sunday school class. (it's their first arts and craft!!)

We had a pretty low key Father's Day this year because of some commitments Young had that day..but we made the most of the afternoon we all had together. We played in the back yard for a little while, laughing and taking turns in Timo's big dump truck.

I told Young we would go anywhere he wanted for dinner (kid friendly, that is) and he picked sushi! Typically sushi places don't have a kids menu but we made the best of it. Cameron loved her udon noodle soup and Timo inhaled a whole basket of edamame....not to mention all the rice they wanted.

Then we were off to Young's favorite ice cream shop, Ghirardelli Square. The kids had a taste or two of Daddy's brownie sundae...Yummy

Here are the kids taking their turns at rolling down the hill...

Growing the Hard Way

This is what happens when you get too big to climb on boxes....

You break through the box, get stuck, loose your balance and fall over banging your head on the floor...poor Timo, learning the hard way.
(I know, I'm a horrible mother to let him cry while I took a picture but he just looked so cute laying there)

'round and 'round

I have to say I am learning so much about babies by having two of my own. I know that sound so corny but it's really true. I'm not much for reading the child development books or parenting books out there so a lot of what the kids do is a total surprise to me. I had no idea most of the simple skills in life are actually a learn skill. Like learning to pull a toy behind you or learning how to reach into a bag to get a cracker out. Turns out, learning how to turn yourself around is no different. I didn't occur to me that the kids didn't know how to turn around until I saw Timothy doing it the other day...and working really hard at planting his feet to spin his body around. It was so funny and adorable to watch him go around and around and then get dizzy...totally cracking himself up. Well, Cameron picked it up a few days later and here she is practicing. (I didn't have my camera when Timo was doing it, sorry baby boy) Cameron isn't as swift at Timo is but she'll get the hang of it.

Cuitest Patient

We had a very traumatic day (at least for me) last week...Timothy had another one of his asthma attacks in the morning and I had to take him to the emergency room. He started wheezing the night before and we started his inhaler. By the next morning his wheezing was worse and not getting much better with a few puffs of his medication. Around 9am I called to get him in to see a doctor but they only had afternoon apts and I wasn't comfortable waiting. Long story short...we ended up spending about 5 hours in the ER. Three enebulizer treatments later, Timo was breathing much better and loving all the special attention he was getting.

In my haste to leave, I didn't have time to find a sitter for Cameron so she was right there with us. Luckily I was able to get some friends to come to the hospital and watch her in the waiting room while I was with Timothy. All the action did fall during their nap time...and leave it up to my kids to never miss a nap! Here they are sleeping on Timo's bed in his room. I ran down to the cafeteria and got them some lunch while they slept. We had a little picnic lunch on the bed of french fries, string cheese and chicken soup.

The enebulizer treatments required me to hold a hose in front of Timothy's face so he can inhale the steam. The first one went OK, the second one not so easy and the third was nearly impossible. I got the bright idea, knowing how much he loves wheels, to let him play with the wheels on the stroller..worked like a charm.

The kids only have pacifiers in their cribs but I carry some in my diaper bag for emergencies...this was one of those such cases. All in all it was a long day but I'm glad Timothy is breathing better. The doctors aren't sure what triggers his asthma attacks but it's something I think we're going to have to deal with for a few years...poor guy.

Sign Language

We are teaching the kids sign language as a way for them to communicate with us. So far it's just VERY basic words, as you will see, like "milk", "more", "please". Just a few words that will help us understand what they need. Cameron has picked it up faster than Timothy and has a little bit better hand control. Timo knows most of them so far, it's just a little harder to get him to use it or a little more difficult to understand his sign when he does use it. But it's a lot of fun for us when you see they want something, ask them what they want and then see them sign "more milk please"...and finish off with a "thank you."



If they can say a word then they don't bother signing it, like "cracker" or "car". And there are a few more words that they know the sign for but they can't quite sign it themselves..."monkey" and "blanket" are two such words b/c Timo loves his monkey and Cameron adores her blanket. I just realized today that I need to look up the signs for their names and for "brother" & "sister"...they just point at each other and grunt right now.

Like Mommy, Like Daughter

I know it's hard to see but Cameron fell asleep sitting up and her head is resting on the bumper pad. Too funny. I put books in their cribs to play with before or after they wake up. I guess she fell asleep looking at a book.! Poor girl just couldn't keep her eyes open to finish reading...just like her mommy! She slept like this her whole nap too.

Monkeys!

You know I'm all about getting the kids to feed themselves...I've taught them how to eat a banana out of the peel. This works great for two reasons...#1 I can peel a banana and let them go at it and #2 no more messy hands holding banana chunks I hand them. The only problem with this is the kids usually can't eat a whole banana so I end up with two 1/2 eaten bananas...but a small problem in the grand skeem of things.

Cameron had to test out eating the peel...guess it's not so tasty!

Pull Toys

The kids are learning the concept of pulling a toy and it follows them. They have been tugging on the strings for a while but toy just ends up flying across the room. Now they understand if they pull and walk, the toy will follow...how fun! We've had this telephone and train for a long time but now it's like we have 2 new toys!!
There goes Timothy down the hall with his train and Cameron not far behind with her phone.

They get so excited and turn themselves around...usually ending up crossing strings and tangling their toys. This picture ended in a crash!