The best weekend in a long time…

This weekend was the best weekend I've had in a long time… I've been filled with so much sadness with memories of my dad that it's been hard to be happy… I was so sad to see this long weekend end.

Friday night my friend Lana treated me to my early birthday lunch at a great Japanese restaurant called Kasa Moto. Then on Saturday we just relaxed at home by having a barbecue in our backyard. On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then Kendall and I met with Auntie Jess and Uncle Wayne downtown to check out the Victorious Festival (a Christian festival with proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society). Daddy took you swimming so you guys didn't go with us. We tried to get halmi to go, but she just wanted to stay home :-(

Today (Civic Holiday), we went to Canada's Wonderland in the morning where we rode lots of big kid rides (the first time you were able to do so!) and then we went for a outdoor BBQ at Sunnybrook Park with Auntie Sara, Uncle Wayne, Auntie Jessica, Uncle Wayne, Emma, Noelle, halmi, Dan's mom, brother, Dan's SIL, Sophia and Isabelle. It was such a nice way to end the weekend. I just wish halbi was with us…

You riding the carousel. I realized that you were tall enough to ride a lot of the big kid rides. We ended up
riding Klockwerks, The Fly and Thunder Run. You had a blast!

Kendall stayed with daddy while mommy and you rode the big kid rides. Here she is doing the kimchi squat.

On our way to Sunnybrook Park, you guys passed out. Celebration!

It was supposed to rain today, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day. 

We didn't even have to bring any toys. All the kids had a blast running around. We must do it again!

Kendall was having so much fun. Here she is hopping towards me.

"Hi mommy!"

Uncle Wayne got all the kids (minus Noelle and Isabelle) to carry the mat to the car. You guys were being
good little helpers…

…but failed miserably #fail.

Her first Tiffany's

Today was a special day. We wanted to treat our mom to a day of shopping and dinner to celebrate her birthday. It's been a rough year for all of us, especially for her. We met our mom and Auntie Sara at Yorkdale this afternoon and browsed at a few stores before we headed for dinner at Seoul House. It's been so long since we had a day of shopping together. With our dad being sick and Auntie Jess and I taking care of kids, it was really hard to make time to do something fun for us. Although I did have to take you with me, you were really good (besides eating like a pig!).

Us sisters pitched in to get our mom her first Tiffany's piece. You can see from your grandma's face that 
she was so excited and happy. Just seeing that expression made it all worth it :-)

Isn't the necklace beautiful? It's the mini double heart tag pendant. She absolutely loved it!

Your outfit of the night. You looked like an angel from above today.

Life of a mom

If you are a mom, then you will know that nap time is king. You basically have to arrange your day around it. Also, if you're like me where your toddler is no longer taking daily naps, but when they do, you basically honour that time. 

I usually take you out first thing after I drop Aidan off at school because that's when you're in the best mood- you're fed and you're not cranky. Today, I took you to the park because the weather was nice and then we went to Michael's to pick up a few craft items for a scrapbook project that I'm working on for missionaries- Bryan and Christina. Since Michael's is close to Auntie Jessica's house, we stopped by for a play date. By the time we left Auntie Jess' house, it was time to pick up Aidan from school. Lo and behold, you fell asleep on the way home. I had to chill out in the car for a good 15-20 minutes in order for me to let you sleep a little longer. 

And look how happy you are after your nap. That makes it all worth it!

Last supper

We had our last meal with our great aunt that was visiting from Korea today at Milestones. I'm glad she was here because she kept my mom company while she was still fresh from the loss of losing her husband.

Missing in photo are Emma, Aidan, Uncle Wayne, Daddy (they were sitting in the opposite table).

The classic kissing sibling shots

I think every family has a shot where the parents took photos of their kids kissing each other. I know I  have one where my mom dressed me up as the 'girl' and dressed my sister, Jessica, as the 'boy'. It's actually a pretty twisted shoot because Jessica is wearing our dad's army jacket and aviator sunglasses and I'm wearing a pretty dress with a flower in my hand. We are actually kissing like we are 2 lovers in love!

I didn't go as far as dressing you up as lovers, but I thought it would be cute to shoot some shots of you guys kissing. 99% of the time you guys are fighting, but there's that 1% when you are actually pretty sweet together. 

The happiest place on the planet…

…and no, it's not Disney World. It's Ikea!

Ikea just knows how to do things right. They are so accommodating to families- they have affordable house goods, affordable food, their washrooms are built with little ones in mind (did you see the kid sinks??), and their kid's showroom section is every kid's fantasy playroom. 

I didn't really have anything to buy there, but today was a day where I was just bored and wanted to get out of the house. Auntie Jess and I have been really bonding over this Summer because you and Emma are at an age now where you play really well with each another. We've been meeting pretty frequently during the weekends and today was a day where we decided Ikea would be a great place to meet. You and Emma had a blast playing the kid's showroom. I think you were there for almost 2 hours!

Pretending to sleep. 

Usually we have you in the shopping cart when we come to Ikea, but today, we let you roam free with
Emma and you were going everywhere, touching everything and you guys really enjoyed your time there.

This ceiling lamp caught my eye. I think it will be really cute in your bedroom. I really don't like the ceiling
lamps on our 2nd floor so I'm always on the lookout for nice lamps.

And the price is good too! I'll have to keep a mental log of this.

What I did end up buying were these fake flowers. Yes, fake flowers don't have the best rep, but these
looked pretty darn real. 

I cut the stems a bit shorter and put them in these soda bottles that I have been collecting. I think flowers
look so good in cool soda bottles. What do you think?

I put these bottle vases on the ledge going down to the basement. I think it makes this area a bit prettier because
of the hit of colour.

I actually took this photo of you while we were at Burger's Priest. They opened one not too far from
where we live so I took you there for lunch. You absolutely loved their french fries. You were playing
with your iPad while I was waiting for our food. Look at those lashes! Women would kill for those lashes.

Sunday at the grandparent's

Since Auntie Jessica and her family are living at Toronto halbi and halmi's house, we've sort of made it a thing to visit every Sunday afternoon. That way, you can play with Emma (who you love) and I can see halbi and halmi. 

Today, halbi took you and Emma upstairs to his bedroom. You and Emma love going upstairs to lounge on his bed while watching cartoons. When I went up to check on you, I saw the three of you side-by-side lying on his bed. It was so cute!

Smallest to biggest.

All wearing funky panama bottoms.

Tktktktktktkt

Noelle's 100-Day Celebration

With all that's going on with your Toronto halbi's health, your Toronto halmi insisted that Auntie Jessica throw Noelle a 100-day "Baek Il" party. Nothing fancy, but for Noelle to be the centre of attention. Auntie Jessica has been working at the store every day since your halbi got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer so Noelle's been away from her mom ever since. Her paternal grandparent's have been taking care of her during the day. We ended up going to a Korean restaurant for dinner with just the family. It was nice getting dressed up and seeing everyone together. I wanted to take pictures at the restaurant, but it's so hectic when I have to take care of you two. Plus, Uncle Wayne's younger brother, Will, was taking many candid shots at the restaurant. After dinner, we went back to halbi and halmi's house to have dduk cake and Will took our family portrait shots. We've always wanted to do that so it was really special.

I dressed you up in your new coat that Auntie Jessica bought you for Christmas.
Haha, look at Aidan in the background.

My leather jacket-wearing lil dude.

And my little princess.

When I was tying your hair in my bathroom, you kept pretending to brush your teeth with mommy's
toothbrush. I guess all those days of watching mommy brush Aidan and your teeth paid off.

On our way to the party. Look how cute you look!

More bad news

So now I know what's wrong with you. The good news is that what you've been suffering from was NOT an allergic reaction (thank god!), but it was actually Strep Throat. More specifically Scarlet Fever. That's why you were so red all over. I think you may have got it when we went to an indoor playground on Sunday. I also got myself checked out and the doctor said I have Strep Throat. We're both taking antibiotics, but that means we are contagious and can't go to work/daycare. I've been wanting to visit my parents for a while, but with all this sickness I couldn't. And now, I don't know when I can… 

The worst news of all is that my dad's tumour has spread to his liver and lymph nodes. Auntie Jessica has been working at their café all this week and plans to until they sell their store. Everything is happening so fast that it's frightening. I'm just so scared of what the future holds. 

Kendall had Wacky Hair Day at school so this is what I came up with. She already has wacky hair so this
was easy.

Kendall also got bit on the nose at daycare yesterday. I don't know if you can tell in this photo.
It's like things just keep going downhill…

Kendall kissing Rosco goodbye before leaving for daycare. That girl just loves Rosco,

This was the pile of snow that fell today. It's been the worst so far. 

Our urn covered in snow.

It took me an hour to shovel our driveway because my car got stuck trying to go in the driveway.