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.

Presents under the tree

Your Vancouver grandma bought a ton of stuff for you and Kendall when I took her Black Friday shopping. She asked that I wrap all your presents and put it under the tree. We didn't wrap Kendall's because we thought she was still too young to understand what it meant to open presents and we wanted her to wear the clothes right away. You, on the other hand, totally know what Christmas is now so you kept asking why there weren't any presents under the tree. Well, it's been so hectic with work and also having your Vancouver grandma here so I didn't have time to wrap the presents until now. I'm actually a little bit sad because when I was on mat leave last year I was able to take care in wrapping the presents and even did the whole Advent Calendar with you. I feel like I didn't wrap the gifts as nicely this year and I really didn't do much to prepare for the holidays. We didn't even do our annual Christmas photoshoot :-(

The gifts under the tree. We will be putting more as it gets closer to Christmas.

We're going to the beach~

Ever since we read Ian Falconer's Olivia, you've been asking me to take you to the beach.

Well today was your lucky day, because we decided to go to Sibbald Point with daddy's friend's family since it was the long weekend. We thought it would be a nice day to barbecue and play in the beach, but it turned out to be a nightmare. It was soooooo cold and so windy. We couldn't enjoy ourselves because all we could think about was trying to keep warm. And both mommy and daddy didn't bring a sweater so we literally froze our a$$ off :-S

On our way to Sibbald Point. Not a good look…

You trying to keep warm in your huge Spiderman towel. That's Keidyn beside you. He was so
nice to you. He kept playing with you and he was so friendly. You really took a liking to him and
that's surprising because you are normally very aloof and standoffish. 

You finally doing what you've been wanting to do- building sandcastles.

Quick video of the beach and how cold it looked…

Artwork by Aidan

I had to pick you up from daycare today because daddy had to work late. When I picked you up you were sitting with your classmates drawing on a colouring paper. You brought it over and when I flipped over the sheet you had a whole bunch of 'A's' that you were writing. You tend to like writing 'A's' because it's the first letter of your name. At home, you've been practicing writing with a crayon/marker so I love that you are using this skill at daycare. 

When I looked in your cubby you also had a handmade Easter card that you had worked on with your teachers. So sweet!

So thankful

I love when you bring home something you made from daycare. Especially if it's something so thoughtful. I'm especially thankful because last Friday there was a terrible school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut where 20 young children (ages 6 and 7) were killed and 8 adults. I can't imagine the pain the family and friends of the people killed are going through. I hugged you extra hard on Friday. 

The card says:

That time of year's come 'round again.

So we wish you all the best.

The joy that comes from knowing you

makes us feel that we've been blessed.

So we'll share with you our feelings

At this special time of year:

May your holidays be a delight.

Filled with happiness and cheer.

Happy Holidays!

2012 Family Christmas cards

I made Christmas cards when I was on mat leave with Aidan (back in 2009), but after I went back to work it was impossible to have the time to make them. My friend Jenn has been asking me why I haven't made any cards (she still has our 2009 family Christmas card up in her house) since so I decided to make them again this year. It was a lot of work, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

My mock-up on my computer screen. I wanted to incorporate our family portrait that we take
every year. I had the portrait shots printed at Costco in a glossy paper and punched them out
with my 2" circle punch. That way it really stands out against the matte card stock paper.
I glued it on the area I had left blank for the photo.

I made coordinating envelopes for each card. I found a template for a vertical envelope
online and did a few test print-outs before I was completely happy with it.
I stuck a washi tape to seal the envelope.

I used my white opaque marker that I got from an art supply store to write to the card
was for.

I made green and red envelopes and different washi tape patterns to seal the envelope.

Another view.

And here's a behind-the-scenes look at the mess on my office floor.
Whenever I have a project that I'm working on, my office is super messy. You can also see here
that I glued the back of each cards (with a spray glue) with different-coloured (light brown and
brown) card stock paper. I did that to make the card more sturdy. 

The only bad news is that while I was working on these cards my printer broke :-(

I'm going to have to look into buying another inkjet printer soon. I'll probably start looking once the holidays are over. There will probably be lots of sales going on.

Thanksgiving Monday

Daddy had to work today even though it was a holiday Monday. Good news is, he came home early- around 2:00pm. He wanted to go to Southbrook Farms because we go there every year. It's our family tradition. I love going there because every time we go I get fantastic photos of you and it would be Kendall's first time there. Unfortunately when we were almost there we saw a huge lineup to get in and the parking lot was full. I guess everyone else thought of going there today. We decided to pass and just go out for a nice family lunch. We ended up going to Red Lobster, but the food wasn't as good as we had hoped. Everything was so salty! However, you enjoyed your macaroni & cheese and french fries. I love how kids eat french fries so I couldn't resist taking a video of you eating a fry.

Thanksgiving Sunday

Your Toronto grandparents asked us to go to their church this Sunday so that the mok sa nim (lead pastor) can pray for you. 

On our way to your Toronto grandparents' church. You always sleep in the car seat.

Your brother, Aidan, sleeping in the car. Mommy tried to put him down for a nap before we
left for church, but it was unsuccessful. He never wants to nap!

Daddy holding you right before we went up to the front. You were so good- not making a
peep. I wish you were like that at home.

Here is the view of the front of the church.

After church we headed back home. While we were chilling at home I put you down on the couch and every time I looked at you you broke out into a huge smile. Here's a video of you smiling at mommy. You don't smile so much at daddy because you don't see him as much.

Later on in the evening we went down to the basement and daddy was kissing you. I wanted to capture this cute moment on video, but to my dismay Aidan was video bombing the whole time! What a guy…

Chill day

Yesterday took a toll on our family so today- Labour Day- we decided to take it easy and just chill at home. We all slept in and just hung around the house. I took some photos of Kendall after her bath because she looked so cute in her little monkey towel.

Since it is now September, Aidan will be going to daycare 3 days a week and staying home on Mondays and Fridays. It will be quite busy for mommy from now on…

Civic Holiday

Today was Civic Holiday. I'm glad we had this long weekend because it gave you (Aidan) time to heal. I think tomorrow you'll be ok to go back to daycare. The skin is still a little bit red, but there are no open sores and all the previous blisters have healed. Because you were highly contagious we couldn't really go out because I had a fear of you giving it to other kids. We even had to cancel our plans of taking you to the zoo this long weekend :-(

However, since I've been cooped up indoors for most of this week, daddy and I decided to get out to have a bit of fresh air. Plus, the weather was beautiful today. We went to a park somewhat near us and you played in the playground while daddy walked with the stroller with Kendall. I'm a little bit annoyed with you because you tend to not want to play with other kids. There were 2 playground areas- 1 was empty and the other had a lot of kids your age playing. You didn't want to go to the latter so I had to play with you in the empty playground. While were playing in the mary go round an older girl came and started riding with you. You started whining and pointing to her while you were looking at me. I told you that this was a shared space and that you had to learn to play with other kids. Then you went towards her and made her move from where she was standing. Then you gave her a stare-down like no other. I don't know why you do this. Especially to older kids as you could get beat up down the road. I know daycare has been saying that you don't participate and you haven't participated in the summer programs that we signed up for you. This worries me. 

Baby Kendall sleeping in the car seat on our way to the park. She has grown so much. Her head is now
fitting nicely in the car seat. I remember the first day we took her home her head was lolling back and forth
because she was so small.

After we came home from lunch (btw, daddy bought me my first sushi meal post baby. It was delicious!) you
passed out in your bed. When I came to check up on you I noticed a foul stench. When I touched your shorts
I noticed you went number 2. I mean, how can you sleep when you have poop in your diapers??? And
look at your sleeping position here. Haha.

The son he never had…

Your Toronto grandparents invited us all over to their house after work for a family BBQ. It's Canada Day long weekend so it was great to start off the long weekend with good food and company.
I was a little worried because you again didn't sleep at daycare so I thought for sure you would be cranky at the grandparents house. However, you were the complete opposite! You were a delight and you played sooooo well! I was actually pretty shocked. I think it helped that Auntie Jessica brought some toys that you can play with while you're there since they don't have any toys for you to play there.
You also have a special bond with your ha buh ji (what you call your Toronto grandpa). He just adores you to a tee. I think it's because he was always surrounded by girls and you are the son he never had. It's quite a sight seeing you guys play because he acts like a little kid when he's around you.