Mom Arrived

We're invited to Terri's house for a pool party. I was still sniffling and so I called Terri to let her know we couldn't go. We're cleaning up the house because mom would arrive tonight. I was supposed to go to the baby shower for Sheila for Jenna, but because I wasn't feeling that great yet so i didn't go. I hate getting sick.

Went to pick up mom around 8pm. The kids went with. Ava went and approached grandma once she saw her and then she called her "ama".. Colin was going to go but then changed his mind and ran back towards us. He's funny.

Train ride at Lansdowne Mall

We went to Lansdowne Mall for a walk. I needed to get a gift card at Toys R Us for Megan and so we're walking around. Ava saw the train ride and of course she had to ride it.

Simon's back

Simon's back and the kids stayed up a bit late so they can see their daddy.
Their reaction when they saw Simon was:
Ava --> Papa!!!!! and ran up to Simon and hugged him
Colin --> PAPA!! followed Ava and ran up to Simon and also hugged him.

Day 11: LASP

I was so sick today. Woke up with a whole front face feeling stuffed up.
HL came by and brought lunch (and dinner). Luckily because I didn't think I'll have any energy to cook. I was just so weak.
After lunch and putting Colin down for his nap, I tried to take a nap too, but Ava was so demanding, everytime I drifted off a little bit, she'd tell me she wanted juice, or pee, or she was talking to me and I had to answer.. I ended up worse I think.

After dinner, i basically put the kids to bed and then after I cleaned up a bit, I also went to bed. I remembered tossing and turning because my nose was bothering me and i felt a slight fever. I took tylenol night, so I was waiting for the drug to do its job.
sleep .. rest.. sleep... rest... I need plenty of those... pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee...........

Day 10: LASP

Now, both Ava and Colin have the sniffles..
I told Ava in the morning that she shouldn't get close to Colin and when I went to get Colin, I realized it's already too late.

In the evening, I found out that I also have the sniffles. I could feel my nose started to run (away) and my throat hurt.
Oh, Well........

Day 9: LASP

Ava had the sniffles..
Serene and Edwin came to deliver lunch. They bought from the Richmond Public Market. I must say.. and I'm an honest person.. The food was not good.. HAHAHAHAHAHA
but it's ok.. the kids noodles was not bad because Ava ate half of the box.

Day 8: LASP

Ava woke up with a little bit of sniffles. It's weird because we didn't really go or do anything. I think it's because the weather suddenly turned a bit colder last night. Maybe that's why.

Cooked lunch today. The menu is stir fry bok choy with ground chicken breast, fried eggs and fish balls soup. After putting Colin down for nap, I baked muffins: Banana Chocolate and Banana Blueberry.

Felt a bit lightheaded after yoga. Maybe tonight I'd tuck in earlier.

Day 7 : LASP

Everything seemed to be ok with Colin. He was already fighting with Ava when he woke up in the morning. No fever and he was playing and running around. I went and got McDonald for lunch today since both kids were asking for it.

Nothing major today. Dinner I cooked stir fry udon per Ava's request. Put them to bed and then did yoga from memory while watching "I guess".

Day 6: LASP

And the bad day continued... hahaha

Well, it was actually a good day in the beginning. The kids woke up at 8am so I got some more time to sleep in, then everyone was in good mood to go to Linus's party. Ava put on her pink party dress and was feeling very princess-y. Colin was in his suspender and Ava called him Prince Colin. We waited for the Cheungs to come and so we can all go in one car.

We arrived at Port Moody around 11:23am. Since the driveway was all full so we kinda park behind a bunch of cars. What a bad idea. I went out to grab something in the car and saw someone left a note on the windshield. The note said: "ASSHOLE, DON'T PARK YOUR CAR BEHIND OTHER'S PEOPLE CAR, MORON!!"... something like that.. I didn't keep the note, so I don't remember the exact wording. Since that car was gone, I just parked on his spot.





Ava and Colin went into the pool with Lucas and they were having a blast. I took that opportunity to eat first so I can feed them after they're done with the pool. The timing was great because both were saying DONE when I went out to see them. Got them out of the pool and changed them. Fed them and then they went to play with the bubbles.


We managed to take some group photo.. and I mean managed because there're A LOT of people. It was a great party.. Serene and Edwin did a very good job.

Things started to happen when we're leaving. We're on our way out and I was grabbing all my bags when suddenly we heard a loud bang and glass shattering sound. We saw that the mirror by the front door fell down and Colin was underneath it. I didn't remember if I screamed or not, but someone definitely did. Colin crawled out and i scooped him up.

We went to Serene's room to check on him. There're a lot of glass flecks on his hair and he has some cuts on his arms and one on his face and small cuts on his head. We're having a hardtime trying to get the glass flecks out of his hair. I shook his hair by the sink, but there're still some, then we tried hair dryer, but there're still some, then we tried combing. I think the combing did pull a lot of them out. Then we saw that on his right arm, there's one deeper cut. I was worried if there's any small pieces in the wound. Colin was so good the whole time. My little boy was sooo brave. He didn't cry and he just sat there playing on toys Lian Eng gave him to distract him. We changed his clothes and then put some polysporin on his wound. Since he seemed to be ok, we decided to just take him to the clinic after we got back to Richmond since I still have to get his care card.

Serene was so apologetic the whole time. Serene, it's not your fault. It's an accident, so don't beat yourself up. Don't read !!!
We drove back and all the kids fell asleep. Stephen stopped by at the house where they're supposed to see and I drove the kids home. I called my neighbour Elaine to see if I can drop Ava at her house while I took Colin to see the doctor. I went to the Terra Nova Clinic and they were closed, then I went to seafair clinic and they were closed too. I went back home and saw the Cheungs at my driveway. Stephen suggested that we should get Colin to Children's Hospital.
Sharon agreed to go with me. I told my neighbour and asked her to take care of Ava for me until I'm back. She said she has a dinner to go to so I asked her to drop Ava at my other neighbour, Mrs. Lam when she plans to leave. I also asked her to help me feed my hungry kid.





We arrived at Children's around 5pm, then went in to register. While we're waiting, Colin's in great spirit. He was running around, drawing with crayon, playing with toys. After waiting for almost 2 hours, finally it was our turn. We went in and the doc checked on him. She thought the one deeper cut was worrisome because she could feel something but not sure if it's the pieces of the mirror. So she suggested ultrasound. We had to strap Colin down so he won't wiggle too much and the doctor can do a better examination. She didn't see anything on the ultrasound, but she said it's the first time for her to use that, so she suggested x-ray to be more sure. We said yes, of course. We waited for the X-ray and another hour later. She told us, everything should be ok. She didn't see any pieces in the wound and i just have to give the wound warm compresses twice a day. She also told me to rinse his hair out so there won't be any flecks left. Even if there're some small flecks, it won't injure him.

After the long 3 hours, we went back and I heard from Mrs. Lam that Ava ate at her house while Elaine also said Ava ate at her house already before she passed her over to Mrs. Lam. My daughter had eaten at 2 different houses while her brother was in ER. Atta girl!! hahaha
Colin only had a rice cracker, which caused him to cry because the salt rubbed onto his wound and it was hurting him.. poor kid. He also ate a bowl of cereal, some gold fish and drank some water.

Got both kids home after thanking Sharon, Mrs. Lam and later Elaine profusely. They really all helped me a lot. Showered the kids and then put them to bed. They were A-Okay.
I didn't do yoga today because I was too tired. I just want to sit down and drink tea. AAAUUUOOOMMMMMM..........

Day 5: LASP

Today was not a very good day.

Started in the morning, when I wanted to bring Colin up to change his diaper after he poo-ed. My left knee gave out on my way going up and Colin basically fell face down to the stairs (thank god for carpet). He then had a little bloody nose and quite some bloody gum. He cried a little, but not inconsoleable. I guessed he's not hurt that bad.




Then, we went to Herjit's house for a playdate. It was quite a chilly morning. I brought along a big plate of spaghetti. Evan was home and Andrea and Simone were there already. Leighton, Stella and Ruby joined us after awhile. It was the calmest playdate ever. Noone was running around and the kids were all soooo well behaved. Evan bbq-ed some hotdogs and we ate the spaghetti. Ava got some tattoos. Went home around 1pm and put Colin down for nap.

I took both kids out to Lansdown after nap to find some gift for Linus. This was where bad things started to happen to me.. :(
First of all, I cut my left pointer (deep cut) while trying to unfold the stroller. I was lucky that my finger's still intact. I was missing some skin and a little bit of meat and quite a lot of blood. And MAN it hurts!!!!!! still hurts, especially when I typed "t, r, f, g, b, and v".
Then when we're done shopping and i was trying to fold the stroller and putting it back into the trunk, I basically kiss my funny bone with the heavy stroller, so now I have a bruise near my funny bone. AAAKKKHHHHH!!!



Got home, fed the kids but they didn't eat much. Both prefered apples instead.
Put them to bed and now I'm trying to relax and not think about my finger (to no avail b/c it hurts when i type). Should probably go to sleep early to avoid anymore bad events.

Day 4: LASP

Met the Fongs at Neptune Restaurant for Dimsum. The kids were quite well behaved. I was relieved. Then, we headed back and put Colin down for his nap. Serene came by around 1:20pm and she watched the house and Colin while I took Ava to her last ballet class. Thank you so much Serene.. you're such a big help.
After ballet class, I cooked spaghetti for dinner for us and the Fongs.

Nothing major happened today.. Serene and I just had a weird conversation with Edwin.
I didn't even know how to write them down.. Hm...

Day 3: Life as a Single Parent (LASP)

So, this morning all hell broke loose..
Ava was being very very very difficult.

She:
1. Woke up super early.
2. Refused to answer me when I asked her if she wanted me to change her diaper, so I just went back to bed.
3. Still refused to answer me even after i changed Colin's diaper and headed downstairs. At the 3rd attempt, she finalled nodded.
4. Refused all the clothes I picked for her to change but when asked her to choose it herself, she didn't answer.
5. 3rd attempt of heading downstairs finally she said "mama choose, mama choose" while screaming and crying.
6. On top of the stairs and wanted me to bring her downstairs. I told both to go down themselves but since afraid Colin might fall and break his neck, I brought him down with me. Ava screamed and cried again and I ignored her all the while.
7. Came down and usually she takes her milk on the blue sofa, so I put Colin on the red sofa, but since today's one of her off day, she started screaming again saying she wanted to sit on the red sofa (because it's her favourite) and Colin likes blue sofa. I ignored her again and she was screaming and crying again.
8. Colin finished with his milk and Ava's still crying and screaming. I told her to choose where she wanted to sit since both sofas are empty, and she told me she wanted to sit on the floor. (all the excuses she came up with.. OMG)
9. Finally had to use my ruler to threaten her (didn't hit.. don't panic). She finally went to sit on the red sofa.

After she's done with her milk, suddenly she was smiling and chatting me up. I was like "HUH???? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??? WHY IS SHE SO HORMONAL????" (This was all in my head of course, while I smiled and tried not to grind my teeth).


So, I decided to (I had no idea what came over me) bring the kids with me to superstore because I needed to get diapers for Colin. Everything went smoothly at the superstore and I tried to push my luck a little bit further by attempting lunch with them by myself. We went to Ginger and Garlic. Everything was honky dory until Colin started screaming, at everything and everyone. He's like a mad dog.. "barking" at everyone who looked at him. I might have been getting some evil eyes from the restaurant's patrons, but I DON'T CARE!!!
So, finally they settled down and finished their meal. We stopped by next door to get some bread and then HOME.


Put Colin down for nap and then I also took a cat nap on the sofa while Ava's watching TV.
After Colin's up from nap, we went out to the garden (yes, I braved the insects bites for my kids) and blew some bubbles.


Dinner time was hellish again. Ava was pretending to sleep and then wanted me to feed her. I left Colin on his own accord on feeding himself. When I went to check on him, basically I had a floor of eggs and rice and veggies and then when I tried to push him away from the table, he managed to drag the plate with him and therefore dropped the plate with rice on the floor. I almost tore my hair out by then. Had no choice but to take him down from the chair and tried to clean him up.

After dinner and after my series is done, we played some songs on the laptop and Ava was dancing. Apparently Colin didn't like kids songs. He didn't like the wiggles songs that were playing, instead he wanted me to turn on Britney spears's circus. WOW!!!!..

Put the kids to bed and then I cleaned and mopped the kitchen, put away the dirty dishes, cleared toys off floor and mopped the family room's floor. After all these were done, I popped in my "biggest loser workout: Weight loss yoga" DVD and did a 35 min yoga. It was pretty good. I actually sweated a bit.

Day 2: Life as a Single Parent

Ava woke up early today. I heard her around 7am. I was still lying around but had to force myself to get up. Colin on the other hand, didn't wake up until 9am. WOW!!!

Lunch went by without any big tantrum. I actually ask Ava if she wanted to eat out and she said no. So, we ate yesterday's leftover.

Put Colin to nap and finally got caught up with myblog.. hehehe
I did some laundry and folded the clothes. Then, I remembered that some doors had been making some squeaky sound (office's door and door from kitchen to foyer). So, I WD-40-ed them. I've asked Simon to do this for awhile and he never did. So.. I finally DID it.. woohooo!!! 2 thumbs up for moi!!!


Ava was playing by herself when Colin woke up from nap. She was building her "house". Colin wanted to go in and then the whole situation escalated to a tug-a-chair war, resulting in Colin crying. It was pretty fun to watch though.. hahaha

Did 20 min yoga (flat abs) after putting the kids to bed.

Day 1 : Life as a Single Parent

Woke up with a soreness on my whole body. Both my knees were also hurt. I wonder if it's because of the capoeira. Ava was still sleeping (but she was crying a bit around 3am and i ignored her). She woke up after I let the dogs out and came down to get some coffee. She was in a good mood. We changed and then came downstairs. She had her milk and then Colin woke up so we both went to get him. He was a bit cranky, but not for long. Ava went to the office and didn't see Simon. She asked me "Mom, where's papa??" I said. "Papa left with the plane and won't be back for a week". She said, "NO.. Let's go see papa". I just shrugged and then went downstair to get Colin his milk. Everything went on fine.

Going into lunch time, I asked Ava if she wanted to eat fried rice. She said no, and she opened the fridge and pointed at the udon and said she wanted to eat mee mee (translate: noodles). So, I stir fried some noodles for them.




After lunch, Colin napped and Ava watched TV. She was doing so good. She played and pretended to be a robot. That was quite funny.. :)
However, around 3pm, after Colin's up, she kept saying she wanted to eat white rice, so I said I'd cook some white rice. And would also cook some ground pork and veggies.
She kept asking me for white rice every 30 min or so. Until finally at 5pm, she kept saying she wanted to eat rice and i succumbed. I got the rice ready and I also finished cooking a ground pork dish and a stir fry kailan. They loved it. Both ate so much. They both ate 2 bowls of rice. Then almost a box of strawberries.

Bathed them and put them into bed by 8pm. I came downstairs and started to vacuum the family room and kitchen, then mopped the floors with pine-sol. Put the dirty dishes away. Did 20 min of yoga, showered and sat down in front of my laptop with a cup of tea. AHHH... nice..

Day 1 passed without any major glitch!!!!

Capoeira Brazillian Martial Arts Dance

I waited for this day for almost a month already. I finally got to do the Capoeira. Yyoga was having their Spring into Summer festival and they have a bunch of events, workshops and special classes. Mike's doing this capoeira class and i already signed up for it. I purposely skipped the morning hot yoga so Simon won't get pissed when i go to my special class.

Got there around 4pm. I got my face painted (by Irene) and then Mike started the class around 4:45pm. Steve, Elaine, Brenda and Jays were there too. We started with the basics. The terms were Jinga, Buzz, etc (spelling needed checking). It was so much fun. I laughed so much (esp at Jays) and had tons of fun. The whole dance were such a workout and I was sweating 10 minutes into the class. The capoeira movement were big and we all had to stand 2 arms lengthwise. It was definitely an hour of great fun. I hope Alex will put this class in as a regular class.

After class, we took some pictures and i got my picture taken with Mike.. woohoo.. hahaha

Simon left at 11:15 pm for Singapore and Malaysia. I'll start my day tomorrow as a single parent for at least 10 days. We'll see how it goes.. :) Will report back tomorrow..

Kids Haircuts & Steveston Park

Busy day today. The schedule was full since morning.
My yoga at 8-9am, then Simon picked me up and we stopped by BCAA for his international driver license. Then, we stopped by New Town bakery to get some buns for the picnic. Afterwards to Mandy for the kids haircuts. Ava's hair was too thick. It took so long to dry her hair after shower. Colin's hair was too long also. Since Simon's leaving soon, I insisted on getting their haircuts done today.



Afterwards, we went to the Steveston Park. Serene had organized a picnic with her singaporean friends who had just landed not too long ago. We met Sam, Antia (sp??), Catherine, etc there. Too many names to list but it's the usual suspects. Sam cooked so many things and they were all DELICIOUS!!!! We ate first (I did, since I was sooo hungry). Then, the kids headed to the water park.



Ava and Colin were so excited to see the water. They were reluctant to go in at first, but not for long. Pretty soon, both of them were wet from head to toe. I think they really did have fun. Colin kept running around and smiling. Ava was just hysterical. Viola was running in circles and Lucas was running under the water sprays.


We headed home after so Colin can nap. Ate dinner at Ho Yuen with the Fongs and the Cheungs. On our way home from dinner, I felt my face swollen up and my eyes were teary. My migraine also started. I was going to go to Eric's birthday bash but because of this allergy acting up and my migraine was just killing me. I went to bed and told Simon to go. Found out later that he didn't go. I felt so bad towards Eric and Christy. Have to apologize on Simon's behalf.

Ava's last day of preschool

Today's Ava's last day of preschool and the kids will have a canada day's parade with decorated bikes. Ava doesn't know how to ride a bike and I asked her if she wanted to bring her bike and she said no. So we're pushing Colin in the stroller while the other kids ride their bikes.
After the parade, we went inside the classroom for arts and crafts. There're canada day's hat, flag, drawing and cereal necklace. Colin was having too much fun in there.


After the arts and crafts, the kids went outside the playground to play. Again, Colin was having a blast. Ava kept playing with Colin instead of her friends. She's so sweet to Colin sometimes.


After playground, everyone went in for ice cream and snacks. I had a cone too. :)
Ava won't see any of her friends for awhile now. Maybe after the class starts again in September.


Ballet class again for Ava today.. 2nd last class.

E-canteen and Ice Pack

Went to E-canteen for lunch today with the Fongs and the Tansumas because Desmon's leaving for LA for work. Serene came back to our house around 2:30pm and then after Simon and Edwin finished their meeting, we went to eat at the "Spicy House".

At yoga tonight, I found out that I had a bruise on my left knee when I was kneeling down to straightening my mat.. so I was "ouch ouch"-ing and went out to the front. Mike saw my painful expression and asked what's wrong.. so i showed him my bruised knee. He went and got me an ice pack.. how sweet is that??? my thought was.. if I showed to Simon, he'd probably just grunted and left. So.. just want to report that I'm flying high.. WOOHOO!!! hehehehehehe

Michelle, Cheetuck and Zoey's visit

My girlfriend from CA is here again.. :) hahaha I always had fun everytime Michelle & family come to visit. They came in the afternoon. Simon was tidying the front yard and Colin was helping with the leaves (of course).


Then Michelle, Chee Tuck and Zoey arrived also with Iris and Horus (Michelle's niece and nephew, not in pictures). Zoey was playing with Ava and Colin. They played well together..