Cheeks to Cheeks

Spring/Summer is definitely here. I took this while Junior was doing his morning business. I had never taken time to admire the flowers and trees in my garden. Off late I have been doing that. It is great to be up early in the morning. The morning air is crisp and cool and the flowers were exceptionally inviting. I just love smelling the perfumated roses we have. Here are some photos of the flowers in our garden…

The color from the rose is so vibrantly red. I can’t help to take a close-up shot at it. It will make a nice wallpaper for the desktop.

I believe these flowers are called Iris…

A close-up shot. No special effects, just the pure color of the Iris and natural lighting from the morning sun.

It has been extremely hot for the past couple of days. Looks like it’s time to blow up the inflatable pool and let the kids play in it.

Last night the hubby was furious ‘cos I’ve failed to mention his part on this post. Eventhough I have given him many kudos in the past, he somehow got the idea I was trying to be Super Mom. Just because I didn’t write what he does in the morning with the kids doesn’t mean I don’t acknowledge his effort. After all, what I had written was my schedule not his.

So, for reference sake (kids, if you ever read this when you’re older, do appreciate what Daddy has done), I have include the man’s morning weekday schedule.

Between 7am-7.30am - Awaken by Belle. Stayed in the room with her if he doesn’t hear me (flushing the toilet, letting Jr out, etc.). If Mommy is awake, he would bring Belle over to the master’s bedroom.
7:30am - Help Belle brush her teeth, wash her face, wash her butt, change diaper and clothes.
7:45am or 8am- Cook breakfast for Belle. Bring Junior out to do his business if Mommy hasn’t done it.
Between 7:45am and 9am - Remind Belle to drink her milk. Feed her breakfast. Get her ready for school. Place Cassie in the carseat. Strap both kids in the car. Bring Jr. out for one last pee. Drop Cassie and mom off at mom’s house. Send Belle to the daycare.

Most of the time he gets in to work late, around 9-ish or 10am. Luckily, his work schedule is way flexible than mine. On every other Monday, he will have to leave the house later than 9am ‘cos that’s when our cleaning lady gets here.

It takes two to be our kids’ parents. Hon, I love you for being a great Dad and husband but if I didn’t write about it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you, k?

Last night I was flipping through a magazine and read an interesting article on Lapband surgery. Apparently, it is the latest method used for a lot of obese people. There were many positive reviews from the article I read. Obesity in America is increasing each day. I believe we need to evaluate on our diet and living standard. As technology became more advanced, people have became more sedentary. I sure hope my family and I do not become part of the statistics. Nonetheless, it is always good to know where we can get a good lapband surgeon. I always believe in “knowing more will not hurt us.”

I love the fact that Belle is able to talk now. Her speech isn’t perfect but she could at least relay messages in bits and pieces. Last night while I was tending Cassie, I told Belle to inform Daddy that Mei Mei needs milk.

Mommy: Belle, tell Papa to make (heat up) milk for Mei-mei.
Belle: Make milk, Mei-mei!
Mommy: Yes, make milk for Mei-mei. Understand? Repeat after me, make milk for Mei-mei.
Belle: Make milk for Mei-mei

Off she went yelling out to Papa from the upper staircase…

Belle: Papa! Make milk for Mei-mei! Papa!

No response from Daddy. She went downstairs.

Daddy: Belle! What are you doing downstairs? Go upstairs! *grumble grumble*

Daddy tried to go upstairs but Belle kept tugging his shirt…

Belle: Make milk, Mei-mei! Mei-mei milk!
Daddy: Vien! Mei-mei needs milk? *yelling from bottom of the staircase*
Mommy: YES! *yelling from the room*

Belle, my little helper, has become my official messenger.

This is my daily morning routine during weekdays:

7am - Alarm buzzer goes off. I would either be up before it or laze on the bed for another 5-10 mins.
7:10am - Brush teeth, wash face, dressed for work.
7:20am - Bring Jr out to pee & poop. Feed Jr.
7:30am - Prepare Belle’s milk if she’s up already. Cook/Prepare her lunch if we haven’t cook it the night before. Get ready her lunch pack.
7:40am - Apply cream on Cassie. Change her diaper.
(Or it could be prepare Cassie first, then Jr and lastly preparing Belle’s stuff. The cooking part will be done simulteneously while I take care of Jr.)
7:55am - Eat something real quick. Sometimes I will feed Belle (if she’s awake) or feed Cassie if she wants another feeding.

I will try to be out the door by 8:15am. My MIL will come over to help while Jon gets Belle ready for daycare. Sometimes Belle will insist I feed but no matter what, I will have to be out of the house no later than 8:35am.

I try to be get in to work before 9am, so that I can leave early. FIL offers to pick Belle up from the daycare and they will feed her at their house. I will bring Belle back to our home to bathe her after that. The in-laws will bring Cassie back around dinner time. Everything has been scheduled and arranged right to the dot. So far it has been working well for all of us but for the past few days I didn’t get out of the house till 8.45am.

Few years ago, I have heard great reviews from a blogger friend about Vista Print. She had sent me photo postcards of her wedding photos and couldn’t stop praising Vista Print. I have wanted to try them last year but they usually run promotion for their business card prints. Now, I can try their service because I found vistaprint coupons.

VistaPrint Coupons have all types of coupons for Vista Print. There are coupons on business cards, checks, address labels, pens, calendars, stamps, t-shirts, nearly all items feature at Vista Print. Most of the coupons offer 50% off! Now, isn’t this great?!

The husband and I made photo calendars for our relatives couple of year back. We are planning to do so this year. I see that Vista Print has photo desk calendars and this is different from the competitor we used before. What I really like about Vista Print is that I can customize my items, be it rubber stamps, calendars, business cards, etc. This is a great site to be bookmarked if any of you are starting a new business. After all, you will be needing business cards, rubber stamps, labels and marketing giveaways like post-it notes and stationery.

Vickie and I were looking forward to a nice lunch but came back with sad heavy hearts. While we were having lunch, the TV (Taiwanese channel) was broadcasting the aftermath earthquake at Sichuan, China. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake not only demolished buildings and roads, it stole innocent lives. School children as many as 2000 were trapped in collasped school buildings and many are feared to have perish.

The TV station broadcasted crying parents; parents who stood amongst rubbles yelling out their children names. It is so heart wrenching. Both Vickie and I ate our lunch silently. All could be heard was our noses sniffling. At times like this, we should count our blessings.

Among the thousands who perished, photo like this is like Miracle…

In this photo distributed by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, newly born babies are moved at a hospital after an earthquake occurred in Nanchong, a city in southwest China’s Sichuan Province on Monday May 12, 2008. A massive earthquake has toppled buildings across a wide area of central China on Monday, killing more than 8,533 people, trapping hundreds of students under the rubble of schools and spilling ammonia from a chemical plant.(AP Photo / Cheng Chaosheng, Xinhua) ~ taken & quoted from Yahoo! News

The last baby (w/o the sun-shade) was born couple of hours before the earthquake hit Nanchong. There were photos of an 8-mth pregnant mother, thick blankets bundled around her belly, hanging outside a window, holding on to make-shift rope (from bedsheets). She was put to bedrest prior to the earthquake. She told the journalists, she would do whatever to make sure her unborn child is safe; hence the bundling of blankets around her waist.

Let’s say a prayer to the victims and their families.

Happy Birthday to the Father of my Daughters. We love you so much! Tonight Belle will be singing her favourite song to you, “Happy Birthday, Daddy!”

Christmas came a little early for Cassie this year. We received a parcel from up North and this place is as cold as the North Pole.

Aunty Aida sewn these lovely booties for Cassie. She is so thoughtful, she even used 100% cotton cloth for the innie ‘cos she wanted it to be soft and non-irritant to Cassie (knowing she has bad eczema). Here’s a close up of the booties… Read the rest of this entry »

Few year backs we dreamt of opening our own restaurant. Our biggest obstacle was financial burden. Not getting enough capital to open any business will crush anyone’s dream. Now that we’ve moved on to doing other things, we realized there is such thing as Restaurant Business Loans. Advance Restaurant Finance provides secure lending to small or mid-sized merchants at competitive rates. We will definitely bookmark this site for future reference.