Helping Yea Yea and other Things

WE went house hunting - again. We came home with a short list of two. That evening we spent talking over which one to put an offer on. Yea Yea raked while we talked and the girls enjoyed his piles! Grace did help... a little...
We had quite a job of getting the grass out of their hair afterwards!

The house we would like currently has a renter, so we have to wait for July 7th before we can make another offer. (We found out through an offer we had made that was rejected.) We would really like to be in our own home when our Halifax family come to visit at the end of July... not asking for much, are we? ;op

Last night we visited a Khmer event hosted by the Khmer Association of Ottawa Valley. The girls enjoyed the balloons, cupcakes, disco lights, and the Khmer karaoke video :o) We went for noodles afterwards with some friends too. It is beginning to feel a smidgen like home... though I can't say I'm not free of "homesickness" for Cambodia... here we are planted so here we will flourish.

Sunday Grace and I were sick... a quick tummy bug - we're more or less okay today. I stayed home and slept all day, but Michael and the girls went to church as Michael was teaching Sunday School.
In the evening, we got a window of beautiful sunshine... so we spent it on the front porch as we waited for some visitors to arrive from the church. I enjoyed sitting on the porch in the sun. The girls enjoyed being chased by daddy...


And after awhile, Jasmin joined me sitting and watching.
Our new pastor in Barrhaven came with his elders to visit and pray with me! As this is nearly a half hour drive we were impressed and much encouraged.

Toronto and Montreal folks joined us for a Saturday evening celebration of Jasmin's first birthday! The number of people and the unfortunately short nap left her a little bewildered...
Grace saw the decorations and went around saying/singing "happy to you" :o) She knew what was about to happen alright!
Unlike Grace, Jasmin had no qualms about fire on her cake...
In fact, I had a hard time holding her back from harm!


She got a lovely bunch of new toys and clothes... and Grace did too! Of course, whose is whose doesn't matter too much to them, which means this week should be easy as they explore the new toys: a doll house, a sing-a-long station, maracas, a talking learning toy, and more! Lots of new noises for mommy and daddy to get tired of :O)
Jasmin is One! Wow!

We've had a mix of indoor and outdoor days this week. Actually, Michael and I have spent an awful lot of it looking at houses in Barrhaven... We're hoping to move there in July. So the girls have spent more time than usual with NiNi and even with other families. They've enjoyed themselves, but they have been extra clingy when we have been around! Swimming on the deck at NiNi's is a favorite when we get a warm day:

And it often extends into an explore of the newly landscaped back yard...
Grace was trying to reach a squirrel!
An indoor day with pseudo playdough: flour and water! Grace didn't mind at all - playdough she could actually eat was fine by her :o) Mommy wasn't so happy with its sticky qualities - it was in her hair and ears and...!

A new found activity that entertained with many laughs: Jasmin feeding Grace!

We spent Saturday in Parc Mont Royal in Montreal with a friend from Sherbrooke. It was a fantastic day! I don't have pictures of everything but here's a run down of the day:

We were late in picking up my friend from the bus station - Montreal managed to get us "lost" even while we were using a GPS! (We went into a tunnel where the GPS informed us of a turn coming and then promptly lost satellite reception and couldn't tell us the street name or left or right.... so of course we ended up missing it.)

Then we had to go to the store to get some picnic food. Find parking. Find a store. Find the food. Find the car. Find the park. Find a table to eat on. Lo and behold it is lunch time and more! We had a good lunch and great entertainment: Grace and over-tame, greedy seagulls advancing on, chasing, and backing away from each other.

Seeing a pond down the hill, after storing the food bags in the car to lighten our load, we set off to explore. Jasmin insisted, as only toddlers can, that she push the stroller. So it took us a little longer than usual to get to the pond!

Daddy and Grace went ahead, but we caught up easily as they had stopped to dip their feet in. Surprizingly, a school of goldfish came to nibble on their toes! So we all got to feel what it is like to have that fish massage I never got to in Phnom Penh. Michael says the goldfish bit harder than the massage fish :o)
While we were being eaten by fish, suddenly a huge heron swept by and lighted on the edge of the pond not too far from us...

It wasn't overly concerned by all the people who stopped to watch it catch a fish!

There were paddle boats for rent on this pond... after a haggle about how many people could get in one, and if I could paddle it (I couldn't), etc., etc., Daddy babysat while my friend and I took Jasmin and then Grace for a paddle around the pond.

Jasmin needing her nap by then, we hunted down the playground for Grace to play on while we rested in the shade with Jasmin. Grace took the opportunity to make sure Daddy got a good play too...
My friend and I talked and tried to get Jasmin to sleep. She wasn't about to succumb and miss the new place though! We had to jump to stop her eating dirt a number of times so we broke out the snacks. Jasmin lost interest in the dirt - until the snacks were gone! Two huge grey squirrels came to enjoy our snack too...

Very bold they were! Jasmin and Grace were quite intrigued. Soon after this we had to go supper hunting as the girls were dropping. Indeed, they were both asleep almost before we left the parking lot! Too bad we had to wake them up for supper.

(You can find a few more pictures at Sarah's blog...)

Two more pictures of the weekend: leftover balloons in the nursery at church!!

The woodpecker actually came back for another try at the window! This time, knowing what the sound was, I managed to get in a quick shot before it got scared off... Next time perhaps I'll remember to have the flash turned off too :o)

This week we have had two sick little girls: fevers, copiously runny noses, restless sleep, and harsh coughs. So no pictures worth sharing. We have enjoyed basking in the sun and being enveloped in customary heat and humidity... almost felt like "home" in Cambodia! Only nicer, as we could enjoy the sun without being driven inside by its intensity.

Other news of the week:
I finally have an appointment with a neurosurgeon: July 14th. It is longer to wait than I had hoped, but not as bad as I had feared. Though I am glad I got impatient enough to call and ask about it! Not sure when I would have gotten a date if I hadn't called... Hopefully the surgeon will accept the 5 other dr opinions before him about the need for surgery and won't insist on ordering his own tests first! One very good thing about this long wait - it means the surgery will be covered by OHIP - government health insurance and not our own private pay-and-be-reimbursed insurance!

We made our first presentation about our time in Cambodia at our church last night. We had 20-30 minutes! With our girls being sick, we didn't really get going on preparations until Wednesday night. Meaning that all day Friday and Saturday we were doing nothing but memorizing! (We do it in a dialogue style so we need to know what we are going to say pretty clearly.) It was worth it as it went well. Hopefully we get to use it again some time :o)