HAT tradition

Paul made this tradition to wear a hat on New Years Eve -- but not all of us, only Luke for now (^-^)

This is the 2008 New Years Eve picture when he was only 3 month old.
And here is Luke 2009!
Did you notice? Luke is using same blanket--hahaha
Maybe this year, the three of us will take a picture wearing hats? It's going to be a good family picture!

Chirstmas Holiday in VA

We always have a great time in Virginia Beach at Mom and Dad's house. And every year we put the Christmas tree up together. This year, Luke was able to help us decorate the tree!

And we always have a wonderful food there. Mom and Dad, thank you for making wonderful meals every time!
The weather in Virginia Beach was colder than usual, but we found out that Boone got a really bad ice storm around Christmas and some of the houses were without power for 4 or 5 days! And some of them were also without water... We got back to Boone after the storm -- we were so lucky not to be stuck in Boone without power or water!

He likes to crawling

Luke has a new favorite thing to do--"crawling under the bed". Paul and Luke are playing this game all the time.

And according to Paul, Luke gets stuck under the bed sometimes! Yes, he needs more training--hahaha

Before the Christmas Holiday

Before we are going to visit Mom and Dad in Virginia Beach for Christmas, each of us wanted to do things.

Paul and Luke;


Paul and Luke were walking around outside and enjoying the snow and cold air--because we are not sure when we get back from Virginia, we might not have any snow!

And me;
Time to clean up our balcony!! We got A LOT of snow there few days and we are worry that while we are gone if we get more snow, our balcony might crash! This kind of work reminds me of Japan... It's much easier here, but still I had a good exercise! And here is "Before" and "After" picture (^-^)

"Before"
"After"
Our work is done. We are ready to go to see Mom and Dad!

Heavy snow

We got our first snow early in December. At that time I was excited and took some pictures.

And this is today... it's start snowing very hard, is this the start of a snowy winter?

Luke is having a great time in the snow (^-^)

Palm Tree Project

I've been thinking about decorating Luke's room for long time. Paul and I love the beach, so at first we thought we would like to do a beach theme in his room, but there is a problem... Luke's room wall color is light green (-_-) We were considering other options, and finally decided to do with tropical jungle theme!

Now, I'm thinking about how to decorate for that theme. I decided to plant a palm tree in this room, but of course not a real one--"Fabric Palm Tree". I have no idea how to make one, but here what I did:

First thing I need to do is sketch a Palm Tree, right?
I got the palm tree design from a photo on the Internet and changed it a little. It felt so good to sketch on the wall directly! I always wanted to paint on the wall--this is not quite same--but a little dream come true (^0^)

Next, I traced the sketch and made a pattern. I put numbers each patterns, so that I can keep tack of them (because I ended up with so many pieces!).
At this point, i still hadn't figured out how to put all of it together and make it look just like the sketch. But figuring out is always a fun part of creation process for me.

I will keep you updated this project. I hope it will turn out nice (^-^)

First babysit

I never did babysitting in my youth, but today I did!--well , I was very nervous even thought I have a child now but still don't know what to do for other peoples children. But it turned out to be a very fun day (^-^)

Luke also had fun time with them--play with toys (Luke usually does not play with toys much), running around after each other and ating popcorn!! Maybe I should babysit more often.

Thanksgiving in Washington DC!

We visited Paul's sister at Washington DC this Thanksgiving. We were there for only a few days, but we had such a wonderful time. Luke had such a great time with his cousins!

Play date

My Japanese friend, Yuka came over at our house today for a "play date" with our children. Her daughter, Ayaka is getting big!!! I can't believe that time goes by so quickly --- I thought she was little tiny baby until yesterday, so does Luke... My little Luke is no longer a "little baby" --- he is walking like a gentleman, running around like a little monkey, and screaming like a crazy kid!

Yes, he is a lot of fun and keep me busy (^v^)

Since both of Ayaka's parents are Japanese, I'm hoping that Luke will practice Japanese with Ayaka when they are start talking --- this is his mother's little wish (^-^)

Birthday Party

Luke was invited a birthday party --- this is first invited party for Luke and ME!! Of course I didn't know what to do... what kinds of gift we should buy ,what to wear, should be there on time or a little early??? I know I sound like a crazy person, but still so many things are a mystery in a different culture and country! But I'm leaning (^-^)

Anyway, Olivia's party was fun! Sometimes you can't see so many cultures in this small town of Boone, but here at the birthday at Playhouse, there were multiple cultures! Olivia's mother is Puerto Rican and her father is Italian. And they used to live in Germany. It was very interesting conversation at the party!

Luke was very much enjoying painting, AND birthday cake (of course... sweet tooth...). It was a very fun first time experience (^-^)

Project is done!

My latest project -- making Luke's slippers (or room shoes) -- is done (^-^) It was a very fun project and, I think, they turn out not too bad. I had to fix the shoes pattern twice... I realized the first shoes that I was working on were a bit too small for Luke's feet. So, I had to start over again. But this one in the picture, fit Luke's feet perfectly -- yea, finally!

Luke likes bears, so I sewed a little bear face on the sole of his shoes as an accent -- when he looks at the bear, Luke makes his bear sound "Gaaaoooooo"... I think he likes it.

My request this year from Santa Claus (Paul) is for a sewing machine for Christmas. If I get the machine, I can make more of these shoes easily -- no more hand sewing... well, actually I like to hand sew, but it sure makes it easier using a machine.

Ga-Ga

We have a construction project going on outside our town house -- they are fixing our parking lot. Luke and I are now hanging out around the door a lot, sitting on the stairs and watching them work. We lead an interesting life ;)

Luke's favorite machine is the backhoe -- We call it "ga-ga". I didn't know how to say in English, but I remember my two-year-old nephew in Japan calls it "ga-ga" too. It is easy for both of us (^-^)
We think the wooden walls were getting rotten, so they had to replace the wooden beams. I was so surprised how quickly they replace them! I'm enjoyed watching their work as much as Luke -- hahaha. Construction workers are very nice. Every time they saw us watching from the glass door, they waived to us (well, to Luke). I can't wait for all of this to finish so we can park our car in front of the house again!

New project!

When Paul and I went to a local "hippie" toy store, I found some very cute shoes that I thought would be good for Luke's room shoes. But when I saw the price I was surprised --- $ 30! Of course I didn't get them (-_-) But I remember I saw the same style of shoes that someone made and posted how to make and also patterns on her blog. So! I started searching the blog again --- AND! I found it!!!

Now, my latest project is started!
When we were in Virginia Beach in October, I went to Joann's fabric. And I got few different fabrics there for the shoes.

Inside the shoes, I decided to use Paul's old German Army pants --- very nice warm wool! Actually, it was Paul's idea to use for it. He was wearing these pants last year in our COLD house -- he survival the freezing upstairs of that house because of this pants! And luckily he doesn't need the warm pants this year (^v^) Now, it is Luke's turn to enjoy the wool!

I can't wait to see these shoes finished! But it might take some time though, since I don't have sewing machine, so I have to do hand stitching --- I will keep an update on this project as it

Pumpkin Spice No-Bake Cheesecake

I made this non bake cheesecake for the first time. A friend of mine brought this cake for a Church activity for women, and I enjoyed so much. I wanted Paul to enjoy it too, so I asked her to send me a recipe (^V^)

It was very easy to make and so tasty. Guess what? It is even weight watchers recipe! If you like cheesecake and pumpkin, please try this recipe.

Servings 8 \ Size- 1 piece\ Time - 10 minutes \ Calories: 239 \ Points: 5 ww

• 7 oz. 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
• 8 oz. Cool Whip Free, thawed
• 9 inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours, until firm.

Paul says forget about the Cool Whip, it is (as he says), "just a bunch of chemicals you don't need". You can substitute real cream or leave it plain on top.

While daddy is working...

Luke likes to put daddy's clothes... puts underwear on his head or a t-shirt, anything that he can find.

Here he came and showed me what he was up to while I was making dinner!
This is what he does while daddy is at the office -- he misses him so much!

First Halloween Party!

This is the first Halloween party for Luke! We had a party at my Church --- everyone had to wear a costume. And there we activities for the kids like "trunk or treat", a cup cake "walk", and the chili cook off.

Here are some pictures that we took at the party!

Above is a photo of Lily and Luke. Lily is only a month older then Luke! We're sure that they will become good friends (^0^) Oh, how do you like Luke's pirate costume? Either that, or he looks like a gentleman from the middle ages, don't you think?!

Gabe and Maggie are always taking care of Luke. Actually, they were watching and playing with Luke at the party, so that we could sample all of the tasty chili recipes. Thanks, Gabe and Maggie!

Here is Carina. One interesting fact about Carina and Luke is that she was the one last year who first taught/encouraged Luke how to crawl!

I was disappointed when I found out that I didn't get any picture of Paul... He looked really good in his vampire costume. I have to make sure to get his picture next year! (if he decides to attend, that is).

Oh... guess what? My simple chili recipe won 3rd place at the Chili cook off -- can you believe it? What a great country this is!

Monthly visit to Virginia

This year we always try to visit Mom and Dad in Virginia Beach once-a-month, as long as Paul is not too busy with his work schedule (^-^)

This visit, we took Luke to the beach. And we found out that he is a little bit scared of the sound of the waves, but also that he really enjoys playing in the sand! We are thinking that he might get used the sound of the beach if we take him more often, but it is okay if he doesn't like beach -- Ah huh! Luke was born in NC, he is a mountain boy -- ha ha :)

And we usually (if we don't forget) visit the Asian Market grocery store in Virginia Beach on our way out of town, where I can find some Japanese and other oriental food! This time we got several cans of the "thick variety" of coconut milk (next time, I think we should just buy a box), Thai curry paste, Korean noodles, etc. Finding all of these made me happy, even though I forgot the main thing that I was planning to buy -- Japanese Miso (soy bean paste).

Also we went shopping for our Halloween costumes. That was so difficult... We didn't want to spend too much money and we were looking for the specific theme for all of us -- Vampire costumes. It was easy for me and Paul, we just needed to get a cape and found those at the dollar store. But had a really hard time finding one for Luke. We went everywhere... and the end, we gave up and bought a pirate costume for Luke. Well, next year I will prepare much earlier for the Halloween costumes (a lesson about living in America that I learned this year!) .

This month we stayed only for four days in Virginia Beach, but it is always so nice to spend time with our family there --- our relaxing beach-side get away!

It seems that we always forget to take pictures at Mom and Dad's house... maybe because we are too relaxed! But this time I took one before we left their house.
Next month, we are planning to visit Paul's sister and family in Washington DC for Thanksgiving! We will all stay in their new house (^-^) It is going to be fun!

Pumpkin Patch

Today, Luke and I went to a "pumpkin patch" at Coffey Grounds, as part of the Moms & Tots activities. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather to do some fun activities outside!

Coffey Grounds is now mainly an apple orchard, and there are more then 370 apple tree now on the farm! But there are also pumpkin and other vegetables grown here. Nancy (the owner) showed us how to pick apples, clean them and then sort them using a very old machine. It was so fascinating to see the entire process!

Here is a photo of Nancy showing us inside the apple cabin (^v^)

She has a lot of fun stories and questions that kids love!

After we visited the apple cabin, Nancy took us on a cart ride to show us her farm. It was so fun to ride with friends on the cart towed behind her truck! And we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

We had to careful where we sat, since it has to be same weight on both side of the cart!

Kids were so excited -- of course, Luke and I were too!

I had to hold him really tight, otherwise he would get down and try to walk around. But Nancy kept reminding all of us to "Sit down and DO NOT move around!"

I was amazed at the beauty of the scenery around her farm! We kept saying "Oh my goodness, it's beautiful!" Maybe Nancy grows tired of hearing the same thing every day by the end of the ride!

This is Nancy's sister's Christmas tree farm. There are many Christmas tree farm in NC. Paul and I are thinking of going to cut our own Christmas tree when Luke gets a bit older -- It's going to be fun!

After the ride, we went to the pumpkin patch!

We had a good time walking around in the corn field, and all the kids were excited to find a lot of different kinds of scarecrows!

Nancy prepared pumpkins for the kids. They were cute little pumpkins that kids could picked up easily (^-^) Luke carried two pumpkins around!

After we picked out pumpkins to bring home, Nancy shows us some old games that early pioneers played -- one was originally an American Indian game.

Luke really liked the game!

We had such a wonderful time, and Luke had a nice nap in the car on the way home. I'm sure he was dreaming about pumpkins and scarecrows (^-^)

First snow

We had our first snow overnight. Good old Boone, NC weather!

So this afternoon there was still a tiny little bit of snow on our porch.

It is getting colder, but Luke still likes to go outside to play... I'm sure we are going to have a few more warm days before it gets REALLY cold!

Oh, and I just wanted to posted Luke's "Monkey Walk". He has been doing this a lot recently -- his new thing -- and it is always makes us laugh.