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!