New addition to our kitchen

After years of waiting and searching and searching and waiting, I finally found the perfect buffet for my kitchen! And it came just from across the street, from our neighbor, who is moving out and had a garage sale few weeks ago.

Patrick helped sanding it down and staining it so that it goes color wise well with my kitchen table that I love. We worked two days on it but it was worth every hour.

The buffet is made out of real wood and was not painted or stained before. This is how it looked before we started working on it.

I had not one helper, but two! Lukas in action.



And here is the final result. Doesn't it look awesome and perfect for our kitchen?!

Good read

Recently I have discovered Lisa See's books at our local library. It was pure coincidence that I grabbed her book from the bookshelf that was close to the check out station. It's hard to browse through the aisles and shelves with 2 kids in tow so I am lucky when I catch something for myself while leaving the library.

The first book I read from Lisa See was "Shanghai Girls". I am intrigued by the Chinese and Asian culture for many years. Maybe it is because I love and am married to a Chinese-American man or maybe it is because I love the Asian art, fragile and beautiful, delicate and minimalistic, full of well handcrafted items, with its attention to detail even in smallest items.

I will not give away the plot but I highly recommend this book if you look for a well written and fascinating story that describes the lives of women in the beginning of this century in a country that seems to live in the century before ours.

Lego-ist

Lukas loves to play with Lego. Through the years he got lots of Lego sets from the Spongebob, Star Wars and City collection. He eagerly puts the Lego together after we take it ouf of the box but few days later, after playing with the toys in a boyish way and having a sister that likes to touch the toys too, pieces start to fall apart and the brand new truck has now only wheels left or Spongebob's rocket ship wasn't as sturdy as Lukas thought after letting it fly through the air.

But this is a good thing that the toys eventually fall in many pieces because then the real fun starts. Lukas is a master in building cities, space shuttles, airplanes and helicopters, all made from his fantasy and without following any directions. His imagination is endless when it comes to explain what he has built. To me it might look like few little guys standing around, but to him is a construction site with many different elements that he patiently points out to me.

My favorite thing to do is sorting the Lego but it's not really very beneficial. After few days, everything lands back in few boxes.

Here is us and Lukas awesome space station with stormtroopers storming the base. Or something like that.

Brother & Sister

Our kids. Our pride and joy. Our king and our princess. Our sensitive but head strong children.
They are hard to get together in one photograph but I got lucky this week.

2002 Merlot

After years of abstinence, we finally drank some wine, at home, on the sofa, just the two of us. Few days ago I felt that the time has come that Patrick and I start to enjoy the quiet evenings even more.

My all time favorite wine is from the winery Chateau Julien in Carmel Valley. When I was working with the Plaza Hotel in Monterey, we ordered this wine for all our functions and it became my favorite since then. That's like 7 years ago. I was able to keep few bottles because of the pregnancies but now the time has come.

So last night, we enjoyed this smooth, fruity, sweet-but-not-sweet wine to the last drip. Can't wait for tonight to finish the bottle.

Yummy

It's only 9 am in the morning but I already think about the dessert that is still in our fridge. Waiting for me to be eaten. To be enjoyed.

Those chewy balls filled with a sesame paste and rolled in peanuts are so delicious, I can't even explain. Whenever we go the Mayflower restaurant in Milpitas to eat dimsum, I already wait for the dessert before all other dishes arrive. That's how good they are.

Mary Jane's

What would I do without this wonderful store where you can find any item you want at a resonable price? It's called... Target! I bet all of you know that place and love it - like me.

Anyway, how about those cute Mary Jane's that I found for Matilda? I wear those soft socky thingis for years already and now Matilda has a pair too.

She is still no keen on the idea to wear them in the house but I know that she soon will appreciate them.

Another milestone

Time flies fast. I can feel it watching Lukas and Matilda grow up. Just as of yesterday our car is one car seat lighter and we welcomed the booster seat for Lukas that he has wanted for some time now.

He loves to strap himself in and unstrap and enjoys the freedom around his body. I only hope that the booster seat is safe.

Matilda has already tried out the booster seat but she has few more years to go.

Trick or treating - fun night!

Trick or treating last night was fun! Matilda discovered very quickly how to get the candy and she was not scared to walk up to people and show her bucket.



Kyle and Lukas.



Lukas trying out the lightsaber on sister.



Nice pose Darth Vader.



Baby Claire - ladybug, Lukas - Darth Vader, Matilda - Bumblebee, Kyle - Scream, Diane - vampire, Baby Lawrence - lion (from left to right).

Happy Halloween

Have a fun Halloween, everyone! Lukas is going as Darth Vader (thus the carved pumpkin) and I hope I can get Matilda into the bumblebee costume. Photos to follow.

Go Yankees!

Not only I am teaching my daughter how to brush her teeth correctly, I am also teaching her which baseball team is the best team ever! So here is us showing off our matching hats (and the brushing teeth skill).

Go Yankees!!

Random cuteness

I think the photos don't require much comments. She is just a sugar sweet little girl.

Matilda right after she woke up.

Matilda learned how to pose now.

At Lukas' school, she loves to sit in the mini chairs. Only for that reason, I will send her to preschool next January. :)

Practice practice practice

The summer is over but that doesn't mean that we have to sit inside and watch Spongebob all day long. Just for the record, nothing against Spongebob, but that giggle of his can be exhausting.

So last Saturday Patrick and Lukas went to the driving range to finally practice with the driver that we got Lukas a long time ago.




It looks like he is ready for it now and he had lots of fun using it.



I still wonder how Tiger Woods could do it all when he was 2 1/2 years old. Mind blowing.

Pumpkin Patch at Lemos Farm

Yesterday we decided to visit the Lemos Farm Pumpkin Patch in Half Moon Bay before the month of October is over and the pumpkins will disappear again. We met Cel and Evan and Jenae there and had a lovely morning riding the choo-choo-train, looking at pumpkins and having a picnic and pizza.

Here the three of us, having fun on the wooden horse.



Lukas would make a handsome cowboy, I think.



Spiders, spiders everywhere!



Matilda pretty in orange.



The goats were quite interesting to watch from far away.

Matilda, thinking about this and that.

Hawaii Report Part 2

Here are few more photos of us having fun.

With daddy.

At Dole Plantation, being silly after the train ride.

Of course they had to touch the water...

Hawaii Report Part 1

Here are few photos from our trip.

Right after our arrival on Oahu, Matilda is playing in sand.



Lukas and Matilda playing in the suitcase.



Lukas wanted to try out to be covered all in sand.



Kayaking with daddy.



What else to do then playing in sand.

Matilda's new haircut

Right before the trip to Hawaii, I decided that Matilda should get a new haircut. That long babish hair was just not working. So with one snip, she has now a beautiful bob haircut.

We are back!

Our last trip for the summer 2009 is finally over. We got back home last night, with sand in our hair and sweet memories of the warm ocean and sunny days in Hawaii. Lukas didn't want to leave the beach that we went to before our flight back home. It was that nice.

I will post few more photos soon. Here is one of Matilda in her beautiful Hawaiian dress that Auntie Pauline gave to her.

The photo was taken by Uncle Oai who made her smile every time he pointed the camera at her. Go figure.

Grocery basket

I brought this nice basket back from Germany for my grocery shopping. The kids love that basket to play in it.

Matilda likes to hide in it.

First love letter

You probably think now that I will share some odd story about my first love letter that I wrote or received like 30 years ago. But no.

This is about Lukas. A girl at his kindergarten has taken his heart by storm. Since few days, the only person he talks about is Mia, his friend from school. He lets everything fall when she walks in, he draws pictures for her and tonight he prepared a card with envelope for her. Awwwww, so cute.

So yesterday when I picked him up, I wanted to meet that special lady of his. She is cute, I have to say.

He does talk about the other boys in class but when he talks about Mia, he smiles all over his face.

We can't help but tease him about her but he takes it with a smirk on his face.

Here is his first love letter to Mia:

The last days of summer

Weather wise it for sure doesn't feel like fall but these are the last good days where we can enjoy the warmth of the sun, long trips to the Zoo in shorts and sandals. Very soon the cold will arrive and rob us of the comfort of the sun. Oh well, nothing we can do about, so I stop complaining.

So today we went to the Oakland Zoo, made sure all our animal friends are still there, met the baboons at their new location and had a picnic while watching other kids play and later the giraffes. Or maybe they were watching us, not sure.

We couldn't miss the obligatory train ride around the Zoo which is always a nice ending to the fun.

Here is us (I was taking the picture so you see rather the kids), enjoying the ride.

Lukaism

"Mommy, what are we eating for dinner tonight." I couldn't even reply fast enough when he said "But no rice, Mommy. We ate rice three times already (which means three nights in row). Rice is boring in my mouth." - Boy, you are half Chinese, rice flows through your vains! :)

I asked Lukas to look for a Lego toy that he put somewhere away and we can't find it. He says "Mommy, I am a little bit good looker." I think he wanted to say he can search pretty well. Few minutes later he came with the toy in his hand and a confident look in his face.

Here are munchkins doing what they do best: humbug.

Getting organized – Photos

Not sure if anyone will find this helpful, but I hear from so many people that they have a hard time to stay organized with their photos, so I thought I will share how I do it.

I take hundreds of photos of my children, family and friend gatherings and of buildings, shades, flowers and whatever else interests my eye. My favorite photos I post on my blog http://fragmentsbyedith.blogspot.com/ and some of the photos of my children I post on this blog. Many more I print and file in folders, for each child separately. I know my folder collection is growing rapidly but I just can’t not print the photos. How I stay organized with the printed photos is another post. :)

Back to the thousands of photos that we have on our computers. First, after uploading the photos from the camera to the computer, I file the photos in one folder and put a date on it and write few keywords of what is in this folder (example Sept 17 Matilda hair clip Bambi dress Lukas soccer outfit playing outside). I know this title might not make any sense to you but it does to me.

Secondly, I file this new photo folder in a monthly folder on my computer. So under September 2009. This folder is then filed into a year folder which I call Photos 2009. You can call it whatever you like but important is to have the year specified.

So here is how it looks on my computer:

1) C: (or any drive you want to use - I actually have an external drive that I save my photos on)
2) Photos 2009
3) - January 2009 - Jan 1 New Year celebration family park
- February 2009 – bday party Evan
And so on

This is the easiest and quickest way to find your photos on the computer. Of course, there are many other ways of organizing your stuff but I find this the most efficient and most easy for me.

Most of us have already a bunch of photos on the computer that are not filed and just linger on the desktop or in some obscure MyPhotos folder on the PC. To start with the organizing, just make the folders as per above and start moving the photos as you have time to do so. I know it is time consuming, but when you have it organized, you will be happy to have done it.

Now, after each upload, file your photos right into the correct folder, and voila, your life has one less problem.

If you need more help, email me and I will be happy to give you more hints or help.

Kindergarten

Since 2 weeks, Lukas is attending the Kindergarten class in his preschool. He was too old for one more year of preschool with his favorite teacher Ms. Juana so we moved him to the Kindergarten class. Well, it comes with a big price and that is homework. Every day now he gets a folder filled with homework (ok, stop worrying, it's 2-3 pages max) and he has to practice writing the letters that he learns that week (we are at D right now), do lots of coloring, cutting out and gluing.

When I asked him this week if he likes his new teacher and class mates, he happily said "yes". So let's hope he keeps up the good work and eagerness.

Baby Shower for Taylor

Today we celebrated Taylor's Baby Shower. Her friends threw a wonderful party with lots of good food and funny games. Matilda played happily with the other children and with a beautiful doll house and enjoyed the loudness and busyness of the party.

I was in charge of the cupcakes. Taylor found these cute baby beds idea. Here is how they looked after I made them this morning.



Matilda is trying on Baby Claire's sunglasses. Looking good (and cute).



Matilda and Mommy, both pretty in pink.

Playing in the park

We went to Lake Elizabeth in Fremont this morning to play and have a picnic. Lukas found some kids to play with even though they told him they don't like him. After a while, they all became friendly and had fun. It is hard for one child to connect to a group of children but he did well and didn't give up.

We had a nice picnic in the shade overlooking the lake. But it was so hot, we had to head out early to avoid getting burned. And dehydrated.

Here is Matilda and Lukas enjoying the view and lunch.

Happiness

Listening to the noise the children are making while making dinner

made me realize how precious all those little moment really are.

Matilda practicing new words she has just learned,

repeating bear, bear, bear, light, light, light.

Tomorrow she will learn other words and

bear, light and others will belong to her vocabulary forever.

Behind my other shoulder I can hear Lukas counting the fish in the bowl.

One, two, three, your plate is ready, Mommy.

Tomorrow he will write the menu with all the items he is preparing

and the next door will open for him.

Moments like these will be gone, others will come.

Happiness will always stay.

My best friend's wedding

24 years later, living apart on 2 continents for most of our friendship, making hundreds of phone calls and writing numerous emails, we are still best friends. Our friendship is as fun and loving as it was years ago. We can laugh and cry together. We like the same type of clothing. We love George Michael since we were 15.

In our case, we appreciate the little things. Our short meetings. Long phone conversations. Emails and SMS. Every moment counts and makes our friendship stronger.

Here is me and Joanna, on her wedding day that I was able to attend (thanks to my wonderful husband who took care of kids and house).

First soccer game!

While I was out, Lukas' team had their first soccer game. Proudly I heard the good news that the Thunders won the game 4:0. And Lukas shot the 2nd goal. Go Thunders!!

Here is Lukas in his brand new uniform.

Home sweet home

I am back from my big overseas trip. I spent 7 days in Germany celebrating my best friends wedding and her daughter baptizing. I visited my uncle and friends whom I haven't seen for 12 years. I ate lots of good food, danced til 5 am and did some shopping. Unfortunately not serious shopping because of the time constrain but it was fun nevertheless.

Now I am back home, almost over the jetlag (I think I slept it through) and ready for the upcoming fall. School has started, work is picking up and birthdays and baby showers are popping up on my calendar. Oh yes, and the trip to Maui in 6 weeks too.

Anyway, I hope you didn't miss me too much.