Week 190 and Week 102.5 - Auntie Jen gets married and Thanksgiving and our wedding anniversary!

So sorry that the week has been nuts, but rest assured some good eating has been had.  Auntie Jen got married - and what a beautiful bride she was!  We were excited for her to tie the knot with Mathieu.  Her wedding was a true international affair - families came from California and France, friends from all over the world came together in Hong Kong!  The wedding took place on the historic Star Ferry.  I was lucky to be an attendant there.  Charlotte was happy I was wearing false eyelashes.  We were all happy that Uncle Thomas stayed a few days with us too.

In other news - we had a wedding anniverary ourselves.  Five years!  We had a nice dinner at Morton's to celebrate.  Matt is working third shift these days and it has disrupted our routine to some extent - so it was good that we were able to make it out.

Our friend Sandy hosted a really nice Thanksgiving dinner - with Americans and friends of Americans alike.  We brought the girls because they should see what Thanksgiving is (and Charlotte approved with her "this house is really nice!").  Charlotte was focused on the cake but did manage to eat some turkey (that we dubbed 'chicken' in an effort to make it more marketable to her).  Sophia ate nothing but air and cranberry sauce (I hacked the sauce from dried cranberries -and it was pretty good but a tad sweet even with some lemon juice diffusion).  The girls did have cake (red velvet, yum) and a multitude of other lovely desserts.  I was shocked to learn how regional red velvet cake was in the US.

Sophia is talking a lot - I don't remember Charlotte being so understandable before two (today she said the word other which took me aback).  She is also being naughty - today she asked to go upstairs then downstairs then upstairs and then downstairs - I did not let her go back downstairs the last go around as I needed to get some things done.

Charlotte has memorized the entire "Olivia and the Missing Toy" book.  It is rather impressive.  We got a video of it that I will post next week.

Charlotte also is telling us, "If you need to get in touch with me, you can call me on Facebook."  Where does she come up with these things?

Ok pictures:

Uncle Thomas!

Levitating at Uncle Rob's in Hong Kong:

Elmo video time:

Wedding photos:

Week 189 and Week 101.5 - Uncle Sam comes to town!

It has been a busy month at Casa Drake - work is busy, I am trying to sew more (and have found like minded sewers), we are trying to ready ourselves for the holidays.  It certainly feels like the holidays are near as the weather has just turned over the last week.  We are woefully unprepared for the cooler weather.  I bought the girls zippered sweatshirts - which Sophia refuses to wear perhaps in her rebellious anti-cold solidarity with me (or because she is nearing 2).

Charlotte is doing well in Capoiera - she calls one of the teachers "Handsome Guy" which is very funny.  Capoiera is definitely a community in and of itself - it is nice for Charlotte to be part of something larger.  It is actually a bit of an adjustment for me - I have really never felt like part of a community (as this was not a big priority for us when we were younger).  I can see how nice it is - and how nice it must have been for Matt to be part of the larger hockey community.

We got a note a couple of weeks back about how well Sophia has settled into her preschool, but that she does not like to share - I nearly fell out of my chair!  I hope that does get better but I suppose the whole notion of sharing is probably lost on a one year old.

We had a parent teacher conference with Charlotte.  Apparently she likes to read to the other kids (I suppose she makes up her own stories while turning pages in books) and tells stories about our family.  Like in her old school, she is slow to initiate play with others but loves to be part of other established groupings or activities.  I suppose Matt and I are both that way too.

Sophia has been a tumbling wizard!  She emulates Charlotte and is really quite amazing - she could tumble down the hallway if she was so inclined.  I will get a video sometime.

The girls love playing with my makeup too.  I let them dabble a bit - I suppose I am a bit permissive but I don't want the girls to think that fun things like makeup are verboten.  But then it gets difficult to take it away from them too.

Last weekend Uncle Sam came from Singapore for a fun day and a half.  Sam - I am happy you read our blog!  The girls also got two bubble guns last weekend - a very fun invention that renders any manual bubble making obsolete!  This was a reminder that we should buy two identical of everything - as Sophia (and occasionally her older sister) do not like to share.  The two bubble guns were bought on two consecutive days.

The girls have started to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I love sharing that tradition with them!

Here they are watching:

Magic hour photos:

Serious, this bubble gun wielding:

The beginning of the lack of sharing:

Charlotte takes pics with my camera - a funny one of Yaya:

A rare couple shot.  I am really not sure what my hair was up to last Saturday:

Bubble gun number two:

Uncle Sam (the nice one, not the tax one!):