Holiday DAYBOOK

Outside My Window

Glorious weather. Blue skies. Sometimes windy. Temps 60-75*F.

I'm Thinking About

Letting the tide roll in. It's rest time!

I Don't Want To Forget 
My 8 year old asking for snuggles - on these rare occasions, I wonder "is this the last time she asks?" and I cherish the snuggles I get.

My 4 year old's absolute delight in all things princess.

The views in Hong Kong.

I'm Learning
How to bake these! Two determined tries and lots of down time required.

 

 Yeast makes it grow! Incredible!!

I'm Hearing

Adele being sung by my girls. Often. But at this very moment, all is still and quiet (nap time!)

look who got new glasses!

I'm Reading

Making Thinking Visible - by Ron Ritchhart, Karin Morrison & Mark Church. 

Powerful thinking routines and tips for how to develop a culture of thinking in the classroom - with a hefty influence from Reggio and the amazing work at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Nighttime - by Mark Haddon

Around The House

Massive re-organization and de-clutter projects going on. A friend of mine once explained that Boxing Day for them meant boxing up gently used toys and books to donate to those in need. A satisfying thing to do when making room for new Christmas presents around the house (especially a tiny Hong Kong flat!). 

purposeful mess??

At Work

No work for three whole weeks, baby! :)

before holidays - watching Dad coach JV basketball at school (headphones to soften the noise)

hangin' with friends in Stanley

on the MTR - not ones to sit quietly for the ride....

50th anniversary at my school, HKIS. We made this human-logo. So cool. And celebrated with lion dances.

Eating Out (confession - I'm never in the kitchen anymore)

New tradition - eat at a restaurant after Christmas Eve Service. I'm liking this new plan SO MUCH!

This photo NOT from Christmas Eve - rather another night out for Dim Sum & chicken soup dumplings!!

So Very Hong Kong

Holiday Lights. The lights here go up the day after Halloween (no American Thanksgiving buffer, you know) and stay up through Chinese New Year. That's like 3 months, people.

 

 

 

peaceful night with our half-lit tree...
ran out of lights - and couldn't find the same kind anywhere!!

One Of My Favorite Things

Half N Half. And I haven't had a DROP of it since moving to Hong Kong. (sigh) - until today. Thank you, sister for sending me the PeRFECT holiday gift!!!

A Less-Than Favorite Thing
the strange disappearance of ATM machines for my bank. One by one they seem to be taking them away! :( At this point, I either have to head into the city or get charged an arm to use another bank's machine nearer to my home.

I'm Thankful
for sleep. and play. and friends. and family. (photos from American Thanksgiving with friends)

At thanksgiving dinner - someone discovered the MICROPHONE and pretty much didn't let go.

I'm Planning
A trip to Phuket, Thailand with the in-laws in about a month!!!

Picture & Video Thoughts :: 
from a preschool holiday performance...

i've been spotted... :)

see her giving me a *WINK*

practice (Chinese "Santa Claus is Coming to Town")

Pre Conventional Reading - and kids being kids

I don't know about you, but I'm fascinated when I watch little ones engage with books. It feels like just yesterday that our oldest was "reading" Knuffle Bunny. Now she reads to her little sister.

And now our youngest is doing things with books that amaze and astound me. Just watch what she does with this one --- (yes, it's written in Chinese! Some of her words are Chinese as well!)


Interacting with the characters and following them as they change through the story, imitating them to establish feeling and to understand them better, having her own ideas about what's happening in the book, kinesthetic (hit that ball!), noticing the print is different than the illustrations, verbally "labeling" a picture (picu! = rear-end in Chinese),  noticing when she has missed a page.... and so much more. Yes, pre-conventional children really ARE reading. They are capable of doing so much of the important reading-work before ever learning a single letter. And what fun it is!

It would be a shame if I didn't also show you this ... our BunnyCakes is a real riot:



and... lest she be left out... here's our eldest with her new favorite thing. Roller Skates. (How do you get her to take them OFF?)

Fall Flurry

So many small things have happened over the past weeks - here is a 'catching up' post. 

Beach Time -
Hong Kong does November right. Shek O beach is one of our favorite afternoon destinations. Close to our house. Restaurants nearby. And a lady sets up chairs & umbrella for about $1 USD. A blissfully relaxing place.

That bed project? Done. (happy find: zero VOC paint)

before

after

 A care-package in the mail with USA stuff brings a special kind of happy!

Thank you, Justin & Joelle!!!

Things in HK that we love...

These will be my downfall!

"chinese herbal" - medicine that really works!!

 Potty trained ... well.... sort of. :)

Hanging at the house... 

Out and About:

Elton John concert - on a school night! :) yeehaw!

 running errands... in the streets of HK...

Weekends in Stanley (always!)

Bear & I tried this group jump-rope - unsuccessfully!

ice cream from the dour lady at the corner store

Midlevels with a dear friend for pedis and dinner:

Cook-Out with our apartment-pals:

Thanksgiving with friends:

football - laptop style

all of the Amahs

Funny antics

For 3 days straight - she insisted on wearing her 3D glasses to watch cartoons.

She also aggressively asks to bake something every Saturday morning.
She picks a photo in the kids' cookbook and begs to make it -
sometimes as early as 5:30 a.m.!

And finally - preparations for Christmas:

school tree-lighting ceremony at night

yep, still shorts weather some days

ABear's Christmas Show

Our girl is the one in the red dress & santa hat - rockin it out up front:

This preschool warms my heart something fierce!

Only in Hong Kong do you need to 'take a number'
...and purchase a ticket days in advance enabling you to 'take a number' to see the big guy.