Quarterly Top 5 Photos | July–September 2011

Ever since we’ve come back from our summer holiday, it seems like I’d been in a funk.  Uninspired.  While I have been taking out the camera with me whenever I could, I haven’t really been taking it out of the bag as often I used to in the past.  So I sometimes end up lugging the heavy bag and not having taken a single photo at all.

 

Hopefully, I’ll start to take more photos now that the weather is cooler. (Yeah, I blame the weather.)  I hope to have at least a few photos of both Josh and Zoë together in time for the next Quarterly Top 5 (hosted by Nap Time Momtog / Amber’s Articles / Click it Up a Notch).

 

Here are my Quarterly Top 5 for Jul – Sep –in no particular order:

 

1.  This one always brings a smile to my face.  It’s just so sweet how Zoë had her short little arm and chubby little leg hugging Chris as she napped.

 

 

 

2.  I love her colorful fingers and hand!

 

 

 

3.  I love this girl!

4. I love him –missing front teeth and all!

 

 

 

5.  I can’t really point my finger at what I love about this photo; I just do.

 

 

First Crush

Conversation # 1

Me: Who did you play with at school today?

Zoë: Oliver.

Me: Did you play with anybody else?

Zoë: Yes, (naming a few other children).

I know most of the other children she’s named, but I don’t know Oliver, yet this is the one name that gets first-mention every time I ask her who she plays with at school.

Me: Why do you enjoy playing with Oliver?

Zoë: Because he’s silly and he has a little brother called Joshua, but he calls him Joshie.

Me:  You like him because he’s fun to play with and he also has brother called Joshua, just like you do?

Zoë:  Yes, but also because (in a stage whisper, cupping her hand) he’s handsome. Very handsome.

 

Conversation # 2

Zoë: Mommy, I know how to spell Oliver’s name (She proceeded to spell it out. Correctly, too.)

Me: Wow, how did you know how to spell his name?

Zoë: I looked it up on his cubby.

 

{She’s only 4.}

 

Three Little Birds

Josh and Zoë love an audience.  Ever since Josh was small, he would put together little performances for us.  He would be emcee and solo performer rolled into one.  Zoë, when she was old enough to join in, got right in there with Josh.

They were putting together one of their “performances” for my mother-in-law during her visit. When it was Josh’s turn, he asked Zoë to say that he would be singing “Three Little Birds.”  I didn’t think anything of it, not really knowing that particular Bob Marley song.  But as he sang, I was thinking, “Hmmm, a melody pure and true… doesn’t sound like something a 6-year old would make up.  Then I asked him who taught him the song.  He looked at me like I should already know the song, “Ms. C plays it when we do our tidying up in school. It’s Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.”  So I googled it.



And it turns out the we actually have it in our Bob Marley CD.  So now, we have the song playing whenever we’re in the car.  Because we have it on Repeat a lot of the time, we all know the words –including Zoë.  So now we all sing along –loudly! –to the song whenever it comes on.

I love it that we sing along to Bob Marley, The Beatles, Three Dog Night, ABBA, Wham! and other 80’s tunes as much as we do to Disney tunes.

What kind of music do you listen to when you’re on the road?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Low Key

1.  Low Key (Photography)  - I love this man’s face, so interesting, so full of stories. He was doing a demo at Fort Langley on how to make wooden barrels  He was so animated and kept us hanging on to his every word.  The photo was not taken really with “low key” in mind, but seeing this week’s theme, I thought this photo would be perfect for me to work on for the theme.

 

2.  The Color Wheel:  Monochromatic / Analogous Color – I love how the store used a lavender tag to go with the purplish red of the cabbages.

 

 

3.  Circle – This is a dessert place next to where Chris and I had dinner tonight.  The second Chinese character (圓) means “round” or “circle.”

 

 

4.  Scarf – No sooner has the weather turned just the tad bit cooler, the scarves come out.  Every other person we saw tonight had some sort of scarf on.

 

 

 

5.  Phone – No fancy phone for me. Mine is still an old Nokia.  This is Chris’ phone.  The kids love to hijack his phone to play Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja.  Chris was showing me how he could watch movies on his phone.  I can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch a movie on such a small screen.  That said, the resolution his screen was pretty good.

 

 

My Scout

 

…with the missing front teeth!

 

 

Josh had his first Beaver Scouts meeting yesterday.  After all this time searching for an English-speaking scouts group, I was really happy to learn that his school has one. 

 

No, they hadn’t learned to tie knots and climb ropes (yet), but they did decorate cupcakes and Josh had a great time doing so.

 

Psst, anyone finding it a tad ironic that Josh is a Beaver Scout and he is missing his front teeth?

 

 

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Love Note from Zoë

Out of the blue, she asked for a piece of paper.  She said she wanted to write me a love day note.  This is what she handed to me when she was done.

 

Dear Mom,

I love you because you tell me (lots of things). 

My name is Zoë.  

I love Mom.

From Zoë

 

This note is going in my wallet.  Where I could pull it out to look and read whenever I want me some Zoë-love.  I really do not have the words to describe the sweetness and the joy that she brings to our lives each and every single day.  She makes us feel so blessed.

 

{The only help she got was the ‘cause’ in because, but otherwise she spelled and wrote all those words herself.}

 

Over Dim Sum and Pearls

My mother-in-law has been in town visiting with us this past week and we’ve been going out –shopping and dining out.  We made it to Tim Ho Wan (a Michelin-starred dim sum place) and waited for only one hour before we got a table.  I say only because my parents waited for almost 2.5 hours when they went!   Worth the wait, believe me.

 

While waiting, we met a very nice lady (MK) and her brother (Obi Wan K).  MK was visiting her brother who’s been working here as an ice skating instructor.  It turned out that said brother was the guy who stood in and performed Ballerina Girl at Zoë’s ballet performance at the HKAPA (when the original star couldn’t make it at the last minute)!  What a small world.

 

{Before I go any further, let me just say now that the photo has nothing at all to do with this post.  Nothing at all.  This was taken at a local electronics store and Josh and Zoë were testing out the 3D glasses they had there.}

 

We chatted while waiting for our table to be called.  You know how you just click with some people and feel that you’ve known them a long time?  That was how it was with MK. 

 

After dim sum, my MIL and I were planning to go to the Jade Market.  MK decided to come along with us. (Obi Wan had to go somewhere else.)  Good thing she did, too.  Between us, we managed to get really great prices on some pearl earrings and necklaces.  Better bargaining power when grouping purchases together!

 

Great food, great company, great bargain.  Definitely a great day.   

 

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Street Photography

1.  Street Photography – I love walking around, pretending to be a tourist.  I’d be perfectly happy walking around different parts of town, taking random shots of random scenes.

 

A sidewalk vendor near the Chai Wan market

 

 

2.  From a Distance

 

3.  Sunday – The only thing that makes the collage below ‘fit’ into the theme is that all the shots were taken on a Sunday.4.  Liquid – Not quite liquid, but not quite solid either.  Growing up, this was one of my favorite desserts –douhua (tofu pudding).  These days, we try to order a bucket whenever we go and have dim sum.   The kids and Chris love this, too –with lots of ginger syrup!

 

 

5.  Behind – On the way home from church, we were behind this Jag, which was behind a mini-bus, which was behind a big bus.

 

(Processed with seven layers of Kim Klassen’s Serious Magic texture)

 

Moonless

Every time I try to take a photo of where we live, I get dizzy.  This photo was taken last night.  I had hoped to get a good photo of the full moon, but no such luck.  It was a cloudy night.

 

 

Moon or no moon, I think last night was one of the best Mid-Autumn eve I can remember.  The kids had so much fun playing with their friends –at night, way past their normal bedtime.  It was quite a festive atmosphere, with lanterns and glow sticks galore.  Also, for me and Chris, it was a lot more relaxing.  The kids are now old enough to run around on their own without us having to constantly hover over them, making sure that they wouldn’t hurt themselves, etc.  We could sit / stand around and chat with the other parents and the neighbors who were there.

 

 

Josh, who had already had a shower before dinner, had to take another shower after we got back.  He was all sweaty and red in the face from climbing and running around.  Zoë pretty much stuck to her little friend who had all these glow sticks.  She was quite content to make glow stick bangles and necklaces… and wear them.

 

 

Mid-Autumn Eve

After dinner tonight, Chris and I took Josh and Zoë downstairs to play.  We told them they could play for 15 minutes and then we would come home and get ready for bed.  Off we went, with Angry Birds lanterns in hand.

 

 

Once on the playground, they immediately took off with some playmates –all of them carrying various kinds of lanterns.  Many brought glow sticks.  Some brought picnic mats to sit on.  A few boys ran around wielding their light sabres.

 

 

There were not too many people when we went down, but by the time we left –some 45+ minutes later, –more people were still coming!

 

 

I took quite a number of photos, but I am too tired and sleepy to upload now…  So tired I am that I know I will sleep through the noises of children still playing downstairs, running around –at almost 11:30pm!

 

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!