Homemadeinchina

{day 10} a trip to the embassy means special treats

{day 10} a trip to the embassy means long car rides and China-style, no car seats

{day 11} friends for lunch

{day 11} happy about what we are eating...

Tried a bit of rabbits head today. Our friends who came for lunch brought it with them, cooked Sichuan-style with a lot of lajiao (hotttt) and huajiao (numbbb). The boys wanted to try the brains but chickened out in the end. I know there is an ignorant, ethnocentric part of me that wonders, "why must we eat the head of a rabbit?" when all the while my freezer is mostly full of one single part of the chicken, the chicken breast, which would probably lead most people in the world to ask, "why must we only eat one part of the chicken?" Add this to a long list of things I wish was different about me... more frugal, more willing, more thoughtful, etc. etc.

The days have been surprisingly mild weather wise, while everywhere else in the northern hemisphere I read of scorching temperatures. It has meant some reprieve for us though, who know our scorching months are just around the bend. We are making good use of the outside time though. Scout did her typical independent wonder-woman thing and merely one day after having her dad mount training wheels, took them off by herself, and proceeded to teach herself to ride. Now she is whipping around the neighborhood like it's nobody's business. 

We have been plugging away at our Summer Memorization Bonanza (not really called that) and I am so proud of these kids. What I am proud of is their hard work. Memorization comes quite naturally to children, I think, but hard work does not always and they have stuck with their daily routine to review and plug away at the next card. So only two weeks in and we are reaching goals I thought would take us a good while longer. I can't wait to share their results soon. The best part is: I end up memorizing all of their works as well! This is old hat probably for most homeschooling moms, but I don't have that kind of opportunity, so this has been surprisingly gratifying for us all.

And finally, today is my little sister's birthday. She is so far away and it seems strange to have spent more than half my life with her (to date) only to now have so little face to face time with her. She is a beautiful, thoughtful, talented wife and mother of two and I'm thinking about her and our masking tape room dividers and matching watermelon dresses today.