Book Week

Last week was Book Week at Becca's school. The culmination of the week was Friday which included dressing up as your favorite character and a cake competition. The dressing up came as no surprise, but you might ask- what ask do cakes have to do with book week? Hmm, now that I think about it... I don't know why this was part of it, but it was really fun!

Becca dressed up as:

JUNIE B. JONES (a beginning chapter book - one of Becca's faves)

Becca had ALL kinds of cake ideas. Most of which I vetoed. My cake making skills are okay, but making a "Where's Waldo puzzle" on a cake seemed a bit beyond me! We finally settled on "The Magic School Bus". I think that it turned out rather well, don't you? Funny thing is that I got into a taxi to go to Becca's school and the driver just kept looking at the cake and laughing. Of course, while I know the word for cake I couldn't remember it until we were almost there and then I think I said it wrong (so maybe I don't know it as well as I thought).

Someone gave me the idea to use melted chocolate for the words. After forming the words, put it in the fridge to harden. Voila! Letters you can stick onto the icing. (cause black is really hard especially with just basic food coloring)

It was Becca's idea to use bread pans to make the school bus shape. Her current idea of what she wants to do when she grows up is a designer or maybe an architect. 

Starting to resemble a bus... (m&m's for lights, chocolate covered oreos for wheels, and square-shaped gum for the headlights)

Lanterns

On Saturday we went out to dinner with someone who was visiting the company from the U.S. We ate on the other side of the city at a restaurant beside Jinji Lake. Dinner was yummy, but after dinner we made a great discovery.... we looked out the window and saw all these twinkling lanterns in the sky (you can see them in the picture at the top). When we went outside to investigate, we saw people were selling these paper lanterns that once you light it rises up into the sky like a hot air balloon. Of course we had to buy one and test it out! At first the kids were really unnerved by it. They were really worried that they (or the balloon) would catch on fire. Really you can't blame them, these did seem to be a bit of a fire hazard. In fact I learned after the fact that they are illegal because of the potential fire hazard to buildings -- Ooops! We'll claim ignorance on this one. So, we launched one and later decided to do a second. The kids were excited about the second and even helped us to launch it. Not surprisingly, we drew quite a crowd as we were getting our lantern ready to launch. I felt like the punchline to a joke: how many laowis (foreigners) does it take to light a lantern? :-D

Is it just me, or does Tori's hair seem really close to the flame? Or at least too close for me....

Josh helping to hold the lantern as it filled with hot air.

Counting down: san, er, yi (or 3, 2, 1) until....

LIFTOFF!

There it goes!

Things on a bike

I have a game that I like to play.... I like to find the person carrying the most unusual thing on a bike or electric scooter. Let me tell you, I have seen some REALLY crazy things! Or another twist to this, is to find the most people on a bike. Unfortunately, most times I don't have the camera with me. Yesterday on the way to church we saw this:

He is carrying at least 2 large flower arrangements. Here is the view from the front:

My question is, how in the world can he see? Let me just say, I am so impressed by the bike skills that most Chinese possess. I am happy if I can make it home from the grocery store with 2-3 bags! Necessity truly is the mother of invention.

Whole Wheat EVERYTHING!

Since my last post, I have made so many things with whole wheat flour! So far, I have made whole wheat: pancakes, waffles, pizza crust, banana bread, tortilllas and I even added a bit of whole wheat flour when Josh and I made cookies the other day. And this is just since Wednesday. I feel like I have entered the wonderful world of whole grains again! I think I am going to make bread this week. If I don't watch out, I will go through my 2 bags really quickly (yes, I did get 2 bags!). But wait, I can order more! =)

Too Easy

So, I have lamented for MONTHS about my lack of whole wheat flour. I found it one time in an import store in Suzhou, but that was last June! I love to make bread, pizza crusts and even pancakes using whole wheat flour. In fact, I had kind of given up on it when I was talking to a friend who lives in our neighborhood. She had come over to borrow some white flour because all she had was whole wheat. Really? I inquired where she got it and she said City Shop which is located in Shanghai. This is an import shop that sells many things not available in China. In my mind, I immediately thought, well good thought but that won't work (Shanghai is not far from us, but it takes at least 2 hours to get there by car). Then she said that City Shop delivers to Suzhou every Wednesday. Really??!! Later that afternoon, she brought by the catalogue. Let me tell you, this was almost too easy. I sent an email (in English) listing what I wanted and that I wanted the normal Wednesday delivery. Later that day I received a confirmation email (also in English) and Wednesday morning my things showed up. The delivery was even free when you purchased a certain amount (which was really easy to do as import stuff can be pricey). To celebrate, I made whole wheat banana bread last night. :-) Wow! It only took me 8 months of living here to figure this out....

Fried Chicken

Yesterday was a friend's birthday. I asked him what he missed from home and if I could make dinner for him. He said fried chicken. After hearing this, I was a bit nervous because I have made fried chicken only one time and it was a DISASTER! But, of course, I agreed. So I did a little bit of research online to get some tips. The result was really good (if I do say so myself). But when Andy got home, he was humored to see me frying chicken in my wok and using chopsticks to turn the chicken pieces. But really, it was so much easier to do use chopsticks and the wok worked wonderfully!

1st Day of School

Today was the long-awaited first day of school for Tori. She has been looking forward to this for a couple of months! She attends the same school as Josh  and will be going 3 half-days (the school is located in our neighborhood, a 5 minute walk from our house). Her teacher had advised me since it would be her first time in school to come and stay for her entire first day. Knowing how independent our youngest is, I had my doubts if this was really necessary. I think the school encourages this because transitions can be much bigger for kids who are outside their home country. I know that it took much longer for Josh to get comfortable in kindergarten after our move. Anyway, I digress.... But after being in her class for almost an hour (and pretty much being ignored by T the whole time), I decided it might be time to go. I told Tori that I was going to go home. Her eyes got really big and she asked, "Do I have to go, too?" When I reassured that she wouldn't, she had this HUGE smile on her face and breathed a great sigh of relief. I asked if she would be worried if I left. She answered, "No, I will not. I will not cry like Josh doesn't cry." At their school, each classroom has one English teacher and one Chinese teacher, so the day is split and taught about half in each language. Tori had a great day and is excited to go back tomorrow.

Showing off her backpack

She was so busy playing that she wouldn't stop and pose for a picture.