Sunday, March 26
On our way down the escalator to the food court for Sunday dinner. We live right next door to a shopping mall that has a couple of restaurants on the basement level that we like to visit occasionally. This night we had noodles.
Monday, March 27
We are going to India very soon and need tourist visas. One of the requirements is two passport size photos with blue backgrounds. If I had a nickel for every time we had to get some kind of passport-ish sized photo while here in China, I'd have a wallet full of change! It is silly. Worked out though because I needed some for the school applications I've been filling out for Reece & Braden.
Tuesday, March 28Braden is picking out his story for the night (the box is full of paperback books brought from home - most all are from Scholastic orders) while Dad does some work on his laptop.
Wednesday, March 29
Braden's school had a family pancake breakfast this Wednesday morning. The kids could wear their PJs for a small donation to the charity of the month. Who doesn't love PJ day?!
Thursday, March 31
Practicing my photography today. This week I have been studying Steve McCurry's website and blog. Many of his photos are made up of compound pictures, meaning two or more perfectly composed moments in the same image. That is my own definition. Many of the great photographers do this. And each moment or image in the photo relate to one another and bring further meaning to the main subject. I was trying this here. Just practicing. Two pictures in this one photo - one of my son looking at stickers and one of our ayi vacuuming. A step in the right direction anyway!
Friday, April 1
There is a field trip on Saturday (see note below on why there is school this Saturday in China). The boys' teacher decided to organize a potluck for lunch. My kids volunteered me for cupcakes and apples for 40 people. Since creative cupcakes and cakes are my thang, I couldn't disappoint.
Nicholas chose the bug cupcakes (from either What's New, Cupcake or Hello, Cupcake!). I thought they would be perfect for a fieldtrip/picnic type theme. Not to mention, they are relatively easy to make and have a good impact. Of course every store I checked was out of mini M&Ms. I had several friends combing the import stores in their neighborhoods for them. Finally on Wednesday, one of my local import stores had some! I could have gotten by without them since they required very few, but it made the whole process easier and look better.
Click here for CUPCAKE BAKING TIPS from my guest blogger, Vernell.
Saturday, April 2
This Saturday is a school day in China. Why, you ask? Well, because of the Qing Ming Festival holiday, of course! Because everyone worked or went to school on Saturday, they now get Sunday, Monday & Tuesday off - three days off in a row. Oh? Why don't they just give everyone Monday off and take the weekend off as normal? That would still be 3 days off in a row and nobody would have to work or go to school for 6 straight days which is very tiring and leads to less productivity. Good question! Very good question! But you forgot that you are talking about China! Many things just do not make sense, even to the locals.
I was a chaperon on the field trip to Peking Man, a museum about a cave man found near Beijing. I had in my group, my two oldest boys as well as four of their friends - SIX BOYS (including one pre-teen who is my own son). Talk about challenging to control! I was close to finding another group for my pre-teen, but then he decided to shape up a little and without losing too much face, help me out a tiny tiny bit. The boys did have fun and I got to take lots of photos. Of course that is what I love to do. Not too much hang out time with my kids as Mom isn't as exciting as she used to be. But the bus rides to and from school were nice since it was just me and the two of them in the back row of the bus. No friends to compete for their attention. My life as a mom sure is changing!
In this photo they are digging for fossils. The museum was all about ancient man and what they discovered and how. Very cool and surprisingly high tech. I was impressed. Didn't get too much time to really learn a lot with the limited time we had and the job of keeping six boys in line. Hopefully I can go back another time when I can really focus on what the museum has to offer.
Great pictures and very cool cupcakes! My boys would love them.
Posted by: packmom | April 12, 2011 at 07:42