Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 76

"Last day of school of 2011!"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 75

"Reindeer in Woods"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 74

Note to self: Reset camera settings before each use. Out of focus, weird aperture, white balance off. 

"Looking fabulous in my red Peacock wreath"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 73

It's Tom's birthday, he isn't going to work, Nat only has 3 1/2 days of school left, and there was not a lot of light. Hence the bad picture.

"On the 2nd day of Christmas, Chairman Mao gave to me, two statues in various  positions"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 72

She was singing her Christmas songs for tonight's Christmas Program. Note that the shoe she was tying was untied before she even left the house...

"Glo...ooooo...ooooo...oooooooria"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 71

Wow, the sun was actually this morning! Didn't notice until I saw how overexposed the picture was. Better get out there and enjoy it while it lasts!

"Blister in the Sun"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 70

Feeling the Christmas Spirit today! Well, feeling the Reindeer Spirit anyway!

"You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen."

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 69

We are day late calling and wishing Papaw a Happy Birthday. Apparently yesterday morning was spent too serenely to remember to call on the right day!) Picture from our skype call this morning.

"Happy Birthday Papaw"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 68

We don't have many serene moments in the mornings. But I caught one today...

"Serenity Smirk"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 67

The new piano thing is to play certain passages as fast as she can. You never heard Blue Danube until played 

Prestissimo!

"Fast Finger Frida"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 66

Last night was a Band concert at the Crowne Plaza (pictures and video later), so homework got moved to the back burner. Nothing like starting the day with some mental math problems!

"If you have 5lbs of hamburger and can make 6 hamburgers out of 1lb, and there are 8 buns in each package..."

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 65

This is as good as the portrait could get today...

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 64

"Geesh, Mom should have cleaned these glasses!"

Look how dirty those glasses are! What kind of mother let's her child out of the house not being able to see! Oh, well, maybe I should add that it's probably not dirt, they are probably dried tears. Yup. Last night was not an "eat sushi" kind of night (that is how she now refers to our best girl's only evenings!). You might recall that she lost all of her electronic privileges more than a week ago. This was due to a lack of responsibility which resulted in her forgetting homework, etc. The weekend was painful though we did sneak in a move (Back to the future) and she checked her email a few times. So this week was gonna be better, right? Unfortunately for her and I, it has not turned out that way. Monday, she remembered homework but chose not to write it into her responsibility (AKA homework) journal. I let that slide for the day, but insisted no privileges back until she learned how to write down her homework and check it before she left school. Tuesday morning. I wrote two thing in her responsibility journal: 1) Remember to get Vest (she forgot it Friday it Monday) 2) Turn in the t shirt envelope to Ms. Pineda. As I packed her lunch, I wrote a cute note on a sticky note (yes, I do that sometimes) and added the same two reminders to it. I am such a good mom-helper!


Fast forward to Tuesday night. I picked her up at school after band practice and asked her before she left school if she had all of her homework. I suggested she look at the responsibility hournal before we left the school so we could run up to the classroom if she forgot. 
Natalie: We don't have to do that as I already checked.
Me: Why don't I just check the journal real quick?
Natalie: Mon, I didn't write anything down as I only had one math home link to do.
Me: Hmmm... The agreement was that you write things down so you can establish a good habit. I see you have your vest, that's good. Let's go home.
So we got out homework at home and I relayed again the importance of writing the stuff down. Pretty sure she thought that Charlie Brown's teacher was talking! Then I opened the backpack, just to be sure nothing was left. And behold. I. Found. The. Damn. Envelope. Somehow, even with verbal and written reminders, she forgot to give to her teacher! Grrr... Just so you don't judge my next reaction too harshly, please be aware that up to this point I had used calm voice mom to explain that she could not have any electronic privileges back until she wrote in the responsibility journal. That brought some tears, but they seemed more for effect. Judge this: holding the undelivered envelope after I spent an hour being patient sort of sent me into a ... well, let's call it a spin.
Me: Why is this letter in here?
Natalie: I didn't have time to deliver it.
Me: In the whole day today, you didn't have 30 seconds to give to your teacher?
Natalie: Mom, I am really busy, no I didn't have time.
Me: Now I am pissed.
Yes, I used a curse word. And if you have been following my blog you know that cursing is currently causing  Natalie all sorts of conflicting emotions. The impact was immediate and she burst out in real crying. Which is not awesome to have in the background while you are cooking dinner. Needless to say, dinner was quiet. It was also bath night, which added to the wonderfulness of being a parent. Though she did decide to sleep in my bed anyway. She left a note on my side which said: "I feel ASHAMED. I am sorry." That didn't make me feel any better. I was just glad to get her in bed. Guess I should have cleaned those glasses off before I also went to bed. For Karma reasons. Really. Because at 1:23 a.m. Natalie woke me up
Natalie: Mom, I'm thirsty. 
Me: Well, go down and get some water.
Natalie: I can't.
Me: Why?
Natalie: Because I am afraid. Can you please go down and get me some?
So, the reality is that she is still 9. Still afraid of the dark. Still needs her mom to help with some things. Still not quite as responsible as she will be when she grows up. Still my daughter.
I should have cleaned the glasses.

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 63

"Ho-Hum"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 62

This week portraits. I need the extra pictures since the school pictures were not great. We ordered some, but I just never like them! Today she insisted on wearing a hat as she had a teeny scratch on her forehead from this weekend. Tom left for India this morning. Gone for two weeks. Sigh.

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 61

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! It is always weird when the kids get up and go to school on Thanksgiving. Tom arrived safely back from the US last night. So last night was a bit like Christmas for all of us. (I got my Xmas gift early, a new Kindle Fire, but more on that later!) I have mac&Cheese sitting on the counter waiting to go into oven to take to the 3/4 Grade Thanksgiving feast at School today. And we are headed to Bubba's BBQ for Thanksgiving Dinner tonight. Alas, no Filipino band this year pounding out our Thanksgiving favs.

"Loving"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 60

Started the day chasing cats. Natalie now refers to one of the cats (feral) as "ours". As in, "Hey, why is our cat over at the neighbors". Natalie has taken to encouraging the cats to vacate an area before I arrive so that I do not hiss at them. Oh, and look at the clever way in which the gardeners "fixed" one of the big trees that is falling over. They stuck a piece of bamboo on it and now the bamboo takes up a third of the walkway. No one will ever notice that or trip on that. Clever boys.

"Action"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 59

Much better day in this house! She's checking out the pet snail. Yes, pet snail. Who knew that snails pooped that much?

"Inquisitive"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 58

This is the shot of sad girl heading to school. She lost her Wii and computer privileges for a week. How, you ask? I opened her book bag this morning and found two math assignments that were supposed to be completed over the weekend. And found out she forgot to bring her math journal to class three times in the last two weeks (two of the days in a row). I am wondering how she has less sense of responsibility now than when we started school this year? 

"Sad"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 57

Book character week! Today was the character parade. Natalie went as Allie Finkle. I got a chance to to see it. I have a video but will have to see if I can get it uploaded.

"Allie Finkle in da' house!"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 56

Posting late! Very busy these last two days. Thursday was a field trip with the 4th Grade to the MagLev (fast train to airport). Of course I went! But it turned out to be a long, crappy day. Started when I got up. I left the bag with Natalie's and my snack and lunches at the house. Oops. Natalie had begged me to go but refused to sit with me on the bus. Our class left a man behind on the platform (well, he was actually a nine-year old boy and his mom was with him). The rest of the group had snack, Nat and I watched them eat. Natalie's blood sugar dropped (this is my diagnosis) and decided she couldn't go on without food (there was none). She trooped on, leaving a trail of sadness and guilt (mine) behind. When we got back to school, there was to be a picnic lunch, so I boogied home and got her lunch back to her classroom. But she wasn't there. Her friend said she was getting hot lunch in the cafeteria. I headed down and she said she was sorry, but she was totally starving and couldn't wait. So my boogie was for naught. Headed back to the house and got a call from, well, I will leave out the name to protect the innocent. After getting the life sucked out of me (protecting the innocent), I got in the car and headed to an electronics market to buy a monitor for my laptop. (all my Shanghai friends just went, "yeah, that sucks") Whew. When I got back, I decided that I was in control of how the rest of the day went. So, when Natalie got home, I told her we were going out for dinner to either Hooters or a good Sushi place. She picked Sushi. Good Choice. So we ate good sashimi, had a few laughs, and left our bad days in the rain outside the restaurant. Goodbye Thursday.

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 55

"Eyes"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 54

Tom leaves for the US today. He was home for three days! Thought about taking a picture of Natalie with him, but she was running late. So just the shoe today. Oh, those are the fake Converse that we had to scour the Fake Market for. Apparently the factory is no longer shipping her size. Time to move back if fake Converse are no longer available! Side note: Because they are fake, we have so many better options for Converse fabrics. Tried to buy her some real Converse online and have Tom bring back, but the color/fabric she wanted was not available. I guess when you copy them, you can use whatever fabric/print available. 

"Shoe"

Shark Jump? Probably

The complete series of Law & Order was just released on DVD. $699.99 for a full set of Law Order DVD's??? Who in the heck would even CONSIDER paying that much? Maybe anyone living in China with access to cheap DVD's and technically savvy households using Torrents to keep abreast of current entertainment are the only people who think this is crazy. I think it is just another example of the old media consumption model being used without regards to the model which truly represent how the current generations consume media. While it is fabulous that there are some special tidbits only included in the set, does that outweigh the cost of $699.99? And if I did buy them, I would probably want to watch them on a tablet, so I would be left ripping the dvd's for days so that I could upload to my ipad through itunes for viewing. Puhlease... Please let me know if you added this item to your xmas wish list...

'Law & Order': A 104-Disc DVD Set & 10 Top 'Ripped From the Headlines' Eps | TheWrap TV:

'via Blog this'

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 53

This week is body parts!

"Hand"

Game Changer?

If you like Louis CK, you will probably agree that his idea could be a game changer for watching comedy. The future of comedy might be different.

Comedians Sound Off On Louis CK's Latest Funny Business | Fast Company:

'via Blog this'

The first Mormon candidate for president was the “first Mormon” | Constitution Daily

The first Mormon candidate for president was the “first Mormon” | Constitution Daily:

'via Blog this'

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 52

She wanted to use "talking" as a final hobby but we decided that talking is not a hobby, it's a trait. Second choice was "playing with animals" but since she is afraid to handle her hamster she changed it to "looking at animals" but we both agreed that was not the best hobby and in fact she doesn't spend a lot of time doing it. So, we settled on the hobby that gets her out of bed Saturday and Sunday at 6:00 a.m. so that she can extend the hour she is allowed to play video games on the weekend. (Her hour starts when I get up and look at the clock)  She is not actually playing Wii, it just looks like it. 

"Just one more minute...."

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 51

Today was Mouse House. Actually it is a set of Calico Critters (Sylvanian Family every else in the world). We got Natalie her first set for Christmas when she was 3. We call it Mouse House because the first Animal family to live in the first house was a set of mice. But she never really played with it, except with her Aunts and Uncles, until we moved here. Now the kids can play for hours and certain story lines last for weeks! Of course there is an orphanage and I'm not sure any of the baby animals have both a mother and a father. I have learned so much about how young children learn to integrate real life into fantasy by watching the various groups of children play at this game. I used to sit outside and listen to the ebb and flow of 3-4 of them creating a story and then integrating the houses and accesories into it. Marriages, divorces, births, new jobs, bully's on the playground all got played out with the Mouse House. Anyway, this has been the best investment ever. Now the toy table is full and there is no space for real estate expansion. Makes me a little sad to think she might not be playing with this after a year or so. I blame the melancholy on the rain...

"Mouse House Ensemble!"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 50

I am not sure it is even fair to call her reading a "hobby". More of a lifestyle choice!

"Sigh. Too bad school interferes with reading."

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 49

Back to school after a 5 Day break! Last Thursday and Friday were Student-led conferences and Monday was an in-service day (The kids told me it was so their teachers could learn to play Garage Band. Wow.). This week's theme is hobbies. Natalie is working on The Black Swan. Pretty. Too bad you can't hear it! And she got a kick out of having the same first names as the actress who danced to this. I didn't share the part about dying with real feathers...

"Natalie Portman would have been better off with my version"

Recipe: Pork with Sesame Mustard Sauce

I am slowly adding in my recipes to the blog. Here is one from a while ago!

Pork with Sesame Mustard Sauce

1/4 kg Pork Cutlets (Pork Loin)

2 tsp Sesame Oil

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

3 tsp Soy Sauce

2 tsp olive oil

4-5 cloves garlic, crushed

Trip any extra fat from pork and slice into 1/4" strips.  Prepare marinade: mix sesame oil, mustard, soy sauce, and olive oil.  Whisk in garlic.  Mix pork into marinade and set aside (up to 2 hours).

Heat some more olive oil in a pan (use wok if you have one).  Heat until not quite smoking.  Place pork into pan, seperating the strips.  Stir pork as it cooks.  Cook until done, 3-5 minutes.  Serve with lots of hot rice. 

Serves 2

Notes: As the first official meal I cooked with all chinese ingredients, except for the dijon, I was pleased with the results.  I tried again with chicken and also added veggies.  Also good.  The soy will carmelize slightly so you really get a good color on the meat.  I used the dijon to give it a kick, but vinegar would probably have the same effect.

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 48

Yes, it is a day late. And yes, I did take it yesterday. She stayed overnight at friend's house due to my participation in the Melbourne Cup activities so I couldn't take it before school. It is late due to my participation in the Melbourne Cup Activities. Did I mention I was recovering yesterday from the Melbourne Cup Activities? But we still got some action shots before heading to bed! Oh, and she is practicing her Christmas show music which explains the caption.

"Joy to the World"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 47

Theme this week is ACTION. We had to take about 20 pictures to get her into the right dribbling stance. I realized, but more importantly Natalie realized, that she should probably be dribbling more often if she wants to play basketball this year!

"Come and get it!"

Recipe: Roasted Tomato Soup with Cheddar "Hats"

Time for SOUP!  I stole the original recipe from one of my blogs, but of course I had to modify a bit! Sort of ended up with an French Onion Soup, but without onions, or beef broth, and changed the cheese. But you get the idea. I used the word "hat" thinking that made it more appealing to anyone under 10. it did. Hard to find plum tomatoes, but smaller grape tomatoes are easier. These pictures actually show larger tomatoes, but those seemed very bitter. Better to stick with a tomato that is sweet, whatever that means in your market.  However,substitution means there might not be as much “juice” in the tomatoes. I also think you can use this as a base to add whatever other herbs or ingredients sound good. I want to try again and add a roasted beet or maybe even some roasted carrots. 


This version calls for quite a bit of cheese. You can cut that back if you want. But I needed all of it to entice the rest of the family to eat!

ingredients:

Soup

3 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste) dried crushed red pepper

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Lid

4 1-inch slices from a large loaf of rye bread, whole wheat sourdough or bread of your choice (or 16 1-inch slices from a baguette), toasted until hard and lightly buttered on one side

1 tablespoon grated raw onion (Don't add if the kids/hubbies don't appreciate!)

1 cup coarsely grated cheddar (or more to taste)

preparation:

Serves 4 

Make soup: Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap garlic cloves in a tight foil packet. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on large baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (I used 1 full teaspoon of Kosher salt). Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Add foil packet of garlic to tray. Roast until tomatoes are brown and tender (garlic will be very tender), about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

Unwrap garlic packet and peel cloves. Transfer cloves, tomatoes and any accumulated juices to a blender or food processor and pulse machine on and off until tomatoes are a chunky puree. Transfer tomatoes to medium pot and add thyme, crushed red pepper and stock and bring to a boil Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasonings to taste.

Create cheddar lid: Preheat oven to 350. Arrange four ovenproof soup bowls, crocks or large mugs on a large, foil-lined baking sheet. Stir grated onion into the warm soup. (I love this last-minute suggestion of onion.) Float toast slice(s) in each bowl, buttered side up and divide grated cheese generously over top. (If you’re using a wide bowl, you might find that you want more cheese to create a thick, broiled lid.) Bake soups on tray for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbling and brown at the edges. If you’d like it even more bronzed on top, preheat your broiler and finish soups for a minute or two under it. Serve immediately.

Do ahead: Soup can be prepared one day ahead, and kept covered in the fridge. Rewarm before serving, or before finishing with cheddar crouton.

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 46

"Off to a running start this week. Happy Monday!"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 45

"You've been BOOED!"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 44

"'I guess that about covers everything.' Can you imagine doing this for money? What a racket!'"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 43

"'Don't tell ME your stupid problems. I've got plenty of my own. 'Go soak your head, you big baby.' 'Want some advice? Drop dead.'"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 42

"'I've written some sample answers to people who write in.' 'Stop whining and get a life bozo'"

Daily Picture Grade 4 - Day 41

"I think our newspaper needs a new advice columnist, so I am applying for the job."

New Lens and Sharing some Pictures

I bought a new lens for my Nikon 40DX this week. I have been wanting to get a prime lens for a while and have been looking and browsing, but no buying. After realizing that I had less than a handful of decent pictures from the two weddings I attended recently, I decided to go ahead and get it here. I bought a Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX.  This was my first major purchase at a Chinese Photography market. I knew what the price was on Amazon and also new that I would be able to get for same price, but probably not cheaper.

This is a super fast lens! At f/1.8, I can take pictures in very little light. But I must admit that using the new lens takes some getting used to. It definitely makes me think about the process a bit different. The combinations of aperture and speed make controlling the exposure a bit more tricky!!! I really want to use the lens for some real portraits and have been snapping around the house to practice. I can see myself taking this lens on street walks from now on. It is super light and almost like a point-and-shoot if you get the right settings for the lighting. One feature it has that I love is the ability to override the auto focus without changing the setting on the lens. The A/M setting on the lens will allow you to use the autofocus to get 95% of the focus and then you can fine-tune manually. Seems like work, right? But when you are trying to take a close picture of someone, it is sometimes difficult to find the right focus point. The nose? The glasses? Being able to change that on the fly is a good technique for quickly taking a few shots with slightly different points. Anyway, more on the technical discovery's later.


I took a few pictures and wanted to share. Not just a technical article, but some picture of Natalie. Seems like she is growing up way to fast. Oh, and I got a few pics of Tom smiling. Really. Check it out.

Picture of the Expo Center in Puxi taken from car
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My sister-wives from Puxi
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Caught a real smile that comes after the fake smile
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Seems grown up to me
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Conference call night. This is how I see Tom most evenings!
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Some smiles from the morning of International Day. Curly hair courtesy of braids we put into wet hair at 8:30 PM the night before.
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Smiles
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Still loves Mucho (AKA Hobbes)
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She CHOSE to wear a skirt
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I asked for a smile. I got one. Whoohooo!
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These are Natalie's shoes that she wore to school. Told me that morning that the holes have been there for a couple of weeks. Oh, and it was raining this day. Said she was used to her feet being wet.
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Better shot of the inside of her shoe. Off to the market today to get a new pair of fake Converse. Why can't she wear the $50 New Balance she got this summer?
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