Two Lion Dances in One Day

Tootle and her friend C wait to feed the hungry lion lettuce and hong bao at International Night at school.Tootle bravely puts her hands into the lion's mouth. Her reward is having lettuce thrown into her face. Tootle and her friend A after visiting booths for 20 or so different countries and having their faces painted with Chinese characters. The one on Tootle's forehead says "love."

Earlier in the day we enjoyed dim sum with 25 of our China Moms friends. This is the first year that Doodle hasn't worn traditional dress for this event. At least she's still willing to go. The 10 and up crowd had their own table this year. The youngest girl was 19 months (and made us all yearn for the days when we had a little one in the house), the oldest almost 12.

Tootle's new friend L takes Tootle's picture.

Doodle and her friend S; Tootle and L

Seen and Heard

I first heard and then saw this woodpecker as I shoveled out our driveway this morning. The picture is a bit blurry, but just getting this shot was a challenge. Every time I would get him in focus, he would scamper to the other side of the tree. We played this game for several minutes before I finally caught him.

At Last

It's our first snow, and our first snow day, of the season. As soon as the ground was white, the girls and their friends headed outside. Tootle and E were having so much fun rolling the not very cooperative snow that I had to coax them to go sledding. Doodle's friend J is the first person that I've ever seen talking on a cell phone while sledding. Her poor mom was on the receiving end of the scream that she let out as she and Doodle picked up speed.

Longevity Noodles

Joan asked for the recipe for longevity noodles. I haven't tried the recipe that I plan to use yet, but it's from Food & Wine and has been favorably reviewed, so I figure that it is likely to be a success. Here's the link: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/longevity-noodles. I had planned to make this last night but I didn't go to the store until after dinner. I'll report on the results tomorrow.

Happy Chinese New Year

The house isn't as clean as I would like, but the girls did get new clothes today and I have red envelopes ready to place under their pillows. I plan to make longevity noodles tomorrow night. On Friday I'll talk about CNY in Tootle's classroom, and next weekend we'll gather with friends for our traditional dim sum/lion dance event. Rumor has it that the upcoming International Night at Tootle's school will feature the lion dance troupe that performed in the inaugural parade. We may also try to catch the parade in Chinatown next weekend. We've never gone, partly because I'm a cold weather wimp and partly because we often have other plans. Gung Hay Fat Choy from our house to yours.

Stowaway

Doodle, now just a little over two years shy of being a teenager, is rapidly becoming more mature and sophisticated. I see it in her sense of humor, in her decision making skills, and in her increased sense of style. However, every now and then she'll seem like a little girl again. Saturday's indoor soccer game shows both sides of my girl.

Coach Mike told the girls last week that they each would take a turn as goalie over the course of the 7 game season. Most of the girls don't like to play goalie, and Doodle is no exception. Doodle is a data/sports statistics hound so she spent some time this week looking at the standings. She discovered that the team that they would face yesterday lost last week and that their next opponent won very easily, so she decided to volunteer to be goalie for the first half yesterday (proof of her decision making skills). She did so bravely, but with butterflies in her stomach as we drove to the field. Doodle played well, and her teammates dominated the first half offensively, so once again no goals were scored against her (no one has scored a goal against her in the handful of games in which she has played goalie). Ultimately Doodle's team won 5-2, and about half the team went out to dinner together afterwards. Later in the evening, as I unpacked her bag, I found the usual water bottle, different colored game jersey, and extra socks. But I didn't expect to find her beloved teddy bear Abage at the bottom of the bag. She took him along for extra support. I can't recall Abage ever going along to preschool or school but he was a stowaway on Saturday night.

Bullets

• The performance of Simple Gifts that Doodle enjoyed so much during the inauguration ceremony was recorded. Apparently the instruments couldn't be kept in tune in such cold weather.


• Despite the cold weather, we haven't had any measurable snow this winter. Tootle really wants to build a snowman, and I crave a cozy, quiet snow day.


• Doodle's indoor soccer season has begun. In their first game, the team scored more goals (8) than they did during the entire fall season (5). They won 8-1. I like the speed of the indoor game but hate the netting that prevented me from taking decent photos.
• We'll spend time this weekend cleaning the house for Chinese New Year. I'm going into Tootle's class next Friday to talk about CNY, read a book, do a craft, and have a parade.