Gun talk

Growing up in England we have not bought into the gun culture and cannot understand the mindset of wanting to keep guns in the house.  It seems like it is every few months that we hear of another tragic shooting and yesterday's shooting at a school in Nevada claimed another innocent life.  I don't care what the constitution says, there needs to be federal laws to restrict high capacity guns and make people responsible for keeping them out of the wrong hands.

As the details of yesterday's shooting was unfolding on the news, Snow was caught up in my ranting as she just happened to be grabbing a snack from the kitchen.  I made it clear that we didn't keep guns and that she should ask whether her host family have guns in the house and if so, how they are kept.  I hope I didn't scare her, but these shootings (and terrorist attacks) seem a little too close to home sometimes.

Homecoming

This past weekend was Columbus Day weekend and also 'Homecoming', which meant for a very busy weekend.  Homecoming is an annual tradition here where people, towns, high schools and colleges come together to welcome back alumni and former residents.  On Friday night the CCHS football team had a home game where there was a celebration for alumni of the school.  This was a perfect time to attend my first football game since both Molly and Snow had arranged to meet their friends there and needed a ride.  Despite not knowing much about the rules I enjoyed the game very much, plus CCHS won which always helps.  Paul was en route back from Holland but next time we'll all attend and I'll  have him explain some of the rules.

On Saturday night the school had their Homecoming Dance, which is a big event as the entire school of 1300 kids are invited.  Although it is a formal event, thankfully it is nowhere near as costly or as time consuming as the prom, which comes towards the end of the school year.  The girls both met up with friends to do their hair and make-up and get hyped up for the evening.

Molly and Snow looking elegant in their dresses

The following day we had arranged to meet up with family at Canobie Lake Park for Screamfest.  We started out with a big breakfast at The Irish Cottage which was a great choice for food at any time of the day.  The breakfast at The Shawsheen Diner is still our favorite, mainly because it was our first American breakfast venue, but this comes a close second and does a wonderful traditional Irish breakfast complete with black and white pudding (if you like that kind of thing!).  Black pudding is blood sausage for anyone that doesn't know.

Molly and Snow having pancakes

Pass the wine!

Today started out very well.  Erin had an impromptu sleepover last night with the neighbor as today was a half-day for her and the high schoolers had a late start (8.40am as opposed to 7.40am), so I ended up sleeping until 6.45am - a full hour later than usual!  Molly and Snow had a ride to school so I didn't even need to made that dreaded school run.  It should only take 10 minutes but it is so congested around the school and the locals drive like lunatics.  Yesterday I was almost mowed down by someone passing a line of stationary traffic on my side of the road.  Idiot!

Up until about 4pm the day was very relaxed - gym, a little work, baked banana bread and prepared vegetables for dinner (more on this later).  Then came my typical running around dropping and picked up kids.  I now have 3 kids, so the after school schedule is very busy, particularly this week as Paul is in Holland so all the running around in on me.  After picking up Molly and Snow from school at 4pm I then dropped Erin at soccer practice at 4.30pm.  Forty minutes later I took Molly to her Youth conditioning class at the gym and returned home briefly to put the vegetable curry and rice on.  I then picked up Erin at 6pm then Molly at 6.30pm.  On the way back home we were caught up behind 2 car accidents that meant we didn't return home until 7.10pm.  Now, on normal day the kids would complain about being hungry and I would have headed straight for McDonald's drive-thru for chicken nuggets and fries.  Since dinner was still 1/2 hr away from being ready I was very tempted, believe me, but my alter ego reminded me how bad processed food is, something that is re-inforced by posts from Wellness Mama and Perfectly Nourished on Facebook every day.

I do like to cook, but sometimes I do myself no favors, today is no exemption, by planning 2 separate meals.  I had been meaning to make toad-in-the-hole for Snow for a while now, and since I had some left-over sausages that is what I had planned for the girls.  I, on the other hand, fancied a vegetarian curry since I enjoy vegetarian food, particularly when Paul is away.  After the first Yorkshire pudding batter failed I had to start over, so eventually we ate dinner at almost 8pm.  I tydied up and made lunches for us all for the following day while the girls finished their homework.  Tomorrow I have the usual school run at 7am followed by work, then after that the craziness begins again.  Despite all the complaining I do, I still feel blessed to have my life and to have my 3 wonderful girls....and not forgetting Paul of course.  Pass the wine!

Fan Dance

One of the first things we learned about Snow was that she was a dancer.  In fact, she has been dancing since she was 3 years old.  She is very flexible due to many hours of practice and stretching exercises over the past 14 years.  When she was back in China over the summer she danced for several hours every day, which is when she lost all her 'American' weight.  She has been deliberating over whether to join the school dance team and was concerned it was not serious enough for her. After talking to her about it she decided to join the team and hopefully she can change some attitudes with her dedication to the sport.

Tonight I was invited to see Snow perform a traditional Chinese dance at the benefactors' reception at school.  Just like the many times before when our own children performed in the music concert and school play, I was looking forward to it all day.  She choreographed the dance and taught the rest of the team the moves.  I was hoping to include the whole video of the dance but I wasn't able to include it here, however I was able to include a couple of stills that show her costume and flexibility.  Seeing Snow perform tonight made me very proud.....

Moon Festival

Today is the Moon festival in China.  Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie".  Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting and moon gazing, not to mention mooncakes.  While no-one in the family wanted to partake in dancing, we were all intriged and willing tasters of the mooncakes Snow brought with her from home.

These little cakes have Chinese writing on the top depicting their contents of a combination of sweet and savory, sometimes together.  There were egg yolks in one, 5 kinds of nuts in another and the last was filled with ham and a sweet paste.  I would say the outside is more of a sweet pie crust, but inside it was more like cake.  We enjoyed the nut variety the best.  Thanks for sharing this tradition Snow.  In return we'll introduce her to fruit cake at Christmas, but NOT the kind that contains neon fruit and gets passed around since no-one likes it.  I make a stellar variety steeped in Irish Whisky courtesy of Delia Smith.

Family time

Snow's Mom, Jane, returns to China next week, so we thought it would be nice to bring her to the house to see where we live.  When we first moved out to America we brought my Mom over to help settle us in, so we knew how much it would mean to her.  We enjoyed getting to know each other better over dinner and finding some common ground.  We share the love of tea, so Jane kindly left us some Chinese loose leaf tea - black and green mainly - which is so much better than the bagged variety.

   Snow and her Mom

On Sunday we had our first family outing to King Richards' Faire.  It was a renaissance fair offering various medieval themed shows such as jousting, juggling, fire-eating and freak sideshows.  It's not for everyone and after being there for 20 minutes we realised it wasn't for us either.  If we hadn't invested an hour and a half to get there and a decent entry fee we would have left right after we saw the guy who knocked a four inch nail up his nose and put hooks into his eyes.  It wasn't just the shows that were weird, the people were too, and by that I mean it was hard to distinguish the workers from the guests.  Seriously, there were people of all ages dressed up like Robin Hood and Maid Marian complete with Dr Spock ears and fox tails....I'm not sure what that is about.  On the journey home Molly made me promise never to take her again.  It won't be hard to keep that promise.

   Snow and Molly

Call me Mom

Snow has been with us for a week now but it really does feel like much longer since we have learned so much about her over that time; she has been dancing since she was 3, is left-handed (like me!), dislikes carrots but loves fruit and (so far) my cooking.

Anyone who knows me will agree I am somewhat of a foodie and I love to cook and bake.  I was nervous Snow wouldn't like my food or wouldn't try anything new, but so far she has eaten anything and everything I have given her and even takes leftovers to school.  I like to cook with fresh, healthy ingredients and I know she appreciates it.  Today she said when she is in America she 'gets fat' (for the record she is all of 100lbs) but loses the weight when she goes back to China.  She also said she gets hungry between meals in America but doesn't in China.  I am a strong believer that the processed food here IS addictive due to the sugar content and artificial ingredients; this is a testament to that belief.

I often think about her first two years in America and was curious why she left the previous host family.  She said it was her decision to leave since she wanted a 'whole family' and a bright, sunny bedroom as she had previously had a room in the basement with no windows.  Hmmm, "whole family?" I asked, unsure if we fit the bill.  "Yes" she said, one with both a Mom and Dad.  I guess she just wanted a family unit she was familiar with.  Over the past week she has opened up more as she has got to know us better.  The other day she asked what she should call me.  "Anything but Mrs Teece" I replied.  "Can I call you Mom?" she asked.  I was taken aback but absolutely thrilled she felt comfortable with that.  I am 'Mom' after all, or as Erin calls me, 'super Mom'.

From that moment I knew she would be a great addition to our familly.  She is an absolute delight to have around and I have noticed that Molly and Erin have adapted better than I thought.  Not only are they accepting and accommodating with Snow, but they seem to be more considerate of each other, argue less and keep the bathroom tidier....now if only they kept their rooms tidier!