The Alley

One of my favorite things is to go shopping in the ally next to our house. This morning was a typical Saturday shopping trip, basket on one arm, 2 kids trailing along holding my other hand. I absolutely LOVE it! No matter what the weather, the shops along the alley are bustling with activity, people eating in mini-restaurants, fish and eels flopping around in plastic bins, meat being chopped on wooden blocks, chickens being plucked, fresh tofu floating in plastic buckets. Here is a photo of what we usually eat for breakfast on Saturday morning. It's oatmeal for the kids and I, and bagel sandwiches and fruit for Christian all the other days of the week. Below we have Xoi Gac, Xoi Lac, and Xoi Xeo, wrapped in a banana leaf and a piece of newspaper. Xoi is pronounced "soy" but it means sticky rice...yum!

The Xoi Gac gets its red color from a orange-red spiky fruit that grows here. It tastes sweet and has loads of vitamins in it. It is especially good for children and eyesight. The Xoi Lac is cooked with peanuts and it has dried shredded pork on top and a nice little dipping pile of salty/semi-sweet roasted chopped peanuts and sesame seeds. The Xoi Xeo is yellow sticky rice with slices of dried cooked "mung bean" on top and fried shallots. It's all so fun to eat.

A funny thing that happened this morning was I asked for them to cut the bones and skin off of my chicken. They laughed! Every person around the butcher table laughed too and continued to say - she doesn't want the skin and bones! They humored me and the second the pile of skin hit the "parts tray" (nothing is wasted), someone snatched it up - what a find! I'm sure it will be the talk of at least a few kitchens tonight.

Everyone in the alley watches us come and go. We're regulars there and many people call out, "come buy from me." Many people ask what nationality I am, how old I am, if I like Hanoi, etc. Today a cute white-haired woman with pretty eyes asked me if I spoke French. I replied that I spoke a little and we had a nice little Vietnamese-French conversation. It was cute and it reminds me how lucky I am to live here.

Mom's Musings About Kids

I'm planning on posting some Easter pics, but not yet. Here are some things worth noting that have happened in the past few days.

I explained to Xander today that he could have one piece of candy now and held it up in my hand, or he could have 2 pieces of candy in 15 minutes. I showed him how long 15 minutes would be on my watch and asked him if it was a long time or a short time. He said it was a short time. So, I asked him again what he wanted and he said "One piece of candy in one minute!" I could tell by his answer that he thought he had said the best answer. He turns 4 years old next week, so maybe we'll try this little test again when he's a bit older. The study says that 4 year olds who will grow up to be successful children will choose to delay gratification.

Driving in the car with Xander...

Xander "Mom, does Heavenly Father have a cell phone?"

Mom "No"

Xander "Does Jesus have a cell phone?"

Mom "No, why do you ask?"

Xander "How are we supposed to call them?"

Mom "We say a prayer if we want to talk to them."

Xander "Oh" - didn't seem too impressed that gadgets, flashing lights and beeping noises weren't involved.

Unrelated to this. I asked Xander to say the blessing on the food for dinner.

Xander "My blessings don't work"

Mom "What do you mean?"

Xander (serious face) "They don't work"

Time for another conversation about prayer. He has said this about bedtime prayers that his "prayers doesn't work." Guess we haven't done a very good job resolving this concern yet.

Anneliese is becoming more mobile. She loves roaming from one no-no to the next, which keeps mom constantly on her toes. New no-nos include:

- The toilet, and today she discovered the toilet paper roll - wow! That was a lot of fun.

- The garbage can! Ew! She stands up, reaches over and grabs whatever she can and throws it onto the floor. Then she happily sits down to play with her new toys. Today she was busy shredding a banana peel into tiny bits when I found her (in Vietnam the peels are thinner than in America) - double Ew!

- Mom's purse, primary bag, and bookcases are favorites to empty out.

Emma just started a soccer class in her after-school activities. She was excited, but said that all the boys in her class complained that she had never played before. The coach put her to work kicking and practicing to be a goalie. She was so excited that she was able to stop all of the balls that came her way in practice. Way to go Em!

Tonight at dinner Emma asked if she could have her own iPod.

Mom "What? I don't even have my own iPod! I have a Shuffle that I got when I turned 30."

Emma "Well, at least can I have an iTouch?"

Mom "We're done with this conversation."

I'm thinking what music does she think she's going to listen to? Disney?

Every night before Emma goes to bed she asks me or Christian to tell her a story when we were little. I told all the favorite ones months ago, but she still asks every night and it's forcing me to delve deeper into my past to recover little tidbits of my life. I really should write down what I tell her so that I can remember 20 years from now. It's been a good exercise.