Xander Singing

Okay, this is a teensy weensie clip of Xander singing in church last week. He was belting it out (as he does every Sunday) with songbook in hand and I happened to catch the very last couple seconds of his singing. Christian just about died when I pulled out the camera, but I couldn't resist. Enjoy!

Emma Goes to Kindergarten

We sent our baby girl to kindergarten yesterday! We went to an orientation last Saturday and met her teacher who is also new to Hanoi. Ms. Annalee and her husband both teach at the United Nations International School. We are really excited for Emma to be going to such a great school.

Emma got her team shirt (the green one in the photo) on Saturday - she is an Eagle! There are four teams across the school and they have school spirit days where she will wear her Eagle shirt. Her friend Nina is a Tiger and Ms. Annalee is between them in their new classroom. Emma has 16 kids in her class and there are four kindergarten classes in all. They really try to mix up the nationalities and not have more than two kids from the same country in each class.

Monday morning, we all woke up at 6:00 to a HUGE thunder and lightning storm. It lasted more than 40 minutes before turning into an absolute downpour. Emma came downstairs at 6:15 fully dressed and said "Aw, my very first day of school is ruined!" We told her that there would be many rainy school days and not to worry. She was excited when we told her that she got to take her own little umbrella.

Saying goodbye to Emma on the bus was tender. As excited as she has been to go to school, the moment of truth hit when she got on the bus and the bus monitor buckled her in. She sat there with big eyes and butterflies in her stomach. She was being so brave! Both Christian and I went in the bus to give her an extra hug and kiss goodbye. Xander was ready to hop into the seat next to her and go for a ride. After school, Emma said that she was nervous and cried just a little when the bus pulled away. But then she remembered that going to school was what she really wanted and she sang a song to herself and felt much better afterward. Xander on the other hand missed her terribly all day long. She has had two wonderful days of kindergarten and loves it!

Bath before breakfast and our chicken

Just a few funnies to post for the day...already and it's not even noon yet. Xander's diaper was out of control this morning and he got a bath before breakfast, hence the diaper-only shot. I love Emma's striped "footie" jammies and rock star glasses look!

Yesterday I explored our street market in the alleyway next to our house. It was bustling with activity early in the morning and was so exciting. I bought some fruits, veggies, some pork tenderloin and a whole chicken! Helena Lopez from Beijing taught me how to shop for meat out of the street markets - thank you Helena! Anyway, they laughed at me when I had them chop off the neck and head and then teased me a little "are you sure you don't want to buy any of the organs?" - they had piles of organs on plates sorted by type...lovely! So this morning I was rubbing the chicken down with salt to clean it and I realized that the chicken still had feet. I'm just not used to seeing that on a chicken. The tendons are still attached so when you move the legs the toes flex out and everything...creepy! Emma was fascinated and grossed out at the same time. She asked me why it had a purple-ink stamp on the skin? (Kind of like our FDA approved label). I told her it meant that this chicken was good. She said "it means this chicken didn't run away?" I could just see the wheels turning in her head - yes, we're eating an obedient chicken who followed all the rules and played nicely on the playground. : ) I'm still laughing at her cuteness.

Chew gum and dance

Emma came downstairs one morning, bright eyed, dressed for the day and announced "I can chew gum and dance at the same time!" I grabbed the camera and said show me! : ) It was also a great opportunity to capture Xander's "points" - even as brief as they are - it always makes me crack up. We got this from our friends the Hatches. Their son Isaac does "points" when he dances and it's so darn cute.

Crazy Yummy Asian Fruit

Ok, so I have been meaning to post something for some time about the wide variety of yummy Asian fruits available in Hanoi. We love eating something new every day based on the season whether it be longans, dragon fruit, custard apple fruit, lychees, or rambutans. Although we continue to stay far away from the durian (which is just plain evil and smells like rotting garbage). The mangoes here are also especially good. Jennie is partial to the mangosteens and Emma seems to love her rambutans (or "chom chom" as they are called in Vietnamese). I personally love the dragon fruit. The best part is that all of this fruit is dirt cheap AND delicious! (If you are wondering what any of these fruits look like just google them to find pictures).



Speaking of kiwis, I thought I would attach two pictures of dragon fruit (see above). I think it is the coolest looking fruit around both inside and outside. From the pictures you can understand where it gets the name dragon fruit. The inside looks a lot like a kiwi, although it isn't as sweet, but you can eat the small seeds. I grew to love this fruit during our time in China and was glad to hear that Vietnam has just started exporting it to the States. So run to your closest Asian grocery store and see if you can find it.



Above you'll see some pictures of the outside and inside of the apple custard fruit. They are about the size of a baseball and from the outside you can see that it looks a bit like an artichoke (use your imagination). After peeling the skin you get to some of the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted. Jennie would like to point out that the picture of the inside looks like some disgusting alien baby - I vote for soggy Chinese dumpling with seeds.

With this overabundance of exotic fruit I have been wondering what is the problem with Americans. Why is it that we settle for the bland apple, orange or banana? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy each of these fruits but there are so many other fruits out there. Interestingly enough, if you insist on eating apples or grapes here in Vietnam they will cost you a pretty penny since most are imported from overseas and kiwis will cost you the most (they run about $3 a lb).

Christian's Very Happy Birthday

So this post is about a week late, but I figured better late than never. I had a great birthday here on August 2nd. I really appreciated all of the family calling from far and wide and singing to me (especially since I'm not the best in remembering to call family). We had a nice low-key day with the kids and we all really enjoyed it. From the pictures you can see that Jennie treated me well from waffles with ice cream and chocolate sauce for breakfast to the beautiful birthday cake purchased at the French bakery on the corner for our after dinner treat. If you look real close at the cake you can see that the cake says "Happy Birthday Dady" (yes, they misspelled Daddy). The kids seemed to enjoy the cake and the waffles almost as much as their Papa. Needless to say, it was a fun day!

Tea Party

We had an all-day tea party / play date with a some friends Emma will be going to school with in a couple weeks. The girls dressed up, and Xander too (yes, Xander's wearing the dragon costume with purple princess shoes), played store, made chocolate cupcakes (The girls measured, scooped, stirred, poured and decorated by themselves.), and had a splendid tea party with sandwiches and other fun things to eat. A favorite part of the party was pouring tea from the little teapots, serving food from the small containers and eating off of tiny plates.