Sunny Days

sweeping the clouds away.  On my way to where the air is not quite so polluted...

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here today and the only thing that would have made it better is if it had come on any other day of the week.  Rachel comes on Tuesday mornings for my lesson and this time she stayed for two and a half hours.  We reviewed all the lessons we have done so far as per my request.  Since I don't do a lot of studying during the week the only way I will 'get it' is to review while she is here.  I also know that the best way I learn is to have someone testing me.  It worked in high school when my dad would quiz me the night before exams and it still works today.  A couple times today we got sidetracked talking about Chinese food and cooking and I thought to ask her about some soy sauce I bought a couple of days ago.  We usually buy large (like 1.5L) bottles of light soy sauce, which I have learned is more about flavor (dark soy sauce is for adding color to a dish).  I found some called Children's Rice Soy Sauce and bought it thinking that perhaps it was healthier and without MSG.  I had Rachel read the ingredients and surprisingly, the children's sauce had MSG but the cheaper stuff that we've been using doesn't.  Odd, but cool!  It does have wheat in it but for now we will just have to live with that.  Rachel has said she will come shopping with me sometime so perhaps we will be able to find some healthier options.

By the time Rachel left Ryan was ready for a nap and I was hungry.  I got Ry to bed then heated up leftovers from last night - egg fried rice with stir fry veggies, sweet and sour chicken, and beef and broccoli, minus the beef (we ate all of it last night).  To my delight Nicholas ate half of the plate of food and asked for more broccoli later on.  I had Tim pick some up on the way home from work and we had it again.  I guess he's 'into' broccoli now.  I wonder how long that will last.

While Ryan slept Nicholas and I did our letter of the day then I found some ambition and cleaned the kitchen window.  It's nice to be able to see the clear, blue sky while doing the dishes.  Well, it would have been if I had done them.  Instead I decided to get the boys outside before Lena came for my massage at four.  We went out to the playground and had a really nice time.  It wasn't too hot and there was a breeze so we were able to enjoy ourselves.  We went to a playground that we haven't been to lately and the boys discovered a pole to slide down.  It was always there but they didn't know they could do it.  Once they tried, they didn't want to leave but there was no way I was going to be late for my massage so I told them we would come back after supper and show Daddy what they could do.  That worked and I came home to relax with my wonderful massage.

Once Lena left I started getting dinner ready - no time to savor the relaxation - but couldn't finish until Tim picked up the groceries I needed on his way home from work.  We didn't eat until just after 6:30 and normally we would do the dishes right away but we didn't this time.  We left everything piled up and took the boys back to the playground.  They were incredibly excited to show Tim how they could slide down the pole and did several times.  Unfortunately the mosquitoes were bad and we couldn't stay out too long.  Even worse was we realized after being home for quite a while that Nick's screen was open and now I have three bites including one on the bottom of my foot.  Ow!  The nice thing about the evening, for me anyway, is that Tim did all the dishes while I got the boys bathed and ready for bed.  While they ate their bananas we sat in the window sill of our bedroom and watched the lighted kites flying over the park.  At first there were only a couple but by the time we were done there were seven of them up.  Now there is one that has lights down the string as well.  They are very beautiful!

So, all in all it was a good day and I'm hoping this is the turning point in the weather for the summer.  Tomorrow I am babysitting for a while and I hope to get us all out for the better part of the day if the skies  cooperate.

Lastly, I want to send a big birthday wish out to my Momma!  This is the longest I've gone without seeing her (my previous record was three months when I moved to London) and possibly the first birthday I haven't been home for.  We will just have to make up for it when she visits here in the not too distant future.  She will be our first visitor in Shenyang and I hope it is fun for her.  She reads the blog everyday so I think she will almost be prepared for the shock that is China.  We have lots of stuff planned to do with her so there should be some good blog fodder there.  It will be interesting!

Happy Birthday Ma!