We returned from Canada on Saturday and there were no baby bunnies. 'Checked the fuzz nest a few hours later and there they were! Five tiny sweet wiggly furless squirmy masses. I'm glad she waited for us to come home so we could see them Day 1. Here are some photos starting day 2.

By day three, you could already see they were growing some white fur:

Here's the good mamma:

Check for more photos!

Speaking of food, we did lots of walking around and came across this little wet market in downtown Hanoi. Cameron found the eels fascinating. Just about every kind of fish and meat, buckets and buckets overflowing with fresh flowers, quivering piles of cooked noodles in baskets, and colorful fruits and vegetables were piled on the sidewalks.

Sometimes vietnamese women carrying these double-burden baskets would walk right up and set them on a shoulder and signal for us to take photos. Afterwards we were obviously expected to show our appreciation for the photo op. by buying some fresh pineapple, oranges or kumquats which we of course were happy to do. Considering the fact that we knew NO Vietnamese (well, maybe one word- thankyou) and had very little experience with a vietnamese menu, we had excellent culinary experiences. On several occasions we happily ate unidentifiable items. Seven years of living overseas was helpful in that area.

Looking back at Hanoi

Soon after we left Malaysia, our computer crashed and I thought I had lost most of my photos of our visit to Vietnam. A friend was able to save them for us, however, and I have so enjoyed going through my photos of this past year. We were only in Hanoi, Vietnam for 3 days which wasn't really enough to experience this city. There is nothing minimalist about Hanoi. It provides stimulation overload for all your senses, and one must constantly be on guard when walking through the city. One US dollar is worth about 16000 dong, so you can see how easily you can get confused with all those zeros. It's best to carry around a piece of paper or a calculator so you can have your money and change all figured out before you ever pay. Of course, many of the shopkeeper will bargain with you in US dollars, which could add to the confusion.



We debated much about this trip and whether or not to take Cameron, but in the end I'm so glad we took him; Cam speaks just about any language! He also loved the Water Puppet Theater in downtown Hanoi; a really unique experience. It was an hour and a half long show all in Vietnamese with traditional music. We ended up sitting right behind an older American couple who had adopted a Vietnamese boy with Down Syndrome and lived in Hanoi. How neat!





What else did Cam love? He loved the piles of french bread you could buy on every street corner. He loved the trishaw rides through the brightly lit streets at night. For a few dollars we could enjoy an hour long ride through the narrow crowded streets; a perfect activity for our tired legs. Pho-the slippery noodle soup with various things floating in it. This seems to be the most common inexpensive meal around. Good thing he liked it, because we had it every day.




Part 2 tomorrow!

Bread and Gouda

Baking bread fits really well with being a "mostly at home" person. I am figuring out that the reason I enjoy making bread so much is partly because it suits my personality. I'm not one to follow recipes. I like to cook and bake with "a little of this a little of that." Bread allows me to do that. When we are approaching the last crust, I simply start a loaf with water, yeast, a little flour, a little sweetener..... Let it sit for an hour (or so), then when I pass by on my way through the kitchen between homeschooling subjects, I can add more flour, butter, flaxseed, oatmeal or whatever else might be available in my pantry. While the dough is rising, we make a trip to the library or read a book. Bread is very forgiving. Of course it is very helpful to have a kitchen aid that does all the kneading for me. But sometimes I let the kids knead the dough anyway. They like to be part of the breadmaking process. Today my mom gave me money to buy some aged gouda cheese as a Sinterklaas treat. MMMM... Warm whole wheat bread with Gouda. What a treat that was.

My purpose for sharing my bread experience was to share the recipe with those who have asked for it. Well, here is the recipe I started off with. I have made it many times since then, so if you follow the recipe it may not resemble what you tasted, but you can make it your own.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread:

3 cups warm water

2 packages yeast

1/4 cup honey

3 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon salt

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1) In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/4 cup honey. Add 3 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2) Mix in 3 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not too sticky. This may take an additional amount of flour. Place in greased bowl in warm place until doubled. (cover with towel)

3) Punch down, divide into 3 loaves. Bake in loaf pans or make cute little round loaves and bake on a stone.

4) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. If you like, brush tops with butter or margarine.

Happy baking!

I shouldn't assume that everyone will enjoy seeing Cameron's toes, but they are still so cute! (As opposed to my boys' who turned 11 today~!) Here's Brandon reacting to cold toes due to cold creek water. And have you ever tried to get 4 kids looking at your camera at the same time? I think this may be a first for me.

After 4 months in North Carolina, we finally wandered east and found the Atlantic. I must say I miss the warm beaches of South East Asia, but boogey boarding in the Atlantic is fun too.

Diapers, Mozart and Autumn

Imagine four children quietly sitting at the table, doing their 3 R's. Mozart is playing gently in the background; "Overture to Marriage of Figaro"..... The children smile as they do their work; absorbed in the books assigned to them by their mother. Can you picture it? Sigh... so can I but it is not usually (okay, EVER) like this. One of the reasons I have been able to overcome the hard days of homeschooling is because other mothers have shared with me honestly what their bad days were like (such as finding out "quiet" little ones were missing, bathrooms flooded...discovered when water comes dripping into the living room, or kids who can't remember what "th" sounds like even though you have demonstrated it 1000...many, times) It seems to me that as my kids ripen a bit, we are able to accomplish slightly more than we were 2 years ago, but even so, it sure doesn't always look like "school", whatever that is supposed to look like. Not like the school I went to anyway. There have been many triumphs, but school is also regularly interrupted by: dirty diapers (no, we're not there YET with Cam--hoping soon), neighbor kids ringing the doorbell (In NC they have "track-out"; something new to me. Different schools have different schedules which means there is always someone who has a few weeks off.), and wrestling matches, screaming (by Cam, that is- another thing to work on), speech therapy, and taking care of hungry tummies. I'd be lying if I said every day was great fun, but there have been accomplishments. I am so excited that Cameron is learning letter sounds. He knows almost all the single-letter sounds! We are not working on the letter names right now, just the sounds. Isn't that great? I am sure he will learn to read, and that is a very encouraging thought!

We are still adjusting to culture here, made much easier by the fact that we are making friends. We still miss Malaysia a lot; to the point where it is painful to think of all we lost by moving away. Some days I try not to think of my friends because it just hurts too much....I suppose it will be a while before that feeling eases. I still enter the car on the passenger side when I am supposed to be driving (I inconspicuously put my purse on the passenger seat and walk around the car), I still miss curry with a passion (am working on some recipes), still think I am in a different time zone than my parents (I'm not), and still occasionally wake up and think "now where am I?" On the other hand, life here has been very hospitable, very kind to us. We even had the opportunity last week to go to the Atlantic Ocean at Ocean Isle with friends. What a wonderful 2 days that was! We are enjoying our first autumn in many years, the first for Cameron and Jaden. I am looking forward to seeing what they think of colorful trees.