This was Thursday.

When I woke up this morning, Steve had already left for work, and little Stephen had taken his place next to me.  I saw that the sun was shining, which made me grateful.  Yesterday's clouds made me feel tired, sad, and sluggish.  Thankfully, Ie Ling came over yesterday, and her name might as well be "Sunshine" because she's just that lovely to be around.

Stephen and I got out of bed around 8:00.  Mei Li didn't get up until 8:15, and Mi Na not until 8:30.  California time is very slowly releasing its grip on us.  I wouldn't mind keeping this schedule, but so far, Stephen has been late for preschool every Tuesday and Thursday since we've been home.  So we, or at least I, should probably get up earlier.

After dropping Stephen off at preschool, Mei Li, Mi Na, and I headed to the Asian market.  I bought navel oranges, clementines, mandarins, and some apples that had clearly taken steroids.  Yikes.  We spent the rest of the morning in the sunny kitchen, snacking and practicing sight words.  

We missed the kindergarten bus because the bus was early.  Dorothy once told me that there are many reasons for a bus to be late, but there are no reasons for it to be early.  I agree!  I should probably say something to the bus driver, but he's just so nice and cheerful.   I really don't mind driving the one mile to Mei Li's school especially since I have to drive over to pick up Stephen from preschool anyway.

I really love Stephen's preschool.  He's always so happy when I drop him off, and happy when I pick him up.  He was responsible for filling the "estimation jar" with similar items for sorting and counting.  He chose "vehicles" as the theme, so we filled it with all of his tiny things that go.  It was well-received.  

Then it was lunch time.  I feel like most of my day is spent thinking about or preparing food for everyone because right after I got done feeding Stephen and Mi Na, I put Mi Na down for her nap and went right to work making french bread to go with our mushroom barley soup for dinner.  

After the dough completed it's final rising, Stephen asked if he could make his own bread all by himself.  I think under normal circumstances, I would have said something like "not right now" or "we don't have time," but I was actually ahead of schedule for once.  Mi Na was still napping and we had just enough time to mix up the dough before picking up Mei Li from the bus stop.   We quartered the recipe and Stephen had a great time scooping and pouring the ingredients.

We set the bowl of dough in the warmest spot of our kitchen and I made him take note of the size of the dough ball before rising.  When we got back from the bus stop, he seemed only slightly impressed at the growth of the dough ball.  He was mostly eager to punch it down to size again.

I started chopping onions and Mei Li said, "Are you going to cry because of the onions?"

"I'm doing okay so far," I replied.  "Oh no.  I feel it coming.  My eyes are starting to water!"

Mei Li, probably borrowing a phrase from a Visine commercial said, "Itchy, watery eyes!"  Then she added, "I think you're allergic to pets."  For some reason, it reminded me of the time she came home from school last fall saying, "I love farm fresh produce."

Since it was around 60 degrees today, the kids went outside to play with all the neighbor kids.  One of the mothers, Sonya, set out four chairs in a parking spot with a little table in front of it.  She brought out tea, spring rolls, and vegetable samosas for all the mothers to enjoy together.  I politely declined the black tea, but the spring rolls and samosas were delicious.  I am the only of the four that can't speak Hindi or Urdu, but they are so kind and welcoming and they love Mi Na.

The girls rode their bikes and played girly games, while the boys played with swords.  When it got dark, I brought the kids inside and made them french bread grilled cheese sandwiches.  After dinner, they ate french bread with nutella.

I bathed them and got them ready in their pajamas, and then Steve came home.  I relaxed a little and Steve helped me finish up bed time.  When we were ready for prayer, Mi Na pulled at me and exclaimed, "peh!"  I figured she meant "prayer."  Mi Na, Steve, Mei Li, and I were ready for prayer, but Stephen wasn't.  

Stephen pushed the button on our little dancing snowman, and "We Need a Little Christmas" started to play.  Mi Na just could not help herself.  She had to dance.  She jumped, pointed at her dimples, clicked her tongue, and folded her arms like she was doing some kind of Russian dance.  Stephen almost died from laughing so hard.   We were all delighted.  He pushed the button three more times so we could watch her silly dance again.  It will be a sweet memory for years to come.

We prayed and put Stephen and Mi Na to bed.  Mei Li stayed up a little later.  But now she's in bed, and it's time for Steve and I to watch Sherlock.  I look forward to this time each day.  We'll go upstairs to our room, turn on the twinkling lights that border our windows, cuddle in bed and watch on Steve's laptop.  It's really heavenly.  Good night!