Habitat for Fowl

Emilee started Chinese School this past Saturday. How did it go!!!!!!! well....... I guess OK. Emilee was so excited to start. She loves her regular school and was really excited to start another school where she could learn Chinese. The thing is, Chinese school is not like American school. There were no balloons and signs waiting to greet her on her first day and the teachers were not outside welcoming and hugging the children. In fact it could not have been different. We walked into the building at 9am and walked into a large crowd of people who Emilee quickly added ' did not speak English". I tried to explain to her that in a short time she would also speak Chinese but her big smile turned to a stone scared face. Added to that was the fact we were the only mixed family and we quickly became a source of stares and conversation. Nothing bad. in fact most of the families were very curious about it, but Emilee did not appreciate being a show and tell object. Also, older Chinese Woman have a way of ignoring personal space and would touch Emilee. They were not being rude, but it scared Emilee a bit. After about 20 minutes of standing in a cramped, very hot and stuffy entrance way were were told to go into the cafeteria to register. It was like a stampede. Everyone grabbed their kid and ran to get to the table. There was not line just people jumping in line. I waited on the line myself while my Mom and Emilee waited at a table in the back. when it was my turn the director asked what my situation was and wrote all sorts of notes. She studied my paperwork and was confused that i didn't include a father. I tried to explain to her i am a single mom and adopted as a single mom. She looked at the paperwork again and said to me " what happens if her Father comes to pick her up". My answer " Don't give her to him". She couldn't get past the question of No father, but finally after awhile went on. She looked around and asked to meet Emilee. I called Emilee over and the two shook hands and the director asked Emilee a few question in very broken Chinese and Emilee tried very hard to answer. The poor thing didn't know what was going on, only that when she spoke everyone seemed to become very quite to hear what she had to say. It was odd. After we registered we were sent to the auditorium to wait. We are group M0 or Mandarin 0. The teacher great ed us and told us to sit down. i found out from the parents around me that most of the children speak Cantonese at home but are here to learn maderain. i kind of felt a little bedder. None of them knew maderian so they would all learn together. With a little coxing Emilee went off with her group. She had such a sad and scared face on. I felt so bad for her. But I know eventfully when she gets used to it she will like it. When i came back at 12pm to pick her up i was told that she had asked for me and was very sad. But when I saw her march out of her class room she looked OK. She ran right into my arms with all of her new books in hand. She told me that she was not crazy about the school and that she didn't understand anyone. I told her to give it a good try before she gives up on it. She agreed to do just that. Until next Saturday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW AND GRANDMA

Happy 11th birthday Andrew

Happy Birthday Grandma

Emilee hometown of Xuwen, China

*Thanks Marianne

Go Andew Go

Good Luck Andrew

Gummy Gum

I NEVER give Emilee Bubble Gum. I don't like the way people look chewing gum and i never wanted her to get in the habit. ( Not to say there is anything wrong with it, i personally just don't like it) When she sees other children chewing it she asks me for it, but I can always persuade her to get a different snack. We were at Andrews Football game and she wanted a drink so Danny took her to the concession to get one. She came back with gator Aid ( Pure Sugar) and Gum. What could I say she already had it in her hands. I was able to persuade her to take a sip of the Gator Aid and give it to Andrew who i told her " needed it to win the game---Thank G-d they did win) But she would not let go of the gum. The cutest was watching her examine it, smell it and try to figure out what to do with it. OK, I give up its a part of childhood. A part that we graduated from and put behind us.

SUNNY WITH NO CHANCE OF RAIN

We were walking at a fair when Emilee noticed that these three , whats the best word for them without offending anyone, Ill go with " Seasoned" women where walking down the street with umbrellas. she asked me why they were carring umbrellas if it wasn't raining. I told her that they didn't want the sun to beat down on them. she laughed and that was that. Fast Foward to the next day... As we were leaving the house Emilee asked if it was sunny today, I said yes and she ran to the garage and got her umbrella. Confused, I had forgotten about our conversation yesterday, I asked her why she needed her umbrella , she said " I need it to protect me from the sun"

HOW TO SPEAK EMILEE

1.Talk a lot. Offer your opinion on lots of different topics. 2.Speak very quickly. If someone tells you that you're talking fast, just tell them, "That's just the way I talk" and " I have a lot to say." 3.Use big words. For example, tell your mom that her outfit is appropriate for the preschool picnic. 4.Speak very enthusiastically. It's good to begin sentences with phrases like, "I have exciting news . . . " The "news" could be that you like a new food or that you have "changed princesses," which means you have a new favorite princess, or simply that you're excited about something. 4.Ask lots of questions and I mean LOTS of questions. Ask your mom Ask your Grandma questions. Ask cashiers in stores questions. Ask waitresses at restaurants questions. Make sure that, "I have a question . . . " is a regular part of your vocabulary. 5.Master the art of turning a noun and into an adjective or a verb. 6.Use references to things that you've seen on a television show no matter if the person you're speaking to has seen the show or not. This is especially effective when you can take a TV character's name and turn it into a verb. (see number 6) This way you can tell your friend to stop "Ho Hoing" -- being silly -- a reference to Ho Ho in Ni Hao Kai Lan. This can be a bit tricky when the same word is used to mean various things. So, "You are Oliviaing," a reference to Olivia the Pig (again, see number 6) can mean you're being a fortune teller, playing soccer or asking your mom to read you another book. 7.Understand the varying degrees of fanciness and how to describe them. Something that is fancy is "cheerleader." If it's even fancier, then it's "wedding." Fancier than that is "a princess ball," If something is really, really fancy, it's "Queen-Bride-Princess-Little Mermaid." 8.And finally, when you don't know the word for something, you simply say, "gung." Whatchmacallit and thingamijig are so yesterday.

Keeping up with Pen-Pals

FIRST DAY OF FALL......

DO I NEED TO SAY MORE

The second night of Rosh Hashana

The second night of Rosh hashana like every year, we celebrated at Aunt Fay and Uncle Neils house. Emilee loves spending time with her cousins and I love watching them together. It feels like it was yesterday that they were her age. Now they are almost grown in High School and College. Where did the time go. ( Their getting older, I'm not.......) We had a special guest this year. Nana Lil came in from Florida to celebrate with us. We all could not have been more thrilled to see her again and celebrate such a joyous holiday with her. Fay did a great job, as usual. Thank you so much for such a great night.

The girls watching the Hanna Montana Movie after dinner

Emilee, Annie, Rebecca and Sarah

Emilee and Annie

Sarah