静水盈盈

Strong Cell --- by Sophie

This is what Sophie made after we watched a few short clips on White Cell on iPad. We were talking about why she needed to get the vaccine shots. She was pretty upset about having to do that. After she finished the drawings, I helped her make them into a small book. She insisted I teach her how to write all the Chinese words. Later that day, she showed it to her Daddy and sister Laura. She was pretty proud.

Calling For Hyphenation Rule

This is one of Sophie's recent drawings, she called it "Chick & Bugs".

In the middle is a baby chicken (Sophie's version, of course). On top of the page, from left to right, she drew a ladybug, a bee and a butterfly. She drew it on the dinner table while I was doing dinner in the kitchen. I remember she asked me, "Mom, how to spell butterfly?" Then I spelled it out for her. And this is what I found later that night.

Looks like it's time for some hyphenation rule.

玉米糯米糕

糯米玉米糕

做法： 将所有原料（玉米糕粉一盒，糯米粉一杯，鸡蛋两个，牛奶2／3杯和半勺泡打粉）混合，倒入烤盘。烤箱350华氏度烤20分钟，再Broil两分钟即可。

其实就像你做饭很少看着菜谱做，做点心也是。当然前提是家人要捧场。就连烤糊了的蛋糕老公都说助消化，我就一点儿心理负担都没有了。这多一勺面，少一勺油的，自己掂量着来。这次不行，下次再试。

这玉米糕粉口感粗，加上糯米粉，就中和不少。前两次试的时候糯米粉不够，口感仍不理想。这次的比例还好，又加了半勺泡打粉，烤出来松软不少。加上葡萄干会更好吃！嗒嗒还用白糖和水调了water sugar (嗒嗒起的名字），抹在每一块糕上，亮亮的，很好看。小人儿一会儿就吃了一块儿！

Cherries by Marsha Mahan

I bought this cherry magnet, by the local artist Marsha Mahan, at the annual Stillwater Art Festival over the weekend. I'm normally not a fan of paintings of bold, striking and vibrant colors, but I like her work. I like the composition of her work, the use of the compliments of the colors, and the right texture. She actually uses acrylic paints. I talked to her how I first thought they were oil paintings. She told me when she was living in the New York City, the apartment was small, and she didn't like the smell of the oil paints. These pictures were taken in her booth, one of my favorites in this year's festival.

A Poem to Share

Saw the movie If You Are The One II the other night, I really liked the poem the daughter read to her father. Here's my translation, raw, clumsy and earnest.

After School Snack

Serve immediately after they're ready. You could put more stuff, like chopped mushroom, green peppers or celery. Or top it with a wedge of avocado. My girls will gulp down anything I give them after school. Watch the serving size. You don't want to ruin their appetite for dinner.

Little Piglet

It's impossible to wake up Sophie in the morning!

So far two most effective methods are:

1. Whispering stories into her ears. When you see the corners of her mouth start to move upwards, she's listening, which means she's starting to wake up!

2. If I cannot get around to wake up her personally, my iPad comes to rescue. I turn it on, open up the YouTube, choose one of her favorite songs, and let it play. I could be her "Ohmu" song, or her favorite Chinese Cartoon song, or Cello. Chances are by the time I go into her room, she'll be up and watching, maybe singing alone, as happy as you want her to be.

This morning, I said, "Sophie, do you still remember you promised Mom that you would help me make school snacks? There will be fruits, whip cream and your favorite cherries!"

Without even opening her eyes, she rolled over to the other side of the bed, puppy blankie in one hand, thumb in mouth, she chose to ignore me.

"Hey, if it was Monkey King, he would jump up immediately!" Monkey King is her new favorite cartoon character from classic Chinese Literature "Journey to the West".

No response.

"How about you are little Monkey King today?" Sophie likes to play this game called "Little Something" in the morning, little bumble, little Ohmu, little dust bunny, little puffer... if she's the little ladybug, she would crawl out of the bed; if she's the little bumble, she would buzz out... 

"Sophie doesn't want to be the little Monkey King. She's the little piglet today, and she needs to rest more."