Among friends

I mentioned before that both of our mothers are out of town this weekend, leaving us without the usual family celebrations during which to honor the mothers in our life. What I did have
(M not so much, since he had to work) was another group of mothers, and mothers-in-waiting, with whom to celebrate. This was a very special treat in the midst of my solitary mother's day weekend. Although I spent ten weeks in a classroom with three of these women, attempting (ahem) to learn some Mandarin, I did not actually meet them until the end-of-term dumpling party at CCAI. But lucky I did, because they generously invited me to join in one of their "mothers and mothers-in-waiting" dinners.
On this night, thanks to J's graceful and endlessly generous hosting skills, we enjoyed a fabulous Greek spread of lamb with grilled vegetables and yogurt sauce on pita, an enormous Greek salad and a selection of olive mixes. For dessert, B baked the most amazing homemade carrot cake and lemon meringue pie.

Of course, a big part of the pleasure involved in these dinners is also the kiddos themselves, and the opportunity for those of us still waiting to try out our skills with the little ones! Here, J is showing S her own image on video.

Guess who's the center of attention?

Who can resist this look?


B is a natural with the kiddos, and can always get a laugh and a giggle. I'm trying to learn from her example!

Two loving moms.

The cameras quickly became a source of fascination for the little ones, especially the various night-framing and flash options. I won't show you the picture that S managed to take of me. The chin is not my best angle!

As the evening wound down, K & S convinced J to host a little storytime session.

For some reason, the Adoption Travel Chinese workbook (the very same one from out class) was the book of choice as far as S was concerned, above and beyond the various children's books on the shelves.

I think S is ready for her Chinese classes. She would not be dissuaded from the Mandarin.

...yup, still shunning all other stories in favor of the workbook!

...finally persuaded to consider more age-appropriate reading material, at least for a moment.

Sleepy in PJs at the end of the evening, but still workin' the big purple bow. It was a crowd-pleaser!