We have conquered the haggis! They had some at COSTCO--admittedly not the best place to shop for haggis--and Keith decided to take the plunge. In case you aren't familiar with the culinary delight that is haggis, it's basically a sheep's heart, liver, and lungs minced with onion, oatmeal, suet (isn't that for birds?), spices, and salt--mixed with stock and encased in the sheep's stomach. (Thanks, Wikpedia!) Really? Who would make a conscious decision to eat that? Apparently, my husband. . .and he decided to share. . .
Again. . really?
And she loved it. . ."More, pease, Daddy!" I do have to admit that although it looks beyond unappealing, it wasn't too terrible. It actually tastes a lot like a crock-pot dip I used to make all the time with beef, sausage, Velveeta, and golden mushroom soup.
In other words. . .
It's a regular entertainment for Keith and I to listen for which British words the girls adopt--and with how much of an accent. Charlotte wanted to "Go outside in garden!" the other day (the backyard), and she calls garbage "rubbish." Any coins that she sees are pounds.
Maggie's British accent is getting stronger everyday--but she knows that we are listening for it, so she clams up when anyone wants to hear it!! I have been going in and reading with kids in Hannah's class, and one of the things that I noticed was that they pronounce the word "a" with the "short a" sound--like in cat. (We would normally say "uh" or a "long a" like in play.) Maggie does that now. . .it really stands out when she is reading to us!
Hannah can still turn her accent on and off, but she is starting to lean towards the accent she is hearing from her friends. Some of the things that both of the older girls say are so very proper. . here are a few examples (most of them are Maggie, age 5):
It's a regular entertainment for Keith and I to listen for which British words the girls adopt--and with how much of an accent. Charlotte wanted to "Go outside in garden!" the other day (the backyard), and she calls garbage "rubbish." Any coins that she sees are pounds.
Maggie's British accent is getting stronger everyday--but she knows that we are listening for it, so she clams up when anyone wants to hear it!! I have been going in and reading with kids in Hannah's class, and one of the things that I noticed was that they pronounce the word "a" with the "short a" sound--like in cat. (We would normally say "uh" or a "long a" like in play.) Maggie does that now. . .it really stands out when she is reading to us!
Hannah can still turn her accent on and off, but she is starting to lean towards the accent she is hearing from her friends. Some of the things that both of the older girls say are so very proper. . here are a few examples (most of them are Maggie, age 5):
"Am I allowed another biscuit?"
"Mum, were you aware you had paint on your hand as well?"
"We have those in the cafeteria quite often."
"It didn't work as I expected it to."
As for the hibernating. . .
We got our first real snow in England Saturday night. . .forecast was for "4 inches or 10 cm. . and it's rather chilly" says Hannah. Keith guesses it ended up being about 4 1/2-5 inches and it was gorgeous snow. . the trees were especially lovely--I love when they look like that! Sunday morning we got out and played in it; after being in the yard for a while, Charlotte and I headed in, and Keith and the girls walked to the park to play. It actually was very mild outside--upper thirties with no wind--but we still took advantage of the rest of our snowy day to have a fire and hang out at home.
We got our first real snow in England Saturday night. . .forecast was for "4 inches or 10 cm. . and it's rather chilly" says Hannah. Keith guesses it ended up being about 4 1/2-5 inches and it was gorgeous snow. . the trees were especially lovely--I love when they look like that! Sunday morning we got out and played in it; after being in the yard for a while, Charlotte and I headed in, and Keith and the girls walked to the park to play. It actually was very mild outside--upper thirties with no wind--but we still took advantage of the rest of our snowy day to have a fire and hang out at home.
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| Daddy was pulling the girls up and down the street on little sleds I got that were called Mr. Chucklebums! :) |
The return of the snow apples--a winter snow tradition at our house!
Our Minnie Mouse snowman. . it's been quite sometime since we've had enough snow to make one that big! And it was the best kind of packing snow, too!
A couple more kitchen things. . .
Before Christmas, I helped to put together a PTA cookbook for St. Peter's. I noticed some differences--besides the measurements themselves. Instead of "bring to a boil" it's "bring to the boil". . . self-rising flour is self-raising flour. The don't have Crisco here. . or Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips--makes my cookie recipe a little trickier!!
