friday

I got a crock pot from my great aunt and uncle and tried it out a couple of days ago. I made a yummy and frugal split pea and barley soup (cost just over $2 for a pot big enough for all of us). Ellie ate almost as much as Tristan did of the leftovers tonight. The first food that really clicked with him was garlic mashed potatoes; I think Ellie's is split pea and barley soup.

We all went to Jumah today and had a nice time. Tristan's getting more used to it. Afterwards, Tristan and Jon walked over to the neighboring Islamic school and had a look around. We'd met one of the teachers at the dinner party we went to a few weeks ago and their program sounds really good---very small classes, follow state academic curricula, even the very young are quickly speaking good Arabic, etc. In any case, Tristan was really excited about the school and enjoyed looking around. He wants to go back to check it out; he actually insisted, "now, mama, NOW!", but I don't think we'll make it again til sometime next week. I'd like to see it for myself.

Our neighbor's pit bull puppy was roaming around loose all day, collar-less and alone, while they were at work. I was tempted to call the animal shelter, but they'd just kill the poor thing. Whenever we went outside, it would jump up and run over, eager for any kind of attention; even tried to get in our door after us. Neglecting pit puppies seems like our neighbors are seems like one sure way to make them live up to their breed's reputation.