Girl Date

Dayna didn't have school last Friday, so the girls and I had a "girl date" at the Children's Museum. I really just sat back and let the girls do their thing, and was once again rejoicing at how beautifully they get along with each other.

What Would Happen...

...if I only came up with 9 blog entries in a month?

I guess we'll never know.

Once again, my inner obsession has reared it's head.

Year of the Horse

Gong xi fa cai!

Happy New Year!

Here we are, in the year of the Horse. It's hard to believe that at this time last year, we were anxiously waiting for the CNY festivities to end so we could hear from the Chinese government and get on a plane for our sweet Annie!

It's almost a year later, and we're curious to see how she enjoys celebrating her first Chinese New Year with us. We have a party tomorrow where the Lion Dancers will come. We have no idea how she'll respond, but we've been watching YouTube videos to help prepare her.

Tonight, I made jiaozi (dumplings) and Dayna had a friend eat dinner with us.

Dayna gave lucky red envelopes to her class filled with chocolate coins, and later tonight, she and Annie will receive their own envelopes with "real" money.

I know we're a poor substitute for authentic Chinese culture for the girls, but it has been so much fun to learn more about their heritage as we've walked through life together with them.

Happy New Year to you all!

First Haircut

Last night, we took the girls for their Chinese New Year haircuts. It's a tradition to start the year with a fresh, clean look. For Annie, this was her first haircut with us. (We know that her head was shaved at least once in China.)

Because I'm not ready for her cute little curls to go away, we just got a little trimmed to help with the morning frizz. (Seriously...this girl wakes up with an Afro every day! Or in Dayna's terms, an Alfredo.)

She didn't exactly sit still, so some of the pictures show what a blur she is! And it's a good thing you're all looking at her cute little face, because apparently mine wasn't looking so awake.

Thanks, Tanna for another great haircut!

Chinese New Year Book List

I was just sharing with a friend some of my favorite Chinese New Year books for the girls. So to put all of these in one place:

My First Chinese New Year
This is a cute beginner's book to CNY. It clearly spells out some of the traditions surrounding the holiday.

D Is for Dragon Dance
C Is for China
These are good books with pictures and illustrations of things related to China.

Red Is a Dragon
This one was a gift - a fun book using Chinese ideas to teach colors.

The Dancing Dragon
This is one of my favorite books to use in the classroom. When you reach the end of the first half, you turn the book around and it folds out into a long dragon. 

Not CNY related, but other great books about China:

Kindergarten Day USA and China
I bought this as a gift for Dayna's Kindergarten teacher and class. When you go through the book one way, it walks you through a typical school day in the USA. Flip the book around, and you see a typical school day in China.

Tikki Tikki Tembo
A fun Chinese folk tale about two brothers.

Seven Chinese Sisters
Another fun folk tale.

And Dayna has become a huge fan of anything by Grace Lin.

If your family embraces Chinese culture, what books do you enjoy?

ELMO!!!!!

We bought Annie tickets to see Sesame Street Live for Christmas. What a fun night!

Brought back great memories of another little girl from 7 years ago who loved Elmo:

When I Thought She Wasn't Paying Attention

Discipline has been a little tough for our tiny sweetie. We've been working hard on building her trust so that discipline can be effective. When we've had to discipline, we're often rewarded with a little smirk, direct eye contact and a hysterical laugh. Not quite the penitent reaction we were hoping to receive.

The other night, the girls were playing, and we were able to catch this on video:

I guess she has been paying attention!