Chinese New Year/ A 15 Day Party!

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year (this year, January 26th, 2009) and ends on the full moon 15 days later. In China, they do a lot of getting together for dinners and celebrating family during this time. Lots of festive dishes are prepared (Who doesn't love that?)The 15th day of the new year is culminated with the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade. Wow, who couldn’t love a party that lasts for 15 days?!!!
Kayli is wearing the same silk outfit we bought in China 2 years ago when she was 20 months old. Of course we had the pant legs rolled up quite a bit back then. (See last picture) We use this outfit for silky soft “jammies” in the winter. Looks like the last year for this size. My sweet pea is growing!

Happy New Year!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Gardening in Winter

Kayli has on her garden gloves. She’s got her shovel and her bucket. She is begging me to dig in the dirt and “plant some flowers”. Problem? It’s January. The ground is frozen solid. It’s below zero! So what’s a mom to do? Well, Where there’s a will there’s a way. Let the digging begin! All I had to do was set up the “traveling sandbox” on the picnic blanket in the kitchen, and hand Kayli a few twigs of fake poinsettias for her “to plant”. She was soooo happy, just digging away and pretending to plant and pretending to water, and loving her indoor sandbox! Woohoo, life is good!

Decisions Decisions!

Need I say more?

The Lady in the Car

When we want a little entertainment while driving in the car, we just plug in the GPS, or as Kayli calls it “The Lady”. Our device has a lady’s voice that gives directions and when I so much as hint at not being sure how to get somewhere, Kayli yells “Mom, get the lady out!” One day, shortly after buying this device, I decided to try it out on a long trek across town. Throughout the drive, this “lady” kept trying to tell me to go in a direction where I knew the road was closed, and if you miss a turn, she’s persistent, and will keep trying to direct you that way. Then, she wanted me to get on the highway, when it was clearly “backed up” to the exit (something the “lady couldn’t see”) Every time she made a suggestion, I would talk back to her saying things like “What? The highway? You’ve got to be kidding!” or “Turn right? That road is closed.” Kayli thought this interactive driving was hysterical. Now she just loves it when we think we need to “get the lady out”. We talk to the lady and ask her if she’s sure about her instructions, Kayli repeats words like “exit right?” as if it is the best joke she ever heard, and she howls with laughter, and I laugh at her laughing, and, well, that’s entertainment at it’s finest!

Who, Me?

When caught stacking her toy boxes in front of the t.v. and trying to climb them, Kayli said "Don't worry 'bout me mom, I'm just tryin' to get my video." Oh, I see, is that all?

A Tea-Party Toast to the New Year!

Happy New Year! And, that’s as opposed to “Old Year”, which in Kayli’s mind is what? Well, she knows that milk gets “old” in your cup when you leave it out overnight. Then you can’t drink it anymore, but you can get some “new milk” in the refrigerator. She knows that Grandpa has “old legs” which is how I’ve explained the reason he has a hard time walking. Kayli wishes Grandpa could get “new legs” like we get new batteries when the old ones wear out. Now, there’s a concept. She knows about new clothes and new shoes, which simply makes her giddy with excitement. So, with this broad array of “background knowledge”, Kayli just knows that a NEW year has to be a good thing because it’s NEW, “right mom?” Yes, Kayli, when a new year starts, we have lots of NEW days to do all the things we love to do, and days for trying NEW things we haven’t done yet! Isn’t that great?
So, on our first new day of the New Year we started with a tea party at breakfast, using Kayli’s new Princess tea set. We invited her new baby doll, named “baby” to join us. We had pretend tea in tiny cups, but we ate real life size GIANT muffins that wouldn’t fit on the tiny plates. Our tummies were happy and we were happy, as we chalked this up to our first New fun experience of the New Year! Day One, check.