Happy Year of the Rooster!

Chinese New Year began its celebrations on January 28th.

This year we will be celebrating the Year of the Rooster and I’ll be visiting Josie’s 5th grade classroom first thing Tuesday morning to teach our annual lesson.

If you've followed me through the years, you know that we have a year-round decorative tree that receives multiple makeovers every other month (including some made-up holidays).

I've said this each year, but of all the trees that I display in the sunroom throughout the year, I think the CNY tree is my favorite.

Wishing you good health, good luck and much happiness throughout the year!

Happy New Year!

Happy Year of the Monkey!

We kicked off the start of Chinese New Year yesterday with a visit to Josie's classroom.

 Her best friend Kaden is also adopted from China and his talented mom and I had fun sharing this special holiday with their classmates.

We used bubble wrap for firecrackers and I think Josie's teacher had just as much fun making noise as his students.

 We also passed out red envelopes filled with chocolate gold coins and Kaden's mom came up with a neat crafting activity where the kids could make a paper monkey and attach it to their paper lantern.

A fun time was had by all.  

Wishing you good health, good luck and much happiness throughout the year. 
 

Our 2015 Chinese New Year tree

If you've followed me for awhile, you know that we have a year-round decorative tree that receives multiple makeovers every other month (including some made-up holidays).

Now that my vintage Christmas ornaments are finally all packed up, Josie and I spent some time over the weekend working on her special tree. 

Her tree is now featuring an assortment of decorations celebrating the approaching Chinese New Year which begins February 8th.

I've said this each year, but of all the trees that I display in the sunroom throughout the year, I think the CNY tree is my favorite.

Someday Josie might not be as eager to help decorate her special tree, but I'm glad she enjoys celebrating her heritage.

 Happy Year of the Monkey!

Wising you a Happy Chinese New Year!

Out with the year of the horse, in with the sheep, goat or ram! 

 Thursday marks Chinese New Year, the longest and most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. 2015 is the year of the goat, but you may see it referred to as the “Year of the Sheep or Year of the Ram” too. 

I did a little research and the confusion stems from the Chinese character “yang”, which can translate in Chinese as either sheep or goat or ram.  

Regardless of the animal, Josie is looking forward to sharing her special holiday with her classmates next Monday.  I'm sure I can get creative and capture a few pictures of her party.

Wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year!
   

Year of the Goat CNY tree!

If you've followed me for awhile, you know that we have a year-round decorative tree that receives multiple makeovers every other month (including some made-up holidays).

It's now featuring an assortment of decorations celebrating the approaching Chinese New Year (Year of the Goat or Sheep) which begins February 19th.

I've said this before, but of all the trees, that I display in the sunroom, I think the CNY tree is my favorite.

I'm sure it has something to do with our time spent in China.

Happy "soon-to-be" Year of the Goat!

PS. Prayers for all my east coast friends and Storm Juno!

Chinese New Year preparations...

Chinese New Year officially begins February 19 and my long time followers know that I convert our year-round tree into a Chinese New Year tree to celebrate Josie's heritage. 

 Josie and I will be putting the final touches on it this weekend.  Until the big reveal, here's a sneak peek.

 Have a wonderful weekend!  Take time to play!

Celebrating "Year of the Horse" in Josie's classroom!

I've been blessed that every year since Josie was in preschool, she's been allowed to share her special holiday with her classmates.

This year, we watched a couple of short videos provided by Panda Express, read some background information on Chinese New Year customs, and then each student was given time to decorate a horse for their paper lantern.

They all did a fabulous job.  I brought my hot glue gun and helped attach a googly eye and a long black feather as a tail for their horse.

I also found a "horse" mask at this link which I cut out and attached to a cardboard handle.

Aren't they cute!?! 

The red envelopes, chocolate gold coins and fortune cookies are always a hit.  But the most favorite part of the CNY lesson is the bubble wrap "firecrackers".  We closed the door to the classroom because we were having so much fun making noise with our firecrackers.  

On Friday night, we celebrated the start of the CNY with a feast of Chinese food and letting off a single sky lantern from our very snowy backyard. 

Wishing you a Happy New Year!  Kung Hay Fat Choy!
 

Getting ready to celebrate Year of the Horse!

I have to thank my blogging friend Kareena from "Let's go Fly a Kite".  She sent us a Chinese New Year package filled with red envelopes, as well as festive "Year of the Horse" decorations.   

While we were home from school earlier this week, we assembled the red envelopes and chocolate gold coins that Josie will give to each of her classmates.

You can find more information on the red envelope tradition at this link.

 Josie's classmates will also be decorating red lanterns for a mini lantern festival.   In case you're wondering, red is a key color for New Year's celebrations.  It symbolizes a bright and happy future.

Josie and I pre-assembled the construction paper lanterns so that her classmates can spend their time decorating horses.

We made a few extra lanterns to keep at home.

If we were in China, we would also hear lots of firecrackers being set off to send out the old year and welcome in the new year.

We made our own firecrackers using a cardboard tube from a roll of wrapping paper.

The tubes were cut into sections and painted red.  Even big sister got in on the crafting fun.

Lines of glue and glitter was generously sprinkled to decorate our firecrackers.

Red string was taped on the inside and they are now hanging in our sunroom window.

Chinese New Year lasts for several days, so we'll be sharing a few more pictures.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!
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