Chinese New Year Celebrations

We had our feast last night, it was delicious and the egg rolls were a BIG hit. We started the day before with making decorations for the house. We have several banners done in Chinese characters and they are all traditional wishes and greetings for the New Year-except the one that we made up for Billy. I never realized how good Les was at the calligraphy and he is responsible for all of ours and the drawings. It basically looks like a CNY bomb went off around here and I think it looks great. We have represented most of the traditional animals - we have fish for abundance, bats for luck, dragons for power, butterflies for longevity and the Rat of course! Evelyn realy loved that we were doing this, though she was dissapointed to figure out that we weren't actually going to China.
As far as the feast, I didn't really get too carried away. I made an Asian Party mix (thanks Chris for that recipe) which we munched on non-stop throughout the day, we had homemade egg rolls, a stirfry and then some steamed rice. We were supposed to have "fireworks ice cream" but we ran out of room/time and we will have them today I think. This was my first attempt at egg rolls and they were fun and easier than I expected, I know, I can't make muffins from scratch but I can manage egg rolls? Go figure. Anyway, Bean had a blast rolling the egg rolls and watching them fry up.
It was fun figuring out how to incorporate some of the traditions into our life. The book "Moonbeams,Dumplings and Dragon Boats" was a big help. Next year we hope to have a big party with lots of family to help eat the egg rolls.

Gung Hai Fat Choy!!!

It's time for Chinese New Year!! 2008 is the Year of the Rat. We are gearing up for some CNY festivities around here. I have some rat decorations, we are making some home-made mooncakes, a stir-fry and egg rolls. I have also been doing alot of thinking about this and have adapted some of the traditions to more easily fit in with our family. We don't have any real fireworks or firecrackers but I am making a firework inspired mobile to hang in the house and we are also making some other crafts and things. It should be fun. Evelyn has really been looking forward to this.


Here is a link to some info on Chinese New Year of you are interested.....
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html

We wish you all Good Fortune and Happiness for the year to come.

Another Beach Day

It has been warm here and on this past Saturday, it was sunny and just right for a Feb visit to the beach. I know, we have ALOT of beach pictures, what can I say, it's what we have. Bean likes to take her big dump truck and haul sand, and as always chasing sea gulls is a favorite past time.

NEWS!

We got word today of where we are going to be transferred!!!!! Drum roll sound...... Ohio!! Yes this is great news for us, back home , close to our families and friends, back to a place where we can buy socks and underwear without driving for an hour and a half, back to where there are job opportunities for me.

That's a silly little outfit Jones

This is an outfit from Aunt Jenny. Bean loves it and when it finally fit her, she put it on and wore it for 4 days running, even to bed! Now I am being hounded about when she can wear it again. I will say, she looks so cute in it, like a little striped jawa.

Sunday Morning Tradition or Thank God for Duncan Hines!

So I have decided that we will start making piping hot, homemade muffins each Sunday. Fine. It's a great idea, we get to have nice hot muffins on Sunday morning and then there are left overs for a few mornings for Evelyn. Except that as Les puts it , I "scour books and the internet for obscure recipes full of organic granola from some hole in the wall road side Montana Grill", and these recipes have been nothing but a dry, tasteless excercise in futility. Seriously, it's been this way for YEARS , whenever I pick out a breakfast-y thing to try, it's awful. So after a few tries of bad muffins , I freaked out and bought some Duncan Hines Blueberry Muffin Mix and......... HALLELUYA!!!! we had a pan full of beautifully browned, moist and delicious muffins this morning. I love the ready mixes and they are now my new Sunday morning thing- I am a convert. When I think of the wasted ingredients over the years, I just cringe.
The other thing is, that on Sunday morning, you are allowed to read at the table. Bean loves this and has only recently been allowed to join the "Read While Eating Club". From these pictures you can see that not only can she be a mini-Les but that she enjoys the splurge of eating and reading at the same time.

What are Grumpaws good for?

Pure joy, that's what.




This was at my parents house over the Christmas visit. My Dad rigged up a system to pull both grandkids at once and they loved it. By "they" I mean the kids and the Grandparents! Obviously Grum was involved, I mean someone had to take the pictures- right? Well, this picture just makes me chuckle and grin silly every time I see it. Bean is without a shirt because that sort of thing happens all the time at Grandma's house and what happens at Grandma's, stays at Grandma's.
You will have to click on it and see it big for the full effect. I honestly don't know what's funnier, Bean's absolute unbridled joy or Brevin watching her and laughing just because she is. Priceless.