Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Gong Xi Fa Cai! (Happy Chinese New Year!)

Our Tuesday did not start out too well,
Princess woke up with an upset tummy.
Very early in the morning.

After sleeping on the couch for about 3 hours!
She woke up feeling fine, and ready to "do some school".

The Lincoln Logs were picked up from a wonderful freecycler this weekend.
I had previously picked a small batch up from someone else, and
figured maybe I'd end up with a whole set, but this was an entire full
set of them, in VERY GOOD condition too. We were all excited and have
been playing with them since Sunday!
We read our Mozart books, while listening to the music CD
that came with one of the books (see Yesterday's book post)
then a few Chinese themed books (one is also in the book post),
then we started crafting. Lanterns came first.

We took a sheet of construction paper (we used mostly paper that had pictures
we did not want or need to "save" on one side), and folded it in half - so we had a sheet
of 4 and a 1/4 by 11 instead of 8 and a 1/2 by 11. Then we cut at the fold (see first pic above),
then we made a tube by taping the sides together and squished a bit.
We used a hole punch to put a hole on each side (near the top) then strung them up
using leftover yarn. They looked very festive over our dining room table.
Then we moved on to our dragons.Yes, we made two. We could not agree on which style we liked
best, so we made both.
Dragon #1 consisted of a print out of a dragon head to color (OK, they both did,we used the same one for both dragons..this was a "craft bag" already made up and just waiting for us to get to it)We cut both heads out after coloring.
Then Princess traced her hands on construction paper (we did two sheets-4 hands)
Then she cut them out.Glued them together
Then we stuck them on a tongue depressor. The second we used leftover strips of construction paper folded accordion style and attached to the cut out dragon head with a tongue depressor
attached as well.
We placed them in a red glass on the table with our chopsticks until after dinner.


Dinner was delivered by a local Chinese Food place and just what the doctor
(Dr Mom) ordered. Literally, on Sunday I placed an order to be delivered
on Tuesday (via the Internet) as they were closed on Monday.If Princess looks a bit bored, she was waiting for Farmer Dad to get
home from work, he has been working late and "we" are not adjusting to it very well
at all. Somewhere between 5 and 7 pm is a big change from being home at 3:45pm.
Then we had a Dragon parade to bring us all good luck!
After dinner and parade, Princess sang us a few songs (traditional around here),
and then we played with the Lincoln logs while we watched the Nova special on
Monarch Butterflies. Desert was sherbet instead of Chocolate Cake (we'll do that today)
due to her earlier tummy issues. Bedtime was 11pm. I was worried she would be up all night after sleeping all morning, but she was agreeable at bedtime..for a change.
This morning I awoke to a bit of snow, now turned to freezing rain.
Princess is still sleeping. I am going to go wake her now.
It's Blueberry Pancake Day, and Ernie's (from Sesame St)
Birthday, and Kazoo Day (I'm thinking music will be Rubber Duckie on the Kazoo).
I'll have her help with the pancakes and we'll make the chocolate cake (Yesterday was Choc Cake Day) and have it for desert tonight to celebrate Ernie's B-day.
I hope your day is as sweet as the blueberries and chocolate we will consume today,
if not..there is always tomorrow! ;-)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

So much goodness in one post!

Did P really sleep for 3 hours? Wow, whatever did you do with yourself. lol Glad she was feeling better. She looks a little sad in that second pic.

Did I complain to you about the 1000 piece set of Lincoln logs I found on Craigslist and how I had to let it go because my in laws were buying a set for Christmas for the kids. And how the old sets are so much better made and all the same color. I could go on and on. Glad you found a nice set.

I haven't really found any Chinese New Year books that I like. Part of my dissatifaction is that I feel bad that Cate doesn't have a chinese family. Silly I know.

I'm sure you noticed but your red table top is the same as the one Heather from Beauty That Moves photographed the other day. I thought I recognized it.

Can you send me the link to the dragon? Your dragons are wonderful. Perfect for the dining table.

Sorry Farmer Dad is working late. Let me tell you, I feel your pain.

Have a great evening.

Anonymous said...
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Gottfredsen said...

So many great things. I am glad that P is feeling better. I love how you used her hands for the dragons body. Isn't it amazing how many ways you can use hands to create an art project.

Cher Mere said...

Your Chinese decorations look awesome. I hope Princess feels all better.

Tara said...

She looks so sweet conked out on her pillow... glad she felt better after her rest.
I'm so glad you share the special days, like kazoo day and chocolate cake day...it helps me think of ideas when the winter doldrums set in :0)

Kari said...

what a fabulous post! makes me wish I was homeschooling! I may have to do those dragon and lanterns anyway..maybe get a book on the chinese new year, if they aren't all check out!

have a great day, I hope princess feels better!

Jennifer said...

Oh, pooh! I'm betting you're not going to make fortune cookies with P now!

Totally forgot I read a Chinese New Year greeting on Facebook the other day. My brain is so short circuited!

mavibu said...

Kate, do you plan these celebartions waaay ahead of time? I'm thinkig I need to start planning Kindergarten (DD turns 5 in April) NOW! How do you find out about all the different national days?
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My homeschool buddies and I are all posting pics of our "home schools" as part of our idea sharing.

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