Chinese New Year

Last night we celebrated Chinese New Year a bit early. It is not officially until next week (so you still have time to celebrate with your family!) We have a Chinese friend with whom we celebrate every year, as she is far from home and this is her biggest holiday. It would be like us missing Christmas and/or birthday. Her sister was here visiting so we were doubley blessed to celebrate early.



It is really great to learn about the traditions associated with the culture, try new foods, and have fun together. We had the traditional fish (well, baked fish minus the head, tail and bones) chicken, rice, stir fry veggies, fruit and fortune cookies.


oranges symbolize wealth and fortune cookies are always fun!


sweets are shared to hope for a "sweet" year! my kids love pocky sticks and the chocolate covered fortune cookies were a sweet treat!


I found gummy rats in honor of the year of the rat!


We kept it very simple this year compared to past years, but still a very nice time together. We also made sure to hand out red envelopes filled with money to all the children.


red packets are given to the kids. It's everybody's birthday!(these were simple to make using library pockets as a pattern and computer generated clip art!)


Learning about another culture together and experiencing some of the customs together is an excellent way to spend family time together. Gong Xi Fa Cai!