LOVE

We've had a fun time celebrating the love this year! We all attended a share-in at Jia's school today. It was about Martin Luther King and love, and it was terrific! The classes performed songs, read poetry and did skits. The songs ranged from the MLK song "Rise Up" to U2 to Eminem to Louis Armstrong to everyone singing "We Shall Overcome" at the end. I was so impressed with all the kids.

Here is Jia ready in her LOVE outfit:

And Willa in hers:

We had fun with the girls' gifts this year. Keeping in line with our handmade holiday, I made these sweet little corsages for the girls. I got the idea here.


They also had fun with their finger puppets.


We hope you're feeling the love today too! Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine crafts, part III

Our final Valentine craft post! The girls found some fallen branches and wanted to use them in our display. We bound them with our Valentine fabric and added some pinecones and a heart in the vase. Then we made an assembly line for tissue paper heart ornaments. I cut the hearts, Willa cut the string and Jia glued.

(Why did Jia - the master cutter - not do the cutting? Because she lost her scissors privilege for a week. Why? Because she was combing her hair, found a tangle at the top of her head, and decided to cut off a big clump of hair. She then stuck the clump of hair behind her dresser. Feeling remorseful, she then came and told me about it. Thankfully, her hair is so thick you can't really tell. I figure this is a rite of passage for both parents and children alike.)

Back to the final product:

Our Valentine display completely finished and completely homemade!

Valentine crafts, part II

We decided to add to our Valentine display. We made some hearts out of shimmery red yarn and pink embroidery thread following this project idea. We dipped the yarn in a gluey mixture, formed hearts and then baked them.

It was a sticky, gooey project that Jia and I didn't especially like, but Willa did!



Once they were dry, we hung them from the mantel.



More crafts to come!

Valentine crafts, part I

I realized that we didn't have any Valentine decorations. The girls and I decided to craft some together using stuff we have around the house.

Here's the first one. We cut out heart shapes from construction paper and attached them to raffia to make a garland.

The final result! This simple garland makes me ridiculously happy!

And so do my girls!

Happy New Year!

We attended a New Year celebration put on by the large, local chapter of the Taiwanese American Association.



The girls were given a warm welcome by a couple handing out red envelopes. They each contained a $2 bill!

That's big money to these girls!


They played aboriginal music, Taiwanese folk songs, He-Luo songs, and pop songs. Jia liked the music. She said, "It's got a catchy rhythm!"

Willa thought the lion dance was especially funny.




We sat at a table with a local immersion school teacher who grew up in Taichung - the city where Willa was born.

It was especially fun because there was special focus on Hakka culture (Willa is Hakka), and they featured Hakka music and dancing. When the first Hakka song was played, Willa started singing along like she knew it! (Maybe she does?) Everyone at our table laughed.

Here is the Hakka Tea Harvest Dance.

Happy New Year! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Outdoor Fun

We are still enjoying all the snow - thankfully! Joe and I went on a terrific date last night. We went cross-country skiing on luminary-lit trails at our local nature center. It was so warm out (30's). We brought a flashlight just in case. The stars were out and it was beautiful and romantic (and not as dark and creepy as this photo might make it seem):


The center had a toasty fire and warm drinks for relaxing after being on the trails.

We went out to a late dinner afterward. It was a perfect evening!

The girls have been having fun outside too. We went sledding this morning. Willa saw our neighbor's snowboard and was inspired to follow suit:


She has a great time even when face-planting in the snow (which occurs regularly)!

The girls also built an extensive outside fort with a kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms, a ballroom and some secret passageways. Here they are hosting a visitor (Winnie the cat):

Implementing an effective snow removal system:

Decorating a bedroom blue with spray made from food dye:

And pretending to sleep:

There are forts inside as well (this one has been constructed and deconstructed nearly every day this winter):

Fairies live in these forts in our house.

Quite the fun winter thus far!

Two Problems = One Solution

I have been thinking about how to reuse the girls' bumper pads. The fabric is so cute and still matches the rest of their decor. Then I realized that Jia needed some extra book storage. She likes to read books before bedtime but her book shelf is so full that she has difficulty putting them back, so they end up piling on the floor.

A solution to both problems! I took out the stuffing from her bumper, did a little sewing to make pockets and a few other adjustments, and voilà! She now has book storage at the head of her bed and on the side!

Jia is very happy. She strives to reuse everything from old yogurt containers to cereal boxes. I'm thrilled this works so well for her and plan to do the same for Willa!