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!

Hockey

Jia attended her first Gopher hockey game with Joe. She loved it! She had lots of questions about the "time-out" the players get in the penalty box. "What did he do to get in there? Can he move around? Can he eat in there?" And of course, the first thing she told me about when she got home was the fighting! Thankfully, the fights just involved some pushing and shoving.



She enjoyed watching the game and did not want to miss any even during snack time. It was nice too that the "Mites" team that played during a break were girls! Joe and I both like hockey and we're glad our Minnesota girl does too!

Winter Carnival

We went to the St. Paul Winter Carnival yesterday. We started the trip with a visit to the Saintly City Cat Show. We always went when I was a kid because it was such good people watching! (And cat watching too! Many cats had silly little outfits and their cages looked like rooms with four-poster cat beds.) Sadly, we did not encounter such fun sights this time, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.


The winning cats get to wear these!

We then saw all the exceptional ice sculptures at the Winter Carnival. It is the 125th year for it, and they built a huge wall of ice. Amazing!

In a change of character, Jia wanted her picture taken in front of every sculpture!


The girls were excited about this Asian-inspired one:



The highlight of the trip was the maple taffy! People dressed in period costume from Voyageurs made the warm, sticky taffy right there on a trough of snow. Delicious!


Fun to attend the Coolest Celebration on Earth!

Science Fair

Jia had her first Science Fair tonight! It was optional but she signed up immediately. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, and did it!

I was very impressed by her efforts. Her project took a long time to complete. She also practiced her presentation before we left.

Here is the project in parts (click to enlarge):



I was also impressed by the other kids at her school. Wow! They were really excited about what they had accomplished.




My parents came:

My sister came:
Here Jia is explaining her project to another student:

Here Willa is making another trip to the most popular science project - the one that explored the science of making hard candy.



Jia is already planning to explore "surface area" for next year's Science Fair project. We are all looking forward to it!