Welcome to America and Happy New Year

Weird title.  I agree.  Couldn't think of anything better though. 

We are nearly smack dab in the middle of the Empress' month.  Last week was her 2nd grade play.  She was so excited.  She had a solo singing part.  The Empress loves to sing and happily sits in the car singing along with the radio, belting out Adele songs from her bedroom, or singing Karaoke in the living room, when she thinks no one is watching.  So, the 2nd grade play popped up.  She auditioned and got a tiny solo.  She talked about it non-stop for a month.  When the time arrived, she marched into the gym with the rest of the 2nd graders.  Smile from ear to ear.  On her, and on me!  Then her moment arrived and she sang the most glorious little piece of the whole play.  Wow.  My girl can sing.  She was loud and proud.  The play, or more aptly described, musical, was about the folks coming over on the Mayflower to the new world.  In my humble, non-biased, mom opinion, she was the star.

Quality of the photos is poor, sorry.  Darn iPhone.

Sunday (10th) was Chinese New Year.  Yahoo.  Year of the Snake.  We put up our meager decorations and I cooked a lovely little dinner of Beef and Broccoli, egg rolls and spring rolls.  The children were given their red money envelopes, chocolate coins, and zodiac animals.  Cute little snakes.  And after dinner we all ate our fortune cookies.  Yum.  We didn't do fireworks this year.  Bummer.  On Monday, the Empress, dressed in a beautiful blue Chinese silk dress, took books, Pandas, zodiac animals, red envelopes, chocolate coins, and fortune cookies to school to share with her class.  We have been so blessed with teachers.  Ms. Hash devoted the whole day to Chinese New Year and they did calligraphy, watched videos, and read books.  Grayson shared her Chinese story and answered questions for the class.  Surprise....my girl was the center of attention...and she loved it!!

The Month of Grayson

The new year has been by and large, uneventful.  Then in rolls February.  Next week we have the Empress' first school musical.  She has a singing part and is more than excited for the performance.  She is a good little singer and of course loves, loves, loves being the center of attention.

The Empress' "Gotcha" Day is February 7.  This is her special family day.  We will read her the story of our journey to becoming a family and present her with a small Chinese gift.  This year is her 7th "Gotcha" day.  Hard to believe as it seems we have been together forever.  This day holds memories of the very best day of my life! 

The 10th is Chinese New Year.  We have celebrated this Chinese holiday since bringing G home and it has become quite the production.  Of course we have decorations.  The Empress dresses in a silk dress and shares a bit of her culture with her class.  She brings books about the celebrations and hands out red envelopes containing gold chocolate coins, and fortune cookies.  At home I make traditional Chinese dumplings and we enjoy a feast.  Both kids get red envelopes with real money and small animals in the shape of the Chinese Zodiac.  This year is the Snake.  Some years we light fire works, however, this year we have none to light.

The 14th is Valentines Day.  No explanation necessary.  We generally celebrate as everyone does, with valentines and a lovely dinner.  Sorry to say it has become more of the kids holiday than the parents.  

The Empress' 8th birthday is on the 18th.  She is growing up toooo quickly.  This year we have decided to let her get her ears pierced.  She has relentlessly begged us for pierced ears for the last 4 years.  This year we are going to cave.  I had originally told her that she would have to wait until she was 12, but have decided that she has shown me the maturity necessary to care for her ears.  I have also promised to "redo" her bedroom for her as a gift.  We have talked about the color scheme, bedding and decorations and have agreed on what we want it to look like. Now we need the time to accomplish the task.  Instead of a big party, the Empress has decided to invite her best friend, Sophia, to a girls lunch with Mom, followed by an afternoon at the Fun Zone with Dad, and a family dinner at Wasabi that evening.

So, Mom, Dad, and Greer will sit back and watch our lovely Empress enjoy "Her" February!