Final CNY celebration

Over the weekend, our small group at church got together to celebrate CNY and catch-up. We did this last year and had quite a good time. Everyone makes (or buys) a Chinese dish to share. Delish. J had spent all afternoon making Jiaozi or potstickers, only to forget and leave them in the fridge. Oops! There was more than enough food and we brought little "goodies" for people on Sunday so we don't have 100+ dumplings to eat.

As in typical fashion, the moms and the kiddos were where the toys were and the dads were...somewhere else. Ha ha.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

He may come across as serious and no-nonsense, but don't let it fool ya. He's really a great big teddy bear on the inside!

Maple sugaring

In our little corner of the US, late February through March means it is time to tap the maple trees to make maple sugar. This morning we went to our local Metroparks to learn a little more about it. While most of the time was indoor, we did venture out at the end to see an actual tree with a bag full of sap. I was amazed to learn how much sap is needed in order to produce just a small amount of maple syrup. No wonder the real stuff is so expensive!! There was sap to taste (it tasted like sugar water) and then a small amount of real maple syrup. Yummy!! As we drove down the winding, tree-lined road to the nature center, the Noodle kept saying "Mama, I'm so excited!". I think she thought we were going to get pancakes, since I had explained that we were going to learn about maple syrup, like we put on the pancakes Daddy makes. When it was over, she seemed to have forgotten about the pancakes, but again said "that was so fun", so I know she enjoyed it.

"Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God"--Job 37:14
I can't wait!
Getting a chance to try to drill the hole.

Waiting to taste the sap and syrup.

Collecting sap from the tree.

A Change...will do us good!

One of the first rooms that we painted, back when we first moved in, was the dining room. Back at the turn of the century (ha ha), dark red was The Thing. I still love the color, but after 10+ years, the paint was needing to be freshened up. We decided to go with a different color.



Our wood floors, that J refinished about 5 years ago, are DEFINITELY showing their age (80+ years) as well. Unfortunately, there are some boards that have become so soft, I'm worried about all of us falling through...especially when a certain youngster is bounding back and forth. J tried replacing them as well as shoring them up, from underneath in the basement, but a duct prevented him from getting all of them. He's been feeling the itch to "home improve" and decided to tackle the woodwork (refinish it) and put down some new flooring too.



I'm so fortunate to have a hubby that is good with his hands. God has certainly blessed him with this gift and he loves to use it. Even better is that when he starts a project, it bugs him until it is all finished and cleaned up! No lingering projects with him.

While the woodwork and painting are finished, the bamboo floor will take a little longer since we've got a busy weekend planned. So, goodbye old dining room...



...and hello new one! Here's hoping he gets a few free days at the beginning of March.

Big girl bed and new pillows

A few weeks ago, we transitioned the Chinese Noodle out of her toddler bed and into a regular twin size bed. She loves her new bed and is excited to show it to anyone who comes over.

Where did my old bed go? (Please excuse the dust bunnies and the collection of "stuff" that fell behind...so embarassing!).

Trying out my new bed. Ohhh, very comfy!


I decided to spruce it up a little bit with a few small throw pillows. Since Santa had brought me a new sewing machine, this was the perfect project to take it for a test drive. As a side note, if you've never made throw pillows before and you are a beginner sewer, let me just tell you that this is the BEST project to undertake. Soo simple. I went to JoAnn's and picked up pillow forms. Right on the outside of the package it tells the dimensions. Just add a 1/2 inch on each side when you are measuring the material (example: one pillow form was 14x14. The square piece of material I cut was 15x15). Pin material wrong sides together and sew 3 of the four sides together. Leave about 5-7 inches on the 4th side open. Cut your corners, being careful that you don't cut the stitches, and turn right side out. Stuff the pillow form into the newly created case and whip-stitch closed. Presto, new throw pillows.



Since I had been able to make the pillows so quickly, I decided to whip some up for our bed. I had been holding onto some old sheets/pillowcases and thought these would be perfect for our pillows. So, for about $20 (4 pillow forms (50% off during the President's Day sale) and some yellow ric-rac--love that stuff!), we got new pillows too. Certainly spruces up the room and puts a smile on my face (as does the sun that's shining outside today).


Happy decorating and sewing!

A different perspective

Nursery School visit

Today I went in to share a story with the Noodle's Nursery School class. Since Chinese New Year was celebrated on Sunday, I thought it would be a great way to begin introducing her little friends to that aspect of her life. Before we read My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz, we discussed a little bit about adoption, why our family celebrates the Lunar New Year and China. Obviously it was a lot to take in for a bunch of 3 year-olds, but all in all they did pretty well. One little girl asked if she could have a dress like the Noodle's and another boy told me that he flew on an airplane to China and then to Chicago a few days ago. Ha ha ha!! We had also brought in fortune cookies for the kiddos to take home, so I cracked one open and paraphrased the fortune inside for them. They were quite excited to eat them, but had a hard time understanding that they'd have to wait until they got home so their parents could read the fortunes to them. Throughout the entire exchange, the C.N. never left my side...perhaps we have a future teacher budding inside?!