from pink tulle to red silk

i don't typically decorate with snakes.  in fact,  this was kind of a first for me. and it ended up being one of those table decorations which i felt the need to "explain" all evening long, at least to the cute little girls who were hesitantly sizing up the slithery things while reaching for an egg roll.  but, after all, it is the year of the snake and for this chinese new year we decided to pull out all the stops and throw in a few serpents.  (vintage dollar store... spray painted antique gold). sssss...

sienna, ruby, bella and emme jade!

really, take one look at these pictures and you'll know we had some fun.  my good friend, diana, and i joined together in our mandarin madness and, along with our husbands, hosted a chinese new year party this past saturday night. rick and i have been wanting to do this since bringing bella home from china. it seemed a wonderful way to celebrate a tiny part of her culture and homeland.  yes, she lives in america. and yes, she is now 100% a part of an american family,  but our little girl was born on the other side of the world in a unique and extraordinary land.  as much as we are thrilled that she's here, we do desire, in some way, to embrace the beauty and rich history of her incredible heritage.

though we have no immediate plans to follow the zodiac calendar or worship our ancestors, there is much about the chinese culture to celebrate.   and that's what we did saturday night.  we aren't going to be adding buddha to our home anytime soon, there will be no following of multiple gods or reverence for the dragon...but we can pull out the artful aspects of china's opulent beauty and we can very much celebrate the place of our daughters' birth.  one of my favorite things on saturday night was when our friend, michelle, brought us a lovely hostess gift.  in our gift she also included a red envelope for each of our children (my 5 and diana's 4).  inside each envelope she had placed a two dollar bill (giving money to children on this holiday is customary), but on the outside of the envelope she had taken the time to write "Jesus loves you" in chinese.  the ancient chinese ancestors might not like that, but we sure loved it!

i'm glad we pushed ourselves along with this party plan.  it wasn't completely easy.  with two of my girls sharing an early february birthday, there's a part of me which feels all party-ed out this month -- understandably.  but, again, i'm pleased we found the margin to make this happen. it was worth every detailed list or late night. and it was such a blast to work with a kindred party planning buddy -- thanks diana rouse!  so this week my thoughts and plans moved rapidly from pink tulle (bella's ballet party -- last saturday) to red silk.  i've included some interesting tidbits about this holiday and a few photos (the really good photos are from diana's camera) from our party.  i hope you enjoy!

a few facts about the chinese new year:

Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere.
bella may be our only chinese child, but she's significant enough for us to celebrate!

It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. 
well, we really don't believe in the ideas of "luck" and "fortune"...but i am absolutely a big fan of a thorough house cleansing.   i am not sure we swept away any ill-fortune, but i did have a great big pile of dog hair when i finished with my broom!

Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in snake years are wise, charming, gregarious, introverted, generous, and smart.

so, i guess that explains the snake.  he must have been one of the 12 animals hanging out with buddha.  a few other animals attending the buddha meeting were the rat, ox, dragon and pig....personally i wouldn't have incorporated rats or snakes, i think we could have come up with some other, more charming creatures, but okay.  whatever.  we'll go with it. bella, by the way, is the year of the rat.  i know this because her orphanage gave us a statue with a rat on it.  it was a nice thought, but needless to say, the rat statue isn't on display in her bedroom. 

Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity." Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.
yes.  we embraced this part with great enthusiasm.  (did someone say "decorating???") lots and lots of red and gold.  i ordered paper lanterns and then even ordered some more...because can you ever have enough paper lanterns?  remind me to tell you the story sometime about how i wrangled rick into hanging them for me.  "a little to the left...no, honey, a little to the right...a little higher...no, a little lower."  we were able to hang exactly 3 together before he, in order to save our marriage, carefully removed himself from the dining room and my gigantic pile of lanterns.  what can i say, i had a vision...

At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.
i hadn't thought at all about fireworks, but thankfully our good friends, leslie and greg robertson, were on it.  greg brought his supply and shot a few off for the kids down on the lake.  by the way, please don't tell my boys about the bamboo stalks of fire custom ...they'd be all over that one... and knowing us, we'd probably end up burning away more than just some bad luck.

one part of our party which we didn't photograph, but i must mention, is the minnesota influence.  in minnesota, it is customary to remove your shoes at the front door.  (i think that's kind of chinese too -- but for different reasons of course).  i WISH i could show you a picture of what our foyer looked like after approximately 75 people shed their shoes....just imagine!  it was right up there with the golden snakes. when we first moved to minnesota, i had a hard time with this. for you see,  i am a shoe girl.  i wear them and i like them.  i like them on my feet, not at the front door.  sometimes i even plan my outfit around my shoes. (i realize i have just given you some really, really, really shallow information about myself....oh well...judge if you must).  but i suppose it was a really good thing after the mushy, wet wintry weather we've had this week, that most of the minnesotans removed their shoes saturday night.  next year, we plan to have chinese flip flops or silk slippers available for everyone! new shoes? happy chinese new year, indeed!

so, that's it.  that was chinese new year 2013.  what i loved most about this evening was the fun.  it was a really fun night watching so many different people come together.  it was a blessing to see friends who had probably never attended a chinese new year party stop by and celebrate with great enthusiasm...not because they are necessarily connected to the chinese new year, but because they have a connection with our families -- and that's something worth celebrating for sure!

feeling really blessed tonight as i write this...blessed...(and i'll admit) a little bit exhausted.

and just in case you were wondering...next year...it's the year of the horse.  giddy up!  let the party planning begin!

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY y'all!

almond tea cookies.  we made these.  yes, yes we did.  

diana and i got together on friday for some chinese cooking in my kitchen. we were especially proud of our asian dumplings AKA "pot stickers."  they weren't the prettiest pot stickers ever to grace a chinese table (thus, we didn't photograph them)...but they were super yummy!

i took these photos the next morning.  we had several inches of snow that night and throughout the day...  snow tipped chinese lanterns....minnesota style!

a bella-rina birthday: tutu cute!

honestly, i had no idea it was national tutu day.  somehow i stumbled into that perfect coincidence this past saturday.  i'd like to tell you i planned it. i'd like to claim that i schemed and organized and adjusted all for the perfect party package,  but i'd be lying.  i didn't.  i chose the date for bella's ballerina birthday party because it was the weekend which worked best for our family.  february 2nd, 2013...or 2-2-13...national tutu day.  get it?  and, come on now, isn't that the cutest thing ever?  i didn't even know it existed until i posted some pictures of bella's party and some friends made a comment on facebook.  they were impressed with my managing to make that all happen.  well, the day was magical, but the fact that we had her ballet birthday on national tutu day was just dumb luck.  (i, by the way, take any luck that comes my way...dumb, brilliant or otherwise).

that said...i just HAVE to share with y'all a few pictures from this precious party. because national tutu day or not, the day was just tutu sweet.  i am pretty sure i was more excited than the birthday ballerina.  this party allowed me to really channel my inner girly-girl -- oh, and do i ever have one!  i wouldn't be caught dead in a tutu today, but i had so much fun making the tutus and creating the pink and tulle explosion.  as my older kids saw things come together last week they made comments like, "wow, mom... you're really into this, aren't you?" that's their way of saying, "mom, you've kind of gone off the deep end."  what can i say...it was the first week of february in minnesota and it wasn't like i was going to be busy gardening or taking leisurely walks around the lake.  i sat fireside last week and made tutus.  ten of them, in fact. and it was thrilling.  (yes, yes it was).

so we had a ballet party to celebrate bella turning 5! and though i couldn't invite y'all, my TU-TU TALENTED friend, diana, took a zillion pictures.  i am including a few.  well, actually, i am including a lot.  but seriously, i could probably post 200.   her work is incredible and i hope you enjoy the beautiful result!

and the little ballerina crashed when her party guests said goodbye ....so did her mommy!

birthdays

i love celebrating the birthdays of our children.  i love everything about it.  especially the chance to highlight them for the day.  with five kids, it is hard to focus on any one child in the messy day to day.  not that our kids are lacking for anything.  i don't have to assure you, they get plenty of attention, recognition and love.  BUT they also have to fit into the fabric of five.  all too often, i am aware of how we don't listen or stop or celebrate when we are in the hurry of our busy living.  BUT ON THEIR BIRTHDAYS...i have to say, we do a pretty good job of CELEBRATING.  i'll never regret that.  i think we all love everything from the singing over birthday cake and candles to the receiving of gifts and good wishes.

yesterday was a birthday day in our house...and the coolest thing about february 5th is that we have TWO who share that day:  emily and bella, the oldest and youngest --  our two beautiful bookends!  God chose february 5th for both of them to be born.  WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT.  it's special, unique, and a part of me even considers it rather efficient.  (yes, i just wrote that).

yesterday emily turned 17 and bella, 5.  i find both milestones hard to believe.  on the kids' birthdays i like to think about the day they were born.  for the kids, birthdays are about being queen or king for the day... opening up cool gifts...eating some cake...having a special dinner...that kind of thing.  but for us mamas, birthdays mean something more.  we might use this day to stop and remember the unique moments of that day of birth years ago.  these moments would be some of the greatest in my life. with each child, i found the whole birth thing incredible. extraordinary. amazing. completely God-filled. (okay... and i suppose, a tad painful).

but each year on this day,  i am also drawn to thoughts about bella's birth mother.  i am sure this woman, wherever she is in china, thinks about the little girl she gave birth to five years ago. some of you know that bella's biological parents cared for her for about five months. when they did choose to leave her it was out of desperation. they realized bella was very sick and they had no resources to care for their baby girl.  we know this because they attached to her blanket a note of explanation. this note is an absolute treasure and one we will, someday, share with bella. and from this note, i have no doubt, they loved her greatly and only wanted what was best for her.  i'll attach the link of our guide, simon, reading it out loud to us when he found it in her file.


(by the way, in order to listen to a video on my blog...first scroll down to the very bottom of my blog and "pause" the song playlist).

so i can't help but think of bella's parents on this day.  these people who in their note wrote, "we are not willing to see her stay in pain...we had to abandon her...it's hard to tell how painful i (we) are." i am sure these people who grieved over the leaving of their baby girl...these people remember february 5th.  i am sure they wonder about where she is and how she is and who she is. as a mother, i can't imagine not knowing where one of my children is on her birthday.  i just cannot fathom what that might be like. heck, i remember being sad when emily had to go to kindergarten on her birthday.  i wanted her home with me on that special day!  over the years since bella came home, i have so wished that her biological parents could know how well she is doing.  how happy, how healthy, how whole her life is. i wish they could know how much we treasure and love our bella.  and who knows...maybe someday in God's grand design that would be possible.  one never knows.  what i do know, is that God has given us two incredibly special gifts on this same day, february 5th. they may have arrived in different ways...but our love for them is the same -- deep and dear.

 * * * * *

my birthday girls.  
oldest and youngest.  treasured daughters.  divinely designed.  princesses of the one true King.  cherished.  loved.  adored.  chosen.  blessings.

okay...check back tomorrow for a post on bella's ballerina birthday party!  no time to write more today, but i promise to post some pictures from that special day.  

minnows and tutus

my last post was about boys and ice fishing.  power augers and adventure.

but this post is dedicated to little girls and dancing.  tutus and twirling.  

i love that life gives me both.  the boys.  the girls.  grand, messy adventures and soft glimpses of beauty.

i love that God, in His wisdom and grace and goodness,  has stretched me wide between oohing and awing over the the aerator my son hooked up in his bucket of minnows yesterday (bate)...and oohing and awing over the leap and spin of my little lass in her new tutu today. (compliments of grandma)!

i have to admit, sometimes i feel overwhelmed in this stretching:  boys who handle fish and girls who twirl in tutus.  (okay, truth be told, i have girls who handle fish too)...but seriously?  the gender gap feels gargantuan sometimes.  and the age thing can be a stretch as well.  the discussions in our home right now range from kindergarten to college.  whew!  one moment we are planning prospective college visits with emily and the next moment we are praying about sending bella to kindergarten next year.  and then there's everything in between.  

yes, the gap is great. 

but...it's all good.  it's all grace.  it's definitely God's design.  and i have to remember, if He is allowing this stretching then He's also designed me to stretch.  

so, back to that little ballerina. i snapped these one morning last week while she was just hanging around the house.  everyone else gone to school. i love these quiet moments when the house empties and the tiny girl enters her sweet world of pretend. i hang back.  watch. listen. and sometimes grab the camera.  this was one of those days.

* * *

tyler's minnows.  and the aerator.  in my kitchen.  i oohed.  i awed.