Tonight we attended another Chinese New Year celebration. This event was sponsored by the Asian Cultural Awareness Association of a local college.
There were kid-friendly activities along with free food from area restaurants, traditional dance and musical performances, and martial arts demonstrations.
The evening culminated with a spectacular fireworks display. Karys was none too keen on the display at first because we were quite close and the fireworks were very, very loud. But after a few minutes, she was getting into it as much as Eliana was.
Chinese New Year is Monday but we celebrated locally tonight.
We’ve met in a restaurant the three previous years but moved this year to our church’s fellowship hall.
The meal was pot-luck which means that I asked each family to bring a main dish, a side dish and a drink to feed their family plus one more. There was more than enough food to feed everyone.
Before everyone had to leave, we managed to get the children calmed down long enough for a photo op.
This is Eliana’s first year in our church’s Children’s Choir.
Following our churchwide Christmas banquet this evening, the Children’s Choir presented their Christmas program entitled A Christmas Carol in the sanctuary. The program included a drama along with the music and the children did remarkably well. We were especially proud of Eliana (of course) for working through her shyness to stand up on stage on the front row and sing. She even delivered three short lines that we didn’t know she had been asked to do.
One of the final songs was entitled “Hallelujah to the Lamb” and the chorus went something like this:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah to the Lamb
Hallelujah, hallelujah, by the blood of Christ we stand
Every tongue, every tribe, every people, every land
Giving glory, giving honor
Giving praise unto the Lamb of God
It was something else to see all of those children on stage, our daughter included, with their arms stretched to heaven and giving that song all they had.
I ain’t gonna lie…I cried. And the children received a standing ovation when it was done.
Powerful stuff.
The photo below was taken towards the end of practice prior to the kids going to eat. They had all been working very hard and were pretty tired.
For the first time, our new FCC (Families with Children from China) group met for Christmas dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. There were 37 present: 17 adults and 20 children (6 bio, 11 from China, 2 from Ethiopia and 1 from the Ukraine). Karys, especially, made a new 3-year-old friend tonight so we’re going to try and get them together to play at a park sometime soon.
Following dinner, we made a stop at Wally World for a few necessities including mint chocolate chip ice cream which was high on the list.
As we later sat around the kitchen table enjoying our snack, Karys jabbered n-o-n-s-t-o-p. Poor Eliana couldn’t get a word in edgewise and, in a moment of exasperation, said, “Take a breath, Karys. Take a breath.”
To which Karys replied, “I did already. At school.”
Umm…that was yesterday morning. And the sad thing is…it’s probably a pretty accurate statement.
Robert and Nanette have a biological son named Bryce and an adopted daughter from China named Sydney. They began the adoption process around the same time we did in 2001 but traveled to China much sooner because Sydney was an older child. She was almost 5 years old when they brought her home.
Tom and Hope have an adopted daughter from China named Lilly. Lilly and Eliana both came from the same orphanage and their birthdays are only one day apart so there is a special connection there.
We all met at Fuddruckers for dinner. After a good meal and a lot of catching up, Eliana and Lilly had some catching up to do of their own so they stole away to a private table and had a big conversation.
Afterwards, they entertained our table and everyone else in the restaurant with a loud and extended game of "Ring Around The Rosey" out in the middle of the dining room floor.
When the meal had finally settled, all three families went down the road for a game of putt-putt. We made quick work of those 18 holes, though, because it was getting quite nippy. The temperature was in the mid-40's but an occasional slight breeze made it feel cooler. Despite the harsh playing conditions, yours truly had three hole-in-ones!!! Too bad no one was keeping score...
They called me on their way back home and Eliana informed me that she had a Nemo band-aid. There was a slight hint of disappointment in her voice that she didn't get a Dora band-aid but it was clear that Nemo would do in a pinch.
Carmi tried to convince me that the best therapy for a traumatized child is a shopping trip. I wasn't buying it but she easily convinced the Empress. The two went to TJ Maxx and Eliana picked out a very pretty dress to wear during our date with the photography studio on Saturday.
It was amazing how much better she felt by lunchtime.
Don't even ask how THAT happened because we're clueless.
She took the squatter and placed it in a jar so Eliana could take it to preschool this morning for show-and-tell. Our plan was for the caterpillar to stay at her preschool so the children could enjoy watching the eventual transformation.
When I picked Eliana up this afternoon, her childcare provider - who is also a teacher at the preschool - said that the little critter was indeed a huge hit. So huge, in fact, that the kids didn't want to do anything today BUT stare at the jar.
Evidently teachers aren't happy when they don't have their student's full attention.
So I brought the caterpillar back home...which suited a Little Empress just fine.
