Kung Hei Fat Choy! Chinese New Year Fun

Happy Chinese New Year! 

The girls got festive in their Chinese silk dresses, and we invited some friends over to celebrate.  With Pandora's "Chinese Flutes" playing,
and the party was on. 

All our China keepsakes were pulled out and used to decorate. Last year, we got the idea for CNY tree from this blog.  This little tree is a new tradition, and a fun way to enjoy our ornaments.

What would a lunar new year party be without a parade?

The littles loved doing a Dragons on Parade craft.

And they giggled and shook their silks, Mandarin style.

Seeing the littles in their traditional outfits was the stuff of memories.
And Hayden?  Well, he stayed in dragon mode. 

We colored these BEAUTIFUL Chinese New Year coloring pages
(and will be printing off more to enjoy this week.)

We read (and reread) about how the holiday is celebrated in China.

We used red paper, ribbon and a Chinese calligraphy stamp to decorate with traditional red flag banners. 

The littles soaked up all things China!

Our dragons turned out even cuter than last year's!

And the those parading get cuter every year!

We didn't pass up the opportunity to have fried rice, dumplings, crab rangoon, and spring rolls attempted to be eaten eaten with chopsticks.

It was a special morning with special friends. 
We even ended the day with a viewing of Mulan!
Next, we'll be doing some cherry blossom art.