The Year of the Rooster

It's the Year of the Rooster, and there's Heihei the Rooster, from the movie "Moana" now joining the family.  We started out with a visit from the Tooth Fairy, who seemed to be in the mood to celebrate the Chinese New Year too:  she left Madison a red envelope under her pillow!  It had chocolate coins inside, and real money too.  And then there was this:

Here are some of the decorations we put out each year, some actually picked up when we were in China.  Others are new, and gifts for Madison - like Heihei, for instance.  The other new items include that Itty doll to the right, a small Rooster that was also under Madison's pillow.  She had that with her the whole day, and is in fact still with it right now upstairs on her pillow.  The last new item is that card game you see at the center, a game called "Lanterns."  After dinner tonight, we actually tried it out.  It was fun.  We'll probably be playing it again tomorrow when there's more time!

Mommy decorated elsewhere in the house too, as you can see below:

We went to ballet today, practicing more for the upcoming "Into Grimm's Woods" production that is rapidly approaching.  Daddy took a nap in the car.  He has a sore throat, and the medication made him sleepy.  But Madison had fun dancing inside.  On the way home, we picked up some egg rolls, and had them for lunch, along with some noodles that were not cut - you keep them long to symbolize long life and health upcoming.  

Yes, we took the Chinese New Year seriously around here, also doing a lot of cleaning out today.  We swept up around the floors, and then... a phone call.  It was out of nowhere, but Ye-Ye spotted a piano at a thrift shop, and ... well, let's just say we woke up this morning without a piano in our house.  And now... we've got one!

You can see Madison's rooster there watching her as she practices.  It looks nice there.  I think we'll get some pictures to hang up on the wall there, but otherwise, it fits in really well.  David, Jonathan and Ye-Ye came over and with Daddy's help, the four of us lifted this enormously heavy piano up and into the house, right to the place it is now.  Madison finished her piano practice here, playing "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and other pieces.

Dinner was fantastic.  Mommy cooked up a Chinese meal that was just perfect, some stir fry and of course the egg rolls from earlier.  Throughout the day, we had "Mulan" and "Mulan 2" playing, and even at one point the Opening Ceremonies to the Beijing Olympic Games.  We were talking to Madison about the significance of those games, how we were there in China that very month, there to meet Madison for the first time.  We didn't see all of the Opening Ceremony, as we were low on time - we'll catch it later though, simply because it was amazing.

Tonight it was cold again, so we put a fire in the fireplace, and got all the blankets and popcorn ready on the couch.  We watched the movie "Pan" tonight, part of our Neverland series.  We'd never seen it before, and thought it was decent.  It didn't quite answer why Pan and Hook hate each other, or how one has a hook in the first place (which is rather prophetic, I mean, somewhere up the family tree, there was the first ancestor with the last name "Hook," who was thinking that perhaps someday he'd have a descendant with an actual hook for a hand, and wouldn't that be ironic?).  But it makes for a great "What if?" sort of adventure, kind of like the "What if?" Marvel comics that aren't necessarily cannon, but make for some interesting stories.  

Anyway, we read again before bed, reading about Isaac and Abimelech, who actually go through the same process that Abraham and Abimelech just went through.  "What?  You're really married to her and she's not your sister?"  We also read the Rush Revere book, meeting Abigail Adams back in time.  Daddy loved that book "John Adams," so it'll be fun reading about him and the First Lady.  We said our prayers, and watched one more thing:  Daddy wanted to show Madison that Quicksilver scene from "X-Men Apocalypse."  She thought it was pretty cool - she likes Quicksilver a lot.

Well, speaking of going by fast, it was a full day today.  It's still going actually.  Daddy is about to write some more here, hopefully a devotional entry or something more.  So goodbye until next time, and Happy Chinese New Year!