Chinese New Year

I love food and I love to cook, so I try to honor lots of world holidays with my cooking. For example, I always make latkes at Hanukkah, corned beef and cabbage at St. Patrick's Day, and some variety of Asian-esque food for Chinese New Year. It's fun, we always look forward to having the special foods, and I hope it teaches the kids something about respecting cultures all around the world.

Caroline and I made these adorable "fortune cookies" yesterday, and I was so pleased with how they turned out that I had to share them. Cute, easy, and yummy, a great combination!

For dinner we had Cooking Light's Shrimp and Cilantro Fried Rice and Pot Stickers. Neither were home runs, but we all enjoyed the meal.

My food photography is terrible, but you get the idea...



Next up: Jambalaya for Fat Tuesday tomorrow night!

Happy Heart Day!

We wrote, we stamped, we glued, we accessorized. We made some very homemade valentines for Caroline's preschool party!

Happy Valentine's Day!

In Honor Of the Olympics...

...The Clark Family Bobsled Team!

These two have been such buddies lately. It is so sweet. :)

And FYI, I think they were actually playing "escape to Austria" here. I'm allowed a little artistic liberty on my own blog, right?

Caroline's Creation

Pretty much every morning as I shower and get ready for our day Caroline heads into her room, shuts her door, and recreates some recent event in her life. She might set up an ice skating rink, create a camp site, or build a stable full of animals. Her creations almost always include a huge amount of props, an incredible attention to detail, and elaborate costumes. If William is lucky, he is allowed to participate, too. We know she is ours and we are biased, but Steve and I are amazed by her creativity and imagination.

Here's today's creation:

And a close up of the top:

Can anybody guess what she has built? I'll tell you in the comments. :)

He Hearts Thomas

We are in the stage where his trains have to go everywhere. A minimum of 7 were necessary to accompany us the 5 steps from his bedroom to the bathroom for teeth-brushing last night. He was so tired that he kept dropping them and had to stop every half inch to pick them up. I may have to buy the kid a man-purse.

PS - Is there anything more adorable than a little kid in footie jammies? I say no.

The Best Laid Plans...

The first rule of blogging: never promise to post pictures the next day. If you make that promise, you will surely break it.

I promised in yesterday's post to blog about our day at the Aquarium and Chuck E. Cheese. Unfortunately, I realized about 3/4 of the way through our morning that my camera had no memory card. It was a shame because our trip to the city turned into a real comedy of errors that included missing a train, a spare set of car keys in the same pocket with the other keys, and a two hour delay. I could have captured some pretty funny moments, I guarantee. Thankfully all of the children were beyond well behaved, and the other mommy has a great sense of humor. I think she may not ever let me plan an outing again, though. :) And the party at Chuck E. Cheese? Cancelled.

So no pictures today. I'll blog again...soon. Sometime before 2011, I promise.

Withdrawal

Just a quick update on my pledge to quit talking on my cell phone while driving. I know it's a boring post, but I'm writing it for two good reasons. First, to force myself to keep it up; if I post it on the Internet and then get caught talking, it would be pretty embarrassing. Second, I'm so hopeful that at least one other person will be convinced to make his or her car a "no phone zone."

So how's it going, you ask? I won't lie. It's been tough. Every time I get in the car for a longer drive, I struggle not to pick up the phone and use those minutes to catch up with a friend. There have even been a couple of times it would have been really easy to justify using my phone. But I didn't and I'm so glad. I think I've learned that if I didn't need to talk and drive during quasi-emergency times, I really don't need to use it at all.

I have three important reasons why I am no longer talking on my phone while driving:

1. I would never forgive myself if I caused an accident while using my cell phone.
2. I would never forgive another driver for injuring someone I love while driving and talking.
3. I know my kids will be driving before long, and I want to set a good example.

I bet most of you would agree with those reasons. So please consider giving up your phone while driving! And at a bare minimum, at least pledge to yourself never to text and drive.

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Did you see Erin's pictures from our visit last week? Kind of makes it hard for me to even blog about it when she does it so beautifully, both with words and pictures. :)

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I promise there will be a real post tomorrow, with pictures! We have a huge day planned: a trip to the Aquarium in the morning and our very first visit to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow afternoon. Hold me.