Chinese New Year

I'm not sure what got us started celebrating Chinese New Year -- I think maybe it was our old neighbors (the wife was from Taiwan.) But we love to celebrate it. Who doesn't like a good reason to justify Chinese food! One of the other Chinese traditions that we've done is that each of the kids gets a red envelope with money in it. For our kids thats $1.25 each -- enough for a toy at the dollar store + tax + tithing. Miriam and her boys were with us last year for Chinese New Year and it was one of the highlights of our time together. All the kids remember it. This year Katherine had rehearsals, but we took our Chinese food to the church where she was practicing and ate with her during her dinner break. Right before dinner we made fortune cookies. We had a blast. Michael got so into it -- it was fun. He wrote most of our fortunes. Here are some examples:

"You will go on an awesome trip in one year."
"You will learn to drive a helicopter." and
"You will get a cool house."

We made three cookies at a time and even then had to work quickly to get them shaped before they cooled too much and turned crispy. So Michael would stand poised with fortunes in one hand and a spatula in the other so we could work together as soon as they came out of the oven. Matthew and Sarah both loved the whole process too. And in the end they turned out pretty well.