Happy Chinese New Year! Today is 1/25 but I am going to backdate this entry to 1/23 since I am behind on posting. I have been in bed or on the couch sick for a majority of the past 5 days. I have a wicked cold that includes a sore throat and my head has been congested. Yesterday was the first day I could keep food down and I am feeling a little better today. Due to being sick, we had to cancel our Annual Chinese New Year together with our friends/China travelmates on Sunday but fortunately we are going to reschedule it. Last year the girls and I put-together CNY treats for their preschool classmates to teach the students about Chinese New Year. This year I ordered activity books with stickers, Chinese dinner mints, red envelopes, chocolate Chinese coins, chopsticks and fortune cookies. Okay, I know that fortune cookies are not Chinese at all but I figured the kids would still love them and I created a handout all about Chinese New Year customs and traditions that I included with their goody bags.
I made a plan with both of the girls teachers to go to their classes on Monday and read from the handout about Chinese customs and traditions but due to being so sick I brought the goody bags to school and their teachers were kind enough to take care of it since my voice was a goner yesterday. I almost forgot to take a picture of the girls in their beautiful Chinese dresses. Luckily right after I dropped the girls off at school I thought to grab my compact camera out of my bag and take a few quick shots of them. They are standing with Mrs. Forsyth. She is the Teaching Assistant in Samantha’s class and a very kind and wonderful woman. She told me that she had written a poem for Chinese New Year and The Weekly Reader Magazine had published it. After school, the girls had Daisy Scouts and John said he would take them so I could rest and get better. John and the girls stopped by our favorite Chinese Buffet for lunch on the way and received 2 red envelopes with $3 a piece in them for each girl. The owner is always so nice to the girls and Sofia and Samantha brought red envelopes for the owner’s children as well. When John and the girls arrived at Daisy Scouts they got to see their buddy Cecelia and she also gave the girls beautiful red envelopes with chocolate coins and she also had her Chinese Dress on. The girls had just enough goody bags left from school to bring to the girls at Daisy Scouts. I am so glad it all ended up working out. Here’s to a great Year of the Dragon!
Sofia, Mrs. Forsyth & Samantha
Chinese New Year
It’s time for Chinese New Year
under the first new moon.
Fifteen days of celebration
will begin quite soon.
Children receive red envelopes
from relatives who are kind.
Inside there’s money for
good luck that the little ones will find.
— S. Forsyth
(Mrs. Forsyth’s Chinese New Year Poem published in Weekly Reader Magazine Feb/Mar 2008)

The goodies the girls gave for Chinese New Year.
The girls received the long envelopes from our friends at the Chinese Restaurant with money in them and the shorter envelopes were gifts from Cecelia and included chocolate coins.










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