Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Year of the Rat everyone!

The picture above has absolutely nothing to do with Chinese New Year...Just a cute picture I haven't posted yet. Shawn thought it would be funny to put his shoes on Ian, who didn't see the humor. So the rat in this scenario is Shawn.

We are quite possibly the lamest family there is...we are doing pretty much nothing to celebrate Chinese New Year this year. There tends to be lots of build up in the China Adoption community, but when it came down to it, we just didn't have the time or energy to get off our butts and plan something.

Not to sound like the procrastinator I am, but we'll do something next year, I promise. I'm making myself feel better by justifying that Ian is too young to know what's going on (a little like Christmas) and he'll be ready next year. Another justification is that Ian and I both have colds and are still adjusting to the new waking/sleeping schedule since he started school. I can only handle one thing at a time; my claims to be a great multi-tasker are out the window right now. All I can focus on is tonight's episode of Lost, so apparently my priorities are a little out of whack, too!

To expand on our lameness, we didn't buy any traditional outfits for Ian in China...I just couldn't stand the outfits they had for boys...So the track pants and sweatshirt he went to school in this morning will have to suffice. Am I an abusive mother for not dressing him in red on the most important Chinese holiday? The guilt is creeping up on me now, as you can probably tell.

I plan to make Kung Pao Chicken and Dumplings (what we know here as pot stickers) for dinner, which we ate at least once daily while in China. Otherwise, maybe I'll just start planning for next year, when I think it will be more appropriate to make a big ordeal out of the holiday. Next year is the Year of the Ox... so I'll have to come up with something special to celebrate livestock.

For those unfamiliar with Chinese New Year, here is a blurb from Wikipedia. Click here to read the entire entry. For those celebrating, enjoy the holiday and much luck to you and your families in the New Year!

Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Chinese New Year (simplified Chinese: 农历新年; traditional Chinese: 農曆新年; pinyin: Nónglì xīnnián; literally: "Agrarian Calendar New Year") or Spring Festival (simplified Chinese: 春节; traditional Chinese: 春節; pinyin: Chūnjié) is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. It is an important holiday in East Asia. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival (simplified Chinese: 元宵节; traditional Chinese: 元宵節; pinyin: yuánxiāojié).