Welcome the Year of the Ox - Happy Chinese New Year

I was reading in Parents magazine how it is a fun idea to celebrate different cultures traditions with your kids because it helps them appreciate other cultures. So I decided we would give it a try by celebrating Chinese New Year. Yu Ling is from Taiwan where they also celebrate Chinese New Year (obviously) so I had a little background on the tradition; kind of. She thought it was really funny that an American family and some of the their friends were celebrating Chinese New Year, but we had a lot of fun in our attempt to be multicultural. We invited some friends over to join us, and I think they thought I was a little crazy at first, but hopefully they had as much fun as we did.

What is seriously one of the best parts of Chinese culture? In my opinion, it has to be the food. We had a great assortment of Americanized Chinese food, soothing Chinese music, and good friends, what more could you want at a Chinese New Year party?

Here is my attempt to at some Chinese decorations. Red is supposed to bring good luck but I thought the pink and blue were cuter.

The kids kind of watched Mulan, I know real multicultural. I really don't know what Lillian and Adyson are doing here but I thought their posing was hilarious.

Isabelle has a serious shoe fetish; she loves them. I don't know what we are in for, but I think it is going to be expensive. She kept trying on Adyson's and Sienna's shoes.

This year is the Year of the Ox (hence the title). In the Chinese Zodiac every year has an animal associated with it. I was born in the Year of the Dog, which says, and I quote "they posses the best qualities in human nature." Don't you all want to be a dog now? Dogs are: Honest, intelligent, straightforward, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, attractive, amicable, unpretentious, sociable, open-minded, idealistic, moralistic, practical, affectionate, dogged. It isn't all fun and games though dogs are also cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, pessimistic, worrier, stubborn, quarrelsome.

Kevin is a Monkey, and apparently I am compatible with him but he isn't compatible with me. Thank goodness he puts up with me. Monkeys are: Inventor, motivator, improviser, quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, problem solver, self-assured, sociable, polite, dignified, competitive, objective, factual, intellectual. Can be egotistical, vain, selfish, reckless, snobbish, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, jealous, suspicious.

One of the traditions of Chinese New Year is to hand out red envelopes with money in them to family and friends. So, I gave the kids red envelopes with chocolate candy in them when they left. Hopefully everyone had a good time. It think we are going to make a tradition of it. Next multicultural holiday we are going to celebrate will be Cinco de Mayo. Let me know if you want to join us! Oh, and thanks Hayley for the pictures.