james is here!

james has chugged into the station...

...and our room is nearly complete.

(just needs simon!)

chinese new year banquet

tonight we rang in the year of the rabbit

at the Families with Children From China (FCC)

new year celebration

the fortune cookie i opened read:

"good things are coming to you in due course of time."

mom's fortune two days ago read:

"you will be taking a long trip."

how are these cookies so smart?

at the banquest,

i opened a lucky red envelope...

...which contained real chinese money!

(1 yi jiao = US$0.10)

there was a big dance performance

choreographed by jen laoshi (or 'instructor jen'),

which included girls as young as five...

...who joined the older girls

for a rousing final number

afterwards we all ran around

(the fan i'm holding was part of

our table's centerpiece)

i was particularly attracted to a little boy named gibson

(who unfortunately is blurry in this photo mom took)

there was a lion that danced around

(i thought it looked like a dragon,

but what do i know?)

i was a little scared of it at first

(incidentally, the lettuce on the ground

is food that the golden birthday girls

fed the lion in tribute)

but later, i petted and got up close and personal with it

i took my cues from amy,

who, while younger,

had no fear of the beautiful beast

xin nian kuai le!!!

(happy new year!!!)

chicago blizzard 2011

so we've had a bit of snow here lately

and by "bit," i mean a couple feet

look, the snow wall is nearly as tall as me!

i didn't care for the blowing snow -

it made my face cold...

...prompting "lightning mcqueen" to appear

dad threatened to toss me in the snow...

...then made good on his threat

(that bugger!)

he got down in the snow, too -

to make a snow angel!

when i came inside,

fred begged me to let him out

he may look pathetic...

...but i know fred loves winter

(i kid you not - it's his favorite season!)

new bookshelf

how do you like the new bookshelf

dad built for simon and me?

mom's over the moon about it,

because it saves space AND shows off my books

to their best advantage

kensington winter performance

this week was my winter show at school

the theme was sleepy time

(hence the pajamas)

i did great (sang assuredly without shouting)

and had lots of fun