Happy Chinese/Vietnamese New Year!

Lunar New Year celebrations began in Asia Jan. 25 and are still going on! Here in Small Town Midwest it's hard to find anyone celebrating this occasion. Hence, the blank stare I received when I bounded into PF Changs and sang, "Happy New Year!" to the hostess.

Well, that's okay. We just made our own party with all kinds of hootin' and hollerin'. Didn't bother me a bit that they sat us smack dab in the middle of the faincy restaurant with our boisterous brood.

If anyone got past the noise level, they might have noticed we were all wearing red. It's the "lucky" color of the new year. We may not believe in luck, but I'm sure not going to miss out on an excuse to make the family wear matching outfits.

Except for my rebellious teens.

Emma's expression is due to her absolute shock and joy of the amount of money in her "lucky" red envelope. A whopping $2.00. And those envelopes, mind you, came directly from China. Not as in, I found them at Wal-mart and read the label. More like, I dragged my sorry behind over the ocean on a 14-hour plane ride and back to get them.

And now, everyone please hand your envelopes back to Mama so she can keep them for the next 20 Lunar New Years.

These two little guys loved the entertainment at the table.

Or, they WERE the entertainment at the table. Chop sticks, Wiki Stix...whatever keeps them happy while I'm waiting for my lettuce wraps.

In case you're wondering it is the Year of the Ox. So, trying to keep close with the theme, we ate like cows. For some of us, this is no problem. For others, maybe we should have eaten like walking sticks. Or Wiki Stix. Or chop sticks. That probably should have been my Lunar New Year's resolution.

So, as you can see, there wasn't much authenticity to our party, but it's fun to celebrate the rich and important heritage of our youngest sons. Next year, maybe we'll pick it up a notch and make Daddy dress up as a Lion Dancer. Oh, yeah!!