Happy Moon Festival

Happy Chinese Moon Festival

It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival or Lantern Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving to us, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival.

Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and have family reunions. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:
• Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
• Carrying brightly lit lanterns through the village
• Burning incense in reverence to deities
• Planting Mid-Autumn trees
• Lighting lanterns on towers
• Fire Dragon Dances

Last night we celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival with some friends at a local Chinese restaurant and even indulged in some Moon Cakes (similar to our tradition of Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving) that a friend brought along.

Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, about the size of you palm and about 1’ think. A thick filling usually made from lotus paste, red or black bean paste and is surrounded by a relatively thin crust and may contain egg yolks (representing the full moon). Mooncakes are rich, heavy, and dense compared with most cakes and pastries we are used to. They are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. They can take up to a week to make and labor intensive. These cakes can be very expensive and very few Chinese know how to make them property. Given the intensity to make them and the expense, most bakeries in China have a payment plan and local villagers start paying for next years mooncakes the day after the current years festival, to ensure they have mooncakes for next years celebration.

It was a great evening with friends, family, and lots of little ones. You can imagine we were the entertainment for the evening at the restaurant with 4 adopted Chinese little girls and two very playful little boys. Even the employees would come out of the kitchen to see what the going on’s of the girls and of course watch us Midwesterners attempt to eat Mooncakes. I might add certainly is an acquired taste.

Until next time, Happy Moon Festival and Happy Hump Day.

Where's Waldo?

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Here we are!

Hello Friends and Family – I apologize for the going on’s and on’s, but we have been busy.

I will start with Apartment life….wow – I certainly have gotten older and grumpier and just let me say, it’s not a place for me and our kids. We are too loud, to rough, and NEED space (mostly mama needs some space and you just don’t get it here). However, we do fit in nicely with our neighbors. The lady upstairs (Mrs. McBowler), you know right directly above us……she either is a manic and moves her furniture at all hours of the day and night or has a bowling ally up there and I have explained how small this place is, so she paces back and forth and stomps. Personally, I think she hears the kids, and that is her way of telling us it’s too loud. Boy, could we out noise her. The lady across the hall (cat lady) has this huge dog. I don’t know the breed, but it’s big enough to scare you when you here his bark. That being said, she has told me that she is feeding a stray cat and it’s finally coming to her, hence why there is a bed, a bowl of water, a pet carrier, and a food out underneath their stairs. So, I ask her, how long have you been feeding this stray…thinking it has a home and will find it soon. She tells me, 9 months……WHAT? I just started laughing and said “it’s your cat now”. According to Robb this cat has had kittens somewhere and brings them up for meals. The kids and I have yet to see them, so we think he is making it up and seeing squirrels. Then the people on the other side of us moved in the middle of the night. Well, not to middle of the night but we all did come home from an evening out one night and they were moving by the light of their car headlights. I would say that is a yellow flag. Since their move, we have had the privilege of telling a parole officer, the county Sherriff, and our local cable company that no one lives there and it’s empty. Therefore, with all the above stated, Robb and I have come up with a questionnaire that we will use if ever in this situation again before picking the place we move into. I must admit, it is kind of fun making up the stories and telling the kids why this or that is happening. Jacob really thinks they have a bowling ally upstairs and Isabella is smitten’ with the kitty cat.

On the house front…..we got word last week that the development that we are wanting to build in won’t be building into their second phase until well into to next year. So, we have decided to jump that ship and start looking elsewhere. We are sadden by the thought of not living there and we fell in love with the house that we had drawn up, but given the ABOVE….I can’t wait until next year to even start building a house. Therefore, we are spending our evenings looking at homes and weekends walking through them, nothing yet, but hopefully soon. Fortunately for us, we keep getting told (yet to see for myself) it's a "Buyers market'.

Whew – Let me see if I can remember what all we have been up to this last month. Oh yea, we have a new baby boy cousin in the family. He is so super cute and the kids love him. Jacob is still trying to figure out how Auntie had a baby in her belly FOREVER and now he is here to play with. I am saving that story for another day, as it is now, I answer anywhere for 50 to 100 questions a day similar to the above.

We visited a local fire department and took a tour of the fire house. The fascination with the kids was that they had a kitchen and a television. The kids got to go through some of the trucks, and got a lesson on fire safety as well as see a fireperson all dressed up incase one ever comes to our house to help and were instructed to not be scared. Jacob wants to know if they have a badge so when they knock on the door he will know if he can answer it or not.

We have also had a High School Musical Party. At four years of age, Disney has gotten to him…..and he has waited all summer to see a Musical movie. So, we had the cousins and some friends stopped by. We had about 6 adults and 5 kids in this tiny place and occasionally someone would watch the musical. According to Jacob’s party throwing abilities, we had to have balloons, pizza, milk, and cupcakes. So, we obliged and had a nice time with everyone.

We had one last BBQ, end of the summer swim and had some friends over. It reminded Robb and I of our younger days when we lived in apartments w/o kids and would have anywhere from 20 people over to watch football and grill all day. So, that night we were setting the table we were discussing the only thing that has changed in 17 years is kids and we have now have furniture. It was a nice evening; we experienced apartment pool etiquette with five kids and five adults. It was a man on man defense and no one got hurt. However, I must say, apartment hot tubs and pools….we weren’t the norm bringing in all the kids. Needless to say, we wore the kids out and came home for ice cream cones to end last summer swim night.

During this past month, we have said good bye to some friends. A family that we met through adoption will be moving south for bigger employment opportunity. The girls all got together for a breakfast and to say our goodbyes. We will miss them and certainly look forward to having a place to come visit.

Then we also lost a friend to cancer this month. Well, she really was a mother to me, but at this age, I feel like using the word friend. She was a loving wife for over 40 years, a mother to 7 wonderful children, a grandmother to 9 and a mom to many, many kids. I met this beautiful soul when I was 5 years old. We were on a field trip to the zoo and my partner was ill and her daughter needed a partner. So, she paired us together. Well, since then we were all inseparable. I was just thrown in their big family as if I was one of them. I would be disciplined, lectured, taught right from wrong, learned to cook, shopped, and even taken care of like I was just part of the family. I even was moved away a couple times during this time and she still managed to make sure I was okay and to take care of me. The greatest thing about this lady, is I wasn’t the only lost soul she took in, there were many, many that she saved from lord only knows. She lived her life for her family, her extended family, and her faith. She has helped me form into the mom I am today and I can only wish to be half the mom she ever was. Even her last months, she was still being a mom to me, and wanting to see my kids, and make sure they were doing well. We will miss you dear friend and know that we loved you like a real MOM. Thank you so much to your dear, dear, family for sharing her with us all these years. I know it must not have been easy always sharing your mother but I am a better person today for having knowing her and your family.

Robb, Jacob, and Isabella took their first trip to the Zoo this year (I took the day off and went out shopping with friends). They played with cousins, fed the birds, and had a picnic lunch. I heard it as great and must admit I was a bit jealous. Robb always does such a great job with them when I am away.

Then finally, last but not least…we visited an apple orchard this week. It was a great day with friends and we saw a lot of things, from farm animals, pumpkins, apple trees, and a hay ride on a big tractor. I must say, that day was a filled with fun and a great nap that afternoon.

Oh yes, one more thing….as you can and can not see from the photos there are a few things we just can’t leave home with out….Jacob has this almost unhealthy relationship with an old cell phone of mine that he calls his walkie talkie. The reason I say ‘unhealthy’ is I am going to hang him up by his toes because of it. It’s not that the ‘walkie talkie’ goes with us every where, it’s we have to pick our clothing around it. The back pockets have to be big and open so that he can slip the thing in and out fast in case there is an emergency and he needs to call anyone. It’s insane, so with this one I have thrown up the white flag and he now picks his own clothes out and dresses himself – some day’s its pretty creative in the clothing department. My only rule is it has to be clean, or he would wear the same orange shorts every day. Then little miss Isabella can not leave the house with out a purse, a phone in her purse, her sun glasses on, only to be worn upside down because that is how they fit her best, and a bracelet on her right arm. It takes more to get out of the house than to actually get ready for the day.

As you can see we are still plugging away here living life. We are all doing well and spending much more time together as a family. So, this little hiatus from a house does after all have a silver lining.

17 Years Later

17 Years ago last night we had one of the hottest days this city had seen in 10 years and I married my lover, my best friend, my soul mate. Today we celebrated with family and friends. I just would never have thought that our lives would turn this way; I didn't think I could possibly have dreamed this big. Traveled the world with my best friend, experienced new and exciting things, seen the best and most certainly the worst of one another, have two beautiful children and have grown up together. Life is good and looking forward to the next 17 years.

We spent our anniversary evening at the Ethnic Enrichment Food Festival with friends and family. It was great. We tried a variety of foods from many different nations (Ethiopia being may favorite), had a nice picnic with friends, and the kids played until we had to be rolled out of there.

I couldn't have planned last night or the past 17 years any better if I wrote the book myself.

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school. The first day of Pre-K for Jacob. He is such a brave little boy. So many changes in his life...first we sell the only place he knew as home, then we move into an apartment, we spend our spare time looking for a new place to hang our hat, new school, new teacher, and all new friends. I can't beleive how adaptable children can be. They both amaze me on a daily basis.

Jacob woke up first thing this morning, giddy. He wanted to get ready for 'work' and sit down at the table and have 'coffee' with dad. I of course was instructed to stay in bed, becuase it was just to early for the girls and the boys had to go to work early. So, I obliged for about 10 minutes....why couldn't have been Saturday...I would have taken complete advantage of the situation. But today, no way was I going to miss him getting on the bus.

I was also told that since he is a 'big boy' he now gets to pick out his own clothes. So, again, I obliged....not what I would have chosen for the first day of school, but again, so many changes...I wansn't messing with anything. He wanted to go and that is all we cared about.

He got on the bus and road away. It was magic. I then of course was giddy (fell this short of doing a jig) only one child left at home for a few hours....what do I do. Isabella and I were meeting up with some other moms who sent their kiddos off to school to. We had a 'First Day of School' breakfast date then some school clothes shopping. It was nice. It has been a great summer, but very hot and long, so having only one child to deal with was nice. The girls played, the moms shopped....all ended to quickly, we had to get home and wait for the bus, make lunches, then naps.

Therefore, we survived the first day of school, and we are looking forward to tomorrows school day.

Relaxing Weekend Away from Home!

Wooooooooo Whoooooooooo! Coming off of one of the greatest weekends EVER! This weekend, I had the wonderful chance to get away with my girlfriends. Just a few short hours from home, responsibility, and nothing but some scrapbooking, girl fun, pampering, food, laughter, and late nights.

I just spent 55 glorious hours at a Bed and Breakfast, Spa with 11 other woman and I think I managed to sleep only 10 hours the entire weekend. It was worth every waking moment. Walks through the country side trails, spa treatments, pool playing, gourmet meals (that I did not cook myself), even some hammock resting, all in a cute, cozy, rustic, little country B&B setting with a full working spa onsite. Seriously, what more could you ask for? We won prizes, played games, told funny stories about ourselves, got creative, got messy, scrap-booked a little, ate a lot, and became one with nature.

I had such a great time, was surrounded with such talented, nice, caring woman with absolutely NO DRAMA, no classes, no schedule, all fun, all laughter, late nights in our PJ’s filled with giggles, and pure joy. Truly, it was magical how everyone enjoyed themselves and enjoyed each other’s company and got along.

Worth every second, every penny, and I can’t wait to join the ladies again early spring. It’s a date girls, I will be there and thanks for the wonderful time.

It’s something I recommend to everyone…take a step out of the norm, get away from home, the family, and do something you like with people you enjoy, learn more about them, be nice, no pettty chatting behind backs, no meaness, no blaming, and let your hair down and have fun. People are really nice when you get to know them, and they have exciting lives when you get a chance to hear their story and why they are them. Anywhere will do, but I recommend you doing something you are passionate about, something you enjoy and do it away from home and away from everyday life, be adventurous, and do something new.

Meanwhile, the family stayed home, had fun, went swimming, went birthday partying, ate out, and enjoyed each other’s company with out mom around.

All is well with apartment living, everyone is rejuvenated, relaxed, and ready to take on the rest of the hot days of summer.

We Moved!

Whew! What a whirlwind few weeks. Robb has been traveling a bit for work and we have been home packing up our lives. Then last Thursday AM, we got up and went for it. With the help of a lot of wonderful friends, family, babysitter, pizza guys and some hired hands….four days later we are all moved. Alas, all our stuff is in storage, and our tiny little apartment is unpacked with the hopes of it feeling like home soon.

Our lives are in ‘limbo’ right now, if you will. However, when I was trying to decide the actual definition of ‘limbo’, I came up with the thought of….somewhere between heaven and hell. Therefore, not knowing where that place really is, I decided to think we are in a transition period of our lives. Blessed that our home sold to a wonderful couple in such a short time and thankful tiny as it may be, that we do have a roof over our heads and then excited that there is the prospect that we do have some exciting new adventures ahead of us. Building a house can be stressful, but it can also be exciting. The idea of something to look forward to, something new, and something we actually had the thought, the design, and input to a new place we will hang our hat and call home for many years. ….so again, our family motto right now is…”keep our eye on the prize”.

Now, if we can just remember that as we are stepping all over each other, waiting for one another in the one bathroom, hearing every bit of noise, no garage, and keeping the noise level down to something that the neighbors too can hear themselves think.

I must say, the kids love it. They think we are on a camping trip, we have three pools, a small patio and green grass to call their own, a work out room, volley ball court, and basket ball court – all of which Jacob thinks he needs to do daily. I only dread the day, they start asking to go home.

So, for now…I leave you with the thought of…..we moved!

T-1 - Moving Day!

Tomorrow is moving day! We knee deep in boxes and once we move to a permanent place our children will have to make our next move to the Old Folks home.

It may be a while before you hear from us and apartment living, but rest assured we will be up and running soon.

Summer Has Arrived!

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Dear Blog,

You have been missed. Sorry for the delay – no good is excuse is really ever a good excuse, so I won’t even bother!

Since our last visit, we have been busy – something like crazy busy! Seems like summers always go this way: The lazy days of summer don’t exist around here.

First let me just say, I would not have guessed the last several weeks would have happened to us in this lifetime. No, we didn’t win the lottery – but we are crazy.

-Rewind-

We spent the better part of the winter doing things to our house ‘as if’ we planned to sell it. But also keeping in mind we may live here for a while longer (you know, we don’t have a place to go to and the real-estate market isn’t what it once was). So, we started cleaning out things, painting everything, laying new flooring everywhere, re-arranging things, and just plain de-cluttering.

In the meantime, we fell in love with a great new neighborhood that builds Craftsman style homes to ‘your liking’. Robb and I spent a great deal of time in April and May redesigning this 1900’s look a like home that would include the modern day features that we need. Well, the drawings came back from a builder that we just adore and we absolutely loved it. This particular home isn’t any larger than our current home, just MUCH more functional for our family.

Therefore, I came up with the crazy (I say “I” and “CRAZY”, because Robb will not take any of the blame for this one)…to get the house ready, hire a realtor and get our house on the market before we left for vacation early June. We did just that. It was whirl wind couple of weeks, but the day we left for vacation, the sign went up in the yard. Now, I digress a bit….my thinking was this…its summer, not to hot – yet, and prime time for new house hunters to start looking for a new place to live. I have also been watching the homes in the neighborhood and things aren’t really selling all that quickly – say something like 120 days or so, on the market. So, I thought, let’s see what happens and in the mean time get our ducks in a row. Well – you knew it was coming – we sold our house in 15 days. YEP, 15 days! A nice young couple with a family who is purchasing their first home and they liked ours. We have all the signed paper work and will be closing no this house July 30. WOW! You can imagine our surprise – Where do we go, what do we do, we don’t have a house, one isn’t built, we really do love this new neighborhood, why look elsewhere and every other scenario any sane person could come up with. But we still signed the papers and took the deal.

To make a very long story short…..after what seemed liked endless conversations and ‘what if’s’, we are moving. We have rented an apartment for the short term, everything else will go in storage and we will either build our newest dream home or begin looking for another home. We figure – home is where your hat is – and we are taking our hats with us.

On the kiddo front, they are doing great. Jacob finished his first year of preschool and attended his first summer school session. Isabella has turned two and I MEAN TWO. Jacob is taking Karate for the first time, and both kids are enrolled in summer gymnastics. They like to play outside every minute of the day, they swim like fish, and ending the day with a Popsicle seems to be our thing.

We did head off to Branson, Missouri to see the Chinese Acrobat show with some friends here and met up with some friends we met while traveling to China last year. We drove to Colorado where the kids got to spend the week at Grandma’s and with their cousins. They loved every minute of it. Jacob went golfing with dad for the first time. We went boating for a day at a beautiful lake and both kids attempted fishing with grandpa. We visited some hot springs pools and swam for the day. We had a great day visiting the Royal Gorge and mom and dad even played a little poker at night not losing too much. Other than that, it’s been all HOUSE here.

It’s been chaotic, hectic, fun dreaming, crazy, and little nerve wracking….be careful for what you wish for. We have a couple of really hard labor intensive weeks ahead of us, but we welcome the new upcoming chapter in our lives and can’t wait to fill you in on the rest. Until then, enjoy the summer.

Happy Forever Family Day - May 20, 2007!

On May 20, 2007 it was our first Forever Family Day - meaning, it was the one year ago on that day the first time as a entire we family met. We had just spent the better part of 24 hours in planes and airports trying to make our way back home to Jacob, friends and family....meanwhile we were discovering that Isabella was coming out of her shell and decided this was the moment, she felt secure enough with us and that we weren't giving her back, so she screamed pretty much non-stop the entire 24 hours. Most parents would get up in the isles to walk or rock baby, but that wasn't working, so Robb and I would take turns getting up to walk or rock ourselves so that we wouldn't go crazy. Whew - when it was all said and done, it was a short time in our lives, but at that moment, we just new at any time, the captain was going to come on and tell us the flight attendants were handing out parachutes to the new crazy family with the screaming little girl. However, the best part of the entire flight besides thinking of home and Jacob, we were on that flight with 20 new families that had similar situations. Note to self, next time....purchase seat for little one at any cost. Once arriving home and seeing Jacob and our friends and family there to greet us, all the crankiness, tiredness, and moodiness was just wiped away. It was a nice homecoming and so special to us, there were balloons, banners, American flags, our house was decorated, food was in the oven and loaded in the fridge, and for that moment, we could take in some air and let at a huge sigh of relief because all was right with the world. Thanks friends and family, you made our special day that much more special to us and we will never forget our first meeting as a Family.

This past Sunday was our Forever Family Day....on this day each year, I would like to spend the day as a family. I don't really mind what we do, just spend it together. I would like the kiddos to know that May 20 is a special day for us and we will be together. I realize in later years this will become more difficult, so for now, I call the shots.

It wasn't a spectacular day as for events being planned, no fireworks, banners, or even balloons but it was a day we spent all together talking about meeting Isabella, China, and being a family. PERFECT! We spent the day having breakfast with extended family, catching up, and playing. Then did a little home repair shopping, an spent the evening with friends and meeting their adopted daughter from China. Again, I call that a perfect day with family.

The photos above are when Isabella became a US citizen. According to our laws, once an International adopted child touches American soil and enters the country, they are citizens of the US. Therefore, May 20, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois...Isabella hit American soil and touched her feet to the ground. Another photo is of Jacob and Isabella meeting for the first time. Jacob wanted to hold her, hug her, and talk to her. He patted her to sleep that night and gave his first kiss to her. The next photo is Isabella on May 20 this year....wow how a year has changed her. I just can't believe we brought home a baby and now she is a little girl blooming, growing, learning, and laughing. The last photo is the kids getting ready to play. These days, Isabella has to do everything her big brother does. So, the hat turned backwards was on purpose because Jacob had to turn his backwards.

Thanks to the good lord above, the wonderful support we have from family and friends our family is complete.

Enjoy!

Metcha Day Year 1!

Our Dear Sweet Isabella Ruby Xiao Yan,

Today marks the 1st anniversary of Metcha Day! On this day one year ago, you were placed in our arms by the director of Liangping County Social Welfare Institute in Chongqing, China and it was the very first day we met. We can’t really even begin to describe in words that day as it was so magical, emotional, exciting, scary, and most of all full of love and anticipation of the wonderful little girl that you have become.

This year has been a great year of challenges, fun, excitement, love, joy and just getting to know one another. We love you very much and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives with you and watching you grow into the most amazing person you can ever become.

Below are is a photo of the first time you were placed in our arms and others of how much you have changed over the past year and the entry we made on our journal the day you were placed in our arms for the first time.

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother Jacob

May 9, 2006

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away…

Our breath has been taken away! Today, May 9, 2006 Isabella Ruby Xiao Yan was placed in our arms forever. Jacob we have your little sister! She is perfect.

Today we said goodbye to Beijing and continued on this journey to Isabella, heading to central China… Chongqing, China. We arrived to our hotel in Chongqing China around 3:30 PM (2:30 AM CST) on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 and that is where it hit me, it’s not tomorrow anymore. We went to our rooms to gather supplies, freshen up, and make any last minute notes. At 5:00 PM we went to our Coordinator’s (Lina) room (all 6 families). This is where the babies were being brought to us.

The room was filled with nerves, excitement, and just pure energy. At 5:20 PM we heard some bustling in the hall and in walks the Director and five nannies holding beautiful baby girls all dressed a like. I noticed right off that the director had Isabella in his arms. Then one by one they called out each child’s name and the babies were placed in our arms.

It was pandemonium. Pictures flashing, everyone filming, babies and parents began to cry, and then finally they called Xiao Yan. We walked over the Director and he handed us Isabella. I can’t possibly put into words the emotions we had at that moment (one of the best feelings I have ever had).

We just looked ohhhhddd, and ahhhhed. It was an indescribable moment that only the heart knows and we are so happy to have it on video to review later. She is perfect. We passed her back and forth, taping each other, taking pictures of each other, hugging, kissing, as if we were the only ones in the room.

We signed a bit of paper work, and then I went off to our room with Isabella. Robb stayed behind and had a chance to talk with the Director and nannies and trying to arrange a visit to the orphanage. We had a list of questions beforehand and they stayed until each family had all their questions answered. It was wonderful. Meanwhile, I was back in the room just staring at her – I couldn’t think of what else to do at that moment. I sat her on the bed with some toys and we just talked. She appears to be healthy. She can sit up, grasp toys, and moves her head to noises. I gave her a picture of Jacob to hold and she has yet to let it go.

Once Robb returned we undressed her, she had four layers of clothing on and it was 85 degrees out. We changed her, looked her over (she is a girl), washed her up, and put on her PJ’s. Then we attempted to feed her a bottle. Even tough both of us have done this before; it was a pretty amazing site….followed by a pretty big mess.

It’s now 10:00 PM China time, we have Isabella down, ordered some room service, and then we are out for the night. Tomorrow we have to do some official paperwork, and then Isabella is legally ours according to China.

I will post more as we learn more and have more photos.
Jacob, help take care of grandma and we are telling Isabella all about her wonderful big brother. We love and miss you much.

Thank you so much to each and everyone of you who is following this most amazing journey, sending us e-mails, praying for us and thinking of us. We feel your love and your prayers as well as ours have been answered. Thank you.