Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival (A.K.A. Moon Festival).

*Emma dressed in her traditional Chinese silks.*
*Of course we had matching hair accessories! ; )*
*We made lanterns at school to celebrate the holiday. *
*And, we ate "moon cakes"...Emma DOES like the REAL kind, but I figured that her classmates would prefer ding dongs!!*
"Emma and I brought moon cakes, moon juice, and treat boxes with each child's name written in english and chinese".

Yesterday I spent some time with Emma and her classmates at pre-school. We celebrated The Mid Autumn Festival together and we had so much fun! : ) I opened with a simple over view of the holiday, then we did a lantern craft and each child received a "good fortune" stamp with the Chinese pinyin character on their hand. The children learned how to say hello and good bye in Mandarin. After I left the children ate their "moon cakes" and listened to Chinese festival music. : )

If you are wondering WHAT Mid Autumn Festival/Moon Festival is.....

Zhōng qīu jié 中秋節Mid-Autumn Festival (Provided by Robin B.)
The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar cycle and the moon is important to the Chinese. Autumn Moon Festival, literally ‘Mid-Autumn Festival’, or the Birthday of the Moon is on 8/15 of the lunar calendar, a full moon night. It is a time to have the family together, eat a festive meal including moon cakes, and enjoy the moonlight. Children & adults carry paper lanterns and climb hills to get a good view of the full moon. They give thanks to the bright, silvery moon of the eighth lunar month. Some call it a “Chinese Thanksgiving”. Moon cakes are round like the moon. The round shape is a symbol for togetherness and harmony. Made of flaked pastry, they often have egg yolks in the center, to represent the moon, and sweet fillings of red bean paste, lotus seed paste, coconut or nuts. The sweetness of them represents good fortune or good harvest. Traditional red bean paste filling takes days to make. Special molds are used which press special designs in the top. Now “everyone” buys moon cakes instead of making them at home.
On the evening of the Autumn Moon Festival, people carrying paper lanterns climb hills and mountains to get a good view of the full moon. They give thanks to the bright, silvery moon of the eighth lunar month. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also partially a Festival of Lights. The lanterns they carry all have candles in them. Before electricity, people were more aware of the length of the days and the stars, and what happened in the night sky.

Zhong qui jie everybody!!!!! : )

Punk Rock Chic

I really have a lot of fun dressing Emma for preschool every day. : )

Sure she has her own opinions about a LOT of things, but we still share the same taste as far as hair styles and clothing goes. (Although she would wear her tennis shoes with everything if I allowed it)!

One day last week I decided to go with a "Punk Rock Chic" look. Even though we were running a few minutes late this day I snapped the above pictures because she just looked SO CUTE-and grown up! : D The belt that she was wearing was actually pink and sparkly although it looks white in the pictures.

Emma is doing well in her new preschool. We are very pleased with her team of educators this year. Her teacher is very in tune with Emma's needs, her Occupational Therapist is trying different techniques with her, and her Speech Therapist already has Emma conversing more! Emma has been saying some new phrases that of course make us proud, but crack us up too! ; )

Here is a sampling for your enjoyment...

"How's everyone doing"? (Asked at the dinner table one night).
"I lub (love) you". (My favorite).
"That's mine, that's not yours"! (Hmmm... practice for Sophie's arrival)?
"I'm done".
"Here we go again".
"Time to get ready to go"!
"First it's Emma's turn, then it's _________". (Insert Mommy, Daddy, Jack, Mikey...).

One Word:FINALLY!

Here it is...our I-171H Approval! After waiting for 29 weeks (instead of the standard 8-12) we FINALLY received our I 171-H Approval from USCIS to adopt Sophie!! Basically this means that our adoption agency needs to have this form approved by the Chinese Consulate in Washington State and then our dossier is on it's way to China for translation! Our next big hurdle to cross will be to receive a LID (Log in Date) from the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs). THEN we wait for TA (Travel Approval). We will update the blog as we hit these milestones so stay tuned. : )

I was SHOCKED to find this in our mail box this morning, I think that I asked Greg 3 or 4 times: "Are you SURE that this it"??!! After regaining my senses and calling my Mom I was off to FED EX to overnight the approval to our adoption agency. We have had some minor flooding here and I drove through 8-12 inches in some areas to get there, I was just glad that I did not have to get out and wade to the building....of course I would have. ; )

When we told Emma that the special paper came that we have been waiting for and that Sophie can come home now Emma replied: "SISTER"!!!

I guess that this means that I can start to get Sophie's room ready! Even if we do not travel for 4, 5, or 6 more months...those of you who know me understand that I need to be organized. : )

In the closing of this rambling post I want to take note that it is September 13th, but in China it is September 14th...the first day of The Moon Festival. This is a very important family oriented holiday in China. So, what a fitting day this was to receive our approval for Sophie!

Another Picture of the Yangdong Trio

Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.......(L to R): Eliza (in the back), Emma, & Jaiden.

I forgot to include this picture in my previous entry this morning. I just love, love this picture that my friend Sarah took. It captures the energy of the three girls so perfectly! :)

朋友...."Friends"

Three Very Lucky Moms and their daughters! L to R: Julie & Jaiden, Megan & Emma, Sarah & Eliza.

Playing Ring Around the Rosy

At the Zoo

A Playdate with MORE girls from the city of Yangjiang (different SWI though). L to R: Emma, Jaiden, Eliza, Anna and Amy.

L to R: Eliza (Dong YiYi), Jaiden (Dong RuNi), and Emma (Dong CanNi).

Emma & Eliza, both wearing headbands and glasses. (Emma stole Eliza's fashionable look)!

THREE car seats in the car!

Jaiden and Emma-hand in hand!

The trio in my bath tub! :)

朋友...."Friends"

No matter what language you say it in, "FRIENDS" can be a powerful word. I met two very special women on my "Yangkids Yahoo Group" two short years ago. We connected through our daughters who at one point in time were ALL living at Yangdong SWI in Yangjiang, China. First I "met" Julie from Oregon who was waiting to adopt Jaiden and then I "met" Sarah from North Carolina who was waiting to adopt Eliza. Sarah brought Eliza home 7 months after we returned home with Emma... and Julie was the last one to travel arriving home with Jaiden 2 months after Sarah's journey.

Enough about US, it is time to meet the Yangdong Trio. Emma is the oldest at age 4 while Jaiden and Eliza are both 3 years old. The girls birthdays are all with in 10 months of each other-that's right-can you IMAGINE three strong willed toddlers together (in coordinating outfits ;) ) for 4 days?! They are definitely 3 separate personalities and they all have distinct features, it was an incredible gift to be able to enjoy the trio together again. As Sarah put it: "Together From the Start-Forever in My Heart". :) The girls truly got along well and had a lot of fun together, as did the Yangdong Moms.

One day we were even able to meet up with another Mom (Tami) and her daughters Amy and Anna. Her girls are also from Yangjiang! All of the pictures posted speak for themselves, don't you think??

Back to School!!

Lots and Lots of Pink...Pink hair ties, pink dress, pink backpack! The excitement is brewing...
Skipping to the Car...


Emma chose her own backpack this year-Kung Fu Panda!
READY TO GO!!!

Today was Emma's first day of Preschool in Kansas! She woke up at 6:00 A.M. and was asking to go....but, she had to wait for 6 and a half hours since she is in an afternoon class this year! :-) Emma told me that she was going to her new school to see Ms. Marci and as you can tell by the photos posted she had no reservations about going, not one tear! Apparently she had a good day according to the note in her bag.

A Mini Reunion at Cracker Barrel!

"Hand in Hand"
The trio L to R: Braydee, Emma and Lucy
"Old Friends"
L to R: Emma, Braydee and Lucy.

Greg and I decided that it was time to get out of town, so we took Emma to Kansas City, MO for the weekend. We attended a Royals Baseball Game and ate some great Barbecue food on Saturday. (Don't worry everyone-I had the shrimp)! Emma had a blast at the ballgame, clapping and cheering for both teams. :)

On Sunday we met some very special friends for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The Rutter-Chu family was part of our travel group in China and their daughter Lucy was born in Guangdong Province just like Emma. We had not seen them in 2 and a half years, but somehow the girls just connected immediately. They had a great time visiting and so did we. My friend Cristy took the pictures posted above, she captured better ones than I did so I am using hers! :) (Thanks Cristy-*lol*)!