Happy Mid Autumn Moon Festival! The first image above is the Mid Autumn Festival greeting card we sent to Rupert's parents and his brother's family. The second image is a close up of the writing (and moon) on that greeting card. The third is a book just released on Sept. 14 (Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin) which we read to Donovan's preschool class yesterday. The bottom image is the cover of a book (Lin Yi's Lantern) we gave Donovan's teacher as a gift, and we also have one for the boys.
Yesterday, was our first parent helping day at Donovan's preschool (it is a co-op). In addition to helping out, and providing snack, we shared a bit about Mid Autumn Moon Festival. The children are all 3 and 4 years old and I was amazed at how much they comprehended. We talked a bit about the holiday, read Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin (sweet, simple book to introduce children to the holiday, with beautiful illustrations), and gave each child a paper lantern (ordered from Chinasprout). Our snack was circular rice crackers, cheddar cheese cut into circles, and circular cookies ("moon cookies" we called them, really simple homemade sugar cookies). We talked about mooncakes, the fullness of the moon, lanterns, and making a wish while looking at the full moon. Donovan's WONDERFUL teacher sent home an email with parents with information about our visit and the holiday. In addition they created a large display of photos of our visit, information about the holiday, and a large paper Rupert had written Happy Mid Autumn Festival in Chinese on. All of the parents thanked us so much for the lanterns and for sharing this with the children and they shared some of the details their children had told them about the holiday.
Tonight, before dinner the boys and I walked to Donovan's teacher's house to give her a copy of a beautiful book, Lin Yi's Lantern, a large paper lantern for her to hang tonight at her house, and a mooncake. She emailed us this evening thanking us and telling us she read the book to her 5 year old daughter tonight and they both loved it. It has a wonderful message and is a very touching story. She plans to bring it to school on Friday to share with the students.
Just after dinner, we went on the screened in porch and Rupert lit the lanterns. Each of us made a silent wish (well not so silent for our two boys). Donovan wished for a dog (well, some wishes won't be coming true anytime soon...) and Aaron announced his wish was "to see the moon." Well, Aaron's wish came true. Around 7:30we drove in the car to get a perfect view of the FULL moon. We were all able to see it clearly and make our special wishes. When we arrived at the spot we had planned to park the car to get out and gaze up at the moon, we discovered it was now covered by thick clouds. We waited about 15 minutes, but the clouds remained. We are so fortunate to have left the house when we did so we were able to see the moon.
Tonight I think of Aaron's biological parents, and wonder if they were able to view the moon to celebrate this holiday. What silent wishes/prayers might they have made gazing at the moon...Oh how I wish they were somehow able to know that Aaron now has a Forever Family - a mother, a father, a brother, and a grandmother who cherish him and love him unconditionally; that he persevered against the odds in an orphanage in China and traveled to a new life in America; that he is happy and so smart and loving, and a most wonderful son. He is such a blessing in our lives.
We are so blessed to have two wonderful sons, Donovan and Aaron.
Happy Mid Autumn Moon Festival!
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