Happy Tet Trung Thu! Since a very large part of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is to celebrate children, I have been thinking about how to make this day all about Ella. Then I realized that everyday is all about Ella, so how could I make this one special? Here are some things that we're going to try to do today:

Have a breakfast picnic on the floor in the living room. To get in the spirit of honoring the moon, we’ll start the day with some full moon shaped Kix cereal. She’s been on a huge Kix craze lately! She’s too young to make lanterns or any real... more

Since Tet Trung Thu (the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival) is a celebration that honors children, I thought it would be a good idea to share some traditional folktales about the holiday. To celebrate this Tuesday, break out some mooncakes, spend time together as a family and share some of these stories with your children.

Cá hóa Rông – the story of a carp who worked hard to reach his goal of becoming a dragon. After much hard work, he was successful. The moral of the story is that with hard work, one can become anything they wish. This can be easily applied to working hard in school.

The Lady in the... more

There are many festivals planned across the country to celebrate Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.) Below you will find a sampling of events, but if you are unable to find one near you, why not throw your own celebration? If you belong to your local Families With Children From Viet Nam group, I'll bet there are other families who would be interested in starting an annual tradition to celebrate and honor the moon and our children.

The Westminster Rose Center in Westminster, California will be hosting a 2007 Orange Moon Festival for Tet Trung Thu. It will be held this Saturday September 22 at noon. There will be activities for... more

Mooncakes first came to be as a celebration food when the Han Chinese defeated the Mongols. They are now a traditional treat during the Mid Autumn Moon Festival (tet trung thu,) and come in many different varieties. Making traditional Vietnamese mooncakes (banh tet trung thu) is a labor intensive process and many Vietnamese families choose to order theirs from local shops instead of making them themselves. They can be found at any Asian supermarket in the United States, and there are several recipes out there online if you’re feeling ambitious.

Mooncakes traditionally... more

Tet Trung Thu, or the Mid Autumn Moon Festival falls on September 25th this year. Every year it is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. As the festival’s intent is to honor the moon, it occurs during the part of the year that the moon is at its brightest.

There is a great deal of attention bestowed on children during the Mid Autum Moon Festival; it’s sometimes even called the Childrens’ Festival. It is a time to spend quality time together as a family and encourage and embrace creativity with your children. I thought it would be fun to share some ideas about... more

While doing my series of “Province 101” posts that cover basic information about Viet Nam’s provinces, I inadvertently passed on information about Da Nang that was incorrect. Luckily, I have a gracious reader who lives with her family in Da Nang (which isn't actually a province-it's its own city,) who helped me with some great, first hand information about the area. The “facts” that I had reported were taken from several travel and informational websites, so it just goes to prove that you can’t always trust everything that you find out there on the internet. ;)

Here is some... more

Depending on how you feel about American Girl dolls, you’ll either be thrilled or completely indifferent to the following information. Rumor has it that they will be releasing an Asian American doll later this year.

I have seen discussions pop up about the lack of an Asian American Girl doll in adoption circles for a few years now. In case you’re not familiar with the American Girl company, they have a line of incredibly popular dolls that represent different periods of American history and different races…except for... more

In our final provincial lesson for the week, I am going to share the information I have gathered about Lang Son. I will be continuing this series as a means to educate parents about their child’s province. Please keep an eye out for future posts and if you need information on a province that I haven’t covered yet sooner, just let me know and I’ll get that information posted for you.

Lang Son is located in North Viet Nam and enjoys a cool, temperate climate.

Lang Son boasts an impressive highway and railroad system... more

Today’s provincial lesson is all about the province of Da Nang. Doing these posts about individual provinces has taught me a great deal about Viet Nam. I already loved my daughter’s birth country, but writing these posts has helped me appreciate it even more. Viet Nam is a country rich in culture and history and full of amazing people.

Da Nang is located in Central Viet Nam and is made up of varying types of terrain

As one of Viet Nam’s major cities, it is a large economic and industrial force. Da Nang ranks third economically... more

In my previous posts this week, I have covered the Vietnamese provinces of Bac Giang and Ha Tinh. Today's post is all about the province of Bac Ninh. Learning about our child's place of birth and adoption can be very rewarding for us as parents, but even more so for our kids. By taking an interest in your child's province you are showing them that you respect and are interested in their first months or years of life, before they came home and you'll be able to share all that you've learned with them.

Bac Ninh is in North Viet... more