Moon Festival

Well - for another year it's over but man, do we have some great memories!!! This has to be one of our favorite nights ALL YEAR!!! Joe took off at noon and he began meal preparations that culminated in Crab Rangoon, Kung Pao Chicken, Fried Rice, Pearl Balls, American Mooncakes :), and more!! We had such a fun night with our friends and family.

Leon added so much meaning to our celebration and gave us a wonderful history of the Moon Festival and even did Chinese Calligraphy for the kids - the meanings of their names or their names in Chinese. Joe learning how to grind the inkstone.

Kids making Crab Rangoon.

We made Shuttlecocks and then had to practice how to use them!

We ended our evening with Mooncakes (yes, we vowed we'd never order them again - but we needed to let Leon experience them too!!) and a bonfire. Joe shared with us in scripture how the moon is a witness of Jesus - Psalm 89 and then we made S'mores - because what fire is complete without smores?!?! So there you have it - the annual Moon Festival at the Bilby home - yes, there were moments when we wondered why we didn't have it catered, wondered what we were thinking with 11 little ones running all over, but we wouldn't trade a minute of it!! (And we're already looking forward to next year!)

Favorite Photo Friday

The infamous - Mr. Brian with Chloe and Mya.

What a fun Sunday we had - Mya and her Mommy and Daddy came to visit us!!! We could not leave out Mr. Brian so we all had lunch together! We had such a good time - and we had to have Mr. Brian pose with the girls!!!

Manhood

I just need to say right off here that I AM NOT READY TO BE A MOTHER TO BOYS!!!!! So my oldest comes home tonight having passed his Hunter Safety Course and can now go to WalMart and get his hunting license. I'll fess up - the boy is VERY smart, but I thought to myself, "What is the harm?? There is just no way he'll pass this exam - it's his first try?" Nope, wrong again, he passes the first time (unlike his mother at her driving exams - yes, I said examS - I had to take another one a few years back when my license expired!!!). So now, he can officially get his hunting license - next it's his driver's license - I AM NOT READY!!!! This is a bit frightening - he said he shot a 20 gauge tonight - I asked him, "Micah, could that kill an animal?" He looked at me like I had lost my mind - as he gently answered, "Yes, Mom, it could." It was then that I felt my motherly duty to remind him, "WE DON'T KILL BAMBI!!!" Ok, enough said - I am proud that he passed - I am not sure I am ready for such things however!!!

So Blessed....

We have just been so unexpectedly blessed! We said "Yes" to hosting an international student from our local college - he does not live with us, but we meet with him regularly to spend time together and get to know one another. I think we were hesitant to say "yes" because we are so busy and were not sure we had the time to give to a student but we are just so glad we did. We have been blessed with a student from China (see, we do have a BIG GOD!!!) and he is a treasure to us. He loves our kids - calls them his brothers and sister - and he is such a Godly young man. Everytime we get together it almost leaves us in tears - he challenges us all spiritually and we just love to spend time with him. AND he's teaching us Mandarin when we get together - I am telling you - we are SO thrilled!!! Now we're just worried - do we have to give him up in a year?!?!? What a blessing!

Favorite Photo Friday

This is Joe's handiwork - he took one of our photos from our reunion this past summer and then took out all color except left the girls' color. I LOVE it - it just makes them pop right out. Thought all of our reunion families might enjoy seeing it!!

(If you want to see it larger - just double-click on the picture!)

Happy Dance

We are just doin' the Happy Dance over here. We took Caleb in to get his stitches out today and found out the test results were called in AS WE WERE THERE and that it was just a VERY LARGE MOLE!!! (Of course the doctor had a big word for it that I couldn't even pronounce - much less spell!!!!) We are thrilled and praising God for answering this one in this way!!

One down - one to go....we just keep praying for those sinuses!!! (Bet you've never prayed for sinuses before!!!)

Update

So many of you have emailed and left comments asking how the boys are - I wish I had some good info, but as of this moment, I have nothing new. Micah has another week of antibiotic and steroid to see if those sinuses will open. He is SURE they are working - we are not so sure!

We hope to hear on Caleb's biopsy sometime yet this week. He does have his stitches out tomorrow - it looks like it's healing great to me. He has been a trooper!!

Thank you for asking and checking on us - I will post some more when I hear something on either of them!

Pay Per Post

I would guess by now that you all know I LOVE blogging - my husband calls me the Blogger Queen - take that as a good OR a bad thing!!! I share with you our lives, fun things I find, you know, all that good stuff. But not too long ago I had a fellow blogger share with me Pay Per Post ~ blog marketing. So now I'm giving it a try. It is basically where you choose things you'd like to blog about and get paid for it!!! You can choose from a variety of businesses and opportunities - and you can post as often or as little as you'd like. Fair warning though - it is addictive when you see your Pay Per Post bank account growing!! I have only tried a couple of posts so far, but I plan on trying MANY more! My fellow blogger that shared it with me has made over $400 in one month!! I say it's worth a try!! (Joe says that as much as I am on the blogs over here - I ought to be a millionaire!!!) So, since I haven't found a money tree yet, I will periodically do a Pay Per Post - AND, I learn new things from it too!!!

(By the way - if you choose to try out Pay Per Post - click on it from the link in my sidebar and I get "extra credit"!!!)

New Book Finds

You know - just when I think I've found all the good books - I run across some more good ones!! (That's good, actually, I would just hate to have them all!!!) I had a flyer run across my desk about a week ago that introduced me to Kevin and Robin Books - a publishing company out of Canada which I posted about on my book blog. I just can not tell you how much I LOVE these books - the illustrations are wonderful, the stories are endearing, and I just can't get enough of them!! My first read was Little Joy - the story of an adopted baby girl and the struggle they have to get her to smile!! I am telling you - I was hooked!! Then I read, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking, which is a fun dialogue between a mother and daughter - again, another wonderful storyline with FABULOUS pictures!! And if that wasn't enough - I read To Share One Moon, a new book about the Moon Festival. (And you know how we are about the Moon Festival over here!!!) That one isn't out until October - it won't make it in time for THIS Moon Festival - but maybe next year I will use it!!! I just had to share this wonderful company with you - I think they are fabulous and I love the Asian flair!!

Favorite Photo Friday

I can hardly express how tired I am - my mind is tired and my body is tired! It has most certainly been quite a week, but I can still say that we are doing well. Caleb's surgery went very well today - it wasn't very deep, he has only 4 stitches, and we hope to hear on the biopsy in a few days. He braved it like a man - almost made me cry to see how tough he was!! Micah is still on all of his meds and we are just praying for improvement! So thus ends this trying week - we felt the prayers and we move forward praising God for his faithfulness to us.

Peace

I can hardly express how much all of your comments/prayers mean to us - we really feel like we are "in the thick of it" over here, but God is good and He shows that to us over and over! We did get Micah's results back from his test on Monday - he does have sinus disease (never heard of that before - sounds horrible doesn't it?!?!). That is probably NOT what we wanted to hear but again, we aren't in control! So - we are trying a few things to alleviate a possible sinus surgery - I am praying that they work - our doctor said we would give them a try - although he didn't sound TOO hopeful. I guess I have to keep remembering that surgery isn't always bad - if the poor guy can't breathe, anything should be better than that!

Caleb goes in this Thursday - we would love continued prayers for him - we are just trying to give it all "to the one whose shoulders are broader" as someone so wisely mentioned in our comments on the last post!

And sometimes you need the smallest ones to remind you of what you already know: One of the boys was asking Chloe if she was strong. She very seriously looked up at her brother and said, "I am not strong - I am weak - only God is strong!!" (Hmmm, she does listen to "Jesus Loves Me" every night as we sing!!!) Made us smile, but it was also a gentle reminder....

Thanks again for all of the encouragement - I hardly know any of you "in person" but it still means so much!

Tidbits

Just a couple of things to start off the week!!

1st - I'm not sure how many of you read my book blog - that may or may not be "your thing", but I am interviewing an author today! She is Nicole Baart - a local friend, adoptive mom, and wonderful Christian lady. This is her first novel and, having read it, HIGHLY recommend it!! I just want to put in a shamelss plug for this great book and friend!

2nd - We have kind of a rough "medical week" ahead, and we would covet your prayers. Our oldest goes in Monday for a catscan. He is having some sinus problems and we are checking, by the catscan, to see what can be done to help him - sinus surgery has been mentioned - NOT what we are praying for!!

Thursday, our middle son, Caleb, has surgery to take a spot off of his arm - we are hoping, again, that it is very minor - but it is a brown freckle/mole that has turned black and now has gotten quite a bit larger. When we found both of these things out last week, it was NOT a fun day - we spent a lot of time in prayer and yes, even cried a bit too. You just wish you could take them on yourself and not watch your child/children go through them, but we also know we have a big God who is TOTALLY in control and we will rest in that.

Happy Birthday Caleb

Don't mind us - we'll be partying today - because it's Caleb BIG DAY!!! He turns the big "11" today!!! (Remind me again where the time goes?!?!) Hey, big guy - we love you - you are a special blessing.

Red Thread

I just found this new adoption book and I LOVE IT!!!
I am a BIG fan of Grace Lin so I wasn't surprised that I would enjoy the book - it is WONDERFUL!!!

(By the way, if you click here from my blog - Amazon donates part of the sales to us to use on our next adoption - no pressure, just a heads-up!!)

Favorite Photo Friday

What WAS she doing?!?!?!?

Flashback

This was fun - since the flowers were still blooming here is a picture from right after we got Chloe - over 2 years ago now and then one from this past weekend. (However - she was more cooperative two years ago - she SAT by the flowers - she only wanted to STAND this year!!!)

Photo Shoot

Yes - we are insane and we tried to have a photo shoot this past weekend. Not only was it almost 90 degrees - I have learned that it is pointless to try to get 4 children to look relatively normal, happy, you-name-it for a photo! But what did we accomplish??? Many laughs - the antics alone were almost worth it!! So this week I will try to share some of our best (or worst) moments!!!(In this one, we told Chloe to give the boys a hug - not strangle them!!)