Movin' on up!

Don't mess with this new brown belt holder in a dark alley!

Elizabeth chose a brown sun dress to wear in celebration of her brother's achievement this evening and cheered him on from the front row.

John will be traveling to Florida in a few weeks to participate in a Karate demo team expo! We will be making it a family get away for a few extra days and are looking forward to Summer's last big bang there... did I just say that??? WHERE DID TIME GO??!

Congrats John!







T/Y to our sweet, wonderful friend and house guest for the week (Mike) for the pics! We will miss you!

"God is still on the throne, and prayer changes things" - Noah Hutchins

This family needs prayer tonight.

an hour of your time

And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4
Recommended Reading
Matthew 11:28-30
A man came home late from work to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door. The first thing out of the child’s mouth was, “Daddy, how much money do you make in an hour?” “If you must know, I make $50 an hour” said the man. “Well, can I borrow $25?” the boy asked. “For what?” replied the man. Without saying a word, the little boy went to his room, removed some crumpled money from under his bed and added it to the money his dad gave him. He came back and said, “Daddy, now I have $50. Can I buy an hour of your time?”
Sometimes, balancing the responsibilities of providing for our children and making time to invest in their lives can become overwhelming. Being a godly father is a huge responsibility. But it is also one of life’s greatest joys. As we raise our children in the love of the Lord, may we not become discouraged as the pressures mount; rather, let us look to our own Heavenly Father for the strength, love, courage, and discipline needed to carry out this high calling.
“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”
Billy Graham

This was from my daily devotional here.

bathroom matters

I've thought about whether to post this but keep coming back to being so very thankful we live in America. Kelly's Korner is hosting a 'tour of homes' and this week it has been about the bathrooms. I sometimes grumble when I enter a public restroom and try to make our children wait until we get home to go to the bathroom (aren't they sometimes sooo nassssty?)

My perspective changed one day in Central China as we were visiting our daughters finding spot. We were in a group of about 6 families traveling about 2 hours outside of the capitol of Hubei China. As far as China was concerned, it was a "small village" of several million. On the way back to our hotel, the bus made a stop. It was a bathroom break. As you could imagine, everyone was thankful for the stop... until we walked into the bathroom.

This is what we saw:



The smell was beyond anything I could ever describe. After walking in, I simply couldn't bring myself to go further. I returned to our van without participating in the rural China squat potty experience. Dave on the other hand decided he would participate and to make matters worse, the water from the sink was filthy. It was a brown murky color with another kind of odor, and of course no soap, towels etc.. (or toilet paper)

Prior to this, we were at a popular tourist spot a few days before and I thought I lucked out when a local sandwich shop had a public restroom! It was a unisex one, but hey... The sandwich shop reminded me of a Chinese Panera Bread and was relatively clean looking from the seating area. Well,, I walked to the back and down a narrow hallway. Once again, there was "that odor". I opened the bathroom door and was feeling the wall for a light switch. Suddenly I realized I was standing in the dark and felt something squishy under my shoes. It was a 1/2 inch or more of human waste from the overflow of the facility. It made me so queasy that when we got back to the hotel, I took off my shoes in the lobby and threw them in the garbage can.

Maybe this is where the custom of taking off your shoes at the door in Asia came from?!

I noticed from the very beginning of entering China that there was an unpleasant odor throughout most of the outdoor areas we walked around. It seemed to be everywhere - in every Province we visited. I suddenly realized why:


I can't say I blame anyone for not using the public restrooms in China! :)

When we experience the comfort of our home bathrooms and enjoy the warm clean water of a shower in the morning, I often reflect back to our time in China and remember the most basic things are extreme luxuries to many others in the world we live in.

Something landed in our yard today

At first, I thought this was a joke... it's not.

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

MORE

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff



Developing...

the Mother of all comments to date.. UPDATED w/ my response below

A young man probably in his early 20's came up to E'beth and I this afternoon and started chatting. He was very curious and inquisitive about "us" and so we talked about how Elizabeth is adopted from China and now she lives in America with Mommy (me) Daddy, and her brother John. The topic of traveling to China for a cultural visit someday eventually came up and this is what he said directly to Elizabeth (age 4):

"You better not ever go back to China because you will break your Mother's heart when she sees how pretty and polite you are now".

I'll post my reply, but would love to hear what YOU would have said before I tell mine. I have comment moderation on, so if your comment doesn't show up right away it's because I haven't had a chance to see it yet. Please leave your thoughts on this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks friends for taking the time to respond with your thoughts on this.

Obviously, the comment took me completely by surprise and I only had a few seconds to "think" about my reply. In those few seconds I was staring at a young man that was still in that crossover period of boy to man IMHO. I decided to put his "youth" and lack of polish in other areas I was staring at in my main thought process over those few seconds. I realized that his lack of social graces was something that perhaps I could excuse because 1. his age, and 2, his gender.

Most young men I know are not as savvy in the world of adoption comments made to families as are women aged 30-90. Why should they be? They are busy with so much more at that time of their life... OK, I digress.. so I simply said..

"*I* am her Mommy, the one and only"- as I gave him a stern gaze with wide eyeballs that E'beth couldn't see.

He continued to follow us and would jump from behind things and scare and tease E'beth. I really don't think he meant to scare her but it was. We were in an art supply store and each time I would go to the front to pay for our items, there he would be. I would walk back so that he would leave the store, but he kept following us. I was determined not to leave until I was sure he was gone. It took about 30 minutes.

Very weird.

Sneaky kitchen and baths

I'm always looking for ways to hide great nutritional foods and incorporate them into ordinary meals. We have come up with a few tricks that work such as grinding whole flax seeds and mixing them with foods such as peanut butter, applesauce, cereal, etc..

Tonight we had organic ground beef that I made taco's with and sprinkled the taco meat with nutritional yeast. The kiddos never missed a beat. They had no idea what was in it. Check out the back of a nutritional yeast container the next time you are in the grocery store if you haven't already. The funny thing is, if they *see* me grinding flax seeds, or sprinkling the nutritional yeast in something, suddenly they TASTE it.. but if I manage to get it in without them seeing all is good!

In addition, now that Summer is here we also wanted to continue the interest in reading that John (7 yrs.) has developed. Rather than constantly pushing a book under his nose, I've decided to leave "interesting" books in strategic places.

I've put them in front of the toilet in the bathroom, on his booster seat in the car, on the kitchen table, and so on. At bedtime sometimes we give him the choice of "going on to bed" or being able to stay up an additional 30 minutes to read a chapter book.

So, if you ever come visit, you have a choice of reading Veranda mag. or Shark preditors if you wish when you are in the bathroom. :)

shhhh. It's working!
here's a great fake cheese popcorn recipe!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
air popped popcorn
place it in a paper bag
spray it with Pam OLIVE oil spray
sprinkle nutritional yeast all over and shake well
ENJOY!
This is actually so good and tastes very much like
cheesy popcorn!

Not your typical baby nursery

Perhaps you have come here from this very fun linky from Kelly's Korner thinking you will see a beautifully adorned nursery for a newborn after waiting 9 months for the blessing of placing that tiny baby in its crib for the first time... or seeing a beautifully slipcovered rocker in the corner of a freshly painted room especially prepared for this new life... or a mural on the wall painted by a talented local artist... or the mobile from Pottery Barn dancing above the custom bumper pads...

no. this isn't what our daughter had. It would have been my dream for her, but it wasn't to be. What she did have was a blessing beyond measure though. Our daughter was found when she was 4 days old at the entrance gate to a Nursing home in central China. It was a chilly late November morning and she was wrapped in a white blanket with blue animal prints on it. There was no note according to the gentleman that found her. From her finding spot, she was taken to a local orphanage and almost immediately placed into the arms of a loving Chinese foster family.



We will be eternally grateful to this precious family for taking in a tiny baby who had no one to love her, hold her when she cried, feed her, rock her, and care for her needs. This family took her into their home - and their hearts. When Elizabeth was placed in our arms 11 months later, it was obvious she had been very well cared for and loved dearly. She was immaculate and the clothes she came to us in looked like they were brand new and picked out for this special occasion. They were anything but fancy, but they were clean and neat. Her tiny fingernails were freshly painted and sure enough, when we took off her socks-- so were her toenails.

She had a tiny yellow bottle that her foster family had tied a simple blue string around and slipped over her neck to keep it with her. We soon learned why. This was the ONLY bottle she would drink out of and it was a lifesaver those early days in China with her.

After returning home, we were able to obtain some images of her very early life. These few pictures are precious and offer a tiny glimpse of early roots she would never remember. Her "nursery" consisted of what looked to be a family heirloom antique Chinese Cradle. She had one tiny yellow stuffed toy puppy that she carried everywhere. Here, she would spend the first months of her life. It could have been so much worse. Praise God for his divine intervention and mercy on our daughter. We are forever thankful for this simple cradle and the hands that rocked her while in it.

Show us your Dining Room Linky

I'm a sucker for looking at design mags., blogs of all sorts, and love inspiration from them. So, if you enjoy snooping into other peoples homes, here's a great "linky" and the theme this week is Dining Rooms.

Here is ours. We were having a baby shower for one of my best friends so it was piled high with yummy goodies in celebration of their 2nd daughter's adoption from China. We even made a "Dining Room" outdoors for both adults AND the sweetest children you would ever want to feast at your table! We simply took the inside furniture outdoors!



Our dining room table dates to the late 18oo's or early 1900's. It belonged to my husband's parents. We have many wonderful memories around the table but when it was time for it to "live" in our home, it really wouldn't have been my choice. I thought it was quite dark and a little Victorianish for me, but when I paired it with some contemporary slipcovered chairs and... VIOLA! I loved it! It was exactly what the table needed. I can change the slipcovers depending on the season or on a whim for an entirely different look and feel.

A mother's dream

tonight we had the sweet experience of watching our son John receive the outstanding conduct/ sportsmanship award (for the second year in a row!) at his end of the year Awana awards ceremony. What a privilege it is to be this precious child's mother. As far as his parents are concerned, this was the best honor he could have achieved.

I've posted this picture of John before, but it's such a vision of who he is. We were browsing in our favorite garden shop and I had walked ahead. John called to me and told me he had a surprise for me. When I turned around, he had drawn a heart in the gravel and told me how much he loved me. Who could ask for more?! Thank you God.

Yo mon, here's another...

yo mon, here's another quirky out of the way B+B we loved. You would never know this one even existed simply by driving down "main street". Tucked away in a quaint residential neighborhood of San Rafael California, this circa 1910 stucco and glass establishment has been an icon in the Gerstle Park neighborhood of this popular Marin county town. The Panama Bed and Breakfast Hotel has a bit of a bohemian touch with an eclectic twist.

This B+B is just a short distance over the San Francisco bridge and the historic shopping up and down the streets of the amazingly quaint towns surrounding is paradise! Some of my favorite 'finds' were found shopping here.

The outdoor patio dining is an experience in itself. "Very California" :)

So, the next time you find yourself crossing the San Fran Bridge heading North, pull over. You won't be sorry!

just curious

Am I the only one that never let my new daughter play in the White Swan play room? I could only imagine the little invisible creatures crawling all over the toys from the drool and saliva, the runny noses being wiped by little hands that then played with the toys my new daughter would be playing with and putting them in her mouth..

Don't get me wrong, we LOVED the White Swan!! It was an oasis in the vast desert of an unchartered journey for us, but no matter how hard you try to keep something like the play room sanitized, I'm still seeing all those potential critters! It now reminds me of how I feel about Chuc*y Cheese.. I don't think there has been one time that we frequented the lovely children's paradise without coming down with something in the nasty - trip to the Dr.- category.

Elizabeth on Posh Tots

Shortly after returning from China, Posh Tots sent us some beautiful!!! Asian clothing for children and Elizabeth was to be the 'model'. What FUN! I have so enjoyed these outfits for her and they will be some of the clothing I will keep for her to hand down to her own little girl someday.

I often become attached to special items the children wore or had when they were babies and these clothes are an example. You know the feeling of when you hold something, smell it, feel it, suddenly you are taken back to 'the moment'..

Strawberry cilantro salad dressing

Makes even the youngest ones love salad!
So easy!

8-10 ripe fresh strawberries
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4- 1/3 cup honey
1/8+ cup apple cider vinegar
1 - 2 cloves fresh garlic
opt. fresh cilantro leaves to taste (I used ~ 4 tablespoons)

Puree all ingred. and enjoy! Keeps up to 2 wks. in frig.

urban chickens

I'm trying to figure out how to raise a few chickens in our 'cultivated' neighborhood without the lovely homeowners association objections. Perhaps if I deliver a few yummy just laid eggs to them in a shabby chic/ Martha Stewart basket one chilly morning? :) But first I need to convince my sweet loving husband this is a worthwhile endeavor. He actually listened to my crazy idea of a 'roaming small coop' tonight as we were having a loving little chat about our day on the back porch. Previously he would dismiss my desire for this 'fowl' plan and not entertain the idea whatsoever.

I described how we could have about 3 hens in the 'coop' and build it with wheels so I could roll it around the yard. Perhaps that would qualify the chickens to be classified as 'free range'??

Lets see, the estimate on building the coop is between 3 and 4 hundred dollars. Then you have the organic chicken feed, vet bills, etc etc.. so wonder what each egg would end up costing? I still contend the urban farmer in me would like to give it a whirl.

We'll see.. :)

swine flu and what effects will socialized med. have on it's spread...

I'm following a thread on Facebook involving the socialized medicine situation in Mexico and the potential pandemic swine flu outbreak. Americans living in Mexico are reporting children (and others) showing up at Mexican hospitals with resp. symptoms and 104+ degree fevers and being sent home without being tested for the very illness everyone is panicking about.

Honk

We've all heard about the traffic in China and how the lines on the road are for decoration and don't really mean anything..well, it's totally true. Check out the above image for example. Here you see a bike, a donkey (pulling a long cart behind), a 3 wheel van type auto, there is a motorcycle between the 'van' and the dark car, and the photograph was taken from the window of our bus. What you don't see would be the other 4 lanes of interesting things on the very same road. Some cars/ vans/ buses were speeding along at 70+ mph, and then you have the donkey at about 4 mph. The motorcycle zips in between all and people try to cross the street all along the routes. It is truly unbelievable. Fascinating if you can ignore the danger.

reverse intolerance

I'm going to hold my nose and post this. I've gone back and forth, but I keep coming back to ultimately the freedom we seem to be loosing on a daily basis here in the US - especially if it involves conservative values. I was very impressed with this young lady for standing strong on her beliefs in front of a global audience but see what happened to her by doing so...

Now we are hearing even MORE disgusting news coming out about the treatment of this young lady who instead of being "politically correct" voiced her convictions.

PREFACE: The issue here is not whether you agree or disagree with the subject matter, but rather our rights as individuals to express our opinion -

She was asked for her OPINION as to whether she believed in gay marriage by a gay activist gossip blogger judge for the Miss USA competition. (I've yet to understand what qualified him to be a judge. It now appears his purpose was to advance his own agenda)

Carrie Prejean stated her opinion (very respectfully) as requested and was booed live on stage, and now the openly gay Miss USA judge says that her opinion and honest answer to his question has cost her the Miss USA crown. "Judge" Perez Hilton admits to giving Carrie Prejean a "zero" score for her answer that did not agree with his own opinion and agenda.

THEN later, this same judge (Perez Hilton) publicly calls her a "dumb b*tch". Perez went on to describe Prejean as having 'half a brain' and said he would have stormed onto the stage and ripped off her tiara if she had won.
______
Lets back up a moment. What if she had been asked this same question by a conservative judge and she replied that she was a proponent of gay marriage and was booed?

What if this conservative judge said her PRO gay marriage opinion was the reason she didn't win the Miss USA crown and gave her a zero score because her answer didn't agree with his conservative values?

What if a conservative judge called her a "dumb b*tch" after the competition for giving her opinion which differed from his own and threatened to "storm onto the stage and rip of her tiara if she won"? What if a conservative judge mocked her afterwards with explicit pr*nographic drawings because of her opinion?

Would any of this scenario be tolerated?

I thought we were watching the Miss USA pageant not the Miss USSR.

a game of Kindness?

Last night my sweet husband walked in after running some errands and had a cup of the old Starbucks Pike Place decaf in his hands for me. He even asked them to double cup it to keep it warm longer as I do when I order it myself. I didn't ask him to get it, it was totally his idea because he knew I enjoyed it. Our children were watching this and asked me about it today. Evidently it made a big impression that their Daddy was so thoughtful. I was immediately struck that we need to do more for one another without being prompted. It doesn't have to always be a cup of coffee from Starbucks :).. but something as simple as making the other persons bed for them is a kindness act that goes a very long way.

I've decided to have an experimental 'game' of kindness acts in our home. Each day, we will see who can do the most acts of kindness for another. The "winner" will have something special in "reward" (I don't know what the reward will be yet as I'm still working out the details of this)..

I made a BiG mistake

of trying Starbucks Apple Chai Tea. Sigh. I was originally content with their plain old Pike Place decaf with a shot of expresso (black mind you).. and now... I'm concerned there is no turning back. The next big step will be the London Fog Latte.

Starbucks' London Fog Tea Latte has already been "hacked" according to "Starbucks gossip" (can you believe there is actually a site devoted to this??)

The London Fog Tea Latte is about $4, but you can get nearly the same thing at Starbucks for around $2.50, provided you don't mind with tinkering at the counter for a couple of moments and switching to a normal Earl Grey tea bag instead of the loose-leaf mesh one. Here's the recipe for a Ghetto London Fog Tea Latte:
1 medium (grande or whatever the 16 oz is) hot cup Earl Grey tea
3 packs sugar
3-6 ounces two-percent milk.

Order a cup of Earl Grey tea. Tell the barista you'll steep it yourself. Drink or pour out the top fourth of the drink. Add the sugar and two-percent milk and presto! a London Fog.

AND if you want a jump start on the Christmas spiked coffee .. here you go!

INGREDIENTS
2/3 c Ground starbucks christmas coffee
4 Cinnamon sticks; crushed or into small pieces
6 c Water
1/2 ts Ground cardamom
2/3 c Honey
Half-and-half; or milk

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix together the coffee and cinnamon sticks. Using the coffee-cinnamon mixture and the water, brew coffee by your customary brewing method. 2. Add the cardamom and honey to the hot coffee and stir until the honey dissolves. 3. Serve warm. Pour about 2/3 cup coffee into each glass. Pass the half-and-half or milk.

ahhhhhhhh.

I'll hold you in Heaven

It would have been your 5th birthday today. I'll always hold you in my heart until we meet in Heaven. I love and miss you so.

Anyone China bound?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to avoid that LONG flight home and think outside the box for the return leg?? I found this INCREDIBLE price on a 23 day CRUISE leaving Beijing on May 1 with a dream list of ports of call.

The BEST part is that this cruise is on a clearance right now for 78% off the regular price! For this 23 day cruise the prices start at $1099 per person. Unheard of! WHAT a bargin! Go on -- click the link and start packing! Sublease your house for 2 months and come home with potentially more money than when you left after paying for your in China stay AND the 23 day cruise! Ummmm.

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Fri May 1 Beijing (Xingang), China 7:00pm
Sat May 2 Dalian, China 8:00am 5:00pm
Sun May 3 At Sea
MonMay 4 Kagoshima, Japan 7:00am 4:00pm
Tue May 5 Pusan, South Korea 9:00am 6:00pm
Wed May 6 At Sea
Thu May 7 Vladivostok, Russia 5:30am 7:00pm
Fri May 8 At Sea
Sat May 9 Sapporo (Muroran), Japan 8:00am 6:00pm
Sun May 10 At Sea
MonMay 11 At Sea
Tue May 12 At Sea
Wed May 13 Crossing International Dateline 8:00am 8:00pm
Wed May 13 At Sea
Thu May 14 At Sea
Fri May 15 At Sea
Sat May 16 Whittier, AK 7:00am 9:30pm
Sun May 17 College Fjord, AK (Cruising) 6:00am 9:00am
MonMay 18 Glacier Bay National Park, AK (Cruising) 10:30am 8:30pm
Tue May 19 Skagway, AK 7:00am 8:30pm
Wed May 20 Juneau, AK 6:30am 4:00pm
Thu May 21 Ketchikan, AK 10:00am 6:00pm
Fri May 22 At Sea
Sat May 23 Vancouver, BC, Canada 7:30am

an open letter from a son to his mother

He is currently on active duty serving our country and wrote this letter to his mother and family. PLEASE take a moment and read his words from the perspective of someone on the front lines of defending our nation.
Scroll down once you click the link to arrive at the letter.

an experiment in Socialism

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. The class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second Test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for anyone else. All failed to their great surprise and the professor told them that socialism would ultimately fail because the harder to succeed the greater the reward but when a government takes all the reward away; no one will try or succeed.

Solving the worlds problems

Out of the blue Elizabeth appeared around the corner the other night and she told me that on the news she heard "we have no magic wand".. the anchor (or whomever) was obviously referring to our nations economic situation. Elizabeth immediately corrected him and presented *her* magic wand waving it around me and then 'tapping' everything in the living room.

So, yes Mr. President, we do indeed have a magic wand :)

when a man puts on your pants...

Sweet Linny from a place called simplicity posted such a humorous and true picture of what it looks like when a man puts pants on your children for you. If you want a daily laugh you must go see and read it.. This tagged a train of thoughts as to my "issues" when Daddy has the kids as he has this week for the most part.

I must preface it all by saying I'm so grateful to him as I was fighting off a sore throat and ear thing. Here are the few observations though.

1. it's ok to not serve veggies with meals.
2. cheese toast, cheese toast, peanut butter and peanut butter sounds like a balanced diet.
3. vitamins.. what vitamins?
4. Did you feed the dog since Saturday sweetheart?
5. The new neighbors that just moved in across the street have yet to see our daughters hair combed.

But, John did his first long solo bike ride... that's more important than veggies this week :)
Tootles!
S.

calling all bird experts!!

HELP! We have a very "pregnant" Robin trying her best to fly into our front windows! She WON'T give up and ALL day is slamming herself into the windows. She perches on the sill, looks in and then will back up and keep trying. I'm afraid she will break her neck one of these times and OH WHAT A MESS she is leaving with all the bird poop she leaves behind! I've tried a cover over the windows so she won't see her reflection, but it doesn't seem to help much.

any thoughts?

Spring restraint

A few weeks ago as Spring break was coming closer we sat by the fire on those chilly cold and often snowy evenings trying to decide what we wanted to do.

We had a week. Should we.... or should we.... or we could....

It was never decided, so the indecision was the decision. We were staying put and going to enjoy a simple low key spring break.

The Daddy has taken off most of the week to enjoy time doing the simple things. They include riding bikes on our street, fishing in the pond near our home, a few movies at Daddy's office complete with microwave popcorn, staying up later, games, and maybe some camping time for the boys complete with a pop up tent and sleeping bag!

It's incredible to imagine that once school starts back again on Monday that there are only 6 weeks left! Where did the time go??

Scandinavian baking

A simple "unusual" ingredient in baking often makes the difference... in this case it's cardamon!

SWEDISH SUGAR CAKE
(Sokerkaka)

This cake is meant to be served without a frosting or icing and with just a dusting of powdered sugar. On the fancy Scandinavian coffeetable, it belongs as the "middle" course, to be taken with the 2nd cup of coffee. For the best flavor, pulverize fresh cardamon seeds rather than purchasing ready-ground cardamon.

Serves 12

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon freshly pulverized cardamon seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
vanilla wafer crumbs for coating pan

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamon, salt, eggs and whipping cream into large mixing bowl. Blend for 30 seconds on low speed scraping bowl often. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Butter a 9 inch tube (fancy mold is nice) and dust w/ vanilla wafer crumbs. Pour batter into pan. Bake @ 350 for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.

a rodent

Not long ago it was John's turn to bring home the class rodent uhhh I mean pet. John was very excited, but I must admit I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. I quickly jump started my attitude and realized this was important and special to John so I put on my happy face and enthusiastically loaded the vermin into our car with glee.

Once home it was like unwrapping presents under the tree to uncover the cage and discover "Snuggles". Snuggles quickly won the heart of the hand that would feed him that weekend and I was actually sorry to see him go Monday a.m. He turned out to be the sweetest of all Guinea pigs and Elizabeth simply adored him.

She would read him books at night before bed and the first night Snuggles appeared to listen intently and then suddenly stuck his neck out and started nibbling on Elizabeth's book! She was mortified.. at first. Then, thought this was hysterical.

We now have a very special plug out of a Golden Book cover thanks to our time with Snuggles.

Sometimes the simplest things are the most treasured memories.

What a night!

Guess who's home? AND SHE WAS READY FOR IT!
Check out this beautiful beautiful little girl from Chenzhou, Hunan PRC now forever home in the USA! From the moment we were able to get our first glimpse of her walking into the airport terminal she had that same sweet smile I first saw in her referral picture. She walked down the corridor and when her Daddy put her down, UP went her hand WAVING to everyone!! Truly priceless!

After a marathon plane ride home from China, we hope Mom and Dad are getting some much needed rest! We will leave you alone.. for a few days and then start bugging you for updates Michael and Starla! :)

Congratulations to the new B. family!!!

eye candy

ahhhhh.
I swiped this off of a delightful blog that keeps me up at night.

Serious questions about Muslim beliefs

Rick Mathes, is a well-known leader in prison ministry and wrote about the following exchange with an Islamic Imam.

The Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States , especially in the minority races.

Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was apresentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who explained each of their beliefs.

I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video.

After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers.

When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam and asked: 'Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world and, that by killing an infidel, (which is a command to all Muslims) they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the
definition of an infidel?'

There was no disagreement with my statements and, without hesitation, he replied, 'Non-believers!'

I responded, 'So, let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can have a place in heaven. Is that correct?' The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.'

He sheepishly replied, 'Yes.'

I then stated, 'Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine Pope John Paul commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Dr. Stanley ordering all Protestants to do the same in order to guarantee them a place in heaven!'

The Imam was speechless!

I continued, 'I also have problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me! Let me ask you a question: Would you rather have your Allah, who tells you to kill me in order for you to go to heaven, or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to heaven and He wants you to be there with me?'

You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame. Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of the Diversification' training seminar were not happy with Rick's way of dealing with the Islamic Imam , and exposing the truth about the Muslims' beliefs.

In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. to elect the President! This might happen sooner now that President Obama has given large sums of money to relocate hundreds of thousands of refugee Hamas supporters to our US shores. This action by President Obama was signed on Jan. 27, 2009 and entered into the Federal Register on Feb. 4, 2009.
~~~~
We are also seeing a sugarcoated picture of Islamic extremism, in the name of Political correctness portrayed in our public school textbooks.

Why does the leftist believer reach out in solidarity with the most gay-hating, woman-hating and minority-hating force on earth?

Why does the "progressive" heap adulation upon regimes under which he himself would be annihilated?

Why do radical feminists, who supposedly value women's rights, ignore the suffering of millions of women living under Islamic gender apartheid?

Just curious.

Unimaginable pain

for THIS family tonight.

Some people call it Wordless Wednesday

I can think of a few captions though :)

*Warning this post contains disturbing subject matter*

Before reading further, I want to make sure anyone reading this understands this is a very disturbing subject having to do with forced abortions in China. This report sites cases from our own daughters finding area in China and once again, whenever I come across this kind of information, I have to stop what I am doing and thank God for His intervention in whatever her birth circumstances might have been. We are forever grateful to Elizabeth's birth mother for most likely taking great risks to preserve her life.

Below is part of the report and you can read the full story HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Physical coercion to terminate a pregnancy or undergo sterilisation was banned by law in 2002 but numerous reports in the Chinese media claim that it still goes on.

Chinese women are daring to speak out themselves. Zhang Linla, who has a four-year-old daughter, told a website in Shenzhen, on the border with Hong Kong, that she was subjected to a late forced abortion because she became pregnant again before the period officially allowed between births.

"Six days before the due date, 10 strong strangers came to my house, forced me into a truck then took me to a family planning clinic, where the doctor gave me an injection," she said.

"The child began struggling in my womb and one of these scum even kicked me in the abdomen. Then the baby came out and they threw it into a rubbish bin. I could even see it was still moving."

An even more horrifying story, reported on hundreds of websites, concerned a case of infanticide in Wuhan, central China, last September. A farmer named Huang Qiusheng said his wife, who was nine months pregnant, gave birth to a live child despite being forced to submit to an injection to induce an abortion. The infant was thrown into a urinal.

The next day an elderly woman named Liu Zhuyu heard the child's cries, rescued it, washed it and delivered it to a neonatal clinic. But the reports claim that five family planning officials confronted Liu, seized the child and killed it by throwing it to the ground.

The complexity of family planning laws and their arbitrary enforcement often contributes to cases of cruelty.

This month a newspaper in Yunnan province reported a case of compulsory sterilisation that has appalled commentators. It involved a woman named Zhang Kecui, who was ambushed in the street by family planning officials and dragged on to the operating table for a sterilisation.

Zhang has two children and according to regulations should have been sterilised after the second birth. Her husband has lodged a legal complaint but has little hope of redress.

32,000 ft ~ 552mph ~ est. arrival 1:36 pm HK time

Thats their status as of 3:58 p.m. 2/17 thanks to Flight Tracker!

What amazing (and FUN) technology to track an international flight in real time! (It's even more fun when you know the reason for the flight!)

Back to our virtual trips of our favorite places to stay, here's one of our favorites and it's right at our back door! Just a short drive for us and it is an escape that completely takes you to another world.




Around the turn of the century, the Grove Park Inn was built by Italian stone masons who hauled tons upon tons of boulders up the mountain by mule and other methods that we would consider almost impossible by todays standards. The fireplaces inside the main lobby are so large, an adult can actually stand inside the firebox.
We especially love to visit this majestic inn during the Winter months as they keep a roaring fire going in the lobby 24/7. Along with the multitude of things to do we often simply enjoy sitting for hours enjoying the warmth of the fire rocking in the chairs positioned in front of it.


The views of the mountains and the city of Asheville are breathtaking and you can dine on the veranda overlooking them.

Take the elevator to the lower level and viola... you once again are taken to another world. The spa, the indoor pool, the waterfalls, etc.. are simply amazing.

Best news?.. they have a fabulous special going on right now!

'Twas the night before China...

and it's so exciting to have friends leaving TOMORROW!

I can't be reading this correctly!?

The full article is HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in migration assistance to the Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.

The "presidential determination" which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4.

President Obama's decision, according to the Register, was necessitated by "the urgent refugee and migration needs" of the "victims."

Few on Capitol Hill took note that the order provides a free ticket replete with housing and food allowances to individuals who have displayed their overwhelming support of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary election of January 2006.

The charter for Hamas calls for the replacement of the nation of Israel with a Palestinian Islamic state.

Since its formation in 1994, Hamas has been responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks, including the 2002 Passover suicide bombing. The leaders of the movement signed the World Islamic Statement of 1998 – a document, penned by Osama bin Laden, which declared war on America and Israel.

President Obama's executive order is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many with ties to radical Islam, to our shores...
More..

a few more :)

Way to go boys!!!
Ok, I'm done :)

There's an old saying...

that if Gymnastics were easy it would be called football. :)

that was then...

and today he won 3 medals in the state gymnastics meet! Way to go John! Breakfast of champions..Toss the Wheaties and go Cheerios!

A sad day for our military and families of those who gave their lives

and 245 more suspected terrorists may soon have charges dropped and could be released to "other nations".

Wonder what their new found freedom plans might entail?

Gifted Hands

I was so excited to hear about an upcoming documentary on Dr. Ben Carson. I have followed this gifted surgeons career for many years and am an totally inspired by his life.

If you have time, tune in on Saturday Feb. 7 @ 8/7c. You won't regret it.

Stolen lunches?

This ought to do the trick. Get yours here.

And speaking of stealing...
Here are some of the things in the $819 Billion Stimulus package reported by Newsmax:
~~~~~
For starters — and this will shock you — both the House and the Senate programs have a loophole that even gives illegal aliens cash payouts.
Here’s how The Associated Press explained it: “Undocumented immigrants who are not eligible for a Social Security number can file tax returns with an alternative number. A House-passed version of the economic recovery bill, and one making its way through the Senate, would allow anyone with such a number, called an individual taxpayer identification number (TIN), to qualify for the tax credits.”
In case you didn’t know it, any illegal can get a TIN number from Social Security, no questions asked.
This means illegals who broke the law to get here will be eligible immediately for federal cash — up to $1,000.

More than $4 billion is earmarked for "neighborhood stabilization activities" — money that will go to groups like ACORN, which worked closely with the Obama campaign, the same group accused of massive voter fraud.

Almost half of the proposed spending will directly benefit the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, and municipal employee unions, or other Democratic-controlled unions, according to writer Ben Stein.

600 million goes for new cars for top government bureaucrats.

Obama promised major infrastructure projects — yet only 5 percent of all the money goes for this.

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. (Take a look at some of the things your tax dollars would be going toward here) There are many MANY ways to foster Art without letting this type of "Art" become included as the National Endowment for the Arts has allowed.

$650 million for the switch from analog television to digital.

Just to show you the tremendous waste, there is so much money appropriated in this bill you could give every unemployed person in the nation a check for $75,000 for the amount being spent.

~~~~~~~~~

Copy house

Elizabeth told me we live in a copy house. What? I really try hard not to copy others and have our own junk (err, I mean style).. so I continued to quiz her a bit more. "Really" I said? .. She was insistent that indeed we live in a copy house.

Ok. I said. What did we copy?

"Our house copies our voices Mommy" she replied.

"Oh you mean it echo's"? I said?

yes she tells me. It copies.

Calabash creek

Before John and Elizabeth (now age 7 and 4) came into our lives, we did a fair amount of traveling. Often we would take a few extra days either before or after a business trip and detour to a quaint bed and breakfast somewhere. It wasn't always a B&B, but when we would find one that that was a bit unusual then we would often find ourselves gravitating in that direction.

I thought it would be fun to dig up some of our favorites and return 'virtually' during the next few cold and somewhat dreary winter weeks!

This first one is located about 45 minutes north of San Francisco in the Sonoma/ Napa valley area. It is situated right on the main street in Glen Ellen Ca. hidden behind a row of impeccably manicured boxwoods carved to resemble sculptures. The grounds truly look as if each blade of grass has been hand trimmed. What impressed me most about this B&B was it's simplicity. Most of the rooms have fireplaces, granite soaking tubs and ours looked out over Calabash Creek. The rushing water and our own Japanese garden complete with a bamboo fountain made for a most relaxing and wonderful get away!

Just outside our door were lemon and orange trees! The lemons were so large and yellow they almost didn't look real. The pool also overlooked Calabash creek and we had it all to ourselves. Breakfast was served in the main house prepared by a gourmet chef. A little known fact about the tiny town of Glen Ellen (one red light) is that it housed some of the most famous restaurants in California. All in sleepy Glen Ellen! We could step out the front door of the Inn and walk a block or so and have so many choices of world famous chefs.

The Napa valley is filled with hidden treasures (other than wine) and there are amazing trails if you bike, or antique shops along the side of curvy roads and so many other fun things to do.

More eye candy can be found HERE if you want to continue this virtual vacation!

Next stop you don't want to miss!

Pack a virtual bag and join in! I'd love to hear about your favorite places either "off the beaten path" or right on it! Leave a comment with a link to your favorites!

She takes my breath away

Sometimes being a parent has it's moments (good and bad), and tonight was one of those moments you simply want to freeze in your memory. We had finished our nighttime ritual and were tucking piggy toes under warm blankets in bed when I reminded the children they had a big day tomorrow including a birthday party for a special friend at Chuck E Cheese.

Elizabeth squealed and jumped out from under the covers and grabbed my face between her hands tenderly and said "One more sleep until the party Mommy"??! Yes I replied, One more sleep. She threw her arms around me and said "Oh Mommy Thank you!!! You are the best Mommy in the whole world. I LOVE Chuck E Cheese"!!!

Wow, and I'm only the chauffeur :)

Chinese New Year's Eve traditions from a typical family in China and a Recipe..

Looking back it is hard to believe our first Chinese New Year celebration with our Elizabeth was 3 years ago! I look at these first Chinese New Year pictures of her (and John) and see just how far she has come!! Each year we seem to add a bit more to our repertoire of Chinese New Year traditions and this year is no different. I also find it facinating to learn about the traditions a typical family in China celebrate this major holiday in their homeland. Here's some of what I've learned..

New Year's Eve Dinner

On the night of New Year's Eve, Chinese families come together for a
celebration dinner. This custom is also called "surrounding the
hearth," from the custom in earlier times of eating dinner around
the family hearth.

Both children and adults eat together and dinner begins only after
all of the family members are present at the table. A table setting
is placed for those unable to come home for dinner on this day to
symbolize their presence though far away. As the nuclear family
becomes an increasingly scarce phenomenon in modern society, this
symbol of unity takes on increasing significance.

New Year's Eve dinner is best eaten slowly, savoring the flavor of
each dish. Several of the dishes served on this occasion have
auspicious meaning and are indispensable to the night's menu:

- "Long Year Vegetables" (mustard greens) to represent intelligence;

- "Whole Chicken," symbolizing wealth for the whole family
(since "chicken" and "family" rhyme in the Taiwanese dialect
Chinese);

- fish balls, shrimp balls, and meat balls are eaten to symbolize
the three top scores earned during the civil service examination in
ancient China and, by extension, success in educational pursuits.

The only dish not included in the cornucopia of food eaten on the
New Year's Eve dinner table is whole fish, which is intentionally
left off the menu so that "there will be more to come in future
years" (since the Chinese words for "fish" and "surplus" rhyme).

Some families will also prepare "jiaozi," Chinese dumplings stuffed
with meats and vegetables. Since the shape of the dumplings
resembles a gold ingot, eating jiaozi symbolizes the calling of
wealth into one's life, and some go even as far as to stuff real
money in the dumplings to insure that the coming year will bring
fortune.
.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

CNY Food: Dumpling ("Jiaozhi") ... with a Recipe!!

People from north and south have different habits of the food they
eat on this special day.

In Northern China, people usually eat "jiaozi" (or dumpling), which
is shaped like a crescent moon. It is said that dumplings were first
known in China some 1,600 years ago.

The Chinese pronunciation of "jiaozi" means "midnight" or "the end
and the beginning of time."

According to historical records, in ancient times people from both
north and south ate dumplings on Chinese New Year's Day. Perhaps
because Southern China produced more rice than any other areas,
gradually, southerners had more other choices on New Year's Day.

The shape of jiaozi resembles that of ancient gold and silver ingots
or a crescent moon, and symbolizes the hope for a year of plenty.

In some places, people stuff jiaozi with sugar to wish for a sweet
life; others put one or two clean coins in jiaozi -- if you happen
to come across one with a coin inside, it means you will enjoy good
luck.

Many families in China usually prepare enough jiaozi to last several
days during the Spring Festival.

Ingredients:

Filling:
1 lb. ground pork (or beef)
6 t. sesame oil
2 t. sugar
0.75 t. salt
0.25 t. pepper
0.25 lb. cabbage (with extra 1 t. salt)
0.25 lb. chopped green onions

Skin:
3 c. flour
0.75 c. cold water
0.5 c. flour (to prevent sticking during kneading)

Preparation:

1. Filling: Mix ground pork, oil, sugar, salt and pepper well. Chop
cabbage until fine. Mix the cabbage with 1 t. salt and let sit for
10 minutes; squeeze out the excess water. Mix the cabbage, ground
pork, and green onions well.

2. Skin: In a bowl, add water to the flour and knead into smooth
dough; let it stand for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a long baton-
like roll, and cut it into 50 pieces. Use a rolling pin to roll each
piece to a thin circle.

3. Place 1 portion of filling in the center of a dough circle. Fold
the circle in half and moisten the edges with water. Use index
finger and thumb to bring the sides together. Pleat one edge while
keeping the other edge smooth. The smooth edge will conform to the
decreased length of the pleated edge. Pinch the pleats together then
pinch to seal. Repeat procedure for the other dumplings.

4. Boil 10 cups of water and add dumplings; stir to prevent
dumplings from sticking together. Bring to a boil; turn the heat to
low and cook for 6 minutes. Remove. When serving, use vinegar, soy
sauce, sesame oil, hot bean paste, etc. as dipping sauces.

The boiled dumplings also can be lighty pan fried ("pot stickers")
for a different taste consitency.

Questionable post

I debated for a while about whether to make this post but thought it might help others in the same situation so here you go..

My husband has "been invited" and decided to participate in a clinical trial for those with IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome). I don't think he reads this so he will have no clue why people (who have seen this) are smiling and chuckling at him the next time he sees them! The theory is that IBS is of a bacterial origin and a very common medicine used to treat travelers diarrhea in a much higher dose will "cure" the problem. To date there appears to be about an 80%+ success rate.

Participants will undergo a "free" colonoscopy -_-_-_HEY a bargain's a bargain right? After the colonoscopy they will keep a journal for approx. 2 weeks of their diet and then finally the drug (or placebo).

I'll post the results upon his completion of the study.

So today and tonight my sweetheart 'enjoys' a clear liquid diet along with the infamous 'prep' for the procedure and has the distinct honor of getting his *free* colonoscopy in the morning.

Cheers dear!

Hot Carob, Inauguration, Snow, and Chinese New Year

We woke to a beautiful blanket of snow and even though it wasn't deep, it at least covered the ground. It was just enough to close the schools and below freezing temps. kept it on the ground all day. Obviously the first thing the children wanted to do was "go play in it".. forget breakfast, dressing for the Arctic, and brushing teeth,, just let me OUT MOM!!!

Out they went and enjoyed every second in the frozen tundra of our backyard. A short time later little red nose prints appeared at the door and it was time for a warm up of hot carob, honey, vanilla and some extra marshmallows. It was approaching the noon hour by this time and we turned on the Inauguration coverage.

I huddled John and E'beth together on my lap with our fire going and we snuggled under a large cozy blanket and prayed with them about our nation. I explained again why we don't agree with most of Mr. Obama's ideas and agenda. John spoke up before I had the chance and exclaimed that we still need to pray for him since he will be the leader of our country even if we don't agree. A very intuitive child. Yes. We prayed that Mr. Obama would open his heart and let God lead in decisions that will affect the families of our nation for generations to come. We talked about how blessed we are to live in a country that has a peaceful transition of power and leadership etc.

About that time President Bush entered the Inaugural area. I was quite disturbed to hear THIS as our sitting President walked in. In my opinion this was beyond disrespectful during such a public and historic occasion from those that speak of tolerance. I had to attempt an explanation to our children why (after just talking about the importance of praying for our new leader and honoring the office of Presidency) the crowds of Obama supporters were so disrespectful (especially at that moment) to the only President our children have ever known.

On a much more upbeat note we have started to decorate our home each year to celebrate Chinese New Year. After the Christmas tree is taken down, I have some cherry blossom branches that John and Elizabeth decorate with ornaments and string lanterns over the fireplace. Elizabeth sings what little she remembers from some Chinese new year songs (thanks to our friend Donna S :) Sadly, this Mommy isn't much help with the memory of Mandarin!

After this it was full circle and time to go outside again now that the mittens were dry! Around dinner time (how convenient) once more the little red noses appeared on the breakfast room window.. Then, DADDY CAME HOME and took them OUT AGAIN for nighttime sleigh riding! Can you just imagine the look on their faces when Daddy said 'lets go out after dark and I'll take you sleigh riding! We certainly made the most of our inch of snow~!

the gift

We gathered our family this evening and told them the story of the fire at'aplacecalledsimplicity' and how tonight there are no familiar jammies to wear, no special blankies to hold, no favorite stuffed animals to cuddle with, an unfamiliar bed, etc.. we watched our children's eyes grow wider and wider. Then, our 4 year old Elizabeth started to cry. She went to her room and began to sift through her things and got a box to mail them. Our son joined in and took scotch tape from a drawer to 'tape' the box. The items in the box would probably be so insignificant as far as every day use but the fire has touched our children's hearts in a way we never could.

The Fire and now their son is in the ER

UPDATE: Their son is in surgery.
More hardship hits this family today as we are hearing from Lori. Apparently they are rushing their son Graham to the ER with a possible appendicitis attack.

Updates continue about the fire (see the below post) and this "Mom of many" details what happened yesterday in the wee early morning as she raced to get her children out of the house. If there was ever a lesson about the importance of multiple smoke detectors and escape routes it is documented in her story.

There is an effort to help re-build their home and Lori shares the specifics on her site.

With a heavy heart

A fire early this morning destroyed the home of this amazing mom of 9 children. She just returned from Uganda several weeks ago and after coming back with their 2 newest additions this family's home is now gone. Thankfully, all children escaped with the clothes on their back, and my friend Linny without a coat. Please uphold this dear family in prayer. Updates and pictures of the fire as well as ways to help can be found HERE and HERE.

The Boss

We are cracking down on some rules in our home for both children. The house can't be all Mommy's responsibility and so even though all along we have expected certain things we are now requiring more chores from both John and Elizabeth.

I asked John (now 7 yrs. old) to pick up all the things on his floor and I would come inspect when he was finished. When I went in, he had picked up most of it, but there were obvious items "overlooked".

I explained that when he grew up and had a boss that he would need to follow instructions carefully or he could loose his job.

John's reply... "Mom, Don't worry, I will BE the boss".

If you think it's **CoLd** where you are ..

you ain't seen nothin' yet baby.... most of us will never experience weather as cold as this. Here's someone that lives it daily.
You won't believe this.
(make sure you scroll down for the pics)

Clutter

there is an ancient parable about a young man on a journey. He came upon a raging river and needed a raft to cross. He built the raft and safely made it to the other side. He decided to bring the raft with him for the rest of the journey just in case he would need it again someday. He ended up carrying the raft on his shoulders with him the rest of his life never using it again.

Can I ever relate to the above! I look around my house and see all the things I *might* need or use again someday! Do I REALLY need to save that empty gourmet lemon curd jar?

Imagine living like this?

We have been concerned for some friends living in Israel and got this from them tonight...

... "At the moment we are safe because I live in the center of Israel, next to Tel Aviv, which is nicknamed "the bubble" because geographically and mentally it is disconnected from the line of fire in our borders. This is really a little naïve because actually missiles launched by the Hamas are falling 25 minutes drive from here... Also, our soldiers have entered Gaza tonight which was inevitable in order to clear all terrorist activity, but that itself is so dangerous. Unfortunately this has become a part of our daily life routine, but nothing has really changed in the past 3000 years and probably will not change anytime soon".
~~~~~

We were thankful to hear they are ok. Our prayers are with them and Israel as a nation.

Happy New Year

It's that time again! ~UPDATE! I was wrong!!

Oh how I love the night before referrals get into a new parents hands :) Here is a Mom and Dad- to- be that have waited over 3 years to see their daughters face for the first time. Tomorrow they will no longer be wondering..

UPDATE- My guess below was WAY off :) - Take a look at her beautiful smile!!! M+S have some shopping to do~!

I'll put my guess out there for the record..
Province = Jiangxi (staying in Nanchang while in Province)
Age = 10 months
Weight= 16 lbs when they take all the layers off :)
Hair = wispy strands of dark brownish black :):)

Congrats M & S!!

A sweet spirit

This year it was my intention to keep Christmas simple. I did very little shopping and decided to focus all energy on making a festive and memorable day for my family without the commercial influence as much as possible. We did end up with much more under the tree than I would have liked, but mainly the goal was accomplished.

My Mom came and is sleeping upstairs as I type. I can't tell you how much we treasure our children's only Grandparent left. We had a wonderful home cooked meal of Citrus herb turkey, apple sage dressing, holiday corn pudding, fresh fruit, and more seasonal favorites. After dinner, we watched old videos of Christmas's past, the birth of John David, Elizabeth's 'Gotcha' day in China and many other memories. I would look over from time to time as we were watching them all and see tears trickling down my Moms cheek. It was really the first time we watched anything that had my Dad in it who passed away not long ago.

Our son John memorized much of Luke Chapter 2 and this was his gift to his Grandmother. He drew a picture of the manger scene on a card for her, wrapped it up, and then when she unwrapped on Christmas day he jumped up and stood in front of the fire and recited it. What a joy it was to hear his precious sweet voice and knowing these verses will be tucked in his heart for the rest of his life.

I realized that time is passing so quickly. Life changes unexpectedly and we never know what the next year will bring forth.

I can't help but feel a sense of urgency to stay even closer to our Heavenly Father as we enter such an uncertain time in 2009. Our family's goal this year will be to focus ever so strongly on Him as we travel along the path God lays before us.

What would you do differently if you knew...

Here is a portion of a Christmas letter written by Mary Beth Chapman. Her entire letter is found here. Thinking about how the mother of Jesus might have known the time with her son was short and how she translated that into those precious years she had with Him on this earth...
-------------------
As I anticipate Christmas 2008, I have many thoughts flying through my heart and head. The last several days, my mind has not been able to stop thinking about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Pregnant and scared, knowing that the baby she was carrying eventually would pay the ultimate price of His life. How would I have lived differently if I knew that my time with Maria was going to be this short? Regretfully, I would have lived much differently. I would have purposely hugged and kissed more. I would have tried to memorize and lock away in my heart certain smells and smiles. I would have colored more and worked less. I would have laughed more and fussed less. Bedtime wouldn’t have become a chore to check off the list of things to get done. Instead it would have been more of an opportunity to listen about the day and offer whatever words were needed. The swimming pool wouldn’t have been too cold to swim in. The flowers in the garden would have all been picked, and definitely more ice cream would have been consumed!

The Princess and the Engineer

OVER 1.5 BILLION U.S. taxpayer dollars (YOURS AND MINE) are being considered for the Abortion industry bailout by President Elect Obama

I went to bed but could not sleep thinking about this tonight. A very large chunk of this money would be designated to fund Abortion Groups like UNFPA, an international aid organization connected to coercive abortion as part of China's coercive one-child policy.

As I read the emerging data on "the Abortion bailout" being considered by the next administration, I am *beyond disturbed* to know that part of our family income will be given to these "causes" by the future President.

A study in pastels

One day I saw Elizabeth perched on the dining room table near the window posing for John. I asked him what they were doing and he said he was drawing her portrait using natural window light. ...humm, ok... sounds like a plan... so I resumed my daunting laundry chore and left the room.

Later, he presented me with the finished work.

on dasher, on prancer, on mastercard, on visa..

she got an extra bone for this.

A chilly rainy day in Colonial Williamsburg..Perfect!

If you have never tried this,,,you must!

Christiana Campbell’s Tavern *AMAZING* Rum Cream Pie
(one 9-inch pie)

Crumb crust (see below)
1/2 cup dark rum
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
unsweetened chocolate (opt.)

Prepare a crumb crust (see below).

Soften the gelatin in 1/2 c. cold water. Place over low heat and bring almost to a boil, stirring to dissolve.

Beat egg yolks and sugar until very light. Stir the gelatin into the egg mixture. Cool.

Gradually add the rum, beating constantly. Whip the cream until it stands in soft peaks and fold into gelatin mixture.

Cool until it begins to set, then spoon it into the crumb crust and chill until firm.

Grate chocolate over top if desired.

*************Crumb Crust***********
2 1⁄4 cups graham cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons sugar
1 ⁄2 cup butter,melted 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
Combine the ingredients and press into a 9-inch pie pan.
Chill.
or.. just go buy a pre-made one :)

For more "tastes" of Williamsburg such as Christiana Campbell’s Tavern Sweet Potato Muffins and Christiana Campbell’s Tavern Spoon Bread, go HERE!

Uganda. 2 toddlers. mom of 7. now of 9 and soon to be 10!

Join my sweet friend as she embarks on a journey of a lifetime to Uganda bringing these children home. She just turned 50 and she's not finished yet!!! Go grab a cup of tea and pop over to read a story you won't forget!

Earth Fare conversation w/ gentleman who measured out our pound of curry chicken salad

Gentleman- Did you adopt her from China?
Me - yes.
Elizabeth with a gasp- How did he know I was born in China???
Me - Because you are so beautiful.
Elizabeth - oh. Can we eat here?

I think we are making progress!

this one was taken just after returning home from China...

and this one was taken a few evenings ago.. :)

John and 2010 bobsledding - see you in Vancouver!

3 x 50 =

We spend a great deal of time in the car driving from one activity to another during the week and recently I calculated how many hours a week were spent on the road. Usually, we are 'in transit' for about an hour (or more a day). This has actually turned into quite a blessing for our family especially since we started listening to THIS kids program whenever possible from 3 PM to 5 PM on weekdays.

It has been amazing how much John and Elizabeth have learned and grown through it. Sometimes we let them call in and they have actually been on the air on several occasions with "Mr. Matthew". It is one of the very best things we do on a regular basis. I can't tell you how much J + E enjoy the programs and how much I am thrilled with the content! On days we are home, the children get to listen to it while they clean their rooms :)

On average, I would estimate they get to hear about 3 hours a week worth and that adds up to about 150 hours a year! Then, as this chain of thoughts progressed, I realized how many minutes we could translate into similar learning experiences and how it really does add up to a worthwhile amount of time!

If you live in the broadcast area of this wonderful station, you can pick it up via 91.5 FM from 3-5 PM weekdays or listen online.
Be sure to check all the other programing offered as it's been an incredible blessing to our entire family.

In the very beginning of the long and winding China adoption road

we were very blessed to begin our journey with a group of families in our community that were also in the process of adopting from China. Its hard to believe that was almost 5 years ago now and it has been a wonderful experience to watch these children grow, celebrate fun times together, and become almost like extended family with them.

Even though as all the children get older and lives seem to become busier, it is still wonderful on those rare occasions when we gather and enjoy the incredible gift of these amazing little boys and girls we share. This, was one of these special occasions. As you can see in the pictures below, our "princess" was overcome and humbled by your kindness. Thank you friends.

Silly boys, pretty girls, and turkey~!

For weeks our children have been looking forward to their cousins coming in from out of town and it brought back many memories of childhood and the anticipation building for those special moments and times. Cousin Josh spent the night with us and you couldn't pry John away from his 'buddy'! We call him our cousin brother :)

The boys decided they wanted to watch a marathon of 'star wars' (VHS!) and we decided they have such little time during the hectic week normally, that we would let them do whatever they wanted.

Elizabeth was equally enthralled with her female cousins and there were very few moments that you didn't see them together. A very Happy Thanksgiving was had by all!! We are hoping to have Hannah (the oldest cousin ;) live a little closer as she starts college this coming fall and might be just a few miles down the road!

Next stop.. the Christmas tree farm~!

Mother expecting 3rd child challenges China's forced abortion policy

Even though we know this happens in China and elsewhere it is still very disturbing to read accounts of this. I am so very thankful to Elizabeth's birth mother and many other women in China who most likely endured many sacrifices to protect and preserve a life.

Below is the article. The link is at the bottom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chinese officials have caved to international pressure and will now release a woman who is pregnant with her third child.

The woman was being held in a hospital in order to undergo a forced abortion. China has a strict one child policy, although two children are permitted under certain circumstances. Steven Mosher of the Population Research Institute is thankful that officials have released the woman, but says now is not the time to forget her situation.

"She's been released now because the world is watching," he points out. "But as soon as the world blinks I'm afraid this woman could be rearrested and…[the child] forcibly aborted. She is by no means out of the woods."

According to Mosher, if she does have the baby, it will have to be in a government hospital because it is illegal to deliver a baby elsewhere. "And when she goes to the hospital to give birth they may very well take that baby and give it a lethal injection while it's being born," he warns. "That happens all the time in China."

If she gave birth privately, she would still not be free said Mosher. "Because she's given the population control police an enormous headache…they will be looking for her," he contends.

China plans to continue the forced abortion population control program another 42 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the link to the entire story.

Why is it a clean and empty refrigerator makes you think your whole house is clean? and..corn pudding!

After cleaning out the.. errrr humm,.. old stuff and sticky spills from our refrigerator, it feels like the entire house is clean. Gotta make room for the TuRkEy :)

The above picture has absolutely nothing to do with cleaning out the frig. it's just a sweet memory from last year's Thanksgiving day.

Here's one more recipe our family enjoys during the holiday season!

Holiday Corn Pudding

1 large bag frozen white or yellow corn ( at least 32 oz of corn- I use 3- 16 oz. packages and mix white and yellow)
7-8 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
4 T. butter

beat eggs, milk, and sugar. Melt butter in the bottom of a 13x9 pyrex baking dish. Pour egg mixture into pan and mix with butter.

Bake @ 350 for about 1 1/2 hours. (check it after an hour. It should be a light golden brown on the top when done.

ENJOY!

Need an example of Peace during a turbulent time?

If you haven't visited "Little cabin in the woods" ...
This is a real life Thanksgiving story to inspire all.

Move over Emeril!

update note: Welcome to those visiting visting from theinspiredroom.net!

In a quest to diversify and expand John's horizons, I signed him up for a "Chef's" class at a quaint victorian tea house in our area. It is actually a children's cooking class but we decided to re-name the activity for the sake of gender security :) So, A culinary class for budding chef's began.

John actually really enjoyed it and they went into great detail about table manners (YES!), nutrition, kitchen safety, and of course preparation and finally ..the feast! It was a several day a week class and we went for 3-4 weeks. I have to say the recipe's he came home with were some of my all time favorites! We didn't waste much time trying a few things at home.

Here are recipe's of the winners from our home to yours!

Happy Thanksgiving!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crispy Brown Sugar Bacon!
Hint: Twist the bacon for a texture that's crisp on the ends and chewy in the center.

Ingredients
1 pound hickory-smoked bacon slices
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

Preparation
Cut bacon slices in half.

Combine sugar and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge bacon in sugar mixture, shaking off excess.

Twist each bacon slice, if desired. Place bacon in a single layer on a lightly greased baking rack in an aluminum foil-lined baking pan.

Bake at 425° for 20 to 25 minutes or until crisp. Allow bacon to cool before serving.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


ApRiCoT-AlMoNd GrAnOlA! Without a doubt, the best granola we have ever had!


Ingredients
2 3/4 cups regular oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup butter, melted
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine oats, almonds, and next 4 ingredients (through raisins) in a medium bowl. Combine honey and butter. Drizzle honey mixture over oat mixture; toss to coat. Spread mixture in a single layer onto a cookie sheetl pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes; stir. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on pan. Break into pieces.

This didn't last long at our house! -so, the next time we doubled the recipe. We ate it warm served with vanilla yogurt :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Southern Living Double-Delicious Banana Cake

This was AMAZINGLY EASY and SO good!

Prep: 5 min. Ripe bananas, with brown speckles on the yellow peel, add the best flavor.
Ingredients are:

The Cake Batter:
1 (16-oz.) package pound cake mix
3 large bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
Preparation
1. Beat all ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 30 seconds. Scrape down sides, and beat at medium speed 3 minutes. Use batter immediately, following directions for desired cake.

Note: we used Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix.

Banana-Pecan Cake Batter: Prepare Banana Cake Batter as directed; stir 1 cup chopped toasted pecans into batter. Use immediately, following directions for desired cake.

````````````
After making the batter you:
gather the following:

Banana Cake Batter
3 large bananas
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Buttercream Frosting (see below)

Preparation
1. Spoon Banana Cake Batter evenly into 3 greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans.

2. Bake at 350° for 20 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

3. Cut bananas into 1/4-inch-thick slices; toss with lemon juice, and drain on paper towels.

4. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread top evenly with 1/2 cup frosting. Arrange half of banana slices in a single layer over the frosting. Spread top of second cake layer evenly with 1/2 cup frosting, and invert, frosted side down, over the first layer, sandwiching the banana slices between the 2 frosted cake layers. Repeat sandwiching procedure with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting.

````````````````

Buttercream Frosting:

Prep: 10 min. This recipe makes a generous amount of frosting for all the layers of the Double-Delicious Banana Cake. Halve the recipe for your favorite sheet cake.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2 (16-oz.) packages powdered sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in 1 Tbsp. vanilla.

If we as parents don't take a stand in shepherding our children's hearts ..

Who will?

I was particularly inspired this week by an elderly lady named Phyllis Burgess. She was attacked by G*y activists during their protest of the Prop. 8 amendment in California.

Alone, she peacefully held a cross and was there to support traditional marriage values. While there, she was spit on, verbally and physically assaulted, her cross was grabbed and stomped on breaking it into pieces, and this continued until the police were called. The elderly lady maintained a serene and non-combative attitude during the entire ordeal.

If this had been reversed and happened to one of the G*y activists (ie, being attacked, spit on etc..) by a conservative group can you imagine the headlines? As far as I can tell, this story has not been widely publicized.

As I tucked our children in bed this evening it really struck me how difficult it will be for them to maintain the values we hold true as our nation drifts further and further from Christ. It appears there is tolerance for almost anything except for conservative and or Christian viewpoints in many facets of our daily lives.

If almost 70 year old Phyllis Burgess can take a stand, so can I.

*A special note to Haley concerning her link here - Haley you have given us a very small glimpse of what Phyllis Burgess must have gone through that day and really triggered my thoughts above when I said goodnight to our children. For that, I am grateful.*

You can watch part of what happened to Phyllis Burgess HERE. It is well worth the few minutes it takes to view it. Be sure to watch the last half of the video as this is where you see her in great jeopardy.

Please consider passing on the link to the Burgess story. Thank you friends.

a pRiNcEsS tUrNs 4 ! ~ NEW UPDATE BELOW ~

Four years ago at 8:47 a.m. November 13, 2004 our telephone rang and as a daughter, I was suddenly hearing the words I have dreaded to hear my entire life. It was my Mom and she told me the rescue squad was at their home, and my Dad wasn't breathing. I had just visited with him only hours earlier the previous evening. One minute he was laughing and with us on this earth, and without any warning, he was ushered into the arms of his Heavenly Father.

That very same mid autumn morning four years ago, unbeknownst to me at the time, our daughter had just been born in a Province called Hubei in central China. 3 days later as we were preparing for my Dad's funeral she was found on a step under an overhang at a nursing home wrapped in a white blanket with blue animals printed on it.

We don't believe this was all by 'chance'. Rather, we know the intricate threads that brought our lives together almost one year later were woven by the hands of a loving and merciful God.

Elizabeth, our prayer is that God will always be the wind beneath YOUR wings.
Happy Birthday number 4 our precious sweetheart.

UPDATE:
Thank all of you so much for your kind wishes for our E'beth. She had a wonderful day enjoying simple little things like a new hair style and painted fingernails with glitter on them :)

We allowed her to choose a restaurant for dinner and of course she chose a Chinese one! They even put a candle in a piece of 3 milk cake :) and sang Happy Birthday to her in Mandarin!

.. after dinner the princess was escorted by her Daddy and brother to a play while Mommy dashed home with the balloons and cake for a "surprise" party. She opened her one special gift which was a cradle for her "Papa" (aka Panda). I wish I had the opening on tape. She squealed as if we had given her a bar of gold. Our precious sweetheart was SO appreciative of her present.

We are blessed.

Link your own "something fabulous" HERE!

Ever wonder what it's like to look out your window and see a moose or two staring back at you?

Spend ye nary another second wondering - . HERE it is!

Pretty clever costume IMHO :)

I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree..

Daughter of Military soldier mocked by teacher in class for her Presidential choice

Here are our tax dollars at work in a public school system in N.C. How would you feel if happened to your child on either side of the political spectrum? Also note the teachers incorrect grammar and use of the English language during her "lecture"..

Click Here to watch what happened.

UPDATE: Michelle Obama 'interviews' private schools for her daughters in Washington D.C.
Are the public schools our tax dollars fund not good enough for his own family? What about the people that would like to send their child to a private/ Christian school but aren't as financially able as Mr. and Mrs. Barack Obama?

Here is the info on the school the Obama children attend in Chicago:

(CNSNews.com) – As chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) from 1995 to 2001, Barack Obama helped distribute $49.2 million to help improve Chicago’s public schools, a task for the CAC that two studies showed had little or no impact on improving public education.

Despite his work to improve Chicago’s public schools, the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee sends his two daughters to the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School, a prestigious private school in Chicago – and he opposes school vouchers, which would allow parents to send their kids to the school of their choice.

Tuition for the Chicago Lab School where Obama’s daughters attend is $18,492 a year for grades 1-4, the grades Obama’s daughters attend. The tuition climbs to $20,286 a year for grades 5-8, and $21,480 a year for grades 9-12, according to the school’s Web site.

“That’s not unusual. Loads of people opposed to school choice send their own kids to private school,” said Dick Komer, senior litigation attorney for the Institute for Justice, which supports school vouchers.

“Wealthy people like Obama have school choice,” Komer told CNSNews.com. “This is garden variety hypocrisy.”
----
Thank you Amy C. for bringing up the subject of the Obama daughters private education in the comment section under this post.

whoooa

a 41 foot wave that almost killed the surfer.

Do America's new young voters understand Socialism and Communism?

Do they just think it's a 'cool thing'? They are about to find out what its all about.

For example, talk to physicians and surgeons who practice in US cities that border Canada. Their practices are thriving in a major part by Canadians who have a 'government managed health care system' (lets cut the flack and call it what it is, a Socialistic health care program).. Canadians are crossing into the USA with cash in hand, to obtain lifesaving procedures such as bypass surgery etc.. It is either that, or die in many cases. The wait time in Canada for many potential lifesaving surgeries or procedures is like playing "Russian roulette" with your very life.

Anyone for major surgery in a Chinese hospital?

Oh, and BTW, Got a 401 (k) plan? Think you'll be able to keep it...??? Click Here.

Change

as defined by America's #1 most Liberal senator and his V.P. choice of the nations 3rd most Liberal.

May God grant mercy on our nation that has turned so away from Him.

You can decide..

The following is from a Hillary Clinton supporter who obtained a paid staff position on the Obama campaign. She exposes some of the internal 'strategy' of the Obama campaign.

------------------------------------
Here is the text/ post from http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com #18 on Oct. 27
---------------------------------
Ok, I want to clear my conscious a little. Hopefully you could make a blog post to help some fellow clinton supporters out.

I work for a campaign and can’t wait for this week to be over.

I was doing it for a job. I was not a fan of any candidate but over time grew to love HRC.

The internal campaign idea is to twist, distort, humiliate and finally dispirit you.

We pay people and organize people to go to all the online sites and “play the part of a clinton or mccain supporter who just switched our support for obama”

We do this to stifle your motivation and to destroy your confidence.
We did this the whole primary and it worked.

Sprinkle in mass vote confusion and it becomes bewildering. Most people lose patience and just give up on their support of a candidate and decide to just block out tv, news, websites, etc.

This surprisingly has had a huge suppressing movement and vote turnout issues.

Next, we infiltrate all the blogs and all the youtube videos and overwhelm the voting, the comments, etc. All to continue this appearance of overwhelming world support.
People makes posts to the effect that the world has “gone mad”
Thats the intention. To make you feel stressed and crazy and feel like the world is ending.

We have also had quite a hand in skewing many many polls, some we couldn’t control as much as we would have liked. But many we have spoiled over. Just enough to make real clear politics look scarey to a mccain supporter. Its worked, alough the goal was to appear 13-15 points ahead.
see, the results have been working. People tend to support a winner, go with the flow, become “sheeple”

The polls are roughly 3-5 points in favor of Barack. Thats due to our inflation of the polls and pulling in the sheeple.

Our donors, are the same people who finance the MSM. Their interests are tied, Barack then tends to come across as teflon. Nothing sticks. And trust, there were meetings with Fox news. The goal was to blunt them as much as possible. Watch Bill Oreilly he has become much more diplomatic and “fair and balanced” and soft. Its because he wants to retain the #1 spot on cable news and to do that he has to have access to the Obama campaign and we worked hard at stringing him a long and keeping him soft for an interview swap. It worked and now he is anticipating more access. So he is playing it still soft.
This is why nothing sticks.

The operation is massive, the goal is to paint a picture that is that of a winner, regardless of the results.

There is no true inauguration draft or true grant park construction going on. There will be a party, but we are boasting beyond the truth to make it seem like the election is wrapped up.

Our goal is to continue to make you lose your moral. We worked hard at persuasion and paying off and timing and playing the right political numbers to get key republican endorsements to make it seem even more like it was over and the world was coming to an end for you all.

There is a huge staff of people working around the clock, watching every site, blogs, etc. We flood these sites. We have had a goal to overwhelm.

The truth is here. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

I am saying this because I know HRC was better for the country, and now realize this. I was too late by the time I connected to her. To me Barack was just a cool young dude that seemed like a star. I didn’t know him or his policies, but now I understand more than I care to and I realize his interests are more for him, and the DNC and all working like puppets with dean. I always thought a president wanted the better good for the country. The end result I see is everyone dependent on the government, this means more and more people voting for the DNC. This means the future is forever altered. I don’t see this as america, so I am now supporting John Mccain.

Sarah Palin is a huge threat, and our campaign has feared her like you can’t imagine. If it seems unfair how she has been treated, well its because she has had a team working round the clock to make her look like a fool.
this is a big conspiracy and I am so shocked that its not realized.

We released a little blurb the other day that the Obama campaign was already working on reelection and now putting our efforts towards 2012. This was to make it seem like it was above us to continue caring about 2008. Trust me, its a lie. David is very smart, but its a sticky ugly not very truthful kind of intelligence.
Its not over yet, but I think the machine is working. And its a hill to climb.

I will be quitting my post on nov 5th and my vote will be for John Mccain. Fortunately, my position has been a marketing position and I don’t feel I had any part of anything I would feel guilty for. But I look forward to getting out of this as the negativity and environment upsets me.
I wish you all well, and goodluck.
--------

Han Li Rong. A day never forgotten

She came to us with a simple yellow bottle tied around her neck with a blue string, her layered clothing, and the Panda we had sent in a care package. Elizabeth and all her worldly possessions were suddenly in my arms 3 years ago.

One of our wonderful travel mates had a beautiful post about how brave these little girls are. I have to agree totally. They are taken from everything they have ever known (good and bad) and suddenly find themselves in the arms of total strangers who look different, smell different, talk different, and hold them differently.

Elizabeth my sweetheart, words simply won't come this evening as I reflect on how far you have come and how proud we are of you. We love you with all our hearts and you have made our home complete. My prayer is that I can be the Mother that God wants me to be .. for you. Your Daddy and I will always be here for you until God calls us home. Even in the absence of an earthly Mother and Father you might face someday (hopefully a very long time from now), we will teach you that you have a Heavenly Father that wants to live in your heart forever.

Wuhan Hubei PRC

And we were off. We boarded the plane that would take us to Elizabeths province and even though it was a reasonably short flight, it seemed like eternity. We landed and followed the mass of parents to be and other travel companions through the Wuhan airport terminal to meet up with our new guide/s. There he stood with the only English words in sight printed in bold red letters, so he would have been hard to miss.

Once again, after retrieving our luggage (keep in mind 22+ families packed for a +/- 3-4 week adoption trip to a foreign country) so you can imagine this was no small feat! :) .. we were ushered off to another large nice AIR CONDITIONED bus. Our new guide was amazing. She had ice cold bottled water for all of us and proceeded to give us information on the schedule from here on out. She handed each family updates on their children which included feeding schedules, sleeping schedules, and other small bits of info about our children. It was like Christmas Eve. Each little tiny bit of information was like a peek under the tree. We learned if all went well, the babies would be brought to our hotel the next morning. We would attempt to get a good nights rest (yeah right..) and be 'ready' to go early in the a.m.


It was about an hours ride from the airport to our hotel in downtown Wuhan, so all this information was given during the ride. What a blurr! Wuhan was a very different city than what we had just left. Situated along the Yangtze River, Wuhan is a more industrial area, I would say much like Detroit or Pittsburg, only MUCH more polluted. I think if you ask anyone in our travel group, they would agree the pollution is indescribable. What we thought was fog, was smog. It never seemed to leave. We were glued to the window of the bus as we traversed the city and attempted to soak the culture in despite the barrier of the bus walls between us.

We later learned that parts of the Yangtze River are so polluted that there are cities along it where the men won't choose a wife that was born there due to the very high cancer rates (and thinking she will die young). I can believe this after seeing some of these areas as we passed. Very sad.

Finally, our big bus chugged into the Wuhan White Rose Hotel parking lot and we all piled out marching behind Johanna (our new guide) like little soldiers. She was our security blanket for the next week. She truly knew her stuff. Obviously she had been there done this before.


We took the elevator to the 18th floor and stepped out, turned the corner, walked down the hallway, found our room, opened the door, and saw the crib. Suddenly, we knew this was it. It was real.

to be continued..

Madame Pearl

Three years ago tonight Dave and I were walking the streets of Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong enjoying a brief few days of R + R before traveling to Wuhan Hubei ( central China) to be united with our new daughter. We were excited, nervous, exhausted from the trip over and trying to soak each moment in.

Each night we would walk back to our incredible hotel room and you could take a hot bath in the glass walled bathroom and look out over the Hong Kong skyline. It was magnificent. We were so glad to have arrived a few days early as it gave us both a chance to unwind and reflect on the changes and new directions our lives were about to take. Not that we hadn't fully understood the magnitude of the journey, but with all the preparations leading up to traveling and making arrangements for our son John during our trip across the globe, there simply wasn't much time to really absorb it. Now, we were only days away from meeting our Elizabeth.

We were to meet up with our travel group of approx. 22 families who were also adopting and the night before we were to unite, I came down with a very nasty bug. I was running a high fever, coughing, vomiting, sore throat, etc.. Dave went out on foot in an attempt to find some cough syrup that was strong enough to muffle it during our flight into mainland China. He succeeded and came back with some pretty putrid stuff called "Madame Pearls". After I took 2 tablespoons, I felt I needed to see the ingredients. On 2nd thought, I decided not to find out :)





Finally the day arrived where we were to have our luggage in the hallway and our guide gathered all 22 families and their travel companions together, piled us on a big bus and took us back to the Hong Kong airport. Our flight would depart from Hong Kong to Wuhan Hubei in the mid morning hours putting us at the destination where we would get Elizabeth sometime that afternoon.

There were indescribable anticipations.

To be continued.

Did you know?

I started to entitle this post "The Audacity of Obama", but have decided to keep this simple and to the point.

Did you know...

Mr. Barack Obama is a very articulate, well dressed, poised individual.

He also :

sponsored S.CON.RES.53: A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that any effort to impose photo identification requirements for voting should be rejected.

In 1999 Obama was the only Illinois State Senator to vote against a bill barring early release for (criminal) sex offenders.

He voted against filtering pornography on school and library computers and he voted for sex education for kindergarten children through the 5th grade.

Also, in 2001, Obama voted “present” on a bill to keep pornographic book and video stores and strip clubs from setting up within 1,000 feet of schools and churches.

He voted "present" 129 times instead of a yes or no during his term in Illinois. You won't be able to do this in the Oval office.

The Born Alive Infant Protection Act, was legislation that would require hospitals to care for infants who "mistakenly" survive an abortion. Obama spoke against the legislation in 2001 and 2002 and single-handedly defeated it in committee in 2003.

A friend stood in Obama’s path and said, “Senator, we are going to pass Born Alive here in Illinois this year.”

Obama smiled smoothly and agreed, “I think you will,” adding, “I would have voted for the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in Illinois had it been worded the same as the federal bill. I think that’s the position the Democrats should take.”

There’s just one thing he forgot to mention: Obama had stopped his committee from adding the federal wording.

With Obama no longer in the Illinois state Senate, the Born Alive legislation passed in 2005.

Mr. Barack Obama was ranked our nations #1 most Liberal Senator this past year.

Mr. Joe Biden was ranked # 3.

A simple click to see if there are any registered Sex Offenders in YOUR neighborhood

HERE'S a link where you simply enter your zip code and you will see a map of offenders that might be in your neighborhood, or nearby. With Halloween just around the corner, this is a great site to bookmark. You can also click on the offense and see the details. I was shocked at the number of these "individuals" that came up on the map surrounding our vicinity.

Any ideas on how to clean off spider droppings?

No Mom, please don't kill it! So, John named it Zig Zag (quite clever IMHO). We watched Zig Zag for several weeks. Zig had babies and that was it. Mom and Dad decided it was time to break the cycle of life. Now we have spider poop that is nearly impossible to get off our window sill. Any experts on this topic out there?