Wordless Wednesday #3-Nanning, Guangxi Province, China that PandaPop took when we picked up PandaGirl Feb. '04.

The Share Game

Several nights ago PandaPop introduced a new "game" to us. Before PandaGirl goes to bed we always read books, pray and sing. Well, now we are going to be doing our new Share Game. It is so simple yet the benefits are everlasting. All we do is take a turn to tell each other two things:
1. How did I see God today?
2. What did I enjoy most about today?

It precious watching PG think about her answer and the original things shes says are straight from her heart. I think this new time is going to produce lots of good memories for our family. Every night since we started PG is the first one to ask and make sure that we are going to do "that new game". We'll see what happens...

I LOVE being from TEXAS!!

You Are 80% Texas

Well, knock me down and steal muh teeth! You're pretty darn Texan.

How Texas Are You?

There is no 80% anything....I am full, 100%, born and bred TEXAN and love it! I hate the detestable heat in July and August, but other than that I adore being from Texas. We have a spirit all our own down here! Later y'all!

About a Girl and Her Kitty...

These two are so adorable together. Miao follows her everywhere and loves to sleep on PandaGirl's bed. His favorite thing is to look out the window in her room. I love walking by PG's room while she is chattering away and playing and Miao is just cozied up right beside her staring at his girl. Sweet.

Thursday Thirteen #6

13 Signs Spring is on Its Way!!!

1. PandaGirl got to play in the back yard today in almost 80 degree weather

2. We bought a new ball to play with

3. I opened up the windows to get fresh air in and the stuffy sick air OUT of the house!

4. Teeny-tiny buds are popping up on the tree limbs

5. All the fun Easter stuff is on the shelves (albeit some stores did this at Thanksgiving! HA!)

6. I am really getting tired of being cooped up in a stuffy house even though I'm a homebody at heart

7. I want to go buy a kite and be ready for a picnic next month

8. Though we are all sick around here there is a sense of freedom and freshness just around the corner

9. Every park we pass, PG wants to go play

10. In Texas it is a big deal to take "bluebonnet pictures" in March/April. We are proud of these little beauties and everyone sticks their kids in the middle of them on the side of the highway for pictures. We missed the opportunity last year so we HAVE to do some this year.



11. Putting away my leather boots and getting new fun flip flops!

12. New life comes with spring. New things around the bend for our family.

13. The anticipation is growing in me to watch PandaGirl discover more new things about the amazing creation God has given us. The simplicity of a dandelion is magic to a four year old. Welcome Spring.



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Wordless Wednesday #2~{PG yelling proudly}.."I got my ring outta the potty, Mom!"

Belle the Stripper?

Yes, this is a venting post. Before I even delve into this subject I have to preface with the fact the my own daughter's fourth birthday was all about "The Princesses" and she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I adore the movie, because it was my first date with PandaPop. Hear me....I am NOT ranting about the whole cartoon scene nor about princesses. I love all that. I believe that all females are born with a desire to be beautiful to someone because God put that kind of longing in us to want HIM. He is the King of kings and woos us to His heart. But the illustrators at Disney are going a bit toooooooo far with this whole sultry princess bit. (Don't EVEN get me started on the whole Bratz line! That is WAAAAAYYYY over the top with sultry, seductive, take me to bed dolls!!!) I looked at these innocent sweet Valentine's cards from PG and was appalled at how Belle's clevage just hangs out and her clothes are falling off! Modesty? I think not. What seems so harmless is really just more of our society's (or should I say Satan and his tactics) ways of de-sensitizing our children. One more millimeter off of Belle's top and we'd be seeing ni..... you know exactly what I mean. DOES ANYBODY AGREE WITH ME??????? I know that many moms agree, but many don't and are fellow Christians who are supposed to be bringing up these girls in a Biblical manner. I am all for fashion and fun, but it can ALL be taught in a feminine, modest, God-honoring manner. Author, Vicki Courtney, which is on my links under Ministry, has plenty of material about how to raise our daughters to be godly in a godless world. I still want PG to enjoy the fun, magic, make-believe and girly-girl world of princesses, but I know that it is my job as her mother to teach her what is acceptable and what is totally UN-acceptable.
Have you seen the newest drawings of Ariel from The Little Mermaid? Her shadows around her chest are awful! For little girls to see this is one thing, not to mention how little boys are being brought up to view this as normal and accepting. Do you realize that our children are being BOMBARDED with sexual images and ideas all the time? PandaPop is a Children's Minister as well as MommySpice's hubby. I am not pulling this out of thin air. The enemy HATES your children and wants to destroy them. (John 10:10...the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy). There is a battle going on right now over the future of our daughters (and sons). Are you going to sit by and watch them be devoured? We as Christians are to TEACH and TRAIN our children what is God-honoring whether the world agrees or not. We are called to be holy...set apart...different. Not aloof. Different. We are to be salt and light in a darkened world. How can we be salt and light if we are stuck in the darkness, too?...acting no differently? This is not an easy subject. What is easy is to sit back and just let things happen. Teaching is hard. It takes effort. I pray to God that I have the foresight, motivation, energy, stamina, mercy on my own life and love to teach my own child what is right according to the Bible and then be able to stand firm in my beliefs, share them and not come across as haughty or having it all together or even critical and judgmental. I am saved by grace alone. Nothing I do can measure up to God's standards. I am a work in progress. By His love and mercy through Jesus Christ can I come before the Throne of Grace with confidence and boldly present my requests to God. I choose to raise my daughter differently than what the world says is right. This is a battle worth fighting.

I Shouldn't Have Griped.

My post from a few days ago whined about the almost $60.00 bottle of eye medicine for PandaGirl's pink-eye. Well, I shouldn't have griped about it, because on Friday some bizarro thing happened to my right ear- which I can't figure out-, it filled with fluid and wahlah!...I have a middle and outer ear infection. WHAT?!!!! I haven't had an ear problem since I was a child and I remember a couple of times my mom pouring some kind of medicine in my ear and stuffing some cotton in it. Now, my tiny little bottle of ear medicine, which IS slightly bigger than PG's eye med. was a whopping $91.63!!!!!! Plus, a steroid and an antibiotic bringing the entire total for my meds to $119.13. Humph. I could drown my sorrows in a chocolate malt and dream about all the scrapbooking paraphernalia I could buy with that $$$, but I think this time I will choose to thank God for being the Great Physcian (Jehovah Rapha) and that He heals through medicine, I was able to get into a clinic and PandaPop got paid on Thursday. Very thankful. I am ready for the whole family to be healthy again and for spring to come on around!!!

Happy Chinese New Year 2007!

Our playgroup met at Chinese buffet to celebrate The Year of the Pig for Chinese New Year. The girls all looked soooo beautiful and adorable in each of her traditional outfits!!! Thanks MommySpice for a couple of your pics---great camera! We love you girls!

Decorating for a Retreat...

Our youth girls had a retreat last night that was themed with countries around the world. I was asked to decorate a table from China. This kind of thing is right up my alley. I love parties and I LOVE decorating and buying stuff for them!!! I had such a blast piecing together Chinese things that we actually purchased in China as well as surfing the web and finding fun things as give-aways. Since I had already been to the Asian market here in our area, it was nothing for me to pop over there and grab some authentic Chinese candy.

The girls each got to go home with:
rice paper umbrella
chopsticks
red envelope with Chinese coin (good luck symbol for Chinese New Year)
small panda
Chinese take-out box filled with Chinese candy and a chocolate covered fortune cookies (did you know these are NOT from China?)
a place card with the Chinese flag on the front with a Chinese character meaning either love, peace, joy or goodwill which I has also typed up a quick little trivia page on the inside

The icing on the cake was that PandaGirl was already dressed up for our Chinese New Year dinner with our playgroup, so it worked out perfect to stop by and snap a pic of her in her traditional dress with the decorated table. Love it!

A Bit of PG...

Just a cute little pic of PandaGirl at her Valentine Party at Preschool. She loves her candy necklace!

The pics below are ones that really make more sense if seen in person. Ever since we got PG she stacks things on top of herself before falling asleep. She wants them to "smush" her. Sometimes the stacks are so tall I think little elves must come in and help her!!! She cracks us up with how precise and engineered her stacking ability has become and all while she is laying UNDER it all. Believe it or not this is NOT the tallest pile she has done. Crazy girl!

Thursday Thirteen #5

Thirteen NOT So Favorite Happenings of the Past Week!!!

1. My new glasses which I ordered two weeks ago did not come in on the day that I said I needed them (to go to the marriage conference!) because "they" didn't call me when the frames came like "they" said "they" would which made them a week late. Hmph.

2. While at the marriage conference, actually at 9:00AM when it started, the underwire in my bra snapped thus stabbing me in the skin while I tried to live with it for a few minutes then had to finally remove said bra and discard in the ladies room leaving me FREE flowing for the remainder of the conference (this is THE one time that I am glad to not be well-endowed!). That's ONE way to get your hubby to enjoy a marriage conference, huh?! ; )

3. Our precious cat, Miao, has been such a blessing and the icing on the cake is that he doesn't shed...until now and all of a sudden he's molting or something and I am chasing after him with the vacuum hose (not really!) so I can stop using the little lint roller tape over and over again! Blech.

4. PandaGirl got pink-eye and a nasty cold. Yuck!

5. We had no playgroup and missed our cute little Valentine Party with our friends because of the pink-eye and cold. Pooh.

6. The teeny tiny bottle of eye drop medicine cost so much that I had to forego buying PG some cute spring outfits. Oh MAN!

7. To preface this little gripe I need to say that for this semester I am working as an aide to the four-year-old teachers at our church's preschool. I have a college degree, have worked ten years with school as a speech therapist and classroom teacher and don't miss it one bit. My duties as an aide are to cut, laminate and be a gopher. I enjoy this little job and know it is only until May. I love being a stay at home mom the most. Here's the good part---I had to sub for three days for one of the teachers. By yesterday I literally wanted to RUN OUT THE DOOR SCREAMING IN ANGER at the craziness of that classroom! So many children are being raised by parents (or should I say that the children are training the parents?!!!) that DON'T train them in manners, respect of authority or even just plain kindness. I was so glad to get out of there and said I wouldn't do again, so don't ask! PPFFF-UH...As IF!

8. PandaPop and I have several really big decisions to make soon and the details are looming over our heads so the thoughts keep swirling around in my mind...at 1:00AM. 3:24AM, 4:08AM, 5:46AM....you get the sleepless, restless picture.

9. Saying goodbye to our best friends on Saturday and not knowing when we'll see them again. : (

10. Last night PG threw up on the bathroom rug from all the drainage she has from the nasty cold and didn't actually go to sleep until 10:30PM (Normal bedtime is 8:00PM). Ewwwwwwe-uh.

11. Stepped on wet spot...on rug where PG threw up and PP cleaned....in my nice dry sock. Gag.

12. Couldn't get enough chocolate in my system for a fix from all the restlessness in me over the week reminding me of my constant need of a Savior from my own depravity.

13. Since PG threw up on the bathroom rug, I decided to go ahead and throw it in the wash. I go into the bathroom to get myself ready for bed and proceed to look like a slow-motion version of Fred Flintstone slipping on a banana peel, but my graceful act happened because I had on new fresh dry socks that were VERY slippery on bathroom floor since the rug was now in the wash from PG throwing up on it. As I am going down in style, I land on my back looking straight up into PandaPop's loving eyes wondering if I am ok and after a few seconds to make sure I'm alive I bust out laughing at the hilarity of it all which gave PP the permission that it was OK to laugh as well. This is the one time in history that I am grateful for the extra padding on my rear! Ouch!

James 1:2-4 NLT
Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

Despite all these things, I know I am fully blessed by God. His endless blessings and favor are always on the forefront of my mind. Thank you, Lord for humor in which to see life's mishaps.




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Happy Valentine's Day!

Last night PandaPop surprised us with an early Valentine's blessing since our Wednesdays are crazy busy and he doesn't even get home until after 10:00 PM on these days. He gave us lots of fun goodies! We watched my new Flicka movie and had a pizza party in the middle of the living room floor. Love my FAMILY!



This morning I made special Valentine HEART shaped pancakes with red, pink and white M&Ms, bacon and bananas. PandaPop is drinking grape juice in my new goblets and I am having milk! I love goblets of all kinds, but don't drink alcohol so I drink whatever I want to in them just for fun!

No Playgroup : (

The girls didn't get together today for our normal Monday playgroup time. We had our little Valentine's Party planned out and ready to go. Yuckie sickness took over instead. My PandaGirl has pink-eye and a nasty cold with little green boogies stock-piling themselves! Another has strep throat and another's mom has the flu. Pooh. Oh well, just one of those things. After taking PG to the doctor for all the lovely crusty goo in her eye we headed to Target for the eyedrop medicine. While we were waiting for the prescription to be filled we did a little shopping and picked up about four cute little outfits for spring for her. When I went back to buy the eyedrops I quickly realized I had to put all the cute clothes back on the rack for another visit. $57.32 for the teeny tiny bottle of liquid gold!!!!! That was WITH my insurance...AHHH! Again, just one of those things. It is supposed to be a super-duper great eyedrop medicine. I mean really, I think I can even put it on my fingers to make my nails grow, shine my kitchen floor with it and for even more fun I can rub it on my hips and they SHRINK! And who'd have thought that all of this came in such a tiny little dropper bottle??? Hmph. The picture I took has a tissue box so you get an idea of how small the bottle is. Seriously, thank you, Lord for the healing powers of medicine.

Toward A Growing Marriage Conference

We had a wonderfully refreshing time on Saturday at the Toward A Growing Marriage Conference led by Dr. Gary Chapman. We have never gone to a marriage enrichment ANYthing, but I have always wanted to. Our best friends were signed up to go so we decided to tag along! We hardly ever get to see them, so we LOVED getting together for this fun event. PandaPop and I have worked very hard to have a good marriage. Only by the Grace that God freely gives can we boast. If it were left up to us we would have messed things up a long time ago, but He sees to it that we WORK at making our marriage the best it can be on a continual basis. We learned on Saturday that in order to keep things fresh and in perspective that we should plan on attending one marriage enrichment event at least ONCE a year for the rest of our life. Dr. Gary Chapman is an experienced, knowledgable and God-ordained man who has a wealth of information to better your marriage. If you have never heard of The Five Love Languages or any of his other writings then I implore you to search him out. I am thankful EVERYDAY for my best friend. I love PandaPop. A good marriage doesn't just happen. It takes lots of prayer, humility, team-work and for us...LOTS of laughter. We are blessed.

Six Degrees...

Have you ever actually tried the Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon thing? It is CRAZY how it really works! If you have not ever done this before or never even heard of it then try it:
All you do is try to connect someone or yourself to Kevin Bacon in six steps. It is mainly for connecting actors to him, but I can do it and I think it so funny! I did this a long time ago, but some reason it popped into my head and thought, "That would make a great post!" (You know you're a blogger when...HA!) You would be amazed at how easy it is to pick an actor and link them to Kevin Bacon in six steps. Here goes my personal connection:

1. I dated...
2. a GUY in college whose...
3. SISTER dated...
4. the ACTOR who played Slider in Top Gun with...
5. TOM CRUISE who played in a Few Good Men with...
6. KEVIN BACON

Can you believe it?!!! Little ol' me, connected to Kevin Bacon. Try it...I think you'll be surprised!

Click Here for History of This Phenomenon

Thursday Thirteen #4

Thirteen of My Favorite Children's Picture Books

Each one of these precious books are a part of me now! Each one brings me joy. I love the artwork, the words, the rhyme. ALL of it!!! There are many more that I love as well, but these are the ones that resonate with me. Hope you find them and read them for yourself or your children. Maybe you can post some, too and then I will have a chance to see some new books! Enjoy...