Introducing...Hugo & Charlie...PandaPuppies!!!

Yep, these are our new "little" darlings! PandaPop has been wanting a dog for over a year and we have been trying to decide when, what, etc. We have been looking online on occasion and yesterday found these muts and completely fell in love! We drove 20 minutes to get ONE and ended up with TWO. They needed each other. Sure. Actually, it has been a good move because they keep each other company and don't whine. I LOVE how wide and stocky they are! No wimpy dogs 'round these here parts, no siree! I can guarantee you'll be seeing more pics with our Hugo & Charlie (LOST fans are smiling right now) and the adventures that ensue...not to leave out PandaKitty who just rolled his eyes when we introduced them


This is a very happy PandaPopwith his "boys".

Charlie

Hugo


Boys will be boys...I'm sure we have lots of this to get use to.

Thursday Thirteen #25-Late 80's Nostalgia

PandaPop and I have been having a really fun time on Facebook this week. We have both connected with lots of friends past and present. I have had fun connecting with some "old" high school buddies and strolling down memory lane a bit. Hope any of you who were in high school in the late 80's enjoy this little memory clip. I graduated in '89 and always come across others from that year. Parents must have REALLY been enjoying their relationships in 1970 because we 89ers are a HUGE bunch!

1. Friday Night Football! The cheerleading, football players, band, bus road trips, late nights, after the game stuff, pep rallies, homecoming....all of it was so fun and a BIG deal in Texas small towns!


2. Reebok hightops---you either had them or you wanted them. These were going to be great in Aerobics! ; )


3. Any decent 80's kid rocked out to Def Leppard. However, after seeing them on VH1 as an adult and seeing their past ways??? Oh--MY--GOODNESS! They were sex-crazed maniacs! Music AWESOME---lyrics..BAD.


4. Remember these?...For you young 'uns, they were called "cassette tapes" and once they unraveled and you couldn't use your finger to roll them back up...well, you just chunked 'em!


5. POOFY...METALLIC prom dresses...two years in a row. Let's pick blue first, then green. Oooh-lah-lah.



6. I had an adorable '78 blue mustang which was lovingly referred to as "The Smurfmobile" because my long blonde hair looked like Smurfette's. Loved my car!


7. George Strait....oh my! When I was 16 I went to a concert and was forever in "love"....my red ropers were my other vice at the time...yeehaw!


8. Small cuffed jeans...couldn't find a pic, but you know if you folded and cuffed your jeans...admit it.

9. Big Hair Bands


10. Pop Rocks...came out in the 70's, but I remember eating alot of these in high school. YUM!


11. Ray Ban sunglasses. I never had the real-deal, but these fakes are just lovely, don't you think? (Never mind the white leather fringed jacket....can you say, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"?)


12. Teen Movies...now I have seen them as an adult and they were HORRIBLE for us! Not very moral or value oriented for church-going girls, huh? Though fun at the time, these movies are FILLED with less than appropriate material for young minds!!

......and I saved the best for last:

13. Even better than a side ponytail is a side BRAID with some mighty POOFY bangs! Yes, I am actually holding Little Foot from "The Land Before Time". Don't know why or whose it is or what stupid photographer would have handed it to me. Apparently, I agreed. Oh, thank God, I'm almost 40 in a few years!


If you were in high school in the late 80's, I hope you got a giggle or two from this....I know I sure did! ; )

Three Meme

Three names you go by:
1. PandaMom
2. JC
3. Mrs. C.

Three things you are wearing right now:
1. yellow long sleeve tee
2. PJ bottoms with pictures of chocolate (even my clothes have it!)
3. speckled socks

Three longest car rides:
1. Durango, Colorado back to Arlington, TX after a ski trip
2. Baytown, TX to Oklahoma City, OK for a funeral
3. Sante Fe, NM back to Waco, TX after a ski trip

Three of your favorite things to do:
1. playing with PandaPop and PandaGirl
2. scrapbooking
3. blogging

Three things you want very badly at the moment:
1. to be ready for the children coming into our life soon
2. for the children to be safe in our care...now
3. to be a size 6! ; )

Three animals you have or have had:
1. Worf (cat--gone to heaven)
2. Geordi (Worf's little sister--same place)
3. Miao (current cat who is completely spoiled!)

Three things you ate today:
1. milk
2. 2 crunchy granola bars
3. that's it for now...it's morning

Three people you last talked to:
1. PandaPop
2. PandaGirl
3. friend's husband asking us to a hockey game which we had to decline

Three things you're doing tomorrow:
(I am assuming I'll still be here...ya know, we can't all count on that!)
1. checking out the school for PandaGirl's Kindergarten registration
2. running by the library for new books
3. stopping in at the doctor's office to pick up paperwork done for us for the adoption process

Three favorite holidays:
1. The whole fall season! (I know that's not a holiday, but it's my favorite time!)
2. Christmas
3. Valentine's Day

Three favorite beverages:
1. Sweet Tea
2. Dr. Pepper
3. Caramel Frappuccino

Three places you'd like to visit:
1. Jackson Hole, Wyoming
2. Hawaii
3. New England in the fall

If you are reading this, then consider yourself TAGGED! ; )

Guatemala Trip-Part 2

Here are a few more pics from the mission trip. I am adding just a tip of the ice-berg of what we did. More to come, so keep watching! ; )

PandaPop led the kids in Bible Study while one of our precious translators, Heidi, conveyed everything to the kids in Spanish. I love this pic because the sun is reflecting off the page and illuminating his face. Isn't that just like God to be cool like that?!
Part of our team putting together a small library for the kids. My GREAT friend Abby --are you reading that, Abby? ; )-- is getting her Master's in Library Science and was perfect for this trip. Her skills were awesome! Now we all just hope that the library stays put together! LOL! The kids couldn't keep their hands off the books. They LOVED them!

I LOVE this pic because every church we have served in PandaPop somehow gets all the kids to "high-five" him up and down the halls. This was long before he was a Children's Minister. He just loves making kids feel loved and visible. These kids were no different. They all loved giving him their high-fives many times.

Kids will be kids...no matter their geography. ; )

One of my good friends with her digital camera and some of the boys. All the kids wanted their picture taken over and over! Sounds like American kids, too! They would see one of us get out our camera and start yelling, "Un foto, un foto!!"

Everyday we were at the orphanage we had to leave to eat so we went to the same restaurant and had really great food for hardly any $$$ at all. I had a problem with this at first because I felt badly that the kids didn't get to eat as well as we did, but then our guide told us that by us doing this we were really helping their economy. That made me feel ok in doing it, plus what else were we going to eat? NOT the fresh veggies or fruit! This meal was sooooo yummy! Over the course of the week I seriously downed at least FOUR whole avocados! They grow there and are divine!

This is one of the orangeade-slushie things I told you about in the previous post. The lemonade one was really the BEST!

This was ACTUALLY on the door to one of the restaurants on our way to Zacapa. I just HAD to take a picture!!! If you can figure out if the animal on the bottom is a dog or a goat...please let me know. ; ) Whatever it is, just don't take it IN the place, OK?

Guatemala Mission Trip-Part 1

Hi everyone!! Sorry it has taken so long to get these on here, but I am up and running now so---

Before you just scan through everything PLEASE take note of the first picture. The reality of what is in this picture ROCKED MY WORLD!!!! To all my fellow-adoptive-parents-of-children-from-an-orphanage: nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced when I realized that my daughter had come from a place like this.

Our church has partnered with Buckner Missions and had the plan of teaching the children about God, facilities maintenance, and just playing with the kids.

I expected God to do something in me by the end of the week on mission. Little did I know He'd move me profoundly the first day there. I have always "prided" in the thought that PandaGirl's orphanage was "clean" and somehow sugar-coated her life there. After being in the baby room pictured below, I saw that the floor was just as "clean" and the cribs were very similar to the pics I have of PG's cribs. It dawned on me that outside the room was this "home" for orphans where it was literally survival of the fittest, dirt, concrete and no parents. Outside the walls of the baby room was such a contrast to what I know as comfort that I just couldn't understand how I had been so blind to PG's reality. I didn't have time to process it really until Monday night at our reflection time...then I just lost it. I cried over my baby's first 15 mos. of her life being lived in the conditions of an orphanage. No matter how much the nannies loved her she STILL lived there among other orphans. I can't even explain it now. Just know that if all you have is a picture of your adopted child's previous life in an orphanage then you can't even imagine it. You HAVE to experience it first hand. Sunday night I just sat in my bed and bawled my eyes out for 20 minutes to the point of almost throwing up at the reality of my daughter's life before us. Can't even explain it now. Just know that God moved in my life to understand more fully James 1:27..."God considers pure religion to take care of orphans and widows in their distress."

Our group eating at a restaurant. We had to MAKE SURE we DID NOT drink the water, or eat fruits and vegetables that were not cooked. The water is not purified and has parasites. We had lots of bottled water, Pepsi---which they call "Coke", and these orangeade and lemonade slushie drinks.

A fabulous surprise for PandaPop and I was meeting Christian music artist Geoff Moore!!! He was really popular in the early to mid 90's and we have everything he's done. He is great friends with Steven Curtis Chapman, who is one of the reasons we chose to adopt from China. Geoff also has a daughter from China and was on mission with another Buckner group and happened to be in the same hotel. GREAT TIME!!!!!

ONE of the courtyards in our hotel the first and last night of the trip. Every single doorway was sculpted like these archways, the floors were stone and marble. Just beautiful!!!

Our luxurious hotel room on the first night and for the last night in Guatemala. It was by far the most gorgeous hotel I have ever been in. Complete luxury. A far cry from the orphanage.

This is the image we left daily. The gate to the orphanage has to be locked up so that no one gets in who isn't welcome and so the kids just don't leave and never come back. It's not a prison, but seems that way at times. I even felt weird when I was on the other side having to squat to see out of the gate. Notice they do have smiles. They are amazing kids.

The girls dorm. Zacapa is VERY hot and there is no A/C and the darkness falls just like it does here only there's no "nightlight", parents "tucking in" or comforts we take for granted.

One of the darling little babies that we so lovingly cared for when we could.

Sweet and precious boys that I think about everyday!

Coming Soon!

I am just swamped with things to do to get back in the swing of things. I promise I have pictures and stories to share of the mission trip!

Just Like He Said They Would...

Where do I start without sounding like I'm ranting? I am cringing at the latest "Oprah" junk. She sooo claims to know God, but her foundation has cracked so much that I honestly question her salvation. May I be so bold as to even DO that? I am not being arrogant, just watching the fruit growing off her tree...and it shows NOTHING of being of the God of the Bible.

Now she has the whole world at her fingertips and spoon feeding them a book called, A New Earth. I looked it up for my own research to see what all the hooplah was about and sure enough---the author is a New Age dude who throws in some Bible lingo and a few Scriptures here and there with his ways to better yourself and become the person you are supposed to be...blah...blah..blah.

In light of heading out for a mission trip where the TRUTH of God will be lived out, talked about and proclaimed, I just can't shake the eerie feeling of how the words of the Bible ring true in our day and age of Christians being dissuaded from the Truth which saved them in the first place. How SHALLOW have we become?!!! It is so scary when I hear very public pastors missuse Scripture by twisting and turning the real Truth into something to fit their agenda or WORSE---flat out teaching heresy (false teachings and calling it from the Bible). Then what REALLY gets my goat is the born-again believers
F-A-L-L-I-N-G
for all the crap and lies like cows to the slaughter!!!!!! Can I SCREAM THAT ANY LOUDER THROUGH THIS BLOG!!!!!????? Why, oh, WHY are believers led astray by false teachings? I am NOT claiming to be perfect by any stretch, but I do believe that I purposefully keep my eyes and ears attentive to any false teachings which go against the teachings of the Bible.

After clicking through a few websites and after watching Oprah yesterday (I never even watch TV during the day, but I clicked it on yesterday and listened to the most ridiculous hoo-hah ever!), I find myself more-so-than-ever wanting to live out TRUTH in my life. God is who He says He is. Period. The "Law of Attraction" was a phrase thrown around on the show about how whatever "vibes" you put out in the "universe" is what the universe will give back to you. So all these people (half were believers in "God") started thinking happy thoughts about themselves, made posters or lists about things they wanted in life and BOOM! A while later these things came true for them. Hear me, I believe that we can change our life experiences and emotions by focusing on our blessings rather then what we DO NOT have, but God is the One in control of those things not the "inner-self" of our wicked and depraved selves.

Think for a minute if you have personally "fallen" for false teachings. Ten years ago I did and it made me SICK when I realized it. I was dumbfounded that "I" was deceived. We HAVE to be watchful and careful about EVERYthing we allow into our mind and heart. Has anyone ever read a popular book about your "purpose" in life? I cringe at the very thought of how many people are being fed such shallow and sometimes twisted theology. There are so many to name and I don't want to look critical or hateful. I just hope that believers will stop falling for every little new thing that comes out as a "self-help" device.

My heart was sent straight to Scripture to see for myself what God has to say about these kinds of things. Well, whatayaknow, He has ALOT to say about it. Here are just a few:

Jeremiah 23:16--This is what the LORD Almighty says, "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD."

Matthew 24:24-25--"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time."--Jesus' words

II Peter 2:1, 18--But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They secretly introduce destructive heresies even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. V. 18--For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.

I John 4:1, 5-6,--Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. V.5-6:They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Now for the BEST part!

I John 5:20--We know also that the Son of God (Jesus Christ) has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

John 8:31-32: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

John 14:6--"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."--Jesus

I will be gone for a week. All of these Scriptures have happened just like God said they would. Think about these things and rant all over the comments if you want. I WANT to know what people think about these things. I walked into my church building yesterday and was overwhelmed with thankfulness for a Bible-believing, God-fearing, people-loving body of Christ followers. We are not perfect, but PRAISE GOD--Truth is being taught here. Amen and Amen. To God be the glory!

Gotcha Day Update...

Woohooo! Celebrating FOUR years of PandaGirl's "Gotcha Day"! Four years ago on February 2, 2004 we first got PandaGirl in our arms. Fun to celebrate via cyber space with all the families with whom we traveled. I love that the girls are all connected by that day and that they are from the same orphanage. We had a blast going to pick out charms for PG's bracelet. We do that every Gotcha Day and then we headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Not my fav but she adored it and had a blast!

PG and I looking at all the charms from which to choose for her bracelet. She chose a castle and a horse. Perfect!


No celebration is complete without a little ICE CREAM!

Two of PandaGirl's Chinese friends from church. We are sooo blessed to have them since we don't get to see our old playgroup much anymore. They are celebrating Chinese New Year which starts Feb. 7th!


We are headed out on our mission trip to Guatemala this Saturday, but first have a preteen retreat on Friday night and Sat. I am asking for prayers for our health and safety. Can't wait to fill you in on all the amazing things GOD does on this trip! Be a blessing today! ; )

This is the Day!

It all starts with him. Yep, the best man in the world. You know him as PandaPop. Sixteen years ago he gave me my OWN day. I can hear you now, "Your OWN day?! Can you PLEASE tell MY husband to give me MY OWN DAY?!" I have heard this said more times than I can remember. I don't tell about it to boast and be haughty and in a negative way. I mean boast in a way that lifts up my precious man. He can't tell another husband to do this for their wife. This blessing came from his heart and it only works because he WANTED to bless me in a way that he knew could be repeated over and over again. Every year on January 31st I get to celebrate "PandaMom Day" (with my own name subbed for PM, of course!) and do what ever I want.

This morning we got up and PP and PG blessed me with writings in journals and drawings made special...just for me. Then we all went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel for good ol' homestyle cookin' and now I am having some great quiet time at the library, later I will go home and do my nails, looking forward to watching the two hour season premiere of LOST tonight! What a day! Now don't go off thinking I have lost sense of reality or anything. I have to get my arm poked THREE times tomorrow morning at the doctor's office with a shot for our mission trip, a TB test and bloodwork for the adoption. Not fun. So for now I am enjoying MY day. Thanks PandaPop for blessing me more than you can ever imagine. You are my love.

As if I could stay sad long after my shots in the morning, I go straight to school to teach my 4 year olds all about Brown Bear, Brown Bear and have a fun Teddy Bear day! Then on Saturday we celebrate PandaGirl's "GOTCHA DAY"!!!!! This will be our 4th one to celebrate the day we "got" her in China. We have a tradition of buying a new charm for her bracelet and for lunch she has chosen Chuck E. Cheese. So we are in for a big weekend with lots of celebrating!


Remember! If you read my last post and you choose to do a "Wish List", please tell me so I can check it out! ; )

What Do You Wish?

Do you ever "wish" for something? I do. I know God is in control, but there are just those things that run through my mind and I find myself...wishing. Just like my darling 5 year old Princess.

~I wish that chocolate malts were super healthy for me.
~I wish I could have the look of fake nails without having them "done".
~I wish I lived on a large, beautiful ranch with horses.
~I wish that ranch had a gorgeous home made of hearty stone and rich wood.
~I wish that I could lose...a lot of weight.
~I wish my skin would tan.
~I wish there would be no self-centered, oblivious drivers.
~I wish I were a voracious reader like PandaPop.
~I wish I were athletic.
~I wish for PandaGirl to completely understand how much she is loved.
~I wish I had amazing math skills.
~I wish my love for food would be for salads instead of pizza.
~I wish my brother and his family lived in Texas again.
~I wish Beth Moore lived with me.
~I wish we owned a cabin in the mountains.
~I wish people would see the Truth of God and not fight it.
~I wish Hollywood wasn't so influential on all of us.
~I wish Kate would choose between Sawyer & Jack.
~I wish dusting just automatically happened.
~I wish for PandaPop to thrive in his passions for life.
~I wish I could spend time with all my close friends that don't live near me.
~I wish I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up.
~I wish my other children would hurry up and get here.
~I wish families would see the importance of simplifying their lives.
~I wish daddies would realize the eternal impact their role has on their kids'.
~I wish mommies wouldn't gripe all the time about how awful their kids are.
~I wish Miao would take his hairball medicine.
~I wish we could all see how the other thinks of heaven.
~I wish all forms of chocolate were REQUIRED eating for the day!

What do you wish? These are just a few random thoughts, but I'd LOVE for you to do a "Wish List" and tell me about it so I can come check it out.

Blessings.

seven little things

This meme has made its way around again and I saw it on someone else's. Since I am in a blogging slump I can always count on a meme to get me out, soooo, here goes SEVEN RANDOM THINGS about me:

1. I use a larger spoon than a "normal" spoon to eat my cereal so that I can get all the milk in the bite instead of just a drop.

2. I feel like my brain is turning to mush after being with a preschooler all the time and I really want to do things to make it start working again...but that requires "thinking" doesn't it? Sigh.

3. Once Jan. 1st is over I think it should be spring and once July 4th is over I think it should be fall.

4. I struggle between attending our church's traditional service (which has lots of modern aspects to it) and our very contemporary service. I love both, but have to choose.

5. This Thursday is "PandaMom Day" and I will be celebrating it with PandaPop and the

TWO HOUR SEASON OPENER OF L-O-S-T!!!!!!!!

(Actually name of the "day" is my first name. PP gave it to me 16 years ago right after he proposed to me. I guess he loved me so much that he wanted to bless me with my own day.....awwwwwe).

6. I could live on smoothies.

7. A good scalp massage is just about better than....anything. Amen.

Nature of the Beast

This post is for our precious Spicy Family (under White Swan links as Hunan Spice). They are going through a very difficult time right now. We adore them. When God introduced us to them it was nothing short of a Divine appointment. I mean, we met in Home Depot for crying out loud and then went on to find out many things similar to the other. One of the things that is the same is that both PandaPop and DaddySpice are ministers....Children's Ministers to be exact. Yeah, I know, crazy. The road they got thrown onto last Friday is a road in which we have traveled as well. Yeah, I know, crazy. Part of being in the ministry means dealing with the decisions of other people. I know most jobs have this aspect, but there is a tremendous amount of emotional ties to being a vocational pastor and when those ties are stretched beyond what they can do...well, it makes for another valley. If you decide to go over and see what I am talking about then please know that being in vocational ministry has many blessings, but it also holds a side to it that most don't see. Being a minister's wife also carries MANY blessings, but having to watch your husband reap something negative from someone else is very depleting to the soul of a woman. PLEASE don't be disillusioned by God or his "church". God is good---all the time. People, however, well, people are humans and make terrible judgment calls from time to time. In this case the bad call effected our friends. When PandaPop and I were about to get our referral for PandaGirl (the pictures and paperwork to either accept or reject her) we found ourselves in the EXACT same position as the Spicy Family. We almost didn't get to go to China to get our baby. That is a whole post on its own. During that horrible valley we grew so much closer to the Lord and this song, "I Still Believe" by Jeremy Camp is one of the songs that carried us through. We knew God was in control and "had our back", but we still had to get THROUGH the valley to see some light. Praise God that we don't depend on human strength to get to heaven or to even experience joy here on earth. My dear friends, we love you and you know that. God is good---all the time. Much love. (Someone else made this video so don't be distracted by the iStock photo with the copywright on it...just listen to and read the words. They are the message to be conveyed.)

Joy Jar

I was so excited to find this great idea last week on someone else's blog. I don't know if the blogger came up with it on their own or if they found it somewhere, but I loved it for our home. It's called the Joy Jar and it is filled with fun things to do together with PandaGirl. For us what seemed to work is having 10 activities over the course of one month which PG gets to draw out of the jar and we do right then or that day. The next month we put all the cards back in and start over. I had to think through about how often to let her draw so that I wouldn't let her draw a card and then say something like, "No, not right now." The whole point is to make it fun and "spontaneous" for her! Here are the 10 activies:

1. Paint fingernails and toenails
2. Bake something yummy
3. Play hide & seek
4. Read 3 books
5. Play card or board games
6. Color with markers or crayons
7. Play in her room together
8. Paint with paintbrushes
9. & 10. Believe it or not, I can't think of the last two and I don't have the list with me....BUMMER!

Anyhoo, you get the picture and your list would be different anyway. I just got the vase from the garage, wrote on index cards cut in half, hole-punched and tied with a curling ribbon. I also put a Scripture on a card from the Bible that reminds us to be full of Joy because of what the Lord has done for us. PandaGirl was SOOOOO excited about this. I have to admit that I am just as giddy wondering what fun thing will come out of the jar to do together. We already pulled out the "paint" together one and had a blast! Maybe this is something you'd enjoy with your kiddos, too.

Look What "Wii" Did! (2nd post today!)

We had a BLAST at our Spicy Friend's house on Saturday. They have a fabulous new TV and a Wii system that really made my biceps HURT after kicking PandaPop's tail in boxing! LOL! ; )