Wordless Wednesday

Well maybe a few words Just this first time- Apparently some people post a picture on Wednesday without writing anything about it. I guess it gives people a chance to blog something quick and easy. So here's my photo. Kaylee and I saw this at the Houston Zoo on a Girl Scout field trip. Every time the calf would try to get the milk (by what seemed like biting the mother) all the little girls would scream

ahhh.... she's back

It's funny how we are such creatures of habit. We know our routine and we stick to it. Well, with this move I have had just a few settling in problems. Nothing to be alarmed about but still until I can figure out the routine on some things it drives me NUTS! I'll name just a few, because I'm sure you don't want to be bothered with all of them.
#1 I can't figure out where to put my jewelry box. It was previously on top of my dresser. But we just got a new dresser and I don't want to put it up there. The dresser is so high already I wouldn't be able to see anything in it. The bathroom has a nice dressing area but I've always heard the humidity in the bathroom isn't good for jewelry.....

#2 (and equally as traumatizing.) I don't have a long rod to hang my damp laundry on. I usually dry clothes for only a few minutes and then hang them to dry the rest of the way. (thus preventing wrinkles and the need for the that four letter word IRON) David has installed a long rod in our other houses but this house has no good prospects of a spot to install the rod. (I am considering calling some engineer friends over to see if they can come up with some sort of contraption)

#3 This one my friends has a very good ending.... I have not been able to take a decent shower since we moved here. Apparently the previous owners were Low Flow. They had the Low Flow toilet systems, Low Wattage lighting, and Low Flow shower heads.(Anybody remember that Seinfeld epsiode?) So, I asked David to please retrieve the shower head from our old house. Because really, I was beginning to get bothered by this. (I have always thought that I could do the 30+ day stint on Survivor but this shower situation has made me think differently) Anyway, he changed the shower heads out last night and oh the difference a MOEN makes!!! (I may buy stock)

So if you have any suggestions on my dilemmas above feel free to let me know. Other than this the moving in is going Fabulously!!!

What do you do with extra Valentine Tattoos?

Apparently apply as many as possible to your face.
I'm still trying to figure out what Tattoos have to do with Valentine's Day. They were probably created by some person who didn't want there kid to have any more chocolate. Our kids just thought they were cool.

So, Kaylee gave the Puppy and Kitty ones, Zane gave Flames and weird hearts, Trent gave Spiderman ones, Mia's were princess of course. If you're wondering where Mia was, I think she was napping during this tattoo extravaganza!

Just a few more exciting details.

In all the excitement I forgot to add a few details about "ye ole Fantastic night"
***Attn: If you have not read the post about the concert below, stop now and read it first***

1. On the way to the concert David and I stopped for a quick dinner at Chipolte. When we got to the register the clerk asked if a debit card was the only form of payment I had. And I said "Yes" She said "Well then have a great evening and Happy Valentine's Day on us" Apparently the debit machine was off-line. Free Dinner - It was just a premonition of things to come.

2. At the concert I stood next to a young man at the door. He was about 11 years old. (pic below) He had the best smile and would just grin and laugh at everything I said to him. Later in the evening David informed me that he was just adopted a month ago from Ethiopia and didn't speak a lick of English!!! So much for my conversation skills, eh?

Anyway, David had been standing near the boy's Dad and this man was a pastor at a local church. He told David that about 30 orphan kids from Ethiopia had visited their area last summer. Well, through their congregation nearly all the children had been adopted. So now they all go to church together and will eventually attend school together. How cool is that?

3. Now this is not exciting, but I feel the need to explain my outfit on the night of the concert. I wore a navy sweater because it was cold. Knowing full well that we would be receiving a black T-shirt to wear for the concert. I intended to change into the T-shirt. But considering the sub-zero temperatures inside the event I opted not to take the sweater off. I had full knowledge that extra bulk around the midriff is never in my favor but sometimes the ability to not shiver wins out!!

And last but not least, if you've been hiding under a rock you may not know who Steven Curtis Chapman and Mary Beth Chapman are. He of course is a Christian Contemporary Musician. You've probably sang many of his songs before. But their amazing journey began several years ago when after having three biological children they felt the Lord calling them to adopt from China. They have adopted three girls from China. They have done lots of work opening the eyes of Christians to the need of families for all the 140 million orphans in this world.
So you can see why it was such an honor for David and I to get to meet this wonderful couple.

OH! What a night......

The excitement... Oh the excitement.....

David and I signed up to volunteer at the Steven Curtis Chapman concert last night. We were part of a group of volunteers to help with the Show Hope campaign for Shaohannah's Hope.

At each of the concerts on this tour they have collected change. That change is then given to a local family that has applied for an adoption Grant through Shaohannah's Hope. They grant up to 7,000 per family on an as needed basis. Here is a little glimpse of SOME of the change that was collected.

It was our job to collect the money and then count it up. Well, there was SO much change that at 10:00 we ended up estimating the final change total. The bills and checks collected were over 10,000 and with the change it made the total well over $16,000. WoW!!! All from one audience. That's enough to give 4 families each a $4,000 grant. We were all in awe of how well the event turned out.

And THEN!!!! Guess who I got meet?(yeah David too) BUT I got to meet Steven AND Mary Beth Chapman.

I quickly told her that I read her blog faithfully. She turned to her friend that was standing there and said "See, people do read it" Oh Yes Mam I do.

So, I asked her how the kids were doing and if everyone was better, because when we had the flu, so did they!

She is such a real, genuine person. Humble and so friendly. It was great. She commented on our buttons that we wore with the kids pictures. We talked about how smart Mia is. That Mia is a Lefty because Steven and Mary Beth are both lefties. ( I really didn't just lead in with that, it just kind of came up in conversation) Yes, there was conversation, it wasn't just me blurting out random things at her.

And a little later Steven came over. We all got to visit with the MAN!!!

David shared with Steven about how Shaohannah's Hope has affected our life. Because when we began the process to adopt Mia, one of the things we were banking on was the hopes that we might be awarded one of the grants his foundation gave out. Then within months of starting the adoption process God came through in a big way for us. He gave us the entire amount of the adoption in one fell swoop. So instead of applying for a grant we were able to make a donation!!!

Because that is the intention of the Foundation..... You take the first steps toward your adoption and then watch how God will work out the details (our miracles in our case)

Here we are....... Just the 4 of us!!! IT was a great Valentine's Day!!! One I will not soon forget!!!!

A finished Kitchen

So this is the kitchen that started the whole "project" When we bought the house the main goal was to remodel the kitchen so that we would have an open floor plan. Well the kitchen turned in to the family room, the dining room, the game room, kids rooms, kids bathroom, down the hall to the master bedroom, and master bath. Then of course new flooring throughout. The project itself was a lot more than we intended. At first we were going to hire someone to do all of the kitchen but as we began to get quotes we realized that we could do so much more by doing it ourself. Now, lots of it was hired out but by being the general contractor it saved us money. There were painters, tile guys, carpet guys, granite guys, cabinet guys, door guys, sheetrock guys #1, sheetrock guys #2(repaired sheetrock guys #1's work) So after the parade of guys was finished we have an almost complete house. There are just a few finishing touches left to be done. But now that we're in the house it makes accomplishing those tasks easier.

Remember what it looked like before?

Was it all worth it? YES!! (Thanks for asking me and not David, he still needs a few more weeks)

Birthday

Koon She Fa Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!!! Today is a big day for the Chinese. It's very similar to our Christmas in the fact that it is a National Holiday, everyone decorates for it and people go home to visit familiy. In many cases businesses and schools will close for a week or two. Also, it is the day everyone turns a year older. Most older Chinese don't celebrate indivdual birthdays. So welcome to the Year of the Rat!! (I agree, I don't think I would want to be a rat either)

Also Today was the premiere of the new Nick Jr show Ni Hao Kai-Lan. Many people have compared her to a Chinese Dora. Mia has been so excited about this, she has talked about it all week. She couldn't wait to watch it. And it didn't disappoint. We learned how to say Hello, Good-bye, count to 3 and Grandpa all in Mandarin. I am hoping we can learn a lot more before our trip this summer.

Which brings me to my next item. I heard back from our adoption agency yesterday that our dossier (paperwork) is finally back from the Chinese Consulate here in the US and should be sent by DHL to China on Friday. A copy of it is already in China and is being translated. So, it looks like we should be logged in by Feb.14. It may have been sooner but due to CNY everything is closed. So, hold on Ty we're coming. (4 - 5 months from now)

Camera raffle

Ni Hao (that means Hello in Mandarin)
Somehow I came across this family's blog site. The title of the blog is Ni Hao Ya'll. It's called when east meets south. Funny Huh? It's a southern girl and texan boy who have adopted three times from China and are in the process again plus they have four biological children. (8 total)

Anyway, about the camera... As a fundraiser the Mamma is raffling off a Cannon digital rebel camera. You simply donate ($10 is suggested) and you're entered to win. Run over there and check it out. www.wheneastmeetssouth.blogspot.com And even if you don't want to do the raffle go look at the adorable header she has on her blog. I love all the little pictures.

WHEW!

We're in.....Not rain, nor flu, nor proscrastination would stop us. But all I can really say is that we're in. We've made the beds, located the toothbrushes and unpacked one box. It will be a few weeks before we're not living out of boxes any more. I am so overwhelmed by the amount of help we had today. To move an entire house in 4 hours is no small challenge. I'll post more later about that.

Just FYI if you need to reach us, call our cell phone. It will be few days before our phone is up and running.