Ni Hao, Kai-Lan on DVD!

For those you might be interested, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan now has an episode available on DVD.

Cool! :-)

Mary

Cool Mousepads

I stumbled across these mousepads on eBay. The seller has many Chinese cities available. I was surprised to see he had Fuling (Livie is from the Fuling SWI, Fuling, Chongqing, China), and then I nearly passed out when I saw that he had Xiaogan (Sophie is from the Xiaonan SWI, Xiaogan, Hubei, China)! His site states that if he doesn't have 'your' city in stock, he will create it. Very cool. Click HERE to go to the site. Then simply enter the city you are looking for into the 'search' engine.

Mary

SCC Indepth Interview - Mark Your Calendars

The following has been taken from SCC's manager's, Jim Houser's, blog:


"For three days next week, Aug. 25-27 Focus On The Family’s Dr. James Dobson will air a special series aptly titled “The God Of All Comfort,” featuring Steven Curtis Chapman on Dobson’s daily broadcast. In the moving and compelling interview, Chapman shares some of the journey God has taken the family on since the loss of his five-year-old daughter Maria Sue.
Focus On The Family is based in Colorado Springs, CO and has a daily syndicated radio show heard on 2,000 outlets nationwide and on focusonthefamily.com. The broadcast also airs a 90 second commentary on 300 general market stations throughout the U.S. The show deals with contemporary issues that affect the modern American family, from a Christian perspective.

The schedule for the series is as follows:
August 25- "The God of All Comfort-I"
August 26-"The God of All Comfort-II"
August 27-"The God of All Comfort-III"

While you wait, you may also enjoy listening to another interview with SCC. This particular interview occured shortly after SCC and MB had adopted Shaoey, and before Stevey Joy and Maria Sue were adopted. Click here to listen to it.


Mary

School Daze

And so it begins...another school year..

Lindsay, Chris and I were on the road at 6:48 am (after a lovely breakfast, I might add!). Here are the kiddos as Chris prepares for his first day in the 4th Grade, and Lindsay prepares for her first day in 9th Grade....GASP!!!...HIGH SCHOOL!!!! Oh my goodness, how in the world is someone as YOUNG as ME able to have a child in HIGH SCHOOL?!?! Feel free to keep all those smart answers to yourselves! ;-)



And here is their wonderful reaction at the end of their 1st day of school!

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

Waking Livie up for her 1st day of Pre-School:

Sorry, Sophie, but you have to get up, too!

We arrive at Livie's school and this is what happens:

I asked Sophie to, "Tell your sister that she is going to be OK." Sophie's reply (after witnessing the chaos of the class and Livie's reaction: "NO WAY!" Gee, kid...thanks for the help!

Yup...priceless. This is the reaction that Livie has upon her sweet teacher trying to stick her nametag on her. Oh, boy...looks like it is going to be a fun day!

So, I leave and head back home for Sophie to take a nap. I honestly believe that after I have been gone for a little bit that Livie will settle into the *play* of the day.

I am wrong.

Livie's face as I pick her up from Pre-School. She cried the WHOLE TIME! I am not sure who I feel most sorry for: Livie or her teacher! But seriously, Livie is definitely our 'sensitive soul'. We were prepared for this type of reaction. Of course, it doesn't make it any easier to see as it pains you to see your child so upset...

Livie: safe in the car and away from Pre-School. Looks like it might be a L-O-N-G year!

Back home Livie practices balancing a slightly crushed can on her tiny nose. I suppose everyone should have a 'back up plan' just in case the whole 'school' thing doesn't pan out. ;-)

Round 2...errrrr...I mean DAY 2 begins tomorrow...and therefore I am off to bed!

Mary

Last Days of Summer

The last few days of Summer time have come to an end. School was supposed to resume on Monday, but due to an appearance by Tropical Storm Fay, the 1st day of school was delayed. Knowing that the following day would provide nothing but wind and rain, Chris, Livie and Sophie spent much of the day playing outside. Yes, that is my 10 year old son wedged into Livie and Sophie's Disney Princess car! No, he is not embarrassed to be seen *driving* it...strange child! I must say that even with a fairly large gap in ages, they all play together wonderfully - no arguing or tattling. Meanwhile, Lindsay spent the day in her *cave* watching old movies...something she enjoys immensely.

Livie pretending to be the Police Officer that stops Chris for speeding. Livie has the 'bossy stance' down perfectly. I guess Sophie is coming in for 'back up'! I'm not sure what the speed limit is in our driveway, but evidently Chris has exceeded it!

Trying her hand on her 'big girl bike'. She typically gives up on this pretty quickly and returns to the tricycle. Yes, I know they are supposed to be wearing helmets. Bad mommy...the helmets are in the garage protecting, well, nothing!

Easy Rider

Racing around 'the track'.

Whoooaaaaaaa!!! Yes, Chris really IS standing up in the car, trying to *surf*! I caught him doing this and immediately declared playtime over. Gee whiz, what are they, kids or something?!

~~~~~~~~~~

Now Tropical Storm Fay begins to show herself:

1st day of the storm coming...coloring indoors.

Oh, that boy again...playing football (tossing all about in the middle of the living room while I shout, "Knock that off!").

Reading a book.

A little ice cream is good when you are bored.

Hey, what else can I do with this jump rope since I really can't jump rope?! Oh, I think I will make different shapes out of it! Can you guess which one this is (she really did do this all on her own, btw!).

Livie with her interpretation of the above shape. Hmmmmm.....a Picasso in the making, perhaps?!

Yup, good 'ol mom puts another *coat* of black hair dye on my baby's blond (and curly...at least it is before she takes the flat iron to it!) hair in preparation for the 1st day of school. Just picking and choosing my battles. Besides, she looks beautiful no matter what the color of her hair! :-)

No sleeping-in tomorrow (boo-hoo!). We will be up early and on the road by 6:45 am. And so another school year begins...

Mary

Just a Couple of Quick Snap Shots

Here are just a couple of quick snap shots of the girls this weekend:

Sophie keeping 'cool' in the car (she had actually fallen asleep!)

Livie, our Candy-lovin' girl, after a blueberry lollipop!

Mary

I Got Tickets!

Yes, I am excited...SUPER EXCITED! Neil and I are going to see SCC and Michael W. Smith in Concert here in Ft. Lauderdale on November 5th. It looks like we have very good seats (Orchestra Section), which is always an added bonus.

Like so many in the adoption community, the seed to adopt was first planted upon Neil's heart after he watched SCC's DVD. SCC spoke about the impact that adopting (they only had Shoaey at home at this point) had had on their family. I don't know why adopting never entered my thoughts. I suppose I thought that those who adopted chose to do so because they either had struggled with infertility or they were these amazing, super-parents who adopt children because they are, well, amazing (think: incredible foster parents who go on to adopt 10, 15, etc. children). Well, we had given birth to two incredible kids, and we certainly weren't anything like the 'amazing super-parents' who I imagined adopting, so why in the world would I ever think that WE could or should adopt?

On this DVD SCC didn't speak about infertility or being super-parents. He spoke about kids and how we, as Christians, could make a lasting and wonderful difference in the life of a child. Neil 'got it' immediately. It took me a bit longer (no surprise here!). Of course, having now adopted twice and being able to look back on our adoption journies, I can tell you that yes, Livie and Sophie do now have a family of their very own, but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, they are truly the ones who have made a lasting and wonderful difference in OUR lives.

So, on November 5th Neil and I will enjoy a wonderful "Date Night" together and get to watch SCC (and Michael W. Smith...love him, too!). Maybe this is just our little way of thanking the man who, without even knowing us, was instrumental in our being blessed with two wonderful little girls!

Mary

Mani/Pedi

What do you do with two little girls who are sick with colds and stuck at home?

Give them a mani/pedi, of course! Livie and I realized that this marks the first time that Sophie has had her nails painted. True to form Livie chose the light sheer pink while Little Miss Firecracker, Sophie, chose the hot pink. :-)

Mary

Bioharzard?!

I have several - and I do mean SEVERAL! - boxes and containers filled with treasures from Kim's Closet. As most of you know I am helping Kim with her purging of all of these items since she and her family recently moved to Shanghai. Well, today I was going through a new box of goodies and taking photos of all of the contents in preparation to list them all on my eBay site, when what should I find but a box with all of the necessary *tools* for collecting and shipping a SECIMEN to a lab! Ewwwwwwwwww! Now there may be a very good reason that this was in the box with cute stuffed pandas and ladybug items, and hopefully when Kim reads this she can explain! :-)

Mary

Photos From Our Cruise

A day at sea...total relaxation! I went with our three girls to hangout poolside. Neil and Chris were off playing basketball.

Mary

Brighton's China Tale

This is the new Brighton bracelet from their China Tale Collection. If you haven't seen this yet, you MUST take a peek before they are gone for good. Production of this Asian-inspired line will cease in October, and while you may be able to order some of the pieces, basically it will be VERY DIFFICULT to obtain these gorgeous pieces within the next couple of weeks. I found just two of the bracelets here in South Florida (bought both...one for me and one for Kim!). Suffice as to say if you want this item, buy it ASAP because it will be gone very, very soon.

Mary

Looking for our lost shaker of salt...

Ahhhhh...vacation! We went on a WONDERFUL vacation in celebration of Neil's dad's 70th Birthday! This included a week long cruise on Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean). I will add photos throughout the next week.

We had a WONDERFUL time! Look for more photos of our vacation over the next few days. :-)

Mary