My Asian Girl

The Many Faces of Lucey Lu~~~

One of the first things I do after I get my girl out of her crib in the morning (after loves and hugs) is put her hair in a rubber band and then she picks out a bow to wear. This morning I couldn't take my eyes off her silky, shiny black hair....how beautiful and how different from my own. Instead of "doing" her hair, I decided to take a bunch of photos. She has such a fun, happy personality and you can really see her shine through on the photos. My desire and prayer for her is that she will always know just how beautiful she is and has always been. Her face will take on many changes over the years with surgery and natural aging....she will always be beautiful in my eyes and more importantly...God's eyes.

(The song playing is "Asian Girl" by Kai.... They are a Filipino-American R&B Band--enjoy.)

On The Road....

These pictures were taken at 6:00 a.m. this morning. Adam is traveling to Washington D.C. for The March For Life. I am so proud of Adam and his enthusiasm to make a difference. This year more than any other year....the pro-life message needs to be heard in D.C. in a big bold way. Now you know where I stand. I wish I could go but I can't....my place is here but my heart is there. Adam and I have been texting over the past few hours. He is ready for a long night on the bus equipped with blanket, pillow and snacks. Also a big thanks to Nana and Papa who are supporting him in prayer and by giving. Thank you to those who are praying for Adam!

Ron has been traveling the past few weeks and this week is no different. He delayed his trip by a day to take Adam to school, to pray with him and see him off on his journey this morning.

The house was so quiet tonight. There were left overs which is rare around here. We look forward to Saturday when they both return.

God's Love and Grace in the midst of Devastation

UP DATE-- Celissa has been found! I don't know the details but I do know she is safe. I know this post has not been up long but I also know some of you were praying...thank you! Thank you Jesus!

Haiti....what to even say? As my friend put my thoughts into words...."I feel paralyzed." It's heart breaking to read what has happened to the people there....the ones who already live in total deprivation... I've cried, prayed, and have felt so helpless.

One of my sweet bloggy friends has been to Haiti and has lived with the people there. She has friends there....please go visit her here....she shares a beautiful slide show of her time in Haiti with her family and new friends. If you scroll down a bit on her blog, there are beautiful pictures. Most of her dear ones in Haiti now have been accounted for.....but..... there is one they have not heard from yet...please go and see beautiful Celissa's picture....pray for her. Renae also has a place for donations if you have not already found an organization to send your donation to.

I felt God's love and Grace on Tuesday morning....I was dragging yet determined to get Lucey and myself to the chapel for worship, prayer and fellowship with other Sisters in Christ. It's been difficult to go since Lucey has not wanted to be in the watchcare room. Last week she clung to me so tight, cried so hard and then held on to my hair as the watchcare ladies pulled her away from me. I have some great prayer warriors in my life and I quickly made some phone calls. I also put her on the prayer list. I have been needing this time and I knew Lucey was ready too. I hated to see her so sad. So, this past Tuesday morning I told Lucey that we would be going and she told me, "No play with kids....Lucey Home....Mommy home....." I told her I had a meeting and that she would be okay. We arrived at the chapel, We walked down the hallway and into the room....this time she did not cry. She took off her coat, handed it to the sweet lady in charge and picked out a puzzle. I felt God's love all over us...the love of others who were praying for us....something so small yet so important to God. I walked down the hallway and heard the sweet women singing.....a cappella.....
"How Great is our God" the powerful lyrics are here. I joined right in not having a care in the world about how bad my voice is.....not caring that tears were rolling down my face and others would see this. I felt so safe and so loved. To grieve for a nation and feeling so happy for Lucey. We prayed....we prayed for the people in Haiti.....that paralyzed feeling lifted. We need to continue to pray; pray without ceasing.

If you were able to get through this long, emotional post....thank you...

Apple Sauce and Banana Chips

We're still working on healthy snacks with the troops. Miss Lucey Lu loves the banana chips. The rest of the troops....hmmmm....not so much. I like them though!

Lucey showing off one of her "chips." On a side note...Lucey is not allowed to eat in the living room....I'm not sure how she ended up here? I guess I'm not paying attention.

I have never made apple sauce...really. We love apples so I thought I would give it a whirl. I used the S*n Crystals instead of white sugar. The little bit of sugar off sets the strong taste of stevia. Everyone loved the apple sauce.

I made it a little chunky...just like my Grandma used to do. It was easy...you may want to give it a try.

What Have We Been Up To?

I have been organizing our home, schedule and kitchen to include a more healthful menu. After all the sweets The Troops consumed over the break I'm getting us back into a better routine. The Troops were not so thrilled.

Last night I fed The Troops a variation of the Cobb Salad out of one of my favorite cook books, "The Healthy Kitchen" by Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley. It has 32.9 grams of protein and 10.1 grams of fiber.

"As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it." ~Buddy Hackett

Lucey had some egg, baked chicken, prunes (still needing this to regulate her constitution), avocado, and raw carrots.

Adam and Christian love salad so they were on board. Andrew was a little hesitant but was a super good sport and ate most of his meal.

I used red leaf lettuce and spinach. I added carrots, artichoke, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, and baked chicken. Simple! ...it's the dressing we loved:

Wisk together..... 3 Tbls. minced shallots, 1 tsp. honey, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tsp. salt, 1 Tbls.balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, and fresh ground black pepper.

The 5th Winter Storm of Winter 2009-2010

Last week we had our 5th winter storm. It started on Wednesday; Adam's first day back after winter break. At about 11:00, Adam was released from class so he could drive home safely. Adam, Andrew and Christian did not have school on Thursday or Friday. The roads were pretty bad. We were stuck here....I mean stuck! Ron was out of town so we just hibernated. Played games and watched movies. Our family has a new favorite game....Pent*go...we love it!!! I highly recommend it for your family! You can take a peek at it here. It has won all sorts of awards.

Christian went out to shovel without being asked. It's was such a huge task. The other boys also took turns but we still have snow on our drive. We have had extremely cold temperatures hovering between 0-10 degrees. We are having a heat wave today at 26 degrees. on Wednesday we may get temps near 40!!! Wouldn't that be great!

Everyone is in school today!

Potty Time

I know--making a private matter public. But truly, this is something we have been working on over the past 4 days. I have to admit, I wasn't totally enthused about the idea but I knew Lucey was more than ready. She really is amazing....once I showed her what we were doing....she has basically handled this matter herself. I started off with a chart giving her a star every time she went. She didn't even want the star. So the chart was not needed. She is off to her potty without me even knowing. She can pull her pants up and down all by herself, she can use the t.p too. I have strips already prepared for her and sitting on the lower shelf of a plant stand next to her potty chair. She can get up on her little white stool and even wash her hands. The only issue is that she likes to bring me the little bowl out of her potty when she is done. So efficient but I'm scared to death she may trip and spill. Yikes! She is one step ahead of me. We ventured out on Saturday and she stayed dry. Even through the nap on the way to the store. We used the restroom twice in T*rget. Wow....this really isn't a big deal. She has already remained dry through her two hour naps. I hope she continues at this pace.

"I'm so proud of you Lucey! You are such a big girl!"

Wordless Wednesday-Tutu Cute!!

Sledding on 1-1-10

Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's Day relaxing and sledding. Lucey loved being pulled around in her new sled made by her Papa. The boys could not wait to go down Suicide Hill. We all came home in one piece.

I made another slide show. Click play...the pictures with be swirling around and soon you will see a tab come up in the lower right corner that says "play slideshow" Click on that and you are good to go. I have some video clips that will pop up. You don't have to do anything...just wait and they will play. Enjoy.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Belated Christmas In St. Louis

My sister and I decided, long before the holidays approached, that we would take turns inviting Mom and Dad for Christmas. We both want to be in our own homes for Christmas making those special traditions with our families. Because we are a military family and we move a lot, we know that Christmas will always be spent away from where we grew up. We tried, when the boys were little, to travel to spend Christmas with family. It was always special but not always easy. Just picture me packing up a 5 year old and 10 month old twins, with all their gear....you can imagine how much we had to tote and then all the gifts and I was usually tired when I arrived. My parents did not mind traveling to us. This year, we are blessed with our sweet little nephew, D. With my parents having a new Grandson to celebrate they will have to take turns with each of us. This year they came to us for Thanksgiving and had Christmas with my sister and her family. Next year we will switch. So, we decided to do a belated Christmas on the 29th at Mom and Dad's house.


We arrived in St. Louis on the 28th-- I treated my Mom to a chick flick...we try and see a movie once in awhile and just enjoy a girls time out. Ron and Dad took the kids to watch Uncle Rob play in-line hockey. Lucey had a great time with Papa.

Look at Papa...I can see pure love as he looks at Lucey

Through the blur you can see the joy and happiness in Lucey's face.

Christian, Lucey and Adam. To honor my sister's request of not putting D.'s picture on the blog...I have cropped Andrew and D. out.

Lucey loves opening presents. A puzzle! We love puzzles.

Thank you Nana!

Nana gave the boys a fun game. We played it that night....fun times.

We gave my Mom a sweatshirt with all the grand kid's names. It turned out very cute.

Lucey and D. giving each other hugs. They are just precious together.

My Dad made Mom this beautiful mantel clock. Just beautiful. I'm in awe of his talent.

Thank you to my family for all the wonderful gifts. We are using everything we received. There was some real creativity this year.