Get to know Brianna Michelle

So I decided that I would take a little time to write about each of my precious girls, a little something about each of them.... It may take me a few days, but here goes.

Brianna Michelle Rogers

Her name means STRONG DISCIPLE of GOD.

Brianna was born on 1 September 2004. That means she's EXACTLY 21 months old!

Brianna's personality is only just beginning to emerge. We're starting to find out a little more about her each day. So far here's what she's like...

::.::She loves her dummy and her blanket although she only uses them when she is sleeping or napping.

::.::Her favorite toy is her baby. She loves to hold it, cuddle it and place it in her baby stroller. She also really likes her bags & purses, a girl after her mom's heart!!!!

::.::She is obsessed with shoes. She loves to wear them and change them - no matter the size!

::.::Her first word (other than mama!) was "JESSE" because we have a hamster named Jesse and she'd go up to the cage and call out her name!!!!

::.::We call her the GOODGE... because she is just the most squeezable goodgy-goodge. When will I ever be able to squeeze my daughters FAT thighs again? Yah, it doesn't last long. So for now, I must get my hourly squeezes!!! Try it next time you see her...it's very satisfying!

::.::She LOVES rice, bananas, apples, dried mango, cheese and fish sticks. She HATES any eggs, all forms of veggies and anything not of the above variety!

::.::She may be the youngest, but she is NOT to be taken advantage of! She has learned to use both hands and all her body weight (which isn't slight!) to push her big sister Annabelle.



::.::She has an amazingly high-pitched scream that alerts us to injustices committed by the other sisters, or just general unhappiness about her circumstances!!!

::.::She learned very early on to say "I love you". And it's just the best thing in the world to hear it!

::.::When she gets into trouble, sometimes she'll do the "death stare". As if to say "Are you talking to ME???"



::.::She still takes one big nap each day - about 3 hours sometimes. And she's a fantastic night sleeper too.

::.::Haven't had her weighed or measured recently, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was off the charts. She is just quite tall for her age and she must have lead bricks in her belly!!!!

::.::One of her favorite things to do is to JUMP on her daddy. (Or mommy when I'm the only one around!) She will literally sit on top of him and just jump like she's riding a horse! She uses all her weight too! It's hilarious.

::.::And finally, who wouldn't love those gorgeous blonde curly locks!?!

Brianna is beautiful. I love her fiesty spirit and her cheesy smile when there is a camera around. She likes to laugh and loves to play peek-a-boo. She absolutely ADORES her daddy and brightens up when he's around. And she gives the best 1 year old bear hugs in the world.

Where did THAT week go?

Wow. Sometimes time freaks me out. I just don't know where the past week went. I feel like I JUST wrote the previous post... not until I read Derek's comments did I realize it's been a week. THAT IS BAD BLOG BEHAVIOUR!!!

So I am not sure what I've been doing. Basically running around trying to pick out stuff for the new house and make decisions like whether or not to have the Kokuryou lamenant or the Seaglass. All these crazy choices.

It's amazing to watch all the china men buzzing around....












They do a fantastic job - and I just love to stand in there and listen to the buzz of cantonese. Sometimes I could swear they're yelling at each other, but my designer says that some of them don't know how to control the volume level of their voices!!! Funny.

And then there is the SMELL... How could several chinese men smell so bad? And it's not the sweat...I found the source of this HORRID smell the other day...



TOTALLY GROSSSSS! I guess they have to wee somewhere...but this toilet isn't really hooked up. It's just sitting there....

The place is in desperate need of some incense and candles!!!!




And finally here is something terrific... check out the number of aircons here. It fills up half a room.... That is bordering on ridiculous! Aaron tried to get just one or two big units (that's what we'd do in the US) but the cost was double... interesting!












Alright. Well that's the update on the house.

Here's my Spiritual thought for the week.....

2 Kings 5:1-15
Read this amazing story of Naaman.... a guy who has terrible leporsy and is told by Elisha to "Go wash 7 times in the jordan...and your flesh will be restored"
Well, Naaman gets VERY ANGRY at the silly thought of going into the filthy jordan to wash his disease. So he ALMOST MISSES HIS MIRACLE & HEALING... Luckily, his wise servant told him he'd have done anything else had it been more "great" (vs 13) and he goes, dips 7 times and is HEALED!

SO... how many times have we missed out on our miracle because we were looking for the great answer to our prayer and not the "less obvious, more mysterious" answer. God says his "ways are far beyond anything you can imagine" (Is 55:8). So I reminded myself to NEVER doubt answers that we get from Him.

Don't miss God...it may be that He is telling you to step out in FAITH & do something strange to reach your next miracle!

To Freedom

Okay, so I'm giving the girls a bath tonight. I took off Annabelle's (the infamous three year old) clothes and couldn't believe what I saw. SOMEHOW, she had managed to get a rubberband... (wait for it...) AROUND HER WAIST! How this happened, I cannot even begin to know. How long it had been there...no idea. But it left a huge welt mark on her belly area... I gasped and said "Annabelle, didn't this hurt you?" She just shrugged and turned around to hop in the bath.

So it made me think.... how many things in our life do we let strangle us to the point that we no longer realize they are there. How many things are we "slaves" to without realizing the impact their having on our lives. We just become DEAD to them.

I need to always remember to check all things in my life....all habits, all plans, all dreams, all tasks and be sure that they are conforming to my life as a disciple of Christ.

Galatians 5:1
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
(the awesome Message)

Recording a live CD!

So this is actually one of the first opportunities I've had to sit down and explain a recent VERY EXCITING event in my life (and my churchs' life).

My church is the Vine Christian Fellowship... go check out their site it's pretty cool. In fact you should download some sermons...they really rock. Anyhow, one of the things that we do BEST is worship! We have the most kickin' worship team on the planet...no kidding!!! So someone (pastors obviously!) decided we should try to record a live CD. After many many months of preparation (especially on our Worhsip Pastor's part) we did it! I was planning to sit down write out the whole event, but asked Tom (the worship pastor) if I could borrow his words instead...so please go to Tom Read's site and you can see what happened. There is a second part too.

It was a fantastic experience. One that I will NEVER forget. And through the past 6 months God has taught me more than I could share in this blog...lots of life lessons, lots of humility, an amazing journey really! My written journal is crammed!

Oh, there are also some FANTASTIC photos... so don't miss out! (You can also see some photos on there of our Christmas pageant...notice Jasmine in the "dalmation dog" costume...she was supposed to be part of the nativity barnyard animals!!!!! Her choice.

Anyhow, I'll be sure to ship out a CD to all of you abroad. Who knows, maybe someday you'll see the "Who May Ascend by the Vine Christian Fellowship-Hong Kong" CD in your local Christian bookstore!!!!!!!!

I hope you all have a fabulous week.

The "full circle" of life...

YOU GO GIRL!

My friend commented that I needed more pix on this blog....

Here it is everyone.... Jasmine's BIG day. She learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She was so happy I thought she'd come out of her own skin!!!!

Wow, I just can't believe it. My very OWN DAUGHTER has learned to ride a bike. I guess it kinda freaks me out because I completely remember the first day that my dear daddy taught me. I remember my Green Schwinn - complete with sparkle bannana seat. NO WAY. I remember my dad running after me holding on until I said "I'm ready"... and wobble, wobble I was away. And so the circle of life is completing. How strange. I thought you had to be really old for that to happen. I'm NOT so what's up with that!!!!!!

So it was with Jasmine today. She was such a champ. She's been bugging us for days to go down and take them off. I must admit I haven't been too keen, because she has done this twice in the past year "PLEEEEEEASE daddy, take them off, I'm ready". But then they'd be off for 2 minutes and she'd freak and cry and the bike riding would cease for weeks.

So she did it. Well done Jasmine. You are my little star and I adore your heart.


Of course my sweet little Belle had to get in on the action.... Here is she is PROUDLY showing off her riding her bike too. "Watch me mama, I can too!"



And here is my cute pudgy, "Goodge"... blue-eyed Brianna. Gotta love her cute babbling.

Great momentous day in the Rogers household!

Calm in the midst of the T3

So yesterday was TYPHOON day! They called me at 8am to say "no school" for Annabelle & Jasmine. Wow. I figured we were in for a very long day in our tiny little apartment!!!!

You know what? It was one of the BEST days I've had in a long time. I mean it was quiet, it was fun, it was relaxing.... Because of the typhoon we couldn't really go anywhere, I didn't even feel like making my way down t the plaza because of the wind and rain. (You mix that with the three girls and I would have just been asking for trouble!!!!) So we hung out, watched videos, did drawings, wrote letters to friends, played Polly Pockets and ate popcorn. It was amazing.

I realized that I NEED days like this. I need days where I am forced to stay inside the "boat" because of the storm that rages outside.... so it made me think of Jesus in the boat with the disciples.... (one of my favorite stories - because I remember the felt story boards from Sunday School as a child!!!!)

Matthew 8:23-27

23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

Sometimes we just need to chill out at the bottom of the boat and "REST" in Him. I loved my easy day yesterday - where all those SOOOO important things I usually do & had to do waiting on the outside in the storm! And look - everything waited for me quite nicely :)

Toilet choices & God revelations...

So I spent hours in wan chai today. Who knew there could be SO many taps, SO many tubs, SO many showers, SO many ovems, hobs & microwaves to choose from. Oh, here is what cracks me up....the amount of TOILET options. HELLO?????? This is a place I spend SO little time of the day. I mean 1 minute max/time. And one could spend upwards of $15,000 HK if you wanted to. What? NO WAY. I just don't get it. The thing that is more funny? Aaron really cares about the type we get. He has a preference. In the 15+ years of marriage I'll never understand his "toilet time". :-) It's a guy thing. I'll leave the toilet shopping to him.

So in all my shopping I thought of this.... (here's the God revelation part)

There is not ONE SINGLE corner, crevice, space or place in our 2100 square feet that we are not renovating. I mean it. It will all be touched, looked at, inspected, cared for, scraped, tiled, painted, carpeted or dressed in some fashion. So it got me thinking that this is the way GOD WANTS OUR HEARTS. We should be doing COMPLETE renovations on our souls. God cares about every corner of our spiritual life and he wants it to be the best it can be. Aaron and I aren't locking up specific areas of the house or rooms or corners and telling our designers "No, dont' touch this part, we like the old yucky apartment to stay there". NO WAY! We want the whole thing to be new and amazing. "...

Mark 2:22
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."

God, come in and shine your designing light on my heart and help me see every single space. Help me to surrender each corner of my heart to your will and help me become the BEST I CAN BE TO GLORIFY YOU.

Hong Kong demolition

Hit it baby!

Here is Aaron taking a shot at the wall. Man I tell you what it makes a RIDICULOUSLY LOUD noise!



















And here I am taking a shot. Let me tell you - these sledge hammers are NOT for wussies... I could barely lift it, much less haul it over my shoulders!!!! See the tiny hole I made. YES - Satisfaction indeed!

TWO is better than ONE

So I thought I'd just update anyone who I haven't already bored to tears about our renovations!

We have purchased not ONE but TWO flats here in Hong Kong. WOW. If you would have told me that 8 years ago we'd be buying property I would have laughed in your face for sure. I was here for one year! Ha. God CAN do miracles...I'm that miracle. How can he change a stubborn heart? He does!

So we bought two flats side by side in a high rise. 1C Greenmont Court is 1088 and 1D Greenmont court is 999 square feet. So when we knock out the one adjoinging wall that divides two very massive living areas we get 2100 sqares. I'm SOOOOO psyched I can't wait. Our renovations are underway. Right now the place looks like a bad day in Baghdad! We're set to move in around July 20th!

I'll try to upload some pictures soon...

Levels of "tidiness"

So how can it take me ONE HOUR 45 MINUTES to "tidy up". How can that be possible. I always think of "just tidy up" as something that should take a few mintues. So there must be levels of cleanliness... how much do you pick up!?

I just unpacked the LAST box! Hooray. Now we can breathe a little better. I planned to do so much this evening, but my "tidy up" time took the hole evening. WHATS UP WITH THAT? Oh well.

***********SOOOOOOOOOOOOO BLESSED*****************
I just have to comment that today was Mother's Day - it's really my 6th mothers day (oldest daughter is 6 so it's high tech math), but I have to say that it was the BEST one yet. I guess because Aaron really made the effort to make me feel special. And also in Jasmine and Annabelle's classes they made me stuff...A card with Jasmine's foot prints, a flower pot with paper pieces and hand made paper flowers. SO CUTE :) So I'm very blessed. Thank you God for such amazing blessings... just makes me think of one of my favorite verses...
Proverbs 31:28...Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her...

To all the mommies (or mUmmies) out there...HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. You are blessed.

This week I will be hitting the hong kong pavement to purchase bathtubs, shower taps, ovens, hobs and picking tile. WOW. This stuff takes SO long in HK...I need a car!!!

Have a great week!

Box heaven or box hell?

So we did it!!!!!

Successful move this weekend!!!

It was not the easiest move (what moves ARE?). I guess we completely complicated matters by having 1/3 of our stuff moved to our "Temporary flat" and the other 2/3 to our "storage flat". Add to all of that trying to ship kids to and from school, Aaron suffering from a food allergy/poisoning, special mothers day picnics and various park trips. (If kids like parks so much, how come mine didn't want to stay at the park for 5 hours?! What else can you do when packers are swarming like bees and there isn't any place to sit or stand that isn't getting moved or swept!!) Oh, I forgot to add the 4 and 5 phone calls a day from our very trusty contractors - asking for decisions on hob size, fridge size and bathroom toilet location. (Side note: we have the best contractors in Hong Kong. I love them! They are gems!)

So busy doesn't really describe. But actually it was relatively smooth for a move. Aaron and I only shared a few hours of "tense conversation" (tense is the mild term!)

Okay. So that's why I haven't been on-line. We just got up and running to our new flat in Neo Horizon (gotta love the house names in HK).

So that's what I've been up to... the girls were fantastic. Our helper was more valuable than gold. Our golf cart was worth every dollar we spend on it. And our friends were SO helpful, true gems.

More soon.... (hopefully with photos if I can figure this thing out!)

How to blog

Step one...observe blogging
Step two...continue journaling the "old fashined way"
Step three... contemplate blogging
Step four...continue journaling the "old fashined way"
Step five...contemplate blogging again
Step six...branch out and get a blog account
Step seven...give it a try


And so, here I am. Finally in the 21st century. Let's see how long I can keep this up. As a mom, I really need to keep better track of my random thoughts, my kids cute comments and God's daily works in my life.

Here goes nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!