I'm a Big Girl Now!

Look everybody, I've got pig tails! Daddy danced in front of me this morning while Mommy put these in. I was distracted by Daddy's dancing so putting in the pig tails worked! :) Mommy bought the smallest rubber bands ever, they are like braces bands, and they worked-yeah! Over the course of the morning the little tails curled and Mommy and Daddy said I looked So So cute~! I think I like my new do too! Do you?
Love, Katie
PS I am now 15 months old, have almost all my teeth, love to be outside, love to take a bath, I try to go potty on the toliet, I drink my smoothie at a super fast speed, I am super excited when Daddy comes home, I still wake up at around 6 am every morning, I take one or two naps a day depending on what Mommy thinks, I love to give hugs and blow kisses, and I am starting to say all sorts of words! Boy am I growing fast!

College Girls

Everyone should have college kids live with them. They are NOT lame, slash, It is a hoot, a blast and great fellowship. :) We love you three girls!

Katie and her friends...

We went to the park last week, on one of the b e a u t i f u l days we have been having in Aug...and met some friends for lunch-Benjamin and Elenor (Jennifer-Mommy) Maurer. Rolesville has a great park for kids with walking paths and a pavilion (sp) for a picnic! We had a fun time. Thanks for the fellowship Jennifer, we will have to get together to make girly bows soon!

Happy Birthday Dear Brandy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! WOWWOWOWOWOW! 21!
We are SO blessed to be able to share with you in this wonderful day of joy, knowing that the Lord is doing great and wonderful things in your life. May you always seek his face with your entire being and love every minute of what the Lord has planned for you. You were created exactly how HE wanted to mold you. He is in the process of refinement and will be crafting you into HIS image each and every day that you breath. Relax and enjoy being His daughter-rest in Him. We love you girl and are SO glad to have you in our lives.
Happy Birthday!

(And to Melissa and Sabrina...Happy Belated Blogging birthday. We LOVE YOU EACH TOO!)

Awwww....life of Katie at 14 1.5 months

This top photo stole my heart...snuggling with her bunny, "stitch". Look how big she is!

She LOVES the park and has decided that she can go everywhere and in any direction that she would like! Isn't the third photo a great face? :)

And lastly, Katie loves to direct music in the car. I can turn on any style of tunes, but especially classical and she directs to her hearts content. I don't think she is having any fun, do you? :)

What do you think? Trash or treasure...

Story...I was driving home from Raleigh and have been eyeing this chair at a "junk auction house" about 10 minutes from our house. It was stuffed back on the porch and I really wanted to go to the auction on Friday night at 7 pm just to see if I could snag it. As I was passing by I noticed that an older man was unloading things...so after a minute of contemplation I turned around at the next road. Katie was asleep in the back and I thought I might have a moment to swing in to ask if the chair was going to be up on the block this Friday evening. Well, to my excitment, he said, "I just might be willing to part with it if somebody was interested today." We settled on a fair price of $15 and it fit perfectly in the back of the Highlander and Katie SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL!

He said his name was Bill Baily, and looks like a tame Santa Clause. He does the "junk" auction house for fun he told me. I peeked inside and it was definately an experience. Stuff everywhere to dig through and then metal folding chairs with a variety of cushions on them-in all sorts of colors and shapes for the bidders to sit on. I would love to go with Justin sometime just to get a flair of the local people (and maybe find something neat! I love things that have stories!). He said that about 100 people float in and out on the Fridays and that he needed something to do in his old age. And since his hands shake and he can't hold many things he said that he could do the talking thing and get along just fine. :)

To get his stuff he goes to estate sales and gathers up the leftovers. Boy can he talk. :) He told me that one time he collected almost 1000 different kinds of zebras...another time he gathered up truck loads of Christmas decorations. He said it is worth stopping by, digging around to see if any of the junk might be a treasure for me. Nice guy and hopefully I'll find something else there in the future. What a fun story...

Stay tuned as I attempt to recover it for our bedroom. :)

Girls just wanna have fun...

We (Sabrina, Katie, Me, Brandy, Melissa) all decided to head to the blueberry patch last Wednesday and pick us some blueberries. And we picked lots and lots of them! I think all told we picked approx. 30 or so lbs. This field has (I am estimating) about 100 bushes of at least 4 different varieties. There were small ones, large plump ones, clustered ones etc.
And for every berry that made it into my bucket...I will not lie, at least one other one made it into my mouth! It was a great day since it was overcast and cool. What a treat 70's for the morning in August! Thanks girls for going with us (katie and I) and helping me fill my freezer with yummy berries!
PS in the top photo, can anyone find Katie?? :)

Blueberries and Katie...

... Katie LOVES, LOVES, LOVES blueberries. Affectionally known as "blu". She is big enough to carry her own bucket, pick her own blueberries and eat out of all the extra buckets that we picked into. :) Justin was very excited when we returned with fresh blueberries also . The next morning was the first morning of class for the girls so I made blueberry scones! Yum~! Thanks Brandy for capturing these precious photos!

Three of Katie's FAVORITE things...

These are a few of her favorite things at 14 1.5 months...
1. Walking to the garden, picking cherry tomatoes, sitting and eating every single one of them! Then wanting to go back and pick more...
2. Rocking forever in the rocking chairs. Anywhere we go, if there is a rocking chair, she makes a beeline for it!
3. Reading books (preferable in the rocking chairs!)
So precious...I love these type of moments.

Life of a Plummer...

I looked up from the book I was reading in the garage while Katie was playing-this is what my eyes saw. Katie has decided to become a plummer! She loves this thing and I think it is SO gross~! I have had to put it away so many times and even put it "out of her reach". Obviously, it was in her reach! ...anyone need a Plummer today? Just call Katie she is on the way!
PS this is the worlds LARGEST plunger...we got it from some good guys friends for a wedding gift. Yep, it works and it is a great plunger (in case you are looking for a new one that's my commerical :).

An Abundance from the Garden!

This year we planted a few things in our garden and boy they produced!!! This pizza (which is one of our favorite foods) below has every veggie straight from our garden. It is a LOADED pizza! This pizza didn't disappoint the taste buds! :) Starting with a homemade Whole Wheat crust that is light and moist. Then it is topped with a pesto base-from our Basil, squash, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, corn (opps-the corn was from another farm) and banana peppers Finally fresh Mozz., Olive Oil and pepper to give it a rating well over 10. It was fantastic! If you haven't ever made homemade pizza-it is well worth it! Yummmmmmmm!

Home-a place of life giving ministry

I have been given this very short article/book to read by Phyllis Stanley (Every Home-A Place of Lifegiving Ministry) that has SO encouraged me to keep working on making my home, truly an open/hospitable/welcoming/warm home. I have a great desire to mininster out of my home and it always is fun to read about others as they desired the same thing.
Here are the concluding thoughts by Phyllis that I wanted to share. I hope it moves all the women who read this to pursue Christ, others and their own personal families for God's Glory within their homes! :)

Phyllis writes--
Although we are not a home yet and there will always be a longing in our hearts that will not be fulfilled until we are truly at home with Jesus, we can experience some of that joy of being at home with Him now. Jesus says in John 15:7-10, "Make your home in me just as I do in you...if you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in love...as I've kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in His love."

So, whether over a mug of coffee at our kitchen table or around a beautifully set dining room table surrounded by candles and flowers, we have the opportunity to be home builders and give our family and friends a message about their value. (I love this point...making people feel valued!) And we please our hospitable God, Who is always inviting us into His beautiful world and telling, "I love you so much that I prepared this for you."

Peter Marshall, a pastor from the early 1900's tells of a home where he stayed: "I was so privileged in the spring to visit in a home that was to me--and I am sure to the occupants--a little bit of heaven. There was beauty there. There was a keen appreciation of the finer things of life, and an atmosphere in which it was IMPOSSIBLE to keep from thinking of God." I pray our homes will be a place where it will be impossible to keep from thinking about God.

Our homes offer some of the most convincing and powerful evidence to the world of the reality of the Gospel. Our ministry is an overflow of all that God is doing in our lives. We can bring great joy to God and influence the world right from the homes that God has given us. Welcome Home!

A day at the pool with Friends!

I am a bit behind in posting, but two Saturdays ago Robin and Hunter invited us down to their cool pool to celebrate birthdays! (mine and Allisons!) It was a SO fun! Katie loved the kids pool as Justin and she ran under the rainbow of water...which was extremely cold...go figure! And isn't the second photo cute??? It is of Catie Beth contently munching on Cheerios! And OHHHH what beautiful families! Nick, Allison, Elijah, and Hudson-love you guys. Robin, Hunter and Catie Beth-love you guys too! So fellowship was great, food was super and the day couldn't have been more fun since we were with you guys! Thanks for the water fun. Let's do it again! Maybe at our pond? hehehe

4 eyes in style...

Katie has been a great observer of her mommy and daddy and has noticed that we wear glasses. So with thanks to her cousin Camiryn she has a wide collection of glasses to add to her daily outfit. :) And as you can tell she puts them on herself. It is pretty cute! These are some of my favorites. And stay tuned....I am going to post a photo of someone else with his nerd glasses on; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. :)

Like Mommy and Daddy

Oh she is living in the spotlight with a few of these cutie patootie sunglasses on. Rock Star! :)