Way to Go Runners

Katie and I attended a CC meet two weeks ago to see some of my old runners. It was great! I will say that each of them out runs me by minutes (which is a lot!). It is amazing that I am getting older and slower and the stage they are in is older and faster. :) Keep running, work hard and have fun!
These are all 9th graders and great kids! Sean Martin, Gabi Wilberding, and Ryan Huffman I all taught in 5th grade and coached as well for some short time!

1.43 million kids need a Mommy and Daddy

Justin and I attended an adoption seminary today at Providence Baptist Church. WOW, I didn't expect to be that emotional hearing the testimonies. Or to be that excited about the real practical ways there are to adopt! It is possible for all that are called to bring home a child to love. :)
Ohhhh...there are so many babies, kids, teens that have never had the experience of a mom/dad's hug!

Check out -- www.theadoptionguide.com

I heard a quote, "If God calls, He WILL provide everything." This is something that we are going to pray about so that if He does call us at some point. We can say yes!

Anyway we are praying about how this might look in our family someday. We know that God has adopted us into his Grace/Kingdom. And what a picture we can be of showing this to another. They challenged us to simply pray that the Lord would at least open our heart to pray for the "widows and orphans".

May He be merciful and use us in many other precious lives.

Thanks Greens for Lunch!

Katie and I got to each lunch with Alyssa, Lawrence, Anne Marie and Mrs. Green. It was a great time to catch up. I taught Lawrence and Anne Marie when I was at Franklin Academy, they are great kids (Alysaa too). And the pizza at Ziggy's in the Factory in WF was yummy!

Green's lets do it again!

PS thanks from Katie, "I love all my books, my bowl, cup and plate, plaque and dress! What fun...just so you know...I fell asleep within 2 minutes of leaving the Factory."

Life at 16 months!

Sleeping, being outside, and playing!

A little girl in footies...

I love kids in footed pjs. Katie was so cute a few mornings ago reading her books and rocking in her chair (SHE LOVES READING AND ROCKING!)! The last photo, she is showing off her mouth full of teeth! So busy at 16 months!

interesting about clothing...food for thought

This is a quote from an article at www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com -article 11-adorned in Modest Apparel: It begins with the Heart. By Mrs. Crystal Paine

As Timothy Titcomb so poignantly expressed in his book, Titcomb’s Letters (©1858), "A woman was made for something higher than a convenient figure for displaying dry goods."

I want to remember this when I buy clothing...Clothing, it should frame my face and not my body...

Someone said Leg Warmers were back

How about long socks?....Katie REALLY wanted to put these on and wear them like Daddy. :)

Katie being silly...

I tried to capture this as best as I could, but Katie was moving to quickly to really get her acting silly. She was dancing all around to her own made up music. It was priceless.

Isn't this so cute.

Justin and I decided to buy a clothes line and it now hangs around our back porch. It is the retractable kind so we can unlatch it and away it zooms. But I just love seeing Katie's little clothes hanging out to dry. Katie is also a BIG helper when I am out there-folding and unfolding the clothes or simply draggin them over to me to hang up. :) Thanks Pipps for your help!

Lately, I have been desiring to know more about the Theology of the Home...

Below are two excerpts from Phyllis Stanley on "Life Giving as a Spiritual Choice". The article is wonderful and below is the definition of Life Giving as well as her concluding paragraph. It is definitely worth the read, if you are desiring to grow in your ability to make a home.
Happy Reading



Life Giving as a Spiritual Choice



To be a truly feminine woman, we need to understand that we are lifegivers. In Genesis 3:20, Adam changed Woman’s name to Eve because she was to become the mother of all living things. Life giving is stamped on the nature of a woman whether or not we ever have children. We not only give physical life, but spiritual life, intellectual life and
cultural life. The holidays we plan, the music we play, the candles we light, the scrapbooks we keep, the meals we prepare, the words we say all give life. A mother’s womb is the first home of every child. What goes on in the womb? Life, shelter, food, protection, warmth, coziness. These should be qualities of a life-giving woman and a
life giving home. Although our biology is not our destiny, it is reflective of the spirit of femininity. To create life is to create warmth and beauty.

We all fail. Those we love disappoint us and we disappoint them by our selfish ways and hurtful words. Our words will always give life or they will give death. But we can begin again to be wise women who build our homes rather than tearing them down. We need to be life-givers. Life-giving is at the heart of who we are as women. We have the opportunity to give, nurture, teach, train, encourage, beautify or heal. This is part of God’s beautiful and sacred gift to us as women lifegivers. We will all influence at least 100 people in our lifetime. Can you imagine how different our lives will be if we intentionally give life to those God brings into our lives. Jesus Christ is always waiting to give life to women who are waiting by His well to be filled with His love and life.

I wanna be like Aunt Brandi! and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dear Sister in Law!  Sorry that this is a belated post, but Katie wanted to say something to you.  We love you and can't wait to continue to see what the Lord will do in your life.  You are SPECIAL!  Love Jesus and Love people.  Katie's message is below!

love, Your NC family!  

And...Katie is a girl...no doubt...
"Aunt Brandi, I want to be like you when I grow up. I want to cut hair and do nails. Yes, in the third photo I am trying to cut my own nails with the toenail clippers!  Will you teach me all your tricks? You're the BESTEST!  Happy Birthday!"
Love, Katie Grace

Curly Hair Monday night

Every Monday the girls eat dinner with us. This past Monday it was curly hair Monday...all 4 of us have curly hair (5 if you include little Pippers who now has curles too)...isn't that amazing?? I took a photo of all 4 of us and my camera has eatten it...I can't find it. :( But anyway we love these girls and love this Margaret pizza which is my absolute favorite pizza...but then again I LOVE any pizza!

We then watched Transformers and ate homemade Ice Cream-I have to say that at first I didn't want to see the movie, but afterwards, I will admitt it was a great film! I wish the girl in it was a bit more clothed-which is so hollywood! Boo! But the funny parts sure were funny...loved the part at the beginning where the car helped him with his desire to win a girl over-cute. :) Thanks girls for a fun evening...Straight hair this coming Monday??

This book is a GREAT RESOURCE

Katie is under the weather today and yesterday and so I grabbed this book from our shelf and it is a wonderful read. I turned to the section on fevers and it gave me a lot of thoughts of things to do, told me if I should be worried and when to contact our Dr. The book is NOT against Dr.'s It is simply a resource to use before one calls, goes in and the Dr. says there is nothing that can be done...wait it out, get them sleep and plenty of fluids. He has been a Ped. Dr. for many years and writes a bunch of common sense wisdom!
A quick read and worth the money of a few dollars. You can find it most places, I ordered my off of Amazon.
Happy reading!

The Barnabas Way-Check it out-and leave a comment!

I wanted to bring Justin into the spotlight for a moment...At the foundation where Justin works, they have been working for the past 8 months or so to change the name of the foundation from Fore the Lord to The Barnabas Way as well as change everything else that goes with it.  I would LOVE for everybody to check out the new website and please post a comment telling us what you all think! The foundation hired a great company to develope the details of the site, but Justin had to write all the content, so overall it took over 200 hours.  I am so proud of him! 

...And we would love to expose everyone and all everyones friends to another message of generosity and how to invest in the Kingdom.

www.thebarnabasway.org

Love Gi

Getting ready for church...

On Sunday mornings, since Katie is down to one nap a day, it is a trick to get ready in the morning. Most of the time Justin and I trade off, but this past Sunday we were running behind, so this is what we did. We dressed Katie in her "Southern" outfit (I bought this at the fairground kids extravaganza for a few dollars!!-It looks just like what the ladies at our old church used to wear. I had never seen this style before moving to NC, hence her "southern" outfit title). :) And then we let her play in the shower with the towel down so she wouldn't slip, then gave her some of my hair products. She LOVED it. And it made getting ready possible! The bottom two photos have shown us that we have a little girl and not a baby anymore :( --she is growing up! But each new stage bring new smiles and joys! Ahhhh, it goes so quickly.

Mini Justin

I caught this and couldn't resist posting it...Justin is talking on his cell phone and Katie is chatting away on her play phone...though ANY chance she gets she goes for the real phone. She has been caught MANY times walking around talking to nobody...or sometimes has accidentally pushed a redial.

Listen to this-it melts my heart :)

Katie is now a good imitator of animals and other phrases that we say...  :)

She can: quack like a duck, neigh like a horse, bark like a dog, buzzz like a bumblebee, her favorite-being an elephant, snorting like a rhino, saying utt oh, saying bye bye with a wave as well, saying more and all done, she also holds her index finger up for telling someone she loves them and lastly she she is constantly asking for one more piece of food or one more swing or book by putting her index finger up and saying,"umm".  She also turns her hand over so the palm is up and motions to me or someone else to come there, or come with her.  She is so active and learning something new everyday!

Enjoy the video and thanks to Melissa for capturing it!

This is what we get when Katie wakes up!

I have wanted to capture Katie when she wakes up and so I have, finally at 15 months! When she wakes up and is rested, all I hear is "Ma, Ma, Ma" And it is at the top of her lungs. Even when she wants Justin to come and get her, it is still, "Ma". We are working on "Daddy"-though she knows it. I guess when either of us respond when she calls, she would prefer to simply use one word!
We have a Smart cookie...

Katie at 11 months

This is my first video!!!! It is a little late....sorry :P

"Boo"

Katie LOVES to play "boo". She played in and out of the door for about 15 minutes...I could have played forever! love you cutie

Katie and her friend Laney

Oh these two have SO MUCH FUN together! Katie and Laney get to play together most Tuesdays as Hollie and I get a few hours to do what needs to be done. We switch every other week of watching the girls. We might clean, cook, run errands, do Bible Study (that is my goal!), do a craft project, take a nap. Anyway it is a huge blessing and we are So blessed to have Hollie and Laney to do this with.
But more importantly the girls get to play together-boy is it fun to watch them interact. Laney is about 7 months older (though Katie is as tall as she is-Laney is not short, Katie is just tall!). Katie always picks up something from Laney and about an hour to a day later is trying to do what she did. Katie is now a more experienced climber because of her playing with Laney. What fun they are~!

First photo-serious pose (Laney carried that ball around in her shirt most of the time:)

Second photo-hugs (most of the time it is Laney giving hugs to Katie, Katie is learning how to do this!)

Third photo-their friend pose with huge smiles. (they were probably smiley because I was jumping around trying to get their attention!)

Fourth photo-Katie is saying (I overheard her...) "The bricks are much more interesting then watching my mom dance around trying to make us say cheese, sorry my mom is a little bit weird-dancing to get us to smile...Do you see that bug?"