Kisses From Katie

I was introduced to this precious girl and her blog a few years ago. It was before I was really familiar with blogs and into following them so even though I was completely amazed by Katie's heart...I kind of lost touch with her and her blog.

We are walking through the lobby at church this past Sunday and there is a big kiosk with these book stacked up everywhere

and then this cute little girl sitting behind the counter signing books for an enormously long line of people. I was so excited that Katie Davis was here in person. Much to my surprise she spoke during the majority of the message at church.

Just to enlighten yall on the summarized version of this kid...Katie is from Brentwood, TN and she visited Uganda as a senior in high school. That spiraled into her moving to Uganda to teach Kindergarten which eventually resulted in her staying there permanently. She is now 24 years old and is a mother to 13 little girls she has adopted, she started a child sponsorship program which provides food, education and medical care for over 400 children daily. In the course of her time in Uganda, Katie has also founded and runs a non-profit organization, Amazima Ministries, which meets many needs of the people surrounding her in Uganda. It includes a feeding program that feeds 1600 children Mon through Fri and provides medical care, Bible study and general health training to the community. There is also a vocational program that has been developed to help the women work and provide for their families. My little summary does not even do justice what the Lord has been using this girl to do in Uganda with the people there. Please check out the links I provided to learn more about the ministry and needs in Uganda. Even in times at our worst here in the United States, we are still wealthy compared to the living conditions of the people there.

I just finished reading the book Kisses From Katie. What a powerful compelation of Katie Davis' time in Uganda and the ways the Lord has used her to reach the people there just from her being willing to be used. How convicting it has been to read and realize that we may not live directly in a place with starving children, disease and crippling poverty, but we do live around people with real needs who need to see, experience and know the love of Jesus.

It also brought to my attention how inexpensive it is for us to help the people in Uganda. Through the links provided, there are different ways you can support Katie Davis and her work in Uganda. You can sponsor a child, donate to Amazima Ministries or buy some jewelry handmade by the women she is working with. We live in so much abundance when there are people in this world who literally can't afford one meal a day!

I also attached a link to a video they showed at church this past Sunday. The book is awesome and I highly recommend it, but the video is a good introduction to it.
http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=1199955254001

New Play Group

Can anybody guess what these cute little packages are for?


I have been really convicted lately about some things and one of them is where I live. Justin and I live in such a great neighborhood. Since Briggs and I have been at home together, we are outside all the time walking, running, visiting with and meeting new people.

Justin and I have lived in this house for 5 years now and until I got put on bedrest and then had Briggs we barely knew the people who lived around us. Now we know almost everybody on our street and have met lots more people in our neighborhood since then.

It's been really heavy on my heart that there is a ministry right outside my front door of needs we can meet and people we can help and share with about Jesus. So...what else to do...than to start a play group!

I have been keeping up with the house numbers that have pink or blue bows on the mailboxes during mine and Briggs' walks and there were 12 houses on our list. Then I told one of my friends a couple of streets over about my idea and she was all for it. So I made some cookies and she made some cute little cards with our info on them. One morning we went visiting together....me and Briggs in the stroller and she had her little girl loaded up in their wagon. I'm excited to see where this goes and how things develop.

Just wanted to share what is going on in our neighborhood and encourage all of you to get to know the people around you. I'll be honest, it was much harder when I worked full time b/c I left so early in the morning and didn't get home until 6 or 7 at night. But now that I'm home with Briggs it's been a great way for us to get out and hopefully be used by the Lord in ways only He can orchestrate.

We did blue and pink packages for people we knew had girls or boys and then some purple and white packages for gender neutral. It was really inexpensive (because I already had all the packaging stuff) and just a little bit of time to make the cookies which I enjoyed :)

Tasty Tuesday - Banana Brunch Bread

Banana Brunch Bread

1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 C mashed bananas
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C sour cream
2 C sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Topping:
1/2 C chopped nuts
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven 350. Heavily grease 3 loaf pans (I usually just make 2 loafs with this recipe). Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in bananas, vanilla and sour cream. Sift together flour baking powder, salt and soda. Fold into creamed mixture, stirring only enough to moisten. Make topping by combining chopped nuts, sugar and cinnamon. (Topping may be doubled if desired) Sprinkle half of topping on bottoms of prepared loaf pans. Spoon in batter and sprinkle with remaining topping. Bake 350 for 45 minutes. Bread may be frozen after baking.

Planting Tulips

As many of you know...I'm all into gardening right now. For the past few years I've been saying I wanted to plant some tulips...well this year I finally made good on it. I had to do a little reading about how exactly to do this, so here goes....


I had this tin bucket thingy that I had bought a few years ago. I didn't really have a good purpose for it at the moment so I decided to use it as my pot. My hottie handy man husband drilled holes in the bottom of it for water to drain out of the pot.


One thing I had read was, don't plant the tulip bulbs until October or November. Last year I went to buy them in October and the store was already sold out. This year I bought them early, but if you do that, there is a special way you're suppose to store them. You put them in a paper bag and put in the back of your frig. I know...kind of strange I thought, but that's what the internet said.


Then in October or November, fill your pot up with soil, place the tulip bulbs in with the tip pointed up, then cover with dirt. One place I read you want to cover to a depth about three times the size of the bulb.


And that's how you plant tulip bulbs. Who knows if they will grow, I guess only time will tell but I'm excited to see what happens. It was a really easy thing to do and will hopefully be something pretty in the spring. I did read...just water them a little after you plant them and then let them ride out the winter. Make sure they are in a place (ground or pot) that drains really well and the winter rain will give them plenty of water. If you water them too much they will start to rot. Some people plant some sort of winter flower on top of the bulbs so you don't just have a pot of dirt. I did read that you should use caution with that method b/c those plants will require more water than the bulbs can really handle which leads you back to risking rotting bulbs. I opted for the ugly pot of dirt since it's my first rodeo with these things...but maybe next year I'll be more adventurous.

I'll revisit this post in the spring with hopefully a successful post of some beautiful blooming tulips :)

Florida Vacation

My last post gave away that we just had a vacation/visit with my parents in Florida. There were many firsts for baby Briggs on this trip and thought I would share some pics of what we did.

I'm sure you're all curious how the airport/plane rides went. Well...they weren't too bad. I had planned them around Briggs' naptime so he slept during both plane flights. The first one he was sleeping so hard he wasn't sucking on his paci on the way decent so he woke up screaming and I couldn't get him to calm down until we landed. We learned our lesson so on the way home, even though he was sleeping, I kept wiggling him around to where he stayed sucking on his paci and he didn't even wake up the whole flight. He was a great traveler...thank goodness!

This is Briggs strapped in the Moby Wrap at the airport. This thing really saved us...Justin and I had a lot to juggle with luggage, a baby, and stroller...so it helped to just pop Briggs in this wrap and then I had two hands to help carry stuff.



Here is Briggs and Justin...that is one sleepy boy...we were trying to get through security and feed him so he would sleep on the plane...which worked :)


Here is our family photo from our 30 minute beach trip. You never know what you're gonna get with a baby...but we had about 30 minutes of peaceful bliss and then Briggs got hot and tired...we laid him down to sleep on a blanket in the shade. He woke up screaming b/c sand blew all over him (face, eyes, nose, ears, belly...). It was LOVELY...let me tell ya! So me and mom took him home to let him sleep there where it was cooler.

Sidenote...I was looking so forward to laying out and getting a tan...oh well, "welcome to motherhood"..as my sister said when I was telling her what happened :)


And when you look at this precious face...it is all totally worth it to never get a tan again, if that's the way it goes.


Briggs playing with Rah-Rah.

Uncle Russ was so good with Briggs...they really became buddies this weekend.


Here is our little family all dressed up for the LSU game. It was kind of fun being in Florida for the LSU vs Florida game. We went to the mall with all of us dressed in our LSU gear...we looked like a purple blob roaming through the isles...but it was fun to hold our heads high since we knew that game was in the bag.


We went and watched the sunset on a pier by my parents house....here is little Briggs walking with Papa...too cute!


And here is our family photo. We are missing a few special people so it's not the complete gang.

So that is our trip in a nutshell. We pretty much just hung out at my parents house which was totally fine with us. When you spend 2 days traveling, it shortens your trip a good bit. We did get to do some fun things and most importantly, we got to spend quality time together. Briggs did great traveling and it was overall a really nice trip to get away.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Here is a picture our our little family. Justin and I have been married 7 years and dated 3 before that...so a whopping grand total of 10 years together! As you all know...the newest addition to our family is Briggs (4 months)....SO STINKIN CUTE! This post is to share a little about memories and the foundation from my childhood (which was sparked from our recent trip to visit my family in Florida this past week).


When you meet someone for the first time, a common question you ask them is..where are you from? I've been pondering a question for a while now...b/c all of our families are so spread out...what really defines "home"?

I think the answer to that question is different for many people. Some people live in the same house and town their whole life, some move around in different houses but stay in the same town, or if your like me...I've moved my whole life (because my dad was in retail). So I don't really have a "hometown". Justin and I just recently went to visit my parents in Florida (where they live right now) and I wanted to share some things that stood out to me about my childhood "home".

Even though my parents have moved a few times even after Justin and I were married and established our own home together...no matter where they are, there are a few things that always remain the same...

No matter where my parents live, there is always a wall that is dedicated to the baby photos of me, Abby (my sister) and Russ (my brother). She has our 3,6,9 and 12 month pics and then our senior portrait in the middle. Russ gets to have his frame upgraded this year since he is a senior in high school (which I still can't believe he is so old!)


This is the rocking chair I have many memories and pics of all three of us rocking in when we were little. My mom still has it and I can't wait to have pics of our little ones in the same chair.


Anyone who has been in our family home in the last...oh 15 years or so...knows what this Noah's Ark holds. Not that is by any means nutritious or healthy or whatever you want to call it...but it's always been stocked with candy since I was young. It's just a thing my mom has always done. As you can see from the picture...there are a few chips and cracks...but my parents kitchen wouldn't be complete without the Noah's Ark candy dish


This is the kitchen table we have shared many meals, prayers and memories together. Even when my brother was born (11.5 years after me), my parents just pulled up another chair to the table instead of getting a bigger one. I'm glad they did that...made for a cozier fit for all of us.

And there is a chest with tons of frames behind the table...mom has always been good at keeping family photos out of everybody and their display is growing more every day with 3 kids and now 3 grandbabies.


Even though the physical shell of where my parents live may change, my mom always does a good job of recreating familiar surroundings for all of us so when we come home, it still feels like "home". Although these things are all "temporary", there is one thing that always stays the same and that's these precious faces...

This is mom and Russ (my little BIG brother). As you can see...my mom loves her kiddos. She has always been very nurturing and loving to all of us. She has sacrificed more than I will probably ever know to take care of us. She is one determined little lady and even though she is the smallest in the family, she has the biggest heart of anybody I know and is always two steps ahead of all of us when it comes to being prepared. She has a true servants heart and would give whatever she has to someone in need.

Russ has grown up right before my eyes. He always says I was like his second mom and Abs was more like his friend. I still call him my "baby". He has a very tender heart and has grown into such a young man of character. Example...on HIS 18th bday he came home with flowers for my mom and told her thanks for being such a good mom and putting up with him for the last 18 years. Yep...isn't that precious...all together now... "AWE"! (and my dad's response was...where are mine..hahaha)


And here is the grill master himself. I'm not joking...this man can grill anything and make it taste good. I love my mom and talk to her everyday but I'm a big daddy's girl. It's hard for me to put into words a description of my dad. There is some sort of lesson in most everything he says, so you better be listening. He is a very wise man, loves the Lord with all his heart and has always been the rock and voice of reason for our family. With three girls (two daughters and a wife) who are wound really tight, he has to be pretty solid and laid back to handle us all...which my brother is my dad made over.


I've been much more "homesick" lately. I think probably because of our newest addition and postpartum hormones...


I mean look at that face...Briggs changes so fast and is such a joy. I love sharing him with both of our families, but if there is one thing I have learned over the course of my short life...it's to cherish the time you do have with the people you love and try not to dwell on the time we are apart. Yes it stinks we don't live closer and that we only get to see each other a few times a year, but we do our very best to cherish the time we do get to spend together. Thank goodness for modern technology of blogs, smart phones and skype :)

In conclusion...I think "home" is a relative term for our family. There are certain things that when I go to my parents home it will always trigger memories from my childhood, but the people who are there are the ones who make up the definition of my childhood "home". I love my family and just wanted to give yall a glimpse of the special people who make it what it is.

I leave you with this...no matter what items or people make up your idea of "home", determine what they are and cherish them while you can because James 4:14 says.. "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."

How will you spend your life and who will you spend it with?

Family Fun

We just recently took a trip to Baton Rouge. I wanted to share some family pics with all of you. Baton Rouge is always a tricky trip b/c we have Justin's family who live there and my sister with her kids. Splitting our time evenly and feeling like we got to see everybody is always a challenge but we always try to cherish the time we have with both families when we do see them.

G-maw (Justin's mom). Of course Briggs is all smiles and thinks his hat she got him is funny.


Pa-Paw (Justin's dad) with Briggs. Briggs has this face like... what in the world is going on...but he is all ready for the LSU game.


Uncle Landon (Justin's brother) is FINALLY holding baby Briggs. Landon isn't too excited about holding the little bitty babies but when they are at the fun age like Briggs is...it's his little buddy.


Rah-Rah (my mom) came into town to help Abby with her two boys. My mom was in grandma heaven with all these grandbabies. Here is a pic of her with the two smallest ones. Brooks (Abby's baby) is on the left and Briggs (my baby) is on the right. These two little chunkers are just one week apart and are already best friends (they just don't know it yet).


Here are me and Abs with our babies. We love getting them all together. Everybody in their LSU gear and ready for the game. And your eyes are not tricking you...I am holding her baby and she is holding mine. We pretty much swap babies as soon as we see each other so we can love on them both.


And here are the three babies. From left to right...Brooks, Cade and Briggs. Cade is the oldest and the trouble maker of the group...SO FAR. Can't wait to see what the future has for these three....they are already so much fun to have together.


So there are the pics of all the family so far. It was a fast weekend but we always leave amazed at what we can cram into one weekend in Baton Rouge. We are about to take a trip to Florida to see my parents and brother so there are more family pics to come.