A Bigger Story

{a garden update}

Katie — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:57:28 +0000

Remember back in March when Brad and I built two little raised garden beds? We transformed the little “nook” on the side of our house from a junky mess to a nice, neat garden area….

Well, take a look at how our little garden has grown!

This little tomato started coming in first….

….and now it looks like this (and has a few friends)….

The grape tomatoes are doing well also. They began like this….

….and now there are several bunches like this…..

A couple of them have turned red (pictured here with our lonely little banana pepper)…

The cucumbers and zucchini started out like this….

….and now they’re taking over the place!

We also have brussels sprouts, various bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, romaine lettuce & okra…

Other than some pesky worms trying to eat everything up, it’s been pretty easy to maintain. I haven’t killed anything yet, and that’s QUITE an improvement for me!

{number 19}

Katie — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:37:00 +0000

Cole is playing baseball this year, and I snapped these pictures Monday at his first game. He played shortstop & did a good job considering it was his first time to play on an organized team. I had a proud mom moment when he caught a pop fly at the very beginning of the game! His team didn’t win, but they had a good time & learned a few things. He’s number 19….

{happy mother’s day}

Katie — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:20:27 +0000

To all the moms and those who long to be moms….Happy Mother’s Day! To celebrate the occasion, I thought I’d share a few old pictures of me with my mama….

{me & my mama – August 1978 – she doesn’t look like she just had a baby, does she?!}

{us at the beach – 1979}

{all hugs & smiles}

She’s a keeper & I’m thankful that God blessed me with her!

{my bird tattoo}

Katie — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:29:27 +0000

Three weeks ago I met with a local tattoo artist for a consultation to discuss getting a bird tattooed on my arm. I took this in to give him an idea of what I wanted….

He liked it, so an appointment was scheduled for June 2nd. I was a little disappointed to have to wait so long, but I knew I really wanted this particular artist to do it. Later that night I got a call from the shop asking if I wanted to reschedule the appointment for the following Friday…just one week later….and of course I did! So two weeks ago while my kids were at school, I showed up for Tony to permanently etch this bird onto my arm. His drawing was slightly different than what I originally took in, and he said he’d have to make it larger than I originally planned because of the detail I wanted. I liked it, though, and decided to trust him (after almost completely walking out when he went to the back to get set up!). So he got started (and I, of course, took pictures during the process because that’s, well, just what I do)….

It took about 45 minutes, and although it definitely hurt, it was’t as bad as I expected it to be. I watched him a lot of the time, freaked out in my head a little bit, and in the end I loved how it turned out!

It’s been really interesting to see people’s reactions to it. One lady in SteinMart the other day went completely nuts over it, grabbed my arm and kept talking about how beautiful it is and how well the artist did. A few people have apparently been freaked out by it and have completely ignored it, as if ignoring the fact that I got it done would make it vanish. It doesn’t really matter to me how people react to it, though. The only person I really cared about was Brad…mainly because he’s my best friend, and his opinion matters to me. When he said to go for it, I did.

So, to answer a couple of questions/assumptions:

1) Did I get the tattoo because I became obsessed with our little robin family recently? Umm, are you crazy? Seriously? You think that I decided to get a tattoo after one month of bird watching? No, absolutely not. I’ve been thinking about getting this done for at least a year and a half. Maybe some people are gutsy enough to get one done with such little thought, but I put a LOT of thought into this.

2) Why a BIRD? Well, if you’ve read this blog much you know that I kind of have a thing for birds. I love to watch birds because I think they’re neat. When I watch them I have to be still and quiet, and being still and quiet is sometimes a tough thing to do in this crazy world. I like to photograph birds, but in order to do that I have to be silent and perfectly still. I have to be patient and wait a lot. And in those moments, I think a lot about God and what He’s been doing in my heart and life lately. Some people call it solitude, and I think that’s a fitting description. In those moments I often feel close to God and sense Him speaking to my heart. It’s a special thing that’s very important to me. Also, I think there’s a lot of symbolism when it comes to birds. There’s freedom and grace in the way they soar through the air. And then there’s this verse that’s one of my favorites….

You see, my relationship with God affects my whole life. It’s my point of reference for everything in life. It hasn’t always been, but I’ve struggled with trusting Him and have found Him to be the only truly faithful and unchanging thing I know. He’s my anchor, and through Him I find joy and peace. The promise that He carries me and has always carried me gives me security and contentment even when things aren’t going the way I want and I don’t understand what He’s up to. He takes care of me and is my Provider. This verse reminds me that if He takes care of the birds, He will surely provide for my needs each day. There’s no reason for me to worry and fear because I can hold onto this promise.

When I look down at my arm, I’m reminded of just that, and it also gives me an opportunity to share my story with other people….sometimes even people I’ve never met. So, there you go…..the backstory behind my bird! Two weeks in, and I like it more every day….good thing, huh?!

{my crazy boys}

Katie — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:16:56 +0000

Happy Friday, blog friends! I thought I’d share a couple of videos here today. This is an impromptu interview I did with Yohannes one day last week when we ate lunch on the front porch. He’s growing up too fast & even has his first loose tooth….what?!

This is another impromptu one we did in the car on the way to Alabama last weekend. The boys were getting restless, so we turned on Tedashii and rocked out for a few minutes and got a little crazy. Fun times!

{The Robin’s Nest: Day 30}

Katie — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:38:19 +0000

Well, the nest is empty, friends. All four baby robins have flown away. I spotted all four of them in various places in our backyard & our neighbor’s backyard this morning, though, so they’re all doing well. They’re easy to spot because they’re smaller, they don’t have fully developed tail feathers yet, and they have blackish-gray spots on their chests. Two of them are flying well, and the other two are beginning to get the hang of flying higher. I was actually able to see ALL FOUR leave the nest….amazing, right? This is the third one to hop out of the nest. He sat on this branch for a while….I guess he was getting the courage to fly! See the fourth one still sitting in the nest looking at him like, “where are you going?”…..

Here’s a closer look at him…..

Right here I think he’s looking at me like, “What? Why do you keep bothering me? What did I ever do to you?”…..

He finally flew down and landed on the gate that leads to our backyard. I was able to get pretty close and get these pictures. I love how they turned out…..do you think I can start shooting for National Geographic or something now (ha! ha!)?

So then there was just one baby in the nest…..all by himself…..

Look how he fills up the nest, though! They were definitely a little cramped in there the past few days…..

After a few hours, I guess he got lonely and decided to venture out of his safe, cozy home, too. Here he is perched above the nest. He stayed there for a couple of hours….

He moved around to the other side of the tree, and I took these….

I guess he flew out later because I went to look for him and he was gone. The nest is all empty now, and I’m going to kind of miss these little guys! I’ve been spotting them here and there in the backyard, and here are a few more pictures I’ve gotten of them exploring their new world….

I’d like to send a special “shout out” to Mrs. Henderson’s kindergarten class at Bon Lin Elementary! They’ve been learning about things that grow and have followed my little robin family’s journey. I know you guys have some questions for me, and I’ll answer them in my next blog post. I also have a few fun videos I’ll share! Until next time….

To catch up on our robin’s nest adventures, visit these posts:

Day 1 (March 28): Post 1 & Post 2
Day 2 (March 29)
Day 3 (March 30)
Day 4 (March 31)
Day 7 (April 3)
Day 13 (April 9)
Day 16 (April 12): Post 1 & Post 2
Day 17 (April 13)
Day 18 (April 14)
Day 19 (April 15)
Day 21 (April 17)
Day 23 (April 19)
Day 27 (April 23)
Day 29 (April 25)

{The Robin’s Nest: Day 29}

Katie — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:33:12 +0000

This little guy had a big day yesterday. I was outside taking pictures of the birds, and he just stood right up, hopped onto a nearby branch, flapped his wings and flew down to the ground. I was so shocked (and it happened so quickly) that I didn’t even get any pictures. But I followed him around the house and into the back yard and snapped this one….

He went behind our neighbor’s house and stayed right here for a long time. Can you find him?….

I went inside for a while, and when I came back out I heard him in the tree above. He was hanging out with daddy bird eating a snack (the mama & daddy birds continue to feed to babies for a little while longer after they leave the nest).

He was all puffed up and looked so big I wasn’t sure at first that it was him.

He wasn’t really flying all that great yesterday and would usually only get about 6-12 inches off the ground when he tried to fly. (I’m still not sure how he got in the tree, but somehow he did.) I wondered how he would fair during the night, and when I opened the back door this morning, look who greeted me!….

I think I scared him because he tried to fly away and kind of got stuck for a moment in this plant. No worries, though – he got out and I left him alone.

I was walking around the side of the house and stopped to check my garden when this guy flew right out of the nest and attached himself to the side of the house! I can’t believe I’ve actually gotten to witness two of the babies flying out of the nest! I was able to snap some pictures this time….

He flew down and landed in the coiled up water hose…

He flew/hopped into one of the raised beds and mama bird quickly came to feed him some berries.

So, that’s the latest and greatest with the robin family! The other two babies are still in the nest for now, but I think they’ll be leaving soon as well. It’s been SO fun to watch them!

To catch up on our robin’s nest adventures, visit these posts:

{The Robin’s Nest: Day 27}

Katie — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:03:22 +0000

The baby birds are running out of room in the nest. I think they’ll probably begin to try out their wings sometime this week, but for now they’re all still hanging out in there.

Look at all these feathers!

I see the mama & daddy bird flying to the nest with worms in their beaks constantly throughout the day. They stay really busy keeping their babies fed.

To catch up on our robin’s nest adventures, visit these posts:

{The Robin’s Nest: Day 23}

Katie — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:29:52 +0000

Here are several pictures I’ve taken over the past couple of days. The babies are changing every day and look more and more like normal birds (little, miniature ones with tiny feathers and squinty eyes). They still sleep a good bit…..

Mama bird is never very far away. I think she’s about had enough of me, and I really don’t blame her. She regularly dives at my head when I get close to them. She’s a good mama.

Their eyes are open more and more, and they all have little mohawks!

Sometimes they prop their heads on the edge of the nest and sleep with their mouths open….

There’s not a lot of extra room in the nest these days….

See his mohawk? So funny!….

They hatched one week ago today, so they probably only have one more week before they try out their wings. I’m going to miss them when they’re gone!

To catch up on our robin’s nest adventures, visit these posts:

{The Robin’s Nest: Day 21}

Katie — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:27:16 +0000

Here’s daddy bird waiting for me to move away from the nest so he can feed his growing babies…..

Have you ever heard of someone “getting their feathers ruffled?” Well, this is what it looks like! Mama bird was NOT happy with me & this is right before she made a bee-line straight for my head!

You can hear her fussing at me in this video…..

They’re growing so much and filling up the nest. Their feathers are coming in, and their eyes are beginning to open, too. They still sleep a lot and eat regularly throughout the day.

To catch up on our robin’s nest adventures, visit these posts: