Take your nephew to work day!

Trey working the scoreboard during volleyball practice

Trey's girlfriend, Chrissy... He's in love. 

My sister is good. She gets the kids involved in lots of fun activities and is great about attending sports games, school functions, dance recitals, and everything in between. Today, however, she double booked. With three little ones I guess it is bound to happen every now and then. Aunt Katie swooped in and decided to take my little man with me for the day. First, we went to the PAT Halloween party and did nice seasonal activities there. Trey was most enthralled by the play doh. After the PAT party he came to work with me. It was delightful. I decided he is quite the lady's man and really knows who to get in good with. He only talked to the Volleyball GA and the volleyball players. Well them and... wait for it... my boss. He sure did look at Dr. Smith and say, "Bye, Dr. Smith. Have a good day!" Thanks Trey... for helping me suck up. 

Making a treat bag at the PAT party

His playdoh bowl of candy... obsessed

Play Doh Monster!

Jehovah Jireh

Summer 2007 I went to Zambia, Africa to work with orphans. "Jehovah Jireh" was part of one of the worship songs we sang often. Since many of the songs were in nyanja I simply sang the words without checking the meaning. 

Fast forward a year: I am now in a women's bible study at church. Last week the Beth Moore book talked about some of the names of God. One of the names discussed was Jehovah Jireh- God the provider. It was amazingly encouraging to me. How precious that those children who had nothing could belt out the lyrics, shouting, "Jehovah Jireh" with complete confidence and faith. Even a year later I am being taught by those kids. 

Over the past year it has been confirmed that one of my passions is orphaned children. I have always had a passion for different cultures and now I can see the desire to combine both children and different cultures to pursue international missions. I recently found a very expensive mission trip that involves five different continents.... all working with children. I am committing myself to working hard to raising the money to go on this trip. Game on... no starbucks, drinking, eating out, random trips... ect. Lets see how I can do! Perhaps I should say, let's see how much faith I have in what God can do. 

Below are pictures that motivate me to save for my next trip abroad!

My favorites...

So, one of the amazing blessings of my wonderful job is that when I am done at 2:00 or 3:00 I am truly done at 2:00 or 3:00. I don't have papers to grade, I have usually already done my work out, and I simply have an evening to do whatever I wish. Many things have snuck into my evening schedule, including an addiction to Gossip Girl, walks with my mom, reading good books, and LOTS of neices and nephew time.
More often than not I am able to answer yes when my sister asks me to hang out with the kids. I don't feel like it is something to squeeze into my day, but an enjoyable addition to an open evening. This afternoon I was even able to text Taylor and ask her if she would rather have a ride home from school than ride the bus. It's just amazing.

The kids and I hung around the house while Tay went to catillion. My favorite things from the afternoon:
1. Reading my favorite golden book from my childhood. There's a Monster at the End of this Book. A. I love the book. B. Trey cracks up like it's the funniest thing he has ever heard.
2. Watching Delaney steal bites of Trey's rice crispy treat then play it totally cool when he couldn't figure out where it went.
3. My conversation with Trey about girlfriends... it went something like this:

Me: So Trey, do you have a girlfriend.
T: No
Me: You sure you don't have a gf?
T: Yeah
Me: What about Solis (the baby at the sitter)? Solis is a cutie
T: Aunt Tatie, Solis is a baby.
Me: So, she can't be your girlfriend?
T: I only kiss Solis in the daytime, so she is not my girlfriend. Plus, I am not a big boy yet. I am still a little boy.

Amy and Darnel, what are you teaching this kid about kissing? You better straighten him out or you are going to have lots of explaining to do when he is kissing all the little girls during the daytime in kindergarten.

Love this dude!

Last week my dad celebrated his 61st birthday! This is just a small tribute to a man I love a whole, whole lot. 

A few reasons I love my dad: 

1. Sometimes I wonder if he gets any of his own work done because he is always doing some of mine for me. 

2. He has never simply sat at home or hung out while I was playing or coaching a game. He only misses my games for work... and that rarely happens. 

3. I have hundreds of pictures he has taken of me during those games. 

4. He's funny. 

5. He's so stinkin cute. 

6. He would do anything for anyone. 

7. He loves my neices and nephew a lot. 

8. He does all the little things like picking up my favorite food, remembering things I say, dancing with me at my sisters wedding... He's good at the little things. 

9. He gets excited about the same things I do ... beautiful things outside, photographs, kids, a good deal... 

10. He is a good dad, grandpa, and husband... 

Happy Birthday Dad! 

Love you more than anything in the world, love your baby girl. 

Life Advice from the Jewelry Store

My dear friend Melissa turned 25 this past weekend. It was a great weekend with sushi lunch and a day at the winery (see previous post). Liz had a great idea to pitch in and give Mel diamond earrings. Since Mel and I are both very single it is good to get a little treat that may usually come from the boo. Liz and I took a three hour lunch break one day (I love my job) and went to various jewelers looking for earrings. When we finally found a pair to purchase the lady sure did talk our ears off. She gave us a whole schpeal about a friend she didn't trust with her husband... yadda, yadda, yadda. When it was all said and done she simply stated, "Girls, when you find good friends, hold on to them!" 

This picture is from an evening out this summer. Megan and Jamie were in town so we all got together. Thought I would share this in honor of the lady at the jewelry store. "When you find good friends, hold on to them!" 

 I have been friends with Heather and Megan since sixth grade (13 years!) 

I have been friends with Lizzie, Mel, and Jamie since ninth grade (10 years!) 

Two truths and a lie...

Two truths and a lie was the good ole game we busted out periodically throughout the day. It proved to be quite entertaining. 

This is on a moving train, the trains in Hermann are on time,

 Melissa was super proud of this pic. 

Lie: The trains in Hermann are on time. 

Melissa loved this stranger, I am offering him homemade mix which he gladly consumed, my sisters were not stingy in letting me take some of this mix. 

Lie: My sisters were not stingy in letting me take some of this mix. 

These are sincere faces, we waited at this spot for a train for two hours, we enjoyed the company while around us when this pic was taken. 

Lie: We enjoyed the company... according to Lizzie, Andy was right about him. 

We watch many, many winos fall down that hill, this is the center of Hermann that was busy not five minutes before, this is three in the morning in Hermann. 

Lie: This is three in the morning in Hermann. 

Melissa was enjoying this game of slaps, Jessie's name is long overdue, I asked everyone to look at the camera and this is all the response I received. 

Lie: Melissa is enjoying this game of slaps. 

Not your average day at the winery...

So... I have some advice, just from personal experience. Octoberfest in Hermann, MO is not like your average day at the winery. Octoberfest is a different ballgame... pretty much a step down from Mardi Gras. 

A small group of girlfriends and I went to Hermann for Mel's 25th Birthday celebration. Although we are 25 our parents still drive us around sometimes.... So after a few mimosas we all loaded up in Gino's suburban on Saturday morning and headed to Hermann. 

The Group 

High School Friends, Liz, Mel, and me

Mel laughed a lot... Jess drank a lot

So... we sat on this hill all day and watched people. 

Melissa would say, "Girl in jeans and gray is going down. Wait for it, wait for it..." 

When the girl actually fell (which happened often) Mel would just crack up. 

Is it sad that we thought that was just so fun. 

A good ole friday off!

So people say that in the real world you don't often get Fridays off. I think that is bogus. I, for one, never want to work in the real world. One of the many glorious parts of collegiate life is fall break. Today was fall break for Missouri Baptist University which means my usual three hour work day was turned into zero hours. I had a great day filled with my favorite people. 

The kids were off school, so I spent the morning over there making special treats. I love this crew. It was fun to spend the time with my sisters and favorite kiddos. 

My little man. A few observations: 

1. the Schnucks sticker he received from the counter during a long and interesting trip to the grocery store. Grocery shopping with kids is a different ball game. Especially male kids. 

2. The soap: He was supposed to be washing his hands. When I looked in to the bathroom he proudly assured me, "Aunt Tatie, I made it all shiny". 

The kids watch as mom mixes the ingredients... they have to pay 

extra careful attention: she doesn't cook much!

Getting their hands in on the action. 

It's amazing Tay is a double 0 jean size cause she sure is digging right into whatever white chocolate was left in the bowl. Just like her Aunt Katie... minus the double 0 bit. 

All the delicious goodies... and the kids are still eating dry cereal. 

One of my favorite quotes from the eventful morning: As I was working out on Amy's elliptical machine the kids sat next to me asking twenty questions. During my thirty minute work out I probably read for about five minutes because they kept me busy the rest of the time.

Laney: "Aunt Katie, do you think mama could do that?" 

Me: "This? Yeah, mama could do this." 

Laney: "Yeah,.... hmm... I guess she could, but it sure would be funny." 

(Guess she knows grandma isn't super athletic)

We Won!

We had our second (and last) game of fall ball last night against Washington University. It was awesome. We won 16-4 and the girls played so well. I was very proud of them and got very excited for the spring season. After the game we enjoyed dinner at Bread Co before heading back to campus... not going to lie, this college coaching gig is great. 

Just some more of my favorites from Colorado.

It was on this trip that I thought maybe staying in flat, not mountainous, not wild flowery, Missouri was a big mistake after all. 

Here's some pictures from the road between Vail and Steamboat. 

An answer to prayer... here's the pictures to prove it.

My MoBap team had our first game last Thursday night. I kept telling the girls there was nothing to be nervous about... it's just fall ball. However, if I am honest I was a little nervous. Here are the few reasons why: 

1. I was in uniform. 

2. We were playing my friend's team

3. I had lots of "guests" at the game. 

4. I wanted a boost of confidence for the team 

5. I wanted Susie to do well 

should I go on? I mean I guess I was a lot nervous. Let me just say, HUGE success. The first game was great. I loved playing and I love the girls. It was just awesome. 

Susie is a softball catcher turned goalie via a scholarship I offered her. (She was a Young Life kid from Cape). This is my friend, Mel, who played goalie in high school. Mel's been helping Susie a bit. The team is convinced they are on a secret episode of "MADE" and Susie is getting made into a lacrosse goalie. Pretty funny. 

Teaching Susie how to put on gloves before the game. 

At one point we were winning. Mr. Edwards captured that moment for us. 

First team time out. 

Susie gets some mid game advice from Mel. 

Next Game: Tuesday night at the old CBC high school vs. Washington University. 

Who am I to presume...

Sometimes I try to presume what is best for me in certain situations. I give God a timeline and when, in fact, He doesn't react as I suspect He should I decide what my road map should be. So often I want to be in control, but every time I find out that I, in fact, am not. 

I'm sure this isn't the most profound thing anyone has ever heard. I would imagine we all see this momentarily, daily, weekly, yearly. God gives us all those "Aha!" moments when we see what He was doing all along. I say all this because there are often times when I feel exceptionally blessed. I tell my close friends how "spoiled" I am, not to sound cocky, but to simply point out how immeasureable my God's love is for me. The most recent situation that causes me to be blown away is my current job. Three years ago I was in college regretting that I hadn't forked out the extra dough to play a college sport. You see, when I was going off to college I simply couldn't fathom turning down a full academic scholarship to pay $23,000 at another school just so I could play field hockey. So, as I began to regret this decision during my junior year of college I made a simple change to my facebook account... (as we all know, whatever is on facebook is absolute truth!) For about six months all my about me said was, " I want to go back in time and be a college athlete". You see, I thought I had missed it. I was getting into watching sports and longing for the days of being apart of a team and playing. 

Blessing Number One: When I came home from college I got offered a job as the head varsity lacrosse coach at Kirkwood. I coached there for three years and LOVED it. I promise you it is what kept me going during those early days back in the STL after college. 

Blessing Number Two: Just as God ran out of His time limit to give me a new focus for my life I decided to move to Colorado. I won't say this was the worst decision of my life, just the decision I thought best for the time. Right before I moved God shows up yet again with a different plan. I was offered head coach at Missouri Baptist University. Although every adventurous bone in my body wanted to flee to Rocky Mountain High I accepted the gift I was being offered and cancelled my lease in Fort Collins. 

Blessing Number Three: Last night was my first game as a collegiate coach. I was VERY apprehensive about it. The last coach didn't recruit much, so I was left with a team of 10 players. I recruited an old Young Life girl to be my goalie which brought the grand total to 11...little problem: it takes 12 girls to field a team. SO I played with them. I was NOT super excited about it because I just wanted to coach. However, after a goal I was running back to the center circle and had an epiphany. I just sort of stopped and thought, "God, you are funny!"... Flashback to my facebook about me in 2005. "I want to go back in time and be a college athlete". Go back in time? Ha... God is thinking, "That won't be necessary". 

It hasn't all been roses, but I will say I am amazed on a daily basis by how spoiled I am in how God blesses me. Who am I to presume I know what the plan should be? 

Balloon Glow

One of the biggest blessings of staying in St. Louis and having a flexible job is being able to spend more time with the Frost family. A few weekends ago we went down to Forest Park for the balloon glow. It was a delightful affair. The kids were both amazed and terrified by the huge balloons and the loud noise of the fire. I am not sure how I have missed out on this for so long, but definitely one of the best St. Louis events. 

Balloons being inflated. 

The sun setting behind a balloon. 

My favorite 

The Frosts

Amy and the little Frosties in the basket with the fire lit

A Good Ole Western Rodeo Part II

I forgot these pictures... and for some reason I think they are great. 

1

2

3 ... and Done!

I thought this was darling... but we actually would become friends with this little duo. 

Me and Liz at the rodeo. 

A Good Ole' Rodeo

This summer on my trip to Vail, Colorado I decided to check out a good ole Western rodeo. With the help of a margarita and a few darling kids, it was an absolute blast. I am not a huge animal picture person, but I kind of enjoy these. 

Cowboy in training... taking off the lassos. 

There are a number of great things about this pic: 

1. The kids are laying in manure... on their stomachs. 

2. The calfs are staring them down. 

3. In just a minute the kids will jump up and chase the calfs around the ring trying to grab the ribbon off their tail... classic. 

More Photos from Tammy's Wedding

My sisters: Amy, Steph and Me. 

Dancing with my dad. 

The beautiful flower girl. 

The music ended up being a bit much for him. 

The whole family at the rehearsal dinner. 

Amy, Kara (pregnant), Tammy, Mom, Dad, TJ, Steph, and Me.