T bar M

I'm off to T bar M for the rest of the summer! There's a pretty good chance I won't be posting regularly, but I will at least try to get a couple in here and there. I love TbarM, and I am so excited to be there!!

GA Camp

Last week was GA Camp. WHOOP! I think this was either my 5th or 6th summer to take these girls to camp. I love it! Here's a few pics of the week. Aren't they just precious?!?! You want to know the best part of the week? One of our 6th graders accepted Christ as her Savior! Praise the Lord!!

These three girls came to visit on Thursday. What a treat that was!! We hung out at the Snack Shack and ate snowcones for most of the afternoon!

The little girl in the brown is Ellie. She isn't from my church, but I have been looking forward to camp all year so that I could see her again. I met Ellie last summer at GA Camp. I was just drawn to her and she was drawn to me as well. We were big buddies all during camp. I wondered why we had such an instant bond most of the week. On the last night of camp last year, one of her sponsors came up and told me her story. Ellie was adopted from Russia not too long before she came to camp. It was interesting to hear that Ellie usually doesn't get attached to people like she did to me. That was a special moment for me....and she is such a special girl in my life.

Locks of Love

Last Thursday I cut my 10 inch ponytails (2 of them!) to donate to Locks of Love. Hannah, a sweet girl from church, and I have been planning on this for over a year. This is the short version of the "why" for donating.

My sophomore year in college, I donated my hair for the first time. It was such a neat experience for me, I knew I wanted to eventually donate again. When I came home after donating to LOL, Hannah was full of questions about why I chose to donate my long hair. We talked about what they do with the ponytails and who will end up getting them. It wasn't long after that that her mom told me that Hannah decided to donate her hair too. So a couple of months later, I went with Hannah to donate her hair to LOL.

A little over a year passed and I didn't think much of donating my hair again. When I returned home after my first summer in China, I cut my hair short again (but not for LOL). Hannah asked me if we could grow our hair out and donate it together. Of course I told her "Yes!" So began the process for the second time except this time I wasn't doing it alone which made it much more fun.

Several months into growing out my hair, I came across the Bramblett family blog. One of their sweet daughters, Ayla, was dealing with childhood cancer. Each time I would brush or fix my hair, I found myself thinking about and praying for this sweet girl who was battling cancer. Ayla's smile always brings joy to my heart each time I see her picture. I continued to pray for her as the months passed and my hair was growing. Hannah soon began reading their blog and praying for Ayla too.

So this time, Hannah and I donated our hair in honor of Ayla. At times when I would get frustrated with the inconvenience of long hair, I would think back to Ayla knowing that someone like her would benefit from my ponytails. It's a crazy thought!

Before

Cutting my ponytailsTada! They're gone!!

Hannah's long hairBeautiful Hannah

We took Ayla's picture with us when we donated...since it was in honor of her! She is such a beauty and I love this picture of Ayla!

Halle (Hannah's sister) helping us hold Ayla's picture!
The fun didn't stop there. Jenny and my friend Megan came to watch me donate my hair, and they BOTH ended up donating theirs as well!!

VBS Competition

I wanted to post the outcome of the VBS competition before I left for camp on Monday, but I just ran out of time. So here it is.

We had a great week at VBS. Twenty boys and girls accepted Christ as their Savior. What could be any better than that?!?! I mentioned before that we had a competition going on between the girls and the boys and that I was going to represent the girls team. Well, the outcome wasn't what I wanted. We tied...so both Brian and I had to swallow a fish. From the very beginning of the week, the kids were introduced to Outrigger, the Beta fish. The competition was whether the boys or girls brought the most offering (determined by weight). Monday the boys won...Tuesday the girls DOMINATED...Wednesday it was a little closer, but the girls one again...Thursday was very close but the boys won. It all came down to Friday's offering since we were tied 2-2.

All week the kids thought that one of us would have to swallow Outrigger, but we really only had to swallow a goldfish (thank goodness!!). I knew I was in trouble when I saw not 1 but 2 goldfish on the stage before closing ceremonies....

The following videos are how the event unfolded...

Katie Swallows a Goldfish Part 1

The white buckets are full of the offering for the day. Obviously, the girls beat the guys (by a lot) which meant that the girls won the competition!!

Katie Swallows a Goldfish Part 2

Just as Brian was getting ready to swallow the goldfish, Bro. Kevin reminded us of the "friend" factor that I completely forgot about. Once again, my fate of eating the fish was up in the air....

Katie Swallows a Goldfish Part 3

It's a little difficult to tell, but the fiesty little goldfish decided to swim to the bottom of the cup. Once all of the water was in my mouth, I realized that the goldfish was still in the cup...SICK!! So I had so swallow it without water.

So there you have it...I swallowed a goldfish! As far as offering is concerned, the girls WON the competition. Supposedly, the "friend" factor evened it out....but I'm not so sure about that!! I don't have a final total for VBS offering, but it is all going to a team from our church that will be traveling to Ecuador this summer. I am glad I was able to be a part of it...even if it was in this way.

Swallowing the fish was gross, but knowing that people will hear the name of Jesus (maybe for the first time) made it competely worth it.

Out for the week.

I'm leaving in a few minutes to take the little girls from church to camp. I have a couple of posts I want to do, but they will have to wait until I get back. You guys have a great week, and I will be back soon!!!

Locks of Love Tomorrow!!

See my long hair??? Tomorrow at 1:30 it will all be gone. It's finally time to donate it to Locks of Love. Right now, I'm not sure if I am ready to part with it. :(

VBS starts tomorrow!

VBS has always been one of my favorite parts of the summer. This summer is no different. All of the hard work of decorating pays off when I see the kiddos learning truths from God's Word. I've helped in many different ways throughout the years (every year since 7th grade). This year I will be teaching the music class. I love music because I get to be around all of the kids instead of being with one specific age group.

This year at VBS holds a new experience for me that could be good or very, very bad! Each year there is a competition between the girls and the guys. I am representing the girls this year. What's the prize, you ask?!? If the girls win, I don't have to swallow a live fish. But if the girls lose, I'll be SWALLOWING A LIVE FISH on Friday afternoon....SICK!! Oh the things I will do for the kiddos at church. I'm hoping....and PRAYING that the girls win our friendly competition!!

It's gonna be a great week at Outrigger Island learning about God's unshakeable Truth!

All About Jenn

First off....graduation! It was long and hot, but I guess that's to be expected at an outside graduation at the end of May. Meme and Peeps came in to visit and stayed all weekend with us.

The whole family at graduation

The traditional "SEE-ster pic"
Second...and much more exciting news...Jenn got accepted to A&M! Her acceptance letter to Blinn Team came in the mail yesterday. She will take classes at both A&M and Blinn for her freshman year and then automatically transfer into A&M as a full-time student! CONGRATS AGGIE GIRL!

Apple Goes to Thailand

Tomorrow, tonight at 9:20 our time, Apple leaves for Thailand. I'm so proud of her and all she has accomplished. Apple is studying abroad for two years in Bangkok, Thailand. I called her last night to see how she is doing, and she told me her next stop was to "fry" to America. Boy, I can't wait for the day when she is able to "fry" to America for a visit! I know that our Father has GREAT things in store for this sweet girl, and I know that she loves Him with everything. All I have to say is, "Watch out, Bangkok! Apple's coming!" I'm not sure if Thailand is going to be ready for her!!

Lazy Days of Summer....Not Quite!

***Updated with pictures***

It's more like the BUSY days of summer! Last Friday was my last day of teaching :(. It was sad saying goodbye the kiddos. Although it was sad to leave, I was thankful for an early dismissal day; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get all my "stuff" home before Jenny graduated. Trent came down and met me at the house when I got out of school. We enjoyed McAlister's (one of my favorites) for one last time before leaving College Station before loading down his truck with my stuff. Amazing how much "stuff" accumulates over 5 years. There was no way it was all going to fit in my bug. Thanks for coming to help, Trent!

We drove in town at 6:50 and had to leave for graduation at 7:15....it was the quickest I think I have every gotten ready in my life. Graduation was long....and HOT! You gotta hate having graduation outside sitting in stadium bleachers even though there was a breeze. Meme and Peeps came in town for graduation and ended up staying until Monday morning. It was fun having them around for a few days. I'm not sure they would agree seeing as we put them both to work all weekend on VBS stuff at the church. Graduation pics to come soon...they are on mom's camera.

Peeps

Vacation Bible School has kept us busy from Saturday until well, tonight....we are hoping to finish up decorating the gym tonight. Let's rephrase that...I am hoping to finish up the gym tonight because I don't think I can handle being up there until midnight many more nights!! I love decorating for VBS but it's tiring. This year I ended up with most of the painting, and last night I had 4 AMAZING painting helpers! These kiddos are so much fun, and I can honestly say our surf boards wouldn't have turned out nearly as cute if it wasn't for their abstract art....I don't do "abstract"....I need lines and structure! Once again....more pics of the finished product are on mom's camera; so I will finish this up later!

My Hayden, Hannah, Xiao Katie, and Halle

Handprint SurfboardHalle wanted to be my special helper all night. She helped the others paint, but then she wanted to help me clean the brushes afterwards. She is most definitely the cutest (and my favorite) almost 5 year old I know! After the hard work, we (Halle and me) baked cookies using the "Big Oven" for everyone.

More to come soon....Hopefully I will be posting more often (but no promises). Next week is VBS and the following week is GA Camp.

Oh ya....the "quoteable" for the week....
I spent the day with Hannah (9), Hayden (7), and Halle (almost 5) yesterday. While we were in the car, this conversation with Hannah and her mom took place.

Mom (to Hayden): "Ms. Tammy has to go see the doctor next week."
Hannah: "Ya, she is going to get her thorax removed!"
Mom (to Hannah): "Umm...I'm pretty sure it's her thyroid, not thorax."
Hannah: "Oh ya. Isn't a thorax part of a bug?"