Before and After

Before...

So...I love before and afters. This past week we decided that Bailey needed to get her hair cut. It's been a very long time and her hair was getting stringy. So we went to a local walk-in salon and CHOP-CHOP. They cut about 4 inches off! But it sure turned out cute. What do you think?

After....

My funny boy

Since the moment Chase started talking, he has said some very funny things. I really wish I could go back in time and write every single one down. Recently he's said some doozies, so I decided this was the best place to get them documented. It might bring some laughs later!

**Bailey loves her diary. So she takes it everywhere. One day we went outside to work in the yard and she left her diary outside. While we were walking in, Chase said, "Bailey, don't forget your diarrhea!" EWWWW!

**We came home from visiting a friend and Chase came to me and said, "Mommy, she called me a bad name." I asked him what name it was and he couldn't remember. He stood there for a long time thinking and thinking. Finally he said, "Oh, I remember it now. She called me a bottom face." I had no idea what he was trying to say until Bailey said, "No - it was butt-head!" Ok - so he is a visual child. What can I say?

Papa has been playing the guitar a lot lately and has taught the kids the song "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea." Well, Chase got a guitar for Christmas and loves to play it. Here's his version of Papa's song...

What's so great about Chase is that he's not embarrassed to let us laugh with (or at) him. He just laughs along with us. And boy, do I LOVE hearing him laugh. Even in the worst mood, it can bring a smile to your face.

Oh, how I love this boy.

Memorial Day

Today was one of the most fun Memorial Days that I can remember. Amy Saunders invited us to spend the day with her (very large) family at their Harrison Lake cabin. What an awesome family! Those Mattheiss people sure know how to have a good time. Both Danny and Billy had their boats for all to enjoy. The girls right away were so excited to ride in the front of the boat with Morgan. But Chase was VERY afraid. I asked him what he was afraid of and he said, "Sharks!" I assured him sharks were not in the lake and then he said he was afraid of crabs. It took all the strength I had to not laugh out loud!

Randy told him right away that he didn't have to ride if he didn't want to. I kept thinking he'd see us riding and then decide on his own he wanted to ride. But no - that's not what happened. After several hours, he was still very determined that he WAS NOT going to ride.

Finally, Randy decided he just needed to make him go. As a very wise daddy, he knew the point at which he needed to push Chase. He so badly wanted Chase to understand that this was not a healthy fear, and that he needed to face it head on.

This is what he looked like as Randy gently pulled him in the boat and started putting his life jacket on...

You'll have to look past Jordan - sorry about that - but you can see how upset Chase was. Randy placed Chase in his lap and just held him as tightly as he could. I knew this must have been hard for Randy. And I'm sure he was probably wondering if it was the right thing to do.

They seemed to be gone for a very long time, but when they came back, I couldn't believe my eyes. Chase was waving at me and smiling like crazy as they pulled up to the dock!

Randy told me later that after several minutes passed when Chase said, "Ok daddy. You can let go of me now." Then he got caught up in all the wonderful things that one experiences on a boat ride and he forgot what he was afraid of.

The first thing he said to me when he got off the boat was, "Mommy, I'm scared of nothing now!" You can't imagine how proud I was of him at that moment.

Once we got all settled, Randy told me that while he was out on the boat, he told Chase that our enemy, Satan, tells us lies all the time. He wants us to believe his lies, and not believe what God has told us. He told Chase he wanted him to remember how scared he was, and that next time he could see that his fear was a result of the lies of Satan.

What a great truth that I really needed to think about! Right now our family is facing unemployment. Is that scary? YES!! Does that cause me to want to believe Satan's lies that we could lose everything and end up on the street? YES!! But if I stay in the Word and stay surrendered to God, He takes that fear away and replaces it with His promises that He will provide our needs.

Well, we truly had a wonderful day. I'm so thankful for friends who knew exactly how to make us feel so welcome. But I did miss my own family. Two of my siblings are overseas. One is in another state, and another was with her own set of friends. Sigh. Heaven will be so wonderful - we'll never have to be separated or say goodbye again. Looking forward to that day!

A New World

So - - everyone in the world (it seems) has their own blog - - except for me. My 11 y.o. even has one. It's time that I just took a dive into this unknown, new world. How hard can it be???

VERY hard! I am excited, though, that I am endeavoring to do something so much BIGGER than me. Something that will challenge me. Something that will leave my mark on history.

I'm also realizing that my previous hobby of scrapbooking might evolve into something digital now instead of actually on paper. This will be a major learning curve - something I will have to adjust to and see if I truly do like.

So here I go on this journey. Let's hope I can keep up with my kid!! ;)