Malley is 9

Well it is official my baby is nine. I can not even believe how quickly time as gone. As I sit here thinking back the past nine years, I am amazed at the young lady she has become. She truly is an incredible gift from God and I am so thankful. So to honor Malley today I thought I would list nine thing about her that I love.



1. Sensitive - She has a very tender heart.
2. Creative - She is a great seamstress.
3. Funny - She has a natural sense of humor.
4. Confident - She believes in herself.
5. Positive - she always see the good.
6. Smart - She is a thinker and it is usually outside the box.
7. Caring - She openly and honestly cares for people.
8. Beautiful- She definitely gets her good looks for her dad.
9. Loving - She has the most beautiful heart and has a love for others that is incredible.
There are so many more things that I love about Malley but these are nine of my favorite. She is an amazing little girl and I am so blessed that she calls me mom. As I have sat here and took a trip down memory lane I again want to thank my Heaven Father for loving me so much that He would gift me such an amazing gift.

Happy Birthday Malley! Mommy loves you and I am so proud of the young lady that you are.

Faithful Friday

Well for the record, my children have been wonderful this week. YEA! I have really been convicted this week since my post last Friday I feel like I don't' praise my children enough. I do want to share those trying times but I also need to share how extremely fabulous they are. So in spite of a long, chaotic, sleepless week, my kids have been awesome. Tomorrow is our biggest fun raiser of the year at Malley and Mason school we call it our "Back to School Bash" it is a huge production with a Parent/Teacher Volley ball game, inflatables, games, face painting, tattoos, obstacle coarse, basket raffle, hay ride, and lots of good food (if anyone is in our area tomorrow for 11-2 please come out and join us, the kids will love it.) It is also a lot of work.

To add to my stress we are having some teacher changes at school and Malley is getting a NEW 3rd grade teacher. Which I am a little (lot) upset about. We are going on the 3rd week of school and she is getting a new teacher a brand new teacher from a different school. Third grade is a HUGE year, they are learning many new and more sophisticated skill (multiplication, writing paragraphs, etc.). So needless to say I am concerned and worried.

After saying all of that I do want to say PRAISE GOD for our little morning devotion, this morning it was titled "The Kind of Peace That Jesus Offers Us" (although the devotion is intended for the kids, I get so much out of it. God is so Good! He knows He has to speak to me on a very juvenile level). Anyway, it talked about John 14:27 how Jesus offers us peace, not as the world gives, but as He alone gives. How true is that, He offers peace we just have to accept it. I am accepting His peace this morning and trusting that He is going to take care of all my concerns and worries.

Our Heavenly Father is so completely FAITHFUL, he again sent me exactly what I needed. So to anyone who has doubt, concerns or worries. Accept the peace that only He can give and trust that He is going to be FAITHFUL.

Faithful Friday

Last night was not a great night in the Chastain household. My sweet almost 9 year old daughter, Miss Malley Shea had a major melt down last night at bedtime. I mean full blown temper tantrum crying, screaming, shouting (for the record this is NOT normal behavior for her). Which let to me getting angry with her for her very inappropriate behavior. Then this morning at 1:00am she wakes me to let me know she has peed in her bed (this has never happened before). Well this really irritates me, first of all I have to get up strip she sheets, clean up the mattress, give her a bath and because her bed is wet she has to sleep with me and Keith. So after all of this, I am mad (I get NO special mommy awards for this). We get settle in bed and I can not go to sleep so I get up and watch the Olympics til 3:00am.

Our 6:00am alarm goes off everyone (even Mason) gets up very well. Each morning while Malley and Mason are eating their breakfast I will read a short devotion to them before school. Well this morning our devotion was titled "NO MORE TANTRUMS" It talked about how we need to control our tempers and not let our tempers control us. So we were able to talk about how we all need to control our tempers (even Mommy) and how in the bible it tells us that it is foolish to become angry and that it is wise to remain calm. So not only did Malley need to hear this but ya know what so did I.

So this morning I just want to say Thank You Lord that you were so faithful to send me and Malley a very timely word this morning on tantrums and how important it is that we control our temper.

Quote from our little devotional book "When you lose your temper...you lose. This quote really stuck with my kids. Cause they sure don't want to be a loser.

Summer... Short and Sweet

Well, our summer is officially over. Today is the first day of school, I can't believe how quickly the summer when by. I was not ready for this at all. Malley in the 3rd grade and Mason in 1st you would think that I would have a handle on my emotions. But NO it was so much more emotional than I ever would have expected. They are truly growing up way TO fast and seeing this makes me especially for thankful summers. Although our summer was short it was definitely sweet.