christmas traditions

tonight as i sit here in the quietness of the night, i am trying to be thankful for memories that i have. a normal christmas eve in the past would have included 8 kids running around, eating pizza together, practicing our "christmas lights" quartet, and lots of noiseeeee...wonderful noise!! tonight, for the first time in my 33 years, i spent christmas eve with my family and my parents. it was quieter. it was different. but i am thankful that God has given me sisters and a brother. they are still alive, they are healthy, they are saved, and they are just in different parts of the country. it's ok. we have great memories to think back on, and we all still love each other so much. going along with differences... a normal christmas since i've been married (10 years) would include going to adam's parents or sister's house and spending christmas afternoon with them. this year there are no other chase's in nh. it's different. it's hard for adam. but again...they are still alive and healthy, and we love each other. i am trying to just enjoy where God has everyone right now. i know that God is in complete control of our lives, and i will embrace that. i will trust HIM. challenging, but so worth it.

i still miss you erika, ronnie and melanie!!! you are the best brother and sisters a girl could EVER ask for! thank you so much for all the amazing christmases we've spent together! i love you!



as a kid, we always got to open one gift on christmas eve (pj's) so we've kept it up with our boys too. so much fun! the boys loved opening the gifts, and were thrilled with their wii pants, and celtics robes.







ps. i am still enjoying my new video camera!!

church family

what do people do when they don't have a church family? i honestly don't know. God has blessed us so much with such amazing family at our church. they are so thoughtful and generous and we are so thankful. here's a little video of our boys opening gifts from our sweet friends from church.
here they are holding their gifts...

my little man

i am so blessed. honstly. i feel so incredibly grateful. i have an amazing husband whose goal is to please God. i have 2 healthy boys who are trying to be just like their daddy. tonight, i was so proud to watch my little man lead his basketball team to a VICTORY! he scored 15 of the 25 points, and most importantly...had a humble, God-honoring attitude the whole time. here's a little tiny bit of the game. (my incredible husband bought me an awesome video camera! i love it.)

James 4:6

my thought for the day.

"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." James 4:6

interestingly, only by pride comes contention. hmmm...when i choose to argue i am being prideful. when i am being prideful, GOD IS RESISTING ME! do i want to be there? i don't think so, and neither do you. come on now, be honest. you don't.
so the next time you are tempted to answer with a smart remark, or let yourself be easily annoyed...ask yourself. "is this worth having God resist me? or do i want his grace". easy answer.

and that's one to grow on. :)

too cute for words

fun in the snow

sometimes i pretend i am an amazingly-fun-creative-hip-homeschool-mom.
this is me pretending...
i filled water bottles with water and put different color food coloring in them. then had the boys try to make designs in the snow with it. the pictures make it look cooler than it was.
maybe someday i will be as cool as erika and jackie. until then, enjoy my pictures :)

picture of the day

riley loves having crazy hair after he gets out of the shower. he is a little ham!!

monkey in my bed

i came into my room the other day to find this.



if that isn't a wide open invitation to snuggle buggle, i don't know what is!

baby it's cooolllld outside

so we had our first snow! and since this picture we have had more. i gotta say. i don't LOVE snow. but i do love it around christmas time! i love that my boys can have the best of both worlds with the beach in the summer and the snow in the winter! they were so excited to go out and play in it!
*little side-note here. we have a thrift store nearby that we love going to and we snagged aj's columbia winter coat for 2.00 and ry's lands end one for 1.00! i gotta tell ya...it's been tough for me to even think about paying more than 5 bucks for anything lately!! :)

then they came in and wanted to warm up with some hot cocoa. is this just like a hallmark movie or what?




then they started helping nanny decorate the little christmas tree that they had picked out. i am NOT making this up people :)




and all this while nat king cole sang "the christmas song" in the background. ok. i don't know if that last part was true.

i just had to end with a picture of the very nativity set that i grew up playing with. and that is what it's all about.


ps. it is killing me to post pictures without being able to edit them! my laptop is still not working, and that is where my beloved photoshop is!

thank you Charles M. Schulz

i was just praying and thanking God that his Holy Word could be read all over homes in America tonight. i loved watching charlie brown christmas with my family tonight. it was amazing to see that in spite of all the efforts to get RID OF JESUS during the season of his birth, we were able to sit down in front of the tv and watch something that was not having me look at my kids thinking...oooh, i hope that they didn't catch that joke :/

God's Word won't return void. don't you forget it. so thank you charles schulz, and Bill Melendez and everyone else involved with charlie brown's christmas.

and while i'm rambling on here, as i so often do. can i please remind everyone tonight that obedience to God = FREEDOM. ok. i just had to say that. i know it is so tempting to think otherwise, and it is so dangerous. if i was the type to have a verse for the day. this would be it.

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."

sin is deceitful. it has you thinking all kinds of crazy garbage. i have been convicted of that and reminded through my Esther study how mean i can be. and that meanness is NOT ENJOYABLE - but somehow i am deceived into thinking that it is. ugh. as peter would say, Lord, depart from me, i am a sinful man!! how true. dang it...i do not want to be hardened by sin's deceitfulness...not me!! so PLEASE - encourage me!! remind me when i am saying things i shouldn't be saying. if i start a sentence out "i probably shouldn't say this but..." STOP ME!!! for the love of peter! i don't want any part of it!!

so thankful tonight for the reminder that God's Word is truth and that obeying it is my only way to freedom.

that's it. i'm done...for now :)

comfortable is not in the Bible

i find it interesting that we try to make ourselves "comfortable" in life as if that is something to be attained. it is not! the word comfortable is never mentioned in the Bible...ever. sometimes i think that i am at fault here. i just think that i have maybe focused too much on being comfortable. i am not referring to literal comfort as in, sweat pants and a sweatshirt, which i LOVE! but just living a comfortable life. i think Jesus calls us to something totally different, which could be why the world pushes it so much! we start to think of that as normal, and like it's something we desire. i don't want to desire it. i want to sacrifice, i want to take risks, i want to take a step of faith to a place i don't feel comfortable! do you?? what are you doing right now to be sure that you are following Jesus 100% regardless of your comfort level? is it possible that maybe i am supposed to be uncomfortable? or that maybe the place that i imagine would be the most uncomfortable would in fact be the most comfortable i have ever been? i want to do things for God that go beyond my comfort zone. and what does comfort zone even mean?? is there a literal line drawn that i am unwilling to go over? i am going to change that. i challange you to do the same. take time to think of things besides your next vacation, or your next bonus check and think about a way that you can take a risk for Jesus. don't you think it would be worth it? and i don't want to miss what Jesus is holding out for me to take if i would just take one step farther! take that step!!

pizza pizza

i got to spend a little time with my niece last night, and we had a great time making pizza together!







guilty?

birthday

here is the cake that my amazing mother bought me. don't worry she also MADE me a chocolate cake, she also made me dinner, she also took me out for breakfast (my dad too) and she also bought me presents (my dad too). she is one amazing mom!


so another year has come and gone. somehow- without me realizing it, i have turned 33-years old. i remember playing house when i was little. me and my sister and our friends (kellie and katy) would always pick how old we "were". we were never more than 19! even in our very young minds, 19 was the oldest we wanted to be! i can hardly remember how i even got here. i think that turning 30 was pretty difficult for me. we had just moved into my parents house with the plans to move into our brand-new, beautiful, everything i've ever dreamed of- house. only to find out it wasn't going to happen. here i was. 30-years-old, 2 kids, living with my parents!! what would i ever say if i bumped into someone from high school and they asked the dreaded "what have you been up to" question?!?! oh man. it's weird how people's opinons seem to matter so much sometimes. i think i have learned a lot, even in these last 3 years.
see...the main thing is confidence in Jesus. for real. this verse is amazing. For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.Psalm 71:5 that sums up my life. God has been my confidence since my youth! and guess what? he still is!! i will say one thing. if i do not have my time first thing in the morning, my hot cup of coffee in one hand, my Bible in the other...my day is HORRIBLE! every single time! i am not exaggerating (yes i googled "exaggerate" to make sure i spelled it right! it still looks weird to me!)
i HAVE to have my hope in him! sometimes i just wonder about what i am doing. in life. ya know? but for me, it's just one step at a time.

riley wants me to stop what i am doing and play a game with him? ok. i will. aj wants to show me what he just drew? i will drop everything and show him that i think it is the most amazing thing ever. adam wants me to go and get him and english muffin? ok. i'll do it right now, because i know that i would want him to do the same for me.
it's all about keeping things in perspective. my age doesn't matter. it's what i am doing for Christ. i believe that with all my heart. time is so short, and i have one goal. i make it my goal to please HIM. i have to keep that in front of me at all times.
and besides...everyone says i look young for my age anyways! :)

christmas tree

when me and adam first got married we had to decide what kind of tree we were getting. he grew up with an artificial one, and we always went and cut our own down! quite a difference! so we started out the first few years cutting them down. now we just go and pick out an already cut, fresh tree. i love it. it smells so good and is so beautiful! this year we decided to get a small tree. we have a really small living space, so i wanted something that wouldn't take up a ton of space. we picked out a perfect one and it makes our room look so cozy and festive!
the boys were so excited to hang all the ornaments and i loved watching them. adam put up the ones that had his name on them, and i put up my favorites!


this is one of my favorites. my aunt linda made it for me when i was little, and it is very special to me. (i tend to be a bit on the sentimental side!!)

this is another one of my favorites. my parents got it for me when i was little, and i have always loved it. i don't know why, i just do :)


christmas has always been special to me. obviously because of the reminder of my Savior. but also because my 2 sisters and my brother and our parents have always been very close. growing up, we didn't have a lot of money, but i don't remember even knowing that! i love that about my parents. what a great gift to give your kids. we knew that we were loved and taken care of. we always got sentimental, special gifts and i always loved christmas. this year will be different. my older sister will be in virginia, my brother will be in pennsylvania and my younger sister will be in florida. it will be the first year EVER that NONE of my siblings - will be home for christmas. i already said i was sentimental!! i have a little bit of a stomach ache just thinking about it!! i know it's not about that. it's about the birth of Christ. it's still hard to think about a christmas without them. this is where trusting God comes in. i am grateful that i am with my parents, and that i have an incredible husband and 2 amazing boys. i have a lot to be thankful for. that's for sure. but i'm just saying...

advent calendar

check out the online advent calendar our church is doing for kids.
calendar