Tuesday Night Fun

Chase is having swimming lessons this week, and tonight Chad and Maranda kindly gave me a ride to watch him. He did so well!!! I was so proud of him. He's turning out to be a regular little swimmer! The kid would stay in water all day if you let him.

He started out in the five foot end, swimming about two or three feet to the ladder ALL BY HIMSELF!!! After that, they moved to about ten feet away from the ladder. He was a little unsure at first, so they let him use a noodle to help him swim, but after the first couple of times, he bravely discarded the noodle and swam by himself once again. He did so well!
Before leaving the five foot section, Chase's teacher had all the kids use a noodle to do a backstroke. Chase had a little bit of difficulty getting the hang of this, but after a few times, he was doing excellent!!!

After they left the five foot section, they went to the three foot section, where the kids dove for rings. Chase had absolutely no qualms about jumping right in after his ring. They eventually moved the the four foot section, where they had the kids jump into the water and swim all the way to the ladder in the three foot section. Chase enjoyed this part quite a bit; his favorite way to jump in is doing a cannonball!

Right before it was time to leave, the teachers took the kids over to the slides and let them go down them. At first, all of them were a little hesitant, but after a little while Chase and another boy bravely decided to try the slides. Once Chase went down once, he was hooked!! He kept wanting to go down over and over again! The teachers finally had to tell him that it was time to go, which disappointed him; However, he cheered back up when they told him that he could do it again tomorrow.

After leaving the pool, Chad Maranda, Chase, Cole, and I stopped to get ice cream at the Dairy Bar in Hebron. Chase got a vanilla cone, Cole got a strawberry cone (or pink ice cream; as he likes to call it!), I got a hot fudge sunday, and Chad and Maranda shared an oreo flurry. The ice cream was delicious!

After we got the ice cream, we took a little drive around Hebron. We went by Chase's school and Chase was so proud to point out his school to me. It's hard to believe that in just a few short weeks he'll be in first grade!!! This is Cole's last year before going to school; next year he'll be starting kindergarten! I'm starting to feel really old!

Once we finished our tour of Hebron, which didn't take too long because it's quite small, we came back home. I had such a fun time with Chad, Maranda, and the boys, just like I always do. I'm going to miss the boys so much when I go back to school; after seeing them everyday it's going to be hard to get used to not seeing them for several months at a time. :( But Chase has promised to write me, and I get occasional phone calls from them, so I will have to be content with that, because not even my boys can keep me from going back to school.

I took plenty of pictures of Chase's swimming lesson, so I'll get those up here as soon as I get them on the computer.

Summer Update

Well, summer is now in full swing. I am enjoying being home, but I miss college!! More specifically, I miss all of my friends at college. I'm already counting down the days till I go back...only 73!!

I have not been able to find a second job this summer like I was hoping to. :( I had a couple of interviews, but no one wanted to hire someone who would only be home for the summer. I am so very thankful that I am babysitting Chase and Cole this summer, because this way I at least have one job. I am planning on making up some fliers to offer babysitting services for the evenings and weekend. Hopefully this will give me a little extra income this summer.

The Lord has really blessed. Between savings bonds, what I already have in my savings account, and babysitting the boys this summer, I will have enough money for almost all of next year. This is a huge relief to me because I do not have a job down at school for when I go back. :( I won't have a car, either, so I'm going to have to find a job on campus. Housekeeping usually needs people, and from what I've heard, you get plenty of hours, so I'm hoping to get on there. Mom and Dad have told me that if, when it comes time for finals, I don't have enough money to pay off my school bill, they will pay it off for me. I would really rather not have to ask them for money, but I'm thankful to know that the money is there if I need it.

It's hard to believe that I'll be graduating this next year. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was arriving on campus as a freshman, scared to death and not knowing what to expect. It doesn't seem real that I'll be a sophmore this year. Time sure has flown!

I am praying very hard that the Lord will supply enough money for all of next year and most of the next. I would really like to go back to Ambassador for a year after I graduate to take miscellanious classes that would help me in the ministry, or even as a wife and mother, if the Lord blesses me with a husband and children. At this time, it doesn't look like it will be possible for me to go back for a third year, but I know that I have a God that will supply all of my needs. I am trying very hard to trust in him for everything.

Other than babysiting, I really haven't been doing much this summer. I am teaching Mom's Sunday school class during summer break, so a lot of my spare time goes into preparing stuff for that. For the next four weeks I will be teaching on Esther, who is my favorite Bible character. I'm hoping to be able to convey how exciting the story is to my class. I started the series yesterday, and to my regret, only one out of the three students I had was excited about the story. The other two, who are both boys, said that they've heard the story before and that they don't want to hear it again. Please pray that I'll be able to get them excited about it. If you have any ideas, please, fel free to share them with me.

I'm hoping to start a memory program with them called Victory for Verses. It's a program where kids earn "dollars" for memorizing verses. There is also a list called the Memory Master list that has itmes such as the ten commandments, the days of creation, the plagues of Egypt, and other Biblical facts. These are worth more "dollars." At the end of the summer, the kids will be able ot redeem these "dollars" for prizes. I'm just waiting on my Pastor's approal before I start the program.

Well, that's pretty much everything that's going on in my life right now. Pretty boring, I know. lol :) I'll try to update again soon, but I['m not making any promises! :D