More memories.....

Addison......in a diaper, no top, just a diaper....she's probably around 3 - she has on those plastic dress up shoes - the ones with the pink feathers on them - and she has a purse on her arm.....those big brown eyes flashing - and i ask her "Addison, where are you going?" - she gives me this PRECIOUS look and blinks those brown eyes at me and say "Oh MIMI.......i go ¨CHOPPING!"

Shawn - around 4 - he's been to Bible School and apparently they talked about tithing - because he asks me that afternoon how God gets the money they give at church......so i go into this huge explanation about how, through the church, God uses that money to help others.....well he goes back in his room for a while and then he comes back in the kitchen where i am cooking dinner and he tells me "momma, He dropped it" - i said "What Shawn?" "He dropped it momma!" - and he's holding the little church bank they made that day in Bible School.....he holds it out to me and says "I gave it to God and HE dropped it!? - okay, so i am seeing what has happened.....he has his money for God in his little church and since God takes the money and THROUGH the church He uses it to help others - Shawn held that church up to God and he let go......I want that kind of faith!

Chase - around age 3 - sitting on the floor in my momma's kitchen, licking the beaters from a cake she's making......Chase - "Mema, do you know what my momma and daddy do after we go to bed at night?????" - my mom, horrified....thinking oh my gosh, what in the world......and then Chase says "They eat ICE CREAM! "

I am helping Avery write a book.....we are going to mail it in and the Discovery Kids company publishes it and makes it into a book....well, she makes up this story about big bug and little bug (because Shawn calls her little bug and she calls him Big bug" and this tree named "Bigoldtree" - and int he story there this fairy named Caroline and Caroline comes to see Big bug and Little bug in a "Poof" she appears - she tells me the entire story and then we get into the illustrations and writing on the pages the company has provided. She starts to illustrate page 8 and she draws this fairy down in one corner of the box where the illustrations go.....the fairy is very small and much of the box is blank so i say "Avery, look at all this space - do you want to draw something here?" - "Oh yes, Mimi....i am going to draw her poop" - "Avery, WHAT did you say?" "Her poop, i am going to draw her poop" - "Avery Grace Corley - you are going to draw POOP??????" oh my, Avery starts laughing so hard she's crying......"NOOOOOOOO, MIMI, her POOF!!!!" - I had forgotten all about her "Poof" - we laughed until tears rolled down our cheeks.

Addylou - it's Thanksgiving and Hillary and Jason are visiting us for Thanksgiving.....we are all gathered around the table having Thanksgiving dinner......okay, so Addison sometimes takes things literally......i mean LITERALLY. So she comes over to my chair and she whispers in my ear "Mimi, Uncle Shawn told me that Jason has two brains - does he really?" and she puts her face RIGHT in front of my face so she can look in my eyes - Oh my.....i am laughing just thinking of it. She wanted the TRUTH!!

Okay, so this is the sweetest......When Chase was 8 years old, he was saved. He asked Jesus into his heart and he was so excited. I guess i need to say that part first......it was during a revival - and Chase and Shawn were sitting in the pew with us and Chase was right next to me.....this night he fidgeted and just wouldn't be still. All of a sudden i feel this tap on my shoulder.....i lean over and tell him to "listen" - and he hands me this piece of paper.....on the paper it says, among all the little drawings and notes between he and Shawn, "tonight God told me it was time to be saved, but i was afraid" - OH MY GOSH.....the moment a parent dreams about.....i asked him if he understood what that meant and did he want to go forward at the end of the service and he said "do i have to say the prayer?" He meant the big prayer for everyone......at the end of church. Oh my.....what a precious moment in our lives.....and i have that note hanging in my closet this very moment.....if we ever had to leave the house quickly, it's one of the things i would grab first.....okay, so fast forward a few weeks - the four of us are in our living room and the weather is AWFUL.....warnings are running across the bottom of the TV - parents are calling to be sure we are okay - it's really scary......Chase takes Shawn to the sliding glass door to look at the weather and tells Shawn...."Shawn, you need Jesus NOW - You need to ask him into your heart RIGHT THIS MINUTE.....we might not be here tomorrow!" Evangelism at the age of 8! But the precious part.....he was SO concerned about his brother......SO like Chase.

Don't forget the night i feel asleep in the chair in the game room....it was light when i fell asleep but pitch dark when i was awakened by a knock at the back door......a policemen had Shawn in tow.....caught him inside the fence at the day care across the alley.

Oh and then there's the time Chase was spending the night with Robert Fermosa.....Michael and i are awakened by a phone call.....okay so Chase is probably 8 - 9 at the most......and the call is from the Mesquite Police!!!! They have Chase on LongShadow Lane and need us to come and get him. We hurry and throw clothes on and drive around the corner. The headlights shine on the police car and there's this LONG neck with nothing but blonde curls everywhere......Robert is so short you can't see his head....but Chase you can see clearly.....caught knocking out Christmas lights in some man's yard!!!

Shawn singing Christmas carols when he was 3 - "Then one froggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say......"

Okay.....more later.

time with a sweet baby boy....

March 2012.....5 days and nights with my sweet Hayden Michael.....oh my goodness, what precious times! These are the things that will stick in my heart and in my mind.....the "o" face when he's surprised or just a bit afraid.....that sweet little grin and the dimple in his chin....flying kites with papa (and don't forget the first kite wasn't big enough or bad enough and we found papa calling stores to find the "bad boy" kite the very next morning =), picnics and "in and out" burgers, green peas and roly poly bugs, saying "bye bye and waving to his plate at dinner time... the way he loves juice, when it's night night boy time, the way he put his head on my shoulder and held me so tightly..... singing Jesus loves Hayden, Jesus loves the little children, and Sunshine on my shoulder and running my fingers through his curls - and the time i wasn't running my fingers through his curls and he did it so i would remember to do that =) (he loves that JUST like his daddy did at that age) ....the way he says "hi Allie" and waves at her.....the way he learned to ride the wiggle racer - he learned if you start at the top of the drive way on the hill and then put your feet up in the air you go really fast - will never forget the look of pure joy on his face as he raced down the hill.....the "Chase face" when i put him in the baby swing and started the swing.....he gritted his teeth and his eyes got so big.....JUST like his daddy on the big boat ride at Six Flags when he bit off more fear than he could chew...the way he wouldn't taste pudding.....told me NO NO NO and shook his head, but when a little bit touched his mouth, he did a double take and pulled the spoon to his mouth....after that, he couldn't shovel it in fast enough! The way he went up the HUGE 12 foot slide, all by himself - he got to the top and i ran around to the bottom of the slide and saw his face right before he came down the slide....pure joy.....a grin from ear to ear and he couldn't wait to do it again! He giggled all the way down the slide too.... Playing hide and seek (aka pop pay aka peek-a-boo) with him and the way he would stand in the doorway peeking into the room and craning his neck to see if mimi was there....his giggle when he would find me.....the way he calls me Mimi and the way he calls papa.....melts our hearts...saying "i love you" - pointing to his "eye" for the "I" and hugging himself so tightly for the "Love" and then pointing big for the "You" - Mimi taught him that =) .....the way every once in a while in the car he would just say "mimi, papa" - it was like he was enjoying his time with his mimi and papa and he just wanted to say our names....brushing his teeth with big people toothpaste and the way he loved the taste and the way he looked at me when i brushed his teeth.....getting up every morning hungry and pointing at the bananas.....finding sticks from the weeping willow tree next door and playing with them for the longest time.....he's all boy.....feeding the ducks at City Lake park - and talking about "duck ducks" for the next 2 days......loving trucks and every time he sees one, he has to tell us all about the "da druck" - seeing the cows and the way he says 'MOOOOOOOOO" , the way he calls dogs "woof woofs"....the sweet way he does itsy bits spider....teaching him "the wheels on the bus" and the way he does the babies go waaa, waaa, waaaa - he thought that was so funny......shoveling mac and cheese with his hands when he couldn't get it on the fork....bath time and the sweet smell of him fresh from the bath.....the way he spreads his toes out big when you first take off his shoes and socks.....oh and the way he says "shoes" so quickly....papa thinking he was too young for kites and kind of making fun of me for wanting to plan so many things for us to do.....and then papa coming up with one plan after another =)...the gentleman's kiss - be still my heart...hugging and kissing Allie good morning.....hugging and kissing Allie after he had been in time out for hitting her......telling Allie "sorry"....seeing pictures of momma and dada and sissies and calling them by name as he walked past.....skinned knees from all the falls when he was running and playing - and the way he would come to me so i could kiss it....the laughter when i would push him big on the new pillow pet racer we got him for inside the house.....picking flowers.....the look on his face when i would do something new - like running through the weeping willow tree branches hanging to the ground - this look would come across his face - he would stand for just a bit and think about it and then he would run as fast as he could and join me.....the day we were late getting lunch because we had a showing of the house and looking back in the car seat seeing Hayden chewing on something.....when i asked him what it was, he reached down, WAY down into his carseat crease and pulled up old crumbs.....oh bad Mimi for letting you wait so long for lunch! The way he would point and grin when i walked in to get him from his nap or first thing in the morning.....the way he would point and say "ohhhhhh" - So many memories of this sweet time with Hayden one on one. Times like that don't happen often and i want to treasure every single minute and hold tight to each little memory. As i write, i miss him so. We are so blessed to have this sweet little boy in our lives. Thank you God for Hayden Michael Corley. This Mimi prays so hard that your Holy Spirit will guide Hayden and touch his heart at an early age and that Hayden will do great things in his lifetime for YOU Lord. He's a precious gift. Thank you for the time we could spend getting to know each and every little part of him...... how i am just in awe of Your love for us and the way you created each of us so uniquely and perfectly. Being a Mimi is the best.....no rushing around or work to get in the way of spending 15 minutes watching roly poly bugs......no hurries as we played with sticks......getting to sit down with him and watch him enjoy toys and lunch and nature and life. I can never thank you enough Lord for all the blessings of my life! My family.....oh Lord, my family.......thank You for each of them! I pray that each one of us can magnify You in all that we do in our lives....our offering to You sweet Lord.
p.s. one more memory from the weekend before. I was helping a friend give a baby shower.....tons of people crowded her living room as Angie walked in with Hayden in her arms. I saw the look of surprise on his little face as he scanned the room and saw so many faces he didn't recognize....but then, his eyes locked with mine and the look on that sweet baby boy's face when he saw me. I will never forget that look. He loves me so much. His arms reached out and his eyes smiled so big.....and the grin he had was from ear to ear. Blessings in my life.