MaryBeth

Victory Celebration @ CPK with some special friends..

Where do winners go to celebrate? California Pizza Kitchen.....Nothing better then a tasty pizza to help the victory last longer! Shaoey, Anna, Stevey and Ashley had fun being together! Back to the barn for some hang time and laughs!

Shaoey's Last Game of the Season!

It was a well fought battle....and we came out on top!!!!! Shaoey was definitely the most improved player in my humble opinion.

GMA is allowing Fans To Vote! Just had to let you know!

Ok....I'm a little embarassed to do this but hey....it is my husband.....  This is the first time ever that you can do this...GMA is actually allowing you to vote in two categories.  So....If you feel so led,  Please vote, and please tell you friends too.... I kind of think it would be a cool thing, but hey, of course I'm a little bias.  Love to you all.

Mary Beth

The voting page is up. Alright Chapman fans, lets see you show up.  : )

You can cast your vote for Steven in the Artist of the Year category right now!

You may vote once online and once via text messaging.  VOTE BOTH WAYS

Vote Today!  

VOTE ONLINE by clicking here.

VOTE BY TEXT by texting  DOVE SCCHAPMAN  to  72648.  (vote codes are not case sensitive)

Did I mention vote today?!?!   : )

CPA....District Champs

It's really late...more later...but guess what? We won... It wasn't even close! For those of you wondering....they all did great....but Willy played with a little something extra tonight....Thanks for the prayers...I'll keep you posted as we head into Region Playoffs....Night!

I Got Sunshine... on a Cloudy Day

Picture taken in summer of 2006 I believe

There has been a lot of clouds these days, and honestly the rain, or should I say tears that come from those clouds have been falling a lot for some reason these last few days.  More on that later....  BUT...Today, a sliver of sunshine through those thick black storm clouds has come shining through...today is Emily's Birthday.  Yep, 23 years ago today, little Emily Elizabeth came into our life, forever changing it for good, but we had no idea how this little wrinkled bundle of jaundice would impact the lives of so many children and families....ours at the top of the list!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!  We love you so very much.  On a day when mom is having a hard time holding it all together, I am thrilled that your life is being celebrated today.  You never have been able to do things average or normal I must say....starting with your birth, you decided it would be better to make a dramatic entrance and stir things up a bit...resulting in an emergency c-section.  Even the pregnancy kept the doctor guessing as he was just plain convinced you were a boy!  (For those of you scratching you heads.....I didn't even have an ultrasound for Emily, they didn't do them back then unless there was a need)...now that is a long time ago and I am not getting any younger!  OK, thanks for letting me brag a bit on a special little girl.  Emily, I am so proud of the woman you have become......and I LOVE the husband that God sent to you.  Tanner is an unbelievable gift to you and thus to us, and your Dad and I are excited to watch where God takes you two on this incredible journey called life.  Remember that life is just the journey...we are not home yet, we are walking, running, skipping, plodding, crawling (that describes me currently) ...however you want to view it...towards our true home, heaven....where He will make all things new, and all those prayers we thought were never answered will be seen in full view and we WILL hold that little nugget of a sister and daughter again....  In the mean time, it is a blessing watching you and Tanner impact the lives of so many along the way.  We love you dearly.  Caleb, Will, Shaoey, Stevey, and Maria are all better for having you as a big sister.  Thanks for setting the example of how to walk with Christ in front of all of them.  Ok....enough of gushing over Emily...thanks for letting me think out loud a bit while I pondered her life this morning...  I hope you all have a great day, and can SEE the sliver of sunshine in your cloudy day....  On a different note....CPA plays David Lipscomb in the District Championship tonight....  I know it isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of life, but I sure would love to WIN!!!!  There!  I said it!  guilty!  I love basketball and I LOVE watching Will Franklin and his buddies play for CPA.  Many of them I've known since they were itty bits!  If God does hear prayers to win, which I'm pretty sure he doesn't.....but in case He does....  I would love it if you would all (unless you are a David Lipscomb fan of course, which is fine....) would lift Will and His team up today and tonight....  I guess I should say for safety and for no injuries and good sportsmanship, but the ugly truth of my heart....  is really to WIN!  Go CPA!!!!  I'll keep you posted!

February 21, 2009.... Stevey Joy was a flower girl....I kept busy!

In spite of it being the 21st of the month....  The 21st will never pass without me thinking about May 21, 2008....  It has been a busy (planned on purpose) day for me.  We started the day with yes.... another BB game for Shaoey.  This is her first year to play....Hilarious is all I can say.  She is a hoot to watch with all of her smiles and running around.  This was yet another day that big brother Will volunteered to help out and coach.  Caleb was also there to help.  A lot of fun to watch two big brothers helping out a 3rd grade girls team!  Then after the snacks were passed out and hugs were given, we hurried off to replace some of the items in the missing BB bag of Will Franklin's....However as I was planning to check out, A phone call from Willy that the missing bag was found saved me some money and MOM was happy!!!  Quickly rushing home we put Stevey Joy in the shower and fed her lunch....Then Julia showed up to french braid hair and put it in a lovely Flower Girl Bun. Stevey Joy was then a Flower Girl in a wedding.  She spent the day and afternoon with on of her best buddies Bella at the wedding.  While she was there, two of my friends took me shopping to look for a dress for Caleb's wedding.  Karen, Kelli, and I along with our sweet daughters, Ashley, Julia, and Emily hung together trying on dresses (my absolute least favorite thing in the whole wide world to do!)  They all managed to keep me laughing....  believe me, some of the things I tried on would have made anyone laugh including me!!!!  I am definitely not "young" anymore! At any rate, as long as I didn't take myself to serious and realized that possibly some exercise would be a good plan (UGGGGHH), it wasn't too terribly painful!  LOL!  Then a nice dinner and back home to chill with my buddy Shaoey!!!!  We are snuggling while daddy is recording with Caleb (you didn't hear it from me!).  Now is the time when I really start thinking about what day it is.  I REALLY  love the support that I've receive from you all as I have begun to wonder back into the blog world.  I really appreciate the love and the support.  Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.  I really try to be honest and open, and as it relates to Maria it continues to be  a very cautious place.  We hurt....deeply....we ARE being held by the One who holds Maria, we believe that.  At the same time I cry out to out Father....Help my unbelief.  Will continues to allow God to work and the "twinkle" has been spotted back in his eyes some.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU from the bottom of this momma's heart for holding him in your prayers.  He is an amazing young man, and he is simply a hero in my book.  The pain of a broken heart is at times unbearable to watch, but then God smile's on us and allows us a glimpse of what He is up too.  It is a LONG and at times DARK road.... but the lamp of our faith is lit and we are journeying through it.  God Bless you all for being on the journey with us.  Please don't stop praying. 

Feb 20, 2008: One Year Ago Today, "I wanna be sure I'm going"

Mom..."Does God really have a BIG BIG House?"  "yes Maria"....  Mom..."Does it have lots and lots of rooms?"  "yes Maria"....  "Does Gods BIG BIG House have a BIG BIG Table?"   "Yes Maria, with lots and lots of food!  And Maria...  It also has a yard where you can play football!"   When I finished some of sweet little Maria's description of heaven that she had been learning at pre-school from a song they had been singing, her little squinty Asian eyes (and believe me....they were little) got as BIG as they possibly could!  "MOM!  How did you know all of that about Gods Big Big House?"  Maria was so excited that I knew what she was talking about....  It was a very sweet morning, a very normal morning, a morning when we are rushing around trying to get the two littlest Chapman's out the door to pre-school.  Little did I know that Stevey and Maria had been learning the Audio Adrenaline song, "Big Big House" at school.  This was the first time that either girl sang any of the lyrics in front of us.  Maria actually didn't sing them, instead she put them into very factual question like sentences.  We had the most precious conversation about God's Big Big House, and then as normal as asking for a drink of water, that little sweet thing said, "Momma,  I wanna go to Gods Big Big House....  How do you get there?  How do you know if your going?"  That morning, looking back, Maria was on a little mission.  I remember even questioning to myself whether she was too young to fully understand what was going on.  She was only 4 years old at the time.  I was thrilled that she was asking questions and was curious about this opportunity that was before her.  I told Maria that "yes, you can be sure your going to God's Big House by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and asking Him into your heart to live. Then I told her that the Holy Spirit would be in her heart to help her make good and right decisions..."  You get the picture....  I was trying to explain it in a childlike way the plan of salvation...  She knew that Jesus had come and died on the cross for us.... so the best I could... I stood there and explained God's plan for curious little Maria Sue.  She was very determined to pray and ask Jesus into her heart.  So, I immediately took her and found Steven, who happened to be in town...  I was so thankful he got to be there.  He sat Maria up on the kitchen counter and he led her in the simplest prayer to ask Jesus to be Lord of her life and to come reside in her heart.  About that time, Stevey Joy popped up on the couch that looks into our Kitchen and said...."well, I wanna go to Gods Big Big House too!"  So, another prayer later, two of the most beautiful names I know were written in a pretty important book in Heaven!  Little did I know that 1 year later, I would be telling all of you this story, and how profound this whole experience would become.  You see,  just 3 months later, when God for some reason that I won't understand this side of the vale, saw fit to need a special little person in heaven with him, this day, February 20th, 2008, would become one of the most special days to our family to hold on too.  Steven took Maria and Stevey to school that day, because they had announcements to give!  Both girls were determined to let their teachers know what they had done that morning at home.  Don't ever estimate the faith of a child.  I believe with all of my heart that Maria asking and being so determined was a gift of God.  A preparation for 3 months later when my whole world would crumble and life would cease to exist in the way I knew it.  I can't even begin to explain the suffering and hard places that this journey has found me in.  But here me say..... with all certainty in me....  Maria felt compelled that day to ask Jesus into her heart.  She was 4 years old.... Did she understand fully?  As much as Christ asks us to understand.  We don't have all the answers, but with Childlike faith we can trust the one who says all through Scripture that HE is the only ONE to trust with your life.  Thank You little nutty Maria for teaching Mommy that all you need is the faith of a mustard seed and it will grow into an eternity of sitting on the lap of the One who has the biggest table of food you can imagine......By the way.....Maria LOVED to eat...  Be blessed today as you put whatever amount of Faith you can muster into the hands of the One who holds it ALL....including my little girl.... Maria Sue Chunxi Chapman... The silliest goober I know (I miss you my little sweet pea).

Walk in that Faith today,

Mary Beth

Pictures that I Promised!

Senior Night

Huckabee

Just thought I would finally post the senior night pictures and the picture of Gov. Huckabee.  Have a great evening.  I'll be back soon.  Thanks for viewing!

Basketball, Huckabee, Twittering...None of this is in common.

I am getting ready to call it a night, and still can't get pictures downloaded from my camera to share with you of Senior BB night, or my time in NYC.  As I settle down tonight, I feel the need to say a few things.  First of all...Basketball.  Come to find out, after I announced that the boys took first in the district on National television, they actually came in 2nd in the division heading in to the district tournament.  It has been a tight season, and when we won last Friday, I assumed that win kept us in first place.  ...but it didn't come to find out and I wanted to represent fairly, the teams standings as we head in to tournament play....THANKS!

Next, on to the Mike Huckabee show.  I want to personally thank all of you who watched SCC on The Huck show over this last weekend.  I totally was not scheduled to appear and was not at all expecting an invitation, however, getting a call at the hotel in NY from Jim Houser, asking me if I would consider, I felt that I should.  It is ALWAYS hard for me to do these types of things...I am very comfortable in the background...As a matter of fact I am very comfortable at the hotel until the last minute.  At any rate, all of your kind words are very healing and I can't tell you how much they are appreciated...Especially as I try to work my way back in to the blog world and start to talk about my last 9 months.  So, from the bottom of my heart....Thanks for making it as easy as possible to share my grief with you.

Twittering.....Don't assume that I am a savvy computer girl.  I know enough to be dangerous.  I wanted to explain the whole twittering thing in case some of you are scratching your heads trying to figure out what is going on...  You see, The Chapmans have some awesome people surrounding us like Dale Manning and Jim Houser who do their best to help us stay connected with all of you.  A couple of weeks ago, I got a crash course on Twitter, and thought.....hummmm maybe this would be a way to help SCC keep up a bit better with his blog, and I could at least post a couple of things here and there that folks may be interested in.  So, if your a fan of that kind of thing it is totally there for you to enjoy, however, if you have know idea about it or you feel it is not for you, that is totally ok as well....I'm not ever sure how often I will tweet, as I will get busy with kids, or hubby, or whatever and totally forget!  Or, maybe it will be a great supplement to the blog I am trying to get better at doing. All of that to say, take it or leave it....It is totally up to the individual.  Basically..  To Tweet or not to Tweet, that is the question..Just kidding, but that was kind of funny...or not?  Am I just tired?

OK, done for now.....Sorry if I rambled...I am sleepy but VERY happy to be all back together.  The girls are asleep together tonight as we don't have school tomorrow, the boys are working in the studio (musician time baby!), and Steven and I are grateful to be home.  Good Night and God Bless!!!

Guest Coach for Shaoey!

I didn't have the opportunity to be there (I am in NYC with SCC, more on that later), but WF coached Shaoey's team this morning at her 9:00am game!  Will, Tanner, and Chris all wore  khaki pants, white shirts, and ties!  LOL....  They had a blast and Will is so natural with kids.  We won.....  BIG!  But the best part?  He worked it so that all most every girl scored!  What a Coach!  Yeah Will!  Shaoey loved it.  Emily sent me these sweet shots of all the fun!