I Can't Believe It!

When I started this blog, little Snapper was 5 years old. It was the summer between kindergarten and 1st grade.

In the blink of an eye, it seems, we have fast-forwarded right on through her childhood. My sweet Snapper stands on the threshold of womanhood. She is 13 1/2 and about to graduate from middle school. With honors. A precious young lady who loves God, loves her family, and selflessly gives and serves.

This morning we had a showing of our house, plus an open house in the afternoon. We have two more showings tomorrow morning. We also had a professional stager come in and evaluate our house. She came today to check the work we had done, and to bring in a few things that she very generously gave to help us out with getting the house just right. All those things meant a TON of work for Matt and me this week. Sweet, selfless Snapper worked tirelessly with me. Yesterday she folded six loads of laundry. She put away all the towels, changed sheets on four bed, and put away a sister's laundry. She made dinner and babysat her younger siblings for an hour until Daddy was available so I could go out to dinner with a friend. Today she vacuumed the whole house (that's 3600 square feet of vacuuming). She mopped all the tile (easily 1500 square feet). She cleaned the sliding glass doors. She unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. She vacuumed the area rugs in the patio. She cleaned two bathrooms. She swept the front porch. She emptied all the trash cans in the house. She helped Matt and me paint the playroom. She cleaned her own room thoroughly. She is AMAZING!

We went up to the mall while the open house was going on. I was so delighted to be able to get some special things to "beautify" her for her 8th grade dance tonight. Special makeup. A fancy headband. Nail polish to match her dress. She bubbled over with gratitude for these small things. She's just priceless.

Tonight Matt got showered, shaved, and fancied up to take her to her dance. She is such a beautiful girl...it takes my breath away. Even more importantly, though, Snapper is even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside. Here are a few pics of my grown-up girl. Oh, how I love her!