I was motivated by watching Julie and Julia the other night (not the most exciting movie) to be a better blogger! Since we will be stuck inside for probably the next week, I figure I'll have plenty of time to blog! So Day 1...7:30 am snow has started to fall!

Yes this is just starting....this is all the snow we still have from last weekend and this past Tuesday. All this time off from work , has me a little mixed up on my days of the week, but I believe this is from Tuesday....

Noah's "cleaning" the snow...it's not child labor if he wanted to do it, right?

Noah and I had a nice surprise last night. My Dad showed up with a four wheeler with the snow blade attached to it. He just couldn't stand the fact that we had no way to plow out our driveway and long dirt road. So he left work, drove up to Woodstock (2hour drive), got his other 4wheeler, drove to my house(another 2 hour drive), dropped off the 4wheeler, and then drove home (1 hour drive this time). My Dad has the biggest heart! Richard is so thrilled, he was out there last night playing on it. I'm sure the minute he rolls in today from work, he'll be out there plowing away!

I was a lazy mom/wife and decided I wasn't going to go shopping with all the crazies (sorry if you were one) and Noah after work yesterday! Besides we have frozen pizza and coffee, what more do you need? My fantastic husband decided he was going, so I sweetly emailed him a list of all the things we "could" use and he went! I am so blessed with great men in my life! :)

So here we are...watching these big flakes fall, wondering how much, how long...will we ever go back to school in the month of February? I will not complain, I love every minute that I get to be with my family, since they are often few and far between!
We are smiling....and actually dressed in real clothes, not pj's, I'm trying a new approach to snow days this time...we're starting out dressed and motivated....then by day 4 we can stay in our pj's all day! Today's plan...making Chicken Corn Chowder in the crock pot...fingers crossed, never made it before...good thing Richard eats anything! Stay safe, stay warm, and be thankful for all this time with loved ones so close by! *Snow total - 1 inch new snow 9:30 am!*

Holiday Pics

The computer finally wanted to work for me. Here's a few from Christmas morning. I love the look of pure joy of his face! This table has been the best! Not only does it have the blocks on one side, you can flip it over and it's a flat desk...great for all his "colors".

We had a great morning...but soon we were off to visit all the family!

We did finally return home to play with our favorite toys....hey at least he couldn't go anywhere!

We enjoyed a lot of family time together...even if it was on the kitchen floor. I adore this picture, because it just shows our family so perfectly!

What I learned today

Well this brings a whole new meaning to multitasking....Noah's on his potty....we've been here for 5 minutes already...so I thought I'd make the most of my time!


I realized this past month that I'm being used! God has decided since everything is going so well in my life, I will help him out by listening to those close to me and giving them a word of encouragement. I think it's a job I can handle...since it's just like my real job, except I'm allowed to talk about God without getting reprimanded! I've really been trying to find the positive lately, especially for those friends I have that are really going through some tough stuff...I think I've been doing a good job, and I keep praying that God will continue to use me to help others. Well that prayer was answered recently, I was able to help out someone very close to me, I shared words that I was afraid to share and really opened myself up. God said, "good job Carly, it's all going to be okay!" And then He said "now I'm going to test you and see if you really want me to answer that prayer, if you really want me to use you to help others"...except I didn't hear that until today!

Today in church, Preacher said, just because you pray a prayer, doesn't mean that God's going to fix it Himself, He may be using you to fix that problem. And off went the light bulb!!! I've been praying for someone a lot, but it's someone I don't normally talk to, someone I don't see very often, and someone I usually hold a grudge against. I guess I just wanted God to make their life better and help them out, without involving me. Well out of the blue, this person contacted me and wants to get together to talk. Of course my first reaction is no, and then why me, and how can I get out of this? Now I see this is like two prayers in one He's working on. Somehow, someway I'm being used to answer my own prayer....kinda brings new light to "be careful what you ask for." I asked for it, so now here it is, now its my choice to prove did I really want it or was I just praying that prayer because it sounded good and right?
I don't know how this is going to end, I just hope that I can be the person He wants me to be. I hope I can look beyond the past, the hard feelings, and the letdowns and somehow find a way to be there for this person and help them make positive choice and changes in their life, since it is what I prayed for!

oh yeah I have a blog....

Happy Thanksgiving, Crazy Blizzard Day, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, MLK Day and Happy Birthday Richard! I think that catches me up! We have had a great holiday season, it was super busy with a lot of people to see and places to go, but we made it! Our holiday was filled with lots of family and lots of love. Noah even made his first trip to New York...six hours in a car...thank you portable DVD player!!! Those two weeks off flew by and I was kinda happy to go back to work and get some type of routine back in my life...although I'm sure Noah misses sleeping in till 8, I know I sure do!
I can't seem to operate the photo uploader so I can't brag about my cute kid or the cool presents he got, or how much he loves them all! But that also means I can show you the toy explosion my house has turned into! I have a feeling we will never have enough room for all our stuff...but I can handle that!
Noah is continuing to surprise me daily! He counted to 10 one day out of the blue...but he still can't figure out that you're supposed to say 1 first..hehe. He knows 12 and 13! He absolutely loves the word "no"...even when he means yes. He talks...a lot. He will always repeat the last word in your sentence. At this moment, he's in his room waking up from his nap, talking to himself...I shall enjoy these last few minutes! We've started using the potty! I've never spent so much time in a bathroom....we might as well put a toy box and a book case in the bathroom. My favorite is when we sit there for 20 minutes with no success go back to his room to put his diaper on, get the diaper on, and he says "potty" and off we go to sit for another 15 minutes. But the look on his face when his potty plays the music because he went is priceless...I'd love to catch that on film...but the 30 minutes before hand of waiting may bore some people! He's starting to play nicer with others and play more on his own. I sure just wish it would stop raining so I could get him outside, man boys are full of energy! And quiet time is over...his majesty is calling!

The life of a retail wife

Sure we get clothes for cheap and we know about the sales ahead of time....but we also have to deal with things like black Friday! I have been so hard on the hubby about all his hours this week. I don't do my best to understand why he works what he works and I think I want him to feel guilty about it. Well the Lord kinda yelled at me last night...I wouldn't call it yelling...I got a stern talking to. I so easily forget that my husband could not have a job, or his could be the only job in our house. I forget that without his job we wouldn't have health care, without his job we couldn't buy food and gas. I think its so easy to complain about what's wrong with our lives when we should just be thankful that we have the life we have, things could be completely different!

So since I had my "talking to" last night, I guess God decided to cut me a break tonight. Richard's closing tonight, and its just me and Noah and the dogs. If you know my child, he doesn't sit still for anything, he doesn't cuddle, he is always in motion (unless Blue's Clues is on). Well tonight he crawled up in my lap and kept saying "Daddy?" My heart breaks because Richard's not here and is missing this. And I explain Daddy's at work, and Noah keeps on "Daddy?" pointing at the front door, the firefighter hat Richard puts on, the bedroom...and I just start crying because I wish so bad he was here. That sweet child looks me in the eyes rubs my cheek and says "k?" I think he was asking me if I was okay or telling me it would be ok...who knows, but that sent my heart through the roof and I knew we'd be "k". He continued to sit in my lap for the next 15 minutes and just babbled on and rubbed my cheek. Even pointed to the tears and said "cry". It was over quickly but it was the most fantastic 15 minutes I've had in a while.

People get so caught up in Black Friday, that they forget there is actually a holiday in there to celebrate what you are thankful for. Personally I don't care for black Friday...I'm told as Noah gets older and wants things I will...but I doubt it. I think its ridiculous my husband has to be at work at 1am...but I'm happy he has a job to go to and I guess if people weren't so crazy about black Friday then my husband wouldn't be doing well at his store. So I'll be thankful for black Friday...but mostly thankful for my family and the moments where a 17 month old can look into your soul and let you know its all gonna be "k".

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please don't call CPS on us...he put that bucket on his head on his own and there is plenty of extra space in it. You should see these two with their "hats" while they march around the house...Noah loves to "mars" (march).

It was just one of those days! One of those days where I look in the rear view mirror at my child and all I can think is "thank you Lord". Thank you for the blessing of being a mother....of course I'm saying this as Noah is now crying "more" at me because he wants more cheerios...but I still think I'm blessed! My mom came and watched Noah last night so that Richard and I could go on a date - it had been a while! We went to see Leeland, Brandon Heath and Francessca Batestelli. Wonderful concert and so good to see so many people come together and praise the Lord...but still dance and rock out. I'm so not used to seeing that, but it does my heart good! So mom spent the night and kept Noah with her today. They came and saw me for lunch at work and brought me some chic-fila..mmmm. Noah was introduced to "the sauce" and he's hooked...you would know what "the sauce" is if you grew up in the spotsylvania mall - oh excuse me, town center! Anyway, they came back at the end of the day and Noah just ran and smiled and played with the kids who were still at my school. I love watching him play (nicely since that doesn't always happen) with other kids. I love watching everything he's learned and listening to those crazy words that come out of his mouth. I love watching him try to run and try to throw balls. I love watching my mom be a grandmother. And in that moment I'm overwhelmed and just have to say "thanks" or as Noah would say "anks". I'm sure I'll never know why I've been given the life I'm given, or the blessings I have, but I love that the Lord has a plan for me and I love all the little blessings He's included in that plan.

So some other updates in our Ark....

Noah got his first hair cut! I let go of my anal ways and let Daddy take him. They went to the real barber shop!! Noah cried the whole time, but Daddy did a good job and remembered the lock of hair and the picture!
How handsome he is! (please note cheerios in hand - I owe my sanity to the cheerios company!)

Halloween also came around - nice and rainy! Noah refused to wear his monkey costume. He cried when we came near him with it...soo this was our back up. Thanks to a bag of handmedowns, FrankenNoah made an appearance at Halloween! This is Noah and his cousin Mason...cutest frog ever!

Noah's not the only one who got a hair cut, momma got a new do too! Not that you can see it all that well in this picture...but it's chopped!

A million other things are happening in our world and there are a million other things to be thankful for! So much to keep up with, but I surely wouldn't have it any other way!

Hidden Camera?

Do you ever wonder if someone is secretly filming you and and laughing at the chaos in your house??? I had this random thought this afternoon as I was trying to wash dishes. Noah has this new ability to forget how to walk once we enter our house. He stands there arms raised just crying "moms"....I don't know if I'll ever get to be "mommy". Yesterday he refused to walk up the sidewalk with me unless I carried him...so he stood there in the drive way crying...while I'm trying to carry all the crap we have in the house. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm torturing him....of course once I get to the door, the dogs come barreling out, run into Noah and now he's crying because he fell down....so know I have to pick him up because I feel bad he fell down and he wins...he gets carried. Tonight I was attempting to wash dishes after dinner....once again Noah's super powers take over and he needs to be picked up...so we pull some pans out to bang so mommy can wash. Those aren't fun tonight though....what is really fun is walking between Mommy's legs while she's washing dishes. Side note....this is fun when Daddy's home because Daddy has long legs...newsflash...Mommy has short legs. So Noah doesn't fit...but if I don't let him through I then have to listen to the 10th breakdown of the night....so I give in. I'm washing dishes, lifting my leg for Noah to walk though, trying to keep my balance, and cracking up because as he walks though he keeps banging into the cabinets. We did this for a good 10 minutes....and this is when I thought "there's gotta be someone somewhere watching this cracking up while they quietly wash dishes."

Then for an encore of our performance I decided we were going to make Halloween cards for everyone. So we break out the paint and go at it. Noah for the first time ate the paint...it was non toxic...don't worry, he then painted his chest (he had white nipples) and then we managed to get some paint of the cards. Then he got mad because I wouldn't give him the markers and we had meltdown #...well I've lost count at this point!

The saving grace of my evenings alone with Noah is bath time...oh how that child loves a bath. Daddy has gotten him started on "bubbles" in the bath tub...once again Mommy isn't as good as Daddy at bubbles, so Noah tonight took it upon himself to splash away to make bubbles like daddy....needless to say, we both took a bath.

But what I hope a hidden camera sees is that quiet moment at bedtime, when I do get to read to him and he actually sits still and listens....that's the moment that makes everything worth it. Tonight was extra special because I got a "love you" when I laid him down. That's the moment you praise the Lord for all the blessings in your life and get over all the other stuff that's gone wrong in your day and realize just how blessed your are!

This has nothing to do with this post, but I just found it and it made me laugh. This is a bridal shower I dragged him to....doesn't he look thrilled! That's my buddy!