As part of my New Years Resolution, I decided to get back to reading like I used to reading at least a book a month. So I set my goal small for one book per month...
Well, I am on a roll! I have read 3 books already for January and have started my 4th. I have recently really gotten into more non-fiction books rather than fiction.
The latest read is titled "Without a Word" by Jill Kelly. Incredible story so far and definitely profound insights from all aspects of life. Tonight however I read this quote that I think is so true and in need of true internal digestion by so many of us, myself included:
"They (referring to Jill's son Hunter, who has a genetic debilitating disease, and his best friend Robert) remind me that while change is difficult, it can also be the uncharted pathway to uncommon joy and unexpected miracles."
My response...WOW!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Better Late Than Never
This week has presented itself yet as another busy week...We finally slowed down a bit today. The slowness lasted long enough for me to re-take our big 2 month old's milestone photo. He presented us with a not so happy photo session on Tuesday, his actual 2 month birthday, so I had already planned on retaking them on Wednesday; however, following a round of 3 booster shots in his little legs he was not a happy camper to say the least. (I tried to warn him upon arriving to the doctor while he was flashing me with a priceless toothless grin and the one dimple on the right side.)
So needless to say, I finally got around to taking his picture this morning, but I think these photos will definitely go down with some funny quotes and stories. He just was not very photogenic despite his adorable heart melting ability to smile now!
The first photos are from our first session on Tuesday followed by today's attempt for better photographs.
What these pictures don't say: Our BIG boy is now weighing in at 10lb. 7.0 oz. and 22 3/4 inches long! Healthy as a horse!
So needless to say, I finally got around to taking his picture this morning, but I think these photos will definitely go down with some funny quotes and stories. He just was not very photogenic despite his adorable heart melting ability to smile now!
The first photos are from our first session on Tuesday followed by today's attempt for better photographs.
"Seriously?!"
Sister trying to get him to smile.
Take 2: So Serious...
Late night last night.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Motors Running
After some long hours, our new website for Carri's Creations is finally up and running! Check us out and like us on Facebook too! Place an order by Monday, January 23 and receive 20% off your order total!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Head Over Heels
Last night we took Samantha Grace and one of her friends to see the University of Alabama Women's Gymnastics. It was a belated Christmas present to the girls, and to say they were excited was an understatement.
Daddy and I were quite shocked to see how full the Coleman Coliseum was for gymnastics, but once we watched the girls we knew why! It was awesome and brought back a flood of memories for Mommy. I took a few action shots of UofA and UGA, who they competed against last night and beat! ROLL TIDE!
Samantha Grace was completely exhausted by the time we left, for the day prior to going she started back taking gymnastics but this time without having to have Mommy be with her. She loved it, and this morning asked when she can start taking it everyday! I pray that her love for this sport continues...can we say SCHOLARSHIP! But needless to say she had gone 2 days without a nap due to pure excitement. So Mommy and Daddy are banking on a LONG nap today from both kiddos! Yes, we took Elijah with us and he was such a trooper through the whole trip. We promised him a football game in his future to make up for this one! :)
Watching...taking it ALL in.
Daddy and Elijah were such troopers through the whole event!
Daddy and I were quite shocked to see how full the Coleman Coliseum was for gymnastics, but once we watched the girls we knew why! It was awesome and brought back a flood of memories for Mommy. I took a few action shots of UofA and UGA, who they competed against last night and beat! ROLL TIDE!
Samantha Grace was completely exhausted by the time we left, for the day prior to going she started back taking gymnastics but this time without having to have Mommy be with her. She loved it, and this morning asked when she can start taking it everyday! I pray that her love for this sport continues...can we say SCHOLARSHIP! But needless to say she had gone 2 days without a nap due to pure excitement. So Mommy and Daddy are banking on a LONG nap today from both kiddos! Yes, we took Elijah with us and he was such a trooper through the whole trip. We promised him a football game in his future to make up for this one! :)
Watching...taking it ALL in.
Daddy and Elijah were such troopers through the whole event!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Not a Staged Act
This morning I left the room for a brief moment and when I came back this is what I found...
As a Mommy, I was so proud to see Big Sister just talking away to brother and he was so engaged soaking up every word! (At least it appears that way.)
As a Mommy, I was so proud to see Big Sister just talking away to brother and he was so engaged soaking up every word! (At least it appears that way.)
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Just One of Those Days
This morning my husband and I were awoken to our precious princess yelling at the top of her lungs, "M-O-M-M-Y!" Not really the wake-up call I had signed up for since I had just gotten back to sleep from giving baby Elijah his 5:30 AM feeding. So my not-a-morning person husband yells back at her, while still lying in bed, "No, Samantha Grace that's not how we ask to get up."
You see my husband and I made this rule when she first got her big girl bed that the only way she could get down from the bed was if she asked permission. Main reasoning for this rule was so she wouldn't come and wake us up in the middle of the night several times when she first got it. Well, this rule has been so ingrained into her, that now it has come back to haunt us on the Saturday mornings where we would love for her just to quietly get up and go upstairs to the playroom and play. Oh, well...
Fast track about 5 minutes, long enough for me to roll out of bed and stroll to her room and tell her she can get up. Then she comes into our room, crawls in bed and promptly says, "I'm hungry." So once again, I saunter out of bed with one eye open and one eye closed and fix, lovingly, a wonderful breakfast for her of waffles, syrup and yogurt with a side of Saturday morning cartoons (i.e. buying time for more sleep).
Thankfully this kept her occupied for another hour longer, long enough for me and my hubby to catch a few more zzz's and take a warm shower. (Showers are one of my favorites right now since it is the few minutes of peace and quiet with a locked door of course.) Upon finally getting myself and Samantha Grace dressed and presentable for the day along with getting beds stripped and in the laundry, I began, as I have every morning in the new year trying to stay to my daily routines, unloading the dish washer.
Here is where the fun began...I got the bottom rack unloaded, then as I am rolling in the rack I notice there is a bottom full of water in the dishwasher. Now you have to understand that just last night I read a wonderfully written article by Crystal Pain from Money Saving Mom on how we don't have to be Superwoman. I am trying really hard to not have this mind set, but being the type A personality that I am it is very difficult not to try to be a perfectionist.
So here I stood in the middle of my kitchen trying to explain to my husband exactly what I was seeing, all the while he calmly is watching his favorite DIY Saturday morning shows. I am freaking out thinking I am going to spend the rest of my day having to pay over time for a plumber and wash ALL my dishes by hand. (Not one of my favorite things to do.) Then I take a deep breath and pull everything out from under my sink and grab some towels from the garage just in case we have a reenactment of the story of Noah and the flood. Upon taking a second gland under the sink, I notice that the drain tubing is clogged with what appears to be....bacon grease. 'See I told you Honey that bacon is not a good food for you. This is what it is doing to your body,' were my thoughts as I stared and strategized about how Plumber Carri was going to take of this clogged line that was midway in the pipe stretching at least 2 1/2 feet long total.
Using my "I am not a plumber or engineer" brain, I took a metal coat hanger (surprised to find one in our house considering we don't use a dry cleaners and I strongly dislike them for what they do to your clothes), stretched it out and carefully shoved it down the tube trying to open the line back up. Then with abated breath I turned on the dish washer, with the tube in a bucket and Samantha Grace standing in front of the dishwasher to open it to turn it off once the bucket was filled...and success! I was so excited to see chunks of grease come flowing from this tube. I felt such a huge since of accomplishment and SAVINGS knowing that because of my metal hanger I just saved our family at least a $100 service call plus whatever it would have cost for the guy to clean the tubing.
So even though it is only almost lunch time, I feel I have completed a whole days worth of work. My kitchen is now in disarray, the sheets are done washing and have been for over 2 hours now, it looks like a tornado went through the living room, and I haven't checked one thing off the to-do list for today! So when my wonderful husband offered to take Samantha Grace to run some errands, I gladly accepted without hesitation. For this Mommy is hanging up her Superwoman cape for the day and getting this house back to normalcy.
Oh, and Daddy is getting some dishwasher cleaner while he is out!
It's just one of those days...
P.S. If you are looking for a great read of the new year, one of my favorite bloggers has a new book coming out on Tuesday called The Money Saving Mom's Budget. Highly recommend!
You see my husband and I made this rule when she first got her big girl bed that the only way she could get down from the bed was if she asked permission. Main reasoning for this rule was so she wouldn't come and wake us up in the middle of the night several times when she first got it. Well, this rule has been so ingrained into her, that now it has come back to haunt us on the Saturday mornings where we would love for her just to quietly get up and go upstairs to the playroom and play. Oh, well...
Fast track about 5 minutes, long enough for me to roll out of bed and stroll to her room and tell her she can get up. Then she comes into our room, crawls in bed and promptly says, "I'm hungry." So once again, I saunter out of bed with one eye open and one eye closed and fix, lovingly, a wonderful breakfast for her of waffles, syrup and yogurt with a side of Saturday morning cartoons (i.e. buying time for more sleep).
Thankfully this kept her occupied for another hour longer, long enough for me and my hubby to catch a few more zzz's and take a warm shower. (Showers are one of my favorites right now since it is the few minutes of peace and quiet with a locked door of course.) Upon finally getting myself and Samantha Grace dressed and presentable for the day along with getting beds stripped and in the laundry, I began, as I have every morning in the new year trying to stay to my daily routines, unloading the dish washer.
Here is where the fun began...I got the bottom rack unloaded, then as I am rolling in the rack I notice there is a bottom full of water in the dishwasher. Now you have to understand that just last night I read a wonderfully written article by Crystal Pain from Money Saving Mom on how we don't have to be Superwoman. I am trying really hard to not have this mind set, but being the type A personality that I am it is very difficult not to try to be a perfectionist.
So here I stood in the middle of my kitchen trying to explain to my husband exactly what I was seeing, all the while he calmly is watching his favorite DIY Saturday morning shows. I am freaking out thinking I am going to spend the rest of my day having to pay over time for a plumber and wash ALL my dishes by hand. (Not one of my favorite things to do.) Then I take a deep breath and pull everything out from under my sink and grab some towels from the garage just in case we have a reenactment of the story of Noah and the flood. Upon taking a second gland under the sink, I notice that the drain tubing is clogged with what appears to be....bacon grease. 'See I told you Honey that bacon is not a good food for you. This is what it is doing to your body,' were my thoughts as I stared and strategized about how Plumber Carri was going to take of this clogged line that was midway in the pipe stretching at least 2 1/2 feet long total.
Using my "I am not a plumber or engineer" brain, I took a metal coat hanger (surprised to find one in our house considering we don't use a dry cleaners and I strongly dislike them for what they do to your clothes), stretched it out and carefully shoved it down the tube trying to open the line back up. Then with abated breath I turned on the dish washer, with the tube in a bucket and Samantha Grace standing in front of the dishwasher to open it to turn it off once the bucket was filled...and success! I was so excited to see chunks of grease come flowing from this tube. I felt such a huge since of accomplishment and SAVINGS knowing that because of my metal hanger I just saved our family at least a $100 service call plus whatever it would have cost for the guy to clean the tubing.
So even though it is only almost lunch time, I feel I have completed a whole days worth of work. My kitchen is now in disarray, the sheets are done washing and have been for over 2 hours now, it looks like a tornado went through the living room, and I haven't checked one thing off the to-do list for today! So when my wonderful husband offered to take Samantha Grace to run some errands, I gladly accepted without hesitation. For this Mommy is hanging up her Superwoman cape for the day and getting this house back to normalcy.
Oh, and Daddy is getting some dishwasher cleaner while he is out!
It's just one of those days...
P.S. If you are looking for a great read of the new year, one of my favorite bloggers has a new book coming out on Tuesday called The Money Saving Mom's Budget. Highly recommend!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
D. S. R. F.
Even though it is already the 5th day of the New Year, I am still thinking about all 
the goals I have set for myself in the coming year. Just having had our second baby, right now things are going well in what a lot of new mom's refer to as "The Survival Mode". However, I feel that we are moving beyond the survival mode and I am able to refocus on what we, as a family and individually, have set out for the new year.
This year I am focusing on 4 words and have derived our my goals for the year from these words.
DISCIPLINE
My first area of focus is discipline. This is not meaning in the sense of our children, but more so in carrying out tasks/goals to completion. As my husband tells me many times, I am an undiagnosed case of ADHD. For many that know me, I have trouble saying "no", can't sit still (heaven forbid I should take a nap), and love to take on new projects/hobbies. I am a woman a many hobbies or at least the hubby thinks so. So this year to allow my ADHD mind be a little more focused, I have organized a notebook with all the daily needed items (financial, daily menus, chore lists, daily schedules, yearly reading lists, monthly projects to try, yearly goals/discipline lists). This so far has been a HUGE help in keeping my mind focused throughout the day, even with the interruptions of a 6 week old and a 3 1/2 year old!
SIMPLIFY
I have been participating for now the last year in Community Bible Study. Each week I meet with about 150 other women from the community to dive deeply into God's word. Through this group I have been able to study almost 4 New Testament books in great detail. In addition, I do my own devotional/prayer time. Over the past 6 months, I have been asking the Lord to reveal to me a weakness in my life and to strengthen through His power not my own. Well, He has broken me down in so many aspects of my life, too many to list here, but a couple of particular areas had to do with "STUFF". I know that I might step on some toes here for some people, but remember I asked the Lord to search me and challenge me in ways only He could do.
He has revealed to me that I focused for too long in life in "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. This is a thought, now knowing, that comes of this world. I couldn't quite put my own mind grasp around what Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else, so you can later live like no one else." I am not saying that we are living in poverty or don't have nice things. NOT THAT AT ALL. What I am getting to is the fact that I realized I had things that other people could use that I have not touched in either the last year or LONGER! I have some things that I bought 2 years ago that were still in the box. Growing up my daddy always said, when we cleaned out rooms/closets, that if you haven't used it in the last year then out it goes.
So we are in simplicity mode. So far, on this 5th day of the year, I have gone through kitchen cabinets (rearranged my entire cabinets) and the living room area. My husband was very impressed with the already 2 LARGE boxes full for a garage sale in March. I think the Lord used our last 2 moves to really show me how little of stuff you need to survive. In addition, our kids don't need every outfit or toy that is out there. SG is quite content with what she has. We realized at Christmas that after her stocking she was satisfied and could have been done. WOW!
ROUTINE
This kind of ties into the whole discipline idea too. But we, as a family, have found that things run A LOT smoother when we have established a routine. Being a minister's family, we spend a lot of time at church. So sometimes it feels that routine can't happen with the later than normal Sunday and Wednesday nights. But NOT SO!
Simplify the routine and it works. It can be as simple as the order in which things happen when you and children awake. SG now knows that breakfast does not come before she is pottied, dressed and bed is made. We are now working with her on having morning chit-chat instead of morning TV time. This was a drag in our somewhat routine last year. The TV took too much of her attention and lead to too much head butting in the mornings. Routines also help with Mommy's attitude too.
FAMILY
With all of these previously mentioned areas of focus, my most important area is family. I cannot tell you how precious my now family of 4 is to me. Even on the days when I want to hang-up the "Mommy" badge, I look at my children's precious faces and the undenying loving disposition of my husband and think, 'Man! I am the luckiest woman in the world!'
Since we have never lived in a city/town where our extended family resides, the core focus on our immediate family has been critical. In addition, our children grow up so quickly. Just looking at sweet baby Elijah (who has now taken on the nickname given by SG "Elijah Bug"), I can believe how much he has grown in just 6 weeks. He is still supposed to be the tiny 6 lb 2 oz. baby we brought home almost 2 months ago! Then in May it will mark 4 years since SG was diagnosed with Type I diabetes and she will then be 4 years old meaning in 2013 she will be starting Kindergarten. Can I take a moment with my Kleenex box?
All of this to say, my hubby and I are really focusing in on family time because it will be no time before they are all grown up!
Like I mentioned a fore, I took these core areas of focus and broke them down into smaller areas to set my yearly goals. I may have completely bored you with this but I felt it important enough in our lives to share with you. Feel free to comment below with some of your goals too! I love to hear what others are doing too!
Happy New Year!
the goals I have set for myself in the coming year. Just having had our second baby, right now things are going well in what a lot of new mom's refer to as "The Survival Mode". However, I feel that we are moving beyond the survival mode and I am able to refocus on what we, as a family and individually, have set out for the new year.This year I am focusing on 4 words and have derived our my goals for the year from these words.
DISCIPLINE
My first area of focus is discipline. This is not meaning in the sense of our children, but more so in carrying out tasks/goals to completion. As my husband tells me many times, I am an undiagnosed case of ADHD. For many that know me, I have trouble saying "no", can't sit still (heaven forbid I should take a nap), and love to take on new projects/hobbies. I am a woman a many hobbies or at least the hubby thinks so. So this year to allow my ADHD mind be a little more focused, I have organized a notebook with all the daily needed items (financial, daily menus, chore lists, daily schedules, yearly reading lists, monthly projects to try, yearly goals/discipline lists). This so far has been a HUGE help in keeping my mind focused throughout the day, even with the interruptions of a 6 week old and a 3 1/2 year old!
SIMPLIFY
I have been participating for now the last year in Community Bible Study. Each week I meet with about 150 other women from the community to dive deeply into God's word. Through this group I have been able to study almost 4 New Testament books in great detail. In addition, I do my own devotional/prayer time. Over the past 6 months, I have been asking the Lord to reveal to me a weakness in my life and to strengthen through His power not my own. Well, He has broken me down in so many aspects of my life, too many to list here, but a couple of particular areas had to do with "STUFF". I know that I might step on some toes here for some people, but remember I asked the Lord to search me and challenge me in ways only He could do.
He has revealed to me that I focused for too long in life in "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. This is a thought, now knowing, that comes of this world. I couldn't quite put my own mind grasp around what Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else, so you can later live like no one else." I am not saying that we are living in poverty or don't have nice things. NOT THAT AT ALL. What I am getting to is the fact that I realized I had things that other people could use that I have not touched in either the last year or LONGER! I have some things that I bought 2 years ago that were still in the box. Growing up my daddy always said, when we cleaned out rooms/closets, that if you haven't used it in the last year then out it goes.
So we are in simplicity mode. So far, on this 5th day of the year, I have gone through kitchen cabinets (rearranged my entire cabinets) and the living room area. My husband was very impressed with the already 2 LARGE boxes full for a garage sale in March. I think the Lord used our last 2 moves to really show me how little of stuff you need to survive. In addition, our kids don't need every outfit or toy that is out there. SG is quite content with what she has. We realized at Christmas that after her stocking she was satisfied and could have been done. WOW!
ROUTINE
This kind of ties into the whole discipline idea too. But we, as a family, have found that things run A LOT smoother when we have established a routine. Being a minister's family, we spend a lot of time at church. So sometimes it feels that routine can't happen with the later than normal Sunday and Wednesday nights. But NOT SO!
Simplify the routine and it works. It can be as simple as the order in which things happen when you and children awake. SG now knows that breakfast does not come before she is pottied, dressed and bed is made. We are now working with her on having morning chit-chat instead of morning TV time. This was a drag in our somewhat routine last year. The TV took too much of her attention and lead to too much head butting in the mornings. Routines also help with Mommy's attitude too.
FAMILY
With all of these previously mentioned areas of focus, my most important area is family. I cannot tell you how precious my now family of 4 is to me. Even on the days when I want to hang-up the "Mommy" badge, I look at my children's precious faces and the undenying loving disposition of my husband and think, 'Man! I am the luckiest woman in the world!'
Since we have never lived in a city/town where our extended family resides, the core focus on our immediate family has been critical. In addition, our children grow up so quickly. Just looking at sweet baby Elijah (who has now taken on the nickname given by SG "Elijah Bug"), I can believe how much he has grown in just 6 weeks. He is still supposed to be the tiny 6 lb 2 oz. baby we brought home almost 2 months ago! Then in May it will mark 4 years since SG was diagnosed with Type I diabetes and she will then be 4 years old meaning in 2013 she will be starting Kindergarten. Can I take a moment with my Kleenex box?
All of this to say, my hubby and I are really focusing in on family time because it will be no time before they are all grown up!
Like I mentioned a fore, I took these core areas of focus and broke them down into smaller areas to set my yearly goals. I may have completely bored you with this but I felt it important enough in our lives to share with you. Feel free to comment below with some of your goals too! I love to hear what others are doing too!
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Busy Signal
This past weekend we brought in the New Year with Daddy's family in Franklin. We had a blast! Daddy and I got to enjoy a wonderful New Year's Eve together...childless! Thanks to Bobo (Daddy's Dad) we were able to take in the sights and sounds of the newly renovated Franklin Theatre while enjoying a couple new music groups to us. One was The Vespers and the other was Mike Farris. Mike Farris was very entertaining, especially his back-up singers (I have never seen someone play the tambourine like one of them did!), but the incredible thing was that he sang songs all about our incredible Lord Jesus during New Years Eve! What a great way to bring in the New Year celebrating our Lord!
Not only did Mommy and Daddy enjoy celebrating the New Year, but Elijah decided that he needed to celebrate the new year too by staying up from 2 - 4 AM. Not quite what Mommy had intended for after staying up til midnight! So needless to say, Elijah and Mommy were a little on the grumpy side on Sunday. But hey! we sure did enjoy bringing in the new year!
As we were departing the greater Franklin area, Mommy realized that her cellphone was MIA. After "looking" back at Mimi and Bobo's house (see previous paragraph as to why Mommy probably wasn't in the cellphone searching mood), Mommy just decided that it had to be in one of the several bags we had brought and would find it when we got home. We couldn't "call it" because it was still on vibrate from being out Saturday night. Ooops! So home we went...Upon our return home and endless searching in all the bags, pockets of clothes and unknown parts of our packing, Mommy's phone still did not turn up. In the back of my head, I was kind of grateful because it was one less distraction during the day. So on Monday, I spent the day phone-less. I will admit that at points it was a little awkward but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it! Silence...
However, the phone will be making its postal journey back home soon thanks to Bobo finding it tucked away between the seat and door of Daddy's old Honda Del Sol. Gosh I love that car! But for now I am enjoying the continual silence and the ability to get more things done! So I challenge you to turn the phone off for one day, if possible. At first you will feel a little strange and "disconnected" but in the end you will be amazed what can be accomplished and what conversations you will have with your family...face-to-face.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)