Friday, October 30, 2009

happy halloween!

last night we carved our "charfauros family pumpkin!" it was fun, but i can tell nicholas is getting older because it was only me, jay , & noah into it. nicholas came around for the family photo. jay & i have just assumed that this is how it's going to be as our boys get older - less and less time with them & the traditions we do as a family :(

tomorrow is halloween & we're planning host a halloween family gathering. lots to do & prepare! need to do some cleaning, grocery shopping, and some more cleaning!

it's starting to get cooler! the evenings are cold - we're breakin' out our winter jammies. but it's nice though - u can smell the holidays in the air. truly one of my most favorite times of year.

happy halloween everyone! be safe!


Friday, October 16, 2009

october updates

i failed at the photo a day thing, so i suppose that just means that i will probably not do too well on doing it for a year. it doesn't mean that i haven't taken pictures - because i have i've taken alot - i just don't seem to be consistent. one day i'll take none, and the next i'll take like 20. hmmm...

i'm up early for the first time in over a week. i've been sleeping in and getting up when the kids got up. i don't like that - i like my quiet time, time to drink my coffee and prepare for my day. but yesterday jay and i went for a short run and i've noticed that when i go running, the next day i'm more energized and alert to waking up and starting early. i love it.

i am reading this book "The Power of Praying" by Stormie Omartian. i've had this book for years sitting on my bookshelf but recently i have taken it off my shelf and have been skimming through it. there is is this one line from the book . . . "lead me to all that You have for me." and i have included this in my daily prayers because i am learning to have faith in God's plan for me, even if it isn't what i have had planned for myself. i am learning to trust Him and learning to let Him guide me to live the life He has planned for me. because He is my Father and i know that He has so much to give me and offer me - i have to be willing to accept it into my life.

we enjoyed the pumpkin patch this past weekend. it was sweltering hot . . . like 90 degree weather. when we got back to my mom's house we looked more like we got back from the beach than the pumpkin patch :) good times though, good times!

well here are some recent pictures of the last few days :)


me trying to get a hug from my big boy nicholas :0


classic bates nut farm photo. so fun to share this day with family!


the gang that joined us at bates nut farm, minus jay, he's the cameraman!


the charfauros family pumpkin - a 70lb pumpkin. can't wait to carve it!


nicholas & his godsister aaliyah. love watching these two grow up together!


noah enjoying the pumpkins ;)


getting ready to enjoy the pumpkin patch!


nicholas & jay on their way out to baseball practice and enjoy some father/son time.


a tradition in our home, dad brings home donuts on the weekend he is off. the boys love it!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

2 posts in one day . . . (wow)!

i don't have alot of time . . . gotta run & pick nicholas up from school soon. but these thoughts have been lingering in my mind. kinda sporadic.

what is it about fall/autumn that makes me feel like creating something? it makes me also want to implement change. i'm big on change - i'm scared of it but i love it at the same time. i love the cool crisp air - the freshness. you can just smell the holidays, the warmth & the comfort in the air.

i've also been thinking alot about feeling powerful & what makes me feel that way. i won't be dishonest, most often i define power by how much money i have to spend or how much i can buy. it's awful, i know, but i'm choosing to be completely honest here. but lately, and it hasn't been by choice, i've had to cut back, to spend less, even less than what we normally do. and it's been hard. but i've been doing alot of thinking on this and in many ways i feel the power of will to choose to be smart with how me & my family spend our money. i feel powerful more & more when i look at what we choose to do with our money - it's all well spent. it's not for lost causes - it's all for the good of my kids & family. and that makes me feel more powerful than anything because at the start & end of everyday i have & always will choose what is best for them. we've been utilizing the library more & that alone has brought great smiles to our faces & we've discovered so many great programs there! we've also walked to school this week & to me there isn't anything more theraputic than getting out there and going for a good walk. in all of this, whether i choose to call it hardship, i feel that this will only teach my kids to value the tangible & the intangible things that we work so hard to provide for them.

was thinking of all this as i was on my hands & kness mopping my downstairs floors :)
time to pick up my big boy!

try a little harder to be a little better

try a little harder to be a little better are the first words i thought of yesterday morning and the first words i thought of as i climbed out of bed this morning. those words, i mean them for myself - i mean them in a way that there is SO MUCH about me that can be changed, that can be improved. and i really want to work hard at making changes, most of all i want to work on being a better mom, a better parent to my two boys. lately i've been thinking back on my own childhood and the ways in which my parents choices, actions, and attitudes have shaped the person i have come to be . . . i am that person to my two boys and i want so desperately to shape them in the best way possible. so that's what i think now- try a little harder to be a little better.

today is thursday which means storytime! yay noah was so excited when i reminded him of this before bedtime :) it'll be nice to get outta the house - interact with other children and adults. going out and about like that reminds me of how confined we live our lives. we stay home alot - and so the outside influences are so minimal it's almost exciting to go out for an outing :)

thursday is also menu planning time for me and i've discovered this cool blog with some yummy recipes. some i'm super excited to try out. yesterday i put a roast in the slow cooker and it was so yummy - not to mention i put it in slow cooker and let it do its thing all day - prep time, and clean up time were MINIMAL! which is nice :)

i walked nicholas to school yesterday and it was so nice to have the fresh and crisp morning air hit my face. i loved it! we're walking again today and i want to do it more often.

i have my picture from yesterday - but haven't downloaded it. hopefully i get to it today. i've been enjoying taking a picture a day that represents something special or significant that happened on that particular day.

okay, so i'm off to have another cup of coffee, give my dinner menu some thought, and plug in my straightner (think i might get dressed up for the library hehehe)!

happy thursday - and remember - try a little harder to be a little better!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

picture a day thingie!

October 6: Bedtime a little early for the boys . . . I could've parented better today. By the end of today my head was hurting and I was craving serenity and quiet time.




October 5: Baking sweet treats for nicholas' lunch. homemade snicker doodles and andes chocolate mint cookies. we are in cookie heaven :)


October 4: church as a family on sunday! i love when jay can join us. having these 3 guys with me completes me. the are my hearts treasure :)


October 3: the beginning of daddy's 3 dayer!!! his tradition to bring donuts home on the weekends! the boys love it - of course they do - it's fried and sugary with sprinkles on top!


so i'm trying to keep up with my photos of the day. it's fun to do, but today i almost forgot. i'm trying though :)
today was a busy & productive day. i cleaned house a bit, rearranged the living room, dropped off jay's dry cleaning and did some grocery shopping.
i giggled with my kids as i tucked them in . . . (note to self : do that ALOT MORE!!!) i made nicholas laugh at dinner beause of a crazy, silly, sarcastic remark i made. it's good to see him smile. i love it when he smiles. i want to do that more.
i'm tired. been up early. i'll write more later.
goodnight!

Friday, October 2, 2009

3 ladies

today has been rough - yesterday was rough too - so that makes for a really hard end of the week. but just to mention today . . . noah woke up from nap cranky as ever. i have to time it perfectly for him to wake up right before it's time to pick up nicholas from school - otherwise he's such a grouchy boy. well of course he wakes up at 230 a little less than an hour before we have to pick up nicholas and he just fell apart. i mean he just melted to pieces cried and cried and i had to set him on the couch to pull himself together and to keep my sanity. the whole time he's sitting in our front room he's just crying and whining and i feel i'm about to burst into tears. i felt so pushed to my limits, maybe it was the craving of adult conversation, maybe i just had had enough of the whining and crying i don't know but i just felt for that one single moment i would give anything to step out of this house - to be a working mom because i can't take this anymore.


and then all of a sudden it was 320 and time to get nicholas and noah was fine. he was fine. he just converted into this sunshine child. but i already felt at my limit. i felt drained and defeated and nicholas got a grouchy side of me in front of his friend. we were on our way to nicholas' baseball practice and i just felt DONE! but of course, i don't have a choice - i have to push on.


so we get to the park and noah is still the sunshine child :) he's happy, he's in his element, and i was, honestly, enjoying the fresh air. maybe that's what both of us needed - to be released from the confinement of our home. so i go and apologize to nicholas' friend for lecturing nicholas in front of him and for making him feel uncomfortable. he doesn't say much, but i don't really expect it because, well, he's 10 and he's a boy.


meanwhile these 3 ladies catch my attention. it's clear that it is a mother with her two daughters and they seem to be babysitting a young girl about noah's age. we get to talking and i'm lucky enough to get a glimpse of their awesome relationship. the mother is older and she reveals to me that she got married in her early 30's and started late. she just begins to open up to me to tell me of her desire to never have children because if she had to depend on someone else to raise or watch her kids then she'd rather not have any at all. but, of course, she does have two girls and raises them. and in my opinion, she raised them beautifully, inside and out. our conversation was so NEEDED at my feeling of defeat, as a mother. it was refreshing and they, meaning those 3 ladies, really touched my heart. we ended our conversation with the mother shaking my hand and telling me that i'm doing a wonderful job and keep doing what i'm doing, being there for my kids.


it's amazing how God speaks to us, how He works in our lives. how HE comes to us when we needed it the most.



and so this is my photo of the day . . .


Oct. 2 At the park appreciating the goodness of God that shines through other people! :)

New Project - Mud Run - And Quick Catch Up

i, so, need to get back on board with writing in my blog. i think the summer got so busy (a fun kind of busy) that i just got into the habit of NOT posting anything. nothing, not even photos :( sad i know.

but i'm gonna try to be better bout' posting.

so i'm starting this THING - not sure what to name it or call it - but it's similar to Project 365 (a new innovative way to scrapbooking) except i'm gonna try it out for the entire month of OCT. so for 31 days i'm gonna take, at least, one photo a day and post it here. i think it'll be fun and if i like how it goes then i'll def. start the Project 365 come Jan. 1!

and a quick update - i'm doing another mud run! it's at the end of oct. i'm pretty excited about it. jay & i will be running it and we've recruited a few more runners :) can't wait.

yesterday was hard being nicholas and noah's parents - they were just flat out difficult. as i climbed into bed last night i said this to jay, "today was hard huh, being parents." we just looked at eachother because we both new that was an understatement.

really quick - noah's potty training is going well. we're even done with pull-ups in the evening. we're taking outings in underwear. yay for that!

okay that's it for now!

Oct. 1 waiting for story time to start at the Public Library.