The Glamourous Life!

I was in the process of cleaning junk off the floor of the pantry and then I heard Joseph make a noise and his entire mac and cheese bowl with all of the mac and cheese was scattered all over the floor! I went back to the pantry and bent down to sweep up the junk I had left and notice a full wet diaper behind the dog food! My first thought was "How long has THAT been sitting there creating the "fresh" aroma in the pantry?!" Then I proceeded to put the diaper in the trash which made the trash completely overflowing! (Seriously, why does my husband insist on not taking the trash out of the can until it is almost touching the ceiling?!) Anyways, I decided to go ahead and do the deed for once! I looked at the bottom! Can you say DISGUSTING!!! (Don't judge me by my trash can please!) That's when I realized in those 5 minutes how "glamourous" my life is! I sat still and pictured me doing all of the mundane daily things to Fergie's song G-L-A-M-OR-OUS! In my head it was hilarious!

All that to say, this morning's quiet time was all about the drudgery of life! How funny. My favorite part was when it said, Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, "Jesus . . . took a towel and . . . began to wash the disciples’ feet . . ." ( John 13:3-5 ) It also said, "Don't always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God." That was great for me to hear!

Sunday Mornings!

There is really NO other way to describe Sundays in our house except CRAZY! Every Sunday Jose is off to church for set up before any soul in our house is awake! That means, I have to get every one ready by myself! Usually, everyone wakes up at the same time (which makes it even crazier)! So, while I hold Moses in one arm with a bottle, I use the other arm to get Joseph's breakfast and the kids milk! After baby is finished with his bottle, he gets some TLC from the Rainforest Swing (his other mother)! I put Joseph down from the highchair so he can create chaos all over the bottom floor! (Oh yeah, and I yell at Joseph every 5 min. for stealing Moses' passy!) During this time I try to feed the older 2 and myself! When we are done eating, I put Joseph down for an early nap and pray Moses stays asleep long enough for me to take a shower and not go to church looking like a grease ball with BO! After I get my self somewhat put together, it's the kids turn! I pick out all the clothes, throw them over the balcony and YELL "KIDS HURRY UP! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE! GET DRESSED NOW!!" I hurry downstairs and become a drill sergeant trying to get them to focus on changing their clothes. PJs eventually fly off and are scattered all around! I don't worry too much b/c I hate being late! I get the babies dressed and pack the diaper bag (which is seriously a 20 min. chore making sure I have EVERYTHING a 3 month old could possibly need in a 4 hour period of time!) I turn on the car to cool off, praying no one takes it, but think if someone does it's God's fault if he allows a thief to steal my van when I'm trying to go to church! (Quick side note: Did you know in Meck Co you can't leave your car on more than 5 min. or you can get a ticket?! We actually had a cop in our neighborhood give us a "warning" during the winter time!) FINALLY, we are ready to bolt, leaving our house in complete disarray! But hey, at least we make it to church on time to hear a great message! We just finished a great series called FAITHOLOGY discussing other religions! Very thought provoking! Click on the link then click watch if you want to see!

Laundry....

Since I have nothing on my "To Do List" besides the laundry and have a hundred loads to do, I figured I would write a post about how I do my laundry! [I know, my life is sooo interesting;-) ]

The before...

1. I divide/separate! (I LOVE this part!) For some weird reason it's actually fulfilling to make different groups that match! I know I have issues. Save the emails;-) I prefer to divide into darks, whites, lights, and towels.

2. Go get all hangers and match them up in the laundry room! Except wire ones! I can't stand wire hangers which is a problem b/c Jose frequents the dry cleaners so we have a bajillion wire hangers! (If you have a great use for them let me know!)

3. Get the detergent ready! We go through a LOT of detergent so these are ones I got B1G1 and had coupons for! However, I am planning on saving us lots more money b/c when these are gone I'm going to "copy" my friend Tia and make my own! Can't wait! (Click on her name so you can see how.)

4. The next step is business as usual! Put in, wash, and dry!

5. When the first load is dry pull out and put into basket, then put washed load in dryer, then start hanging shirts & dresses and making piles for each family member! Keep repeating this step OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER about 15-20 times and then you'll be done and too tired to put away any of the laundry so, everyone's "closet" is the laundry room! Hip Hip Horray. Mission accomplished =)

Sex!

Disclaimer: Mom you probably want to stop reading here. This could qualify as TMI;-) Also, this post is intended for married couples.

I've really got a lot to say about the subject...but, for now I just want to share a little something! Many months ago I started looking into Christian sex sites to see what I could find. (Honestly, I never even knew such a thing existed) On my venture to look deeper into what the Bible had to say about sex I found this amazing website! The website was created by a Christian married couple who has four children and write e-books! Jose and I purchased two of them a while back and they were AWESOME! Anyways, Robert & Susan emailed a couple of wks ago offering EVERYTHING for $37!! We bought everything and really was totally worth $37. On the way home from Myrtle Beach we did the 300 Sex Questions and it took Jose and I 3 1/2 hours to go through them and we found out some new things about each other! I emailed Robert and Susan and told them how blessed we have been with their e-books and wanted to know if I could share with my friends. They created a special link to get the offer! (It is not available on their website for the general public!)

The Offer Includes:(ALL FOR $37)

-Sexual Skills for the Christian Husband

-Sexual Skills for the Christian Husband (Audio version)

-Sexual Satisfaction for the Christian Wife

-When Your Husband Is Never in the Mood

-She Loves God Me And Sex

-101 Romantic Ideas

-101 Creative Lovemaking Ideas

-Sexy Coupons

-The Christian Kama Sutra

-300 Sex Questions for Christian Couples

-Premature Nomore

-Healing Touch Massage

-Working Through Anger and Resentment In Your Marriage

These have been a blessing to us and I hope for you as well! We, as married couples, should all be enjoying sex the way God intended it to be! If you are interested (it's completely confidential, even to me) click here =)

Happy Anniversary!

So....yesterday was our 8 yr. wedding anniversary! Here we are 4 kids later! It's been a journey for sure! There is a country song Jose made me listen to one time called "Then" by Brad Paisly. Push play (even if you don't like country) lol!

What an awesome song! It's so true! You can think you love someone in the beginning but with time and nurture that love grows into something stronger and with a little more time even stronger!

We had a great day! We drove 3 1/2 hours home from Myrtle Beach answering over 300 questions about sex! (Don't worry. Separate blog coming about that!) We went to Zebra and it was amazing! The food, service and the evening was great!

Vacation

Even though we've had a good time in Myrtle Beach, I've definitely learned some things about vacationing with 4 kids!

1) We shouldn't call it a vacation!

2) It's harder to go on "vacation" than it is to stay home

3) Before you go on "vacation" you have to pack almost the entire house (especially if you have a 15 month old and a 3 month old, both of which require their own pack in play to sleep!)

4)Everyone sleeping in one room and sharing one bathroom (which also has one pack in play in it) is not all that exciting

5) Pools are way cleaner, easier, less sticky and less messy than the beach!

6) When you get back from "vacation" you need to spend 8 hours (without interruptions which

is completely impossible w/ 4 children) doing the dreaded laundry!

7) The kids LOVE vacationing! And seeing the smiles on their faces when they get to

experience new things makes points 1-6 worth the effort!

"Are you going to have more?"

This is the #1 question Jose and I are asked. Probably you have even been one to ask;-) The answer.......................We don't know. We were totally DONE having children after two. Actually, I had a friend who had a boy and a girl and was pregnant with her third and I actually asked her "Why?" since she already had a boy and girl. I mean, really, isn't that what having a family is? Having two children. Why would you need more? I thought people who had more than two children were C-R-A-Z-Y! After Abrianna, I wanted Jose to get "fixed" and he was like no way jose! No one was going to clip his private parts!

When Abrianna turned 3, it was like a spark went off! I was reading Psalm 127 and read:

³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.

That passage changed my thinking in a drastic way! Honestly, I'm pretty selfish. Here I was thinking, "Oh, good! My kids are 4 and 3! They are more independent! It's almost time for them to go to school! Now I can get back to my life and do what I want to do!" I saw my children more just there to complete our family! I was completely blinded to what blessings they were and how much God loves them and how he entrusted them to us! Then I started thinking, if children are gifts from God and a reward then why would I not want more?! Jose agreed! I realized I could never regret having more children but I could regret not having more! I have never met a parent who could say they regret that child coming into their life!

Is our life busy? Yes. Is it hard at times? Yes. Do I get tired? Yes. Do we have to be creative financially? Yes. Do I have a bazillion loads of laundry all the time? YES! Is it all worth it? Absolutely! Would I change anything? NO! Will there be more? I don't know but, I do know EVERY child is a gift and a blessing! I can't imagine our life without our 4 children!

Graduation Time

It's GRADUATION time! Actually my little brother, who's not so little anymore, is graduating from High School in 2 wks! That made me think of my HS graduation that was 10 YEARS ago! What have I been doing for the past 10 yrs? What has changed? How have I changed? Is my life better now than it was then? How are the next 10 years going to be? These are just a few of the questions that popped in my head that made me reflect on the last 10 years of my life. WOW! It has been a journey!

Warning: This is where it gets long and possibly boring so, if you don't want my life story of the last 10 yrs. no need to read on =)

In the fall of 1999, I started going to CSU.

After graduation....I had already decided to go to CSU for the fall semester of 1999. I had a great summer but during that time I realized something was missing from my life and started having questions about life in general and the meaning and purpose of life. So...at that point I guess you could say I was a "seeker". I had key people in my life trying to guide me and answer my questions. September came and I started school. (Side note: I had no clue what I wanted to do. Why do we push our kids to go to college immediately after high school if they don't know what they want to do so they can earn a degree in something and a year later decided that's not what they want to do and to have them go to college again after they finally decide what they really want to do? Sorry. I'm just saying.) It was soon after the start of school I had a transforming experience! Truth was revealed and I became a person who believed in Christ and realized that he died for me (and everyone else) to save me! To understand that there was nothing I could do to make Him love me more or nothing I could do to make Him love me less was WOW! It changed my life and the course of my future. I changed from night to day. October 1999 is when I met Jose. We became friends, and soon after I knew he was the man I was going to marry! I actually called my mom and said "Hey Mom, I met the guy I'm going to marry!" At the time, she thought I was crazy. (She LOVES Jose now just so ya know!) In December 1999, I decided school was not for me! Mom thought I was really crazy. (She knows I'm not now;-) )Then I told her that I was going with Jose, the guy I told her I was going to marry & who I just met a couple of months ago, to NYC Times Square for New Year's Eve. That probably about sent her over the edge! Fast forward and April 2000 I was engaged. (Long story there... but mom, along with other people, thought I joined a cult so when Jose went to ask her if he could marry me, he ended up inviting her to visit this so called cult (Seacoast Chuch)LOL! Anyways, she went and never stopped attending after that. (Side Note: If you live in Charleston and don't go to church, check out www.seacoast.org! It's an amazing church and definitely NOT a cult. My mom will attest to this! Whew! I know she was relieved!) I worked at Olive Garden (yummy) for a while and actually LOVED it! I had bad days of course but I really liked being a waitress. (I'm a nurse now it's like being a waitress except you get paid more.) Jose and I got married June 1, 2001. Can't believe it's been almost 8 yrs! Seven months later, I was pregnant with our first born (Elijah Angel Noy). I found out, right after I started working at Seacoast. While I worked there, you could bring your baby to work with you for the first 6 months. So, I did that and when the time was up I became a stay at home mom! When Elijah was 8 months old I was pregnant with Abrianna Elyse Noy! Well, I guess my life wasn't busy enough b/c the Nov. before Abi was here I really felt God calling me to be a nurse! WHAT! I thought! I don't like blood. I never saw an old person's body. A bazillion thoughts came to my head. But, I filled out the papers in Nov. and a week later got my acceptance letter and actually started going to school in January while I was still pregnant. I was to start the nursing program in exactly one year! Oh, I forgot to mention in the same November I felt like I was going to be a nurse, Jose felt led to start a business and that's when we started Communication & Surveillance Services aka CSS (www.comsurv.com). I started the nursing program and frankly at first I was traumatized! My first patient was in a nursing home (keep in mind before then I was never around any sick elderly people. NEVER) she had a colostomy and dentures. I had never seen anyone take out dentures and it really scared me! I was really upset. I could not believe I was actually doing this. Well, I finally got use to the things I was doing and managed to survive! ( I swear it's a MIRACLE!) In my last year of school, friends of ours told us they were planting a church in Charlotte, NC. Immediately, we were on board. So, 2 days after graduating nursing school, we made our home in Charlotte and started helping out with Mosaic Church. Moving forward...by the way we were DONE having kids after 2!!!! I was begging and pleading with Jose to get a vasectomy! He was anti-clipping (as I like to say)! When Abi turned 3 God really changed both of our hearts about children! (I'm writing another blog about that later) Immediately I got pregnant with Joseph Daniel Noy. Elijah started TK at a private school while I was pregnant. He was born February 15, 2008. Soon after is when it happened...Both the older kids were registered for private school for the fall...We paid all of our money and everything...and then...I felt the Lord lead me to homeschool! WHAT! Crazy! (I am a former ANTI-HOMESCHOOLing mom) Wow! Another miracle! (another blog on that story later as well;-) ) Oh, at that point we knew we wanted more children and we wanted them close like Abi and Elijah. Hello, we didn't know they would be that close! Moses Allen Noy was born 12 1/2 months after Joseph. So, here we are today. It has been a journey with many changes almost all for the better! I'm blessed beyond anything I could have dreamed or imagined. I can't wait to write the next 10yr story.

Goals

I've been thinking about setting goals.... Why???? Sometimes I feel like I go day to day just getting through, doing things on the schedule, but not really working toward anything! So...I decided to set some goals for my self so I can see where I'm going and how far I've come!

Here is what I've come up with...

Physical-Be healthy! How? By making healthy choices every day! It's really not about being a

certain weight or size. It's about living a healthy lifestyle so I can be around a LONG

time for my family. It's about being a good steward of the body I've been given and

taking care of my "temple".

Spiritual-Spend time in the Word daily! It's the bread of LIFE! Be in a small group at all times.

Relational-Date night at least every other week. Couch time at least 15 min. everyday Jose is in

town. Family game night once a week. Weekend get away 2 times before 2010.

Marriage Retreat before 2010.

School- Actually do it! LOL! I crack me up! Since Moses has been born I took 4 wks off and

since then I've done school 2-3 times a week. So...my goal is to finish up Elijah (1st grade) & Abi (K) by the end of summer. I'm actually doing Abrianna K again in the fall.

IMO I think 5 is too young for 1st grade (my 5 yr. old anyways).

Life- Volunteer once a month somewhere (still working the somewhere part out). Go on a

medical mission trip in 2010. Do 2 family outreaches before 2010.

These are my goals for now! Please feel free to hold me accountable! I won't lie to ya =)

Talk

Have you ever got mad at your husband b/c you were expecting him to do something and it wasn't done? Then when he asks "What's wrong?" You are furiously cleaning and say "Nothing!" but you want him to keep pushing the issue until he "gets it out of you"? AND if he doesn't you get even more mad b/c he should have known that your "NOTHING!!!" really meant you were upset and something was wrong so he should have known to keep asking right?!

I'm guilty of the above on more than one occasion and reading it to myself it sounds hilarious and crazy at the same time! I can't be the only one who has done that can I?

I titled this post talk b/c one of the most important aspects of a marriage in communication! A while back, after being married for several years, I thought, "Is Jose really supposed to know what I'm thinking all the time?" Then I thought why don't I just tell him what's wrong the first time he asks????? Why don't I just go to him when something upsets me and tell him what's on my mind instead of acting mad until he tries to figure out what's wrong with me and wait for him to ask the "what's wrong" question??? Wouldn't that be easier and take less time? Don't let things fester and allow resentment and bitterness to stir in your heart. If you have an issue TALK about it before it becomes an even bigger issue.

Share your thoughts, feelings, dreams, expectations, desires and needs with your mate! Side Note: If you set unrealistic expectations you will be disappointed!

Just a random thought.

Oprah the other day

Oprah was talking about motherhood the other day on her show. It was actually a really good show that featured moms making "confessions" about motherhood. I know many times I want to seem like I have it all together so people can say "WOW. Look at everything she can handle! Amazing!" I know it's sad but true! So........ Here are a few "confessions"

• I have actually gone a couple of days without taking a shower b/c I didn't have time in the morning and I was TOOO TIRED after the kids went to sleep!
  
• I have forgot to brush my teeth.
• I have put the kids to bed @ 6pm (bedtime is 7:30pm) b/c I couldn't take anymore.
• If you have seen the preview for "In the Motherhood", I have done exactly what that mom did. Yelled really loud upstairs to Elijah and Abi to "BE QUIET OR YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP THE BABY!!!!!" When I saw the preview I was laughing hysterically!
• I have put Abi's hair in a pony tail b/c I didn't feel like getting the knots out.

Okay. You get the point. I'm sure I could come up with lots more but these were just on the top of my head! Being a mom is the hardest job that is never ending! It definitely has plenty of rewards and is the best job on earth but there are days when I just don't feel like it.

Hormones WHAT?!

Just thought I would share! So, I was watching College Road Trip with Martin Lawrence (hilarious actor) and I was actually crying. No, I was balling my eyes out at the end! I guess it's official. My hormones are NOT back to normal!

WOW!

Okay. First, I'm feeling accomplished! (For the first time since Moses was born a month ago!) We are finally, ALL OF US, healthy, happy and back to normal! I did 5 loads of laundry, school with the kids, and day 1 of P90X! WOW! I do not LOVE P90X, if I'm being honest, but I know it works! So, transformation in process!

What's in a Blog??

Okay. So, I know I'm slow! I'm starting a blog. (Jose would be proud I've done this much by myself!) I've decided to start this blog for two reasons. 1) To share all of the craziness that goes on in our house! How can it NOT be crazy with four children right?! 2) To hold myself accountable during my P90X journey (starting Monday April 6th)! So, now that I've explained, post #1 is done ;-)