strong house

love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and strength

Memorize his laws and tell them to your children over and over again

talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning

write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them

write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates deut 6:5-9

why?

so when your house is about to be hit, you are kept standing

cancer

a word that i have heard about my whole life. i have been told that us carroll's never die from old age, we all die to cancer

i have not nor will i ever fear that word. which would be why i wrote the above sentence. i believe that god knows my days, he knows my life and i give him total control over everything (that i am aware of :)

cancer has hit my home

my father has prostrate cancer

this is hard for me to process because until i met chris. my dad was the only guy who could fix anything, make everything right, take me shopping to make me feel better, listen to me ramble, on and on and on...kick my butt when i needed it, hold me when i cry, laugh with me when i am being silly and cheer me up when i need it.

dad, you taught me what to look for in a man, how to be treated right, how to stand up for myself and what i believe in. you set the standard high for what to look for in a life partner and for that i am so grateful.

simply put. my dad is the best dad. ever.

i know that you dad will kick this cancer thing. you will come out stronger

no words can be used to describe how valuable you are to this family

i love you dad

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Posted by mel at 2:04 PM

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Posted by mel at 12:54 PM

snow day

chris dressed nate. good job chris but the straps are twisted...

nate is getting so big. i keep telling him to "STOP GROWING" nate laughs and says "NO!"

i snapped pics from the comfort of my warm house, with a coffee in my hand. chris took nate out in the backyard to do some sledding

then had nate carry his sled up the hills himself

this was actually a big hill

nate loved it, he laughed

then it was time to roll in the snow

day's damage. nate wiped out on some ice and scratched his nose up. he loves to tell everyone the story of his owie. he seems to be quite proud of his scratches. ha

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Posted by mel at 9:04 AM

nate stuff

nate wants to be a vet. after putting him down for his nap, i came into the living room and found the sick pup on the couch. ha

nate built his first tower, all by himself. he was so proud that it didn't topple over

building away

water paint. best invention ever. nate loves to paint! i love the no mess of it! he has gone through 1 full book, painting every page

we went to the park yesterday to play in the snow. i froze my butt off, nate had a blast. i can't believe how much he has grown over the last few months. he can climb all over the play structure with no help from me. maybe i can spend this summer sitting on the bench with my java and watch him play instead of helping him climb on everything!

life goes on. nate is amazing to hang with. such a joy to have in my life!

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Posted by mel at 9:11 AM

the ultimate p/b cup!

i tweaked my recipe to utter perfection and created this amazing peanut butter cup. it's better than store bought!

melt a bag of choc chips in the micro on low heat. i use 2 kinds, semi sweet and sweet

stir in 2 tsp of oil. as you nuke the choc, stir it to prevent burning

then, if you have a mixer USE IT!

1/2 cup p/butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup icing sugar

1.5 tsp butter (soft)

1/2 tsp vanilla

mix, mix, mix! until it's a creamy mixture that is easy to roll into a ball. i mixed it on the 3rd lowest setting for almost 10 mins

line up mini cupcake wrappers on a plate/tray. pour the melted choc on the bottom of each cup. then make mini balls with the p/b, flatten it with your hand, place on top of the choc. then cover the p/b with choc. put in the fridge for 2 hrs to harden and voila

amazing peanut butter cups!

these are SO good!!! it was the only thing i made for my holiday baking. ha

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Posted by mel at 8:39 AM

new year!

a few days ago, i was hiding under the covers in my cosy bed. i wasn't feeling the greatest physically and it's funny how one's mind can run away when you are not in the best of shape. nap time was coming to an end and i was having my daily cry, when i asked god to help me with my thoughts because well, i was just sad. very sad. i closed my eyes and i saw this girl, standing with her arms up in the air and the words "forget the past, look forward to the future" came to my mind...so being the student that i am *hah. not* i looked it up and discovered this

"I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and obtaining to take hold of the prize. I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I look forward for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize." Philip 3:12-14

i am pleased that that the year is over and done. it's a new year. a new day. a fresh start.

the pain of the loss really is getting better. i firmly believe that god alone is moving me through this. he's giving me new hope, new dreams and new visions of things to come

i am almost at the place that i was last year, the place i honestly feel content and happy with where i am now, with what i have...baby or no baby...it was such a nice place to be at and i desire to be there again

and with that i must end this blog entry. i have a little 2 yr old who is quite demanding my attention and well who can so no to a cutie in overalls, with red cheeks, holding books and saying "mommy, please read yaya books on couch. please. happy heart"

*i am teaching nate that i want him to do everything with a happy heart. that a happy heart makes jesus, mommy and daddy happy. he has twisted it into a happy heart ='s give me what i ask for every time. ha. i think it back fired on me 2 comments

Posted by mel at 3:46 PM

christmas

it's a week late, but what ever. i only took pics christmas morning for approxy 10 mins and that was it for this year.

nate would not come down the stairs christmas morning, he sat on the chair instead

chris finally carried him down, he was quite taken with the gifts under the tree

so much that he closed his eyes and hid on chris's shoulder...cause everyone knows that when you close your eyes, everything goes away....ha

he finally realized that he gets to OPEN the gifts, he was quite excited

nate and quinn opening the "big trucks"

what does nate do with his truck? why pick up the wrapping paper, put it in the back of the truck and push it around

christmas was much fun this year. it was neat to watch nate open his gifts, all by himself and show his real delight with each one.

chris and i don't exchange gifts, so we had a low key enjoyable morning. dad and shawn made dinner, thanks a bunch for that! it was yummy and, well pleasant to just sit, chill and enjoy with out "hosting"

to be honest, i am glad that christmas is over. as soon as i am feeling better, i am putting all the decorations/tree away until next year

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Posted by mel at 2:33 PM