Sharing My Jennarocity

Christmas this year was a great success!     My mom has been dealing with a broken heel/foot surgery for the last few weeks. She got her stitches out on Christmas Eve, but still has a boot on. She always is just a buzz of activity around this time of year, but this injury slowed her down. She always makes Christmas cookies, cinnamon rolls and scones but this year, me and my sisters took over the tradition!   She got to spend lots of time with this little munchkin.     Cookies came out pretty good, if I do say so myself!     We had lots of treats!     Avery even decorated cookies for Santa!   Although, it wasn't so much decorating cookies, as much as eating sprinkles.   Avery was SOOO excited to spend time with her cousin Colbi! They both did so good the whole time.     We had fun making stuff. Working hard at the cinnamon rolls!     It made me so...

  Someone had her first Starbucks hot chocolate while someone went to go look at Christmas lights.   Someone liked it.   It's almost Christmas!!!

Jason and I shopped for my step-son last weekend. He had asked for a new Nerf rifle to replace his old one. He does have several Nerf guns at our house. He also has a couple play guns. When we started shopping around, both Jason and I just didn't feel right buying Jordan a gun, toy or otherwise, for Christmas. So, he's not getting one. It's the only thing he asked for, but he isn't getting it. We got him some other cool toys instead. When he asks why, we will talk to him about why we probably won't be getting him another toy gun again.   I haven't seen the kids since Friday, so I have no idea what their thoughts are or what their mother has or hasn't told them. Who knows, he might not even want a gun anymore.   I think all boys have a certain tendency to be obsessed with guns. Obviously, just walk up and down the toy aisle for boys in a Walmart and it's literally covered in all types of weapons. I think certain boys gravitate more towards guns a...

Jenn sent this to me this morning and said she was cracking up! Avery wanted to be Monster Cinderella, and was running around saying "Rawwwrrr!" I love that. This girl has quite an active imagination and I LLLOOOOVVVEEEE that about her.    

Jason and I took a one night trip away this weekend to Granbury, TX. What a cool little town! I'd never been there, but that's what I asked for, for Christmas. One night away!     Believe it or not, it's only the second time we've stayed at a hotel since we've been together. Is that sad, or what??   We had a great time and are thinking of making this our annual Christmas tradition. We got to see some beautiful stores, do some Christmas shopping, and SLEEP IN! Thank you Mom and Dad for watching our little munchkin for some much needed time away!  

  My daughter is pretty funny, I must admit. She wanted her glasses on this morning, like her momma. So she got them!

As millions of other Americans this weekend, I held my daughter closer, stared at her longer, and appreciated her more than I did before (which was ALOT), in the wake of the horrendous tragedy in Connecticut. I also began to ask, "WHY?" Of course, as we all know, in matters such as this or any other extreme acts of violence, there will never be a definitive answer, or even one comes close to being one of fulfillment. The fact is, Satan is evil. God created us as complicated individuals, with brains that we will never fully understand. Satan knows this and uses it to his advantage every single day.   I've had a couple conversations about what happened with a couple of different people. I've heard people of Facebook, websites, and news channels who have different takes on this particular situation. I've heard people mention things like "gun control," "mental health," and "mass killing." I've questioned the media's role in p...

  Happy Christmas Party Day, Avery!

  This little stinker!   I love Avery so much. This morning, man. She was being a little pill! But she pulled it together long enough to smile for the camera!   I haven't done an Avery update in a while, so I thought I would.   Avery is wearing 3T clothes and size 5 diapers. I will be off the week of New Years, so we are hoping we will take that time to get her potty trained. It's very much time. I have no idea how much she weighs or her exact height, but her head comes to halfway up my thigh, so she is pretty tall.   Avery is seriously one of the smartest kids I've seen at this age, when it comes to her memory of things and her language skills. I really think this comes from her loving to read books and her loving to listen to music. In fact, I know it is. She has always loved books and she has always loved music. We have about 4 main kids' music CDs that Avery listens to in the car, probably close to 80 songs, and you can turn any of them ...

Jason and I spent $59.99 on the best invention ever. It's called a Roku . And it's awesome. When our Wii decided to stop picking up wireless signals and become useless, we were scrambling to figure out what to do because, you see, our Wii had become our Netflix streaming devise and without it, we just didn't know what we would do. So, I started asking around. I got two responses, either go with the Apple's version or Roku. Those were the best bang for your buck.   So I went to my Walmart, picked one up, and it's been amazing.   Netflix is only one of many things you can stream through this machine. It comes equipped with Pandora, Crackle (streams TV and movies for free, but not usually well known ones, but lots of cartoons), Hulu Plus, Disney, Netflix, Amazon and a couple others. They even have a new release channel, where the movies cost $3.99. Much better than a $5.99 pay per view. However, on their channel, you can download about a hundred o...

Good morning!   Well, for starters, for any of you Walking Dead fans, did that episode not turn your stomach, like, the WHOLE time? And what a great story line with Daryl and Merle. And the Governor, awesome! Now I gotta wait till February to find out what happens. Not cool.   Anyhoo, I felt like I spent all day Saturday shopping and then decorating the kids' trees. Just so you know, I do not normally get 6 foot tall white pre-lit Christmas trees for the kids' rooms every year. My mom was nice enough to give these to me, on loan, from the Cindy Tamplin Tea tree collection. I couldn't figure out what to do with their trees. I had an idea for Avery's, then inspiration struck for Jordan and Soph.   I tried using items they had alot of in their room, that they wouldn't miss being on a tree for four weeks. For Avery, she has tons of stuffed animals. Of course, she hardly touches them these days (more into coloring and tea parties than stuffed animals) but th...

I have to admit, I am pretty upset. I have used Photobucket for online photo storage for the last two years. One of the features I love the most about it is that I have a Photobucket app that automatically loads every picture I take with my phone within seconds of clicking. I am able to go to the Photobucket website, copy a URL, and post it on my blog within minutes. I despise (and never remember) to actually plug my phone in, upload pictures to my computer, load them to a photo sharing site, then onto blog. It's too much work for me. So, I was pretty upset in the middle of Avery's birthday party, when my pictures just stopped uploading. I keep getting error messages. I looked on their website and they are getting complaint after complaint of the uploading feature for the app. I can't find another site/app combo that does this. Not one that is free and not one like this. I really don't know what to do now....how do you upload pictures? Do you have a site that works l...

I guess I am a little, behind? I mean, it is November 29, my in-laws just left from the Thanksgiving holiday two days ago and we are still catching up on laundry from the long weekend, but I guess I am behind. I hate Pinterest. I hate Facebook. I hate Instagram. Sometimes, I do. Because they make me feel pressured and inadequate. But I will not bow down to the pressure, I say! I will decorate when I am GOOD and READY!   Ok. I am good and ready.   I got out my boxes of Christmas decorations, which, at our previous smaller house, were pretty adequate. Yeah, it's kind of just a joke in this house how much stuff I will need to make it a Winter Wonderland. But, you can only do so much, right? I will go get some stuff at Hobby Lobby this weekend, in the form of ribbon, garland, and whatever I can find on sale. We are also focusing on lights for the outside this weekend. Let's be honest, that's going to be a a miracle if it looks halfway decent. Lights are pricey and le...

This was on my mind this week, as I have spent alot of time in the last couple of days getting prepared for the upcoming Christmas season of gift giving, activities and decorations. We also have a few bills do that have popped up that are due in December that are random (i.e. dentist bill, last bill for cable, etc.). At least one of these bills tends to pop up around the holidays, doesn't it?   I thought I would share how I keep up with the "Whitehead Family Financials." I do all of the budgets, checkbook balancing, and bill paying in our family. It's just how it's worked out for us over the years. When we both tried to do it, it was just a disaster. When I tried to let Jason do it, I found that he just didn't think ahead enough into the future to plan financially. I actually like to do it, most of the time. Sometimes, I get overwhelmed and make Jason take the reigns, but mostly, I really enjoy toiling over it.   I have used the same method of keep...

So, our Thanksgiving was pretty awesome! I am ashamed to say I didn't take too many pictures. Hopefully, my in-laws will post some on Facebook that I can steal. :-)   Anyhoo, I thought I would share pictures of the backyard, which I've left off our tours in the past.   Our backyard is probably one of the more unique ones I've seen, just because it's VERY designed. They must've had lots of parties at this house because it's all set up for decorating, as is evidenced by how the backyard is set up. For one thing, half of it is a concrete deck.   There is this little square, with dirt, that must have been for flowers at one point, but it makes for a perfect place for our firepit!   The swingset was a gift from a friend at church, whose grandkids had outgrown it. Ours LOOOVVEEE it. We need to get a big kid swing, though!     Here is a picture from the swingset to the back part of the house. Alot of the grass has disappeared an...

As I think of this year winding to a close and starting fresh in a few weeks, I always think of resolutions, what I would change, and how I would live my life a little differently to make me a better version of myself. I've given alot of thought in the last two years (since my daughter has been born) about my appearance. I've written several posts, promising to lose weight (which hasn't happened as of yet). Mostly, I just feel like a mess. I have never really been one of those people who ALWAYS looks madeup and ready to go out, not all the time, anyway. Even as a kid, I just didn't care about it all that much. As adults, when my sisters would take showers on Christmas morning and get dressed, to look good for family and family pictures, I was still in my PJs at 2 pm, probably drinking a glass of wine and watching TV. (And not helping clean up from lunch). I just looked like what I looked like and wore what I wore. I am not saying I never looked nice, because I did. I j...

My baby is 2. My big girl, I mean. I can't believe how old she is getting!   We had a Minnie Mouse party this year. I try to do themes that she loves, instead of just ones I think are cute...   My mom made her this ADORABLE outfit to match the theme. It was sooo cute!!!        We are so happy that Scotty, Faith and the boys got to come spend the afternoon with us...this house is perfect for lots of kids!     Everyone got to come and I mean, everyone in her entire family, her babysitter Jenn, and friends. I can't tell you how awesome this was to me, especially, to have everyone we love under the same roof for an afternoon. I made the cake and I have to admit, I was pretty proud of myself. Cute little Minnie balloons The three girls... I look over and Avery and Jax (who is 3) are just playing air hockey together. It was pretty cute. Here the men are, guarding the food (or so it looked like) I m...