Sharing My Jennarocity

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...

Happy Thanksgiving!   Everyone on my Facebook feed seems to be doing the "30 days of thankfulness." I have a hard time remembering to do that every day, so I didn't start. But I did want to make sure I wrote about Thanksgiving here.   I used to have a mindset, more often than not, of "why not me? Why can't I have this? Why can't I have that? Why is this happening to me?" Pretty much constantly. I was always upset about one thing or another. Holidays were hard for me because I spent so many of my adult years single, while everyone else seemed to be in relationships. I felt slighted; I felt forgotten. I was unable to look at my life and be thankful for what I had; I was too busy being upset with what I didn't have.   I still have a tendency towards that, from time to time, but mostly, I think I am thankful everyday for my life. I try to be, anyway. So, here's my list of what I am thankful for.   I am incredibly thankful for my husb...

My new job is in downtown Fort Worth. I actually take the train everyday, which I must admit, is really cool. I get 30 minutes both ways to sit and chill, every single day. I am currently reading The Time Machine , by H.G. Wells, as it was a free download on my brand new Playbook app. If they put a gym on the train, I would lose 20 pounds by Christmas. Maybe I should suggest that.   I love Fort Worth. I love it way more than Dallas, sorry those of you who might not agree. Fort Worth is just a really neat town. The downtown area is really awesome. If I squint, it makes me feel like I am in Manhattan again.     I thought commuting in would be a pain, but I really like it. Except for this morning, when a train was stalled on the track and we had to make a detour on a bus. Ah, public transportation. The bus driver was a woman and she drove like a maniac! But she got us in fast, so that was nice!     My new job is pretty cool, but last week ...

It's a sad day.   Kevin Clash, the puppeteer for Elmo, has resigned amid sexual allegations from men, claiming he had sexual relationships with them when they were minors.   I really don't know why I am especially sad with this story. I guess maybe because Avery has loved Elmo so much. Or maybe it's because Elmo stands for such innocence. I watched Kevin's documentary on Netflix and was pretty amazed by his story. I really liked him.   I don't know if he indeed did anything wrong or if it's just the pitfalls of stardom and the fact that someone, somewhere, will try to take advantage of you and exploit fame and money to get some of yours for their own. I don't know if he just should have lived as a hermit to try and avoid anything seemingly controversial. I don't know. But the whole thing makes me sad.   It just goes to show that when you put faith in people, even people like celebrities (Lance Armstrong, John Travolta) or generals of the...

We went and saw Prairie Lights last night...we got the VIP treatment and it was awesome! And like the good mother I am, I took lots of pictures. OK, my camera was dead and I forgot to charge it. But we did get this...   If you can't tell, Gexa Energy is the sponsor.   Avery finally has come to the age where she knows what she is looking at. She LLLLOOOOVVVEEEDDDD the lights. She did NOT like Santa. We kept trying to get her to go talk to him, but when we got close, she just cried. It's OK, maybe next year. She did look at him and wave at him from afar, so it's a start in the right direction.   Colbi did really well! She just slept and hung out. I love that she is starting to be a baby and not a newborn, she is so alert! She smiles at you and she has found her feet and is so close to rolling over! My sister has pictures that I know she is just waiting to post, so hurry on up with those, Brookie!!   As I've said before, Christmas is going to be funn...

At my mom's tea, I set a silver and gold table. It's the only time of year my beautiful wedding china comes out to play. I decided to set my dining table this year. We actually do eat at this table, but I could sacrifice it for a few days...            It's nice to have a pretty table for the holidays!

We are finally at a stopping point with our playroom. We told ourselves we were going on a purchasing hiatus for the house for the holidays, but after seeing this jewel at a garage sale for $15 bucks, we just couldn't say no. Especially since playing in the playroom is actually something that is done alot lately. We got the Playstation and they just sit on the floor and stare at the TV. So, we were going to purchase some chairs from Walmart at some point, but $15 was much cheaper than our plan.       It's not perfect, but it works for a kids' playroom. I think there is leather conditioner that will make the leather look good as new, but right now, I am just glad there is something in there to sit on.   We traded in our non-working Wii, straight up, for a new Playstation. We will probably end up getting the new Wii at some point, but we are good without the Wii for now. The only reason we were using it, mostly, was to watch Netflix. Now, we have Roku...

I finally took alot of pictures today. We watched some videos of the kids and it made me realize I don't take enough videos of the kids...so I did.   I love Instagram. It's my new favorite thing!! How have I just discovered this?   All three kids VOLUNTARILY went outside and played today. Avery loves being outside, but it's not as fun playing out there without her borther and sister. Sophia likes being outside but sometimes it's hard to get her out there. Jordan has been given a time limit on his video games per day, so once he reached that limit, he went outside to play Sniper. Then, all kids helped pick up some leaves.   Watching the kids play...           Tell me this child isn't his father's mini me.       Wherever Sophia goes, Avery goes.     Sophia is seriously the baby whisperer. She is surrounded by babies and she is GREAT with them. Avery has always loved Sophia, bu...