Sharing My Jennarocity

I feel like a terrible mother ( not really ) cause I haven't really taken many pictures this week. My phone seems to be on constant low battery and I feel like I am in a wurlwind of activity, so pictures are just the last thing on my mind.   We officially move tomorrow into our new house, and we couldn't be happier! My daughter is spending the night with her Pops (Gigi will be out of town) and her Aunt Leslie. And if things work out, she will be going to her first official football/high school football game to watch the Mighty Gophers!     I wanted to make her a shirt that said, "I am not a Gopher yet, but my Pops sure was!" But alas, I had no time.   Last night, I spent part of my evening spray painting 91 light and electrical outlet covers. They were dingy and in need of some TLC. And of all the things I wanted to spend my money on, new light and electrical outlet covers just ain't one of them. So one $4 can of white spray paint later, they look

I just keep wondering WHERE Avery gets these funny faces she makes for the camera!   Oh. Right.     

Avery is in Awanas at church this year. She is a PUGGLE! So cute. Anyway, last week they learned about the sun and last night they learned that God made the trees! So Avery's wonderful teachers, Miss Erika and Miss Anita, went outside and took pictures of them by trees. Why can't I get a picture of Avery smiling like this??  And this at this beautiful shot Miss Anita caught... That's going to make a beautiful portrait in our new house!!!

          Apparently, the only time I can get a clear shot is when my daughter is watching TV!  

I love Finding Nemo . When it's on, even when the kids aren't around, I would probably still watch it. So when I found out they were releasing it in 3D, I knew Avery should go. I told my parents they should take her! So they went and picked her up as a surprise yesterday and took her to the movies! Mom said she did really well, considering how long it was! They said she did a good job wearing her glasses and ate lots and lots of popcorn (no surprise there). I was so proud of her!! Mom said the movie time was moved to an hour later than what they thought, so they got there a little early, which gave them time to shop (Lord, help us!)... Candy, of course! So many animals! Do your kids have Pillow Pets and are they worth it? Then, I got this awesome picture from my sister. That's my two month old niece, sitting in a Bumbo, holding her head up like a champ! You seriously have no idea how strong this child is, even from when she was born! I changed her diaper one

A friend of mine recently wrote about the possibility of having more children. It gave me an idea to write about that topic myself! I get asked alot whether or not I am done. In our situation, while Jason has three, I only have one child that is biologically mine. So, they always say, "When are you guys having another one?" The answer is that we are done having children.   While I have not made that decision permanent, let's just say that I don't think we will be getting a surprise any time soon. (Mark my words that I just said that, ha ha!)   I love Avery more than words could ever say. But I wasn't even sure before I found out we were pregnant if we would ever even have any at all. I couldn't imagine my life without Avery; she is a blessing and is a completion to our family. However, I know Jason really has no desire to have a fourth. And I really don't know if I want to go through raising another one. Our life is nuts as it is with the three we've g

Of course, there are about 70 gazillion ideas floating around in my head about decor for this house. Oh my goodness, you guys should see it. I went to look at it last night - they are painting every single door, every cabinet, every closet, every shelf, every door frame. They painted the crown molding and the new base boards and will start with the walls and ceilings this week. SO exciting! This house is going to be absolutely gorgeous when we move in. The painting and updating of the things I mentioned are just going to be amazing. This house is large. Very large. The ceilings are tall, the walls are big, the rooms are huge. I am concerned with finding decor that goes with the flow of the house. It's also a ranch style house, and everything has unique arrangements (as far as the walls and flow of the rooms, etc). The patio is so pretty in front, and I just know that I am going to have to decorate for each and every holiday. I need a very large supply of wreaths. As many picture

One word that describes Avery these days: BUSY. She is busy all. the. time. Her favorite things to do are play with her "babies," sing, play the piano, run around, and play with her sissy. She especially loves her babies. Ever since Colbi came into the picture especially, she is really into caring for them. Covering them up, putting them in her stroller, carrying them from one place to another, kissing and hugging them, then after all of that, throwing them on the floor. In a loving way, of course. Avery's vocabulary is growing leaps and bounds. I am blown away with how many words she knows and the phrases she is using these days. She can sing full songs (not with the clearest words) but she can sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, The Alphabet Song, and If You're Happy and You Know It. Her memory for music is so advanced....she can listen to a song once or twice and have parts of it memorized immediately. Jason and I are always so surprised that when we've

I won't lie. I have been swayed by a propagandist, "conspiracy theory," left- or right-leaning "documentary" in my day. Check out the section on Netflix for these types of movies, and you will find everything from capitalism, to wealth in America, to credit card debt, to the fast food industry. If you aren't really careful, you can jump on one of these bandwagons and it can change your life in a very, very dark and terrifying way. I bring this up because on my FB feed in the last week, I've seen several people who've watched 2016: Obama's America. About 10 years ago, when I was 22, I wished I was more educated when it came to politics in America. I realized even though I had lots of opinions about politics, I really had no idea where those opinions came from, nor if they were even right or wrong. I got very involved in the 2008 election and did alot of research. Not only did I research on the two candidates, but I researched all the way back to

We didn't get much packing done this weekend. Ok, we got NO packing done this weekend. We were busy.   Saturday was Sophia's first soccer game!   Tell me she's not the cutest "Heartbreaker" you've ever seen. (That's the name of her team).   So, she got her ears pierced a few weeks ago. We've been telling her every weekend we have her to turn her earrings all the time so that they don't grow on her earring and so they heal faster and they won't hurt. Does she listen to us? No. "My mom said I don't have to..." is what we get most of the time. That's happening alot more lately. Not in a rude way, just matter of fact. That is so frustrating. Anyway, they have to take their earrings out for the game. Since it was our weekend, I took her earrings out and after the game (she did GREAT by the way) it was time to put them back in. Her mom was leaving and she ran after her and told her she didn't want to put her earrings back in, c

Ugh, she is a mini-me and this just happened last night.

I would be lying if I said moving into this house is worry free. My worry is not, however, whether it's the right thing for our family. We have no doubts this is the house we love and the one God wants for us. Everything has worked out so well to this point, it's just a true sign that this is the direction our life is going.   But worry does set in, on occasion. I did our budget for the next few months and also did the projections on how much we would need to save as a down payment to buy our house. It's alot and it's going to be a challenge. We are going to have to really buckle down and make sure we are careful about getting our savings to where it needs to be. I also realize this house is VERY large and it's going to take a little adjustment to pay the utilities. But, I've been following a budget for a while now and we've done well to this point, so I know it's going to work out, as long as we stick with the plan!   Sometimes, you really just don'

No you can't read my sticker face....     Who would have known toddlers love stickers? She just kept putting them on me. There is something soothing about kids brushing your hair, doing your makeup, or stickering your face....they just take their time and are really being artistic! Or is it just me? Even if I do come out scary after the fact!  

This whole weekend has been like a dream. I still can't believe we are actually moving into this house! It got me to thinking about God's plan for our lives. We hear it's "All God!" when good things happen in our lives. And it's is, for sure. But I also think we don't give ourselves enough credit.   God obviously has empowered us with choice, which in my opinion, is more powerful than any amount of money you can have. When you make choices about your life, that impacts it in so many ways, both good and bad. While God knows our lives and knows our life plan, we have to make good choices and listen to God to really see the good God can do for your life.   Jason and I made some bad financial choices in our life that we have paid for, and are having to pay for, now. Because of those choices, it has really limited our ability to make the most of our lives, financially. But I feel like we have worked for a long time and done our duty to fix those issues. We have

We did not end up going to San Antonio this weekend and we were pretty bummed about it, so we decided just to spend the weekend doing stuff we all wanted to do.   Let me back up.   A few months ago, we went to an estate sale in the nice neighborhood north of us. While we were loading Jordan's dresser into the car, we saw a realtor putting up a sign in the yard across the street. Just out of curiosity, I asked him if he would allow me to see it. He said sure, and let me go look. To say I was blown away by this house was an understatement. I'd never seen a house like this before and just instantly fell in love. I told Jason to come take a look and we were both just amazed by the floorplan and the sheer size. We asked the realtor house much it was selling for, and the number they told us was about $100,000 out of our price range. Coupled the price of the house and knowing we weren't ready to buy a house right now, we went on our way, thinking this was just a "dream home&q