Jump 4 Joey

Ok, so have I mentioned lately how much FUN my daughter is?!?

This is a recent video Joey took at an inflatable playhouse for kids in Hiram. We were here for Savannah's friend, Riley's, second birthday party. Savannah was a little hesitant at first to join in on the fun, but after only two times of being carried to the top of this slide, she soon discovered how much fun it was to do it on her own and was squirming her way out of our arms. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do...everytime I watch it, it makes me laugh, especially when she eats inflatable at the end=)

Woodsy Glitzy

My festive centerpiece=) Lets see if I can keep it alive!

So, Joey and I are going on seven-and-a-half years of marriage, and this is the first year, I have actually bought ANY Christmas decorations. Partly because I've just used hand-me-down ornaments and gifted decorations, not seeing any purpose in spending the money on more, and partly because I just didn't know what my "Christmas style" was. You know how everyone has a certain way they like to decorate for Christmas? Well, I found my style this year! And despite Joey's constant jabs and snickers, I am sticking with calling it a Woodsy Glitzy style=) Because I like natural looking things, but I also like a little glitter, a little gold, and alot of sparkle and shine!

My attempt at an indoor garden. So far I've only had to replace one dead plant!

It all started with Dinner in December. I found these owls at Marshall's that I absolutely fell in love with (couldn't tell you why other than they're cute), and my whole table just sort of evolved off of them. I found the plates, had the candles, had the silverware embedded with gold trim, liked the look of the shine with the natural woods, and wha-la! A Woodsy Glitzy tablescape!

Love my centerpiece tree too! People kept asking me if I had made it? huh?

My new casual china from Lenox comes in three mix-and-match patterns. I love it! Can't wait to have a reason to buy more=)

So it only made sense to carry over this Woodsy Glitzy style into my home, so that I could use my new fun decorations! So I bought Christmas ornaments for the first time this year! So exciting! I absoultely went plum crazy at Crate and Barrel because they totally got the idea of my new found style=) All the new fun glass balls combined with the sentimental few ornaments I haven't given away to Goodwill over the years, makes an absolutely cozy and homey, yet with a flair of dazzling effect. I love it!

Something old (the nativity I love), and something new (I bought many glass balls this year, and I like them all, but couldn't pick a favorite=)

Another new owl I think is oober cute, Joey thinks is oober ridiculous.

My Amelia Island fish that is gorgeous, but is definitely out of place on my Woodsy Christmas tree, but it's Glitzy! And who doesn't have that one ornament that really doesn't belong, right?

And last but not least, the goofy looking reindeer=) I LOVE reindeer, and all the grace and power of nature they represent, plus who doesn't have that one really goofy thing that just makes them smile? I still remember my parents' Mr. & Mrs. Claus that we had on our fireplace growing up. They were freaky looking, but well-loved=) Haven't named my mangy friend yet, any suggestions?

What's your "Christmas Style"?

I'd like to know...

What personality type are you?

Because of my personality type. I like taking tests like these, and I always find it amazing when they hit the nail on the head. I especially like that they call my personality type a Mastermind. Ha-ha! Knew it all along=) J/K, but seriously, check out which jobs I should look into. I especially find the last line in the paragraph to be particularly true of me: 'My husband leaves me alone when he sees that I am caught in what he calls my "Thinking Time." I'm unwinding knots even in my sleep.'

Take a moment and take the test! I'd love to know what personality type you are=)

Part of the Answer

So one thing I dislike about being a stay at home mom is you can never give a good answer to the question, "So what do you do?" when you meet new people. I mean the answer is obviously, "I'm a home maker." or "I stay home with Savannah and keep things going." But there really is no good answer to that question. SO let me try to answer it with a brief snapshot of only about 15 minutes of my day=)

I unload these...(Note: This is only the top rack--notice all the "kid" stuff, and this gets done once if not twice in one day...)...

...Only to reload these....(Note: This is only the breakfast and last night after dinner leftovers...)....

...Only to turn around and pick these up because Little Miss has got to keep herself occupied doing something while I clean up...

And then, when I round the corner to check on her, this is what I find....

....Wouldn't trade a moment of it for the world=)

Christmas Favorites

So, this is the time of year when traditions abound, and you just can't help sitting back and reminiscing about old times, good times, family memories, and the "way things use to be", and the way some things always should be. Some of my personal favorites:

1) Watching the movie White Christmas and sighing as Irving Berlin sings the actual song all the while wishing I could actually be one of the Davis sisters.

2) Plugging in my iPod and turning up my Christmas playlist, along with filling my car CD player with every Christmas CD I own. Favorite album: Croon and Swoon. Favorite Christmas song: Winter Wonderland. Favorite Christmas carol: O Holy Night.

3) Christmas past to Christmas present: I still love to decorate a Christmas tree (more posts on that later=) I remember growing up and painstakingly helping my dad place the lights just so on the tree, then laughing to myself as he would place one string of tinsle on the tree in just the right place. Anyone remember tinsle? Then there was the race against siblings to put the most Christmas ornaments on the tree or to be the one to place specific ornaments on the tree--everyone had a favorite, and then there wad the inevitable arguments that insued about where the ornaments were placed on the tree: "You hung it too close to mine. You hung it too high. Don't you move MY ornament! I want it where it is."

As silly as all that sounds, I love every memory, and they make me smile. Decorating a tree is still fun for Joey and me because I remember all those times. I can't wait until Savannah can begin joining in the fun=) It will be fun to relive my own memories in some way all over again with her.

4) Christmas baking! I don't do a lot of it, but I love to think about it and hope other people do it=) Ha-ha! Favorites: Martha Washington Candy--I use to help my Dot-Dot make it every year. Thumbprint Cookies and Fudge--baking with Mama memories. Gingerbread cookies--I ganked a great recipe from a friend years ago, and I have made this my favorite Christmas cookie tradition. Takes some work, but they are so much fun and delicious, especially with lemon icing.

5) And I would be remiss if I didn't mention The Nutcracker. Although we haven't done it in years, there were many years in my middle and and high school era that my Meema and I went to see The Nutcracker performed somewhere. Every time I hear that melodic music I think of light-footed ballerinas and my Meema. It's nice when music brings back such distinct moments in life.

So that is what I spend the month of December thinking about and dwelling on and savoring, all the while quietly thanking the Lord that I have such great family to have such great memories.

What are your favorites at Christmas?

Welcome Home?

Yeah, so let me vent a moment.

Tuesday before we left town for Thanksgiving, I was frantically dragging Savannah to the doctor only to find out she had a terrible case of croup and needed breathing treatments and medication. So, I spent the rest of the day trying to fill her prescriptions last minute before we left town.

She did fine, but was still a little out of sorts while away, not terrible though. In general, she's just not a fussy child even when she's sick.

So I get home and two things happen.

1) My brand new five day old Blackberry Storm stops working. The touch screen no longer responds...go figure. And if you've EVER had to deal with Verizon Wireless customer service, it is crap! And we have to argue our way out of stupid fees everytime we try to fix our phones. Solution: I'm gettting rid of my Blackberry Storm ASAP. My personal opinion is they weren't ready for the demand on the phone, and they tried to pack too much technology into this device. Bottom line, all the kinks aren't worked out yet, so maybe in another two years I'll reconsider, but lesson learned, I will not be the first person to ever buy the greatest lastes thing again. Not until it's been out long enough for them to get it working right.

2) I listen to my six messages on answering machine when I get home, only to hear TWO messages from my doctor! One from Friday and one from Saturday. Savannah's strep culture came back positive!!! They wanted to call in an antibiotic for me. My poor daughter has had strep on top of croup this entire time, and I don't find out about it until 7:00pm on Sunday night? After getting home from vacation? What kind of medical treatment is that?!?!

Needless to say, I was furious last night. Didn't sleep real well. Called the doctor first thing this morning at 7:30am, only to find out that their computer only has room for two phone numbers to call, and somehow my cell phone number (one of five other numbers on her paperwork someone could have entered) never got entered into the computer! Like that's my fault? So they apologized (not profusely enough for my liking) and called in my antibiotic, but heaven forbid had she been really sick! Or that the strep had gottten worse quickly! Arrrgh!

Frustration. So welcome back to the real world, Jennifer. Thanksgiving was marvelous. I'm just praying really hard right now, trying not to let satan steal that joy. I feel a little better sharing it with you all=) Ha-ha! Misery loves company, right? Or maybe it just needs empathy.

Thanksgiving Bounds Family Style

(You've never tasted cookies until you've had Emily's Chocolate Chip Cake Batter Cookies! YUM!)

So, as the saying goes, "Much fun was had by all!" I absolutely LOVE getting together with my whole family. I am so blessed to have a family that loves the Lord whole-heartedly first, which makes loving each other a little easier=) In this day in age, very few, handfuls probably, have such a strong, supportive family where everyone is married to the perfect person, and we all just love getting to know each other better as time goes on.

Proud Grandmama & Granddaddy

Mark the youngest & me the oldest=)

Love my sisters=)

First & Second Born...love my Matthew.

This year's Thanksgiving has been in the books for three years now. My brother Matthew and wife Emily were on an alternate family rotation for us to do Thanksgiving together as a whole family every year, so to fix the rotation, I offered to have both sides of my family's to MY house for Thanksgiving last year--my first by the way, cooking and everything, and I had just had my sweet Savannah who was only six weeks old at the time. YES, I was crazy, but being here all together this year made it TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!

Wednesday before, we all converged on Matthew & Emily's house, and we have filled this home to the brim this weekend. Mark graciously took the couch. Mama & Daddy took the guest bed. Joey had a mattress on the floor next to my day bed, and Savannah had a pack-n-play at our feet, and lastly, LaurieAnn & Tim took the blow-up mattress at the foot of Matthew & Emily's bed. So, yes it was a full house, but full of fun and joy too=)

The gang enjoying fondue.

Wednesday night we all got things kickin' with Emily's amazing fondue party. Now, you have to know that Emily is an phenominal cook, so we have all been looking forward to her Thanksgiving for months now. And fondue was great! It's just that growing up in our family, sitting back and savoring food was not our strong point, so eating fondue became a fast and furious feast of trying not to let anyone else get more food than you! Too funny! And did I mention that we dominated every last morsel of fondue? Just check out the dessert picks below=)

Second course of the fondue feast.

Ok, this is about one minute after the dessert fondue hit the table...

...And this was about another minute after that. You can only imagine that another minute later, and this whole container that had been brimming with strawberries and angel food cake was now left to waste. Not exactly what anyone would describe as "savoring." Ha-Ha!

Thanksgiving schmorgesbourg

Thanksgiving Day was a fast-paced machine to get everything on the table hot and steaming, but we all did actually take our time this time and enjoy every morsel. The stuffing was my personal favorite. Emily makes it from scratch (like she did everything!), and I have never tasted anything so moist and flavorful. We all had our time of sharing what each one of us was thankful for this year, and it was a blessing to hear stories face-to-face of how God has been working in everyone's life this year. He is so good.

After that, the next few hours and days were filled with our own versions of fun--took some pictures, played some Wii, laughed at Savannah, took some naps, saw a movie, did a whole day of shopping, enjoyed some Red Robin, played some games, said goodbyes. Took a deep breath and sighed. My favorite place to be in the whole world is just spending time with my family.

Daddy trying to bowl on Wii (finally a game other people could beat him at!), and Savannah watching intently.
A great pic of LA & Vay-Vay
LA & Tim-lumberjack man=)
And Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a picture of me & my man=) Couldn't get a good one with our whole family of three=(

I am so grateful for each and every one of you=)