my sweet little family

Christmas Cards, edition 4...and some other stuff, too!

9:46 PM

Only one card today...my mailbox was in tears...so so sad...

BUT, it was a GREAT card, no less! My Uncle Poly and his wife Sue sent off a card! Look at their beautiful house? He built this new home in the country at "Poly's Land" (named after, um, him). My dad hunts there, my child hood dog Peaches is buried there, among the pine trees, and it's where Poly took some photos of Hubby and I after we got engaged. Lots of memories of "Poly's Land."

_________________________________________________

BUT, there was another package in the mail today, and boy was it a surprise!!! I designed a blog quite a while ago for a lady, whom I thought was just a mom who wanted a bloggie design! Was I shocked today when on the outside of the package it said "Author Gift" Hmm....who on earth? OMGoodness...she's a stinkin' author?...that is what I said. Look how fun this book will be...

How true is that statement.....
______________________________________________________

And, I am very behind on the teacher Christmas gifts this year. I'll let you imagination wander as to what I'm making, but here is a photo of 2 of the items I'm using!

_____________________________________________________

And, Piper is 4 months old today! Happy 4 months Piper!

Christmas Cards, edition 3

11:08 AM

Today we got a Christmas card from Uncle DJ and Aunt Rachelle....and their baby!!! Baby is due in the beginning of January, and we're very excited to have a little one in the family again! I will be an Aunt for the first time!

Here is Haley's son Jackson! I designed her blog for her quite a while ago when he was just a little bugger!!!

And, the last card of today.....The oldest boy, Alex, was in my very first preschool class that I taught. He is in 5th grade now, so it's rather odd to see him all grown up. Their parents are just the bestest people ever....

Alex, Adam, Aidan, Bobette and Paul

Avery's Christmas Cards

9:55 PM

Avery and I decided to get creative this year with her cards for her friends! Super cheap, and oh so cute!!! Take a peek!

This is going to be for her BFF Abby....

She gave one of these to each of her classmates...

This was for her teacher, Mrs. S...

And, her card for her other teachers...

I hope they enjoy them as much as we did making them! :)

Christmas Cards, edition 2

1:46 PM

My sweet ~~bloggie~~ friend Leslie from South Carolina, and her adorable girls, Reese and Abby!

My cousin Heidi (who just started blogging a couple months ago), and her 4 cuties...Rebecca, Jaquelyn, Taylor and Teresa...Taylor and Teresa were my flower girls when they were oh so little...

One of my bloggie clients Malinda, and her sweet baby Sara Madalin...

another ~~blog~~ friend and her fun family...

and, our last card today is from a super fun and sweet mommy that I actually know IRL (in real life)...Kathy, and her kiddos Hunter, Austin, Logan and Grace!!!

Can't wait to see what comes in the mail today! The mailman should be here shortly!!!

2008, tour of my Charlie Brown Christmas...

7:34 PM

It's that time of year again when we all take pictures of our homes, and take "virtual tours" to see the winter wonderland that all of our bloggie friends are living in!

Welcome to Casa de me. Nothing fancy, so don't get your hopes up!

We didn't put up lights again this year....probably because of what happened last year to one of our friends, plus the fact that daddy didn't want to do it....

So, when you come up our l-o-n-g driveway, here is what you see...1 little lit up tree, covered in snow from our snow blizzard we just had. (we are going to chuck that silver door this spring and get a new one...it looks so icky...we know)

Next, this little number is hanging on our door...got it at Target this year.

When you walk through our door, you are greeted by our BRIGHT eggplant wall. Here is a fun square wreath I got at Gordmans last year,

...and a table with this little wire basket on it filled with pinecones, ornaments, fake fruit, and decorative balls.

A little further in, and you will see our entertainment center. I have some clearance trees up there, a bell tree, Piper's stocking, and some mitten garland from LTD years ago...I should really get rid of that...

Here is a close up of the tree. I got it at Lewis Drug this year. It's a little crafty, but I liked it!

Next, you will see Avery's advent calendar. It comes with 3 ponies, and 40 accessories. Loads of daily fun.

As you enter our dining room, you will see my Willow Tree collection....I LOVE the nativity set!

On my dining room table is this flower thing I got on clearance at Pier 1 a couple years ago.

Then, you will come to our tree. All the decorations are from Walmart, except for the pinecone lights...those are from Nana Judy!

We have stockings hung this year. These are from Target...

Avery's advent calendar countdown that she made at school, and the girls Christmas tree that is in their room!

There you have it...our Charlie Brown Christmas house! Hope you enjoyed your stay!

Christmas Cards, edition 1

9:34 AM

I hope you enjoy seeing the faces that adorn our walls during this Christmas season!

Our friends! Natalie used to watch Avery for us when she was 1...

I designed her families blog! Quads...wow!

My friend Molly, and her family...Avery and Blake are in the same Kind. class, and she's going to marry him someday {smile}

McMommy and her boys, Matty and Carter...

My friend Mel, the famous MckMama and her family...

Our college friend Laura (who was a bridesmaid of mine) and her family...

Kelley and her sweet boy Carter...

Cynthia and her boys...I have designed 2 of her blogs

And, the sweet Annie Pearl....

If you'd like me to put your photo up here, email it to me @ jennisajoy(at)gmail.com

our very own winter blizzard....

8:09 AM

woke up this morning to a blizzard outside...

church is cancelled...must be pretty bad...

Below is the "weather alert" for our area...

THIS SNOW COMBINED WITH THE STRONG WINDS WILL PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH VERY LOW VISIBILITIES... AND NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. TRAVEL IS NOT ADVISED. AS THE TEMPERATURE FALLS DURING THE DAY... WIND CHILL READINGS WILL FALL TO 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO BY EARLY THIS EVENING.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

again, why do I live here in the Midwest?

at least one of my kids is a good eater

11:05 AM

Liv and I enjoyed some spaghetti for lunch today! She ate and ate and ate! I cringed most of the time because of the mess....but, she liked it, and kept asking for more "num num"...

Oh, and these are my FAVORITE treat right now! My old boss used to make us Christmas goodies, but this year since she is, after all my former boss, I won't be getting any delicious treats! Not to worry....Kathy had these on her blog the other week, and I hurried and wrote down what to buy, and I have been making them non-stop since! They are SOOOO good!

circle pretzels
rolos
pecans
almond bark

Put rolos (fat side up) inside the circle pretzels. Put in oven at 200 until rolos are beginning to melt. Then push pecans down on the rolos, and then drizzle with almond bark! YUM YUM!!!

good grief....

5:54 PM

So, to re-cap....

This is what Piper looked like yesterday morning...before she went and had her face trimmed up.

And then, today, this happened.....look closely...wait for it, wait for it....do ya see it?

The scissor marks on her? Someone decided that Piper needed a full body cut, too. Somebody took the scissors to her and gave her a not-so-great hair cut. Um, it was me....I decided to attempt to trim her up. I had good intentions, honestly I did. She looked stringy and kind of not-so-cute.

PG got home today, and he said, "What on earth did you do to her? It looks AWFUL! She could have even done a better job!" We had a good laugh, and then I called the groomer. She was so sweet and told me to bring her in....

So, now I have a puppy that looks like this.....

And we think she just couldn't be any cuter...

Mommy is sorry, Piper. I learned my lesson...

If you send me your Christmas Card....

5:41 PM

I will put it up here on my blog.

McMommy was doing this, and I thought it was a GREAT idea!!!

So, if you send me your card, via email or via snail mail, it will show up here!

Please, puh-lease...send me your card??? :)

jennisajoy(at)gmail.com

piper got a hair cut

10:11 PM

She was getting a little icky in the face area, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get to the hair around her eyes.

BEFORE

I had to bathe her the night before...she will hate this photo on her wedding day, I just know it...
DURING

The dog groomer lady trimmed up her face, her toes, and her unmentionable areas...
AFTER

WELL worth the $12 I paid!!!

And, because who wants a post all about my dog?

NO ONE.... Here is Avery today in front of our tree...

My Christmas cards are in the mail, so if you're on my list (lucky you), it's on its way!

i had every intention.....

10:26 PM

of doing a post tonight...

BUT, it's Christmas time, and I've been a busy little elf!

I'll be back!

i like to change it up a bit....

11:41 PM

with all the designing of blogs that I do, it's no wonder that I like to change mine up ~~a little too~~ often.

I'm going for the simple look, with a ~~ton~~ tad of pink, and a dash of Christmas!