Floriday 2012....part 1.

 We are currently on our last day of our annual White family trip to Ft Walton Beach.  Oh how we look forward to this get away each year.  Carson has been working hard at our local pool and was itching to try out his skills in the pool as soon as we got here on Friday.  He was a bit bummed there wasn't a diving board to jump off of but the side works just as well. 

 

Papa is always ready to get in and have fun with his boys.  

 We headed out to dinner at one of our favorites, Old Bay Steamer.  I actually got a pic with me and my lil man before the night was over.  Normally mama is the one behind the camera trying to capture each memory.

 Carson LOVED popping the heads off of my Royal Red Shrimp.  I seriously don't think I had to do it to one of them.  He may have been a bit obsessed with poking their eyeballs out too....GROSS!!!

 Rooster has become quite the sand artist over the last two years.  This monster alligator was his first creation this year.  Once I get all my pics uploaded, I will share the other creatures he created this year.  I'm not sure who loves them more, the boys or Rooster.

 Rooster and Scooty go fishing every year and this year they returned with a mess of Red Snapper.  We cooked some of it for dinner that night and Cars kept telling him, "Daddy, you caught this fish!"

While the deckhands were cleaning our fish, Carson was recatching the bait fish.  He thought he was big stuff.

 Carson found "Captain Hook" down by AJs and thought he was the greatest.  He was very sad after he popped his sword and we found out that Capin Hook had already left.

 We got a parrot to replace the sword and he walked around with it on his shoulder forever.  It was hysterical.

Unfortunately, I took most of the pictures from the first few days with my iPhone so I can't adjust them and it is driving me crazy.  I will try and upload more soon to capture the rest of our trip. 

Team Ordinary Hero

 As you may have heard/seen, I have decided to run the Country Music Half Marathon.  I wanted to get back into running and knew I would need a lofty goal in order to see it through.  I am proud to say that I am well on my way to being able to fulfill this desire and now I have a renewed purpose.

I came across Ordinary Hero several years ago through some friends at work.  They are an amazing organization that exemplifies being the hands and feet of Christ.  I have recently donated my beloved collection of plush Boyds Bears so they could be distributed to children currently residing in the Nashville Women's Homeless Shelter and possibly be sent overseas as well.  (If you know me, you know I needed somewhere that would honor the love I had for those bears (as goofy as that sounds) and find them deserving homes.)

Now, I get the opportunity to help in another way.  They have decided to build a team to raise money during the Marathon.  Would you join me in helping fund this incredible organization and take a second to donate a dollar or two or fifty or hundred on my personal page?  The link is below.

Thanks and many blessings,
Jenny

Team Ordinary Hero - this is the link to my personal fundraising page.

Lesson of the Day

Last night I finished Angela Thomas' BRAVE Bible Study. I loved her teaching so much I looked her up on my new nifty NOOK to see what else she had to offer. I found her book "52 Things Kids Need from a Mom". I have made it through the first 12 and have related to all of them and see great wisdom in each point she has made so far.

But Number 12 smacked me in the face. KIDS NEED THEIR MOM.....TO PUT DOWN THE PHONE. In the words of my fabulous pastor, "is that an AMEN or an OH ME???". Here are a few of the points that she made that hit me in all the right places:

Sometimes the phone and the emails and the texts can wait. It can just all wait, especially if I'm supposed to be giving my attention to someone I really love a lot.

(Talking about being on the phone when the kids get in the car after being at school) Truth is, when I have been on the phone as they jumped into the car, I have forfeited one of the best mom moments of the day.

How many times did (Carson) see the back of my head, my hand to my ear, instead of looking into the eyes of his mom? How many times did I turn him away instead of picking him up.

The phone can wait. Your child, being heard by you, matters more.

As I was writing in my prayer journal the other night, I specifically prayed that I felt like we were entering critical years with Carson. That it was more important than ever to be pouring Truth in to him, to show instead of tell and to really start teaching. I really needed to hear this lesson today and be reminded that maybe I let my phone be too much of a distraction. I am blessed to be at home 2 days a week but those days I am "on call" for work so I am constantly checking for emails and/or missed calls. What good does it really do him or me to "be at home" if my mind is at work because I have constant access to it.......or to FB or to games, texting, you name it.

Here are the phone boundaries that she mentioned that I am going to attempt to implement more and more for myself.

• No phone calls or texting at meals.. Not for me or for anyone else. (DONE - my Daddy beat this into my brain growing up and Rooster and I feel the same about it now.)
• I don't get on the phone before the kids leave for school. (Considering I barely wake up in time to get ready, it doesn't leave much room for chatting.)
• I try and wrap up my business day, emails, calls and texts as I am turning into the carpool lane.
  
• I make phone appointments during the day or after bedtime to talk to girlfriends for those fun, chatty catchup calls.
• After we get home, my phone goes on vibrate and is left in my purse. (This one will be harder because we don't have a home line so I will have to adjust this one a bit.)

Father, thank you for this truth that you showed me today. I ask that you help me be strong in my commitment to Put Down My Phone. Help me to show Carson that I HEAR him and I SEE him. Playing with Pirate ships is way more important than checking my email, checking FB or idly chatting on the phone.

Reeves Family Christmas

Christmas Eve is full of family. We celebrate with my Mom's side and the White side. This year, we did things a little differently with the Reeves clan. Growing up, we always went to Goggie & Grandaddy's but for the last several years, we have moved it, making it easier on Goggie and Grandaddy. (Last year, you might remember, we all loaded up and headed to my aunt's house in MS and spent the first Christmas together as a family ever.) Well this year, Kate was HOME and decided that she wanted to help Goggie host Christmas one more time. Goggie was very excited to be having a party for all her family.

Well to surprise us all, they had planned the party in the basement. Gog's basement flooded in the flood 2 years ago and they lost pretty much everything that was down there. It worked out perfectly since it was the only place all 18 of us would fit. (The pic below doesn't really do it justice because they had decorated it to the hilt.)
We got to add 2 new members to our clan this year. Kendall and Ginger are getting married in April but this was the first year we got to have her with us at Christmas. We are so thankful God gave Kendall the perfect helpmate and love having her in our family.
We always loved having Nathan with us. It has been such a joy for me to see Kate so happy and I have LOVED having her in the same city for almost 4 months now. Oh how I have missed my cuz. She and Nathan worked their booties off to make Christmas happen and it was a smashing success. Welcome to the clan Nate.
Here was my attempt to the get a picture of all of us together (of course, minus me.)
We are beyond blessed and grateful to have been able to spend another Christmas as a whole family. Thank you Lord for choosing these two amazing Christ followers to be the foundation of this ever growing family and for giving us more time with them than we ever imagined.
Clearly not the best picture of them but it was all I ended up with that night. :(

BLOG-WORTHY

I kinda knew it would take something BIG for me to get my blog back on. (Don't get too excited, it is not what most of you are probably thinking/wishing/praying.) We read books and sing songs every night before we go to bed. Someone gave Carson a Jesus Loves Me book and he loves it. So every night we sing/read Jesus Loves Me. Well tonight he decided to let me know he had been paying attention for the last 23 months (considering he has heard it almost everyday since birth). The boy refuses to even attempt to sing his ABCs but he sure does know the important stuff. JESUS LOVES HIM!!!

Finally feeling like Christmas!

Finally - it is beginning to feel like December and Christmas at the White House. It even snowed today.

We met Santa Claus last weekend. He was very brave and crawled right up in his lap.

We made our very first Gingerbread House.

Little Buddy was an excellent helper. According to my friend, we have deprived my child because he didn't even realize he could eat the candy. (YEAH for mommy.)

I think Dada and Carson got into a little bit more than Mama.
Merry Christmas from the Whites.

33

Tomorrow, I turn 33 and that just seems crazy. I have never been obsessed about age but as I tack on yet another year, it does give me pause. I have accomplished a lot in the last 33 years: became a daughter of the Most High, been on 2 international mission trips, traveled to 3 different continents; graduated from college with a BBA and then a MBA, became a wife and a mom, just to name a few.

In the coming year, I would like to live a little more and experience new things. Here is a list of 33 random things I would like to accomplish in the coming year; some are fun and some are necessary.

1. Go on 1 date night a month with my husband. (This will be no easy feat.)
2. Ride in a hot air balloon.
3. Start and completely finish a Bible Study.
4. Teach Carson to sing Jesus loves me or at least some of it.
5. Buy a new to me car....with CASH!!!
6. Write a personal note to a friend or loved one at least once a week.
7. Take advantage of the beautiful land we have in Bethesda instead of just paying for it.
8. Open my home to others more often.
9. Seek out ways to serve the Lord, with Carson by my side, so he can see what it means to live out ones faith.
10. Have a girls night or a me night at least once every couple of months.
11. Plan a family trip for just the 3 of us that is creative and fun. (not just the beach)
12. Find ways to love on my 4 nephews, individually, and let them know how much I love them.
13. Plan a surprise for someone and pull it off without them knowing. (who wants to be that person???)
14. Start a prayer journal and faithfully write in it. (I love to see how God is moving in mine and others lives.)
15. Dance/play in the rain with my son.
16. Dream big and believe that God is bigger than any dream of mine.
17. Call and talk to my grandparents AT LEAST once a week. (How can I let so many days pass without speaking to two of my favorite people.)
18. SLOW DOWN!!!!
19. Wake up earlier and eat breakfast. (I generally do not eat breakfast and if I do, it is definitely not a healthy one.)
20. Go to bed earlier so I can accomplish #19. (Currently, it is 10:30 and I am wide awake.)
21. Redo my bedroom, again.
22. Use my wedding china and my waterford for a fancy girly party.
23. Drink more water and less Dr Pepper and/or Sweet Tea
24. Prepare for taxes BEFORE the week they are due.
25. Bake some cookies like these (well at least the general idea)
26. Go parasailing.
27. Watch tv less and play in the floor more.
28. Start couponing again...it seriously irritates me that I have been paying full price for groceries.
29. Run a 5k in less than 30 minutes.
30. Read my "Keeping it Personal" devotional every day.
31. Find away to thin out my collection of Boyd's Bears. (It is time to let them some of them go.)
32. Buy an awesome pair of boots for this winter....just cause.
33. Be available: to God, to my husband, to my son, to my family, to my friends, to strangers.